Like Fayose, Nigeria’s democracy has serious neck pains

Casmir Igbokwe

The build-up to the just-concluded Ekiti governorship election was highly dramatic. Act One, Scene One: Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, urges the electorate to vote for Governor Ayodele Fayose.

At the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Ado-Ekiti, Ngige, in Pidgin English, blunders, “If you marry two wives, you go know which one wey better. Fayose is the better wife. E dey cook, e dey give husband food. E no dey give am trouble. You must bring back Fayose on Saturday.”

Of course, it is common knowledge that Fayose was not the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP’s candidate is Prof. Kolapo Olusola who happens to be Fayose’s current deputy. The APC’s candidate is Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Ngige apparently mistook ‘Fayemi’ for ‘Fayose.’

Act One, Scene Two: Fayose weeps like a baby. A day after Ngige’s act, precisely at the PDP rally in Ado-Ekiti, Fayose sobs, “They (the police) are beating anybody who has any sign of PDP on them. They are not picking our calls; they’ve made up their minds to do this evil.

“I am in pain, I am in severe pain. (Sobs) I can’t turn this neck anymore. If anything happens to me, the Inspector-General of Police should be held accountable.”

Like Fayose, our democracy has serious neck pains. It needs urgent treatment. One of the maladies happens to be the security agencies. They tend to show bias for the government in power. Before the above scenario painted by Fayose, security operatives had reportedly dispersed supporters of the PDP from the popular Fajuyi Park in Ado Ekiti, where they had gathered for the rally.

They reportedly thwarted every move by Fayose to lead his supporters back to the park. Moving the rally to the Government House did not help matters. The outgoing governor claimed that the police manhandled him and many PDP members there. He cried for justice and pleaded for the intervention of the international community, lamenting that Ekiti State, nay Nigeria, was in trouble.

In 2014, when the PDP was in power at the centre, Fayose was the beneficiary of the invasion of Ekiti State by security agents. He moved about like an emperor and later won the election. Then, he did not lament that Nigeria was in trouble. As the saying goes, the measure you give is the measure you get.

Nevertheless, two wrongs do not make a right. The problem is that most of our politicians consider our elections a do-or-die affair. Just consider this: the Federal Government deployed 30,000 police personnel, armoured personnel carriers and some other security hardware for the Ekiti election. Commanding the security operations was a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), assisted by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), and three commissioners of police (CPs). The DSS was also there in full force. And please note that Ekiti is not an isolated case. Similar security build-up had occurred in the past in such states as Anambra and Ondo.

This type of scenario only creates unnecessary tension and verbal warfare in the polity. After the alleged assault on Fayose, for instance, the PDP and the APC traded accusations to no end. In Abuja, Anambra, Imo, Nasarawa and some other states, members of the party protested and condemned what they saw as an assault on the nation’s democracy.

The national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, described it as a civilian coup. As he put it, “We are aware and we have been reliably informed that INEC and a section of the security agencies are preparing to rig the election in Ekiti. That is why Ekiti today has been militarised and policed. Over 30,000 policemen are in Ekiti. The citizens of Ekiti are afraid, they are traumatised, they are harassed and they are being guarded not to come out of their homes.”

The APC didn’t waste time to defend itself. It rejected the claim by the PDP that policemen were drafted to Ekiti State to harass PDP supporters in Saturday’s governorship election.

The APC further noted, “With PDP’s claim in its press statement, it is obvious that its leadership does not have the facts of the actual events in Ekiti State or it is deliberately attempting to divert public attention from the comical performance put up by Governor Ayodele Fayose on Wednesday, which was clearly contrived to give the impression to the public that he was being persecuted.”

Nigeria’s democracy has become a potpourri of tragicomedy. In some cases, it provides comic relief. In some other instances, it makes you sad and troubled. Or how do you explain police rationalisation of what they did. They said they prevented the PDP rally from holding to forestall the outbreak of violence between the two leading political parties; and that they acted because the two parties intended to have their rallies at the same date in Ado-Ekiti metropolis.

Incidentally, the APC had a successful rally the previous day in Ado-Ekiti. Nobody molested its supporters. No tear gas. No fracas. So, how the police came about the story of two leading parties holding rallies the same day remains a matter of conjecture.

The PDP sustained its allegations against security agencies even on Election Day. Its candidate, Professor Olusola Eleka, said his party contested against security agencies and that there were plans to tinker with the results of the election.

Democracy suffers when security agencies that are supposed to be neutral begin to show open bias for a particular political party or individual. People not only lose confidence in such security agencies, they begin to take the law into their hands.

They begin to use financial muscle to buy their way through. This was what happened during Saturday’s election in Ekiti. The PDP reportedly dispensed its cash from Government House, Ado-Ekiti. The APC, according to media reports, set up its own money base in a hotel along University Road.

At Government House, the PDP allegedly gave voters, excluding civil servants and pensioners, between N4,000 and N5,000. Civil servants and pensioners reportedly got theirs through the banks.

On its part, the APC was said to be distributing cash and rice at different centres through authorised agents.

President Muhammadu Buhari would do well to stop these anomalies. He should start by calling security agencies to order. Observance of the rule of law is the cornerstone of democracy. When that is breached, what you have is a jackboot democracy.

