Jibrin: The insider’s beef

By Leo Sobechi   |   31 July 2016   |   5:16 am

Abdulmumuni Jibrin

At a time Nigerians thought the new song in town should be ‘good bye yesterday, welcome today’, political actors keep spoiling the song and reminding of the bad side of yesterday. Malam Abdulmumin Jibrin has elected himself as the nation’s new song bird. So far, his songs have smooth cadence, but it has greater tinge of the somber texture of a cry of pain. If he was to sing in a low tone or ‘C’ minor, the songs would have come off as classical. But although his name conveys the idea of a man given to constant murmuring, Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin has in the past several days been wailing with the pain and grief of an insider’s beef.
If life begins at forty, Jibrin has just one month and nine days to begin his life as an adult, having been born on September 9, 1976. But it happens that part of his preparations for his 40th birthday should include his displacement from the influential and juicy House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation. It pains to recall how Judas Iscariot superintended over a similar committee in the Bible times. The second term lawmaker from Kano is sounding like he does not want to swim alone in infamy or sink alone into the septic tank of legislative sleaze.
But instead of simulating Judas, Jibrin has chosen to remind Nigerians of the trouble that has afflicted the National Assembly since 1999.And so the story opens, casting the minds of Nigerians back to the days when a handsome young man from Kano, Salisu Buhari, mounted the saddle as the Speaker of the fourth republic House of Representatives. He was to crash shortly after from that lofty position by the vice of juggling of words, not figures as in the present instance, in some supporting documents for his ascension to the speaker’s chair.

Jibrin is also reminding traumatized citizens of the ascension and descent of the female Speaker of the Green Chamber, Hon. Patricia Etteh, who was accused of voting huge sums of money to renovate her official residence. Above all, in Jibrin and his turbulent song, those who could, would remember the sad denouement of another intelligent Kano representative; (dis)Hon. Farouk Lawan, who decided to deck his fula (native cap) with US dollars, being proceeds of illicit legislative transaction. They have a picture or video for that.
For a change of style, Abdulmumin Jibrin is cutting the image of a squealer or a mischief maker. He may not end up as the first citizen of the house of shame, but by the nature of his confessions, he is turning out as the first Speaker of the House of infamy. The accusations against Jibrin are as gory as his allegations against his accusers. Whether it is a case of Ali Baba and the forty thieves or corruption fighting back, from the look of things, nothing seems to have changed in the Green Chamber!
Heeding the scriptural saying that “let his office another take”, the House of Representatives did not waste time to replace Jibrin with another APC lawmaker from Kano, Mustapha Bala. But the fallen Rep has continued to sing, swearing that the change would go round to swallow four other prominent members.
What detracts from the credibility of ‘Jibrinleaks’, is the fact that he started his songs of pain after he was removed from the exalted chair of Appropriation committee. Had he began his whistle blowing at the time the budget padding imbroglio broke, he would have translated into an immediate hero of the anti-corruption he strenuously desires to become.
Nonetheless, grumbling about the possibility of bearing the burden of guilt and shame alone, Jibrin forgot that he was at the centre of the controversies that trailed the non passage of the 2016 budget. Whether he volunteered his exit from the Appropriation Committee or he was kicked out for his ignoble roles, Jibrin’s words are being drowned by those of his colleagues in the Green Chamber of the thoroughly harassed 8th NASS.
The legislators claim that Malam Jibrin was relieved of his post when they discovered his Jekyll and Hyde approach to the discussions on the budget document. They added that the young lawmaker from Kiru in Kano State behaved like a superman and fashioned the final copy of the appropriation bill to accommodate more than N40b for projects meant for his Kiru/Bebeji constituency.
Although Jibrin enjoyed a star status in the lower house due to his visible contributions to the electoral victory of Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Speaker, he seem not to forget the experience of a fellow Kano lawmaker that was chased by irate youth for failing to fulfill his electioneering promises. Jibrin must have therefore decided to help himself, and when the cat was let out of the bag, his song changed to ‘Speechless’.

