What The Witches Said by Reuben Abati

"How was Christmas?"

"It's come and gone. Life goes on. We thank God for the gift of life."

"Life will always go on."

"But without life, we can't have hope."

"Without hope, life has no meaning."

"I am still in a Christmas mood though. I get a chance to rest a lot during holidays"
"Where were you?"

"I was in my home town, the city of hope. I refused to be deterred by fuel scarcity, the scarcity of cash and the scarcity of goodwill."

"That your town where nobody sells a brand new car, no single car mart where you can gettear rubber, all the major streets are littered with Tokunbo vehicles on sale. Yeah, the town of hope." 

"Talking about hope, you know. During Christmas, I saw a story about Christmas in Senegal, showing how in a country with about 94% of the population being Muslims, Christmas is celebrated."

"By Muslims?"

"Yes. Muslims wearing Father Christmas clothes, decorating their homes for Christmas and joining the small percentage of Christians to celebrate."

"Are you sure the attraction is not commerce? Christmas is big business, and Senegal is a major tourist destination."

Remembering Christmas by Reuben Abati

Christmas looks so different these days from what it was when I was growing up. It is so different it is almost unrecognizable. In this same country, in the 70s, Christmas was a season of celebration, but also of spiritual upliftment, joy abundant, hope, reaffirmation of faith in the certainty of Salvation, and the ritual of that which begins, and that which ends, as a New Year beckoned.  We were brought up on a steady diet of Sunday School lessons, and so Christmas and Easter were very much a part of our growing up. We always looked forward to Christmas with excitement. It was that time of the year when we all wanted to act one role or the other in the re-enactment of the drama of Nativity.

        The preparation for this drama, which was usually staged during Christmas service, to the sound of melodious songs and priestly excitement, was the high point on Christmas Day of the celebration of Christ The Lord.  Weeks earlier, the church organized Christmas Carols. If you made the special choir, you felt as if you had won a lottery. Everyone was a songster of sorts, belting out Christmas Carols in both English and the local language. Parents singing. Children singing. Everyone dancing.  The feel-good mood was so intense. You could run into people on the streets and the standard greeting, be they Muslims or Christians, was "Merry Christmas!" The official church Carol team went from one church member's home to another to deliver the good tidings of the season and to announce the coming birth of the Saviour. Christmas strengthened our sense of community, and our Christianity and faith as well.

       It was also that time of the year for the reinforcement of family values. People whom you had not seen for the whole year travelled home from their stations to be part of Christmas. You got the chance to meet cousins, make new friends, and sing till you almost went hoarse. I wasn't much of a singer or drummer- my friends used to laugh each time I missed a note or a beat and we would spend weeks afterwards mimicking each other.  In short, Christmas was real fun. But it was relatively a simple, inexpensive celebration, year after year. Our parents did not have to borrow, or go bankrupt, or agonize, for Christmas to be meaningful.

      We got one or two new clothes and shoes: those were the usual Christmas gifts. On Christmas day, after church, lunch didn't have to be anything extra-ordinary: it was no more than rice and chicken.  In those days, chicken was a special delicacy, reserved for Sundays, or special occasions like birthdays or Christmas, very much unlike now that every child acquires the taste for tasty chicken from the womb! On Boxing Day, we either visited friends or stayed home, and played with firecrackers and bangers on the streets.  Those children who could not afford bangers were not left out. They improvised with local devices made by blacksmiths. That contraption produced even better effect.

       Our Muslim friends usually joined us, but they always teased us. In those days, Muslims and Christians celebrated religious festivals together, without any hang-ups about the difference in faith. Virtually every family had Muslim and Christian branches. Give it to Muslims, however, their own seasons were usually more elaborately and colourfully celebrated. They slaughtered rams during theEid el-Kabir and were generous, handing out gifts of fried meat to family friends and acquaintances. During that festival also known as Ileya, the major Muslim festival, you could acquire a whole bucket-load of meat to sustain the family soup pot for weeks, without being a Muslim and without buying a ram.

        Christians were not known to be that generous. Every Christian family was governed by rules of restraint. And so, Christmas restricted themselves to the killing of chicken or turkey; some families did not even bother to slaughter anything at all, and they did not violate any religious code, and in any case, Christians didn't feel obliged to share meat with neighbours.  The effect was that Muslim relations and friends had this funny song, which was a friendly way of accusing Christians of being stingy. "Ko s'ina dida nbe; Ko s'ina dida nbe, K'olorun ko so wa d'amodun o, ko s'ina dida nbe".  The truth is that nobody took offence, nobody considered the songs derisory, instead the teasing by Muslims attracted shared laughter. Even if there was no meat to share among the entire neighbourhood, there was more than enough fun to go round as many Muslim children joined us to shoot the bangers and make lots of noise. Many of them in fact knew the Christmas songs; they also joined us to stage in our own neighbourhood then, what was called the Christmas masque, or in Yoruba:"Mebo".

      The Mebo was a simple enactment, a blend of the secular, the profane and the religious, drawing its elements from a syncretic base.  The Masque or Mebo was dressed like a Masquerade: his face was not supposed to be seen. He was the main attraction, backed by drummers and singers: we used pots and pans and maybe our mouths as drums. The masque danced and led the songs:

"Iya Kaa'le o

Wa dagba wa darugbo

Baba  Ka'ale o

Wa dagba wa darugbo

Mebo yo robo

E ba mi wa so mi soro

Mebo O yo robo o

E ba mi wa so mi soro.

      There is nothing Christianly about this type of song, but for us, growing up, we celebrated Christmas in the neighbourhood, mixing elements of all the religions and all the available modes. Even children of Egungun worshippers joined the Christmas celebration. And so we could start with Mebo yo robo, and shift to "We wish you a Merry Xmas…Good tidings we bring… Hark! The Herald Angels Sing… E lu agogo E lu agogo, E lu agogo o Olugbala de o, e lu agogo…Keresimesi, Keresimesi, …" followed by other songs in Yoruba, which connected well with the community and did not attract any objections. We went from one house to the other and some people would give the Mebo money, which we shared thereafter and used to buy more bangers and firecrackers. We went round night after night until Christmas Eve.

     Our parents did not discourage us, knowing that it was all in the spirit of the season. They also did not have to worry about anyone getting kidnapped, or getting into any form of danger. It was a different Nigeria in those days.  Those were the days of innocence when children were brought up to shun any form of ostentation and conspicuous consumption. It was the season of joy and contentment. Just as we celebrated Christmas in the town, there was also as much excitement in the villages.  The prospect of a New Year, a week after, always made the season special.

        But Christmas today is different. It has become a commercial enterprise for many families and investors, with little or no emphasis on the spiritual dimension. I don't hear too many children going from house to house even in the same old town where I grew up, singing Christmas Carols. This new generation does not know Mebo. But they knowSanta in Naija on their phones and similar animations. In our time, we talked about Father Christmas; today's children refer to him asSanta Claus. There is no sense of community anymore, only a sense of rising expenses and religious isolationism. Many churches cannot even organize house-to-house Carols. Parents are reluctant to let their children go out to any stranger's house, be they Christians or whoever. They don't want their children kidnapped; they don't want their daughters to be raped. Some of the churches have no buses, or they cannot even afford to buy fuel at N130 per litre. If anybody shows up at anybody's door, singing Christmas Carols, these days, the door is likely to remain shut. The times are truly different. You can never know who the visitors are: they could be a band of armed robbers, dancing their way to your doorstep, to gain entrance and inflict harm.

       I don't see the excitement of old anymore. Many average families cannot even afford to travel home for Christmas. The cost is too high. The city of Lagos used to look deserted close to Christmas, because virtually all the non-Lagosians would have returned to their villages to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their kith and kin.  This year, Lagos traffic is still as busy as ever. People are staying back.  Even the more privileged families also don't want to go to the village. They are afraid of being mobbed by all kinds of relatives looking for help.  It is easier to tell people you did not see their text messages, or the account numbers they sent, even when you have not announced that you have surplus money to give away, but to go to the village and see them face-to-face, could be quite an ordeal. I have listened to various tales of harassment, reported by persons who have had to tolerate that cousin who has just taken a third wife, who wants to be supported to maintain the woman, or that in-law who wants to buy a motorcycle and his body language is like if he doesn't get the support he wants, he'd be tempted to recall his daughter!

