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How “VIPs of waste” endanger citizens’ lives in the air

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Prof. Mike A.A. Ozekhome, SAN, CON, OFR, FCIArb, LL.M, Ph.D, LL.D

INTRODUCTION

It was on Saturday, 22nd April, 2023, that it happened. At 12:30pm, I was airborne on Ibom Air, flight VM1601, from Lagos to Abuja. My seat was 16E. We were simply about 10 minutes, or thereabout, to landing in Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. Then the unexpected happened. The Pilot announced to bewildered passengers something we did not want to hear about. The flight will not land yet. Oh my God! Why? Hearts in our now dry mouths, we waited with bated breath; in suspended animation. The calm voice of the Pilot announcer said something which I considered to be at par with, perhaps, INEC’s now infamous ”glitches”. Yes, “glitches” that would not allow us to land as scheduled! The type of “glitches” that would enable INEC miraculously (through Prof. Peller’s abracadabra magic) transmit results of the Senate and House of Representatives elections held on Saturday, 25th February, 2023, straight ELECTRONICALLY from the POLLING UNITS to it’s IReV; but could not do same for the Presidential election held simultaneously for the same voters at the same time, on the same date, at the same venue, and with the same Bimodal accreditation. I have vainly searched for answers through all forms of logic, philosophy, scriptures, permutations, scientific and literary thoughts – some OUTSIDE the box, and even some WITHOUT the box – (thanks to my good friend, CR State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, who told me it is better to think WITHOUT THE BOX than merely thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX). The former, he carefully explained to me, is boundless; while the latter is circumscribed. I have since been using this template up to this moment. But till date, I have not been able to appreciate or digest this INEC’s contradiction, duplicity, equivocation and ambivalence. Or, can you?

THE AIR “GLITCH”- THE “VIP MOVEMENT”

Then, the pilot explained what he meant: “We are sorry to inform you that we cannot land yet. The Control tower has just informed us about “VIP movement”. We are therefore going to circle round till we are cleared to land. We estimate that this will take us about 20 to 25 minutes. But, there is nothing to worry about”. His voice was soothing and calming. But the pilot announcer did not tell us who the VIP or VIPs was or were. Pilots and crew announcers never ever disclose the names of such oppressors. Otherwise, passengers would lynch some of them; or pelt them with pure water and tomatoes. It was sufficient that some top brass, kahunas or head honchos was flying; and we lesser mortals must be held up in the skies. “Here was the Pilot telling us that there was nothing to worry about” for being held in the air against our will, under looming danger, fear of death, fear of the unknown, and fear of fear. In William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, Cassius (the jealous “lean and hungry look” of a man), said to Brutus, “Men at some time are masters of their fate: The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings” (Act 1 Scene II). This may well have been between these two vile conspirators who schemed amongst themselves thousands of years ago to assassinate the flamboyant and overconfident Julius Caesar. Was it in our stars or ourselves, that in 2023, we were being held up in the air against our wish and will? Were we to blame? Certainly not. But, here we were nonetheless in the air, at the mercy of God- helpless and hapless. Did we hear the pilot announcer correctly? As expected, some passengers immediately panicked. Some sweated. Others prayed. Some eyes popped. Some other eyes closed. A passenger sitting close by me brought out his Viks inhaler, to inhale some fresh breath and perhaps, clear his probably congested lungs. One could hear some passengers’ murmurs of visible disproval and disappointment at being held up in the air by unknown “VIPs of waste”. Who was he/she? Who were they? We were never told. Nor do I know till date.

THE TENSION; THE ANXIETY

Our tension, anxiety, curiosity and fears were soon justified. The aircraft started experiencing some slight turbulence. Why was this turbulence, which in my first flight in the 90’s I had called gallop in the air? Was it because the aircraft was within range of heavy clouds which it was piercing through as a result of its low altitude before the sudden alert about VIP movement? Was it because it was attempting to fly higher, above the clouds? Was it because it was circling? Was there sufficient aviation fuel to withstand the extra forced time in the air? Too many thoughts swirled in our minds. Not being aeronautical engineers or pilots, we did not know why. We were scared stiff. As turbulence and bumps increased, I was equally scared. But because many passengers on board had immediately recognized me as I entered the aircraft (including those sitting nearby), I had to deliberately put on a bold face as if I was not frightened. But, I was agitated and terrified. Lizards crawling on their bellies surely do have stomach ache; but their flat position does not allow us to notice. Yes, fowls do sweat, but their feathers hide the sweat from us human beings. So, I hid my fears in smiles, affability and geniality. Edo no dey carry last.

