The nation can at last heave a sigh of relief; the eagerly awaited Dangote Refinery is here at last, solid. The much longed-for stability in energy flow for the country is assured. It calls for dancing and rejoicing, for clinking of glasses to toast this development. Aliko Dangote deserves hearty congratulations. The nation owes him our thanks and unremitting encouragement. We salute him for his courage, commitment and doggedness to public good, daring all odds to free the nation from the strangle-hold on her energy supply needs. To arrive at this point, it had been a thorny journey. All manner of mines were buried in the ground on his path to stop him from achieving this feat by those who placed private interest over national interest. But he was undeterred even though at some point he knew discouragement. He picked up the gauntlet again and he forged ahead. 

When it became obvious that there was no stopping the refinery from coming on stream, an attempt was made to de-market its product and send cold shivers down our spine. There was this claim that its quality fell below the mark, and this was by an organization that was said to lack a laboratory of its own. Fitch ratings as of August 5 put Dangote oil at B+ which was considered as quite a drop. However, be that as it may, Dangote as of that time already had its laboratory and the lab test certified the product as meeting international standards. As of the time, its diesel oil was already being exported to the international market. The construction took him eight years. It cost $20billion Dollars. He built his own port and constructed roads within the expansive complex on a reclaimed land. Babatunde Fashola facilitated the acquisition of the land on which the refinery stands for $100million. Right now there is a ding-dong battle over the pump price and who fixes it. Is it not strange that a manufacturer is not the one fixing the price of his product? But Dangote has taken everything in his stride! The goal was far more important. It stabilizes fuel supply in the land; it is taking 100, 000 out of the unemployment queue. 

President Bola Tinubu did well by bringing out a surprise from his armoury of masterstrokes: Dangote Refinery is to pay in Naira for the crude oil that it requires. This will no doubt wipe the sweat off his brow in having to source for Dollars to buy crude from our own backyard where Mele Kyari is the lord of the manor and NNPCL is the sole merchant. As we all know the language of oil business is in Dollars. Yemi Cardoso himself must know relief that he does not have to worry himself silly on how to rake the Central Bank’s safe for what may remain after paying the international creditors to whom crude oil and Dollars have been mortgaged. As I once stated on these pages, Bola Tinubu was reckless in peremptorily removing fuel subsidy in his greatest hour of glory. Yes, Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, had said she did not put fuel subsidy in the budget she was leaving for him to inherit; Bola Tinubu was too experienced in governance and public communication not to know the place of tact and how to couch pronouncement appropriate for a certain occasion in order to sooth nerves, especially a situation about which the public was not even aware. He should have allowed himself firm thoughts of alternatives. The Law of Gradualism is unswerving in delicate matters such as that with grave implications. As a result of the mishandling, the nation has been plunged into untold and deepening misery since then. 

A smart guy, give that to him: he gave Nigerians some relief with the love letter he wrote to Oluremi, the First Lady, toasting her all over again. The letter soothed nerves no end. It relaxed tension. I was expecting the First Lady, though, to ask him to write to her in Latin. The world, indeed, has changed. Young men of my generation, and the generation before ours, had to write wooing girls in Latin, and they would not reply. Uncle B, Chief Bola Ige, a polyglot, provided a classical example in his book, Kaduna Boy, in which he narrated his experience when he wooed the then Miss Atinuke Oloko. All the notes to her in Latin did not impress her. She did not reply to them. She played very hard to get, even after Ajibola Ige became the Head Boy at Ibadan Grammar School; not until a friend of hers, placing herself as an intermediary as was the custom at the time, teased her and mounted subtle pressure on her did she give in. The couple lived happily together ever after as Chief Bola and Justice Atinuke Ige until death “did them part”! Bola Tinubu’s love letter to Oluremi worked great magic, soothing nerves in the land. Little wonder Professor Femi Osofisan once asked Tinubu the magic, what language he used in winning the heart of such a beautiful lady. When Remi is 70, the letter must be in Latin! He should not have allowed the relaxed mood to pass unutilized, again to further soothe nerves!

Aliko Dangote, a business mogul, cannot be lectured on how to run a company and make it flourish. Any attempt to do so will be laughable. That he has come this far in a totally unfamiliar terrain of an oil refinery has already proven his wizardry. It is the Nigerian market that will need to exercise patience to allow him work out his cost recovery template to be able to continue in business, his capacity building plan, loan repayment, provisioning for assets replacement, recording a little surplus to fire enthusiasm and providing for reserves. A gigantic company like the Dangote Refinery cannot but give thought to parts and assets replacement. Tinubu’s gesture will undoubtedly go some way to moderate the pricing decision. Distribution of the Refinery’s product will in part be by sea. It is considering transportation in particular to Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Apapa and Atlas Cove by sea, according to the organization’s Vice-President Devakumar Edwin. Above all, the Dangote Refinery must see to it that it strikes a balance in its pricing as Law of Balance governs and as the Law of Motion does in every facet of life. Do we not exhale in order to inhale? It is unwise that only NNPCL will be the soul buyer of the product and then sell to marketers. All marketers should have equal access to the refinery. Competition makes for efficiency. It is good that the NNPCL stake does not exceed the 7.2 per cent by its own choice. All lose ends should be tightened to ensure that the equity through investment of $1billion Dollars does not rise higher than that. Here is an organization that sank a whooping $4trillion into fixing the four public refineries, without much to show for it. The assurance given on television by Mele Kyari that the Port Harcourt Refinery would unfailingly roar back into production in August did not yield result and already September is running out. Before then on 8 July, 2019 he had said It was a legitimate expectation from Nigerians that “how can we be an oil producing country and be importing fuel sometimes 100 per cent of our needs”. He then gave an assurance that before the end of the Buhari Administration in 2023, the four refineries would be delivered.  The pledge that received loud ovation was not kept.

According to the Report of the National Refineries Special Task Force, set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, from 1990 to 1992, Nigeria was self-sufficient in petroleum products and had enough for export. These came from three NNPC Refineries. The probing task force was set up following Jonathan’s unsuccessful attempt to remove fuel subsidy in January 2012.  Warri and Kaduna produced more than 70 per cent installed capacity with FCC units producing PMS. Port Harcourt Refinery was producing at over 90 per cent installed capacity, indeed, producing PMS and other products for export to West African countries, principally Ghana and Togo. While 30, 000 dwt vessels were moved by sea to Lagos every other day, and PMS, AGO and kerosene were transported through PPMC pipelines to Aba and Enugu depots. Kaduna Refinery was pumping all its products by PPMC pipeline through Zaria to Gusau and distributing through tankers to other parts of the North. Warri was pumping through PPMC 2C pipelines from Mosimi to Ibadan. Deterioration of the refineries began in 1993 when the refineries operated at an average capacity utilization of about 20 per cent and they finally collapsed in 2019. The Task Force believed that the industry could still rise. In its words, “The Task Force believes that the Nigerian Refining Industry is potentially capable of achieving self-sufficiency in petroleum products and emerging as an export hub for Petroleum Products in the West Africa sub-region if the root causes of poor performance of the Refineries in particular, and the Industry as a whole, are vigorously resolved.”  