       I really haven't heard those peals of laughter that used to be the main feature of Christmas anymore.  What I see is the sheer anxiety on people's faces. Christmas has become so expensive. Many parents are practically panicking! The children of today are not interested in Christmas rice and chicken: that stopped being a special delicacy a long time ago. They want expensive gifts. And there are many capitalists cashing in on the taste of today's children, to provide a variety of services and items that dig holes in a parent's pockets. One parent remarked that he really does not know what to do. His salary has not been paid. His children would like to experience Christmas. His wife wants a special gift. His children look like they don't want their Christmas to be "inconclusive." But in January, he will also have to pay their school fees for the new term.

       On top of it all, our society today is more divided than it was even after the civil war. Our laughter is shorter; our hopes are slimmer. We will celebrate Christmas all the same because we are a people of faith and hope..…Well, "don't worry, be happy!" Merry Christmas.

El-Zakzaky, Religion and the Nigerian State by Reuben Abati

SO much has been said about the December 12 confrontation between the Nigerian Army and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria led by Sheik Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, the leader of the Shia in Nigeria. I guess the point has been well-made that there are faults on both sides.  There seems to be a consensus, however, that the followers of Ali, better known as Shiites or the Shia, seem to enjoy confrontations with the state and seem determined to disregard dominant authority – Islamic and secular.
By the same token, the Nigerian security establishment has since the 1980s showed an equal determination to put El Zakzaky in his place. But in no way does this justify the extra-judicial killing of members of the Islamic Movement, or the use of the word, "Prisoners of War" (POW) to describe its detained members. The Nigerian Government since the '80s has set up a series of panels of inquiry and produced tomes on the subject of forging peaceful relations between the state and religion, and yet religion remains a key threat to amalgamation and the sanctity of the Nigerian state.
What we are dealing with is something deeper — it is the outflow of a deep schism within the Islamic faith on the questions of authenticity and legitimacy, in terms of what constitutes rules, doctrines, interpretations and values. This old battle for doctrinal supremacy is what has been responsible for the divisions within the faith since the First Fitna. It is the drama being played out in the Middle East.  It is the story and politics of ISIS and ISIL. This is why it will be wrong to describe the Islamic Movement in Nigeria's constant conflict with the Nigerian state as a confrontation between Nigerian Muslims and the state, to the extent that ISIS or ISIL does not speak for all Muslims just as the ISMIN does not speak for all Nigerian Muslims.

Why History should be taught by Reuben Abati

There is never a scarcity of shocking events, revelations, encounters and experiences in the course of the interesting times we seem destined to live in. But nothing can perhaps be more shocking than a recent encounter I had with a young man. He had remarked quite innocently to my hearing that he wondered what all the noise was all about over the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola. "Who is he?", he asked. I almost passed out.

"Who is Chief M.K.O. Abiola? How old are you? When were you born?", I retorted, trying to figure out whether it is indeed possible for anyone in this country not to know who MKO Abiola is.  I followed up with another question.

"You mean you don't know who MKO is?"

"Why should I know him? Does he know me?"

      By now, I was sweating. It turned out that the young man was born in 1995, two years after the 1993 Presidential election, and he was still a toddler by the time of the return to civilian rule in 1999. Now 20 years old, and a university graduate, he has grown up inside Nigeria, never knowing the late MKO Abiola, the martyr of the struggle for democracy: the main man whose sacrifice and heroism resulted in a long, civil society protest against military rule. Abiola was in  addition, a major African philanthropist, a promoter of sports and one of the most remarkable figures in Nigerian history in the latter part of the 20^th Century. I tried to explain Abiola's significance to the young man.

"Good for him", was his response. I could sense that he wasn't excited.

       I had to take on the additional task of further urging him to check out the name on Google: the knowledge made-easy platform on which the young ones rely for quick information. I dare not ask him to read some books about that period in Nigerian history, knowing what new technology has done to many of our youth, who find it difficult to read anything that is more than a few easy paragraphs. My encounter with this particular young Nigerian ended with the sad feeling that there are many like him out there, already out of university and busy thinking of next steps in their lives but who know next to nothing about the history of their country. 

     I have had similar encounters in more recent times: young Nigerians who do not know the author of Things Fall Apart, and who have never heard of Lord Lugard, Ahmadu Bello, Bola Ige or Kaduna Nzeogwu. The other day, I stumbled on an exercise on social media in which someone posted the picture of Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and asked that he should be identified.  This generated some confusion as some referred to him as Adegoke Adelabu, and some of those who could identify him said Akintola was the one that uttered the famous phrase: "peculiar mess", which got translated by his Yoruba listeners to "penkelemesi".  The only relief I took away was that nobody said the picture was that of Aminu Kano or Sa'ad Zungur.  I imagine, at this rate, that a day may well come in the future when some young Nigerians may never have heard of Murtala Muhammed, or any of the present-day historical figures.

      This is one of those self-inflicted omissions in our development process. Close to two decades ago, history was removed from the primary and secondary school curricula as a core subject. The teaching of history also became threatened at the tertiary level, as it got labeled as one of those disciplines that cannot get anyone a job in the oil and gas sector or the banks.  In an attempt to remain relevant and avoid being shut down by the National Universities Commission, History Departments became creative by changing their content and nomenclature to History and Diplomatic Studies, or History and International Relations.  

     A succeeding generation of History graduates never failed to emphasize the suffixes. At the primary and secondary levels, history was replaced with social studies (which is at best a study of civics), or made optional, until it was even completely removed from the syllabus.  Years of lamentation by history teachers has not made any difference, but the point needs to be made ad nauseam, that the school curriculum must be reviewed to place a better emphasis on the learning and teaching of history.  It is in fact quite ironic that Religious Studies occupies a more privileged place in the Nigerian school curriculum: we are busy teaching our students and the future generation, the two major religions, and many of them grow up force-fed with only that kind of history that the religious books teach, along with the dogma. Today, we are harvesting the dangers.

 

       History is the connecting link between the past, the present and the future.  Serious nations take time out to teach students and the general populace the history of the people and their country, for it is only when a people know where they have been, where they are, and where they are going that they can better prepare themselves for challenges. The history of mankind is repetitive, another way of saying there is nothing new under the sun, by learning from other ages, we build the confidence to forge ahead. 

       Every country that cherishes memory and the art and culture of remembrance of all things past and present strengthens nationalism, a sense of citizenship and the current of knowledge in the public space. History is a truckload of mistakes made, from which we can draw lessons and accomplishments from which we can draw inspiration. It is also an instrument of power: colonialists in Africa did not teach the history of the colonized, they taught their own history, and insisted that Africans had no history, and no culture. It took a whole generation of African historians to insist on the existence and the authenticity of African history, and to tell our story to the world as a means of affirming identity, cultural heritage and independence. And yet today, this aspect of the struggle against mental slavery and domination has been abandoned.

     The teaching of history needs not be formal: indeed in developed countries, more history is taught informally, bits of history are inserted into the landscape of social being in various forms. These include different types of museums: natural history, art, aviation, technology, war. Monuments are erected at chosen locations to remind the people of the past. Homes and birthplaces of famous achievers, including writers, statesmen and war heroes are marked and described. Public buildings welcome visitors with history. Cultural products, including movies, are also used to promote national history and energize the populace. By the time a child grows up in the midst of all this, he develops a sense of awareness that guides his relationship with country. It is also for the same reason that professions, including the military, teach their own history, to project tradition and achievement. 

      The historical narrative, thus represented in many shapes, has defined many societies. We visit such societies, enjoy their spectacles, absorb their narratives, and even buy their mementoes, but here back home, we have no museums, telling any significant story. We have no public places preserving the memories of our heroes past. Every child in Ghana knows who Kwame Nkrumah is, because his legacy is well-preserved in the public space. Where are the Nigerian equivalents: we don't even keep official records anymore. Where is Nigeria's National Presidential library? A nation without a conscious promotion of its history, culture, landmarks, icons, symbols, monuments, and heroes is a society deserving of extinction.

