Corruption

CBCIU: for CULTURE? Or ‘PENKELEMES’?

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By Wole Soyinka

TEXT of Professor WOLE SOYINKA’S ADDRESS to the NIGERIAN MEDIA on the  “CENTRE FOR BLACK CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING,” Oshogbo, on September 1, 2015 at Freedom Park, Broad Street, LAGOS.

CBCIU: for CULTURE?  Or  ‘PENKELEMES’?

Gentlemen of the Press,

One way to summarize the situation of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) at this moment requires no deep elaboration. It goes thus: There is Law, and there is Ethics. Wherever these two arbiters of public conduct appear to clash, even Ethics must bow to Law.  On the other hand, it is useful to remember also that the sinews that bind civilized society together are strengthened when both – Law and  Ethics – converge, and are harmonized in a public cause.

To come down to the specifics of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, I require no convincing that this ideal harmonization was manifested when the lawmakers of Osun State enacted, in 2012, an amendment to the original CBCIU law that had been signed into law by Governor Oyinlola on 29th December 2008. That origjnal law, in my view, was profoundly unethical.  The Amendment, by the succeeding House of Assembly, signed into law on the 31st day of July, 2012, was clearly designed to inject an ethical corrective into the original law.

I am not qualified to comment on the legal intricacies of the provisions in either, if any – this must be left to “our learned friends” of the legal profession. They have however advised that the July 2012 amendment supersedes the original, and that this Amendment constitutes the current law within under which the CBCIU obtains its validity, until overturned under a new Law enacted by a chamber of equal or superior jurisdiction. For direct public enlightenment, the heading of the Document of Assent goes thus:

STATE OF OSUN, NIGERIA

OSUN STATE CENTRE FOR BLACK CULTURE AND

INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING

(AMENDMENT) LAW, 2012

Assented to by the Governor of Osun State on the 31st of July 2012

No court judgment exists that voids a single provision of this law – including the setting up of a new board – or its entirety.

It is important that this nation, and the entire world of culture and ethical pursuit understand this. Contrary to whatever has been propagated so assiduously by some parties of interest in various quarters, NO court order exists that prevents the Board that was established under the 2012 Amendment from exercising its rights and responsibilities. NO court order exists that compels the Governor or House of Assembly to reinstate the former Board Chairman of 2008.

NO relief has been granted to the ex-governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, that authorizes him to present himself to the nation and the world as the substantive chairman of the CBCIU (or ‘Emeritus Chairman’ – among other titles that he has since accorded himself.) This is the legal position – as the Board remains advised by Osun State government’s legal department.

If these experts are proven wrong, then the current board will bow out without one second’s delay, led by its current chairman. It will most gladly hand over all CBCIU effects in its possession and even tender a public apology to the ex-governor, his ‘Board Members’, his campaign team and indeed any other interested parties.

From the corporate, we move to the individual. Here, I wish to outline the  section of the Amendment by the Osun House of Assembly that remains of primary interest to me, personally. It is that portion which articulates, in accessible language, that much desired convergence of Law and Ethics which, as earlier proposed, offers society a basis for civilized existence. I quote:

“Section 8 of the Principal Law is hereby amended by substituting

thereof the following provisions:

(a) The Board shall consist of the following members:

(i)  The Chairman of the Board who shall be the Governor or anyone appointed by him for this purpose…..

For emphasis, I call attention to that section again which states: “who shall be the governor….”

In contrast, the parallel provision in the original, now ineffectual law, signed by Prince Oyinlola, states –  “who shall be Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola”.  Oyinlola to Oyinlola, and Oyinlola for ever and ever – Oyinlola!

What the Amendment legislates is that the CBCIU is public property, established and maintained with state funds, funded by the state, housed by the state, instituted by elected representatives of the people. It is not private, hereditary property, not even of the most elevated royalty.

To my ears, this is ethical music.

It should be of interest to reveal that I had a private meeting on this issue with the Director-General of UNESCO, Madam Irina Bokova, when she and I attended an event nearly exactly two years ago in Kazakhstan. I had learnt, not too surprisingly, that the former governor of Osun State, Prince Oyinlola, had made forays into UNESCO headquarters, Paris, to protest his removal from a position he had created for himself while governor – and in perpetuity.  Invited to that meeting, once I raised the issue, was Hans d’Orville, one of Madame Bokova’s most senior aides. I asked her how UNESCO proposed to handle what was gearing up to become quite a penkelemes  (courtesy Adelabu) for all parties in this unseemly development.

Hans d’Orville confirmed that the Prince had indeed written protest letters to UNESCO and also shown up a number of times in his own person, sometimes with a delegation.  Hans d’Orville informed his Director-General and I that he had already responded to Oyinlola’s written appeals, and that, on each personal visit, he repeated exactly what he had written to the prince, namely, that CBCIU was set up under the laws of the host country – that is, of Osun State, Nigeria – thus, UNESCO could not interfere in a situation that would contradict the provisions of such laws.

