Issues around climate change have dominated global conversations since the historic Paris Agreement reached by world leaders on December 12, 2015 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. The Agreement is an international treaty which became legally binding on November 4, 2016.

Since climate change poses a huge threat to our humanity, urgent action is required to mitigate its risks and negative impacts for a sustainable future. This perhaps explains why 195 Parties (194 States and the European Union) joined the Paris Agreement which set long-term goals to guide all nations as follows: reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, periodically assess the collective progress being made, and provide financing to developing countries to mitigate the impact of climate change, strengthen resilience and enhance abilities to adapt to climate impacts.

The United Nations and its agencies and partners (they include UNEP, UNFCCC, etc.), the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are huge resources to guide any study on climate change.

Generally speaking, climate change refers to “long-terms shifts in temperatures and weather patterns,” according to information available on the UN website. “But such shifts can be natural due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions,” the statement continued.

In Nigeria, we have experienced severe flooding, drought and extreme temperatures lately. These are the consequences of climate change. Other parts of the world are also experiencing the devastating impact of climate change in various dimensions.

The National Assembly passed the Climate Change Bill in 2021 and signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari. With this law, the expectation is that Nigeria will achieve net zero carbon emission between 2050 and 2070. To drive a coordinated action on climate change, the same act of parliament created the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC).

Last month, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu established a presidential committee on climate action and green economy. The initiative clearly underscores the need to strengthen our commitment to climate change, especially from the standpoint of accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy that are derived from natural sources such as the sun and wind.

The beauty of renewable energy is that they are constantly being replenished which guarantees a sustainable future.

UN Reports indicate that human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. When fossil fuels burn, they generate greenhouse gas emissions that cast a blanket around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.

The same Report says if we cannot keep global warming from rising above 1.5°C, then we are in real danger of being exposed to more heat from the sun. The solution is to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, cutting it by half within the next six years and achieving net zero emission by 2050. Whether these goals would be achieved is a matter of conjecture.

Fossil fuels, as studies have shown, are the biggest contributors to the global climate change crisis, and poses severe risks to all forms of life. For the record, the main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide and methane. For a moment, just imagine the volume of carbon emissions from the cars on our roads and electricity generators in Nigeria. The result is catastrophic air pollution that endangers our health.

Clearing land and cutting down forests can also release carbon dioxide, according to UNEP reports. Agriculture, oil and gas operations are major sources of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use cause greenhouse gases.

Apart from the Paris Agreement, there are other global agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals (to make the world a better place by 2030) and the UN Convention on Climate Change to guide progress. However, an SDG Report in 2022 revealed that about two billion people worldwide don’t have access to safe drinking water. If we consider the effects of climate change and a growing population, it means that number is likely go up.

We must understand that climate change hazards do not occur in isolation because the Earth is a system – just like the human body – where everything is connected. It means changes in one area, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), can influence changes in others.

It is why the consequences of climate change now include, among others, threats to our health, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) set up the IPCC in 1988.

In a self-made climate change manual, you should include and learn about the effects of climate change which varies depending on your region. You should also add sustainable solutions that include reducing carbon emissions, slowing the pace of global warming, and transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources.

The manual should note adaptation as a mitigation strategy that delivers economic benefits while also seeking climate justice in the sense that small island nations and developing countries must be supported financially. These countries have fewer resources to cope with the devastating effects of climate change.

When my associates at Climate Action Africa (CAA) decided to launch Climate Action Africa Forum (CAAF24), I took more than a passing interest in climate change and commenced a research on the intersection between climate action and sustainable development.

The executive director and co-founder of CAA, Grace Oluchi Mbah, is leading a team that is organising CAAF24 which is scheduled to hold from June 19 – 20, 2024 at Landmark Centre, Oniru, Lagos. Multi-stakeholder partnerships and collaborations are required to address pressing climate change challenges.

This was why CAA signed a partnership agreement with the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) in Abuja about four months ago as part of a broader framework to catalyze the climate policy conference. This was followed by a world press conference in Abuja to announce CAAF24. Salisu Dahiru, the former director general of NCCC while speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, said the collaboration was a “pivotal step towards building a climate-resilient Nigeria.”

In her response, Mbah said Nigeria’s vulnerability to climate change necessitates immediate and collective action. “Through this partnership,” she said, “we aspire to harness the power of innovation, sustainable practices, policy dialogue, and community engagement to re-shape Nigeria’s future, and set a global example.”

Clearly, CAAF24 is a bold and innovative response to the climate change challenge in Africa. After the Abuja meeting, CAA received the backing of NCCC for the conference. CAAF24 will host a diverse group of influential thought leaders and environmental champions from the Africa Development Bank (Abidjan), Afrexim Bank (Cairo), World Bank (Washington DC), World Economic Forum (Geneva), and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (Nairobi).

CAA’s mandate includes fostering climate-resilient communities, driving innovation and contributing to the expansion of Africa’s green economy.

The theme of the conference is, “Green Economy, Brighter Future: Innovating and Investing in Africa’s Climate Smart Development.” One of the keynote speakers is Ms. Ramatoulaye Diallo N’Diaye, a former minister of culture in Mali, and the founder/CEO of the Great Green Wall of Africa (GGWoA) Foundation with a mission and unwavering commitment to restoring African forests and reversing the ravaging effects of climate change in the continent.

The list of speakers also include Tokunbo Wahab, Honourable Commissioner for environment and water resources, Lagos State; Markus Wauschkuhn, Cluster Coordinator, Sustainable Economic Development Cluster of GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, and Gerald Esambe, Principal Officer, Climate and Green Growth Department at African Development Bank Group.

Others are Kingsley Uranta, General Manager at Channels TV; Bankole Michael from the Lagos State Climate Change department, Ms. Helen Brume, representing the President of Afrexim Bank; Edith Jibunoh, External and Corporate Relations (ECR) Manager for East and Southern Africa representing the World Bank; Olalekan Ogunleye, Executive Vice President, Gas, Power & New Energy, NNPC Ltd and others.

The organisers of the conference are worried about the impact of climate change in Africa. Mbah said the following themes would be explored with nuance by the speakers and facilitators: changing weather patterns, rising sea levels, air pollution, forced displacements, water scarcity, food insecurity, hunger and poor nutrition, desertification, declining GDP, and limited adaptive capacity.

According to her, CAAF is building a platform for Africa to lead the change in addressing global climate issues. With over 3,600 registered attendees, and more than 600 applications for its Deal Room and Workshops, CAAF24 is on track to be an unprecedented hub for climate action and sustainable energy transition in Africa.

 CAAF Deal Room is a ground-breaking idea and strategic initiative that aims to connect high impact climate innovators in Africa with potential investors seeking to accelerate sustainable solutions. The objective of the Deal Room is to select finalists who would have the opportunity to pitch their ideas and solutions during CAAF24.

The deals will include prize money, equity, debt financing, mergers and acquisitions as well as other investment options. Those eligible to apply include venture capitalists, impact investors, climate-tech startups, Green SMEs, and not-for-profit organisations. Applications for the Deal Room opened on April 22, and closed on May 17, 2024.

It would be nice for the organisers of CAAF24 to extend an invitation to the new director general of NCCC, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe, as a special guest of honour. I am using this opportunity to congratulate the DG on her well-deserved appointment announced last Sunday.