Given the track record of Aliko Dangote, and also his courage, rooted in Margaret Thatcher’s principle that he who dares, wins, the dream of Nigerian Refining Industry becoming the hub in West Africa will be realized with the coming of the Dangote Refinery. It is hoped that the four modular refineries in the works will also come on stream before long. Governor Obaseki of Edo State has said the Edo-owned refinery is ready, but has not succeeded in receiving crude to refine and be able to contribute to reducing the current supply gap in the industry. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo gave out 16 licences for the building of modular refineries. More licencees will be expected to join the train and create competition that will be impossible to roll back and so that the land will be awash with Premium Motor Spirit and allied products. 

The Law of Motion governs the universe. Energy drives motion and motion is inherent in energy. To get to Shoprite to pick a packet of popcorn will necessitate taking a tricycle or a commercial motorcycle, there is recourse to motion. And energy is required to power the means to Shoprite. This is saying, therefore, that motion governs life. It is life itself. Through motion when we sleep, we move from one end of the bed to the other. Absence of motion is absence of life. By extension motion governs all economic activities and the link and vehicles to them are powered by energy. Which is why at all times, a careful thought will need to be given to the cost implications of energy policies to trigger motion. 

THE COMING OF AI AND THE EDUCATION SYSTEM    

 Artificial Intelligence, more known as AI, is stumping through all lands. It is advancing technology to undreamt-of dizzy heights. The modern man is dazed and he cannot wait to see Mr. AI achieve its goal of totally overhauling our lives, of breaking down and rebuilding, of discarding old beliefs and practices and replacing them with the new. Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Patani, is in his elements when he talks about technology and the AI its offspring. He is the chief salesman. He is asking us to fix our gaze on the future and what technology has in store for us. For him it is leading to Eldorado. Although many see Mr. AI as attempting to even take the Creator out of our lives. Is there anything AI cannot dare and do as of now? Patani does not share such concerns, predictably, knowing as Nigerians do, how unwavering, indeed bordering on fanaticism, his hold on the spiritual values he professes. 

AI is transforming lives. Technology, its father, is showing the way. It is facilitating life. In my reflection on the subject with friends, to demonstrate how wonderful the arrival of Mr. AI has meant to human societies, the question was posed: When last were you at the post office? Does it still exist? When last were you in your bank if it is not to renew your credit card? Where are typewriters? Technology has packed them to archival non-retrievable halls. The impact of AI is mind-blowing, in fact, more on the financial system. There is hardly anything that cannot be done online today. Mr. AI has been seen directing traffic. 

There is pressure directed at education authorities to begin to look at school curriculum from primary to secondary up to the university with a view to focusing more on acquisition of skills and self-employment goals. My friend, a revered Professor finds the prospect “quite frightening”, “honestly”, he says, “I do not know how humanity can confront it. AI is a technology that will impact everyone in the future whether we like it or not.” As for me, it is only when we connect education to His Will will we be correct. Mr. AI may soon be seeking to seize control of free will and initiatives from human beings! Yet as The Grail Message states: “So inadequate is the activity of a brain, the basis and instrument of science, and this limitation naturally also affects what it produces, hence all science itself. Thus science does indeed subsequently help to elucidate, classify and arrange all that it receives ready-made from the creative power which precedes it; but when it seeks to assume leadership or offer criticism, it must inevitably fail so long as it binds itself firmly to the intellect, that is to the perceptive capacity of the brain, as it has done hitherto.” It is in this mankind is inexonarably placing their destiny! Pray that we do not in future have a population without content! Without character!

In my years of experience as a journalist, I have encountered situations that have caused me to reflect on the role and perception of journalists in society. One such situation occurred when I was on the verge of renting an apartment from a landlord through an agent. All seemed well until the landlord learned from the agreement form that I was a journalist. Without warning, he abruptly declined to proceed with the transaction. The agent explained that the landlord had become uncomfortable after realizing my profession. Similar experiences have played out in other settings, where conversations halt the moment I enter a room, or people suddenly grow suspicious of my presence, not because of anything I said or did, but simply because I am a journalist. These incidents reveal a broader concern about how journalists are perceived, often viewed with suspicion, mistrust, or even fear. But are these perceptions justified?

Journalists, in their essence, are the eyes and ears of society, tasked with uncovering the truth and reporting facts. Yet, the discomfort many people, especially those in positions of power or influence, feel in the presence of a journalist stems from a misplaced fear. It is as though they see journalists as enemies, waiting to expose every mistake or wrongdoing. But the reality is quite the opposite. Journalists are not enemies; they are society’s friends. Their work helps to ensure transparency, accountability, and the proper functioning of democratic societies. Rather than being afraid of journalists, particularly the elite, individuals should be more focused on doing the right things in their daily conduct, understanding that journalists are trained to observe and report, especially when wrongdoing is evident.

Journalists play a critical role in modern society, one that often goes underappreciated. Their responsibility is to keep the public informed, hold those in power accountable, and uncover the truths that might otherwise remain hidden. This task is not easy, as it frequently puts journalists in uncomfortable or even dangerous situations. But without the vital role that journalism plays, society would be in the dark about important issues, from corruption in government to corporate malfeasance to social injustices.

Journalists shine a light where it is most needed, making sure that the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may be, is brought to the public’s attention. This transparency is not meant to cause fear or to intimidate. Instead, it is designed to create a more informed and engaged society. If individuals, especially those in influential positions, conduct themselves in ways that are ethical and responsible, they have no reason to fear a journalist’s presence.

The fear of journalists, particularly among the elite and those in power, can often be traced to a fundamental misunderstanding of the profession. Journalism is not about sensationalism or the exploitation of people’s personal lives. Responsible journalism is about reporting facts accurately and fairly. When a journalist investigates a story, they are guided by ethics that require them to be truthful, balanced, and to ensure that their reporting serves the public interest.

However, when people are aware that they are not acting in the public’s interest, they may become fearful of the journalist who could expose their wrongdoing. This fear is not about the journalist as a person, but rather about the uncomfortable reality that unethical behavior can come to light. Instead of perceiving journalists as enemies, individuals should see them as catalysts for positive change. The presence of a journalist should not lead to paranoia or fear but should serve as a reminder that accountability is crucial in every aspect of life.

In reality, journalists are protectors of society’s best interests. They serve the public by ensuring that institutions, corporations, and individuals operate in a transparent and accountable manner. By exposing corruption, inequality, and injustice, journalists push for reforms and changes that benefit everyone.

Take, for instance, investigative journalism that has brought attention to corruption within political institutions or exposed human rights abuses. These stories lead to public outcry and demand for change, which ultimately improves society as a whole. When wrongdoing is uncovered, it is not the journalist’s fault; it is the fault of those who perpetrated the wrongdoing. Journalists are merely messengers, fulfilling their duty to the public by revealing the truth. For this reason, they should be seen as friends who help safeguard society’s moral compass.

