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.

CARD READER:DOING THE RIGHT THING AT THE WRONG TIME

My people have a saying down here in the North-You can start to tell how good a Friday would be from a Wednesday.A wise person never lets what he wants to happen to becloud the reality on ground.There is nothing anyone would want more than a free and fair elections this year as the polity has never been this heated.From mudslinging worth paying attention to by both parties on one hand and outright 'Motor park' rants on the other.
INEC remains my biggest fear; the confused umpire.INEC didn't test the card reader in elections prior to the postponed February polls and didn't even test before the postponement on security grounds which was announced just a week before the scheduled date.Is there a plan nobody is telling us?
When Prof Attahiru Jega was appointed and we were serenaded with tunes of his credibility and integrity,I told people we needed to thread with caution and not forget the lessons we had learnt from experience.We should always bear in mind the person who nominated him for appointment is a politician with a party and political interests whether or not he is smart enough to understand the importance of ceding some territories to the opposition.
Jega seemed fired up for the task and introduced the biometric database in place of our archaic voter registration system which we were meant to believe left absolutely no room for Electoral malpractices.Elections were postponed for a week back then because of logistical hitches on the part of INEC.Presidential Election results hadn't even been announced before the then CPC Chairman,Prince Tony Momoh alleged on TV that the INEC computers had a software that deducted GMB votes in his strongholds;places like Katsina and Kano.Whether or not those elections were rigged or flawed to use a milder term,is subjective.
As accustomed to settling for less as we may be, INEC's ineptitude and indecisiveness could be too rotten a  morsel to swallow.Just like it did with the biometric database,it has sold us the 'Card Reader' with ease and ordinarily we would shower Jega with encomiums for further enhancing our Voting system to suit International standards but fellow citizens, 59% Success rate in biometric (Finger print) authentication is something to worry about going by INEC's antecedents.
We had a lot of time before February.Years as a matter of fact, so why anyone would choose the few weeks preceding an election to test the smart card reader baffles me to no end.Would we have blindly gone into the postponed February polls with an innovation INEC didn't deem necessary to test before hand?.

I am not a pessimist and I am very glad Smart Card Readers can fully authenticate PVCs which is its primary aim but what if we had used them in the February polls and provisions weren't made for incident forms where finger prints couldn't be authenticated as is the case now?A slim margin of error only means there is room no matter how little for a flaw or fraud.A card reader could authenticate a card which doesn't belong to the bearer but won't stop him from voting if it doesn't verify his fingerprint because all he has to do is fill an incident form.Here,one can't help but remember stories of politicians offering money for PVCs sometime back.
We understand we are a third world country and that adapting to significant changes entail a lot of mistakes but such mistakes are unacceptable if they could have been easily avoided.Jega's intentions are good and commendable no doubt but he seems to be doing the right thing at the wrong time.And every good innovation would amount to naught if it can't guarantee you success where it counts.