        In the absence of a deliberate and structured effort to see history as a tool for national development, we have over the years left the telling of our story to revisionists playing games with national unity and promoting the enemies of amalgamation.  Revisionists are propagandists, masters of dogma, and promoters of falsehood and lies. They deliver their narratives in convenient short-hand formats and through rumours. Many of the young men today who are clamouring for secession have never read the history of the civil war; they are victims of a false single story, which says other Nigerians do not like Igbos.  The Yoruba landlord who does not want an Igbo tenant may not have heard that Igbos once represented Yorubas in parliament, or that Igbos have always been strong stakeholders in Lagos politics - all he knows is that silly story that Igbo tenants take their landlords to court, as if Yoruba tenants don't do the same.

       Those young men and women who allow themselves to be turned into foot-soldiers by Pastors and Imams, and who turn religion into a vehicle of violence have never been taught that those who did the same in the past in this same country got gunned down. Those religious groups who take over the highways and our streets, claiming they are holding a special revival or a procession, and who do not care about the rights of other road users and citizens have probably never read stories about the tension generated by such encounters between the state and religion. They all do not know that turning religion and ethnicity into enemies of the Nigerian state will ordinarily attract dire consequences because the state has a responsibility to allow freedom of expression but also an equal responsibility to prevent any form of abuse. By the same token, those trigger-happy security men who indulge in extra-judicial murder, have never read how such conduct indeed violates the dignity of the state, and sets a condition for the failure of government and state.  

     The historical sociology of the Nigerian condition points to much repetitiveness of social and political conduct with very little change in capacity to manage same, from the colonial period to the present.  Those who ignore history and fail to learn from it are bound to repeat it. And so, we keep repeating the same errors because we forget too easily. The process of national re-orientation must include a promotion of our history for national development purposes. It is not enough to admit that some of the worst fanatics using religion and ethnicity to threaten national integration are university graduates: this indicates a great omission in the curriculum; in form of the failure to use the education system to produce Nigerians who are first and foremost citizens with loyalty to country.

Great Ife and the Failure of the Gown by Reuben Abati

I HAVE been reading some depressing stories about the state of the Obafemi Awolowo University, formerly University of Ife, which provide an equally depressing metaphor for the state of higher education in Nigeria. Great Ife as that university is known to its staff, students and alumni, is probably Nigeria's first model university in every respect. Its major competitors were the University of Ibadan, the University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Who released, killed and ate our lion? by Reuben Abati

Jos Zoo Dead Lion

“Did they send you your own share of the bush meat?”
“Bush meat?”
“The lion in the zoo that became bush meat in Jos”
“What’s my own inside? I don’t know any zoo worker in Jos and how could a lion that was allowed out of its cage and got shot end up in my stomach. The kind of things you say sometimes.”
“That means you have not been following the story.”
“It is an animal tale”
“Created, concocted and delivered by animals in human skin, working in animal kingdom, telling us animal tales. What surprises me is the fact that there has been no public uproar, no outrage.”
“People are too busy thinking of how to survive as human beings, how to fight the current nationwide epidemic of empty pockets and stomachs, and survive the change in their lives.”
“But when a similar incident occurred at the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, there was serious outrage all over the world. Dr. Palmer, the American who killed the lion was the target of abuse and attacks. He even had to shut down his dental office. There were calls for his prosecution.”
“I know. In our case, the international community is indifferent. It is as if nothing has happened. A lion was killed in Zimbabwe; there was protest. A few days ago in Kenya, two Maasai herdsmen were charged for poisoning a lion.A lion is killed in Nigeria, not a whimper.“

A Reading List for Ministers by Reuben Abati

A day after the present set of Ministers took oath of office, Nigerians took to twitter to recommend books they think will be of use to them and provide necessary knowledge and guidance suitable for the discharge of their various assignments. Tolu Ogunlesi initiated the idea with the tag: #ReadingListNG, and a request that the name of Ministers should be indicated alongside book title and url link. The exercise turned out to be so popular with all manner of bibliophiles loading our time lines with book titles.

     In the end, Kathleen Ndongmo, the Cameroonian lady with a keen interest in all things Nigerian, storified the various suggestions. The assumption that informed the reading list is not difficult to explain: the received wisdom is that persons in such important positions should be knowledge seekers, knowledge workers as well, and that in the age of knowledge and information, it will be disastrous indeed to have any dandified ignoramus at the highest levels of government. After all, "Reading maketh the man" Francis Bacon said. #ReadingListNG is thus at once an admonition, a reminder and a statement about the importance of reading, and in every respect, a worthy proposition. 

Sugabelly, Rape and Audu's Sons by Reuben Abati

You probably don't know Sugabelly. I don't know her either. But it is the twitter handle of a Nigerian lady: @sugabelly, who in the wake of the death of former Governor Abubakar Audu of Kogi State felt the urge to go public with her story. My foregrounding her/story as opposed to his/story is further affirmation of an earlier submission that Audu's death is "inconclusive" (The Guardian, Nov 27).

As the rest of Nigeria mourned the death of Abubakar Audu and pondered the implications of an inconclusive electoral process, Sugabelly showed up on social media and started celebrating his death. Her message was that the death of the man was good riddance to bad rubbish. "I feel so amazing", she wrote. "Like God actually answered my prayers… That's usually how it is.

Powerful people rarely remember the people whose lives they destroy." She alleged that Audu's sons once gang-raped her-seven of them, when she was an impressionable 17-year old and that Governor Audu used his position as a big man to rubbish her, slammed her with a $2 million libel suit, denied her from getting justice, with his lawyers insisting that "14 years" is the age of consent under the Penal Code in the FCT, and so there is no case.

The Man Who Would Be Governor by Reuben Abati

The Poet Mr. Odia Ofeimun

One of the finest persons I have been privileged to know is Odia Ofeimun: the man has a clean heart, he is completely incapable of malice, and in the face of all odds, he has a sunny view of life, add to that his incandescent mind, his absolute brilliance from which has poured forth a prodigious volume of poetry collections, books, essays, years of journalism practice and a reputation as a public intellectual of the very first rank. Odia as I call him, although he is more popularly known asBaba among the younger generation of writers, is also an incurable idealist, very stubborn to a fault with his idealism and this is where we oftentimes differ.

      He has been insisting to my hearing for more than a decade that one of his ambitions is to become the Governor of Edo State and knowing Odia's frame of mind and constitution, I always laughed this off as a big joke, urging him to face reality and not behave like the Hornbill which incidentally is the name of the publishing house that he runs. When Odia is hooked on an idea, it is difficult to separate him from that idea, more so as he has the mental capacity to develop any subject at all into a grand, compelling narrative. And that is what he seems to have done with his obsession with being the Governor of his home state.