The elite, and everyone for that matter, should understand that the presence of journalists is a call to uphold integrity and transparency in their actions. Journalists will report what they observe, and if there is nothing unethical happening, there is nothing to fear. Instead of worrying about how a journalist might portray them, individuals should focus on ensuring that their actions can stand up to scrutiny. If everyone did what was right, there would be no need to fear the presence of journalists.

People in leadership positions, whether in politics, business, or other fields, need to remember that public accountability comes with the territory. A journalist’s role is to report on events as they happen, and if those events are positive, that is what will be reported. The fear of journalists stems from a recognition that one’s actions cannot stand up to ethical scrutiny. But the solution to this problem is simple: act with integrity. When actions are ethical, there is nothing to fear from a journalist’s inquiry.

It is important to note that journalists are trained professionals. They are taught to approach their work with fairness, balance, and accuracy. Journalists are not out to “get” anyone, but they will not close their eyes to wrongdoing. This is a key aspect of the profession. When a journalist sees something that is not right, they are obligated to report it. This is not a personal vendetta or an attack; it is simply a part of the job.

Society benefits from this level of vigilance. Journalists help to keep everyone honest. They ensure that individuals and institutions are held accountable for their actions, and in doing so, they protect the public from harm. If people are doing the right thing, they have nothing to worry about from a journalist’s scrutiny.

Journalists are friends of society, not enemies. Their work ensures that truth, fairness, and accountability are upheld, and this is to the benefit of everyone. Rather than fearing the journalist, particularly among the elite, individuals should ensure that their daily conduct aligns with ethical standards. A journalist’s job is not to cause fear but to report on what is happening, good or bad. Ultimately, society is stronger when everyone understands that journalists are there to serve the public and that accountability leads to positive change. So, instead of seeing the journalist as a threat, we should all see them as protectors of truth and justice, because that is precisely what they are.

BIG SHIFT

A CHALLENGE

Many civil servants at the federal, state and local government areas now go to work twice or three times a week to cut down the cost of transportation, Daily Trust’s findings have revealed. 

Cost of living has risen in the last one year due to several economic policies of the government, especially the removal of fuel subsidy. 

However, in order to save costs in the face of stagnant salaries, many civil servants have resorted to self- help. 

Daily Trust reports that Lagos, Ogun and Osun governments, respectively, approved two-day work-from-home policy for junior civil servants, while those on senior cadre were given a day. 

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu introduced the policy in February and extended it by three months on September 4. 

He directed that workers on grade levels 01 to 14 were allowed to work from home for two days a week, while those on grade levels 15 to 17 were allowed to work from home for one day a week. Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, adopted that Lagos template on September 11. 

Osun’s Governor Ademola Adeleke followed suit on Tuesday in a circular from the Office of the Head of Service. 

“By this circular, therefore, and until another directive is given, the working day schedules for public servants in the state have been approved as follows: 

“Public servants on GL.01 to GL.10 – three days a week; public servants on GL.12 to GL.17 – four days a week,” a statement from the government reads. 

A Labour leader in Lagos, Comrade Yusuf Bello described the work-from-home directive as an admittance of the failure of policy. 

According to him, “If the policy of the government is working and it is working for the welfare of the people, they wouldn’t move in that direction. 

“To pronounce that kind of policy suggests that the government itself understands that its policy is not working. Because when workers are supposed to work for five days or six days as the case may be but they are only able to work for two days, something is lost not just to the workplace but the economy in terms of the informal workers who trade around offices, who live on people who come to work. So there is a multiplier effect on the economy that is lost.

“What I would rather add is for the government to rethink its policies in a manner that those policies would address the welfare of the workers and the people generally, not to look for quick fix temporary solutions. We need an enduring long term solution that would address the challenges of the economy and the welfare needs of the people”, he said.

Other govs silent 

Daily Trust reports that other governors have been silent on the work-from-home policy but civil servants in those states have resorted to ‘self-help’ to cut down cost of transportation.

 Borno 

Speaking to Daily Trust in Maiduguri, Mallam Baka, who works with the state government, lamented that life has been unbearable due to the high cost of living. 

“My take home is N87,000; I have been working for 14 years now, but things are very difficult for us as workers. We have family and aged parents who depend on us for everything, including feeding, which is increasingly becoming difficult,” he said. 

Babagana Mohammed, an assistant director said his salary is a little above N100,000. 

“In the last one year, the prices of food items have quadrupled; unfortunately, our salary has not increased,” he said. 

Reacting, the Chairman of Borno State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yusuf Inuwa, explained that the workers enjoy transportation N50 per drop, which significantly reduces their expenses. 

He added that N2 billion loans given to workers were part of the palliatives of the state government to reduce hardships faced by workers in the state. 

“The state government rolled out metro transit, so we paid N50 instead of N200 for the transportation in Maiduguri. This has helped a lot as workers and the disbursement of N2 billion loans to workers equally assisted our members,” he said.

 Kano 

A senior civil servant said in spite of the rising cost, some servants do report to work except on Fridays. 

“You know, in Kano, there is no work free day, unlike in other states. 

 “I live at Yakasai Quarters in the ancient city and I trek to this place every work day and my salary is nothing to write home about. 

“While I was leaving for the office today (yesterday), my wife asked for money to buy charcoal but I did n’t have any,” Yakasai said.

However, the chairman of the state chapter of the NLC, Kabiru Ado said civil servants do not even want to talk about rising cost of transportation because it agitates their minds. 

“The federal government is yet to begin payment of the N70,000 minimum wage signed into law, and we have not seen the template. The Kano State government has set up a committee on the minimum wage implementation. The committee has submitted its report. 

“Hopefully, when negotiations are completed, the payment could begin and that may bring succour to workers, but I can tell you the situation is critically difficult,” he said.

Abuja 

In Abuja, the nation’s capital, our correspondent reports that federal civil servants across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have made a series of arrangements to cushion the effects of rising costs of transportation, occasioned by fuel price hike. 

 Some workers at the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), in separate interviews with Daily Trust, said they have devised various “arrangee” models in their various offices. 

One of the workers said that the arrangements depend on the offices or departments where one works, and also on the directors or other supervisors they are working with. 

“For me, I go to work (office) two times. I know other workers who come to the office twice or three times a week. 

“I also know of some others that their directors or superiors asked them to stay at home or work from home, but should be available when they are called,” he said. 

Another civil servant said it was unfair for workers to come to office, especially the junior ones, even when the new minimum wage has not been implemented. 

While the leadership of the labour unions were not available for comment, an executive of one of the chapels in Abuja, told Daily Trust that there have been some meetings where labour leaders defended workers who were reported to be skipping office due to high cost of transportation. 

Some workers who spoke with Daily Trust at the FCTA’s Secretariat in Area 11, Garki, Abuja, said that since the upward adjustment of the petrol price, transporters have jacked up fares.

