Nude politicians, naked country

 Casmir Igbokwe

First published July 5, 2009 

“My manhood has never gone down and I have never asked anybody to assist me in restoring it. My manhood never failed at anytime. It has always been functioning. My manhood has never stopped working, I repeat, it has never stopped working.”

 That was the erstwhile chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Ambassador Sam Edem. He was reacting to claims by a herbalist, Matthew Sonoma, that he assisted him to regain his manhood. Sonoma reportedly told a federal high court in Abuja last Wednesday that Edem allegedly paid him about N1bn for his services.

 Every week comes with a pot-pourri of some dramatic events in Nigeria and the world. Penultimate week, Taraba people regaled us with tales of missing genitals and those killed for allegedly stealing those private parts.

 Last week came with its own medley of oddities.  There was the story of a passenger who stripped naked inside a plane in the United States. Keith Wright, 50, reportedly resisted a female flight attendant’s efforts to cover him with a blanket. The saving grace was two off-duty security agents on board who subdued the naked man and handcuffed him. The plane was carrying about 148 passengers from Charlotte to Los Angeles.

 Except he is a madman, a Nigerian may never strip himself naked in such a public place. He will prefer a hotel room, a shrine and some other secret places. It is only when something goes amiss that the public gets to hear about such nakedness and what necessitated it.

 That was what happened in the celebrated case of Mr. Wale Alausa, a member of the Ogun State House of Assembly. A national daily had published his naked photograph, accusing him of taking a secret blood oath with some other lawmakers to remove Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State from office. Daniel’s acolytes claim they have the naked pictures of the other 14 lawmakers in this “unholy alliance”.

 Alausa did not deny taking the oath. According to him, Daniel forcibly made him do it in his Sagamu home in 2007 to make him win the election to the state House of Assembly. He claimed Daniel compelled his father, Agboola Alausa, to persuade him to take the oath.

 The next naked picture to go public, as Daniel’s Economic Adviser, Ms Yosola Akinbi, reportedly said, would be that of a female member of the G-15. This will be very interesting. It will be another angle to what we saw after the Ido-Osi electoral magic in Ekiti State about two months ago. Then, old women protesting the election results bared only their breasts.

 A few years ago, our high political comedy was staged at Okija shrine in Anambra State. A former governor of the state, Chris Ngige’s name came up as one of the alleged patrons of the shrine. This type of controversy also surrounded the incumbent governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji. Security agents investigated some of these allegations and promised to reveal the names of those patronising Okija shrine. I’m not sure they have fulfilled this promise.

 Africa has a big problem. It has remained a dark continent despite different efforts to bring light to it. From Gambia to Rwanda, and from Angola to Uganda, there is one form of fetishism or the other. In Tanzania, for instance, you dare not move anyhow if you are an albino, else you may fall a victim of ritual killers.

 This ugly situation appears to be worse in Nigeria because our greatest export to the world is corruption and dishonesty. We profess different religious beliefs; we build the best churches and mosques, but deep down many people’s heart, it is as dark as charcoal.

 Rather than think of scientific ways of solving our problems, we prefer to blame every misfortune as an act of God. Rather than keep our environment clean to keep flies and mosquitoes at bay, we prefer to sleep in prayer houses to cast and bind imaginary witches and wizards bringing sicknesses to our homes. And rather than map out good manifestoes to convince our electorate that governance is all about service to the people, we prefer to take oaths, rig elections and impose ourselves on the people.

 Do you blame the politicians? It is this mentality of grabbing power at all cost that brought “do-or-die” into our political lexicon. Manufacturing concerns are closing shops and relocating to neighbouring countries. Oil companies are shutting down operations. The once thriving telecommunications industry is shaking. The banking sector is sneezing at the moment. Except one is a big-time politician/public office-holder; or a big-time pastor/imam; or a big time herbalist/native doctor; or a big-time armed robber/kidnapper; one cannot be too sure of escaping the current economic meltdown.

 Without any prospect of finding good and lucrative jobs elsewhere, many people find in politics a veritable source of livelihood. And that is why they siphon money meant for development into their pockets. With this money, they take care of their godfathers; they take care of their immediate and remote needs; and they take care of their generations yet unborn.

 Once these selfish interests are taken care of, the nation can burn for all we care. Lecturers can go on strike indefinitely if they like. Tankers can fall and claim many lives on the pothole-ridden roads. Power supply can deteriorate, and hospitals can dispense fake and adulterated drugs. These do not bother us.

 Unfortunately, by our strange actions, we have stripped Nigeria naked. And it is only Nigerians who can cover this nakedness with a blanket of political and attitudinal reforms. The reforms must start from the leadership and then trickle down to the grass roots. Current Nigerian leaders must give the country an effective electoral and political system – a system that must respect the wishes of the people, a system that will discourage dishonest politicians from getting close to the seat of power. We already have the report of Muhammed Uwais-led electoral reform panel to guide us.

 If we follow the recommendations of that committee; if we get our electoral system right, every other thing will likely fall in line. Then and only then can Nigerians rise with pride and tell any foreign or local herbalist that we don’t need his services to restore our potency as a nation.

Thoughts on Otedola/Dangote N155m donation

 Casmir Igbokwe

 First published June 28, 2009

I thought we were done with missing genital tales in Nigeria. But primitive societies are never short of ludicrous stories. Last week, police authorities in Taraba State confirmed that four people had lost their lives in the hands of an irate mob. The four were not armed robbers. They were not kidnappers. They were, according to the Commissioner of Police in Taraba State, Aliyu Musa, suspected to have snatched the genitals of some people.

 Much as I pitied the deceased who died for something they knew nothing about, my pity went more to those who committed the atrocity. They did it out of ignorance. They are probably illiterate citizens, who need some training on how to live in a civilised society. Though this type of story is not peculiar to the North, I pitied that region the more.

