Imo Government Partners Malaysia In Oil Palm Production

Imo State government has started its plan to establish two new commercial palm plantations in the state with the assistance of Malaysian experts. The state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, made this known in a breakfast meeting with All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, leaders at the government house, Owerri.

Governor Okorocha, who recounted the efforts his administration has made since inception to take the state to an enviable height, said Imo shall return to a palm produce state, with two additional palm plantations for commercial purposes.

He recalled that Malaysia developed its country through palm seedlings collected from Nigeria, regretting that Nigeria is still at the elementary stage of oil palm production. He also stressed the need to harness some of the natural mineral resources the state is endowed with.

He therefore called on the leaders of APGA and other leaders in the state to contribute their own quota by creating avenues for job opportunities in the state and announced that the state-owned oil palm plantation, Adapalm, is now Imo Palm Plantation.

In his speech, the director Felda Palm Industry, Malaysia, Mr Jacob Hajia Kasolan, who was present at the meeting assured that his team would assist the state government to rehabilitate its oil palm plantation.

Okorocha: My Appointees Will Generate Resources That Will Fund Their Offices

Gov Okorocha in a handshake with Justice Chukwudifu oputa (Rtd.)

Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has assured that most of his appointees will generate resources that will fund their respective offices and create wealth for the state, a position which debunks the claim in some quarters that the size of his cabinet may weigh heavily on the financial strength of the state.

In a maiden meeting with all the political appointees, the governor stated that the criticisms have no basis considering that the Imo Rescue government has been structured to operate as a task force towards achieving the desired result within the shortest possible time. He also maintained that his foot-soldiers were carefully selected to deliver on his Rescue Mission, saying: “My team players will work to generate their pay. I have defined their roles and job schedules for which I am optimistic that they will deliver.

“The Rescue Mission is like a task force that doesn’t require much protocol. What it means is that they will not depend on the state resources, but will rather explore other opportunities that will add value to our government and whoever that fails to perform within expectation for the first three months will be dropped,” he added.

Governor Okorocha, who reiterated that his government is in a hurry to deliver, further explained that he engaged many hands with specific functions to address the unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks that have always delayed government action and policy implementation. He enjoined Imo people to expect a radical change in the state in the areas of infrastructural development, healthcare delivery, industrialization, security, and compulsory and qualitative free education at the primary and secondary school levels, disclosing that his administration has saved enough resources for the development of the state by cutting down the cost of governance. He further restated his resolve to run a corruption-free administration and warned all the appointees to shun acts of corruption in their own interest.

Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Chinedu Offor, has urged Imo people to judge Gov. Rochas Okorocha by his performance and not the number of appointees in his government. Offor, who stated this while making some clarifications to government house reporters, said that the governor has made sacrifices that suggest that he is determined to rescue the state.

Re: Making The Imo Free Education Work

By Modestus OKAFOR

I read with interest Luke Onyekakeya’s treatise in The Guardian of Tuesday, 28 June, 2011, titled “Making the Imo free education work”. I really learnt a lot from that piece, especially the first paragraph that almost described education as the only guarantee to one’s economic, political and social survival. He writes, “Education is power and those who have power control everything”. Onyekakeya drew inference to the Japanese who had education and have become great businessmen as against the Igbo who engage in buying and selling but lack education only to watch their business empire collapse overnight due to external forces they could not influence. He hailed Governor Okorocha for slashing the security votes of top government officials, and for realizing that no meaningful peace and security can be guaranteed where majority of the youths are illiterate. Onyekakeya however expressed his apprehension on the workability of this good idea, proposing that there should be proper census of students and where they came from; auditing of schools and checks on school children flocking into Imo from neighbouring states (hence restriction of the gesture to only Imo children). He also posited that it should not only end on free education but quality education where the learning environment is upgraded and teachers re-trained.

Having had the opportunity to listen to the Imo governor speak in several fora on his agenda on education and having witnessed the Imo maiden Executive Council briefing where an aide to the governor unfolded the government’s agenda, I wish to stand on a vantage position to explain some posers raised by Onyekakeya.

