Connect with us

Featured

Opinion: 2023:Politics Without Ideas- Reuben Abati

Published

on

 

 

By Reuben Abati 

 

I am concerned, but not shocked in any way, that the most prominent reaction to the interview that Arise News conducted last week with the Presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has been sheer tittle-tattle about location, and format and silly ego games. It is a measure of the confusion in the land, and the failure to focus on ideas and concrete issues. The big problem that we face in this country, six months to the 2023 general election is the obsession with minutiae and the irrelevant. This must be considered a national tragedy considering the challenges before us. Thousands, if not millions of young Nigerians burn hours on the social media/internet abusing persons engaged in productive work, while they idle away in their ignorance and obscurantism. Times like this call for a greater deployment of time and intelligence, because Nigeria indeed, now more than before in the last two decades, stands at the brink of a precipice. But alas, Nigeria is saddled with a growing generation of idlers who think that their lives are enriched by pulling down others. But while these ordinary, eponymously anonymous persons need not detain serious minded persons from forging ahead, it must be noted that the emergent political elite is not in any way better. Its members are worse in terms of intellect, capacity, and character. This forces us to ask that question again: what a country! Or as the sage, Chinua Achebe, put it: “There was a country!”. The race to 2023 is a painful reminder of how the biggest tragedy that has befallen Nigeria is the absence of ideas, the collapse of good reason, and the brazen triumph of mediocrity and selective amnesia.

 

My concern is this: what is the central election issue as Nigeria prepares for the 2023 general elections? Where is that consensus that propels a nation? It is six months to Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, can anyone put his or her finger on any big issues of direct relevance within the context of the Constitution and the people’s expectations? I will address these same questions anon. But to get an idea of my drift, I would like to draw attention to what is currently going on in Britain. There is a bitter, blue-on-blue acrimonious fight for the seat of the Prime Minister of the UK within the ruling Conservative Party. The battle began with Prime Minister Boris Johnson losing the support and confidence of members of his own party and even if he survived two confidence votes, it eventually became clear that with the party-gate scandal and the abandonment of his government on the grounds of principle by many of his key persons, he had lost the support of his own party. From party-gate to everything else, Boris Johnson was his own assassin. He committed political suicide, damaged his own legacy and lost the moral right to lead. The practicality of his rejection is one of the reasons why I argue that Nigeria, going forward, should consider the option of a return to a parliamentary system of government or a combination of the parliamentary and the presidential, as has been robustly canvassed in the extant literature on the subject. The Presidential system creates monarchs, and that is precisely what it does in developing economies. A parliamentary system places greater emphasis on accountability and responsibility at all levels, and the people’s voice. That is what we need. But what do we have?    

 

Nigeria’s political process is inundated with nonsense for structural reasons and what we have is a mad-house.  In the UK at the moment, there is a race to succeed Boris Johnson. There is a consensus that the Prime Minister has overstayed his welcome. His party needs to get rid of him, to protect the party ahead of the next general elections. Boris Johnson as Prime Minister has desecrated the seat long enough. He has resigned. He will quit on September 5. But as his party, the Tories seek to appoint a new leader and a new Prime Minister, what we see is a focus on the issues. About eleven candidates began the race for No. 10 but after five ballots within the party the choice has been narrowed down to former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Before this Liz vs Rishi moment, it must be noted that the arguments have been about issues and the British people – what can be done to make their lot better, what can be done to reinvent the party and deliver better dividends to the people in the face of an excruciating cost of living crisis – the cost of gas is high, the NHS is in trouble, inflation is so high, the Bank of England has had to tighten rates five times, persons in England now skip meals, confronted as they are by foodflation-  so, how to save the Tory party and move beyond Boris Johnson. We have seen in that example, even if the eventual choice would be determined by a minority of about 160, 00 Tory party members, a focus on the big issues that are relevant to the people’s interests. Human beings will ways be human, I know that, but even the personal attacks that we have seen in the Tory dog-fight: on Penny Mordaunt, on Sunak’s centrism, Liz Truss’s extreme right politics have all been within the context of ideas and ideologies. The top contestants are talking about China, immigration, national security, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, cost of living crisis, climate change, tax cuts and investments. When the British eventually make their choice at the current intra-party level, it would be a choice between definite ideas, and when they do so in a future general election, it would also be about ideas and the people’s interest.