Against his current grandstanding and appealing to hominem, it would be recalled that when the NASS had a spat with the presidency over the issue of padding of the budget figures and excision of certain capital projects, Jibrin was one of the voices that rose in condemnation of the presidency, accusing it of irresponsibility. Yet, while he served as the defender-in-chief of NASS, Jibrin’s actions did not receive the wholehearted endorsement of some of his colleagues, who saw his hand in the omissions (and commissions) on the budget. But being the darling of the Speaker, the voices of dissent against his continued occupancy of the committee chair, were doused.
It was therefore a bewildered nation that was inundated with stories from Jibrin about how four principal officers of the Green Chamber, including his former buddy, Dogara; cornered a Lion share of N60b worth of projects for their respective constituencies. Money is at the root of these evil spins and henceforth, Nigerians are beginning to see that whenever legislators start a fight in the chamber money must be at the centre of it.
Much like a rehash of the Patricia Ette episode, Jibrin added that the Big Four were diverting huge sums of money to themselves under the false subhead of paying for their guest houses and official quarters.
Now, at a time most Nigerian families are finding it very difficult to put food on their tables, they are being regaled with tales of sleaze and manipulation in high places. Jibrin swears that it was his personal decision to resign from the chairmanship of the appropriation committee to free himself from Speaker Dogara’s “mischief and constant blackmail”, but circumstantial evidence renders his claim void.
It would be interesting to know how Jibrin would interpret his claim that his offence was that he tried to assert his independence and insisting that corrupt members should be exposed, when he attains the age of 40.
The lawmaker said: “The body of the principal officers was not comfortable with my independent disposition and my refusal to cover up their decision to allocate to themselves N40b out of the N100b allocated to the entire National Assembly. Four of them met and took the decision, in addition to billions of wasteful projects running into over N20b they allocated to their constituencies. My failure to admit into the budget almost N30b personal requests from Mr. Speaker and the three other principal officers also became an issue.”
Would it not have made better sense if Jibrin had at the point of refusal to insert the N30b or cover the N40b allocation to Dogara and company, resigned and addressed the press on the reason of his exit? Was Jibrin afraid of rocking the boat so as to retain chairmanship of the appropriation committee and continue to sustain the umbilical cord of corrupt enrichment?

Jibrin would have become a good whistle blower if only he recognized that time is of essence when criminal intentions are unmasked. But mixing ignotium and hominem, he veered off the track in the style of pot calling kettle black. Jibrin’s words lose credibility when paired against those of the Chairman of House Committee on public communication, Abdulrazak Namdas. Describing Jibrin’s vituperations as mere afterthought, Namdas added that the point remains that Jibrin was not removed for his opposition to immunity for lawmakers.
When the House of Representatives open its books to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as the members have hinted, Nigerian would be further entertained. Or would EFCC be able to read sections 4, 59 and 80(4) of the constitution, which Namdas cites as basis for zonal and constituency intervention projects intended to address imbalance in federal allocation of projects?

Atiku: Still the last man standing

By Leo Sobechi   |   05 June 2016   |   2:24 am

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar

Tracing his political odyssey in the Nigeria project, the fourth republic vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, could be described as the last politician standing. Perhaps, given his travails, Atiku comes across as a disappointed politician. Although he first knew sadness and loneliness when his doting father died, his belief in the Fulani aphorism, Tiddo Yo Daddo (Endurance is Success), helped to make fortune smile on him.
In Atiku’s life journey, his path had always crossed with those that later had influence on Nigeria’s affairs. For instance, by his account, when he served as a clerk in Ganye Native Authority, his boss, Adamu Ciroma, who later became minister, Central Bank governor; was then the District Officer.
When he served in the Customs, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, became head of state after the overthrow of the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari. The policies of the junta indirectly led to Atiku’s forced retirement from Nigeria Customs. This was because after the federal military government changed the national currency notes, it set a time for old notes to be exchanged for the new ones.

