President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has approved the appointment of Mr. Mohammed D. Abubakar as Acting Inspector General of Police as a first step towards the comprehensive reorganization and repositioning of the Nigeria Police Force to make it more effective and capable of meeting emerging internal security challenges.
Mr. Abubakar who is currently an Assistant Inspector General of Police replaces Mr. Hafiz Ringim who proceeds on terminal leave with effect from today, 25th January 2012.
Born on May 5, 1958, Mr. Abubakar enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force on July 30, 1979. He was the AIG in charge of Zone 12 Headquarters in Bauchi, before his new appointment.
President Jonathan has also approved the retirement of all Deputy Inspectors General of Police with immediate effect. These are: Mrs. Ivy Uche Okoronkwo, DIG POL 2i/c Force Headquarters, Abuja, Mr. Azubuko J. Udah, DIG Administration (“A” Dept), Mr. Sardauna Abubukar, DIG Training (“E”Dept.); Mr. Audu Abubakar, DIG Operations (“B” Dept); Mr. Saleh Abubakar, DIG Works (“C” Dept.) and Mr. Mohammed A. Yesufu, DIG Planning and Info-Tech (“F”Dept.).
The President has also established a Special Committee to oversee the urgent reorganization of the Nigeria Police Force. The committee is to be chaired by the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Parry B.O Osayande, DIG (rtd).
Other Members of the Committee are:
1. Mr. Casimir T. Akagbosu, AIG (rtd.), mni
2. Mr. Bashir A. Albasu, AIG (rtd.), fwc.
3. Major Gen. S.N. Chikwe, rtd.
4. Prof. S.D. Mukoro
5. Dr. Fabian Ajogwu, SAN
6. Aisha Larai Tukur
7. Solicitor General of the Federation
8. Permanent Secretary, SSO, Office of the SGF to serve as the Secretary to the Committee
The Committee’s Terms of Reference are as follows:
1. To identify the challenges and factors militating against effective performance in the Nigeria Police Force and make recommendations for addressing the challenges.
2. To examine the scope and standard of training and other personnel development activities in the Police to determine their adequacy or otherwise.
3. To determine the general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the police and recommend ways of restoring public trust in the institution.
4. To examine records of performance of Officers and Men of the Nigeria Police Force with a view to identifying those that can no longer fit into the system due to declining productivity, age, indiscipline, corruption and/or disloyalty;
5. To make any other recommendations for the improvement of the Nigeria Police Force.
The Committee’s recommendations shall be implemented along with those by previous committees set up by Government on the reform of the Nigeria Police Force.
As three Anambra communities of Agulu, Adazi Nnukwu and Azigbo bury bury fifteen of the victims of the Boko Haram menace yesterday amidst wailings and curses, five South East governors of Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Imo and Anambra state have been blamed for the persistent killings and inhuman treatment of indigenes of the zone living in other parts of the country, particularly the northern Nigeria.
It was a heart rending site to behold as relations and friends of the victims and their families cry their hearts out while bidding them farewell. They noted that enough of Igbo blood hve been spiiled to keep Nigeria united.
Adazi Nnukwu lost no fewr than 12, Agulu lost 1, while Azigbo lost 2, including a Bank manager.
A21, a quasi political group in its meeting in Awka, Anambra state yesterday blamed what it saw as “political immaturity, over rated self importance, unnecessary self-adulation and greed for power on the part of the governors for the return of the ugly trend, many years after the last civil war.
“They now see their small enclaves as their personal empires, for the near absence or the tongue-in-cheek comments on the brazen recent progressive and intentional killings and ethnic cleansing of persons of South East origin in parts of northern Nigeria without fear or challenge.
Chairman of the A21 Organization, Chief Kanayo Obidigbo said the group was a quasi political pressure group set up by citizens drawn from all walks of life and political parties in the country with a drive for good governance and peaceful coexistence. He said they were in Anambra to drum up support for the citizens towards the conduct elections which became due since May 2003.
He said the group has already set up offices in the 326 electoral wards in the state, with a view to having a peaceful mass revolution towards any issue of general importance that agitates their mind.
The Organizing Secretary of the group, Angus Aniebonam said that it was preposterous for a governor who swore to protect the sanctity of life of citizens and the nation’s constitution, to ignore the tenets of the oath and the protection of the people he swore to protect at all times. Gov Obi, he added had ignored the conduct of council election in the state under uncountable excuses.
According to Aniebonam, “Anambra today is governed by proxy, as Mr Peter Obi has since relocated to Abuja from where he comes in at intervals to see some traditional rulers or say good bye to some Jerusalem or Jeddah pilgrims”.
He said that it was same Obi who told the world that Anambra was the safest and most peaceful state in Nigeria, but when asked to conduct council poll he shivers and develops rigors all over his body. Their political delusion in the South East Governors’ Forum which made some opt out has just been exposed when in their effort not to rattle their godfathers in the north chose to look the other way on the massive killings of Igbos in Potiskum, Madalla, Mubi, Gombe. Ta Adazi nnukwu in Anaocha council of Anambra, generations of some families have just been brought back in caskets for no reason other than their faith and tribe. Yet their governors chose to look the other way.
