Landmark Elections and the Winning Formula

Globally some elections have left behind some landmark features. In some cases, these features were responsible for wining the incumbent or the ruling party, an example is Ghana. In other places (Kenya and Zimbabwe) it has led to the sharing of power between the opposition leaders and the incumbent president. These landmark characteristics can be a winning formula, an example was the last American presidential election. In some instances, these features have been responsible for many controversial elections worldwide (June 12 Iran and June 12 Nigeria). Be that as it may, these notable qualities are worthy to be examined and many lessons can be learnt from it.

The key appears to be the selection of the right candidate(s). That is the popular candidates and people’s choice. During the 1993 presidential election in Nigeria, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) won the presidential election because of the selection of Abiola and Kingibe. It was obvious that Abiola was more popular than Tofa who was the presidential candidate of National Republican Convention (NRC). Tofa was no match to Abiola. Both political parties (SDP and NRC) won different electoral positions in the country due mainly to their choice of candidates. (I have used the 1992/1993 elections in Nigeria as a reference point, because it was the only free and fair elections in Nigeria.).

In Iran, the entrance of Khatami in the presidential campaign of Musavi provided him with enough supporters. Opinion poll suggested Musavi will win the incumbent, but the hardliners didn’t want that. (As at the time of writing this article, Musavi is still contesting the Iranian presidential election result). In Ghana the selection of Atta Mills by the National Democratic Congress contributed to their winning. In Zimbabwe, the electorate voted Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) because he was popular and was a symbol of change. Morgan Tsvangirai won the election, but the incumbent (Robert Mugabe) refused to quit office. After much negotiation, Morgan formed a joint government with the incumbent president and became the prime minister. Similar incident happened in Kenya. Selecting the right candidates will be instrumental towards wining the incumbent especially in the developing countries where the incumbents have unlimited access to the resources of the state.


A closer examination has revealed that most landmark elections witnessed large voter turnouts. June 12 1993 presidential election in Nigeria had large voter turnouts. Same happened on June 12 2009 presidential elections in Iran. The 2008 Ghana elections where the opposition party won the party in power witnessed large voter turnouts. The last American presidential election witnessed a 64% turnout. The highest since the 1960’s and in terms of sheer numbers was the largest ever. A high voter turnout is a function of effective political mobilization. The last South African election that brought Jacob Zuma to power had a larger voter turnout.

Education, experiences and exposure of candidates have roles to play. President Atta Mills of Ghana is a university professor of law. Before this time he was the vice president under Rawlings regime. Many Americans believes that Sarah Palin (ex Republican Vice Presidential candidate) was instrumental to McCain lost of election to Obama. Sarah Palin was not able to mention a name of a single newspaper or magazine which she has read. She was unaware that Africa was not a country but a whole continent. She could not also name the countries that are members of the North American Free Trade Agreement which are (US, Mexico, and Canada).

Nigerians were discussing about the fact that President Musa Yar’Adua is the first university graduate to rule Nigeria. Academic certificates are now a big factor in politics and elections. On the other hand, forgeries of academic certificates have brought many down from high political positions. In Iran, former interior minister (Ali Kordan) was sacked for faking a law degree from Oxford University United Kingdom. In Nigeria, Salisu Buhari (former speaker of the House of Representatives) was forced to resign after discovering that he forged his certificates.

Information technology (internet, sms/text messages, mobile telephones, etc) have shaped elections. In America, the Obama campaign organization made use of over 1 billion text messages during his campaign. Obama campaign team maintained contacts with supporters largely through the internet. In Ukraine, the Orange revolution has been described as the internet revolution. This is because of the roles internet played in ushering in pro western/pro capitalist administration. In Iran, information technology enabled the opposition leaders to continue disseminating information to the outside world about the controversial June 12 2009 presidential elections. It’s worthy to note here that the Iranian authorities tried to restrict the flow of information when people started protesting the election result. Gordon Brown (the United Kingdom Prime Minister) uses the youtube (an internet facility) for his campaign.

Finance is another issue. As at October 15th 2008, before the November 4th 2008 American presidential election, the United States Federal Electoral Commission revealed that McCain campaign organization had spent $262 million dollars while Obama had spent $564 million dollars. Interestingly, bulk of Obama’s funding came from donations from ordinary Americans that needed change. As little as $1 dollar or less were donated to the Obama campaign organization. Funding might likely be a problem in the developing countries where the incumbents use state funds to campaign against the opposition. In Nigeria, the incumbent buy the voters or bribe voters.

Ages of the candidates seeking political offices are becoming very big determinants. In the western world, voters tend to follow younger leaders. David Cameron (leader of the Conservative Party in the UK) is tipped to be the next prime minister much due to his younger age. Usually ages 30 to 50 years old is more preferable. McCain (the last Republican Presidential candidate of America) was 72 years when he contested. Many voters felt he was well over the retirement age. Political parties in Nigeria should follow this example by choosing younger people to vie for elective positions.

Anti incumbency sentiments or in the case of Nigeria anti god father sentiments can alter the voting pattern. Voters can a times choose a candidate or vote against a candidate on sympathy basis. People can do this either because they hate the sponsors or god fathers in the case of Nigeria. In the South Eastern part of Nigeria, many candidates lost elections because their god father was Chief Arthur Nzeribe. Similar incident happened in America when people got fade up with Bush administration and his Republican Party, as such McCain suffered for it. Economic issues like high unemployment, rising national debts of a country etc can change the direction of elections. The defeat of the Japanese ruling party after nearly 54 years in power were partly as a result of Japanese economic problems.

Finally, the corrupt electoral system in Nigeria might be a hindrance to some of the features mentioned above from working in Nigeria. However the remain the winning formula for credible Nigerians seeking elective offices. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/

Nigeria’s Weekly Woes.

In Nigeria, its one week one trouble or even more. Some authors have described Nigeria as a theatre and Nigerians the actors. Less than a month ago we were talking about the Niger Delta crisis, the militants, and the federal government amnesty. Hardly have we finished talking about the above, did the Boko Haram crisis erupted. As the Boko Haram troubles were about to die down, then came what I call the “Nigerian banking crisis” (Central Bank of Nigeria’s sacking of five bank chiefs and the astonishing in house revelations). By the time this crisis will die down, another national crisis will come up. I want to be proven wrong.

The Central Bank Governor (Lamido Sanusi) has simply done his job by sacking some bank executives for what I call gross misconduct. However for him (the Central Bank Governor) to complete this job, he need to also sack those Central Bank officials that continued to grant these banks facilities, despite their ailing financial state. Will this exercise started by the Central Bank Governor lead to another banking reform or full blown banking crisis? I will believe the later. Be that as it may, I know there will certainly be changes with the commercial banks. I wish to use this medium to suggest to the Central Bank Governor (Lamido Sanusi), to use his position and stop our commercial banks from sending young ladies and men running after people begging for cash to be deposited in their banks. The amount of targets given to banks staffs to get is simply outrageous.

