OPINION: Endorsing Hillary Clinton

By Reuben Abati |

If there was any hope that Donald Trump would change tactics and be more restrained after winning the Republican Party Presidential nomination for the November 8 U.S. election, that hope is now lost. The fellow has remained aggressive, incorrigibly brash and completely negative. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has asked: “Is Donald Trump just plain crazy?” (August 1). Robinson says he is “increasingly convinced,” and that Trump’s “grasp on reality appears to be tenuous at best.”

The way he is carrying on, indeed Trump may need a mental fitness test soon. By now, it must be clear to all and sundry, that he poses a great risk to the United States, to democracy and the liberal world. President Barack Obama has dismissed him as being unfit to be President, he being so totally unprepared, he being no more than a bumbling apprentice seeking the highest job in the United States. A man given to melodrama and expletives such as Trump, without any respect for basic decorum and standards would make a very bad President. He must be prevented from doing damage to the free world.

I am, however, surprised that there are Nigerians who insist that he is a better choice. I don’t think so. And don’t ask me why Nigerians should be so divided over another country’s election. The truth is that America’s Presidential election is a world election. There are millions of Nigerians and Africans living in the United States and even greater numbers hoping to visit, study or live in the United States. What happens in America affects the rest of the world. If a Trump Presidency happens, we are all in trouble.

What Trump stands for is anti-progress. It amounts to a fascist, authoritarian promotion of a brand of nationalism that defeats the objectives of inclusion and togetherness. But he says, “I’m really a nice guy believe me, I pride myself on being a nice guy but I‘m also passionate and determined to make our country great again.” Nice guy? A nice guy who says he wants to build a wall to barricade Mexico. This nice guy couldn’t even stand the sight of a crying baby, interrupting his speech. He had to ask the poor mother to take her baby out of the room. Nice guy has been busy abusing the parents of an American soldier who died in action in Iraq. He doesn’t even believe that African Americans and other minorities should be allowed to vote. He says Mexicans are criminals and rapists.

This nice guy doesn’t want immigrants and Muslims in America. He talks down on women, Hispanics and blacks. He does not even believe that Black lives matter. He supports nuclear war because it would be “pretty quick” and he wants Japan and South Korea to have their own nuclear weapons. This nice guy is a fan of Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin. Affordable Care that allows more Americans to have access to quality healthcare is unacceptable to him. If he becomes President he will expel over 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and put an end to birthright citizenship. Trump’s real ambition is to become an Emperor of the United States, and by extension the world. But sorry, America’s Constitutional traditions will not allow that. The American voter should deny him his dream.

That moment which President Barack Obama alluded to, when he said there must come a moment when a people must say thus far and no further has come: with Trump, yes. Which is why it is good news that he has been dropping in the polls, and the myth that he is unstoppable is exploding. Common sense is beginning to prevail in America. Like all politicians in his situation, Trump has become more aggressive and temperamental. He even says the election will be rigged. It is so easy to complain about rigging in an election that has not yet taken place, not so?

His supporters are even threatening that there will be “bloodbath” and “widespread civil disobedience” if he loses the election! Wait a moment: are there some Nigerians working for Trump, some Nigerian politicians teaching him dirty tricks? He should wake up: if he loses the election as he should, there will be dancing in the streets from New York to my mother’s village. Every vote against Trump, the man who wants to turn America away from the rest of the world, will be a vote for American progress. But his latest desperation sends one clear message: he should not be under-estimated. His blunt refusal to back the re-election of House Speaker Paul Ryan just shows the kind of man he is: vengeful.

The Republican establishment wants to dump him. Forget it. That is too late in the day and it is probably the surest way to further damage the GOP. And how about Trump himself throwing in the towel? No way! His campaign spokesperson, Hope Hicks has ruled this out saying, “There is no truth to this whatsoever.” Of course, he won’t. Megalomaniacs like Trump do not quit. He likes the limelight. He enjoys being a Presidential standard bearer. Even when it becomes clear that he will lose, Trump would keep trudging on. Defeat would still be a win-win for him in any case. He can subsequently milk his Presidential campaign for big profit: a book, a movie, another reality television show, or speaking engagements. And Trump will still push himself into our faces on television: no doubt, he would make a good, fictional President on television, but not in the White House. Yes, Mr. Trump, stay in the race.