 

While the British are in that mode right now, Nigeria is also looking for new leadership, from a choice of 18 political parties and Presidential candidates. Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had their first, major, one-on-one debate at 9 pm on Monday. The debate continues today, on Tuesday. Both debates matter because the candidates are spelling out their mission and vision. They will be watched closely and scrutinized by their publics, and whoever wins and emerges through the process would be convinced that the battle was truly won and lost as both candidates continue to slug it out on the battle-grounds.   Here, in Nigeria, the candidates are not talking to the people. With the key exception of Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Omoyele Sowore of the Africa Acton Congress (AAC), who both run movements, not political parties, the other candidates are busy talking to their kind: godfathers, persons they think control Nigeria, and who can fix the election for them, and the party elite. When they remember the people, they throw money at them, and promise to give them more money if they are elected. 

 

Nigeria, like many developing countries of the world that jumped on the democratization scheme in the early 90s, does not understand what it means nor have the people been able to domesticate the idea of democracy. The democratic project was imposed by the West as a one-size-fits all proposition, but the many contradictions that this has thrown up is beguiling. To use Nigeria as an example, it would be in order to say that Nigeria is not ready for democracy, certainly not in the present shape in which it is. Nigerian politicians are royalists with an undeserved sense of entitlement. They want power because power is sweet and grants a sense of control, relevance and importance. Our democracy is a democracy of terrorists, scavengers and opportunists. This is why there is a terrible gap between those at the apex and those at the base of society. Those who argue that the electorate should get their voters’ cards and make informed choices at the polls next year are all correct, and spot on, but what is anyone doing about the people’s cynicism, and the banditi-zation of Nigerian politics?  In the absence of ideas and good conduct by the political elite, the people are in order to be cynical, as they have ever been, and what we see in the current lead up to Nigeria’s 2023 general election is chaotic cynicism.  

 

Back to our original question: what are the big issues in Nigerian politics at this moment?  The multiple reactions that have attended the Arise News interview with PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar simply show the lack of preparedness at the highest levels in this country. Nobody is talking about ideas. The reactions have been about peripheral issues, not ideas. Arise News sat with Atiku for a whole hour and raised issues ranging from politics to economy, relationships and other matters Nigeriana. The Nigerian social media mob took up editorial duties that is entirely not their business as they focused on sponsored and teleguided BS and in their sponsored frenzy, they failed to look at key issues. The only exception in this regard would be in my view, Farooq Kperogi, the scholar and columnist, who resisted and cleverly avoided a habitual tendency to be unkind to other people’s efforts. He focused on bigger issues. But what came from the other communities, that is, the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Tinubu Campaign Organization, the Obidient movement supporting Peter Obi, and the Wike Camp, were the usual diatribe about ego: my candidate is better than yours, you lied against me. Within 48 hours, the whole thing degenerated into an ego game. Wike is threatening to talk later and reveal mountains of truth. He should stop threatening. If he has anything to say, let him go ahead and do so forthwith.  Tinubu’s people have called Atiku a liar on the subject of Muslim-Muslim ticket. Atiku says he wants Tinubu in a one-on-one, one hour debate to settle the matter once and for all. Tinubu, we are told, has a memory loss issue. 

 

I won’t be surprised if the two candidates start talking about whose wife is more beautiful and who can still crack the best fires in the other room, or who is richer, or more energetic. The Tinubu group picked on the smallest issues in the Atiku conversation, talking about Abraham Lincoln, the politics of running mates, whereas there are more important issues about the economy, privatization, national security, education and health. The way the Nigerian process is going, nobody will talk about what concerns the people. The politicians will share money on or before election day, and given the arrest of persons during the recent Ekiti and Osun Gubernatorial, off-cycle elections, the political bandits will find smarter ways of buying votes, and the ordinary people will find new ways of collecting electoral bribe. It is safe to say that there is no tested, effective law in place yet that addresses this challenge. 