It appears that the special units at the Central Bank of Nigeria, who are responsible for monitoring commercial banks, have failed in their duty or they are part of these non performing loans. Otherwise why didn’t they prevent this mess from happening? Who and who were responsible for this unit at the Central Bank? Why did the ex Central Bank Governor (Chukwuma Soludo) told the Nigerian Senate and Nigerians that all were good with all commercial banks in Nigeria?. Why did the past Central bank management connive to misinform the Nigerian public by deliberately covering these banks? Nigerians deserve a lot more explanations.


The Central Bank has also published the names, companies and their directors who have put these banks and the nation in this crisis. However this detailed list of these bank debtors has equally shown that, these are men and women who frequent the corridors of power, for example Dangote, Otedola, etc. Let’s not forget that this same Dangote was unanimously voted the chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Transnational Corp of Nigeria Plc, who has Prof Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke as one of their directors, is also heavily indebted. Prof Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke is the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The Central Bank has asked these bank debtors (Dangote, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Alhaji Arisekola Alao etc) to pay their debts or the CBN will take appropriate legal actions to ensure payments. Could the Central Bank be kind enough to tell Nigerians what these legal actions would be? Could this be a criminal case? Can the Central Bank move against these directors? Will the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrest these debtors? Which reminds me, I read that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested some of the sacked former bank chief executives. To achieve a balance and fairness, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should arrest immediately the debtors and those Central Bank officials who failed in their duties to spot this. There is no point arresting or declaring only the bank executives wanted. The debtors and some Central Bank officials should also face the music at the same time.

The Central Bank should make public the financial state of the remaining banks. The federal government and the National Assembly should intervene immediately on this matter. The affected banks should also be nationalized pending when these debts will be recovered, and that is if it will ever be recovered. Those bank executives who have gone into hiding should report themselves to the EFCC immediately. Nigerians should volunteer information to the law enforcement agents on the whereabouts of these people. Going underground means they have something to hide. Those that have relocated to abroad should remember the case of three British Natwest Bankers (David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby) that were extradited to the United States to face charges connected to Enron fraud case. The Nigerian authorities should sign extradition treaties (if there are none already) with western countries so that Nigerians who commit crimes at home and run away can be extradited back home to face charges.

The pains of this mess will eventually be borne by the innocent Nigerian masses that already have too much problems. The Central Bank should also use their privileged position to expose other shady financial transactions by all ministries, government departments and agencies, especially the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. These revelations by the Central Bank might be a child’s play if the Central Bank should expose other sectors. Obviously this has made a mess of the banking reforms carried out by former Central Bank Governor (Soludo) who is also a beneficiary of the non performing loans that is causing this banking crisis in Nigeria.

The sacking of these bank executives and subsequent revelations about their financial state might trigger a ripple effect like mass withdrawal of funds. Nigerians know the pains of collapsed banks. Many innocent bank customers have died in the past as a result heart attacks occasioned by collapsed banks. Businesses have closed and many families made destitute as a result. I see no reasons why there will not be mass cash withdrawals as experiences have taught Nigerians bitter lessons.

On the international scene, this will further drive away foreign investors. Even the Nigerians in Diaspora will be reluctant to invest at this rate. Investor confidence is no more. Am sure local investors in Nigeria will be too scared which bank to do business with? Events are made worst due to global economic recession. Many sectors of the Nigeria’s economy will suffer as a result of this banking crisis. The “government’s economic policies” like vision 2020 might also be affected.

The Guardian newspaper of Wednesday August 19th 2009 (online version) reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria is planning a road show in the United Kingdom to explain its action and the soundness of the Nigerian banking industry to the international community. I think this might be a waste of time and resources because the international community will ask the Central Bank that is organizing the road show, why didn’t they spot these problems earlier and why did the (CBN) continue granting these five banks facilities when their books were not in order. The Central Bank should concentrate on cleaning up the banks. The positive impact of your (CBN) sanitization exercise in the banks will convince the international community. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/

The Death of Nigerian Sports And A Walk Down Memory Lane

As the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Berlin come to an end, I would like to moan (again) about the demise of Nigerian sports. With the ascent and domination of Jamaica in world athletics, especially in track and field events, it is sad that Nigeria went to this major definitive world sports event and will return with not a single medal, whatever the colour.

There we are glued in front of our television sets shouting Usain Bolt, Debbie Ferguson, Shelley-Ann Fraser, etc on, but not a Nigerian name to shout on in any of the finals. (Sorry, we did hear Nigerian names like Phillips Idowu, Marilyn Okoro and Christine Ohuruogu, but sadly they are not running for Nigeria) Another wasteful trip; another exercise in futility; another disappointment. I bet there will be more Nigerian sports officials than athletes themselves, and the plane home will be full of luxurious goods for the officials, while months later, athletes will start crying that they have not been paid their allowances. The story of our life!

Hear this from NEXT of 21 August 2009 “Only those without knowledge of athletics will be surprised at the Team Nigeria's failure at the ongoing Berlin IAAF World Athletics Championship. Their poor performance was caused by the Solomon Ogba-led board, which failed to do what was necessary in bringing the best out of the team….. The last time we won medals at the World Championship was Sevilla ‘99. We won three medals because Oluyemi Adeyemi-Wilson allowed the technical people to do their job. He put in place a sound elite programme and a good youth and developmental programme. We also won a gold medal and silver in athletics with the programme at the Sydney 2000 Games. Ogba needs to read Adeyemi's script and act on it, or else 2010 Commonwealth Games will be a repeat of Berlin 2009”.

Of course, we have long known that sports in Nigeria is long moribund, fuelled by corrupt, visionless and inept officials. In fact Nigerian sport died with the late Isaac Akioye, the last Director-General of the National Sports Commission of note to be worthy of the title. The moment that epitome of corruption and ineptitude, Dr Amos Adamu clambered abroad the gravy train that was the sports ministry; it was a downward spiral for Nigerian sports. The sports fell like a lead weight thrown from a 40-storey building. Nothing, nobody could stop its fall, because the people in charge do not care, except their own pockets and will not allow those who do care to try and change it.

Olukayode Thomas (Playthegame.com of 09.08.07) in his article, The Sorry State of Nigerian Sports, wrote “It is shocking that officials of NSC are not concerned that about a decade ago, for every eight lanes in the women 400m at either the European circuit or the IAAF Grand Prix, it was certain that four of the athlete would be Nigerians.Then we had three consistent 49.00 secs runners in Falilat Ogunkoya-Omotayo, Charity Opara and Fatimah Yusuf. The last of the four, Bisi Afolabi was then a consistent 50.00 secs runner. But officials of NSC are not bothered by any of the above. Nor are they bothered that a few years ago, Nigerian female sprinters like Mary Onyali, Gloria Alozie, Christy Okpara, Beatrice Utondu, Ajunwa, Mary Tombiri etc. rivalled the likes of Gwen Torrence, Gail Devers and others for honours in major games and championships.

