‘Iyalaya’ Ghost Workers

BY YABAGI MOHAMMED THE ghost workers syndrome is a problem that is not peculiar to Kogi State, but the nation at large. But first, let’s talk about the use of the word, ‘Iyalaya’ which only the Yoruba-Speaking readers can easily relate to. The word is inspired by a piece titled: “Iyalaya Anybody,” one of the best piece I have read this year by a fellow-Kogian, Canada-based Professor Pius Adesanmi, in a Keynote lecture he delivered at the 5th Innovation Series of Verdant Zeal Group Lagos. If you know the kind of frustration our teeming unemployed graduates go through, it has reached the level where they are saying “Iyalaya Ghost workers”, not only that but, they should also add: “Iyalaya originators of these ghosts.” There is no doubt people are going through hardships, not only in Kogi, my state, but also across the federation because of the ‘ghost workers syndrome’. So again, I say, “Iyalaya Ghost workers.” Some of you may want to know what the term “Iyalaya” means, but a few of our youths who listen to Nigerian music already know that Olamide originated it. Explaining it in the said keynote, Professor Adesanmi pointed thus: “In its pristine cultural background in the Yoruba world, “iyalaya” is an obscenity hurled at your opponent in a brawl to display contempt for his or her maternal lineage. It is usually accompanied by the insulting palm and five-finger flash we call “waka” in the face of your opponent. The consequence, as you all know, is often a bloody nose and an unscheduled trip to the hospital. However, as cultures evolve across generations, new meanings emerge and old words or expressions and are sent on new errands by the human imagination. I must excuse the Prof for the way he used the word: “waka” because that is the way most people use it. But the word is actually of Hausa origin which rightly is pronounced: “Uwa’ka”, meaning: “your mother!” In the Nigerian culture, if anyone could as much as look you in the eyes and tell you “your mother” with the fingers flash; know that you have so much irked the person. As cultured youths we may, out of respect, because some of them are ‘eminent’ personalities in the society, but with the frustration going on among the young people, it is high time we put some known cultural practices in the back seat and say “Iyalaya Ghost workers.” This piece is the voice of the youths of Kogi State. Admittedly, some of us have become so conditioned to thinking that the present administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello is here to visit hardship on our parents and siblings because of the issues that have cropped up from the civil servants verification exercise going on in the state, unknown to us that “the global shift from resources to human capital development shows that the youth demographic is the next gigantic idea – the single most strategic key in creating prosperous societies of the future. Take the overwhelming emphasis on the youth demographic out of any of these documents and the lofty dreams, hope, vision, promise, and aspiration contained therein will collapse completely.” The truth is things cannot continue as they were. In that rate, all possibilities of us getting it right as a state in dire need of development- physical and human; were going down the drain. Despite this fact, several individuals were feeding fat on our common patrimony. They were doing this with the connivance of few others who were also beneficiaries and of the rabid rape on the state’s resources. It is actually a fight that is not to be left at the hands of government alone. Some of us want to eat a cake without necessarily having to contribute in its baking. This is wrong. We must be ready to make sacrifices, make hard choices today for the betterment of tomorrow. This is what some people don’t want to hear but as bitter as it may sound, the change sought is one that should right wrongs of the past. We see the monumental heists that have been perpetrated by some unscrupulous individuals using the ghost workers syndrome; this is the time to put a halt to the menace. Stating it in simple terms, all the unique characteristics that are the hallmarks of the youths of Kogi State and what they represent as torchbearers for the structure required for further development on the foundation currently being built by the government of Yahaya Bello as encapsulated mainly from the dynamism of the youths of Kogi State. “In the last decade or so, the future of humanity has placed a bet on youth. The societies of the future are saying that the youth demographic is the next big thing; for good reason. If you look at the conjugation of genius, innovation, invention, energy, and work ethic which led to the emergence of the Asian Tigers and placed them at the forefront of global economic and infrastructural post-modernity, you will find the unmistakable footprint of the youth demographic all over that scenario.” The current team being assembled by the present administration has shown that the future of every society belongs to the young ones in that society. But before now, what legacy was our dear Kogi society ready to bequeath us if not that of poverty, lack, unemployment, servitude, immeasurable sufferings and ‘mountained’ of unemployment statistics? Those at the corridors of power have, in several forums, told the audience of the mammoth sleaze that had gone on unsupervised under previous governments, information that most of us are already privy to but fail to talk about because of some parochial considerations. The present government says no sentiments in its efforts to purge the state of the ills of ghost workers, a noble effort worthy of our commendations; all of us! It is also