 Northern Nigeria is a bundle of contradictions. It has some of the richest and poorest people in Nigeria. It has the highest concentration of born leaders and born trumpeters in the country. It probably harbours more preachers who teach tolerance and love but witnesses more religious crises in the country. Northern women are naturally beautiful and adorable but they suffer untold subjugation in the hands of their men. The urchins called almajiris roam the streets begging for alms. Sometimes, they are easy tools in the hands of mischief makers who use them to fight one cause or the other.

 I believe the North needs more education - more help to catch up with the rest of the country. The government may not do it alone. This is where wealthy individuals from that region and their friends should come in to give a helping hand.

 Achieving this objective requires the ingenuity of those who organised the fund-raiser for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ilorin Central Jumat Mosque. Recall that the fund-raiser took place penultimate Friday under the chairmanship of the Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu. At the event, Nigeria’s billionaires and millionaires struggled to outshine one another.

 The most dramatic was the donation between arch friends later turned arch-enemies, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. According to reports, Dangote donated a total of about N75m. Not wanting to be outdone, Otedola donated N80m. The audience responded with a great applause. The organisers must have felt very pleased as millions upon millions of naira poured in from other highly-placed Nigerians. It is expected that the mosque, after refurbishment, will have 99 domes and accommodate about 10, 000 worshippers.

 This is good. It is no mean achievement to contribute to the building of a befitting house for Allah. Such big donors may get pardon for their sins and even make paradise before tight-fisted fellows who do not contribute to such causes.

 However, I believe that it will be better if such donors also sow a seed in the individuals who will worship in those imposing buildings. For what will it profit a man if he builds a palace and there is no family to live in it? Surely, Dangote and Otedola will not want almajiris and other dregs of the society to inhabit a worship centre they laboured to build.

 Today, Nigeria is assailed by a myriad of problems. Academic Staff Union of Universities is on strike. Fake and adulterated drugs are everywhere. Militants are blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta, in spite of the amnesty the Federal Government granted them. Our oil revenue is dwindling by the day. About 10, 000 Nigerian teenage girls were reported to have been trapped in sex slavery in Morocco and Libya. The rest may have migrated to Italy or other European cities to look for greener pastures.   

 To cap it all, a United States-based agency, last Tuesday, rated Nigeria as 15^th, out of the 177 countries that have greater tendency to fail in the world. According to The Fund for Peace in its 2009 Failed States Index of 177 countries, “Although Nigeria is an oil-rich nation, oil revenues scarcely benefit the majority of Nigerians. Instead, elite and criminals benefit from the vast oil reserves. In order to improve its economy, oil revenues should increasingly be directed toward public service programmes.”   

 True, criminals in government and elsewhere have sapped the nation dry. Corruption and other criminal tendencies do not reside only in Nigeria. The only problem is that while we worship our own criminals who have a lot of cash to throw around, other nations make them face the law.

 Last week, for instance, US billionaire, Sir Allen Stanford, appeared in a Houston court in handcuffs and leg chains with regard to a $7bn fraud charges levelled against him. Before his court appearance, he had already spent a week at a detention centre. Stanford allegedly conspired with some others to defraud investors who purchased $7bn in certificates of deposit from Stanford International Bank. They allegedly promised such investors returns that were too good to be true.

 Remember our own wonder banks? How many of those involved in defrauding Nigerians of their hard-earned money have faced the music? Almost on a weekly basis, some of the victims of these wonder banks urge me to plead with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to release their money trapped in these banks (as if the CBN Governor needs my advice to do what he is supposed to do).

 One interesting thing about Stanford is that he handed himself in to Federal Bureau of Investigations agents. For us in Nigeria, that is another big lesson. How many of our billionaires will willingly hand themselves over to law enforcement agents to be investigated. There were allegations and counter allegations as regards the reported share manipulation of AP Plc. I’m not sure how far the relevant authorities have gone to compel the principal gladiators to face the law of the land.

 For us to grow as individuals and as a nation, we must get our priorities right. We must make our laws work. Those who kill for whatever reason, be it manhood theft or breast theft, must face the consequences of their actions. The society that produces such characters needs serious education. They need good things that make life worth living. Without this, we may discover that the body of the worshippers may be in the mosque while their spirit may be revolving around what to eat and how to escape from genital thieves.

Akunyili, Ndukwe and the sale of a radio frequency

Casmir Igbokwe

First published June 21, 2009

Of recent, I try to do a little exercise before I leave for work every morning. Even if I skip press-up or hip-swinging, I don’t miss the tummy trimmer. This is because a few people have noted (I don’t know if it is true) that I am gradually developing pot belly. Hence, I need to shed some weight. And I don’t need to go for a tummy tuck to be able to remain trim.

I wish to recommend this tummy trimmer to the Honourable Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, and the Executive Vice-Chairman of the National Communications Commission, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe. Please look not at their bellies, for that is beside the point. Rather, their quarrel and the concomitant effect on the communications industry have developed a pot belly and they need to trim.

The issues at stake have to do with the reported sale of a 2.3GHz radio frequency band by the NCC. The Commission advertised this sale on April 30, 2009. The advert reportedly gave the applicants five working days to pay N1.368bn to the NCC account.

Ndukwe and his supporters believe there was nothing wrong with the sale. Akunyili and her own supporters believe everything was wrong with the process leading to the sale. Hence, the media has been inundated by write-ups either for or against the two government officials, who incidentally are from Anambra State.

For supporters of Ndukwe, Akunyili is a busybody who pries into what should not concern her. They say NCC, by virtue of the NCC Act, is an independent body within whose purview it is to regulate the supply of telecommunications services in the country. Some commentators have also quoted the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 (Section 121), which empowers the NCC to grant licences for the use of the frequency spectrum.

In conformity with some of these laws, Ndukwe had supervised the auction of GSM licences some years ago.