Consequently, all government agencies, especially those manning Nigeria’s borders, sea and air ports, were charged to screen all bags and containers entering the country to prevent the smuggling in of old Naira notes into the country.
But when a prominent traditional ruler from the northern part of the country who was returning to the country from Saudi Arabia landed in Murtala Mohammed International Airport with many bags, customs officers at the airport were barred from scrutinizing the contents. This prompted a leading national newspaper to scream the selective enforcement with a front page banner: “Passenger with 53 suitcases leaves airport unchecked”.
As the report not only scandalized the military government, an administrative panel of inquiry was set up in a bid to perform ‘magic’ in the search for why the proper things were not done at the Airport, regarding the returnee traditional ruler. It was in the midst of that embarrassment that Atiku, chose to leave the Customs to escape the pressures on him to tell Nigerians a sweet lie to cover the preferential treatment given to the Saudi returnee.
When he left the Customs and joined active politics, he found himself in the Shehu Yar’Adua’s political grouping, known as Peoples Front of Nigeria (PFN). In their statement of mission, PFN said they were in politics to build bridges across the dividing rivers of ethnicity, religion and regions, as well as, perfecting a pattern of partisan discipline and internal democracy.
Sadly for Atiku, at the time of registering political parties, the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, rejected PFN and other 12 such associations on the grounds that most of the political association had in their folds, old and discredited politicians, which the military does not want in political power any more.
Again, when Babangida decreed two political parties into existence, the PFN gravitated towards the Social Democratic Party (SDP) instead of the National Republican Congress (NRC). Yet, as he traveled to Adamawa to contest the governorship election in his home state, a stout political fight between the former Assistant Director of Customs and former lecturer in the department of political science from the University of Jos, Professor Bala Takaya arose. Both candidates were disqualified following Takaya’s protests against the declaration of Atiku as the winner of the peaceful primary election. It was not a funny development for the new entrant to politics.
But remembering that Tiddo Yo Daddo, Atiku remained in the game and when Yar’Adua was disqualified alongside other aspirants, from further involvement in the presidential contest, the PFN structure enlisted Atiku into the presidential race. The group was later to strike political bargain with the late business mogul and philanthropist, Chief MKO Abiola, who many believed the military reserved for the last, after dribbling other ambitious presidential aspirants.
To Atiku’s chagrin, Abiola picked Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, who came second at the Jos convention, leaving out Atiku who had stepped down for Abiola in line with the political understanding. Even when he was left in the lurch, Atiku and the PFN group worked for Abiola and the SDP in the presidential election, only for the eventual victory to be truncated at the point of resolution.
Atiku was not left alone as the new military junta continued to hound him for his loyalty to Yar’Adua and the PFN. He was forced to flee into exile when the condition became intolerable for opponents of military rule, only to return when the ban on politics was lifted.
PFN having been transformed into Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the group joined with others to found the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Atiku, who had been recognized by his people as Turaki Adamawa, came home to re-contest the governorship. Though he won, he was invited to Abuja to pair with a former military head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo, on the presidential ticket.
And having got an inch closer to the presidency which was his dream his presence helped to make the quasi-democratic fourth republic less militaristic. There were flashes of improvement within the first term of the administration, especially in the privatisation of the communication sector and consolidation of the banking sector.

But there was a sudden relapse in the presidential arrangement as the president and vice president developed cat and mouse tendencies. It happened that as the then President Olusegun Obasanjo craved a longer term, and other younger Turks were bent on stonewalling him.
While most state governors in the PDP mobilized for Atiku to contest the presidency against his principal, the man from Jada prevaricated. And seeing the possibility of being routed, ObJ temporarily acquiesced.
When victory smiled their way, Atiku was to learn that, even in a democratic setting, old soldiers never get tired of battles. The loss of amity between president and his vice became a source of constant media celebration and national frustration. Matters came to its troubling head when the president tried to sack the vice president.
Atiku proved his mettle and stood his ground and refused to be crushed. In the fight with Obasanjo, Atiku’s good human relations put him on a good stead to survive where ordinary mortal would have drowned.
Turaki does not waste time to show how sad he is that Nigeria does not confer equal opportunities for the citizens to display unequal talents. Moreover, he is yet to bring his wealth of experience and knowledge into service of the people at the topmost level. Top of all that, he has the knack of telling it as it is.
Shortly after he delivered a public lecture at the London School of Economics, some members of the British audience inundated their Nigerian friends with questions, wondering whether Atiku actually contested the presidential primary with President Buhari.
Atiku does not fail to convince his audience of his deep knowledge of issues and analytical mind. Hearing him speak does not leave anyone in doubt about his managerial accomplishment. His is engaging, but could be unnerving with the frankness of his conclusions.
At the launch of a book last week in Abuja, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, came alive to most Nigerians as a champion of democracy and sound political thinking. He spoke with passion, worrying about the loss of momentum of real politicians. The title of the book, which public presentation he was invited to chair, was much like a bait or ambush on the Turaki of Adamawa.
“When I was invited to chair this occasion, I immediately understood that the title of the book is a metaphor for the legitimate feelings of marginalization by diverse segments of Nigerians that cut across the country.” That was how Atiku began his opening remarks.
Speaking with magisterial audacity, he noted that Nigeria was in urgent need of restructuring, stressing that “our current structure and the practices it has encouraged have been a major impediment to the economic and political development of our country.”
Nigerians literarily came alive based on the aptness of Atiku’s frank assertions. But coming barely days after President Buhari declared lack of interest in the famous confab report, the man from Jada seemed to have woken up similar animosities that had welled up in many minds and geo-centres.
Having spoken his mind, it is left to be seen how that others would interpret that public ventilation on issues that touch on the socio-economic foundation of the country. No doubt, the popular sentiments would be that Atiku has signaled the commencement of another presidential race for the 2019 presidential election.

