Opinion

Still on the persona of the essential Atiku Abubakar

Published

2 years ago

December 8, 2022

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By Tunde Olusunle

He contested the gubernatorial election of January 9, 1999 on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP), to be governor of the north eastern state of Adamawa and won handsomely. His closest rival was a seasoned politician, Bala Takaya, of what was then known as the All Peoples’ Party, (APP). The party would subsequently tinker with its name to make it the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party, (ANPP). The electoral demographics between him and his major competitor was over 45000 votes at the time, which was very huge. The margin between Aminu Tambuwal and Ahmad Aliyu in Sokoto State, in 2019, was as slender as 342 votes! While awaiting his inauguration scheduled for May 29, 1999, however, fate changed his political trajectory.

Olusegun Obasanjo, the retired army general who was once military head of state, emerged winner at the presidential primary of the PDP, held in Jos, Plateau State, mid-February 1999. Atiku Abubakar, the retired public servant had earned his stripes as leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Movement, (PDM). The pan-Nigerian political association was formed by Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who was Obasanjo’s deputy when the latter was military head of state. Atiku commanded respect and adulation from his colleagues, governors-elect, who deferred to him for his experience and political savvy. Immediately after the Jos primary, a running mate had to be on the ballot with Obasanjo, who opted for Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku’s running mate on his governorship ticket, was Boni Haruna, a young political scientist whose paths had crossed Atiku’s, at several junctions. Haruna for instance, was deputy managing director of “Sub-Saharan Press Ltd,” publishers of Lagos-based news magazine, The Week floated by Atiku. Once he retired from the public service into politics, Atiku had been advised to own a publication which will give him a voice in the political space. Chris Mammah, a journalist and longtime acquaintance of Atiku, was the managing director of the organisation. It was from this position that Atiku plucked Haruna, a Christian like Mammah, to balance his governorship ticket. Mammah is a christian from Delta State, by the way.

Haruna was automatically upgraded governor-elect, following Atiku’s transmutation to presidential running mate. A muslim deputy, Bello Tukur, was sought for him for essential ethno-religious balance. But both from the traditional establishment and the burgeoning political class, there was murmured disaffection and dissent to the new status quo. There were indeed sponsored litigations, which tested the position of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on this novel political configuration. And tried as appellants did, Atiku stood steadily and solidly behind Haruna.

As he settled down to his brief as vice president, Atiku’s even-handedness and pan-Nigerianness came to the fore. As with the president, some of his aides were assigned from the pool of public service agencies. And Atiku made no fuss about that. Baba Gana Zanna, ambassador and chief of protocol, (Borno); Azu Ndukwe, seasoned medical doctor and chief physician to the VP, (Anambra), were in this bracket. Same were Abdullahi Nyako, (principal secretary, (Adamawa) and Abdul Yari Lafiya, (Nasarawa), who was then a deputy superintendent of police, (DSP). He is now assistant inspector general of police, AIG) and was Atiku’s ADC. Mahmoud Ahmed, senior operative from the Department of State Services, (DSS) and chief security officer to the VP, also belonged to this category.

By the curious governance configuration of the Obasanjo regime, all presidential aides were first and foremost appointees of the president, who were thereafter deployed to various departments and organisations as the case may be. Atiku’s chief of staff, Olusola Akanmode, (from Kogi); media adviser, Chris Mammah, (Delta); legal adviser, Maxwell Gidado, professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, (Adamawa) and media assistant, Emeka Ihedioha, (Imo), were all christians. His gender-sensitivity was manifest as he appointed Tokunbo Adeola, a christian from Ogun State as special assistant on the National Economic and the National Privatisation Councils, respectively. She diluted the virtual all-male “cast” of the VP’s office.

