Obasanjo and the Quest for Statesmanship

It was sometime in May 1999 that I dared venture to visit my country, Nigeria, after over nine years in the UK. Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-military Head of State, retired Army general and Civil War hero, convicted of treason and incarcerated, nearly executed by the detested dictator, now dead, Sanni Abacha, and brought out of incarceration and nominated as the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, and has now won the Presidential election to become Nigeria’s President being sworn in this May 1999, to flag off a prosperous era for the so called 4^th Republic and democratic dispensation.

I was full of joy and hope. Obasanjo had ruled Nigeria over twenty four years before as a military head of state. He is widely believed to be a much disciplined soldier; a nationalist to the core. Even at the airport that humid day, the customs and immigration officers, noting my long absence from the country, were full of smiles and telling all visitors that Nigeria has changed already, with a new democratic government, and that this would no longer be an experiment in democracy as we have had, but this is the real, sustained thing. They projected to me, from their actions that day a country and a people full of hope, ready for change. I could almost kiss the immigration, customs, NDLEA and police officers at the airport that day.

I was elated and optimistic. On Inauguration Day, as I watched on national TV, tears welled up in my eyes. I was tearful to see Obasanjo sworn in, for the second time in Nigeria, as the leader of this great nation.  Another reason why I believed that perhaps, Nigeria’s Messiah has come is the fact that Obasanjo, in the history of the world (correct me if I have erred) has become only the second man to serve two non-consecutive terms as president of any country; Grover Cleveland served as President of the USA twice, 1885 to 1889 and then again from 1893 to 1897, thus become the 22^nd and 24^th president of the US.

Grover Cleveland only had 4 years before he served a second term; Obasanjo had 20 years in between and was on the brink of death by execution. I was convinced God had deliberately spared Obasanjo’s life for Nigeria, and has chosen him a second time to lead this country to greatness. Or at least, God has given him a second chance to make good and correct the mistakes he made when he was military ruler 20 years before. I was convinced he would do well; put Nigeria on the right path, clean up as much as he could of corruption and indiscipline and generally effect the desired change. If anybody had told me that by 2013, Nigerians would be still cursing their leaders and Obasanjo amongst them, I would have bet a million dollars against it.

But there we are! After eight years of Obasanjo (and he even tried to amend the Constitution to get a Third Term, a typically sit-tight African leader syndrome) and fourteen years later, many right-thinking and truly patriotic Nigerians are shaking their heads in absolute disgust, helplessness, frustration and anger at the devastation, degradation, deprivation and dearth of progress that have been visited upon us in that short space of time. Like I always like to quip and paraphrase the late Malcolm X, “Nigerians did not land on Aso Rock (the seat of power in Nigeria), Aso Rock landed on us”.

Owelle Rochas: Teach Us How To Fish

Owelle Rochas: Teach Us How To Fish

State of Emergency; Matters Arising.

State of Emergency; Matters Arising.

Between Inordinate Ambition and Good Governance

Adjective

1. not within proper or reasonable limits; immoderate; excessive: He drank an inordinate amount of wine.

2. unrestrained in conduct, feelings, etc.: an inordinate admirer of beauty.

3. disorderly; uncontrolled.

4. not regulated; irregular: inordinate hours. Greed and inordinate ambition lead to great human tragedy

“He that seeks to be great by all means seeks the path of self-destruction”

It is no longer surprising that inordinate ambition, narrow-mindedness and greed have been the causes of insecurity, mindless corruption, poor or bad governance, all culminating in poverty, mediocrity, underdevelopment and conflicts in many African countries.

Logically speaking, human beings carry within them the desire to be great in life. Everybody would like to pursue happiness and fulfilment in life.  Both natural and divine laws, however, set the limit to which a person may seek to actualize his ambition. While it is no crime to seek to be great, it becomes a criminal act and a sin against God and Man when we seek greatness by destroying others or doing things that will jeopardize the opportunities and liberty that others have. This latter category is what abounds in Nigeria, and indeed, in most African countries.

There is danger in blindly pursuing power, position and prominence at the detriment of our spiritual well-being and at the expense of other people’s lives. But do our rulers in Nigeria and Africa care?

Inordinate ambition captures the lust for power and status as is evidenced in the type of democratic and political system that we run in Nigeria. It includes ruthless competition and self-advancement. While such ambitions often results in material wealth, the person with the sin of inordinate ambition may regard money as secondary or even irrelevant. Money is useful only as it buys more opportunities.

Unfortunately, and inevitably, in all cases of inordinate ambition, national interests and selfless service to the people are often sacrificed and completely relegated to the background. Again, we see these every day in our daily lives in this country. The recent “Oga at the Top” tragi-comedy is a very good example of mediocrity brought on as a result of inordinate ambition.

