NYSC-gate, Certificates and lack of due diligence

The Security Agencies in Nigeria are supposed to vet some categories of public functionaries before their engagement by the F.G. However the reverse seems to be the case as different public personalities have been found wanting per their documentaries over the years. Sanusi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Senator Tinubu, Mrs. Adeosun, former Minister of Finance, and recently Adebayo Shittu the Minister of Communication.

        What these scandals go to show is that the vetting agencies are sitting on their hands when it comes to the issue of proper vetting of candidates to political offices. How the simple issue of checking the authenticity of the presented documents by these agencies can't be properly dealt with beats one. Checking the purported educational background if potential public office holders shouldn't be rocket science. In the recent case of Adebayo Shittu no NYSC or Discharge  Certificate was presently and apparently not asked for. If I were the president heads will roll as a result of the agencies concerned lack of due diligence. It is this type of shoddiness and tardiness that is responsible for the sorry pass Nigeria is currently in.

The Octogenarian and the Nation

A Prof retires before 76 years while a civil servant must retire by 60 years. Why is this so? For the simple reason that humans are not wood. They get old and get tired both physically and mentally.
     By next year our President would be 76 officially. So why are some still rooting for him to continue making hard decisions for them. It s a wonder to see that some  youths are calling for the octogenarian to continue ruling them. The president may be willing to do great things for the nation but his health clearly is in the way. He continues to go for medical care every so often, leaving decisions untaken and costing a huge amount of money.
    The nation should allow the old man to rest. He has done his shift and should be allowed to enjoy his life in blissful retirement. An energetic person should be  saddled with taking Nigeria to the next level. The electorates should look for someone across party platforms to lead the nation. The nation must match in sync with the rest of the world.

Democracy Day: Buhari's Greek Gift

 

 

    My take on Buhari's Greek gift of June 12 as the new Democracy day is best summed up with this anecdote: You are owing your friend some amount of money. One day you both went to the bank where you were both caught up in a bank robbery. You now decided to give your friend the money you've been owing him right there in the middle of the bank robbery.  To all intent and purposes you paid back your loan. BUT is it the right place and occasion  to  pay it? 

You can actually do something good albeit with  a bad intention. The proprietary of Buhari's act is not in doubt, but the timing. Coming,  as it were, during the time of politicking makes it suspect. 

Buhari was part of the junta that annulled the freest and best election ever conducted by the nation's electoral body. By the way Buhari still believes late Gen Abacha was not corrupt. Even though his stolen cash are still being repatriated home periodically. The APC cried blue murder when the Federally owned  University of Lagos was renamed Moshood Abiola University,  in honour of the fallen democrat. After much pressure from those now championing Abiola's course now, the decision was reversed. The Buhari overture and volte face  is not lost on discerning Nigerians. With elections just round the corner more of this about turn can be expected.

Democracy Day: Buhari's Greek Gift

 

 

    My take on Buhari's Greek gift of June 12 as the new Democracy day is best summed up with this anecdote: You are owing your friend some amount of money. One day you both went to the bank where you were both caught up in a bank robbery. You now decided to give your friend the money you've been owing him right there in the middle of the bank robbery.  To all intent and purposes you paid back your loan. BUT is it the right place and occasion  to  pay it? 

You can actually do something good albeit with  a bad intention. The proprietary of Buhari's act is not in doubt, but the timing. Coming,  as it were, during the time of politicking makes it suspect. 

Buhari was part of the junta that annulled the freest and best election ever conducted by the nation's electoral body. By the way Buhari still believes late Gen Abacha was not corrupt. Even though his stolen cash are still being repatriated home periodically. The APC cried blue murder when the Federally owned  University of Lagos was renamed Moshood Abiola University,  in honour of the fallen democrat. After much pressure from those now championing Abiola's course now, the decision was reversed. The Buhari overture and volte face  is not lost on discerning Nigerians. With elections just round the corner more of this about turn can be expected.