UNESCO’s Director-General nodded in agreement, saying: “That is exactly my understanding.”

Then she, in turn, wanted to know what was the real story behind the development. I warned her that the issue had a very long history. We were all rather pressed for time, needed to catch flights in different directions. So I proposed that, instead of rehashing the tortuous details, I would pose a hypothetical question to her. I said:

“Let me ask you a simple question. If you decided to leave UNESCO tomorrow, would you use UNESCO funds to set up an entity, any kind of institution, use your position to channel an annual disbursement from UNESCO’s coffers, receive and dispense funds, and make yourself, in your personal capacity, head of that organization – and for life?”

She recoiled in horror. “No-o! That would be highly unethical. Such a thing is not possible”.

I added: “That about sums it up. The incoming governor of Osun State took exactly such a position, embarked on steps to dissolve the board and constitute a new one. The erstwhile, self-appointed Life Chairman has gone to court to contest that position. My advice is that you keep UNESCO away from the ensuing splatter while we clean up our own mess internally – we are quite used to it.”

That was in September 2013. As a member of UNESCO’s High Panel for Peace, I have interacted with Madame Bokova at a number of events since then, as well as with Hans d’Orville before his departure from UNESCO. I was made aware – from numerous sources – that Oyinlola, aided by the  former Nigerian representative to UNESCO, Dr. Omolewa, continued to wear out carpets leading to the Africa desk, to numerous offices and national delegations to UNESCO.

However, I studiously refrained from raising my concerns with the Director-General or indeed any other serving UNESCO official, right up to this press conference – which shall be copied to UNESCO.  Moreover, the Prince continued to make overtures to Governor Arigbesola, and myself, and to leaders in his new political party, pleading that they intervene so that he could be reinstated on the board in any capacity, however subordinate.

I left that plea to the governor entirely – since it remains his prerogative. I did assure him however that I would not stand in the way. I shall reveal here that I went even further – albeit against the grain – but in order to save the nation from international embarrassment through an obsession that I could not yet fully understand – I accommodated Mr. Oyinlola so far as to propose to the governor a Special Board Membership, tasked with responsibility for traditional royal cultures.

Simultaneously however, as was certainly within his fundamental rights, Mr. Oyinlola pursued his legal challenges, having first made off, even till today, with all the files – including every scrap of financial records – of the Centre. While the courts tried to address the conundrum of a life appointee being dispossessed while still very much alive, Mr. Oyinlola chose to pre-empt the courts’ decision. Aided, and even physically accompanied by Nigeria’s former representative to UNESCO, Dr. Omolewa, who was familiar with the interstices of that institution, Oyinlola commenced a campaign, both internally and externally, to disseminate a fraudulent version of the court proceeding. The prince has claimed – and still does! – that the courts had indeed found for him, and that he is back in office as chairman of CBCIU.

Our legal advice is that no basis for such a claim exists! What we do know – and this is clear from the actual court records, not the disseminated, bowdlerized versions, even for the “unlearned” – is that the Court has not even touched the substance of Prince Oyinlola’s appeal for reinstatement!  The only effective law, we are firmly advised, remains the July 2012 Law enacted by Osun State House of Assembly.

That leaves us – at least for now – with what primarily interests me, as a citizen dedicated, not only to the Rule of Law – but to the ethics of governance.  Without incurring the wrath of the courts for “contempt”, I believe we are entitled to indulge in a transformative debate on the ethics that underlie the provisions of both laws, taken together and in contrast.  That debate, the genesis of much of a continent’s post-colonial woes of devastating dimensions, is sometimes described as the “sit-tight syndrome”. It consists of the corrupt privatization of  public entities – including nations – with all their assets, even the intangibles! My ever growing conviction that this is a long overdue discourse, limitless in scope and ramifications, to be pursued as a continent-wide undertaking

My immediate contribution to that debate shall be phrased along the same terms as I addressed Madame Bokova in Kazakhstan, only, this time, it is addressed to this nation’s president, General Buhari, who has unusually elevated the anti-corruption struggle to the very top of his governance agenda. I must warn General Buhari – in the absence of a Foreign Minister – that, as a consequence of activities of this “CBCIU” double, the nation is being dragged into a sleazy situation through the attempted co-option of its foreign missions into logistical support for their global enterprises.

And so to the question:  “When you leave office, General Buhari, will you also carve out a privatized entity  – cultural, educational, political, religious, socio-economic, perhaps even a military unit or whatever – for yourself from public funds, provide it an annuity from the nation’s treasury, empower it to receive funds from internal and external sources, and make yourself, in your own individual person – that is, as Muhammadu Buhari – its Executive Chairman, and for life?”

Wole SOYINKA

Chairman, Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU)

Oshogbo, Osun State, NIGERIA.

 

DISTRIBUTION LIST:

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor, Osun State

Director-General, UNESCO, Paris

CHAIRMAN, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission

Chairman, The Presidential Advisory Commission on Corruption

The Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil.

