By Sam Onimisi
If it were possible to cry and curse through the nose or via any other organ of the body, perhaps it would have been better, but human beings are not given the grace to choose by which other means they could express their grief or pain. And so, when it has to be done, you are left with no choice than to employ the mouth – the same channel through which we laugh, eat and pray to the Almighty God! How great the joy of the enemy would have been if they find their victims crying by some other means, other than via the mouth. Thank God they are denied the sadistic pleasure and pristine joy in watching their fellow beings bellowing their deep-seated grief by a bawl via the arse! Life, as it certainly is, consists of a cycle of sadness and joy, mourning and celebration and, laughter and crying in the wheel of a continuum. Whenever one or the other comes your way – and surely come they must – you momentarily lose the power of choice.
Sad news never come but with a rude shock; rude in the sense that it jolts you out of whatever pleasure in which you are engaged and saddles you with the unpleasant task of picking up the pieces. However, if what is un-expected has happened, ruminating upon it over and over again cannot reverse the damage already done. So, the best option which recommends itself and makes for hope is, to look into the future and what you can make out of it. To allow your detractors to meet you on a fallen state is to grant them another opportunity to do what they know best: hitting you at your most vulnerable point so as to deny you a second chance or the possibility of recovery. So much for the preliminaries of the main topic of the day.
It was on the 10th January this year and I was on my dinner table when the phone rang. In the first place, it has been my practice to put off my phone while eating but on that fateful day, I forgot to do so. The caller on the other end was sobbing and talking at the same time and with a munching mouth and unalert ears, I couldn’t immediately comprehend what he was talking about. I thought it was a case of dialing a wrong number but a few minutes later, the phone rang again, and this time the voice was clear and unmistakable. He said the King was taken away some minutes ago by some policemen. Which of the Kings and why? But he started sobbing again and became incoherent while I became fully alert. Who took which of the Kings away?
A convoy of mobile policemen armed to the teeth with an armored vehicle to boot raided the Palace of the Obobanyi of Ihima, Chief Siaka Okaraga Lawal. A guide pointed to him to identify the king as he was on a casual wear in a relaxed mood. The hoodlumish policemen without regard to his age or status pounced on him and gave him a vicious beatings and hard kicks and took him away to Lokoja. On the way, they stopped in a bush, took him out and shot him severally with their A.K 47 riffles but the bullets failed to penetrate. They resorted to twisting his neck, but again to no avail, then the gun butts were used to hit him on the legs, dislocating his ankle in the process. When their prey proved too hot to handle, and without a warrant of arrest or reason to detain him, he was released.
The police was said to have acted on an apparently false report to the effect that the witch-doctor who fortifies armed robbers for their evil operations needed to be arrested. One would have thought that an investigation to verify the authenticity of the allegation ought to have preceded the raid; this was not done, otherwise he would not have been released immediately. When they also carted away his royal regalia, it ought to have dawn on them that they are dealing with a King and not with a robber. Besides, the raid was an act of armed robbery per excellence because of the stealing of the sum of N2.250million from the Palace, apart from some items of electronics. That the raid was to kill him, there is abundant evidence, for a few weeks back, and three other traditional chiefs were killed in similar circumstances. The Ohireba of Obangede, the Ohimozi of Ebogogo and Onomu of Eika were the earlier victims.
Unless the policemen were hoodlums in uniform, and except if they were drawn from police formation of another state, police officers who has the authority to order such a raid ought to have been familiar with a second class traditional ruler and shouldn’t have mistaken him for some other persons. The master-minds of the dastardly act could have been left alone to execute their evil agenda without the active collaboration of the police, who is ordinarily expected to act impartially. The way and manner they carried out the raid is suggestive of a hatchet men’s job. The redeeming feature of the attempted murder was that their guns could not kill the king, nor did he die in their hands. One of those authors of the evil plot was said to have lamented that the mobile police should have thrown the king into the River Niger since they couldn’t kill him by their guns. Enemies are desperately wicked, aren’t they?
When in the early hours of Thursday, 22nd of March, my phone rang again; my spirit told me something worse has happened. “Is the king well?” I asked. “No, the king is dead”. At this news, the rudeness of the news was surpassed only by the shocking news itself. What could have killed the king? There was the temptation to begin to fathom the remote and proximate cause of his death. At least he was not shot dead, not beaten to death and was not thrown into the river – all these has failed to kill him. More inquiries revealed that two weeks prior to his departure, he had summoned home his eldest son and told him his time on earth was coming to an end. Three days before his demise, the King reminded his son that his time was up; and the king died! Medical experts attributed his death to cardiac arrest and diabetic conditions or whatever that means.
To begin to debate the cause of his death is to grant the enemies the liberty to begin to chuckle in triumph. The most diabolic among them may even join the mourning fray, crying louder than the bereaved even though in derision. No one needs to worry about the enemy, for if they are humans, what goes around comes around as the cycle of sadness and joy goes on in the wheel of a continuum. Really, if God doesn’t permit a thing, it cannot happen and so, neither the raid of the 10th January nor his demise of 22nd March was the handwork of man but the will of God as conceived by perverted evil men.
His Royal Highness, Ohinoyi Siaka Okaraga Lawal was born in 1943 into the Ruling House of Edima Lineage (during the reign of Obobanyi Simpa Oduba) one of the seven ruling houses of the Obobanyi of Ihima Stool. At his birth, the oracle foretold that he was going to be a king one day but on attaining adult hood; he took to farming and hunting. Through his hunting proceeds, he was ardent in serving the elders, especially, his royal predecessors such as Ohinoyi Onimisi Agere, and Ohinoyi Bello Chogudo Apana and so, when the stool became vacant in 1983 and it was the turn of Edima Ruling House to produce a successor, several names even of educated individuals came up. However, when the Oracle was consulted, His Highness was the preferred candidate, thus his ascension to the throne on 8th September, 1984.
His reign of about 28 years was fortuitous and fruitful even if tempestuous. The Obobanyi of Ihima stool was elevated to a Second-class status in 1991 and he was inaugurated the chairman of Okehi Local Government Traditional Council in 1994. He was a member of Ebira Area Traditional Council as well as Kogi State Council of Chiefs. He was a benefactor to many through his herbal medical practice. Those who have encounters with him would attest to his generous spirit and humane disposition. When his will was unduly tested between 2005/2007, he gave a good account of his royal forbearers as great men of valor!
Rest in peace, Odimboro Onoru, Adan’Ihima-Ori!!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Corruption as a Nigerian Factor
By Sam Onimisi
The social virus called the ‘Nigerian factor’ is a killer-disease that has arrested growth and development, and murdered talents and creativity for so long that there is little hope left as to whether the country has the slimmest chance of survival, not to talk of development or growth. The ‘Naija’ factor first killed individual initiative in public office, unless such a move creates enough room for ‘chop’; because, according to a popular parlance, ‘man must whack’. The whole of the country’s annual budget is reputed to be predicated on the ‘chop or whack’ concept, and here is how. If, for instance, N200 billion is needed for provision of portable water in some rural areas of the country, those with the duty to prepare or propose the budget would rather ask for N600 billion.
Now, everyone knows that the budget will go through some process by which several institutions of state will make inputs. Before the budget gets to the Presidency, all manners of exigent scenarios would have been built into the budget to make it iron cast, if not sacrosanct. The objective is to present the Presidency with a fait accompli such that there would be some irreconcilable lacunas if the budget is tampered with as proposed. I am not saying that the Presidency does not provide for exigencies of its own. Of course, it could order or advise the budget department to make room for certain fancies in the proposed budget. However, the public office holder who proposes and implement public budget is the ubiquitous civil servant in the Ministries and so, looking into the concept of ‘chop or whack’, there is no use looking elsewhere but to start with the directors and permanent secretaries or directors-general.
Once the President has presented the budget, the battle ground shifts to the National Assembly where the House and the Senate Committee on Annual Budgets are waiting for their pounds of flesh. Who is not familiar with their scarecrow tactics? First, they would discover a missing loop which must be explained and next, they would uncover a lump that must be disentangled and then go ahead to drill holes in the rationale for the figures allocated to the various sub-heads of the budget. If they are only exercising their oversight functions, it would be understandable. What we are talking about is beyond any oversight responsibility. The thing is like asking: “where is the provision for my chop, or shouldn’t I whack?” Negotiations beings in earnest some parts of which are not meant for public consumption. You see, in spite of the moral decadence of our society, the question of ‘chops’ and ‘whacks’ are often wrapped in utmost secrecy and what is publicly disclosed is for the purpose of our hoodwink, for man must whack!
The general public often blames the ‘politician’ for their woes, for corruption or incompetence. Unknown to them, the politician is more or less co-opted into the corrupt script by the civil servant; but because the loquacious elected representative is the one permitted to speak to the public, he is often held responsible for what is actually the fault of the civil servant. Remember, the civil servant is to be seen and not to be heard. At the end of all debates, everyone would have been ‘settled’ except the public. The water project would now be N500 billion and you would be made to believe that N100 billion has been saved. Whereas, what has been lost to the leaches in public service amounts to N300 billion! That may not be the total loss because; there are some rats along the long chain of officials who would need to be taken care of. The contractors will be left with that burden and so, the actual value of the water project which ordinarily would have cost tax payers N200 billion, will now cost them N500 billion while the practical value may just be about N150 billion!
If our reasoning is correct, it means that the menace of ghost workers is actually the idea of a broad spectrum of the civil service and everyone that should know are aware that there are more ghosts in the public service of the country than humans with flesh and blood. What matters to our civil servants is what accrues to them at the end of the month. (Don’t be daft; we are not talking about their salaries). The ghosts are unlike the living; once an agreement is reached, the ghosts are quick to deliver and they do so either to the coded accounts of their living collaborators, or hire people with flesh and blood to collect the cash on their behalf. Someone out there is talking about the ICPC and the EFCC watching the ghosts to swindle our treasury without reaction. Mumu!!
The EFCC and the ICPC were established some ten years back and we are talking about a phenomenon that is about 30 years old, if not older. What it means is that the practice of ‘chop’, ‘whack’, ‘settlement’ and budgeting for ghosts are part of the ingredients with which those bodies were established! Moreover, it is not in the mandate of the anti-graft agencies to scrutinize or approve budgets. Their scanners – if they have any – are incapable of detecting ghosts and even if they could, their own ghosts within will ensure that it fails – for ghosts don’t fight ghosts! “Ok then, why not go to court and ensure that all budgets are examined or at least are queried before their approval?” When I sought to know who asked the question, I found him to be a recent deportee from the United States for forged visa offence!
If I were to go to court, I would have to hire a lawyer at a fee at my own expense. The attorney and the Judge are lawyers playing different roles in the script of justice. The courts are not known to possess equipments for detecting inflated budgets, but they have the prerogative to ask me to prove my case beyond reasonable doubt. The judge is no doubt a human being but when ghosts are involved, the judge would require from me some specimen of ghosts as evidence to prove my allegations. Pray, where will I go to obtain one or two ghosts as my witness? If the judiciary prepares budgets, it means that there is the possibility of ghost judges in the service of the courts, and if one of them is the presiding judge, my case will not be decided in the open court but at the judge’s chambers, with my lawyer in attendance. Since you are neither at the Bar nor in the Bench, the judgment in the chambers cannot have your inputs as only your attorney or solicitor is qualified to be there. After all, the only learnered people or ghosts on earth are men/women of the Bar and the Bench! At the end, your lawyer will settle with the ghost judge and when he returns to you, he would advise you to let go the matter and warn or remind you that one day, you would be a mementomori. Case closed? Oh y-e-s! C-o-u-r-t!!
“Excuse me sir. I disagree with you that there are ghost workers feeding fat on ghost budgets. We have auditors-general whose duty is to authenticate budgets, costs, expenditures, taxes etc, and there is no reason to believe they are not doing their jobs?” Someone behind me volunteered to answer this question and I obliged him. He said that auditors-general and accountants-general are both civil servants holding one end of the budget rod or the other. He asked to be told or reminded of an incidence of disagreement between the two public officers in the last 30years. He sought to know the role played by the auditor-general in the trillion naira petroleum subsidy scandal or in the billions Naira Police Pension Fund and other jumbo thievery in the civil service. He concluded by calling the asker of that question a mumumu!! I beg to review that judgment and I reduce the sentence to mumu only. However, why can’t we insist on a return to the 1970’s when each government department has a staff list published for public use? With it, we are sure to cut the tail of corruption in public service.