One of the workers, who gave her name as Mrs. Mary John, said they made an arrangement among themselves. 

She said: “In our department, what we do is to divide ourselves into two sets; one set will come Mondays and Tuesdays while the other go Wednesdays and Thursdays every week. 

“This is necessary because, for instance, I stay in Bwari and will have to spend N3,400 every day on transportation aside from food. So, how can I cope with that amount five times in a week when my salary is less than N100,000?” she asked.

Benue 

Some of the civil servants, who spoke on condition of anonymity to our correspondent in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, said it was practically impossible for them to go to the office five times a week.

“I go to the office only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in a week. We have the arrangement in my office and our boss supports us since we can’t afford daily transportation to be at work”, one of them said. 

Another respondent, a senior civil servant, decried the hardship, saying he had long parked his car at home.

“I occupy a sensitive position in one of the ministries, so I try to be at work daily but without my car,” he said.

Zamfara 

A civil servant working with Zamfara State House of Assembly, who preferred anonymity, said he could not afford going to office five days in a week because of the economic hardship. 

“I am lucky, the director gave me the go ahead to report to my duty post three days in a week. At least, I will save the transport fares for the remaining two days to do something else,” he said.

A director in one of the ministries, who said he should be addressed with the name of his hometown, Dansadau, confirmed that many civil servants go to office twice a week. 

“There is no way we can sanction them, honestly. We simply pretend that we are not aware. Even the permanent secretaries also pretend that they are not aware. This is because, what justification do you have to punish them?” he asked.

Rivers 

Some respondents who spoke with our reporter said that they select the days they go to work.

“In every situation one has to devise a means of survival,” said James Abo. 

“With the biting economic hardship ravaging the country, some of us have devised a means of surviving the high cost of transportation,” he said. 

Alice Daniel, who works in one of the ministries, said, “it’s not possible for one to go to work on a daily basis.”

 Kwara 

Speaking on the issue, a civil servant in the state who gave his name as Mr. ‘B’, said their response to the situation varies. 

“It depends on how you look at it. For the core civil servants, we have some that now go to work three times a week. It’s only senior management staff of those in public service that may not have options”, he said.

It’ll lead to low productivity – Analyst 

An economic analyst, Prof. Adebayo Adams, said the policy, though a good idea, can only work in the public service, saying it cannot work in the private sector. 

“It is going to cause a lot of low productivity. As it is now, a lot of companies would still leave the country. The implication is that more workers would go and in the private sector, the policy of the government asking workers to spend some days at home would not work. 

“There is no way you can work for only three days and you think you would have good results,” he said.

[DailyTrust]

Manchester United legend, Paul Scholes has backed Liverpool to challenge for the Premier League title this season.

Scholes said the Reds have six good forwards that can help them in their title race this term.

Recall that Liverpool finished in the third position on the Premier League table last season.

During a recent interaction on The Overlap Fan Debate, Scholes said:

“I think Liverpool might have something to say about the title race this year.

“When I look at their forward players, I think they have five or six good players.”

He added, “Seeing Liverpool first-hand, what a squad of players, I see very little weaknesses.

“The only one we thought about was possibly [a weakness] if Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate got injured in the centre-half position.”

[DailyPost]

While one can hardly tell for a fact the first Nigerian to describe their electoral loss as “a rape on democracy,” it is not strange that the expression has become a go-to metaphor for Nigerian politicians who need to process the reality that hits them at the polling stations. It is consistent with the character of our politics that people will frequently trot out the phrase, and news reporters will mindlessly reproduce it as headlines. Neither side pauses to ask why—of all possible word choices in the dictionary to capture a violation of democratic norms—they had to keep using that term.

Following the Edo governorship election on Saturday, Adamawa governor Ahmadu Fintiri described the long list of crimes (nothing new, just the usual vote-buying, overcounting and undercounting of votes, and voter intimidation) allegedly committed by the APC as a “rape of democracy.” Hours after he put out a statement, the Ondo state PDP also issued a statement where their Media and Publicity Special Adviser also described the series of untoward development that arose from the election as “another rape of democracy.”

They are not the first to reach for that word to describe an election whose outcome has been unfavorable for them. After the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar lost his presidential election contest last year, he issued a statement decrying the contest saying, “The manipulation and fraud that attended this election was unprecedented in the history of our nation. It was, indeed, a rape of democracy.” He was not alone in capturing that election in the language of sexual violation. When the National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure would condemn the outcome of the same election, he too had to say it was a “rape of Nigeria’s democracy.” And just to prove to you that Abure is a man who seriously loves the metaphor, he also noted the police disruption of the peaceful rally by Labor Party members in Ebonyi State in 2022 was “a rape of democracy.”

In case those examples are not enough, I have more to share to prove that Nigerian male politicians are stuck on rape. From Femi Gbajabiamila’s reporting the blockade of the National Assembly as a “rape of democracy” in 2018, to Osun SDP state Chairman, Dr Dele Ekunola calling the Supreme Court judgment that validated Biodun Oyebanji’s electoral victory as a “rape of democracy” 2023, to National Vice Chairman of the PDP, Eddy Olafeso, rejecting the election that Kayode Fayemi won as “a rape of democracy” 2018, to the Niger PDP officials screaming that the police’s teargassing of Ekiti governor Ayodele Fayose was “a rape on democracy” in 2018, to Fayose himself describing the Appeal Court’s ruling affirming Ali Modu Sheriff as the PDP Chairman as a “rape on democracy” 2017, the rape metaphor has become a cliché in Nigerian politics. And that is the problem. Rape is not supposed to be a platitude.

Someone might say that their use of the word is just a metaphor, yes, but rape should not be reduced to a mere analogy. Rape is a brutal crime and ought not to be turned into an everyday speak, an impotent word that Nigerian men with varying degrees of political influence cheaply pull out whenever they need to sensationalize their painful electoral experiences. By turning rape into a commonplace metaphor, they not only end up desensitizing sexual assault, but they also trivialize the impact on those who have experienced it.

The word, as metaphors are supposed to function, should conjure images of a criminal assault, but I am certain that was not what happened when you heard “rape on democracy” back-to-back on Sunday after the Edo election. It meant nothing because the word itself has been violated to death by politicians who have seized on it to account for their losses. I can bet most of those who heard politicians use the term a “rape of democracy” after a series of bad electoral outings had no visceral reaction to the word either when they heard or read it. The term has lost much of its force, no thanks to those who overuse it.

In a culture where sexual violence is not always taken seriously, where the judicial mechanisms to address the crime are barely available, these men contribute to the public desensitization of what should be a serious matter. They have probably never thought of it, but by bringing up the “rape of democracy” each time an electoral outcome does not go your way, you are turning what is essentially a matter of vile violation of another’s autonomy into an act of titillation. No matter how pained they might be that they lost an election, either because they were robbed through sheer brute force or were just not as popular as they imagined, what happened to them (and which they consciously project on “democracy”) was not a “rape.”