They have forgotten that not too long ago Olapade Adeniken, the Ezinwa twin brothers, Davidson and Osmond, Daniel Effiong. Francis Obikwelu, Seun Ogunkoya, Sunday Bada, Clement Chukwu, etc. were among the best sprinters and quarter-milers in the world. They also don't seem to remember that apart from the Americans, Nigeria's relay teams were the most dreaded in the world not too long ago. NSC officials do not realise that unless they go back to organising monthly classics and other developmental programmes and the American school system, we will never get back to where we were before, talk less of surpassing it.

It was local developmental programmes that led to the discovery of such phenomenal talents like Ajunwa, Bada, Afolabi, Ogunkoya, Obikwelu, Alozie, Nduka Awazie, Angela Atede, Rosa Collins, Innocent Asonze, Opara, Deji Aliu and others too numerous to mention, while the American school system gave as the likes of Ogunkoya-Omotayo, Onyali, Chidi, Imoh, the Ezinwa Brothers, Pat Itanyi, Fatimah Yusuf, Innocent Egbunike, Adewale Olukoju, Chima Ugwu, Vivian Chukwuemeka and others.

NSC top shots have not thought it wise to revive the programmes of the past, which worked so well. What appears paramount to them are promotional events, and obviously the megabucks that goes with them”.

I would like to take my fellow countrymen and women down memory lane with some facts about sports in Nigeria not too long ago; and maybe we will wake up to how desperate our sports situation is. It made me proud and cry at the same time.

Nigerian athletes have been appearing at major athletics meeting since 1952. At the All-Africa Games at Brazzaville (former Congo), they piled up an enviable record; where they won one event after the other and came back home with 9 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals. Jumoke Bodunrin was one of the stars of that game, and she won the title of “Africa’s fastest woman”.

In the 1950 Games, Joshua Majekodunmi of Nigeria & Alan Paterson of Scotland tied for the silver medal in the High Jump, however Nigerian athletes first participated officially in the Commonwealth Games in 1954 and they won several medals. In the High Jump, Emmanuel Ifeajuna (yes, the same Major Ifeajuna, a hero of the 1966 coup d’etat) created a new British Empire and Commonwealth Games record by clearing the bar at 6 ft. 8 in.; Nafio Osagie took the bronze in the same event. The Nigerian team also set a new record in the 4 X 100 yards relay by recording the same time of 41.4 seconds as Canada very narrowly beat them into the silver medal position. Another narrow defeat which gave Nigeria a silver medal was on the Hop, Step and Jump (now called Triple Jump) in which Peter Esiri jumped 50 ft 0 ½ in., one inch less than the winner. Nigeria’s third silver medal was won in the Long Jump by Karim A B Olowu. That same team also won 3 bronze medals; one each in High Jump, Long Jump and Boxing and came fourth in the 100 yards.

On the whole, it was a successful debut for Nigeria, coming fourth overall behind England, Canada and Australia. In the 1958 Commonwealth games, Nigeria again took silver in the 4 X 100 m Relay, took bronze in 1974 but finally won this event at the 1982 Games.

At the Commonwealth Games held in Kingston, Jamaica in August 1966, Nigeria carried away more than half of the gold medals for boxing, won the glamorous long distance races, shone in the sprints and broke several records.

In boxing, Eddie Ndukwu (bantamweight) won gold; Anthony Andeh (lightweight) won gold; Fatai Ayinla (lightweight) - I know him personally – won a silver medal, while Nojim Maiyegun, who had won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics and had been expected to win a gold at Kingston, bravely went through the semi-final with a dislocated shoulder to win a bronze medal in the light middleweight class.

In athletics, Nigeria did even better, claiming 5 medals and a new Commonwealth record. Sam Igun, the team captain and veteran of many international competitions won 2 medals; silver in the High Jump, and smashed the Commonwealth triple jump record with a leap of 53 ft. 9 ¾ in to win the gold. Dr George Ogan clinched the silver to confirm Nigeria’s dominance in the same event.

Nigeria gained her third silver medal when Kingsley Agbabokha came second in the 440 yards hurdles. Unfortunately, Affred Belleh lost a likely gold medal when he was disqualified in the 120 yards hurdles during the heats for making two false starts.

Although Nigeria finished 6th in the final of the 4 by 110 yards relay, with a time of 40.4 seconds, Nigeria was one of the countries who broke the Commonwealth record of 40.8 seconds.

David Ejoke came fourth in the 100 yards, but went on to win a bronze medal in the 220 yards with a time of 21 seconds.

The highlight of Nigeria’s remarkable performance was however, Violet Odogwu’s success in the women’s Long Jump. She won the bronze medal and had the distinction of being the only African woman to win a medal at the games and she also reached the finals of the 80 metres hurdles.

Overall, Nigeria won 3 gold; 4 silver and 3 bronze medals and came 7th out of the 36 countries which took part in the Games. There were 28 athletes, boxers and swimmers and it showed then in 1966, that Nigeria has a wealth of athletic talents which with more adequate training, facilities and more experience were likely to take her place among the leaders in the world of sports.


(Top: Violet Odogwu, the only African woman to win a medal at the Jamaica Games; Bottom: The March Past)






(Track & Field: Top L-R: Sam Igun, Team Captain; David Ejoke;Bottom:Dr George Ogan and Anthony Andeh)





(The Boxers: Top L-R: Eddie Ndukwu; Fatai Ayinla –not Nojim Maiyegun as printed;Bottom L-R:Kingsley Agbabokhia and Nojim Maiyegun – not Fatai Ayinla as printed on picture)

We were on our way then, because in subsequent years, Nigerian sport was improving splendidly, nurtured by disciplined, sincere, honest, focused, dedicated and committed sports administrators such as the late Abraham Ordia, Isaac Akioye, Dan Enajekpo, Dr Awoture Eleyeae etc. They practically lived for athletics, a trait that is hard to come by in present-day managers.

Then the roof, or rather the sky fell of Nigerian sports the moment the likes of Amos Adamu came in with their one main ambition – make as much money as you can. And they did make money.

Sometime in 1983, while I was doing my Master’s degree at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, I received a call from a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I guessed he got wind of me being the President of University of Manitoba’s International Students Organisation and a founder of the Nigerian Union of Manitoba. He asked me if I could appear on CBC TV to discuss the phenomenal success of Nigerian athletes who had participated in the World University Games held at Edmonton, Alberta that year. I did not even know that Nigeria was represented at the Games. He told me that Nigeria sent only 10 athletes and these athletes won 5 gold medals. I was proud, but hid my ignorance. I accepted and before I appeared on the show, I made sure I knew more about what happened.

In the 1983 World University Games; which was the debut year for this event by Nigeria, Chidi Imoh won gold in the 100 metres; Innocent Egbunike (now a coach in the United States) won gold in the 200 metres; Sunday Uti won gold in the 400 metres; Yusuf Ali won gold in the Long Jump and Ajayi Agbebaku won gold in the Triple Jump. All of them were of course based in the United States, most of them on Nigeria’s scholarship.