The social virus called the ‘Nigerian factor’ is a killer-disease that has arrested growth and development, and murdered talents and creativity for so long that there is little hope left as to whether the country has the slimmest chance of survival, not to talk of development or growth. The ‘Naija’ factor first killed individual initiative in public office, unless such a move creates enough room for ‘chop’; because, according to a popular parlance, ‘man must whack’. The whole of the country’s annual budget is reputed to be predicated on the ‘chop or whack’ concept, and here is how. If, for instance, N200 billion is needed for provision of portable water in some rural areas of the country, those with the duty to prepare or propose the budget would rather ask for N600 billion.
Now, everyone knows that the budget will go through some process by which several institutions of state will make inputs. Before the budget gets to the Presidency, all manners of exigent scenarios would have been built into the budget to make it iron cast, if not sacrosanct. The objective is to present the Presidency with a fait accompli such that there would be some irreconcilable lacunas if the budget is tampered with as proposed. I am not saying that the Presidency does not provide for exigencies of its own. Of course, it could order or advise the budget department to make room for certain fancies in the proposed budget. However, the public office holder who proposes and implement public budget is the ubiquitous civil servant in the Ministries and so, looking into the concept of ‘chop or whack’, there is no use looking elsewhere but to start with the directors and permanent secretaries or directors-general.
Once the President has presented the budget, the battle ground shifts to the National Assembly where the House and the Senate Committee on Annual Budgets are waiting for their pounds of flesh. Who is not familiar with their scarecrow tactics? First, they would discover a missing loop which must be explained and next, they would uncover a lump that must be disentangled and then go ahead to drill holes in the rationale for the figures allocated to the various sub-heads of the budget. If they are only exercising their oversight functions, it would be understandable. What we are talking about is beyond any oversight responsibility. The thing is like asking: “where is the provision for my chop, or shouldn’t I whack?” Negotiations beings in earnest some parts of which are not meant for public consumption. You see, in spite of the moral decadence of our society, the question of ‘chops’ and ‘whacks’ are often wrapped in utmost secrecy and what is publicly disclosed is for the purpose of our hoodwink, for man must whack!
The general public often blames the ‘politician’ for their woes, for corruption or incompetence. Unknown to them, the politician is more or less co-opted into the corrupt script by the civil servant; but because the loquacious elected representative is the one permitted to speak to the public, he is often held responsible for what is actually the fault of the civil servant. Remember, the civil servant is to be seen and not to be heard. At the end of all debates, everyone would have been ‘settled’ except the public. The water project would now be N500 billion and you would be made to believe that N100 billion has been saved. Whereas, what has been lost to the leaches in public service amounts to N300 billion! That may not be the total loss because; there are some rats along the long chain of officials who would need to be taken care of. The contractors will be left with that burden and so, the actual value of the water project which ordinarily would have cost tax payers N200 billion, will now cost them N500 billion while the practical value may just be about N150 billion!
If our reasoning is correct, it means that the menace of ghost workers is actually the idea of a broad spectrum of the civil service and everyone that should know are aware that there are more ghosts in the public service of the country than humans with flesh and blood. What matters to our civil servants is what accrues to them at the end of the month. (Don’t be daft; we are not talking about their salaries). The ghosts are unlike the living; once an agreement is reached, the ghosts are quick to deliver and they do so either to the coded accounts of their living collaborators, or hire people with flesh and blood to collect the cash on their behalf. Someone out there is talking about the ICPC and the EFCC watching the ghosts to swindle our treasury without reaction. Mumu!!
The EFCC and the ICPC were established some ten years back and we are talking about a phenomenon that is about 30 years old, if not older. What it means is that the practice of ‘chop’, ‘whack’, ‘settlement’ and budgeting for ghosts are part of the ingredients with which those bodies were established! Moreover, it is not in the mandate of the anti-graft agencies to scrutinize or approve budgets. Their scanners – if they have any – are incapable of detecting ghosts and even if they could, their own ghosts within will ensure that it fails – for ghosts don’t fight ghosts! “Ok then, why not go to court and ensure that all budgets are examined or at least are queried before their approval?” When I sought to know who asked the question, I found him to be a recent deportee from the United States for forged visa offence!
If I were to go to court, I would have to hire a lawyer at a fee at my own expense. The attorney and the Judge are lawyers playing different roles in the script of justice. The courts are not known to possess equipments for detecting inflated budgets, but they have the prerogative to ask me to prove my case beyond reasonable doubt. The judge is no doubt a human being but when ghosts are involved, the judge would require from me some specimen of ghosts as evidence to prove my allegations. Pray, where will I go to obtain one or two ghosts as my witness? If the judiciary prepares budgets, it means that there is the possibility of ghost judges in the service of the courts, and if one of them is the presiding judge, my case will not be decided in the open court but at the judge’s chambers, with my lawyer in attendance. Since you are neither at the Bar nor in the Bench, the judgment in the chambers cannot have your inputs as only your attorney or solicitor is qualified to be there. After all, the only learnered people or ghosts on earth are men/women of the Bar and the Bench! At the end, your lawyer will settle with the ghost judge and when he returns to you, he would advise you to let go the matter and warn or remind you that one day, you would be a mementomori. Case closed? Oh y-e-s! C-o-u-r-t!!
“Excuse me sir. I disagree with you that there are ghost workers feeding fat on ghost budgets. We have auditors-general whose duty is to authenticate budgets, costs, expenditures, taxes etc, and there is no reason to believe they are not doing their jobs?” Someone behind me volunteered to answer this question and I obliged him. He said that auditors-general and accountants-general are both civil servants holding one end of the budget rod or the other. He asked to be told or reminded of an incidence of disagreement between the two public officers in the last 30years. He sought to know the role played by the auditor-general in the trillion naira petroleum subsidy scandal or in the billions Naira Police Pension Fund and other jumbo thievery in the civil service. He concluded by calling the asker of that question a mumumu!! I beg to review that judgment and I reduce the sentence to mumu only. However, why can’t we insist on a return to the 1970’s when each government department has a staff list published for public use? With it, we are sure to cut the tail of corruption in public service.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Of Poverty, Revenue & Surplus Allocation
By Sam Onimisi
One need not be a soothsayer to predict a looming battle which will be fought on geo-political basis as soon as the combatants are done with their preparation-and it is going to be a three-pronged battle. The issues, causes, and reasons for the ‘war’ are strewn in the streets and only the very lackadaisical among Nigerians would by now be oblivious of it. Let us quickly make an outline of the issues, the forces behind the clamor and the possible beneficiaries and victims of what promises to be an obstreperous mayhem. First, the National Assembly is currently engaged in a cantankerous debate over the huge allocation of funds for projects in the South-South geo-political zone as against other zones, especially the three Northern geo-political zones. Second, a group of concerned Northerners has opted for the controversial ‘Sovereign’ National Conference as a way or means of re-positioning the North to regain its pre-eminent or controlling position in the political economy of the country; and to resolve the security challenge posed by the Boko Haram terrorists. And third, the Northern Governors’ Forum is calling for a new revenue formula to replace the current one which is perceived as unfavorable to the North.
Given the zeal and glee with which the Northern Caucus of the National Assembly rolled out statistical data to back up their claims, one would be tempted to accuse or dub them as surrealists. The immediate problem I see in their approach is the very complex econometrics they employed in making out their case which, as it is, will require a large number of econometricians or econometrists to sort out and make simple for the common man to understand or support.
My pain is that national debates such as this were always conducted in such an obstreperous manner and at the end; the real issues and the desirable benefits would be lost without gains, and making no one wiser than hitherto. For this singular reason, one is forced to join this debate or battle without the facts available to the distinguished and honorable members of the National Assembly, the ubiquitous Northern Governors Forum, or even the fledging coalition of Concerned Northerners. While the three Northern groups are ready to quote copiously from the large quantum of statistical data at their disposal, one is free to contribute to the debate using a commonsensical approach. I beg of you, is there any offence in this?
The issues the three Northern Groups are championing are basically the same and could be reduced to one: a better or more appropriate political economy for Nigeria. The Northern Caucus of the National Assembly was accused by a colleague and friend of mine of insincerity and opined that they are fighting for selfish interests and not for the poor people of the North. He questioned their legitimacy in terms of their numerical strength in the legislature-a number which he said is derived from the dubious population censuses of the past and the equally questionable creation of more states and Local Government Councils in the North upon which representation in the National Assembly and the revenue allocation and sharing formula were based. Take special note of the issues he has questioned as they are not only germane but central to the legitimacy of the Nigerian nation-state. Before I could caution this Pontius Pilate against his seemingly incendiary opinion, he rushed ahead to assert that the very resources from which revenue are derived-petroleum and gas-constitutes about 90% of Nigeria’s foreign income earner and that it is derived from the soil of the Niger Delta. He sought to know the contribution of the North to the national purse or treasury from which they share what they see as inadequate. He questioned the North’s sense of fairness in comparing the flat desert terrain of the North compared to the swampy and tortuous topography of the South, especially of the Niger Delta, in the area of costs of construction of roads and houses. He said that civil engineering costs in the South-South are at least 8 times more than similar projects in the North.
In what turned out to be a monologue instead of a dialogue, our friend went on memory lane to recall those who rule Nigeria from independence and that majority of them were Northerners who formulated and implemented or supervised the implementation of economic, political and socio-cultural policies-all of which he claimed were slanted and skewed in favour of the North. Of a truth, my mind quickly remembered Tafawa Balewa, 1960 to 1966, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, July 1966 – July 1975, Alh. Shehu Shagari, 1979 – 1983, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, 1983 – 1985; Gen. Ibrahim Babamasi Babangida, 1985 – 1993; Gen. Sani Abacha, 1993 to 1998; Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalam, 1998 – 1999 and Alh. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, 2007 – 2010. This represents about 37 years of Nigeria’s 52 years of independence! The tenure of Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi is cancelled out by that of Gen. Murtala Muhammad both of who served for six months each. Earnest Shonekan’s two months was everything but a Shenanigan!
Now my friend asked: if there is poverty and illiteracy in the North, who created or nurtured them? He sought to know why the North is still complaining in spite of 35 years of Quota System of admission to tertiary institutions which gave the North a lower pass-mark as against that of the South. He also asked if it was anyone from outside the North who forbids them from going to school-a development which he said is, as old as the Lugardian era which has since metamorphosed into a terrorist organization called the Boko Haram.
This friend of mine appeared to be so possessed of the issues that he didn’t allow me a moment to respond. He said that he knew of no one in the South-South who prevented the North from industrialization out of the trillions of Naira they allocated to themselves during their years in power. He went as far as reeling out figures of the investment portfolio of former Heads of State of Northern extraction in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai, and Doha, not to mention those in Britain, United States, France and Switzerland. To make matters worse, he accused them of looting the nation’s treasury only to use it to purchase public enterprises which they sold to themselves at very cheap prices. He went on and on until I got exasperated and reminded him of the criminality of the Niger Delta boys which forced late President Umaru Yar’Adua to take military action against them. I also reminded him of the magnanimity of the late President who instituted an amnesty programme for the rehabilitation of the South-South ex-militants.
He interjected again to mention the statement credited to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who claimed that the Boko Haram rebellion is a protest against the lopsided revenue formula which deprived Northern States of their fair share of the national cake. He asserted that Sanusi was either being economical with the truth or he was being mischievous. He said Yar’Adua acted in self and group interest by unleashing soldiers against the Niger Delta militants and that the amnesty was to pacify the militants to stop disrupting the flow of oil from the oil blocks and fields allocated to Northerners by northern heads of government.
