THE GUARDIAN, Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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Opinion NGF crisis: Let there be dialogue By Luke Onyekakeyah HE crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors FoT rum (NGF) in the run up to the election of its chairman is an ill wind that blows no one good. The crisis in the country is being downplayed in favour of the NGF election that ordinarily should not make big headlines. It is unthinkable that while the nation is embroiled in unprecedented insecurity that led to the declaration of a state of emergency in three northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, and the prosecution of a counter “war” of attrition against Boko Haram, the governors and indeed the presidency could afford to bicker over who becomes the chairman of the NGF, thereby diverting their attention from the problem at hand. There can be no unity of purpose in tacking the insecurity question when the chief security officers cannot sit together to strategize on how to tackle the problem. I am particularly piqued that the Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, allowed himself to be drawn into contesting the chairman of the NGF. Here is a governor whose state is in deep crisis of insecurity accepting to have his attention divided by another assignment. What time has Governor Jang to give to the NGF? Or is he not minding the killings and destruction going on in his state? My people say a person whose house is on fire does not chase rats. Why can’t the governor concentrate on tackling the insecurity challenges in his state and leave the NGF chairmanship to others? The surprise outcome of the just concluded chairmanship election of the NGF in which the incumbent, Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi won shows the fast changing political landscape of the country. The days are gone when powerful individuals swayed over the people and foisted their unpopular wishes and desires on the polity. Those days are fast becoming history. Nothing is absolute. This changing state of affairs has resonated in several of the recent elections across the country. Nigerians are becoming wiser as a result of decades of political deceit, cheating and deprivation. People are fed up with the abject state of affairs in the country. The days when people were easily bought over with money are fast passing away. Nigerians have learned bitter lesson from their unbeneficial political experience. Over the years, money-
bags thought that money is all that is needed to win election. But let it be known that nowadays, people are ready to openly and wholeheartedly collect your money and still vote against you. They regard the money as “our stolen money” and not your money. People reason that no one can use our money any longer to mortgage our conscience to his own selfish advantage. What the people want today is concrete and verifiable achievements that leverage their lives. The suffering must be reduced to barest minimum. That is the only way to win votes now and in the future. The re-election of Amaechi as chairman of NGF shows that in politics, anything could happen. Quite often, those things happen at the last minute. It needs to be understood that in any enterprise that has to do with humans, surprises cannot be ruled out. The veteran Shakespeare rightly said, “There is no art to find a man’s construction on the face”. Suddenly, Governor Amaechi lost favour with the powers that be. But many of the governors still remained solidly behind him. Somehow, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the presidency had thought that the election was a walk-over; that the defeat of Amaechi was a forgone issue. The intrigues and high wire politics that culminated in the formation of a rival PDP Governors Forum (PDPGF), was meant to break whatever backbone was left of Amaechi’s re-election bid. All of Amaechi’s calculations as far as the election was concerned were thought to have been thwarted. Even at that, the strategists didn’t fathom that there could still be some Amaechi loyalists within their fold. That is the extent man could go with his limited knowledge. No man knows everything. Everything backfired at the venue of the election. There are lessons to be learned from the NGF election drama. First, as already highlighted above is the changing political thinking in the country. No one should be deceived that the inglorious political past would remain the template for political enterprise in the country. The old order is changing to give way to the new. The change instinct manifests at all levels. Anyone who doesn’t recognize it would
be left behind. Both the people and the leadership are inexorably geared towards change. The governors are not left out. They also want change. Some may feature in forums that champion different thinking from what they believe in. But when it comes to voting, they vote according to their conscience and not follow to the bandwagon. That was what happened at the NGF election, which is a big lesson to learn. So, it’s not over until it is over. Second is that you don’t have to over flog an issue otherwise you inadvertently force people to switch their sympathy. Two wrongs, they say, don’t make a right. From the moment Governor Amaechi was perceived to be nursing political ambition for 2015 against what many in the South-South see as betrayal and sabotage against President Jonathan, his kinsman, to the point his plane was grounded with subsequent allegations of fraud over the aircraft ownership and documentation, people began to sympathise with him. Many are asking why an aircraft that has been flying suddenly became not airworthy again. Why the infringements being pointed out were not discovered earlier is the central question. Many think it is witch-hunting of a man who apparently has lost favour with his political leadership. Thirdly, somehow, the governors wanted to protest any form of interference in their forum’s internal affairs. The NGF, which was founded early in this dispensation as an independent body that cuts through party lines unexpectedly appeared to have been influenced by the presidency. This scenario changed under the Obasanjo regime when the NGF became a formidable force that could be used to achieve political goals. But there are governors who felt that their forum should not become the stooge of the presidency for whatever reason. Those thinking that way felt that if the presidency is interested in who their chairman becomes; it means that the forum will henceforth dance to the dictates of the presidency. That would automatically rob it of its independence and non-partisanship. The vote against whoever appeared to be the choice of the presidency was therefore partly in
protest. Protest votes can upstage political calculations. The NGF wants to be left alone to do the work it has assigned to itself. Many people are wondering at what point the governor’s forum became a political bulwark that can no longer be ignored. At inception, the forum was more or less obscure. Not many Nigerians knew about its existence. The mission of the NGF states that the forum was established “to provide a common platform for collaboration amongst the governors on matters of public policy; to promote good governance, sharing of good practice and enhance cooperation at the state level and with other arms of government and society”. Promoting good governance was the overriding objective of the NGF. This it has been doing through its innovative and proactive State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM), a sub-national assessment of what the states are doing. The issue of providing a common ground on matters of public policy cannot be equated with dictating who becomes the president or principal officers of the National Assembly (NASS). Public policy in this case, to my mind, refers to issues that pertain to good governance in terms of social and economic well being of the country. While the NGF is committed to issues of good governance, it has unwittingly been dragged into destructive politics that now dominates its affairs. Thus, over the years, the NGF was involved in the Obasanjo’s second term election; the defeat of the third term bid; the emergence of Umaru Yar’Adua, a member of the NGF in 2007; the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan, first as interim president under the doctrine of necessity of the NASS and eventual emergence as president. These landmark roles of the NGF would naturally make President Jonathan believe that once he has his man as the chairman of the NGF, his mooted intention to re-contest in 2015 would be easy ride. The election would put the presidency pondering. It is needless forming another rival NGF chaired by Governor Jang in addition to the already formed PDPGF chaired by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State. Both essentially are made up of the same PDP governors. State resources will be wasted. It is unhealthy for Nigeria to be contending with three parallel NGF at this stage. The country stands to lose. There should be dialogue to resolve the differences. The welfare of the people should be the ultimate goal.
