Politics
2019: The Prospects, Expectations
Just as everything with a beginning also has an end, 2018 faded away last Monday. Amongst numerous feelings attached to the outgone year, many a Nigerian would describe it as a year of tension and ambiguous direction with virtually no clues as to how better 2019 would turn out.
Expectedly, however, and depending on the divide, Nigerians, cut across such lines as party, religion, ethnicity, etc. would disagree and agree over how successful and developed or otherwise Nigeria had been, not only in 2018, but in the last three years plus.
While this is normal of political inclinations, it is also normal for politicians to also not accept clear failures in governance. Whether such failure is deliberately instituted out of selfish actions and or inactions, or out of ignorance in what constitutes governance, is usually not important.
In the same vein, it is normal for politicians to always claim to be doing what is right for the polity, even when their actions glaringly state otherwise. But, of course, there can hardly be anything normal in a people failing to truly assess how governance affects them and seek to make deliberate adjustments for the better.
This is what 2019, which crept into life on Tuesday, means for Nigeria as the citizenry seek to enthrone new leadership in all segments of governance, with particular focus on the Presidency in February 2019.
Former Lagos State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) national stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, no doubt toed this line in his New Year message to Nigerians when he said “The nation is on the verge of an election to determine our collective fate. We can either choose to continue forward or return to the old ways that held us back for so long. Just as 2018 must turn into 2019, we must also continue to move forward.
“We must enter the New Year and see it as a new day for Nigeria. Thus, I ask you to perform your civic duty to vote with utmost faith, responsibility and the best interest of the country at heart”.
The question is what constitutes “the best interest of the country?”
Knowing that politicians, particularly their Nigerian versions, can never accept their flaws and faults, it has become an intrinsic tradition to always weigh what amounts to the interests of a country from the perspectives of those affected by the actions and inactions of those in government, especially people or organisations respected by the standard of given societies.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who falls under this fold, in February 2018, served as a forerunner to what can unarguably be the heart beat of the Nigerian populace regarding how they had fared under the present administration, as well as what is required of Nigerians in 2019, regarding what is good for them.
According to him, “like all countries, Nigeria has many challenges. That, by itself, is not what we should worry about. What should matter is how, when and with what instruments we address or fail to address these challenges or create more problems”.
Obasanjo, who noted this while declaring his membership of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) in his home in Abeokuta, stated that government under Buhari took nation-building for granted, because it had lost faith with giving continued attention to every citizen, and hence ceased to give a considerable segment of the citizenry a feeling of belonging and a stake in their country.
An example, the former President said, is that while the “Federal Character Principle”, as espoused in the Nigerian constitution, serves as guide to the leadership “to search for competent holders of major offices to be distributed within the entire nation”, in order to avoid concentration of power in a few ethnic hands or geographical places, government under President Muhammadu Buhari had reneged on this principle in appointing leadership of the security apparatus of Nigeria.”
The result of this, according to Obasanjo, was that the spate of violence, criminality, organised crime, insurgency and terrorism did not “receive sufficient proactive ameliorative responses through transformational leadership – a determined leadership that brings cohesion and wholesomeness to the polity”.
In the face of high-powered insecurity, there can hardly be development, no matter what reasons are given, or what level of evasiveness is instituted.
The implication of Obasanjo’s concerns were that a key cause of the failure of the present Buhari-led government is that there had not been an inclusive and popular participation in governance in pursuit of the country’s genuine political, economic, and overall social life.
On its part, the Coalition of United Political Parties described 2018 as a year when poverty, job loss and impunity were promoted by the present administration.
The coalition, through its first national spokesperson, Imo Ugochinyere, said the current report by The World Poverty Clock shows that Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the most extreme poor people in the world. India has a population seven times larger than Nigeria’s.
In more practical terms, the implication of this is that about 86.9 million Nigerians now live in extreme poverty. This number represents nearly 50% of its estimated 180 million populations. The expectation is that as Nigeria faces a major population boom, it will become the world’s third largest country by 2050. What this portends for the country will better be imagined.