One also cannot entirely overlook the problematic aspect of this banalization of rape: the people glibly mouthing “rape” in all the instances I have listed are men. It makes me wonder if this is the way they think about rape. Is there some perverse underlying fantasy at play somewhere in their subconscious each time these men bring up the word to describe their experience at the polls or in the hands of some abusive authority? There is a part of me that also wonders if this subtle feminization of democracy, their seeing it as a passive and therefore violable thing, reflects a deeper psychological malaise. One cannot just assume that this is merely an issue of people speaking without reflecting on their language choices.

All of which brings me to another issue: these instances of men yelling “rape!” to characterise their bad outings during election seasons have virtually nothing to do with the culture of democracy itself. They only know that democracy and its norms are being violated when confronted with unfavorable electoral outcomes, as if democracy begins and ends with mere elections. The only time you hear complaints about a violation of democracy is when things do not go their way during an election they had wished to win, and they need to express their disappointment. If they cared so much about democracy, where do they put their voices outside elections? What are their contributions toward deepening the habit of democracy in our society? The only thing that animates them is an election. That is when they suddenly realise that democracy is being threatened and then drag out the bad metaphors to complain.

Look at Gbajabiamila, who is currently the president’s chief of staff. This was a man in whose name a journalist was recently arrested, illegally detained, and tortured for days. What was his offense? He ruffled Gbajabiamila’s small feathers with his professional report. Yet, when you saw the same Gbajabiamila talking about the “rape of democracy” some years ago, it would have been forgivable if you imagined his concerns were sincere. As soon as he got enough power, he showed he was no better.

Gbajabiamila reminds me of the clowns unleashed in the wake of last year’s election and were all over the place, yelling “fascism!” because some people online criticized the election outcome. One court jester even wrote an article comparing the Obi-dients to Mussolini. Meanwhile, before their very eyes, journalists have been detained, protesters harassed, and the security agencies—from the police to the EFCC and DSS—are going crazy. You do not hear them anymore, why? The anti-fascists are witnessing real abuse of power play out in the numbing violation of democratic norms, human rights abuse, and institutional corruption, but they are suspiciously quiet. If they care so much about democracy, should this not be their time to shine? So, why are they silent?

I HAD very instructive discussions with two A-list Nigerian politicians before and after the Edo State governorship election; the first being on Wednesday, three days before the poll. Both men have held positions of immense responsibility in government both at the state and federal levels.

The first politician dismissed those who believed that given the pedigree of the 18 candidates and sophistication of the Edo electorate, the odds favoured the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, as unrealistic.

He was unequivocal that the result of the election had already been written. “I don’t know why Nigerians are so naïve. Which election are they talking about? The same election which result had already been written?” he asked.

That was incredulous. I reminded him of the sophistication of the Edo electorate and how they stepped up to the plate in the 2020 governorship election. He riposted that times have changed and INEC has become more brazen, emboldened by the unscrupulousness of the new kids on the leadership block.

We left it at that. On Sunday, at exactly 2.33 pm, when INEC’s deviousness was on full parade, he sent me a text message: “I told you.”

Then, on Sunday, at exactly 9.37 am, the second politician called to lament. What he said was spine-chilling. “Have you seen what is happening in Edo? These guys have become so brazen. This is unbelievable. What this means is that anyone contesting elections in Nigeria today will be doing so at his own risk.”

None of them is from Edo State. So, they had no dog in the fight, so to speak. But as stakeholders, they were as worried as every other well-meaning Nigerian. But I am more worried now because of their present mindset.

Before now, the risk we faced as a result of the insufferable duplicity of INEC was voter apathy. Over the years, as people came to the realisation that their votes never counted, voter enthusiasm continued to wane.

Only 28.63 per cent of all eligible voters participated in the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections. That was a new low in what has become a steady decline in the turnout of voters during elections. For instance, while in 2011, voter turnout was an impressive 53.7 per cent, it dropped to 43.7 per cent in 2015 and 34.75 per cent in 2019.

After the 2023 elections, it was apparent that the voter apathy will intensify and the Edo governorship election where only about 24.49 per cent of the 2,629,025 registered voters voted has proved that. One would have thought that such embarrassing statistics will make the electoral umpire have a rethink. No! Instead of thinking of how to clamber out of the putrid hole of electoral malfeasance, the hardened enablers of electoral fraud continue to dig deeper.

Now, the consequence stares us in the face. Even politicians no longer have faith in INEC and if things remain the way they are, no credible Nigerian will waste his time and resources contesting elections again. The implication is that going forward, certificate forgers, age cheats, drug barons and sundry fraudsters will have the electoral field all to themselves.

The Edo election has confirmed something which every discerning Nigerian knows: the Mahmoud Yakubu-led INEC is not credible, with no moral fibre to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

But by this brazenness, INEC has also finally overreached itself. As the legendary Chinua Achebe said in his book, A Man of the People, Yakubu now epitomises that vile character, Josiah, the local shopkeeper, who tricked a blind beggar and stole his walking stick. As one of the villagers said: “Josiah has taken away enough for the owner to notice.” In the same vein, Yakubu and the INEC gang have crossed a line with the conduct of the Edo poll and longsuffering Nigerians have noticed.

Already, director of the Abuja school of social and political thought, Dr. Sam Amadi, has called for the disbandment of INEC as presently constituted, insisting that evidence abounds the electoral umpire was to blame for every bad election conducted in the country.

I agree in toto! And I make bold to say that the APC and its candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, didn’t win last Saturday’s Edo governorship election. What INEC did was a perpetuation of the electoral malpractice that has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of democratic nations. Don’t take only my word for that. All the accredited civil society organisations, CSOs, that observed the poll have rejected the result, insisting that it lacks integrity. The problem, as it has always been the case, started at the point of result collation from the ward, local government to the state level, which contradicted the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

A coalition of civil society groups, including Advocacy for Quality Leadership and Health Awareness Foundation; Grassroots Development and Peace Initiative; Citizens Rights and Leadership Awareness Initiative, etc., alleged on Sunday that INEC used two sets of result sheets — one used in the field and another that favoured the APC – during the collation in specific senatorial districts.

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and some of its accredited member organisations, including Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD-West Africa; Yiaga Africa, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), Nigerian Women Trust Fund, NWTF; and TAF Africa, were even more scathing in their report.

In a statement on Monday, they noted that while “the voting process was concluded in a relatively peaceful atmosphere, the results collation process in some LGAs were not peaceful and did not meet the electoral integrity standards for results management.”

Concerned that the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines on collation process were wilfully compromised, particularly in Egor, Ikpoba Okha, Oredo, Esan West and Ovia South-West LGAs, they said: “Our observation of the collation process shows that it was not transparent nor opened to representatives of the various candidates in some cases. In addition, it lacks transparency in the application of the provision of the Electoral Act and the INEC Guidelines on over-voting and cancellation of results from polling units.”

