Shameful condition of Nigerian universities

By Casmir Igbokwe

Immediately the leadership of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) declared a seven-day nationwide warning strike last Monday, March 18, 2024, my mind went to my two daughters in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). One is in her final year and has just a few days to bid goodbye to the school she has spent about six years for a five-year programme. The other one is still in her second year and is looking forward to going into her third year next month. The strike affected this one as she still has three computer-based tests to write. So, she has to wait for extra seven days to continue with her exams.

In a way, I felt happy that the disruption this time was short. I have been praying that, at least, the one in her final year should be allowed to graduate and face other aspects of life. Many parents are in my shoes. Any time we hear that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) or SSANU and NASU are on strike, we feel uncomfortable.

The reason is not far-fetched. Strike means shutting down the school system for as long as it pleases the strikers. Students are forced to go home. Many of them get frustrated while at home because there is little or nothing to keep them engaged. Vulnerable females among them become susceptible to rape and other forms of abuse. Some of the males join criminal gangs. Most parents usually find it difficult trying to control these students at this period. During the eight-months long strike in 2022, my daughter contemplated relocating abroad to continue her studies. She actually applied to some schools in the United States. I had a tough time persuading her to exercise patience; telling her that the strike would soon be over.

There are other consequences of these incessant strikes and closures of our higher institutions. One, our universities are not well rated anymore, especially in some foreign countries. Due to the strikes, students are rushed through their academic work whenever schools resume. Some of the students come out half-baked. This is why most parents who have the financial power send their children to private or foreign universities.

Two, some frustrated lecturers have left the Nigerian university system for greener pastures abroad. This has led to shortage of lecturers in these universities. Do you blame them? The monthly salary of a professor is nothing to write home about. This professor cannot afford the luxury of buying a clean second-hand car, not to talk of a brand new one. While he manages his life with his meagre salary, many political office-holders flaunt their ill-gotten wealth in his face. Nigerian federal lawmakers, for instance, took home brand new sport utility vehicles (SUVs) soon after they were inaugurated as lawmakers last year. On a regular basis, they assault our sensibilities with allegations of budget padding, constituency project fraud and sundry fund-guzzling endeavours.

The executive and legislative arms of government are not left out. Oftentimes, the President and some of his aides and family members embark on money-guzzling foreign tours that yield little or no benefit to the country. They map out billions of naira to renovate official residences of some public office-holders when library and laboratory facilities in our tertiary institutions need such funds more.

In 2018, I had cause to visit and write about the rot in UNN, my alma mater. Titled ‘UNN and rot in Nigerian universities’, and published in the Daily Sun edition of August 20, 2018, I expressed shock that most of the infrastructures in the school had become an eyesore. Almost all the hostels that existed in our days over 30 years ago were either no more or greatly dilapidated. For instance, windstorm had blown off part of the roof of Eni Njoku hostel. The great Zik’s Flats, Mbanefo hostel and many others were a shadow of themselves. Giant weeds and reptiles had taken over these abandoned halls of residence. Kwame Nkrumah hall had a heap of refuse behind it.

Part of the problem was that the population of students greatly outnumbered the available infrastructure. I gathered then that in almost all the departments, over 200 students struggled for space in a classroom meant for about 60 people. I guess the situation is still the same today. Simply put, these public universities are grossly underfunded.

Essentially, this is partly what the varsity unions are fighting against. ASUU wants a renegotiation of its members’ conditions of service and payment of arrears of allowances. It wants better infrastructure, modern libraries and functional, well equipped laboratories. It wants the government to adequately fund the universities and replace Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS). On their part, NASU and SSANU are not happy that the government failed to implement a Memorandum of Understanding and a Memorandum of Action reportedly signed in October 2020 and in February 2021 respectively. They went on strike in 2022 together with ASUU. The government of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari invoked ‘no work, no pay’ policy then against them.