Chief Aniemeka Izuorah, who is the Secretary General, admitted that the activities of the group go beyond politics. He said the group frowned at the absence of meaningful project in the zone in the 2012 Federal Appropriation Bill. He therefore wondered what representatives of the zone in the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council were doing. “They should wake up at once!” he said.
Information available to 247ureports.com indicates thatthe President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan has fired the Inspector General of the Nigerian Police Force. The information was released on Tuesday afternoon of the sacking/retirement of the Police Chief.
Although the finer details to the sack of Ringim appear sketchly, it is certain the Police chief was released over his mishandling of the Boko Haram agent [Kabiru Umar aka Kabiru Sokoto] recently arrested but was allowed to escape from the police custody.
President Jonathan had handed a 24hour ultimatum tothe former Police Chief to fish out the escaped Boko Haram member – or be sacked. At the expiration of the ultimatum, the former Police chief failed to produce the escaped suspect. Six other DIG’s were also sacked.
MD Abubakar takes over as the new Inspector General of Police.
If President Obama wanted to prove that he’s in favor of jobs for Americans and less reliance on Mideast oil, then he blew that opportunity with his decision to reject plans for a massive oil pipeline through the United States.Obama fed right-wing conservatives a piece of job-killing raw meat in his decision, which he and his Democratic supporters blame on a looming deadline forced upon him by Republicans.
And while TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline project is not dead and could be addressed again after the November elections, Obama’s decision certainly went a long way toward bolstering his opposition.
People are out of work and this project might have put thousands of Americans to work almost immediately. Republicans latched onto the pipeline as a symbol of job creation and an opportunity to wean ourselves from Mideast oil. And with the Iranians only starting to back off of a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz and cut off a sixth of the world’s oil supply, such a project would have offered a glimmer of hope of becoming less reliant on Mideast oil in our continuing gas-driven society.
Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. wanted to carry tar sands oil from western Canada via a 1,700-mile pipeline that would cross six U.S. states to Texas refineries. The jobs this project would create in the immediate future would be a big boost for a population with an 8.5 percent unemployment rate, but the potential long-term benefits are even greater.
Face it, Americans are still heavily dependent upon oil and that, in some people’s minds, puts us at continued risk when dealing with unstable but oil-rich nations.
Moreover, Obama’s decision has reportedly caused tension with friendly neighbors to the north. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made public statements that Canada will now seek to “diversify” its portfolio, which some take to mean selling to China. It’s hard to believe that Obama would want to deliver Canada into the hands of the Chinese, over American profits and jobs. But his logic on this one is questionable, at best.
The administration already said no, for now, until government can review an alternative route that avoids environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska, a route not yet proposed. The president had to make some decision, at least in the interim, by Feb. 21 at the latest as part of an unrelated tax deal he made with Republicans.
He and his Democratic colleagues are leaning on the deadline they say prevented the State Department from gathering the necessary information to approve the project and “protect the American people,” as Obama said. Opponents have voiced concerns that the pipeline would leak and contaminate the ground water supply. They also voiced concerns about the pipeline’s effect on wildlife.
Nebraska Sand Hills, a 20,000-square-mile expanse of ground water and grassland which, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also supports ranching and wildlife, is of particular concern.
Back in October, TransCanada said the pipeline could not be rerouted, but in addition to its existing commitments to clean up a spill, it would be willing to provide a $100 million performance bond payable to Nebraska if the company fails to clean up a spill in the Sand Hills.
Obama and his administration, in what some are calling a political decision to appease a vocal environmental group, intend to take their time on this, despite the looming concerns of employment and economic growth. It’s a miscalculation.
Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan (middle), Commissioner for Primary and Basic Education, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare (left) and Engr. Abel Adeleke, when the Governor visited one of the model primary schools under construction, in Asaba, yesterday
Delta StateGovernment is constructing 10 new Model Primary schools in the State to upgradeprimary education and expose pupils early in life to electronic learning andacademic excellence.
The StateGovernor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who disclosed this yesterday while inspecting constructionwork in one of the primary schools in Asaba, said that the schools would becompleted in April, but would not start functioning until September because ofthe school calendar.
“The Model Primary Schools will be ready byaround April but the Schools will not take off until around September becauseof the school calendar. We are indeed working hard to upgrade PrimaryEducation,” he said.
Dr. Uduaghandisclosed that the Model Primary Schools would comprise of nursery and primarysections and teachers for the Schools would be trained by the British Counciland donor agencies.
He saidalthough Primary Schools are the responsibility of Local Governments, the Modelprimary Schools will be funded and run by the state Government so that theburden would not be too much for local Governments to bear.
The Governorexplained that when the schools become functional, the standard obtainablewould be comparable to some of the best in the World.
Dr. Uduaghansaid the Schools have the capacity to admit 420 pupils in the Primary sectionand 60 in the Nursery section.