I needed to put up this courageous and fearless visage to assure and reassure my more frightened neighbours that all was well. But, was all really well? Whoever has never experienced turbulence in the air may not know and appreciate God. When you do, you will become an emergency Cleric, an Imam, or a tested Sango worshipper. You will suddenly become a “prayer warrior”, reciting from your memory, rich verses of the Holy Bible and Holy Quran. You will speak in tongues. You will suddenly remember your spouse, children, parents, loved ones and friends. You will even remember your enemies, traducers, benefactors and beneficiaries, you will recall your wealth, money starched away in secret banks; vaults and hidden steel safes. at that moment, you will remember hell and heaven; and then pray silently to God for the forgiveness of your sins. The vanity of life will stare you in the face like an apparition. (See Ecclesiastes 1: 2-8).

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR AIR TURBULENCE

On a later date after our safe delivery (thank God), (a man who also knows much about aerodynamics), upon my inquiry, told me that turbulence (or gallop in the air as I called it during my first N15 flight from Benin to Lagos in the early 90s), could be caused by a combination of factors: turbulent air on earth atmosphere, as the streaming around the earth can cause sudden changes in the wind speed, thus rocking the airplane. There is also thermal turbulence which is said to be created by hot rising air from thunderstorms or cumulus clouds. My friend lectured that turbulence may also occur when tall buildings, mountains or landscapes distort the wind flow in the sky above the objects. This is called mechanical turbulence, he said. He finalized that airplanes’ wings can cause turbulence when planes fly closely behind one another, or take the same flight part, during taking-offs and landings. He however assured me that risk is very low during turbulence, as modern aircraft are designed to withstand sudden rises and falls (even nearly 100ft at a time). God forbid! Thus technological advancement has ensured that turbulence has not caused any plane crash in over 40 years; though turbulence has risen up to between 40% and 90% since 1958 over Europe and America, he lectured. Please, lecturer, I don’t like turbulence. I am not (and I believe all flyers) interested in lectures about weight, lift, thrust and brag of that massive piece of iron and steel in the air. We are simply interested in our safety. Sikena! Opoo!

Who cared about this scientific analysis at a time we were literally “dancing” in the air for the next 22 minutes in the hands of a very capable and competent pilot whose reassuring voice had at least lowered blood pressures and calmed frayed nerves? Who cared?

“VIPs OF WASTE” INDEED

These so-called VIPs who endangered our lives in the air are, in my humble opinion, “VIPs of waste”. They fit squarely into the solemn words during the Radio Nigeria broadcast of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu when he led the first Nigerian military putsch of 15th January, 1966. Said the handsome, … Sandhurst-trained, fire-eating, bold and idealist Okpanam, Delta State-born, devout catholic and teetotaler, “Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent; those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as Ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds”. Conceding the coupists were “not promising anything miraculous or spectacular”, he, however, promised “every law-abiding citizen …freedom from fear and all forms of oppression, freedom from genual inefficacy …..We promise that you will no more be ashamed to say that you are a Nigerian”.

Major Gideon Orka, in 7 am April, 22, 1990 coup broadcast to tyrannical Nigerians, heralding the aborted overthrow of the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida military junta, had identified the elite cliquism as those responsible for the “intrigues combination and internal colonization of the Nigerian state by the so-called chosen few”. He identified this group as being “responsible for 90% of the problems of Nigerians.

Majors Nzeogwu and Orka must be turning in their 57 and 33 years (respectively) cold graves to know that all the problem areas they identified in his coup broadcast have since magnified and increased geometrically; not arithmetically. He would be shocked to hear that kick-back is no longer 10% today, but between 50% and 80%. He would shudder to know that corruption now walks on steroids, strutting about like a proud peacock. They will grimace to know that state captors have tightened their asphyxiating grip on the dry throats of conquered Nigerians. Otherwise, why would any sane leader (of whatever post or position), endanger the lives of his/her people in the air just to be seen flying the airspace alone? What special security would such a leader require that should also not avail the people? Were such a leader’s handlers not aware of the schedule of his take-off and landing time such as to alert all airlines and tarmacs to delay their flights (on ground) for that period of his flight, rather than allow them to first take off and be hung in the air? Why this crass sense of irresponsibility, insensitivity and insensateness? Do such leaders appreciate how many hundreds (or even thousands) of Nigerians and Nigerian families whose lives they endanger by their sheer megalomania and narcissism?