If all my friend said are true, then three issues came out in bold relief and they are: that there is no agreement in all fundamental areas of nationhood as the real population of the federating units, the basis of revenue generation and sharing formula, the administrative units or geo-political structures are in dispute and are being questioned. The fact that the Boko Haram has taken up arms against the state constitutes even a more serious challenge to Nigeria’s nationhood. Unless we all want to join the Boko Haram war to answer the question once and for all, the sensible alternative is to engage in national dialogue for the sole purpose of negotiating new terms of co-habitation as one nation-state, though with a caveat: since the existing institutions of governance are the products of impunity of the past which has failed woefully but which still tilts towards maintaining the status quo, a new body must be constituted to convoke an Ethnic Nationalities Conference, the outcome of which will produce a new Constitution for the country. And the earlier, the better!
One need not be a soothsayer to predict a looming battle which will be fought on geo-political basis as soon as the combatants are done with their preparation-and it is going to be a three-pronged battle. The issues, causes, and reasons for the ‘war’ are strewn in the streets and only the very lackadaisical among Nigerians would by now be oblivious of it. Let us quickly make an outline of the issues, the forces behind the clamor and the possible beneficiaries and victims of what promises to be an obstreperous mayhem. First, the National Assembly is currently engaged in a cantankerous debate over the huge allocation of funds for projects in the South-South geo-political zone as against other zones, especially the three Northern geo-political zones. Second, a group of concerned Northerners has opted for the controversial ‘Sovereign’ National Conference as a way or means of re-positioning the North to regain its pre-eminent or controlling position in the political economy of the country; and to resolve the security challenge posed by the Boko Haram terrorists. And third, the Northern Governors’ Forum is calling for a new revenue formula to replace the current one which is perceived as unfavorable to the North.
Given the zeal and glee with which the Northern Caucus of the National Assembly rolled out statistical data to back up their claims, one would be tempted to accuse or dub them as surrealists. The immediate problem I see in their approach is the very complex econometrics they employed in making out their case which, as it is, will require a large number of econometricians or econometrists to sort out and make simple for the common man to understand or support.
My pain is that national debates such as this were always conducted in such an obstreperous manner and at the end; the real issues and the desirable benefits would be lost without gains, and making no one wiser than hitherto. For this singular reason, one is forced to join this debate or battle without the facts available to the distinguished and honorable members of the National Assembly, the ubiquitous Northern Governors Forum, or even the fledging coalition of Concerned Northerners. While the three Northern groups are ready to quote copiously from the large quantum of statistical data at their disposal, one is free to contribute to the debate using a commonsensical approach. I beg of you, is there any offence in this?
The issues the three Northern Groups are championing are basically the same and could be reduced to one: a better or more appropriate political economy for Nigeria. The Northern Caucus of the National Assembly was accused by a colleague and friend of mine of insincerity and opined that they are fighting for selfish interests and not for the poor people of the North. He questioned their legitimacy in terms of their numerical strength in the legislature-a number which he said is derived from the dubious population censuses of the past and the equally questionable creation of more states and Local Government Councils in the North upon which representation in the National Assembly and the revenue allocation and sharing formula were based. Take special note of the issues he has questioned as they are not only germane but central to the legitimacy of the Nigerian nation-state. Before I could caution this Pontius Pilate against his seemingly incendiary opinion, he rushed ahead to assert that the very resources from which revenue are derived-petroleum and gas-constitutes about 90% of Nigeria’s foreign income earner and that it is derived from the soil of the Niger Delta. He sought to know the contribution of the North to the national purse or treasury from which they share what they see as inadequate. He questioned the North’s sense of fairness in comparing the flat desert terrain of the North compared to the swampy and tortuous topography of the South, especially of the Niger Delta, in the area of costs of construction of roads and houses. He said that civil engineering costs in the South-South are at least 8 times more than similar projects in the North.
In what turned out to be a monologue instead of a dialogue, our friend went on memory lane to recall those who rule Nigeria from independence and that majority of them were Northerners who formulated and implemented or supervised the implementation of economic, political and socio-cultural policies-all of which he claimed were slanted and skewed in favour of the North. Of a truth, my mind quickly remembered Tafawa Balewa, 1960 to 1966, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, July 1966 – July 1975, Alh. Shehu Shagari, 1979 – 1983, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, 1983 – 1985; Gen. Ibrahim Babamasi Babangida, 1985 – 1993; Gen. Sani Abacha, 1993 to 1998; Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalam, 1998 – 1999 and Alh. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, 2007 – 2010. This represents about 37 years of Nigeria’s 52 years of independence! The tenure of Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi is cancelled out by that of Gen. Murtala Muhammad both of who served for six months each. Earnest Shonekan’s two months was everything but a Shenanigan!
Now my friend asked: if there is poverty and illiteracy in the North, who created or nurtured them? He sought to know why the North is still complaining in spite of 35 years of Quota System of admission to tertiary institutions which gave the North a lower pass-mark as against that of the South. He also asked if it was anyone from outside the North who forbids them from going to school-a development which he said is, as old as the Lugardian era which has since metamorphosed into a terrorist organization called the Boko Haram.
This friend of mine appeared to be so possessed of the issues that he didn’t allow me a moment to respond. He said that he knew of no one in the South-South who prevented the North from industrialization out of the trillions of Naira they allocated to themselves during their years in power. He went as far as reeling out figures of the investment portfolio of former Heads of State of Northern extraction in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai, and Doha, not to mention those in Britain, United States, France and Switzerland. To make matters worse, he accused them of looting the nation’s treasury only to use it to purchase public enterprises which they sold to themselves at very cheap prices. He went on and on until I got exasperated and reminded him of the criminality of the Niger Delta boys which forced late President Umaru Yar’Adua to take military action against them. I also reminded him of the magnanimity of the late President who instituted an amnesty programme for the rehabilitation of the South-South ex-militants.
He interjected again to mention the statement credited to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who claimed that the Boko Haram rebellion is a protest against the lopsided revenue formula which deprived Northern States of their fair share of the national cake. He asserted that Sanusi was either being economical with the truth or he was being mischievous. He said Yar’Adua acted in self and group interest by unleashing soldiers against the Niger Delta militants and that the amnesty was to pacify the militants to stop disrupting the flow of oil from the oil blocks and fields allocated to Northerners by northern heads of government.
If all my friend said are true, then three issues came out in bold relief and they are: that there is no agreement in all fundamental areas of nationhood as the real population of the federating units, the basis of revenue generation and sharing formula, the administrative units or geo-political structures are in dispute and are being questioned. The fact that the Boko Haram has taken up arms against the state constitutes even a more serious challenge to Nigeria’s nationhood. Unless we all want to join the Boko Haram war to answer the question once and for all, the sensible alternative is to engage in national dialogue for the sole purpose of negotiating new terms of co-habitation as one nation-state, though with a caveat: since the existing institutions of governance are the products of impunity of the past which has failed woefully but which still tilts towards maintaining the status quo, a new body must be constituted to convoke an Ethnic Nationalities Conference, the outcome of which will produce a new Constitution for the country. And the earlier, the better!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Between Fiefdoms & States Creation
By Sam Onimisi
In a recent public lecture by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu organized by the Otu Oka’ Iwu in Lagos, it was made known that there are presently about 45 requests for the creation of new states before the National Assembly. Before going into the merit or demerits of creation of more states, we should have an idea of how the new requests are made. The South South Geo-political zone made 13 requests as against 10 from the South West. The South East has 8 requests compared to the North West’s 6 requests while the North Central and the North East has 5 and 3 requests respectively. If wishes were hoses, the 45 requests would be as good as created and that will bring the number of states to 81, apart from the Federal Capital Territory. There is no guarantee that people will not have reasons to request for even more states and before we know it, we could have as many as 100 states by the year 2015! But why are people demanding for more states?
There are as many reasons as could be adduced or invented by agitators for creation of more states. At the moment, the reasons are: fear of marginalization, the need for equity and fairness, the fear of ethnic and religious minorities and to bring government closer to the people for the purpose of development. In other words, there is injustice and inequity in the current Geo-political structure which needs to be redressed, and some people believe that the only way to achieve them is to create more states. If anything, I have sympathy for the agitators of creation of more states because I feel for them and do understand the trauma and deprivation they have had to endure so far. While the reasons they adduced in favour of more states appear plausible, their demand is not and can never be the required panacea for equity and fairness in the polity. Why do I say so?
First, Nigeria is not a nation to which all Nigerian ethnic nations subscribed by voluntary choice. Second, there is no basis, no terms and therefore no reason why Nigeria should have been merged or should still exist as one country. Third, there is no subsistence pact, agreement or terms to which the people subscribed as the basis of our Union as one compatible nation-state. Therefore, the creation and subsequent merger of the so-called Protectorate of Northern and Southern Provinces were by foreign do-gooders and mercantile colonizers, without the input and consent of the various people of the geographical space known today as Nigeria. The fad called unity-in-diversity which was often given as the beauty or basis of our togetherness is a lie of the highest order. Really? Yes! If our diversity is so good as to erect bonds of unity, why do we go to great length to conceal them and pretend they do not exist?
Our ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural diversities are natural creations over which no Nigerian had a choice. As a result, any merger between one or more ethnic group with another in an administrative unit must be on the basis of a mutual agreement entered into by all parties to it, if the merger or the union is to endure. Unfortunately, none of the existing 36 states has such an agreement prior to their creation. None was subjected to a referendum to ascertain the desires of the people herded into these states. Any wonder that after several years of their interactions, they discovered that they are not compatible as to get along and so, agitation for a new state out of the old one becomes an answer? If majority rule is a fundamental requirement for a democracy, self-determination is a more fundamental human rights of all people, both of majority and of minorities. Many states in Nigeria has become the property of certain ethnic groups or religious groups on the basis of majority rule.
If a group is so major as to monopolize political power to the exclusion of other groups, it must not be to the extent of making the minorities into slaves. What is the value of a majority rule if they are being sustained by the resources in the soil of the minorities? Who donated the minorities to the majorities? Why must they remain together if the so-called majority group monopolize the resources of the minorities by stealth? If you look at states such as Kogi, Benue, Delta, Adamawa, Nassarawa, Kaduna and Kwara States, the reason for demands for new states emanated from the monopoly of power by either an ethnic group or a religious group. If power cannot be devolved, it can be separated so each group-whether major or minor-could be on their own on the basis of self-determination. No union can endure if it is sustained by force and that is why unity remains a mirage between and among different ethnic, religious and geographical groups in Nigeria. In order for the demand for more states to abate, our ethnic, religious, linguistic and geographical diversities must be configured into our Geo-political structures. How?
The present structure evolved by both an expediency and or vindictive actions of the powers-that-be at certain critical points of our history. The first state creation exercise was to severe Eastern minorities from the Igbo-dominated region with a view of isolating the Biafran Igbo people, either to avert the civil war or to disable the secessionists for ultimate defeat. Subsequent state creation exercises never really departed from the iniquitous reasons of the past colonial and military regimes. What we have as Geo-political structures today is like a foundation for a bungalow but now with a 20 storey building. Neither the foundation nor the building is safe as the one cannot carry the other. If it appears that I am for and against creation of more states at the same time, here are my reason.
No polity established on falsehood and presumptions can endure and Nigeria is one of such polities. We started by running a federal system and the military came and changed it into a unitary system but continue to lie and pretend that we are a Federal republic. Yet, succeeding civil governments continued to tinker with military imposed unitary Constitution in a multi-ethnic country, thinking erroneously that the unitary system will bring about unity, but that hope is built on false premises, which is why it failed to work. For States to be viable in a multi-national country, it must be created on the basis of ethnic nationalities, geographical contiguity, cultural and linguistic affiliation etc. However, because many ethnic groups are two small and economically weak to form a state, a group of them could come together to form a federated state-provided they are or belong to a region with which they are contiguous.
