Connect with us

Opinion

Coup in Niger exposes fissures in Nigeria’s polity

Published

on

By Ehichioya Ezomon

Each side in the Niger Republic coup crisis is ratcheting up the ante, in a power show that’s the potential to further destabilise the West African region.
The military junta that staged a coup d’etat on July 26 has dug in by shunning peace overtures from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), United Nations, and some Western countries, including the United States and France, and establishing a quasi civilian administration, with the appointment of a Prime Minister.
The coupists, led by former presidential guards’ commander, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who heads the junta, have threatened to kill deposed President Mohamed Bazoum should the ECOWAS force invade Niger to restore constitutional order.
At the second extraordinary summit of its Heads of States and Government in Abuja on August 10, ECOWAS called up its standby military force in readiness for any eventuality in Niger.
This comes after the junta’s bluffing of an ECOWAS seven-day ultimatum to return power to Bazoum, who’s been under house arrest since his overthrow.
Rather than diminishing, supports for military intervention in Niger is growing, particularly after the junta’s threat to kill Bazoum.
ECOWAS has vowed to punish the putschists, according to the bloc’s Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, as he spoke on Channels Television on August 11.
Musah said: “We are going there (Niger), if need be, to rescue President Bazoum, who is living in very terrible conditions today. 
“We can not just sit back idle and depend on the goodwill of these people, who are disrupting the democratic process in the country.
“Yesterday’s (August 10) communique also made it very clear that this junta will pay dearly if anything happens to the safety, security, or physical integrity of Bazoum, his family, or members of his government. That was clearly done.
  “We are not going to hold back because they are holding the president hostage. If they dare, if they should harm him in any way, then they are going to pay very dearly for that. So, this is a tactic.”
Also, the AU – expected to meet today (August 14) to discuss the situation in Niger – has expressed support for ECOWAS’ decision, and called on the junta to “urgently halt the escalation with the regional organisation.” 
Ivory Coast’s president, Alassane Ouattara, has pledged his country’s participation in any ECOWAS military operation in Niger, along with Nigeria and Benin Republic.
“Ivory Coast will provide a battalion and has made all the financial arrangements… We are determined to install Bazoum in his position. Our objective is peace and stability in the sub-region,” Ouattara said on state television.
Besides, France and the United States – which have more than 2,500 military personnel in Niger – have endorsed ECOWAS’ position that no harm should come to Bazoum, his family, and members of his ousted government.
While France’s foreign ministry said it supported “all conclusions adopted” by the ECOWAS leaders, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said America appreciated “the determination of ECOWAS to explore all options for the peaceful resolution of the crisis,” and would hold the junta accountable for the safety and security of President Bazoum. 
It’s unclear if the threat on Bazoum’s life would change ECOWAS’ decision to intervene militarily in Niger. But going by agency report, analysts believe “it might give them pause, or push the parties closer to dialogue, but the situation has entered uncharted territory.”
Meanwhile, the military coup d’etat in Niger has exposed the fissures in Nigeria’s polity along ethnic, sectional, and partisan leanings.
A proposed “use of force” by ECOWAS to restore democracy in the country has been turned into a “President Tinubu’s war” on Niger and its people, indicating that many Nigerians are in support of the coup and the junta therefrom.
The coup had hardly settled when Nigerians began to applaud the overthrow of President Bazoum’s government by elements of the presidential guards, who reportedly falsely alleged the inability of the government to tackle insecurity in Niger, rather than the putsch stemming mainly from power struggle between Bazoum and Gen. Tchiani.
That an elected government was illegally overthrown, doesn’t worry Nigerians rooting for the coupists. All they care and are happy about is a disruption of the government in Niger – and a wish for a similar scenario taking place in Nigeria!
It’s no surprise that the coup hailers – and opposers of any intervention in Niger – are mostly the same people that canvassed a military takeover in Nigeria or installation of an Inerim National Government post-the February 25, 2023, presidential election. 
Recall that protesters of the declaration of Senator Bola Tinubu as winner of the poll had marched to the Military command in the FCT, Abuja, to incite soldiers to seize power, and prevent Tinubu’s inauguration as the 16th President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria on May 29.
However, the groundswell of opposition in Northern Nigeria to a forceful reinstatement of the deposed government in Niger is beyond what the individuals and groups adduce as reasons for opposing the ECOWAS, which’s chaired by President Tinubu.
The Northern voices say any military intervention in Niger will worsen the security situation in the North – which’s linguistic, cultural and religious affinity with the country that borders several states of Nigeria – and affect movements and trade between the two nations.
These are genuine fears that the Nigerian government, ECOWAS, and their backers should take into account in whatever actions they take against the military clique in Niger!
Yet, what baffles keen observers is North’s tepid condemnation of the coup in Niger, but a vehement opposition to deploying might to push out the coupists from their illegal seizure and occupation of power in the country.
Why didn’t the North employ the same vehemence to condemn the coup as one too many, and urge the junta to return to the barracks? Perhaps the ECOWAS sabre-rattling wouldn’t be necessary!
Northerners’ opposition to removing the rebels – in a similar fashion that the soldiers had overthrown the Bazoum government – has demonstrated to the coupists that they’ve Nigerian allies and supporters that can prevail on and/or prevent the Tinubu administration from enforcing the ECOWAS roadmap on Niger.
Sadly, some that oppose external intervention blame Tinubu for the situation in Niger and thus see Nigeria’s position as a “Tinubu’s war” from two angles. 
Northerners regard the ECOWAS initiative as a Tinubu (Southern) war against their brethren in Niger and invariably a war against Northern Nigeria. 
Other Nigerians consider the ECOWAS intervention as a Tinubu diversion of attention from the socio-economic challenges his government has inflicted on Nigerians since May 29, 2023.
This is giving the dog a bad name in order to hang it. Blaming the ECOWAS push in Niger on Tinubu is uncalled for! The blame should go to Gen. Tchiani, who ousted the Bazoum government!
The campaign to stop a possible use of force in Niger by ECOWAS shouldn’t be a blackmail tool to bully and threaten President Tinubu because he’s the chairman of the regional body.
Tinubu’s devoted the greater part of his life – as a pro-democracy activist and Governor of Lagos State – to fight against military incursions in government, and for enthronement and sustenance of democracy and observance of the rule of law in Nigeria. 
So, Tinubu just can’t abandon these lofty ideals as President of Nigeria – which is looked upon to lead West African countries, and the African continent in such circumstances as the ECOWAS push to restore democracy in Niger.
Still, it’s welcoming that the President and ECOWAS remain committed to a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Niger, as Tinubu remarked at the second regional extraordinary summit in Abuja
His words: “We must engage all parties involved, including the coup leaders, in earnest discussions to convince them to relinquish power and reinstate President Bazoum.
“It is our duty to exhaust all avenues of engagement to ensure a swift return to constitutional governance in Niger.”
This’ll douse tension in the region, particularly in Nigeria, where non-state actors are jumping into the fray to take a front row in opposing the alleged “Tinubu’s war” in Niger
So, Nigerians should give the President the benefit of the doubt on the Niger saga!

Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Opinion

BENUE 2027:The Apa/Agatu Quest for Equity

Published

on

By

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

Continue Reading

Opinion

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

Published

on

By

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

Continue Reading

Opinion

Governor Monday Okpebholo: A Blessing to Edo State

Published

on

By

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.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 National Update