Baba go slow of Nigeria and the 'mbeku' Dance

It is two years since Yar'Adua , the hand-picked choice of former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo became president in an election that observers regarded as one of Africa's worst to date. Hundreds died in politically-inspired and politician-funded clashes in the run-up to the April 2007 poll. Election day itself was criticized by many observers as a grand display of organized fraud and violent theft.

On May 29 2007,President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua assumed office,Nigerians who were already tired with the then bully, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, prayed for a new lease of life from his government.The manner Yar'Adua was selected by Obasanjo and the “consensus” spelled D-O-O-M for Nigeria,but still ,Nigerians prayed that he should lead us to the promise land. He was given the benefit of doubt. Nigerians gave him the good will even though the election that brought him to power was heavily flawed.

Today, it appears that Yar Adua has allowed some cabals to literarily take over the day to day running of government, making official state matters to suffer. Most people called his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo "Baba" . But Yar'Adua has inherited a less-than respectful name after two years of little progress. His performance in the affairs of governance has given the Nigerian president a nickname: "Baba-go-slow".The long lines of traffic that clog the streets of Port Harcourt and Lagos, Nigeria is what Nigerians call go-slow. "Baba Go Slow" is thus the fitting nickname for Nigeria's president Umaru Yar'Adua, who has shown total non performance in governance.

When he came to power in that flawed election in 2007, President Yar'Adua promised reforms, and lots of them. The electoral system would be revolutionised, peace would be sought in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the murky oil industry would be reformed as well as the woefully inadequate power industry. All talk, no action. Whosoever advised him on his May 29, 2007 speech has played upon Nigerians level of tolerance. In his may 29 2007 speech, he vowed to provide the nation with the kind of leadership that would steer it out of its toga of under-achievement and propel it to enviable heights.

He pledged to accomplish this by motivating his team to implement the now familiar seven-point agenda of his administration, namely, Power, Electoral Reforms, Education, Agriculture, the Niger Delta, Health and Employment generation. How far that has work for him and Nigeria remains to be seen.

From across the country there have been worries, dissatisfaction, dreadful looks, and resentments from NGOs, Nigerians Abroad, Religious Leaders, Political Opponents, Community Leaders, and angers are high on his style of leading Nigeria

Let us pick only electricity today. We will talk about the other aspect of his seven point agenda another day.Yar'Adua promised to solve the problem of electricity supply. Infact, he sounded more serious about solving the problem than Obasanjo did. He told Nigerians that he was going to declare a state of emergency in the energy sector if nothing meaningful was done to correct electric supply problem. By declaring a state of emergency, he would have the authority to enlist the help of any competent outfit, including foreign nationals, to solve the problem. Unfortunately, 2 years after Yar'Adua's inauguration, the situation, in the electricity sector, has remained the same. The so-called Power Holding is just like NEPA(Never Expect Power At- all) Infact, people have argued that this outfit is worse than useless.Individual generators are still humming and sending toxic fumes skywards in the cities and villages of Nigeria.

Inspite of Yar'Adua's seeming go slow syndrome, Nigerians have, until now, continued to look towards him and hope that he would do something dramatic. His pronouncements, about the issue of electricity, shows that he has gone the way of Obasanjo. Power Holdings has told Nigerians that the problem of power outages would possibly continue. They blamed it on sabotage by faceless ghosts! Then came the bombshell: the man that Nigerians were hoping would fix the problem, Umar Yar'Adua, attributed the incessant blackouts in the country to the handiwork of a cabal sabotaging government's efforts at revamping the energy sector.

Essentially, Yaradua is telling Nigerians the lies that Obasanjo told us for 8 yrs. The Federal government always looks for an excuse or someone to blame for poor performance. They have found it in the idea of the existence of saboteurs. Now instead of spending time to look for meaningful ways to solve the power problem, they are spending valuable time looking for a "cabal". Granted, vandals do wreak havoc on public utilities. Even in advanced countries, they vandalize electric poles, guard rails and items they sell as scrap. What these countries do is institute a stiff penalty for such offences and put the police on alert. They do not go looking for a "cabal" to blame for their ineptitude. Once again, the government has failed Nigerians

Nigerians need fuel and diesel to run their generators.It is none of Yar'Adua's business if we can never generate electricity. Where do we see the fuel to run generators? It is none of our President's business if fuel is scarce in Nigeria. It is none of his business if we are to go through a long queue for petrol in a land flowing with crude oil. There is no one in the corridors of power who can properly explain the abracadabra happening in the oil sector. In places were fuel is available, it sell for 100 naira per litre at fuel stations and mum is the word from official quarters.

Nothing seems to be an embarrassment to President Yar'Adua, otherwise, he should be burying his head in shame with the news that president Barack Obama's first official visit to Africa is slated for Ghana and not Nigeria. Obama, along with his wife, Michelle, will visit Accra, Ghana, on July 10 and July 11, the White House said Saturday. It will follow Obama's trip to the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, from July 8 to July 10.

Obama will address various bilateral and regional issues with Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, the White House said in a news statement.

“The President and Mrs. Obama look forward to strengthening the U.S. relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and to highlighting the critical role that sound governance and civil society play in promoting lasting development," according to the statement.