Braimah is a global public relations consultant and marketing strategist. He is also the publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (https://ntm.ng) and Lagos Post (https://lagospost.ng), and can be reached via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

The Israeli Defence Force slaughtered 274 innocent & defenceless Palestinian civilians in Nuseirat on saturday just to rescue four Jewish hostages in what has been decribed by an eyewitness as a "callous massacre" & "hell on earth". 

How can anyone in his right senses justify this madness? How can any sane person rejoice in such mindless savagery & callousness. 

Would it not have been more humane to get them released through negotiation & a ceasefire? 

Would you not have got more hostages back that way without taking any innocent lives? 

Are the babies & infants that you butchered in Nuseirat also members of the Al Qassam Brigade? 

Did they also participate in the October 7th attack on Israel? 

Were the four hostages hidden in their baby cots, their prams or their diapers?

Did you have to murder them too? 

This degree of depravity beggars belief. 

It is utterly astounding & totally incomprehensible. It represents a new low in the long & horrific history of Zionist barbarity.   

Bibi Netanyahu & his supporters should clap for themselves! 

Yet as they rejoice in their butchery & carnage & their pyrrhic victory let them take note of the following: there is NO glory in murdering women & children. 

There is NO honor in slaughtering babies & infants & blowing up their little bodies with your sophisticated weapons & precision bombs! 

There is NO victory in snuffing out their precious young lives & blotting out their shining star!

There is NO joy in shattering their dreams & destroying their destinies. 

Your cruelty is greater than that of Herod, your soul is darker than that of Pharaoh, your boast is greater than that of Sennacherub, your arrogance is greater than that of Nebuchadnezzar, your heart is harder than that of Jezebel, your bloodlust is greater than that of Athalia and your end shall be worse than that of all of them put together. 

The Lord of Hosts, the Alpha & the Omega, the Ancient of Days, the Man of War, the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the El Shaddai, the Elohim, the Adonai, the Lord of the universe, the God of all flesh, the Avenger of our blood, the Lamb of God, the Blood of the sprinkling, the I AM THAT I AM, He who is high & lifted up whose train fills the Temple & He that they call Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whose name is above all names, who is the author & finisher of our faith & to whom every knee must bow, has seen your wickedness & stands against you. 

From generation to generation you shall be cursed, your suffering & sorrow shall have no end & a special place in hell has been reserved for you where you shall burn forever. 

The time for glorifying yourselves will soon be over for the God of the poor, the weak, the oppressed, the vulnerable & the persecuted shall rise up in defence of the women & children of Gaza & avenge them speedily! 

Even Benny Gantz, the leader of the opposition & an erstwhile member of your 'war cabinet', can no longer bare the stench of blood that trails you & has abandoned your rat-infested ship & sinking Zionist Government.

Woe unto you Netanyahu and unto Smotrich, Ben Givr, Eliyahu, Gotllieb, Herzog and all the other depraved, bloodthirsty, delusional & insane men & women in your crumbling cabinet & heartless Government.

Woe unto the people of Israel for choosing you as their leader. 

Woe unto America for arming, funding & supporting you in your bloody enterprise of mass murder & ethnic cleansing. 

Woe unto them for being complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity & genocide.

Woe unto the rest of the world for refusing to stand up for truth & justice, for refusing to resist you & for refusing to find the courage to march on Tel Aviv & drag you off your blood-soaked throne.

(FFK)

In accordance with his commitment to actualize Nigeria's green industrial vision, boost investor confidence, and unlock sustainable economic value through various climate finance instruments, *President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe as the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC)* in interim capacity, pending the confirmation of her appointment by the NCCC Supervisory Council.

The President has also approved that Dr. Maduekwe, 39, who holds a Bachelor of Law degree; a Master’s degree in Environmental Law & Policy from the University of Dundee (UK), and a Doctorate degree in Law from the University of Hull (UK), is to serve as the Co-Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Committee on National Carbon Market Activation Plan (NCMAP).

Dr. Maduekwe has over 15 years of national and international experience in climate policy development and project implementation. She previously served as Nigeria National Coordinator, Climate Parliament. Climate Parliament is an international, multi-partisan network of legislators working worldwide to help solve the climate crisis and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. 

Dr. Maduekwe was also the legal adviser to the NCCC Director-General.

Furthermore, the President has approved the appointment of *Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi Shelleng, 40, as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Finance & Stakeholder Engagement, Office of the President.* He is seconded to the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) Secretariat, where he will handle all matters related to Climate Finance & Stakeholder/Donor Relations.

The President has also approved that *Mr. Shelleng is to assume the position of Secretary of the Intergovernmental Committee on National Carbon Market Activation Plan (NCMAP)* and serve as a member of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions, as well as the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

Mr. Shelleng, who holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has served in leading roles across multiple financial institutions, and was Head of Business Development for the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company PLC (NMRC) before his appointment as Senior Special Assistant to the President.

The President has also approved the appointment of *Mr. Olamide Fagbuji, 44, as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Technology and Operations, Office of the President.* He is seconded to the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) Secretariat, where he will oversee the digitalization of a new open procurement process and cross-departmental procedural optimization initiative.

Mr. Fagbuji served as Special Assistant to the President on Economic Matters under the previous administration, and was most recently the Technical Adviser to the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) on Policy Research and Strategy. He is a policy analyst and computer scientist.

By the directive of the President, the aforementioned appointments take immediate effect.

The President expects the new appointees to bring their expertise and discipline to bear in these very important assignments in pursuance of the nation’s aspiration on green industrial development and climate action for sustainable growth and national prosperity.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

In furtherance of his establishment of the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action (SPEC) and to bring clarity to the functions of the office within the climate and green economy ecosystem, President Bola Tinubu has approved the terms of reference for the pioneering Office of SPEC.

By the President’s directive, the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action shall be:

(1) The lead negotiator on climate-related matters on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, reporting directly to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

(2) The lead negotiator on carbon market and management initiatives on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a mandate to integrate the work of the Intergovernmental Committee on National Carbon Market Activation Plan (NCMAP) into the climate action plans of the Federal Government of Nigeria, reporting directly to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

(3) The supervising interface between the Secretariat of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) and the NCCC Supervising Council, which is chaired by the President.

(4) Coordinator of all climate action-related activities across Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, legislative, and subnational entities which directly impact the President's climate action and green economic agenda with a mandate to directly engage other nations, international organizations, and non-governmental entities to build coalitions and advance global climate goals in accordance with Nigeria's national interest.

(5) The focal point of the Federal Government of Nigeria's engagement with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings, and other related international meetings on climate-related and green economic matters.

(6) The coordinator of activities of all relevant Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies towards the successful fulfilment of Nigeria's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

(7) The secretary of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions, which is chaired by the President.

(8) The chief diplomat and lead representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on all climate-related engagements and negotiations while supervising the Energy Transition Office.

(9) The focal-point authority on all non-executive activities related to the operations of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) with delegated authority to oversee the activities and operations of the NCCC secretariat for frequent reporting to the President in between meetings of the NCCC Supervisory Council.