The lines have been drawn between pretenders and political do-gooders, who suddenly went silent about the foundational problems bedeviling the Nigeria project. Atiku has therefore become a rallying voice of the apostles of true federalism that fell asleep at the birth of a new regime.
The man from Jada has opened his mouth to proclaim the confab report as a possible new testament for Nigeria’s renewal, thereby placing himself as the rallying point for concerned Nigerians, across the six geopolitical zones. His insistence that the federal government is too big and that calling for a change of the situation is patriotic, is likely to bring him some flak.
From the third republic up until now, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has always been thrown up by situation and circumstances to stand for the truth. With his latest opinion on the state of the nation, there is every likelihood that he is indeed, the last civilian politician standing for the peace, common good and prosperity of the country.

 

Father Mbaka: Petulant Priest Or Foul Prophet

By Leo Sobechi   |   10 January 2016   |   2:50 am

His full name is Camillus Ejikemeuwa Mbaka. He is an ordained reverend father and therefore, a priest of the Catholic faith. What is known is that he is an only son of a widow, who defied culture and tradition to profess for the priestly vocation with its celibate conditionality. But what is not known is what alternate vocation the young man would have pursued if his ambition for priesthood had not clicked.
Father Mbaka, as he came to be known; pursued his priestly office with zeal. He founded the Adoration Ministry in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria, first as a forum to reach out to the youth with the gospel message, and as a means to revive the Catholic Church that was being depleted by the Pentecostal persuasion.
From a handful of worshippers at the Government Technical College (GTC) football field along Abakaliki Road Enugu, the weekly (Friday nights) “adoration of the Holy Eucharist” grew into hundreds and thousands. Young people and those with flailing faith thronged the vigils to sing, clap, dance and listen to the fiery homilies of the young priest. As father presided over the weekly adoration meetings, he was equally prosecuting the development of the Christ the King Parish of the Government Reservation Area (GRA), where he doubles as the parish priest.
But after establishing the Adoration Ministry Enugu almost beyond measures, Father Mbaka started dinning with kings, queens and princes of commerce, industry and politics. And so, unlike other young reverend fathers of his pedigree that usually got transferred from one parish to another in strict catholic administration, Mbaka was allowed to get entrenched. He was for the greater part of his pastoral ministry in CKC, a thorn in the flesh of the political leaders of the day. Indeed Mbaka became renowned based on his weekly tirades against the former governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. By siding with the civil servants that were victims of the State Government’s downsizing of the labour force, AMEN (Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria) became a sort of refuge for disengaged staff that thronged the Friday vigils to frustration. When the priest perceived that his messages of hate were well received by the masses, he fired on.  The parish grew and with the increase in number, revenue surged!
It is not impossible that with the prodigious remittances to the Enugu Diocese, the Bishop, perhaps out of fear that not being an indigene of Enugu and given the schisms that preceded his Bishopric; started seeing Mbaka as an untouchable. What was more, most politicians began to court the priest because of the number of faithful that thronged his services, especially the Friday night vigils. As tension rose in the buildup to the 2003 governorship election, Father Mbaka gravitated towards one of the candidates, Ugo Agballah, who on account of his resignation from the cabinet of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, became the rallying point of opposition in the state. Irked by the nature of hate messages being spewed by the reverend father against the government of the day, the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Diocese, Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, on a chance meeting with the Adoration pastor, urged him to remember Christ’s injunction on Christians to pray for leaders.
Either on account of the number of political heavyweights that visited CKC Parish and Adoration meetings or the sprawling business empire, which he controls, ranging from printing, food processing and manufacturing, Father Mbaka sort of transformed into a mini-Bishop and prince of Enugu. He rode on the naivety and gullibility of his impoverished followers to even greater heights. Father Mbaka’s influence expanded exponentially, so much so that in 2007, he sponsored a governorship candidate on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform. It was either that his mission was not backed up by God or he did not back up his candidate with sufficient prayers, the governorship candidate did not make it. Despite the level of rigging that characterised the election, it was obvious from the outcome that most voters were divided in their preference for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sullivan Chime and his kinsman, Agballah of the Accord Party!
