The external dynamics of Zaria incident (ll)

Also published in Daily Trust  

Notwithstanding the justifiability or otherwise of the amount of force used by the military during their recent showdown with the Shiites in Zaria or indeed during any similar incident in the past, it’s obvious that the recent incident has provoked Iran’s anger, which has ever since then continued to manifest itself in the form of blackmail, campaign of calumny and threat against the Nigerian government.

Though the federal government might have downplayed the implication of Iran’s reaction in the aftermath of the incident, the reality is that, its reaction represents the beginning of its overt mischievous activities against Nigeria. This raises worries about Nigeria’s ability to cope with the associated security challenges and avert their destabilizing effects, in view of its obvious inexperience in the sophisticated modus operandi of Iran’s clandestine operations against any country that refuses to tolerate the disruptive and subversive practices of the Shiites among its citizens.

The external dynamics of Zaria incident (l)

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As the heated controversy triggered by the sharply conflicting narratives about last weekend’s violent confrontation in Zaria between the Nigerian military personnel and members of the Shi’a movement persists, many Nigerians express surprise at Iran’s particular interest in that particular incident considering the fact that the incident was neither the first nor even the worst of its kind in the country.

Notwithstanding the credibility or otherwise of any particular narrative about the cause of the incident and how it played out, which in any case isn’t my topic today, it’s obvious that Iran’s interest in it is simply too disproportionate to have been solely motivated by humanitarian concerns, after all. Besides, Iran’s attitude towards Nigeria in this regard and the language it uses smack of sheer arrogance and disdain for Nigeria’s sovereignty and indeed raise questions about its motive and motivation.

Coping with looming post-oil age (ll)

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Obviously, the increasingly unbearable economic hardship resulting from the foregoing, and the gloomy economic outlook it paints makes President Buhari’s mission particularly challenging, especially in view of Nigerians’ understandably high expectations of his administration to turn things around and put the country on a path to sustainable economic recovery.

This explains why though he maintains his readiness and ability to deliver, he nonetheless sometimes betrays worries knowing that the country is currently too broke, or rather, it has been rendered too broke to afford the ambitious economic infrastructure projects he needs to provide simultaneously with radical anti-corruption measures and sustainable economic transformation policies. The enormity of the challenges cannot be overestimated considering the fact that, and as I indicated last week, the proceeds from crude oil sales on which Nigerian economy relies are simply too inadequate to finance infrastructure projects of such magnitude.

Coping with looming post-oil age (l)

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The recurrent deterioration of the financial crisis that repeatedly hits the already economically struggling state governments in Nigeria, and which further exhausts their rapidly depleting finances hence affects their ability to meet their most basic financial obligations i.e. workers’ monthly salaries, represents the predictable and indeed inevitable consequence of their overreliance on the federal government, and also their failure to build sustainable economies that will sustain their respective states with or without the monthly statutory revenue allocations they receive from the federal government.

It also further highlights some of the serious economic implications of the successive federal governments’ failure to diversify the economy and liberate it from the mercy of crude oil price fluctuations in international markets. Besides, as the prices continue to show no sign of significant improvement anytime soon, Nigeria’s revenue from crude oil sales would continue to decline leaving the country with little or no control over the situation.

At the mercy of vested interests

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Notwithstanding whether the dramatic improvement of electricity and fuel supply as well as the few encouraging indications of change in some other areas of Nigeria’s economy witnessed during the first few months following President Buhari’s assumption of the presidency were indeed due to his body language, as his enthusiasts insist, or they were simply the outcome of the previous government’s reform policies materializing coincidentally, as former President Jonathan’s political allies contend, President Buhari and former President Jonathan share the blame for the subsequent relapse, which has ever since then persisted  and indeed deteriorated further.

Also, regardless of who between them actually deserved the credit for that short-lived improvement and the equally short-lived relief it had brought, it now doesn’t matter since the improvement couldn’t be sustained, let alone be further improved.

Dealing with an obstructive legislature

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Though making new appointments will remain part of this administration’s ongoing repositioning of government for some time to come, the recent inauguration of the Federal Executive Council by President Muhammadu definitely constituted the most important part of this process given the fact that the council, which is headed by the President himself, represents the zenith of the executive arm of government.