The Governorsaid the classrooms would be well equipped and every child will be given theprivilege to be admitted into the Schools. “These Model Schools are going to bedifferent. Apart from their ultra-modern looks, they are going to be wellequipped with the state of the art electronic learning equipments,” he said.
Budget 2012 proposal made by Governor Peter Obi has confirmed the fears of many that the APGA government is evading the conduct of local government elections in the state and that Anambra needs a struggle similar to that undertaken and won by the whole nation in 1999 for the central government and the state governments.
It is noteworthy that all progressive and law-abiding states have equally enthroned civil rule at the local government level, but not so Anambra where APGA has set the hand of the clock backwards.
In the budget proposal there is no capital vote has been provided for ANSIEC for purposes of conducting the local government electrions, showing that it is the last thing on the agenda of the state government.
The development also confirms the speculation of many that the dramatized sack of the chairman of Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), Prof Titus Eze, may indeed be a well choreographed Maradonic drama, aimed at keeping ANSIEC in an artifificial state of confusion in order to achieve the objective of evading elections..
Were is not so, the APGA state government under the leadership of governor Obi would have fought harder in and out of the courtrooms to ensure that ANSIEC activities continue in the interest of the state.
ACN hereby calls on the Anambra State House of Assembly to evoke the powers of appropriation given to the house by the constitution to infuse an adequate amount into the budget for the conduct of local government elections in the 21 states of Anambra State.
By implication, ACN calls on the house to make the tenure of the subsisting caretaker governments at the local government level non renewable at the end of this term in March 2012.
For ACTION CONGRESS OF NIGERIA ANAMBRA STATE CHAPTER
From Maiduguri to Kano, Kaduna to Damaturu, explosive mishaps are happening at Boko Haram ‘bomb factories’. Weekly Trust, speaking to insiders, gives you the story.
On Saturday 17th and Monday 19th December, 2011, members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, also known as Boko Haram, experienced major setbacks which many within security circles predicted would happen. Two of their bomb-making locations in Maiduguri and Damaturu claimed at least four members believed to be experts in assembling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). In Kaduna, a two-bedroom apartment believed to be used by the sect exploded, killing two-year-old Lois Obajemu (See sidebar on Page 3) on the same day the Damaturu ‘bomb factory’ explosion occurred. The sect also lost another base when the Kano State Police Command in what it referred to as a ‘major breakthrough’ raided a hideout.
Maiduguri and Damaturu have notoriously become the epicenter of violence since the re-grouping of members of the sect in 2010 after the July 2009 incident which led to killing of their leader, Mohammed Yusuf and about 900other people including sect members and security operatives. The sect’s leadership agreed that its members were touched by the development but said it will in no way affect its operation. “It’s a temporary setback,” Abul-Qaqa, the spokesman of the group, said. “We believe Allah is testing our Iman (faith). Undoubtedly, we are strengthened by what happened. We are not afraid of death and absolutely nothing will stop us against waging war on the Nigerian state and its establishments,” he added.
Qaqa said the ultimate goal of his group was to ensure the abolition and replacement of the Nigerian Constitution with the laws enshrined in the Holy Qur’an as well as abrogation of democracy. “Some people may think that we would retreat or surrender because our factories have exploded. We will not and we will prove to the world that we are still capable.”
But observers are pondering how bomb factories thrive in the two cities and under the watchful eyes of security operatives. In Shuwari, a quiet suburb of Maiduguri, where the bomb factory exploded last Sunday, it was the sound of the blast that attracted the attention of the Joint Task Force (JTF). Shuwari is dotted with old walls and uncompleted buildings which serve as home to goats and sheep. That notwithstanding, the settlement, despite its rural appearance, attracts some affluent individuals whose mansions are part of the landscape.
As Weekly Trust drove through the un-tarred and sandy terrain, residents looked with suspicious eyes and when asked for directions, they would decline to help. Eventually, a resident pointed at a steep slope which initially seemed inaccessible. He said the ‘bomb factory’ was located just little down the slope, but it proved inaccurate. A few more questions to a number of skeptical residents eventually led to an old building surrounded by a newly-plastered fence with wide-open gates. A blast appeared to have damaged the back section of the house but leaving the frontage intact. Spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed, said the house was used as a major depot for the production of IEDs. “We recovered the mutilated bodies of three suspects who were killed in the process of making an IED for deployment,” he said.
Explosive items which the JTF said they recovered from the scene of the blast include three big drums filled with factory-made explosives, large quantity of unused explosive materials, three AK 47 rifles, timers, a laptop computer and other items used in making explosives.
A resident of the area told Weekly Trust that the house was renovated and rented by some unknown individuals about three months ago. “I have never known any of the occupants or their activities but there were signs that people are living there. The gate of the house is always closed, not only during the day but also at night. This is just what I noticed until the blast,” he said. Another resident of the area said in the last few months, the area played host to many strange faces.
Other residents of the sparsely populated settlement said they had never experienced any blast. It was however gathered that an Islamic scholar who lives in Bolori area of the metropolis was picked by security agents for questioning. “He was actually the original owner of the house but sold it out long ago. The house had passed through at least two more landlords before the current occupants took over. So when authorities realized that, the cleric was released,” an insider said.