No doubt, Mbaka must have been touched by the disappointing outing. He must have discovered also that the multitudes that throng Adoration in search of beatitude and catharsis could have a mind of their own when it came to casting of votes. He tried to regain his voice when Dr. Okwy Nwodo was removed from office as national chairman of PDP. In 2011, Mbaka did not bother introducing any governorship candidate because he sensed that the masses were with Chime. And feeling that the political space in Enugu had become too small for him, Mbaka decided to look up, at least to influence things at the centre and 2015 became the opportune moment. APC had succeeded in mobilizing the citizens against PDP and its presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Mbaka had some issues with a commercial bank over facilities granted his firm. At a point the bank had to involve the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Accounts were sealed and there was need to have a voice from above to charm the ferocious dogs at EFCC to sleep. What seemed an auspicious opening came when the wife of candidate Jonathan, visited AMEN in the company of the Deputy President of Senate, Ike Ekweremadu. Attempt to get Mama Peace’s number flopped. Instead of madam’s phone number that of the special assistant on religious affairs was handed to father by the security aide. Father Mbaka’s anger knew no limit.
While the priest was silently grieving for the foxy display of the first lady’s aides, some stalwarts of APC visited him. The meeting was facilitated by a governorship candidate of the party in one of the Southeast states. The present Minister for Labour and Employment was to be on the delegation, but he declined at the last minute, raising concerns that “it does not take that small boy anything to start insulting anybody.” In the end, two APC chieftains, one from Southeast and South-South, met with the priest in Enugu. And what was on the evangelical menu the following Friday? What did the masses go to Adoration to hear? Father Mbaka, waxing bold in the power of information received from his APC visitors, narrated how a spiritual experiment he carried out with pigeons, convinced him that Jonathan would lose the presidential election. The rest is history, but the manner of his delivery, including the mendacity that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the naira died just because they came in contact with Jonathan, remained a stain on the father’s cassock.
Twelve months later, at another end of year adoration, Father Mbaka dropped another prophecy from God. Again the way he communicated his message from above, showed that the priest loves to touch people that are seated above. Who would want to kill an old soldier? Of course those being accused of corruption!
“Fellow Nigerians, let us wait upon God; I have a new message. I’m blessing and covering the message we are giving now in the prophetic name of Jesus. Father, speak now as your servant listens: My beloved Nigerians, those who led us from last year downwards, they have killed this country; none of them is qualified to stay in this country by now, both the president, the Senators, the House of Representatives members, the chairmen of local governments, the governors, they are wicked. It doesn’t matter the man of God they worship with; I tell you, before God and man, all of them are wicked; they hate this country, they succeeded in removing the liver, kidney and cardiovascular system of this country and handed over to President Buhari the shambles, skeletal organs of this country; a nation that is in coma.
“Nigeria, as we speak now, economically and security-wise, is in the intensive care unit; if the oxygen is removed, Nigeria will die. People of God prayed from here and there and God gave us Buhari. God has told us that Buhari is prayer answered; President Buhari is an answered prayer; whether you hate him or like him, Buhari is prayer answered. .. I am not a sycophant; but I want to tell you that so far God is happy and he who God has blessed none can curse. Many people are planning to kill Buhari; there are many plans on how to eliminate his life so that corruption will continue; so that embezzlement will continue.” That was part of the message Father Mbaka transmitted.
But coming days after the young priest visited Aso Rock; it may not be outlandish to conclude the he must have received inspiration from the reception he got at the feet of the six foot president! And watching him in a wry smile that seemed to suggest a fitting reward for his exploits of preaching defeat for an incumbent, perhaps another priest may need to be hired to pray that this priest of our time would have cause to hold a contrary view should the retired general decide to go ‘astray’. The Mbaka phenomenon has become a yearly ritual of sensational predictions that mirror the gross limitations of Nigeria as a modern state. Any upstart can scale up overnight using dubious means to become inevitable in national calculations. Perhaps Mbaka’s emulation of the Pentecostal tradition has taken a life of its own and threatening to dislodge what is known of Catholicism. it could also be time for the catholic establishment to call him to order.
While he preached in Enugu, in faraway Ughelli, a layman, in what seemed a direct message to Mbaka; was preaching to priests.  Speaking during the consecration of three Bishops by the Primate of the Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, at the Cathedral of All Saints, Ughelli, Delta State; Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, urged ministers of the gospel to “resist the temptation to seek fame, fortune, and power at all costs.” He noted that the temptation of flirting with politicians for pecuniary gains could make ordained men of God to lose their dignity as moral conscience of the society.

Hadiza: Good choice for the times

By Leo Sobechi   |   07 August 2016   |   3:49 am

Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman

Only few women have the privilege of being appointed Chief of Staff to state governors. Ifeoma Nwobodo, (Enugu 2007 to 2015) and Malama Hadiza Bala Usman, (Kaduna July 2015 to July 2016), are two such women.
Those who circulated around Samaru and Kongo campuses of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, would not need any introduction about Hadiza, because she is the daughter of a radical history professor of that university.
But majority of Nigerians would not forget the exploits and escapades of the #BringBackOurGirls grouping that celebrated the abduction of more than 200 girls from a secondary school in Chibok. If not for that opportunity, Hadiza could have been restricted to the Kaduna-Abuja axis, where she had been active in non-governmental organisation circles.