 

So, why are ideas no longer relevant in Nigerian politics?  Most of the 18 Presidential candidates have no manifesto. For more than two weeks, the Tinubu Campaign Organization, after rejecting a document that was widely circulated threatened to release a manifesto. Nobody has seen that manifesto yet. What we see are reactions to rival political candidates on peripheral issues. More serious candidates who could have been on the ballot ironically have since been pushed out of the race. Where is Kingsley Moghalu for example? And why is Omoyele Sowore being treated like a student unionist? And why has Peter Obi been reduced to a social media sensation? Ideas, Ideas, ideas. We can’t get anything concrete. Nobody listens to ideas, because the ones that are ready to promote them are not given the opportunity to do so. Those who try to generate ideas, outside partisan boundaries, are treated badly. In 2015, it would be remembered that the APC in seeking to wrest power from the ruling PDP tried to construct its gambit around ideas: security, the economy and fight against corruption. In 2019, the ruling party sustained the same mantra and asked for an opportunity to complete what it started. In 2022/2023, the main gladiators are terribly distracted.  

 

Yet, the major issue in Nigeria’s democracy – federal and state levels today, should be ideas and specific performance. Since the beginning of this campaign, the main candidates have discussed nothing but religion, ethnicity, personal health, clothing, and personality. The 2023 campaign has been dominated by personal ambition and expectations and trivia. Many of the presidential candidates that have emerged do not even have manifestoes. Nobody knows what they stand for or what they intend to do, not even what they understand about the task ahead. Titles are fashionable in Nigeria. Power is desirable. The allure of position and influence is magnetic. Nigerians would jump at anything along this spectrum. They want titles, not responsibility. This is why I think the reaction to the Arise News conversation with Atiku Abubakar veered off from the centre to the periphery. There are issues indicated in that conversation and alive in the public domain that have been conveniently ignored.    

 

NNPC has just been unveiled as a new, commercial entity, in an industry that accounts for 80% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. What do the Presidential candidates intend to do about that?  Nigeria has a debt to revenue ratio crisis, with debt service cost exceeding revenue by about 119% per cent? The national grid continues to collapse and function epileptically. Inflation is as high as 18.6%. There is unemployment in the land. Food inflation as well. Life is so insecure, terrorists are threatening to abduct the President, Senators and Governors and either kill them or sell them into slavery, and they sound very serious about that objective. Yesterday, they even made an effort to engage the Presidential guards in Abuja. The country also faces a serious foreign exchange crisis – it is so bad that even bread makers are threatening to go on strike because they cannot access forex and raw materials. The aviation sector is down. The nation’s currency has lost everything including its integrity, the big question is how to save it. In real terms, this country is on the way to Venezuela if not Sri Lanka or Lebanon. These are important issues that should engage the attention of those who want to rule the country. But the space has been taken over by spokespersons writing platitudes and reticent candidates who piggy-back on the dominance of their parties and abdicate responsibility without negotiating the issues and a proper assessment of the chaos that is upon us. The country’s destiny seems postponed. This trend must change.  Every Presidential candidate should be shown the video of yesterday’s UK Prime Ministerial debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.                 

 

       

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured

Rebels Without a Cause! Oborevwori, Eno; Who’s Next?

Published

on

By

By Eric Elezuo

The spate of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to generate  topics of discourse among the nation’s political elites, and analysts, with many wondering what the attraction could be?

Many have described the defections as a form of rebellion, whose cause is still unknown; a replica of the 1955 blockbuster romance/action movie, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’.

In a space of two months, two notable governors of the South South states of Delta and Akwa Ibom, Sheriff Oborevwori and Umo Eno, have ditched their parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defecting the APC, thereby handing over on a silver platter the states have been PDP since 1999 to the APC. Their reasons have aligned with what a political stakeholder, Kenneth Okonkwo described as ‘transgenderic’.

Giving reasons for his defection, Oborevwori, through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, said it was not about political survival but the need to realign with the federal government in the interest of Delta State.

He said the defection is geared towards reshaping the 2027 electoral landscape and boosting the state’s access to federal partnerships.

“Governor Oborevwori’s decision to align with the APC is a strategic and thoughtful move driven by a singular objective: to fast-track Delta State’s development through enhanced collaboration with the federal government.

“This decision is not about political survival or personal ambition it is about putting Delta first.

“At this critical juncture in Nigeria’s democratic evolution, alignment with the center offers states a rare opportunity to attract greater federal support, foster inclusive governance, and unlock critical infrastructure and economic investments.

“As a seasoned legislator and grassroots politician, Governor Oborevwori understands that Delta State cannot afford to remain on the periphery of national politics. His defection reflects a bold and necessary step to reposition the state for lasting progress,” the statement said in part.

While receiving Oborevwori to its fold, the APC noted that several prominent leaders of the PDP, including former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and all elected legislators, chairmen and councillors of local governments and wards, appointed members of the executive, both at the state and federal level joined the foray into its fold.