(10) The lead interface on engagements with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Power, Federal Ministry of Environment, other critical Federal Government of Nigeria institutions concerning the administration and coordination of climate-related donor finance, renewable energy finance and green industrial growth management.

(11) Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

Furthermore, the President has approved the expansion of the membership of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions (P-CAGE).

The committee comprises the following additional members:

(1) Representative, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning

(2) Representative, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs

(3) Representative, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas)

(4) Representative, Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science & Technology

(5) Representative, NNPCL

(6) Special Assistant to the President on Energy Transition, Ms. Yasmin Mohammed

(7) Representative, Energy Transition Office, Mr. Somkele Awa-Kalu.

The Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions is set to be inaugurated in July.

The President emphasizes diligence, dedication, and patriotism in the execution of this critical national assignment with a view to realizing his administration’s agenda on climate action and green industrial growth for the long-term benefit of the Nigerian people and Africans at large.

Segun Imohiosen

Director, Information

Despite founding Nigeria’s most successful hydrocarbon geophysical consulting firm and contributing significantly to the development of the oil and gas sector, Boniface Madubunyi, who died at 90 on May 13th in London, was practically unknown to the Nigerian public. That’s the way he wanted it. Very few persons anywhere can be so successful and yet so self-effacing, almost monastic in their lifestyle. Madubunyi, an engineer trained at the University of Manchester in the early 1960s who was given the Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) national honour under the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, set up a geophysical firm, Mabon Geophysical Surveys Ltd, that competes effectively with Western ones. Statoil of Norway, now Equinor, Shell, and Chevron to name and some others invested in Nigeria’s offshore in 1992 based on data and analyses from Mabon. Madubunyi was the first Nigerian person to own oil blocks in both the United States and Europe.

He invested across various sectors, from power generation to real estate to oil exploration and production, yet he shunned labels like a 'wealthy man' or 'entrepreneur.' He preferred to be seen as a professional consultant. He embodied humility and professionalism.

An indigene of Ihiala in Anambra State, Madubunyi was cosmopolitan through and through. He accepted the challenge from the Federal Government to build and operate a 40-megawatt hydropower plant in Gombe State in the most difficult period in the country’s history. Since January 2020, this plant has supplied uninterrupted electricity to the national grid, with six states benefitting directly from it.

Soft-spoken, strikingly good-looking, and reserved, Madubunyi worked extremely hard. Researchers in applied psychology and management science can use him as an example of success brought about by deliberate practice, or the 10,000 hours principle, the concept that most people who have attained global excellence, whether in sports, music, or business, have put in about 10,000 hours of practice. He was still working even in his last days, though his son, Richard Kenechukwu Madubunyi who trained at Imperial College in London and the University of Leeds, had assumed control of much of the Mabon group in the last couple of years. His style is reminiscent of that of Warren Buffet, founder of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the world’s richest investors who at 93 is still immersed in work. A devout Catholic and son of a catechist and teacher, Madubunyi would retort anytime I inquired when he would retire: “The pope, who has the world as his constituency, still works!” He and I would discuss at 2 am on the phone, say, on Sunday, and before 7 am he would call again even when he was in his 80s, dead busy at work

In Madubunyi I saw the personification of the elegant statement popularised by Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and chairman: simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. There was nothing flamboyant or extravagant about him or his style, but his houses, and his dress sense, for instance, reveal a man imbued with taste, class, and sophistication.

His wife, Nkiru, though born into a wealthy family, is equally modest and adapts easily to any environment. She and the husband always felt at home in my regular Mercedes Benz cars in the 1990s and early 2000s even they had specially crafted vehicles. Mrs Madubunyi’s father, Chief GE Okeke, built the Abbott group of schools in the 1950s in Sapele in today’s Delta State and in Ihiala, Anambra State. He became the Minister of Education and later of Economic Planning in the old Eastern Nigerian Region. The Great Zik of Africa trusted him and gave him a free hand to lead the team that built the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. Chief Okeke later conceived and built the Enugu campus of the UNN as well as Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, in Imo State. Proprietor of the Nigerian Starch Company who was to serve on a bank board, Okeke contributed to the development of Ihiala, his hometown, more than any other individual, dead or alive.

Though much of his life was spent abroad, Madubunyi was quite home-conscious. He was the first person to construct a major road in Ihiala, after Victor Okafor who built Ezego Road. Madubunyi singlehanded rebuilt the famous St Martin’s Catholic Church with strict instructions to the church authorities not to reveal the person behind it. He donated generously to the iconic Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Ihiala, also with an instruction to the owners and managers not to disclose his role. He bought a large swath of land to build an industry in Ihiala, but, owing to market headwinds, donated it to the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi. He also bought a large parcel of land to build a private university in Ihiala, but the project didn’t take off for some reason.

In appreciation of his generosity to the church, the ecclesiastical authorities offered to reward him with a knighthood, which he turned down with a customary smile. His Ihiala people did their best to bestow honorific traditional titles on him, but he rejected the offers politely; I used to call him Ugochinyere Ihiala, a “greeting” name given him informally by my cousin, Nick Mbaezue, on December 31, 2000, in the residence of Chief Charles Madubunyi, his lifelong friend who retired from the Customs Service as number three man without a house anywhere.

Unlike many men carried away by the riches of the world and pleasures of life and so became Epicureans, Madubunyi was ever conscious of what the English poet described as the inevitable hour. For about two decades, he prepared for the final hour, attending the mass daily and participating regularly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Days before his departure, priests were visiting him in the hospital to administer the viaticum, the Eucharist given to a person about to leave this world. Yet, we must pray for the repose of the noble soul of Boniface Madubunyi and the souls of all the faithful departed. To Boniface Madubunyi, MFR, a most uncommon Nigerian, we say Requiescat in pace.

Adinuba was Anambra State Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment (2018-22).

The quantum of reservations and growing public disapproval of the Tinubu government has little or nothing to do with ideology. I am pretty sure that if anyone ever accuses Mr. Tinubu of being anything resembling ideological, he could draw a pistol. Yet his unrelenting dismal job approval rating and increasing popularity deficit is the result of  a fundamental ideological mix up.

The president would like to be popular, admired by the masses and praised by the elite. But his policies keep grating on ideas that make a leader popular. People do not want to pay more for fuel, electricity, essential drugs or a myriad of taxes. Yet these are the basic essentials of the Tinubu presidency for which he and his team want us to clap and sing their praises. It works the other way round. The more you subject us to suffering and poverty, the less popular you are likely to get. Yet, the crisis is not only Tinubu’s. It is that of his party or rather the way we have come to run our politics of nativity.

As a growing tradition, Nigerian politics attaches little or no importance to ideologies. The hints of ideology that appear in our party acronyms and names say nothing tour politicians or the public . It says nothing about who qualifies to join or control each party. It says nothing about the programmes and policies of the party even when it does come to power. The acronyms are mere labels that distinguish one party from the other. And the parties themselves are merely vehicles on which politicians ride to fight for power at elections. The vast majority of party members know nothing about the ideological implications of the labels of the parties they join or run on.

With luck, there may be a handful of party elite who dream up party names and use the ideological implications to craft a manifesto or party agenda for purposes of registration by INEC. Once registered, our parties proceed like renegades to wrestle and battle for power at state and federal levels. Politicians make promises and articulate programmes that have little bearing to the names or ideological hints of their parties. Win the election first and be reminded of the name of the party and what its ideology, if any, means after inauguration day.