As a women libber, the search for the liberation of the kidnapped young ladies provided Hadiza the golden opportunity to canvass issues related to violence against women. It was with zeal and passionate intensity that she activated the #BBOG. Yet, her entanglement with the uproarious former opposition political platform, All Progressives Congress (APC), while the #BBOG campaign lasted, helped to shroud the abduction as a possible group conspiracy to cast the government in power in bad light.
But despite the ambivalence of her political and activist position, the young woman exemplified the power of womenfolk to pursue a cause with single-minded attention. However, with her recent appointment as the first female Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Malama Hadiza, no doubt, has stirred fresh contemplation about her activism.
Considering qualification, with a first degree in Business Administration from ABU and a postgraduate from Leeds, United Kingdom, Hadiza cannot be dismissed as an illiterate. And having worked as an Enterprise Officer, (a nation of titles!) at the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), as well as being Special Assistant to the FCT minister on project implementation, the new NPA MD cannot be said to be lacking in requisite experience and administrative exposure.
While she worked at BPE and FCT, Governor Nasir El Rufai, who appointed her Chief of Staff, Kaduna State Government House, was then heading the institutions. Could she, therefore, be said to be El Rufai’s handbag? Furthermore, is it possible that #BBOG was actually the brainchild of El Rufai, who is reputed to be good in strategic development? And being an issue better championed by the womenfolk, did Hadiza’s benefactor select her to push forward the former director of World Bank, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, to mask the political motives and make huge capital gains from a despicable breach of national security, thus eliciting global outrage and sympathy?
Though Hadiza’s rise to stardom and national limelight underscores the fact that behind every successful woman is a propelling male figure, her recent appointment elicits further reflection. What happened before her eventual selection was like a script out of some Mafiosi plot.
Shortly after the new administration came on board, President Buhari continued the onslaught against the immediate past administration by reversing the appointment of Sanusi Ado Bayero and reinstating the former occupant, Habibu Abdullahi at the NPA.
Readers would recall how the Kano Emirate handled the selection of Ado Bayero’s successor, particularly the politics, rather than the trado-cultural imperatives. The last minute appointment of the young Bayero as MD NPA, after Abdullahi was sacked was taken as propitiation for his loss in the politics of Emirship tussle that mirrored the PDP versus APC electoral combat.
In fairness to the new administration, a transition committee, headed by octogenarian Ahmed Joda, had recommended to President Buhari to review all rushed appointments by former President Jonathan at the tail end of his tenure. The Joda panel had also underscored the fact that, if Buhari wished to succeed, he should effect the reversed appointments not later than three months. It added that while upturning Jonathan’s appointments in the last nine months of his presidency, President Buhari should ensure that strategic agencies demanding professional leadership were made on merit.
Merit? There is no way to equate Mrs. Hadiza’s degrees with a NEPA bill. However, the fact that the Transportation minister, who recommended her for the appointment, premised his decision on the need to strike geopolitical balance, suggests otherwise.