Audu’s inconclusive death; Mugabe’s wheelchair by Reuben Abati

Late Abubakar Audu

“You look sleepy”
“My brother, let’s just say I slept at a fuel station, looking for fuel.”
 “For which of the women in your life, because I hear these days, to please a woman in Nigeria, you must be ready to supply the three major things lacking in the land: money, fuel, and happiness.”
“Leave that matter, please. My condolences on the death of your man, Governor Abubakar Audu”
“We thank God for his life. He played his part.”
“To be so close to breasting the tape and then fall.”
“I know. I know. May be if he had not insisted on running again for the office of Governor in Kogi state, he would still be alive today.”
“The man drove himself too hard, publicly and privately. He ran for every Gubernatorial election in Kogi state since 1991. There must be something special in being Governor for him.”
“Don’t speak ill of the dead, I beg you. Simple etiquette.”
“But you know now?”
“I don’t know nothing”
“Then the man went and married a young, 23-year old. If the election had been concluded and the man had won, the First Lady of Kogi state would have been a 23-year old lady! Those who seek public office should always weigh their lifestyle and their health against their ambition, but politicians act as if they are superhuman.”
“Can you stop?”
“A 74-year old man, with a 23-year old wife. That alone is enough to give anybody hypertension.”
“He was 68”
“Official age. He was 74, somebody told me.”
“Excuse me! Respect the dead, please.  Abubakar Audu was a democrat extraordinary, a courageous politician, a visionary, selfless, man of the people, and his party’s popular choice.”
“My view is that it is not the election in Kogi that is inconclusive per se, a supplementary election will be organized, a winner will emerge; it is Audu’s death that is inconclusive considering the many issues it has thrown up.”
“What kind of talk is that? Death is final. It is the cessation of all things, a necessary end.”
“Nothing has ended with Abubakar Audu’s death oh. Did you not see the desperate efforts made to get some Prophets to resurrect him? And some people actually believed that he could be the Lazarus of our time!  They started jubilating.”
“That is concrete proof of his popularity. But I was shocked seeing Nigerians will believe anything, and being so superstitious. Even the grave diggers stopped digging, waiting for the prophets to perform a miracle.”
“I hear there was a meeting of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the Kogi election but the moment the prophets waded in, even INEC suspended its meeting and did not reconvene until the prophets failed.”
“Only in Africa!”
 “When the Prophets didn’t deliver, people got angry. They could have lynched those Prophets”
“Well, at least, some people will now know that the prophets are not always right in the age of biology and science.  Who could have been behind such a hare-brained scheme?”
“The man’s in-laws, for example.
“Oh, come on”
“Or persons who may have been promised appointments and contracts. Or it could be persons who invested in his candidacy. Elections in Nigeria are business investments. The investors must have thought of a last minute strategy to reverse the situation. Simple economics. ”
“You and your theories. The same people will do business with whoever eventually wins the election, anyway.”
“There is also the inconclusive matter of the 23-year old wife.  When the death was announced, many commentators on social media were more concerned about the young widow. Comments about how she will cope, what she would do next. One guy asked for her phone numbers.”
“Stupid, callous fellow.”
“Another fellow actually said he was ready to inherit all of Audu’s assets and liabilities in that regard.”
“Let him go ahead. Ole!”
“Besides, Audu’s death has turned everybody into a Constitutional expert. What happens if a candidate dies in the course of an inconclusive election? Who becomes the new candidate?”
“Simple. The APC will field another candidate, appeal to whoever is aggrieved within the party to step down until an appropriate candidate who definitely must be Igala, is identified. I don’t see the APC fielding any candidate who will automatically make them lose the election.”
“You think the APC candidate must still be Igala? But nothing is ever that straightforward in Nigerian politics.”
“Of course, otherwise, it will be a walk-over for Governor Idris Wada. The Igalas have the numbers. Politics is a game of numbers. The stakes are high. I foresee many court cases”
“Let them field Audu’s young widow then”
“Are you out of your mind? Why are you so obsessed with this lady?”
“Or may be his son. Does he have any son who is qualified? Let them make it a family affair. If he had supported his son as a candidate…But people just don’t know when to quit and hand over to the next generation.”
“With a 23-year old wife, he was definitely committed to the next generation.”
“Some people are of the view that his running mate should just run with the mandate, but I don’t think the circumstances favour him. He is from a minority group in Kogi state. He is a Christian, and the party may not back him.”
“Poor James Faleke”
“Yeah, he must be troubled. What if he and Audu had won. And they had been sworn in. But now, there are no guarantees.”
“God’s will is supreme. That is one lesson we all must learn from all this. Remember Abacha? When it was time, God intervened. We are all pencils in God’s hands. You can amass all the wealth in the world, marry all the young women, misapply the people’s money, get so close to Cannan, but you can then fall sick and die. In life, things happen and all you have left is six feet, rich or poor, six feet.”
“Six feet”
 “I hope Robert Mugabe knows this. I hope Grace Mugabe knows.”
“Why Robert Mugabe?”
“Didn’t you read that story about 50-year old Grace Mugabe, First Lady of Zimbabwe, buying her Robert, a special wheelchair?”
“The way you pronounced Robert, you make it sound like Robot”

Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace Mugabe

“Isn’t that what the 91-year old President of Zimbabwe has become, a Robot. Grace Mugabe’s Robot”
“Sad. In his days, Robert Mugabe, multiple degrees holder, was a shining star. And now, his wife is pushing him around”
“She actually has a PhD, awarded in two months, without examination or dissertation, by her Robert in his capacity as Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe!”
“Mugabe! A Pan-Africanist, who stood up to the British and neo-colonial imperialism; today, he is falling down at public functions, he reads the wrong speech in parliament, he is old and tired, and yet he won’t quit.”
“He should. Zimbabwe already has the oldest President in the world, and he has been in power since 1980- 35 years!”

Modupe Adekunle: The Comrade Head of Service by Reuben Abati

Modupe Adekunle: The Comrade Head of Service by Reuben Abati

Mrs Modupe Adekunle

BREAKING Barriers: A Autobiography (Diamond Communications Network, Abeokuta; 2015) is the title of the autobiography of Mrs. Modupe Abibat Adekunle who retired from the Ogun State civil service on September 30, 2015, upon her completion of the statutory 35 years in service.

This book has been published to put on record, the highlights of her experience as a career public servant, and also to tell the story of her life as she attains the age of 60 on November 11, 2015. It is essentially a civil servant's narrative: completely shorn of politics, polite, appreciative, stays within the limits of obligations, not giving any state secrets away, not violating any rules and regulations, and full of lessons. It is a book that all categories of readers will find useful and instructive, be they parents, young persons seeking a life of meaning, civil servants, public administrators, labour unionists, or the general reader.

Photos: Fmr. President Jonathan's 58th Birthday

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Reuben Abati

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Family

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Family

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Family

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan's 58th Birthday Cake

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Family

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Family

Fmr. President Goodluck Jonathan and Family

Suu Kyi and the Burmese “Spring” by Reuben Abati

Suu Kyi and the Burmese "Spring" by Reuben Abati

Aung San Suu Kyi writes in Letters from Burma:  "I have never ceased to be moved by the sense of the world lying quiescent and vulnerable, waiting to be awakened by the light of the new day quivering just beyond the horizon…"  That new day and awakening arrived on November 8 on Burma's (Myanmar) 2015 election day and with the subsequent announcement of the final tally of the election results. But something even more remarkable happened. The military leaders have congratulated Suu Kyi and her party. The elections have been adjudged free and fair.

       

The ordinary Burmese who trooped out in large numbers as early as 6 am to vote, are excited. It is tempting to conclude that Burma has just had its own equivalent of a Spring! The people wanted change. They have voted for it. Aung San Suu Kyi is the symbol of their hope, the irrepressible icon of their struggle. The people of Burma have shown that if they are allowed to speak, they will speak clearly about what they want. The powerless of Burma have found power at the polls. It was a vote not necessarily against incumbent President Thein Sein whose reforms have further opened up Burma and made change possible, but a referendum on years of corrosive military repression.

Super Ministers and Other Stories by Reuben Abati

President Buhari and the new Ministers

Super Ministers and other stories

By Reuben Abati

HAVE you congratulated our new Ministers?"
"I am still thinking about it, actually. I don't know whether to congratulate them or to commiserate or to pity some of them. They have merged Ministries that need not be merged. Some Perm Secs are now floating. Six months and this is it?"
"What kind of talk is that? You have come again oh".
"I wonder too. At least you can see that round pegs have been put in round holes, and shame on all you doubting Thomases, our government is good to go."
""Who is talking politics? Can we discuss Nigeria and leave politics out of it? And please, leave that thing about pegs. Some pegs are neither round nor square, they are misshaped."
"Everything is political."

Wole Soyinka: A Sojourner among Liars by Reuben Abati

WS: A sojourner among liars

By Reuben Abati

PROFESSOR Wole Soyinka was quoted saying his latest book is the "nastiest" that he has written so far.

Professor Wole Soyinka

InterInventions: Between Defective Memory and the Public Lie- A Personal Odyssey in The Republic of Liars (Ibadan: Bookcraft, 2015, 136pp) is quite close to being just that. But who knows if an even nastier book may follow as Soyinka embarks on the task of exposing lies in our Republic as he has promised that InterInventions, a follow up to Interventions series (I-IV) will be dedicated solely to the dismantling of lies in the public space: malicious and non-malicious lies, lies told, lies magnified, lies fraudulent, murderous lies, accidental lies, uttered from depraved minds whose sole intention is to create burdens for their victims; malign, impugn and lower the other so they can be raised or their stomachs can be nourished at other's expense.