Unlike in Maiduguri, the house which served as a ‘bomb factory’ is located in the heart of Damaturu, Yobe’s capital, a few metres away from the palace of the Emir of Damaturu, Alhaji Shehu Hashimi Ibn Umar El-Kanemi. Popularly known as ‘Gidan Gwaiba’ (Hausa for Guava House), the bomb factory was in the midst of a cluster of houses belonging to civil servants, teachers and businessmen. “This is the most difficult aspect of the situation because going by the recent discoveries, it appears the sect members are part and parcel of the larger population,” Dr. Mohammed Bashir, a sociologist, told Weekly Trust.
Yobe State Police commissioner, Lawal Tanko, said his men mobilized to the scene around 12 noon on that fateful day. “One of the suspects, simply identified as Abdullahi Bana, sustained serious injuries and died in the hospital while two others fled with injuries.” Tanko said many dangerous items were items recovered at the bomb-making hideout.
A police source told Weekly Trust that it is only experts that have knowledge of engineering and better understanding of chemistry that can make bombs. “The bomb-makers use things that are use for domestic purposes.” He added: “When we searched the factory, we saw handsets ostensibly being transformed into remote controls. We also saw carts heavily loaded with explosives. Basically, we know that carts are used by water vendors.” He said that the explosive that destroyed the factory in Damaturu was small, “About the size of an insecticide aerosol, but look at the magnitude of the blast, destroying the entire roof.”
Like those of Borno and Yobe, the explosives uncovered by security operatives at the sect’s ‘bomb factory’ in Kaduna were not conventional, a security source disclosed to Weekly Trust. According to him, the explosives were made with the help of some welders and not in well-established factories as speculated. “They fabricate casings or in some cases they use car oil filters, groundnut oil tins, in which they’ll put in the explosive substances and a charge,” he explained. “[Boko Haram] has been making efforts to get sophisticated explosives but they have not been successful so far,” he added, noting that the sect members were in the process of mixing explosive materials before the explosion occurred last Monday.
Kaduna State’s police spokesman, Aminu Lawal, also said the explosives were locally made. “Our bomb squad has tested the one that exploded and the ones that did not. The improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are locally made.”
Some residents of Angwan Magaji, Malakali Area of Mando, where the explosion took place, said that the occupants of the two-bedroom flat used for making explosives were living with women and have people who visit them from time to time. Shittu Ibrahim, a neighbor, said: “We even pray in the same mosque. No one could suspect foul-play.”
Another resident, Idris Mohammed, who said he normally parks his car near the ‘bomb factory,’ said he feels lucky that the incident happened when he was away at work. “None of us suspected anything,” he said.
In Kano, police uncovered another ‘bomb factory’ including arms, chemical and deactivated IEDs, following a tip-off. Kano Police Commissioner, Mr. Ibrahim Idris told Weekly Trust that fourteen members of the sect were detained, four killed, while three police officers died from gunshots during the operation at Darmanawa Quarters, Ungwan Uku. Idris said his men recovered three vehicles, four AK-47s and shot guns, as well as nine magazines and 1,125 live ammunitions of different calibers. The arms were found in a black Honda Accord sedan with Lagos tag no: FF 479 APP.
“One of the recovered vehicles was laden with explosives, meant for an attack,” Idris said, telling Weekly Trust how a raid of the residence of one Mohammed Ali at Darnamawa Quarters led to the discovery the car chock-full of petrol and 50 kg cylinders, well-prepared for an obvious suicide mission. “We appreciate the concern shown by members of various communities by giving us information and showing visible anger at the attacks,” Idris stated.
A Kaduna resident, visibly peeved, asked: “What have the citizens of Kaduna done to deserve Boko Haram’s attention?” His companion shrugged, saying: “It’s all too complex for me to understand, too.”
The five South East governors of Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Imo and Anambra state have been blamed for the persistent killings and inhuman treatment of indigenes of the zone living in other parts of the country, particularly the northern Nigeria.
A21, a quasi political group in its meeting in Awka, Anambra state yesterday blamed what it saw as “political immaturity, over rated self importance, unnecessary self-adulation and greed for power on the part of the governors for the return of the ugly trend, many years after the last civil war.
“They now see their small enclaves as their personal empires, for the near absence or the tongue-in-cheek comments on the brazen recent progressive and intentional killings and ethnic cleansing of persons of South East origin in parts of northern Nigeria without fear or challenge.
Chairman of the A21 Organization, Chief Kanayo Obidigbo said the group was a quasi political pressure group set up by citizens drawn from all walks of life and political parties in the country with a drive for good governance and peaceful coexistence. He said they were in Anambra to drum up support for the citizens towards the conduct elections which became due since May 2003.
He said the group has already set up offices in the 326 electoral wards in the state, with a view to having a peaceful mass revolution towards any issue of general importance that agitates their mind.