In the face of the fore-going, what may amount to succour came as President Buhari’s new year message on Monday, that elections in 2019 will not be a “do-or-die-affair”.
“Elections need not be do-or-die affair, and we should not approach that eventuality in a democracy with trepidation and mortal fear. Happily, a large number of presidential candidates have committed to peace and peace we shall have,” the President said.
The snag in Mr. President’s declaration can however be seen when placed side-by-side with the highly encumbered issue of his refusal to assent to the 2018 Electoral Act, which seeks to further institute free and fair elections in Nigeria, an improvement from 2015.
This makes more sense considering that ahead of the 2015 general elections, Nigeria’s democratic process got a notable boost following the introduction of electoral reform that saw, for the first time, the defeat of an incumbent President.
Why further improvement to the electoral process should not be encouraged at this stage of Nigeria’s hyped development can hardly be for the interest of the people, knowing that year in, year out, what Nigerians have wanted has not changed: provision of basic amenities by their elected officials, infrastructural development across board, ensuring a favourable business environment and adequate security, regular power supply, etc.
It has still not changed, and those who come into power have always known this. The problem has always been how they (the supposed people’s representatives) hope to give the people these basic needs.
Achieving these basic needs, among others, without making it look so unnecessarily herculean is what Nigerians want in 2019, however small such achievement may be. If a government therefore, does not show any commitment to this, the government has no business in governance.
Soibi Max-Alalibo
The immediate past President of Obolo Youth Coalition( OYC), Mr Ijong Ama Nkpon Amon, has commended the National Assembly committee on constitutional review for the inclusion of Obolo State as one of the states proposed to be created in the country.
Mr Amon also urged the NASS Committee to give priority to Obolo as the proposed state is viable in terms of human and material resources.
It would be recalled that the proposed Obolo State compromises eight local government areas, one from Rivers State and seven from Akwa Ibom State.
The OYC former National President who briefed newsmen on the issue described the proposed Obolo State as the most viable among the 31 proposed new states in the country.
He also described the inclusion of Obolo State among the list as a dream come true for sons and daughters of Obolo nation who have for years yearned for a political entity that will bring the Obolo people who are scattered in various states across the country together.
According to him, the proposed Obolo State is even more viable than some existing states in the country as it has both human and material resources to survive, adding that the proposed state is not only rich in oil and gas but has enough marine and forest resources to generate revenue.
Mr Amon who recounted how the agitation for the proposed state started said Obolo State agitators were the first to submit a memorandum to both chambers of the National Assembly for the creation of Obolo State.
According to him, the agitation started way back in 2022 when, as the president of Obolo youth coalition, he submitted a memorandum to the National Assembly, adding that he was happy that his efforts were yielding results.
The youth leader also said that there is no impediment to the creation of Obolo State as population wise and natural resources the state is fully qualified
“Obolo is over qualified in terms of geographical spread and resources.
Also population wise and land mass, Obolo is richer than some states in Nigeria. Obolo is the most viable, it has oil and gas,fishes and forest resources”, he said.
Mr Amon, who is also a one time Speaker of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Youth Parliament and president, Andoni Youth Coalition, further said the creation of Obolo State will not only help to improve the conditions of life of the Ijaw nation but also Niger Delta at large.
He argued that even if the creation of the state does not come to pass, history will record that Obolo people once agitated for their own state but expressed the hope that the agitation will yield positive results this time around.
Mr Amon urged Obolo people to be resilient and continue to pray for the actualization of the Obolo State.
Meanwhile Mr Amon has said that the creation of more states in the country will pave the way for the practice of true federalism in the country.
He told newsmen that it would enable states in the country to depend less on federal allocation as they will be made to source for revenues to survive.
According to him: “creation of more states will give more powers to the states to source for revenues and pay taxes to the federal government and this will bring true federalism”, he said.
By: John Bibor
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has faulted calls for the creation of 31 additional states in the country .