Bemoaning the over-voting that was reported from more than 370 polling units across the State, they returned a damning verdict: “It is our observation that the Edo State Governorship election 2024 failed to fulfil the requirement of the conduct of credible elections, and again, raises questions about election credibility in Nigeria. As with recent polls, INEC’s ability and willingness to conduct credible elections in Nigeria remains questionable.”

The big elephant in Nigeria’s election room has always been collation and Yakubu knows that. As a history professor, he is aware of the admonition of the late Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, to his party apparatchik in 1923 thus: “I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how”, because: “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”

So, the electorate voted in Edo and then INEC allowed itself to be manipulated in deciding the “winner.” What is even more worrying is the impunity. For instance, as at 8:40 am on Sunday, results from 4455 out of the 4,519 polling units where elections were held in the state – 98.58 per cent – had been successfully uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IREV, which means that Nigerians knew as a fact who won the election. Yet, leaving its own portal, the self-same INEC had the audacity to collate results from only God knows where that was totally at variance with what is on the IREV.

Those who want to be diplomatic have called for calm, asking those holding the short end of the electoral stick to follow due process in seeking redress.

Due process would mean going to court. That will be foolhardy because it is another layer of the fraud. As Mr. Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), noted recently, “No matter the volumes of evidence, the judiciary appears to have taken stand and seems to be siding with the people who have no regard and respect for the sovereignty of the people.”

And his advice, for me, suffices. “It is my proposal to all ‘losers’ of elections in Nigeria not to waste time and resources to file election petitions because it is easier for an elephant to go through the eyes of the needle than for anyone who was robbed of victories in our elections to get immediate remedies and electoral justice.”

If I were Asue Ighodalo, the latest victim of Nigeria’s soulless electoral mafia led by Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, I will not go to court. The matter will be settled on the streets of Edo. If that is what those inclined to being politically correct call anarchy, so be it.

I don’t think I am the only one asking the question above which doubles as the title of this piece.

And I have no doubt that even within the circle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, there must be those who are asking similar question except that they may not have the courage to voice their opinions or the opportunity of an answer.

After months of hide and seek, former Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, made a surprise appearance at the headquarters of the anti-corruption commission on Wednesday September 18, 2024.

That was exactly five months after he was declared wanted by the agency on April 18, 2024. It was something like the “White Lion” walking into the den.

Bello showed up at a time he was no longer the topic in the face of Nigeria cascading on a litany of other political and economic galloping. Thus, his sudden appearance, which was preceded by a well-timed statement by his media office had suddenly jumped to the front pages of the news on that day. Many were anxious to know what fate would befall Bello, who, as EFCC indicated, had had his cup full over his alleged refusal to honour its invitations.

And the impression we have all had was that Bello did not want to be questioned over the alleged theft of over N80bn belonging to Kogi state.

This impression was further helped by the Chairman of the commission himself when he revealed that he once granted Bello special privilege by making his office available as an interrogation room.

“On my honour, I put a call to him to honour him as a former governor. He said, I can’t come, claiming that a certain lady has surrounded the EFCC with over 100 Journalists to embarrass or intimidate him and all that stuff. I said if that is your fear, I will make you come directly to my floor.

“I will invite my operatives to interrogate you in my own office. What could be more honourable than that? Do you know what he said? ‘ Can’t they come to my village?”

With the attention that had trailed his fiasco with the commission in about five months, not many were taken aback realising that the EFCC didn’t know what to do with a man that had been on its wanted radar, at the very critical moment when he showed up.

With Bello in its net, many had anticipated EFCC would swing into interrogations that could see the former governor spend hours, if not a whole day or more on the hot seat.

The optimism wasn’t that high for the “White Lion” to walk out of the Den the way he did on Wednesday only for the commission to renew his status as a wanted man an hour later.
In the statement released by the media office of the former governor, he had said that while submitting himself to the commission, he had expected commission officials to be as professional as possible.

To the chagrin of many, Michael was to come back a while after his first statement to say that his boss had left the EFCC office but without being interrogated.
What Happened?

It was learnt that Bello was not even allowed to enter the main office of the commission after passing through the security check let alone sit with any official of the commission for the business of interrogation to begin.

The revelation that Bello was not interrogated had caught many by surprise. And much more amazing was the decision of the EFCC to then, perhaps less than an hour after the former Governor’s exit from its office, state that he remained a wanted person.
Wanted? A man who submitted himself to your office?

As gathered from sources close to the drama, it was learnt that Bello’s manner of surrendering himself (coming with a sitting Governor to its office) was an affront and a subtle intimidation of the commission.

On the premise that the former governor had allegedly rubbished the EFCC in the almost one year that he left office, the commission believed that Bello should not come to its office accompanied with a sitting governor, hence the desire to activate its own arrest mechanism and bring him in only on its own terms.

But the argument that Bello came to the EFCC office accompanied with a governor pales into insignificance with the turn of event where operatives, that night, took its arrest mechanism to the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja where the same governor was also supposed to be with Bello. Clips of scenes of gunshots in the neighourhood of the Kogi state lodge are not to the credit of the commission.

And that coupled with the fact that the EFCC arrest mechanism was not effective enough to bring him manacled, as one can safely guess, was the main objective?

A week after that incident, I am yet to see the logic in allowing a man accused of N80bn financial misdeeds walk away after offering you an effortless opportunity to take him in.

I have had reason to sit with the EFCC chairman once since his appointment and I must confess that the encounter gave me the impression of a man truly angered by the kleptomania that has kept this country down for decades. He beamed with the zeal to lay his knees on the necks of those bleeding Nigeria to death. Many who watched him on national televisions lecture during his screening must have come away with the same impression.

Indeed, I recall how he vowed to ensure that a former Attorney General is brought to book for many of his alleged malfeasance in office while that Minister of Justice dictated the lawful and the unlawful in this country.

But with the turn of events, Mr. Ola Olukoyede’s true friends must tell him (even if that sounds bitter) that the strategy employed in the Bello matter has not worked. If anything, it has strengthened the argument that there might just be no N80bn missing anywhere and that someone somewhere just wants the head of the “White Lion” for an evening of pepper soup and some Skelewu dance trampling on his helpless torso.

In my view, Bello’s case seems to have put out the commission in some very bad light forcing one to query the very thought processes leading to some of the actions taken so far on this case.

By my reckoning, even if the EFCC chairman has all the good intentions with his agenda, does he have the personnel to drive the vision? And by personnel, we must include whether he has around him, officials who have the courage to tell him the bitter truth especially when it comes to the commission’s operational modus operandi under him.

In the case of Yahaya Bello, could someone have, at the nick of time on September 18th, dissuaded the EFCC Chairman by telling him that sending him away uninterrogated would throw up some unsavoury backlash?

Every institutional leader needs around him, those who can speak some unpatronizing words for them to achieve their goals.

Of course, it might just be that Olukoyede is not surrounded by good advisers only, the commission has some bad eggs whose agenda are just at variance with the very objectives of the commission.