Former Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, Rotimi Amaechi, having discovered that two chief executives of the foremost parastatals under his ministry, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) are from the South, was said to have desired to “have an equitable distribution of appointments under his ministry.” But the discovery that President Buhari promptly considered Amaechi’s recommendation for the simple reason that he enjoyed a robust relationship with the late Professor Bala Usman, Hadiza’s father, plays up a new aspect to the appoint of the #BBOG campaigner.
There is a great wall separating merit from cronyism. Malama Hadiza, it would be recalled, also served as the administrative secretary of the Buhari presidential campaign organisation, member secretary of APC elections planning committee and member of APC strategy committee. She may have shown exceptional performance in those offices, but there is no record that the NPA MD had any hands-on experience in the management of such intricate sector as the Nigeria Ports Authority.
Therefore, it is either that Hadiza was hired to bridge the gap in women versus male ratio in the Buhari administration or to bring back investors who invested heavily in the 2015 hate-filled and divisive presidential election, but who now feels shortchanged.
The Transportation minister may have settled for a loyal member of the revolution rather than a capable hand to man the NPA. Being a system man, the minister knows that 2019 is not too far away, especially that election in Nigeria cost money. Above all, there may also have been the consideration that a man in such a sensitive and highly juicy appointment may not render returns honestly or maintain absolute loyalty.
In the light of the foregoing, Hadiza should be judged by the degree of her loyalty to the system, particularly in getting the grounds ready for the next campaign in 2019. President Buhari, the General Officer Commanding the fight against corruption may not know the details of how his presidential campaigns were funded. But Hadiza’s godfathers know that unlike PMB, they have a future political life to live.
Hadiza may have been favoured, not so much out of her shining credentials or understanding of the intricacies of managing Nigeria’s Ports. She must have been found worthy in character and carriage to bring back the investments expended in the last presidential election. NPA being a strategic cash cow, the narrative of engaging only trusted and loyal allies among the ‘97 per centers’ found a good expression in the 40-year-old mother of two from Kaduna State or is it Katsina? Never mind.
Speaking during the handing over ceremony at the NPA, the new MD noted that “our ports are a critical artery of the economy, and it is our duty to ensure that the operators deliver port services at the standards that our businesses deserve in the 21st century in supporting President Buhari’s administration agenda of economic diversification …
“As team leader, I have come to add my best efforts to yours, so that we can collectively achieve results for our industry. We must work as a team, pursuing common goals with professionalism and diligence. We shall prioritise investment in primary equipment and infrastructure and services committed to by NPA in the concession agreements to hasten clearance of imports and exports from the ports.”
With Retired Colonel Hameed Ali as Comptroller General of Customs, Hadiza must have brought a necessary diversity by serving the need for gender mainstreaming in decision making process of critical sectors of the federation. But, given the fact that like the ministry of Agriculture that has always been ceded to citizens from the north, the Transportation minister may have read the president’s body language effectively by nominating somebody he knows and can connect to easily.
But in the days to come, Malama would find that port management is not mission in grammar or activist genuflection. She has given promise of her preparedness to listen and take advice. The NPA MD would also discover for herself, how tricky it is to serve two masters. Would she listen to the minister more than the entrenched and experienced interests in the NPA?

When it comes to contract awards and other avenues for patronage, where would her greater allegiance lay, with the minister or the northern interest? NPA being the natural forte of riverine areas, Hadiza would learn that bridging the gap and bringing back investments, like swimming in high flowing streams, have grave consequences. Whether Hadiza’s appointment was a clever decoy to divert attention from the #BBOG or a prodigious way to reward her for job well done in championing the cause of the missing Chibok girls would be seen from how far she swims against the shark-infested corporate politics at the Nigeria Port Authority.
One question she would answer as she serves her term is: was the search #BBOG to gain attention and social mobility or serve the genuine need for empathic attention to the missing girls? And stuck somewhere in Apapa, Lagos, Malama Hadiza would no longer find occasion to participate in the sit outs at Abuja. Her activism is now of a different sort.

Yahaya Bello: Jejune Politics Of A Head Boy by Leo Sobechi

leo sobechi

May 13, 2016

Yahaya Bello: Jejune Politics Of A Head Boy by Leo Sobechi

 

Perhaps the best way to identify Alhaji Yahaya Bello to any resident of Okene, Lokoja or indeed, Kogi State is to ask of Fair Plus. That was before January 27, 2016. On that date, Bello’s name and fortune changed: He became the Governor of Kogi State.

By June 18, the Kogi State helmsman would be 41. That does not make him the youngest governor in the present dispensation. But there is no governor in the country presently that can boast of Bello’s experience in politics and plodding. Bello has been in office for a mere three months, yet he has dominated public discourse as if he had been in office for a long time.

Though Alhaji Bello had an early life leadership experience of serving as class prefect and school head boy in his local primary school at Agassa, his campaign to be governor began and stalled as an aspirant. He lost the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) governorship primary to former Governor Abubakar Audu.

He was also known to have traded in stocks, having trained as an accountant and business administrator. However, if Governor Bello ever trained as a gambler, it is not known. But his voyage in politics, especially in the politics of Kogi State reads like the rise and ramble of a gambler.

Less stress had been laid on the allegation that shortly after losing the APC governorship ticket to the more popular Audu, Bello experimented with ideas of defecting to the Social Democratic Party(SDP), and working for the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), against the electoral success of Audu.

However, not long after the unthinkable happened and Audu died midway to breasting tape in the November 21 governorship race, Bello’s name popped up like the cork of champagne. And with that sudden re-emergence on the Kogi gubernatorial contest and political arena, the bubbles of troubles have never ceased.

Even as questions were being asked as to who or what killed Prince Audu at the threshold of victory, nobody expected Bello to volunteer an answer. Yet, when the argument came up as to who should inherit the votes already garnered by Audu before his decease, Bello pointed in the direction of APC leaders. He argued that having been warehoused from the governorship primary, the window of substitution opened by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami and the Independent National Electoral Commission; favoured him.

