CUTTING THE COST OF GOVERNANCE

I remember General Muhammadu Buhari reading out his letter to Nigerians after the failed bid to over-turn his 2011 Presidential Elections defeat at the Courts.It was quite an emotional scene.He not only came across as someone who wanted to change the system so bad he had to leave some words of advice for the victors but also as someone who was very much in tune with reality-For Nigeria to work,it needs to save costs.You just had to love him for that.
There were a lot of criticisms back then of the enormous amounts being allocated to State Governments as Security Votes on a monthly basis.Not only was it unconstitutional,there was no fool-proof means of holding them accountable for those sums.General Buhari most laudably,in that letter advised the government to abolish Security Votes.
Fast Forward to 2015.

GMB is now President-Elect.One on whose shoulders lie the great burden of making Nigeria work again.Politicians talk a lot but only few remember the very words that won them elections.It was most pleasant to hear the President-Elect's plans at the Lagos Business School meeting where he was represented by Dr Kayode Fayemi a few weeks ago.He talked about heeding the Steve Orosanye report by cutting down the size of Ministries and Agencies; ones that are redundant or having overlapping functions.
The Niger-Delta Ministry is always one of the first things i remember whenever I have cause to talk about the Cost of Governance in Nigeria.The plain truth that will never change is that it was created as a pawn in the amnesty deal with the Niger-Delta Militants.The Government should save itself billions by scrapping it.We could placate those militants with an increase in salaries and the sorts rather than running a whole ministry.
By promising also to run a lean government,I wouldn't expect any 'Minister of State' appointments.An office many still believe exists to cater for political cronies and disciples.A Substantive Minister aided by the Directors and Permanent Secretaries in their Ministries would do instead of having a 'Deputy Minister'.Nobody says he has to appoint a minister from every state in one fell swoop.
The merger of the Code of Conduct Bureau, the EFCC and ICPC as recommended by the Steve Orosanye Report is long overdue and the President  has promised to breathe life into it.But I am also concerned about agencies like the Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC).We don't need them.

Nigeria is regrettably,a largely under-policed nation and what we need do is scrap these outfits and draft as many members of these agencies as possible into the Nigerian Police Force to improve it as the Police can create arms to perform both their roles like it is done in advanced countries.The police in those places ensure abidance to all traffic laws among other things.It is always sad to hear people complain of having just one or two policemen at the Police post in their Villages.

Monies being budgeted for the Civil Defence Corps and FRSC will go a long way in helping us recruit,train and equip more hands.
The most pathetic part of our extravagance is the remuneration for Public Office holders.None of the cases instituted under the Freedom of Information Act for the salaries of our lawmakers to be made public have yielded the desired outcome and as such one would have to go by the last figures which surfaced in 2013.Ones that prompted Prof.Itse Sagay to tag them the highest paid Lawmakers in the world.A petition by the Diaspora Institute for Nigerian Justice and Accountability (DINJA) demanding a reduction in their wages late last year suggests the figures haven't changed.The  Nigerian Senator earns N29.5 Million every month which is way more than his American Counterpart earns in a year.He receives a staggering N10M as motor vehicle allowance and a separate N1.863M as Car maintenance allowance in the breakdown of their salary.

In addition,a Senator is said to get N44M as constituency allocation every quarter while his representative counterpart gets N35M.This is highly unacceptable.In the most efficient Federal Systems in the world including the United States, State governments oversee the affairs of such 'Constituencies' while law makers focus on their role; legislative business and that is how it ought to be.
Constituency allocations in Nigeria are more or less gifts to lawmakers because they are not held accountable for the money.With a President who has already identified and wants to take steps to tackle the high cost of Governance,i can't help day dreaming a bit.We could end up with a very functional rail system,free basic health care and free education across the country if indeed we spoil lawmakers this silly.
Politics is big business in Nigeria and one can't help but be wary of people who grant us loans knowing all this because you get a feeling they actually want to help us self-destruct.Nigerians have suffered for too long.Mr President-Elect has himself pointed out that 90% of our budget is on recurrent expenditure thereby leaving insufficient funds for capital expenditure.We see money not being looted by politicians being squandered or put to non-optimal use.We have voted for change and change we should get.

ARRESTED NYSC CORP MEMBERS:THE NEED TO PROBE DEEP

The most striking thing about Mr Humphrey Bekaren's statement calling for an outright cancellation on behalf of the international observers who monitored the Rivers state Gubernatorial/State House of Assembly was the alleged connivance with security operatives in the perpetration of virtually every electoral offence known to our laws.
If you have been following happenings in Rivers State closely since the First lady-Governor Amaechi rift, you will agree with me that this doesn't come as a suprise.Moreso if you followed Presidential Elections in the state.Gov. Amaechi and the APC gubernatorial flag bearer,Dakuku Peterside didn't vote.