Nath Yaduma, (Adamawa), Atiku’s longtime acquaintance also joined him on the special duties brief. Aides of the flagbearer of the PDP who were assigned various schedules, included: Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, (Kogi), who functioned as media adviser for a while before being appointed managing director of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc. Usman Bugaje, (Katsina); Hamilton Isu, (Ebonyi); Ajuji Ahmed; Umar Ardo; Butrous Pembi, among others, were also appendages of the VP’s office. By the second term of the Obasanjo/Atiku administration, seasoned technocrats and professionals like Sam Oyovbaire, Emeritus professor, (Delta); Garba Shehu, (Kano); Shima Ayati, (Benue); Andy Okolie, (Imo) Adeolu Akande, (Oyo); Chike Okolocha, (Delta), all joined Team Atiku.

Atiku enthroned a dispensation of regular engagement between him and his aides, which they looked forward to. There was a weekly meeting between him and his principal aides to review his activities and programmes in the previous week, and to plan and prepare for the new week. Away from the serious mien, the serially misconstrued haughtiness of his public profile, you find in Atiku a genteel, regular, friendly guy, who would laughingly banter with you. You wonder how he contains these divergent sides of him in one.

Back home in Adamawa State, January 2003, the four year old democratic regime was going to stage the very first elections of the fourth republic, by itself. Boni Haruna the incumbent desired a second term as governor. There were also other aspirants. As he was yielded the microphone at the gubernatorial primary, Atiku shocked many people. There was a general assumption that with the weight of his office, he was in a position to “right the wrong” done to the state in 1999, when Haruna became governor by “default.”

Atiku pleaded with leaders and delegates of the PDP, to endorse, without equivocation, Haruna for a second term in office. According to him, democracy was just beginning to take root in the country. Haruna, he explained, did well during his first term in office and should be supported for his constitutionally allowed second term in office. Atiku explained that four years was just around the bend, so aspirants should please persevere. Those who thought the former Vice President would capitulate to religious sentiments were astounded. He reminded dissenters that they were free to exercise their democratic rights by pursuing their ambitions in other political parties.

It is very important to lay this precedence against the backdrop of the gross mismanagement of Nigeria’s ethno-religious equilibrium under the watch of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency. At every turn, Buhari has left no one in doubt about his rabid irredentism on the grounds of religion and tongue. Under him, we’ve had a government where 80 per cent of the service and intelligence chiefs, are from the president’s section of the country. What is more, they are adherents of his own faith. It is from his own geopolitical zone, the north west, where all the members of the federal executive council, are all substantive ministers, manning very strategic, maybe “juicy” ministries, as in local parlance.

These include: finance; defence; police affairs; water resources; agriculture and rural development; aviation; justice; environment; humitarian affairs and disaster management, a whopping 10, out of 44 ministers, including the president himself who is the substantive minister of petroleum! Elsewhere, we have two ministers from the south, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN), marooned into a minuscule ministry like we see in labour and productivity. It is under Buhari’s superintendence, that all the heads of the various arms of government, and in some instances their deputies, are adherents of the same religion.

Each time he was privileged to hoist the flag of a political party, Atiku as a matter of sensitivity and appreciation of Nigeria’s secularism, has always run with christian co-contestants. Ben Obi and Peter Obi, both christians from the south east, were his running mates in some of his earlier attempts at the presidency. Atiku has not mutated one bit, as he has once again named a southern christian, Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, the incumbent governor of Delta State, as his sparring partner. Typically, you will find around and about Atiku, a consistent pot pourri of Nigerians from every part of the country. Bukola Saraki, Liyel Imoke, Emeka Ihedioha, Mohammed Hayatudeen, Ben Murray-Bruce, Raymond Dokpesi, Abdul Ningi, Jide Adeniji, Ehigie Uzamere, Tunde Ayeni, Biodun Olujimi, Osita Chidoka, Babangida Aliyu, Adamu Maina Waziri, Mukhtar Shagari, Ndudi Elumelu, Timi Frank are some of those you will mostly find with him. By any stretch of imagination, this is pan-Nigerian.