As the race for political offices in 2015 begins to be perceived as an elephant meat that every Tom, Dick, or Harry, including those that are unfit for purpose – fraudsters, murderers, thieves, convicts, etc. - want to slice off a piece for their personal consumption, all kinds of people are coming out to vie for the higher elective offices - Presidency, Governorship, Legislative and even Local Government Chair-persons - in 2015.

The kinds of people who appear to be crawling out of the woodwork in recent times confirm our long-held suspicion that these previously revered positions are still not being accorded the dignity they deserve.  The latest names for Presidency being bandied about include the current Speaker of the House of Representative, Ibrahim Tambuwal.  The same Tambuwal was the gentleman implicated in the former Speaker Dimeji Bankole’s N10bn quarterly running cost freebie scam. Of course, he survived the scandal and was made the Speaker. Have we put that behind us now? We now know where they intend part of the loot to be used, don’t we? It is easy to sweep billions of Naira under the carpet in our country. We can only hope that political rivals opposed to his presidential ambition will bring that up at the appropriate time.

The problem has always been with our people, as I have always posited in many previous writings. If we do not exercise sound judgement at this most crucial moment of our political destiny, and we end up (again and again) with people like the Speaker or Rivers State Governor or even the Senate President as president, the country will be even moving further from the hope we are nursing that things might get better in 2015.

Most, if not all, of these men are corrupt and inept. They are corrupt politicians and rulers (I refuse to call them leaders) who pretend to be concerned about the future of the country but are men who will further erode the fine traditions of multi-party democracy, further entrench corruption, negate socio-political development, entrench backwardness and promote disrespect for fundamental human rights that we so desperately crave. One only needs to examine the records of these men when they rigged themselves into governance to conclude that they lack the moral fibre and fitness to be in their current political offices and positions, to even condemn others, let alone contest for the Presidency.

A former member of the House of Representatives Hon. Mohammed Kumalia says inordinate ambition and ego are the causes of Nigeria's political crises. Kumalia stated this when he spoke on the topic 'Peace and Conflict Resolution' in Abuja Monday at a peace seminar organised by the Rotary Club of Wuse Central and the Rotary Club of Abuja City (provisional) on 4^th February 2013.

According to him, "Nigeria's polity is ravaged by politicians who want to dominate the political space for life. Political leaders fail to distinguish between their offices and their personal egos, and have side-lined the led."

Even, President Jonathan who spoke at the end of the convention of the PDP in March 2013 in Abuja told the members “to resist the temptation of allowing inordinate ambition and what appears to be a growing obsession with the politics of succession in 2015 to cause disaffection within the ranks of the party”.

Look around us. Already, serving ministers (who did not contest for elections or failed at elections and were subsequently recompensed and appointed ministers) and federal legislators having stolen enough money are now trying to force themselves into contention to be governors in their home states. Some serving governors succeeded through this route. Some senior civil servants, nearing retirement are also considering this route.

At the states level, similar scenarios exist. Deputy Governors, of course, and erroneously, expect that it is a natural career or political progression for them to become the next governor of the state. Inordinate ambition, again. Commissioners have abandoned their service and are scheming and campaigning to be governors. They are also joined by state legislators (members of the House of Assemblies) and local government chair-persons and even some ambitious councillors.

Some state legislators also want to take further advancement to becoming federal legislators.

Again, because I don’t want people to get me wrong, I am not against people being ambitious in life. In fact it is a natural trait for humankind. In fact a man or woman that has no ambition in life in nothing. And this is why I repeat what I wrote earlier that human beings carry within them the desire to be great in life. Everybody would like to pursue happiness and fulfilment in life.  Both natural and divine laws, however, set the limit to which a person may seek to actualize his ambition. While it is no crime to seek to be great, it becomes a criminal act when we seek greatness by destroying others or doing things that will jeopardize the opportunities and liberty that others have. This is inordinate ambition. We all have our own ambitions, but a wise person will know his/her limitations in whatever they embark upon, and approach such ambitions and future with some caution and humility and then try to adapt or overcome those weaknesses.

Inordinate ambition also applies when a person is striving for position or power that is actually beyond their capabilities, intelligence or abilities. Some recognise their own lack of these virtues, but still want to obfuscate and cheat their way around; others don’t and think they do. Examples abound in our political, and actually in our way of life. An instance of this is the dishonesty of our politicians when it comes to their educational attainment or achievement. Certainly, they are, or such people feel inferior because they have low levels of education, even though they have the minimum requirement as stipulated by legislation, sometimes, none at all, so they resort to forgery. How do you expect a forger to perform in governance? How do you expect a forger to provide the right services to the people? A forger of educational certificate is definitely in the political system to steal and exploit the system.

These ilk of politicians have inordinate ambition not commensurate with their natural or acquired abilities, honesty and sincerity of purpose, capabilities and intelligence. That is why we find that many of our legislators, federal or states can spend an entire four years in the hallowed chambers and never contribute a word and idea to any issues on the floor of the house. Go and look at the records.