The Brazilian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abuja

IPEAFRO, Brazil

The Director, Iwalewa-Haus, Bayreuth University, Germany

At 55, Nigeria Still Crawls

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Without complete and due accountability, without a system of government that removes power from one man in one place now called Abuja, Nigeria will crawl even when she celebrates 100 years of independence.

At 55, Nigeria Still Crawls

By Adeola ADEROUNMU

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

The present status of Nigeria is still fragile, more like in the heartbreaking mode.

Week 40 of 2015, 4 days to Nigeria at 55 and Mr. Buhari is not in Nigeria. There are no ministers to run the various ministries and federal departments. There are no blueprints or references or working documents to measure the performance of government.

This is lack of respect for more than 160 m people! It is disregard to the principles of democracy and good governance. It is a way of creating confusion in the land.

Candidly l don’t think Mr. Buhari knows the difference between civilian rule and military rule yet. It is disgraceful that the APC and Mr. Buhari cannot produce ministers more than 100 days after their mandate came into effect. They are not ready to lead the country and if care it not taken Nigeria’s economy will suffer greatly. The people will become poorer.

Surely the saintly, angelic ministers must appear someday. But how the APC-mandate under Mr. Buhari will unfold will be of historic significance.

No one has spoken openly about how public education will be revived and made affordable. No one has spoken about housing, standard of living and the welfare of the citizens. No one has spoken about how to move Nigerian hospitals away from religious or revival centers to structures where lives can be saved and cherished.

The pictures emerging from New York showing how Mr. Buhari and Mr. Obasanjo are mingling with Mr. Gordon are extremely insignifcant to the welfare of Mama Taju and Baba Chukwudi who are waiting in Ilasamaja and Onitsha respectively for the blueprints on the education of their children and how their future can be ensured.

Buhari OBJ Gordon

Buhari OBJ Gordon

This has been the pattern, that Nigerian rulers and the conquerors of Abuja continue to maintain a distance from the people. The reliance on the ineffective unitary system of government and the insincerity of the state and local governments are perfect scenarios for misgovernance and maladministration-the hallmarks of public service across Nigeria.

I remember the assault on us when Nigeria became 25 years as an independent country. There were all sorts of sponsored jingles on the national TV channels and radio stations.

Arise, salute the nation, come join the celebrations, Nigeria is 25, Nigeria is 25. Every day, every time, this jingle was imposed on our minds and melted into our subconsciousness.

Nigerian rulers are ruthless and they lack respect for the citizens. The jingles in 1960 and the jingles in 1985 orchestrated by the civilians looters and the military gangsters respectively were part of the greater plot to enslave Nigerians.

Sadly in the days approaching 2016 the majority of the Nigerian population are living as slaves. It is even sadder that the people who are living as slaves do not realise this. They have become so pre-ocuppied with different survival strategies that they do not even have the awareness that they  are living the lifestyles they didn’t choose, one which the power to change will always be in their hands.

The immediate post-independence generation is gradually fading away without winning back the Nigeria of their dreams. They allowed the criminal politicians and the military gangsters among them to get away just like that because of tribal or ethnic sentiments among other unacceptable reasons that promote evil over good.

Similarly the entire post-independent generations are entangled in a struggle between hope, promises and fading dreams. They grew up seeing their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, their friends and families carting away the treasuries from the local, state and federal governments.

Some of them are direct or indirect beneficiaries of this social malady. The majority are on-lookers shouting every weekend in mosques, shrines and churches. Some are disconnected totally from reality and thereby choose to kill, maim or kidnap others. They turn their anger and frustrations on fellow citizens using religion as a platform. Religion will remain among the most dangerous inventions of man.

As a result of the network of political gangsterism in Nigeria, the fight for a common country with fairness for all was lost a long time ago. It does not appear that the struggle for the emancipation of the masses will be fought again unless the civil society become organised and united.

When I am doing fine and when my family is doing better than our neighbours, l don’t care. This slogan is the hidden Nigerian anthem.

The selfishness and the evil in the hearts of men in any country are stumbling blocks working against the spirit of patriotism and the achievement of the common good of all.

There are radical ways to bring Nigeria back on track.

The government must work for the people and the people must work for the government. The political system must be right and the institutions of government must be functional.

All the things that have crumbled must be revived at the same time. Education, Health, Housing and Roads among a growing list of the things that have made life less worth living in Nigeria. Family planning and citizen orientation will avail much.

At some point the people must find the trigger to orchestrate the fight for what they want and how they wish to live a better life. The government full of corrupt people and treasury looters will not offer it to them on a platter of gold.

It must be emphasized that only an insignificant proportion of the Nigerian population have had it well. Even then they have co-existed with the wretched population in the same environment that is full of abnormalities.

All the sad situations in Nigeria are well known. Some people want critics to proffer solutions and we reply by saying the answer lies in good governance and accountability. It is as easy as doing what is right, condemning what is wrong and making sure you leave every situation better than you met it. How hard is that?

