2023 Elections

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has disassociated the association from reports that it has reached a truce with the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmad Tinubu, on his choice of a Muslim as his running mate.

In a statement released by CAN on Monday, September 5, 2022, CAN distanced itself from the reports that they have endorsed same-faith ticket.

CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, in a statement released on his behalf by his spokesperson, Luminous Jannamike, described the reports as untrue.

Part of the statement reads, “For the records, CAN took a position against the same-faith ticket imbroglio under the leadership of Rev. Dr Samson Ayokunle, its immediate past national president, and as a matter of fact, His Eminence Archbishop Daniel Okoh, stands on that same position.”

“While CAN may not agree with every decision taken by politicians and political parties, it respects their rights to reach conclusions on issues that affect their electoral fortunes so long as they accord with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and the Electoral Act (2022).”

Tinubu, a Muslim presidential candidate of the ruling party had chosen Senator Kashim Shettima, also a Muslim, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election. This political decision has earned CAN’s outrage and multiple criticisms.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, has cautioned politicians against exploiting politics in the nation through religion, noting that a severe result would follow such a move just as it had in Germany during Adolf Hitler’s rule.

On Tuesday in Abuja, as part of the celebrations for his 70th birthday, Kukah spoke at the launch of his new book, Broken Truth.

“If you look at history, there is a consequence for using religion to manipulate politics. We just need to look at Germany. The consequences are there to see in Hitler.

“The problem is that the Nigerian political elites lack the mental capacity to understand the consequences of the fire they are stoking because there is nothing to suggest that the average person who is living in the north, who is Fulani, who is a Muslim, or who is Hausa, can say that they are proud of the Nigerian political system, beyond a very tiny percentage.

“So, if you decide that you want to give privilege to a religion or an ethnic group, what will happen is that others automatically become outsiders,” the bishop was quoted as saying.

Additionally, he indicated that protests are still taking place in the nation because the populace is more knowledgeable than those in charge of its affairs.

Kukah added, “The agitation that persists in Nigeria is largely borne out of the fact that those who govern us are not aware of how much mental progress ordinary people have made.

“Those who are being governed are more intelligent and endowed. And it will not have been a bad thing if people who don’t know seek knowledge.”

By Hassan Ahmad Usman

Recently, I read a post on Facebook cautioning ASUU not to ignite the government into following the path of the former UK prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, in her famous face-off with unionists. Before then, I only knew of her being called the  “The Iron Lady”, and that’s all. It prompted me to find out more about her struggle with them. I got a book, Margaret Thatcher: A portrait of the Iron Lady by John Blundell. 

After winning the war of about eleven weeks against Argentina over the Falkland island, she made a famous statement in 1983: “We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands, and now we have to fight the enemy within, which is much more difficult but just as dangerous. These few men are the wreckers in our midst.”

The miners, led by Arthur Scargill under the NUM, started a strike action after learning of the National Coal Board’s chairman’s plan to close uneconomical pits. The NUM held a special place in the political landscape.

They were somewhat invincible. In fact, the unionists brought down a government a decade earlier before Thatcher’s. But as the book’s author opined: “I think it possible that her defeat of General Galtieri (in the war)  emboldened her to take on the mineworkers with robustness she may otherwise not have shown”.

She welcomed the fight against the miners, defeated them and reformed the unions. 

Now, let us relate the defeat of the NUM and ASUU’s likely end if they thread the same path. One of the early actions that Thatcher’s government took when the strike heightened was to promise a big Christmas bonus to whoever resumed work. It yielded positive results, and a war started between the striking and non-striking workers. Imagine the federal government promising to pay the unpaid salaries for six months to only lecturers that resumed. What do you think? There is already a push for a rival union.

Nigerian government can actualize the new union, which would automatically birth the beginning and end of ASUU. ASUU chairman’s recent labelling of universities not on strike as quacks is a big blunder. Other state universities felt insulted too. If the union keep on this trend, its end looms. A divided house is a recipe for a fallen one. 

Another area is politicizing ASUU strikes. One mistake the union should not make is making the politicians understand that they can win elections with or without an ASUU strike. It’ll ultimately show that the public is not sympathetic to the union. Parents are already tired of seeing the unhappy faces of their wards. Like the NUM, their resolve would eventually wane after the election litmus test.

The NUM leader Scargill was embarrassed when the press revealed that President Gaddafi and Soviet President Gorbachev were sending large sums of money to the NUM. Indeed treason was in the air. In the case of Nigeria, it is nothing close to treason, but acting as an opposition party by the ASUU chairman while calling on Nigerians not to vote for the government that made their universities to be closed is an apparent derailment from the status quo. It gives the government reason to cling. 