The Organizing Secretary of the group, Angus Aniebonam said that it was preposterous for a governor who swore to protect the sanctity of life of citizens and the nation’s constitution, to ignore the tenets of the oath and the protection of the people he swore to protect at all times. Gov Obi, he added had ignored the conduct of council election in the state under uncountable excuses.
According to Aniebonam, “Anambra today is governed by proxy, as Mr Peter Obi has since relocated to Abuja from where he comes in at intervals to see some traditional rulers or say good bye to some Jerusalem or Jeddah pilgrims”.
He said that it was same Obi who told the world that Anambra was the safest and most peaceful state in Nigeria, but when asked to conduct council poll he shivers and develops rigors all over his body. Their political delusion in the South East Governors’ Forum which made some opt out has just been exposed when in their effort not to rattle their godfathers in the north chose to look the other way on the massive killings of Igbos in Potiskum, Madalla, Mubi, Gombe. Ta Adazi nnukwu in Anaocha council of Anambra, generations of some families have just been brought back in caskets for no reason other than their faith and tribe. Yet their governors chose to look the other way.
Chief Aniemeka Izuorah, who is the Secretary General, admitted that the activities of the group go beyond politics. He said the group frowned at the absence of meaningful project in the zone in the 2012 Federal Appropriation Bill. He therefore wondered what representatives of the zone in the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council were doing. “They should wake up at once!” he said.
patdassah@yahoo.com
Christmas day (Dec.25, 2011) opens another spree of bombing in the country claiming more casualties. Bombs exploded at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, in Niger State, in Jos plateau State and in Yobe state, killing and wounding a significant number of innocent citizens.
Barely two days later, we heard of tragic and mindless killings within a community in Ebonyi State in which over sixty people lost their lives with properties worth millions of naira destroyed and hundreds of families displaced. A similar scenario happened in Adamawa state. Presently, 15 Local Government Councils from Niger, Yobe, Borno and Plateau States are under States of emergency due to violence and insecurity. In the midst of all this, on New Year’s Day, the President announced the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and threw an already angry and frustrated nation into convulsion and pandemonium. A lot of groups rose up to the actions of government and declare an indefinite strike and took to the streets seven days after the President’s announcement.
The six (6) day strike by the Nigerian masses has been suspended, yet many questions still remain unresolved in the minds of many. One of those questions is has the strike really achieved what it wants? Many claimed they have been sold out, while others hold it was worth it since they were able to force the Government to reduce the pump price of PMS. But the big question is was it all about the pump price of fuel?
There is no doubt that the largely peaceful protests marked an important milestone in our democratic process. The level of maturity, consistency, comportment, constructive and principled expression of dissent by the majority of the protesters is especially commendable. Nigerians came out, against all odds, to express their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression, and have done so passionately. Nigerians should bear in mind that the protest was not just about the price of petrol but the right to be heard, the need to be consulted on policies and the need to have good governance, fight corruption, curb wastages in government and build a democracy that puts the people at the centre of decision making. The outcome is a vindication that sovereignty belongs to the people and that Nigeria is bigger than any individual or political party.
Every one was singing remove or don’t remove fuel subsidy, how many really know what fuel subsidy is all about? To have good grasp of what these subsidy is all about, I have to educate myself too on the matter of oil subsidy and its recent removal by the government. I felt it was only right that I have an informed view in order to take a position on any matter.
I have heard the government’s position on the intended use of the proceeds of fuel subsidy removal and have listened to many commentators both for and against the subsidy removal. I will not be wrong to tell you that many don’t really know what the real subsidy is, whether they are speaking for or against. Given all the explanations that President GoodLuck Jonathan and his entire cabinet have
proffered and the zeal, vigor and enthusiasms with which they have gone about delivering the “facts” to the public, I am almost tempted to believe that they have something good off their sleeves to offer this Country.
We can say, from a purely economic and national development point, the removal of fuel subsidy appears to make sense, because we cannot continue to dole out our hard earn national treasure to a few people because they import oil on behalf of the government.
I will be quick to note that, it isn’t just the removal of fuel subsidy that displeases Nigerians. It is firstly, the wider matter of governance and government corruption and the impunity with which it is carried out. Nigerians are unhappy with the insensitivity of government to the plight of the people. This is evident by the fact that there were no attempts to consult widely on the subsidy removal matter before it was implemented. Furthermore, the lack of a clear and effective strategy to alleviate the obvious burden that subsidy removal will place on the people is also an evidence of government insensitivity. One could also argue that coming at a period when people are groaning under the bombings by the Boko Haram terrorist sect, the timing of the removal of oil subsidy further shows insensitivity and clear ineptitude on the part of the government.
We certainly would not be in this situation of importing refined oil and having to subsidize it if we had invested in our four refineries so that they function at full capacity, which I understand would be enough to satisfy our domestic demand. I am convinced beyond doubt that fuel importation is the best business all over the world, especially in Nigeria the 6th largest oil producing country in the world. But how can one imports fuel into a country that is producing crude oil? The simple answer to it, as far as the oil-business moguls are concerned, “more money”. And the logic to getting it is, first destroy the systems, destroy the local refineries and create artificial scarcity, set any price, Nigerians will go cap in hand begging for the fuel at any rate. An American broadcaster, “Larry King Live” once said Nigeria is the only country in the world that imports what they have and exports what they don’t have, when a military dictator sent troupes to install democracy along the coastal selves of West Africa. We don’t know who to believe, Prof Tam David West or the government.
