Month: March 2023

By Dr Raji Bello

Nigerians are not known for their ability to figure out the long-term consequences of their actions. This is a major national handicap since some choices which produce short-term gain could lead to long-term pain. For instance, in 1999, the governor of Zamfara state introduced a new social order in the state in defiance of the authority of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The new order spread across the northern states along with a strong wave of triumphalism. 

In the years that followed, groups of non-state actors across the country learnt something from what happened in Zamfara – that a group of determined people within a defined geographical area could defy the Federal Government and impose their will without any consequences. Inspired by this knowledge, a new Islamic militant group soon appeared somewhere in Yobe state, which later grew into Boko Haram – and the rest is now history.

Militants in the Niger Delta, who were also observing developments in the North, concluded that the Federal Government was indeed weak and its authority could be challenged without consequences. An insurgency soon took firm roots in the area. Many years later, young herdsmen around the country and secessionists in the Southeast also decided that it was time to take on the government and Nigerian society. Over 20 years later, long after the triumph of 1999/2000 has faded, we are still living with the pain of the chain of developments that it had sparked.

Once again, there is palpable triumphalism in the land. Our newly-elected Muslim-Muslim presidency has elicited exuberance in the Muslim community and foreboding on the Christian side. Prominent Muslims are already lining up to claim ownership of the president-elect and his religious identity. The Muslims are glad that the apparent consolidated Christian vote for Mr Obi has failed to achieve its aim. Christians, on the other hand, see their voting preference as justified because of the sheer brazenness of the APC in coming up with a Muslim-Muslim ticket right at the end of the two terms of a Muslim president who was not even known for respecting diversity in his appointments.

The 2023 elections will mark the time when the religious cleavage in Nigeria deepened to dangerous levels. In fact, the frontlines of the religious battle have already shifted to some upcoming gubernatorial contests. In Taraba state, the CAN has allegedly circulated a statement alerting Christians in the state of the impending battle while Muslim clerics all over the North have united in charging Taraba Muslims for the solemn task ahead.

Also, in Nasarawa state, there is a fear that the Labour Party could repeat its earlier presidential election feat and elect a Christian governor for the state. Other states like Plateau, Gombe, Adamawa, Kaduna, Niger etc, may also witness more hardening of intercommunal attitudes going forward. 

There will be even more foreboding on the Christian side when the practical elements of the Muslim-Muslim presidency begin to manifest. For example, media coverage will show both the president and vice-president of Nigeria at Eid prayer grounds while only the SGF or senate president will be left to lead the celebrations of Christmas and Easter.

The other multiplier effects of this new paradigm can’t even be fully imagined now. I expect that in the fullness of time when all the predictable consequences are playing out, the few discerning ones among us will ask, was Bola Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket really worth it in the long run?

Raji Bello writes from Yola, Adamawa State.

By Muhammed Tukur Gwarzo

After all the series of controversial letters you wrote, which almost all Nigerians have lost count as well as interest, you have now unveiled your personal agenda towards the whole country. You have for long turned into more of a comedian than a real Statesman.

You do not seem to love Nigeria Sir! And this is a fact! You did all your best to kill everything during your tenure, every good work initiated by our Heroes Past, you either damaged, manipulated, changed or even destroyed it completely. You don’t have anything to tell Nigerians. Therefore, it would not be surprising when someone who is drowning and totally oblivious of the current realities of the country, perhaps due to old age, motive or both, displays such divisive comments at this critical moment in the history of the country. We are not surprised. If you don’t know, now you should know that you have lost all the Moral Rights of an Elder/Statesman, to even think of coming out to advise anyone. You are already partisan. You publicly supported a candidate. Why would you now turn and act as if you are neutral? The respected statesmen of your caliber did not openly support any of the four leading candidates, but you did. Many Nigerians believe that you are acting a script of a hidden agenda.
History will be just to list you as someone who meddles into the affairs of each government since Shagari Administration to date. There is no Nigerian leader you didn’t belittle in the eyes of Nigerians and the International Community, in order to make them look bad, including those that brought you out of jail. They have really made a mistake of taking you out of prison. Their biggest mistake was how they promoted and supported you to be President. And instead of being grateful, you became disrespectful and rude to all of them.