BOKO HARAM: A BUZZER BEATER FOR JONATHAN

Those of us familiar with the game of basketball should be fully acquainted with the phrase 'Buzzer Beater'.It refers to a basket scored from a shot or action taken just before the buzzer signaling the end of a quarter sounds at 0.00 Seconds.The reaction to a game winning buzzer beater by spectators could practically bring down an arena.That Ladies and Gentlemen is what GEJ seems to have done;beat the buzzer in grand style.
Over the last few weeks,we have witnessed a remarkable turn of fortunes in our war against Boko Haram.We have destroyed camps,confiscated weapons,reclaimed lost territory and stopped further encroachment by the insurgents.The war is not yet won though and am glad the Commander-in-Chief understands the importance of cutting the head off by vowing to arrest Abubakar Shekau;the Sect leader.
For the President or against him,you just have to admit this counts as a huge plus to his re-election bid.A lot of people are going to say we don't need a President who only delivers when pushed to the wall or that all that is being done now could have been done a long time ago.But like I always say,if we could end this war all on our own then we wouldn't be a 3rd World Country.Not a war where chances of sourcing useful and credible intelligence on the insurgents were very low and one where the Enemies' response to our '1970s' fighter planes was procuring anti-aircraft weapons which they put to effective use.
Before rushing to hasty conclusions,we must take into consideration the refusal of America to sell arms to us,the implications for any of its allies who does,the desperation and commitment on the part of our government that necessitated the two infamous failed attempts to get 'First Aid' help in which private jets traceable to the Nigerian Government were busted with huge amounts of dollars in South Africa,that maybe our African brothers lent us a helping hand fast because we played 'the forthcoming Elections' card and the length of time it took to clear bureaucratic obstacles and ship arms from the foreign countries named so far.
Just as it is convenient to resort to the timing of this resurgence in criticism of the President,the Timing of the many shortcomings we have had to contend with is also an important criteria in a thorough and unbiased assessment of the performance of the armed forces so far.
Even if I end up not voting for Jonathan in the forthcoming Elections,I must commend his efforts at ending this insurgency.Good thing he came straight and confessed he under-estimated the threat at the beginning.The truth is even his late predecessor did.He cut the head off and went to sleep.There have been reports of how even agencies in the US under-estimated prior intel on the 9/11 attacks.We wouldn't be doing the man justice if we go at him and absolve who was there at the very beginning of any blame.
We have witnessed a very dramatic run-up to the General Elections with both parties trading both intriguing and laughable accusations.The pick of the pack has to be the APC raising alarm over a plot to arrest Shekau and make him link General Buhari to his sect.We have heard it all.
Recent happenings as regards the war will not only polish GEJ's dented reputation across the globe,they are sure to convince a lot of 'Thomases' and win him more converts.

OBJ:A DELUDED PATRIOT

The ideal elder statesman rarely has cause to criticize a government or leader in public.Certain standards are expected of men of such calibre who can get audience with anyone they desire to voice out their concerns or grievances talk more one who is a politician.
General Olusegun Obasanjo Rtd has always been a statesman by virtue of having governed us twice.Politics or no politics.

He has made a go at every Government since he handed over to Shehu Shagari in 1979 with the exception of three.Two short lived ones: Ernest Shonekan's which lasted just 82 days, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar's which released and eventually handed over power to him and of course his as democratically elected President.Nobody can attribute his feud with the Jonathan Government to old age.Baba has always been Baba.
Judging by the strength of his criticisms and the enthusiasm with which they are carried out, people would jump over themselves to vote for this 'genuine' patriot if one problem didn't exist-Obasanjo has ruled us twice and score sheets do exist.

Lets take GEJ's weakest points-Insecurity and Corruption.I have always said it will be hard to win the war against Boko Haram alone.We need additional troops and arms from allies willing to help.These we have gotten but from unexpected sources.America cited human rights abuses by the Nigerian Military as its reason for refusing to sell arms to us.Nothing changed even after staking our reputation to abstain from voting in the Security Council Vote for a Palestine state to save it the embarrassment of using its Veto vote.As far as the Human rights abuses ground goes,a detailed Memo containing reasons just might refer to Obasanjo's Odi and Zaki Biam massacre; an unprecedented annihilation history will never forget.OBJ didn't end the Niger-Delta Militancy that plagued us during his reign,Yar'adua did in a most praiseworthy manner.And on insecurity, we saw how he tackled issues of a far lesser magnitude.
I agree all the way with Gen Gowon when he described Obasanjo's criticism of the war against Boko Haram as highly irresponsible.
OBJ can go on as many elaborate blabbing sprees as he wants about foreign reserves, economic indices, GDP and what not but learned as I may be,I am no different from the common man in one regard; all these don't add up right to me if kids didn't get quality education in the best environments, masses quality health care at the right rates or there was a reduction in our unemployment rate,Increased number of motorable roads,Steady water and power supply.And talking about Power supply,This is a man who squandered trillions of taxpayers money in the name of Improving power supply.The multi-billion naira embezzlement allegations labeled against Chief Tony Anennih; his then Minister of Works and 'Mr Fix it' were never looked into.
We didn't just get here overnight.People like Obasanjo while wallowing in their self-inflicted 'Selective amnesia', let that fact slide easily.He played a key role.
Governor Sule Lamido referred to him as a father and it makes you want to take his allegation of GEJ trying to perpetuate himself in power seriously.If that is the case, then he will fail just like his father.

