Election days come and go. But the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us and not just the one per cent — a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice — that struggle continues.
“I won’t get my panties in a wedge because of what I am hearing from the political candidates, What they say in the campaign and what they do once they are in the White House are not the same thing. I don’t care who wins, whoever gets to the White House. Presidents can do a lot but they can only do so much through the system of checks and balances.” ~ James Baker With the above words, the former US secretary of state reiterated the point that Presidents are not unilateral rulers and that campaign rhetoric is often overwhelmed by the reality once they are elected into office. The issue of restructuring Nigeria which has been an intermittent fixture in the news agenda is once again being championed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who made it the focal point of his renewed quest for the top job even before he emerged as the PDP flag bearer. He posited that Nigeria’s underperformance is closely related to its defective structure and promised to restructure the country in 6 months if elected. Expectedly, this position received knocks from the Buhari administration which dismissed it as mere political rhetoric meant to cajole the unsuspecting. Vice President Osinbajo in a letter published by many media houses described Atiku’s proposal as vague while insisting that fiscal federalism, stronger State Governments, and good governance which he claims the government is propagating are policies that will move the country forward. Federalism comes in varying forms, that much I am sure most of us will agree with. The common denominator, however, is that all forms have a relationship of shared authority between the component levels of government as agreed by the federating units. No system of government is perfect, therefore nation-states keep evolving to adjust whatever system is practised to present day realities. But we are in that season when politicians talk from both sides of the mouth promising to deliver El Dorado if elected, so both men are living up to expectation and that is why it is proper to gauge their antecedents and assess each statement based on its merits. But before we do that let us take a long stroll down history lane to examine the pattern of the calls for restructuring. After Aguiyi Ironsi’s declaration of a unitary system via decree 34 on the 24th of May 1966, it is on record that the old Northern and Western regions were critical of the decree while the Eastern region remained silent. The North particularly was outspoken in their attacks and accused Ironsi of planning to foist Igbo domination on the entire nation. While Aguiyi dithered the North took their umbrage to the peak and assassinated him in Ibadan on the 29th of July 1966. It is important to note that Ironsi’s decree 34 which was subsequently repealed by Gowon did not strip the regions of resource control, yet the North kicked perceivably because he was not ‘their own’ and most were still livid that the perpetrators of what they believed was an ‘Igbo coup’ were yet to be executed. What followed was an extensive era of successive military governments mostly headed by northerners that established revenue review committees. These committees more or less acted as morticians for the final cremation of regionalism and the derivation principle of revenue sharing that formed the nucleus of our federal system of government. Indeed the lopsided centralisation of resources actually started when Awolowo, acting as Gowon’s Federal Commissioner of Finance reduced derivation on the recommendation of the 1968 Dina Commission. Despite the blanket rejection of this by the Council of Commissioners of Finance from all the regions, the Gowon administration enacted decrees 13, 9 of 1970 and 1971 respectively which appropriated a large portion of exploration and consolidated revenue to the centre. The old Eastern region was disgruntled but coming from the defeat of a protracted civil war the region was too ravaged to utter a whimper. The Murtala and Obasanjo regimes even went further to allocate more to the centre. Murtala’s decree 6 allotted only 20% of oil royalties to the producing states the Federal Government got 80%. Obasanjo’s Aboyade Technical Commission vanquished the allocation to the Niger Delta as the centre retained 100% of mining rents and royalties. This was the end of the road for derivation and what many perceive as the end of our fiscal federalism. Crude oil which then contributed over 70% to the national purse was taken from the states and federalized to be shared according to the whims of the man in Abuja. Through all these years there were repeated muted disapprovals from especially the South East and South South but the notorious high-handedness of military rulers was enough deterrence to make potential agitators have a rethink. Our second stint at democracy did not solve the problem as Shagari retained the 100% derivation at the centre bequeathed by Obasanjo. It wasn’t until the 1995 Constitutional Conference during the Abacha regime approved a 13% derivation for littoral states that we began to see some semblance of a return to fiscal federalism. However, it is also noteworthy that cries of marginalisation by MOSOP rented the air from 1992 till the state execution of Ken Saro Wiwa in late 1995. Obasanjo’s second coming as a civilian president saw him abolishing the offshore/onshore dichotomy ruling of the Supreme Court in 2004 via an act of parliament. This ‘magnanimity’ elicited applause from the political elite of the Niger Delta and Akwa Ibom whose oil resources are virtually 100% offshore found itself in stupendous wealth. Once again the South relaxed on calls for restructuring. The Yar’adua era saw the South screaming again for federalism and when Jonathan took over the shouts automatically stopped in the South-South and South East. The South West then took the baton and continued screaming as the region was excluded from the top 6 elected positions after Jonatha was re-elected in 2011. With Buhari’s victory coming from the alliance of the South
