Politics
Venezuela In Crisis
The crisis in Venezuela seems to be getting worse week by week following the disputed presidential elections held in May 2018 in which President Nicholas Maduro was re-elected.
Following the hues and cries, the national assembly become factionalised with the opposition controlled majority on the 10th of January 2019 recognising the parliamentary leader, Juan Guaido as the acting president of the country who eventually on the 23rd of January declared himself as the president of the country, a direct challenge to the incumbent president.
Why did this crisis start in the first place? According to political analysts, two major factors created this high level of political metability in venezuela a once prosperous and peaceful country. The first was the economic meltdown which began in 2010 under the presidency of the Late Hugo Chavez, and the non-compromising nature of the incumbent president Nicholas Maduro who the opposition claimed rigged the elections of 2014 and that of 2018. In addition to that, there are the allegations that apart from the rigging of the 2018 presidential elections, major opposition candidates were Prevented from running for offices.
As the political situation continues to deteriorate, the US, Bazil, Canada with some Latin American countries and some European Union countries have recognized Juan Guaido as President of venezuala while Russia,China, Cuba, Iran and their alised still recognise Nicholas Maduro as the legitimate president of the country.
As the tension continues to mount, some leading opposition figures have fled, some detained and attempts to factionalise the armed forces and the judiciary have so far failed and despite the sanctions imposed by the United States of America on venezuala, Maduro is still hanging on accusing the opposition for colluding with the American government for trying to overthrow his administration.
However, the opposition is not relenting in its effort to get rid of Maduro from office as the daily protest to oust him continues.
But what is quite worrisome is the unforeseen consequences of the action of the opposition. What if the protests turn violent and result in a civil war like that of Syria, which resulted in the destruction of over 40 per cent of the country’s infrastructure and displacement of millions of people. For now the scenario is relatively calm and hopefully the people of venezuela are more mature in their political outlook, that is both the opposition and members of the ruling party.
If Maduro were to be generally unpopular like Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan or Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria he would have been removed from office long ago. In any case, every country is unique and what may work in country A, may not work out in Country B.
As the politicians lock horns for supremacy, one thing that they have tried to avoid with saner minds cautioning them is never to allow the country plunge into a civil war as dialogue and negotiations are always the best option in resolving issues. Otherwise, deadly armed merchants are waiting on the wings cash in whenever there is instability and the possibility of a civil war in any country.
The examples are many, that’s why even the United States of America is cautious in its approach to the crisis in Venezuela.
For a country to scide into such political crisis, several factors come into play such as personal ambition, the greed for power and foreign interest groups who might not like the politics of the incumbent in power or the possibility of creating chaos so that an individual or a politician who they believe will protect their interest will propped up to take over the reigns of government. So they are ever ready to use every means available to instigate crisis or cash on the existing crisis to achieve their aims by supporting a faction either through diplomatic support or financial inducement to bring about their desired change.
If people say that nobody benefits form chaos in the political life of any country, then we are still living in a fantasy world. Definitely, in every civil war, manufacturers of arms and ammunitions and providers of the necessary logistics and other accessories will hope to make sales and profit.
The economices of these countries will make improvements with job creation based on the increasing demands for their products and services. So one thing that should be paramount to the people of Veneuzuela is never to allow their country to become the next playground or battle field for any proxy war for merchants of death. They should learn from Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
They should also ask themselves why the western countries resolve their own political crisis without all these drama, bloodshed and the appeal for foreign support, whereas the reverse is the case for developing countries. It is only when we play into the hands of opportunists next target. Countries in Latin America have passed through violent revolutions after their independence from Spain and Portugal. They have also experienced brutal military dictatorships especially in the 20th century, and now that all of them are under democratic rule, there is no need or any of therebe it Venezuela to go book to the old path of bloodshed and war of attrition.
For any civil war to occur, it venezuala is only the people of venuzuela that will suffer the consequences and all what the United Nations will do is just to pass resolutions upon resolutions to end the conflict. Yemen is in a mess likewise Syria.
The future can still be better only if there is dialogue and trust.
Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye
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
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
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.
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