How Obasanjo forgot about his failed 3rd term agenda before making those accusations still beats me.Clearly he isn't bothered about Moral rights because he appears to just want to talk and only God knows why.He had his chance to change the system and he didn't.
By tearing his PDP membership card in public, he also tore away his elder statesman status because clearly he lost all respect.There couldn't be a more despicable exit.
On the flip side, it could just turn out to be a blessing.A time for sober reflection and repentance.A time to study how the real statesmen act; how the Shehu Shagaris, Abdulsalam Abubakars, IBBs, Alex Ekwuemes, Yakubu Gowons behave.They never stoop so low as to fight with their kids.Men who have never given us any 'Hollywood' tales about Presidents training snipers without concrete proof.Men who understand how embarrassing it would be to be labelled a threat to National Security or to be invited by the SSS for Questioning .I doubt if he would have tolerated all the President has if they were to switch roles.

A father should know his place.

POSTPONEMENT:WHEN WERE WE LAST SAFE?

A couple of days ago, an INEC Commisioner, Amina Zachary said elections could be postponed if PVC collection hadn't improved by February 8th 2015.That was the only ground a lot of us envisaged would be cited if ever they were postponed to a later date.But we witnessed a dramatic turn in the few days preceding INEC's postponement of the first round of  Elections to March 2008.From the NSA's letter advising it to shift due to security challenges to the Nigerian Army stating that Security won't be provided if Elections do hold on February 14th.
As a well meaning Nigerian with no political affiliations,I am  privileged to still have my objectivity and rationality intact at the risk of sounding immodest.Security quite frankly,shouldn't have been our problem at the moment.Reason being elections in the troubled states of the North East should never have been contemplated in the first place.
A lot of people put undue pressure on the INEC Chairman when he hinted elections might not hold in those states.We had APC faithfuls who thought it would be unfair to them; all three at that time being their states on one hand and a President very eager to prove to the World, to borrow his popular phrase-'He had things under control'.The INEC Chairman succumbed to pressure and had some handy mumbo jumbo about liasing always with Security chiefs to support his position. I ask-From that moment till the postponement, did anyone actually think the areas were safe?.
Even before the Military cited a major operation to restore normalcy as its reason for not guaranteeing security,we all knew it wasn't.The obvious truth is we would be making our brothers and sisters over there sitting ducks in long queues across hundreds of polling centres.It is baseless to suggest an ulterior motive on the part of the President.His reputation before the outside world is in shambles.

Never have personalities as eminent as the likes of John Kerry and Hilary Clinton made a go at our corrupt system in one fell swoop until the kidnap of the Chibok School Girls afforded them that opportunity.His self-esteem was so battered, his NSA reportedly refused an offer to help just prior to the AU's deployment of 8,750 troops to help combat the Boko Haram insurgency.
If ever anyone needs a scape goat,it has to be Prof. Attahiru Jega.The thing with scape goats is they don't necessarily perpetrate the real or perceived wrong but they just happen to be unlucky to be in the best position to take all the blame.We all as concerned citizens have been observing happenings in the North East.I have seen figures of outstanding PVCs but i am yet to lay my hands on the number of PVCs disbursed in the affected states and it makes  you doubt INEC's Integrity.There can't possibly be an effective disbursement in those parts.This ought to have necessitated a move as drastic as cancelling elections there or everywhere till it was safe to do so long before now.It didn't have to be a week before.Now we are faced with a problem capable of unnecessarily heating up the polity.Declaring the troubled states unsafe maybe 5 or 6 months ago would have prevented all the confusion surrounding us now.
His critics and that of the President would bite as hard as they could but there is no running away from the truth.Maybe we would have gotten concrete foreign help like a lot of us had been advocating for and not just help in surveillance and monitoring our negotiations with the insurgents.
We are in an era where Asari Dokubo and company are threatening to wage war if Jonathan loses and opposition supporters have stoned the President on some of his campaign trips and even burnt some of his campaign vehicles.These are very trying times for all security agencies.