Like mysterious player, Bello continued to mesmerize the system and Kogi State, such that in the supplementary election of December 5, 2015; Fair Plus became the APC flag-bearer, replacing the dead Audu and supplanting Audu’s running mate.

Not that alone, Bello went into history as the first ‘governorship’ candidate to contest election in Nigeria without a running mate. This was partly because by the time election was announced, those who threw him up as the custodian of a dead man’s votes failed to provide him with a running mate and the deceased flag-bearer’s running mate, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, refused to play second fiddle to “a stranger” to the governorship ticket.

However, tending to prove that all is fair in love and war, including electoral battles; Fair Plus went ahead and ‘won’ the election ‘single-handedly’. From there, he went to other victories: Alhaji Yahaya Bello was sworn into office without a deputy on January 27, 2016. And the second phase began.

Having settled down to carryout his functions, the Kogi governor filled the vacant position of deputy. But it was in the process of filling that critical constitutional void that Bello set off billows of fair and foul fire.

In the House of Assembly, the argument began that it was politically incorrect to have the governor and Speaker, Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, hail from the same constituency. Forgetting that no two wrongs can make a right, the Kogi lawmakers that wanted to humour Bello, never cared to ask themselves whether the governor and the speaker belonged to the same political platform. Or even if the two belonged to different political parties, whether Bello’s emergence followed a happenstance or the dictate of man.

As finger-pointing took over, Governor Bello denied having a hand in the power play in the House of Assembly. Then as five out of the 25-member legislature sacked the speaker, fifteen lawmakers disclosed that the governor was adopting the Ostrich manifesto, stressing that Fair Plus has given unfair advantage to the five to foul the legislative order and rules.

It was evident that either Bello was mistaking the position of governor for that of a school prefect or that he was equating the functions of a speaker with that of a head boy. And determined to whip up sentiments, the governor remembered his days in stock trade and took turns playing the Bull at one time and the Bear at another.

Having figured out that the game of number was tilted against him by virtue of the fact that his party parades 10 as opposed to 15 PDP members of the House of Assembly, he manipulates the power of incumbency and the use of carrot. If the situation in Kogi could be likened to a game of chess, Fair Plus is glad to be the Pope. He is at the centre of the game.

In the attempt by the National Assembly to instill legislative sanity into the Kogi State House of Assembly, the Governor remembers that Hon. Faleke, is still interested in the dead man’s votes he inherited. Prepared to call the bluff of Faleke’s colleagues, Bello went for the federal might and procured the AGF, Abubakar Malami SAN; to make another pronouncement, similar to the former advisory to INEC that provided the testament for inheritance.

Waving the correspondence of the AGF, Bello succeeded in getting a reprieve to have his budget passed by nine out of 25 and the Police looked askance.

As a trained accountant, it is expected of the Kogi State governor to know that statements of account do not lie unless the accountant decides to fiddle with the figures. Even as governor Fair Plus should know that five is less than fifteen. But the simultaneous equation in Kogi State has refused to balance mainly because the Headboy insists on interfering with the processes.

A fortnight ago, the Kogi State chapter of APC passed a vote of no confidence on the governor. Part of the party’s grouse with Bello is his penchant for taking decisions without the input of the party leaders. They also accuse the Prefect of robbing APC to pay PDP through his appointments.

The young Alhaji has shot back to his party men, telling them that as governor, the constitution empowers him to appoint anybody from any party. What Governor Bello knows that his APC colleagues do not seem to grasp is that the Fair Plus wishes to continue his governorship odyssey from where it stalled at the point of APC primary election.

Despite being subsumed by the clatter from the House of Assembly, NASS and the APC, the Kogi Sate Governorship Election Petition Tribunal is still sitting in Abuja. Fair Plus believes that even if his APC colleagues forsake him, he could find solace from PDP, especially if the Tribunal revisits the inconclusive scenario that sparked off the whole scenario.

There is no doubt that from headboy, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has grown in stature to a political blacksmith that has also become adept at releasing fair and foul smokes. If to the pure all things are pure, to the impure all things would also be impure. A lot of arbitrarythings have been given effect in Kogi State as such the current upsurge in arbitrariness could either tame the foul smoke billowing from the place or further confound it. With FairPlus at the centre of it all, it would be fair if at the end, democracy is not fouled.

Inbox	x
Jeff Nkwocha <jeffnkwocha@gmail.com>	11:58 AM (0 minutes ago)