One thing that you think that Nigerians haven’t noticed from you is your attitude of arrogating to yourself a messianic charisma. You always portray yourself as someone who has the full grasp of Nigeria’s problem, not knowing that YOU are the problem! You are among the top three problems of Nigeria and you should know that. You look down upon all the
Nigerian leaders, past and present, simply because you wrongly feel you are better than them all.

Furthermore, it is obvious that you are envious of even someone from your tribal and ancestral extraction. Then who do you think you Obasanjo can spare? Now that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a fellow Yoruba Man from the South West is accepted by Nigeria to be its President, you feel that you are now seconded. You feel: why should Tinubu second you? This is the reason you started spewing divisive commentaries and calls for cancellations of the election, so that another Yoruba cannot be sworn in.

You want it to be on record that you are the only Yoruba man who made that record.
You are even lucky that due to the Esprit de Corps known within the military, most of the well-meaning gentlemen of the military respect you. You mistake that as fear and you do not reciprocate that respect to even General Gowon and likes, who happen to be your seniors.

Another point which you are wrong is on the issue of this public show of self-importance, which is part of you. As someone who studied Theology up to PhD level, you ought to have known that it is religiously wrong to advise a leader in such an open manner. You have direct access to all the leaders but you always choose to tar them in the market place.

As a citizen, and more so a former leader, you have the right, 100%, to make appeals and give advice to government and citizens alike, provided they are unbiased and do not infringe on the unity and stability of the country as you always do.

The way you think that the 2023 general elections results are manipulated defies logic. Lagos was taken by LP, Buhari’s Katsina went to PDP, and many other PDP/APC states were lost to LP. Serving and former APC Governors lost their bids for senate seats; Kano is lost to NNPP; but still, you questioned the results.
During your semi-dictatorial reign, you supervised the most rigged and questionable elections, especially in 2007 when Maurice Iwu was the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Even the elected President, the late ‘Yar’adua of blessed memory, accepted and admitted that the process was flawed. Before then, you were widely suspected to have sought for a third term, which was unconstitutional. When that attempt failed, you then almost truncated the electoral process through a “do or die” politics.

When you were in power, nobody dared advise you for a better cause since you arrogate to yourself wisdom, and never accepted whatever was not from you, even from those that made the mistake of bringing you back to power. They brought you back not because you were the most qualified, but in order to appease the South West over Abiola’s June 12 saga. By then, Olu Falae, a politician and a tested technocrat would have been a better choice but you still cannot reason and remember all these. You are now clearly bereft of ideas in the polemics you wanted to present during your latest presentation. You look like someone entering into a boxing ring, very certain of your defeat. You know that Nigerians will never fall into your trap again. You should not have talked at all!

Sir, you should know that Nigerians are wiser now. They have known all your antics and antecedents through your utterances. What you did can cause an uprising and breakdown of law and order. It is something that borders on National Security, which should not be taken lightly by any serous government.
I advise the present and future governments not to allow such a situation of national security breach from you again and you should be tamed. But if you continue, the government should have an ideal way of dealing with you and your likes decisively!!!

Muhammed Tukur Gwarzo write from Kano, Nigeria.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, commends the North for shifting the presidency to the Southern region of the country

MURIC disclosed this in a press statement signed by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Friday.  

This is coming after a Yoruba Muslim and southerner, Bola Ahmad Tinubu, was declared winner of the February presidential election. 

According to the group, they are justified in their confidence and the trust they have in the North. He stated that they were particularly happy because the victory put the naysayers to shame.

 “MURIC, in particular, was derided by non-Muslims in the South. We were called slaves of the North. But we stood our ground. We insisted that we trusted the North, particularly on the basis of understandings reached and pledges made at various Islamic fora on MURIC’s avowed project for the emergence of a Yoruba Muslim president.” He said 

He further added that it is the effort and votes of Northern electorates that win the election for the southern Muslim.