When it is time to take stock of party and government achievements at the end of a tenure, the Nigerian public, even the elite, hardly judge our parties and governments by the implications of their ideologies. It is the personal stamp of the individual incumbent that is judged. It is the Obasanjo government, the Buhari administration, the Tinubu presidency that are at issue etc. Our subsequent elections become merely referendums on the individual whose imprint the departing administration carried.

If it is a PDP government that is in question, no one cares how “democratic” it was or how much it cared about the “people” implicated in the party name. If it is an APC government, no one asks whether its achievements were “progressive” or not.

And yet, political parties remain the bedrock and cornerstones of every democracy. By their nature, they are carriers of ideological values by the very names they bear. These labels are carriers and embodiments of core beliefs and values. To that extent, a party ought to “answer” its true name by maintaining a certain fidelity to its names and distinguishing ideological implications.

If you insist on being a “national” party as with the defunct National Party of Nigeria, we expect you to leave a legacy coloured by nationalism (“One Nation , One Destiny”). If you were  the UPN of old, we expect you to be a beacon of “Unity” at least among your membership and the larger society if possible.  In these days of the APC, the PDP and the Labour Party, we expect “progressives”, “democrats” and “workers” interests to dominate our political discourse.

But sadly, the clashes among the three dominant parties for popular support is being waged about the credentials of Mr. Tinubu, Mr. Atiku and Mr. Obi. Our quarrels are not about how “progressive” the policies of Tinubu are or how democratic an Atiku presidency would have been or how much the interests of workers and youth would have been protected if Mr. Obi became president. Instead, we are embroiled in ugly street disputations about Mr. Tinubu’s controversial  certificates, Atiku’s many vacation homes in Dubai or Obi’s perennial black costume and Onitsha market wealth.

In the specific instance of the ruling APC, something curious and more far reaching seems to have happened. Mr. Tinubu has chased away all the progressive elements of the party either by confining them to the periphery or chasing them into political “exile” as it were. Many are now asking: where is Rotimi Amaechi in the present scheme of things in the party? Where is Yemi Osinbajo in all this? Where is Adams  Oshiomhole in his unfolding drama? Why is my friend Nasir El-Rufai being tormented for all the progressive policies he pursued in Kaduna? Where are all the progressive elements in the APC who fought to chase off Mr. Jonathan and enthrone Buhari?

In contrast with Tinubu, under Mr. Buhari, the APC managed to be an inclusive amalgam of an ultra conservative president and his tribal cohorts surrounded by a mixed bag of “progressive” thinking leading lights with some confused rabble of state  functionaries and party apparatchiks. Mr. Buhari could at least work with state progressive governors and party leaders like Rotimi Amaechi, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, party Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

These gentlemen were progressive in a loosely defined sense of advocating social democratic and modernist policies and programmes. They at least showing an abiding concern for the welfare of the ordinary citizen through broad based programmes. Osinbajo used his office as Vice President to administer  credible popular  empowerment programmes like Cash Transfers, Trader Money, Small Business Support Loan Scheme and instant relief for those in extreme vulnerability. Mr. Amaechi used his office as governor of Rivers State to build modern schools in which education up to secondary level was free. Children were supplied free school sandals and uniforms and primary health centres were multiplied and equipped with life saving devices and competent personnel. Oshiomhole pursued similar policies as governor of Edo State and constantly reminded APC members of their commitment to the elements of progressivism as party Chairman. His trade union background came in handy here.

Rightly defined, Progressivism as a political movement and idea is a left of centre movement. Its core is a certain commitment to social democratic principles. It is decidedly pro-common people and in the process advocates policies and programmes that enhance the welfare of the common folk. Access to the basic essentials of life is the corner stone of all progressive movements. Access to basic healthcare.  Access to affordable popular education. Access to employment. Access to food security and security of life and property.

These, as against the advocacy of the interests of the rich and big corporations, tax relief for the rich, the protection of big energy companies and massive taxation of basic goods and services, would distinguish a progressive government from either a conservative or neo liberal pro-capitalist party.

If indeed Buhari struggled with finding a middle path between these possibilities,  President Bola Tinubu has had no problem with such a mixture. From the outset, he indicated a definitive option for conservatism and neo liberal capitalist policies. He chose Mr. Ganduje of the million dollar fame as party chairman. He opted for the famous Mr. Godswill Akpabio as Senate President and some other anonymous gentleman as House Speaker. He has also chosen a mixed bag of Ministers with the imperial Nyesom Wike, David Umahi and his Lagos gang of World Bank and IMF friendly Cardoso and Yemi Edun to man the economy. Tinubu maneuvered the National Assembly to ensure that the likes of Nasir El Rufai never neared his cabinet. It is also rumored that a former ally and progressive, Adams Oshiomhole, now needs special clearance to get an audience with the President in the Villa.

Almost like a deliberate policy, Mr. Tinubu has kept the real progressives of the original party at bay. No one knows his exact relationship with  Rotimi Amaechi  who was a founding pillar of the APC and principal enabler of the Buhari presidency. Amaechi is by no means a small tangential fish in APC waters. He came second in the presidential primary congress that produced the Tinubu ticket. In spite of sharing a common South West roots with Osinbajo, Tinubu has kept the former brilliant progressive Vice President at a distance. Not even the token emissary errands for which former vice presidents are famous!

In order to situate these developments and perhaps project on the future of the APC, we need to understand the major currents that produced the APC.

The APC was birthed out of Mr. Buhari’s resilient appetite for presidential power. Its victory in the 2015 presidential election was a product of both his regional cultic followership and a nationwide rejection of Mr. Jonathan’s bumbling presidency. Seven years afterwards, Buhari’s appetite for apex power has been fulfilled and arguably squandered. His pet nativist hegemonic project has come full cycle and overreached itself. And as he begins to gather his belongings to return to the pastoral anonymity of Daura, his APC vehicle now has an existential challenge: how does it survive in and of itself as a political party? How will it persist as a strategic national institution of democratic stability?

Looking back, the coalition of parties that gave birth to the APC was an inconvenient marriage of political convenience. There was nothing in common between a pseudo social democratic ACN, an ultra conservative CPC, a nationalist right wing ANPP, an ethno nationalist APGA and a renegade opportunistic centrist NPDP. The cardinal objective was to cobble together a workable coalition to wrest power from the PDP after 16 monotonous years. The idea of a multiparty coalition eventually gave way to the even better idea of a single opposition party.

Mr. Buhari facilitated and galvanized the marriage. He provided the amalgamation with a presidential mascot albeit one with a national name recognition. He also came dressed in an untested mythic garb of leadership prowess, governance prudence, barrack discipline and a reasonable level of personal integrity. Above all, he had managed over the years to build up a huge cultic following among the northern mob of rough uneducated and unemployed youth and regional power fanatics. Part of the motor park fable around Mr. Buhari was the infantile notion that once elected president, he would jail all the corrupt former government officials, recover the ill- gotten wealth and redistribute same among the poor masses.