Time heals all wounds unless you pick at them~ Shaun Alexander. The American athlete who stated the above must have spoken from practical experience. Athletes are often prone to injuries, however, Shaun is encouraged that any injury will heal over time on the condition that it is not touched after the necessary treatment is administered. In medicine, injuries that refuse to heal are termed chronic and may cause severe trauma that could physically and emotionally drain a patient to permanent deformity. The name Biafra evokes deep emotions. It actuates a reflection on what many refer to as the Nigerian civil war but in the real sense represents the first black-on-black genocide in postcolonial Africa with Igbos at the receiving end. Attempts to erase or deprecate this truth by the west whose interests were served proved futile as there is abundant literature to buttress it. Ndi Igbo, however, ignored Gowon’s rhetorical 3Rs (Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reintegration) after the “No Victor No Vanquished” declaration and moved on. Meandering back to their abandoned outposts they made a tremendous economic recovery in record time and have contributed immensely to a nation left in piteous underdevelopment by decades of misrule. Igbos also made political progress. It took only 9 years to reintegrate back to the center with late Chief Alex Ekwueme as the Vice President alongside prominent Igbo sons like Chuba Okadigbo, Nwafor Orizu, and CC Onoh in the ruling NPN back then. The Great Zik of Africa who led the vibrant duo of Jim Nwobodo and Sam Mbakwe dominated the South East and equally had considerable influence with his NPP in Plateau, Rivers and Lagos states. However, the quest to ascend the throne remained elusive, not for lack of trying though for Azikiwe gave it a shot twice and Ekwueme came very close in 1999. Nevertheless, Igbos continued to be in the reckoning as a tripartite arrangement by the major tribes saw them holding on to the number 3 position all through Obasanjo’s 8-year tenure as the Fourth Republic commenced. It was even more so during the time of Jonathan as Igbos held juicy ministerial positions and reintegration back into the military was deemed to have been accomplished with the appointment of Ihejirika the first ever Igbo Chief of Army Staff in the post-war era. Then came Jonathan’s defeat. We had put our eggs in one basket which was crushed by the same Hausa/Yoruba alliance that gave us the stick during the civil war. Our people were shocked, our leaders in disarray, unsure of what to do or where to go. The Pharaoh who did not know ‘Joseph’ ascended the throne. Rather than spearheading the opposition Ekweremadu who was the highest elected Igbo official in the PDP joined Saraki in the APC Senate leadership. The South-East governors surrendered the party to Wike and our youths became willing tools for unscrupulous politicians. Deafening chants of secession escalated in the region with men of questionable character leading the politicization of Biafra. Indeed, the following two years saw Igbo land overwhelmed by unprecedented political entropy. Well, two weeks they say is a long time in politics. So here we are today with an Igbo son, an exemplary one at that on the ballot of the main opposition party to contest for the nation’s number two job. The restructuring carrot has been dangled once again and Nigeria is no longer a zoo. It is now ‘our country’ which deserves the leadership of Atiku and Obi to prosper. Regardless of your opinion about Peter, that he performed excellently in Anambra is not debatable. He is a consummate administrator whose personal philosophy, prudence, and ability to maximize available resources can never be diminished on the altar of politics. Little wonder the announcement has stirred and continues to stir excitement in the political landscape. A man, however, must have his faults and Peter is human. His approach to politics is commercial and he is deeply immersed in religious politics. His speeches are often dotted with “I did” rather than “We did” exposing a narcissist proclivity and lack of confidence in others. These attributes may have been beneficial on a local level but will likely be inimical in the larger picture of national politics which demands a secular and inclusive appeal. Be that as it may, his choice as Atiku’s running mate is a good one. The problem though is that they will have to navigate labyrinthine impediments to give the incumbent a good fight. For one, though no politician sets out to fail, Atiku’s decision is perceived as politically wrong by many in the sense that the South-West is completely out of the equation in his party. Given the palpable apathy towards the APC in the South-East, the region is already in Turaki’s kitty, so one would have expected a Yoruba running mate in order to make inroads into the second most populous region with a history of vote splitting among the leading parties. All the same, being a veteran in the game, the former Vice President may have an ace up his sleeve and his prerogative must be respected. Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how he will convince the Yorubas that the man who sensationally accused Fashola of ethnic discrimination is better than their son Yemi Osinbajo. Secondly, though Atiku is considered a worthy adversary by many he has rarely managed to scratch Buhari’s votes in the north in previous elections. In 2003 as the Vice President and in 2007 with him on the ballot, Buhari swept most of the core northern states with a wide margin. Conceivably, the task of gaining northern votes will be an arduous one given his alleged utterances against the region and even more so with a man regarded as a part of the unsuccessful connivance to usurp their ‘right’ in 2015. Finally, the base has to be consolidated. Peter has to get off his high horse and stoop to conquer. He must rise above the recent self-serving abjuration by the South-East leaders