Last October, President Bola Tinubu approved payment of four out of eight months withheld salaries for the workers. But while ASUU members recently got their own, members of SSANU and NASU were not paid. This prompted the seven-day warning strike they embarked upon last Monday. The strike, which grounded activities in many public universities, ended midnight of Sunday, March 24. SSANU and NASU have threatened further action if their demand for payment of their withheld salaries is not met.

It is unfortunate that successive governments have continued to play hide-and-seek with these unions. Since 2009 when ASUU, for instance, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government, it has been a story of promise-and-fail. Government promised to renegotiate the conditions of service of academic staff, including a separate salary structure to be called ‘Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure’. It has not done so. It promised to inject N1.3 trillion for the revitalization of public universities in six tranches starting from 2013. It paid N200 billion in 2013 and was supposed to pay N220 billion each year for the five subsequent years. But it has failed to do so. In the heat of the strike in 2022, the Federal Government claimed it had also paid N92 billion to cover earned allowances and revitalization funds to federal universities.

Almost on a yearly basis, ASUU will have one reason or the other to go on strike. In 2020, it embarked on a long strike that halted activities in the universities for one full academic year. In 2022, it embarked on a similar long debilitating strike that crippled activities in our universities for eight months.

A responsible government should not have allowed this to happen. Education and health are the two most important sectors in any sane country. These sectors are supposed to get the largest chunk of the national budget, at least 15 per cent. But Nigeria does not pretend to be a sane country. Hence, each of these two sectors gets an average of five to seven per cent of the annual budget. We prefer to waste money on things that will benefit a tiny clique of the ruling cum political class. Where then will our help come from?

Our help appears to be in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth! Since human government has failed us, most Nigerians have placed all their hopes in God. You often hear them say, “Only God will save this country!” For me, this is a defeatist attitude. God has given us the power to conquer our environment. We cannot just be docile and expect God to come down and fight our human battles. Nigerians should demand accountability from their leaders. They should demand that certain anomalies be put right if we must grow as a nation. They should never be tired of standing up for their rights and putting government on their toes. If every individual puts in as little as five per cent in the struggle for a better nation, Nigeria will not be where it is today. Obviously, it will be tough. But as unionists will say, Aluta Continua!

Re: ‘Distinguished’ senators

Nigerians are like the proverbial Grasshopper, who finding itself roasting in the fireplace and rather than looking for a way to save itself, gloats that it is fattening simply because its body drips oil. We remain grateful to Senator Abdul Ningi, despite the fact he is part of the rot, for having the courage to go against the tides and expose the expertly concealed institutionalised theft as contained in the 2024 Budget of the Federation. Whether his actions were borne out of altruism or influenced by primordial interests is a non-issue. After all, sinners do repent. What is certain is that there is an organised collective looting of the commonwealth of the people. But it is unfortunate that Nigerians whose patrimony is being plundered by a select few have left the message to introduce mundane meanings to the revelation and attack the messenger. And therein lies the major impediment to the fight against corruption in the country; wrong is not wrong in so far the perpetrator is a kinsman/tribesman. We appraise wrongs from the prism of tribalism. Until Nigerians understand that they are in deep furnace and make concerted efforts to remove the logs lighting them up, the situations will continue to deteriorate and “Nigeria will remain unsalvageable” – MNK.

-Aloy Uzoekwe, 08038503174

Casmir, distinguished senators indeed! Members of the House of Representatives also call themselves ‘honourables’. They love the titles but can’t meet the demands of the titles. If only they have an idea of how lowly rated they are in the perception index of Nigerians, they should be embarrassed and uncomfortable with these undeserved titles they bear. They distinguish themselves only in terms of vices. Most have lost their conscience. Their hearts are cast in stones! Well- conceived budgets that are backed up with good intensions or purpose during planning and birth stages have a way of positively impacting lives. Countries like Nigeria, that are operating huge budget deficits and high on the ‘corruption index’, expose their budgets to a high degree of padding by members of the National Assembly. The president is easily goaded or blackmailed into signing padded budgets in exchange for the approved loans that he got and the ones still to come! The masses pay the price in terms of their welfare; which continues to deteriorate because of these mortal sins!