Biafra, O’odua, and the 7th lesson, by Reuben Abati

Democracy does not necessarily translate into the disappearance of crises and dilemmas, (even trilemmas, quadrilemmas or more) in a country, either developed, developing or perhaps evolutionary. Built into the fabric of the right to choose is also the right to make mistakes and so, across Africa at this moment, in Nigeria, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Burundi, Guinea Conakry, Rwanda, the lessons are being driven home, as elections are being held or have been held or will be held, that even as democracy spreads within the continent, the tension between stabilization and consolidation, trade offs and efficiency, pessimism and optimism, ethnocentrism and nationalism, remains a major concern.      Whatever the challenges may be however, both local and international authorities have a duty to ensure that the people learn from their mistakes, build on those mistakes positively, and prevent a relapse to either militarism or militarized democracy disguised either as benevolent democracy or charismatic autocracy, or ethnic revanchism as an option for national movement.  The people’s right to make mistakes, oxymoronic as it may seem, is part of the democratic challenge. In Nigeria, our biggest mistake lies in the strange assumption that our problems will disappear simply through intra-elite displacement or the symbolism of grand gestures.  And so, we end up with a boringly repetitive national life cycle.

Six lessons we have learnt by Reuben Abati

THE democratic experience in Nigeria has definitely been a continuing learning curve, and the more lessons we learn at various active centres: people, platforms and processes, the richer our democracy, the stronger the society evolves to deliver a brighter future for the sovereign.

The greatest residue of our democracy in the last 16 years (1999–2015), I think, is the manner in which our community has been enriched by lessons that have practically changed our lives. The democratic deficit is less than the gain; for us, democracy is essentially liberative and should endure.

Clark, the father, Jonathan, the son

Chief Edwin Clark

I HAVE tried delaying the writing of this piece in the honest expectation that someone probably misquoted Chief E.K. Clark, when he reportedly publicly disowned former President Goodluck Jonathan.
I had hoped that our dear father, E.K. Clark, would issue a counter statement and say the usual things politicians say: “they quoted me out of context!”  “Jonathan is my son”. That has not happened; rather, some other Ijaw voices, including one Joseph Evah, have come to the defence of the old man, to join hands in rubbishing a man they once defended to the hilt and used as a bargaining chip for the Ijaw interest in the larger Nigerian geo-politics.
If President Jonathan had returned to power on May 29, 2015, these same persons would have remained in the corridors of power, displaying all forms of ethnic triumphalism. It is the reason in case they do not realize it, why the existent power blocs that consider themselves most fit to rule, continue to believe that those whose ancestors never ran empires can never be trusted with power, hence they can only be admitted as other people’s agents or as merchants of their own interests which may even be defined for them as is deemed convenient. Mercantilism may bring profit, but in power politics, it destroys integrity and compromises otherwise sacred values.

Reuben Abati Never Betrayed Me - Kayode Ajala

REUBEN ABATI NEVER BETRAYED ME! – KAYODE AJALA

Ever since my very good friend and brother, Dr Reuben Abati was appointed as the Special Adviser, Media, to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, I've had to contend with a number of issues concerning my relationship with him. Issues which, I must say, I consider quite unsavoury. The most disturbing of such issues is the one which postulates that Reuben Abati is a traitor, a betrayer and one who abandoned his friends immediately after he got the plum job at the Presidency. I was often singled out for mention as one of those betrayed by the former presidential spokesman.
My initial reaction was to simply ignore this falsehood, believing that it was just another tale that would blow away without causing any harm. But lately, I began to have a rethink, especially when I read a story in an online platform stating categorically that Reuben had shamelessly betrayed me and Ovation Publisher, Dele Momodu. And you know, when a lie is repeated over and over without being challenged, it soon begins to sound like the truth.
To start with, I do not remember complaining to anyone, living or dead, that Reuben had ever betrayed me in one way or the other. Never! It's true that society has expectations. I recall that no sooner had Reuben Abati been announced as the presidential spokesman than my phones began to ring none stop. And I couldn't help but wonder as to why I was getting all the attention that I got at that time. Those who knew of my closeness to Reuben called me, those who didn't even know but who heard from somebody who also heard from somebody called me; those who had never called me sought out my phone number and called me up. My phones rang endlessly. What were they all calling me for?
Well, my friend Reuben had gotten a job at the Presidency of Nigeria where the 'only thing they do is share money in different currencies of the world', so they were all calling to congratulate me. Some even went as far as saying that it was my time to 'chop and clean mouth,' after all, my friend had been appointed and it was certain that he would put me in his portfolio and sneak me into Aso Rock. Others came up with different proposals as to how Reuben and I could become billionaires within months. For me, it was quite amusing. I listened, I smiled and I kept my cool while praying for the success of Reuben Abati on this serious national assignment.
Predictably, when days turned into weeks and weeks into months and months into years and the foregoing expectation did not turn into reality, the rumour mills went agog. The same set of people who called me up to congratulate me (as if I was the one appointed) when Reuben got the appointment, turned around to begin to spread stories of condemnation and bitterness. They became overnight historians, reminding me of so many things that they actually know nothing about.
According to them, I was the one who brought Reuben to Lagos, took him to Dr Ibe Kachikwu (Hints magazine publisher now N.N.P.C. Group Managing Director) and helped him to get a column at Hints. I was also the one who accommodated him for years before he found his feet and bla, bla, bla. They wanted me to be angry with Reuben, they wanted me to be bitter with him but even as they spoke, my indifference was clear.
What they probably forgot to add was that I was also the one who married a wife for Reuben, I was the one who helped him to sleep with his wife to bear all the children they have, I was also the one who bought him his first car and built his first house for him, I was the one who got him a job at the Guardian and even helped him to make a success of his career. Yes! I was the one who instructed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to appoint Abati as presidential spokesman. Arrant nonsense!!!
Now, I need to tell them what they don't know about Reuben Abati and I. Reuben and I enjoy a relationship that dates back to a time that both of us can hardly remember. But I do remember that we were kids when we first met. His parents' house at Abeokuta was not too far from mine. And the secondary schools we attended at Abeokuta were just a stone throw from each other. As secondary school students, Reuben and I belonged to the Literary and Debating Society of our different schools and whenever the schools had a contest, Reuben and I would lead the debating teams against each other.
When I wrote my first degree project in 1986, it was to Reuben that I reached out for help when the whole thing became too complicated for me. When I got married in 1992, Reuben Abati was my Best man. When he got married later in the same year, I was the Best man. His first son, Funlade, who is now a Lawyer, shares the same birthdate of February 21st with me. His late father was my father. My late father was his father as well. After his wedding in 1992, it was to my late father that we went, straight from the venue of the wedding, for blessings.
I recall one night when Reuben and I sat on the bed with his aged father and the old man spent hours advising us and telling us that no matter what happens, we must remain brothers and friends. I recall other times when we would sit with my own father and he would shower prayers on us…Reuben Abati and I have come a long way. Even now, there are things that Reuben and I have shared that remain our closely guarded secret, between just the two of us! My relationship with Reuben Abati transcends what I can get out of him or what he can get out of me.
Having said that, if I need to reach out to him for any form of assistance, I would not think twice before doing so ditto for him! Unlike what was written in the online report, we are still very much in touch. He, it was who sent me the link of the story written about us, in that online medium. Just a few days back, I called him concerning the plan of some ex Hints staff to honour our former boss, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, who had just been appointed as Group Managing Director of N.N.P.C. A couple of years back, I fell quite ill and it was my friend who picked up the hospital bill. When my last child was born a few years back, Abati was there for my family. Recently, I reached out to him on a pressing issue and he responded with alacrity… So please, let the tales stop. Reuben Abati has never betrayed me and I don't even see that ever happening.
True, there has been a groundswell of resentment and condemnation against Reuben Abati since he took the appointment under President Jonathan. Many can simply not come to terms with the reality that a man who'd been seen as the voice of the masses could turn around to join the establishment. Reuben's plight, methinks, stems from the resentment against the Jonathan government. How does one function as the spokesman of such a President without receiving a backlash? Perhaps if Reuben's appointment had come under President Buhari, the heat wouldn't have been this intense…Who knows?
I know that there have been cases of favour seekers, sycophants and bootlickers who have gone to Reuben to bad mouth me because they believe that is the most effective way to get favours from him. Such people have come to me too, to badmouth him. They shuttle between the two of us driven by the pangs of hunger in their stomachs. But I tell you; between Reuben Abati and I that strategy won't work…It just can't work. Reuben Abati has never betrayed me!
kayodeajala@yahoo.co.uk

The Phones no Longer Ring by Reuben Abati

The Phones no Longer Ring by Reuben Abati

As spokesman to President Goodluck Jonathan, my phones rang endlessly and became more than personal navigators within the social space. They defined my entire life; dusk to dawn, all year-round. The phones buzzed non-stop, my email was permanently active; my twitter account received tons of messages per second.  The worst moments were those days when there was a Boko Haram attack virtually every Sunday.