The first Black American president choose to snub Africa's biggest nation as a symbolic way to tell our leaders how useless they have become. For our president, life is all about grabbing power for himself and his cronnies.See the way he followed the Ekiti state rerun election. For our president, life is all about exploring our oil and wasting the proceeds on useless projects. What else can we say of a president whose greatest attributes is lack of action and a deafening eloquence of silence. Baba go slow of Nigeria is moving too slow dika mbe (tortoise) .

Yar'Adua must solve this problem of electricity. The absence of constant electricity is seriously affecting the ability of Nigeria to attract foreign industries that heavily depend on electric energy to get their products out. It is ironic that investors now take their businesses to more electrically stable countries like Ghana. Ghana is waxing stronger in all aspects of national development. Nigerians are now establishing businesses in Ghana, building factories and private mansions there. Some even send their children to schools there because the schools have better amenities, constant supply of electricity and a more conducive environment for studying.

If Nigeria is serious about solving the problem of electricity supply, there are many experts in that field both in and outside Nigeria that could be brought in to help. Those factories that have decided to stay in Nigeria, invest in expensive but reliable power generating plants. They try to recoup the business cost of the plants by hiking up the prices of their goods. No wonder why many "made-in-Nigeria" goods cost so much that one does not see the benefit of local production. It is those at the lowest rung of the economic ladder that suffer the brunt of the effect o prices of goods that stink to high heavens

The quality of education in Nigeria is indirectly being affected by absence of constant electricity in schools. The internet has become an integral part of education and access to the internet is dependent on electricity. A kid with constant access to the internet will be able to conduct research and pull up information on so many aspects of education. Hospitals depend on instruments like ultra sound, kidney dialysis machines, CT scan equipment and more to save lives. These instruments are powered by electricity and so it is imperative that a constant source of electricity is provided in all hospitals. We've heard about cases where patients were turned away from certain hospitals because the generator broke down and certain life-saving services could not be offered.Enough of this mbe dance .Baba go slow must wake up .His too many failed areas are stinking to high heavens.

-Kenneth Uwadi is from Mmahu –Egbema in Imo State, Nigeria

 

A-LOOTER CONTINUA IN NIGERIA

By Kenneth uwadi

Like a Pig in the mud, Public Office Holders in the Alhaji Umaru Yar’ Adua Administration are now swimming in the murky waters of corruption. Egwu  na tusi anyi oge a .When the lid was blown over the messy 300 million naira unspent budget saga in the Federal Ministry of Health, the Minister, his Deputy and others became the first casualties as they  resigned in shame. Most people thought it would serve as a deterrent to other public office holders. Recent events have however shown that the 300million naira unspent budget saga was nothing but egwuregwu umuaka (child’s play). The assumed fight against corruption within the Nigerian polity is as old as the existence of the country itself. Various regimes have claimed to fight against corruption. Pooh!!  The fight against corruption between 1999 and now as we can see,is laughable. Big Name agencies like EFCC and ICPC exist in our Naija but “a-looter continua in Nigeria”. Check out the Sagem national identity card project scam to the Wilbros scam, the Siemens bribe scandal, the 2.3 billion naira National Assembly car scam and the Halliburton miasma, nothing worthwhile seems to have been done to Ndi oria.

The word corruption has become a recurrent decimal since the commencement of the 1999 democratic process. Between 1999 and 2003 the Obasanjo-led administration was accused of sectionalizing the fight against corruption. Corruption then became more pronounced at the corridors of power yet, the government at the centre did little or nothing to confront the monster which was gradually eating into the financial vein of the country.

Instructively, those who were later accused of perpetrating one form of corruption or the other were indeed key members of the Chief Obasanjo-led government between 1999 and 2003.

The zombie attitude of the former president, even when it was glaring to him that the monster(corruption) would soon take over the leadership of his government was heavily condemned. The Obasanjo sidon look attitude, it was gathered, was to ensure that  he( Obasanjo) did not bungle his second term ambition should he decide to move against the corrupt government functionaries who were so powerful as to decide his political fate in 2003.
Therefore, between 1999 and 2003, politicians at all levels of governance had a field day enriching their pockets with tax payers’ money. Barawo.

But shortly after the 2003 elections, the former president announced to the world that he will fight the monster headlong and he sent a bill seeking the establishment of two lame duck anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) which were saddled with the sole responsibility of investigating and prosecuting corrupt public and private officials.


Between 2003 and 2007,EFCC claimed to have charged  several public office holders to court  but how many big names have been convicted. The anti-graft bodies are largely seen by many Nigerians as a willing tool in the hands of the presidency to cow and bring to their kneels, the perceived political opponents. These opponents were largely made up of former governors. Suffice it to say that a former governor and a former Inspector General of police, who were believed to be very close to the former president Obasanjo, are the only big names shabbily convicted on corruption charges by courts in the country.

Since the arraignment and conviction of the duo, no other big name has been sent to jail for corruption. However, on daily basis, Nigerians are being told of how past government officials have been arrested, detained and granted bail by the courts.

