Politics

2019: The Prospects, Expectations

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2019

Just as everything with a beginning also has an end, 2018 faded away last Monday. Amongst numerous feelings attached to the outgone year, many a Nigerian would describe it as a year of tension and ambiguous direction with virtually no clues as to how better 2019 would turn out.
Expectedly, however, and depending on the divide, Nigerians, cut across such lines as party, religion, ethnicity, etc. would disagree and agree over how successful and developed or otherwise Nigeria had been, not only in 2018, but in the last three years plus.
While this is normal of political inclinations, it is also normal for politicians to also not accept clear failures in governance. Whether such failure is deliberately instituted out of selfish actions and or inactions, or out of ignorance in what constitutes governance, is usually not important.
In the same vein, it is normal for politicians to always claim to be doing what is right for the polity, even when their actions glaringly state otherwise. But, of course, there can hardly be anything normal in a people failing to truly assess how governance affects them and seek to make deliberate adjustments for the better.
This is what 2019, which crept into life on Tuesday, means for Nigeria as the citizenry seek to enthrone new leadership in all segments of governance, with particular focus on the Presidency in February 2019.
Former Lagos State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) national stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, no doubt toed this line in his New Year message to Nigerians when he said “The nation is on the verge of an election to determine our collective fate. We can either choose to continue forward or return to the old ways that held us back for so long. Just as 2018 must turn into 2019, we must also continue to move forward.
“We must enter the New Year and see it as a new day for Nigeria. Thus, I ask you to perform your civic duty to vote with utmost faith, responsibility and the best interest of the country at heart”.
The question is what constitutes “the best interest of the country?”
Knowing that politicians, particularly their Nigerian versions, can never accept their flaws and faults, it has become an intrinsic tradition to always weigh what amounts to the interests of a country from the perspectives of those affected by the actions and inactions of those in government, especially people or organisations respected by the standard of given societies.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who falls under this fold, in February 2018, served as a forerunner to what can unarguably be the heart beat of the Nigerian populace regarding how they had fared under the present administration, as well as what is required of Nigerians in 2019, regarding what is good for them.
According to him, “like all countries, Nigeria has many challenges. That, by itself, is not what we should worry about. What should matter is how, when and with what instruments we address or fail to address these challenges or create more problems”.
Obasanjo, who noted this while declaring his membership of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) in his home in Abeokuta, stated that government under Buhari took nation-building for granted, because it had lost faith with giving continued attention to every citizen, and hence ceased to give a considerable segment of the citizenry a feeling of belonging and a stake in their country.
An example, the former President said, is that while the “Federal Character Principle”, as espoused in the Nigerian constitution, serves as guide to the leadership “to search for competent holders of major offices to be distributed within the entire nation”, in order to avoid concentration of power in a few ethnic hands or geographical places, government under President Muhammadu Buhari had reneged on this principle in appointing leadership of the security apparatus of Nigeria.”
The result of this, according to Obasanjo, was that the spate of violence, criminality, organised crime, insurgency and terrorism did not “receive sufficient proactive ameliorative responses through transformational leadership – a determined leadership that brings cohesion and wholesomeness to the polity”.
In the face of high-powered insecurity, there can hardly be development, no matter what reasons are given, or what level of evasiveness is instituted.
The implication of Obasanjo’s concerns were that a key cause of the failure of the present Buhari-led government is that there had not been an inclusive and popular participation in governance in pursuit of the country’s genuine political, economic, and overall social life.
On its part, the Coalition of United Political Parties described 2018 as a year when poverty, job loss and impunity were promoted by the present administration.
The coalition, through its first national spokesperson, Imo Ugochinyere, said the current report by The World Poverty Clock shows that Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the most extreme poor people in the world. India has a population seven times larger than Nigeria’s.
In more practical terms, the implication of this is that about 86.9 million Nigerians now live in extreme poverty. This number represents nearly 50% of its estimated 180 million populations. The expectation is that as Nigeria faces a major population boom, it will become the world’s third largest country by 2050. What this portends for the country will better be imagined.
In the face of the fore-going, what may amount to succour came as President Buhari’s new year message on Monday, that elections in 2019 will not be a “do-or-die-affair”.
“Elections need not be do-or-die affair, and we should not approach that eventuality in a democracy with trepidation and mortal fear. Happily, a large number of presidential candidates have committed to peace and peace we shall have,” the President said.
The snag in Mr. President’s declaration can however be seen when placed side-by-side with the highly encumbered issue of his refusal to assent to the 2018 Electoral Act, which seeks to further institute free and fair elections in Nigeria, an improvement from 2015.
This makes more sense considering that ahead of the 2015 general elections, Nigeria’s democratic process got a notable boost following the introduction of electoral reform that saw, for the first time, the defeat of an incumbent President.
Why further improvement to the electoral process should not be encouraged at this stage of Nigeria’s hyped development can hardly be for the interest of the people, knowing that year in, year out, what Nigerians have wanted has not changed: provision of basic amenities by their elected officials, infrastructural development across board, ensuring a favourable business environment and adequate security, regular power supply, etc.
It has still not changed, and those who come into power have always known this. The problem has always been how they (the supposed people’s representatives) hope to give the people these basic needs.
Achieving these basic needs, among others, without making it look so unnecessarily herculean is what Nigerians want in 2019, however small such achievement may be. If a government therefore, does not show any commitment to this, the government has no business in governance.