In the first place, the current Imo government is not only aiming at achieving free education. Rather, amidst other pressing human demands like agriculture, sanitation, infrastructural development, workers’ welfare, etc, it is focusing head-on to rescue urgently three key areas – education, health and security. In the maiden council meeting, government announced that it has disbursed N100 million to each of the 27 local government areas (LGAs) in the state for the renovation of schools ahead of the new academic session in September. It was also announced that schools in the rural areas with less than 300 pupils/students would be merged with nearby ones except where the next schools are beyond 20 minutes walk for the children; and those in urban areas must have up to 500 pupils/students. In addition, there would be upgrading of schools with effective library and laboratory facilities, free books and uniforms for the children, including proper verification of teachers and re-training of efficient ones. The Rescue Mission is targeting the batch-by-batch disbursement of N500million to every LGA for upgrading of schools within the shortest possible time.

On health, the government is unfolding a rapid-response health team tagged “health at your doorstep”, comprising medical doctors, nurses and other health personnel equipped with ambulances, medical kits, drugs and communication gadgets to be stationed at the premises of the defunct development centres scattered throughout the state. This is merely a small unit of health reform which includes upgrading of a General Hospital to a tertiary health institution in every senatorial zone of the state and two hospitals to reputable standard in each LGA of the state. Moreover, a new security outfit comprising army, police and Civil Defence would be camped at same defunct development centres to respond to security challenges in the neighbourhood.

At this juncture, let me return to address Onyekakeya’s anxiety. Onyekakeya has already reeled out the need for free education. Therefore, I would not bother to mention reasons why Okorocha is giving free education to Imo. Just to add that Imo State government is extending its free education to any child attending its public schools. And it is not unaware of the possibility of families relocating to Imo and children from neighbouring states flooding Imo schools as it would extend this gesture to all, provided these families pay rent and tax in Imo and buy their food and wares in the state markets. The governor himself had allayed these fears postulating that if any state would restrict its free education programme, it would not be Imo, considering that 60% of Imo citizens live outside the state and enjoy much of the largesse of these states. And free education would bring our people back home, add more non-indigenes to the population of the state and hence boost the economy of the state.

Free education in Imo requires just commitment and a little cut in the wasteful expenses of government to save a petty sum to guarantee the future of the young ones. Yes, Okorocha had announced the cutting of security votes from N6.5billion to N2.5billion. He had earlier dedicated his four-year salary to free education and asked his aides to give part of their allowances. While addressing a gathering of traditional rulers in Owerri recently, the governor had informed them that free education must work, adding that he would soon access N4billion from the Education Trust fund and is saving N150million daily meant for governor’s food, champagne and guests. These revelations are hitherto top secrets shielded from public knowledge. He further said, “If my security votes a month is N850 million and I go to a class and see children learning on the bare floor, God will judge me. We’ll re-organize our primary and secondary schools and re-train our teachers to add quality to the free education programme of this administration”. He is really passionate about securing the future of the young ones as he had pledged not to stuff his pockets with government funds but rather to let tomorrow mention his name as one who sweated and bled for others to live.

Owelle Rochas Okorocha had done it before even as a private person. Now he has the entire wherewithal as a governor to extend it to every child residing in Imo. Educating a child is not too expensive, especially when it is channelled collectively to thousands of them while the gains are not quantifiable. All it demands is for those at the helm of affairs to feel the pulse of the very impressionable young ones who could not determine their future themselves. I thank Onyekakeya for his concerns and wish to conclude with his quote, “The truth is that if the lgboman had added education to his business acumen, the South-East would have been a showcase for the rest of Nigeria to copy”. Imo must show them the way.

Okafor wrote in from Owerri, Imo State

Re: Naira Rain: Imo Lawmakers In Loan Jamboree

By Citizen Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha

It has come to the notice of the Imo State House of Assembly that there is a calculated plot by enemies of democracy and enemies of the Rescue Mission Agenda of the state government to cause unnecessary confusion and tension in the state through spreading of false information to members of the public. This plot is, to say the least, aimed at bringing conflicts, lack of trust and most importantly doubt as to the esteemed Honourable Members’ ability in assisting the Rescue Mission Agenda of the state government to bring the people of Imo State out from the depths of hopelessness to the table of genuine hope and prosperity.