A responsible government would lay out a credible plan to alleviate the burden that subsidy removal will bring on its people. This would have been done in good time and not as an afterthought a week later. It is laughable that President Jonathan made the launching of 1600 buses as one of his government core strategy to alleviate the burden of subsidy removal; whereas 2000 of such buses were provided for Lagosians by the government of Lagos state. 1600 buses for a country of over 167 million people? These buses will not be enough for Abuja alone not to talk of the whole country. It’s only in Nigeria that governance is not a continued process. Not long ago, a former minister of the FCT bought similar buses for transportation in the FCT, but still it did not solve the transportation challenge, yet a whole Federation is buying that meager number. Most States in Nigeria have been unable to implement the 18,000 naira monthly minimum wage introduced by the government yet there is already a jack-up in the price of everything?
This government would have published its strategy to rein in the runaway corruption in the country. It will prosecute those who have defrauded the nation whoever they may be. It’s this same government that killed the anti-corruption agency which has been doing fairly well despite criticism from other quarters, but we should not run away from the fact that Nigeria was seen tackling corruption then, whether it is perceived to be against political opponents.
Nigerian masses are crying foul of government policies to improvise them while their excesses in government are racketing high by the day. Cutting 25 percent off the salary of the executive arm of government is too little too late. Not even a three- year old Nigerian believes that anyone in government live on his or her salary. This will have been done in good time not a fire service approach, first of all what are the basic salaries of the Ministers and the executive? Please tell Nigerians what is the worth of the executive that their salaries will only be cut by 25%? Please do the Mathematics, a Minister earns an annual basic salary of 10M, but his allowance annually is 600M, what kind of Abracadabra is this?
The President would have been more credible if he had tackled the obscene money budgeted for running the government, travel, accommodation, gardening etc. Spending 3 million per day on food at the Presidency is pure, unadulterated corruption Mr. President, it tarnishes your image that such a huge amount of money is spent under your watch when the vast majority of Nigerians will never earn that amount in a lifetime, yet you feel our pain.
Let’s take a glimpse into the wasteful and overblown proposed spending of the government. 1 Billion For feeding at Aso rock, another 1 Billion for fueling Generators, 58 Million Naira to buy newspapers for the VP, 500 Million for the unconstitutional office of the first Lady, We will spend close to 500 Billion on International Travels, some state governors will collect 100M as security votes MONTHLY and they will continue to enjoy immunity clause.
Meanwhile our hospitals will have no drugs, quality equipments or personnel. After the Madalla (St. Theresa’s church Christmas day) bombing and the UN Secretariat bomb blast, most of the victims were flown abroad for treatment. Can we ask ourselves why? Nigeria has some of the world’s best medical personnel yet no functional hospitals. For how long shall we continue to use state resources to send people to other countries for treatment instead of building our own health institutions? Can our president go to any Nigerian hospital when he is sick?
Our schools still have no quality to train a world class scholar, no wander they send their children to private schools and abroad to get education while the poor man cannot even send his wards to school. ASUU has been on strike and the government is doing nothing. Maybe we should take to the streets again for that strike to be called off; since that is the only language the government understands.
Our roads are still death traps, we are still local government unto ourselves, providing water, security, power and social security, yet we will still pay toll on Federal interstate roads and pay more for petroleum products.
Yet this is a country that does things to please international community rather than its citizens. Our President could not apologize to Nigerians for the hardship Nigerians went-through for these past 6 days of strike action and for the resources and lives lost, but Mr. President is bold to apologize to the international community for what they went-through during the strike. What a country? What did our government do when Nigerians are slaughtered and killed in these foreign lands? What has our government done when Nigerians were racially abused? What have they done when many Nigerians are suffering in foreign prisons? How many foreigners does Nigeria have in its prisons? Or are we saying they are saints in our country? You and I know the atrocities these people are committing, but they always get away with kit gloves, and still we are quick to apologize to them whenever they are affected by our policies in anyway. These people do not care whether these policies are to the benefit of Nigerians or not as far as they get what they want and our governments are joyously dancing to their tone.
It’s only in Nigeria that important suspects as those who are responsible for the death of many innocent Nigerians are either killed when captured, given bail, given a lenient sentence or escape from custody under security watch. Can Mr. President apologize for all these and the lives of many innocent Nigerians that have been wasted because of the Boko Haram activities? There is no commitment on the part of our government to tackle the security problem, but they are committed to removing fuel subsidy overnight. Nigerians have argued that the only benefit they derive from being citizens of this country is the subsidy on oil. We do not have good roads, or good medical facilities. Our schools are in deplorable state, so is every other infrastructure. To remove subsidy on fuel the people argued is not only a slap on the face, but a journey to the grave for most citizens.