-Mike, Mushin, 0816 111 4572

•Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, March 25, 2024

‘Distinguished’ senators

By Casmir Igbokwe

Catholic Church recognizes two categories of sin – mortal and venial sins. Mortal sins are those grave actions we commit in full knowledge of their gravity. Venial sins are minor infractions committed with less self-awareness of wrongdoing that can be easily forgiven when one goes to confession. In Nigeria, the political class has committed all manner of mortal sins against the citizens.

Let’s take a look at the National Assembly of Nigeria. Those in the upper chamber call themselves distinguished senators. But they are far from it. Recently, these senators disturbed Nigerians with budget padding allegations. The one representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, alleged that the red chamber padded the 2024 budget to the tune of N3.7 trillion. The one representing Cross River North, Agom Jarigbe, claimed that all his ranking colleagues received N500 million each, but that he got none.

There is another nebulous concept. It is called ‘constituency projects’. But it has become a byword for fraud and an avenue to siphon public funds. Sometimes, it is difficult to track down the location or other details of these projects. A total of 7,447 projects amounting to N2.24 trillion were reportedly inserted in the 2024 budget by the National Assembly. Some of these projects include 1,150 street lights worth N212 billion, 427 boreholes worth N82.5 billion, 170 ICT projects with a value of N30.95 billion, and N7.61 billion for empowerment of traditional rulers. This means in effect that each street light costs about N184 million while each borehole costs about N193.2 million.

A civic non-profit organization, BudgIT, which highlighted some of these issues, noted that there was no detailed allocation for the N3.7 trillion in the 2024 budget. Director and co-founder of BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde, explained that the allocations of the National Assembly, National Judicial Council (NJC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and other government-owned enterprises did not have a detailed breakdown. “What are you spending the money on? INEC is collecting a huge chunk of funds but there are no public details about what the funds are used for, the same thing with NJC, even the National Assembly,” Onigbinde said.

Senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, had explained that the N3.7 trillion was not padded but that it was for the agencies of government on first line charge. In order to save themselves from national shame and embarrassment, perhaps, the senators quickly slammed a three-month suspension against the whistle blower, Abdul Ningi.

Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, tried very hard to hoodwink Nigerians with some fallacious statements. As far as Bamidele is concerned, Ningi’s allegation was tantamount to a civilian coup against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. As he put it, “I want Nigerians to know for history’s sake that the last time the people of South-South had a chance to be Senate President was over 40 years ago. The last time the South had a chance to be Senate President was during Obasanjo’s administration when it went to the South-East. Five people were elected because they were impeached in quick succession. But as soon as it left the South, we had peace because we (the South) will always cooperate. David Mark spent eight years. Ahmad Lawan spent four peaceful years. Even Saraki, with all he did, spent four peaceful years.”

This is hogwash! What the Senate should have done is to conduct a thorough and open investigation to clear its name rather than just suspending Ningi or engaging in fallacious arguments. Bamidele’s strategy is not different from that of some aides and loyalists of President Bola Tinubu during the campaign for the 2023 presidential election. Seeing that defeat was staring them in the face, these aides and loyalists deployed ethnic sentiment as a weapon of political conquest. In Lagos and some South-West states, they made it look like the electoral battle was between the Igbo and the Yoruba. Some of them warned the Igbo against interfering in Lagos politics and such other nonsense. Today, ordinary Nigerians, be they Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa, are suffering the pangs of bad leadership while those in power continue to revel in ostentatious living.

For instance, these same lawmakers took delivery of brand new sport utility vehicles (SUVs) reportedly worth N160 million each soon after they assumed office. The total cost is said to be about N57.6 billion. The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Akin Rotimi, said the vehicles were tied to the oversight functions of the lawmakers.

Recently, Akpabio mistakenly revealed, while speaking at one of their plenary sessions last year, that each of the 109 ‘sinators’ had been given a token meant to enable them to enjoy their holiday. The token was not less than N2 million each amounting to a total of about N218 million. When his colleagues reminded him that he was speaking on live television, Akpabio rephrased his statement, saying, “In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” Meanwhile, in June last year, President Bola Tinubu allocated N70 billion to the National Assembly in the amended supplementary budget to support the working conditions of new members.