One of such plots is the continued use of an Owerri based newspaper – NIGERIAN HORN – to spread unfounded information against the Imo State House of Assembly and its Honourable Members. The recent false publication of the newspaper in their weekend edition of July 22-24, 2011 did not come to the people of the state as a surprise. The weekend front cover edition entitled “IMO LAWMAKERS IN LOAN JAMBOREE, AS EACH HONORABLE MEMBER GETS N40 MILLION LOAN” was meant not just to embarrass the State Assembly but also to bring bad blood between the state government and the good people of Imo State.

The office of the Senior Special Assistant on Media therefore wishes to inform all Imo citizens that there is no iota of truth in the said publication. As legislative partners in the RESCUE MISSION AGENDA, the esteemed lawmakers rather have forfeited some of their allowances in order to assist in the execution of the free education programme of the state government. The Honourable Members also sacrificed some of their entitlements in order to assist in the execution of rural development projects in all the 27 Local Government Areas of the state. The Imo Editors Forum, IEF, is therefore advised to seriously caution the editors of NIGERIAN HORN. The newly formed Imo State Newspaper Publishers Association, INPA, is also advised to caution the management of NIGERIAN HORN.  Enough Should Now Be Enough.

The Imo lawmakers are committed to bringing effective and efficient legislative responsibility to the people of Imo State.

Iwuoha is the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly

Owerri: Shuttle Services For Sam Mbakwe Airport

The Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has promised to introduce shuttle services at the Sam Mbakwe Airport, located on the outskirts of Owerri, the Imo State capital. He made this known, Friday, during an inspection tour of the airport facilities. This gesture, according to the governor, is to assist air passengers who cannot afford the high cost of airport taxis to get to their destinations without much difficulty.

Describing the airport as the entry gate of the state, Gov Okorocha disclosed that the state government would soon carry out an orientation/training for the staff of the airport as their conduct portrays the image of the state. He further directed that a total renovation job be carried out at the VIP lodge of the airport to befit the status of the airport.

On the issue of motorcycle operators at the airport, Gov Okorocha, who observed that their operations was becoming a menace, stated that government would organize a proper training for them to restore sanity at the airport. The airport manager, Mr. Orji Mgbemena, had earlier complained that the operations of okada riders at the airport were becoming a nightmare for the management.

It would be recalled that up till this time, taxis at the airport charge upwards of N5,000 to convey passengers from the airport to Owerri main town. This has continued to create much difficulty for visitors to the state capital who do not know their way about. The sole alternative to the taxis have been the okada operators who charge a little less than the taxis to take passengers to the Owerri or, better still, to a part of Mbaise where they could catch a bus or cab to Owerri for as little as N100.

Now That Abati Has Joined Them

By Chuks OLUIGBO

Reuben Abati, journalist and public intellectual, who recently joined President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, as Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, is no doubt a man of enviable pedigree. A renowned columnist and public affairs commentator whose opinions on socio-economic and political issues, local and international, are highly respected, Abati graduated with first class honours degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar where he won the Vice-Chancellor’s prize for the best overall graduating student in 1985. He proceeded to the University of Ibadan for his Masters and Ph.D, which he completed in 1990, specialising in Dramatic Literature, Theory and Criticism. He was a university teacher from 1985 to 1996. Between 1996 and 1997, he did a journalism programme at the College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park, United States of America, as Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow. In the same 1997, he earned an LL.B (Hons) from the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos.

Abati: new SA Media and Publicity to Goodluck Jonathan

In his many years as a journalist, Abati has won a number of awards. These include The Cecil King Memorial Prize for Print Journalist of the Year (1998), The Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary (1998), Fletcher Challenge Commonwealth Prize for Opinion Writing (2000), and the Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary, (2000). Until his recent appointment, he was the Editorial Board Chairman of The Guardian newspapers, a position he has held since 2002. He also wrote two weekly columns in The Guardian, one on Friday and another on Sunday, and his column also appeared regularly on a popular Nigerian website, Nigerian Village Square, NVS.

It is against the backdrop of the above sterling and impressive antecedents of Abati vis-a-vis his appointment as a presidential spokesperson, a position capable of dragging in the mud every reputation that he has built for himself in the past, that I write this piece. As it is, it would appear that the easiest way to get the attention of a government in power in Nigeria today is to criticise that government. Conversely, the easiest way to silence an avowed critic of a government, it is believed, is through a juicy appointment.

