Poor Abba, twittered away

On September 28, 2014, I took on then Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, in my column for his threat to stop “candidates with criminal records” from contesting the elections that were a few months away. I opined that the police boss lacked legal authority to stop anybody from standing election; that such power belonged to the court and could not be usurped by any meddlesome interloper, including the police chief.

I questioned what amounted to “criminal records”, knowing that many citizens may have been maliciously accused of crimes and files opened (thus creating ‘criminal records’) in police stations, but the accused may never have been prosecuted, let alone convicted because the facts amounted to nothing. I surmised in that article that Abba could be attempting to use the same old, crude and atrocious political stratagem to harangue some politicians out of a fair contest.

Soon after, Abba found himself in another controversy when he meddled into the politics of the National Assembly to the extent that he interpreted the Constitution and on that basis declared that Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, no longer held that office on account of having defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

As a lawyer, nay citizen, Abba was right to ‘interpret’ the Constitution. But not being a judge in whose court such a case was brought before, he lacked the authority to pronounce such judgment and proceed to use public funds and personnel (the police) to execute such purported judgment. And Abba sure executed his opinion in a very crude way, sealing up the National Assembly and denying federal legislators, including the Speaker, the right of unfettered access to carry out their constitutional duties.

Earlier this year, a few weeks to the general elections, I met IGP Abba at an event by a civil society group to discuss security and the general elections. I posed a question to Abba and the representative of the Department of State Security (DSS) at the event. I wanted to know how, as security agents, they were able to effectively strike the balance between providing security for the president and exercising impartiality in their maintenance of law and order in the overall interest of Nigeria, conscious of the fact that the president was not only the president but also a candidate in the general election.

The police boss calmly answered all the other questions he was asked on that occasion and took my question last, by which time he said he would like to stand up to address it. He looked somewhat irritated at the question as he started by asking rhetorically, if anyone in the room could truly distinguish between the president and the state. He then went about laboriously to convince the gathering on how he and his colleagues managed such situations. But I was not convinced. I concluded that the IGP had a befuddled understanding of his role in a democracy.

Abba’s tenure as IGP ran from July 31, 2014 to April 21, 2015 making it one of the shortest tenures, even as he still had four years to retirement. The key point of his tenure was general election policing and his failure or success would be defined by what happened in that regard. A few days to the general elections, he instructed voters to leave the polling units after voting, as staying around the polling unit after voting could be termed as ‘loitering’ and therefore an electoral offence. It was a laughable instruction for a country whose citizens know their electoral onions well enough to be able to stay vigil at polling units until their votes are counted and results announced. He was simply ignored by all.

Despite the picture painted above, I am still concerned with the process and manner by which Abba was removed. The fact remains however that we do not know the reasons for Abba’s removal, four years before he was meant to retire from service. Unfortunately, the law does not mandate the president to furnish us with a reason. The constitution requires the president to appoint or remove the IGP on the advice and consultation of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) . The council is chaired by the president with all the 36 state governors, the chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the IGP as members. But was the council consulted before Abba was removed?

And even if the council was consulted, was the announcement of the removal of the IGP carried out in a manner that dignified that office? Certainly not! From the reports, Abba’s removal was announced via twitter, yes, twitter! And the twitter message did not emanate from an official account of an appropriate official of the government but from the personal twitter account of Reuben Abati, the president’s aide on media. In fact, Channels Television said they had to telephone Abati to confirm the information he tweeted. Now, this may seem trivial for a social media generation, for which I am an active ‘netizen’. But it does a lot of psychological harm to the officers and personnel of the police that their head could be dismissed in such a dismissive manner.

We may not like the ways of an incumbent of a statutory or constitutional office, but the removal should be done with great consideration for the repute of the office, not necessarily the officer. This again buttresses the recommendation of many civil society organisations, including the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) for the insulation of the office of IGP from undue political interferences. One such way is that once appointed, the IGP should enjoy a fixed term of office and should only be removed by a request from the president, supported by two-thirds of votes from the National Assembly.