sad that some youths in the state are deliberate participants in this brigandage. This group of youths lives almost all their lives in the plundering as are members of a highly organized system, cutting across all the strata of the civil service at both state and Local Government. They are so used to their loosed lifestyle, feeding on the sweat of the rest of us that they do not want the wickedness to end. They therefore resort to every tactics there is to ensure their sources of corrupt enrichment are not bungled, something the present administration is ready to do. You will appreciate the level of rot in our system if you know the enormity of the debasement and ignominy that has resulted from the nefarious act. One of the forums through which the tip of what the screening has really brought to the fore was the recent stakeholders meetings held across the state and at the state Government House in Lokoja. This is a direct departure from what was obtainable in the past when government policies and programmes were not explained in detail to the masses. The present Kogi state government invited stakeholders including politicians, youths organizations, staff of banks, lawyers, members of academic community, security agencies, state legislators, religious leaders, civil society groups, Non-Governmental Organizations, women groups, traditional leaders, members of the media and the general public to brainstorm on the way forward on the matter. The town hall-like meeting ex-rayed some findings on the search for these canker worms called ghost workers and their owners. At the gathering, government officials and all the major role players elucidated on what has been going on and the true position of things to ensure clarification. Some cabinet members in the present Kogi Government especially the commissioner of finance, the accountant general of the state, the auditor-general of the state and Local Government, the Chairman of the screening committee all gave accounts of their offices. The truth is as I looked at the venue of the briefing, I saw several youths, all anxious for some mannah-like interventionism to salvage the situation the state is currently engulfed in, but the truth is none would arrive, not for now. Not with the current economic situation that we face in the state. The youths must be able to look at the situation the state is in and decide whether to support the standoff that has put us in the present quagmire or decide to objectively look at issues and make something out of the seeming new order of hopelessness. The point here is, they hold the haze. Giving the example of the American youths, Professor Adesanmi says: “Today, people look at Mark Zuckerberg and his generation as the epitome of 21st-century youth innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship. But the foundation for this spirit was laid by generations of American visionary leaders. Long before Mark Zuckerberg was born, an American leader had taught his people that there is no limit to human will and desire. He gave them a deadline to extend themselves beyond us all and conquer the moon. This no-limit philosophy to human daring, imagination, and innovation is the philosophical matrix into which the generation of Mark Zuckerberg was born. Do not make the mistake of thinking that these kids just happened along ex-nihilo. “And today, the leaders of Dubai are inspiring their youth demographic by making them believe that whatever futuristic leaps they can imagine can be done. Every time you think that Dubai has taken us to the very limits of futuristic architecture and construction, some youth somewhere innovates an engineering marvel that allows Dubai to add more floors to those skyscrapers. In America, the leadership is telling a restless youth demographic that the moon is not enough – they must conquer Mars. All over Asia, youth are imagining and shaping our future in huge innovation leaps because their leaders are telling them that they must beat American kids. That is why Chinese kids go to Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, and Columbia and make American kids look like dunces in those places. “The opposite is the case in much of Africa. Take Nigeria for example. While visionary leadership and the state are making it possible for the youth in America and Asia to dream of conquering Mars and opening up the next frontiers of science and innovation, the Nigerian Federal government recently assured her own youth that with patience, dedication, prayers and dry fasting, we may be able to manufacture pencils in two or three years. Yes, you heard me right. Manufacturing pencils by 2018 or 2019 is how a Federal Minister in Nigeria recently framed the aspirations of the Nigerian government. With any luck, the Nigerian government may inspire our youth to try and see how we might be able to manufacture toothpicks in 2050. “The tragic mental constipation of the state in Africa is magnified by Nigeria in ways that are intensely painful and personal. If you think that aiming to manufacture pencils at about the time that some people elsewhere are thinking that they may land a man on Mars and start Mars tourism is the worst case of aspirational poverty we have encountered from the Nigerian state in recent times, it means you are not current.” The youths of Kogi State must take up their required roles to ensure they put the state in the maps of more illustrious states of the federation in our quest for growth and development. It must match towards that summit with the audacity and guile, strength and determination of its youths. We must look at the old order in the eye and say to it: “Iyalaya yin; Iyalaya Ghost workers.” Kogi people ti take over!