I may not be the first to have expressed this concern. I have read Dr. Wumi Akintide’s “I Hope Reuben Abati Does Not Become Another Ebino Topsy?” where he raised justifiable fears that power may corrupt Abati, thus: “Who could have thought that Ebenezer Babatope (Ebino Topsy) as one of the right hand boys and hatchet men of Obafemi Awolowo could turn 180 degrees once he was appointed a Minister under Sani Abacha? Once the guy tasted the forbidden fruit of power in Nigeria, he became a different man altogether. He used to be a fearless critic of the status quo with many of his powerful articles, but once he became a Minister, he was willing and ready to compromise and trash some of his long-held beliefs and some of the ugly things he had said and written for so long about the government in power at the centre and their total incompetence. It was as if himself and Lateef Jakande were purposely recruited by Abacha just to silence them and to turn them from the progressive into the retrogressive elements in a heartbeat.”

I have also read Lawrence Nwobu’s “Reuben Abati: From Government Critic To Apologist” where he contented that “Nigerian journalists have since become seasoned hypocrites and opportunists who send critical anti-government articles from their stables on a regular basis only to end up jumping into the same government at the slightest opportunity. Once in government, they become apologists of the same government they had spent years criticising. This has had the effect of diminishing any pressure such critical articles could ordinarily have exerted on the government as every journalist is now seen as a rabble rousing opportunist hypocrite who is only criticising because he has not been offered a position in government.”

I have also read a couple other writers.

They all seem right. Besides Dr. Akintide’s examples above, there are numerous others. I do not wish to name names. Just to say that, for instance, between 2007 and 2011, many state governors across the states of the federation surrounded themselves with shining stars from the media world who, before their appointment, had endeared themselves to readers through their weekly biting attacks on the excesses of governments in power. But they did turn around to spin and sell “the fairy tales of deceit” from their principals to the poor masses and to defend blatant lies. Now that the party is over, many of them have returned to their pre-party duty posts to keep churning out ideas they themselves could not defend in the last four years.

No wonder the late fiery lawyer and human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi, reportedly refused all the attempts to shut him up via a federal appointment (I remember one particular year that it was rumoured that Gani rejected a ram sent to him as Sallah gift by the then military governor of Lagos State, Mohammed Buba Marwa) and Chinua Achebe turned down a national honour by Olusegun Obasanjo.

Saying I wish Abati had not accepted the appointment would be anachronistic. He has accepted, that’s the truth, and he’s already at work. The saying that “the change we all crave for may never come if all good men stay away from service” may have become plain platitude, but I buy into it. I believe that instead of taking the back bench and complaining every Sunday that the choir sings rubbish, one should join the choir and show the way. So, on the basis of that, I am happy that Abati accepted the offer.

Just a few words of counsel, now that he is in. Abati, you are now part of the system you have always criticised. You now have a chance to effect the change process you have always advocated. Remember those noble words of yours in that article on May 28, 2011 which you titled “The speech Jonathan shouldn’t have made.” I will quote what you said concerning the amendment of the Constitution because it is one of the issues in contention in the nation today: “If he (the President) wants to so amend the Constitution, the same Constitution that he will swear today to uphold and defend, then he should not have been heard attacking that constitution three days to the event. ‘It is a constitutional problem’, the President stated. The problem may be worth debating of course, and it may well be a good idea to ensure that Presidents and Governors spend only one term in office: five years or six at most. I believe that this may even help solve the problem of cut-throat competition for Presidential and gubernatorial offices, and cure the mischief of Governors and Presidents spending their second terms in office doing practically nothing. But even if the Constitution were to be amended along these lines, it cannot take retroactive effect, otherwise President Jonathan would be accused of subversion and he would have damaged the historic opportunities of his government.” I believe you would not forget to repeat these same words to Mr President as often as the need arises.

I hate to think that you might act like that man in that story who criticised the government in power only to suddenly become silent after he was offered a political appointment. When his friends, who were worried at his sudden taciturnity, confronted him, he simply told them: “Person wey dey chop no dey talk. It’s bad habit to talk while you’re eating”.

As a special adviser to Mr. President, you must reinterpret your role and truly offer wise advice to him without equivocation, and not just be like others before you who always tried to justify their pay by merely reading their principal’s script. And when you speak for the President, an essential part of your duty, please communicate coherently without those tongue-in-cheek blandishments of many a presidential spokesperson that Nigeria had been blessed with.