So, why has this particular sale generated a furore? Akunyili and her supporters believe the NCC did not follow due process. A company called A3 & O Ltd reportedly petitioned the minister, alleging that the NCC advertised the sale in a non-transparent manner. The petitioners urged the minister to investigate. Akunyili enquired and discovered that the NCC allegedly ignored pleas made to it by the National Frequency Management Council and the National Broadcasting Commission to follow due and constitutional process.

Consequently, she reportedly asked Ndukwe to halt the processes pending when she would be able to brief the President. The NCC boss reportedly flouted this directive. I gathered from some sources close to the information minister that one of the companies interested in buying the frequency, Galaxy Wireless, paid only one per cent of the fees before the deadline. Having purportedly been announced as one of the winners, Galaxy was said to have paid the remaining fee on May 18, 2009.  This same day, the NCC allegedly replaced Galaxy with Multilinks Telecom.          

I gathered that there was a meeting of all the interested parties where it was agreed that the release of the frequency band to NCC for sale did not follow due process because the FMIC did not ratify it. Hence, the meeting cancelled the whole process and directed that all the money collected be returned to their owners.

There are so many other allegations and counter allegations on this controversial sale. I don’t need to regurgitate them here. Our concern should be: was due process followed in the sale of the band? Was there an attempt to favour some companies as alleged? What is the position of the law on the whole process?

This is where the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice should have stepped in. He should have interpreted what the law says and then advised the President on what to do.

Unfortunately, we have an A-G that tends to pursue rats when his house is on fire. What quality of advice is he giving to the President?  It shouldn’t be my headache if the President, for reasons best known to him, decides to still keep him in the saddle. But for goodness sake, certain things are not going on well in the country; and as a government that professes rule of law and due process, the type of problems trailing the sale of the band should not be allowed to linger without direct intervention of the Presidency.

The communications industry in Nigeria is not yet what it should be. Our GSM operations still have one hiccup or the other. Drop calls; text messages not going through; high call rates and inability to recharge lines are some of the problems besetting the industry. We should be thinking about how to solve these problems. 

The problem now is that Akunyili and Ndukwe will be waiting for who blinks first. Since the Federal Government is delaying in bringing amicable settlement of the problem, other stakeholders should come in to broker peace. And it will not be a bad idea if Ndukwe, being the junior player in this highly-charged chess game, initiate moves to meet the minister and iron things out with her.

 Whichever way the combatants decide to handle the situation, all Nigerians want is that the pot belly is trimmed now to avoid it leading to some other crises.

Praying kidnappers out of business

Casmir Igbokwe

First published Sunday, June 14, 2009

Though I laughed off a recent joke by the Editorial Board Chairman of The Guardian, Dr. Reuben Abati, it set me thinking once again about this country and where we are heading. I had complained about the growing incident of kidnapping in my state, Anambra, and the danger inherent in travelling home these days. Abati told me to beware because my complexion and outlook might give some kidnappers an impression that a wealthy Oyinbo had come to town.

No doubt, the business of kidnapping has assumed a frightening dimension, especially in Anambra, nay the South-East. There is apprehension everywhere. Nobody knows who the next target of these hoodlums will be. If you are building a new house, you are not safe. If you struggle to buy a new car, you are an easy target. Some rich men in some towns now sneak into their houses to avoid people knowing that they are around. Some, I learnt, don’t even put on their generators anymore. They light their lanterns, which, sometimes, they hide under the table so that people may not notice their presence.

If you attend a function outside your home and you are not back by 7pm, your relations will be in pains. Except you constantly phone them to assure them of your safety, you may come home and discover that the high blood pressure of some of them have shot up. Our villages, which used to be a haven for peace, have become more dangerous than the urban centres.

Penultimate Friday, gunmen waylaid a billionaire businessman, Chief Paul Okonkwo, who just returned from a trip abroad, in Awka and kidnapped him while on his way to his hometown, Isuofia. He regained his freedom after about three days. Similar fate had befallen such people as the chief executive of Tonimas Petroleum Limited, Chief Anthony Enukeme; the traditional ruler of a town called Abagana, Mbamalu Okeke; and a host of other prominent Nigerians.

In fact, the malaise started in the Niger Delta where militants used it as a weapon to bring global attention to the plight of the people of the region. But if we could attribute the difficulty security agencies encounter in trying to nip the problem in the bud to the terrain of the Niger Delta, how do we explain the inability of security agents to put a stop to the incident in the other parts of the country?

The most worrying thing is that rather than think of practical ways of stopping this problem, some Nigerians have chosen to pursue shadows. In spite of the security challenges in Anambra State, for instance, some individuals consider security as the number one achievement of Gov. Peter Obi. In an advertorial last week, a group that calls itself Continuity Group says the Obi’s administration “has been able to restore peace, security and stability through the provision of communication gadgets and more than 100 patrol vehicles to various security agencies in the state thus reducing crime drastically.”

Obi himself knows this is farther from the truth. This is why he convened a security summit recently and promised a reward of N2m to whoever would volunteer useful information that would enhance security in the state. He believes, though, that his political opponents are the ones masterminding the crisis in the state.

The question is: what shall we do to curtail this menace if not eradicating it entirely? It is in crisis situations like this that one discovers how hopeless Nigerian’s feel about the ability of government to protect them. Most times, they believe prayers will work where government or adequate planning has failed.

Penultimate week, for instance, it was reported that the Redeemed Christian Church of God embarked on a three-day fasting and praying session so that God would give victory to the Super Eagles against their Kenyan counterparts in the World Cup qualifying march played last weekend. To the sports minister of the church, Pastor Paul Bankole, the prayer was for God to uproot all the “uprootables” to ensure Nigeria’s presence in South Africa.

Super Eagles won the game with three goals to nothing. It is likely the prayer warriors gloated over the victory as a sure sign that their prayers worked. But could Eagles have won without adequate preparation and skills?

A number of people I have spoken to have also canvassed prayers as the only antidote to kidnapping in Nigeria. I have no problem with this. We have prayed and continue to pray against bribery and corruption in Nigeria. We have prayed and continue to pray for Nigeria in distress. We have prayed and continue to pray against some other social vices in our churches and mosques. It is time to ask ourselves why, in spite of our prayers, things tend to be moving from bad to worse.