The irony of it all is that, money supposedly saved from the removal of oil subsidy will be divided between national, state and local governments. If these people cannot do anything with the resources they have now, how are we sure they will be able to utilized the subsidy money if we trust them with it? Who will monitor how the state governors, who are much more distrusted by the people and local government chairmen spend the money? Most of these people have not boarded commercial planes, buses or been to the petrol stations for the past 11 years. Yet these are the same individuals calling for the removal of subsidy on fuel and claiming they feel our pains! Please someone should educate us.
All people’s desire is to understand the political and economic choices which are made in their name; they wish to participate in good governance. No economic regime is ideal and no economic choice is neutral. But these must always serve the common good.
Nigeria is changing because Nigerians are taking back their country from the grip of marauders. These stories, few as they may be, are the beginning of our song of freedom. No religion, Boko Haram, tribe or ethnicity will stand on our way and we will continue to ask, does subsidy really exist.
If there is any lesson to be learnt from President Jonathan’s latest Harakiri policy implementation on New Year’s Day, it’s just one. The government attempted to construct a long, windy by-pass road away from the fight against corruption in the oil sector. It sought to travel the easier way to solve a lingering problem hanging on the government’s neck like a consuming albatross. It sought to make the ordinary people bear the brunt of turning the nation’s economy around while the blood-sucking vampires were guaranteed their loot. The folks said no. Emphatically and massively too! They saw the policy as a manifestation of sheer wickedness, which the President should have foreseen and planned to curtail. He did not.
The Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi put it in blunt terms when he explained in a town-hall meeting to sell the government’s project to the people. He stated in clear terms that every attempt to have government invest on refineries and keep them running before the complete removal of subsidies will also go the way of every other “white elephant project” before it, namely FAIL. In his own views, the removal of subsidy will be pulling away the carpet from beneath the feet of corrupt individuals so that corruption can no longer thrive. In other words, acting to regain the losses suffered so far in the hands of such identifiable kleptomaniacs is not at all on the government’s agenda to say the least of prosecuting these identifiable individuals. It does not seem to matter that the volume of theft so far perpetrated on Nigeria and its people is in and of itself, a more than sufficient volume to give the nation the number of refineries that it requires, if only half of it was recovered.
Unfortunately however, this indirect admission of virtual incapacitation and (should I say) incompetence was not immediately recognized for the shameful attribute it contained because the speaker was smart and intelligent enough to clad the rhetoric in fine, academic eloquence. The message in the submission was nothing else but a clear indictment of government. A blatant dereliction of sovereign duty! Sanusi Lamido Sanusi implicitly acknowledged the presence of evil forces within the oil industry that are difficult, if not impossible to fight. It is in fact, a pathetic admission of government’s incapacity as it presently stands, to fight the oil cabal.
When President Jonathan brought back Nuhu Ribadu from exile with safety guarantees and speculated assurances that he would be given a role in the fight against corruption, there were high hopes of a new jolt that may take control of the highly vexed sector. Corrupt people were in fear. It was something that was badly needed in the aftermath of the lame-duck days of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. When the empowerment of Nuhu Ribadu failed to materialize however, the folks were full of understanding for the possible underlying reasoning. The President did not need to offer an explanation. People accepted that the need to avoid controversy and troubled waters in his own days of political infancy at the Presidency may have informed the decision. Such was the enormity of goodwill enjoyed by Goodluck Jonathan.
As if gifted with a special skill for timing crucial decisions wrongly however, the President gave the nation a first slap in the face in the year 2011. For no discernible reason and at the most inexpedient of times, the President fired Farida Waziri just when she was beginning to gather steam and learn her lessons in acquiring the necessary sting to keep corruption culprits in shock and awe. She had just indicted the former Speaker of the House of Representatives who was shown the way out of prominence in a spectacular electorate revolt. This was a Speaker who left office selling off several important government assets that were assigned to his office, to his private estate. He was a powerful figure. Farida Waziri’s house-cleaning exercise began with him and the process was gathering steam. Reports claim that she was beginning to beam her searchlight on the oil sector before the President pulled the emergency breaks and nipped the process in the bud. It is yet unclear who mounted pressure on the President to do what he did but pressure, we all know, was definitely mounted by powerful and potential victims of different sectors. The President has remained mute and refused to give a single word of explanation till the present day.
He got away with it because Farida Waziri sowed the seed of bitterness from the very start by being too vocally critical of Ribadu’s methods which she ended up adopting after seeing no alternative method of effective deterrence. She was initially appointed as a child of the establishment to protect the favorite presidential sons of inordinate corruption under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Farida was nobody’s darling and the President could get away with ditching her unceremoniously without public outcry in contrast to the removal of Nuhu Ribadu.