In subsequent years, Nigeria was to perform creditably at these University games. Other medals winners at these games are as below:

Men:

100 metres 200 m 400 m Hurdles
1985 – Chidi Imoh (Gold) 1991 – Daniel Phillips (S) 1985 – Henry Amike (Silver)
1989 – Olapade Adeniken (S)
1993 – Daniel Effiong (G)

Long Jump Triple Jump Discuss
1987 – Paul Emordi (S) 1983 – Ajayi Agbebaku (G) 1991 – Adewale Olukoju (G)
(Mentioned above) 1993 – Adewale Olukoju (S)

400 m
1985 – Innocent Egbunike (G); Sunday Uti (Bronze)
1987 - Moses Ugbisie (S)
1995 – Udeme Ekpeyong (S)
1997 – Clement Chukwu (G)

Women:

100 m 200 m 100 m Hurdles
1987 – Tina Iheagwam (B) 1987 – Mary Onyali (S) 1997 – Angela Atede (Gold)
1993 – Beatrice Utondu (B)
1995 – Mary Tombiri (B)

400 m 4 X 400 m Relay 4 X 100 m Relay
1985 – Sadia Showunmi (B) 1987 – Nigeria (B) 1987 – Nigeria (B)
1995 – Olabisi Afolabi (G) 1993 – Nigeria (B) 1993 – Nigeria (S)
1997– Doris Jacob (B) 1995 – Nigeria (B)

Nigeria went to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and came back home with a silver medal in boxing through the efforts of Peter Konyegwachie and a bronze from the 4 x 400m male team led by Innocent Egbunike.
At the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, Nigeria did marvellously well, winning five gold, 13 silver and seven bronze medals; a far improvement from previous outings. The returns from the games in Victoria, Canada even exceeded that of 1990, Nigerians returned home with 13 gold medals and many silver and bronze medals.

With the euphoria of the 1990 games, the country stormed the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 and again there was an improvement from previous records. The quartet of Olapade Adenikan, Chidi Imoh, Kayode Oluyemi and Davidson Ezinwa won the silver in the 4 x 100m, while the women led by the irrepressible Mary Onyali captured the bronze medal in the same event. Two Nigerian boxers also won silver medals. It was a moment of joy for all Nigerians. Football in the 90's took Nigeria to greater heights. Between 1990 and 1994, Nigeria won silver, bronze and gold medals in the biannual Africa Cup of Nations competition.

The country also held its own in athletics with impressive performance from the likes of S. O. Arogundade, A. Karimu Amu, Jimmy Omagbemi, Moses A.K. Ogun, Titus Erinle, Sydney Asiodu, Smart Akraka (Sprints); Peter Esiri, Eddy Akika and Julius Chigbolu (Jumps), the Ezenwa brothers (Osmond and David), Fatima Yusuf, Chioma Ajunwa - first Nigerian individual Olympic gold medallist (who was actually wholly helped by Segun Odegbami, ex-Eagles captain to achieve this), Falilat Ogunkoya - Olympic medallist, etc

The Seoul Olympics of 1988 was a disaster for Nigerian athletes. Again like in 1980, the athletes came back without a single medal. Worst still was the Green Eagles team which had gone to the games as favourite but completely lost out.
Today, sports like boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, basketball, volleyball, cycling and others are neglected not because there are no talents to be developed, but because government or corporate organisations have not moved in to fund them. The moment they do that, the hawks in National Sports Commission will start scrambling for the partitioning of the money.

Facilities and equipment are not left out. Yearly, millions are spent on stadium maintenance, but there is nothing to show for it. The National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was once the envy of the whole world. It was once known as the Sports City, but today it is now called a Garbage City, with the compound turned into drinking dens at night and religious activities during the day.

Heaps and heaps of garbage litter the city. The situation in other stadiums across the country is not different. Management and administration of sports in Nigeria is way behind many Third World countries, talk less of Europe and America, while the coaching skills of most of our coaches are appalling.

The only thing that can save and revive Nigerian sports is for the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in sports. It should look at how the administrators have managed the sector over the years with a view to restructuring it. Sports is too important to Nigeria's existence to be left at the hands of corrupt individuals, who hardly think of what is best for the country. (Thomas, 2007)

Again, the state of sports in the country shows how daft and unintelligent our politicians are. Sports, especially success in sports, remain one major unifying factor in this our country of diverse cultures and religions. In other Third World countries as diverse as ours, the politicians use sports to defuse unrest, to unify the cultures and religions; they use sports as a diversionary means to get the mind of the masses off their problems, and thereby able to concentrate on governing. Take football for instance, when Nigeria is involved in major competitions, that is when you know that we are actually united and patriotic and everybody, marginalised or not, start waving the green-white-green and shouting “Up Nigeria” and not “Up Niger Delta”, “Up Biafra” or “Up Oduduwa”.

Sports could be a tool for these inept politicians. If Nigeria wins in any sports event, we will not mind them taking the credit, although we know they have not contributed anything to such success.

In 1988, the Nigerian government developed a document to guide sports development for the nation. The National Sports Development Policy (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1989) outlined specific expectations in sports development by various units of the Nigerian society, such as local, state, and federal governments, educational institutions, clubs, and voluntary organizations. This policy was well-conceived and indicated that the government was aware of the role sports had in the development of the nation. The policy still has not been fully implemented, however, as is often the case with governmental policies in Nigeria.

Vision 2010 was a policy document developed by the Nigerian federal government to guide its activities in all areas of governance through the year 2010. In 1997, the final report of Vision 2010, as it related to sports development, was published. However, this document, like its predecessor, the National Sports Development Policy (1989), has not been implemented effectively. Therefore, it has not had significant impact on physical education programs in Nigeria. (Mgbor, 2006)

Sports, like many other areas of governance in Nigeria, have been neglected mainly due to corrupt and inept governance. There are no incentives for budding athletes; corrupt officials embezzle money meant for sports development; the sports facilities are ill-equipped or not even equipped at all; and the facilities themselves are deteriorating and underused; sports management and administration are poor and run by ill-trained, ill-motivated officials whose only purpose is that of making money, or at worst, are happy to have a job; competent sports administrators are not given a chance to input ideas and actions to effect changes, and are always shut out of decision making processes; and there are no longer grass-roots sports development in the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions to discover talents.

The problem can be reversed by addressing the above, but only by political will on the side of the government of Nigeria. Corporate help is needed and companies such as Shell, Globacom, MTN, etc are already doing their best, but are given very little encouragement or support by the government. In fact, the money these corporations pour into sports in Nigeria practically end up in the pockets of corrupt civil servants in the Sports ministries and other government officials.

In Nigeria of today, despite the economic downturn, there is no reason why each local government should not have a moderate sports stadium in its area, where schools in their respective areas can hold their annual inter-house sports, and local boys and girls can display their sports talents.