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Rt. Hon Imam: Beyond Revamping Assembly Complex

By Yabagi Mohammed Immediately the people of Lokoja I constituency voted him to represent them at the State House of Assembly ahead of an incumbent, they knew they had given a chance to an individual that would provide adequate representation. Rt. Hon Umar Ahmed Imam is been known to be a silhouette, an alchemy with capacity for metamorphosis, a glimmer in the backwoods. He had shown a glint of his capacity as a towering persona framed in the midget. Diminutives can be easy in the eye, but are always very determined. Ask anyone that you know. Severally had he, in particular, and other stakeholders expressed worries about the operational atmosphere prevailing at the Kogi State Legislative Complex. The Assembly has been, times and times again, both a place for lawmaking and also a good lay for ‘foodmaking’. The legislators pass through tubers of Yams and Cassava to make law for the good governance of the state (?) Verdant and luxuriant as the background might be, an Assembly is supposed to be a place for serious business of legislation for the generality of the people, not only for land plowing. Don’t get me wrong, I love green! In fact give me green at any point in time and I am home with the environment, but not at the locale meant for legislative business. Also, I love farming lawmaker, but such lawmaker must be one thing at a time; isn’t it? Before talking about the overhaul of the physical structure of the Assembly, Rt Hon Imam had always been an advocate of lawmaking for the good of the public. A lawmaker, whose sole responsibility is the act of itemization of rules that would help governance to meet the yearnings of the people, should be seen to be carrying out this onerous task with gusto, but that lacks in a situation where the atmosphere is one of faded walls shouting unkemptness, weakened fittings and grimy shelves cascading with mustiness. Imam once opined to yours truly in an interview: “When we resumed as the 11th State Assembly, it was sad what I saw. The requisite environment required to operate was not there because the furnishings and other fittings were largely in abandoned state. Unsurprisingly, I reliably gathered that our predecessors hardly had time to seat, and that they only come to the Assembly Complex when the executive need them. But this set of legislators is ready to work for those who elected them into office, and so, we must operate differently and in a more conducive environment.” It is therefore no surprise that beyond the issue of renovations at the State House of Assembly Complex Imam had always set out to make a difference. He has consistently insisted that members must bring their A games to the business of legislation under his watch. When he contributed to debates on the floor, prior emergence as Speaker, he had always caught the attention of the entire house and the gallery for his intellect, articulation and novelty, by implication, challenging his colleagues to up their games. He has said severally that it was not going to be business as usual, galvanizing his colleagues into reclaiming the rights of the state lawmakers. I am not sure the present executive would have any other way. By principle and practice, the speaker has been a pathfinder for his colleagues in the house to be different. He has tacitly and deliberately reoriented their wits about the legislative business by demanding a fresh zest. By implication, physical renovation can hardly change a thing without mental tidiness. Now that the legislature realizes that it is a new sheriff that pilots the affairs of the house, the renovation under his stewardship is an added impetus towards a more proactive Kogi State legislature. “The Parliament, as the arm of government saddled with the responsibility of making laws for the good governance of a democratic society, must be handled by strong characters that have the foresight and capacity to move the physical structure and the rudimental requirement to the precinct where the required ambiance can be provided for its adequate functionality and performance.” To do this however, visionary leadership is important. There is no denying that Imam, even in his modestly furnished home, has shown that he is a man of taste – with modesty. It was no surprise to those close to him that he chose to see the Assembly wear a new look, this is because he has always been a man of standard; just like the governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello. Kogi Assembly, despite being notorious for division since time beyond the reach of memory, a fairly recent heartfelt piece by Rt. Hon Imam, has shown that his aspiration is to be in unison with his ‘brothers’ towards a purposeful legislative business in the house. He, by that piece, revealed his vision and mission for the Assembly under him and that fact went a long way to making the job reconciliation easy. That is now in the past. The point however is that Imam, has with his teensy frame, opened a giant vista in the Assembly. Feelers from the legislators is that they are excited and ready to swing into action with gusto when the state legislature recommence its sitting, 19th July, 2016 in an environment befitting of their offices. There is no doubt this is a new day; with new Assembly complex, same members (with some ones), same Kogi State.