He said, ” The outcome of the presidential election showed that Northern votes won the election for Tinubu. The Northern figure almost doubled what he scored in the South. It showed that Northerners stood by their words. They walked their talks. They took the path of honour and nobility. They abandoned a Northern Fulani candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and voted for a Southern Yoruba Muslim candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We doff our hats for the North. We salute integrity. The North is a reliable friend by all standards. The region stood behind Tinubu, a Southern Muslim, like the Rock of Gibraltar.”  

Professor Akintola added that the outcome of the election had shattered many stereotypes of Southern Christians and the lies they peddle against the North.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, praised the Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) currency policy’s deadline and extending it until December 31, 2023.

This was revealed in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by Mr Lanre Lasisi, Special Assistant to the Speaker on Media and Publicity.

According to Gbajabiamila, this had been the stand of the House of Representatives.

According to the speaker, the design and implementation of the currency exchange policy had been terminally defective and at odds with the goals of law and public policy, despite the scheme’s admirable aims.

He said that the House has been criticising the policy implementation because it violated the statute creating the CBN and that the Supreme Court’s ruling supported the House’s position.

“The decision of the Supreme Court suspending the currency swap policy introduced by CBN and extending the implementation deadline to December 31 validates the position of the House in its entirety,” he said.

The Speaker explained that the implementation of the policy is remarkably haphazard, adding that it falls way short of international standards.

By Usman Muhammad Salihu.

Nigeria as a country is bedevilled with so many challenges and problems ranging from insecurity to inflation which causes a high cost of living, and the recent introduction of a cashless policy aimed at boosting the economy of the country but somehow causing life more difficult, especially to the masses, among other contributing factors.

Insecurity, especially the issue of Boko Haram militants (in the North East and some parts of north-west and north Central), where almost on daily basis bomb blasts occurred, hundreds of people killed and taken thousands into captivity, among others, were the major factors that force many Nigerians to preach the gospel of change in the year 2015 which after the then general election produces the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari.

As time went on, Muhammadu Buhari’s administration did quite an impressive performance in curtailing the menace of Boko Haram, but yet, the rising of another phenomenon which is banditry.

Bandit came as a result of the farmers-herders crisis, which later escalated to another phenomenon currently causing serious and harmful effects on our economic, political and social development.

These bandits were known to be riding into villages on motorcycles in order to loot, rape and kidnap the inhabitants of such villages as well as kill anyone who resisted.

 Kidnapping nowadays has become a very lucrative venture, especially in north-western Nigeria. Between 2011 when the problem started to 2022, Nigerians paid millions of naira to free family members, friends, and relatives and in most cases, village inhabitants have to forcefully made by these bandits to pay a certain amount to them in order for the inhabitants to stay in their villages and carry out their day-to-day activities.

Moreso, the issue of the educational sector revamping, the ASUU’s eight months strike is still afresh in the minds of fellow Nigerians, especially students. Without revamping this sector, the future of our youths is at stake. As the saying goes, to kill a nation is to deny it education.

On the economy of the state, is there any nation that exists without an economy? The administration to come must have to do the needful to avoid the policies that may cripple the country’s economic sector, and this can only be done through forming a committee of economic experts who will be advising the government and leading the economic development aspect of the country.

The judicial system has to be allowed to carry out its full function without hindrance or interference from the government. This will pave the way for the sector to maintain its full function and possibly speedy arraignments and passing judgements effectively, and aside from that, it helps the government in the fight against corruption.

To whom much is given, much is also expected.

The 2023 general election is one of a kind, where the issue of vote buying was drastically reduced to a minimal level. This is saying that Nigerians voted for the President-elect based on their expectations of him hence being ready to face the numerous problems of the citizens and find out their solutions.

We pray that the president-elect’s campaign slogan ‘RENEWED HOPE’ will indeed renew the already lost hope of Nigerians.

Usman Muhammad Salihu writes from Mass Communication Department, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi state. He can be reached via muhammadu5363@gmail.com.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Activist and former Kaduna-Central lawmaker at the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has said that the era when President Buhari and the APC governor tell Nigerians who to vote for is over.  