This is amid penury that has enveloped the Nigerian masses. The rate of inflation has continued to skyrocket. To appreciate the level of this inflationary trend, let’s note that in 1999, the rate of inflation was about 6.62 per cent. Before Muhammadu Buhari took over as President in 2015, it was about 9.01 per cent. By August 2023, about three months after Bola Tinubu took over from Buhari, it had jumped to 25.08 per cent. Food inflation as of the same August 2023 was 29.34 per cent. In February 2024, the rate of inflation rose to 31.70 per cent while food inflation climbed to 37.92 per cent.

To break this down further, a bag of 50kg of rice in August 2015 was a little above N8, 000. Today, the same commodity is over N80, 000. The country’s currency, the naira, has received humiliation in the foreign exchange market. From as little as N200 to a dollar a few years ago, the exchange rate today is over N1,500 to a dollar. Many companies have shut down, leading to an increase in the rate of unemployment. Hunger is a present danger.

Terrorists and other criminal elements have intensified their onslaught against hapless Nigerians. Over 280 schoolchildren were kidnapped in Kaduna recently. The terrorists have demanded N1 billion as ransom to release the children. They also demanded ransom of N40 trillion, 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles before they could release some 16 citizens kidnapped in the same Kaduna recently.

Leadership of any society or group usually reflects the image and character of that society. Akpabio, as President of the Senate, has seriously damaged the reputation of the current Senate. Since he assumed office, it has been from one perfidy to the other. Most times, he talks before he thinks. At the recent funeral of the late Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, Herbert Wigwe, Akpabio lampooned the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara. The governor had examined the life and times of Wigwe and wondered what the struggle was all about. Akpabio responded: “Your Excellency, Governor Fubara, if there is nothing in the struggle, don’t struggle.” The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared him an enemy of Rivers State. Akpabio had also claimed that an unverified report indicated that the state governors received N30 billion each from the federation account to cushion the effect of inflation and high cost of food prices. He later apologized when he discovered that he was wrong.

We must begin to interrogate the structure of our current legislature. As far as I am concerned, having a bicameral legislature is a drainpipe on our resources. What we need is a unicameral legislature, which should be on a part-time basis.

The principal duty of a legislature is to make laws. That is what obtains in most advanced democracies in the world. In Nigeria, however, our lawmakers go beyond lawmaking to engage in other questionable activities. Execution of projects, for instance, should be the duty of the executive arm of government. But in Nigeria, lawmakers also execute projects.

Lawmakers are also elected to act as a check on the executive. But in Nigeria, they cozy up to the executive and join them in sharing the national cake. Oftentimes, Akpabio and some other principal officers of the National Assembly are in the Presidential Villa to do what only God knows. Soon after the suspension of Ningi over budget padding controversy, Akpabio and his deputy, Barau Jibrin, landed in the Villa and met behind closed doors with Tinubu.

Nigeria is blessed with human and natural resources, but it’s so unfortunate that it has been misruled by a tiny fraction of the society. Citizens are either docile or hampered by ethnic and other primordial sentiments to act. There is need for a return to true federalism or restructuring. We need to make the centre less attractive by devolving power to the regions. We can revisit the report of the 2014 National Conference as a guide. We cannot continue to do the same thing all the time and expect to see changes. Who will bail the cat? Who will rescue Nigeria? The answer is blowing in the wind.

Re: Dividends of ‘familiocracy’

Casmir, the hidden treasures of Nigerian economy demands a high degree of financial discipline, respect for the rule of law and mastery of due process. A President with the above qualities will ensure that every policy of his administration will allow little or no wastages. Such President will have a cabinet with high level of technocrats with little political affiliation. A President of such qualities will eschew nepotism, tribalism and ‘familiocracy’. Unfortunately, Tinubu’s government is short of all these qualities. No wonder, there’s a lot of indiscipline, financial misappropriation and total collapse in governance. Tinubu’s government needs to wake up to arrest nepotism and dividends of ‘familiocracy’ for the benefit of the entire citizenry.