I’ve long wondered if ASUU listens to its ordinary members’ cries. Do they even have a voice? Yes, solidarity and loyalty are good, but how long can they be sustained with a hungry stomach? They are passing through a lot, and words of the mouth alone cannot keep them going. Just like NUM members that couldn’t hold on for long without cheques, ASUU members, too, are humans and any given opportunity thrown at them to abandon their war gear, they’ll heed without hesitation.

Prime minister Thatcher weakened the old arrangements that made membership in the union mandatory by giving more power and rights to individual workers. She went to the British public and the ordinary members of the unions. She explained that strikes affected union members just as much as the rest of the public. And she used simple examples to show how the kind of economic thinking represented by the TUC would keep Britain on the road to ruin.

Thatcher’s strategy was to break down the closed shop and bring real democracy to these institutions so ordinary members could regain control. As a result, union membership dropped from 51% when she assumed power in 1979 to just 18% in 1997, seven years after leaving. 

Lastly, it is my utmost prayer to see ASUU get what they want from the government for the betterment of our education, for I believe they are doing it with good intentions and for the interest of all.   

Hassan Ahmad Usman writes from Lafia and can be reached via basree177@gmail.com.

By Lawan Bukar Maigana

“We are not coming into government to represent the Muslim or Christian faith. The Sultan of Sokoto and the CAN President are competent to represent their faiths. We are the Nigerian dream team that will catapult the country to a higher pedestal, and we will redefine the concept of modern governance. The Christians have nothing to fear, and there is no cause for alarm because we are one people with a common destiny.”

That was vintage Kashim Shettima, the Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in one of his numerous efforts to push back the insinuation of a sinister motive behind the Muslim-Muslim arrangement of the party. In fact, based on his determination to deflect attention from the Muslim-Muslim ticket controversy, Shettima has been using every platform available to him to tell everyone who cares to listen that we should all focus on the issues – issues of governance and how to move the country forward.

But beyond the irritation that engulfs his face each time the issue of religion is brought up and his insistence that real issues, not inanities, should be discussed, Shettima also needs to come up with the issues he wants Nigerians to focus on and, most importantly he should lead the conversation.

Is Shettima himself or Ahmed Bola Tinubu discussing the issues? Beyond saying he and his running mate would tackle insecurity and fix the economy using their experience and the pedigree they have garnered over the years, what specifics has Shettima been discussing? What timelines?

What bold ideas are Tinubu and Shettima bringing to the table to tackle insecurity, fix the economy, power, etc.? What specific promises are they making that Nigerians can hold them accountable for?

APC is the ruling party. Tinubu/Shettima ticket is deemed to be the leading ticket in this election, and Shettima himself is believed to be the ‘Golden Boy’ of the ticket, and he deserves that accolade. So it is appropriate for Nigerians to expect a lot from him, knowing full well that he is a very sound, visionary, and modern-day leader.

Nigerians would like to know exactly what Tinubu and Shettima want to do to make their lives better and change the Nigerian condition. Nigerians want them to elevate the conversation beyond the media and public forum rhetorics.

For instance, public universities have been shut for the last six months, and the misery of our undergraduates knows no bounds. Any candidate that comes to say he would ensure they call off the strike is a lazy thinker and should not be taken seriously. That is like treating headaches and ignoring malaria, which is tantamount to leaving fundamental issues and doing window dressing for some temporary gains. ASUU crisis has been a recurring problem for decades, and Shettima and co need to tell Nigerians what they will do differently to fix the rot in the tertiary education sector and take lecturers back to classrooms and also ensure that our campuses stop producing half-baked graduates. I am talking about permanent solutions, not cosmetic measures that will last for a few months.

Nigerians are desperate to know how much Shettima and his running mate are planning to invest in tertiary education over the next four years and how they intend to raise the money that will run them. Nigerians need to know Shettima’s plans to return the universities to the glorious old days when they were some of the best research institutions in the world and where human problems were solved. When the Covid-19 pandemic and other zoonotic diseases are rocking the world, what Nigerian universities and their research institutes are doing in terms of producing vaccines to cure them? Why the over-reliance on the West?

What is Shettima’s opinion on restructuring education, federal universities, legislature, fiscal federalism, state/regional policing, power generation, distribution, and transmission?

Security challenges have also become intractable in recent years. Nigerians would like to know the bold ideas Shettima and his running mate are bringing to the table. Nigeria is said to be under-policed and under-protected generally. What Shettima’s action plans would look like in terms of empowering the Nigerian army, police and other security agencies?

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), makes it mandatory for the Vice President, not the President, to chair the National Economic Council, the highest decision-making body (on the Economy) in the country that has all 36 states governors, the FCT Minister and a few other ministers as members. Aside from that, successive presidents since 1999 have made it a tradition to put their deputies in charge of the entire economy. That tradition has not changed, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo playing that role at the moment. It may not change with Shettima, and the former Borno state governor will have his job cut out for him.