Lagos State and the corporate challenge By Moses Obaloju HE Lagos State House of Assembly recently held a public T hearing on “A Bill for a law to provide for regulation of smoking in designated places in Lagos State and for connected purposes”. The Bill, which was sponsored by Honourable Gbolahan Yishawu, seeks to legislate smoking within designated areas in the city. Stakeholders at the hearing included members of the organised private sector, government officials from the key ministries, tobacco control advocates and representatives of the tobacco industry. Though the legislators were lauded for taking the initiative to prohibit smoking in certain areas, they were also asked to ensure that all stakeholders’ views were taken on board. The former Lagos State Attorney General (AG), Prof. Osibajo, in his submission at the hearing said the state government is currently thinking of empowering citizens to sue tobacco companies for distribution of harmful products. This is in addition to the on-going civil charges levied against several tobacco companies by the state for similar reasons. Though this may look like a practical solution to addressing the issue of tobacco smoking, many will see it as setting a legislative precedence, which other companies such as the alcohol and sugar manufacturers may most likely, become culpable. Driving policies to protect public health is a laudable move that should always be approached within the context of the issues at play. Looking critically at the tobacco industry and the regulatory, strategies deployed in several countries, many have not succeeded in curbing the incidence of tobacco
smoking, but have instead ended up in allowing unscrupulous tobacco smugglers to gain foothold in the trade. Canada, which has one of the harshest tobacco regulations, is currently battling with the problem of smuggling. “Contraband tobacco is still a big problem in Canada... Despite new powers given police to crack down on contraband dealers, sales of bootleg smokes are on the rise in Atlantic Canada, the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco said Tuesday (May 7) at an Ottawa news conference. The coalition said criminal organisations in Ontario and Quebec have also adapted to new laws designed to curb the problem. “The Canadian, Ontario and Quebec governments have all given police new powers to investigate and charge those that traffic in the trade,” said coalition spokesman Gary Grant. “But the illegal cigarette industry continues to evolve to compensate.” Whilst the former AG may have good intentions, this in itself is not the answer to the solution; the reality is that several other products today are deemed to be as injurious as tobacco. In a Sunday Morning Herald article titled “Sugar as harmful as tobacco and alcohol”, three U.S. scientists from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) maintain sugar is more than just “empty calories” that makes people fat. They argue that high calorie; sweetened food is indirectly responsible for 35 million annual deaths worldwide due to lifestyle related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Professors Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis call for restrictions and controls on sugar that mirror those on tobacco and alcohol.” This call for controls on the use of
sugar invariably affect so many beverage companies, who have been restricted from marketing in schools in the U.S. and have started to look at driving low calorie alternatives, a strategy which is similar to the production of alternative and harm free tobacco products. Also recently, Coca-cola in a pledge on responsible marketing said they would not market their products to children under the age of 12. An Economist article entitled ‘No Smoke, Why the fire’ spoke about the introduction of ‘E-cigarettes’ into the market, thereby bringing in more health related benefits accruable to public health: “some inventions are so simple, you have to wonder why no one has come up with them before. One such is the electronic cigarette... E-cigarettes do not just save the lives of smokers: they bring other benefits too. Unlike cigarettes, they do not damage the health of bystanders. They do not even smell that bad, so there is no public nuisance, let alone hazard, and thus no reason to ban their use in public places. Pubs and restaurants should welcome them with open arms.” Appropriate and effective legislation coupled with educational campaigns and corporate accountability or responsible practices should be the main focus for the government on all these products. Instigating legal actions against businesses will simply add to the list of negative economic policies such as multiplicity of taxes which investors face in Lagos State. Question is how many companies will be sued? Alcohol companies, energy drinks, beverage companies with high calorie content or fast foods? Also who stands to benefit, the government, the people or the litigators? • Obaloju wrote from Lagos.