I was once opportune to be present at a seminar held at the Nigeria Institute for Sports, National Stadium, Lagos in 1999 where this question of grass-root sports development was put to the then Director-General of the NCS (guess who? The same Dr Amos Adamu) the man, without blinking an eyelid said there is no money. That was in 1999 when the current democratic dispensation began and we know the oil was gushing out and Nigeria was making a lot of money from oil, and politicians and civil servants alike were stealing the money. It was all I could do not to stone the man.

So can the current D-G, NSC, Chief Patrick Ekeji do better? I doubt it. He has been in the system for too long and was also a part of the problem. So it is unlikely that he can solve the problem. I recently read that he has expressed concern over the recent spate of poor performances by Nigerian athletes in major championships, and that the commission was already on top of the issue, believing that the country’s array of athletes should have done better in Berlin, Germany. He is really not saying anything new or that we do not know.

Greed and corruption always go well together. You really can’t separate them. They motivate each other. When you have either or both, then the effect is ineptitude, negligence, mismanagement and generally poor administration. These are what we have in our sports administration, nay, general governance, today.

We can only hope.

Digital Cameras and Mobile Phones with Camera.

The ideal situation would be free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria. Presently, except there is a miracle and the National Assembly passes the Justice Uwais recommendation on electoral reforms, there will still be rigging (I want to be proven wrong). Assuming the National Assembly passes this bill, it still needs to be tasted with an election so as ascertain its efficacy or determine if its fowl proof or not. For me and my group, Option A4 remains the best electoral system, because it has been tasted and trusted. The present electoral system gives enough room for electoral fraud and manipulations, which in turn produces long and painful post electoral litigations. (I did a detailed article on post electoral litigations published on my web blog; briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com and other national and international media).

Am sure that as 2011 general election approaches, many corrupt politicians will be strategizing on how to rig elections. Patriotic Nigerians should also be thinking of how to counter electoral fraud or at best how to provide evidences to the law courts that will count against fraudulent electoral victories. Both the ruling party and the opposition parties might find my advice very useful. I will suggest that Nigerians buy digital cameras and mobile phones with camera as part of our preparation for the 2011 general election. The whole idea will be for people to record every event that happens around each pooling booth, more especially to record on tape the actual number of voters that will turn up for voting. This method will automatically contradict any manipulation of numbers at the collection centers or when the authorities decide to announce something different.

Video records of elections should then be posted to all media houses, and those with internet access should upload to YouTube or other internet websites so that it will be transmitted worldwide instantly. Video evidences can change situations and force accountability. The video recording of where the leader of Boko Haram (Yussuf) was captured alive and his subsequent death in police custody has forced the Nigerian President (Musa Yar’Adua) to order immediate probe. The video recordings of Yussuf’s interrogation by the Nigerian law enforcement agents are already on the YouTube. As a matter of fact, the African Independent Television (AIT) showed clips of the YouTube video of Yussuf on Friday 7th August 2009 during their politics and current affairs programme (Focus Nigeria).

In the West Bank, B’tslem (an award winning human rights organization) distributed about one hundred video cameras to its activists to secretly record Israeli shooting of innocent Palestinians. The video evidences compelled the Israeli Defence Force to order investigations and offer explanations. In the United Kingdom, a New York investment banker recorded a violent police action against a newspaper seller (Ian Tomlinson) just before he died during the G20 protest in London on April 1 2009. Scotland Yard (UK police in charge of policing the G20 summit are under serious investigation as a result of the video footage).

Citing the importance of video evidences, the British government installed more than five million close circuit televisions (CCTV) all over the country. There are more close circuit televisions (CCTV) in the United Kingdom than any where in the world. In addition speed cameras are every where in the United Kingdom and other western societies. These devices have proven very useful in the fight against crimes in the western societies.

In Iraq, Blackwater employees (staffs of a contracting firm that works for American diplomats in Iraq) who were on vehicle escort duty in central Iraq shot dead about seventy civilians whom they claimed threatened them. A key element that contradicted their claim was a video shot by someone who happened to be there. The video was broadcast to people and it immediately raised questions about the credibility of Blackwater. The video footage became a key factor for the political tide that turned against the Blackwater contractors. Within few months five Blackwater personnel were facing manslaughter charges in the US, and the State Department advisory panel recommended that Blackwater be dropped as a contractor for American diplomats in Iraq.

This equipment (digital camera and mobile phone with camera) can be pocket sized and within reasonable cost, meaning that many people can lay their hands on them. This method can reveal institutional vulnerability. Using the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a case study, video recordings on each pooling station can mar attempts to rig elections or at least provide evidences that could give victory to actual winners. The entire Nigerian public needs to give serious thoughts to this advice.

Non Governmental Organizations (NGO’s), community groups, labour unions, political parties, students groups etc should teach themselves and others how to record events using this simple technology (digital cameras and mobile phones with camera). This should be in preparation for the coming 2011 general elections. People might take for granted this digital technology, whereas in actual fact, it could do a lot to force accountability on the part of government and most influential people. It will also guarantee information transparency.

Another method to enforce accountability on our rulers will be for Nigerians to increase their surveillance of our rulers. Rulers are public servants; therefore their lives should be a public concern. Nigerians should be free to spy and expose their rulers. In the western societies, spying on leaders are very common. It’s a good mechanism to put leaders on check. In May 2009, spying on British MPs’ led to revelations about their expenses scandal. Over 182 MPs’ from all parties were indicted. British MPs repaid nearly half a million pounds in expenses money claimed since 2003. Many MPs are no longer standing for election due to this scandal. In a related development, Alan Duncan (a member of British House of Commons) was secretly filmed complaining about MPs’ pay and expenses. He apologized to the nation over his behavior.

Nigerians can adopt the measures outlined above in our efforts to build a better nation. The key to succeeding in the above ventures will be when all of us become active participants or support one another to undertake the ideas so expressed. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/

Giving Militancy A Bad Name, Or The Boko Haram Phenomenon

Absolutely nothing surprises me anymore in Nigeria, that is, until the last two weeks, when Islamic fanatics rampaged all over the northern part of the country causing havoc, destruction of property, not to talk of the inevitable and unfortunate loss of lives that usually accompany such anarchy.

Actually, it was not the fact that a religious riot took place in that part of the country that surprised, it was the term “militant” that is now being used for the perpetrators of this anarchy that surprised me. Militants? Moslem or Islamic militants in the north? Get out of here!

Niger Delta Militants, the game is up. You are not the only genuine militants in Nigeria anymore. Give up your arms and militancy, accept the dubious amnesty from the Federal Government and tuck your heads in shame. The real militants, the one of a religious nature, are now here to stay. The northern “militants” have put you to shame and upstaged you in fighting for what you believe in.

I do not want to sound irreverent or unsympathetic to the struggle of the really genuine Niger Delta militant group (s), but there we have it.