Shettima stole the show at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Lagos as he dwelt on some of the issues. But Nigerians would like to see the APC blueprint and know the policies Shettima and his running mate are proposing to tackle negative macroeconomic indices such as rising inflation, poor growth rate, unemployment, underemployment, etc. What about the exchange rate and CBN policies on the monetary side of the economy? How does the APC duo intend to ensure proper fiscal supervision of the monetary side of the economy, and how is the CBN handling it?

Core inflation, headline inflation, and food inflation are all in the excess of 20 per cent in the face of dwindling purchasing power and a national currency that is always in a free fall! It would be interesting to know what Shettima’s ideas are on how to fix these multifaceted problems. What does Shettima want to do to boost local manufacturing and make Nigeria export-competitive in the global market, which is the ultimate, final solution to the twin problems of the exchange rate crisis and high rate of unemployment?

What is Shettima’s opinion on the country’s debt crisis? Do they intend to take more foreign loans? If yes, why?

The current managers of the economy have for years been spending over 90 per cent of the country’s revenue on debt servicing while they keep taking more and more loans and claiming the country’s debt to GDP ratio is okay without paying attention to the revenue end of the argument. Now, the worst has just happened with the 2022 first quarter reports revealing that the government spent more on debt servicing than what it generated as revenue within the quarter, and the difference was in the region of 300 billion nairas! That means aside from the already known scandal of borrowing to pay salaries, they have been borrowing more to service previous debts, a terrible vicious cycle that is highly unsustainable!

This shows that the problem is more on revenue generation than the present government‘s obsession with foreign loans. Shettima must have a couple of ideas about how to boost the country’s revenue from both oil and non-oil sources.

Talking about oil and gas, what about oil theft? It is crystal clear that it is the reason why Nigeria cannot meet her OPEC quota of 2 million barrels per day, and that is the reason for the country’s revenue shortage. Nigeria is the only country in OPEC that is losing up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the organised, exotic, white-collar crime called oil theft! And this is the major reason the country’s revenue base is wobbling. Shettima should tell us if their administration would be able to summon the political will to confront the highly placed, untouchable monsters behind the evil of oil theft and save Nigeria from becoming another Sri Lanka or Venezuela!

Yet, this same broke country is spending trillions of naira on the corruption-prone, an opaque scam called fuel subsidy. While failing to fix ailing refineries and importing refined products, and killing the naira, the country is spending billions of naira on a monthly basis to sustain hundreds of redundant staff members of these refineries that are not producing up to a drop of refined petroleum!

While not attacking or seeming to be openly disagreeing with the sitting government since they are of the same political party, the duo of Tinubu and Shettima have a duty to let Nigerians know their proposed choices among the difficult options that will be available to the country from next year.

In a nutshell, the APC duo needs to come up with a robust policy or action plan that will answer a lot of questions in the minds of Nigerians. They need to tell Nigerians what they should expect from them within the first hundred days in office, the first six months, the first year, and so on. While marking their first hundred days, how many executive bills would they have sent to the National Assembly? Which of the troubled sectors will they declare a state of emergency? Is it security, power, aviation, education, oil, and gas, or all of the above? Nigerians need to know!

I am urging Shettima and his running mate to come clean on their implementable plans so that Nigerians can scrutinize them accordingly and fairly when they get into office. Doing so now will send a strong signal to the electorates that they will be transparent and accountable to the people when they occupy the highest offices in the land.

May Nigeria succeed!

Lawan Bukar Maigana writes from Wuye District Abuja. He can be reached via lawanbukarmaigana@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Aminu

The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has donated N50 million to Kantin Kwari textile market in Kano following a flood that affected the market.

The Star earlier reported that Kano has been witnessing torrential rainfall in the last few days that has led to floods in many parts of the metropolis, including the Kwari textile market.

The presidential candidate announced the donation Monday while welcoming former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau to the PDP.

He sympathized with the businessmen and women who were already suffering from an unfriendly business environment with economic hardship.

According to him, Shekarau’s defection is a win for the people of Kano State, the PDP and the country.

The former Kano State governor argued that Atiku was the most qualified candidate to get Nigeria working again come 2023.

Atiku was in Kano since Sunday alongside his running mate Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, former Minister of Transportation, Senator Abdullahi Umar Idris, among other party chieftains.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, a former governor of Kano State, has formally rejoined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Shekarau joined the PDP on Monday in Kano after leaving the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

The PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman, and other PDP members met with the former governor.

Shekarau joined the NNPP from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and left it two months later.

Shekarau, a senator for Kano Central, previously served as Kano’s governor for two terms and as Nigeria’s minister of education.

He also contested for president of Nigeria in the 2011 general elections.