On March 23, 2022, one Obiora Okonkwo, representing the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) at the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, publicly hearing, bemoaned VIP movement as one of the major reasons for the delays and disruption of flights. He said regulations only allow them to announce that flight delays are “due to operational reasons”, and no more. This is to mask the real reasons, including VIP movement. He explained: “You can imagine when you have waited one hour or one and a half hours in Lagos and you have taken off to land in Abuja. And when you get to Abuja airspace and there is VIP movement, you cannot control that,”…….
“You have to wait as long as it takes the VIP movement before you are cleared for landing. And when you land, before now operators could say because of VIP movement, but today, we have been restricted not to mention VIP so that the blame should not go to somebody else.”

No wonder passengers often hear of delayed and disrupted flights due to only “operational reasons”.

For those VIPs who also keep hapless citizens standing under the sun and rain while their long convoys snake their way through crowded cities do they ever reckon with how many citizens die prematurely, in the process, for not getting to hospitals in time to get urgent medical attention? Have they ever thought of how many students have missed their examinations; or entrepreneurs who have missed crucial corporate meetings and appointments by being held hostage through such reckless VIP movements? Do they even care? Do they still have the attributes of humanity?

MY FREE LEGAL ADVICE

For those VIPs who do not know, let me give you free legal advice here. Anyone who causes the death of, or damage to, any air passenger, road- user, or train commuter, who thereby suffers damages due to being held down by VIP movement, you are legally liable for such recklessness. Such VIPs could be damnified in huge punitive, aggravated, exemplary, consequential and compensatory damages in negligence, for individual and corporate liability.

The Court of Appeal was quite emphatic about both the rulers and the led observing the Rule of law. In JAMES v. GOV. OF EDO STATE & ORS (2021) LPELR-54203 (CA). It held:
“Above all and when all is said and done, in law as in every society governed by democratic norms in which the Government is of the people, by the people and for the people, every offence, every restriction on movement and every penalty to be imposed thereon must be within the confines and ambits of the operation of the Rule of Law in a democratic society such as Nigeria. See Raymond Temisan Omatseye V. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2017) LPELR -42719 (CA) per Georgewill, J.C.A. In modem contemporary jurisprudence, the rule of law is the condition in which all members of the society, including the rulers and the led accept the supremacy of the law. It is neither an option nor one of choice. It is a concept in which the citizen is entitled to the observance of the principles of natural justice in the determination of any question involving his rights and obligations under the law. It denotes absolute supremacy or predominance of law. Thus, under it, the Constitution is the supreme law and the observance of the laws of the land must be the guiding code in the daily life of both the Rulers and the Led, so much so that none whosoever is exempted from the observance of the laws of the land. This is indeed the true essence of the rule of law.”

In APPH & ORS v. OTURIE (2019)LPELR-46301(CA), the Court of Appeal was again on song when it held that the “rights of freedom of movement and residence pursuant to Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantee unhindered residence and movement to all citizens all over Nigeria and except on suspicion of commission of a criminal offence. The said rights protect against expulsion of citizens except in pursuance of valid extradition proceedings. See WILLIAMS V MAJEKODUNMI (1962) 1 ALL NLR 413 and FEDERAL MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS V SHUGABA DARMAN (1982)3 NCLR 915.” Per MUHAMMED LAWAL SHUAIBU, JCA (Pp 14 – 15 Paras D – B)”

In EZIEGBO & ANOR v. ASCO INVESTMENT LTD & ANOR (2022) LPELR-56864 (SC), the apex Court dilated on the importance of section 41 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantees freedom of movement throughout Nigeria. It held that: “The primary aim of the section is to generally protect persons from abuse of power; official and individual. See Onwo v. Oko (1996)6 NWLR (ppt. 456) 587.” Per MOHAMMED LAWAL GARBA, JSC (Pp 7 – 8 Paras F – C)”