Just on Tuesday September 24th, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly called VeryDarkMan again put Olukoyede’s commission on the spotlight with his revelation and allegation that some officials took a bribe of N15m to drop the money laundering allegations against cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye (Bobrisky).

A good thing he has ordered probe and we do not know where the pendulum swings on this new development. The onus is on the accuser to prove his allegations.

But then, at a time that the odour of the Yahaya Bello arrest saga is still fresh and generating wrong vibes, the Bobrisky bribery development all adds up for something not making the optics look good.

No one is in doubt the very debilitating impacts of brazen frauds on the country. And the very reason a commission such as the EFCC would enjoy support of the civil society, anti-corruption crusading organisations and the media.

However, I doubt if Olukoyede did not leave many of those whose support he had enjoyed, wondering whether something is not going amiss. Assuming without conceding that Bello truly has helped himself with an N80bn theft, he has succeeded in boxing the EFCC into a bad corner to explain it has no other motive other than fighting corruption.

Apart from Bello, how many of the EFCC’s wanted persons would submit themselves and still be asked to go away for them to be arrested ‘properly?’ And that is why many would keep demanding answer on this case from the EFCC, what happened?

Okanlawon is the publisher NPO Reports, Lagos.

I have it on good authority that the ‘West African Jollof Rice Competition’ has long been concluded at the ‘Virtual Olympics’. From available records, Nigeria took the gold medal in all the varieties. But my Ghanaian friend, Mustapha Sanah (HRH Dalun-Lana Tapha Mahamadu II) will never agree to this. Shortly before I left Abuja for Accra last week Wednesday, I sent Mustapha a message: “Just finished preparing my Jollof rice to bring for you so that you can enjoy the Nigerian delicacy.” The response from the former Northern Development and Democratic Institute (NDDI) chairman was instant: “Don’t bother with Nigerian Jollof. You are coming to Accra, the Jollof capital of Africa.”

While the online rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana as to who cooks the best Jollof rice continues, there are more pressing challenges for the two countries. That was the main takeaway from my encounter with former President John Dramani Mahama last Friday in Accra. The candidate of the main opposition National Democratic Coalition (NDC) for the December 7 election in Ghana had just returned home from campaigning and was clearly exhausted when he hosted me. But our interaction confirmed my understanding that Ghana’s coming election is very consequential for the country and sub-region. Incidentally, the election mirrors the upcoming November 5 contest in the United States. In Ghana, Mahama (who was president between 2012 and 2016) is contesting against the incumbent Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP). But how did I get to Ghana?

For the past three years, Mustapha has been ‘harassing’ me to visit. I missed his coronation last year when he was enskinned the Chief of Dalun by Ya-Na Abukari Mahama II. But having visited me in Abuja earlier this year, I just had to reciprocate. And the prospect of feeling the ground ahead of the December 7 presidential election provided the greater incentive for my visit. On arrival in Accra, I was received by his emissary and brother, Alhaji Kamil. By last Thursday morning, we took the one-hour flight to Tamale, the capital of Ghana’s Northern Region and the country’s third largest city, where Mustapha was waiting. Of course, our real destination was Dalun, a 25-minute drive from Tamale where I saw him hold court among his people as their paramount ruler.

It was my first time in northern Ghana which bears a number of similarities to northern Nigeria, especially in terms of culture, level of development (when compared with the south) and religion—the people are predominantly Muslim. But they do not have the kind of security challenge we grapple with in Northern Nigeria. In fact, the whole of Ghana is a relatively secure country. Before I eventually left Tamale with Mustapha, we visited the respected 88-year-old statesman and politician from the region, Alhaji Ibrahim Mahama who happens to be an uncle to the former president. A 1965 law graduate from the University of Ghana who was appointed Commissioner for Secretariats and Departments two years later, the elder Mahama is a living encyclopedia on the nation. He is also a former lawmaker, having been elected in 1969 to represent the Tamale constituency in the first parliament during Ghana’s Second Republic.

I had an interesting conversation with the witty old man, an author of three books, copies of which he autographed for me. The first, ‘History of Dagbon and Dangomba’ is about people and cultures in northern Ghana while the second, ‘The Destiny of a Horse Boy’ is an autobiography which weaves the story of his life with that of pre-independent Ghana. But perhaps the most insightful of the three books is ‘Murder of an African King: Ya-na Yakubu II’. In the book, Mahama traced the circumstances that led to the 2002 murder of a First-Class monarch in Northern Ghana. By his riveting account, the murder could be located in the attempts to subvert the rotational succession system between two branches of the Dagbon royal family: Abudu and Andani. It was the bid to manipulate the process and the ensuing palace intrigues that set in motion a train of events that eventually culminated in the murder of the monarch.

Before Mustapha and I left the elder statesman, an appointment had been sought and secured for me to see his nephew, the former president (and NDC presidential candidate) in Accra the next day. A former member of Ghana’s Parliament who had also served as a Minister, the younger Mahama was vice president when his principal, John Atta Mills died in July 2012. He thus became president the same way President Goodluck Jonathan assumed power in Nigeria in 2010. In December 2012, Mahama contested to be the president of Ghana and won. Four years later in 2016, he sought a second term and was defeated by the incumbent President Akuffo-Addo of the NPP. Although Mahama lost again in 2020, his party (NCC) took 31 parliamentary seats from the ruling NPP. With both parties winning the same number of seats (137 each) resulting in a hung parliament, the lone independent candidate, Andrew Asiamah Amoako supported the NDC candidate, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, who was elected speaker. So, while Akuffo-Addo of NPP is president, Mahama’s NDC controls the parliament. That provides the background to the coming election in December.

Meanwhile, a day before my arrival in Ghana, thousands of NDC supporters had embarked on a nationwide protest, demanding forensic audit of the country’s voter register which they claim contains significant discrepancies that could affect the outcome of the elections in December. “We have identified 50,000 dead people on the register, and the possibility of voting by proxies for these individuals in the future is very real,” the NDC director of elections, Edward Omane Boamah, claimed while seeking a parliamentary probe into the alleged discrepancies which include illegal name transfers and missing voters. Their presidential candidate shares the same view. “Many registered voters could not find their names, while others have had their names transferred without their knowledge,” Mahama himself told me last Friday.

But both the Electoral Commission (EC) chairman, Jean Adukwu Mensa and the incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo have dismissed the allegations. In a message on X (formerly Twitter) last week, the commission assured Ghanaians that its register is “robust and credible”, dismissing the opposition’s allegations as baseless. “Ignore assertions that the voters’ register is not fit for the 2024 elections,” the EC posted. Addressing a religious gathering on 29 August, President Akufo-Addo also allayed fears of manipulation. “Rigging is not part of the NPP’s DNA. We are committed to conducting the upcoming election in an atmosphere of peace and security, enforcing transparency and respect for the electoral laws of our country,” the president said. “Those bent on raising the spectre of election rigging will be disappointed.”