Published in The Niche newspapers on Sunday April 25, 2015, http://www.thenicheng.com/poor-abba-twittered-away/

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT – TAX CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT, ABUJA

ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) is a not for profit, non-governmental entity registered with the Nigeria Corporate Affairs Commission. It commenced operations in Nigeria in 1999, while the programmatic operations commenced in January 2000 through a Country Agreement signed with the National Planning Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

ActionAid is an anti-poverty agency that prioritises works with the poor and excluded; promoting values and commitment in civil society, institutions and governments with the aim of achieving structural changes in order to eradicate injustices and poverty in the world. ActionAid Nigeria is an affiliate of ActionAid International, an International Non-Governmental organisation registered in The Netherlands with its headquarters in Johannesburg South Africa. ActionAid International works in more than 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

AAN is inviting applications from qualified candidates to fill the position of Tax Campaign Consultant. The Campaign Consultant will support a project promoting fair and equitable tax reform as a driver for inclusive and sustainable growth, reducing poverty and inequality, and promoting fairer relations between developed and developing countries, in the context of the post-MDG consensus.

Person Specifications
Education/Qualifications
• First Degree in Social Sciences, Arts/Humanities is essential.

Experience
• At least 3 years minimum working experience is essential
• Experience in policy, advocacy and campaigns in Nigeria is essential
• Experience of, and commitment to, policy influencing, networking and advocacy work is essential
• Knowledge of tax issues and global trends in tax policies is desirable

Skill/Abilities
• Strong communication and writing skills is essential
• Excellent research, analytical and writing skills is essential
• Proven strong and charismatic management and leadership skills and experience is essential
• Excellent strategic planning and analytical skill is essential
• Demonstrable IT skills is essential

Personal Qualities
• A strong commitment to human rights and socio economic justice and proven track record in exercising human rights.
• An appreciation of the need for innovative ways of learning and knowledge

development
• Flexibility to travel
• Willing to work additional hours at crucial times.
• Self-motivated person able to work without close supervision

To Apply:
To apply for this position, kindly send your CV and covering letter in not more than 3 pages to vacancy.nigeria@actionaid.org on or before 30th April 2015 clearly stating position as the subject of the email. Please note that all applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
While we respect all applicants, interview date will be communicated only to shortlisted candidates

Xenophobic Republic of South Africa?

It is shocking, the news coming out of South Africa, the so-called rainbow nation. It is sad that whenever the word xenophobia is mentioned, South Africa naturally comes to mind. In fact, you could be excused for thinking the word, like apartheid, comes from South Africa. The week has been filled with blood-chilling stories of savage attacks on fellow Africans by South Africans.

Most shameful is that this is happening in a country where, during its apartheid policy era that made it stand out as a bad tooth in the African continent, it was the rest of Africa who stood in solidarity with the citizens to say no to the inhuman government policies.

It is shocking that this is happening in South Africa, the country of Nelson Mandela – the world’s recognised super hero of unity, solidarity and tolerance – less than two years after the world stood still in honour of Mandela and South Africa.

It is unacceptable that in 2015 Africa, nay the world, humans could be hacked down by fellow humans and their property looted in daylight, and nobody is made to account for it. This expression of hate really reminds one of the Rwandan genocide. It also raises fears of what we in Nigeria could have found ourselves in if the hate speeches that characterised our last elections had tipped the country over.

The South African carnage is being blamed on a statement allegedly made by President Jacob Zuma’s son (Edward) that the country is “sitting on a ticking time bomb”, while foreigners are “taking over”. It is further blamed on an ethnic leader, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who reportedly said that “(foreigners should) pack their bags and leave”. It goes to show the weight that goes with words, statements and conducts of persons whose actions have deep influence on society, the citizens and their behaviours. And this was the point many of us stressed the other week when the Oba of Lagos went about threatening a group of ‘non-indigenous’ people of Lagos about their presumed electoral choice.

But seriously, where were all these blood-thirsty South Africans back in the days when other African countries (the governments and the people) sacrificed their resources for the emergence of a democratic and free South Africa. If some of those savage young people are ignorant of their country’s past, shouldn’t the adults know better and thus rein in their attack dogs?

I am pained because this whole incident would add to the narrative of Africa as that troublesome ‘country’ where all the negative reports emanate from. I am pained that the reason given for this hatred against other Africans is that they as migrants had taken over the (small-scale) economic opportunities and businesses in South Africa. This is ridiculous, knowing how South Africa and South African businesses have dominated medium and large-scale businesses in the rest of Africa.

It is equally disturbing that this hatred is directed at migrants of African origin. As it has been argued, many black South Africans see white migrants as investors and tourists and Africans as foreigners and criminals.

