Connect with us

Opinion

Day accomplished armourer was “ambushed’ in Abuja

Published

on

By Tunde Olusunle

I was struck by the peculiarity of his name tag on our premiere meeting. The first time I saw such a striking configuration was when I encountered the configuration *PUN OMERUO* on the chest of a former military administrator of Kogi State, who I would later serve as Chief Press Secretary, (CPS).

As a student of literature, I was amazed that the figure of speech, “pun,” could also be someone’s name. It turned out it was an acronym for Omeruo’s first names, Paul Uzoanya Ndimele. And here again, I was engaging another curious combination,  *JOS OSHANUPIN.* My first reaction in my mind was: Why would this man announce that he was born in Jos, the once-upon-a-time home of tourism in north central Nigeria, on his name tag?

The hitherto temperate, calm and sedate abode of curiously stacked rocks and ranges, has, very sadly, been blighted by years of internecine confrontations between Fulani voyagers and indigenous pastoralists.

His turnout could not but strike you. His uniforms, typically starched khaki, well tucked into his trim, smart frame, was a delight to behold. Not for him the protruding abdomen of some of his colleagues who, to borrow from the peculiar lexicon of the grandmaster of grammatical bombast, Patrick Obahiagbon, had surrendered to wholesale *pepper-souping and isiewu-lizing.* His trousers were neatly buried into his ever-gleaming black boots, his official regalia complemented by a beret adorned with a feathery tuft. This is not forgetting his famous swagger stick which  he swung with supreme style and confidence. He acknowledged the compliments paid him by his officers and men, with a curt salute, as he routinely toured sections of what is described in the military as “area of responsibility,” (AOR).

Julius Olakunle Sunday Oshanupin, (now you know where the “JOS” is coming from), was Commander, Guards Brigade, with specific responsibility for the protection of the President. Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a former army General was the President, Commander-in-Chief, (C-in-C). The grip of Oshanupin’s handshake is firm as he receives your hand, smiles and exchanges greetings with you in our indigenous Okun tongues. He is naturally delighted that someone like you a thoroughbred professional in your own right, who is serving in the same administration, also hails from his own corner of Nigeria. He knows that people from our parts, have to work extra-hard to earn recognition in a system characterised by twisted merit and a skewed reward system.

Oshanupin’s area of jurisdiction spanned the entire federal capital territory, (FCT) and abutting areas. A member of the elite armoured corps of the Nigerian Army, he was appointed to this to position when he was a Brigadier-General. The rank is usually abbreviated by the military as “Brig Gen.” A quiet operator, he was more regularly seen if there was an event which necessitated the movement of the President to events and locations outside the geographical area of the State House. From the International Conference Centre, (ICC); to the Transcorp Hilton and the Sheraton Hotels, regular venues for state events therefore, Oshanupin was a regular fixture. He was also prominent on the escort entourage of the C-in-C en route his trips, locally or internationally. Working with an energetic, hyperactive President like Obasanjo, who devoted as much time to his primary assignment, and equal attention to international relations, by the way, was no cup of cake. A team player, he discharged his duties very distinctively and unobtrusively, earning deserved plaudits.

Elsewhere, I have alluded to a very striking photograph taken on the occasion of his decoration with the rank of Major General in 2005, which symbolised the true Nigerian-ness of the Obasanjo era. Obasanjo’s aide-de-camp, (ADC), Christopher Jemitola, (then a Colonel), was at the left of that picture. Obasanjo was next, hanging the peeps of Oshanupin’s new rank from the left; he was followed by Oshanupin himself, and then Atiku Abubakar, Vice President to Obasanjo. In the ethno-religiously fractious polity which has been our lot since the coming of the incumbent dispensation, that photograph speaks volumes about Obasanjo’s painstaking efforts at multilevel balancing. Jemitola is from Edo State, (South South); Obasanjo, Ogun, (South West); Oshanupin, Kogi, (North Central) and Atiku, (Adamawa), North East. This manner of accommodation and inclusiveness, has been serially trampled upon, even jettisoned by the present government.

Following Oshanupin’s retirement after a distinguished and eventful near four-decade service to fatherland over ten years ago, he has become most committed to, and visible in community service and development. And how he has spontaneously transmuted from the stern-faced, no-nonsense military General, to an inimitable pacifist and consensus builder, should constitute the subject of another discourse. At the levels of his hometown, Ekinrin Adde, Ijumu local government area, (LGA), and the Okun country, straddling the six Okun LGAs: Kabba Bunu; Ijumu; Mopamuro; Yagba East, Yagba West and *Oworoland* in Lokoja LGA, Oshanupin has been at the fore of charting a new course for his people.