-Pharm. Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922

•Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, March 18, 2024

Dividends of ‘familiocracy’

By Casmir Igbokwe

Seyi, the son of President Bola Tinubu, is a privileged Nigerian. I guess very many people will wish to be like him. From all indications, the young man does not know what hardship means and currently enjoys life to the fullest. While many Nigerians cry and ask for dividends of democracy, Seyi and a few others like him enjoy dividends of ‘familiocracy’.

‘Familiocracy’, by the way, is a system where people are ruled by a family. It is antithetical to democracy and it thrives more in a monarchical environment. That is what Nigeria appears to be practising at the moment.

President Tinubu’s recent travel to Qatar presented us with a typical example of ‘familiocracy’. Among those on the President’s entourage were his two sons, Seyi and Yinka. A number of Nigerians were outraged that the President’s two sons were not just in the entourage, they were introduced first before the ministers of the federal republic. In effect, what this meant was that the President’s sons were rated above these cabinet members.

The Presidency did not see anything wrong with this. The Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Digital and New Media, O’tega Ogra, said Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau, was known to travel with his family on official trips abroad. He also noted that the Obamas, Clintons, Bushs, Trumps and some others also went on foreign trips with their families while in office. “From the public image and diplomacy, angle, bringing family members can soften a leader’s public image and aid in diplomatic relations by showcasing a relatable family-oriented side,” Ogra said. Well, Ogra missed the point here. The issue is not whether the President’s family can travel with him. They can. But why introduce them first before ministers and other state officials? Are they officials of the Nigerian government? Couldn’t they have stayed in the background to observe things?

It is this same Seyi that flew in a presidential jet to Kano to watch the 2023 Kano International Polo Tournament.  People talked and ranted. But it has not stopped him from enjoying his life as the President’s son.

He even had the guts to admonish Nigerians to bear with his father’s administration and endure the economic hardship in the country. According to him, what Nigerians are going through currently are necessary for better future of the country.

At some point, Seyi reportedly showed up in the chamber of the state house during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. His father was reportedly angry and warned that he should stop coming during such meetings. But did the warning emanate wholly from his heart?

It is doubtful. Recently, Tinubu appointed his son-in-law, Oyetunde Oladimeji Ojo as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). This appointment came about a week after the presidential approval of the sum of N126 billion for the construction of housing estates across the country was made public. Mr Ojo is the husband of Tinubu’s daughter, Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, who once declared herself as the First Daughter of the Federal Republic.

Nepotism has become the cardinal principle of state policies in Nigeria. Major beneficiaries are the President’s apostles, cronies and tribesmen. Recently, the President approved the appointment of Umar Abdullahi Umar, the son of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as Executive Director (Technical Services) of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). Umar’s appointment followed the indefinite suspension of the agency’s team led by Ahmad Salihijo.

Following the footsteps of the President is the Head of the third arm of government, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kayode Ariwoola. In July 2023, the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended Justice Ariwoola’s son, Olukayode Ariwoola jnr, as a judge of the Federal High Court. He was recommended along with 22 others. He scaled through. Ariwoola’s younger brother, Adebayo Ariwoola, was also successfully elevated as the auditor of the NJC. Recently, the CJN’s daughter, Victoria Oluwakemi Ariwoola, was named Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court judge nominee. Also reportedly nominated is Maryam, the daughter of the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Husseini Baba-Yusuf. Maryam is said to be the third Kogi judge in the FCT High Court.

There is nothing wrong if a qualified candidate is appointed to a position of influence whether the person is the son or daughter of the President or the CJN. But something is wrong when certain things are done to clear the way for such people. Last year, the former Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Professor Itsay Sagay, lamented that sons and daughters of retired and serving judges and justices were being nominated for appointment into sensitive judicial positions at the expense of more qualified candidates who had no privileged backing or support. He said this was a pathway to future miscarriage of justice.