This development is righty expected to inject badly needed momentum into the machinery of government, which, admittedly, has not been proactive enough to keep pace with the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country. Moreover, notwithstanding the level of success achieved so far or expected to be achieved in the future in President Buhari’s ongoing fight corruption, the real yardstick to measure the success or failure of the fight is the ability or otherwise of the newly inaugurated ministers to live up to expectations and resist temptation and pressure to engage in corruption. This is the least Nigerians expect of them, and they can’t afford to disappoint Nigerians. After all, in addition to their acclaimed moral integrity, they are expected to operate under the strict and specific professional and ethical guidelines given to them by President Buhari during their recent two-day retreat prior to the inauguration.

The end of excuses

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Despite the impact of the current intensified economic crisis on, particularly, the ordinary Nigerians, which has degenerated to the extent of government’s inability to pay monthly salaries on time, one of the most interesting things that made the current political dispensation particularly interesting and indeed promising, is the fact that it is largely composed of almost all the proven and yet to be proven non-corrupt and progressive individuals who have, over the decades, either earned their reputation from their impressive performances in their respective previous positions, or have simply been able to earn the trust of Nigerians due to their insistent condemnation of corruption and corrupt government officials.

As it steadily takes shape especially following the recent confirmation of the ministerial nominees by the Senate, this political dispensation, as represented by both its legislative and executive arms, includes many popular radicals, anti-corruption activists, human right activists, critics and progressive public affairs commentators who have over the years relentlessly advocated transparency in governance, due process and the rule of law, to the extent that they came to be regarded as the embodiments of what they have respectively advocated.

War on terror: The implications of underreporting

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Though, ordinarily and for obvious tactical and strategic reasons, not every development on the battlefield is publicly disseminated, and despite the relative improvement of the credibility of the reports emanating from the Nigerian military about the developments on the war fronts against Boko Haram terrorists, the absence of regular presence of reporters from independent media outlets in the closest proximity possible to the war fronts has rendered the war grossly underreported.

This explains the unmistakable inconsistency between the extent of the victories that the military claims to be achieving and the persistent recurrence of deadly bomb attacks in public places, raids and other terror activities by the terrorists. It also means that the military still, albeit to a lesser extent compared to what obtained until recently, deliberately exaggerates its victories and underreports many important developments that are usually disseminated in warfare. It could be recalled that, towards the end of former President Jonathan’s presidency, the military had claimed to have launched an intensified military campaign purportedly to subdue and rout the terrorists.

The Saudis’ real ‘sin’ (lll)

Also published in Daily Trust

Though the background information that dominated the previous parts of this piece might have amounted to an unnecessary digression, as some readers insinuated, I humbly insist, that it was indispensable anyway as it was intended to put the issue in its right context, which remains necessary in order to understand what Iran is actually hell-bent on achieving by politicizing the Hajj stampede tragedy.

In any case, obviously, Iran’s demand for a role in the management of Hajj affairs is simply hypocritical, to say the least, because according to Shia doctrine, which is its official religious ideology, Makkah is inferior to Karbala in terms of holiness, and that Hajj is equally inferior to paying homage to the supposed grave of Imam Hussein in Karbala, as I quoted from some of their major religious books, in part two of this piece. By the way, no wonder its apologists want Hajj to be organized and managed the same way FIFA organizes and manages the world cup event.

The Saudis’ real ‘sin’ (ll)

Also published in Daily Trust

To understand the intricate politics surrounding Iran’s politicization of Mina deadly stampede, one has to know the historical, religious and ideological dynamics that collectively define Iranians’ attitudes and influence their policies and strategies towards Hajj, the status of Makkah, Madina and the other Islamic holy sites.

Historically, since the second rightly guided Caliph, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab-led Islamic conquest of the tyrannical Persian Empire, which was one of the two most powerful empires in the world then, and even though the Persians overwhelmingly and willingly accepted Islam, there remained some Persian supremacist elements who refused to come to terms with the collapse of their empire at the hands of Muslims, and in fact Arabs for that matter, who they had disdainfully looked down on and indeed dominated for centuries.

The Saudis’ real ‘sin’ {l}

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Considering the sheer amount of criticism against the Saudi Arabian government by its critics, and the passionate defence in its favour by its supporters over the deadly stampede at the holy site of Mina during the recently concluded Hajj where more than seven hundred pilgrims lost their lives, an unbiased observer would definitely find it difficult to arrive at a reasonable conclusion about the alleged responsibility or otherwise of the Saudi Arabian authorities for the tragedy.

This is because the assertions and counter-assertions by both the critics and the supporters are largely devoid of specific facts about the cause(s) of the catastrophe, which means that their purported arguments and counter-arguments are simply too unreasonable to constitute reasonable reasons to straightaway blame or exonerate the Saudi government. After all, while  its critics are largely motivated by sheer hatred that rendered them too blindfolded to see anything positive about the country, its supporters are largely too opinionated to find anything negative about it.