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And Imam Dares to Be Different

By Alex Adeiza There is a point in life where one is faced with a decision of whether to take a risk. This could be to leave a miserable job, moving to a different position that stretches you, starting your own business, or even taking on a new demanding assignment. Greatness requires risk. This is premised on Lolly Daskal’s quote, which says: “if we are to do great things, we must always be motivated to take bold risks. If you are feeling timid or uncertain, find the inspiration to do what you are meant to do.” Since the creation of Kogi state, the legislative arm of the state has been a rope pulled at both ends by opposing factions of privileged politicians, sweetly called “Honourables.” In essence, the State House of Assembly prior now, could best be described as a “Birthed House of Commotion.” Umpteenth times, leadership tussle, impeachment sagas and discord stories were the expected whenever a Kogite grabs a copy of the national dailies. One who is not oblivious of the change in story today will agree to the obvious fact that the peace which has finally been watermarked in the state assembly took the decision of one who dared to be different, a lover of peace, and a game changer. But, before the peace, a step backward. A step backward reveals how the generational traits which had been rooted in the assembly refused to be weeded out, up to the 6th Assembly. Indeed, there was another leadership tussle, impeachment conundrum and the effectual emergence of another leader. If crisis would have had the prior knowledge of this particular leader, it would have struggled not to allow him seat on the top. According to Sheryl Sandberg, “if you are offered a seat on a rocket ship, do not ask what seat! Just get on.”Rt Hon Umar Ahmed Imam got on, and he dared to be different. Under his oversight were motions of great and direct impacts to all and sundry; swift interventions into embattled sectors of the state; and smooth relationship with other arms of the government which spurred marvelous progress within the periods he has gripped the mallet. On the 3rd of June 2016 was the first anniversary session of the 6th Assembly under the leadership of Rt. Hon Umar Ahmed Imam. A day where the assembly complex which is as old as the state, on its behalf, witnessed a Speaker’s motion directly to the Governor of the state. From the motion, Kogites in attendance discovered that Honourable colleagues were sitting in a dishonoured complex. Imam revealed that after the inauguration of the 6th Assembly, he saw an appalling assembly enveloped in bushes and cassava farms; an Assembly that has no offices for its Honourable Members, Management Staff and other cadre of personnel; the only Assembly in Nigeria without Committee Rooms; and the Assembly worrisomely open to risk and security breaches. Only an exclusively innovatory and ever conscious legislator would note this, especially in a century where allowances form the major concern of most legislators. With his calm and soft mono voice, Imam touched the deepest part of the heart of the Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and right inside the Hallowed Chamber; the Governor was left with no choice than to issue a directive to the appropriate quarters. The success story is still on, along Crusher road. Oprah Winfrey once said that, “unless you choose to do great things with it, it makes no difference how much you are rewarded, or how much power you have.” Many had sat on the Speaker’s seat from the time the complex was being turned to a farm house to the point it fully became a cassava farm, motions were sponsored to supposedly affect the lives of the ordinary citizens, yet, none to affect the condition of the Honourable Colleagues. But IMAM DARED TO BE DIFFERENT. Returning from the flashback, now to the reality is a wholly born-again and united Kogi State House of Assembly, whose second legislative year will begin on the 19th July, 2016 inside the Hallowed Chamber of the beautiful bride, the complex. Already wondering that if within a year, 161 awesome Resolutions could emerge from a dilapidated and appalling complex, the Executive arm should be prepared to work harder in the areas of implementation, especially now that the Honourable Colleagues will have their offices right in the complex comfortably.

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IGR: Kogi Should Learn And Imbibe The Lagos State

As a result of the misrule and mis-governance of the people’s democratic party and past administrations in Kogi state since its creation in 1991 which was evidenced in lopsided development of the different parts of the state, lack of dividends of democracy and basic infrastructural amenities like portable drinking water, good and motorable roads, provision of farm inputs, improved health care delivery system, and prompt payment of workers’ salary, the people of the confluence state looked forward to the present administration of Governor Yahaya Bello with positive and high expectations to hit the ground running and do the needful in delivering the much craved and yearned dividends of democracy. More so, giving the circumstance that surrounds his ascension into power and the fact that he is the first ever occupant of the Lugard House from the central senatorial district of the state, the burden of expectations and the need to right the wrongs of the past in terms of allocation and citing of developmental projects becomes even more inevitable and challenging. However, it is glaring that the administration of Alhaji Bello’s hands are already tied and wouldn’t be able to do much to meet up with the “mountain” of expectations from the present APC led government in the state. This is especially so if the prevailing economic down turn which has negatively affected the state’s share of federal allocation since the present government took over the mantle of leadership earlier this year. To conclude that Governor Yahaya Bello won’t be able to record any meaningful achievement if the present regime of economic challenge persists is to merely admit the obvious. Hence, the need for a concrete and calculative approach to be devised