Of Institutions and Men

  Nigeria is going through a difficult patch. The Executive is non-performing while the National Assembly is impotent. The National Assembly ordinarily should stand for the collective will of the people. For one reason or the other, those invited by the NASS have found one way or the other to abstain from facing the heeding the call of the NASS. Examples are   the I.G of Police. The latter had been invited severally but refused to come before the Senate. He refused to come again yesterday. The Senate has given him another week to honour the invitation. This is the same person who defied the President’s order to relocate to Benue state. It is instructive to note that the President had not reprimanded him in whatever way, at least not publicly. The I.G is either acting the President’s script or is a lord unto himself. Institutions must be respected whether one likes it or not. The chief of the police institution should not be seen as being disobedient to the law of the land. He would have no reason to say Dino Melaye is disrespecting the law when he himself is guilty of same. Our nascent democracy would not be deepened when people respect individuals more than the Institution. Flouting court orders is strange to democracy. One calls to mind Col. Dasuki, the erstwhile National Security Adviser, Sheikh el-Zakzaky,  the Shiite sect leader, among others who have been ordered released by the courts but are still being kept in detention some three years after. The separation of powers should be maintained and respected by the Executive, else the government would be a pseudo-military one where jackboot dictatorship holds sway. Civilian rule is way different from Democracy. The latter entails the upholding of the rule of law, separation of powers, respect for national institutions, freedom of expression, right to  peaceful protest, upholding of people’s Fundamental Human Right, etc. the earlier the government retrace its step to real democracy the better for the nation.

Question time per Dino Melaye

  

    I don't blame Dino for not wanting to come to Lokoja. I was there when he was attacked at Kabba Day. What happened to his attackers? Was the gov hounded by the security in connection with importation of arms into the country? Was Dino a ninja warrior that could escape from between security personnel in a vehicle? Or was he kept to one side of the vehicle? If so, it was unprofessional of the police. Take a cue from Samuel Doe saga.  Was  he not invited by Nigerian and ECOMOG soldiers? Was Doe not abducted and killed? Is the police neutral in this case? Everybody knows Dino has problems with Gov Yahaya Bello so it is totally right for one to think Dino Melaye would be wary of going to Lokoja to honor the police invitation. More so,  given the fact he had gone to court concerning that. Has Senator Omo-Agege  being held or harassed in any way per his invasion of the Senate with thugs? I believe Dino's travails is political he though he doesn't help his cause. I believe Dino Melaye should tone down his rhetorics and bellicosity. He should be less confrontational in pursuing his goals. He should realize the political firmament does not augur well for him at this time. The odds are stacked against him at the Federal executive level. He should deal his cards right. If not, this his travails will just be the beginning of his problems. The police should also be as neutral as possible. It should serve the Nigerian state and not individuals. The Nigerian constitution is greater than any vested interest.

Dapchi Girls and Government lethargy

         

Yobe state Governor Ibrahim Gaidam 

  Nigeria does not cease to amaze me. We can say the kidnap of the Chibok girls by  Boko Haram was a mistake, what can we say about another reoccurrence? This time in Yobe state some girls of the Government Girls Science Technical  College, Dapchi were again victims of yet to be identified kidnappers. The government Director of Information, Abdullahi Bego came out to say the girls had been rescued only for  Governor Ibrahim Geidam to come around barely 24 hours later to deny the statement. Hear the Governor : 

“We issued the statement on the basis of information provided by one of the security agencies that is involved in the fight against Boko Haram and which we had no reason to doubt.
“We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible.
The Yobe State Government apologises for that."

This shows a nation in serious problem. Which security agency gave the initial erroneous report? The agency should be taken up by the government. But alas, all wrongdoings will be swept under the carpet as usual by the government.
The thunder has struck in the same place twice. And to think of all the money allocated to our security agencies. Impunity is striding over the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. It beats one how some terrorists can enter into Nigeria, force some girls on buses and stroll out across the nation's border into another country. Are our borders this porous?  This is sad. Why is it that Nigeria never learns from history. One would have expected that all schools - boys' and girls'- would be under heavy security vigilance since the tragic kidnap of the Chibok girls. This is symptomatic of shithole countries of which Nigeria claims not to be one. 

Some of the damaged cars

                            

The townspeople has lost confidence in the security agencies and the government, reasons why they destroyed the Governor's convoy with missiles. The government should live up to its primary mandate of safeguarding the lives and properties of the citizens. That is the raison d'etre of government.

Dapchi Girls and Government lethargy

         

Yobe state Governor Ibrahim Gaidam 

  Nigeria does not cease to amaze me. We can say the kidnap of the Chibok girls by  Boko Haram was a mistake, what can we say about another reoccurrence? This time in Yobe state some girls of the Government Girls Science Technical  College, Dapchi were again victims of yet to be identified kidnappers. The government Director of Information, Abdullahi Bego came out to say the girls had been rescued only for  Governor Ibrahim Geidam to come around barely 24 hours later to deny the statement. Hear the Governor : 

“We issued the statement on the basis of information provided by one of the security agencies that is involved in the fight against Boko Haram and which we had no reason to doubt.
“We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible.
The Yobe State Government apologises for that."