Soibi Max-Alalibo

Politics

How We Saved N2.3bn From LG Reforms – Diri

Published

3 hours ago

April 26, 2024

The Tide

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has revealed that the reforms initiated and implemented by his administration led to the saving of the sum of N2.3 billion for the local government councils.
The governor disclosed this recently at the opening ceremony of an orientation programme organised for newly-elected local government council chairmen, vice chairmen, councilors and principal officers at Perdis Hotel, Akenfa.
Gov Diri stated that on assumption of office in 2020, some local government councils were highly indebted and unable to pay salaries but his administration took measures that resulted in regular payment of salaries, execution of projects and saving of funds.
The Bayelsa State Chief Executive restated his call on the Federal Government to create additional local councils in the state, saying it was injustice for some states to have more than 40 councils and receiving monthly allocation from the Federation Accounts Allocation Commission (FAAC), while the state had only eight.
He charged the newly elected local government officials to make good use of the two-day workshop to equip themselves with the requisite knowledge to carry out their responsibilities.
The governor also called on them to work as a team to ensure that development was felt at the grassroots.
“Local governments as at 2020 were unable to pay salaries, particularly Nembe, Ogbia, Ekeremor and Sagbama. There was some form of dissatisfaction in the system.
“After I went through the recommendations of the Deputy Governor, whom I entrusted with investigating the local government, I wasted no time in approving the recommendations.
“The recommendations included the ban on loans from any source by local government chairmen without approval of the governor; compulsory savings by every council; and the division of balance after payment of salaries into 60 and 40 per cent respectively. One part was for compulsory savings and the other to project implementation and immediate commencement of computerisation of their payroll as well as compulsory quarterly award of projects by each council chairman.
“We found a lot of fraud in the local government system. But as it stands today, our councils have N2.3billion as a result of the combination of the factors of reforms and proper supervision of that tier of government.
“The breakdown is N400million compulsory savings while N1.9 billion for capital projects. This is aside from the one done by caretaker committees in terms of project execution within the short period they stayed”, the governor said.
Gov Diri assured of his administration’s commitment to support the councils to achieve their goals and expressed confidence that the new officials would meet the expectations of the people.
“We firmly believe that good governance begins at the grassroots level. That is precisely why we have gathered here to equip you with the necessary skills and knowledge to improve our local government administration and enhance service delivery.

Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa

Politics

Monarch Cautions Against Divisive Politics, Declares Support For Fubara

Published

3 hours ago

April 26, 2024

The Tide

The Eze Oruamara/Regent of Okwuzi Kingdom in Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the State, Eze Victor Afaka, has sued for peace among the political class in the State.
Eze Afaka made the appeal while speaking with The Tide on the sidelines of the governorship victory thanksgiving service by the Ogba Egbema /Ndoni Chapter of the Simplified Movement in Omoku.
He said Governor Fubara should be allowed to display the vision that God has given to him to govern the state.
According to him, since every administration has its term and tenure, the man presently at the helm of affairs in Rivers State must be given the opportunity to complete his own term and tenure.
“I advise politicians to sheathe their sword and allow peace to reign. Politics and governance have their terms and tenure. When it is your tenure, you have your vision to display; when you conclude that vision God has given you as a leader of your community or of a state, you step aside and leave the next person to display the vision God has given to him” he said.
The traditional ruler said he and his people, including the youth, women and the Ogbakor Egbema, decided to attend the service because of the excellent vision of Governor Fubara
“We are happy, Okwuzi people are in full support of the government, the government of His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara”, he added.
He said that the governor’s peaceful disposition to governance has endeared him to His Kingdom, noting that Okwuzi kingdom was already a beneficiary of the present administration’s purposeful governance as the Omoku/Okwuzi road abandoned 10 years ago, was nearing completion.
“ONELGA, Okwuzi are benefitting from his government.The road that was abandoned for ten years is being completed right now and we know that there are so many other things he will do for us”, he said.
While urging the state government to give desired attention to the Okwuzi General Hospital that is in a state of dilapidation, Eze Afaka entreated Governor Fubara not to be distracted, but to continue to promote peace and development across the State.

John Bibor

Politics

APC Stakeholders Storm Secretariat, Demand Ganduje’s Resignation

Published

3 hours ago

April 26, 2024

The Tide

A group of North Central stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, demanding the resignation of the National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the protesters said their demand followed his recent suspension by a faction of his ward executives and the alleged bribery allegation levelled against him by the Kano State government.
While they chanted solidarity songs and displayed several banners some of which read, “Ganduje must resign” and “Return the APC chairmanship to North Central,” the protesters appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, to consider returning the leadership of the party to the North Central.
Only on Tuesday, the Forum of APC State Chairmen had passed a vote of confidence on Ganduje, affirming their unalloyed support to him.
The protesters under the aegis of Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders lamented that the continued stay of Ganduje in office was a clear violation of the zoning principle in the party.
Mohammed Saba, who led the protesters, said unlike the 37 APC state chairmen, his people in the North Central have passed a vote of no confidence on the national chairman and equally demanded his immediate resignation.
Saba reiterated that the people of North Central felt betrayed when the position of APC national chairman was hijacked from them following the exit of Senator Abdullahi Adamu despite giving Tinubu the third highest votes after North West and South West at the 2023 presidential election.
He said, “We, the North Central APC Concerned Stakeholders, have resolved to unanimously agitate for our right and reclaim our mandate which was handed unto us by the National Convention of our great Party in 2022.
“Various sections of our constitution have established the procedure of replacing an executive member at all levels of the party in the event of death, resignation, incapacitation or expulsion from the party by any executive member.
“It is a fact that the emergence of Dr. Umar Ganduje as national chairman was done against the spirit and soul of the APC which is the constitution of our great party. This singular act has impacted negatively on us as a people in the North Central.