The surge in the aspiration of Nigerians to contest political office is breeding mayhem in the country. In the First Republic, the desire for people to contest elective positions was not so strong. For example, local government councillors only received sitting and transport allowance but in this unrestrained 1999-political dispensation and era, the huge salary, un-merited allowances and other huge sums of money being paid to political aides, constituency offices, domestic, utility allowances, which legislators converted to their pockets as part of their take-home pay every month, has made elective legislative positions a do-or-die affair.

Furthermore, in the First and Second Republics, there was no constituency project allowances awarded to legislators or their appointees, but now that constituency projects and the accompanying allowance have been instituted into the Constitution; this has led many Nigerians to start seeking political office. For governorship, the allure of the multibillion naira “security vote”, which they do not have to account for, is attracting all kinds of parasites and thieves to the state houses.

We have seen, since our foray into democracy, or even maybe even as far back as a sovereign nation, that out of selfishness or desperation to occupy a position, our rulers, past and present have decided the only way they understand how to rule their people is to be corrupt and inept. But they forget nemesis will always catch up on them no matter how long.

Above all, Nigeria and all its resources and wealth belong to all one hundred and fifty million or so of us and any attempt by some tiny cabal out of inordinate ambition, greed, selfishness and insincerity to satisfy their desire at the expense of Nigeria and the Nigerian people will definitely attract God’s punishment, as well as punishment from Man.

It is indeed very sad, and actually very alarming that men and women with such inordinate ambition are the ones ruling us today and are preparing to come forward to worm, steal, murder and fake their way to power again in 2015. Already some governors who will not be eligible for another term, having served two terms, come 2015 are planning to continue their mediocrity and thievery in the Senate, where many of their predecessors, most of them still having corruption cases to answer (and which the government and/or the EFCC have seemingly conveniently forgotten) are still paradoxically sitting and sleeping their way through house sessions and making laws for us.

It is no wonder we are in big trouble with people like these; people of inordinate ambition and of low intelligence and mediocrity, at the helm of affairs of a country as complex, full of potentials and wealthy as ours. They just can’t handle it. They do not have the intelligence, the vision, the focus, the sensibilities, the conscience, the commitment, the selflessness, the wherewithal, the capabilities, the moral ground and character to lead people. It is impossible for a stupid goat to lead a pack of dogs. They are frittering away our common wealth and opportunities.

Please, compatriots, let’s make it impossible for these opportunists, parasites and people of inordinate ambition in 2015!

Institute for Tourism Professionals charges stakeholders on capacity development

Institute for Tourism Professionals charges stakeholders on capacity development

Affinity Libra Ltd is working in partnership and cooperation with the Institute for Tourism Professionals. I am a Fellow of the Institute.

The Apotheos-ification of Nigerian Leaders and Political Elites

Apotheosis (from Greek, apotheoun "to deify"; in Latin deificatio "making divine"; also called divinization and deification) is the glorification of a subject to divine level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre (Wikipaedia).

In theology, the term apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature. In art, the term refers to the treatment of any subject (a figure, group, locale, motif, convention or melody) in a particularly grand or exalted manner.

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and, at times god-like public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is established by mass media and propaganda.

Throughout history, monarchs and heads of state were almost always held in enormous reverence. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, for example, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. Imperial China, ancient Egypt, Japan, Britain, the royals, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet, Thailand, and the Roman Empire are especially noted for redefining monarchs as god-kings. In pre-colonial Africa and Nigeria, the same applies with most of the monarchs, e.g. in Yoruba land, the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ife used to be deified until somehow, they lost their reverence.

The spread of democratic and secular ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura. However, the subsequent development of photography, sound recording, film, and mass production, as well as public education and techniques used in commercial advertising, enabled political leaders to project a positive image like never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the best-known personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of political religion (Wikipaedia)

Service is the best reason for being a leader. There are many examples of true service; Jesus Christ is one of them. A true leader asks people to follow his/her example. This is what has made democracy work and sustainable in Western democracies and societies – leaders serve and ask their people to follow, and the people follow.

I really do not have a problem with leaders who are performing or are seen to be performing their duties and responsibilities, if ONLY selflessly. (This is very rare anyway) Once in a while we see such leaders, but usually and mostly in the horizon.

My problem is Praise-singing and Hero-worshipping of our leaders (ironically, these people are not even anywhere near being heroes, not to talk of worthy of praise), and that's the reason we are having problems with them and they take advantage of us. I never indulge in such trivial pursuits. I am not a sycophant. Most of the time, I don't see what these leaders are doing that is unexpected or extraordinary. After all, look around you; the country is still as backward as ever, despite very strong infrastructural and civil legacies left by the colonialists, so what are they really doing?