Knowing how we easily adopt and adapt things in Nigeria, I will not be surprised if we now apply the term “militant” to every demonstration against the government that have, or will take place in Nigeria in the future. MASSOB, OPC and even the ACF (Arewa Consultative Forum) will soon become militants. Labour unions will not be exempted; ASUU, NURTW, NUT, NBA, NMA, Petroleum unions, etc, anytime they go on strike, will soon become known as militants. Trust me!

That is our lot.

So what does the word “militant” mean? According to Wikipedia, the word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, comes from the 15th Century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier". The related modern concept of the militia as a defensive organization against invaders grew out of the Anglo-Saxon "fyrd". In times of crisis, the militiaman left his civilian duties and became a soldier until the emergency was over, when he returned to his civilian occupation and life. Militant could be compared and contrasted to several other words such as activist, belligerent, combatant, rebel, crusader, demonstrator, vigilante, rioter, extremist, fundamentalist, mercenary, partisan, protester, and zealot.

Militancy is the state or condition of being combative or disposed to fight; the active championing of a cause or belief.

Incidentally, there is nothing socio-politically or morally wrong in engaging in some form of militancy to advance or fight humanitarian and political causes, such as that purportedly fought by the Niger Delta militants, but when it becomes religious, or those religious fanatics are classified as militants, such classification tend to give them some modicum of legitimacy and acceptability.

And this is my main thrust: (genuine) Niger Delta militancy must not be reduced to that of the northern religious fanatics, who find Western education and values as their main cause of militancy. It is a very dangerous recognition and acknowledgement.

In all the years of history of our religious riots, mostly in the extreme northern parts of Nigeria (and there are too many to mention here) never have I ever heard these fanatics referred to as “militants”. Militating (to have an influence, especially a negative one, on something) against what?

Let us call a spade a spade and hit the nail on the head: Islam or Sharia is not the cause of this militancy in the north, or for that matter in the Niger delta or anywhere else it may happen in Nigeria; the fundamental causative agents are failure of political leadership and corruption and underlying issues of poverty, unemployment and education. "Even established leaders of Islam in the north, who condemn Yusuf's preaching, are aware of how government has failed Nigeria's young," Jean Herskovits, Research Professor of History at the State University of New York, wrote in Foreign Affairs. "What has Western education done for them lately? For that matter, what have other Nigerian institutions, all easily seen as Western-inspired, done for them?"

As Salisu Suleiman wrote in 123Next.com of 28 July 2009, “For most, the recent carnage in Bauchi was just another case of Islamic ‘fundamentalism' or Muslim intolerance, but in reality, the outburst of violence is an explosion of pent up grievances, especially as hunger and unemployment create fertile grounds for unrest. Just as government neglect of the Niger Delta has spurned the militants to military action, the same issues have ignited anger and the mindless violence that was seen in Bauchi. Religion proved a convenient umbrella for what is in essence, a manifestation of government insensitivity. How many jobs would have been created by the estimated ₦ 3 billion spent on the marriage of Bauchi's Governor Yuguda to Turai's daughter?

The so called Islamic fundamentalists in the north of Nigeria - Boko Haram (no to western education) are in reality disaffected young men failed by the inability of the Nigerian state to provide a decent standard of living for its teeming number of unemployed youths”.

Unfortunately for us, when religious riots break out in the north, we not only fail to probe deeper into the fundamental causes, but we completely ignore the problems, leaving them unaddressed. We tend to see it as a religious issue only. Why, for example, don’t we have religious riots in the south-western part of the country, where there seems to be an equal number of Christians and Moslems, both fighting for some kind of supremacy? Comparatively, how many religious riots have we had in Ilorin and its environs, which is certainly one of the bastions of Islamic religion in Nigeria? In Ibadan alone, there are probably more Moslems than Christians, but I have not seen or heard of attacks on each other since growing up in this multi-religious city, historically known for its, you guessed it, militancy in every aspect of the word.

The reason is not far fetched. There is hardly any family in the south-west that is not composed of both Christians and Moslems and even the indigenous African traditional religion. My own immediate and extended families are composed of both religions, not to talk of numerous friends, classmates, colleagues, etc. I cannot imagine myself taking up arms against them because of our religious differences, if indeed there is a difference.

Most Northern Nigerian politicians rode to power and cling to the same thing by using the vehicle of religion. Yet, there is not one iota of adherence to Islamic principles in their lives or mode of governance. They are not bothered about the well being of the people they govern. They only continue to acquire wealth for themselves and their immediate families, and this is from the blood, sweat and land of the Niger Deltans. But let's thank God that a new generation of Northern youths are seeing through the facade being presented by their leaders.

Hear one progressive Northern youth, Umar Mukhtar, on Facebook,”If northern governors want to practice Islam the way Mallam Yusouf (May His Soul Rest In PEACE) and Ahli Sunnah preaches then this Country would have turned to Another Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and a host of others (But I pray we do not come to that). But because they used Religion to acquire political and economic Power, they shall be used as firewood for JAHANAMA. I was opportune to meet about 4 serving Governors and some prominent Northern Federal figures during Lesser Hajj in 2007 during prayer session at Medina. You will be surprise the way they stick to the Holy place of worship but back home they are worst than the real ENEMY of ISLAM and God SHALL expose them soon"

But typical non-truth-telling Nigerians that we are, or rather, typical evasive Northern Governors that we have, the blame for this rampage has been spread. Nobody will of course admit collusion or negligence or take the blame. The Northern Governors blamed The Nigeria Immigration Service for allowing foreigners into the country via the porous northern boundaries. This is one of the most inane, curious and ludicrous excuses ever heard. Poverty and poor governance not only opens up a very large space for such uprisings and extremism, but also the complacency and cynicism of some of those in elected office," said Nigeria expert Antony Goldman. The upper echelons of the civil service and military are full of northerners but the private sector aristocracy -- oil, banking, telecoms and trading moguls -- are largely southerners, leaving parts of the north feeling economically marginalised.

The following The Guardian Editorial comment (11 August 2009) about sums up our problems: “Nigerians are angry and not just because of Boko Haram. Following massively flawed polls, Nigerians have little respect for their 'elected' representatives. In a real sense these legislators lacking in legitimacy have found themselves incapable of addressing the needs of Nigerians. As a result the country lacks infrastructure. Our roads are bad. There is no working railway. Education and health are in crisis. There is hardly any electricity. Many industries have been closed down or they are relocating. There is corruption. The Niger Delta is a hornets' nest of rebellion. There is serious unemployment. Security is often lacking. The majority of our people live in abject poverty while a small cabal of corrupt and indolent public officials live in unspeakable opulence. To add religious restiveness into the mix of Nigeria's problems may just be the straw that will break the camel's back”.

It is no gainsaying or exaggeration that we are running an extremely bad government, with no respect or responsibility to the people. Political leaders take power either by force or through political rigging, and wave it in our faces. They also use us, such as the Boko Haram, to subjugate us and divert our attention away from the real problems, which they, incidentally, helped to create or created deliberately.