I had an argument with somebody who agrees that prayers alone may not solve the problem of kidnapping. But, according to the person, we should continuously pray and fast so that even if kidnappers strike; we will not be the victims. This presupposes that those who fall victims of kidnapping are those who either don’t pray or are sinners.

While we continue with our prayers, the government at all levels should do everything humanly possible to protect law-abiding citizens of this country. It won’t be a bad idea if the state governors, for instance, donate 80 per cent of their security votes to train and equip security agencies to tackle the menace.

We have lost enough precious lives and property already. It will be very sad to continue to lose more. I have hinted my family members that should this problem continue; they should forget going home this Christmas.

Before our governors relocate to Harvard

Casmir Igbokwe

I knew I was deceiving myself. But I had to do it to belong. I’m talking about acquiring the techniques of talking to girls and winning their love. That was in my secondary school days in the early 80s. Then, the more girlfriends you had as a boy, the more respect you gained from your peers.

Being particularly shy, I dreaded wooing girls mainly because of the embarrassment one could suffer if a girl decided to give one the boot. But to be able to discuss the art of wooing effectively with my peers, I bought one of the numerous pamphlets on sale then titled, “How to talk to girls and win their love.”

An example of a conversation between a boy and a girl in the booklet starts with something like, “Excuse me fine girl, your face is familiar.” The girl will naturally say something that will elicit another sweet talk from the boy. It goes on and on until the girl finally falls. To some boys then, taking a ‘no’ for an answer from a girl was a sign of weakness. Some of them actually got some slaps in the process.

I studied this pamphlet but never practised what it teaches. I remember when I travelled home during a particular long vacation and hid the booklet in a remote area of my school box. One day, my mum brought it out and quietly asked, “So you have started pursuing girls.” I was livid even as I tried to cook up stories to defend myself.

There is a huge similarity between my childhood escapades and the quest by our governors to go back to school. For those who have not heard, the 36 state governors under the auspices of the Governors’ Forum have signed up for a capacity-building training at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard University in the United States. Key secretariat staff of the Forum and some other political leaders will also benefit.

Media reports late last month indicated that the periodic training would inculcate in the governors the rudiment of governance and leadership. The Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, Dr. Bukola Saraki of Kwara State and the Director-General of the Forum, Mr. Asishana Okauru, reportedly signed for the Forum while the Director of Programme on Intrastate Conflict of the university, Prof. Robert Rotberg, and the Programme Manager, Katie Naeve, signed on behalf of the university.

I doubt if the so-called leadership training programme has much to do with public interest. Surely, people treasure any certificate from Harvard University, unarguably the number one university in the world. And so, what they couldn’t get outside office, the governors now want to get courtesy of their exalted positions.

The programme, which will last till 2011, will also afford our governors an opportunity to escape from the existential problems at home. They will not only strengthen their nerves and meet new friends from other environment; they will also enjoy the relaxed ambience of a country built by selfless leaders. Estacode is not really the issue because with or without it, they have access to security votes of their states.

The state chief executives may have got this capacity-building idea from the legislature. Some National Assembly members and state lawmakers had had cause to go abroad for one capacity-building retreat or the other. The latest one was a sponsored trip to Ghana by some Senators.

Remember that last year, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly went to Australia to build their capacity on how to make laws. No sooner had they arrived there than two female lawmakers fought one of their male colleagues who reportedly jilted them for a younger and more beautiful lady. This is not suggesting that their Excellencies will go to Harvard to hunt for ladies. They have beautiful wives who they love and adore.

And by the way, what are the Osun local government chairmen’s wives doing with official cars? The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Osun State branch, reportedly purchased 30 posh cars for these local government first ladies. They also have official drivers to go with it.  Apparently, this is to enable them to enjoy their own dividend of democracy.

You see where our problem lies? It is the misplacement of priority; mismanagement of resources; corruption; greed; and deception.

Our governors do not need to go to Harvard to know that our roads are bad and should be fixed. They need not acquire any special training to know that their citizens are dying of hunger and other deprivations. They don’t need any certificate to realise that the easiest way to win the love of their citizens is to render unparalleled selfless service.

Their going to Harvard is even a subtle indictment on the leadership of this country. It means that they, the leaders, have failed to provide qualitative education to their people. They could have gone to the University of Lagos, University of Benin or even University of Maiduguri to learn the leadership skills. But they can’t go to such places because Nigerian schools lack the requisite facilities that will make learning worth the while for their Excellencies.

Since our governors have already signed the memorandum of understanding, I don’t think anybody can stop them from going to Harvard now. But before they start their lectures, they must resolve that from 2011 onwards, the leadership problems bedevilling this country will be a thing of the past. Otherwise, their trip will be nothing more than the frivolity of a boy sent to school to study Mathematics, but ended up reading “how to talk to girls and win their love.”

Prayer for Nigeria’s democracy at 10

 Casmir Igbokwe

 Published Sunday May 31, 2009

Ara nwanyi Asaba is an Igbo phrase which means Asaba woman’s breast. A popular Nigerian actor, Chiwetalu Agu, kept on muttering these words sometime last week as I lowered my tired frame on a settee to watch Africa Magic channel on DSTV with my family. I had heard of this miraculous breast. But having forgotten what it’s all about, someone reminded me that it belonged to a woman in Asaba. The belief was that whoever sucked the thing would get instant solution to their problems. This had drawn a large crowd of dejected miracle seekers to Asaba.   

 It is this type of delusion that has shaped the response of Nigerians to the problems of existence. With 10 years of democracy producing little or no fruit for the citizens; and with a government that considers the interest of the people as secondary, many Nigerians have placed all their hopes in miracles and native doctors. Some constantly shout the word ‘revolution’, but do not know who will lead it or when it will start.