The Yar’Adua-led administration is yet to unravel numerous allegations of corrupt practices levelled against some government officials not to talk of bringing them to book.Is this part of the  Baba go slow syndrome?

These cases  to mention a few,include the allegation against the Chairman, Senate Health Committee, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello and other members of her committee .Up till now, nothing is being heard on the matter. The 2.3 billion naira car scam involving the leadership of the House of Representatives has also been consigned to the dust bin of history. Ndi ori

Before the last two cases was the Sagem international identity card project scam. After the death of the former minister of internal affairs, whose ministry was in charge of the project, it appears also that the matter, by the death of the former minister, has also been finally laid to rest.

Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the Wilbros scam, the Siemens bribe scandal and various corruption charges levelled against some former governors, which are yet to see the light of the day, not to talk of the  Halliburton scam.These days,Government  officers appear to have now perfected the art of looting in voracious manner. In the last couple of days alone ,there were three separate cases of massive fraud involving billions of tax payers money. Imagine 6.2 billion naira meant for rural electrification projects but was allegedly shared by top officials of the agency in charge of the projects and some senior law makers who are supposed to oversee the projects. What about the surprise that sprang up at the precinct of the universal basic education where the sum of 1.7 billion was alleged to have developed wings and flown into the Commissions’ Directors deep pockets. The news that we heard was that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested some top officials of the Universal Basic Education Commission over  the alleged fraud  of 1.7 billion naira. It was also reported that one of the Directors of the Commission was still agile enough to escape by jumping over a fence when he sighted the EFCC operatives.ole !

Looting of public fund is getting out of hand in Nigeria.Do you know that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC  arrested the Group Managing Director of Transcorp, Mr. Thomas Iseghohi and two others over an alleged 15billion naira fraud.

Mr. Iseghohi was arrested along with the company’s deputy general manager, Mr. Mohammed Buba and the company secretary, Mr. Mike Okoli.

They are accused of indiscriminate payment of consultancy services and professional fees to companies in which they alleged to have interest.
 
Sources at the commission confirmed that some of the companies used to perpetrate the fraud are global employment solution Incorporated, gesi, Global Information Technology Incorporated, Ankor Pointe Integrated limited and Harmattan Venture.

The source explained that 1.2million dollars was paid into the account of global information technology incorporated in the united state of America between July2007 andMay2008.
 
Global information technology incorporated was  also reported paid 100,000dollars to investigate fire incident on  NITEL property in Saka Tinubu, lagos.

Ankor Pointe also accused of having monthly retainership of 108,000 million dollars from 2007 till date to manage Transcorp oil block which has now been  revoked by the federal government.

Another company, Hamarttan ventures is said to have been paid 500,000dollars for organizing meetings for the group managing director outside the country between December 2007 to march 2009 the sources said that that over n205million was paid as legal fees by the company.Ndi a kwesiri ngbagbu.

Earlier in the year,the House of Reps probed the 16 billion naira alledgedly wasted on power projects by the last administration.Ironically,the Head of the Committee who pulled a lot of stunt and sensation in the media during the so called probe,Ndudi Elumelu is now also in trouble  over his alleged involvement in a 6.2 billion naira Rural Electrification Project fraud. The Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Nicholas Ugbade, his House of Representatives counterpart, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, and eight others were arraigned at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja, over alleged fraud in the rural electrification contracts. They were alleged to have withdrawn N6.2 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in December last year in respect of the phoney contracts.

Ugbane and others allegedly withdrew the money illegally from CBN account number 0103742014, using a number of companies as fronts.

The other accused persons brought to the court premises  were Elumelu's deputy, Hon. Muhammed Jibo; Chairman, House Committee on Rural Development, Hon. Paulinus Igwe; the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Mr. Samual Ibi Gekpe; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power and Steel, Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi; Simon Kirdi Nanle; Mr. Lawrence Kayode Orekoya; Abdulsamad Garba Jahun; and Mr. Kayode Oyedeji.What about the millions of naira bribery that rock the Ekiti State INEC.

Why is the nation’s treasury under attack by ferocious predators who run our public offices? The worry in all of these is not the revelation of such a crash in the system which permits such a mindless onslaught on public funds. The worry is actually that nothing  eventually comes out of the arrest of public office holders “ wey chop our money” Matters like these are usually swept under the carpet, explanations that are offensively presumptuous are made of the scandals or at best plea bargaining may be entered into and the matter is soon forgotten. In other structured countries, individuals behind such scandals are put behind the bars for a long time and made to suffer a loss of dignity to serve as a deterrent to others on the same path way. This is the reason why impunity thrives and prevails in Nigeria.This is why oga dem dey chop our money yafu yafu. President dey chop,Governors dey chop,Ministers dey chop,Senators dey chop,Commissioners dey chop ,Accountant too dey chop.Dem dey chop am yama yama.A looter continua.If examples had been made of past felons, those who are going into public office will be more mindful of the way they handle public funds. Every day na for the thief but one day na for the owner of the house.The government should jail these thieves now.Nigerians are being pushed to the wall.one day,there might be a peoples’ revolution.

-Kenneth uwadi is from Mmahu-Egbema in Imo State, Nigeria