This madness in South Africa is capable of bringing out the beast in citizens in other parts of the continent and make nonsense of the much desired Africa’s integration. Matters are made even worse by the speed with which many are sharing reports, photos and videos of this barbarism on social media without much regards for decency. And the point really is that we do not need all those gory photos and videos to be shared on social media to know what is happening and condemn it.

The government of South Africa owes the rest of the world the duty to protect all peoples in its territory and to bring to justice everyone who tramples the right of others, be they citizens or migrants, be they legitimate or illegitimate residents of their territory.

In a statement issued during the week, ActionAid South Africa said: “South Africa owes a great debt to African countries for their support and solidarity during our liberation struggle. Their humanity and compassion stood in stark contrast to the inhumanity and violence of the regime here in South Africa. It is therefore deeply saddening to see that it is with this same inhumanity and violence that we are choosing to treat our fellow Africans.” I couldn’t agree more.

Published on Sunday April 20 in The Niche Newspaper http://www.thenicheng.com/xenophobic-republic-of-south-africa/ 

APC as the new gravy train?

Okay now, the elections are over! Well, not really; not until all the votes are cast, counted, made to count and results released. But then, the presidential election is over and from it a new government, new president and, more importantly, a brand new political party are getting set to take centre stage from May 29. From that date, the tables would turn with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the eye of the storm, taking all the flaks for all that is wrong with our country.

On the reverse side of the door would be the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) riling at the ruling party (sorry the party in government) for everything from insecurity to why an obscure government worker is extorting money from service providers. But that is the beauty of democracy where there are systems of checks and balances in place to guard against tyranny. This would be even more interesting and crucial as APC comes into the federal government with a commanding majority of the two chambers of the National Assembly. So we expect the soon-to-be opposition party, the PDP, to be on its toes to provide the scrutiny of APC’s government.

It would be a clear departure from 1999, when PDP started its rule (well, that’s what we all knew it as until president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, told us he would govern not rule). PDP never had it so smooth. To start with, its majority in the parliament was not absolute, so they quickly had to strike cooperation with the younger and smaller one of the two minority parties, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to be able to get their ways through parliamentary work. With time, though, our majorly wheeler-dealer politicians in the opposition parties trooped into the PDP, to ride the gravy train. This is what turned the PDP into a behemoth with a rapacious taste for power. And that is what almost brought our politics, nay democracy, to its death.

It, however, took the stubbornness and tenacity of a few men standing like Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stick in there in the opposition, rebuild it, build bridges, create and enter into alliances to get to where we are today. APC emerged as an alliance and later a merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that had earlier transformed from AD, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) as well as a small group from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Of course, the APC had a major boost from the apparent implosion in the PDP which saw the defection of five state governors from PDP to APC. Going into the 2015 elections, therefore, it was heartening to note that Nigeria had finally got a virile opposition party and a balance of political power by PDP and APC.

It seems, however, that our politicians, most of them without scruples, are in a hurry to take us back to the era of 2003. This is because even before the inauguration of the new government and commencement of the ‘reign’ of a new party in government, many politicians in PDP are reportedly jumping ship, grabbing on straws and swimming towards the sparkling new ship set to berth at the port of political lucre. If this happens, we may end up having a reversed PDP by the name of APC and the country would be the worse for it.

Of course, we do not expect APC or any party to reject prospective entrants to its fold, but there is something fundamentally wrong with our ‘career’ politicians who see government as the only farmland there is and would thus do everything to be in, around, about, connected, affiliated, and associated with it or to hobnob with the persons in it. If we are still going to see past party chairmen and even chairmen of boards of trustees (meaning the custodian of the soul of a political party) leave such political party and move to another, then we are on to a most dangerous experience. Our democracy would sure do with some serious opposition just like the country stands to gain nothing if all the states are governed by a single political party. After all, Lagos survived 16 years of being governed by a political party different from the one running the federal government. Nobody should sell us the crappy line about the need for any state to ‘belong’ to the same political family as the one in the centre. After all, while Lagos under an ‘opposition’ party did so well, many states that were under PDP control for all times could not boast of any real advantage during the period.

We have celebrated this new phase of our democracy and we should work to strengthen it by promoting the culture of a virile opposition. We must not end up with another gravy train of a party in government which excels in manipulation and opaque governance and administrative practices. We don’t want to go back to the situation where the name of the party in government becomes so loosely interchanged with rigging and manipulation of public processes. If we end up with that, then we have gained nothing.