 Let’s bring down our blood pressure a little by first looking at what we have achieved in 10 years of uninterrupted democracy. The number one, as most commentators have noted, is a smooth transition from one civilian government to another. President Umaru Yar’Adua put it this way, “We have conducted three successive general elections and peacefully transferred power from one civilian administration to another. Given our historical antecedents, these represent a testimony that our people have clearly shown their preference for democratic governance and an abiding faith in its transformative power.”

 Besides, the Federal Government gloated over the recently awarded contracts for the construction and rehabilitation of 34 federal highways at the cost of N140bn. In his address to mark Democracy Day last Friday, Yar’Adua also noted that his government had completed 13 of the major highway works inherited from the previous administration.

 It created the Ministry of the Niger Delta to tackle the problems of development in that region. Apparently to show some sympathy over the suffering of the people of the region, the government offered amnesty to the so-called militants who have held the entire nation to ransom. Unfortunately, this has not worked as envisaged as the current war between federal troops and militants continues to claim casualties (collateral damage).

 The point here is that we advertise and gloat over what other serious nations take for granted. If I continue to count our so-called democratic blessings one by one, it will surprise even a chronic optimist how deep we have sunk as a nation.

 When it comes to the real indices of development, we are nowhere near the Promised Land. Our educational system, which should be the bedrock of the nation’s development, is in a shambles. UNESCO estimates that about 10 million Nigerian children are out of school. I guess the number is higher. As you read this, the Academic Staff Union of Universities is on a two-week warning strike. Teachers in the 104 Federal Government Colleges announced the commencement of an indefinite strike last Wednesday. The products of these incessant strikes and poorly-equipped schools graduate to become liabilities to the society.

 The state of our health care system is exemplified by the statistics that stared us in the face when we joined the rest of the world to mark the Safe Motherhood Day on May 26. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, one woman dies every 10 minutes due to complications of pregnancy. Maternal mortality in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world.

 Let’s not talk about roads, power and other infrastructural facilities. In spite of claims and promises of government officials, the general state of infrastructure in this country leaves much to be desired.

 I’m actually getting tired of writing about the same problems most of the time. What I am trying to learn now is to look at the comic side of our problems, have a good laugh and a good sleep to keep my blood pressure down.

 It is in this spirit that I invite you to share a laugh with me over the face-off between Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, and members of the House of Representatives. Last Tuesday, the Reps Committee on Foreign Affairs invited Maduekwe to a meeting over the sale of Nigeria’s embassy buildings in Washington DC. When the lawmakers wanted to know why the minister spent part of the proceeds without appropriation, Maduekwe fired back: “You are overstretching your oversight duties to a ridiculous extent; rather than legislators making laws for the good governance of the country, they keep summoning ministers every time.” On realising his ‘mistake’, Maduekwe offered to host the legislators to a dinner either in London, Moscow, his house or the committee chairman’s house.

 Perhaps, the Reps should seize the opportunity of the historic dinner to jaw-jaw on where to hold the next round of capacity-building workshops. They can also think of probing the Ministry of Water Resources or some other ministries that have not passed through their crucible. This will fetch some money. It may also silence those accusing them of passing only four executive bills last year and one (Appropriation Bill) this year. After all, their duties go beyond mere lawmaking.

 One way to measure the effects of misgovernment in this country is to visit major embassies in Nigeria. A colleague of mine who visited German embassy last week to collect her visa bemoaned what she experienced there. The Police at the embassy, she said, had to use tear gas to check the unruly behaviour of the crowd that had gathered to seek visa. In 2008, about 70, 000 Nigerians applied for the United States visa. The number will likely be higher this year.

 Rather than do something to halt the disturbing emigration from Nigeria, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party found it more convenient to accuse the US of plotting to destabilise Nigeria. They hinged their allegation on the fact that some pro-democracy groups are planning to meet with US President, Barack Obama, in Ghana in July. Is this not laughable?

 If not for people like Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos who have demonstrated how good leadership can change a bad situation, one would have completely lost hope in the redemption of Nigeria. My prayer is that a Fashola will emerge at all the levels of government in no distant future to shift the mouths of many Nigerians from the breasts of the Asaba woman to flutes that bring forth memorable melodies.

Our lawmakers’ sponsored trip to Ghana

By Casmir Igbokwe

Published Sun 17 May, 2009

Recently, two friends confided in me their inability to perform their conjugal duties. One of them wanted some pieces of advice. The other wanted some money to buy libido-enhancing drugs. I am not a doctor. But I guess that the problem with these men is psychological. The global financial meltdown is dealing with them. I only hope that their wives won‘t get to read this and start imagining that I‘m referring to their husbands.

Many more couples will likely be going through harsher situations. It‘s not that Nigeria is not richly blessed. It is. But the insensitive display of opulence by some of our rulers and the perennial allegations of sleaze against them, call for some reflection on why we are where we are today.

Last week, our lawmakers were in the news again mainly for the wrong reasons. The major one was the allegation by the Special Adviser on Petroleum to the President, Dr. Emmanuel Egboga. The man was quoted to have said that oil companies took some senators to Ghana to feed and bribe them to oppose the oil and gas reforms being initiated by the Federal Government.

No sooner was this allegation made than the senators began to fight back. Senator George Sekibo moved a motion that the allegation be probed. Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba said some people were looking for scapegoats to rationalise their inability to perform their duties. Senator Lee Maeba said he couldn‘t attend the Ghana assignment, but that even those who went regretted going there. In other words, there was “no show”, as Nigerians are wont to say. Senate President, David Mark, could not hide his anger not just on the issue but on the fact that the lawmakers had consistently received bad publicity in the past few weeks.

He thundered, “There is going to be a serious public hearing…because when people begin to beckon at their whims and caprices to label us in the way they want, we should take it seriously. They cannot just blackmail us and get away with it the way they want to do things.”

