JONATHAN IS NO LONGER A HERO

 Its really sad i couldn't reach out to my psychologist friend in good time before writing this piece.I had hoped to upgrade my layman status by getting a detailed explanation on the 'Sub-Emotions' that arose from a 'Parent' Emotion;Joy which was experienced by a majority of Nigerians after General Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner of the March Presidential Election.Especially the part where a lot of people were joyous to the extent of feeling sympathy towards someone they set out against after achieving their aim.
A lot of Nigerians (including yours truly) labelled President Jonathan a hero for overseeing a free and fair election and for conceding defeat.I can't be authoritative in the least but with a clearer head now,I think we were just happy to see him leave and nothing more.
We had grown tired of hearing tales of having the best economy in Africa and being shown impressive figures without a commensurate betterment in the life of the average Nigerian.We were tired of watching people steal huge sums of our money and going scotfree.
Perhaps there is an explanation for our acclaiming him a hero only when we were certain we had shown him the exit.
However,we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves, perhaps a lot of thoughts embedded in our psyche led to that conclusion.He didn't join the PDP Governors who vehemently opposed the Card Reader and the war against the Boko Haram Insurgency had started to yield the desired results for the very first time.
But I will tell you what a hero would have done.A hero would address the nation himself in detail on the non-payment of salaries in some states and the fuel scarcity plaguing us at the moment.

Some time in March this year, Okonjo Iweala, the finance and co-ordinating Minister of the Economy told us the Fuel scarcity was more down to Pipeline Vandalism and logistics than non-payment of Marketers and made us believe the 'little' problems they had with them were almost resolved.
The marketers are said to be owed over N200 Billion and with no respite in sight,a hero would not only tell us how he intends to tackle this problem but how we got here in the first place directly.If not for anything but for the fact that the only plausible explanation given till date is one by the APC Spokesman,Lai Mohammed who claimed the Jonathan administration had looted the $12 billion domestic gas fund and that is why it can't pay the Marketers.
Even if a hero doesn't suddenly start telling the truth overnight,he would at least ensure he bows out with his head held high by going the extra-mile to alleviate our sufferings or at least show he cares.
The President-Elect has reportedly met with the marketers to try and reach an amicable resolution and quite honestly I feel for General Muhammadu Buhari.He is assuming Office when the Nation is in its worst state in years.With a budget that isn't his,the least the outgoing administration could do is hand him its handover notes in good time to enable him hit the ground running but No.He won't receive them till May 28th;a day before he is sworn-in.
It would take some time to study those voluminous notes and map out first steps as decisive as the present unfavourable climate would permit.Late submission no doubt amounts to another spanner in the works.
The remarkable last minute dislodgement and crippling of the Boko Haram insurgents was the tiny shred holding Jonathan's 'Hero' status together and with the recent spate of bombings and capture of Marte by Boko Haram in the dying seconds of his administration,it has since given way.
We will all bid him farewell come May 29th 2015 but I don't think anyone would truly mean it if they refer to him as a hero.

PDP & APC :LIFE AFTER 'CHANGE'

"Because things are the way they are,things will not stay the way they are"-Bertolt Bretcht

Even the most efficient of anemometers would find it hard to place the exact speed at which the winds of change have blown across our great nation.Just two Saturdays ago,a party that has ruled us for 16 years and prided itself as the only true 'National Party' was banished with applause for its matured concession of defeat as its only farewell gift.On second thought, I would call it a storm.A storm too strong for an umbrella. 
Nigerians have finally gotten the change they have been yearning for and it came in the form of the APC.
This 'Change' has charted new courses for our two most prominent parties-The APC and The PDP.When a majority of all other parties worthy of mention formed the APC on the 6th of February 2013 in a bid to end the PDP's (Mis)rule,not a few people predicted a break-up before the elections because of the ego packed in the average Nigerian Politician.

It held on remarkably well and grew in leaps and bounds even after the Influx of the nPDP members armed not only with their own egos but also with GMGs (Ghana must Gos) and the party has now earned the fruits of its labour.
Due credit must go to its leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for his role.A lot of people admire his tenacity and never waivering commitment to the deal reportedly brokered during its formation-GMB for the Presidential ticket and he to man the affairs of the party.No mean feat considering the calibre of gentlemen that threw their hats into the presidential race and the ones in the DNA of the Party Structure.Having reached its goal of grabbing the centre,a greater task lies ahead and that is running the party after success.
A thorough review of GMB's political career will prove he doesn't dabble into party affairs if he can avoid it.It didn't come as a suprise to many when he distanced himself from the Current Senate Presidency and House Speakership imbroglio.With the many alliances,adoptions and renouncements going on,you wouldn't want to be Asiwaju right now.
He is saddled with the onerous task of overseeing a Party portraying itself as capable of developing cracks in the shortest possible time and a President-Elect who seems to have a 'Do Not Disturb' tag on his door knob.GMB has always been his own man and doesn't quite strike you as one who would concede easily to what doesn't sit well with him to allow peace reign.He has already fired a warning shot by turning down a ministerial list reportedly sent by the APC Governors.
The very same attributes the APC composed songs about could very well turn out to be what will haunt its members.With a leader who seems more concerned about his duty to the Nigerian people than the Concept of the 'Ideal Party Man', and one cautious about throwing his weight around in key party affairs in the typical fashion of the Nigerian political heavyweight, it would take the very best leadership skills to keep the troops united and happy.

In the great words of Winston Churchill-"The problems of Victory are more agreeable than those of defeat but they are no less difficult".Welcome to the real world APC,Change is indeed here.
The PDP on the other hand was always going to find it rough coping with its new status; the Watch dog or Opposition in Common terms.The finger-pointing and blame-trading was expected but the absurdity and intensity accompanying them is what wasn't.We wake up to hear that GEJ has demanded that all unused campaign funds be returned to the party's coffers one day and that there is evidence of the NWC of the party disbursing those funds among themselves the next.Then the most outrageous of them all; Fayose alleging the Party Chairman sold the party out to the APC.
The President seems frustrated behind the scenes and the Party Chairman seems the chosen scapegoat.
The PDP certainly hasn't been handling defeat well.However,GEJ must understand his last actions as Party leader have far-reaching consequences.The fact that he still can't convince the party to make him BOT chairman is a pointer to that fact.
Adamu Muazu is unpopular with the PDP faithful at the moment and looks set for the exit with Liyel Imoke,the out-going Cross-Rivers State Governor being touted as his likely successor.With GEJ's BOT aspiration as good as shot down,whole sale changes to the way the party is run is expected.
Quite a number of prominent members have come out to say that much.
By my calculation,the South West should produce the next party Chairman but Imoke is most favoured in the event of a Mu'azu exit; a pointer to the fact that the new major players in the party; the South-East and South-South will make that status count.
The two chairmen who have served under GEJ spent more time keeping him happy than overseeing the affairs of the party with one managing to cause them irreparable damage.Whether or not the party appreciates the importance of appointing a 'Mobilizer' remains to be seen; One capable of ensuring no one gets disgruntled by the implications of the shift in power base for starters.
Its a good thing there hasn't been massive defection to the APC in their ranks, at least not yet.
The winds of change have blown,leaving a few things upturned in both parties in its wake.Things are not the same. 

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.

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.