A return to new regionalism is the answer. New, because it is no longer three or four but about twenty or a little more. The regions should have the right to create their own states since the federating unit so recognized will be the regions. The so-called six geopolitical zones are injurious to the minority ethnic groups and therefore are unacceptable. The 36 states structure are too artificial and inorganic-which is why 45 new demands for state creation is oozing out of them. A group of patriotic Nigerians showed the way forward in 2005 when they convoked a Peoples National Conference out of which the PRONACO proposed federal constitution emerged. That document deserve more than a cursory glance by all Nigerians who wants the country to remain united. Unity in diversity should be one in which ethnic groups enjoy internal autonomy, not one in which some are ordained rulers while others are sentenced to a life of servitude. There is no value of a unity at all costs; the cost of our forced unity has been very exorbitant and now, too prohibitive to bear. Let us restructure Nigeria in peace rather than in pieces!
In a recent public lecture by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu organized by the Otu Oka’ Iwu in Lagos, it was made known that there are presently about 45 requests for the creation of new states before the National Assembly. Before going into the merit or demerits of creation of more states, we should have an idea of how the new requests are made. The South South Geo-political zone made 13 requests as against 10 from the South West. The South East has 8 requests compared to the North West’s 6 requests while the North Central and the North East has 5 and 3 requests respectively. If wishes were hoses, the 45 requests would be as good as created and that will bring the number of states to 81, apart from the Federal Capital Territory. There is no guarantee that people will not have reasons to request for even more states and before we know it, we could have as many as 100 states by the year 2015! But why are people demanding for more states?
There are as many reasons as could be adduced or invented by agitators for creation of more states. At the moment, the reasons are: fear of marginalization, the need for equity and fairness, the fear of ethnic and religious minorities and to bring government closer to the people for the purpose of development. In other words, there is injustice and inequity in the current Geo-political structure which needs to be redressed, and some people believe that the only way to achieve them is to create more states. If anything, I have sympathy for the agitators of creation of more states because I feel for them and do understand the trauma and deprivation they have had to endure so far. While the reasons they adduced in favour of more states appear plausible, their demand is not and can never be the required panacea for equity and fairness in the polity. Why do I say so?
First, Nigeria is not a nation to which all Nigerian ethnic nations subscribed by voluntary choice. Second, there is no basis, no terms and therefore no reason why Nigeria should have been merged or should still exist as one country. Third, there is no subsistence pact, agreement or terms to which the people subscribed as the basis of our Union as one compatible nation-state. Therefore, the creation and subsequent merger of the so-called Protectorate of Northern and Southern Provinces were by foreign do-gooders and mercantile colonizers, without the input and consent of the various people of the geographical space known today as Nigeria. The fad called unity-in-diversity which was often given as the beauty or basis of our togetherness is a lie of the highest order. Really? Yes! If our diversity is so good as to erect bonds of unity, why do we go to great length to conceal them and pretend they do not exist?
Our ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural diversities are natural creations over which no Nigerian had a choice. As a result, any merger between one or more ethnic group with another in an administrative unit must be on the basis of a mutual agreement entered into by all parties to it, if the merger or the union is to endure. Unfortunately, none of the existing 36 states has such an agreement prior to their creation. None was subjected to a referendum to ascertain the desires of the people herded into these states. Any wonder that after several years of their interactions, they discovered that they are not compatible as to get along and so, agitation for a new state out of the old one becomes an answer? If majority rule is a fundamental requirement for a democracy, self-determination is a more fundamental human rights of all people, both of majority and of minorities. Many states in Nigeria has become the property of certain ethnic groups or religious groups on the basis of majority rule.
If a group is so major as to monopolize political power to the exclusion of other groups, it must not be to the extent of making the minorities into slaves. What is the value of a majority rule if they are being sustained by the resources in the soil of the minorities? Who donated the minorities to the majorities? Why must they remain together if the so-called majority group monopolize the resources of the minorities by stealth? If you look at states such as Kogi, Benue, Delta, Adamawa, Nassarawa, Kaduna and Kwara States, the reason for demands for new states emanated from the monopoly of power by either an ethnic group or a religious group. If power cannot be devolved, it can be separated so each group-whether major or minor-could be on their own on the basis of self-determination. No union can endure if it is sustained by force and that is why unity remains a mirage between and among different ethnic, religious and geographical groups in Nigeria. In order for the demand for more states to abate, our ethnic, religious, linguistic and geographical diversities must be configured into our Geo-political structures. How?
The present structure evolved by both an expediency and or vindictive actions of the powers-that-be at certain critical points of our history. The first state creation exercise was to severe Eastern minorities from the Igbo-dominated region with a view of isolating the Biafran Igbo people, either to avert the civil war or to disable the secessionists for ultimate defeat. Subsequent state creation exercises never really departed from the iniquitous reasons of the past colonial and military regimes. What we have as Geo-political structures today is like a foundation for a bungalow but now with a 20 storey building. Neither the foundation nor the building is safe as the one cannot carry the other. If it appears that I am for and against creation of more states at the same time, here are my reason.
No polity established on falsehood and presumptions can endure and Nigeria is one of such polities. We started by running a federal system and the military came and changed it into a unitary system but continue to lie and pretend that we are a Federal republic. Yet, succeeding civil governments continued to tinker with military imposed unitary Constitution in a multi-ethnic country, thinking erroneously that the unitary system will bring about unity, but that hope is built on false premises, which is why it failed to work. For States to be viable in a multi-national country, it must be created on the basis of ethnic nationalities, geographical contiguity, cultural and linguistic affiliation etc. However, because many ethnic groups are two small and economically weak to form a state, a group of them could come together to form a federated state-provided they are or belong to a region with which they are contiguous.
A return to new regionalism is the answer. New, because it is no longer three or four but about twenty or a little more. The regions should have the right to create their own states since the federating unit so recognized will be the regions. The so-called six geopolitical zones are injurious to the minority ethnic groups and therefore are unacceptable. The 36 states structure are too artificial and inorganic-which is why 45 new demands for state creation is oozing out of them. A group of patriotic Nigerians showed the way forward in 2005 when they convoked a Peoples National Conference out of which the PRONACO proposed federal constitution emerged. That document deserve more than a cursory glance by all Nigerians who wants the country to remain united. Unity in diversity should be one in which ethnic groups enjoy internal autonomy, not one in which some are ordained rulers while others are sentenced to a life of servitude. There is no value of a unity at all costs; the cost of our forced unity has been very exorbitant and now, too prohibitive to bear. Let us restructure Nigeria in peace rather than in pieces!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
The Day Tinubu Goofed
By Sam Onimisi
It is no doubt a painful exercise to have to oppose someone who is perceived as an icon and who in the past, has demonstrated some attributes of a great leader. If anything, it is a proof of the truism that no man is infallible and so, when they fall, it should be duly reported and the individual has to be put in his proper place. Former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu missed the mark last week when he accused President Goodluck Jonathan of dividing the country along ethnic and religious lines without producing a shred of evidence. As the foremost opposition leader in the country today, his views on all issues especially, on emotive subjects, such as religion carries a lot of weight. But this time and on this occasion, Asiwaju Tinubu goofed badly.
First, his insistence on a genuinely organized national conference, in the face of serious threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty is correct. If he attacks Mr. President on this issue for rejecting the call for a national conference, that is as it should be; for only the wilfully blind would kick against the need for a national dialogue at this point in time or at any other point for that matter. I join Asiwaju Tinubu and other well-meaning Nigerians in calling on Mr. President to see the need for and embrace the call for a national conference to decide on centrifugal forces militating against the oneness of Nigeria. This is because the existing institutions of state has proved incapable of doing so on the basis of moral illegitimacy. This is a matter for another day. Now back to Tinubu’s attack. “Mr. President should stop dividing the country on the basis of religion and ethnicity. Don’t divide Nigeria between Christians and Muslims. We need religious tolerance and inter-faith harmony in this country.… We want unity in diversity for economic prosperity and not divide-and-rule for political adversity,” he said.
Asiwaju Tinubu said these on an occasion when his friends and associates were gathered at Ilesha, Osun State to celebrate a new Chieftaincy title, the Agba-Akin Adinni of Ijesha. His dress for the occasion was that of an Islamic Mujahid, not different from what the Boko Haram sponsors puts on daily. He failed to adduce reason or evidence of the President’s divisive religious antics which could be interpreted to mean a divide-and-rule move. For a man whose words are wont to be taken seriously, it was a gaffe too loose to be responsible. Tinubu may have some mementos to show for his neutral stance on ethnic sentiment, given the fact that he appointed or allowed to be appointed some Igbo residents in Lagos as commissioners in charge of some innocuous portfolios. However, the same thing cannot be said of his religious tolerance-the very high ground on which he attacked Jonathan.
Truly as he admitted: “… born a Muslim as a politician I secure votes from Christians, Muslims and traditionalists”; it can be said that he woo non-Muslims only for electoral purposes, and here are the proofs. Since he became governor in 1999, Tinubu appointed Muslims in larger number into his cabinet and gave them juicy port-folios. When it was time to leave in 2007, he did all he could to ensure that another Muslim succeeded him. If Fashola turned out to be an excellent choice, it is not because he is a Muslim by faith but because he is a fine mind. Governor Rauf Aregbesola was the commissioner for works under governor Tinubu whose support made the former governor of Osun State. Tinubu has literally confined Lagos Christians to the deputy governors position – something of a second fiddle. He is on record to have caused his deputy to be removed twice during his tenure (remember Femi Pedro?) if he perceived they could pose a threat to his electoral maneuvers.
As the kingmaker in 2007, he ensured that a woman was picked by Fashola as running mate who, was also dropped in 2011 for another woman – to avoid a situation when a Christian woman would be strong enough to challenge or bid for the office of the governor. If Tinubu ought to be commended for reserving the deputy governor’s office for gender equity, it is not a proof that he didn’t do so for religious reasons. Yes, the Asiwaju of Lagos and Jagaba of Borgu is married to a Christian woman and often attend church ceremonies along with her. But those who knows him enough vowed that it is all a cosmetics and not a proof of religious tolerance. “He wanted a fine lady at all cost and found one in Oluremi who gave one strong condition. That she be left alone with her Christian faith, to which Bola concurred.” In other words, if and whenever he needs support, he is ready to drop his religious fundamentalism and pick it up again after he has had his way! Talk of a clever politician!!
As someone eying national political leadership, one would have thought that his party would be sensitive enough to ensure religious equity in his party staff structure. Does he not stand accused of religious sentiment if under his watch, the ACN has a Muslim National Chairman, national secretary, national publicity secretary etc? Yet, he is the National Leader of the party! Moreover, of the four states the ACN won in the last general election, three has Muslim governors as against one Christian (who, incidentally is running his 2007 stolen mandate). Perhaps if the Ekiti State governor had run under another party, Tinubu would not have been motivated to support his legal battles by which he reclaimed his mandate. If it has been proven that Tinubu’s religious bigotry is worse than his victim, his political or undemocratic records is not better either. What are the proofs?
The deluge of protests by ACN candidates or aspirants prior to the last general elections is an evidence of Asiwaju’s imposition of his choice boys as against the duly elected choice of the people. Given the performance of opposition parties in the gubernatorial election in Lagos State, the subsequent local government election won 100% by ACN is another proof that Tinubu and his party are not any more democratic than the PDP he was denigrating. The truth is, many probably loathe the PDP than Tinubu but as a participant and watcher of political practice in Nigeria, Tinubu neither represents an ideal opposition leader nor is his party any different from the ruling party at the centre.
Leadership demands more than guts and refined leadership ought to be transparent and exemplary. If as it has been alleged, that Asiwaju Tinubu is neither cleaner nor as liberal as he claims, it is time Asiwaju learn to be a true front line leader in political ethics and religious fidelity. The sum total is that Tinubu is not as excellent as he pretends to be. Being a product of political impurity and the whimsical process which gave birth to civil rule in 1999, Tinubu could not have beaten other candidates to emerge the governor of an urbane and cosmopolitan state like Lagos. The president may be guilty of sundry other accusations or even dereliction of responsibility, but to accuse him of trying to divide Nigerians on religious basis, especially by a person as vulnerable as Tinubu, is to stand truth on its head. An ostrich may bury its head on the sand, but its entire body is right outside and naked. The Agba-Akin Adinni is translated to mean Senior Commander of the faithful in Yoruba Islamic tradition. Step forward Asiwaju in front of the mirror, and let Bola Tinubu sees who is dividing Nigerians on religious lines!