My first reaction to the Senate President‘s ruling was to shout ”another public hearing?” Of what purpose will that be. What is the fate of other public hearings we have had in Nigeria? Just look at the probe into the power sector reforms, for instance. The Ndudi Elumelu-led committee of the House of Representatives that probed the rot in the power sector spent millions of naira in the course of conducting their investigations. They turned in many volumes of the report of the probe. At the end, the House set up an ad hoc committee to review the report.

Last Thursday, the Aminu Tambuwal review committee dropped the probe report. The review committee reportedly accused the Elumelu panel of lacking understanding of the nature of power sector contracts. Hence, it exonerated the Olusegun Obasanjo-led government of mismanaging funds for power projects.

Ironically, the tide has turned against Elumelu himself. Last Thursday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned him alongside the Senate Committee Chairman on Power, Senator Nicholas Ugbane; the House Committee Chairman on Rural Development, Mr. Paulinus Igwe and others over N5bn contract scam committed in December 2008. Part of the 157 criminal charges was that the contracts were awarded to 51 different fictitious firms, some allegedly benefiting up to 10 times each. The companies allegedly got the money upfront for non-existing rural electrification projects.

Nigeria is an interesting and exciting country. No week passes without some dramatic events occurring. The more one tries to understand these events, the more befuddled one becomes. I will be pleasantly surprised if anything concrete and revealing comes out of this latest presumed war against corruption.

I will also be pleasantly surprised if the latest public hearing of the Senate bears any fruitful result. But come to think of it, what is it that is attracting our lawmakers to Ghana? Why can‘t they hold their capacity-building workshops in Port Harcourt, Calabar or even Birnin Kebbi?

Remember that members of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello‘s committee on health were in Ghana last year on a capacity-building trip. That trip drew some flak from many Nigerians, especially with regard to the allegation that the senators sponsored themselves with the N10m said to be part of the N300m unspent budget of the Ministry of Health. Now, 10 senators will be answering questions over a recent capacity-building workshop in Ghana.

My guess is that Ghana is becoming very attractive to our lawmakers because Ghanaians have laboured to put their house in order. In their recent Presidential elections, Ghanaians voted the opposition candidate, John Atta-Mills as their President. Nobody upturned the popular will of the people. I‘m sure your mind is flashing back at our own rerun elections in Ekiti State. Worry no more as we may be forced to come to our senses if Ghanaians ever decide to pursue us out of their country like some South Africans did to foreigners a few months ago.

We have no shame. Just for what they considered an abuse of expenses claim, Britons are harassing the hell out of their Members of Parliament and cabinet ministers. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has just suspended Labour MP, Elliot Morley, for collecting £16, 000 for a mortgage that does not exist. Some MPs were accused of claiming as low as £119 dubiously.

In Nigeria, nothing shocks us anymore. Our public officers can steal billions but nothing will happen. They keep getting richer while the majority of Nigerians keep getting poorer. People are dying of hunger and other diseases. Fuel scarcity continues to bite harder.

Why won’t men lose their libido! The way the war in the Niger Delta is going, Nigerians may wake up one day to discover that there is even no oil money to fight over anymore.

Searching for truth in Ekiti

By Casmir Igbokwe

Published: Sunday, 10 May 2009

Dumped on uninhabited islands without food for weeks, over 300 dogs began to eat one another. Pulau Ketam villagers had reportedly rounded the dogs up last month and cast them away on two islands off Selangor, a state in Malaysia. Their reason was that the increasing population of stray dogs fouled the streets and sometimes bit children. However, one animal rights group in Selangor is making efforts to rescue and rehabilitate the dogs.

In Nigeria, dog eat dog is a common phrase. But the domestic animal is not the cannibal here. Human beings are. And in no sphere is this more visible than in politics. Our politicians can roast their mothers just to win elections and be in government.

Four days after the April 25 rerun election in Ekiti State, I had an encounter with some prominent Nigerians at the residence of the Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria. It was at the celebration of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth.

Almost all the people I interacted with were not happy with the goings-on in the country. They condemned the charade called elections in Ekiti. They toasted to the health of the Queen and to the system where she reigns as the monarch. They complained about our own awkward system.

At a point, I retired to a corner to lick my red lips (the redness has nothing to do with lipstick but red wine). I looked critically at the faces of Ernest Shonekan, Atedo Peterside, Frank Nweke Jr., Edwin Clark and many other eminent Nigerians. I saw warmth. I saw smiles. I saw radiance. But I wondered what the British nationals and other foreigners at that gathering would be thinking about us. 

No doubt, we are a good people and a great nation. But this greatness has been obliterated by our perennial search for truth. Nobody knows what to believe; or who to trust.

 Again, Ekiti elections come handy here. We are all too familiar with what has happened in that state in the name of elections. We saw charms and ammunition on display. We saw thugs arrested in front of some politicians’ houses. We saw how people who were into some illegal deals battered journalists who were recording their perfidy. We witnessed how some of the 10,000 policemen looked the other way while some people committed atrocities in some wards and local governments. We noticed how the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, announced the results in five LGAs and suddenly developed cold feet in announcing other results. We heard that she went into hiding; that she was ill; that she had resigned. She said she could not do something that would go against her Christian conscience. The police declared her wanted.

 After some pressures here and there, the woman resurfaced and claimed to still be part of INEC family. She went back to Ekiti to announce what her Christian conscience did not initially permit her to do. Mr. Segun Oni won with a fantastic result in one local government – Ido-Osi – and his supporters gloated.

Where is the truth in all these? Somehow, I praised Adebayo on this page last week not that I had absolute confidence in her short-lived heroism, but I thought that our little voices of support would make her stand resolutely by her convictions. How mistaken I was!

 I am not a politician. Neither am I from Ekiti State. I support neither Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party nor Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress. As a journalist, I am biased for truth. And if truth must be told, something was wrong with Ekiti rerun election and the results as announced by INEC.