Hillary Clinton is the acceptable choice. But it is unfortunate that the 2016 U.S. Presidential election has been reduced to a strictly moral choice: who sounds more humane between the two candidates? It has also been reduced to emotions rather than the big issues: who makes us feel safe, and which candidate makes us nervous? Trump does not inspire with any of his incoherent ideas: what miracle can anyone expect from a Presidential candidate who says climate change is a “hoax”, specialises in abusing people, and believes that he needs bully tactics rather than ideas to win an important election. He combines this with make-believe strategies. But the American Presidency is not Trump Casino or Trump Steaks. Trump’s strongest point is his ability to exploit the fears of an alienated middle class that feels shortchanged by the American system.

He has accordingly, been very aggressive in labeling Hillary Clinton as a co-architect of this system and co-author of all the fears currently being entertained by average middle class Americans: fears about how the power elite and the rich are alienated from the people. Fears about spreading poverty and unemployment particularly in inner America. Fears about the continuing rise of a rich minority that continues to dominate American life, business and culture. Fears about the increasing influx of immigrants who bring problems of their own and take jobs meant for white Americans.

These fears are real and Trump, being the ultimate salesman and xenophobe is heaping all the blames on Hillary Clinton and the class she seemingly represents. He calls her “The Devil,” and now he says, she is “the founder of Isis”. Trump wants to be President for the sake of it. He wants to prove that he can be President. But he has no idea about governance and he really does not think governance matters. Hillary Clinton can win and should, but overwhelming international goodwill is not the thing. The current lead in the polls in Mrs Clinton’s favour may not be enough to discourage Trump, who is apparently far more desperate.

Offensive as his messaging process is, I repeat that he cannot be under-estimated in any way, and Hillary Clinton must not assume that victory is certain without the rigorous hardwork that will stop Trump from getting to the Oval Office. She needs to allay the fears of the alienated and vulnerable Americans who actually suspect that she may be one of the many “Devils” in America. Trump must not be allowed to use Casino tactics to become America’s President. He is unfit.

Follow us on Twitter @KARIFEST1

POLITICS: Endorsing Hillary Clinton

By Reuben Abati |

If there was any hope that Donald Trump would change tactics and be more restrained after winning the Republican Party Presidential nomination for the November 8 U.S. election, that hope is now lost. The fellow has remained aggressive, incorrigibly brash and completely negative. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has asked: “Is Donald Trump just plain crazy?” (August 1). Robinson says he is “increasingly convinced,” and that Trump’s “grasp on reality appears to be tenuous at best.”

The way he is carrying on, indeed Trump may need a mental fitness test soon. By now, it must be clear to all and sundry, that he poses a great risk to the United States, to democracy and the liberal world. President Barack Obama has dismissed him as being unfit to be President, he being so totally unprepared, he being no more than a bumbling apprentice seeking the highest job in the United States. A man given to melodrama and expletives such as Trump, without any respect for basic decorum and standards would make a very bad President. He must be prevented from doing damage to the free world.

I am, however, surprised that there are Nigerians who insist that he is a better choice. I don’t think so. And don’t ask me why Nigerians should be so divided over another country’s election. The truth is that America’s Presidential election is a world election. There are millions of Nigerians and Africans living in the United States and even greater numbers hoping to visit, study or live in the United States. What happens in America affects the rest of the world. If a Trump Presidency happens, we are all in trouble.

What Trump stands for is anti-progress. It amounts to a fascist, authoritarian promotion of a brand of nationalism that defeats the objectives of inclusion and togetherness. But he says, “I’m really a nice guy believe me, I pride myself on being a nice guy but I‘m also passionate and determined to make our country great again.” Nice guy? A nice guy who says he wants to build a wall to barricade Mexico. This nice guy couldn’t even stand the sight of a crying baby, interrupting his speech. He had to ask the poor mother to take her baby out of the room. Nice guy has been busy abusing the parents of an American soldier who died in action in Iraq. He doesn’t even believe that African Americans and other minorities should be allowed to vote. He says Mexicans are criminals and rapists.