It is no doubt a painful exercise to have to oppose someone who is perceived as an icon and who in the past, has demonstrated some attributes of a great leader. If anything, it is a proof of the truism that no man is infallible and so, when they fall, it should be duly reported and the individual has to be put in his proper place. Former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu missed the mark last week when he accused President Goodluck Jonathan of dividing the country along ethnic and religious lines without producing a shred of evidence. As the foremost opposition leader in the country today, his views on all issues especially, on emotive subjects, such as religion carries a lot of weight. But this time and on this occasion, Asiwaju Tinubu goofed badly.
First, his insistence on a genuinely organized national conference, in the face of serious threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty is correct. If he attacks Mr. President on this issue for rejecting the call for a national conference, that is as it should be; for only the wilfully blind would kick against the need for a national dialogue at this point in time or at any other point for that matter. I join Asiwaju Tinubu and other well-meaning Nigerians in calling on Mr. President to see the need for and embrace the call for a national conference to decide on centrifugal forces militating against the oneness of Nigeria. This is because the existing institutions of state has proved incapable of doing so on the basis of moral illegitimacy. This is a matter for another day. Now back to Tinubu’s attack. “Mr. President should stop dividing the country on the basis of religion and ethnicity. Don’t divide Nigeria between Christians and Muslims. We need religious tolerance and inter-faith harmony in this country.… We want unity in diversity for economic prosperity and not divide-and-rule for political adversity,” he said.
Asiwaju Tinubu said these on an occasion when his friends and associates were gathered at Ilesha, Osun State to celebrate a new Chieftaincy title, the Agba-Akin Adinni of Ijesha. His dress for the occasion was that of an Islamic Mujahid, not different from what the Boko Haram sponsors puts on daily. He failed to adduce reason or evidence of the President’s divisive religious antics which could be interpreted to mean a divide-and-rule move. For a man whose words are wont to be taken seriously, it was a gaffe too loose to be responsible. Tinubu may have some mementos to show for his neutral stance on ethnic sentiment, given the fact that he appointed or allowed to be appointed some Igbo residents in Lagos as commissioners in charge of some innocuous portfolios. However, the same thing cannot be said of his religious tolerance-the very high ground on which he attacked Jonathan.
Truly as he admitted: “… born a Muslim as a politician I secure votes from Christians, Muslims and traditionalists”; it can be said that he woo non-Muslims only for electoral purposes, and here are the proofs. Since he became governor in 1999, Tinubu appointed Muslims in larger number into his cabinet and gave them juicy port-folios. When it was time to leave in 2007, he did all he could to ensure that another Muslim succeeded him. If Fashola turned out to be an excellent choice, it is not because he is a Muslim by faith but because he is a fine mind. Governor Rauf Aregbesola was the commissioner for works under governor Tinubu whose support made the former governor of Osun State. Tinubu has literally confined Lagos Christians to the deputy governors position – something of a second fiddle. He is on record to have caused his deputy to be removed twice during his tenure (remember Femi Pedro?) if he perceived they could pose a threat to his electoral maneuvers.
As the kingmaker in 2007, he ensured that a woman was picked by Fashola as running mate who, was also dropped in 2011 for another woman – to avoid a situation when a Christian woman would be strong enough to challenge or bid for the office of the governor. If Tinubu ought to be commended for reserving the deputy governor’s office for gender equity, it is not a proof that he didn’t do so for religious reasons. Yes, the Asiwaju of Lagos and Jagaba of Borgu is married to a Christian woman and often attend church ceremonies along with her. But those who knows him enough vowed that it is all a cosmetics and not a proof of religious tolerance. “He wanted a fine lady at all cost and found one in Oluremi who gave one strong condition. That she be left alone with her Christian faith, to which Bola concurred.” In other words, if and whenever he needs support, he is ready to drop his religious fundamentalism and pick it up again after he has had his way! Talk of a clever politician!!
As someone eying national political leadership, one would have thought that his party would be sensitive enough to ensure religious equity in his party staff structure. Does he not stand accused of religious sentiment if under his watch, the ACN has a Muslim National Chairman, national secretary, national publicity secretary etc? Yet, he is the National Leader of the party! Moreover, of the four states the ACN won in the last general election, three has Muslim governors as against one Christian (who, incidentally is running his 2007 stolen mandate). Perhaps if the Ekiti State governor had run under another party, Tinubu would not have been motivated to support his legal battles by which he reclaimed his mandate. If it has been proven that Tinubu’s religious bigotry is worse than his victim, his political or undemocratic records is not better either. What are the proofs?
The deluge of protests by ACN candidates or aspirants prior to the last general elections is an evidence of Asiwaju’s imposition of his choice boys as against the duly elected choice of the people. Given the performance of opposition parties in the gubernatorial election in Lagos State, the subsequent local government election won 100% by ACN is another proof that Tinubu and his party are not any more democratic than the PDP he was denigrating. The truth is, many probably loathe the PDP than Tinubu but as a participant and watcher of political practice in Nigeria, Tinubu neither represents an ideal opposition leader nor is his party any different from the ruling party at the centre.
Leadership demands more than guts and refined leadership ought to be transparent and exemplary. If as it has been alleged, that Asiwaju Tinubu is neither cleaner nor as liberal as he claims, it is time Asiwaju learn to be a true front line leader in political ethics and religious fidelity. The sum total is that Tinubu is not as excellent as he pretends to be. Being a product of political impurity and the whimsical process which gave birth to civil rule in 1999, Tinubu could not have beaten other candidates to emerge the governor of an urbane and cosmopolitan state like Lagos. The president may be guilty of sundry other accusations or even dereliction of responsibility, but to accuse him of trying to divide Nigerians on religious basis, especially by a person as vulnerable as Tinubu, is to stand truth on its head. An ostrich may bury its head on the sand, but its entire body is right outside and naked. The Agba-Akin Adinni is translated to mean Senior Commander of the faithful in Yoruba Islamic tradition. Step forward Asiwaju in front of the mirror, and let Bola Tinubu sees who is dividing Nigerians on religious lines!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Rehash: The Nigeria Police Farce!
By Sam Onimisi
(An essay on Security Challenges facing Nigeria as it affected the Nigeria Police published on January 2001, the contents of which is as relevant today as then, but for a few details)
Sometimes in July 2000 and for reasons of rising crime wave, the Federal Executive Council was reported to have directed both the Minister for Police Affairs and the Inspector General of Police, to issue weekly report to the President.
By now after six months of weekly reports, the presidency must have been overwhelmed with a deluge of apprehensive security reports from which a lot of orders must have been issued for either more men/women and or equipment for the Nigeria Police Force.
I am not in position to know or tell how such presidential orders affected the efficacy of security management across the country. From reports by the news media and eye witnesses, rather than the crime wave abating, it is escalating at an alarming and dangerous progression. Do we now have to doubt that executive orders from the Commander-in-Chief are not enough and may not be what is required to keep criminals at bay?
Before you ask of what measure is capable of reducing crime, we must remind ourselves of the place and duty of the police in the community. The primary duties of a police force are to prevent and detect crime, arrest and prosecute criminals, enforce law and order and keep public peace. To do these, the Police must be well trained, adequately equipped and above all, be informed and familiar with the people and environment to be policed. The issue of salary must be seen in the light of labour forces and the ability of the government to pay reasonable wages to its workforce, policemen and women inclusive. That is to say that a case for special salary scale for the Police must be considered alongside with other equally vital occupational sectors as the police. For, if the argument of importance is pursued, it may be the case that such argument can be won for the police as for the medical and health workforce, the oil, power and energy workers, the teachers and non-teaching staff of educational institutions etc. At the end, such an argument will be lost by all and won by none. In that case, poor salary cannot be an excuse for police inefficiency and corrupt practices – just as good salaries could not improve NEPA and NITEL services nation-wide! The reason(s) for police ineffectiveness and reprobate conduct lies in a fundamental structural deficiency in the force. Do not agree with me yet as I intend to provide proof and reasons for my views.
The first fundamental defect in the Nigeria Police is the absurdity of having a centralized or unitary police force in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious federal system of government. The proponents of this unitary police in a federation argued that a single police force controlled by the central government guarantees or helps to preserve the unity of Nigeria. They take for granted that such a force cannot be used for sectional and partisan purpose. They assumed that the Head of State or President will be neutral in the use of the police at the federating units or states. What more, they argued that a Central Police will be even-handed and uninterested in local affairs thereby ensuring justice and fairness, among the citizens on one hand and between the citizens and the State on the other. A case they often mention was how the Native Authority Police were used against the opposition parties during the First Republic and how the Central Nigeria Police benevolently saved such weaklings of the political system. Of course, not a few of us can see that these arguments fly against the fact of our experience and realities on the ground.
Defects of Unitary Force
If Nigeria is a federation of many ethnic nationalities, with three tiers of government, why must one out of the three tiers of government control the police in all three? The Constitution recognized state governor as the Chief Security Officer of his state but the same document puts the control of police force in the federation under the control of the federal government alone! As it is today, the Commissioner of Police in the State is theoretically under the state governor, practically under the Inspector General of Police who is absolutely responsible to the President. In other words, the Police Commissioner ‘takes’ orders from the state governor except that he is not bound by such orders unless validated by his Inspector General – in which case, in matters of law and order, the State Police Commissioner is made superior to the state governor. Who then, is the Chief Security Officer of the state – the governor or the police commissioner?
You have not forgotten but in case you need a reminder, our unfortunate past as a conquered people by a renegade native army destroyed not only the civil society but also, its police system. Under the archaic wisdom of the military governments, policemen and police force are inferior to the armed forces; therefore the police were forced to connive with the army to subvert civil authority. Our central police force was easily penetrated by the military coupists as was the case beginning from General Gowon in 1966 era up to General Abdulsalam’s tenure in 1999. Police officers were also appointed as military governors or administrators. No matter how well-equipped a central police force is, they too now see themselves not as law-makers and enforcers combined and therefore far superior to civil authority. The implication is that the present civil regime retained the unitary structure of the past military regimes in the police force. Therefore, any pronouncement by the President to the effect that Police Commissioners should take orders from state governors is mere political gimmicks and has no force of law, because it is against the constitution in operation. Now, everyone even with little sense knows that as society advances so also criminals advances. If criminals are aware that their governor is a paper tiger, who cannot assemble any force or respond rapidly to their criminal activities, is that not a sufficient impetus to be more daring in crime? Let’s put it in another way. A gang of criminals, know that the State Police Command is more or less an occupation force, one not loyal to or under the control of the State’s executive authority, and whose rank and file have little or no stake in the stability of the state. Don’t you think such a gang knows that the first step to success in their criminal business is to infiltrate the ranks of the police and secure their tacit agreement as to the sharing formula of the proceeds of crime? Once the interests of both parties to the crime are guaranteed, it is hooves on each party to play its role well enough while the public could go to hell! The governor could as well climb the roof-top and bleat about “dealing ruthlessly with” the robbers, but while the robbers will be laughing at the governor from their dens, the unitary police occupation force will be busy sharing their spoils. The governor could as well go to hell!
ETHNIC CONTROL
The present central police force is subject to absolute control by any major ethnic or dominant religious group that controls the federal government and can be used as they choose. Do you disagree? O.k, let us examine the facts. When the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group gained control of the federal government in 1960, the Nigeria Police was turned to a sectional force between 1960 and 1999 – Obasanjo’s interlude of 1976 – 1979 notwithstanding. In fact, what is known today as ‘Mobile Police’ was created by the government of the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria as an instrument of suppression of the Tiv ethnic minority group in 1963/64. Why? Because the Tiv wanted self-determination and rejected the feudal system of the Hausa/Fulani government of Alhaji Ahmadu Bello.