Thus was born a party tailored more towards wresting power from an effete incumbent than for the effective governance of a country in desperate need for responsible leadership.  Given the tenacity of African power incumbents, the APC was more honed for the task of contesting the outcome of the 2015 presidential election possibly up to the Supreme Court. But when the results tumbled in mostly in its favour and Mr. Jonathan conceded defeat to Mr. Buhari, it was an overrated and unprepared APC that had to set up a government and ascend the pinnacle of national power. Victory came as a rude surprise with power as an unanticipated burden. Time has passed. Buhari has fulfilled his long standing ambition of wearing the toga of President. It is now time for the party to take stock of its stewardship and contemplate its future.

With the benefit of hindsight, the emergence of the APC reinforced Nigeria’s historic tendency towards a credible two party architecture. To that extent, it was a positive political outcome, one which promised a great dividend for Nigeria’s democracy. The new party came to power on the wave of expectations greater than its capacity and preparedness.

However,  the APC’s electoral success and stature as the de facto dominant party in the land has raised far too many fundamental questions about the present state and future prospects of Nigerian democracy. The central curiosity remains that of how a party with a dismal record of governance in the last eight years can score such overwhelming electoral success. If democratic elections are indeed periodic tests of the popularity and acceptability of a party, the verdict of the Nigerian electorate in this last election deserves closer look. Questions indeed abound.

Do electorates punish non- performing parties by denying them victory at the next election? Or, in the alternative, can a party, in spite of a dismal performance in government, still coast to victory at the next election irrespective of a massive popularity deficit? Is the electorate of registered voters a true representation of the popular wish at elections? Does the electorate have a mind, a memory, like a person, that either punishes or rewards past experience in the hands of a political party and its elected officials? Finally, is the public of voters in a democracy an insensitive mob that returns a party to power even if its government has hurt the people badly and betrayed the public trust and devalued the good of the nation?

Mr. Tinubu may not choose a definite ideological label to find his way around the maze of Nigeria’s problems. But his outcomes sill be badged by ideology. Even in the absence of definable ideological differences in our politics, the challenges that define today’s Nigerian reality call for ideological clarity.

We are drifting towards clear policy options that are ultimately ideological. Should we insist on obeying the IMF and World Bank by sinking more and more into unpayable debts? Or should we reduce waste, curb ostentation and instead invest our scarce resources in social welfare and empowerment of the majority. Should we save the nation or save the few rich oligarchs that our prodigal past has created?

Sooner or later, President Tinubu will have to choose between a reversion to the original progressive template of the party that put him in power and a tragic betrayal of that foundation. Either option is fraught with consequences. Without a clear choice, the president will be stranded at a critical junction in our national history.

He had everything going for him. Deep knowledge of several subjects, from his core area of architecture to the most rarefied dimensions of Classical German idealism. He had incredible access and contacts, from the political, sociocultural and generational, to the profoundly academic and ethereal. I recall a conversation, during which I said, “Ferdinand, it is sometimes amusing how you go prancing about and calling yourself a mere architect. Yes, you belong to the physical and design sciences by training and academic learning, but you are a polymath with a deep sense of the present. So, in case you don’t know, and in case no one has ever told you this, you belong in the academia, but not as a conventional academic or scholar”.

He is no more today. He left the flesh yesterday, in a-yet-to-be-believed tale of departure without the slightest whimper of a warning sign. He was at a wine carrying event on Friday, which ended around 9pm. While at the event, he tried to speak with Victor Anoliefo; who called him from the US. They could not talk much because of the noise level in his wine carrying location. They agreed to continue, and conclude, their discussion some other time. Well, that conversation will not be concluded as planned.
This brings us all face to face with the hard reality of earthly existence. You either live for something, or die unsung; notwithstanding your wealth and other matters. Just think of the many people now in tears and deep mourning because of this sad incident. They are not saddened because Ferdinand is no longer there to give them money, contracts or political leverage, no. They are mourning a great man whose greatness lay in what he lived and stood for and what he is remembered for.

He roared with laughter again and then continued: “You obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy after your first degree, without a Masters Degree. You are at home with practically any subject I can think of; from nuclear physics to climate change, political economy and global economics. So, my dear brother, in case no one has also ever told you this before, hear it from me: It does not make sense to common sense to behold someone who studied philosophy writing and teaching the sort of things you teach and write with appalling, or even contemptuous, ease. Look, I gave up on you, that is on trying to compartmentalize your capacities and capabilities, when I learnt you had started teaching Cyber Security and Cloud Computing part-time at the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) a few years ago. Biko, your guilt in regard to what you are trying to accuse me of is known everywhere”. His renewed laughter rang out loud and long.

He was a great person to be with. Informed, poetic, self-sacrificing and self-effacing in so many ways. Many brilliant ideas he birthed exist in government and the public domain generally today; but without anyone knowing his involvement in it. He was exemplary as the Director General of the National Maritime Authority (NMA), now NIMASA. The reforms he introduced, the international linkages he established and his profile and reputation as one of the most forward looking.and most dependable Head of Parastatal in the then Federal Ministry of Transport put him in a class all by himself.
Sauve, politically savvy in a decent sort of way and a relationship lubricant for many public office holders who either boxed themselves into awkward corners, or needed extra policy or political leverage to achieve their goals or ambitions. Ferdinand was never demanding of extra attention, pecuniary rewards or demeaning encounters. He was always frank about matters he could deal with and those he could not.

The New, and Pleasant, Development at Customs:
The news out there is that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) is set to install scanners with 200 containers clearance/hour capacity. This will certainly address the problem of port congestion and drive efficiency, while putting an end to the nightmare (well, including daymare) of importers and clearing agents.
One thing is clear in this regard: The Custom’s Trade Facilitation Programme of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. Adewale Adeniyi, is yielding something worth looking forward to.  Nigeria Customs is working in collaboration with Trade Modernisation Project Limited on this infrastructural intervention. This will involve the installation of Gantry Scanners with the capacity to scan 200 containers every hour.

We first visited the Port of Ashdod. A very tall office building overlooked the port. It was deserted, lifeless and very uninspiring, when compared to the Lagos experience we were all familiar with. On the assumption that the port had been shut down, we asked why there was no activity whatsoever going on in what is reputed to be an extremely busy port. That’s when we learnt that everything in the place was automated. As we looked more closely, it became clear that many containers were actually in motion, shifted and loaded into many moving things by towering stationary cranes with arms spanning scores of meters. It was an uncanny sight to behold.

Information Technology experts and software developers are working long hours daily to deliver a foolproof system that would make export and import businesses easy in the country. It is expected that the desired Unified Customs Management software, which would leverage on geospatial technology, will deliver a new business experience; especially with customers software experts infused into the team of experts from the TMP Project limited.
Finally, the supporting infrastructure that would further enhance the planned, and expected, efficiencies should not be hamstrung by an inefficient transportation system. It will always take a cocktail of well-coordinated policies, actions and needed infrastructure to deliver sustainable interventions in any regulatory, or business, environment. But, for the record, NCS is squarely on the right track on this one.

It is indisputable that the people of Nigeria were not involved in the processes that led to the enactment and imposition of all the constitutions and other laws that were promulgated by the British colonial regime. Thus, the Lugard Constitution of 1914, Clifford Constitution of 1922, Richards Constitution of 1946, Macpherson Constitution of 1951, and Lyttleton Constitution of 1954 were enacted in London and imposed on Nigerians. But in order to protect the interests of the British Government and its allies at the end of colonialism, the Independence Constitution of 1960 was negotiated between the departing British colonial regime and the nationalist politicians.