to boost the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) to be able to have more money to meet up with the huge demands of running government and the yearnings of kogites. The fact that Lagos state has been able to boost its IGR from a little above 3billion monthly in 2007 to a monthly internally generated revenue of 21.6billion in 2015, which means that Lagos alone has an IGR base that is higher than that of 32 states combined excluding Delta, Rivers and Ogun whose IGRs are relatively impressive makes Lagos a reference and a model to the rest of the states of the federation, especially Kogi state which obviously has plenty to learn and imbibe from the IGR “magic” of Lagos state. As it currently stands, more than 15 states are already bankrupt and can not stay afloat without federal allocation due to lack of foresight in revenue generation drive. It has becomes increasingly difficult for states to keep faith with prompt payments of workers salary, pension and allowances even after some sort of bailout funds was made available by the Federal Ministry of Finance. The fact that many states still owe huge arrears of salary has even awaken the need for the Federal Government to commence a process of dolling out yet another round of bailout. Until Kogi state government puts the right people in place who has the right awareness, commitment, vibrancy and foresight to do the needful by learning and imbibing the Lagos template which will in turn translate into an improved IGR, the confluent state will not only continue to live from hand-to-mouth, but the present situation in which the state government is unable to meet up with the challenge of clearing the backlog of arrears of salary of civil servants, let alone paying promptly will persist and the dream of meeting the yearnings and expectations of Kogites by providing the much needed dividends of democracy would be a mirage. – Hussain Obar writes from Lokoja - He can be reached on: oseniobaro@yahoo.com, 08065396694

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PDP’s Opinions Are Not Needed in Kogi Assembly Crisis Resolution – Onogwu Galacticus

You see, History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Adult Hitler once said “Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people… Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea. Who is still assuring the People’s Democratic Party, Kogi State that the people still listen to their stories even if there were true?. The dead on arrival, wicked, inhuman, selfish position of the PDP as to the peaceful resolution of the Kogi State House of Assembly Crisis did not only affirm its appellation of Papa Deceive Pickin but a lost of HONOUR by those who even thought of objecting the resolution. I write to respond to the statement issued by the PDP that ‘it distances itself from the reconciliation of the factions of the Kogi state assembly’. No body doubts this statement coming from a party that is only good in turning opportunity to mishaps, the PDP who created the crisis in the Assembly by forcefully removing Rt Honorable Abdullah Bello and installed Momojimoh Lawal, a situation that installed crisis In the assembly since 2011 until its final resolution on the 24th of June, 2016 can’t be happy the crisis is resolved. What the PDP had in the state was nothing but an increasingly gridlocked governmental system incapable of enacting serious policy revisions, in effect bankrupted itself by committing an inordinate trouble spots across the state while the people suffered. No one brings the PDP close when issues of public importance are to be discussed and that they had affirmed by distancing themselves from the peaceful resolution of the protracted assembly crisis. Since the beginning of the crisis, what efforts had the PDP made in resolving it since it gave birth to it? What help has the PDP rendered to its members who were almost consumed by the crisis for over a year now? PDP in their every man to himself fashion could not provide a lawyer non render financial assistant to the then embattled members but only hope the crisis ligers and to continue to destabilize the peace of the state. The Peace Committee headed by Comrade Oladele Nihi (Peace Ambassador) and the willingness of all parties involved in the crisis to listen to us fortify the case that Kogi has renew itself and is pursuing a comprehensive and long-term political vision, one that is responsive to the challenges of the changing historical context. Only a dynamic and strategically minded Governor Alh Yahaya Bello, Hon Momojimoh Lawal, Hon Umar Imam, all members of the state Assembly, together with a unifying Members of the Peace Committee had jointly promoted a larger and more vital Political ground for crisis resolution for peace and development in Kogi. The Peace Committee organized itself as one capable of acting as a responsible partner to the rising and increasingly assertive political interest of the players who ended up impoverished the masses at the end of their game and waded into the crisis. Otherwise, a politically divided and self-centered politicians could have slide the state into a historical decline reminiscent of the humiliating impotence of nineteenth-century State. Nobody will find it odd that the beneficiary of crisis will associate with crisis resolution process, a shameful stand that the shameless PDP has taken. On record, Members of the Peace Reconciliation Committee were all reputable youths and concerned citizens of the state who abandoned their respective jobs and took a week off from the comfort of their homes to assemble themselves in Lokoja for the reconciliation assignment. They carried out the self-imposed assignment not on the order or request of any political party but for the interest of the entire people of kogi state. They reconciled the members so that they can return to their legislative chamber to make laws that could move the state forward. Just like any other state in Nigeria, House of Assembly is a key component of any democratically established state which form a perfect synergy with the executive to bring about good governance. It’s only the enemies of the state that will want the face off to continue. – Onogwu Galacticus.