• In 1981, President Shehu Shagari and Governor Ambrose Ali had a face-off in the old Bendel State in the second republic. The bone of contention was political control of the state. Shagari wanted to show his ‘federal might’. Ali wanted to prove his legal right and gave orders to the State Police Command accordingly. His orders were ignored and so, Ali was publicly humiliated! If the Bendel Police Command were not a force of occupation, Shagari couldn’t have ridden roughshod over the government of Ambrose Ali. This is an evidence of how partisan and pliable a central or unitary police force can be!
• Under President Shehu Shagari, the Nigeria Police headed by Sunday Adewusi as Inspector General became a powerful Third Force, equipped with armored tanks to check, control and minimize the number of victims of communal or campus riots. While the intention was to avert the situation when soldiers were often drafted to University campuses to mow down our students, the government of Shagari used the newly improved police force to cow the oppositions to submission and rigged his way to victory in the so-called 1983 ‘landslide’ victory of the NPN.
• The military governments of Generals Babangida and Abacha turned Nigeria virtually into a police state when security agents were used to gun down defenseless students and pro-democracy groups opposed to their tenure elongation or self-succession plots. Babangida and Abacha merely took a cue from a democratic government of Shehu Shagari or even Ahmadu Bello before them. So, whether in a democratic or military government, a central police force in a multi-ethnic Nigeria has always proved to be a terror machine in the hands of dictators against ethnic, religious and political minorities.
• A central or unitary police force has proved to be a haven of injustice, corruption, nepotism both in promotion and appointment. It nurtures bribery, waters corrupt practices and rewards moral vices in the force as well as in the society. By 1998, there were sixteen Assistant Inspectors General of Police in Nigeria, out of which fourteen were northern Alhajis, only two were Southerners, the present Inspector General (Alh. Musliu Smith) was one of the two while the second was a woman! It was a vivid picture of an ethnic, regional and religious establishment presided over by Alhaji Comassie as Inspector-General.
• A unitary police such as we have is open and subject to remote control. This is because officers from certain ethnic groups can be selectively posted to certain states to accomplish a hidden but discriminative agenda by the powers-that-be in the federal government. Such officers could go ahead to take precipitate action awaiting anticipatory approval from their sponsors, which will surely be given. These are common-place occurrence in all past regimes.
(To be continued)
This Police is a Farce!
• The central police are anti-democratic, uncontrollable by state authority and partisan in inter-ethnic riots and disagreements. Police officers selectively posted to Lagos State were accused of partisanship against the Yoruba in the various riots with the Hausa/Fulani and those selectively posted to Kaduna and Kano was similarly accused of religious bias during the Sharia riots.
• Take a look at the life-style of some top police officers, especially among the past Inspectors General and examine their wealth and tell us how they came about such stupendous riches. In a unitary command structure of the police such as we have, funds meant for the welfare of the rank and file, training and equipment find its way to the personal accounts of our IGs. They can then afford to buy houses in Europe and America where their children schools while the force itself is left naked, ill-equipped and paralyzed.
With the above few examples, it will no longer surprise many of us why the ordinary people in the South-West and South-East today would swear on oath that the OPC and the Bakassi Boys are more effective, more preferable, and are better alternative to the Nigeria Police.
Therefore, any government, political party or politician who prefers a central police force is not just a despot. Such a government, party or politician intends to put the police into the same partisan use as the previous governments. It can also be said that if President Obasanjo believes that a central police force is good, then he might as well turn it into a Yoruba dominated outfit, like his Hausa/Fulani predecessors. In which case, whenever an Igbo man becomes President, the police will also become a useful tool for Ndigbo ascendancy and control. But we all suppose to know-or are we not-that a police force is not meant for personal, partisan or political use?
LOYALTY
In a multi-national federation like Nigeria, only a compact but state or regional police force, familiar with the people, terrain and culture of the people can effectively provide physical security, prevent and detect crime thereby ensuring safety of lives and property. The regional or state police are in consonance with true federalism, open in operation with little or no chance of being remotely controlled as the Nigeria Police is. Because they are stakeholders in the safety and stability of their home state/region, their orientation will be that of natural patriotism and high sense of commitment. To insulate them from undue executive influence and prevent them from being used to do dirty jobs against political opponents, the state or regional law creating them should have a section which stipulates that a policeman/women or officer who lend themselves to be so used, is liable to criminal prosecution within a period of twenty years of the commitment of the offence, whether he/she remain in service or not. With this clause, no reasonable person conscious of the fact that he will remain in the same area after retirement, will ruin his career and reputation or agree to go to jail for doing dirty jobs for some transient power holders. Moreover, relatives of such victims of political vendetta will most likely identify the law enforcers or their families and this knowledge is another insurance against police brutality. The incidence or likelihood of bias or partisanship is thus reduced to the barest minimum.
UNITY
It is laughable to say that a unitary Police force guarantees the unity of Nigeria. This belief, deeply entrenched in certain quarters is the result of enduring colonial mentality of some people. How has a central police force controlled by the central government from Lagos or Abuja saved Nigeria from disintegration? “… There should therefore be one Nigeria Police Force which should serve both Federal and regional purpose. There should be no Regional Police Force although in our view it is desirable that the Regional Government should share financial responsibility for the Nigeria Police with the Federal Government. There must be only one channel by which instructions can be conveyed either to the senior Police Officer (the Inspector General) of the Federation or to the senior officers of each Region (Commissioners of Police). They must emanate from the Federal Government” – Willink Commission Report, 1958.
Britain whose agents made the above recommendation was not and still is not having one British Police Force. The Welsh, the Scots, the Irish and English have separate police forces to police each nationality or ethnic area or region. But successive Nigerian governments, still smarting from colonial mentality could not realize that each nation or country has its own peculiarities which should determine policy options and systems. It was one of the recommendations of the Willink Report to keep other Nigerians under the thumb of their chosen successors, thereby substituting British Colonial overlordship with a local one. The truth is that today, the Nigeria Police as constituted under the sole authority of the federal government is, one of the greatest obstacle not only against unity but also, against democracy and the rule of law. If the defunct Soviet Union could collapse despite their unitary and brutally repressive police force, such a police as we have cannot stop Nigeria from disintegration, if she must! The concept of a central or unitary policy force as a guarantee against disunity is a typical Nigerian Political Farce! Otherwise, there is no country in the world where the unity of a nation-state rests with a central police force! The question of Nigerian unity or the unity of any nation is a function of equity and fairness in the polity, government and resource allocation. The military is known to be more cohesive and coercive than the police, yet in their 30 years of brutal rule, the unity of Nigeria was more on paper than real.
If the Nigerian people so desire and if any federal government so wish, the police force and other such security sectors could have common training schools, attend same courses, wear common uniforms except for a separate state or regional emblems or tags. The other area of difference is their remuneration. Each region or state ought to determine and fix salary scales for their workers based on their resources! This is one way of remaining a true federation, strengthening the regions or states without taking anything away from the central government. The central or federal government is already very powerful, having the control over the Army, Navy and Air force, all of which are federal outfits.
If the fear is that ethnic, religious and political minorities could fall victims of a state or regional police force, this is only a temporary ordeal and such injustice is even a blessing in disguise. By the reason of that adversary and injustice, the spirit of liberty and freedom are being kindled and such minorities or victims would then fight to free themselves in the spirit of democracy and self determination – a fight which has always been won by the just. No centralized police force has or can ever help such minorities, rather it tends to add more to their burden as the various check-points or ‘toll-gates’ at trouble spots proved. It only postpones their freedom day indefinitely.
Do you need more evidence or reasons why a federation needs various police forces for the federating units? Try these!
• Most ‘accidental discharge’ resulting in death of innocent citizens emanated from policemen serving in states other than their own.
• Travelers who took refuge at Police Stations and who got killed or ‘missing’ are often not of the same ethnic group or state with the policemen on duty.
• Arrested criminals who often escaped from custody are in most cases, not of the same state or ethnic stock with the policemen from whom they escape.
• Mounted road blocks at trouble spots where extortion takes place are often manned by policemen from other states or ethnic groups.
• Whenever a complainant becomes the accused, it is often not because he is guilty of any offence, rather in most cases, he is not of the same ethnic group with the policemen on duty or the real accused has paid the ‘right bribe’.
Beside these: Nigerians live in foreign countries and millions of foreigners live in Nigeria. Neither Nigeria nor these foreign countries have sent policemen to protect and guard their nationals. The reciprocal understanding between countries can be replicated between states or regions in Nigeria. After-all, if Hausa/Fulani investments are unsafe in Lagos by reason of state or regional police force, the Yoruba and Igbo properties in Kano and Sokoto will equally be imperiled by the same token.
An unwieldy unitary police force is like the Dead Sea where no animal life survives because it is full of salt water. It is a dark wilderness – a perfect ground for human predators to feed fat on the citizens. Nigeria is too big, too diverse to have a single police force. Even if the President demands a daily security report from the Police, given its present structure, system and orientation, nothing can improve the quality of its service.
If this centralized police system remains in place, we shall continue to have more ethnic militias who could truly provide security for the people. I bet that the OPC, Bakassi Boys, the APC and the Egbesu Boys will continue to flourish. Why not, if not? If the States that instituted state religion through Sharia are free to employ ‘Sharia police’ to enforce Sharia laws, what stops other states from creating their own police force from ethnic militias? The cold truth is that ordinary citizens find more comfort with the ethnic militias than with a surrogate police force who are either inseparable or undistinguished from armed robbers. The federal government should either transfer all police officers, ranks or file to their own states of origin to constitute the states’ police command or let the ethnic militias be! Better still, the states; acting on the principle of a tier of government should establish their own police force without recourse to the federal government.
(An essay on Security Challenges facing Nigeria as it affected the Nigeria Police published on January 2001, the contents of which is as relevant today as then, but for a few details)
Sometimes in July 2000 and for reasons of rising crime wave, the Federal Executive Council was reported to have directed both the Minister for Police Affairs and the Inspector General of Police, to issue weekly report to the President.
By now after six months of weekly reports, the presidency must have been overwhelmed with a deluge of apprehensive security reports from which a lot of orders must have been issued for either more men/women and or equipment for the Nigeria Police Force.
I am not in position to know or tell how such presidential orders affected the efficacy of security management across the country. From reports by the news media and eye witnesses, rather than the crime wave abating, it is escalating at an alarming and dangerous progression. Do we now have to doubt that executive orders from the Commander-in-Chief are not enough and may not be what is required to keep criminals at bay?
Before you ask of what measure is capable of reducing crime, we must remind ourselves of the place and duty of the police in the community. The primary duties of a police force are to prevent and detect crime, arrest and prosecute criminals, enforce law and order and keep public peace. To do these, the Police must be well trained, adequately equipped and above all, be informed and familiar with the people and environment to be policed. The issue of salary must be seen in the light of labour forces and the ability of the government to pay reasonable wages to its workforce, policemen and women inclusive. That is to say that a case for special salary scale for the Police must be considered alongside with other equally vital occupational sectors as the police. For, if the argument of importance is pursued, it may be the case that such argument can be won for the police as for the medical and health workforce, the oil, power and energy workers, the teachers and non-teaching staff of educational institutions etc. At the end, such an argument will be lost by all and won by none. In that case, poor salary cannot be an excuse for police inefficiency and corrupt practices – just as good salaries could not improve NEPA and NITEL services nation-wide! The reason(s) for police ineffectiveness and reprobate conduct lies in a fundamental structural deficiency in the force. Do not agree with me yet as I intend to provide proof and reasons for my views.
The first fundamental defect in the Nigeria Police is the absurdity of having a centralized or unitary police force in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious federal system of government. The proponents of this unitary police in a federation argued that a single police force controlled by the central government guarantees or helps to preserve the unity of Nigeria. They take for granted that such a force cannot be used for sectional and partisan purpose. They assumed that the Head of State or President will be neutral in the use of the police at the federating units or states. What more, they argued that a Central Police will be even-handed and uninterested in local affairs thereby ensuring justice and fairness, among the citizens on one hand and between the citizens and the State on the other. A case they often mention was how the Native Authority Police were used against the opposition parties during the First Republic and how the Central Nigeria Police benevolently saved such weaklings of the political system. Of course, not a few of us can see that these arguments fly against the fact of our experience and realities on the ground.