Senator Sani said, “The era when the President or state governors tell people who to vote for is over. In Kaduna, we have shown that”. 

The former lawmaker reacted based on a video trending on social media. President Buhari appealed to residents of Kaduna State to vote for APC Gubernatorial candidate Senator Uba Sani and other candidates of the APC for the Kaduna State House of Assembly.

The appeal by President Buhari came following the humiliating defeat of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the presidential and National Assembly elections in Kaduna State.

By Muhsin Ibrahim

I am in my late 30s. However, I sometimes struggle to minimise my presence online. That is even though being online is part of my main job (thanks to digital ethnography) and my ‘side hustle’. Often, one or another thing on the internet will take your focus away, and before you know it, you waste quality time doing nothing important.

According to reports, TikTok rolled out new screen-time limits for teens yesterday to help them reduce their addiction to the video-sharing platform. Under-18 users will get an alert when “they hit an hour of daily scrolling. To dismiss it, they’ll have to enter a passcode.” Unfortunately, this may not help much because kids know how to navigate these restrictions. For instance, they can fake their ages.

Folks, select whom you interact with on and off social media carefully. Avoid toxic people even if they are ‘influencers’. If their content continually disturbs you, unfollow, unfriend, or even block them. Don’t seek people’s validation; learn to ignore and tolerate trolling.

Perhaps more importantly, remember that there is a life beyond social media and outside the internet in its entirety. Live it very well. It’s, in fact, the real deal.

Muhsin Ibrahim lives and works in Cologne, Germany. You can contact him via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

By Lawi Lawal Yusuf

The early solutions to poverty were based on the premise that poverty is an aspect of inequality and could only be solved by restructuring society. As a result, most of the policies explicitly aimed at its reduction were developed from the stratification theories. But quite the contrary, from the late 1960s, many social scientists felt that the war on poverty had failed.

Despite governments’ energy and resolve, the poor remained stubbornly poor. As a result, some sociologists of welfare increasingly predicated that poverty is merely a problem of the poor, and solutions must be crafted on the assumption that the issue of poverty lies with the poor themselves and need cultural reorientation.   

Radical sociologists object to the welfare state by taking a more radical right-wing view than the left-wing socialists and social democrats as they argue for a freer, more open and more competitive economy and minimal state intervention. They were critical of much state intervention in welfare. They saw it as having a negative impact by discouraging self-reliance, creativity and entrepreneurship and promoting the dependency culture as people rely too heavily on state hand-outs.

Also, they further argued that as social problems progressively increase, the welfare state would become more and more expensive, leading to an excessive tax burden on private enterprises which prevents reinvestment. Hence, undermining economic growth and development.

Alternatively, they provided new impetus to changing welfare along neoliberal lines by defining poverty as a way of life and therefore developed solutions from the culture of poverty theories.

These three trends – the progressive increase of state financial burden coinciding with the stupendous rising cost of welfare administration, which had not equally extrapolate poverty. The emerging dependency culture on the welfare state results in what we might call a poverty trap, where the poor feel contented with the benefits available than taking low-paid work, giving them less incentive to work, which undermines their self-supporting abilities – have led to a pro-capitalist line of critique of the welfare and an alternative policy approach.

Arising in both the academic and policy fields, this critique and alternative approach pursue more explicitly a cause that prioritises individual initiative, economic competitiveness, encouraging responsibility and rewarding effort. But indeed, not isolated from a context where social justice and general fairness are being institutionalised.

The philosophical underpinning of this perspective is that even though all members of society are entitled to a reasonable minimum living standard regardless of their ability to work, welfare involves the moral expectation that people must take responsibility for their behaviour and the jobless must look for a job tirelessly and must accept any suitable one. Furthermore, individuals must be empowered to seize control of their future by being competitive, industrious and entrepreneurial, while the state is obligated to open up equal opportunities.

In context, these ideologues see poverty as a result of cultural influences on poor’s behaviour. They can be tackled by counteracting such behavioural dysfunction by changing faulty attitudes with universal moralities such as achievement orientation.