With regard to Ariwoola’s daughter’s nomination, an online medium, People’s Gazette, reported that judiciary workers were not comfortable with Ms Ariwoola’s nomination because she was a junior magistrate with only three years’ experience.

Besides, a lawyer from Ebonyi state, Azubuike Oko, instituted a suit at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court challenging the appointment of the daughters of the CJN and Baba-Yusuf as well as 10 others as FCT High Court judges. Oko alleged that Oyo and Kogi states where Ariwoola and Baba-Yusuf hail from respectively, “already had two serving judges in the FCT High Court, and the two states were given additional slots, to now have three judges, despite the fact that Ebonyi state has no single serving judge in the High Court of the FCT.”

The CJN and Baba-Yusuf prayed the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction. The argument of their counsel is that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria has the exclusive jurisdiction to determine matters relating to the employment of judicial officers. The suit has been adjourned to March 15 for judgement.

Whichever way the judgement goes, the fact remains that nepotism is alive and well in Nigeria. Some of us accused the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari of being nepotistic. We never knew that something worse was coming. From his major appointments so far, especially in economic and security circles, it appears that Tinubu does not care about ethnic harmony and balancing in Nigeria. The framers of our laws did not make a mistake by inserting the federal character principle in the constitution. It is meant to enshrine equity and harmony in the country. But our leaders have chosen to further widen our fault lines. It is rather unfortunate. This partly explains the clamour for restructuring or decentralization, which is really the best way to go if we still desire a peaceful and prosperous country.

Re: Shettima and sham election anniversary

Casmir, it’s regrettable that the leadership of Nigeria is entrusted to hypocrites, liars and people of dubious qualities. Their main interest is to be in the leadership position. These groups of people were never prepared to get the country better. Rather, they see Nigeria as gold mine where they can control the distribution of the wealth as they are pleased. Their so-called policies are formulated to frustrate the common man and enrich those they planted in every areas of the economy. Their cronies control every sector of the economy. Their economic wizardry begins and ends with white elephant projects, which had hitherto received stupendous budget approval. To earn enough money to spend, they impose irrational taxes and unjustifiable income duties which overburden the helpless masses to the point of surrender. Shettima anniversary is about the celebration of the subjugation of the suffering masses who are helpless. Unfortunately, Shettima and his principal have failed to realize that a hungry man is equally an angry man who if urgent positive policies are not put in place can become too harmful to their celebration.

-Pharmacist Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922

Casmir, the one-year election anniversary that brought the M-M or Alhaji-Alhaji ticket of Tinubu-Shettima into power remains a watershed in the annals of elections in Nigeria! The date (Feb 25, 2023) is a sad reminder of how the good and progress seeking/thirsty Nigerians were denied the opportunity of choosing their leaders by a fraudulent electoral system contrary to INEC’s promises. The date evokes bad and sad memories of how good Nigerians were short-changed by INEC and prevented from changing the course of their destiny! Prior to the elections, Shettima canvassed for votes when he asked Nigerians to vote for the people that know the way. Post-election events have however proved that they don’t know the way and they are taking Nigerians to the Golgotha. This is because from Feb 25, 2023 the destiny of Nigerians has suffered more violence due to Tinubu’s incompetence! The antidote is not embarking on blame games. They should look back and correct their policies of wearing suit (ideal policies) on a monkey (Nigeria’s import dependent economy). This ‘ebi npa wa’ (we are hungry) government should roll up their sleeves and work their socks off to redeem the country from going under because of their weak foundation.

-Mike, Mushin, 0816 111 4572

Casy, what is there to celebrate? Do you want Nigerians to celebrate hunger, deprivation, protests, insecurity and panicky measures? It is not possible for one to give what one does not have!

-Edet Essien Esq. Calabar South, +234 701 987 2815

•Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, March 11, 2024

Shettima and sham election anniversary

By Casmir Igbokwe

At the 62nd Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in August 2022, Mr Kashim Shettima dressed in a manner that got tongues wagging. He was then the vice-presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). His oversized suit and red tie with a pair of sneakers made him look odd in the midst of lawyers who invited him as a guest at the conference. That outfit has come to define the character of this administration – odd.