This shows a nation in serious problem. Which security agency gave the initial erroneous report? The agency should be taken up by the government. But alas, all wrongdoings will be swept under the carpet as usual by the government.
The thunder has struck in the same place twice. And to think of all the money allocated to our security agencies. Impunity is striding over the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. It beats one how some terrorists can enter into Nigeria, force some girls on buses and stroll out across the nation's border into another country. Are our borders this porous?  This is sad. Why is it that Nigeria never learns from history. One would have expected that all schools - boys' and girls'- would be under heavy security vigilance since the tragic kidnap of the Chibok girls. This is symptomatic of shithole countries of which Nigeria claims not to be one. 

Some of the damaged cars

                            

The townspeople has lost confidence in the security agencies and the government, reasons why they destroyed the Governor's convoy with missiles. The government should live up to its primary mandate of safeguarding the lives and properties of the citizens. That is the raison d'etre of government.

Of Gov. Yahaya Bello and the Herdsmen

      

The Governor of Kogi state is one character that I can never get round to understanding. He is an avowed defender of anything Fulani. It would not be out of place to say he is more Fulani than the Fulanis. Maybe this avowed likeness for the Fulanis can be situated in the fact that he was a recipient of the political fallout of the death of the erstwhile Governorship candidate Abubakar Audu. The hand of the Presidency was not far from his emergence as the authentic governor of Kogi state. He therefore owe President Buhari his unalloyed loyalty to repay the latter's largesse and to secure a second term according to some political observers.

  

 Be that as it may, the governor's invitation to the Fulani for a Fulani herdsmen colony could altruistic. However, the said colony should be situated in Ebira land (I have nothing against Ebira people) . Since Gov. Yahaya Bello loves the herdsmen and believes that they are harmless then it necessarily follows that he should prepare space for them in the Kogi Central Senatorial District. This call is as a result of reports and pictures circulating to the effect that the herdsmen have already landed in the Bunu area of Kabba/Bunu local government area of the state. It is fervently hoped that the rumour is unfounded else it would show the Governor as totally playing to the presidency gallery. If you love the herdsmen show it practically by welcoming them in your geographical domain. It will show you are up to the task when down the line the Fulani starts to assert their authority on the land. As a student of history we know what happens when our Fulani friends are invited to the table. As per the Governor's speech of turning Kogi into Holland good luck with that. The Fulani could jolly well stay in their geographical space and turn the core North into a Dutch miracle. With the unemployment, illiteracy, and poverty up north, their  people no doubt need them more than Kogi state. 

Of Gov. Yahaya Bello and the Herdsmen

      

The Governor of Kogi state is one character that I can never get round to understanding. He is an avowed defender of anything Fulani. It would not be out of place to say he is more Fulani than the Fulanis. Maybe this avowed likeness for the Fulanis can be situated in the fact that he was a recipient of the political fallout of the death of the erstwhile Governorship candidate Abubakar Audu. The hand of the Presidency was not far from his emergence as the authentic governor of Kogi state. He therefore owe President Buhari his unalloyed loyalty to repay the latter's largesse and to secure a second term according to some political observers.

  

 Be that as it may, the governor's invitation to the Fulani for a Fulani herdsmen colony could altruistic. However, the said colony should be situated in Ebira land (I have nothing against Ebira people) . Since Gov. Yahaya Bello loves the herdsmen and believes that they are harmless then it necessarily follows that he should prepare space for them in the Kogi Central Senatorial District. This call is as a result of reports and pictures circulating to the effect that the herdsmen have already landed in the Bunu area of Kabba/Bunu local government area of the state. It is fervently hoped that the rumour is unfounded else it would show the Governor as totally playing to the presidency gallery. If you love the herdsmen show it practically by welcoming them in your geographical domain. It will show you are up to the task when down the line the Fulani starts to assert their authority on the land. As a student of history we know what happens when our Fulani friends are invited to the table. As per the Governor's speech of turning Kogi into Holland good luck with that. The Fulani could jolly well stay in their geographical space and turn the core North into a Dutch miracle. With the unemployment, illiteracy, and poverty up north, their  people no doubt need them more than Kogi state.