BY TheCable
The public declaration of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential aspiration, swearing in of Ayodele Fayose as governor of Ekiti state, ‘sack’ of Stephen Keshi as coach of Super Eagles and announcement of ceasefire by Boko Haram were some of the prominent stories in the news last week. Here is an overview of the leading headlines.
Atiku, Buhari… together but ‘not together’.
Atiku Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari, top contenders for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), featured prominently in the news last week. Atiku, who had declared his presidential ambition on September 24, obtained his nomination form on Monday while Buhari declared his intention to seek APC’s nomination for the 2015 presidential election on Wednesday. Picking up his nomination form on Thursday, Buhari spoke the mind of many Nigerians when he said he felt “heavily sorry” for himself, having to cough up N27.5m for the party’s nomination form. However, John Oyegun, APC’s national chairman, had explained that the party decided to make the nomination fees high “in order to separate the men from the boys”. Seriously?
Buhari’s declaration was attended by top members of the APC including Babatunde Fashola, governor of Lagos; Tanko Al-Makura, governor of Nasarawa; Rotimi Amaechi, governor of Rivers; George Akume, former governor of Benue and Olorunnibe Mamora, former speaker of the Lagos state hosue of assembly. Buhari, who seems to be the more favoured candidate judging from the impressive attendance, has been hailed as a great leader and a man of integrity. But many people have argued that he would better demonstrate leadership by grooming and presenting a younger candidate rather than seeking elective office as a septuagenarian, especially since this is his fourth attempt – after declaring that 2011 would be his last shot at an elective office. Was he deceiving us?
Falode: What about my own son?
The sad news of Oyamuyefa Alamieyeseigha’s death filtered in on Monday. The son of the former governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, died in United Arab Emirates (UAE) a day earlier, Dubai authorities claiming that he committed suicide. On February 15, Toba Falade, 19-year-old son of Aisha Falode, had also lost his life in similar manner.
Toba’s mother had cried out for justice but the Nigerian government refused to take action on the matter. This is in sharp contrast to the rapid response of the federal government to the death of Alamieyeseigha’s son, with President Goodluck Jonathan calling on UAE authorities to fish out his killers. As Festus Keyamo observed, does the federal government value the lives of some of its citizens more than others? Isn’t it high time the federal government unravelled what is killing Nigerians in Dubai?
The coroner set up to investigate the collapse of a guest house at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Ikotun Egbe, Lagos, started its inquest on Monday. So much for a day? Although T.B. Joshua, founder of the church, was absent, the court was jam-packed with placard-carrying SCOAN sympathisers. While assuring the public that the court would be impartial, Oyetade Komolafe, a magistrate and the coroner in charge of the investigation, said that the inquest was not set up to convict anybody but to unravel the cause of the September 12 incident and prevent its recurrence.
Accompanied by other officials, the coroner went on to visit the site of the incident on Thursday to get a physical view of the collapse scene. Komolafe also directed the church to provide the Lagos state forensic team with the list of people lodged at the collapsed building to assist in identifying the victims.
The Ebola epidemic took a turn for the worse with the infection of two health workers in the United States. The health workers had cared for late Thomas Duncan, who flew in from Liberia, and became the first diagnosed case of the disease in the US. It is now clear that no single country, in Africa or elsewhere, is immune from the spread of Ebola.
In Liberia where the virus is ruthlessly killing people, health workers demanded a pay rise, threatening industrial action in spite of the gravity of the situation and the rising death toll. The palpable fear created by the disease globally has seen a Nigerian court discharge Fred Ajudua, a socialite and businessman, of $1.69m fraud charges because the witnesses, who are foreigners, would not come to Nigeria for fear of contracting the virus.
Meanwhile, two nations – Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago – have banned travellers from Nigeria and other African nations that have recorded incidence of Ebola Virus Disease. On the positive side, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and his wife have donated $25m (N4 billion) to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) foundation to help fight the disease. The gesture, according to Zuckerberg, was to empower the CDC and experts in the field to help prevent Ebola from spreading further and becoming a long-term global health crisis like HIV or polio.
Keshi
Few hours after Nigeria defeated Sudan 3-1 in Abuja, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) fired Stephen Keshi as Super Eagles coach and appointed a consortium of coaches led by Shaibu Amodu to take charge of the concluding qualifying matches for the African Nations Cup (AFCON) 2015. An expatriate coach would be appointed afterwards. NFF also dispensed with Daniel Amokachi, assistant coach, and Ike Shorounmu, goalkeeper trainer.
Many football lovers have hailed the governing body’s decision as a bold and well-advised one, many of them arguing that Keshi did himself in. Keshi led the Super Eagles to win the African Cup of Nations in 2013 but had been having a running battle with the authorities from then until he was eased out.