Atiku’s major challenger, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the other hand, has thrown it in the face of Nigerians, that we must contend with a same faith presidency, if he makes it. The last time Nigerians had such a ticket was the Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola/Baba Gana Kingibe pairing in the historic “June 12, 1993” election. It was a much different Nigeria and Nigerians from all ethnicities, faiths, beliefs, enthusiastically and unanimously, voted for that ticket. Almost 30 years down the line, it’s a totally different Nigeria we have today. The outgoing Buhari administration has grievously accentuated and aggravated our fault lines. Year 2023 will not be the same as 1993.

Atiku Abubakar holds the promise, the key for the healing, comforting, soothing, rediscovery and resetting that Nigeria urgently and earnestly needs. This country desires and deserves genuine reunification after the multilayered dismemberment we have suffered in the vice grip of the utterly mean-spirited, insensitive, unfeeling Buhari era. If Buhari, solely, has brought to bear on us the multiplex afflictions we have endured in the last eight years, wouldn’t a joint ticket of candidates of the same faith deepen and worsen our collective predicament?

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, is Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to Atiku Abubakar, GCON, presidential candidate of the PDP.

Opinion

BENUE 2027:The Apa/Agatu Quest for Equity

Published

5 days ago

January 14, 2025

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By Tunde Olusunle

It may be well over two years to the next cycle of general elections in Nigeria. For the people of Apa/Agatu federal constituency in *Benue South, however, the measure of their participation and integration into the governance scheme will be defined in the run-up to the general polls that year. Nine local government areas make up the predominantly Idoma country of Benue State also labelled Zone C in the senatorial tripod of the geo-polity. The zone is also home to the Igede ethnic stock and the Etulo. Local government areas in “Benue Zone C” include: Apa, Agatu, Oju, Obi, Ado, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Otukpo and Ohimini. The other zones, Benue North East and Benue North West, are wholly dominated by the Tiv nationality, striding across 14 local government areas. They are christened Zone A and Zone B in the local political scheme of the state. Federal constituencies in Benue South are: Apa/Agatu, Oju/Obi; Ado/Ogbadibo/Opokwu and Otukpo/Ohimini.