The other day, the Department of State Security (DSS) whisked Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe away while he was attending a function at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja. Abaribe was with them for five days. Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has been in detention for over two years despite different court orders that he should be released.

Different agencies of government, especially the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police, have continued to violate the rights of Nigerians. In some cases, they kill people for no just cause.

Besides, the President should also caution himself. The other day, he issued Executive Order Number 006. This permits security agencies to freeze the assets of persons standing trial without recourse to court order.

Little wonder the Senate, last Wednesday, condemned what it sees as a continuous assault of the Nigerian Constitution and worsening anti-democratic activities by the executive. It resolved to summon the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to explain the reasons behind the alleged violations of human rights of Nigerians by the executive.

Happily, Nigerians are beginning to build confidence in the electoral process. People are now conscious of using their voter cards to either elect or remove a government. Currently, Nigerians queue for hours and stand under the sun just to obtain their permanent voter cards (PVCs). It will be a tragedy if, after all the sacrifices, they still face half-hearted democracy.

Soon, campaigns for the 2019 elections will start. The usual intrigues, alignments and realignments have started. Will political parties observe the rules of the game? Will their campaigns be violence-free? Will the President allow the electoral processes to flow seamlessly without interruptions from any quarters? Will the incumbent leaders concede defeat if their opponents win election? Have past suspects of electoral crimes been tried and punished?

Is the Ekiti experience a signpost of what to expect in the elections coming up in 2019? If we have to deploy 30,000 policemen in one state for a governorship election, how many will we deploy in all the states in 2019? In simple terms, will there be free and fair election in 2019? Will the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be an unbiased umpire?

These and many more questions are on the lips of many Nigerians. The answer lies with the Federal Government, the INEC, and security agencies.

 

Re: Nigeria’s embarrassing gold medal in extreme poverty

The last paragraph of your article titled “Nigeria’s embarrassing gold medal in extreme poverty” is very interesting. All hands must be on deck in fighting corruption. I have personally secured convictions in the Anambra State local government system. I ensured three months suspension of an officer who mutilated a cheque of N600,000 to the tune of N1.6m and banned him from holding any financial position till his retirement. I also ensured the demotion of an officer from GL.16 to 15, removal as a local govt treasurer and ban from holding any financial position till his retirement.

These will be deterrent to others.

• Chinedu Ekwuno (JP), 08063730644

Our leaders are the architects of our poverty because they refuse to do the needful in governance over their selfish interest of looting the fund.

• Gordon Chika Nnorom, +2348062887535
• First published in the Daily Sun of Monday, July 16, 2018.

Nigeria’s embarrassing gold medal in extreme poverty

Casmir Igbokwe

Last Wednesday, Ahmed set himself ablaze. That was at Omole Phase 1 area of Lagos. Hardship was purportedly the main cause. Said to be a barber in his 20s, the young man had sustained third degree burns before passersby could rescue him. He was rushed to the hospital. But there were reports that he eventually died.

The scene was reminiscent of what happened in Tunisia on December 17, 2010 when a street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire. The action triggered the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring against autocratic regimes.

Trust Nigerians, Ahmed’s death will not trigger even a street protest. Some would have even made a caricature of him or busied themselves snapping him and uploading on the social media. But, at least, the incident will remind us of the current existential realities in the country. Like Ahmed, some people had similarly committed suicide on account of hardship.

Earlier in the year, both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank said unemployment and poverty rates had increased in Nigeria. The African Development Bank also estimates that 80 per cent of Nigerians live below the United Nations poverty threshold of $2 per day. And according to the National Bureau of Statistics, about nine million jobs have been lost in the past three years. The number of newly unemployed rose from 8.03 million in 2015 to 15.99 million by the third quarter of 2017.

Little wonder it was reported recently that Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty.  According to the report by the Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organisation in the United States, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute. This is the highest number in the world. The survey showed that at the end of May 2018, Nigeria had an estimated 87 million people in extreme poverty. India had 73 million, which is actually a decline from what it used to be. Comparing ours with India is even misleading. India is far more populous than Nigeria. A 2016 estimate put India’s population at 1.324 billion whereas Nigeria’s is about 180 million.

Corruption and mismanagement are at the core of our problems. A few individuals privileged to be in government have siphoned and continue to siphon our commonwealth. Today, we hear of budget padding and double salaries by those at the helm of affairs.

Meanwhile, many of those who toil day and night to make Nigeria better are denied their entitlements. The other day, the Head, Department of Internal Medicine at the Kogi State Specialist Hospital in Lokoja, Dr. Chukwudibe Rosemary, suddenly died in agony. Since February this year, Doctor Rosemary and many others have not been paid. Her case was so bad that she could not even pay for some of the tests such as Pylori that were to be run on her.

Not wanting Rosemary’s fate to befall them, some policemen in Maiduguri, last week, went to the streets to protest non-payment of some allowances. These are men who are in the theatre of the Boko Haram war. To owe them even one kobo is evil.