Published on April 13, 2015 in The Niche newspaper. http://www.thenicheng.com/apc-as-the-new-gravy-train/ 

When the Power of the People met the People of Power

And it came to pass that on the 16^th year of the reign of the people of power over the country of the Niger-area, also known as Nigeria, a wind of change enveloped the land. It all happened on the last Saturday of the first quarter of the year 2015. On that day the power of the people met the people of power and the power of the people prevailed. It was much like the scriptural records when a divinely directed snake swallowed up the magical one inspired by a powerful earthly king.

On March 28, Nigerian people yet again confronted a powerful force they have been used to having around and that force, represented as the people of power, with a high taste for impunity, buckled. On that day, theoretically speaking, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) lost the presidential election to All Progressives Congress (APC). But in reality, the victory was Nigeria’s whose citizens have now seen and shown that they can in fact determine their future, with their votes. That, for many of us, was revolutionary.

While many knew and accepted we needed a revolution, they were always afraid of how best to go about it, a bloodless revolution not being a common occurrence. But here we have it. We may not fully comprehend how this was made possible but a lot of work went into this victory. At one end is an electoral management body whose leadership is focused on achieving credible elections, even in the face of daunting opposition by a political class which is more bent on manipulating a credible process to attain its selfish ends.  It was also made possible by the activities of civil society and citizens who took it upon themselves to urge the people to keep pushing and focusing on getting their votes to count.

Strangely, for several years, many of us in civil society strived to let citizens know the power they have within and suggest how best to channel such power to influence what they want. I daresay that the outcome hardly matched the efforts we invested into such advocacy. But on March 28, there was a significant shift when Nigeria went to the polls.

The international community also played significant roles by stressing the need to play by the rules, even pointing to the fact that there could be international consequences for criminality related to the polls. That is aside the numerous acts of overt and covert diplomacy that went on with the major players, including the open signing of peace pacts on two occasions.

A few acknowledgements would suffice though. The first recognition must go to the Nigerian people who came out, stood it out in the rain and sun and stayed throughout the night in some places. They volunteered their means including power generators and fuel, car headlights, rechargeable lamps and even meals, to make sure their votes counted. General Muhammadu Buhari and his campaign team in APC deserve commendation for their steadfastness and eventual success in getting this change to happen.

And of course, we must also acknowledge President Goodluck Jonathan who behaved like a statesman by conceding defeat early enough to douse the tension that was swelling across the land. That singular telephone call helped to decelerate the climb to boiling point and possible tipping point on our dangerous race to conflict. Happily, many of the (bitter) opponents of Buhari have taken a cue from President Jonathan to also congratulate the president elect.

That call on Tuesday March 31 was most timeous and we needed it badly. In fact, about 45 minutes before that historic telephone call, I had called for it when I posted on facebook thus: “With 25% votes in 25 states already for Buhari, he is home and dry with two more 'favourable' states and one 'difficult' state to be declared. Mr President should pick up his telephone and do the needful. ‪#‎Nigeria has to move forward.”

Earlier that same day on Tuesday, I urged people who hadn’t considered change management as encapsulated in the story of ‘Who moved my Cheese’ to do so quickly because it was a lesson we would have need of very soon. And that is the very point that we have to make. Change may have come with the presidential and national assembly election results, but how best should we manage this change. I expect the immediate beneficiaries of the victory (Buhari, APC and their supporters) to be magnanimous in victory. A few incidents of indecency in celebration call for concern as some people on the streets have even gone belligerent and provocative, sometimes harassing other road users and forcing them to shout ‘change’ or ‘sai Baba’ etc as some password.

I have also seen discussions by even the elite class suggesting that those who did not vote a particular way were therefore wrong and should have themselves to blame for the consequences of their unsuccessful choice. It has even got so bad that ethnic nationalities or geopolitical zones are being ‘queried’ for not supporting APC. And sad enough, this discourse is setting friends at loggerheads. That is nonsensical and undemocratic. This feeling of ‘this is our time’ will not help our healing process as a nation, which is what we truly need now. Thankfully, in his acceptance speech, President Elect, Muhammadu Buhari warned his supporters to act responsibly. He also promised that APC will not be a ruling party but only a party in government. We must hold him to that.

It is clear that this change has come. But the change beneficiaries should know that even change is not permanent and if they fail to act for the people, these same citizens who own the change will also change them.