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MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH
Opinion Time to snap from this reverie Dominik Umosen
E
ven if former United States president, Ronald Reagan never really had Nigeria in mind when he drew the symbiosis between the two oldest professions in the world (politics and prostitution), their shared depravity makes this symbiosis relevant. This shared depravity is a common denominator that qualifies for consideration. I am not unmindful that some prostitutes may be morally superior. At least, I remember those who aided the biblical spies in the Bible to capture Jericho. Notwithstanding, some people still argue that there is little morality to cheer in prostitutes. So we shall restrict ourselves to just the depravity shared by both. There is little consideration for morality in both. A politician may not be the most morally-stable person but this does not qualify as an index for disqualification. Rather, it is a factor for advancement. Before, political position qualified you as stable and dependable. But it does not appear to be so any longer. A state governor recently volunteered information that was not only repudiated subsequently but considered far less than the truth. The issue in dispute concerns the need or otherwise for a second bridge over the strategic River Niger at Onitsha. The governor who should otherwise be believable, alleged that the money provided for the project is missing but less than a few weeks after, those responsible for the money lampooned the claim and dissociated themselves from the allegation which was described as unfounded. What is unfortunate is that any one who offers a contrary opinion, no matter how well-meaning, (including this writer), gets mobbed by suffocating partisanship. So instead of addressing the funda-
mental issues involved, I was accused of being a hungry writer, instead of a conscientious whistleblower. I do not know how Gov Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna is feeling right now. But I know that if I were the former minister (of the Federal Capital Territory), I would certainly cringe that after alleging that the administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan spent some billions on independence anniversary celebrations during its tenure, I was reminded that my claims were gross exaggerations and falsifications of fact. If the governor does not feel any of these, I would not be surprised. After all, that is perfectly in tandem with these times of suffocating partisanship- a perfect barometer for rating occupants of exalted political office. This attitude also informs my reaction to the embarrassingly-hilarious report in a national newspaper about primary school pupils in the oil-rich town of Eket, Akwa Ibom State receiving lessons from the floor, instead of chairs and desks. You can tie your dismay with suffocating claims of uncommon transformation by the last administration in that state. I am aware that Gov Udom Emmanuel has been under immense pressure to break free and reject the yoke allegedly hung on him by his predecessor- in line with natural rebellion against godfathers. But that is discussion for another day because I do not want to dabble into details of alleged arm-twisting that preceded the pretence by the incumbent to be comfortable with the alleged imposition of over Seven members of the previous administration in the state on him. I sincerely hope that President Muhammadu Buhari will succeed in his self-appointed task of refixing the country. But re-fixing Nigeria will require sincerity of purpose, not declaration of good intentions. That is why I have always been cautious of the mantra of
change, especially when the president insists that he is not favourably disposed to implementing the report of the National Conference which Nigerians say is the road map away from anarchy for the troubled country. I hope the president will eventually be persuaded by the counsel of patriots like the Emir of Ilorin, Justice Sulu Gambari who advised last week that the fundamental challenges facing the country, including insurgency, require re-structuring as agreed upon by Nigerians at the conference which he is not interested in. “Nigerian people gathered for a purpose, the people have spoken through their representatives. So the parliament would have to endorse it for necessary criteria that had been drawn up in the constitution. “Having done that, it will now be passed as a bill and people of Nigeria can now say they have given unto themselves this piece in the constitution,” the eminent monarch told members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), who paid him a visit.. He also said that the constitution in operation was given to the people of Nigeria by the military. “The military only gave us that one to guide and rule us. Men are not supposed to be made for law, but rather, laws are supposed to be made for men. Men should be supreme and the constitution of Nigeria is the ground norm; the highest law in the land,” the ranking monarch said. This is wise counsel and if the country really means to change fundamentally from this unworkable system that we have been operating, there is no alternative than to appraise change from the prism of the political reality recommended by the citizens themselves- unless we want to relapse into an unworkable reverie that patriots say could snap with disastrous consequences. • Umosen wrote from dominik.umosen@gmail.com