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Metuh suddenly springs to life

Before the crash of his party in the last Presidential election Metuh, like other PDP big shots, appeared media unfriendly if not arrogant. It was difficult to get his reactions on many issues, his position as the spokesman of his party notwithstanding. His APC counterpart, Lai Mohammed remained a reporter’s dream. But having taken the seat of the opposition Chief Olisa Metuh has, in the past few weeks, become the roaring lion, the barking dog. The PDP has suddenly become proactive, raising issues for the ruling APC to respond to. This is contrary to when it would wait for the APC before it would respond and in some cases would refuse to comment, probably because it was the ruling party and not ready to join issues. Only on rare occasions then that Metuh would respond and even when he did, he was very careful. Little wonder, former President Goodluck Jonathan brought in Chief Femi Fani- Kayode as the spokesman of his Campaign organisation and funded him. Fani- Kayode became vibrant, he took on personalities, leaders of the APC, the then presidential Candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari. It was almost on a daily basis, PDP was in the news, but at the end of the day, the party lost the elections. Fani championed a seeming hate campaign that seemed to win sympathy for Buhari. PDP goofed. Olisa Metuh PDP’s failure at the election may be attributable to many things, from impunity to arrogance, lack of effective media machinery prior to the inauguration of the Campaign Committee, just as Metuh had always complained of lack of money. Now, the party has no choice, it must be in the news. It must react to issues. It must even be proactive. And suddenly, Metuh has woken up. He is now playing the role of the Spokesman. Shortly after the defeat, Lai Mohammed offered to give Metuh a free, six-week crash course on his new role as the opposition party spokesman in the spirit of cooperation and for the advancement of the nation’s democracy. Mohammed had said, Metuh will need the training to effectively carry out his new, tough task. It is now obvious that he needs to understand that for him to succeed in his new role, he must be credible, empirical, more sophisticated in language use and very passionate, in addition to being able to operate on a lean or zero budget. Rejecting the offer to have a free crash course on speaking for an opposition party, Metuh described the offer as arrogant and self-serving. The PDP’s response was contained a statement signed by Olisa Metuh’s spokesperson, Richard Ihediwa where he said, “Alhaji Mohammed in his usual ill-mannered and condemnable approach left the issues and dwelt on insults, disdainful comments and personal attacks,” the statement said. The attack from Metuh as a spokesperson of an Opposition party did not stop at that as he vowed that the PDP would provide a decent and credible opposition that will constructively proffer sound alternatives to the policies and programmes of the in-coming administration without recourse to insults, propaganda and deceit. Metuh had said, “The PDP is a political party built on values, tradition and utmost respect for democratic tenets. Our manifesto and ideology center on national peace, stability and prosperity and we shall uphold this at all times. In this wise, the PDP as always, will continue to work in the general interest of the Nigerian people. “We will not resort to insults, blackmail and lies with the aim to distract or ridicule the person or office of the President. However, we must state in very strong terms that we will not allow them to lead the nation astray. So we will firmly oppose any anti-people policy and programmes as may be introduced by the APC. Commenting on the conduct of the April 11, 2015 governorship and state assembly elections, Metuh lamented that the process was characterized by brazen irregularities against the PDP in most states. He upbraided INEC and security agencies for the barefaced over zealousness on the part of some of their personnel to please the winners of the Presidential elections. When former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso attacked the PDP, Metuh as a spokesperson for an opposition party lampooned the former governor and now a Senator, warning Kwankwaso to be mindful of what it termed, his incendiary utterances that were capable of destabilizing the National Assembly as well as rubbish the prevailing political tranquility in the country. Metuh who told the former governor not to be ungrateful to the party as it was “taken aback by the venom and bitterness in the statement especially coming from a former governor, an elected senator, a highly respected former member of the PDP, who also benefited hugely from the party as minister and two-time state governor.” When Senator Bukola Saraki and Honourable Yakubu Dogara were elected Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives respectively and the APC planned to sanction them, Metuh described such statements as empty threats, adding that such boasts by the leadership of the party were aimed at covering APC’s naivety, inexperience and unpreparedness for governance. According to PDP, the APC should shed what it termed, its arrogance, eat the humble pie and get more organized for governance, adding that the ruling party lacks the capacity, capability and means to sanction duly elected leaders of the National Assembly. He said, “the crass inexperience so far displayed by the APC is a pointer that it is not adequately equipped to handle the affairs of government at the center. Events would continue to prove the PDP right in this regard. “Nothing can be more astonishing than the whining by the APC that the PDP at the last minute expressed its preference for Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively after it had earlier stated that it was not interested in the positions. This calls to question the capacity, experience and skills of APC leaders on political matters and we have no apology whatsoever for their naivety. “The APC is merely suffering the consequences of the greed, lust for power and inordinate ambitions of their leaders. They should note that Nigerians have since moved ahead with the new leaders in the National Assembly and stop wasting their energy on propaganda and blackmails to heat up the polity.” When President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Hajia Amina Bala Zakari as Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the PDP immediately rejected in totality such appointment, alleging that the presidency plans to use her appointment to compromise the Election Tribunals in favour of the APC. Metuh, while