Opinion
Nigeria Will Unite If…
The phrase; unity of Nigeria, has almost become a cliché in Nigeria. Most leaders in the country at any suitable opportunity pontificate on national unity even when their commitment to its ideals remains in doubt. Our leaders claim that the unity of the nation cannot be negotiated even as their actions and inactions negate national cohesion.
During his nationwide broadcast to mark the nation’s 61st Independence Anniversary recently, President Muhammadu Buhari, for the umpteenth time, emphasised that the unity of the country is not negotiable. Many other political leaders have often also toed that path. When they want to claim to be patriotic, mostly for their own selfish gain, they call up the introductory statement of the Nigerian Constitution which reads; “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria: having firmly and solemnly resolved to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation …”.
On the contrary, they hardly highlight the fact that being a federation, there are certain elements which must be seen in the country. Chiefly among them is that there must be devolution of power. Power should be shared proportionately between the various levels of government or the component units. There must be some measures of independence and autonomy for the component units. Do we have all these features in Nigeria’s federation? The answer is no!. In our country, the devolution of power is disproportionate. We have a situation where the government at the centre has overwhelming power in comparison with the states and the local governments. The federal government has control over the natural resources in any part of the country. This has given rise to the age-long agitation for resource control ,particularly by the oil-producing areas that bear the brunt of oil exploration, from whose backyards oil, the main source of Nigeria’s economy, is derived, yet they live in squalor.
Ours is a country where a state that cannot generate enough money to cater for its needs has nothing to fear because at the end of the month, finance commissioners will converge in Abuja to share the allocation for the month. We are aware of the ongoing legal tussle between the Government of Rivers State and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) over Value-Added Tax (VAT) collection. Some states are given back the total sum of money generated from VAT, while other states are given a minute fraction of what was generated from their domain. While we wait to see how the issue pans out at the supreme court, we cannot help but wonder how there can be true autonomy and development of the various states in this manner? There is also the issue of a centralised police force where, though there are police commissioners in the various states, they take orders from the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja. The governors are called chief security officers but they are not in charge of security of their domains in the real sense of it. We have seen instances where some governors cried out that, though they are called the chief security officers of their states, they are almost helpless in the face of serious security challenges in their domains because the police commissioners do not obey them when they give orders concerning the situation; hence, the unending call for state police which will engender effective policing of the states and reduce insecurity in the country
Similarly, Section 14 (3)and(4) of the 1999 Nigeria’s constitution as amended, provides for federal character, a principle that was introduced to engender a feeling of inclusiveness, such that all the people that make up the country will have the feeling that they are part of the country. It states: “The composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”
Incidentally, today, we see the opposite of this constitutional provision playing out in the country. People from certain ethnic groups are seen at the helm of affairs of government agencies, parastatals and all that. All the key security, intelligence and defence officers and all the three arms of government in this country, are headed by citizens of northern extraction who are also of the same religion. (with the recent resignation of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, a southerner now occupies the position in acting capacity) Some ethnic groups continue to be in power while other groups, particularly the minority groups, are hardly considered. Despite regular complaints from leaders of other regions in the complex diversity, the president has failed to defuse tension arising from the negative perception that our leader is overtly promoting sectionalism. I recall the coordinator of the Southern and Middle Belt Forum (SMBF) and immediate past President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, expressing shock and disappointment at President Buhari’s exclusion of Igbos in the appointment of the current Service Chiefs.
Some other minority ethnic groups have equally complained of being swallowed up by the three major ethnic groups in the country – Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba in many affairs of the nation. With the exception of former President Goodluck Jonathan through an act of fate, the position for the president of the country had rotated among the three major groups, they claim. As the 2023 general elections draw near, all manner of arguments are being put up by people from the northern part of the country, a region which who has been in power in the past seven years in defence of another northern president come 2023. So, in as much as one agrees that there are enormous benefits in Nigeria remaining as a united entity, it goes without saying that in view of the challenges and some structural problems associated with our federation, some of which have been highlighted, which is responsible for the endless calls for devolution of power, restructuring, resource control, state police, division of the country and many others, it is imperative that people from various parts of the country should come together and negotiate how to stay and move on together as one country.
We can remain a united and one indivisible nation but there is an urgent need to renegotiate the terms of the unity, so as to make every group feel more secure in the union. Renegotiating the terms of existence will bring more development to the country and solidify its unity. Many other countries like the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union and others toed and continue to toe that path and there is no doubt that Nigeria will be better if we emulate these countries.