At various times, Oshanupin has chaired or co-chaired bodies like the: Okun Interest Group, (OIG), with Dr Stephen Olorunfemi, and Okun Think Tank, (OTT), the technocratic arm of the Okun Development Association, (ODA), with Professor Eyitayo Lambo. Irrespective of the venue of a meeting concerning the Okun trajectory, and so long  as Oshanupin is invited, you can be sure he will attend. Except of course if he is out of Nigeria, or is otherwise previously committed. From Isanlu, to Iyah-Gbedde, to Kabba, Ekinrin Adde, Lokoja, to Abuja, Oshanupin is either hosting, or attending meetings to build a new Okun mindset. His conviction is captured by his adaptation of a military expression, to wit that people should decidedly “chest out,” for causes they believe in. Be sure to be served frothing, farm-fresh palmwine, among other choice menus and beverages, should Oshanupin be the chief host, at any venue or location.

Instructively, Oshanupin was one of the Okun leaders who led a delegation to meet with former President Goodluck Jonathan on the eve of his election in 2011, to press for increased infrastructural development in Okunland. The meeting also canvassed the accommodation of more Okun people in the Jonathan administration. At that meeting, Okun leaders appealed to Jonathan for the conversion of the age-old College of Agriculture, Kabba into a full-fledged university. How Lokoja the Kogi State capital became the host of what is today the Federal University, will be subject for further inquisition. Key advocates  of the adoption of the College of Agriculture, Kabba as site and location of a federal university, included: Lambo, (former Health Minister); Bayo Ojo, SAN, CON, (former Attorney General and Justice Minister) and Oshanupin. They must be deservedly applauded. Oshanupin, and some other well-meaning, Okun-minded people, was also one of those who virtually rammed the imperative for the development and fruition of the College of Education Technical Kabba, (COETK), down the throat of former Kogi State Governor, Ibrahim Idris.

This does not detract from the efforts of Clarence Olafemi, former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, who acted as governor for a brief spell, during which the incumbent, Idris, had to undergo a court-ordered reelection between him and the late former Kogi Governor, Abubakar Audu, in 2008. Aware of the repeated consignment of the project under the carpet by successive governments, Oshanupin and company therefore, virtually held a “pistol” to the throat of Idris, in a case of: “We (Okun people), will support you, only to the extent that you build for us COETK which had been on the drawing board since eternity.” Idris had no option than to agree, much as the physical growth of the institution has remained below par.

Worried about the wholesale hijack of politics in Okunland by sundry money bags and jobbers, Oshanupin has serially advocated recourse to justice, fairness and equity, as minimum consideration, in the appropriation of offices and positions. He admonishes return to those ideals which bind our people together, away from the mercantilism and triumphalism which characterise contemporary politicking. His involvement in sociopolitical matters concerning the Kogi West zone, derives from this concern. The exploration of collaboration between Kogi West and Kogi Central which were both excised from the old Kwara State, and joined with Kogi East from the old Benue State, is also driven by considerations of respect for meritocracy, consensus building and fairness to all.

A critical component of Oshanupin’s drill in the military was that of “taking the enemy by surprise.” More than one occasion, Oshanupin had “caught” me by surprise in my own home. He is first to check up on you if you were indisposed, or had otherwise been out of circulation for a while. And he jokes with you in a mix of our idiolects and pidgin English, charging you in military lingo, to “wake up,” shake off your indisposition, that is. He is that compassionate. And he is not given to protocol and officialese, easily jumping behind the wheels of his car to catch up with meetings and appointments, for a former two-star General in the military. It wouldn’t matter if it’s a truck or a more cosy automobile, he moves. He is that unassuming and down-to-earth.

Jide, Oshanupin’s son found me out in church a few weeks back. He came over to my section and whispered to me that he was working with his siblings to put up a surprise reception for their father. The event he said, was to commemorate his platinum jubilee birthday. The birthday proper was on June 26, 2022, but the celebration had been moved forward by a few days. Recognising my relationship with the older Oshanupin, Jide conspiratorially told me: “He’s not aware of this plan, Sir.” I understood him, even though I was sceptical if the young Oshanupins could pull it off without giving themselves away to a very sharp and perceptive father.