We cannot continue to live this way. We cannot continue to waste billions of naira as security votes when there is no serious control over the spate of killings in the country. We cannot claim to be the giant of Africa when one in three Nigerian children is chronically malnourished; when millions of these children are out of school.

The questions are: Why should a state governor owing workers several months of salary continue to fund the so-called office of the First Lady? Why should our political office-holders continue to jet out for medical attention abroad when millions of Nigerians like Dr Rosemary cannot afford even common Paracetamol and do not have access to quality health care?

Why would governors engage long and overzealous convoys when the majority of Nigerians cannot afford N200 transport fare? What are those 10 aircraft or so doing in the Presidential fleet? Does the Presidency operate a commercial airline? And why will a governor charter flights when there are commercial airlines going to many destinations in Nigeria?

The questions are legion. But there is one simple answer: curb profligacy in government; make political offices less attractive to thieves. Politicians cannot be swimming in money while the majority of the people wallow in extreme poverty.

Fair enough, the Federal Government appears to be fishing for solutions. Apart from the feeble fight against corruption, the government had boasted that it was reviving agriculture; that it was moving Nigeria closer to self-sufficiency in rice. That is a good step if the herdsmen menace will allow farmers to produce the food we desperately need. The nation can no longer afford to rely solely on oil.

The Federal Government also said it was paying conditional cash transfer of N5, 000 monthly to 297,973 poorest and most vulnerable households. And since 2016, the government said it had disbursed N10 billion to no fewer than 300,000 beneficiaries. It now plans to disburse the recovered $322 million of the late Sani Abacha loot to some households. These are palliative measures.

There is need for urgent reforms to give poverty a red card in Nigeria. Government should start by providing the security and enabling environment for businesses to thrive. If you have all the wonderful business plans and there is no guarantee of security, all the efforts will be in vain. Who, for instance, would want to invest in a place like Maiduguri at this point in time?

Beyond government, Nigerians should take their destinies into their own hands. It has been predicted that Nigeria would become the world’s third largest country by 2050. We need to learn how to control our libidos. The era when we kill a cow for a woman for having 10 children is far gone. Breeding children with the hope of giving them out as houseboys or maids is irresponsible. Nobody can train or love your child better than you.

Above all, we need to begin to seriously punish acts of corruption. Until we give red cards to corrupt leaders, poverty will never leave us alone. Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Federal Capital Territory High Court recently jailed two former governors, Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye, for corruption and abuse of office. That is the way to go.

 

Re: Plateau killings and Presidency’s you-too fallacy

Good afternoon Mr. Casmir Igbokwe. I just finished reading your column in today’s SUN newspaper. Thanks for such wonderful work. I have been praying for another good writer from Igboland since the death of the late Mr. Dimgba Igwe. Keep it up. I’m truly impressed with your write-up.

Okpoko Daniel in Bauchi, +2347035639518

With these inexcusable killings, destructions, occupations of “conquered” territories, Buhari’s further 4 years reign? FRIGTHENING!

Anonymous, +2347035390254

I read your note in The Sun; you don’t need any soothsayer to tell you that this is ethnic cleansing of Christians in different parts of the country to Islamise the country. They shall never arrest any Miyetti Allah leader. Fulani indigenes in the army always go with them; when they finish they go back to the barracks. It’s jihad. Youths should be ordered now to enter bush in every community and drive away one day so that there should be no breeding space. That’s the solution. It should be simultaneously done.

Chukwu, +2348080484851

My dear Casmir Igbokwe, I’m an old man of 74 years relocated to Lokoja from Kaduna. I don’t take breakfast until I go through dailies especially Daily Sun. Each time I read your write-up, I feel I’m 40 years old because you nail the nail without fear. Today’s episode (July 2nd) is nothing but the truth. May the Lord guide & see you through. Amen.

Dada Jacob, +2348162956049

Casmir, haba! Why are you so selfish to the extent that you reduced your write-up to a local, illiterate, parochial and drunk politician in a village square of Birom hamlet campaigning to win election in Jos North LGA of Plateau state? Niger Delta, IPOB, Birom cattle rustlers & armed gangs etc are all right but others are bad? How many soldiers, police, and other security agencies do we have in this country? Buhari is God sent messiah and we pray for his success till your types are cleared for better/sincere analysts to surface.

Anonymous, +2348126660234

Earlier this week, Mayetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association’s Chairman was boasting that all land in Nigeria belongs to the Fulani. What does this tell us? What we have in this country is that the British handed power to the Fulani who are now our new colonial masters. The Fulani will continue the killings until the people of Middle-Belt, their errand boy, accept the Fulani’s condition and gradually it will reach the whole south. All the security chiefs in this country are Fulani and you want us to believe they are helpless.

Anonymous, +2348033584682

Sir, Nigerians think the media can do more than they are doing now to help this Country. You people watch BBC, CNN and see how incidents are hammered to sensitise the electorate. You media people will be talking grammar and the country’s population will continue to decimate! What is wrong with us? Where are our youths in tertiary institutions? They are our future leaders? Papers are full daily! No plans! No directives! No suggestions. Nothing! We will all be sitting duck till we all die and four legged things occupy our premises!

Concerned and aggrieved citizen, +2347019287625