     The intrusion into my private life was total as my wife complained about her sleep being disrupted by phones that never seemed to stop ringing. Besides, whenever I was not checking or responding to the phones, I was busy online trying to find out if the APC had said something contrarian or some other fellow was up to any mischief. A media manager in the 21st century is a slave of the Breaking News, a slave particularly of the 24-hour news cycle, and a potential nervous breakdown case. Debo Adesina, my colleague at The Guardian once said I was running a "one week, one trouble schedule". There were actually moments when trouble knocked on the door every hour, and duty required my team and I to respond to as many issues that came up.

   Top of the task list was the management of phone calls related to the principal. In my first week on the job, for example, one of my phones ran out of battery and I had taken the liberty to charge it. While it was still in the off mode, the "Control Room": the all-powerful communications centre at the State House tried to reach me. They had only just that phone number, so I couldn't be reached. When eventually they did, the fellow at the other end was livid.

"SA Media, where are you? We have been trying to reach you. Mr President wants to speak with you"

"Sorry, I was charging my phone.  The phone was off."

"Sir, you can't switch off your phone now.  Mr President must be able to reach you at any time. You must always be available."  I was like: "really? Which kin job be dis?"

The Control Room eventually collected all my phone numbers. If I did not pick up a call on time, they called my wife. Sometimes the calls came directly from the Residence, as we referred to the President's official quarters.

"Abati, Oga dey call you!"

If I still could not be reached, every phone that was ever connected to me would ring non-stop. Busy bodies who had just picked up the information that Abati was needed also often took it upon themselves to track me down. My wife soon got used to her being asked to produce me, or a car showing up to take me straight to the Residence. I eventually got used to it, and learnt to remain on duty round-the-clock.  In due course, President Jonathan himself would call directly. My wife used to joke that each time there was a call from him, even if I was sleeping, I would spring to my feet and without listening to what he had to say, I would start with a barrage of "Yes sirs"! Other calls that could not be joked with were calls from my own office. Something could come up that would require coverage, or there could be a breaking story, or it could be something as harmless as office gossip, except that in the corridors of power, nothing is ever harmless. Looking back now, I still can't figure out how I survived that onslaught of the terror of the telephone.

     Of equal significance were the calls from journalists who wanted clarifications on issues of the moment, or the President's opinion on every issue. I don't need to remind anyone who lived in Nigeria during the period, that we had a particularly interesting time. The Jonathan government had to deal from the very first day with a desperate and hyper-negative opposition, which gained help from a crowd of naysayers who bought into their narrative. I was required to respond to issues. Bad news sells newspapers and attracts listeners/viewers. Everything had to be managed.  You knew something had happened as the phones rang, and the text messages, emails, twitter comments poured in. The media could not be ignored. Interfacing with every kind of journalist was my main task.  I learnt many lessons,  a subject for another day.  And the busy bodies didn't make things easy.

      If in 1980, the media manager had to deal with print and broadcast journalists, today, the big task is the dilemma of the over-democratization of media practice in the age of information. The question used to be asked in Nigerian media circles: who is a journalist? Attempts were subsequently made to produce a register of professionals but that is now clearly an illusion. The media of the 21st Century is the strongest evidence we have for the triumph of democracy. Everybody is a journalist now, once you can purchase a phone or a laptop, or an ipad and you can take pictures, set up a blog, or go on instagram, linked-in, viber etc.

     All kinds of persons have earned great reputation as editors and opinion influencers on social media where you don't have to make sense to attract followers. The new stars and celebrities are not necessarily the most educated or knowledgeable, but those who with 140 words or less, or with a picture or a borrowed quote,  can produce fast-food type public intellectualism, or can excite with a little display of the exotic -Kadarshian, Nicki Minaj style.  But I was obligated to attend to all calls. The ones who didn't receive an answer complained about Abati not picking their calls.

     My defence was that most editors in Nigeria have correspondents in the State House. Every correspondent had access to me. There was no way I could be accused of not picking calls, and in any case, there were other channels: instagram, twitter direct message, email, and media assistants who could interface with me. But this was the main challenge: while in public office, people treat you as if you are at their mercy, they threaten to sabotage you and get you sacked, every phone call was a request with a price attached, you get clobbered; you are treated like you had committed a crime to serve your nation. Relatives and privileged kinsmen struggled with you to do the job - media management is that one assignment in which everyone is an expert even if their only claim to relevance is that they once had an uncle who was a newspaper vendor!

      The thinking that anyone who opts to serve is there to make money in that famous arena for primitive accumulation partly accounts for this. And that takes me to those phone calls from persons who solicited for financial help as if there was a tree at the Villa that produced money. Such people would never believe that government officials don't necessarily have access to money. They wanted to be assisted: to pay school fees, to settle medical bills, to build a house, purchase a car, complete an uncompleted building, or link them up with the President. Everybody wanted a part of the national cake and they thought a phone call was all they needed.  If you offered any explanation, they reminded you that you'd be better off on the lecture circuit. Businessmen also hovered around the system like bees around nectar.   

       But what to do? "Volenti non fit injuria," the principle says.  There were also calls from the unkind lot. "I have called you repeatedly, you did not pick my calls. I hope you know that you will leave government one day!".  Or those who told you point blank that they were calling because you were in the position as their representative and that you owed them a living.  Or that other crowd who said, "it is our brother that has given you that opportunity, you must give us our share."

       The Presidential election went as it did, and everything changed. Days after,  State House became Ghost House. The Residence, which used to receive visitors as early as 6 am, (regular early morning devotion attendees) became quiet. The throng of visitors stopped. The number of phone calls began to drop. By May 29, my phones had stopped ringing as they used to. They more or less became museum pieces; their silence reminding me of the four years of my life that proved so momentous. On one occasion, after a whole day of silence, I had to check if the phones were damaged! As it were, a cynical public relates to you not as a person, but as the office you occupy; the moment you leave office, the people move on; erasing every memory, they throw you into yesterday's dustbin.  Opportunism is the driver of the public's relationship with public officials.

      Today, the phones remain loudly silent, with the exception of calls from those friends who are not gloating, who have been offering words of commendation and support. They include childhood friends, former colleagues, elderly associates, fans, and family members. And those who want interviews with President Jonathan, both local and international - they want his reaction on every development, so many of them from every part of the planet. But he is resting and he has asked me to say he is not ready yet to say anything. It is truly, a different moment, and indeed, "no condition is permanent." The ones who won't give up with the stream of phone calls and text messages are those who keep pestering me with requests for financial assistance. I am made to understand that there is something called "special handshake" and that everyone who goes into government is supposed to exit with carton loads of cash. I am in no position to assist such people, because no explanation will make sense to them. Here I am, at the crossroads; I am glad to be here.  