The martyrs of Makkah

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Notwithstanding the title of this piece, and as a matter of principle, I am actually not in a position to categorically term the deceased victims of last Friday’s tragic crane accident in Makkah, martyrs, after all. This, however, doesn’t downplay the spiritual significance of the circumstances of their death that in fact constitute strong clues about their probable attainment of martyrdom, which I, and indeed all Muslims, wish them anyway.

It’s important to note that, though there are several different circumstances of death, as mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), that qualify a deceased Muslim to attain martyrdom, e.g. drowning and death under the rubble of a collapsed building etc, yet, no specific individual can be categorically termed a martyr without a clear confirmation in either the holy Qur’an or the authentic Prophetic Sunnah, or, at least, an unambiguous allusion to him in either of these two sources.

A look into Ganduje’s appointments

Also published in Daily Trust

(Note: the last two paragraphs were edited out from the version published in the newspaper. Below is the full version.)

     

While President Muhammadu Buhari continues to adopt cost-cutting measures in his reform policies including the pattern of his appointments, it increasingly appears that not many states of the federation are actually committed to follow suit after all. This is even though they are particularly affected by the persistent financial crisis resulting from the falling crude oil prices in international markets, being almost entirely dependent on their monthly statutory allocations from the federation account.

In Kano state for instance, the several religion related appointments and reappointments recently made by the state governor; Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje cast doubt on his administration’s commitment to cut cost. These appointments reveal how tasks that are basically of the same nature hence are supposed to be handled by a single government body were however split up into different units each unit being handled by a probably already overstaffed substantive commission or board headed and/or overseen by two or more top government officials, which ironically isn’t the case even in the state’s ministries that oversee several major government agencies and departments.

Appointments: Why President’s trust matters most

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As the controversy over the alleged lopsidedness or otherwise of President Buhari’s recent appointments persist, it is imperative to get the whole picture and put things in the right context in order to draw an informed conclusion accordingly.

While President Buhari’s critics criticize and accuse him of nepotism and deliberate flouting of the relevant federal character provisions in favour of the northern part of the country, many of his supporters seek to justify his action as many others apologetically seek to assure his ranting opponents that he would soon balance up the lopsidedness.

Unsurprisingly, his political opponents dismiss and capitalize on it in their efforts to discredit him politically. Also, though his fellow major party stakeholders in the other parts of the country especially who bankrolled his political campaigns and other political activities, and used their socio-political influence to lobby and even bully in his favour to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate, have so far remained largely silent and some of them have even expressed their support for him in this regard, their silence or verbal support doesn’t necessarily mean that they are in agreement with him in reality, after all.

Beyond prosecuting the corrupt

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For the ongoing anti-corruption drive in Nigeria to achieve maximum and sustainable results, it must not stop at retrieving the staggering amounts of public funds stolen over the years by many government officials, and/or even jailing them, for that matter. The federal government should, in addition to these, take all necessary measures to disgrace the convicts lest they take advantage of their influence to bounce back.

They should, for instance, be stripped of their national honours, which they actually never deserved in the first place. Their names should also be removed from public properties, facilities and other government-owned landmarks, lest future generations of Nigerians mistake them for role models.

This is quite necessary, after all, it’s perhaps only in Nigeria that those responsible for the country’s socio-political and economic failure are ironically the most respected individuals in the country, while the society looks down at, and in fact, practically stigmatizes the honest and hardworking individuals especially who have had a chance to illegally get rich yet restrained themselves.

Justice for wrongful detention

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Now that the federal government has begun to address the underlying factors that affected the combat morale of its troops fighting Boko Haram terrorists and resulted in their failure to contain, let alone defeat the terrorists, there is a dramatic improvement in the performance of the troops on the battleground.

Obviously, this would greatly contribute towards defeating the insurgents especially as it also comes while the federal government is taking measures to update its military arsenal and improve its military capabilities in its fight against the insurgents. Besides, the three-month ultimatum given to the military by President Buhari to defeat the terrorists further confirms his seriousness and commitment to do whatever it takes in order end this lingering crisis as soon as possible.

Also, though, realistically speaking, it won’t be that easy for the military to defeat the insurgents within this period, after all, yet it’s quite achievable anyway as long as the combat strategies and the other relevant measures being taken in this regard are sustained.