This nice guy doesn’t want immigrants and Muslims in America. He talks down on women, Hispanics and blacks. He does not even believe that Black lives matter. He supports nuclear war because it would be “pretty quick” and he wants Japan and South Korea to have their own nuclear weapons. This nice guy is a fan of Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin. Affordable Care that allows more Americans to have access to quality healthcare is unacceptable to him. If he becomes President he will expel over 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and put an end to birthright citizenship. Trump’s real ambition is to become an Emperor of the United States, and by extension the world. But sorry, America’s Constitutional traditions will not allow that. The American voter should deny him his dream.

That moment which President Barack Obama alluded to, when he said there must come a moment when a people must say thus far and no further has come: with Trump, yes. Which is why it is good news that he has been dropping in the polls, and the myth that he is unstoppable is exploding. Common sense is beginning to prevail in America. Like all politicians in his situation, Trump has become more aggressive and temperamental. He even says the election will be rigged. It is so easy to complain about rigging in an election that has not yet taken place, not so?

His supporters are even threatening that there will be “bloodbath” and “widespread civil disobedience” if he loses the election! Wait a moment: are there some Nigerians working for Trump, some Nigerian politicians teaching him dirty tricks? He should wake up: if he loses the election as he should, there will be dancing in the streets from New York to my mother’s village. Every vote against Trump, the man who wants to turn America away from the rest of the world, will be a vote for American progress. But his latest desperation sends one clear message: he should not be under-estimated. His blunt refusal to back the re-election of House Speaker Paul Ryan just shows the kind of man he is: vengeful.

The Republican establishment wants to dump him. Forget it. That is too late in the day and it is probably the surest way to further damage the GOP. And how about Trump himself throwing in the towel? No way! His campaign spokesperson, Hope Hicks has ruled this out saying, “There is no truth to this whatsoever.” Of course, he won’t. Megalomaniacs like Trump do not quit. He likes the limelight. He enjoys being a Presidential standard bearer. Even when it becomes clear that he will lose, Trump would keep trudging on. Defeat would still be a win-win for him in any case. He can subsequently milk his Presidential campaign for big profit: a book, a movie, another reality television show, or speaking engagements. And Trump will still push himself into our faces on television: no doubt, he would make a good, fictional President on television, but not in the White House. Yes, Mr. Trump, stay in the race.

Hillary Clinton is the acceptable choice. But it is unfortunate that the 2016 U.S. Presidential election has been reduced to a strictly moral choice: who sounds more humane between the two candidates? It has also been reduced to emotions rather than the big issues: who makes us feel safe, and which candidate makes us nervous? Trump does not inspire with any of his incoherent ideas: what miracle can anyone expect from a Presidential candidate who says climate change is a “hoax”, specialises in abusing people, and believes that he needs bully tactics rather than ideas to win an important election. He combines this with make-believe strategies. But the American Presidency is not Trump Casino or Trump Steaks. Trump’s strongest point is his ability to exploit the fears of an alienated middle class that feels shortchanged by the American system.

He has accordingly, been very aggressive in labeling Hillary Clinton as a co-architect of this system and co-author of all the fears currently being entertained by average middle class Americans: fears about how the power elite and the rich are alienated from the people. Fears about spreading poverty and unemployment particularly in inner America. Fears about the continuing rise of a rich minority that continues to dominate American life, business and culture. Fears about the increasing influx of immigrants who bring problems of their own and take jobs meant for white Americans.

These fears are real and Trump, being the ultimate salesman and xenophobe is heaping all the blames on Hillary Clinton and the class she seemingly represents. He calls her “The Devil,” and now he says, she is “the founder of Isis”. Trump wants to be President for the sake of it. He wants to prove that he can be President. But he has no idea about governance and he really does not think governance matters. Hillary Clinton can win and should, but overwhelming international goodwill is not the thing. The current lead in the polls in Mrs Clinton’s favour may not be enough to discourage Trump, who is apparently far more desperate.

Offensive as his messaging process is, I repeat that he cannot be under-estimated in any way, and Hillary Clinton must not assume that victory is certain without the rigorous hardwork that will stop Trump from getting to the Oval Office. She needs to allay the fears of the alienated and vulnerable Americans who actually suspect that she may be one of the many “Devils” in America. Trump must not be allowed to use Casino tactics to become America’s President. He is unfit.