We have added that the political system and the political structures are not working. They give room to the emergence of criminals in public services under a unitary system that makes dictators out of democrats and tyrants out of soldiers.

Nigeria is always at a crossroads, the choices that the people and the government make each time are always on the wrong side of history. For example, Saraki is on trial and the man has not even resigned! Nigerian politicians are special breeds of criminals, hard-heartened and die-hard looters.

What decision can Nigeria make at this time? Another easy question!

After Saraki’s trial and wherever the law leaves him (free or in prison), Nigerians have a collective responsibility to continue this process of cleaning the political and public arenas.

There are Halliburton criminals in Nigeria and they are friends of Buhari, even travelling the world with him! Buhari is not even ashamed of what ordinary citizens are ashamed of. He is not yet a good ruler! It still looks like the birds of the same feather.

Nigerians have the power to occupy the entire country until the judiciary orders the police to produce all the Halliburton criminals in court. Let’s see where the judiciary will leave them when their trials are over.

Why should Nigerians even stop there? There are several hundrerds or thousands of politicians and military gangsters living in Nigeria and abroad who have looted the treasuries. Do they have 2 heads while Saraki has one?

Again, Nigerians have the right to occupy their country or the judiciary until justice served to one is served to all.

There are many ways to move Nigeria forward and two signals that need to be clear are that stealing is corruption and that no one is above the law.

One way not to move Nigeria forward is the ruling government playing the role of the opposition. The APC leadership has perfected the art of responding to PDP’s disruptive PRO machinery. The government that should lead is stupidly playing the opposition because of its lack of creativity and initiative.

As all these play out, if some people remain above the law, more than 90% of Nigerians will continue to live forever as slaves no matter the style of governance.

The way to make Nigeria great is to make every single citizen account for their time and service to country and humanity. Without complete and due accountability, without a system of government that removes power from one man in one place now called Abuja, Nigeria will crawl even when she celebrates 100 years of independence.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Road To Perdition?

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Buhari is enjoying the rape of the Jonathan administration whilst his friends and cronies in the Halliburton international scandal are having dinner with him daily. What a scandal! What a shame!

The Road To Perdition?

Countries that are rated as best performers or least corrupt around the world do not have leaders who have declared their assets. They do not have to. They have functional media and investigative journalism that reveals anomalies in wealth acquisition and properties that are not correlated with earnings.

They have a tax system that monitors property. They have a police system that monitors private and public citizens. The judiciary works and the entire system, mostly, is functional.

halliburton

I stand to be corrected that in places where such systems operate and work for the citizens, that they are not better gifted intellectually than Nigerians or even Africans. So if one argues that Nigeria cannot have such a system after 16 years of democracy, it will be a submission to the nonsensical white supremacy or self-acquired inferiority complex.

Heads up now you Africans!

Assets declaration (especially if it is constitutional) is a useless distraction. Only a thief or one who plans to be a criminal or a system that expects criminals in government will encourage such a stupid clause in the constitution. Imagine that there is also an immunity clause in the Nigerian constitution. Is that not a contradiction?

Declare your assets but you will not go to jail even if you have stolen them. Recently I asked why criminals are the politicians we chose in Nigeria.

When a man declares his assets without further explanations on how he acquired the assets, then the asset declaration is even useless. You have a house in London. Is it your family’s inheritance? Is it a gift from the Queen of England? Did you save so much money as a civil servant or you did a business that was so profitable that you were able to afford it?

In non-abstract mathematics, answers are useless without the processes or methods to show how you arrived at the answers. Even medical research findings must come with methods and procedures.

Declaring one assets does not mean that one is a not a criminal or a public treasury looter. In a rare case that one is able to save all the excess salaries and greedy allowances that the (criminal) politicians in Nigeria pay themselves while the ordinary citizens crawl in penury, it still does not make it fair. It’s all nonsense and ingredients!

One thing that the Nigerian people ought to know is that the system of government even now under Buhari is still built on deceit, lies and obvious propaganda. It is shocking how loyalists to any government pick up one tiny detail or some pieces of deceits and mould it to extreme achievements.

Is this where you want to be as a (sleeping) giant of Africa? Seriously, is this the life you choose to live?

Nigerians need to wake up from the state of permanent slumber. They need to wake up from government-induced comatosis. For once they should try to follow up on events, activities, investigations, promises, remarks, comments and all that affect their lives.

Nigerians tolerate a lot of nonsense and they are easily taken for rides by their governments-federal, state and local. It pains so see that those who benefits from a prevailing government of the day or still looking for that opportunity to partake in the looting or sharing of any part of the national cake help to propagate deceits or to close the chapters on matters of national interest.

When the problem starts from the top, it is hard to nip it in the bud.

Buhari’s government has been boxed into a corner. It is several of Buhari’s personal friends and Buhari himself who have destroyed Nigeria such that even after 16 years of the so-called democracy, Nigeria remains in LIMBO.