It is high time our leaders, both at the federal, state and local government levels worked their talk. The problem with the unity of Nigeria does not lie with the citizens because several instances are there to prove that the citizens love themselves. A typical example is an accident scene, when it happens, People keep all tribal or religious sentiment aside in order to save lives. The major impediment to the nation’s unity is the leaders who due to their selfish gains do not want the country to move forward. The nation cannot forge ahead with growing complaints of marginalisation, suppression, intimidation, distrust among various ethnic groups.
The truth is that Nigeria stands to benefit a lot from a negotiated term of existence as an entity which hopefully will make room for the much-canvassed restructuring of the country and devolution of power, and a practical federal structure where all tiers of government will work as they ought to. Real autonomy of the states will definitely engender growth and competition among the states. The president and other leaders of the country should therefore, prove that their constant preaching of Nigeria’s unity is not a mere lip service by ensuring that the negotiation is not further delayed.
Presidential and governorship flag-bearers of various political parties in the forthcoming general elections should also consider the nation’s unity in picking their running mates. Muslim/Muslim or Christian/Christian tickets will certainly not bring the much-needed unity and peace in the country.
By: Calista Ezeaku
Opinion
Is Dialogue The Answer?
If there is one person who has been consistent on the call for the
dialogue as a way of ending banditry in Nigeria, it is Sheikh Ahmad Gumi. The Kaduna-based Muslim cleric had during the government of Muhammadu Buhari, advocated for dialogue arguing that it will lead to the resolution of grievances, addressing root causes of banditry such as poverty, marginalisation, and lack of opportunities in affected communities and that by engaging in dialogue, it may be possible to persuade some bandits to lay down their arms, reintegrate into society, and pursue lawful means of livelihood. The cleric who claimed he had been voluntarily visiting the bandits in different locations across the northern part of the country, as his own contribution to solving the insecurity problem in the country, canvassed intensively for amnesty for the criminal Fulani herdsmen.
He called for dialogue, rehabilitation of the herders for there to be peace in the country. According to him, the herders are aggrieved by the way they are being treated by the government and other members of the Nigerian society; hence they resorted to banditry as a way of fighting the government. Making a case for the bandits he said: “They have genuine complaints. They feel oppressed by the government and the people in the society. They don’t have uniformed leadership, they don’t have lawyers, they don’t have people to speak for them, and they don’t have means of explaining their grievances to the people. Many Fulanis are killed in the bushes, nobody to speak for them. They use the money they make from kidnapping to buy weapons to fight the Nigerian government.” Sheikh Gumi, who confirmed the speculations that some of the bandits are foreigners, decried the lack of amenities like water, hospitals and schools in the bushes they choose to reside.
He suggested that the bandits be incorporated into the country’s security system, that they be placed on salaries, warning that “if Nigerians do not want this type of thing, Nigerians should be ready to be kidnapped.” Apparently, Buhari did not take his advice and may be that is why kidnapping has not abated in the country. Early in the week the respected cleric offered identical guidance to President Bola Tinubu, saying he should not repeat the mistake made by Buhari who refused to dialogue with bandits. He volunteered to negotiate with the bandits who abducted about 287 schoolchildren from Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA Primary Schools in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State last week. Armed gangs have been terrorising the North-central, North-West and some other parts of the country for many years. Records have it that there were 18 abduction events targeting students across northern Nigeria between January 2018 and April 2021.
According to the Wisconsin-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), one of the world’s most reliable conflict data aggregators, bandits killed more than 2,600 civilians in 2021, an increase of over 250% from 2020. Records have it that between December 2020 and August 2021, more than 1,000 students and school staff were abducted. Within the next six months, as many as 343 people were killed, while 830 others were abducted by bandits between July and September 2021 in Kaduna state alone. The latest kidnapping incident at Chikun took place barely 24 hours after insurgents abducted 200 internally displaced women in Ngala Borno State, while fetching firewood in the bush. Yet someone says the president should have a round table discussion with the bandits?
For years, these criminals have been terrorising the citizens, killing them, destroying their houses, property and crops and making them homeless in their own country. The hunger and food crisis in the country currently can be traced to the bandits who have chased farmers away from their farm lands and ensured that those who dare to remain must pay taxes to them regularly. And someone is saying that the best way to stop the criminal act is to appease the criminals? The federal government once admitted that some of the bandits are non-Nigerians. Story had it that some of them are people recruited from neighbouring countries by some top Nigerian politicians to oust former President Goodluck Jonathan and claim power for the Fulani group. Even Gumi alluded to the claim that some of the bandits are not Nigerians.