Then there is the option of resignation based on conviction. As they say, when the kitchen gets too hot, then it’s time to look for the exit door. You must know when to back out. Dr Akintide has already prophesied that you would resign in one or two years, unless “President Jonathan truly means business to live up to his promises to chart a new course for Nigeria”. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala showed the way when in 2006, during the Obasanjo administration, she resigned her position as Foreign Affairs Minister because she was convinced that the then president did not show enough commitment to her vision. You will be expected to toe the same path when the situation warrants it.

Finally, there is need to keep your eyes wide open. Good name, the type that you have built for yourself, is better than one million political appointments. Do not disappoint younger ones like us who have always looked up to you as a role model in this noble profession. I will quote from a piece I wrote for a cousin of mine when he returned from the United States of America to join Nigerian politics: “Now that you step into their midst / mind: / crystal lies stare from the cornerlips / of their perjured truths.../ mind: / their innocent teeth smiling / hide hideous fangs dripping with blood...”

Dr. Abati, this is sadly true, and I know you know it. So, please let’s see the difference.

Jonathan And The Inconsistencies Of A President

Following the dichotomies between President Goodluck Jonathan’s pre-election and post-election utterances, fears are rife among analysts that the president may not after all be sincere to his 2011 campaign promises

By Chuks OLUIGBO, Odinaka ANUDU, and Chukwudi OHIRI

In The Beginning

Before the 2011 presidential election in Nigeria, many Nigerians had come to regard Dr Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan, a man who has been described as possessing an endearing calmness, a modesty that is rare with Nigeria’s ‘Big Men’, and a seemingly sincere desire to engage with the people he is ruling, as the Biblical Joshua sent to Nigeria from heaven to salvage the country from the pangs of penury, hunger, economic and political doldrums, and from the purl hands of inept leaders. Following the pattern of his ascendancy from assistant director, Environmental Protection and Pollution Control at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, in Port Harcourt in 1998 where he was “earning small, small kobo that kept him going”, to deputy governor and then governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa, vice-president, acting president, and finally president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without contesting any election on his own, many Romantic tales came to be woven around the man Goodluck. Thus, even before he declared his intention to run for presidency some months before April 2011, after many months of taciturnity, not a few felt that Jonathan was going to have a landslide victory.  

Goodluck Jonathan

And the Otueke, Bayelsa State-born zoologist did win the presidency, despite the tough battle and almost irrepressible show of tensile strength between him and his arch-rival, Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, garnering a total of 6,118,608 votes in the South-South, his home zone, as against Buhari’s 49,978 votes; 2,786,417 votes in the South-West as against 321,609 votes given to Buhari; 4,985,246 votes in the South-East as against 90,335 votes given to all other political parties put together; and 3,123,126 votes in the North-Central as against 1,999,999 shared by all the other parties. However, Buhari carried the day in the North-West and the North-East geo-political zones, with 6,453,437 and 3,648,736 as against Jonathan’s 3,395,724 and 1,808,805, respectively.

Prior to the election, virtually all the key contenders for Nigeria’s number one position had given their word that they would run for a single term of four years. Gen Ibrahim Babangida, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Dr Goodluck Jonathan all made the same commitment. Babangida was specifically quoted as saying that he would run the office of president, if voted in, for only four years and then work towards the emergence of a South-Easterner to succeed him in 2015. His words: “My belief in zoning informed my desire to seek for one term so that we can allow other parts of the country to have a fair share in the presidency.”

On his part, President Jonathan, while addressing Nigerians living in Ethiopia, where he attended an African Union summit, was reported to have pledged to stand for only one term. While answering to questions as to why Nigerians in the Diaspora would not be allowed to vote in the elections, he said: “Presently, the law does not allow voting outside Nigeria, but I will work towards it by 2015, even though I will not be running for election.” The President was also quoted as saying: “If I’m voted into power within the next four years, the issue of power will become a thing of the past. Four years is enough for anyone in power to make significant improvement and if I can’t improve on power within this period, it then means I cannot do anything even if I am there for the next four years.”