Or was it not odd that Shettima said at the NBA conference that he would be in charge of security while President Bola Tinubu would be in charge of the economy? “I have been in the theatre of conflicts for 18 years. I will lead the troops; my principal is an economy wizard who has transformed Lagos into the third largest economy in Africa. He will concentrate on the economy,” Shettima enthused. Today, none of them appears to be in charge of anything. Now, terrorists and bandits have taken over almost the entire country. The economy has wobbled to the dismay of even the “economy wizard” himself. Ironically, government officials blame everyone but themselves for the problems of the country.

Speaking penultimate week at a Public Wealth Management Conference in Abuja where he represented the President, Shettima blamed some forces for allegedly undermining the efforts of the Bola Tinubu administration to stabilize the economy. Cost of living has been so high with inflation rising to 29.90 per cent in January from 28.92 per cent it was in December 2023. Food inflation rose to 35.41 per cent in January from 33.93 per cent it was in December 2023. In January 2023, food inflation was 24.32 per cent.

According to Shettima, smugglers and politicians who could not get power through the ballot box caused the current food crisis being experienced in the country. These forces, he said, “are hell-bent on plunging this country into a state of anarchy, those that could not get into power through the ballot box. Instead of waiting for 2027, they are so desperate that this country can fall apart as far as they are concerned. But we are going to visit them.”

Shame! It is pertinent to note that the one-year anniversary of the 2023 sham presidential election took place on Sunday, February 25, 2024. It is annoying for Shettima to accuse politicians “who could not get power through the ballot box” of being the masterminds of the country’s current woes. In the first place, did the APC even win the presidential election? The election was anything but free, fair and credible.

On that very day, there were widespread reports of violence, voter intimidation and harassment as well as falsification of results. Some people were killed. Some were seriously wounded. In some places such as in Rivers State, outright rigging took place. The then Governor Nyesom Wike helped in no small measure to see to the ‘victory’ of the APC in Rivers State. He has been rewarded with a ministerial position.

The worst was that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) displayed incompetence and suspicious actions that day. The presidential election was held the same day with that of the National Assembly. But while the results of the National Assembly were seamlessly uploaded on the INEC result Viewing (IReV) portal, those of the presidential election could not be uploaded because of sudden ‘technical glitches’. This greatly compromised the credibility of the election. While Nigerians were still complaining and asking for remedies, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, hurriedly announced the result of the election and pronounced Tinubu winner in the wee hours of March 1, 2023, when people were still sleeping. The man had assured Nigerians that there was no going back on the deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation and the transmission of results to the IReV portal in real-time on the election day. Many Nigerians were not amused at the later turn of events. The aggrieved parties were asked to go to court. Well, they have gone to court and we have seen the jaundiced judgement of the so-called learned justices.

Now, the political gladiators have started preparing for the 2027 general election. President Tinubu has planted his loyalists in strategic places. The three arms of government now appear to be serving the interest of the ruling cabal. Or how do you describe what the lawmakers did at the budget presentation of Tinubu at the National Assembly recently. They gleefully sang Tinubu’s campaign song, “On your mandate we stand.”

Many Nigerians have taken the outcome of the election in their strides. What baffles many citizens now is that the government is yet to mark one year in office and there are protests here and there over hardship in the country. Such protests have occurred in Niger, Oyo, Lagos and Kano States. Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) also had a nationwide protest on February 27.

Tragically, this government has continued to take one faulty step after another. The President announced withdrawal of fuel subsidy on his inauguration day without thinking of the adverse effects of the sudden announcement. Now, the economy is bleeding. Naira has been on a free fall against the dollar and other major currencies.