How then can these non Nigerians be conscripted into our security agencies. Does it mean Nigeria is no longer a sovereign nation such that any group can build their own nation inside our nation with their own ideologies and be giving conditions for peace in the country? how can the criminals be given a part on the back after all the atrocities they committed? On the issue of being neglected and oppressed, the question is, who relegated the nomadic Fulanis to the bush? We have seen educated and enlightened people of the same ethnic origin come on air to defend their nomadic nature. Before his demise, the former Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, issued a seven-day ultimatum to herders to vacate the state’s forest reserves and that became a big issue. Many ethnic groups across the country have asked them to leave the forests to towns as their cattle rearing business causes a colossal damage to their farming business and that was seen as a threat.
On the issue of education, in 1989, the National Commission for Nomadic Education was established by Decree 41 0f 1989 (now Cap 243 LFN 1990) to provide education to the nomadic pastoralists and migrant fisher folks, with the aim of providing functional and relevant education that will facilitate integrating the nomads into the national life and equip them to make favourable contributions to the nation’s socio–economic development. How many nomads have taken advantage of that? Shouldn’t the Sheikh and his likes be educating and sensitising the nomads to get educated through this means or make moves to make the commission function optimally if there is a problem in that regard? Bad governance at various levels is a problem being faced by many Nigerians. What then happens if all aggrieved persons and groups decide to take up arms against the government? The Niger Delta militants that were granted amnesty in the past had genuine reasons for their agitation.
On the other hand, the bandits are criminal elements who deserve to be arrested and dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land if the security agencies would work in the interest of the country and its citizens instead of seeing the insecurity situation in the country as an opportunity to enrich themselves. One thinks that it is high time the authorities mustered the political will to deal with banditry in the country. It has become a pure organised crime with multi-sectoral stakeholders in our governance system. Kidnapping for money has become a high profile criminal enterprise and the government should deal with it using the instruments of the law as it deserves instead of the usual empty threats that follow most reported kidnap incidents. We are tired of hearing that the government has given matching orders to security agencies to secure the release of kidnapped victims.
Nigerians want to hear and see that those in power are patriotic enough to do the needful to stem insecurity in the country and stop the ugly trend of criminals kidnapping harmless citizens for money. Nigerian leaders know what to do to solve the insecurity problem in different parts of the country. But negotiating with criminals should be out of the question because that may legitimise their actions and encourage further criminal behavior. Dialogue may also undermine the rule of law and send the wrong message about the state’s ability to enforce security. What is even the guarantee that should there be a dialogue that the bandits will be willing to adhere to any agreements reached through that process. If Tinubu has the political will to deal with banditry, insecurity and other forms of crime in the country, let action speak louder than words.
By:
Calista Ezeaku
Opinion
Of Being Begotten
The gestural appellation, “the only begotten son of God”, which is ascribed to Jesus Christ is one of the numerous hoaxes in the literature of Judeo-Christian theology. Firstly and rather unfortunately, it places Jesus on a humanly unattainable pedestal thereby psychologically incapacitating and defeating the faithful in the spiritual quest for oneness with God (whoever or whatever He, She, They or It may be). Pedestalising Jesus beyond human reach negates the essence of his ministry; it is, therefore, counterproductive. In the history of organised religion, Horus, Dionysus, Zeus, Mithras and other messianic figures who preexisted Jesus with no less than 500 years were also known by that gestural name and more. Other commonalities in the epics of the messianic figures are: (1) mysterious birth (born of virgins), (2) born on December 25, (3) visited at birth by three star-guided wisemen, (4) survived infanticide, (5) child prodigy at twelve, (6) had twelve followers, (7) known by the same gestural names such as “Lord of Lords”, “Prince of Peace”, “Savior” etc., (8) performed wondrous works, and ((9) was killed, buried and resurrected on the third day.
The truth is that the epic of all the messianic figures is the same reenactment of the astro-theological account of the sun’s annual journey on the equinox, the Winter Solstice. It is all about sun worship, which man has indulged in from when he became conscious of his environment and began to gaze into the velvety night skies for answers to the mystery and bewilderment of his existence, His observations of the visible cosmos informed speculations and conjectures that gave birth to his beliefs. The realisation that the sun gave light and life to man, his neighbors in this animal kingdom, the trees and crops gave rise to the veneration of that most visible heavenly body, hence the worship.The spiritual truth is that every man, woman, boy and girl, irrespective of color, creed, situation and location, is at a rung of the ladder of life, which is, essentially, the spiritual process of being begotten. We are all sons and daughters of God. By consistently referring to himself as Son of Man, Jesus was explicit on this issue; he furthered it in John 14:12 when he said thus: “truly…I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do”. To appreciate the phrase “whoever believes in me”, we must understand the inferred meaning of “belief” and “me” in the context of the phrase.