Mahama, of course, is taking the presidential assurance with a pinch of salt. “If the EC has nothing to hide, why are they afraid of an exercise that would guarantee transparency, especially since voters’ register has been audited before in the past? In 2016 following allegations like this, a five-man committee was established to resolve the issues,” Mahama said while arguing that the electoral body is creating doubts about its impartiality. “I was in Liberia for their election and when a similar issue arose, it was resolved with an independent audit. When there are doubts about the integrity of electoral process, an independent body is needed to resolve them.”

Notwithstanding his position on the voter register, Mahama is upbeat that he will win the December election because he believes when his record in office is contrasted with that of the current administration, Ghanaians have an easy choice to make. “Ghana has lost its position as the second largest economy in West Africa to Cote D’Ivoire. Until this administration, Ghana used to be second after Nigeria,” Mahama said while reeling out the decisions taken by the current administration that have impacted negatively on the economy. “We have a debt crisis; investors have lost the confidence in our country with many businesses either leaving Ghana for other countries or shutting down completely.”

Mahama cited the example of the cocoa industry which he said has been grossly mismanaged, leaving many of the farmers frustrated. “With their excessive borrowings, they have destroyed the cocoa industry, just as they have done with the oil and gas sector”, said Mahama. “Rather than new investment what you have now is divestment. In fact, because of the toxic environment they have created, we have the worst FDI in recent history. They keep taxing the people, while borrowing heavily. They cannot even borrow again. Ghana has one of the worst inflations in the world.”

If the situation is as bad as painted, how would Mahama govern if he wins? Change, according to him, will create a new beginning. “Our policies will encourage new businesses, restore investors’ confidence, reduce recurrent expenditure and stablise economy.” He specifically stated that he will grant incentives to revive the cocoa industry. “How can we assist farmers? Water is important so for small scale farmers, we will help with boreholes and other inputs like fertilizer.”

An interesting prelude to the election occurred last Friday at the Electoral Commission’s office where agents of all the 13 candidates (ten parties and three independents) competed for positions on the ballot paper. At the end of the lottery exercise, the ruling NPP picked the first spot for Bawumia while the main opposition NDC picked number 8 for Mahama. Trust politicians, supporters of Bawumia are already making a song and dance about their luck in picking the number one slot on the ballot paper.

However, beyond being candidate of the ruling party and current vice president, Bawumia has impeccable credentials. A former banker and author of several publications, Bawumia obtained a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics from Buckingham University, United Kingdom, a master’s degree in the same discipline from Lincoln College, Oxford before completing his doctorate in 1995 at the Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. But Mahama (who holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a postgraduate diploma in communication studies from the University of Ghana before attending another postgraduate programme at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow, Soviet Union) was dismissive of his opponent during our encounter. “Bawumia was touted as the economic whiz kid. He was delivering lectures all over the place before he became vice president. Eight years later, there is nothing to show for all the talk,” says Mahama. “Since they know that the people can no longer be hoodwinked after they have messed up the economy, he is now campaigning on digitilisation, whatever that means.”

For all their challenges as a country, Ghana appears relatively stable to me, especially when compared with Nigeria that is more endowed resource wise and with a bigger economy. That is perhaps because their institutions work better—a necessary condition for the rule of law to prevail. I needled Mahama on the things he believes are still working for his country, despite the challenges he enumerated. “I think that over the years, we have succeeded in ensuring even development across the 261 districts where the presence of government is at least minimally felt in terms of basic structures like stable electricity, primary healthcare, water systems which may be boreholes etc.” he said. “There is also the school feeding systems while the Ghana Education Fund is for all tiers. I suppose those things have helped to stabilise our system and we don’t have any serious security challenge.”

Ghanaians may take those things for granted but as a Nigerian, I cannot. In most rural communities across the country today, kidnappers have driven smallholder farmers out of business, with dire implications for food security. Using $1.90 a day as threshold, as of 2023, about three million people in Ghana lived in extreme poverty. Meanwhile, within the same period, an estimated 87 million Nigerians (representing 38.9 percent) were living below the poverty line. While the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita in Ghana is estimated to be $5,716, that of Nigeria is $1,109. The estimated population of Nigeria, of course, is about 232 million while that of Ghana is about 34 million. The annual population growth rate in Nigeria is 2.44 percent as compared with that of Ghana at 1.9 percent.

We can infer from the foregoing that, all factors considered, Ghana still makes better choices than we do. No matter how ‘tastier’ our jollof rice may be. With their elections devoid of blatant malpractices or violence, their system has over the past three decades produced outcomes that generally reflect the wishes of the electorate. Despite fears over the voter register by the main opposition NDC ahead of the December presidential poll, the general outlook for Ghanaian democracy seems quite bright. That, of course, does not mean that democracy has brought about the desired dividend for the average Ghanaians. Like the rest of West Africa, there is much work ahead in terms of delivering the public good. That much has been confirmed by no less a personality than the Speaker of the Ghanaian Parliament, Alban Bagbin.

Delivering the 2024 University of Ghana (UG) Alumni Lecture last Thursday evening, Bagbin lamented that even though the country enjoys a measure of political stability, democracy is yet to drastically improve the lives of the ordinary people. “The question on many of our citizens’ minds is ‘has democracy really delivered’? That is a very legitimate question,” Bagbin told his audience. “I venture to submit that the focus of the final brains behind the Constitution was to achieve political stability. If my guess is right, I must admit we have succeeded in doing just that at the expense of development. We now must move on to focus on development.”

The speaker locates most of the problems in the excessive powers of the presidency, the same issue we deal with in Nigeria.Citing as an example the recent anti-gay bill passed by Parliament which President Akuffo-Addo refused to assent, Bagbin said despite the constitutional provisions regarding separation of powers, checks and balances between and among the arms of government are being observed in the breach. “Our democracy is supposed to stand on three legs – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – with equal powers. Yet, the framers of the Constitution created a powerful executive, to the detriment of the two other branches of government,” Bagbin lamented. “We thus run a system that stands on one strong, and two weak legs.”

I left Accra last Saturday, despite the best efforts by Mustapha to take me back to his community in northern Ghana for the 2024 Damba festival. But I yield the last word to Bagbin whose admonition for Ghana will also serve those overfed politicians who taunt Nigerians with how they would continue “eating” at public expense. Failure to address the existential challenges of the people is increasingly making military rule attractive within the sub-region, according to Bagbin. Quoting the October 2023 edition of the Economist magazine, Bagbin said: “Africans are frustrated about the sham that passes for ‘democracy’ in most countries. They are also fed up with the flimsy states that provide neither security nor prosperity.” According to Bagbin who also referenced Afrobarometer report, such sentiments are now leading to an “increasing attraction for military rule and intervention”.

That, I believe, should be a wake-up call for political leaders not only in Ghana but also across West Africa. Now, where is my plate of Jollof rice?

Ngozi Azodoh @60

Dr Ngozi Azodoh, retired Director of Health Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Health, was 60 yesterday. She is to many of us at The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Abuja a wonderful mother, sister and friend. I can only wish her happy birthday, long life and good health.