Buhari is setting more bad examples of how not to govern if Nigeria is to rise again. Nigerians were deceived to think that a saint has emerged. The first test of Buhari’s anticorruption crusade was to show all his friends in the Halliburon scandal the road to kirikiri. He failed.

What did Buhari tell the judiciary? What has he been doing to the police? They have failed to arrest and start the prosecution of all the criminals in the Halliburton scandal. Buhari is rather enjoying the rape of the Jonathan administration whilst dinning daily with his international criminal friends. This is a shame! It is a scandal out of measurable magnitude!

All the Halliburton criminals that have visited Buhari in Aso rock must have gone with one message or the other. Could those messages include a blackmail of revealing all the financial mess involving Buhari when he was petroleum minister and when he was in charge of PTF? Do all Nigerian rulers live with criminal tags hanging over their necks?

Nigerians do not follow up on issues that affect their lives negatively. They do not follow up on the issues that should be brought to logical conclusions so that lessons can be learnt and life can be better for all. Nigeria has a pool of criminals now generally classified as UNTOUCHABLES.

The Nigerian media is so useless in this regard. The brown envelope syndrome is as old as Nigeria and the media outfits today are controlled by one political godfather or the other. The rest belongs to the PDP or APC-alignment. There is almost no free press within Nigeria or on the web. He who pays the piper is the common slogan for almost all of them.

There are ways to bring some degree of sanity to the government while some of us are still waiting for the ultimate political solution. Citizen responsibility and patriotism are lacking in Nigeria. Once a man is ok, the others can rot for all he cares. This attitude is killing the spirit of the country.

One man will say that Buhari is less corrupt than Jonathan. Another will say Abacha stole more than IBB. Then one will conclude that Obasanjo is their Baba. They are all speaking on tribal sentiments or based on what they or their families have benefited from all the useless dictators. I say all of them are criminals.

Until that day when tribal marks are taken off political criminals or military gangsters, Nigeria as a country may remain on the road to perdition.

Since Nigerians have refused to fight a common war for the good of all, the country remains in disunity. It remains in the hands of those who know nothing about positive governance and how to make a mighty country out of all the abundance of wealth and human resources scattered in all the nations that make up Nigeria. This is one of the greatest tragedies of modern era-that a country so blessed parades some of the poorest people in the world.

Before you forget Nigerians, please remember that a criminal built a first-class hospital in Akwa Ibom but went abroad after sustaining injuries in a road accident. When he comes back, ask him why he went abroad after building a first-class hospital in his state.

More importantly, put him and his contemporaries on trial. It is time for them to account for their time in power. Don’t forget the man who made a website for N78 m in a world where wordpress.com is still free!

One governor called Amosun sacked some teachers and educationists in western Nigeria for doing their jobs. Have the teachers been recalled? If not, all the people living in that state are fools! Their children’s future will remain in jeopardy and they may be on the road to perdition.

So many governors cannot pay workers’ salaries and they have not been impeached or even resigned out of shame. Nigerian wonder!

One governor budgeted N200 m for prayer warriors. Adamawa is definitely under a spell if that money has not been recalled to build houses for the homeless.

I recall an outgoing season of madness in Nigeria and I know that as September is running out, Nigerians are stuck with a boring Buhari-reality show. One day the members of the stain-free executive will arrive on a saintly mission as we have been told.

If they miss the opportunity to work with the lazy, money-sucking National Assembly to restructure Nigeria politically so that it becomes governable again, the road to perdition will acquire more turns.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Still On The Matter-The APC Mandate

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Any corrupt Nigerian who is holding on to what belongs to the people and government should be made to vomit them. All the ill-gotten material wealth and whatsoever they claimed or acquired or built at home and abroad through their lootocracy must be regained through the appropriate agencies. That is change and a promise kept.

Still On The Matter-The APC Mandate

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Mr. Buhari is yet to announce his cabinet. This issue will not go away until the names and faces of the ministers are made known. There are many theories why the ministers have not emerged.

Not least is the flying allegation that people like Obasanjo, Tinubu and Amaechi among other politicians have their own candidates and slots for some of the ministerial positions. It is also possible that ministers have not emerged because (probably) it is hard to find people who are active in politics who are not corrupt.

So it is likely that Buhari is turning down lists and names of people with criminal records coming from all quarters. The APC is on its way to breaking the Nigerian record of running a government without ministers, a kind of pseudo-autocracy.

Other things have been happening, things that may shapen the APC mandate. If taken to the expected extent, such things will definitely shape the future of Nigeria.

There has been quite a number of arrest or interrogations in recent weeks. As a matter of fact the number of bad or corrupt people interrogated since the inception of the Buhari/APC administration is more than the number that were interrogated during the 6 wasteful years of Ebele Jonathan.

One early disappointment was the acquittal of one Femi Fani-Kayode. The EFCC should cover its head in shame for not being able to bring justice in that case. Femi Fani-Kayode will remain a criminal in the people’s court of justice.