Since the INTELS contract termination episode, I know a lot of people have been expecting me to say something. Some of them have even reached my inbox, to indirectly ask me what is going on. Because of this, and also for posterity’s sake, I will say the few truths I know about INTELS, the company, the owners and some of the politics surrounding it so it can help commentators and followers of the never-ending Nigerian drama to make informed opinions about the situation. The 1st Era. INTELS (known then as NICOTES- {Nigeria Container Services} was founded in the early 80s by an Italian (from Genoa, Italy) , who is now a nationalised Nigerian – Gabrielle Volpi and Atiku Abubakar. When they started, Atiku was still in the Nigerian Customs, so he could not be involved in the day to day activities of the company. While Volpi was the brain and technical partner, Atiku was the financial, political and Nigerian partner. They started its operations from a container office at Apapa Port, Lagos. The company was simply and strictly into oil servicing on a small scale logistics. As fate would have it, the company grew in bounds and finances, especially because it was structured around oil- the gold of the 80s. It is instructive to add that neither Atiku nor Volpi had an oil block, then, now or ever; but rather they offered their services to those who do but who do not have the expertise, finances, and manpower to drill, transport or even manage it. This is exactly what INTELS is about. In the late 80s (between 1988 and 1989) INTELS, still known as NICOTES had grown so big that Atiku was already tired of being tied down into the Nigerian customs rather than having the freedom to live like a wealthy man that he was and spend his money the way he wanted. This was why, when in 1989, Gen Ibrahim Babangida refused to promote Atiku Abubakar to the post of Controller General (citing the fact that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur cannot head the NPA, Murtala Nyako head the Navy and Atiku Abubakar would head the customs, when all were from one state {Gongola- now Adamawa and Taraba states}), Atiku decided to resign rather than waste his time missing out in Customs and also missing out in expanding his network in Nigeria as a private citizen. Before Atiku left the Customs, NICOTES- (INTELS) had already become a cash spinning enterprise. It was so big and lucrative that Atiku and Volpi, with an out of this world confidence, were able to take the risk and take a loan of 400M to expand it. This was what prompted Gabrielle Volpi, an Italian who had studied the African situation very well, to suggest that they should invite some big people (in the Nigerian parlance) into the business. He said they would need influential Nigerians on the board so that a Government who did not know when they were growing the business would not just come and take over it as it is usual practice in Africa. Atiku, as the Nigerian partner was the one who had to look for the big Nigerians to be brought in. The 2nd Era. The new INTELS (still NICOTES), began after Atiku’s retirement from the Customs. This new one had Gabrielle Volpi, Atiku Abubakar, Gen Shehu Yar’adua( Obasanjo ‘s VP in 1976- 79), HRH Ado Bayero (The late Emir of Kano) and some other notable Nigerians as directors. A first-class General, a first-class King etc were brought in to secure and solidify the company. Volpi believed it would be very difficult for any government to seize any business that belonged to these type of Nigerians. I must also say it here that the first dividend paid to Gen Shehu Yar’adua (Atiku Abubakar’s political leader and mentor) was so huge that he had to invite Atiku and asked him if they were dealing in drugs. Atiku laughed this off and explained the business to him. With this, it is clear that Atiku Abubakar is not the only owner of INTELS, in fact, he is not even the major shareholder since most of his original shares were distributed to the newcomers from Nigeria. How anyone would call Atiku a greedy man still beats me. The unprecedented financial strength that Atiku was able to give Shehu Yar’adua was the reason why Atiku rose so fast in Shehu Yar’adua’s movement – Patriotic Front (PF) and later People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), that in 4 years he has already overtaken people he met in politics. If you recall, in 1993, when IBB banned Yar’adua and some first-class politicians from contesting the elections, it was Atiku that Yar’adua presented for the SDP primaries, before Kingibe chose to ignore the party leader’s directives and thus divided the votes which made MKO Abiola, who was also in SDP, but not from PDM to win the primaries. The Abacha years. God’s ways are not always our ways. During Abacha’s years, Atiku Abubakar was part of the few rich Nigerians who refused to support Abacha till the very end. He also fought Abacha with his resources. But with all of Gabrielle Volpi’s permutations and plans, Abacha ended up arresting Shehu Yar’adua, our INTELS first-class General. Chased Atiku the young billionaire out of Nigeria, and seized NICOTES. That company that Volpi had given first-class protection. Abacha did the unthinkable. He seized it. He did not only arrest Yar’adua the first class General, he also arrested Obasanjo, a bigger General. NICOTES (INTELS) stopped making profits and almost died. Abacha was never really about the business. He had more money from the Nigerian Government anyway. He only seized it to cripple the politicians and the pro-democracy folks. The Rebirth. In 1998, when Abdulsalam Abubakar became the Head of State, after the death of General Sani Abacha, he returned NICOTES back to the original owners, and NICOTES was renamed INTELS. Note. It was returned before Atiku became the VP. In fact, even before
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