A CAVEAT TO VIPS

Those who are President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governors should stop wallowing in shielded VIP movement aggrandizement by feeling protected with immunity under section 308 of the 1999 Constitution. This is self-delusion. I laugh. I guffaw. Protection? Not so fast. Only temporary relief. The ephemerality of power and its destined expiration would sooner stare them in the face. Let them read the powerful statement of the Supreme Court in IMB Securities v Tinubu (2001) All NLR 264, to the effect that although this set of people cannot be prosecuted while in office because of their immunity, they can however be investigated. And such investigation can always be used against them after they leave office. See also the case. In Fawehinmi v IGP (2002) All NLR 357, the Hon. Justice Samson Odemwingie Uwaifo, an iconic Jurist of immense intellectual fecundity, said with great erudition, as follows:
“That a person protected under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, going by its provisions, can be investigated by the police for an alleged crime or offence is, in my view, beyond dispute. To hold otherwise is to create a monstrous situation whose manifestation may not be fully appreciated until illustrated…Now, if the police became aware, could it be suggested in an open and democratic society like ours that they would be precluded by Section 308 from investigating?… The Police clearly have a duty under Section 4 of the Police Act to do all they can to investigate and preserve whatever evidence is available. The evidence or some aspect of it may be the type which might be lost forever if not preserved while it is available… The evidence may be useful for impeachment purposes if the House (of Assembly) may have need of it. It may no doubt be used for prosecution of the said incumbent Governor after he has left office… But to do nothing under the pretext that a Governor cannot be investigated is a disservice to the society”.

A word is enough for the wise. As our elders tell us, it is only the stubborn fly that follows the corpse into the grave. To say more will be otiose. VIPs, please, leave us alone in the air. Go your way. Let us go ours. We also have our lives to live. Do you hear, hear, hear me? Haba!

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Opinion

The Labour strike and FG’S Inertia – The way forward

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By Prof. Mike A. A. Ozekhom, SAN, CON , OFR, FCIArb, LL.M, Ph.D, LL.D, D.Litt, D.SC, DA, DHL

Labour has literally grounded Nigeria – from airports, hospitals, tertiary institutions, to electricity which has plunged the biggest black nation on earth into total darkness. I am in full, complete and total support of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress’ (TUC)’s current national strike for upward review of the FG’s proposed minimum wage of N60,000 per month. NLC and TUC had also demanded that the government reverses the increase in electricity tariff to N65/KWH. When talks broke down with none of the parties shifting grounds, Labour commenced a strike action on the midnight of Sunday 2nd June, 2024. FG’s proposed meagre salary is certainly not a living wage in today’s Nigeria. At the current parallel market exchange rate of N1,470 to one dollar, the wage being conceded by the Federal Government to labour is a mere $40.82 per month (N60,000), while the NLC and TUC are asking for a whooping N615,500 per month.

By way of comparative analysis with some other countries globally, the monthly minimum wage in the United States is US$1,160 ( N1,705,200); UK  £1,376 (N2,528,950); Canada 2,464 CAD (N2,710,400); France £1,539.42 (N2,847,927); Ghana GHC 2,904 (N292,548.96) Rwanda RWF 56,668 (N64,602); South Africa R4,067.2 – R4,412.8 (N322,406.944 –  N349,802.656); Botswana P1,168 (N122,056); Germany £1,985.6 (N3,673,360) Australia AUD3531.2 (N 3,490,414.64); Kenya is KES15,201 (N172,683.36). In UAE, there is no general minimum wage as it differs from profession to profession. However, for skilled Labourers AED 5,000 (N2,019,435); people with University degrees AED12,000 (N4,846,644); qualified technicians AED 7,000 (N2,827,209); South Korea is 2,010,580 Won (N2,161,574.558). China differs from city to city. However, Shanghai is RMB 2,690 per month (N551,181) and Heilongjiang RMB 1,450 (N 297,105). Singapore does not prescribe a general minimum wage for all its workers. However, the minimum Singaporean wage is averaged at 6,792SGD/Month = N7,464,408).

Even though Rwanda and Botswana’s minimum wage per month which is RWF 56,668 (N64,602) and P1,168 (N122,056), respectively, appears meagre, the two countries have since put in place social services that cushion the masses’ suffering and put them on a developmental path. Imdeed, they are two of the fastest growing economies not only in Africa, but also in the world. We do not have such in Nigeria. Nigeria is perhaps the only country in the world that brazenly defies Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion to the effect that “what goes up must come down”. In Nigeria, once prices of good go up, they never come down.

Are these countries and us not living on the same Planet earth? We are, of course.