This is why I find the reaction of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, on the Ekiti crisis rather worrisome. In an interview he granted THE GUARDIAN yesterday, Babalola was quoted to have said that he “watched with total dismay, the ugly events that happened at the collation centres, where people of the noble profession (lawyers) joined in what I call shameful and barbaric acts.” These were people who peacefully protested the irregularities that trailed the announcement of the results.

 When the reporter sought his comment on the manipulated results, our respected legal luminary said the report he got about the allegations was that the media blew what happened out of proportion.

 He then lectured, “I have had the opportunity of addressing the media several times on the ethics of the profession. Some media organisations deliberately publish falsehood to please their owners…”

To an extent, Babalola is right. Some journalists and their media organisations deliberately try to distort facts to suit their pecuniary objectives and political interest. The situation was not different in the reports on the Ekiti rerun election as a few misguided journalists tried to distort the facts about the election. But as in journalism, so it is in law, medicine, accountancy, and so on.

 However, with all due respect to Babalola, journalists did not manufacture the thugs that wreaked havoc on the day of the election. Journalists did not withhold the Ido-Osi result to wait and see what results would come out of other wards. Journalists were not behind all that transpired between Adebayo and the Nigerian state. They merely reported what they saw and discerning Nigerians know where to locate the truth.

 If Babalola had told us about the ethics of law with regard to the behaviour of lawyers he felt disappointed in, I would have paid more attention. But, with all due respect, I don’t think he is qualified to talk about the ethics of journalism. Journalism is a profession that thrives on objectivity and truth. And since there is no absolute objectivity, it is biased against injustice, against rigging, against falsehood and against any form of fraud.

These malpractices were prevalent in Ekiti and most of the reporters who covered the elections reported them with illustrative pictures. To that extent, they have not breached any journalism ethics. We should not divert attention by heaping blames on them.

The blame should rather go to the Presidency that has been mouthing electoral reforms but could not do much to show a good example of that in Ekiti. The blame should go the politicians who vowed to win elections by all means. The blame should go to all elders who knew the truth but chose to either keep silent or distort facts.

While we continue to hit and eat ourselves like the Malaysian dogs, other nations like Ghana and South Africa reap bountifully from their own organised democracy. The year 2011 beckons. Where and how will Nigeria’s democracy be by then?

The political flu in Ekiti

By Casmir Igbokwe

Published: Sunday, 3 May 2009

THIS is a season of flu. Currently, there is swine flu in Mexico and some other parts of the world. In Nigeria and some other African countries, the flu is political. And it is malignant, life-threatening and deadly.

In Kenya, for instance, over 1,000 people died in post-election violence in 2008. The coalition government formed in the wake of that violence is currently shaky. Relations between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are said to be frosty. Women have gone on sex strike to protest this development.

In Ekiti, women have also come out in full force to protest the political logjam in that state. Last Wednesday, thousands of women protesters trooped to the major streets of Ado-Ekiti to vent their anger on the stalemated governorship rerun election in the state. Old women marched half naked. Their younger counterparts were part of the protest, but could not bare their breasts.

I think the protest could have attracted more attention and made more impact if the younger women had defied shyness to toe the line of their older colleagues. Yes, the situation in Ekiti warrants even much more than that. It demands total nakedness if that will force our do-or-die politicians to retrace their steps.

Or how do we explain that we cannot conduct a free-and-fair election in 63 wards or 10 local government areas? How do we reconcile the fact that 10,000 policemen could not guarantee peace and security on the day of the election? How can the Independent National Electoral Commission and some other gladiators feed us lies with impunity? How can a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria conduct himself as Senator Ayo Arise allegedly did on Election Day and still remain a free man?

In Nigeria, there are more questions than answers. Better, the more you look, the less you see. What happened in Ekiti penultimate Saturday was expected. It was more than an election. It was a supremacy battle between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the Action Congress for the soul of the South-West.

And so it was not surprising when Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State boasted in a rally in Ekiti on April 4, 2009 that the PDP would win the rerun election by all means. There were allegations too that the ruling party planned to deploy soldiers to the state. Perhaps, the hue and cry that trailed the alleged plan to deploy soldiers put a check to that plot.

But the desperadoes would not relent. They brought in thugs and armed them with charms and ammunition to terrorise the citizenry. Empowered and emboldened, the thugs went to work on the Election Day. They killed. They maimed. They rigged. Not even journalists and observers were spared. Our photojournalist, Segun Bakare, whose pictures of the thuggery came out the following day in SUNDAY PUNCH, became the butt of attacks by female thugs. How primitive can we be?

Just as Nigerians anxiously awaited the results of the election, the do-or-die politicians went to work. The INEC announced the results from five local government areas. There were some problems with the remaining five. The electoral body cancelled the election in Oye-Ekiti. There were reports of manipulation in Ido-Osi. But the INEC said it would announce the results of the remaining four local governments on Sunday evening. That was not to be.

The next thing was that the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, disappeared. Then different cock-and-bull stories started flying in the air: “Mrs. Adebayo is ill;” “She has resigned;” “No, she is still a member of the INEC family.” What a country!

Obviously, the woman is under pressure. But who is really putting her under this tremendous stress? Her boss in INEC? The Presidency? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who appointed her? The PDP candidate, Segun Oni, or his AC counterpart, Kayode Fayemi?

Adebayo holds the key to unlocking the answers to these questions. There are insinuations, especially from those close to the government that Obasanjo is manipulating her for his selfish reasons. Those who hold this view point to the not-too-cordial relationship between Obasanjo and his erstwhile benefactor, President Umaru Yar’Adua. They buttress this belief by noting that Obasanjo did not attend the two PDP rallies in Ekiti though he is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party.

Many other Nigerians believe the amount of irregularities during the election overwhelmed the woman. She had noted in her resignation letter that the circumstances changed in the middle of the election. Hence, her conscience as a Christian could not allow her to further participate in the process. The same woman emerged a day after to say she was a member of the INEC family.

At 74, Adebayo has nothing to lose but everything to gain if she followed the path of truth and principles. No matter what, she should resist any attempt to force her to go against her good conscience. History is replete with women who sacrificed their liberty in order to make the society better. Adebayo should let her name be among these women.