Recently one Governor described his own people (we, Nigerians) as TIMID. It was then I saw the irony and the insult, albeit true. It is because we are timid, or they feel we are timid, that the corrupt, evil and clueless political elite take undue advantage of us, stealing, looting, raping, killing and generally mismanaging our resources, our common wealth. They bank and rely on the fact that they are lording it over a very TIMID people. That is what they have been relying on and banking on for the past 5 decades, with a toxic combination of intimidation, divide and rule, outright dishonesty, deceit and mediocrity.

When would we, as a people, realise that in a democracy, those elected into political positions as well as civil servants, are expected and must do what we elected or appointed them to do and are paid to do and that they are NOT doing us any favour whatsoever by building roads, bridges, hospitals, schools or providing employment? This is their damned job!  And after all, the money they are using to execute all these projects are not theirs but ours. Or have you ever heard of a Nigerian politician using his/her own money to build roads or even to contest elections? It is our money they waste to sponsor the weddings of their children, and in a recent instance, the wedding in Dubai of a famous singer.

When you hear or read of our devious and callous political leaders, saying they are empowering people by distributing bicycles, generators, bags of rice, umbrellas, sewing machines and 10 thousand Naira to the people of their constituencies, accompanied by loud media coverage, and projecting to the people as if they are spending their own personal wealth (the hypocrisy of it!), then you know we are indeed in trouble. It is not their money; and they can do much better than this, can’t they?; the money is the Constituency Project allowances they are supposed to use in the first place but which most of them convert to their own use.

THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE BEING PAID TO DO! We can only recognise and commend them for doing their job if they are actually doing it selflessly, but NOT praise them to high heavens as if they are the Messiah, demi-gods or Super-humans.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am only against apotheosis, praise-singing and hero-worshipping. I will recognise, commend, celebrate, reward honour and sing to high heavens any good work that is being done selflessly, sincerely, timely, considerately, compassionately, holistically and appropriately by any leader in my country.

We are getting a very raw deal from these people we now regard as demi-gods and untouchables by law. But we are more powerful than them. We can vote them out. We should vote them out. We must not allow then to sniff or get anywhere near the seats of power. We must not allow them to rig elections or manipulate votes and voting equipment. We must not allow them to intimidate us.

Nigerians and Africans should stop treating politicians as gods; treat them as a normal people on the street. As a matter of fact, our politicians should be treated with some measure of disdain and perhaps, held in contempt, because politics is not a career, it is a symbiotic way of life, in any society – they depend on the society to thrive and the society expects something in return for sucking us for their livelihood. We pay their salaries and they are supposed to look after and deliver our expectations. So don't treat them like gods.

Some of us treat our Nigerian Legis-looters, Execu-thieves, Poli-trickcians, Sin-ators, like God’s gift to the world; these are the cronies, boot-lickers, political jobbers, impostors, mediocre whose only way of survival is cuddling up to anybody in power. This ilk of people do not have any capacity or intelligence to making a living, so they infect and infest the politician, who is him/herself ready to be infected and infested. It is mutually convenient and beneficial to both parties.

On a recent lecture I delivered in Lagos on a similar topic, the reactions that arose are in bold, in response to my position:

·         Nigerians should treat their political leaders as a normal people on the street:  Impossible! Every time there's a politicians coming to certain place, there is always a big community event to welcomed or celebrate them. See the convoys and the jamboree of hangers-on that follow them.

·         We pay their salaries and they are supposed to look after and deliver our expectations: They will only look after their lackeys, their flatterers and those who aid them in their misrule and lootings.

·         They control the media, what do you expect?

·         So don't treat them like gods – It is a cultural thing, Africans hold people with age, wealth, authority and power in awe so much, they regard those who hold such as almost gods, and when regarded as such, these irresponsible parasites will do anything and everything possible to stay in power, and that includes killing.

I agree 100% with this last bit. It is a cultural malaise. This is why a lot is amiss with our combination of leadership, democracy and system of governance, and should be changed. A very good instance is the appointment of people into positions such as Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Assistants, Board Members, etc. These sets of people fail miserably in the performance of what are expected of them as public servants, not only because they are mostly pedestrian and quacks anyway, but because they do not owe their allegiance, appointments or responsibilities to the service of the people, but to their Almighty Leaders (President, Governors, etc) who appointed them.

The result is that when a Cabinet re-shuffle is imminent; these lackeys start panicking and start running around like headless chicken, scared and lobbying to stay in their jobs. When they do not perform, they will not resign. That is the affairs of state in Nigeria; no moral will to admit mistakes, non-performance and inefficiency, hence the massive level of corruption that has brought the country almost on its knees while saner and more sincere minds look on helplessly whilst middling and men and women of low intelligence take over running – ruining- the lives of 150 million people.