The subjugation of groups and ethnicities considered demographically smaller, by the larger groups which has dominated Nigeria’s politics over time, has not been any different for the Idoma of Benue State. Until the circumstantial emergence of a Yahaya Bello from the Ebira ethnicity in Kogi State in 2015, the Igala had the relay baton of governorship of Kogi State, in rounds and succession. The Ebiras and the Okun-Yoruba zones in the state could only aspire to be serial deputies or Secretaries to the State Government. This political template was virtually cast in stone. The Ilorin people of Kwara State have similarly wholly warehoused the gubernatorial office, sparingly conceding the position to other sociocultural groups in the state. The only exception was the concession of the seat to a candidate from Kwara South, in the person of Abdulfatah Ahmed, by his predecessor, Bukola Saraki in 2011. Even at that, there were murmurs and dissent from those who believed Ahmed came from a community too close to the Ilorin emirate to be of genuine Igbomina stock, which prides itself as the pure Yoruba species in Kwara State.
Twenty-six years into the Fourth Republic, the maximum proximity of the Idoma to Government House, Makurdi, has been by the customary allocation of the Deputy Governor’s slot to its people. Ogirri Ajene from Oju/Obi, the charismatic blue-blood of blessed memory, was deputy to George Akume, incumbent Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), from 1999 to 2007. Akume it was reported, genuinely desired to be succeeded by Ajene who exhibited competence and loyalty and could build on their legacies. The Tiv nation we understand, shot down the proposal. Gabriel Suswam succeeded Akume and had the urbane multipreneur, Stephen Lawani from Ogbadibo as deputy. Samuel Ortom, a Minister in the Goodluck Jonathan presidency who took over from Suswam opted for Benson Abounu, an engineer from Otukpo as running mate, while Hyacinth Alia, the Catholic priest who succeeded Ortom, also chose as deputy, Samuel Ode, who was also a Minister in the Jonathan government, from Otukpo. Arising from this precedence, Apa/Agatu has not for once, been considered for a place in Government House, Makurdi.
In similar fashion, the position of Senator representing Benue South, has repeatedly precluded Apa/Agatu federal constituency. David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark a former army General from Otukpo, took the first shot at the office in 1999. He was to remain in the position for five consecutive times, a distinctive record by Nigerian standards. Mark would subsequently become President of the Senate and the third most senior political office holder in the nation’s governance scheme for a string of two terms between 2007 and 2015. He was replaced by Patrick Abba Moro, who hails from Okpokwu and was a former teacher, in 2019. Abba Moro who previously served as Minister of Interior in the Jonathan government from 2011 to 2015, won a second term at the 2023 general elections and remains substantive Senator for “Benue Zone C.” He is indeed incumbent Minority Leader of the Senate, and thus a principal officer in the leadership scheme of the “red chambers.”
While Moro is barely two years into his second term, there are suggestions that he is interested in a third term which should run from 2027 to 2031! This is the core issue which has dominated contemporary political discourse in Benue South, especially from the Apa/Agatu bloc. For Apa/Agatu, it is bad enough that they are repeatedly bypassed in the nomination of deputy governors in the scheme of state politics. It is worse that they are equally subjugated by their own kinsmen within the context of politics in *Idoma and Igede land.* This is particularly worrying when both local government areas constituting the Apa/Agatu federal constituency, Apa and Agatu, are not in anyway deficient in human resources to represent Benue South. Names like John Elaigwu Odogbo, the incumbent *Och’Idoma* and respected clergy; Isa Innocent Ekoja, renowned Professor and Librarian; Sonny Togo Echono, FNIA, OON, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND), and John Mgbede, Emeritus State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Benue State, readily come to mind.
Major General R.I. Adoba, (rtd), a former Chief Training and Operations in the Nigerian Army; Professor Emmanuel Adanu, former Director of the Kaduna-based National Water Resources Institute, (NWRI) and the US-based specialist in internal medicine, Dr Raymond Audu, are eminent Apa/Agatu constituents. There are also Ada Egahi, long-serving technocrat who retired from the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, (NPHDA), and Super Eagles forward, Moses Simon, (why not, hasn’t the retired soccer star, George Opong Weah just completed his term as President of Liberia)? The Member Representing Apa/Agatu in the House of Representatives, Godday Samuel Odagboyi, an office previously held by Solomon Agidani, as well as Adamu Ochepo Entonu, is, like his predecessors, a prominent figure from the resourceful Apa/Agatu federal constituency.
The Olofu brothers, Tony Adejoh, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG), and David, PhD, a renowned management and financial strategist, who is also an Emeritus Member of the Benue State Executive Council during the Ortom dispensation, are from the same federal constituency. So is Abu Umoru, a serial entrepreneur who represents Apa State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly. The continuing intra-zonal alienation of Apa-Agatu from the politics of Benue Zone C, remains a sore thumb which must be clinically diagnosed and intentionally treated in the run-up to 2027.
If previous top level political office holders from Idomaland in general and Apa/Agatu in particular, had diligently applied themselves to tangible, multisectoral development of the zone and constituency, the present clamour for inclusiveness would probably been less vociferous. *River Agatu* which flows from Kogi State, and runs through Agatu before emptying into *River Benue,* is a potential game changer in the socioeconomy of Apa/Agatu, Benue South and Benue State in general. Properly harnessed, it can revolutionise agriculture and aquaculture in the state, beyond subsistence levels which are the primary vocations of the indigenous people. Rice, yam, guinea corn, millet and similar grains, thrive in the fertile soils of the area. These can support “first level” processing of produce and guarantee value addition beneficial to the primary producers, before being shipped to other markets. River Agatu can indeed be dammed to provide hydro-electricity to power the entire gamut of Idomaland.
The infrastructure deficit in Benue South with specific reference to Apa/Agatu is equally very concerning. A notable pattern in Nigerian politics is its self-centeredness, the penchant for political players to prioritise their personal wellbeing and the development of their immediate space. This has accentuated the ever recurring desire of people to ascend the political pedestals of their predecessors if that is the principal window by which they can also privilege their own primary constituents. Motorable roads are non-existent, seamless travel between communities therefore encumbered. Expectedly this has been a major impediment to subsistent trade and social engagements between constituents and their kinsmen. Primary health facilities are almost non-existent, compelling people to flock to Otukpo, headquarters of Benue South, for the minutest of medical advice and treatment.
Apa/Agatu pitiably bleeds from the relentless and condemnable activities of vagrants and bandits who have reduced the constituency into a killing field. Reports suggest that in the past 15 years, no less than 2500 lives were lost to the vicious attacks of marauders and trespassers in the area under reference. This unnerving situation has compelled engagements between concerned Apa/Agatu leaders, and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, (NPF). The prayer is for the swift establishment of a mobile police outpost in the troubled sub-zone to contain bloodletting. The proposal, anchored by AIG Tony Olofu, NPOM, (rtd), and Echono, has received the blessings of the police high command. At the last update, a commander for the outfit had been named, while the deployment of personnel had begun in earnest.
It is very clear that in the march towards 2027, Apa/Agatu will refuse, very vehemently, to be sidelined and trampled upon in the political scheme of their senatorial zone. Abba Moro may desire a third term in the Senate, but the people of Apa/Agatu are quick to remind him that his curriculum vitae as a politician is sufficiently sumptuous for him to yield the seat in the “red chambers” and sit back like an elder statesman. They remind you that for a man who began his working life modestly as a lecturer in the Federal Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in 1991, Abba Moro has done extremely well for himself in Nigerian politics. For reminders, Abba Moro was elected Chairman of Okpokwu local government in the state as far back as 1998. Ever since, he has remained a permanent fixture in Nigeria’s national politics.
The people of Apa/Agatu will put up a determined fight for the Benue South senatorial seat in 2027, and no one should begrudge them. They are the proverbial ram which was pushed to the wall, which must of necessity push back with angered horns to liberate itself. They are already engaging with their kith across “Benue Zone C” to ensure that intra-zonal equity, fairness and justice, prevails in communal politics.

Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), teaches Creative Writing at the University of Abuja

Opinion

The Prince Adebayo prescriptions for ease of doing Business: 15 Take-Aways

Published

5 days ago

January 14, 2025

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By Dr. Ag Zaki

On Thursday, 9 January 2025, Prince Adewole Adebayo presented a keynote address at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The occasion was the annual conference of a group of professionals, business executives and experts codenamed J9C for January 9 Collective. The theme of the Conference was “Business and Policy Strategy: Examining the Role of Reform in enhancing the ease of doing business in Nigeria.” Prince Adebayo is a versatile cerebral man of many parts, a lawyer, a multimedia practitioner, a real estate investor, a large-scale miner, a philanthropist, a community developer, and the 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The organisers of the J9C conference introduced him as an intercontinental lawyer because he currently practices law in over sixteen countries.

The full speech of Prince Adebayo at the occasion is available online and can be accessed by clicking at this url: https://youtu.be/SsHkcJbVNRg?si=ebvoOVqGh0zVOsnt or by scanning the QR code above. However, we are presenting the salient take-aways from this most incisive keynote address below for the convenience of interested persons and for the public good.

THE TAKE-AWAYS
Preamble
1. Not every change of policy or programme is a reform. A reform is a fundamental change in the activities, programmes, and policies structured to cause improvement. Genuine government reforms are people oriented and so citizens can interject, comment or contribute.
2. Reform may be internally motivated, externally forced or imposed, or technological driven.
3. The government of Nigeria must first reform itself to be able to implement development-oriented reforms to improve the country’s economic performance.