Mr Peterside claimed he had only been accredited before a gang of about 50 armed youths stormed his polling unit.This was how safe the VIPs are talk more the common man.
I am a part of the voices calling for more stringent punitive measures against electoral offenders as I have always believed a punishment in law operates not only to punish offenders but also to serve as a deterrent to scare or discourage would-be offenders.I can't help but commend the outgoing Rivers State Governor for raising alarm over a plot by the Police to doctor statements made by Suspects so as to exonerate them without shying away from the fact that things may be more complex than they seem on the face of it.
The suspects were reportedly nabbed while thumb printing ballot papers for PDP candidates in the private residence of a PDP chieftain situated in the Tai Local Government Area of the State.
75 of these suspects are reportedly NYSC members serving as INEC ad hoc staff and it is with a heavy heart that I plead with the Authorities to look into their cases very closely.On the face of it,these Young Nigerians have brought untold shame upon themselves and their families but there are a lot of questions begging to be answered.
Bearing in mind what happened after the 2011 Presidential elections where Corp Members were slaughtered across the North for being a part of the process that robbed the then CPC Candidate now President-Elect,General Muhammadu Buhari(Rtd),it is imperative to determine to what extent if any,there were intimidated and made to fear the implications of declining overtures to be a part.
Compulsion and Necessity are defences that cannot be easily overlooked.Knowledge or Mens Rea (Mental element) is a critical element in the evaluation of a crime.In other words,the voluntariness of the act of the suspects. A key determinant in  the instant case is Whether or not the criminal act was carried out pursuant to any threat whatsoever and most importantly, whether the Corp Members were capable of alerting the Authorities to the sinister plot by the PDP or not.Yes I hear your voice:What Authorities?.

The ones who are being accused of aiding and abetting Electoral Offences or the ones alleged to be doctoring Confessional statements?.The ones who still haven't been able to apprehend those who shot at the Governor's convoy even after he had publicly spoken of plans to assassinate him or ones who watch gun wielding hoodlums intimidate Voters?
No amount of money can adequately compensate for the lives of the NYSC members cut short in their prime after the 2011 Elections.The manner of the killings was most heart-wrenching and one could understand why there were many calls to scrap the NYSC Scheme back then but I don't think anyone can blame the Government for refusing to do so after due consideration of the pros and cons.It provides a wonderful opportunity for graduates to get to see other places thereby eliminating or mitigating at the very least any cultural shock that could arise from transfers or relocation in their chosen careers.It also serves as an avenue to ensure a smooth transition to a professional or working life among other things.
The lure of earning additional money through INEC's ad hoc arrangement could be quite tempting to the average Corp Member.Tempting enough to make a lot of them wave off the risks involved.
It would be most disheartening if these young persons are made to suffer unjustly for a crime they ordinarily wouldn't commit or would have alerted the Authorities to if they had been untainted and could guarantee their safety.
I humbly call on the IG to ensure proper investigations are conducted as they may be more than meets the eye.In the famous words of William Blackstone-"It is better 10 Guilty persons escape than 1 innocent person suffer".

OBA AKIOLU AND HIS LAGOON SPIRITS

When an elder stoops so low as to play rough with kids,he not only loses the respect of the kids,he loses the respect of everyone.A lot of people including myself actually doubted if Oba Rilwan Akiolu made the derogatory remarks attributed to him against the Ibos till Video evidence surfaced.Where we saw and heard him in broad day,telling the honorary Eze and representatives of the Ibo in Lagos to vote for Ambode of the APC or see what will happen to them after the Guber Elections.
In what could be likened only to the incantations of a witch doctor,one of the most respected monarchs in Nigeria condemned only would-be Jimi Agbaje Ibo voters to the Lagoon.The refusal of the palace to tow the path of honour; a public apology makes it all the more disgusting to say the least.But to be frank, expecting an apology is expecting a camel to walk on two legs if the Oba in all his years as a senior Law enforcement agent can forget that the Constitution in which the Right to Freedom of Association is firmly enshrined,supercedes everything including the doctrines of any Lagoon Hippo or Mermaid,then it would be safe to presume anything could come out of his palace but an apology.

This man and his cronies are bringing the esteemed throne to disrepute.The only thing decipherable from their response is a most insulting message-we only saw and heard but didn't understand what we heard and saw.I pray Nigerians in general,not only the ibos are not being used to test the potency of the Oba's lagoon spirits.
Now I understand some traditionalists would want to preach about the implications of an Oba apologising in public and if anyone would stoop so low then they should be ready to face the bitter truth:No traditional ruler or father to borrow from their context, should dabble into politics publicly in the first place for the simple reason that a father should not be seen to love a child more than the other.They have every right to tell me I don't understand their customs and traditions as much as they do but I come from a place with the highest reverence historically,for traditional institutions in Nigeria; the North.In ancient Nigeria,Northern Emirs were the most powerful monarchs with practically unfettered authority while the Yoruba Obas had the closest thing to a democratic structure where other office holders served as a check on the Oba and could present him with an egg symbolizing death if he had overstepped his bounds.My knowledge of these issues may not be top notch but believe I have not said anything wrong.
The Ibos are the most pleasant guests I know having grown up with a lot of them in Kaduna.This much you may be able to tell if you heard them giving the Oba a round of applause while he was issuing them threats.
Lagos is not the Oba's as he claimed and even if that were the case,he popped up in the wrong generation and it would most definitely miss the Ibos if he kicked them out or bewitched them into relocating to the marine kingdom.Imagine what Alaba international Market would be like for starters.
As a Muslim,I take offence with the Oba saying Insha Allah (God Willing) while perishing people to the lagoon.My religion leaves no one room to swing both ways so to speak.He can not be a servant of Allah and the King of Lagos Marine Kingdom at the same time and less importantly,I apologize to all those whom I have had cause to describe Prof. Pat Utomi as a honorable man to because I just found out he is not.How a man like this could suggest the Oba might be joking is baffling.Okay, lets assume he was,would any reasonable person accept a joke that silly from a man of that age?.I don't think so.This is one of such moments where Silence is golden and the only edible words are ones that convey an apology.
No publicist alive can possibly spin this.I look forward to something Oba Rilwan Aremu Akiolu said he would do after the Elections and this is fulfilling a promise to expose corrupt Nigerian leaders.From the look of things,its best I lower my expectations because the lagoon spirits might just have instructed otherwise.