We should learn from the Japanese:

The Best Leader

The best leaders, the people do not notice.

The next best, the people honour and praise.

The next, the people fear;

And the next, the people hate.

If you have no faith,

People will have no faith in you,

And you must resort to oaths (lies).

When the best leader’s work is done

The people say: “We did it ourselves!

It's actually from the Chinese poet Lao Tzu, but this is what Japanese people think of Politicians.

I can't stand sycophancy and obsequiousness. I can’t stand timidity and reticence either.

Legislative Immunity for Nigerian Lawmakers: A Very Bad Idea.

Many Nigerians were expectedly shocked, concerned and apprehensive at the news on 07 March 2013 that the (notorious, inept and ineffective) Nigerian House of Representatives is planning to include immunity for federal legislators in the on-going amendment of the 1999 constitution, with the bills passing a second reading, and inevitably will be overwhelmingly passed as an Act.

It was reported thus:  “a bill for an act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 by providing immunity for members of the legislature in  respect of the words spoken or written at the plenary session or at committee proceedings, to guarantee that freedom of speech, debates and proceedings in Legislative Houses are not impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament and for related matters” and a “bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the constitution to guarantee freedom of speech and legislative actions of members of the National Assembly,”

On the face of it, I have nothing against Legislative Immunity, which is a legal doctrine that prevents legislators from being sued for actions performed and decisions made in the course of serving in government. This doctrine does not protect legislators from criminal prosecution, nor does it relieve them from responsibility for actions outside the scope of their office.

Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself. This reduces the possibility of pressing a member of the parliament to change his vote by fear of prosecution.

Legislative speech and debate immunity grew out of centuries of struggle between the English parliament and throne.  During the 16th and 17th centuries, some English monarchs sought to intimidate legislators--especially those not sympathetic to the Crown's viewpoints--through legal action. The adoption of the English Bill of Rights in 1689 sharply limited this practice by granting immunity to members against civil or criminal action stemming from the performance of their legislative duties.  It provided that “the Freedom of Speech, and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament.”
In America, the constitutions of 43 states provide legislators with a fundamental protection of free speech and debate.  This immunity protects legislators from punitive executive or judicial action.  The intent is to allow lawmakers to work independently and unimpeded by the threat of intervention from the other branches of government in the discharge of their legislative duties.  

Legislative immunity was in the news in Arizona some years ago when a newspaper reported that Gov. Jan Brewer was briefly detained — and handcuffed — by state police after a freeway accident in 1988 when she was a legislator. Officers thought Brewer was under the influence of alcohol, but they decided that legislative immunity prohibited an arrest. Brewer denied being under the influence the night of the accident. She didn't invoke the privilege but an officer determined she was a senator by noticing an identification placard on the floor of her car, a police report said.

An Arkansas sheriff's deputy last year mistakenly thought legislative immunity meant he couldn't arrest a speeding legislator who led officers on a high-speed chase through two counties. The lawmaker was let go with a scolding but later charged and convicted of fleeing, careless driving and improper passing. He appealed it.

The problem with such immunity in Nigeria is based on the fact that we are a country, or a people notorious for flagrant violation norms, ethics and of the Rights of Man. Every strata of the society violates the law; we disregard the Constitution, laws, rules and regulations, standards of behaviours, the environment. The Governments disobey or completely ignore court orders, the Judiciary is corrupt, decadent and untrustworthy; law enforcement and security agencies are the very epitome of corruption, misinterpretation of the law and fragrant abuse of authority and powers; politicians do not know, nor bother to know what the Constitution of the country is about; our bloated and inept Civil Service are the bedrock of corruption despite their holier-than-thou hypocrisy; the Military are undisciplined and flout the law every time. The Press are about as clean as a child trying to eat melted chocolate with his hands. The business community and so-called business moguls and captains of industry consider themselves above the law because they are wealthy. The Academics are not exempt from this complicity. The society, the ordinary people are even worse. We do not respect any law. In fact, Nigerians believe that when a law is made, it is meant to be broken. Hence the reason why leaders produced in such a society are no different, and are even worse than the society that begat them. A Catch-22 situation for us, really! The society has to change before its leaders can change, except somehow we manage to find a leader who is not a direct beneficiary of the evil that our society is spewing out on a daily basis.

Any wonder why our society is in this quagmire of corruption, abuse of power and authority, poverty and permanent state of regression and underdevelopment.

Look around you, on a daily basis. There are abuses of power, authority, perquisites, and the environment. There are abuses of children and women, government and personal properties, abuses of trust, abuses of religion and ethnicity, of culture and tradition and technology, of energy generation and usage, even of  wealth, of education, even of food (e.g. wastage), all you can think of.