Either way,there is a high chance of post-election violence and with Boko Haram trying really hard to own the North East (for now at least),it is important they set their priorities straight.The Military has promised to conclude a major operation against the insurgents in the next six weeks and only then would it be able to render its traditional support to the police and other agencies during elections.At this stage one can't help but hope things go well.The reinforcements from our African brothers make that very possible but we have had so many false hopes as far this war is concerned,we are scared of setting our expectations high.If God forbid,things don't change substantially in the next six weeks, i am afraid the best possible option open to us would be to exclude the troubled states.I don't see any other way.They were never safe and we have deceived ourselves for too long.
Political parties and critics of government can rant all they want but the truth remains we were never safe enough to conduct General Elections all across the country.

A GENERAL'S MISFIRE

I refuse to buy any of the excuses being peddled around by General Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to justify his refusal to participate in the presidential debate.For a candidate who is campaigning on the 'Man of Integrity' card, It is preposterous to suggest bias in the composition of a debate panel or the partisan nature of its organizers as grounds for backing out.
For a man who has successfully built arguably the best 'Mr Capable' reputation in this nation's political stratosphere, it is unacceptable.What questions is he scared of?
Political Debates should be a welcome fora for any candidate and not something to run away from.They offer not only a great opportunity to win new converts for your cause but also to reassure existing ones they have made the right choice.Candidates use it to further elucidate on their plans for the people and clear the air on controversial issues.
Frankly,if anyone should be running away from a debate,it should be President Jonathan.
He would have a tough time justifying the colossal sum spent on the fight against the Boko Haram Insurgency, giving cogent reasons why his government couldn't prevent any of the numerous strikes, why power is still unstable and his seeming high tolerance for corruption.The heat would most definitely be on GEJ.A dismissal showing would hurt his chances more than it would those of any other candidate.
On the other hand, GMB has little or nothing to lose.Like a friend put it-A lot of people out there wouldn't ordinarily vote for Buhari but he happens to be the best option available to a 'fed-up' populace who yearn for change because they deserve better than what is on ground at the moment.I have taken time out to study the reasons adduced by GMB's team for his declination and honestly, they don't make sense to me.
The panelists and organizers whom were labelled 'Pro-PDP' would not be handing any prizes at the end of the exercise.Even if Jonathan is only asked questions about his clothes and hats, it shouldn't bother Gen Buhari.The tougher the questions for GMB,the more golden the opportunity to endear himself to the electorate.A well-meaning and capable candidate prepared to serve the people shouldn't shy away from any debate except of course there are skeletons in his closet.
I don't want to believe neither GMB nor any of the eggheads around him has given this due thought.There couldn't be a better opportunity or medium to clarify certain issues which asides age,seem to be the only chinks in his armor.Issues like his perception by some as a bigot.One who has been alleged to have publicly affirmed his support for the total implementation of the Islamic Sharia law in all parts of the country.There are also allegations of PTF projects favouring the North more during his reign at the helm of the body and also his imprisonment of Alex Ekwueme,Sam Mbakwe and even the highly revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo while Shehu Shagari,his fellow northerner whom the coup ousted was placed under house arrest.I would have loved to hear him answer questions about his alleged intolerance for free press during his time as Head of State.Also, his promise to abolish the office of First lady didn't sit too well with many.Technically, there would still be an Operative First lady if his wife has said she would be doing some charity work and receiving  guests.The main essence of the office if you ask me.No doubt she would also have to attend any First ladies Summit if they do win so what is the point of scrapping the office?.Either way,we have a First lady whose activities will be funded by tax payers' money; Constitutional or not.Perhaps he would have enlightened us some more.
As expected,the PDP has seized the opportunity to score a point by saying the President is willing to debate anywhere and at any given time.With little or no effort, GMB has been portrayed as being scared.In the coming days,I wouldn't be surprised to see someone remind us of his refusal to appear before the Oputa panel and perhaps carve out a 'worrisome' pattern.
The General's refusal to participate can be likened to a student who refused to take his exams simply because he heard the teachers were going to make it difficult.A biased or tainted panel in my humble opinion,can never form a concrete basis for backing out of a debate.A man aspiring to govern arguably the most critical people ever known to mankind should be able to confidently answer any question thrown at him; favourable or not.Truth be told, asides difference in time alloted to candidates to answer questions,there is hardly any other thing worth complaining about and in this regard,I don't see how anyone can afford to allot more time to a particular candidate in a telecast beamed live to every home in this country.
Buhari and his handlers might not trust the PDP.A lot of people actually don't but one can't help but wonder:Was this a good move?.