- See more at: http://www.reubenabati.com.ng/2015-07-25-The-phones-no-longer-ring-By-Reuben-Abati.html#.dpuf

PHOTOS: G7 SUMMIT IN GERMANY

PIX 1: FROM LEFT: UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL, MR BANKI MOON; PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI AND FOREIGN MINISTER OF GERMANY, MR FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER AT A COCKTAIL RECEPTION FOR HEADS OF STATES AND GOVERNMENTS PARTICIPATING AT THE G7 SUMMIT IN MUNICH, GERMANY ON SUNDAY 7 JUNE, 2015

PIX 2: PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI WITH OTHER HEADS OF STATES AND GOVERNMENTS

PARTICIPATING AT THE G7 SUMMIT IN MUNICH, GERMANY ON SUNDAY 8 JUNE, 2015

PIX 3: PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI (R) ARRIVING MUNICH, GERMANY FOR THE G7 SUMMIT, ON SUNDAY 9 JUNE, 2015

PIX 4: PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI (R) RECEIVING BOUQUET OF FLOWER FROM CHILDREN ON HIS ARRIVING IN MUNICH, GERMANY FOR THE G7 SUMMIT, ON SUNDAY 10 JUNE, 2015

PIX 5: PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI BEING WELCOMED BY MINISTER /PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF BAVARIA, MR HORST SEEHOFER 11 JUNE, 2015

NIGERIAN ARMY STILL CAPABLE OF ROUTING BOKO HARAM - BUHARI

​NIGERIAN ARMY STILL CAPABLE OF ROUTING BOKO HARAM -- BUHARI

President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Niamey, Niger Republic, expressed confidence in ability of the Nigerian military to overcome and eradicate Boko Haram.

Speaking at  an interactive session with journalists after  talks with President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger, President Buhari declared  that  the Nigerian Army which has  earned a good reputation across the world, remains a virile fighting force.

"I am four days in office today and we have already started the process of ending the insurgency," the President said.

He disclosed that in the course of the over five hours meeting he held with heads of Nigeria's Armed Forces and Security Agencies yesterday, on-going operations against Boko Haram were reviewed for better results.

President Buhari said that because of the  peculiarities of terrorism, the   movement of terrorists across borders and the unconventional nature of the war against terror,  Nigeria will continue to seek the support of neighbouring countries in its bid to overcome Boko Haram.

The President said that his visit to Niger was to seek more support from the country in bringing a quick end to  the atrocities of Boko Haram.

President Buhari said he would hold similar meetings on security and the war against terrorism with the  Chadian authorities after leaving Niamey on Thursday.

The President  said Nigeria would also require the assistance of other nations and multi-lateral institutions to rebuild areas  that have been adversely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency and rehabilitate displaced persons.

In his remarks, the President of Niger commended President Buhari for making Niger the first country he will visit after his inauguration.

"Your decision to move the military command of Nigeria to the North East has further strengthened our conviction that the war against terrorism will soon come to an end," he told President Buhari, while assuring him that Niger will continue to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.

At the opening of bilateral talks between Nigeria and Niger earlier, President Buhari praised his hosts' contributions to the on-going multi-national effort against terrorism, insurgency and cross-border crimes.

"Permit me also to acknowledge the consistency with which the government and people of Niger Republic have stood beside Nigeria under all circumstances. I would like to convey the appreciation of Nigeria for the sacrifices by Niger in the on-going efforts to counter the menace of the Boko Haram insurgency.

"Niger Republic has over the years, proven to be a reliable ally to Nigeria both at bilateral and multilateral levels. It is our hope and aspiration that this special relationship would be further consolidated during my administration.

"My administration will bring new impetus and a renewed commitment to the efforts to wipe out the menace of the Boko Haram insurgents. As a first step, we have directed the relocation of the command post of the counter-insurgency operations to Maiduguri until such a time that the insurgency is completely defeated.

"Another issue of concern to us which is closely associated with the insurgency in the region is the influx of refugees and other displaced persons. We are aware that currently, there are over one hundred and fifty thousand displaced persons comprising refugees and returnees taking refuge in various parts of Niger.

"Our administration will work closely with governments of the affected States to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced persons and their host communities.

"The ultimate objective however, remains to end the insurgency and facilitate their return to their homes," President Buhari said.

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant  to the President
(Media and Publicity)
June 3, 2015

PRESIDENT JONATHAN'S HAND OVER NOTES TO PRESIDENT-ELECT MUHAMMADU BUHARI

REMARKS BY

HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR,

ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF HAND OVER NOTES

TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT,

MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR

THURSDAY, 28^TH MAY, 2015

PROTOCOLS

1.     I welcome you all to this occasion of the formal presentation of the Hand-over notes of my Administration to the in-coming Administration of the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.

2.   This event and tomorrow's inauguration of a new administration are truly historic as it is the first time in the history of our nation that we are witnessing the democratic and orderly transfer of power at the Federal level from one political party to another.

3.   The Hand-over notes which we now present, contain the governance philosophy, strategies, policies, programmes and activities of my Administration for the period - 2011-2015. Also to be found in the notes are the objectives, targets and implementation strategies, achievements and challenges of our key policies, schemes, initiatives as well as the status of commitments and liabilities of the various MDAs.

4.   As we hand over the affairs of the nation, it is appropriate to recall that at inception, in May 2011, we committed ourselves to consolidating national unity through democratization and good governance. Our assessment then, and our firm belief ever since, is that the unity of Nigeria, the security, well-being, greater freedoms and opportunities for all citizens must remain the primary objectives of government.

5.    The Agenda for National Transformation which we did our best to implement consisted of clear and consistent governance strategies, policies, plans, programmes and projects, in all facets of our national life. Emphasis was placed on human and state security, democratization, sound economic management, as well as structural and institutional reforms.

6.   Our foremost concern was the unity of Nigeria.  In keeping with that concern, we engineered a process that began with a review of issues outstanding from previous Constitutional Conferences by the Belgore Committee. After that, we widened political consultations through a National Dialogue that was orchestrated through the Okurounmu Committee. These culminated in the all-inclusive National Conference which unanimously reaffirmed that Nigeria must remain united and indivisible.

7.    The Conference also made resolutions and recommendations for serious constitutional, political and governance reforms, which we have forwarded to the National Assembly for appropriate legislative action. It is our hope that the incoming Government will accord the Report of the National Conference the very high priority that it deserves, as a genuine expression of the will of our people.

8.   The recognition that the starting point for good governance is the legitimacy of the government itself informed our commitment to promoting free and fair elections.

9.   It also motivated innovations in the management and conduct of elections which we undertook. Hopefully, in the years ahead, those innovations will be properly and fully implemented so that Nigerians will be even more assured of the integrity of the electoral system and the legitimacy of any government that it produces.

10.   To strengthen the social contract between the government and the governed, we institutionalized the rule of law as well as the independence of the legislature and the judiciary. We also promoted group and individual freedoms. As a result, there is vast expansion in democratic, social and economic space for all citizens.

11.  Our nation and citizens faced many new challenges over the past four years but the greatest was the vastly increased menace of Boko Haram with their mindless terror, mass killings, utter ruthlessness, kidnapping of innocent children and other unspeakable acts of brutality.

12. We should all remember that Boko Haram's emergence predated our administration going as far back as 2002. The group however became extremely malignant with the killing of its leader, Mohammed Yusuf in July 2009.

13.   It therefore became an urgent task for us to effectively confront the great threat Boko Haram posed to the security and well-being of our people. To do so, we overhauled and virtually reinvented our security architecture to confront Boko Haram and its insurgency. We re-organized our security apparatus. We re-equipped and fully motivated our forces.

14.   Victory is now in sight and within our reach. However, the cost in blood of citizens and heroes; and the diversion of national treasure from urgent needs for development have been very high. While more than 500 women and children have been rescued from the clutches of Boko Haram thus far by our security forces, it remains my sincere hope and prayer that our beloved daughters from Chibok will soon be reunited with us.

15.  I wish to thank the Nigerian people for their resilience and patience. I also wish to pay very special and personal tribute to all the men and women of our valiant armed forces and security agencies. Their sacrifice and dedication have brought us thus far.

16.  While striving to overcome our national security challenges, we still gave necessary attention to economic development. Our goal was to achieve long-term economic growth and stability, improve the quality and quantum of infrastructure and enhance human capital development.

17.  Our financial system reforms included the Treasury Single Account [TSA] that unified the structure of government accounts for all MDAs and thereby brought order to cash flow management; and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System [GIFMIS] was introduced to plug leakages and waste of resources. The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System [IPPIS] weeded out 60,450 ghost workers in 359 out of 425 MDAs, yielding N185.4 billionin savings to the Federal government. 