Give a Nigerian an inch, and they will take a foot; give them a foot and they will take a yard….that is us. Your mechanic will always try to take advantage you, as would your carpenter, tailor, painter, bus-driver, taxi driver, vulcaniser, bricklayer and plumber, butcher, petrol attendant, not to talk of the market-woman. Even your lecturer in the university.

No! We cannot be trusted to uphold any law in this artificially distorted, confounding and exciting country. I don’t even know why people are panicking about the Petroleum Industry Bill, so called PIB, when we all know it will be only as good and effective as the paper it is written on. What happened to the Freedom of Information Act? Is anybody, for example, the Press and Media, benefiting from it?

That is why if a Parliamentary Immunity, much as it is a decent and integral part of a civilised and democratic society, is granted Nigerian legislature, the level of abuse, as unregulated as it will be by the same people – legislators – who passed the bill and act into law, will be colossal.

Judging by the behaviour of our legislators, ever since Independence, I have no doubt that such immunity conferred on them will be further used to intimidate the citizenry and their political opponents. Most importantly, it is virtually a licence to loot the treasury, if indeed, we have one.

Scenario: Lawan Farouk, the federal legislator accused of receiving a bribe from business man, Femi Otedola, could easily say that the bribe was received while he was in parliament and therefore during the course of his legislative duties and whilst serving the country. He might therefore invoke parliamentary or legislative immunity easily. And that will be the end of it. What with a corrupt judiciary and an avid crew of lawyers.

The attempt to pass such a bill has enraged Nigerians again, and we no wonder our so-called law-makers have now been labelled SIN-ATORS and LEGIS-LOOTERS.  Our leaders are crooked and criminally smart and I see this as an attempt to exclude any form of prosecution against them whilst in office.  Soon, such dubious immunity will be extended to the State Houses of Assemblies, and before you know it, Local Government Chairmen and Councillors. And then Civil servants will have Immunity too! I wonder what type of Immunity we will call that, but trust Nigerians to come up with something. Never a dearth of ideas; but a dearth of implementation.

Nigeria is not your average normal, civilised or democratic country, in all their different ramifications. We are still basically a primordial people still trying to evolve. Apologies to Pan-Africanists, but events and history of the last 50 years in most African countries have not been encouraging. Blame the colonialists and Europeans, Americans all you can; Africans are the architect of their own future.
Our “honourable and hard-working” legislator are very quick to pass bills which will be selfishly beneficial to them, but when it comes to bills that will be of use and beneficial to the development of the country or the upliftment of the people at large, they dilly dally. A bill to establish a National Food Safety Policy and Commission has been with them since 2009, and has only been read twice, while a bill on corruption has been stagnant and considered as not deserving attention.

All in all, I am opposed to this bill only because I do not trust our legislators, our politicians and governments not to turn it upside down. As it is, even without this Immunity Act covering them, we see they are already untouchable, and this is illegal and unconstitutional; so one can imagine if they are backed by law and the Constitution. It is practically a Licence to be corrupt; licence to steal, to kill, to lie, to be disrespectful to the electorate, to disregard the law.

They will ride roughshod over the people. And being naturally arrogant, they will now have the licence and constitutional backing to deal with the electorate and the judiciary with disdain. They will also be prone to manipulating and interpreting this particular Act as they please or deem fit. And they will not be short of our legal luminaries, our lawyers and SANs who will see easy money to be made by obfuscating and grandstanding us, the poor condemned.

They are indeed the players and we are the spectators.

It is not going to be a pretty sight. And this is why possibly, most Nigerians are aghast at this suggestion that our legislators should be “immunised” (so to speak) because of their notoriety for crass and obtuse irresponsibility, corruption, selfishness, self-service, bare-faced lying and duplicitousness, obstinacy and tyrannical tendencies, ignorance and charlatanism.

Unfortunately, do we hear any protest from our labour leaders and human right activists? No, they are mute in the meantime, watching how the game goes and when the Act is passed into law,  they will raise a little bit of dust and noise, and will start accusing the courts and waste a bit more of the workers’ money.

I must confess I have not seen or read the suggested Bill,  but I will assume that it is intended to  protect legislators from punitive executive or judicial action, with the intent to allow them to work independently and unimpeded by the threat of intervention from the other branches of government in the discharge of their legislative duties.   This is a noble attribute of democracy, if practiced right.

Questions remain, however.  While legislators will be protected from certain liabilities, will they also be protected from having to testify about their legislative actions?  Will they also be protected from criminal prosecution if they commit crimes such as stealing, corrupt practices, murder, perjury, bribery, and even traffic offences? Will legislative documents be protected from judicial inquiry?  These are just some of the questions that may not be fully resolved by the Act.

In most civilised and democratic countries, appending the title of “Honourable”, means to have behaved honourably and be behaving honourably at all times. But in Nigeria, people who steal or connive to steal ballot boxes; people who can behead human beings without feeling any guilt, are those that are honoured and respected as “Honourable”. The title has been much abused, and hence you can see where I am coming from; sure as hell, any Immunity for our irresponsible lawmakers will surely be abused.