Even the much-celebrated Republican Constitution of 1963 was a mere amendment of the Independence Constitution because it protected the interest of the indigenous ruling elite. Hence, the amendment of the Constitution carried out by the first set of parliamentarians was rather cosmetic. Specifically, the president replaced the British Monarch as Head of Government while the Supreme Court of Nigeria replaced the British Privy Council and became the final Court of Appeal.

However, the Nigeria Police Force, the armed forces, and other instruments of oppression established by the colonial regime were left intact to protect the interests of the indigenous ruling class while the post-colonial economy was left in the firm grip of imperialism. The anti-people’s colonial ordinances, which legitimized the exploitation of Nigeria by the British government, were adopted and reenacted as Acts of the Nigerian Parliament. No doubt, the 1963 Constitution recognized the relative autonomy of the Eastern, Western, and Northern regions as each of the regions had its own constitution and managed its own affairs within the neocolonial economic structure. In 1964, the Midwest region was carved out of western Nigeria to weaken the region as the northern and eastern regions were not split.

The manipulation of the courts and security forces by the ruling party aggravated the election violence that broke out in the western region in 1964 and the brutal killing of Igbo people in the north. Thus, the subversion of democracy and abuse of power by the chief operators of the 1963 Constitution led to a total breakdown of law and order in the country. It was under the pretext of restoring law and order that a group of young army officers led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu seized power on January 15, 1966.

The coup plotters killed the civilian Prime Minister, Mr. Tafawa Balewa, two regional heads of government, Messrs Samuel Akintola and Ahmadu Bello, and some military officers.

The national and regional constitutions were suspended while political parties, trade unions, and ethnic organizations were proscribed. The coup plotters were overpowered and arrested by senior officers who appointed Major General Johnson Thomas Umanakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi as the Head of State. A unification decree was promulgated to abolish regional institutions and the federal system of government. There was a counter-coup in July 1966, which led to the brutal murder of the military ruler, General Aguiyi-Ironsi, and the military governor of western Nigeria, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi.

The new Head of State, Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon, failed in resolving the political crisis. The military oligarchy ruled by decrees signed by the Head of State. Even though the military dictators claimed to have set up the Federal Military Government, it was a unitary government in every material particular. In other words, both Ironsi’s unification decree and Gowon’s supremacy decree were six of one and half a dozen of the other.

In 1967, the four regions were split into twelve states while military governors were appointed by the Supreme Military Council to govern them. The governors ruled the states by edicts. Regional institutions, including universities, radio, and television stations, were nationalized by the Federal Military Government. In 1975, the Murtala Mohammed military regime appointed a group of 49 persons to draft a new Constitution for the Second Republic. The Committee was headed by the late Chief Rotimi Williams SAN. At the end of the assignment, the committee produced two reports: the majority report prepared by 47 members and the minority report prepared by two members, namely the late Dr. Bala Usman and Dr. Segun Osoba. Since the minority report advocated for a socialist state, the Olusegun Obasanjo regime rejected it and forwarded the majority report of the Rotimi Williams group for the consideration of the constituent assembly led by Justice Udo Udoma.

Even though Chief Obafemi Awolowo declined to serve on the Constitution Drafting Committee, he lauded the body for recommending the entrenchment of chapter two in the Constitution. For him, the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy largely reflected the ideas canvassed by him in his book titled “People’s Republic,” published in 1966. However, upon the submission of the Draft Constitution by the constituent assembly to the regime, General Obasanjo single-handedly amended it and inserted therein four statutes, i.e., (a) the National Youth Service Corps Decree 1993; (b) the Public Complaints Commission Act; (c) the National Security Agencies Act; and (d) the Land Use Act. Even though these laws were not part of the Constitution, the purpose of entrenching them in the Constitution was to ensure that they could only be amended like other provisions of the Constitution.

Thereafter, General Obasanjo enacted the Constitution (Promulgation) Decree No 104 of 1979. Thus, the Second Republic was operated under Decree 104 of 1979, otherwise called the 1979 Constitution.

When the military sacked the civilian government again in December 1983, the 1979 Constitution was suspended. As part of the preparation for the restoration of civil rule, the 1989 Constitution was written by a Constituent Assembly led by Justice Anthony Aniagolu under the Ibrahim Babangida military junta. But, due to the annulment of the election won by Bashorun MKO Abiola, the 1989 Constitution never came into force. As General Babangida was forced to step aside, his plan to metamorphose from a military dictator to a civilian president failed to materialize. The plan of his successor and comrade in arms, General Sani Abacha, to have himself elected as a civilian president also failed. Hence, his 1995 Constitution did not see the light of day.

The last military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, repealed the suspended 1979 Constitution and imposed the 1999 Constitution on the nation via the Constitution (Promulgation) Decree No 24 of 1999. The committee that drafted the 1999 Constitution was headed by a famous jurist, the late Justice Niki Tobi. Even though the 1999 Constitution was not prepared by a constituent assembly, it is a replica of the 1979 Constitution in every material particular.

It is on record that the late Chief Rotimi Williams SAN once described the 1999 Constitution as a fraudulent document for telling a lie about itself. As far as Chief Williams was concerned, the Constitution was imposed on Nigerians, though the preamble stated that it was made, enacted, and given to the Nigerian people. In the same vein, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN has insisted that the Constitution is a fake document. With respect, the Constitution is neither fraudulent nor fake as its authors are well known. Indeed, in several judgments delivered by the Supreme Court and other courts since 1999, the Constitution has been described as the grundnorm of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Since the Constitution protects the interests of the ruling class, the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly of the 36 states of the Federation have resorted to regular amendment of some provisions of the document. The said amendments have also received judicial imprimatur. To that extent, it is not legally correct to say that the Constitution is fraudulent or fake.

In making a strong case for a new Constitution that will reflect the democratic wishes of the Nigerian people, it ought to be pointed out that there are some provisions of the 1999 Constitution that cannot be wished away. They include chapter two (sections 13-24), culled from the 1979 Constitution, which contains the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. Despite its limitations and contradictions, the chapter provides for participatory democracy, adequate security and welfare for the people, adequate housing, employment, and payment of unemployment benefit for unemployed people, payment of a national living minimum wage and pension, right to education at all levels, and right to health.

In particular, section 16 of the Constitution provides that the resources of the nation shall be controlled by the government and be equitably distributed among the people and that the commonwealth shall not be concentrated in the hands of a few people or a group. The provisions constitute the core of the socioeconomic rights of the Nigerian people. Even though the provisions are made non-justiciable, several laws have been enacted by the National Assembly to actualize certain provisions of chapter two of the Constitution. In a number of public interest cases, the courts have upheld the rights of Nigerian people under such welfare laws. It is interesting to note that the members of the 2014 National Conference unanimously recommended that the fundamental objectives and directive principles be made justiciable in the Constitution.