But just what is it that scares President Jonathan from fighting corruption? Under President Yar’Adua, the symbolic representation personified in James Ibori was clear for all to see. Olusegun Obasanjo granted a free hand in hunting down corrupt enemies and only a few corrupt friends! Jonathan however scuttles every move to kick-start the battle whenever there is a glimmer of hope. If today, President Jonathan devotes half the passion with which he sought to remove fuel subsidy to the fight against corruption in the oil sector, no doubt many will be trembling in the National Assembly as will many in the cabal of oil importers. The President will not put his entire political career on the line arresting and prosecuting corrupt members of the oil cabal. No. He would rather save that for the removal of subsidy without a care for the hardship that it brings. Lamorde was a credible name when Nuhu Ribadu held sway. Today he is a shadow of himself with impotent rhetorics. EFCC under Lamorde is presently a toothless bulldog that seems to launch corruption investigations only upon executive instructions as the current cosmetic drive against the oil cabal shows. Lamorde is simply not continuing the fight where Farida Waziri stopped it but time remains on his side to turn the table around.
One gets the impression today that Jonathan rules over the Poor and the Weak while the Rich and Powerful perpetrators of corruption rule over the government of President Jonathan. An illegal government governing the people’s government, so to speak, while the people’s government turns against the people to checkmate the forces that it fears!
In a democracy, government sets the agenda not entrepreneurs. If government’s involvement in the building of refineries proves economically unfeasible, government sets the conditions for issuing licenses and for withdrawing same. How effectively has government taken on this responsibility?
It is on this note that President Jonathan should ask himself who would have shed tears over a possible regime change during the fuel subsidy uprising after this gross declaration of moral bankruptcy. A government that openly admits its own incapacitation in fighting a section of society that is dragging the entire society down and pulling back the hands of the clock is of course, the loudest advocate of regime change. When a smart and intelligent person like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi comes out to admit openly that government is limited in its capacity to implement certain policies (building refineries) because past governments had failed in the process, he seems to have forgotten that overhauling government to root out such inefficiencies is also a credible if not the most fundamental prerequisite to solving the persisting problem. Insistence on just one solution option that squeezes the last juice out of the Poor and the Weak “for a short period” as Diezani Allison-Madueke puts it, simply forces one to ask the question what vested interest there is in this one and only solution option. Moreover, no one says what he or she understands by “short period” to say the least of the capacity of the Poor and the Weak to cushion these pains for the so-called “short period”. These are the parameters that are beating the drums of regime change unconsciously. Neighboring Ghana got where it is today through a cleansing regime change that the people holding sway did not bargain for. It was borne out of the recognition of government’s incapability, which the Nigerian government now seems to be admitting to openly.
In the end, we as Nigerians are happy today that the mass uprising in condemnation of Jonathan’s unnecessary subsidy obstinacy and arrogance has sent a clear message to root out corruption from the oil sector and from all arms of government first before the killing of the regime of importation. The message must be understood that there is no alternative or short-cut by-pass to fighting corruption in government and elsewhere hands-down. Every attempt to sideline this evil and circumvent the process to the detriment of the Poor will end up in sheer wickedness and pretended posturing no matter the amount of stubbornness and political stake backing it up.
Taking the message home from the people’s protest, the government has now launched an assault on corruption in the oil sector and gradually facts are beginning to emerge of some treasury self-service at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the disbursement of oil subsidy. Will President Jonathan claim not to have known all these? Will he claim not to have known the people involved? It took Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to unearth the gruesome fact while testifying before a Senate committee, that government has not known till today, who authorized the withdrawal of subsidy money by the NNPC. The self-service and non-transparent practice has grown over time and was inherited by a government, which failed to ask questions and yet pretends to strike a major note of difference. There is indeed, hardly any hope that this new drive to purge the oil sector will be anything but window-dressing cosmetics.
In spite of all her mistakes in the oil subsidy debacle by sticking her neck too far out of the window, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala remains the ostensibly most credible character in President Jonathan’s government. No doubt, reasonable people will be ready to forgive her mistakes because she is not a seasoned politician with a mastery of the art of mass deception. Denying the influence of IMF’s handwriting in the fuel subsidy Harakiri, telling the world that the President had not yet made up his mind are all lies that shouldn’t have been told. It does not matter that the President made her look like a liar by changing his mind without informing her. The President bears the blame towards her while she bears the blame to the people for being the voice of the President. I, like many other well-wishers hold the firm belief that Ngozi alone will be able to wipe out the influence of the oil cabal from the government’s treasury if Jonathan does not intervene. That is the unfortunate impression many of us get outside the government. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will bell the cat but who will follow suit? Diezani Allison-Madueke presently gripped by the fear of losing her job may follow diligently but how many trees do we need to make a forest? A very bright and intelligent technocrat that we have in Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is making his limited impact on the banking sector after tarnishing his image with an unnecessarily sectional and populist appeasement of a religious and geographical constituency by stubbornly sticking to the divisive label “Islamic Banking”. He has all it takes to have known and done better than he actually did.
Jonathan’s government is not short of intelligent people but his government is characterized by very many goofy decisions especially in the signaled lack of intent to fight corruption head-on! With eyes wide open and seeing, no one allows a flying stone to run into the open eyes. Jonathan knows this and cannot say that he has not been warned a thousand times because a word, they say, is enough for the wise.