The word “me” is not used in self reference; rather, it refers to his gospel, which is the spiritual template for humanity to achievement at-one-ment (atonement) with God. Regarding “belief”, it is assumed that when you believe in something you commit to it. In other words, those who commit to the spiritual template of Jesus will do exploits that will dwarf his works. Note that Jesus also rejected being called “good”, saying that “none is good but the Father” (Mark 10:18). A deadly armed robber or the more systemically devastating “pen robber” goes to church with part of his loot; keeping a holier-than-thou face, the priest lays hand on him, blesses him and prays that his source should continue to yield fruitage and the congregation of the hoodwinked thunders AMEN! He goes home believing that old things have passed away and that he is a new creature. In his knack for not taking responsibility for his actions, man has farmed out his spiritual responsibilities by touting the potency of the blood of Jesus in the foolhardy permissive philosophy of vicarious remission of sins. The reader is enjoined to incisively study (not read) Gal 6:7 and Rev 22:12 and endeavor to find a place for vicarious remission of sins.
The journey towards oneness with the Divine is arduous and it’s fraught with pitfalls and Herculean tasks; it’s like climbing a steep ladder hence some call it Ladder of Life. We are all at various rungs of the same ladder; and in that spiritual venture, our deeds, not our beliefs, determine our ascendancy, stagnation or descent on the mysterious ladder. In that process, there is no forgiveness of sins: you reap what you sow (Gal 6:7) and you are rewarded in accordance with your works, not faith or beliefs (Rev 22:12). The American philosopher, Thomas Paine (1736-1809), advocated a humanity in which the whole world would be everyone’s country and doing good is the universal religion. John Lennon imagined “a brotherhood of man where there’s nothing to kill or die for”. Santana saw “a future where children live in peace and harmony” while Sting reminds that “we share the same biology regardless of ideology”. These postulates expressed musically constitute the philosophical foundation of Humanism.
Being begotten has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the number of times you go to the Temple, Synagogue, Shrine, Church, Mosque or Chursque to worship whatever or whoever you believe in. The gospel of Jesus Christ propagated universalism. It requires a universal consciousness that transcends the primordial sentiments of ethnicity, tribalism, religious bigotry and all the natural differences and man-made fences that set man against man; it also requires disconnecting from the inordinate quest for materialism. If you ask me, I would say that I believe in God with all my heart. However, I do not believe that God has an only begotten son; that would be exclusivist, which is certainly not Godly. My take is that we ALL are at various spiritual stages of being begotten in our collective sonship of God. By saying “why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God”, Jesus brought himself down from the pedestal of humanly unachievable exploits.
Sadly, in the shallowness of our thoughts, weakness of understanding and our full freaking fanaticism, we either fail or blatantly refuse to see the collective sonship and universalism in the teachings of Jesus. Meanwhile the gospel of Jesus was essentially geared towards the realisation of Divine sonship of all in humanity. We play the ostrich by the permissive belief that Jesus died for our sins. We commit heinous crimes against humanity and ask for forgiveness. Man should liberate his mind from the ossified creeds of institutional religion, especially the permissive philosophies of Abrahamic Religions. He should brace up snd get back on track for the personal spiritual race towards oneness with his source; that is the process of being begotten. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Jason Osai is a Professor of Development Studies Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
By:
Jason Osai
Opinion
Nigeria’s Endangered Supply Chains
It is gathering like the nimbus, and it is a warning sign, enough to stir discerning stakeholders towards disarming a looming tyranny. Before now, Nigerians have been described as the most happiest people on earth. That satirical recognition came at the height of military misrule and hardships and the seeming complaisance of Nigerians during the era of General Sani Abacha. These days, corruption, insecurity, inflation and hunger, have hit new heights without parallels from the years gone by. Moreso, Nigeria is becoming an imperial state clothed in democracy, where the whim of one man virtually runs the system. The experiments of President Tinubu’s government since inception have left so much to be desired, while endangering many lifelines. Former President Mohammadu Buhari after running such experiments on Nigerians, had to apologise in one of his parting speeches, to the extent he thanked Nigerians for tolerating the hardships of his administration.