addressing Journalists stressed that with her appointment, the public no longer have confidence and trust in INEC, alleging that she was made the acting INEC Chairman because of her very strong relationship with the presidency and a governor from the North West who influenced the position for her. He said, “The PDP is particularly disturbed by the development in INEC where President Buhari, who knew all along that the immediate-past INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega would be leaving office by June 30, had to wait for him to handover to one of the national commissioners only to reverse it immediately, thereby injecting bad blood in the commission. “The situation in INEC since the PDP government reformed and granted it operational autonomy has been peaceful, but Tuesday’s untidy overruling of Prof. Jega and the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari as acting chairman which, we gathered was influenced by personal relationship with the Presidency and one of the new governors of the North West, ostensibly to pave the way for the APC at the electoral tribunals, has completely eroded public trust in the commission. “Whereas the PDP recognizes the right and powers of the President to appoint the Chairman of INEC and the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), we reject attempts as in the case of the AGF to paint the process as transparent and objective when such was not the case, but brought to question the sincerity and commitment of the present administration to due process. “ In INEC, the PDP states in unequivocal terms that we cannot, as critical stakeholders fold our hands and watch while the Presidency perpetuate actions that diminish the independence of the electoral commission. “The PDP has declared the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari as unacceptable and demand that President Buhari changes her immediately. “ Our reasons include the fact that due process was not observed in the appointment and that Mrs. Zakari has shown in the last elections that she is manifestly bias in favour of the APC. Finally her appointment is a clear case of nepotism. “ We ask, if they trusted Prof. Jega and commended him for conducting free and fair elections, why would they not trust him on who to hold forth in the commission until a substantive Chairman is appointed, rather than appointing someone who is retiring from the commission in the next three weeks? “With the prevailing record of Mr. President on appointments, it is unlikely that a substantive INEC Chairman will be appointed in the next one year. Is there a hidden agenda? Has Mrs. Zakari been handed a script to act given that we have cases in the tribunals in addition to the forthcoming elections in Kogi and Bayelsa? Metuh who insisted that the APC was derailing, said that it was unfortunate that thirty- two days after inauguration, elected into power over three months ago on the basis of their numerous promises to the Nigerian people, strong indications have emerged that the party and President Buhari were not adequately equipped and ready to chart a direction for the enormous challenges of governance. According to PDP, in the last one month, the APC and the government have failed to provide the change as they claim, as Nigeria was presently witnessing avoidable tension, wrangling within the ruling party, disruption of legislative activities in the National Assembly, painful economic stagnation. Warning the APC against the pronouncement of voodoo achievements, the PDP stressed that the country was witnessing what it described as overall uncertainty in the polity all due to the apparent inability of President Buhari to provide good governance and leadership. Metuh said, “today marks exactly thirty-two days of the inauguration of a new administration under the APC, which was elected into power over three months ago on the basis of their numerous promises to the Nigerian people. “ Even though this government has continued to plead for patience, we are worried that indications from President Muhammadu Buhari and his party do not inspire desired confidence in the citizenry that they are adequately equipped and ready to chart a direction for the enormous challenges of governance. “In the last one month, instead of a journey to change as they claim, all we have witnessed are avoidable tension, wrangling within the ruling party, disruption of legislative activities in our National Assembly, painful economic stagnation, pronouncement of voodoo achievements and overall uncertainty in the polity all due to the apparent inability of our respected President to provide leadership. “ We have a President and a party that have since thirty–two days been unable to decide on rudimentary appointments such as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff to the President, ministers and his demand for 15 Special Advisers as approved by the PDP controlled Seventh Assembly since June 5, 2015. “ Even the very little intervention made on appointments such as those of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) and the Acting Chairman of INEC, have not shown our beloved President as an evenhanded and patriotic leader resulting in the confusion and crisis of confidence that have trailed the two appointments. “Furthermore, the PDP finds it sycophantic, insincere and the height of deceit for the APC to continue to deceive President Buhari by parading voodoo achievements and pretending that all is well with the nation even when it is obvious that the government has not been able to locate its bearing. “The PDP also finds unacceptable APC’s continued playing on the intelligence of the people by dishing out imaginary achievements in the media even when it is evident to all that the nation is stagnating, a clear indication that the ruling party and the President lack direction and capacity to meet the expectations of Nigerians. “It is indeed amusing that a party in power in a press conference on Tuesday claimed progress in the fight against terrorism when the effort has lost steam in the last thirty-two days with insurgents, who under the Goodluck Jonathan administration were already at the verge of surrender in the Sambisa now surging back into the country.” Without sounding immodest, the PDP has suddenly woken up. The arrogance and impunity that made them boast that they would rule for sixty years have disappeared. It taken to serious propaganda, a tool for the opposition party if it must be heard. We watch how this would be sustained for it requires vigour, it requires prompt responses to calls, text messages, it requires additional manpower, research, listening, collaboration, respect for the media and its owners, total humility, among others.