Political permutations for 2015 assumed a new dimension on Wednesday with the news of seven ministers who resigned their appointments to pave way for their aspirations in the 2015 general election. The ministers are Labaran Maku, minister of information; Samuel Ortom, minister of state for trade and industry; Nyesom Wike, minister of state for education; Musiliu Obanikoro, minister of state for defence; Emeka Wogu, minister of labour; Onyebuchi Chukwu, minister of health; and Dairus Ishaku, minister of state for Niger Delta.
They are all eyeing the governorship of their respective states: Nasarawa, Benue, Rivers, Lagos, Abia, Ebonyi and Taraba. Big risk their resignations are. Should they lose, some could still nick ministerial appointments should Jonathan return in 2015. But a loss may also well spell the journey to political oblivion for a few others.
Jonathan and Buhari… Are the smiles over?
The presidency and Muhammadu Buhari have been at loggerheads since the retired general and APC presidential aspirant declared his presidential ambition on Wednesday. In his speech at the public declaration, Buhari had accused the PDP-led government of presiding over the economic decline of Nigeria.
“The last 16 years of PDP government has witnessed decline in all critical sectors of life in Nigeria,” Buhari said, amid similar statements highlighting perceived lapses in the current administration that the APC says it plans to fill. But the presidency would have none of that.
Responding through Reuben Abati, the presidency dismissed Buhari’s claims about Nigerian economy. Abati went on to say that none of Buhari’s ideas was original, as all of them were already being implemented by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. He added that the economy had maintained an unprecedented growth rate of 6 per cent to 7 per cent, while Nigeria had become Africa’s largest economy under the Jonathan administration. Now, who do Nigerians believe – Buhari or Abati? It has been said that figures don’t lie. But it is one thing to quote statistics; to feel the tangible effects of those figures is another thing entirely.
On Wednesday, members of the house of representatives voted to effect 71 amendments to different sections of the 1999 constitution. The house approved changes ranging from legislative immunity to local government autonomy, state creation, indigeneship and citizenship. In addition to approving independent candidacy in elections, the house also voted to bypass the president on bills that he doesn’t assent to within 30 days. While the representatives supported the adoption of referendum for state creation, they did not agree on the proposal to subject the national conference recommendations to a referendum. Among the 261 members that participated in the process, 252 members voted in favour of the amendments, eight voted against and one abstained.
With the results of the exercise, the house has met the two-third (240 out of 360) votes required to amend the constitution. The process is expected to continue at the senate and each house of assembly in the 36 states where two-third votes are also required to effect the proposed amendments. If the amendments are eventually passed at the senate and state levels, the removal of immunity clause might go a long way in limiting excesses and corrupt practices among public office holders. And the approval of independent candidacy in elections will see to it that nobody has to “pity himself” for picking up a N27.5m naira nomination form just to enlist in primaries.
Fayemi and Fayose after the governorship election
Ekiti state was in the spotlight on Thursday when Ayodele Fayose was sworn in as governor of the state. Fayose thanked the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for their support. While seizing the opportunity to pick at the former government of Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the new governor was full of gratitude to the people of Ekiti for standing by him through the years. He described his return as the governor of Ekiti state as a divine mandate, noting that he was the first son of Ekiti to govern the state twice and the first Nigerian politician to defeat two incumbents at various times.
Fayose held nothing back to demonstrate his commitment to the welfare of his people. “I am the governor of your imagination, the governor that eats boli with you, the governor that drinks agbo jedi with you, the governor that knows that the resources of the state belong to you,” he said.
As if to immediately demonstrate his “unfettered desire” to serve the people with the resources of the state, he announced that “When I come to buy boli tomorrow, I will drop something.” He added that he would appoint a special adviser for stomach infrastructure (which he did a few hours after) – indirectly getting back at the opposition party which had attributed his victory at the polls to “stomach infrastructure”. Fayose did not stop at that – he also invited the jubilant crowd to pass the night in the hallowed chambers of the state house in continuation of the celebration. If this is what it takes to be “the people’s governor”, then Fayose is certainly one.
Alex Badeh, an air chief marshal and chief of defence staff, announced on Friday that Boko Haram had agreed to a ceasefire. The group had also agreed to release the abducted Chibok girls in batches. The deal was reportedly brokered by Idriss Deby Itno, president of Chad. This was certainly the ‘best good news’ Nigerians had in the week until insurgents carried out fresh attacks on two villages – Abadam and Dzur – in Borno state, killing at least nine persons on Friday and Saturday.
The news of the ceasefire had generated mixed reactions, with some people delighted while others were skeptical. Ahmad Sakilda, the only Nigerian journalist to have related closely with Boko Haram, was one of those who dismissed the news. He was worried that the government did not understand that Boko Haram “is an ideology that can only be neutralised after long hard work that is yet to start”. Is Sakilda right in dismissing the news of the ceasefire? Or could the recent attacks have been carried out by faction of the group which rebelled against the truce deal? Soon, we will know. Soon.
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