Thus, policies designed on this strand of thinking aim to undo the presumed effect of the culture of poverty by fostering ambition, hard work, initiative and motivation. Programmes are designed explicitly to change the social, psychological and vocational shortfalls of those bred to a life of poverty and are socialised to become more responsible and to remove such presumed deficiencies and bad attitudes by instilling work habits, character building and determination.

In the same vein, policies of job creation and encouraging people back to work and other measures that make work more attractive are introduced so that idleness could be significantly reduced to cut unemployment and increase the number of people working. Similarly, persons with defects are assessed to determine whether they are fit enough to do some work and in a position to help themselves, allowing them to fend for themselves.

It is gratifying to note that under this spectrum, measures coordinated to fight poverty are not formulated to displace it from society by providing more generous universal services (such as transport and social housing) or providing the poor with sufficient income to raise them above the poverty threshold, as direct aid is the least popular approach. Such brunt of benefits only cushion the misery produced by poverty but couldn’t dissipate it altogether. Contrarily, it was hoped that changing the poor would make them upwardly mobile on the social strata. To perfect this idea, the poor need a hand-up, not a hand-out to always depend on.

They needed the support and opportunities to help themselves rather than simply count on the state. And they must be willing to take these vantages once they have the education, training and work experience, while some have to be compelled to take advantage of the opportunities. In almost all circumstances, as experience has shown, significant benefits to the poor discourage many from taking a paid job.

 Efforts are made to move away from universal benefits and services by reducing the huge government expenditure on welfare to a minimum for only those with genuine needs to avoid fraud. At the same time, resources are redirected towards training and development of the poor and other extreme societal needs. This helps the poor turn enterprising and therefore take care of themselves.

The solution to poverty rests on a broader range of coordinated measures. Therefore, it’s more efficacious to have an effective welfare state that cushions the harsher edges blunted by capitalism while rewarding individualistic efforts, encouraging responsibility and ensuring equal opportunities.

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano via laymaikanawa@gmail.com.

By Abubakar Suleiman

The period preceding the presidential elections was greeted with intense and unrestrained emotions, outright bigotries and zingers from political opponents and supporters alike, so much that discussing issues that really matter was out of the table.

Public pundits who tend to raise their voices or pen down their thoughts on the challenges ahead got their ideas or pressing questions drowned amidst fierce online arguments. Discussing the manifestoes of the parties of the major contenders took the back seat while bickering on variables like the contestants’ age, health, religion, region, and ethnicity became the front burner across many platforms.

As the wave of the electioneering is beginning to disappear and the elections have been won and lost, I think we can start to ask the president-elect, where do we go from here? His job has been well cut out for him. And it will definitely not be an easy ride, and we need to be realistic.

Contextually, should subsidy finally go or stay? Should education at tertiary institutions be subsidised or commercialised? How do we push the country towards a knowledge-based economy? How will the poor access quality basic and tertiary education? How do we fund deficits in the power sector to make industries wake up? Can we change the security architecture? Should state police be created? Should we continue to maintain two chambers in the National Assembly? And how do we source the fund to run the government? To what extent should we play politics with governance? Can all these and many more be done in 8 years? The questions are many.

The election and its aftermath exposed the fragile unity between the regions and religions that made up this geographical space called Nigeria. Therefore, as a matter of urgency, the President-elect should hit the ground running by reaching out to aggrieved regions and their leaders by assuaging their real or imagined fears and grievances.

The problems of the country are too enormous to be dragged back by agitations and the feelings of being left out. Therefore, an inclusive government and approach to governance have never been this necessary.

Security

Just when President Muhammadu Buhari was about to claim victory over Boko Haram and insecurity in the North East, unprecedented spates of killings, kidnappings and banditry reared their ugly heads in Northwestern Nigeria.

A huge swathe of land became inaccessible, many major roads were deserted, farming nosedived, and a humanitarian crisis ensued. With these problems, many people found themselves in the yolk of poverty. Others became homeless, and fangs of hunger rendered many others dead.