Under the defunct military junta, the central military government took over the control of the national economy. By fiat, the principle of derivation was jettisoned while the states were run as extensions of the central military government. The 1999 Constitution has challenged the absolute control of the central government in the management of the national economy. To that extent, no constitutional arrangement can jettison section 162 of the Constitution, which states that “the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than thirteen per cent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources.”

This is unlike section 140 of the 1963 Constitution which merely provided derivation of “a sum equal to fifty per cent of (a) the proceeds of any royalty received by the Federation in respect of any minerals extracted in that Region; and (b) any mining rents derived by the Federation during that year from within that Region.” The point that I am struggling to make is that the 13 percent derivation from revenue in section 162 of the 1999 Constitution is much higher than the 50 percent derivation from royalties and rents in the 1963 Constitution. Furthermore, the states that are entitled to the 13 percent derivation are equally entitled to a share in the monthly statutory allocations distributed to the three tiers of government by the Federation Account Allocation Committee.

The campaigners for restructuring have argued that the development of the regions before military rule was based on the 50 percent derivation applicable under the 1963 Constitution. This is misleading as the development of the regions was based on the huge revenue derived from agricultural products like cocoa, cotton, and palm oil. Agriculture, which was the mainstay of the economy, got a boost from the regional commodity boards which protected the interest of farmers. But the boards were abolished in the late 1990s as part of the conditionalities of the Structural Adjustment Programme. Unaware that the Commodities Board Act has not been repealed, Vice President Shetima recently announced that the federal government would soon set up a new National Commodity Board.

Even though President Buhari was opposed to restructuring, the devolution of powers recorded under his regime has been the most profound since 1999. Items like electricity, railways, and prisons which were in the exclusive legislative lists have been transferred to the concurrent legislative list. The implication is that states have been empowered to legislate in these areas for the overall development of the country. The financial autonomy of the state legislature and judiciary has also been restored by another constitutional amendment. No doubt, solid minerals are in the exclusive legislative list. But state governments and individuals are given licenses to mine them and pay royalties to the Federation Account.

Before then, licenses for oil blocks were awarded to a few registered corporate bodies and state governments which were required to pay signature bonuses and royalties to the Federation Account. The trend is going to continue as the Bola Tinubu administration has already awarded many oil blocks and granted licenses for solid minerals. Plans have also been concluded to amend the Constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police in response to the worsening security crisis plaguing the nation.

It is pertinent to note that the main disputed area among the political class is whether the Constitution should provide for a presidential or parliamentary system of government or whether the country should have strong regional governments and a weak center. A fresh agitation has also arisen in the Niger Delta region for resource control in view of the decision of the federal government to allow state governments and private companies to mine solid minerals and pay rents to the Federation Account. In other words, the oil and gas producing communities have demanded to control the resources and pay rents to the Federation Account.

In view of the foregoing, it is crystal clear that the members of the political class have resolved not to discard or throw away the 1999 Constitution because it protects their class interests. This explains the regular amendments of the Constitution by every session of the National Assembly and houses of assembly of the states. In fact, each house of the 10th National Assembly has set up a constitution review committee for the purpose of further amending the Constitution. It is expected that the review will lead to another alteration of the Constitution.

No doubt, the country needs a new and popular Constitution prepared by the accredited representatives of workers, women, youths, physically challenged people, and other interest groups. But a new Constitution that is democratic, inclusive, and transparent can only emerge from the struggle of the Nigerian people. Therefore, it is indubitably clear that without a revolution to herald a new legal order, no new constitution will emerge in Nigeria.

SCRIPTURE says “Where no counsel is, the people fall: But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety” Nigeria is in such dire straits that its affairs can no longer be left solely to those in the corridors of power. Either they are short of ideas or the problem is just beyond them. I do not want to believe we have found ourselves, again, in the same bind that made one-time military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, to exclaim that Nigeria’s economy defies solution. So, all hands must be on deck. Solutions must be proffered right, left, and centre. Usually, those in government are deaf to the cries of “ordinary” people. What to do, then, is to keep crying, like biblical Blind Bartimaeus, never getting weary and never allowing naysayers shut us up; confident that, if we faint not, we shall one day reap.

If everyone else gives up, writers should not. Our duty is sacred – to inform; to educate; to entertain; and to hold the feet of those in power to the fire. We are watchdogs. We are the conscience of the nation. The country’s grundnorm – its Constitution – obligates us to hold the government accountable to the people. In a situation such as we find ourselves in Nigeria today, where the three arms of government – the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary – have miserably let the people down, I dare to say that writers remain not just the last but the only hope of the common man. Read Hamsik Dusan’s “Writers against rulers” and marvel at the heroic struggle of writers and intellectuals against official repression on the eve of the Czech uprising in the late 1960s. We can do no less here in our own country.

 It starts with everyone getting involved, bringing to mind Odumegwu Emeka Ojukwu’s “Because I am involved”, which was his own perception of the Nigerian political vortex and what he considered as solutions. You may or may not agree. Critics must never give up, even when it appears they are sounding like a cracked record. They should also not just criticize but also proffer solutions – whether right or wrong. This is where I differ from my comrade, classmate and course mate at Great Ife, Wale Olajire Ajao, whose piece “The role of the public space in a democracy” is cerebral and engaging as usual but his position that critics need not make suggestions does not sit pretty with me.

Hear him: “Supporters of the government often say that those who criticize the government should come out with alternative views or suggestions for the government to consider. But the rules of the public space do not include making suggestions to the government. In other words, a critic who does not have suggestions for the government has not violated the rules of the public space just because he has not made suggestions to the government. In fact, his duty is not to make suggestions. His duty is to criticize. If someone has made destructive criticism, those media officers of the government or those who are supporting the government have to exercise their right to reply and disapprove of all the facts in the destructive criticism. No more, no less”.

I beg to differ for the simple reason that criticism becomes an end in itself and not a means to an end! Welcome, anarchy! There must be a purpose to every action. If the rules of the public space do not include making suggestions, we should quickly amend them to do so! I will publish Wale’s treatise at a later date and we shall be able to discuss it fully. Today, however, my attention goes to another cerebral and passionate commentator, Timothy (Tim) Akano, because of the urgency of the matter he addressed – the savagery of the country’s economic situation and the cauldron of repressed anger in the land. Tim and I, in company with others, had, time and time, laboured for long hours around the same table rubbing minds as we discussed the country’s problems and trying to fashion out solutions. Now, Tim appears to have shouted “Euruka!” with his “Getting Nigeria’s elephant to the dance floor” Permit me to edit it, and to also pass comments, as we get along.

Hear him: “ “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?” This is the title of Louis V. Gerstner memoir. The “miracle-manager with a magic wand” who midwifed IBM’s historic turnaround that begot IBM 2.0 in the 1990s. By 1993, before Louis’s appointment as the new CEO, IBM, the company that revolutionized the technology world, was on its way to extinction. It was projected to lose over $16 billion that year alone. IBM’s fate of dissolving into a confederation of autonomous corporations was signed and sealed but not yet delivered. This situation was similar to Nigeria’s fate on the eve of May 29th, 2023 when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu collected the leadership baton.