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Kogi 2015: The variables that will change the equation!

By Phrank Shaibu The uniqueness of the forthcoming Kogi State gubernatorial election is not in doubt as it will be remarkable for many reasons. Aside the fact that it is going to be the first major election after the 2015 general elections, it will be an opportunity to open another chapter in the PDP troubled politics. The popular assumption is that the discontent that worked against the PDP in the presidential election may recur in the Kogi election largely because the party leadership in the state is not different from the national PDP leadership against which allegations of corruption, bad leadership and breach of trust of the electorate have been levelled. Observers of Kogi politics would readily attest to the fact that Governor Wada Idris’ membership of the PDP is now a big thorn in the flesh of the party and a huge political liability. The gap between his electioneering promises and delivery has reached a crisis point and the people of Kogi understand this situation perfectly well. The few supporters of Idris in the diminished PDP may find this honest statement quite disappointing. Even their hope that, through imposition, the governor will be given the chance to serve a second term is an illusion and any buyer of such fable may either have just rejoined us from the moon or could be one of those that encourage the continuous mismanagement of Kogi. PDP primary election of 2011, which imposed Idris as the candidate of the party in the Kogi gubernatorial race, remains a classic instance of impunity in our recent history. The state voters are still bitter over how the PDP manipulated the electoral process and switched their choice candidate, Jibrin Isa Echocho, with Idris. Indeed, the plot to ensure that the stolen mandate of Isah was never recovered was beyond the PDP members as the then chieftains of the PDP at the national leadership level blocked all efforts by aggrieved persons to get redress by ensuring that they frustrated every avenue including disregard for the order of the courts. From hindsight, one will be right to state that the PDP certainly took an extreme risk in ignoring the desire of its members and, till date, the party has not found a solution because the Kogi PDP continues to hang the toga of shattered credibility. Even now, Kogi is enmeshed in allegations of inappropriate leadership and ill-advised political decisions just like the allegations heaped on the Jonathan administration before its fall. From Audu Abubakar, Ibrahim Idris to Idris, Kogi seems to have been manipulated to exclude elites from being made governor. The nearest to Kogi being ruled by a graduate was in 2011 when, a first class graduate of economics, was denied his ticket after having won the primary election of the then famous PDP. Sadly, those who refused Kogi this turnaround were led by the then Governor Ibrahim Idris. The question on the lips of most focused youths would not be far from the fact that the Kogi people deserve a change in their political diet especially given that, in the past 16 years, the political parties have fed them with clueless leaders foisted on the state. Nevertheless, the antidote for the Kogi people should be to find a good leader irrespective of political affiliation; such a move, if employed in the coming election, will do the state good and open opportunities. Already, there appears to be a shared view among Kogi youths regarding the qualities of the next governor of their state because since the word emerged that Isah is being pressured to re-contest. Many of the youths have raced to support the political quest to ensure their generation does not lose out in the desire to produce a capable hand for the Kogi governorship. The speculation on Isah seems to be sending shivers down the spines of some prospective contenders who understand that, in a properly conducted election under the reformed electoral system, where rigging is made very difficult, a popular candidate like Isah will be every one’s bet for a win. Whatever happens in the Kogi election may not just be a pointer to Nigeria’s new political trend but a yardstick to confirm the sustainability of its new found electoral credibility.

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