Sharia and Militancy

The use of Sharia and other Islamic codes is not unique to Nigeria. Sharia, the Islamic law derived from the teachings of the Quran and the ways of the Prophet Mohammed, is a source of law for many Muslim nations. Sharia is largely a personal code of conduct, but its tenets govern every aspect of Muslim life from financial to political to legal. Meanwhile, Islamist movements call for supplanting secular law and governance entirely with Sharia, a particularly difficult issue in nations, such as Pakistan and Somalia, riven by political turmoil, conflict, and areas of lawlessness.

Sharia in the Muslim world is often associated with good governance. A 2008 Gallup poll of Muslims in Turkey, Iran, and Egypt found Sharia is "perceived to promote the rule of law and justice." Most Muslim-majority countries have political systems and legal codes derived from Western models. However, many of these countries have majority populations that are economically or politically depressed. In some nations, Sharia's use is confined to narrow questions of religion and morality, in others it is the underpinning of legislation, and in still others it is the basis for all criminal and civil law. Unlike secular jurisprudence, instituting Sharia in practice encompasses civil and criminal law meted out by religious clergy. Experts say that in regions where greater use of Sharia laws and courts recently have been instituted, such as Nigeria's North and Indonesia's Aceh Province, secular law and courts have acted as a buffer for some of Sharia's harsher interpretations, such as stoning adulterers and cutting off the hands of thieves.

As an aside, in Nigeria, especially in the North, if the cutting off of hands for thieves is strictly adhered to, can you imagine how many political leaders will fall into this category? Is there any difference between the common pickpocket, the egregious armed robber and the Governor and legislators stealing public funds? Both are thieves, aren’t they?

A growing number of countries are struggling to find a balance between secular law and Sharia. And Sharia has become a rallying cry for Islamic militant movements seeking to show religious authenticity, thereby becoming a tool for extremism and for irresponsible politicians, as we often see in Nigeria. In troubled and failed states in particular, extremists often gain influence when they espouse what they tout as a purer--and harsher--form of Islam that includes bans on dancing, music, and education for girls and advocates punishments such as beheadings. Having said this, it is mostly and inevitably, militants and the irresponsible politicians and clerics who stoke their fire for entirely selfish political reasons, not average citizens, who benefit from the institution of Sharia.

So how do we engage extremism or Islamic militancy? Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria writes. "We can better pursue our values if we recognize the local and cultural context, and appreciate that people want to find their own balance between freedom and order, liberty and license." Some also note that even extreme Islamic movements may moderate over time once they become part of a “stable political process”, in other words, political reforms and good governance is essential to engage Islamic militancy or extremism, and for that matter, any kind of militancy, including Niger Delta’s MEND, MASSOB, etc.

Thus the key words here are good governance, exceptional good leadership and focus, commitment to the ideals of democracy, sincerity of purpose, political reforms leading to a stable political process and environment, rule of law, fairness, justice and equality.

At present all these are lacking in our political and governance systems, due to the intransigence of our current crop of leaders, who continually refuse to change, even in the face of restiveness from all parts of the country. If we do not make any attempt to get rid of this evil clique, then there is no hope for us as a nation of diverse people, culture, religion and ethnicity.

Enough said.

Authorities Have Indicted Authorities.

Authorities in Nigeria have started to indict themselves, through their various actions, inactions, statements, evidences, submissions etc. International authorities have also handed their indictments. Truly, this will give Nigerians legitimate reasons to worry about their future. Events in and around Nigeria lends credence to this very fact. The sources of these comments are from top Nigerian government officials and internationally from credible sources. It’s actually an issue for concerns especially were the security and welfare of Nigerians are concerned. Let’s remember that the primary responsibility of any government any where in the world is welfare and security of its citizens. It becomes absurd and an abnormality when governments’ action(s) or inaction compromises the security of its citizens.

Starting with the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), Afakriya Gadazama, he has warned that the 2011 elections will be bloody. He also indicated that the way the government ignores security reports will worsen the deplorable insecurity situation in the country. He revealed that information about numerous crises (Jos crisis, Boko Haram, kidnappings in Niger Delta, armed robberies in South East etc) was passed to the appropriate quarters. However, actions were never taken to prevent these crises. According to him, the high level of insecurity in the country is fallout of the political system which disconnected people from government and our porous borders.

According to Guardian newspapers of Saturday August 8th 2009 (online version), the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the Northern States and Abuja, has blamed the federal government and state governments in the Northern region (especially Borno State) for the outbreak of the Boko Haram crisis. In the western societies these revelations by the Director General of SSS and allegations by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), are enough for the authorities involved to resign or publicly apologize to the nation. Same can happen in Nigeria.


On the question of porous borders, the Guardian newspapers (online version) of July 17th 2009 captured the candid revelations from the Customs. According to the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) “smuggling had become difficult to check because of the involvement of privileged citizens and poor facilities for the operations by its personnel”.
The Inspector General of Police (Ogbonnaya Onovo) on his part said the Nigerian Police have problems of inadequate vehicles, shortage of personnel and outdated equipment to work with. A quick reminder here to Ogbonnaya Onovo that the former IGP (Balogun), embezzled a reasonable amount of police fund, which would have gone a long way in providing these amenities. Balogun’s successor as IGP (Sunday Ehidero) was also involved with attempts to steal large sums of money from police headquarters. All these information are in public domain.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has said the Freedom of Information bill currently being delayed by the National Assembly will boost the fight against corruption and other forms of economic crimes. Many Nigerians have complained about the deliberate delay in passing this bill. I wrote an open letter to our law makers published on my blog, (briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com) and other media outlets both nationally and internationally. The actions of our law makers (failure to pass the freedom of information bill) might become a stumbling block to EFCC’s fight against corruption. However the comment by Farida is an indictment on our law makers. Even Mallam Nasir el-Rufai (former Federal Capital Territory Minister) accused the federal government of insincerity in the fight against corruption.

The United Nations gave their own indictment on the state of Nigeria corruption last year (2008). According to the United Nations (UN), “Nigerian kleptocrats have milked the nation to the tune of about $100 billion dollars thorough various acts of grand corruption, the cost of which it lamented by far exceeded the damage caused by any other single crime” (Daily Sun, Wednesday, December 3, 2008 page 9). Last year (2008) the National Assembly indicted the power ministry when it revelled that $16 billion dollars was invested in power sector without anything to show for it. This investment was made without any single megawatt being added to the national grid.

Quoting the Guardian newspapers (online version) of Monday August 3rd 2009, the United Nations Children Education’s Fund (UNICEF) disclosed that almost one million children in the country still die from preventable and curable diseases. The UNICEF spokesperson (Ann Veneman) noted that more Nigerian children die from preventable diseases than any other country in Africa. Nigeria is also a country where the president and top government officials seek medical attention abroad. Thisday newspapers of Tuesday 14th April 2009 (online version), reported that the president (Umaru Musa Yar’Adua) approved foreign medical treatment for ex-governor Turaki of Jigawa State and a serving senator to be flown to Germany. Senator Turaki was involved in a road accident where he was injured. This is an evidence of total neglect of the federal and state ministries of health.