With the present spirally inflation, N60,000 cannot even buy one bag of rice which today sells for between N80,000 and N120,000 depending on the grade and quality.

What is the way forward from this FG-Labour face-off and stalemate? Part of the solution lies in steering a middle course between labour’s N615,500 per month demand and the FG’s proposal of N60,000 per month. This is more so having regard to the impossibility of the private sector, especially small scale businesses and private professions, having the capacity and economic wherewithal to pay such exorbitant wage. Another solution lies in public office holders making deliberate sacrifices in the midst of public angst and disenchantment by cutting down their ostentatiously vulgar lifestyle of ugly display of opulence and their sheer exhibitionism of wealth in mindless convoys of vehicles in the midst of grinding poverty and wretchedness of the masses. The Nigerian people are not happy at all. Anyone who advises the government to the contrary is nothing but a fawner, bootlicker, ego masseur, toady flatterer and clapper.

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Opinion

Rivers political crisis: Fubara raves as Wike likely retreats (5)

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Wike, Fubara

By Ehichioya Ezomon 

Has the political heat in Rivers State simmered in the past week to suggest perhaps – just perhaps – that conventional wisdom has taken hold of the dramatis personae in the crisis to pull back from the precipice they’ve pushed the state in the last eight months? 
There’s nothing on the ground to suggest otherwise, even as Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, played their brand of politics at separate locations, trying to undo each other in showcasing achievements in their official jurisdictions, to mark one-year in the saddles in Rivers and Abuja, respectively.
 Amid “all the distractions from those that want to draw Rivers State backward,” Fubara invited prominent persons from within and outside Rivers – including Abia State Governor Alex Otti of the rival Labour Party (LP), and former Rivers Governor Peter Odili – to launch projects he “executed in record time, and with full payments to the contractors” – an obvious dig at Wike for allegedly failing to pay contractors for their services.
 As is the routine in Rivers governance, especially since the Wike’s helm, Fubara, using his “State of the State” address to render account of his one-year stewardship, revealed the “huge debts to contractors” that Wike left behind for his government.
At the Dr. Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, May 29, Fubara said his administration “inherited 34 uncompleted projects, valued at over N225.279bn in 13 local government areas of the state,” adding that the contractors, who executed the 34 projects, have come to him for payments.
Fubara stated that though he inherited a state, “whose economy was on a declining trajectory despite its growth potential,” his government has changed the narrative for the better by “increasing astronomically internally-generated revenue from N12 billion to between N17 billion in off-peak periods and N28 billion during the peak months.”
 “Our liberalized business-friendly economic policies and programmes are boosting confidence and attracting local and international investors and investments into the State, judging by the expression of interest offers we receive every month.” Fubara said.
 “We have kept our taxes low, frozen the imposing of taxes on small businesses across the State, and increased the ease of doing business by eliminating bureaucratic bottlenecks. No request for the signing of a certificate of occupancy (CoO) remains in my office beyond two days, except if I am otherwise engaged beyond two days or out of town.
 “We have established a N4 billion matching fund with the Bank of Industry (BOI), to support existing and new micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) to grow their businesses to drive economic growth and create jobs and wealth for citizens. Over 3,000 citizens and residents have applied to access this loan to fund their businesses at a single-digit interest rate, and a repayment period of up to five years.”
Commissioning the completed projects – mostly inherited from the Wike administration (2015-2023) – the invited guests heaped praises on Fubara, not only for achieving commendable strides within a short time, but also for “liberating Rivers State” from Wike’s stranglehold – the same Wike that some of the invitees had praised to the heavens barely a year ago. 
  For instance, Dr Odili, an erstwhile ally of Wike, noted that Fubara “has taken full control of governance in the State,” stressing that the governor is “focusing on the people” in line with his chosen mantra: ‘People First’. It’s on Saturday, May 25, at the inauguration of the dualised Omoku-Egbema road in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area (ONELGA) of the state.
 An elated Odili even predicted a seamless second-term election for Fubara in 2027, and urged him to remain focused on the people, giving succour to the less-privileged and hope to those who do not have anyone to help them go through life’s challenges.
 “I can tell our people that the next election is very far, but what the Governor has done so far, is enough to secure the support of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area going forward,” Odili said. “Thank you, Your Excellency, because the greatest assets of the State remain the people, not oil and gas.
 “The people of Rivers are behind you, rallying support for you because they trust you, believing in what you say and convinced that you mean whatever you say,” Odili said, adding, “I want to agree with you that the sky would become the takeoff point of your administration.”
Relatedly in Abuja, it’s Wike’s days in the sky. Though he didn’t have the luxury of throwing brickbats at Fubara – and there’s no surrogates to do same for him – Wike had the rare privilege of enlisting President Bola Tinubu to launch some of the projects that were “abandoned for decades,” and received applause from Tinubu for returning and restoring Abuja’s Master Plan, and transforming the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
On Tuesday, May 28, at the commissioning of the Southern Parkway, which Wike proclaimed as “Bola Ahmed Tinubu Way” – a crucial infrastructure project that’s dormant for 13 years before Wike’s intervention – the President described the minister’s vision as “inspiring many and yielding remarkable results in the FCT.”
Tinubu said: “Barr Nyesom Wike, ‘Mr. Project,’ thank you for giving us this home and for your sincere commitment to shared values. Your revolutionary vision is inspiring many and yielding remarkable results in the FCT.”
Highlighting the significance of the road, the President said, “The Southern Parkway not only connects vital areas within the FCT, but also symbolises our collective aspirations for connectivity, ease of livelihood, and progress. This road will enhance mobility, ease traffic congestion, and spur economic development for residents and visitors alike.
“Infrastructure is an enabler of jobs, economic growth, and prosperity. We are committed to building a world-class capital city, and the completion of this road is a testament to that commitment. Making our citizens the central focus of our development is crucial for Nigeria’s success,” Tinubu stated.
Earlier, Wike noted: “This landmark project is the first amongst nine visionary projects scheduled for commissioning by Mr. President in the coming days. It represents a significant milestone in our collective efforts to enhance the infrastructure and livability of our great capital and her inhabitants.
“As we mark the first year of your transformative leadership, Mr. President, this event underscores our shared commitment to progress, innovation, and the enduring prosperity of Nigeria.”