By Muhammad Abubakar

As the 2023 election comes closer, these politicians will begin to follow you for them to carry out their political ambitions and later run away from you. This happens after they have used you in a way that you will completely lose your dignity in the eyes of the world. And in the end, you will regret it. The biggest loss in your life is that: you are now valuable to them, right? They can give you whatever you request from them but don’t think that after the election they would again do something useful for you or your family.

For that, youth should wake up from this slumber. Something happened in my presence during the 2019 presidential election, which ultimately weakened my opinion about political involvement. There were two guys I had seen fighting with lethal weapons in their hands, and I was sure nothing could stop one of them from dying if stabbed with the weapons. The saddening thing is that none of them passes twenty-two years of age.

It’s time to know where it pains in your body and who pains you in your societal endeavour. Even if you have never attended primary school in your entire life, you will not want something bad to happen to you. For the sake of the almighty God. What sort of life are you (the youth) living?

If you look at the current situation of this country, you will understand that those politicians you are gambling with your life on do not care about your existence. Had it been they cared, they would not have held their arms watching you and your nation’s economy going to the dogs.

Although there are reasonable and competent among them, eighty per cent of them out of a hundred are unarguably incompetent. Therefore, a thoughtful and caring leader will never give his people illegal drugs or any accidental subject during the campaign to achieve his goal.

Another awful thing is that; the deterioration of the academic sector in this country is beyond human imagination. But yet, no good action has been taken upon that. Frankly speaking—I don’t know the specific role those politicians (who have been elected as the leaders of our dear country) play in their offices. However, it’s clear now that everyone understands the government’s negligence and I-don’t-care attitude towards the education sector.

Without a doubt, if their children were studying here in Nigeria, they wouldn’t have allowed this lingering ASUU strike to last this long. Let me repeat; youth should wake up from their slumber. Youth should know who is their foe and who likes them.

I now advise the youth to make sure that they sustain their voter‘s card (PVC) to vote for the right leader in the upcoming election.

Muhammad Abubakar is an essayist and port. He wrote from Jos, Plateau State, via muhammadabubakar01002@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari.

Senator Kashim Shettima, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said he deliberately wore sneakers to the conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

In a video which has now gone viral, Shettima stated the reason for his sense of fashion.

He disclosed that he dressed in that manner to ridicule the association for their planned mischief against his party’s Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmad Tinubu.

Shettima’s outfits to the NBA Conference held at EKO Hotels in Lagos has sparked different reactions across the country.

While some urged critics to ignore what they termed fashion blunder and focus on real matters, others berated him.

By Muhammad Aminu 

Former Kano State Governor and Senator representing Kano Central Zone, Ibrahim Shekarau, has said he only owns a single house in Kano.

Shekarau, who said he still rents a house in Abuja, added that he is yet to afford a personal home in the Federal Capital Territory.

He was reacting to an allegation that he was given $1 million in a bid to push him out of Kwankwaso’s New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to another undisclosed party.

He made the statement while engaging his followers, the Shura council and committees on the brewing crisis in the NNPP.

He contended that in his over 40 years of public engagement, there is no money that could influence his decision.

“In my 42 years as a leader, I was a principal of GSS Hadejia with 500 students and 64 teachers. This hand has signed and approved whatever amount of money one can think of. My commissioners are alive; I have never dictated who should be given contracts in a council meeting.

“We have handled uncountable contracts with both foreign and local contractors. So I challenge any contractor to come out and say there was a time we negotiated on a particular contract.

“I challenge every political appointee or contractor who brought one Naira to me. If it happens and they keep quiet, I will not forgive him. 

Shekarau added that as precious as plots are in Kano, he has never allocated a foot-length of land to himself in his eight years reign as a governor.

He said: “It is not that we don’t like the money, but our dignity is more important than wealth. Therefore, whoever knows any house outside the one built for me based on pension agreement, I have given it to him.”

Shekarau further pointed out that he maintains a good relationship with high-profile politicians within and outside the party, and associating or visiting each other shouldn’t be an issue.

He argued that the recent comment credited to Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso necessitated him to brief his followers on the latest happening in the NNPP and the rumoured defection.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has clarified that the 2023 general election results would be transmitted electronically.

Mr Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC , disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, August 21, 2022.

Mr Okoye said the clarification becomes necessary as a result of a misunderstanding which arose from an interview.

He further stated that there will be no deviation from the manner in which the recent Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections were conducted.

The statement party reads :

“For clarity, the procedure for result transmissions remains the same as in recent Governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States. There will be no change in all future elections, including the 2023 General Election.

We wish to reassure Nigerians that the electronic transmission of result has come to stay. It adds to the credibility and the transparency of the process when citizens follow polling unit results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on real-time on Election Day. There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections.”