In a statement in April, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, described the defection as a major political development and expressed the party’s excitement over the move.

“The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress, under the leadership of His Excellency, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CON, is highly elated by the decision of the Governor of Delta State, His Excellency Sheriff Oborevwori, to join our great party,” the statement read.

The APC emphasised its readiness to fully integrate the new members.

“Our great party welcomes this important development and assures the governor, as well as incoming leaders and members of Delta PDP, of our fullest cooperation and accommodation within the APC family,” Morka stated.

In a voice similar to Oborevwori’s a few weeks later, Akwa Ibom state governor, Umo Eno rekindle the defection story, also citing the need to be close to federal power, even as he had no immediate need to do so.

Justifying his decision to dump the party that made him governor, Pastor Eno went biblical, aligning himself with the children of Issachar in the Holy Bible, who were able to interpret the times and season. The governor had hinted of his defection earlier, saying “What Akwa Ibom people want is good governance, not the name of the party”, giving political watchers the impression that there was no good governance in Akwa Ibom, and that only belonging to the APC guarantees good governance for a state.

The PDP however, described the governor’s move as a personal decision that contradicts the will of the people, noting that the 2027 election would be about Nigeria and not individual politicians.

The APC governors, on their part, rejoiced and warmly welcomed him and his team into their fold, assuring him that he would not regret his decision to join them, saying it was a homecoming for him and that they would support him.

Justifying his defection, Eno stated in his speech that “From time, the political space, particularly in this state and the nation in general has been awash with news of my likely movement from the PDP, the platform that had provided the levers and ladders of my political ascendancy to the position of Governor of this state. This discussion has elicited various layers of analysis in the process. Today, I answer some of those nagging questions.

“This morning, I submitted a formal letter of resignation from the PDP to the Ward Chairman, same copy has been sent to both the State Chairman as well as the National Chairman. I thank the PDP for their support, their love and for working with me for the past two years in the affairs of running Akwa Ibom state.

“But this is a defining moment. I’ve therefore decided, after due consultations with all critical stakeholders across the state in the last three months. I believe no one has moved progressively or has ever changed party in this state that has consulted as widely as I’ve done. That consultation culminated in meeting with all the critical stakeholders in the PDP last night where I explained that as the children of Ichaka, we must be able to interpret and flow with the times and not run against the tide.

“Having completed the rounds of consultations, as your servant you’ve elected to serve you, I have therefore decided to progressively move to the All Progressives Congress (APC). I state categorically that I have by today’s (yesterday’s) event changed my political affiliation, but will continue to uphold my values, my moral fibre, foundational principles I’ve nourished through my life. Those values will remain unchanged and I will always work with you regardless of party affiliations.

“Coming from the PDP, I make it emphatically clear that we’re not joining the APC from a position of weakness. We’re joining from a position of strength, bringing value to the APC in Akwa Ibom, wanting to build back a party that has once been torn apart, where people go their different direction. We’re supporting the President for a second term in office to complete reforms he has started. I have decided to join the train of the President, to support him, so I will not be accused of being anti-partisan. Today I’ve made the bold declaration to join that train.”

Eno’s defection however, recorded a dent as his Commissioner for Special Duties, Ini Ememobong, immediately resigned from office, citing the need to retain his principles.

But others have said that Oborevwori, Eno and their co-travellers in the defection saga may be justified in their act seeing that Nigeria politics is a case of winner takes all.  And in addition to the crises rocking the opposition, it may be difficult to ascertain the exact signatory that would guarantee their reelection in 2027, which key, authentic officials of the political parties are still in contention.

If the excuses the defectors are giving are anything to go by, more defections may follow. The suspended governor of Rivers State, Sir Sim Fubara, may likely jump ship into the APC to protect his political future.

The governors of Enugu, Bayelsa, Kano, Abia and many more, have at one time or another rumored to be flirting with the opposition, APC. Their defections in the nearest future may just be a 50/50 bet.

Governor Douye of Bayelsa has since denied any link to APC of intention to defect.

Time will tell.

Continue Reading

Featured

Embrace Learning, Collaboration Others to Boost Career Success, Fidelity Bank MD Charges Women

Published

on

By

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, has encouraged women professionals to embrace continuous learning, courage, and collaboration as key habits for achieving long-term career success and breaking through professional barriers.