18.   Improved Revenue Mobilization was achieved through improvements in the laws and compliance measures. In 2013 alone, these measures resulted in a 69% rise in Federal tax revenues from N2.8 trillion to N4.8 trillion. Also, Waiver Policy and Trade Facilitation were reformed to create a more rational regime. Our emphasis shifted to granting waivers to specific sectors instead of individual companies and the Sovereign Wealth Fund was established to provide stabilization from external shocks, provide funding for critical infrastructure and savings for future generations.

19.   Our Financial Sector reforms addressed the issues of inefficiencies in the coordination and monitoring of the financial system. Our policies promoted transparency, better risk management, new banking models and payment systems. We established the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria as a resolution mechanism for toxic banking assets. We strengthened banking supervision and enhanced public confidence in Nigerian Bank​.​

20.   Similarly, we undertook innovative reforms for job creation and repositioned the manufacturing, agriculture and housing sectors. Specifically, it was observed that over the years, job creation did not keep pace with economic growth. Thus unemployment, especially amongst the youth was assuming alarming dimensions.

21.  To address this, my administration made job creation a key consideration for all programmes in the Transformation Agenda. Emphasis was also shifted towards empowering youths to become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers, through such initiatives as Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN), Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), the SURE-P Technical Vocational Education and Training Programme (TVET) and the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP).

22.  Manufacturing in Nigeria faces many challenges, including poor power supply, high cost of input, high cost of doing business, multiple taxation, poor infrastructure and lack of synergy with the labour market.  To address these problems, we launched several programmes and initiatives including the National Industrial Revolution Plan and a new National Automobile Policy designed to boost domestic car production and expand existing capacity. Since then, five new private vehicle assembly plants have been established.

23.   Agriculture is critical to national survival and yet the sector was besieged with many problems. By year 2010, Nigeria was the second largest importer of food in the world, spending about N1.3 trillion on the importation of fish, rice and sugar alone.

24.   The reforms we introduced in agriculture dramatically increased local production of staple food and saved us vast amounts of money that we would have spent on the importation of food items. 

25.   To address the glaring inadequacy of critical national infrastructure, we focused on the Power Sector, Roads, Railways, Aviation, Ports and Harbours as well as on Water and Sanitation, Information and Communication Technology.

26.       My government introduced the Power Sector Roadmap in 2010.  Since then, we have privatized the generation and distribution aspects in a most transparent process. Obstacles to the private sector investments in power supply were removed and we developed cost effective electricity tariff to make the sector more attractive. It remains our hope that the successor companies to PHCN and also the private sector will step forward with the necessary investment to make the power reform work.

27.        The major challenge in the road sector in Nigeria is the high cost of building roads and it continues to rise. The other challenge is the fact that because of regular use, roads are one of the fastest depreciating assets in developing countries.

28.       To address this, Government has developed the required legal and regulatory framework and created opportunities for Private Public Partnership (PPP) in road construction and maintenance.

29.       From Ore/Benin Road, Lagos/Ibadan Expressway to the Kano/Maiduguri dualisation projects, we made concerted efforts to address age-long problems of delays in construction, design defect, neglect and ineffective maintenance. The construction of the historic Second Niger Bridge has also commenced, and on completion, it will open new and far-reaching opportunities for greater trade and interaction among our people.

30.       In the Aviation Sector, our government developed a Master Plan to institutionalise safety and security, and to develop infrastructure at the airports and local airlines. We embarked on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 22 airports nationwide. Construction work on five new international terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu are also on-going.

31.         There has been a revolution in rail transportation. We rehabilitated the old narrow gauge network and ensured that it has served our people steadily for three years running with new coaches and improved expanded services nationwide.

32.        We are in the construction stages of a new national network for standard gauge speed-train services, with the new rail line segment, from Abuja to Kaduna, successfully completed. In addition, we have initiated the process for the construction of an ultramodern coastal rail line that will run from Lagos to Calabar, with a link to Onitsha.

33.        We have also successfully completed the dredging of River Niger, from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State, and completed construction works for the Onitsha River Port. Other River Ports at Baro, Lokoja and Oguta, are at advanced construction stages. Working with the states and development partners, we have facilitated the process towards the development of two new deep sea ports at Lekki in Lagos, and Ibaka in Akwa Ibom. We have also implemented reforms to streamline the clearing regime in existing ports, increasing cargo turnover time and easing business for all users.

34.         In the oil and gas sector, our local content policy has continued to empower Nigerian companies, particularly in technical and engineering projects. The Gas Revolution Industrial Park in Delta State is unprecedented in the sub​-​sector, and will not only deliver Africa's biggest industrial park, but all the accompanying benefits to local industry and job creation.

35.        We recognized Human Capital as the most important agent for transformational development. Our reforms in this sector focused on Health, Education and Social Development and also on Women and Youth Empowerment and Social Safety Nets.

36.       In the Health sector, the comprehensive National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) of 2011 laid the foundation for widening access and improving the quality of healthcare with lower infant mortality rates and higher life expectancy for the populace.  Our effective curtailment of the Ebola epidemic has continued to receive worldwide acclaim as an example in prompt and effective national disease management. On our watch, guinea-worm has been eradicated from Nigeria and we are on the verge of wiping out polio entirely.

37.          In the Education sector, our objectives are clear and precise. They emphasise expansion of access and the upgrade of quality. I am proud that we have widened access by establishing 18 more Federal Universities and other specialized polytechnics. We strengthened TETFUND and used it to boldly address the problems of inadequate infrastructure in the existing institutions.

38.         I am particularly proud of our efforts with regards to Early Childhood Education and Out-of-School Children. We provided modern hybrid Almajiri Education Programme in the North, attended to schooling needs of boys in the South-East and ensured the construction of special girls' schools in 13 States of the Federation to improve girl-child education. We expanded opportunities for open and distance learning and provided scholarships at all levels to help improve access to quality education for bright and promising Nigerians.

39.         We have promoted gender-mainstreaming with commensurate priority and opportunities for our womenfolk, beginning with ensuring that not less than 30 per cent of key Federal appointments go to women. Other initiatives that we have taken include: the National Gender Policy, Establishment of Gender Units in Federal MDAs, Women Empowerment Training Programmes, Micro-Credit for Women, Social Safety Net Programmes and the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Scheme.

40.         My Administration has emphasized giving a free hand to our Anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). We preferred that they mature into strong institutions instead of being the images, the hammer and the anvil of a strong man. We must encourage them to abide by the rule of law and due process instead of resorting to dramatic or illegal actions orchestrated for cheap applause.
​
41.           Beyond the very impressive records of enhanced convictions by statutory anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC and ICPC, our other strategy has been to fashion economic policies that deliver higher deterrence and frustrate concealment. In this regard, the Bureau of Public Procurement has played a central role and impacted strongly on the fight against corruption.

42.         In Sports, we have improved our national performance in team and individual events. The disappointment of not qualifying to defend our African Football Championship was cushioned by a decent FIFA World Cup appearance, an Under-17 World Cup win in addition to other victories in other international football tournaments and the Paralympics. We have also encouraged excellence in other sports, apart from football, resulting in exceptional performance in international sporting events, especially in athletics.

43.         Our foreign policy position remains strong. In October 2013, Nigeria was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the second time on our watch. Our country had only served in that capacity thrice before 2011, since independence in 1960. Our Administration also played a leading role in the resolution of security and political challenges in our sub-region, particularly in Niger, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso.

44.         In addition, we increased engagement with Nigerians in the diaspora who contribute so much in remittances to their fatherland. Our Administration successfully encouraged more of them to invest in Nigeria and others to return home and join in the task of nation-building.

45.          In summary, Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our administration has done its best to intervene robustly and impact positively on key aspects of our national life.

46.         There is no doubt that challenges still abound, but they are surmountable and overwhelming national transformation remains realisable, with continuity, commitment and consistency.

47.          Nigeria is blessed with citizens that will always remain faithful, firmly committed to national unity, accelerated political, social and economic development.

48.         As we hand over the reins of government, I believe that our nation is secure, our democracy is stable, and the future is bright. Let us all work together, and with greater resolve, continue to build a stronger and more prosperous nation.

49.         May God Almighty continue to bless our dear country, Nigeria.

50.         I thank you all.