INEC has fixed Tuesday as a new date to hold the inconclusive election in Oye-Ekiti. But the AC is threatening to boycott the entire process. The stage is set for a fresh crisis in the Fountain of Knowledge. Too bad!

There is the need for every citizen to be vigilant. Let’s have more Adebayos, whose spirit will resist any rigging in any state. Let’s have more youths who will stay under the rain or sun to protect their votes. Let’s have more women (and men) who will go on sex strike or even protest nude if need be.

Vaswani brothers and tax evasion

By Casmir Igbokwe

 Published: Sunday, 26 Apr 2009

 There is this popular traditional musician generally perceived in Igboland to have mystical powers. He used to showcase this power during the annual Ikeji Festival in his native Arondizuogu in Imo State. Part of the myth around Perry Como Okoye in his heyday was his alleged encounter with tax collectors in a city I can’t remember now. According to the story, the taxmen carried him up in an attempt to bundle him into their vehicle. Just as they were about to do this, they reportedly became transfixed. They could neither drop Okoye nor even move from that spot. The man purportedly remained hanging in the palms of his assailants until a barrage of pleas softened his mind to release them.

This happened in those days when the fear of the taxman was the beginning of wisdom. Even as a student, you dared not visit such cities as Onitsha and Aba if you had some strands of beard on your chin. The taxman would harass you.

There seemed to be a lull in this type of aggressive revenue drive until recently when the global financial crisis precipitated a new drive by different levels of government to buoy up their revenue base. Unfortunately, civil servants and workers in some private firms are largely at the receiving end of this new drive.

Some wealthy Nigerians and companies are paying little or nothing compared to what they earn. Two Sundays ago, this paper reported that the Federal Government had lost billions of naira to tax evasion by companies operating in Nigeria. To these delinquent companies, there is no need to pay the correct duties for goods imported into the country.

 Many times, officers of the Nigeria Customs Service release reports of their exploits in combating smugglers. Most times, what they display on television are either tons of seized frozen fish or frozen chicken. Nobody can exactly say where the illegal arms and ammunition that flood this country come from. Nor can we say what exactly prevents our Customs men from apprehending car smugglers at the borders. What they do these days is to go and mount roadblocks at such places as Ore, Asaba, Shagamu, and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to confiscate people‘s second-hand cars and demand outrageous fees, or fine if you like, before releasing such vehicles.

 This brings me to the case involving the Vaswani brothers and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Last Monday, the EFCC announced the deportation of the Vaswani brothers – Mahesh, Harish and Sunil. According to the chairman of the commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, the brothers, through their company, the Stallion Group, evaded payment of N2.5bn duty on rice importation through the manipulation of documents.

 For instance, as at August 30, 2008, one of the first three vessels allegedly involved in the fraud, MV Golden, was said to be still loading in Thailand. Waziri said it was expected to depart on September 21, 2008 and arrive in Lagos and Port Harcourt on October 7 and 30, 2008 respectively. But even before the arrival date, the EFCC boss alleged that the officer-in-charge report seat of the NCS, Area 1, Port Harcourt, had stamped and signed the accompanying documents such as the Bill of Laden, cargo manifest, etc. by September 26, 2008. The allegation is that the Stallion Group did this to exploit the Federal Government’s duty waiver on rice importation of May 9 to October 31, 2008.

Upon the recommendation of the EFCC, President Yar‘Adua approved the deportation of 28 top officials of the Stallion Group and their banishment from Nigeria for a period of five years. The EFCC also vowed to prosecute Customs officers and those found culpable. The Obasanjo administration had deported the brothers in 2003 for allegedly short-changing the government of tax revenue worth about N4bn, but Yar‘Adua permitted them to return to Nigeria in 2007.

The defence of the management of the Stallion Group is that the action of the Federal Government was a violation of subsisting court orders and due process. It said it had a clean record for the past 40 years of business operations in Nigeria and other countries and that no single allegation of wrongdoing had ever been proven against it.

 It will be interesting to know why the Federal Government is after a company that is supposedly clean and of no blemish. Somebody should tell me why Yar‘Adua, who pardoned the Vaswani brothers in 2007, will be too eager to sign their deportation warrant less than two years after.

 The EFCC action against Stallion, if the company actually did what it was accused of, is noble. But since the company says it‘s in court, I think the commission‘s action would have been nobler if the court process had been allowed to run its course. That would have given the government enough ground, if the allegation is proven, to deport the directors of the company not just for five years but, perhaps, forever.

 The EFCC should not just stop at Vaswani. Many other companies, as the Federal Inland Revenue Service had alleged, are tax evaders. Nigerians need to know these companies and what punishment is being meted out to them.

 No serious government tolerates tax evasion by individuals or companies. In such countries, leaders lead the way in the payment of taxes. For instance, President Barack Obama of the United States and his wife, Michelle, made $2.7m last year. Much of this came from royalties from his books. As a Democratic senator from Illinois, he only earned $139,204 last year before leaving his seat on account of the November 2008 election. Michelle‘s salary from the University of Chicago Hospitals, where she was an executive, was $62,709. The couple’s total federal tax reportedly came to $855,323, or 32 per cent of their adjusted gross income of $2,656,902. They were said to have overpaid by $26,014 and elected to apply that amount to their 2009 taxes.

This is transparency at work. How many of our public officers will support and encourage the ideals of an open society? How many companies in Nigeria declare the true worth of their earnings? There is no need blaming any particular individual or company. Collectively, we are guilty. And it will take the collective efforts of all of us to change the situation.

The first step is to pass the Freedom of Information Bill. Many Nigerians have shouted and implored those who claim to represent them in the National Assembly to pass the bill to no avail. If we continue to do our things in secret, many more foreign companies will exploit that to cheat us in our own game. And like Perry Como Okoye, the country will remain transfixed in the palms of corruption.