In general terms
4. Fiscal and monetary reforms are critical and are urgently required in Nigeria. While government can freely control its fiscal reforms, it must be bound by market forces for realistic and realisable monetary reforms.
5. Economic reforms must positively affect developmental policies, programmes and projects to engender economic growth, increase in efficiency, and lead to stability. Economic and political reforms must be implemented pari-passu for untainted policies and programmes.
6. Urgent structural reforms are required in areas of legal reforms, laws on banking controls and regulations, lending and borrowing as well as land matters.

In specific terms
7. Reforms which are aimed at targeting ease of doing business must be aligned with the Malam Aminu Kano maxim that “all civil servants should abstain from contracts or business”.
8. Nigeria must break the current odious and unwholesome conspiracies between policy makers, civil servants, and contractors, which can lead to irreversible endemic corruption, long foreseen by the revered Malam Aminu Kano, and which can permanently damage the economy.
9. Structural reforms must ensure that land laws open up maximum benefits and potentials of the land, encourage labour productivity and efficient and transparent entrepreneurship rules including registration, capital and lending matters.
10. Tax reforms should be broad-based, not about sharing of revenue but promoting productivity and competitiveness in all aspects of endeavours and infrastructure reforms should make transportation of people and goods safe and cost effective.
11. Monitoring economic crimes must be thorough and should go beyond arresting of “Yahoo boys” and those spraying Naira notes, but those devaluing the Naira and abusing economic rules and regulations.

Warnings
12. Adebayo left some stern terse warnings for the business sector and for the government of Nigeria.
13. Business executives and professionals should not ask or encourage government for specific reforms but for general broad-based reforms as firm-specific reforms can enhance operations of specific firms or business in the short term but will ultimately kill the industry.
14. Government should not meddle into business or be guided by partisan businessmen; government should meet business only at the junction of regulatory framework.
15. Government should be selfless and honest in carrying out reforms, incorporate measurable performance indices and ensure that reforms are implemented in a way not to inflict pains or punishment on the people.

# DrZaki25, 903 Tafawa Balewa Way, Abuja

Opinion

Governor Monday Okpebholo: A Blessing to Edo State

Published

6 days ago

January 13, 2025

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Monday Okpebholo

By Eigbefo Felix

His Excellency, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the Executive Governor of Edo State, has demonstrated that he is a blessing to the state through his policies, appointments, initiation of road construction across the three senatorial districts, and his deep love for the people of Edo State.

Governor Monday Okpebholo has begun fulfilling the five-point agenda he promised the good people of the state since his inauguration.

In the area of security, he has shown total commitment. He assured the people of Edo State that he would ensure their safety, and true to his word, the state remains peaceful, which has brought joy to its residents. He has provided the necessary support to security personnel.

The governor increased the subvention for Ambrose Alli University (AAU) from ₦40 million to ₦500 million. He also promised to address the issues facing AAU medical students. Additionally, he has started renovating primary and secondary schools across the state, underscoring his understanding of the importance of education.

The agricultural sector has taken a positive turn as Governor Okpebholo has allocated ₦70 billion to the sector. Recognizing agriculture’s importance to both the state and the nation, he is positioning Edo State to become the food basket of the nation with his investments in the sector.

During the electioneering period, Senator Okpebholo promised to create 5,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office. He has already begun the process, and soon, the people of Edo State will benefit from these employment opportunities. Unlike in the past, he will not rely on MOUs before making appointments. Furthermore, he has started appointing Edo State indigenes, rather than outsiders, to various positions.

Governor Okpebholo has commenced road projects across the state, from Edo South to Edo Central and Edo North. He believes that when roads are motorable, the prices of goods in the market will automatically reduce.

He has also begun investing in the health sector, understanding its critical importance to the people of Edo State.

Governor Monday Okpebholo’s initiatives and actions affirm his dedication to transforming Edo State for the better.