PMB and IBB

By Ray Ekpu |

The relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida seems to be defined largely by the coup of August 27, 1985. On that day, a broadcaster on morning duty at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Mani Onumonu, had informed us that someone was about to make an important announcement. At 6.15 a.m., a voice roared through the airwaves. The voice called himself Brigadier Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The voice said the Nigerian Armed Forces had decided to make a change in the administration of the country. As we knew later, the then Head of State, Buhari, was arrested at four that morning. His deputy, Tunde Idiagbon, who went to Mecca for the holy pilgrimage, seemed to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

A coup had taken place; Buhari’s autocratic government had been overthrown in an efficient and near bloodless operation. From that first announcement, all that was heard was the sound of silence until Major General Sani Abacha appeared on NTA at 3.15 p.m. that day to break that gripping suspense by announcing Major General Ibrahim Babangida as the man of the moment, the man who would from then onwards be in the driving seat of the nation’s affairs.

Chairman Mao Tse Tung, China’s maximum leader, said that power flows from the barrel of a gun. What he didn’t say was that power can also flee with the barrel of a gun. As martial music dominated the airwaves that day heralding the funeral dirge of the Buhari government it was certain that power had flown away from the tall, ramrod straight soldier from Daura.

Now the dominant figures in that power drama, the victor and the vanquished, are giving us an account, revisionist or revealing, of that historic incident. Stay tuned.

On coup day Babangida had said, among other things that Buhari was “too rigid and uncompromising in his attitude to issues of national significance. Efforts to make him understand that a diverse polity like Nigeria required recognition and appreciation of differences in both cultural and individual perceptions only served to aggravate these attitudes.” Buhari has not really unveiled his own perception of the reasons behind the putsch until now. He told The Interview magazine: “I found out that some officers were spending money. I asked: Where did they get the money from? They said it was from the military intelligence fund. Later, I learnt that General Aliyu Gusau who was in charge of intelligence took import licence from the Ministry of Commerce which was in charge of supplies and gave it to Alhaji Mai Deribe. It was worth N100,000, a lot of money then. When I discovered this, I confronted them and took the case to the Army Council. I said if I didn’t punish Aliyu Gusau it will create problems for us. So I said General Aliyu Gusau had to go. He was the Chief of Intelligence. That was why Babangida got some officers to remove me.”
Outsiders may not be able to confirm or contradict Buhari’s account. His account may be correct but it may not be the only reason why the coupists struck. Coup plotters are like a gang of robbers. They have hidden and unhidden motives known to some but unknown to all. They also operate with the ethics of the underworld. Nothing matters to them except the success of their mission. Anyone who stands on their way is a demolishable obstacle. They may dress up their motives in the garment of national interest but hidden under that garment may be some sinister motives. History is often written in fragments and the history of coups is even more fragmented because of the complexity and secrecy of their operation. Every participant seems to know only a small fragment of the operation because by its nature coups are plotted by small groups of people, meeting clandestinely at unexpected times and unexpected places. So the full history of its operation is never in the custody of one man.

Coup plotters are documentarians. They take note of every dissenting voice in the land, every grievance, every protest, every disharmony, every dissonance and form these into a bundle of interrogation points against their target. Buhari’s government was not innocent in many matters. He and Idiagbon wanted to wipe out corruption, graft and indiscipline but the freedom loving citizens who may have subscribed to the substance did not subscribe to the style of the regime.

Buhari’s Decree 4 was war against the press. Decree 4 could punish a journalist for publishing the truth if it affected the reputation of the government or public official. By this decree two of The Guardian journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were jailed for one year. It was clear that Buhari did not acknowledge that the press was an important component in the power equation. More sadly, he did not come to the sobering realisation that if he waged a war against the feisty Nigerian media, they would return the favour. And they did.

Kirikiri prison was full at the time with politicians, businessmen and journalists doing an unenviable tour of duty there, courtesy of Lawal Rafindadi’s Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO). Even in bars and restaurants people talked only in whispers in case a security agent was sitting nearby. It was a tyrannical government but tyranny never survives as an unorthodox religion.