The Truth must be said always.


This article is dedicated to the memory of my dear brother-in-law, Mr Dele Odegbami, (senior brother to Segun and Wole Odegbami, and to my wife, Toyin and her 2 sisters) whose untimely death took place in the floods of Lagos on the night of Monday, 4th March, 2013 at the age of 66. He is survived by wife and children and grandchildren. ONE LIFE! Rest in Peace.

The Judiciary’s Complicity in the Rape And Looting of Nigeria

"Money and Corruption Are ruining the land, Crooked politicians Betray the working man, Pocketing the profits And treating us like sheep, And we're tired of hearing promises, That we know they'll never keep."  –Ray Davies.

Once upon a time in America, a man named Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks.

He replied: "Cos that’s where the money is".

It was an uncomplicated philosophy which served him well until he was caught and marched off to prison.

Today, Mr Sutton would not have risked incarceration. Now, were Mr Sutton to be a Nigerian, he would have had the choice of being a politician, a civil servant or a contractor. And of course, he has the added and important advantage of being protected from the law by the very people who are supposed to uphold the law and dish out punishment for infraction – the Judiciary and related vagabonds. (Sorry, I am being generalist here)

Better still, he could have been a Nigerian policeman, although he would have been severely limited as to making loads of money, but at least he could be in official authorised uniform and waylay people on the highway and collect money from them without facing any charges of armed robbery.

In Nigeria, large amount of the money (our supposed common wealth), or “the loot”, as we have now come to know it, is kept with the Government - Federal, State or Local. "That is where the loot (money) is", paraphrasing Mr Sutton, and that is why everybody wants to be in Government, either as a politician, civil servant or political appointee.

So that brings me to the case of disappearing billions, where a minor civil servant – yes, a minor civil servant John Yakubu Yusuf, former (I should think he’s now “former”) Director of the Police Pension Board; or who has ever heard of this pen robber, in cahoots with a few others, managed to steal a whopping and dizzying sum of N32 billion Naira? (Some reports say 23.3 billion; we are not even sure of how much he admitted stealing)  Where on earth have you ever heard a country, a sane country, had one of its officials steal so much money from the public purse?

How was he and his accomplices ever allowed to steal so much? Why did they have to steal so much? The money or loot must really be flowing freely on the streets, nay, in those little government offices in Abuja.

Now comes the topping? Steal so much money, sentenced to 2 years with the option of only N750, 000.00 fine, which he promptly paid. The guy was laughing all the way to the bank (that is, he and his accomplices and those behind the fraud)

A solicitor friend of mine later pointed to me that the Penal Code that operates in the 19 Northern states, the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja being in that area of jurisdiction, means the presiding judge could not have passed a stricter sentence according to Section 309: Punishment for criminal misappropriation: Whoever commits criminal misappropriation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both. What do we have here? In the Southern states, the Criminal Code operates, so if Mr Bloody Thief Yusuf had been tried in say, Enugu or Ibadan, his sentence would have been a stiffer one, assuming we have an upright judge, a conscientious and diligent prosecution, i.e. the EFCC, and no political interference.

I am in the wrong racket. And so are many of my compatriots. I have often wondered whether or not my fortunes in life would have improved if I had joined the Federal Civil Service in 1979, when the Federal Civil Service Commission used to visit the universities to recruit graduating students. I probably would not now be struggling, 34 years later, to build my own house and having only a few thousand nairas in my bank account. It’s a dog’s life.

Just kidding! I have no regrets for not being a thief, a corrupt politician, a thieving civil servant or a crooked bank executive/fuel subsidy contractor. I am happy with my conscience, my integrity and reputation. And I know so are many of my people.

"Power does not corrupt men. Fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power." – George Bernard Shaw.

In my friend, Chinedu Akuta’s blog “Nigerian Judiciary is Big Joke”, there is a catalogue of travesty and complicity of Nigeria’s judiciary in dealing with high profile corruption cases in Nigeria – “the current case of  John Yakubu Yusuf; Olabode George committed a fraud of over N85 billion naira and was only given 2:5 years imprisonment.  Mrs. Cecilia Ibru (former MD/CEO of Ocenic Bank) was jailed 6 months for stealing N54 billion naira. Former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun was convicted of N20 billion naira fraud, and was sentenced to only 6 months in prison. Both Tafa Balogun and Cecilia Ibru had their  sentences spent in their homes or chosen hospitals. Another Ex Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero was caught trying to smuggle out N200 million naira out of Abuja. Sunday Ehindero was not even sent to court, so the case died like that. So many Ex Governors, between (1999-2011), have been granted bails on their alleged corrupt cases, some, like Peter Odili, (Dr. Perpetual Injunction), former Governor of Rivers State, even have court injunction stopping their trial on corruption cases. James Ibori (Former Governor of Delta State) was discharged and acquitted in a Nigerian court, but was sent to jail in UK, for the same offences he was acquitted from in Nigeria. The list is endless”.