She gave the charge during a Women’s Roundtable hosted by the bank over the weekend at the Fidelity SME Hub in Gbagada, Lagos. Themed “Mentorship with Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe”, the event drew female professionals from various sectors and was held under the Recognition and Networking arm of the bank’s HerFidelity Proposition, a flagship initiative designed to empower women entrepreneurs and professionals across Nigeria.

Explaining the vision behind HerFidelity, Dr. Onyeali-Ikpe noted that the initiative was born out of a strong need to provide women with holistic support beyond access to finance.

“In my engagements with women across different industries, I’ve seen first-hand that while talent and ambition abound, many still lack access to capital, skills development, health support, and networks,” she said.

“HerFidelity was created to bridge that gap by focusing on four key pillars: access to capital, capacity building, wellness for work-life balance, and entrepreneurship support. It’s one of the initiatives I’m most proud of, because when women thrive, communities prosper and economies flourish.”

The interactive mentorship session, held in a Q&A format, offered participants an opportunity to learn directly from the trailblazing CEO, who shared personal experiences and career insights.

Advising young women aspiring to leadership, she said: “Believe in yourself, be ready to work hard, and never shy away from taking smart risks. Seek out mentors, invest in meaningful relationships, and above all, collaborate, because no one truly succeeds alone.”

The event also featured fun competitions and giveaways, with attendees winning exciting gifts courtesy of Fidelity Bank.

Dr. Onyeali-Ikpe’s session left participants inspired, reinforcing Fidelity Bank’s position as a champion for gender empowerment and a leading supporter of women’s advancement in business and leadership

Continue Reading

Featured

Police Finally Nab Lagos Most Brutal Killer, Akinwande, after Decade-long Hunt

Published

on

By

The police in Lagos State have finally arrested the most feared and wanted hired killer, Wasiu Akinwande aka Olori Eso, signposting a major breakthrough in the fight against violent crimes.

The 44-year-old suspect, described as a “vicious and notorious” cultist kingpin and the head of a deadly killer gang, was captured on June 20, 2025, in a well-coordinated special operation by the Command’s Tactical Squad operatives.

Announcing the arrest in a statement on Saturday, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, described Akinwande as “the most wanted suspect in Lagos history in recent time.”

Hundeyin said the operation that led to his arrest was carried out with precision after months of surveillance and intelligence gathering.

He noted that the suspect was finally apprehended at his hideout in the Agbado area of Ogun State after managing to evade arrest for years by fleeing across State lines.

“For over a decade now, from 2009 until 2024, Wasiu Akinwande and his gangs have terrorised the people and communities, particularly in the Mushin area of Lagos State,” Hundeyin said.

“He was responsible for organising and executing series of armed robberies, cold-blooded murders, kidnappings and cult-related killings,” he added.

The suspect’s reign of terror reportedly instilled fear and panic among residents of Mushin and its environs.

The police described his arrest as a significant victory in its campaign against violent crime and a testament to its resolve to ensure justice for victims.

Following his arrest, police operatives raided his residence in Mushin, where a cache of arms and ammunition was discovered.

According to the police, Akinwande admitted that the weapons were used in his numerous operations.

Items recovered from the premises included multiple assault rifles, pump-action guns, pistols, magazines, live ammunition of various calibres, a dagger, walkie-talkies, and nine international passports belonging to different individuals.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Olohundare Jimoh, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), to lead a team of specially selected detectives to expand the investigation and track down other members of Akinwande’s gang.

At least four families have already come forward to identify the suspect as the man responsible for the deaths of their children and wards, adding to the growing list of allegations against him.

In his reaction, CP Jimoh commended the operatives involved in the operation, describing their efforts as a demonstration of courage, professionalism, and dedication.

“We are proud of the operatives who risked their lives to bring this violent fugitive to justice. Lagosians can sleep a little easier knowing this killer is off the streets,” he said.

The Commissioner reassured the public that the safety and security of Lagos residents remain the Command’s top priority.

“The Lagos State Police Command remains steadfast in its mission to make Lagos a no-go area for criminals and ensure the safety and security of all Lagosians and visitors alike,” Jimoh said.

The police said Akinwande is currently in police custody under tight security and will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

The police have also appealed to members of the public to continue cooperating with security agencies by providing timely and credible information that will aid crime-fighting efforts across the State.

Continue Reading

Trending