Olusegun Obasanjo has constituted himself over the years into a formidable one man government. Whenever he speaks he does so with the predictive authority of an oracle. Obasanjo was unhappy with the Buhari government’s counter trade. He thought it was a way of mortgaging the country’s future and he wrote to Mahmud Tukur, the Minister of Commerce, to say so. He also wrote to his bosom friend, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye who was the Minister of Finance, asking him not to discuss any matter involving Buhari’s government with him. Clearly, there was fire on the mountain of Buhari’s iron-fisted government.

Many people felt Buhari had brought some sanity into the country’s life but they disapproved of the indiscriminate detention of people for long periods without trial and the general throttling of people’s rights. The people may not have wished for a change of government in August 1985 if the government had done things differently, fairly, and with a sense of compassion. The coupists took their cue from the frustrations expressed by the populace over their loss of freedom. Besides, for the period it existed, the Buhari government never talked about returning the government to civil rule, thus raising the fear that it came with the odious philosophy of sit-tightism.

During Buhari’s several attempts at becoming an elected president some people expressed the view that his agenda if elected would probably be to go after those who overthrew him and put him in prison for many months. Babangida would be number one. In November last year, the PDP strategists thought they had found a viable solution to their leadership conundrum: Babangida. They wanted Babangida as their party chairman and presidential candidate for 2019. They ignored his age, his state of health and the fact that in 2011 he had retired from partisan politics. They thought he would jump at the idea of having at his disposal a wobbly machine that he could beat into shape as a ferocious fighting animal in case Buhari wanted to give him a fight. Babangida gave them a polite brush-off and told them he was not interested.

Most reasonable people would have considered that Babangida has had his own share of life’s scary moments and needed some respite: the civil war, the Mamman Vatsa coup and the more dangerous one, the Gideon Orka coup. The nectar of power is seductive but at 74 a man who has survived some of the enumerated vicissitudes would prefer to ease himself into a more serene lifestyle surrounded by grand children sitting on his laps and on his head. Now that he has brought the matter to a closure, the PDP has no choice but to search further afield for someone who can lift the party from the present pit of obscurantism.

I don’t think Buhari wants to go after Babangida. He has had his comeuppance already: He is the President, an elected President, something Babangida wanted but didn’t get. Besides, at 74 he should do his heart a favour by freeing it of ancient animosities.

The details of that coup and of the ones before it, except that of January 15, 1966, need to be unfolded as part of our history. We hope the dramatis personae will give us a more comprehensive glimpse into the history that has brought Nigeria to where we are now. They should not simply tantalise us with the snippets as they have done recently. We want the main menu.

Follow us on Twitter @KARIFEST1

TALKING POINT: Dino Melaye Is Not A Coward?

By Rotimi Fasan

WHEN last week I was writing on the recent preoccupation of the Senate under Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu, namely the determination of the so-called ‘Like Minds’ senators, all supporters of the troubled duo, to hobble the Muhammadu Buhari presidency for what they consider its hostile attitude to the legislative arm of government.

As I was writing on this latest act of perfidy against the Nigerian people, I had no idea of what was already brewing within a closed-door meeting at the Senate.

There was no way I could have known that less than 24 hours later one of the most outrageous confirmations of my position on our inept Senate would occur and become public a day after. I speak here of the unseemly verbal attack and threat of physical violence by Dino Melaye against his female colleague, Mrs. Remi Tinubu. In the said commentary in this space, I had questioned the wisdom in the threat of the senators to shut down the Senate and all legislative activities as a prelude to their rumoured plan to commence impeachment proceedings against President Buhari. Their grievance is the ongoing trial for forgery of Senate standing rules of Saraki and Ekweremadu.

The threat was the latest in the series of proxy skirmishes being prosecuted by members of the Senate against President Buhari and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress party that the aggrieved senators hold responsible for the trial of their leaders. They choose to see their trial as an attempt to subvert the activities of the Senate and compromise its independence. The cowardly nature of the proxy battles is too obvious to be denied even when senators in the ‘Like Minds’ group choose to believe the contrary. They keep on speaking from both sides of their mouths making subtle and not-so-subtle attacks on the Presidency and the leadership of the APC while at the same time saying they would accept no change in Senate leadership. In all this, the senators speaking always ensure their names are not put in print. Yet their boasts of an imminent showdown and their readiness to take on the imagined adversaries in their shadow boxing never wanes. You can see them launching attacks, docking and throwing jabs all around. But all the while they hide, in their press wars, behind the anonymity of being sources who didn’t want their names mentioned.