Defects of Unitary Force
If Nigeria is a federation of many ethnic nationalities, with three tiers of government, why must one out of the three tiers of government control the police in all three? The Constitution recognized state governor as the Chief Security Officer of his state but the same document puts the control of police force in the federation under the control of the federal government alone! As it is today, the Commissioner of Police in the State is theoretically under the state governor, practically under the Inspector General of Police who is absolutely responsible to the President. In other words, the Police Commissioner ‘takes’ orders from the state governor except that he is not bound by such orders unless validated by his Inspector General – in which case, in matters of law and order, the State Police Commissioner is made superior to the state governor. Who then, is the Chief Security Officer of the state – the governor or the police commissioner?
You have not forgotten but in case you need a reminder, our unfortunate past as a conquered people by a renegade native army destroyed not only the civil society but also, its police system. Under the archaic wisdom of the military governments, policemen and police force are inferior to the armed forces; therefore the police were forced to connive with the army to subvert civil authority. Our central police force was easily penetrated by the military coupists as was the case beginning from General Gowon in 1966 era up to General Abdulsalam’s tenure in 1999. Police officers were also appointed as military governors or administrators. No matter how well-equipped a central police force is, they too now see themselves not as law-makers and enforcers combined and therefore far superior to civil authority. The implication is that the present civil regime retained the unitary structure of the past military regimes in the police force. Therefore, any pronouncement by the President to the effect that Police Commissioners should take orders from state governors is mere political gimmicks and has no force of law, because it is against the constitution in operation. Now, everyone even with little sense knows that as society advances so also criminals advances. If criminals are aware that their governor is a paper tiger, who cannot assemble any force or respond rapidly to their criminal activities, is that not a sufficient impetus to be more daring in crime? Let’s put it in another way. A gang of criminals, know that the State Police Command is more or less an occupation force, one not loyal to or under the control of the State’s executive authority, and whose rank and file have little or no stake in the stability of the state. Don’t you think such a gang knows that the first step to success in their criminal business is to infiltrate the ranks of the police and secure their tacit agreement as to the sharing formula of the proceeds of crime? Once the interests of both parties to the crime are guaranteed, it is hooves on each party to play its role well enough while the public could go to hell! The governor could as well climb the roof-top and bleat about “dealing ruthlessly with” the robbers, but while the robbers will be laughing at the governor from their dens, the unitary police occupation force will be busy sharing their spoils. The governor could as well go to hell!
ETHNIC CONTROL
The present central police force is subject to absolute control by any major ethnic or dominant religious group that controls the federal government and can be used as they choose. Do you disagree? O.k, let us examine the facts. When the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group gained control of the federal government in 1960, the Nigeria Police was turned to a sectional force between 1960 and 1999 – Obasanjo’s interlude of 1976 – 1979 notwithstanding. In fact, what is known today as ‘Mobile Police’ was created by the government of the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria as an instrument of suppression of the Tiv ethnic minority group in 1963/64. Why? Because the Tiv wanted self-determination and rejected the feudal system of the Hausa/Fulani government of Alhaji Ahmadu Bello.
• In 1981, President Shehu Shagari and Governor Ambrose Ali had a face-off in the old Bendel State in the second republic. The bone of contention was political control of the state. Shagari wanted to show his ‘federal might’. Ali wanted to prove his legal right and gave orders to the State Police Command accordingly. His orders were ignored and so, Ali was publicly humiliated! If the Bendel Police Command were not a force of occupation, Shagari couldn’t have ridden roughshod over the government of Ambrose Ali. This is an evidence of how partisan and pliable a central or unitary police force can be!
• Under President Shehu Shagari, the Nigeria Police headed by Sunday Adewusi as Inspector General became a powerful Third Force, equipped with armored tanks to check, control and minimize the number of victims of communal or campus riots. While the intention was to avert the situation when soldiers were often drafted to University campuses to mow down our students, the government of Shagari used the newly improved police force to cow the oppositions to submission and rigged his way to victory in the so-called 1983 ‘landslide’ victory of the NPN.
• The military governments of Generals Babangida and Abacha turned Nigeria virtually into a police state when security agents were used to gun down defenseless students and pro-democracy groups opposed to their tenure elongation or self-succession plots. Babangida and Abacha merely took a cue from a democratic government of Shehu Shagari or even Ahmadu Bello before them. So, whether in a democratic or military government, a central police force in a multi-ethnic Nigeria has always proved to be a terror machine in the hands of dictators against ethnic, religious and political minorities.
• A central or unitary police force has proved to be a haven of injustice, corruption, nepotism both in promotion and appointment. It nurtures bribery, waters corrupt practices and rewards moral vices in the force as well as in the society. By 1998, there were sixteen Assistant Inspectors General of Police in Nigeria, out of which fourteen were northern Alhajis, only two were Southerners, the present Inspector General (Alh. Musliu Smith) was one of the two while the second was a woman! It was a vivid picture of an ethnic, regional and religious establishment presided over by Alhaji Comassie as Inspector-General.
• A unitary police such as we have is open and subject to remote control. This is because officers from certain ethnic groups can be selectively posted to certain states to accomplish a hidden but discriminative agenda by the powers-that-be in the federal government. Such officers could go ahead to take precipitate action awaiting anticipatory approval from their sponsors, which will surely be given. These are common-place occurrence in all past regimes.
(To be continued)
This Police is a Farce!
• The central police are anti-democratic, uncontrollable by state authority and partisan in inter-ethnic riots and disagreements. Police officers selectively posted to Lagos State were accused of partisanship against the Yoruba in the various riots with the Hausa/Fulani and those selectively posted to Kaduna and Kano was similarly accused of religious bias during the Sharia riots.
• Take a look at the life-style of some top police officers, especially among the past Inspectors General and examine their wealth and tell us how they came about such stupendous riches. In a unitary command structure of the police such as we have, funds meant for the welfare of the rank and file, training and equipment find its way to the personal accounts of our IGs. They can then afford to buy houses in Europe and America where their children schools while the force itself is left naked, ill-equipped and paralyzed.
With the above few examples, it will no longer surprise many of us why the ordinary people in the South-West and South-East today would swear on oath that the OPC and the Bakassi Boys are more effective, more preferable, and are better alternative to the Nigeria Police.
Therefore, any government, political party or politician who prefers a central police force is not just a despot. Such a government, party or politician intends to put the police into the same partisan use as the previous governments. It can also be said that if President Obasanjo believes that a central police force is good, then he might as well turn it into a Yoruba dominated outfit, like his Hausa/Fulani predecessors. In which case, whenever an Igbo man becomes President, the police will also become a useful tool for Ndigbo ascendancy and control. But we all suppose to know-or are we not-that a police force is not meant for personal, partisan or political use?
LOYALTY
In a multi-national federation like Nigeria, only a compact but state or regional police force, familiar with the people, terrain and culture of the people can effectively provide physical security, prevent and detect crime thereby ensuring safety of lives and property. The regional or state police are in consonance with true federalism, open in operation with little or no chance of being remotely controlled as the Nigeria Police is. Because they are stakeholders in the safety and stability of their home state/region, their orientation will be that of natural patriotism and high sense of commitment. To insulate them from undue executive influence and prevent them from being used to do dirty jobs against political opponents, the state or regional law creating them should have a section which stipulates that a policeman/women or officer who lend themselves to be so used, is liable to criminal prosecution within a period of twenty years of the commitment of the offence, whether he/she remain in service or not. With this clause, no reasonable person conscious of the fact that he will remain in the same area after retirement, will ruin his career and reputation or agree to go to jail for doing dirty jobs for some transient power holders. Moreover, relatives of such victims of political vendetta will most likely identify the law enforcers or their families and this knowledge is another insurance against police brutality. The incidence or likelihood of bias or partisanship is thus reduced to the barest minimum.
UNITY
It is laughable to say that a unitary Police force guarantees the unity of Nigeria. This belief, deeply entrenched in certain quarters is the result of enduring colonial mentality of some people. How has a central police force controlled by the central government from Lagos or Abuja saved Nigeria from disintegration? “… There should therefore be one Nigeria Police Force which should serve both Federal and regional purpose. There should be no Regional Police Force although in our view it is desirable that the Regional Government should share financial responsibility for the Nigeria Police with the Federal Government. There must be only one channel by which instructions can be conveyed either to the senior Police Officer (the Inspector General) of the Federation or to the senior officers of each Region (Commissioners of Police). They must emanate from the Federal Government” – Willink Commission Report, 1958.
Britain whose agents made the above recommendation was not and still is not having one British Police Force. The Welsh, the Scots, the Irish and English have separate police forces to police each nationality or ethnic area or region. But successive Nigerian governments, still smarting from colonial mentality could not realize that each nation or country has its own peculiarities which should determine policy options and systems. It was one of the recommendations of the Willink Report to keep other Nigerians under the thumb of their chosen successors, thereby substituting British Colonial overlordship with a local one. The truth is that today, the Nigeria Police as constituted under the sole authority of the federal government is, one of the greatest obstacle not only against unity but also, against democracy and the rule of law. If the defunct Soviet Union could collapse despite their unitary and brutally repressive police force, such a police as we have cannot stop Nigeria from disintegration, if she must! The concept of a central or unitary policy force as a guarantee against disunity is a typical Nigerian Political Farce! Otherwise, there is no country in the world where the unity of a nation-state rests with a central police force! The question of Nigerian unity or the unity of any nation is a function of equity and fairness in the polity, government and resource allocation. The military is known to be more cohesive and coercive than the police, yet in their 30 years of brutal rule, the unity of Nigeria was more on paper than real.
If the Nigerian people so desire and if any federal government so wish, the police force and other such security sectors could have common training schools, attend same courses, wear common uniforms except for a separate state or regional emblems or tags. The other area of difference is their remuneration. Each region or state ought to determine and fix salary scales for their workers based on their resources! This is one way of remaining a true federation, strengthening the regions or states without taking anything away from the central government. The central or federal government is already very powerful, having the control over the Army, Navy and Air force, all of which are federal outfits.
If the fear is that ethnic, religious and political minorities could fall victims of a state or regional police force, this is only a temporary ordeal and such injustice is even a blessing in disguise. By the reason of that adversary and injustice, the spirit of liberty and freedom are being kindled and such minorities or victims would then fight to free themselves in the spirit of democracy and self determination – a fight which has always been won by the just. No centralized police force has or can ever help such minorities, rather it tends to add more to their burden as the various check-points or ‘toll-gates’ at trouble spots proved. It only postpones their freedom day indefinitely.
Do you need more evidence or reasons why a federation needs various police forces for the federating units? Try these!
• Most ‘accidental discharge’ resulting in death of innocent citizens emanated from policemen serving in states other than their own.
• Travelers who took refuge at Police Stations and who got killed or ‘missing’ are often not of the same ethnic group or state with the policemen on duty.
• Arrested criminals who often escaped from custody are in most cases, not of the same state or ethnic stock with the policemen from whom they escape.
• Mounted road blocks at trouble spots where extortion takes place are often manned by policemen from other states or ethnic groups.
• Whenever a complainant becomes the accused, it is often not because he is guilty of any offence, rather in most cases, he is not of the same ethnic group with the policemen on duty or the real accused has paid the ‘right bribe’.
Beside these: Nigerians live in foreign countries and millions of foreigners live in Nigeria. Neither Nigeria nor these foreign countries have sent policemen to protect and guard their nationals. The reciprocal understanding between countries can be replicated between states or regions in Nigeria. After-all, if Hausa/Fulani investments are unsafe in Lagos by reason of state or regional police force, the Yoruba and Igbo properties in Kano and Sokoto will equally be imperiled by the same token.
An unwieldy unitary police force is like the Dead Sea where no animal life survives because it is full of salt water. It is a dark wilderness – a perfect ground for human predators to feed fat on the citizens. Nigeria is too big, too diverse to have a single police force. Even if the President demands a daily security report from the Police, given its present structure, system and orientation, nothing can improve the quality of its service.