Saturday July 9, 2022, all roads led to the *Ladi Kwali Hall* of the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja. Between walking through the expansive lobby, to posing for photographs at the “red carpet” entrance to the venue, and being ushered to your seat, your eyes caught familiar faces. It was a very well attended event which definitely achieved the surprise effect it was intended to have, a properly scripted ambush of an army General by his civilian children! It was an evening of colour  and conviviality and reminiscences and tributes, food and drinks, music and dancing too.

Justice John Afolabi Fabiyi, CFR, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, (JSC) and Major General David Medaiyese Jemibewon, CFR, former Governor of the old Oyo State and, former Minister of Police Affairs, were in attendance. Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN, CON, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice; Maj Gens Samuel Atawodi and T O Ike, both coursemates of Oshanupin, were  present at the event. Maj Gens Funso Owoniyi and Taiwo Durowaiye; Col Tunde Fagbemi; Commander Lawrence Fabiyi and Chief Dan Kunle, were also present. So were Dr Tunde Arosanyin, Chief Akin Fagbemi, Bayo Fatimehin, Chief and Mrs Femi Melefa, as well as Mr and Mrs Ayo Anjorin.

From Oshanupin’s hometown of Ekinrin Adde came the monarch, the *Olu Adde,* Oba Anthony Bamigbaye Idowu. The royal father had just before Oshanupin’s Abuja reception, presided over a ceremony back home in Ekinrin Adde, where he was invested with a “Lifetime Achievement Award.” This was in acknowledgement of his selfless contributions to the development of his community. The *Olujumu of Ijumu,* Oba Williams Olusegun Ayeni, and the  immediate past Chairman of the ODA, Ambassador Babatunde Paul Fadumiyo, honoured the event. Yeye Funmilayo Bodunde, a frontline Okun leader; Mrs. Folashade Joseph, Chief Executive of the Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation, (NAIC); Alhaji Aliyu Badaki, and Mr. Fred Olutekunbi, also graced the programme.

Gen Oshanupin began his educational pursuit at the United Anglican Primary School, Ekinrin Adde, before attending St. Peters College, Kaduna. He is a regular combatant of the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps, 15th Regular Course, Nigerian Defence Academy, (NDA), commissioned on June 19, 1976. En route his ascension to the heights of topmost military hierarchies, he attended several courses in Nigeria, the United States, India and Sweden. He held several military appointments, and participated in military operations in Lebanon, Chad Republic and Somalia, among others, under the auspices of the United Nations, (UN) and the African Union, (AU).

He served variously as Directing Staff, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji; Colonel Training, Army Headquarters and Colonel General Staff at  the headquarters of the Third Armoured Division, Jos. After his tour of duty as Commander, Guards Brigade, he was appointed Director Policy, Defence Headquarters, and Commandant, Armoured Corps Centre and School, Bauchi. He was also General Officer Commanding, (GOC), Third Armoured Division; Deputy Commandant, National Defence College, (NDC), Abuja; and Chief of Defence Research and Development, respectively. He received many medals and decorations including Directing Staff Daggar (psc+); Distinguished Service Star, (DSS) and Fellow National Defence College, (NDC). Oshanupin equally obtained a Master of Science, (MSc) in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan.

Post-retirement in 2013, he served on the Ad Hoc Investigative Mechanism, (AIM), established by the African Union, (AU) and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, (IGAD). The group met in
in Khartoum and Juba, capitals of Sudan and South Sudan, respectively, over several weeks. He was a member of the three-man team of senior African military Generals, which probed tensions  between Sudan and South Sudan, on accusations of rebel activities between both countries. The African Union High Investigation Panel, (AUHIP), headed by former South African President, Thebo Mbeki, suggested the setting up of the team, among other conflict resolution proposals.

Oshanupin is happily married to Mrs Esther Oshanupin, an educationist and the union is happily blessed with four children: Yetunde, Folashade, Olajide and Bolanle, who have all started their families. He is at his happiest when his grandchildren come visiting in his Abuja residence or his countryside home in Ekinrin Adde, running around the house. He loves hunting, golfing and lawn tennis, among other interests. Indeed, he made a foray into cattle rearing back home in Ekinrin Adde, many years ago.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, poet, journalist, author and scholar, is a Member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE).

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Opinion

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

Published

on

By

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.

Continue Reading

Opinion

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

Published

on

By

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.

Continue Reading

Opinion

Nemesis as a short distance runner

Published

on

By

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)

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 National Update