You can then imagine one’s surprise when after one such behind-the-scenes skirmish it emerged that Dino Melaye who is renowned more for his childish display of unearned wealth has advocated for the ostracism of any member of the Senate supporting the ongoing trial of the Senate leaders if they don’t withdraw their support. He was taken on by Mrs. Tinubu and the result of that encounter is the outrageous threat of sexual violence, to wit: instant rape and physical walloping of his female colleague if she didn’t know her limits. This was after calling her ‘stupid’ and wanting to know from her if she took him, Melaye, for one of the party sidekicks that grovel before Senator Remi Tinubu’s husband.

All of this happened during a session chaired by Bukola Saraki himself even if there is no consensus on whether he gave approving nods or not to the antics of Melaye. Melaye has hinged his attack on Mrs. Tinubu on the fact that he is not a coward and had to react to her unflattering comments about him. Of course Melaye cannot be and is not a coward or he wouldn’t threaten to beat up and rape his older female colleague. But if Melaye is not a coward, then what is he?

I need not worry too much as to what Melaye claims to have said in his encounter with Senator Tinubu. What he said and did thereafter says more than he has admitted transpired inside that Senate session. He has denied threatening to impregnate (read rape) Senator Tinubu, wondering how he could have threatened to beat as well as rape her at the same time, as if both activity are mutually exclusive. In Melaye’s brave thinking one of the actions doesn’t imply the other obviously. But then he goes on to say that he couldn’t even have impregnated Senator Tinubu as she was past menopause. How Melaye knows this fact of Senator Tinubu’s life remains to be explained.

But this little bit more than anything else he has said on the matter at hand can tell anyone that Melaye lacks discretion and must have said more than he is prepared to admit to. Which gives the lie to his claim of not being a coward. Melaye is indeed a coward, a bully and a braggart in equal measure. His blustering outburst is just what it is: a waste of breath from an agbero touting passengers for his bolekaja. He is a squirrel who pretends to be a street toughie. His language both during and after his fight with Mrs. Tinubu betrays him. Even his promptness to deny any plan by him or others to fight President Buhari proves my point last week that the Senate is full of cowards fighting proxy battles.

This is not to say that Melaye would be doing anything brave by admitting that he expressed a desire to rape his colleague. Not at all. But in this man’s warped mind the one is the same as the other. Admitting to saying that he threatened to ‘impregnate’ Senator Tinubu is for him the same as being brave. Which would explain why he would travel to Lagos days after he was reportedly ‘banned’ from the South West by some APC stalwarts in the zone following his attack on Mrs. Tinubu and deciding to post pictures of himself on Lagos streets, including one allegedly on Bourdillon Street where Chief Bola Tinubu lives. What can anybody make of this childish act from a Nigerian senator? An act of bravery? What really is Melaye’s legacy as a legislator? His fighting bouts memorialised by that image of his torn, raggedy clothes after a pummelling in his time at the House of Representatives? This National Assembly where a female member was once slapped by her male colleague is infamous for its disdain of women. It needs rehabilitation and psychiatric test ought to be mandatory for members.

OPINION: The Rains And The Pains

By Luke Onyekakeyah

   The deplorable state of infrastructure in the country is a major source of worry whenever the seasons swing and rains take over. The poor dilapidated roads, the precariously hanging bridges that could be washed away in storm water, the inefficient and clogged drainage channels and the massive floods that wreak havoc are some of the problems that raise apprehension during the rainy season.

All over the country, the rainy season makes life miserable for millions of people. But the situation would be different if functional and social infrastructure facilities were in place. The rainy season exposes the underbelly of our cities and towns.

Added to this is the poor housing condition in which most Nigerians live. All over the place, from the villages to the urban centres, the shanties, the makeshift structures that stand for houses and the slums where millions live in terrible environmental condition make the rains a curse to many. Year in year out, people living in terrible condition go through hell to survive the ravages of the rainy season.

There are citizens whose living rooms and immediate surroundings are permanently flooded throughout the rainy season. Such people are exposed to infections, diseases and ailments. There are others who live in somewhat hospitable housing but have no access roads to pass to their homes. With no official assistance from government, millions of people lose property worth millions to the tempestuous rainy season.