Unfortunately, at the point when Nigerians were getting ready to heave a sigh of relief from the years of Buhari, the new administration came in with destabilising reforms that unleashed greater hardships, in ways that make Buhari’s years glorious. During Buhari’s government, disposable incomes dwindled to zero for many, but this time, providing basic needs is proving a difficult task for almost every family. In less than one year of the new administration, prices of food items, petroleum products, building materials and virtually every basic need, have more than doubled, while the Naira remains devalued from about N750 per United States Dollar to over N1,600. The spate of insecurity is also dimming previous records. The recent kidnapping, in one swoop, of 280 persons at a school in Kaduna state, has relegated the Chibok Girls’ abduction saga.
Up to the present, prolonged outcries against economic hardships in Nigeria appear to be falling on deaf ears. Unresolved frustrations, hunger and a sinking hopelessness have driven many Nigerians, especially the youths, towards desperate migration, cyber frauds, drug abuse and trafficking, while some others are now resorting to outright vandalism and looting. Considering reports of rising attacks on warehouses and haulage trucks, in addition to escalating smuggling and insecurity, it appears ‘the most happy people on earth,’ driven by hunger and general frustration, are being forced-off their usual nature. Some Sundays ago, it was reported that hoodlums attacked a warehouse belonging to the Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, looting bags of rice and other items.
Trucks held in traffic in Suleja area of Niger State were attacked by some youths who stole food items from the trucks. In Ogun state, another set of miscreants attacked trucks conveying building materials, while in Kaduna a truck conveying spaghetti was also vandalised. The proverbial hungry man is getting angry, and government needs to move fast to disarm him before society plunges into unbridled tyranny. But it appears there is no clue to an immediate solution. In a knee-jerk reaction to the problems, the federal government ordered urgent distribution of stored grains, in similar moves of the Buhari era that saw billions of naira meant for poverty alleviation being diverted. The Nigerian Customs in compliance with such orders, commenced a free-for-all auction of seized food items at its Old Zonal Headquarters at Yaba, Lagos state, leading to a stampede that claimed seven lives, and suspension of the exercise.
That notwithstanding, stranded Nigerians still await the commencement of distribution of promised grains from federal reserves. However government needs to be more circumspect in planning the exercise as almost everyone is hungry, and criminal tendency is driving many into lawlessness. For millions of Nigerians, the billions of Naira reportedly spent on free cash transfers under President Buhari remain doubtful, as they did not receive a dime of it, nor know any who did. For such persons government’s budgets for largess have become suspicious, and perceived as means of diversion of the collective resource. Many civil society organisations continue to call for greater transparency in such endeavours, while preferring relief expenditures that bear directly on the downtrodden.
While the sharing of palliatives should be a short-term measure as immediate relief, government needs to take far-reaching steps to ensure not just food security, but to resuscitate the entire economy. Government’s plan to import 2,000 agricultural tractors every year for the next five years, is a step in the right direction. However, without solving insecurity, agriculture remains destabilised, while porous borders, the inexorable depreciation of the naira and exorbitant haulage costs across north to south of Nigeria, continue to handicap in-country distribution.
There may be other factors, though. The sudden rise in terrorists attacks in the Borno axis following increased customs surveillance on smuggling activities, indicates there might be a correlation between insurgency and smuggling. Is there a connection between banditry and food drives outward the Nigerian borders? Meanwhile, some weeks ago the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) threatened to shutdown due to the high cost of fuel, but suspended action after talks with government. This time, they are threatening that vandalism is adding to their plights. According to the National President of NARTO, Yusuf Othman, “if such kind of attacks continue, what will happen is that transporters will stop carrying food items and this will lead to food scarcity across the country.”
Also, manufacturers across the country are now on red alert as hoodlums target several company warehouses and transport trucks, a situation that is making the organised private sector to contemplate shutting down industries across the country. To whose benefits or disadvantages would all these result? While these attacks are criminal in nature and should be entirely condemned, government should urgently address the underlying economic hardships that Nigerians currently face in order not to give criminals excuses to plunge the nation into anarchy. It is also pertinent to remind Nigerians that hard times like these call for patience and greater commitment towards genuine economic emancipation, rather than collapsing the entire system. No amount of disappointment on the Nigerian state is enough to warrant the break down of law and order, for anarchy spares no one.
Attacking innocent manufacturers, warehouses and haulage trucks would collapse our fragile economy and make things worse. As Mr Othman puts it, “It can threaten the distribution of food because if you load (goods) and somebody is going to stop you on the road to loot the goods, why will you continue to load?”
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