According to Thisday newspapers of Monday 8th December 2008 (online version), President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua said, “I want to assure all Nigerians that the federal government is fully resolved and committed to the electoral reform programme so that we can have peaceful and transparent elections in this country”. Several indictments came the way of the presidential promise on electoral reforms. Firstly was the attempt by the president himself to doctor the Justice Uwais recommendations. Secondly the way federal government conducted the Ekiti re-run election. Thirdly many notable Nigerians (Former Nigerian Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar etc) have all accused the president of not being serious with the electoral reforms. Lastly ex President Obasanjo said one time that he was not aware of any electoral reform being undertaken by the Yar’Adua government. Obasanjo’s comment was reported by Thisday newspapers of Saturday 2nd May 2009 (online version).

President Yar’Adua has ordered a probe of the killing of the leader of Boko Haram (Yussuf) while under police custody. Meanwhile the president gave orders to both the military and the police for this group to be destroyed. Yussuf was the head of this group, so the group was destroyed as ordered by the president. Finally the president indicted himself as the chief security officer of the country when he embarked on a two day state visit to Brazil when his country was on fire due to the Boko Haram crisis. In July 2009, the Chinese President (Hu Jintao) left the G8 Summit in Rome Italy back to China, the moment riots broke out in Northwest part of China.

It is high time our rulers start to take responsibilities, praises and punishments for their actions and inactions. Nigerians need to demand this from our rulers. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/

Ignorance Is A Disease.

Less than a year ago, I found myself writing about a crisis in Northern Nigeria (Jos Crisis), this time around its about the Bauchi religious crisis (Boko Haram Crisis). While am not trying to be a prophet of doom, I know that I might find myself again writing about another Northern Nigerian crisis after this, but I pray it never happen. Firstly my sympathies go to all the innocent Nigerians who were displaced, or who lost people or properties due to this crisis. Secondly I wish to condemn the group (Boko Haram or education is sin) that started this crisis. Religion should be peaceful and by choice. No group should seek to impose its religious beliefs on the rest of the country. Religion should not be a vehicle for violence. Islam is a peaceful religion.

Religious crisis has become a regular occurrence in the Northern part of Nigeria. Crisis of this nature usually spread to other Northern states and might have a spill over effect to some southern states. We have seen some reprisal attacks before in some south eastern and south western states. Be that as it may, the spread of this crisis to other Northern states did reveal the strength and network of this group. However, since religious crisis has become a common feature in the Northern Nigeria, the question is where next and how many innocent Nigerians will die?

These menaces (religious crises) have become a very big embarrassment to Nigeria and her citizens. In November 2002, riots from some Moslem youths that were opposed to Miss World contest in Abuja led to its cancellation and subsequent relocation of the show to London. About 100 people lost their lives in that incident. Ironically, a lady from Turkey (a Moslem country) won the contest in London. All these religious disturbances run contrary to all “efforts” of the federal government to boost tourism. The talk of attracting foreign investors in the face of regular religious mayhem might be a total waste of energy and resources.

Local investors are even tired of the instabilities in the Northern Nigeria. I know a number of Ibo business people that have relocated completely to the Owerri, Onitsha, Aba, Lagos etc due to these riots. Many have completely lost their means of livelihood. Remember a single religious crisis will have a negative multiplier effects on other sectors of the economy. Some people might become armed robbers when their means of livelihoods are destroyed. Many innocent non Moslems pay costly prices for these religious crises. My simple advice is that people should relocate their businesses outside these volatile northern states. That is the only way to guarantee safety. Prevention is better than cure.

But why are there always a religious crisis in the north and what are the measures to minimize it or stop it. Anger, poverty, ignorance, hatred, frustration, tribalism, politics etc are among the reasons, and without doubts some people benefits from such incidents. The whole incidents speak more of the failure of the system. According to the Director General of the State Security Service (Afakriya Gadazama), information before this crisis started and others were passed to the appropriate quarters. If what the SSS boss said was the truth, why did the appropriate quarters not prevent this from starting?

If no solution is found to these problems then the country will be seriously at risk. Past experiences have shown that Christians and non Moslems can easily become targets, and when Christians are attacked they usually fight back which makes the matter worst. The Zango-Kataf crisis of 1987 and Kaduna religious crisis of 1992 are typical examples. It shows that no tribe or group(s) has monopoly of violence and violence begets violence. Religious crisis can destroy a nation. Another example is Lebanon where fighting between Christians and Moslems devastated the country.

Ironically one of the reasons (say no to western education) why this group (Boko Haram) rioted and fought can also be one of the reasons, which could bring solutions to Northern Nigerian religious crises. Exposure to western education will obviously reduce this problem. Education is light. An educated people will make a better society. High level illiteracy rate makes it possible for people to be used for religious killings. Ignorance is a very serious damaging factor. Ignorance is like a disease. Until this disease is cured and our government becomes effective, Boko Haram crisis will be a child’s play compared to what will happen in the future. Illiteracy constitutes a danger to the development of our country.

Lessons have not been learnt from previous religious riots in Northern Nigeria. This is typical of our leadership problems. By now, our leaders should have known that those street boys and girls who are willing tools for these types of crises should have been educated or trained to engage in productive ventures. Had our been leaders been serious and visionary since over 30 years the religious crises have been repeating itself, efforts would have been made to educate the less privileged Nigerians. Knowledge is power. Mass education (western education) is needed. On the other hand, one will wonder why there has not been highest level of enlightenment in the north, despite the quota system which was meant to bridge the gap between the “educationally advantaged south” and “educationally disadvantaged north”.

Following incessant religious crises, I want to use this medium to appeal to the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and other federal government establishments to reconsider posting non Moslems and non northerners to the north. Sending Christians and non natives to the north might mean their death warrants. This is because no person knows where and when the next riot will start. It does not give any notice and government has never paid any compensation to people that died through religious crises. There is no need to risk peoples life.

In the same manner, companies, banks, financial institutions, international and national NGO’s should consider posting only northerners to northern states. No person would like to die or no one would like to loose a family member or a loved one to religious crisis. To Ibo merchants and traders, you people have paid the heaviest price each time there is a crisis. The choice is yours to either continue to pay the costly price or relocate your business and family to a safer part of the country.

The Nigerian Police Force, the State Security Services (SSS), and other law enforcement agencies should ask for more powers that will enable them prevent future crisis. Where necessary, the State Security Services (SSS) could follow the examples of the FBI in America and MI5 in the UK that do preemptive arrests and prosecution of suspected terrorists. The Nigerian government should grant the law enforcements agents’ adequate powers to prevent such incidents in the future. Nigerians also owe the security services a duty to report suspicious groups or people to them. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/