He is not the only living Nigerian who has been part of the destruction and looting of Nigeria. The list and names are endless. One can only hope that the outcome of his trial will not be a predetermined template for all the APC politicians and godfathers that we hope to see behind the dock soon as this war on corruption rages on.

Well, it is very important that what the Buhari administration has started continues to take its course through the agencies that are set-up to do just that. If the cleansing process is aimed at PDP politicians or only those who served under the criminally-inclined Jonathan administration, then there is palaver and k-leg in the matter. That is injustice.

The recent and ongoing revelations into how the economy was destroyed under Jonathan even as Mrs. Iweala continued to dish out rubbish economics and cooked reports to Nigerians and the entire world is rather sickening.

At this point l think Mrs. Iweala needs to be sent to a reputable institution in Nigeria for psychiatric evaluation. With some high level of flawed confidence and unpatriotic arrogance, she supervised the wasting of Nigeria’s fortunes while dishing out stories of number one economy and all that.

How can an individual be so wicked and heartless? What has happened to dignity and self-respect? What happened to the family names that we were brought up to protect and maintain? What has happpened to the audacity of walking away when one’s principles are compromised? Now, everybody including Ngozi is blaming Jonathan. What nonsense! You were all partners in crime! Heartless criminals!

The APC mandate cannot unfortunately close its eyes to these obvious crimes against humanity otherwise APC and Buhari will automatically become criminals too. These crimes must be pursued by the appropriate agencies and investigations and prosecutions brought to logical conclusions. Any other approach is tantamount to the Nigerian government being at war with the citizens.

Those fools from the Niger Delta who are hinting that Jonathan may be sent to jail should please shut up their mouths. The interests of 150m Nigerians cannot be slain because Jonathan is from the Niger Delta. They should please go and sit down somewhere.

The rest of us are watching and observing the processes that we hope will consume even part of those who started it. Who told them that Buhari will not answer the call of justice when his time is over? Has anyone told them that we are not going to see Babangida and Obasanjo on trial?

They should put on their seat belts as the wave of justice takes its course. Some of us have waited all our lives to see justice and any attempt to trivialise or tribalise it is completely unacceptable. What we look forward to is sustenance of justice and to make it a way of life forever in Nigeria.

Rather than shout foul as the investigation of the Jonathan administration proceeds, they should be asking for the extension of the investigation into all the other arms and areas of governance. They should be clamouring for justice in all the states of the federation irrrespective of whether they are under the control of APC or PDP or ANPP or the Labour party.

They outght to continue to remind APC and the Buhari administration that this should not be about Jonathan-Sambo investigation but also Obasanjo-Atiku investigation for their 8 years of corruption and looting. They outght to know that Babangida is alive and hale enough for judgement and justice.

Nigeria is broke and one person that knows that so well (pending her psychiatric evaluation actually) is Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Therefore anybody in Nigeria who is holding what belongs to the people and government should be made to vomit them.

The APC mandate must ensure that all of Nigerian currencies that are stashed away in foreign countries are retrieved and returned to the government. The people at home and abroad who have laundered the funds should be brought to justice.

All the structures that are built abroad by corrupt politicians or their accomplices (in form of family, friends and other cronies) should be confiscated, sold and the funds returned to the Nigerian treasury.

All the structures, hotels, SPAs, estates, cars, and whatever objects that people have acquired using Nigeria’s stolen wealth (or other forms of ill-gotten wealth) that are located within and outside Nigerian should be occupied by appropriate security forces or government agencies and handover to the Nigerian people and government.

We know how much civil servants and politicians earned and we know that all the wealth that these criminals boast of are not achievable in their life time multiplied by a certain factor x…how did they come about all these massive wealth? It can only be through primitive accumulation, stealing and looting.

The APC mandate promised Nigerians a change and we are watching. The sudden activation of the EFCC (though we expect them to nail their cases too) is a welcome development. The independence of the EFCC must be sustained. Again, we are watching. We will keep writing!

I will not finish any article without emphasizing that while it is Nigerians who brought woes upon themselves, it is imperative that a long lasting political solution will be inclusive for the redemption of Nigeria.

Today, Nigeria is running a system of government where almost everything depends on Buhari. Earlier it was dependent on Jonathan and before him on Yar ’ Adua and Obasanjo in that order since 1999.

In the 21st century that type of government is archaic and out of fashion. It is actually a senseless system of government. Whatever changes that have been introduced since May 29 2015 in Nigeria can collapse if Buhari collapse. That is not how to run a government. That is definitely not how to run a country!

Those in the National Assembly must play their roles. We know that they are mostly chasing wealth and power as the Saraki syndrome has shown us. We are still hoping that the likes of David Mark and Dimeji Bankole will be interrogated (and possibly face prosecution) so that they can return all that they stole from Nigeria back to Nigerians.

All the houses and structures they put up or bought at home and abroad while in office must be returned. These suggestions must transform to reality before the expiration of the APC mandate so that the change that the APC promised does not become a total fraud. That was by the way.