Re-‘Beyond bailout for state governments' Semiu Okanlawon
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n Editorial Comment is a piece that represents the opinion of its editors. Every newspaper reserves the right to express its opinion on any national issue. Such opinions are usually products of thorough research, intellectualism, savvy, shrewd and suave in presenting all the facts before arriving at decisions. Readers have most often relied on such editorial opinions to make vital business and economic decisions while the academic community usually take cognisance of the position a respectable news medium takes on such national issues. The editorial comment of Monday, October 5, 2015 not only stands logic on its head, it exposed the pattern of joining a mob to do evil. There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria’s development promises have been stunted by corruption of a mind-boggling dimension by the immediate past ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which leaders are now facing international investigations and prosecutions, your Editorial Comments ought to be addressing such instead of playing the partisan card of addressing the smoke leaving the fire. It is mind boggling to discover that a newspaper that hopes to thrive on public approval and acceptance would neglect the financial crimes that necessitated the bailout in the
first place blame state governments for the resultant effects of the unbridled lawlessness. It was former President Goodluck Jonathan who voluntarily told the whole world that not less than 400,000 barrels of oil were being stolen daily from Nigeria. At an average open market cost of $60 per barrel, Nigeria was losing $24 million every day throughout the Jonathan years. If Jonathan’s last tenure was the only full period of reckoning and based solely on his own open declaration, it shows that under the four years of Jonathan, a gargantuan sum of $8.76 billion was lost to crude oil theft alone. Your claim on the Sovereign Wealth Fund is laughable. Your editorial comment ought to have reflected the regrettable disaster that befell the SWF under the last administration which Governor Rauf Aregbesola doggedly but democratically ensured was voted out by Nigerians. It simply appeared that this comment bemoaned the exit of PDP from power as well as going after those who brought its defeat about. Since he assumed office, President Muhammadu Buhari had opened several cans of worms on crude oil theft. The United States Government went ahead to expose dirtier oil deals that are now subjects of international inquiry. This colossal loss of the nation’s patrimony should be factored into the gory story of Nigeria’s mis-
placed and aborted dream. Your editorial comment looked away from several cases of felonious mismanagement of the past government only to single out Osun for the inglorious mention all in a bid to get even with Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who joined hands with other patriots to achieve the true change Nigeria needs. Your editorial team could not have simply forgotten what happened in the months leading to the August 9, 2014 re-election of Governor Aregbesola when in July, 2013, revenue allocation to the State of Osun fell by more than 60 per cent when in fact the national oil revenue fell by only 25 per cent. Recall also that there was no imaginable impediment that the then PDP controlled Federal Government did not put on the way of Governor Aregbesola to stultify his administration’s giant strides in implementing populist programmes. The entire Federal Government arsenal of might and fury especially financial strangulation, political emasculation, military and security lockdown and treasonable but undemocratic threat to Nigeria’s Republican Constitution, 1999 were deployed in their designed strategies to take Osun at the poll by ungodly stratagem. Your Editorial Comment closed its eyes to all these so as to get even with Aregbesola. It is not only unimaginable but also implausible that an editorial team of a credible newspaper would base its
official commentary and position on defamatory propaganda of Nigeria’s sinking opposition. How would New Telegraph defend this unprovoked and misplaced aggression against the Governor of Osun who has, since taking his oath of office, pursued people-centred policies and programmes? What would you have given as explanation to your comment that Governor Rauf Aregbesola was mainly parroting the change mantra while continuing an imagined fiscal irresponsibility? The paper’s Editorial Comment was simply a court accusing, trying, pronouncing guilt and convicting Aregbesola, all by itself without obeying the golden rules of Nemo Judex in Causa Sua (you cannot be a judge in your own cause) and Audi Altera Partem (the other side must be heard). Accusing Governor Aregbesola of fiscal recklessness fits the usual false claims of the opposition. The demands of honour and integrity would have involved an editorial team to check, cross-check and double check before going to town. The partisan slant was not hidden in this matter. Aregbesola is open and ready to bare it all. Your team are free to examine the books and form your opinion. This was a road not taken but went on to throw your hat in the ring. •Okanlawon is Director, Bureau of Communications & Strategy, Office of the Governor, Osogbo.