Corruption is all over the world, the difference is how various countries approach, manage and deal with it. In China, the penalty is capital punishment. In the US, Bernard Madoff, who committed a fraud of $65 Billion Dollars (£38bn Pounds Sterling) was sentenced to 150 years in jail. Nigerian judiciary is no longer the last hope of a common man, but rather, the destroyer of the Nigerian hope.  “The greatest incitement to crime is the hope of escaping punishment” said Marcus Cicero”.

It is sad and unfortunate that the Nigerian Judiciary, which a few decades ago, was one of the most respected, erudite and upright in the world is aiding and abetting crimes, by handing little or no sentences/jail terms. “Make no mistake, the destruction of Nigeria (by whatever means) will affect all and sundry. Take a look at the insecurity situation (which is a failure of the government and partly the people); no one is safe/saved any more. Emirs, chiefs, ministers, commissioners, judges, lawyers, ex this, ex that, etc can be attacked or kidnapped. High crime rates are partly the fault of our judiciary also. Therefore, this should serve a wakeup call, because a lot of damages have already been done” (CV Akuta)

By now, after fourteen years of so-called democracy, there should be no doubt in the minds of Nigerians that this institution, the Judiciary, the main pillar of democracy and freedom, and surely one of the most important and fundamental to democracy’s success and good governance, is one of the most corrupt, with glaring instances where court judgments have been bought for money, or influenced by people in high places who would rather not have justice prevail.

From the standpoint of the vulnerability to corruption and of its social impact, the judiciary remains one of the most sensitive and visible areas in this respect. There is no doubt that in our present predicament as a nation, there is a need to develop and implement a set of adequate corruption-combating policies in the justice system, has become increasingly imperative and starts from justice-seekers, to whom a fair judicial system is a fundamental right, and to judges and other categories in the system that are more and more exposed to public criticism, and I might say, exposure.

Justice is the backbone of any democratic society. The rule of law and the acceptance of its values and principles entail the confidence in justice. For citizens’ confidence in the system to exist, judicial professionals must be able to offer credibility. They must have irreprehensible behaviour and prototypical professional conduct. From the above, we can see that the Nigerian judiciary has failed us. Of course, over our 53 years of independent existence, there have always been bright rays of hope and I can compile a list as long as my two arms of exemplary, upright, erudite, conscientious, illustrious, honest, acclaimed dignified Nigerian judges, jurists and men/women of the wig who have never, and will never compromise their names and reputation for any amount on lucre or pressure from those in power, to satisfy selfish ends that are inimical to the development and progress or public interest of this country.

In a sane country or society, there should be no corruption in the justice system as long as the system is a part of the legal and institutional mechanism that is supposed to combat it. On the other hand, the lack of court convictions of corrupt politicians, dishonest and thieving civil servants, greedy and light-fingered bank executives, conniving and corrupt police and other corrupt government officials in recent years is a clear indication that we do not yet have any or enough methods of preventing and fighting corruption in the system.

But then, the judicial system is an integral part and spawn of the larger society, and I will always reiterate that a bad society will consistently bring out, or spew out bad leaders, bad institutions, bad systems, bad governance; and hence the judiciary is not exempt from this fact.

Having said this though, in any society, good or bad, the justice system remains the last bastion of freedom and hope for the common man. Where this is absent or abdicated, the common man is doomed - doomed to oppression, corruption, poverty, bad governance and generally a decrepit standard of living, such as we have in Nigeria now.

The prevention and combating of corruption in the judicial system is a priority objective in system reform, in the broader setting of the fight against the phenomenon of corruption. Judicial corruption may harm the most important social values, considering the fact that the legal system is designed exactly to ensure the supremacy of the law which entails, among other things, the prosecution and bringing to justice of corruption offences. 

Legitimacy is vital to the running of justice. This particular characteristic comes from the public’s understanding of the way in which the justice system is organised, from the trust people have in the competence of judges and other system workers, as well as from the knowledge of the rules upon which the system works and from the acceptance of the authority of court judgements. Apart from the legal safeguards of professionalism, workers in the justice system are also required to have a specific moral aptitude and a certain conduct. 

The bottom line is Nigeria’s judiciary is no longer the last optimism of the common man, but a platform of injustice, inequality, discrimination, nastiness and place for the highest bidder, and sadly, our hitherto respected judiciary has ceased to be the last hope of the common man; rather it has become the first protection of villains, charlatans and vagabonds in power and authority, who, with a certain disdain, flout the law, knowing they can always get the protection from a corrupt judicial system.

Something must be done to reverse this.