Lest the federating states hinder Buhari’s reforms

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Though the ongoing anti-corruption measures and economic reforms pursued by President Buhari will certainly take some time to gather enough momentum to check the deep-rooted culture of corruption, impunity and mediocrity, which have been effectively institutionalized in the country over the decades, the rate at which various federal government ministries, departments and agencies fall in line with the new reform policies is pretty encouraging.

After all, these reform policies and measures, which continue to slowly but steadily take root, are apparently designed to gradually erode the accumulated mess in the country, in a measured but sustained manner to eventually eradicate it and establish a sustainable culture of transparency in the country’s public and private agencies and establishments.

Taming the kleptomaniacs

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Though just two months into its promising tenure, the Muhammadu Buhari-led government has discovered some relatively few but extremely shocking instances of systematic plunder of public funds involving massive amounts of money that are staggering enough to be described as malala gashin tinkiya, as we, when we were kids, used to innocently describe any amount of money beyond our limited comprehension.

After all, obviously there are several millions of Nigerian adults who equally can’t fully comprehend the concepts of billions and trillions often attached to the outrageous amounts of public funds being stolen from the public treasury, hence they equally find the stolen amounts simply incalculable and, of course, confusing, even if they don’t say it.

Beyond the diplomatic honeymoon

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In addition to the nationwide euphoria that trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s historic election victory, the immediate and remarkable improvement of Nigeria’s global approval rating marked the beginning of his diplomatic honeymoon even before he actually assumed the presidency.

This particularly explains the diplomatic warmth between Nigeria and the major world powers ever since his inauguration almost two months ago.

Obviously, this is largely due to the relatively transparent hence the most credible presidential election ever conducted in the country, which he meritoriously won, and, of course, his personal reputation as a man of exceptional integrity, which has earned him special recognition within the country and beyond.

Tackling terrorism intelligently

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A fortnight ago, I wrote in this column, about the dramatic resurgence of the Boko Haram insurgents, in a piece titled “Taming the terror”, and how the resurgence was obviously intended to challenge President Buhari who had vowed to eradicate them for good.

Yet, now that the terror attacks have not only persisted but have actually escalated over the past two weeks, I felt prompted to take another look at the situation from a tactical perspective, this time around, to assess the viability of the ongoing preparations to raise multinational troops from among the Nigerian military and its immediate neighbours, in what appears to be a massive military buildup to engage the insurgents in a conventional war that involves the deployment of regular combat soldiers and heavy military hardware.

Consumerism in Ramadan

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Muslims often look forward to the month of Ramadan not only for spiritual rejuvenation but to also break away from the usual routine of life in their individual lifestyles. In addition to the phenomenal increase of the acts of charity and generosity in Muslim societies during Ramadan, the dramatic rise in food consumerism among them is also one of the easily noticeable trends during the month.

Though during Ramadan people understandably develop high appetite for a wide variety of foods for obvious reasons, the way both rich and poor develop unnecessary insatiability for lavishness particularly in the provision of Iftar meals is simply disproportionate. This situation is particularly phenomenal in the rich Arab countries where, during Ramadan in particular, people go on shopping sprees for not only food provisions but for many other things also e.g. expensive household items, vehicles etc.

Taming the terror

Also published in Daily Trust

The resumption of the escalating wave of Boko Haram terror attacks, which the group had apparently timed to coincide with the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari as President, was a calculated war strategy designed to challenge the President who, a day after his historic election victory, had resolutely declared that “Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will”.

Unlike in the past when Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau would contemptuously dismiss similar warnings by the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, Boko Haram must have taken President Buhari’s warning seriously, they consequently decided to audaciously intensify and sustain their terror attacks from the very day he assumed the presidency, in order to challenge his declared resolve to crush them, and, of course, to preempt the anticipated unrelenting military onslaught against them.

On Customs’ raid in Kano

Also published in Daily Trust

Considering the phenomenon of indiscriminate smuggling, the sheer volume and the monetary value of smuggled items flooding Nigerian markets, one shouldn’t be surprised at the alarming rates at which the country’s already struggling industries collapse, which discourages entrepreneurship, creates unemployment and consequently unleashes grinding poverty.

The surprising, or rather, the unfortunately ironic aspect of the situation is that, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which is supposed to prevent and tackle smuggling, has not only failed to deliver but many of its officials are actually involved in facilitating the smuggling of contraband items into the country.

The blatant involvement of the officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), of course with the exception of a few honest and patriotic personnel, in facilitating systematic smuggling into the country undermines and will inevitably continue to frustrate the country’s efforts to build a competitive economy. Their occasional intensification of their purported efforts to curb smuggling is a mere ploy designed to further extort the smugglers and in the meantime show off their hypocritical commitment to fight the phenomenon.