The National Assembly is indebted to Nigerians in fashioning a long-lasting political solution that will put the Nigerian political scenario on the right path. They should read the history of Nigeria and help Nigerians to understand that regional government was more functional than the unitary system that was created by the corrupt military.

Governance must be close to the people and for Nigeria everybody’s fate cannot continue to rely on the events in Abuja. It’s like mass suicide.

It took so long to realise that Nigeria is really messed up. If the internet was not developed and if the social media was not made interactive, Nigeria will probably be another story today. Still the division among Nigerians is massive.

Therefore, no matter what the future holds, either in a unitary Nigeria or in the various regions and states of the federation, Nigerians will always need patritotism, dedication to duty, family and community. There will be no true change if everything must depend on the government.

In this changing world occupied by transient beings, the people need to know that it is a collective responsibility if greatness must be attain.

Honesty, tolerance, selflessness, kindness, awareness of nature/environment and pursuance of the common good of mankind are ingredients that must be imbibed by all and sundry.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Stop press: when l woke up on Sunday morning (19-july) to continue/finish this article l read an headline somewhere that Buhari’s ministers have not emerged because those nominated so far are deemed to be part of the corrupt Nigeria

The APC Mandate 2015 – ?

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

As early as the 100th day in office, some of the changes promised by the APC must be visible because in Africa the morning shows the day.

However for any government to succeed, it is not enough for people to shout changes. It is also important that people become the changes that they want to see.

The APC Mandate 2015 – ?

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu
Adeola Aderounmu

On the 31st day of March 2015 the people of Nigeria accepted the final results of the presidential election that took place 3 days earlier. The significance of this is that Mr. Buhari will take over as the president of Nigeria on May 29 2015.

The APC government promised CHANGE. By this slogan the party means that it intends to do a lot of things in the next 4 years that will correct most of the anomalies that trailed Nigeria for more than 50 years.

One of the fundamental flaws of the Jonathan era that resulted to 6 wasteful years was the continuous reference to the fact that Nigeria’s problems did not start with Mr. Jonathan. There were other flaws that characterised the Jonathan government. The worst of them was the endless and merciless massive looting of the Nigeria treasury at all levels.

On the eve of the election l took a stand and supported the change movement. The reason was simple. I would have found it almost impossible to write about Nigeria again if PDP had won. I had written about bad governance and everything l knew that was wrong with the PDP, yet the government got more rotten.

The victory of APC is by no means a celebration for me. I don’t glorify people or election victories. The main reason l write about Nigeria is to contribute my bits to ensuring that one day governance will be about the welfare of the citizens and not the wealth accumulated by the criminal- or dubious politicians.

For the first time since 1999, there is now a platform for comparison of performances.

For the next 4 years, APC will be under the spotlight at the federal level as everybody awaits a new Nigeria or a new beginning in the words of APC’s leader Mr. John Oyegun.

The reasons given by Mr. Jonathan that led to the failure of PDP under his watch will not be acceptable under the change promised by the APC.

Those in charge at APC should be ready to face the harshest of criticisms if they start someday to tell Nigerians and the world that they will not be able to fix Nigeria in 4 years.

From now and until the end of the first term in 2019, APC must act and pursue goals that will show that she meant business. As early as the 100th day in office, some of the changes must be visible because in Africa the morning shows the day.

Realistically nobody is expecting Nigeria to be the biblical paradise in 2019. However many basic things that have tainted the image of Nigeria and that have also reduced the quality of life must been seen to have been adequately addressed under the first tenureship of the APC mandate.

Failure to address these basic issues will make it too easy for the PDP to regroup and flush out the APC in the nearest future. Such a development may close the chapter of any cry for change in the future. The treasures of Nigeria will remain the prize for tropical gangsterism. Hope will be dashed forever until the real physical revolution takes place.

So as the days come or go by, keen observers across the world will be watching closely to see how APC intends to flush corruption out of Nigeria.

Corruption in Nigeria is systemic in nature. This means that is exist in almost every family, almost every office-both private and public and it is practised or reflected in nearly all aspects of the Nigerian life. Someone once told me that l might be killed by my colleagues in a government establishment if l try to be a honest man and hinder them from stealing or looting.

If the head is rotten the entire body of the organism is also rotten. I know this very well and l thought l also heard Mr. Buhari and APC echoed this loudly.

Corruption in government must be eradicated first at the presidency and hopefully such a positive outcome will radiate gradually to all facets of the Nigerian life so that decency and dignity can be restored to the country.

Many Nigerians have been speaking about reducing the government cabinet by removing all the useless positions like minister of state for things and objects. Even some ministerial positions can be fused so that instead of two or three different ministers, only one minister can be in charge.

This will reduce the cost of governance and will help to remove the holes that lead to executive negligence.

One of the craziest and most unacceptable things in the Nigerian government is the salaries and allowances that government officials’ and politicians take home. Since 1999 Nigeria continues to bleed through the wages and allowances of the members of the House of Representatives and the national assemblies at the federal and state level. If nothing is done about these reckless wages, I am sorry there is no change yet.