Yet, the make-for-the-cameras pomp and ceremony, razzmatazz, accolades, hand-pumping and backslapping by politicians in Port Harcourt and Abuja are but a temporary relief or diversion to mask the “real politic” in Rivers, where Governor Fubara’s fighting the battle of his life to cage Chief Wike, and save his governorship and political career heading into the 2027 General Election. 
The fourth installment of this article on Monday, May 27, 2024, examined two strategies that Fubara could adopt to handle Wike and his sacked loyal members of the Rivers Assembly, and local council chairmen, whose tenure ends in June 2024, but have vowed to remain in office until “elected officials” were installed in the Rivers local councils. Below’s a recap:

First, Fubara could evict the lawmakers from the Rivers State House of Assembly Residential Quarters in Port Harcourt – where they and their families domicile, and use as a legislative chamber – to deny them the venue and avenue to make laws and/or plot his impeachment.
Second, Fubara could copy his counterparts, and withhold the lawmakers’ emoluments, and allocations to the legislature – as he’s allegedly done to the April 2024 allocations to the councils – to checkmate the legislators, whose seats have lately been redeclared “vacant” by a Rivers High Court.
Let’s now proceed to interrogate the remaining measures, beginning with the Third, as follows: When push comes to shove, Fubara could muscle the pro-Wike lawmakers by physical attacks on them, their homes and businesses, the aim being to overraw, and hound them, to sabotage their plans to make his government ungovernable, and pave the way for his impeachment – the aim of the lawmakers from onset of the Rivers crisis.
Recall Fubara’s declaration about the lawmakers early in 2024: “I think it has gotten to a time when I need to make a statement on this thing, so that they (lawmakers) understand that they are not existing. Their existence and whatever they have been doing is because I allowed them to do so. If I don’t recognise them, they are nowhere. That is the truth.
“I can say here, with all amount of boldness, I have never called any police man anywhere to go and harass anybody. I have never gone anywhere to ask anybody to do anything against anybody. 

“Even when I have all the instruments of State powers, I have shown restraint, I have acted as a big brother in the course of this crisis. I have not acted like a young man that may want the house to be destroyed but, I have behaved like a mature young man that I am.
 “This is because I know that no meaningful development will be achieved in an atmosphere of crisis. And because our intention for Rivers State is to build on the foundation that had been laid by our past leaders, it will be wrong for me to take the path of promoting crisis.”
Interpreted, the pro-Wike lawmakers – already in the lurch over series of court rulings sacking and re-sacking them, and voiding all legislative actions they took in the course of the Rivers crisis – shouldn’t underrate Fubara’s powers and resolve – if pushed against the wall – to roar like the lion, attack like the hyena and bite like the crocodile!
Barring any “political earthquake” this week in the Rivers crisis, the remaining measures Fubara could deploy to arrest Wike’s alleged hegemonic hold on Rivers State will be interrogated in the next installment of this running header!

  • Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria

Sent from my iPad. Ehichioya
Ezomon.

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Opinion

Nemesis as a short distance runner

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Mammoth crowd with Emir Sanusi in Kano Today after Juma'at prayer

By Tunde Olusunle

When he flung Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, (SLS) out of the window of the Emir’s palace in Kano four years ago, Abdullahi Ganduje would have least imagined what is playing out today. Ganduje was the “Lord of the Manor” in Kano State, the all-powerful chief executive. Recall video clips of Ganduje allegedly stuffing wads and packs of crisp, mint-fresh dollar bills into the bottomless pocket of his babanriga ahead of the 2019 general elections. They were reportedly gifted to him by some contractor ally of the erstwhile Kano governor who was repaying a good turn. Graphic and unassailable as that short motion picture was, former President Muhammadu Buhari who rode into office on the camelback of now suspect integrity in 2015, volunteered a baffling defence for Ganduje. He swore Ganduje was most probably participating in a Kannywood movie, the way the film industry up North is described. Buhari who has never been known to operate a tablet, nay a notepad, suggested that advanced technology could actually simulate what we all saw in that short clip!

Ganduje was the prototype alagbara ma m’ero as we say in Yoruba. This interpretes as the “maximally muscular, minimally reasonable.” He fought a few other prominent Kano leaders during his heydays in Government House. Recall he carried his unabated squabbles with one of his predecessors, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to the State House, Aso Villa, during the early weeks of the Bola Tinubu government. Told on one occasion that Kwankwaso was in a particular section of Aso Rock same time as he was in the complex, a vexed Ganduje said Kwankwaso should consider himself fortunate. He said he, Ganduje would have slapped Kwankwaso if he sighted him in the Villa! That would have caused a scene in Nigeria’s seat of power. I’m now just imagining how Tinubu would be trying to restrain Ganduje, in the forecourt of the office of the President, while Vice President Kashim Shettima will be pulling at Kwankwaso’s agbada in a bid to manage the situation.

Ganduje reportedly considered Sanusi too independent-minded and outspoken for a natural ruler. Sanusi was governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), before being appointed Emir in 2014. He had always had a radical streak about him which culminated in his suspension as CBN head in 2014 for blowing the whistle on the theft of $20 Billion in accruals from crude oil sales. As Emir he considered aspects of the religious and cultural practices of his emirate repugnant. He opposed the “ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam” in some parts of northern Nigeria, which discouraged girl-child education, family planning, even inoculation against potential healthcare afflictions. He had reservations about the style of Ganduje as governor and didn’t put a veil over his dislike for the return of Ganduje to Government House in 2019.

He believed Ganduje shouldn’t have made it back if the poll was fairly and transparently conducted. March 9, 2020, Ganduje upended Sanusi. He was accused of negatively impacting the sanctity, culture, tradition, religion and prestige of the Kano emirate, and disrespecting the governor’s office. He was also alleged to have disposed of property belonging to the state and the misappropriated of the proceeds. It was a case of digging several manholes for a prey in a bid to ensure he falls into one of the several traps. He was summarily banished to Nasarawa State for effect. Sanusi sought reprieve in the courts which ruled it was an overkill to fling him to a remote community faraway from his family and more accustomed home in Lagos. Within a few days, Nasir El Rufai, Sanusi’s longstanding friend who was governor of Kaduna State, personally enforced the evacuation of Sanusi from Awe local government area in Nasarawa State.

For whatever his contributions were to the emergence of Tinubu as president after the 2023 polls, Ganduje believed he would be compensated with a ministerial slot in the former’s regime. Like Nyesom Wike, David Umahi, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, Atiku Bagudu, Simon Lalong, former governors of Rivers, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kebbi and Plateau states, Ganduje dusted his curriculum vitae to pitch for a slot on Tinubu’s federal executive council. His five colleagues in the “2015 – 2019- 2023 class of governors” made the cut, not Ganduje. Tinubu spontaneously made him chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC], the vehicle which delivered him as president. Abdullahi Adamu his predecessor and former governor of Nasarawa State was, as has become standard practice in Nigeria’s notorious political rule book, schemed out and compelled to resign from office.