If this centralized police system remains in place, we shall continue to have more ethnic militias who could truly provide security for the people. I bet that the OPC, Bakassi Boys, the APC and the Egbesu Boys will continue to flourish. Why not, if not? If the States that instituted state religion through Sharia are free to employ ‘Sharia police’ to enforce Sharia laws, what stops other states from creating their own police force from ethnic militias? The cold truth is that ordinary citizens find more comfort with the ethnic militias than with a surrogate police force who are either inseparable or undistinguished from armed robbers. The federal government should either transfer all police officers, ranks or file to their own states of origin to constitute the states’ police command or let the ethnic militias be! Better still, the states; acting on the principle of a tier of government should establish their own police force without recourse to the federal government.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Security: Looking Beyond the Boko Haram.
By Sam Onimisi
Those with perceptive mind saw it coming, may be not exactly or precisely as it came. They knew that something extraordinary must be done to check the murderous activities of the Boko Haram terrorists and so, the state of emergency declared on the eve of the new year came not as a surprise to a few. What it entails is that individual’s freedom is curtailed and movement is restricted and subject to scrutiny for a period. Stop and search without warrant becomes the norm to which citizens must be subjected. It means therefore that movement of people and goods will be hindered and so, the economy of the areas affected will be slowed down. Perhaps this is a necessary price to pay for our collective amnesia over the menace of Boko Haram and other criminal groups over the years.
The Boko Haram did not start with the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan. They started long ago, changing names, leaders, locations and expanding the scope of their activities. The first group of religious terrorist started in Kano in 1980 and was known as the Maitatsine sect. Hundreds of innocent citizens were killed by members of the sect before President Shehu Shagari reacted to put a stop to their criminal activities. Next is the Tala Kato group which operated in the North East states of Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno for a brief period. By 1999, when power shifted from the North to the South, there was an upsurge in the activities of religious extremists which caused riots all over the North, with the Central states being the most affected. As a matter of fact there were over 100 ethno – religious riots during the regime of President Obasanjo, more than any regime before him.
Obviously, civil regimes cannot be compared with military regimes in terms of their reaction to criminal activities. The criminals know that unless the sitting government in the states is favorably disposed to their activities, they risked being crushed. Which goes to prove that each riot in the past were almost always supported by the state government or by their patrons in the federal government through whom they got assurance of protection from prosecution. This explains why, after every such induced-riot, a probe panel will be set up and the reports of such panels are never implemented. Also, the authorities who set up the panels either lack the power or the will to ensure that justice is done because most of them were either accomplices to the crime or are patrons of the criminals.
In a polity where certain categories of people are treated as sacred cows and are made or allowed to see themselves as above the law, enforcement of the law is always discriminating and criminals then wax more bold to continue and escalate their exploits. It is not certain if a state of emergency is the first step to take, except that it serves to check their activities from escalating to other areas. Beyond the state of emergency, the federal government should look inwardly to see what exactly is wrong with the system of government that motivate citizens to rebel against public authorities or take law into their hands. The truth is that the entirety of government, i.e. the executive, legislature and judiciary are not trusted by the average citizen even if for different reasons. Some fundamental questions to ask are what is wrong with the geo-political structure and unitary system of government which deprives it the trust, respect and obedience of the people? Why would one ethnic group trust a government while other ethnic groups distrust the same government? Where do we place religion in the governance of Nigeria? Or do Nigerians desire a theocracy more than democracy? What is the place of religion in a federation of ethnic nationalities? Does one ethnic group have the right to impose its own values on others?
If the general perception is that the Islamic North detests the rule of a Southern Christian, and so is fighting it through Boko Haram, what guarantee do we have that when power shifts to the North, a Southern based militia will not retaliate? Can Nigeria afford this cycle of offence and revenge and still remain one? Until these questions are answered properly by the constituents of Nigeria, we could just as well be beating about the bush.
… And the Politics of Petroleum
Since the 1st of January, Nigerians have been buying fuel at N140 a litre in Abuja and a few other cities, while other towns gets the product at N180 per litre. This is sequel to the undeclared debate on whether there was a subsidy on petroleum price or not. The government who insisted that there was subsidy has now removed it, thus the 108% increase in the pump price of fuel. The victory of government against the people will further alienate them from the people and makes mutual trust between both a mirage. The Nigeria Labour Movement represented by the NLC and the TUC are already mobilizing their members and the public for a nation-wide protest. As at Tuesday the 3rd of January, the Niger River Bridge at Koton-Karfi in Kogi State was blocked by protesting youths against the fuel price increase. There were reported cases of sporadic protest in Lagos, Kwara and some other states. How far the protesters could go is yet to be ascertained. The resolve of government to slam the price increase against the people is shown by the number of appeals they ignored.
I am not optimistic that the people are united enough to see us through the protest as the fragile unity against the fuel increase will dissolve in the face of the on-going terror attacks by the bomb-throwing Boko Haram terrorist group-what with the ultimatum they gave Southerners to leave the North! Even without the Haramites, the ranks of the NLC and TUC will soon be infiltrated by government’s hatchet men to scuttle the protest. If the protest will not achieve the desired results, isn’t it better to resolve to monitor the use into which the funds realized from the price increase? What is the gain of a protest that will be brutally put down by the security agencies, not minding how many lives would be lost? What is the rationale of a protest that would soon be abandoned by some groups, reading political motives into it? This is easily possible if some opposition parties take advantage of the protest to score points against the ruling party – which of course, it justly deserves.
The regimes of Babangida and Obasanjo are in records as the worst government in terms of incessant increase in the price of petroleum product in the name of removal of subsidy. Nigerians could not do anything to force their governments to reverse the increases. Their promises to utilize the gains to diversify and improve the economy were never fulfilled – and this is the reason why very few people will believe that President Jonathan will do what he has promised to do. Again, in view of the failure of the past, there is the genuine fear that government will fail again and therefore, the increase must be resisted.
So long as the agricultural and other sectors of the economy are neglected, so long shall we depend on oil as our main income earner. As a people who hardly think of the future but only of the pleasures of the moment, we are sentenced to endless agitation over the poor state of our economy and the resultant poverty development programme of the government. It is an open secret that the devilish cartel whom we blame for stealing our oil money through subsidy are proxies for government functionaries, whether of the past or of the present. Is this not the reason why the apprehension and prosecution of the oil thieves is not an option? Those who wasted our money on our refineries but failed to make them functional are roaming about the streets-free. And they are now insulting us by speaking against the price increase may be just to show us how hypocritical they are!
Those with perceptive mind saw it coming, may be not exactly or precisely as it came. They knew that something extraordinary must be done to check the murderous activities of the Boko Haram terrorists and so, the state of emergency declared on the eve of the new year came not as a surprise to a few. What it entails is that individual’s freedom is curtailed and movement is restricted and subject to scrutiny for a period. Stop and search without warrant becomes the norm to which citizens must be subjected. It means therefore that movement of people and goods will be hindered and so, the economy of the areas affected will be slowed down. Perhaps this is a necessary price to pay for our collective amnesia over the menace of Boko Haram and other criminal groups over the years.
The Boko Haram did not start with the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan. They started long ago, changing names, leaders, locations and expanding the scope of their activities. The first group of religious terrorist started in Kano in 1980 and was known as the Maitatsine sect. Hundreds of innocent citizens were killed by members of the sect before President Shehu Shagari reacted to put a stop to their criminal activities. Next is the Tala Kato group which operated in the North East states of Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno for a brief period. By 1999, when power shifted from the North to the South, there was an upsurge in the activities of religious extremists which caused riots all over the North, with the Central states being the most affected. As a matter of fact there were over 100 ethno – religious riots during the regime of President Obasanjo, more than any regime before him.
Obviously, civil regimes cannot be compared with military regimes in terms of their reaction to criminal activities. The criminals know that unless the sitting government in the states is favorably disposed to their activities, they risked being crushed. Which goes to prove that each riot in the past were almost always supported by the state government or by their patrons in the federal government through whom they got assurance of protection from prosecution. This explains why, after every such induced-riot, a probe panel will be set up and the reports of such panels are never implemented. Also, the authorities who set up the panels either lack the power or the will to ensure that justice is done because most of them were either accomplices to the crime or are patrons of the criminals.
In a polity where certain categories of people are treated as sacred cows and are made or allowed to see themselves as above the law, enforcement of the law is always discriminating and criminals then wax more bold to continue and escalate their exploits. It is not certain if a state of emergency is the first step to take, except that it serves to check their activities from escalating to other areas. Beyond the state of emergency, the federal government should look inwardly to see what exactly is wrong with the system of government that motivate citizens to rebel against public authorities or take law into their hands. The truth is that the entirety of government, i.e. the executive, legislature and judiciary are not trusted by the average citizen even if for different reasons. Some fundamental questions to ask are what is wrong with the geo-political structure and unitary system of government which deprives it the trust, respect and obedience of the people? Why would one ethnic group trust a government while other ethnic groups distrust the same government? Where do we place religion in the governance of Nigeria? Or do Nigerians desire a theocracy more than democracy? What is the place of religion in a federation of ethnic nationalities? Does one ethnic group have the right to impose its own values on others?
If the general perception is that the Islamic North detests the rule of a Southern Christian, and so is fighting it through Boko Haram, what guarantee do we have that when power shifts to the North, a Southern based militia will not retaliate? Can Nigeria afford this cycle of offence and revenge and still remain one? Until these questions are answered properly by the constituents of Nigeria, we could just as well be beating about the bush.
… And the Politics of Petroleum
Since the 1st of January, Nigerians have been buying fuel at N140 a litre in Abuja and a few other cities, while other towns gets the product at N180 per litre. This is sequel to the undeclared debate on whether there was a subsidy on petroleum price or not. The government who insisted that there was subsidy has now removed it, thus the 108% increase in the pump price of fuel. The victory of government against the people will further alienate them from the people and makes mutual trust between both a mirage. The Nigeria Labour Movement represented by the NLC and the TUC are already mobilizing their members and the public for a nation-wide protest. As at Tuesday the 3rd of January, the Niger River Bridge at Koton-Karfi in Kogi State was blocked by protesting youths against the fuel price increase. There were reported cases of sporadic protest in Lagos, Kwara and some other states. How far the protesters could go is yet to be ascertained. The resolve of government to slam the price increase against the people is shown by the number of appeals they ignored.
I am not optimistic that the people are united enough to see us through the protest as the fragile unity against the fuel increase will dissolve in the face of the on-going terror attacks by the bomb-throwing Boko Haram terrorist group-what with the ultimatum they gave Southerners to leave the North! Even without the Haramites, the ranks of the NLC and TUC will soon be infiltrated by government’s hatchet men to scuttle the protest. If the protest will not achieve the desired results, isn’t it better to resolve to monitor the use into which the funds realized from the price increase? What is the gain of a protest that will be brutally put down by the security agencies, not minding how many lives would be lost? What is the rationale of a protest that would soon be abandoned by some groups, reading political motives into it? This is easily possible if some opposition parties take advantage of the protest to score points against the ruling party – which of course, it justly deserves.
The regimes of Babangida and Obasanjo are in records as the worst government in terms of incessant increase in the price of petroleum product in the name of removal of subsidy. Nigerians could not do anything to force their governments to reverse the increases. Their promises to utilize the gains to diversify and improve the economy were never fulfilled – and this is the reason why very few people will believe that President Jonathan will do what he has promised to do. Again, in view of the failure of the past, there is the genuine fear that government will fail again and therefore, the increase must be resisted.
So long as the agricultural and other sectors of the economy are neglected, so long shall we depend on oil as our main income earner. As a people who hardly think of the future but only of the pleasures of the moment, we are sentenced to endless agitation over the poor state of our economy and the resultant poverty development programme of the government. It is an open secret that the devilish cartel whom we blame for stealing our oil money through subsidy are proxies for government functionaries, whether of the past or of the present. Is this not the reason why the apprehension and prosecution of the oil thieves is not an option? Those who wasted our money on our refineries but failed to make them functional are roaming about the streets-free. And they are now insulting us by speaking against the price increase may be just to show us how hypocritical they are!
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