The security structure is in dire need of an overhaul. Community policing, intelligence gathering, using a non-kinetic approach and the continued procuring of more weapons cannot be over-emphasised. The procuring process of these weapons should be monitored to evade financial abuse by unpatriotic elements in security management.

Personnel on the front line serving the country should also be motivated. A situation where underperforming service chiefs are rewarded with tenure extensions or a slap on the wrist should end with President Buhari.

Furthermore, I think decentralising the Police Force is necessary to curb the spread of insecurity across the country. State police is an idea that could be floated and established while strong laws preventing sub-national governments from abusing it should accompany such establishment.

Successive governments have failed to face and address the epileptic power supply problem headlong. A humongous amount of public funds have been infused into the power sector only to purchase more darkness for Nigerians. We had intermittent national grid failure with President Buhari. Many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) depend on the power supply to fester as many others have yet to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and cashless policy shocks and effects.

The state of the economy is scary. Unemployment has increasingly become high; inflation rates are biting hard; economic growth is sluggish; the country’s debt burden upsurged; the gap between the poor and rich has widened; and the conservatism of the Central Bank was thrown to the dogs by Governor Emefiele thereby making monetary and fiscal policies blurred.

These indices have been detrimental to the security and well-being of the citizens and their businesses. Therefore, the President-elect has a considerable responsibility to close the gap between the rich and poor through job creation, effective wealth distribution, social protection programs with measured outcomes and strengthened fiscal policies.

Subsidy

Only a few among the unlettered in Nigeria don’t know this word. Even those who cannot speak English have a name for it in their language. It is obviously no longer sustainable, as we even borrow to close budget deficits. However, oil is the most critical ‘social safety net’ for the poor in Nigeria; a tweak in its price is greeted with snag, suspicion and impoverishment.

The distrust between the leaders and the led has reached a crescendo, and the oil sector is marred with irregularities so much that we are not even sure of the amount of our domestic oil consumption. Therefore, critical infrastructure needs the money channelled into the subsidy to enhance economic diversification and gradual departure from over-reliance on oil.

And an excellent way to allay the masses’ fears that the money derived from the lack of subsidy might be squandered is through involving vital stakeholders like the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, civil societies, sub-national governments, community leaders, and other relevant bodies. A comprehensive Key Performance Indicator or milestone should be developed and tracked by these stakeholders, and a project implementation and result delivery unit on the side of the Federal Government.

ASUU-FG Debacle

Another problem the President-elect will carry forward from President Buhari and even presidents before him is the ASUU-FG debacle that has refused to succumb to any pragmatic solution. Fake promises and insincerity on the side of the Federal Government and dogmatic or unbending approach on the side of the Academic Staff Union of Universities have made it impossible for the two to reach a sincere, realistic and practicable solution on the way forward.

Corruption

Plus, we are still battling corruption. Padding in the budget, red tape in the civil service, inflation of contracts and other forms of abuse of public office for personal gain are still with us. Corruption has basically been cancer eating up the already meagre and dwindling resources meant for economic growth, nation building and stability.

Corruption will not disappear overnight, but with the help of technology, building strong institutions and strengthening existing ones like the Judiciary will go a long way in minimising it.

The issues mentioned above and many more are parts of the conversations we should naggingly keep having with the President-elect, who will be sworn in as the President come May 29, 2023.

We should be less tendentious in doing so, but we should never relent in holding our leaders — presidents, governors and other elected or appointed public officers —accountable as humanly possible. The era of lack of communication and the body language that being our President is like doing us a favour should end with President Buhari.

I wish the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, successful days in office. May Allah grant him firm political will and a competent team to drive good policies and push the country towards greatness. Let the conversations continue.

Abubakar Suleiman writes from Kaduna and can be reached via abusuleiman06@yahoo.com

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmad Tinubu, has received the Certificate of Return as the President-elect of Nigeria.

On Wednesday, the certificate was presented to him by the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Tinubu was accompanied by his beloved wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima and a retinue of governors and party chieftains.  

Tinubu had polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 6,984,520.

The Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, also collected his certificate of return alongside his principal.