If Ganduje ever thought his chairmanship of the APC was going to be a walk in the park, he was thoroughly mistaken. Indeed, he’s grossed sufficient experience in his present office to know that there are sharp differences between wholesale insulation in Government House, and the inevitable overexposure of party leadership. Last April, a faction of the APC in Ganduje’s primary “Ganduje ward” in Dawakin Tofa local government area of his home state, Kano, suspended him from the party. Haladu Gwanjo, legal adviser of Ganduje’s ward led some party leaders to pronounce the suspension. They advocated the return of the national chairmanship of the APC to the north central zone, where Ganduje’s predecessor, Adamu, hails from. The young Turks canvassed due process in party administration, consistent with the “renewed hope” mantra of the APC. Ganduje made a hurried recourse to the law courts for momentary reprieve.

Thursday May 23, 2024, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was reinstated as Emir of Kano by Ganduje’s successor in Kano State, Abba Yusuf. His cousin and successor, Aminu Ado-Bayero, was unceremoniously removed from office. The splinter emirates created by Ganduje in his bid to whittle down Sanusi’s authority as prime monarch in Kano, were similarly dissolved. The edifice which Ganduje built four years ago was apparently built of straw and spittle. Governor Abba Yusuf is a product of the Kwankwasiya political tendency in Kano politics, a creation of Rabiu Kwankwaso. Those who know a little about Nigerian politics will recall that Kwankwaso’s emergence in our politics, predates the fourth republic. He was an ardent student of the talakawa political orientation, pioneered by the venerable Kano-born leader, Aminu Kano. Kwankwaso was Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives of the Ibrahim Babangida political experimentation of 1992 to 1993.

Whereas the Kwankwasiya movement had long been entrenched, it was not until the run-up to the 2023 elections that Kwankwaso adopted a new platform, the Nigeria National People’s Party, (NNPP), on which he is espousing the populist philosophy of the Kwankwasiya brigade. Abba Yusuf rode to office on the back of this invention. It was the same way Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu the famous Biafran war lord, established the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) in Anambra State. The party has remained a force in the politics of the state and indeed the south east. It has produced three Anambra governors in succession, notably Peter Obi, Willie Obiano and the incumbent Chukwuma Soludo.

Abba Yusuf has made no pretences about his disdain for Ganduje and everything he represents. Much as some of Yusuf’s early actions in office were generally perceived as wasteful, he nonetheless brought down as many edifices in Kano as bore the imprimatur of Ganduje. The “Kano golden jubilee roundabout” built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Kano State and structures built inside the filin sukuwa, (Kano race course), were hewn on Yusuf’s orders. The hajj camp which was reportedly bastardised by Ganduje who allegedly parcelled parts of it to his friends and associates was equally felled. There were suggestions that the value of the demolitions carried out by Yusuf could be in excess of N200Billion. Such is the anti-Ganduje sentiment in contemporary Kano State.

The way and manner the legacies of Abdullahi Ganduje are unravelling in Kano State should serve as a lesson to the shortsighted, incapable of seeing beyond the bridges of their nose. History is replete with the deconstruction of many leaders after their rulership and indeed keeps repeating itself in our sociopolitical experience. Those who are not circumspect, however, are too distracted by the allure and bliss of their immediate office, to think. They continue to drift, blunder and flounder, unmindful that time is their ultimate nemesis. Ganduje is just one year out of office, yet many of the decisions he made while in power for eight years are being unmade and thrown at his face like rotten tomatoes.

Until I joined him on the table he was seated at a wedding reception we both attended in Lagos a few weeks back, Rotimi Amaechi, governor of the oil-affluent Rivers State for eight years and Transportation Minister for another eight years was a lonely man. It turned out we flew back to Abuja on the same flight same evening after the event and sat not too far from each other. He opened the overhead locker atop his seat to bring out his luggage himself. Is anyone following the Yahaya Bello saga? He mindlessly trampled upon the hapless heads of his constituents in Kogi State for eight unbroken years? He left office last January and life has not been the same again. He has been declared wanted by at least one anti-graft agency. He will be arraigned in the rectangular, wood-panelled cubicle of the courtroom in a fortnight. A lesson for all.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, is a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA)

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