Vice-President Shettima said the Federal Government set a goal to raise $10 billion in order to increase foreign exchange liquidity so as to stabilize the naira and grow the economy. Besides, the government has also resorted to strong-arm tactics. It sent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to raid Bureau de Change operators in places like Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Oyo states. Will all these strengthen the naira? Even if naira gains strength now, it may not last because the fundamental problems that pushed it down in the first place have not been resolved. We are yet to migrate from being a consuming nation to being a productive one.

We need economic and political reforms to engender growth in this country. We need a total overhaul of the INEC. A new INEC that will emerge should understudy how a country like Liberia managed to conduct a free and credible presidential election late last year. That election saw the candidate of the Unity Party, Joseph Boakai, defeating the then President and candidate of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), George Weah, who quickly congratulated the winner.

As former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, recently suggested, there should be a transparent process for the appointment of the Chairman and National Commissioners of the electoral commission. The President should not be the person solely nominating the persons for such positions. The National Assembly has a lot of work to do. It should ensure, first of all, that before another cycle of election, electronic voting should be made compulsory in Nigeria. Restructuring, which should come with a new constitution, is the best way to go.

Re: Tinubu should resign

Casmir, why the sudden change of mood? You moved from encouraging Tinubu to use the Super Eagles’ performance at the AFCON as tonic against renewed hardship to seeking his resignation from office all within a week interval! Only an irritating performance by an incompetent government could have led to a sudden change of stance. Fuel subsidy is gone and Nigerians can no longer receive more economic blows of Tinubu’s hasty, wicked and ill-thought policies. Nigeria now typifies the song: there is fire on the ‘mountain of Nigeria’ run, run, run! Pitiful & shameful! Nigeria is now a big spectacle! Tinubu missed the bearing from the outset! But, resignation is alien to African leaders, in particular Nigerian leaders!

-Mike, Mushin, 0816 111 4572

Casmir, if I may use the popular Toyota advertisement slogan, “Good thinking good product”, it goes well to say that the beauty of any product starts from good thinking. Unfortunately, politics in Nigeria is still based on tribalism, religion and godfatherism. Politics in Nigeria can also be likened to the Biblical Jesus and preference of Barabbas even when the later was known to be a murderer and career criminal. In ‘my turn’ ideology, good thinking has no basis for production. So, the quality assurance to turn out a good product is already sabotaged. The end product turns out to be substandard and equally poisonous. This is the case of Tinubu. He was never prepared for leadership. His qualification was that he found himself as a kingmaker who believed that it is time also for him to be king. His pre-election campaign gave him out as unprepared. Regrettably, in a country where ‘political abracadabra’ was championed by evil minded electoral umpire, he became the President. The euphoria of being president catapulted him to making the ugly announcement that “fuel subsidy is gone.” The cancerous effect of that senseless pronouncement is what has reduced Nigeria to the current state of hopelessness. As it’s today, only a President with strong willpower can steer the ship of affairs in Nigeria to safety. The fear is that Tinubu may not have that willpower and the only option for him is to throw in the towel now that he has achieved life-long ambition of being ‘Mr President’.

-Pharmacist Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922

One does not need to stress the fact that all bounds of decency were broken – both at the APC Presidential primary and the main election – for Tinubu to mount the Presidential seat. Do you now expect an ambitious Tinubu to resign after that successful debacle? The man has achieved his life-long ambition: the country can afford to burn to ashes while Tinubu’s vainglory endures. Tinubu’s disciples are not tired of impressing it on anyone who cares to listen to them that it was Tinubu who made Lagos that flows with milk and honey made possible by the unsung efforts of outsiders. I see things differently! Why don’t we say it’s Lagos that made Tinubu? Nigeria is not Lagos: it’s a much bigger and more complex business than Lagos. That is why Tinubu resorts to panicky measures that have almost buried Nigeria with Nigerians. The hardship occasioned by Tinubu’s misjudgement has affected the generality of Nigerians who include the embarrassed APC sympathisers. How can one deny Nigerians the grace of petroleum subsidy which is also their only ascertained gain from government and not expect pockets of uprising here and there?

-Edet Essien Esq. Cal South, +234 701 987 2815          

•Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, March 4, 2024