“IBM, which was incorporated on June 16th, 1911, three years before Nigeria’s amalgamation in January 1914, was a victim of its lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and insensitivity to modernization, even in the face of the irreversible wind of change blowing over the PC market it had helped invent. The birth of IBM 2.0 was not an accident or luck; its extraordinary second coming was a byproduct of audacious, hairy visioning and strong political will. Louis paid the full price through the strength of his character for the prize he later won as one of the greatest turnaround CEOs and heroes of the 21st century. He carried out wholesale restructuring of IBM, rebuilt the leadership team, and gave the workforce a renewed sense of purpose. He led by example, ran a lean management, and made accountability, prudence, and innovation his priorities.

“Promptly, IBM’s dry bones heard the word of Louis; new breath entered into IBM, and the dry bones became whole. It roared back to life, became stronger, bigger, and better. Louis streamlined the company’s product portfolio and carefully defined the kind of parties IBM would attend, which were only those where IBM had both comparative and competitive advantages. On May 1st, 2006, IBM sold off the hen that laid the golden eggs, i.e., IBM’s PC hardware business units (equivalent to Nigeria’s NNPC), to Lenovo, a Chinese company, because the hen had since become barren in IBM’s cage…

“IBM and Nigeria share several things in common. Aside from being age mates, both are “ELEPHANTS” in their own right, two conspicuously consequential entities with untold potentials. IBM is to the global corporate world what Nigeria is to the Black race. However, while IBM 2.0 has turned the corner since the 1990s, Nigeria has remained static in the same corner for 40 years as a spectator in a sorry state, a fragile, fractured, fragmenting federation, always failing and fumbling at the edge of every fundamental turning point, perpetually on the brink with no voice, no vote, no veto, no victory!

“The best-run countries in the world operate like the GLOBAL500 corporations. They are target-driven, sharply focused on the BOTTOM LINE which, for corporations, means profit, and for nations, it means PEOPLE. Similarly, smart nations feature only in a few parties where they have natural endowments, skills, and resources to out-compete other nations.

“Norway is one of the smartest nations on earth. With only 7.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, she is accountable for over 2% of global oil consumption. Norway has sharpened her skills in oil business management. Conversely, Nigeria’s oil numbers don’t add up: with over 30 billion barrels, she is accountable for a mere 0.4% of global oil consumption, sitting in the 37th position despite having the 10th largest oil reserves globally. NNPC has made a profit only twice in 40 years, according to its GMD, whereas Norway’s savings of $1.62 trillion is the world’s largest sovereign wealth asset, built from her oil profit, holding on average 1.5% of all the world’s listed companies’ stocks. This translates to over $295,000 per Norwegian citizen. Nigeria has a comparative advantage in crude oil reserves but has zero competitive advantage in production and oil business management.

“South Korea is another smart nation, focusing on dominating steel manufacturing (POSCO being the world’s 7th largest steelmaker), car manufacturing, shipbuilding (Hyundai is the global number one shipbuilder), and electronics. South Korea is the world’s second-largest producer of semiconductors, which represents her main export, and textile. Just five areas of focus.

“The question is: where does Nigeria have both competitive and comparative advantages vis-à-vis other nations? Or, put differently, which five problems are we solving or can we solve for the world better than any other nation?

“Nigerians knew things were bad on 29th May, 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari handed over to Tinubu. Nigerians knew that the treasury was emptied by President Buhari’s administration, which was why the mind-boggling revelations that came out from the CBN audit report by Jim Obasi did not come as a surprise to many. (By the way, where is the report, and what is the government going to do with Obasi’s findings and recommendations?)… But things are getting worse. The hurt, hunger, and haemorrhaging are on an astronomical ascendancy… Leaders need to act cautiously whenever despondency descends on a nation because, when hope is lost, the people become as wild and dangerous as a pride of hungry lions…

“The seven demons wearing new ranks of a 4-star general today are: devaluation, stagflation, financialization, de-industrialization, dehumanization, insecurity, and corruption. Call it a perfect storm! A situation where food inflation is now in excess by 40%; currency devaluation is in excess by 100% in an import-dependent economy; unemployment is going through the roof; a 300% increase in electricity in “Band A” where manufacturers belong; a bank interest rate on loans of about 40%; surging insecurity with random kidnapping for ransom; financialization with banks being the only ones declaring profits at a time of massive factory closures, coupled with unbridled corruption, is nothing short of a perfect storm.”

What is to be done? Tim made 12 suggestions: 1. Food security 2. Power supply 24/7. 3. Re-industrialization. 4. Farewell to poverty 5. Re-inventing education 6. Ending medical tourism. 7. Reducing the cost of governance and dismantling corruption 8. Achieving peaceful co-existence and security 9. Re-working the Federal Executive Council 10. Focusing on Entertainment as a business because we hold comparative advantage there 11. Launching a Nigeria Rebirth project (moral. cultural and social rebirth) 12. Restructure the country’s superstructure because the current political structure is not working.

I doubt if anyone can de-list any of Tim’s panaceas to the country’s woes. Interestingly, however, I find about 80 percent of the persons he recommended to President Tinubu to help effect the much-needed turnaround disagreeable! I think that is where the problem starts: Building the team that will build the country.

The city of Aba in Abia State has been engulfed in tension following a series of reprisal actions by soldiers in response to the killing of five of their colleagues at Obikabia Junction, Ogbor Hill, on Thursday, May 30.

The deceased soldiers were ambushed by unknown gunmen who also set ablaze two military vans and their checkpoint.

In the days following the attack, soldiers conducted extensive raids across Aba, targeting motorists and residents in what appeared to be a quest for retribution.

These operations have significantly heightened fear among the populace, with many preferring to stay indoors to avoid potential arrest or assault.

The atmosphere of fear was exacerbated by the presence of military helicopters patrolling the skies over Aba, observed continuously three days post-incident.

Despite Governor Alex Otti’s reassurances to innocent citizens that they can continue their daily activities without fear, the palpable tension has led to a shutdown of nightlife and a slow return to normalcy in the city.

Businesses, particularly in the Ogbor Hill vicinity where the initial attack occurred, have been slow to reopen, with proprietors and patrons wary of further military action.

Reports from Sunday Vanguard indicate that even local churches in the Obikabia area have suspended activities due to fears of military intrusion.

The economic impact of the military’s forceful response is considerable. A restaurant owner, identified as Mama Uche, reported losses exceeding ₦200,000 as perishable goods spoiled after she was forced to flee her establishment.

Similarly, a trader from Cemetery Market missed a significant supply contract due to the abrupt market closure and reported military blockades on the Abia-Rivers boundary.

Recreational spots and hotels have also felt the brunt of the military’s heavy-handedness, with reports of soldiers storming hotel premises, conducting room searches, and detaining guests and staff.

Some detainees have been released after profiling, yet others remain in custody without clear charges.

A laundry operator in one of the new hotels along Ukaegbu Road said soldiers invaded their hotel at about 2am, ransacked rooms and arrested all lodgers and staff members.

He said: “Soldiers invaded our hotel around 2am, ransacked all the rooms and arrested all lodgers and members of staff.

“We were moved to a military camp in Aba where some people were screened and released.

“But some are still being detained. Since the invasion of the hotel by the soldiers, guests no longer visit for lodging and relaxation.

“At the moment, people are afraid, no business because there is fear everywhere.

“We pray that the situation will soon return to normal for business to start booming again.”

[NaijaNews]