I am certain that one can write 100 chapters on how to eradicate corruption in Nigeria based on the opinions and ideas that everybody has on the topic. Even corrupt Nigerians like those who transfer funds from the central banks to the different ministries just for looting purposes have their own opinions because everybody always thinks it is another person’s fault that corruption persists.

The change that the APC promised must not be left in the hands of the APC alone. I think that everybody should look in the mirror and take off their garments of evil. For any government to succeed, it is not enough for people to shout changes. It is also important that people become the change that they want to see.

The Nigerian judiciary is still largely a scam because criminals and corrupt people have been escaping justice. Petty thieves have died through jungle justice which is a sad occurrence. Looters of the federal and state treasuries continue to smile to the bank at home and abroad.

The APC mandate must work to remove the immunity clause that has made politicians exclusive criminals. Above that the judiciary must be independent again. The new government must hands off legal proceedings and allow them to run their courses.

The successful prosecution of criminals, fraudsters and corrupt criminals irrespective of their statuses in the society are essential to a new beginning for Nigeria.

Diversification of the Nigerian economy cannot wait. It must start today. How can APC take Nigeria back to the days when agricultural products were the main exports? Is it possible that oil is relegated someday so that the major foreign exchange earners can be from the various mineral deposits in Nigeria?

How does APC intend to stop the Chinese and other foreign countries from looting Nigeria’s mineral resources immediately?

Probably before and definitely under Goodluck Jonathan’s PDP Nigeria’s mineral deposits were loaded out of the country almost free of charge under the supervision of some useless ministers. This must stop today! Those who have allowed this to happen need to be apprehended and brought to justice.

Electricity situation in Nigeria has become a case of both intellectual scandal and national shame.

Obasanjo and Jonathan both spent or looted several billions of dollars on electricity. The situation got worse. Cockroaches and rats continue to lay eggs in refrigerators and freezers. Keen observers are waiting to see how the APC mandate will tackle the nonsense talk about the generator importers and the power sector mafia. Where are all the billions of dollars?

One could have hoped that the federal character could be scrapped but it appears impossible. It’s a shame that while the best brains will lie idle or remain unutilised where they are best needed, ministerial posts and portfolios will be given (albeit uniformly) based on state or region of origin. Some fools will get on board, sadly.

Sadder still some of the posts are given as rewards for the efforts during campaigns and lobbying that led to the victory of the APC. That awareness and the mess that is going on at this moment concerning ambassadorial postings bleed my heart.

One message that will remain constant in my essays is the task to reform Nigeria politically. The presidential election results as it were clearly revealed that Nigeria is not a unified country.

The pattern of voting if taken into consideration can be a beginning of a lasting political solution. The APC must not sweep the debate for regional autonomy or regional government under the carpet. It won’t go away.

The strengths of the different regions can be utilised in creating a system of government where the power at the center is drastically reduced. This will also douse the tension and pressure of elections in the future. In the face of accountability and a center devoid of the power of the almighty, rigging and violence will be significantly reduced in future elections.

The custodians of the Nigerian historical and geographical facts can be of massive help when plotting lasting political solutions. If some of these people have emerged in the houses (senate and house of representative), they must be heard.

The fragility of Nigeria can still be exploited by wicked and selfish minds in the days ahead or sometime in the future. Why not remove that possibility while it is still constitutionally possible to do so?

No matter what the APC mandate must not go the way of the previous administrations.

There will be no excuse for non-performances. There will be no story for why the hawks and wolves sucking Nigerians through the oil subsidy, contracts inflation, non-performance and direct looting of the treasuries cannot be halted.

Millions of people are already anticipating that their children will get free lunch at school. Some are looking forward to the empowerment of the public schools back to the glory days. Education must be affordable again. The quality must begin to return.

This is the beginning of the APC mandate. As the days unfold and change to months and years, some people will be looking while some people will be acting to make the changes possible. Still, some people will be accessing the situation.

With the type of interactions amongst Nigerians on the social media, it is possible to deduce that out of the several millions who voted for the PDP, a substantial percentage are waiting for APC to fail. They want to be able to justify the evils perpetrated by the PDP since 1999.

No one should be defending a failed government irrespective of their party affiliations. Only selfishness and wickedness can make people ignore the importance of good governance and accountability that are in favour of the majority and in the interest of common good.

Those who write must continue to write. This is not the time to cross from the side of the people to the side of the government hoping to cut from the national cake. By no means should the Nigerian real and virtue landscape be depleted of uprightly conscientious minds and critics who will stand by the people no matter what.

If APC fails in the eyes of those who will be doing the analyses in the coming days and years, Nigeria may just as well self-destruct!

I appreciate the importance of peace and tranquillity and I hope that the APC will succeed.

A proper change will orchestrate the restoration of dignity, honour, pride, patriotism and service to humanity on the Nigerian soil.

There can be hope for the unborn generations.

aderounmu@gmail.com