One group that has cause to welcome the rains is the farmers. To the farmers, the rains herald the planting season. The rains bring joy and guarantee a bountiful harvest after a successful planting season. Without the rains, the farmers won’t cultivate and there will be poor harvest. Faming breeds hunger and starvation. In a country like Nigeria where agriculture has been relegated to the background, lack of food is a major constraint to socio-economic development.

Luckily, unlike in some countries where drought wreaks havoc to agricultural production, the rains have been fairly regular here. What is lacking is the policy thrust by government to revamp the agricultural sector through a systematic assistance and incentive to the real farmers. The agricultural loan scheme often anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could serve that purpose if the real farmers and not the ad-hoc “commercial agricultural adventurers” get the loans.

Ordinarily, the onset of the rainy season should bring joy and happiness especially after the long hot dry season compounded by the endemic national power blackout. The rains sooth the scorching heat, reduce temperatures, water the earth and mop the dusty ground. These conditions make everyone, especially the urban dwellers to feel at ease. The cool nights provide excellent condition for sound sleep. Without the usual night sweating, rashes in children, the rains provide ideal weather condition. But as the rains get heavier, there are issues to watch in Nigeria’s social and economic complex.

First is building collapse. The rainy season is a season of building collapse. Some buildings would surely collapse and wreak havoc on occupants. This problem is more prevalent in Lagos State. However, other towns like Port Harcourt, Abuja, Benin, etc have also had building collapse.

The Lagos State Government, for obvious reasons, should be fully aware of this problem. The state has recorded the highest number of building collapses in recent times. Hundreds of people have perished in the ugly incidents. Many factors are responsible. Structural failure of buildings due to poor engineering design and construction is mostly responsible.

The acute accommodation problem in Nigeria’s urban centres prevents occupants of dilapidated buildings from evacuating before disaster occurs. The Lagos State Government should mount a public enlightenment campaign to alert citizens on the possibility of building collapse during the rainy season. 

Residents should be wary of this danger. People should be enlightened to take notice of cracks and tilts in their residential buildings and report such to the authorities. Telephone numbers should be provided where such reports should be made. The same should be carried out in all the southern states in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

By so doing, everybody would be at alert to avert possible disasters. There may be need to evacuate residents as the case may be like in typhoon and hurricane prone Asia and America, where citizens are alerted on the approach of dangerous winds. Given the number of building collapses that have been recorded, the authorities should not pretend not to be aware of the problem.

There is need for governments across the federation to put emergency structures in place in readiness for possible disasters. Whether it is building collapse or massive floods that occur after heavy torrential downpour, the national and state emergency outfits should be on standby to tackle such problems when they occur. In the past few years, there have been massive floods in Kano, Kaduna, Plateau State, Abeokuta, Owerri and, of course, Lagos, among others.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Red Cross, Civil Defence and others should be on standby. The state governments should make provision for emergency relief supplies for victims of floods, building collapses and thunderstorms. It is needless running helter-skelter after disaster occurs. The authorities should be prepared beforehand.

Second, Nigerian road travellers are exposed to untold hardship during the rainy season because the country’s major highways are in tatters. The notorious Lagos-Ore-Benin highway has not been fully rehabilitated. The unending patchwork on the road has done little to improve its condition. Travellers on this road should be wary how and when they should travel to avoid getting stuck on the road.

It is amazing that Lagos has so far not had heavy rains that trigger flooding. The apparent dryness of Lagos since July is unusual and may be due to climate change. There is a general low rainfall prediction for this year by NIMET. But this is not the case in the South-East and South-South zones, where torrential rains have continued unabatedly.

In Owerri, the Imo State Government has embarked on a massive urban renewal programme to bring the city to acceptable standard. The demolition of shanties along the major roads has not gone down well with most people. But there is no other way to create a decent city. The government should have a plan for reconstruction and not leave things in shatters.

NIGERIA’S UNITY IS NEGOTIABLE - GODWIN

A few days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as telling a group of agitators from the Niger Delta region of the country that “Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable”. He went further by pulling from a former Head of State; General Yakubu Gowon, most popular quote while the Nigeria/Biafra war lasted to buttress his point. That quote said:“to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done”.