Speaking during an interview yesterday, the PDP chieftain said creating additional states would not solve the country’s challenges or promote its development.
Recall that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, last Thursday said the House had received proposals for the creation of 31 new states.
Hon. Kalu, who is also Chairman of the House Constitution Review Committee, said that six new states were proposed in the North-Central, four in the North-East, five in the North-West, five in the South- South, five in the South-East and seven in the South-West.
According to him, the proposed states include Okun, Okura and Confluence from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa from Benue; FCT State; Amana from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi; Savannah from Borno; Muri from Taraba; New Kaduna and Gujarat from Kaduna State; Tiga and Ari from Kano; Kainji from Kebbi; Etiti and Orashi as the sixth states in the South-East; Adada from Enugu; and Orlu and Aba.
Others are Ogoja from Cross River, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers, Torumbe from Ondo, Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos and Ogun, Ijebu from Ogun, and Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun states.
Some political stakeholders have, however, vehemently opposed the idea, describing it as unnecessary.
Reacting, Chief George said what was needed in the country at this time was not creation of additional states.
He argued that the fact that some existing states were not viable clearly showed that state creation would not solve the country’s deep structural problems.
Instead, Chief George called on the National Assembly to make efforts to ensure the country achieves true federalism, saying that it was a sure way to achieve accelerated development .
He stated, “Don”t tell me we should create more states. Forget about more states. We want to create more states and then everybody will be rushing to Abuja. This is not sustainable. Let us look at our federal structure first, the same federal system we run with America. Why are we not running it as they run their own?
“Go to New York City, the Mayor of New York controls the airport, the John Kennedy Airport, he controls the ports, the sea ports, the Mayor of New York, not the governor.
“Go to New Orleans, the Mayor there controls the ports. The same in Texas, all oil companies are not controlled by the President. That is federalism. Those people don’t run to Washington every hour to meet the President.
“In America, they have state police and even county police. Why can’t we have such here? Creation of more states is not sustainable. What we need now is to address the problems in our federal structure.”
Calling for devolution of power, Chief George said power devolution would catalyse the development of the country.
He, however, said the present constitution was not working and there was a need to have a new constitution to drive the country’s development.
The PDP chieftain said the current constitution put too much power in the centre, leaving the states and local governments helpless and incapacitated.
He noted: “There is no state in this country that the Almighty has not endowed. It is either agriculture or minerals or human resources. But the constitution of this country is not right. We need to revisit it and now allow all those states to manage themselves, manage their resources. That is the beginning of the cleansing of this country. Nothing is working because the foundation is faulty”.
Chief George called for the adoption of the recommendations of the 2014 Confab to achieve true federalism and address the country’s numerous challenges.
A former Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Elder Blessing Tiko, has urged the people of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area support the administration of Hon. Ezebunwo Ichemati.
Elder Tiko made this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The former party organising secretary, who is also the coordinator of Port Harcourt Environmental Sanitation Initiative, said Hon Ichemati has raised the bar as far as the administration of the capital city is concerned.
He particularly praised the Mayor for embarking on some people-oriented projects within his first one hundred days in office.
According to him, the Mayor has bought vehicles for all the councilors and principal aides of the council including the Deputy Mayor.
He also praised him for the construction of a two bedroom flat for 93 years old widow at Elekahia and purchase of land for Ogbunabali community as its play ground.
Elder Tiko also commended the Mayor the for construction of a road in Elekahia and installation of street lights and the ongoing reconstruction of a road and drainage system at Ekwe Street in Diobu.
According to him the ongoing construction of international educational centre at the council premises also deserves commendation.
He further said that the Mayor, during the end of year festivities, also visited the Port Harcourt Correctional Center and some homes for the less privileged to celebrate with them.
Elder Tiko urged the people to appreciate the gestures of the Mayor by supporting him to ensure that he succeeds, stressing that, if possible, the Mayor should be endorsed for a second term in office.
In addition, the elder statesman also commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara for his purposeful leadership in the state.
By: John Bibor
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