The distraction Buhari can’t afford

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Though the recent political intrigues that culminated in the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively were indeed dramatic, the event must not be allowed to distract the promising, though, admittedly, so far rather slow, government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

After all, such post-election interparty political machinations and intraparty feuds are quite common even in developed democracies where elected politicians seek to outmaneuver one another in power tussle, while vested interests equally struggle for influence in the process of the formation of political power equations. Yet, governments out there don’t get unnecessarily distracted.

Buhari’s dilemma and its solution

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Though Nigerians can now rest assured that their new president, Muhammadu Buhari will never condone corruption, let alone engage in it, yet his ability to deliver depends, to a large extent, on the quality of his team of political appointees, which is gradually emerging. 

President Buhari’s dilemma lies in the process of identifying and appointing the calibre of people he necessarily needs around him, because it is the individual and collective performance of the people he appoints as ministers, advisers, heads of various government agencies etc that will eventually determine his success or failure as President.

As the real journey begins…

Also published in Daily Trust

Today’s historic transfer of power is a remarkable achievement of a goal conceived by tens of millions of Nigerians almost thirty years ago, and which has been democratically pursued over the past twelve years culminating in Buhari’s assumption of the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, today.

Though this event is indeed significant, being the first of its kind in the history of Nigeria where an incumbent federal government, having lost a re-election bid, peacefully hands over power to a winning opposition party, as it is also pretty uncommon in African and other emerging democracies elsewhere, yet, its significance is overshadowed by the significance of the hope that the person taking over the presidency represents for the overwhelmingly exhausted Nigerians.

The fruits of patience

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One of the most interesting things about time is the speed at which it flies especially when viewed in the context of a particular event scheduled to take place at a particular time.

Though this is an easily observable fact by all, the inspiration it exudes surprisingly eludes many people, which explains the extreme impatience that defines their attitudes when pursuing their individual or collective interests.

As Nigerians increasingly look forward to witnessing the next Friday’s historic transfer of power when President Goodluck Jonathan finally hands over the presidency to the incoming President Muhammad Buhari, I recall the widespread post-election violence that erupted in the aftermath of the 2011 elections in the country, which could have been prevented had the parties involved summoned up enough patience and sense of restraint to manage their grievances.

When despair begets hope

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Though the current unprecedented economic hardship resulting from the increasingly unbearable fuel scarcity, severe power shortages and acute cash crunch in Nigeria, which also afflicts Nigerians against the backdrop of the country’s already rundown economy, induces despair, it nonetheless raises the prospects of an imminent change for the better in the country, as the situation can’t possibly get any worse. After all, despite the country’s enormous wealth, Nigerians have endured enough of leadership-inflicted misery, which has also been particularly excruciating over the past few years.

Interestingly enough, it is quite ironic that, Nigerians have unnecessarily resigned to their fate, though it may not be actually their fate after all, having never been completely helpless in reality. In any case, the irony is that, this unjustifiable resignation contradicts their real or perceived rights consciousness, which they are always fond of displaying to give the impression of being too assertive to be short-changed or taken for granted by their leaders.

Qaddara and the Kano bridge tragedy

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The collapse of a giant concrete beam of a not yet completed pedestrian bridge on Sheikh Ja’afar road in Kano metropolis that crushed seven people to death last Sunday was extremely tragic. The widely circulated images of the squashed taxicab in which they were travelling say it all about the unimaginable pain and agony they had suffered before their deaths.

The fact that the bridge construction site was not cordoned off to prevent people from accessing the area while work was underway means that the construction company had flouted the standard safety measures usually taken at construction sites. It might have also compromised on the structural quality of the pedestrian bridge in order to maximize profit and/or cover the cost of kickbacks and other corrupt practices, which also means that the incident was probably, if not certainly, preventable.

To probe corruption: Buhari’s dilemma

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As President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari prepares to assume the presidency in a few weeks’ time, many Nigerians increasingly expect him to launch exhaustive probes into particularly the most staggering cases of corruption involving some top current and former government officials and subject them to appropriate judicial prosecution processes to be convicted hence compelled to return the public resources they misappropriated and eventually face appropriate punishments accordingly. 

Nigerians have rightly emphasized the imperative of extensive corruption probe as the only means to expose and eventually stop the persistent acts of systematic thievery and misappropriation of public resources in the country. They therefore now apparently count on Buhari’s intolerance of corruption and credibility to see that happen. This is even though his responses to the various questions of whether or not he will take these steps have so far been largely too ambiguous to provide a definite answer.