I want to convince myself that the President meant this “clarion” call of “non-negotiable of the Nigerian nation’s unity” for the attention of all militant groups or agitators in the country. This is necessary because what is good for the goose of the Niger Delta geo-political region of Nigeria is even better for other and all geo-political zones of the Country. Of course, this slogan of “Nigeria’s Unity not negotiable” is not new; it is an age-long and over-used phrase by most political leaders in Nigeria. Proof at hand is that this slogan has failed the test of time. It is time for us therefore to go to the other side of the current bargain of “non-negotiable” in finding solution to the peculiar and perilous challenge that may likely put Nigeria asunder sooner than expected by exploring the benefits of “negotiating the unity” of this geographical enterprise called Nigeria.

First and foremost, there was no country by the name Nigeria until 1914 when the amalgamation took place under the watchful eyes of Lord Lugard. He happily adopted the name ‘Nigeria’, a loudly pronounced thought of that British journalist; Dame Flora Louise Shaw [1852 – 1929], who later became Lady Lugard – the adoption itself was negotiated.

In a well-researched lecture given very recently [2013] by one seasoned and old British Scholar in the Nigerian House, London, under the chairmanship of Dalhatu Sarki Tafida; then Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, the revelation on the reason for the 1914 amalgamation by the British Empire was laid on the table. I was there at the lecture just by co-incidence of events.

The two separate protectorates of both south and north coming together in 1914 was “based on the economic consideration of running the protectorate of the north which could not pay its bill”, according to the scholar/researcher, adding that “while the south protectorate was economically self-sufficient, the north protectorate was not”. It is in the face of this reality that the decision was taken by the Home office to fuse both north and south protectorates together “so that the ‘unified’ country would be self-sufficient economically. We, the people of this “area of the Niger”, as opined by Lady Lugard, were “negotiated” into a nebulously packaged unity by powers and influences out-side, even the continent of Africa, purely for the economic exigency of the British.

I want to submit therefore, that a clarion call for the survival of this fraudulent unity that is operational in Nigeria presently should be negotiation-based, by the Nigerian people. Any opposition to this is begging for rapturous disaster. Let us pull from one major historical event of the past to be surer of the most likely profitable route, in enduring national survival, which we need to follow in this matter.

Sometime in the past, in one of the conferences to the build-up of Nigerian independence, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became the first Nigerian President [though ceremonial], told his colleagues, mostly the northern delegates to that meeting that “let us forget about our differences and forge ahead, living together in one country”. Sir Ahmadu Bello; the great Sardauna of Sokoto, however countered him, wisely and firmly though, saying “let us understand our differences so that we will be able to know how to live together”. To me, that wise counsel of the Sardauna of Sokoto would remain a manual in interpreting the benefit of negotiation for ever.

If l may be permitted to read the mind of the Sardauna properly, he probably understood where his journey into the “Nigerian unification” started from; in terms of cultural heritage, jihad-based religious concept, imbalance in educational pursuit between the south and the north, inequality in political development, plus many other things, than the Great Zik of Africa; who had wanted his contemporaries “to forget our differences and forge ahead”. The philosophy of negotiation introduced by the Sardauna and accepted by the Colonial Master, though loop-sided to very large extent, brought sanity to the Federation of the First Republic through the practice of properly integrated fiscal federalism, with its hold on resource control by the federated regional units.

This concept remained beneficial to the Nigerian Enterprise until the military incursion to the polity and its subsequent eradication of all norms and ethos of a properly defined fiscal federalism. We have, since this incursion of 1966 and until date, resulted into practice of unitary system of government [which is the truth] or a distorted and disjointed federalism. If the truth must be told therefore, there is no way the unifying nationalities can continue in this type of “damaged” federalism.

The good news however is the fact that there are more prospects, gains and advantages in negotiating living together within legal rules without breaking-up and this can be achieved by “negotiating” the continuous flow of the Nigerian Unity. We can as well refuse to negotiate, with this arrogant expression of “non-negotiable slogan”, and end up into terrible arms hostility amongst the nationalities within the Nigerian entity with the inevitable sad reality of the country breaking into irretrievable pieces. Nigeria as a country would vanish into oblivion if we allow this to happen – God forbid bad thing.

Godwin Etakibuebu, a veteran journalist, wrote from Lagos.