Lest another ‘PDP’ evolve

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For the sake of clarity, I put the Peoples Democratic Party’s acronym in inverted commas to highlight the differences between the PDP as a political party theoretically defined by its official name and manifesto, on one hand, and the de facto ‘PDP’, which could be defined as a political attitude and practice characterized by sheer obsession with power and insistence on clinging to it by hook or by crook, on the other.

Basically, there is nothing wrong with the former i.e. the PDP in theory, however since the latter i.e. the de facto ‘PDP’ has actually overshadowed the theoretical PDP, I approach the issue that way to address it accordingly.

Now that the 2015 elections are mostly over and the widespread euphoria prompted by the dramatic fall of the hitherto seemingly unconquerable Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues to subside for the time being pending the inauguration of the incoming federal and most of the state governments when the euphoria definitely resumes, there are justifiable worries that, the persistent decline, and in some cases, the virtual eradication of the PDP and the unprecedented wave of defection from it to the victorious All Progressives Congress (APC) may, unless utmost care is taken, create yet another ‘PDP’ albeit  in disguise.

As Kano decides….

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A fortnight ago we looked forward to seeing who would win the fiercely contested presidential election between the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, while the parliamentary elections conducted simultaneously with the presidential election added to the unprecedented political hustle and bustle in the country.

Now that the presidential election is over, our attention has shifted to the gubernatorial and state assembly elections, which take place tomorrow. Also unlike during the presidential election, our concentrations now largely and predictably focus on the local politics within our respective states.

It is in light of this that this column today focuses on the politics of my home state, Kano especially as it relates to the gubernatorial election and the two main contenders i.e. Malam Salihu Sagir Takai of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The power of willpower

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Before I comment on Muhammdu Buhari’s election victory in the recently concluded presidential election, which signified the triumph of the collective willpower of the electorate over the power of incumbency, I would like to comment on a similar willpower, which the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan had unpredictably summoned up, which also enabled him to conquer his own pride and concede defeat in the election even before the final vote tally was officially announced, of course after it had become obvious that he was unavoidably losing it.

Like the majority of Nigerians, I rejoiced at President Jonathan’s election defeat; in fact I had admittedly decided to write this column gloatingly about his defeat in view of the sheer amount of his frantic efforts to cling to power after 29 May 2015. I however changed my mind following his surprising display of sense of responsibility (in this regard) by conceding defeat and congratulating his political rival, Muhammadu Buhari for winning the election.

Reading vs listening

The average northern Nigerian’s heavy reliance on radio as the main source of information was quite understandable when English literacy in that part of the country was miserably low. Yet, despite the huge progress achieved in this regard, reading habit among average northern Nigerians does not reflect the progress achieved.

The limited airtime allocated to radio and even television programs necessitates limiting the contents, which by implication leaves the audience in the dark as to the larger pictures, the broader contexts, the dynamics and the deeper analyses of issues usually found in newspapers, magazines, journals and books. 

The politics of Kayan aiki

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As the rescheduled February 2015 elections finally commence tomorrow, Nigeria’s political terrain has been flooded with kayan aiki, also known as tsari, which has been flowing in unprecedented amounts particularly over the past few months of intensified election campaign thanks to the seasonal “generosity” of politicians vying for various political offices at all levels of government.

By the way, as a trendy Hausa compound word, which probably developed following the country’s return to democracy in 1999 and has ever since then been commonly used, though largely informally, in political context. Kayan aiki, which also literally means tools, stands metaphorically for the financial inducements doled out to the electorate by candidates with a view to winning their votes during elections.

The dynamics of lobbying

Also published in Daily Trust 

As the rescheduled election season approaches and despite the irreversibly deepening unpopularity of President Goodluck Jonathon, he does not seem to relent on his covert yet exposed frantic political manoeuvres to tamper with the transparency of the election hence undermine its credibility.

He and his campaign handlers continue to lobby for political endorsement from various influential individuals in the country, which, by the way, is not uncommon in Nigerian politics, besides, the main opposition candidate, Muhammad Buhari and indeed all candidates for various political positions do it also. 

Obviously the elites being lobbied who are mostly traditional rulers, religious clerics, statesmen and other respected personalities who are also not supposed to be involved in partisan politics by virtue of their positions are rightly or wrongly perceived to be influential enough to inspire particular segments of the electorate to vote for particular candidates.