But even then, while many believed that the president would honour his word, some discerning Nigerians had reasons to doubt the president’s commitment to his single term pledge. Key among these was the president of the Civil Rights Congress, CRC, Mallam Shehu Sani, who said that President Jonathan had carved a niche for himself as someone who breaks a gentleman’s agreement and doesn’t honour his words. In his words: “President Jonathan lacks the honour and integrity to be trusted for his word. His offer for a four-year-single-term is a political gimmick and enticement. It is a political deception and skulduggery aimed at neutralising the opposition within his party.” Citing what he termed the president’s ‘summersault over zoning and rotational agreement’ of the PDP as some of the reasons why Nigerians wouldn’t trust Jonathan, Sani said: “President Goodluck Jonathan on rotation of power or zoning exposed his perfidy and vitiates any modicum of honour in his word. Whoever chooses to believe Jonathan is to be a perpetual fool. A people led by a leader whose word is not his bond are in bondage.”

Also, people in other camps, especially supporters of Atiku Abubakar, Jonathan’s key opponent in the PDP primaries, had reasons to doubt the president. Mallam Garba Shehu, spokesperson of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, said in an interview: “To unravel the essential President Goodluck Jonathan, one may need to go back to December 2002. On that day, Jonathan who was then Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, was in attendance at a national caucus meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by default. For whatever reason, his boss, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was not available for that meeting and had delegated him to represent him. That coincidence appears to have been a fortuitous one. It was at that meeting that the rotation of power between the North and South of the country was affirmed. Jonathan was the 35th signatory on the resolution of that meeting reaffirming the rotation of power between the two regions. It was expected that following the expiration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure on May 29, 2007, power would return to the North and reside there for eight years. It did with the ascendance of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. However, with the demise of Yar’Adua after a protracted illness on May 5, 2010, Jonathan was thrown up as an ‘accidental president,’ thus setting the stage for a titanic battle between Jonathan who is committed to running in 2011, in negation of that PDP pact and the North. Reading between the lines from what transpired at that last NEC meeting where Jonathan was endorsed, it was clear that the president has refused to answer the two fundamental questions: Is he ready to serve a single term? Again, which region will he hand over power to after serving the single term? We don’t need a clairvoyant to know the mindset of the president on these issues.”

Yet many Nigerians, perhaps carried away by their love for the person of Jonathan, dismissed these fears as borne out of malice. The elections came and they voted massively for the man whom they have come to love.

The President Double-speaks

Then came May 26, 2011, the day of the pre-inauguration lecture delivered by Prof Ladipo Adamolekun with the theme, “A Transformational Agenda for Accelerated National Development”, and President Jonathan, through his utterances, rattled not a few Nigerians when he lent credence to the fears that he may not be held by his word.

In his response after the lecture, just two days to his swearing-in and that of the newly elected/re-elected state governors across 26 states of the federation, the President said that four years was not enough for a president or a governor to embark on any meaningful programme. “I will not talk about the president and the vice president because the Constitution says four years, though some people have said four years are too short to make meaningful change. I believe them. For instance, if a new person is elected as a governor today, it takes him one year or one and half years to stabilize and also know members of his team. That is why in most cases, after one year or one and half years, a president or governor dissolves his cabinet and then sits down to get people to really work with him. By the time he settles down, another election comes and he gets busy on how to win the election. This is a constitutional problem,” he said.

As if to support Jonathan’s statement, on May 28, 2011, former Secretary-General of The Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, while presenting the 3rd Eminent Persons’ Lecture at Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, titled “Nigeria in a Globalizing World”, said that left to him, he would amend Nigeria’s constitution to give the president a single term of six years and the governors a single term of five years.

The president’s statement immediately elicited reactions among prominent Nigerians. While some analysts saw it as an indication that he might try to influence or lobby the legislature to amend the Constitution to extend his tenure to five or six years, others simply felt that the President was already giving prior excuses for the failure of his administration, while yet a third group saw it as a clear signal that the man is already working towards his re-election in 2015. By so doing, Dr Jonathan was already acting like his counterpart in South Africa, Jacob Zuma, whom recent reports quoted as denying ever promising to serve only one term as ANC president at the party’s elective conference four years ago, whereas earlier reports quoting senior party sources at the time of the conference held at Polokwane claimed Zuma had made a commitment to serve only one term.

In a similar vein, Anyaoku’s statement also fuelled the rumours already making the rounds that the president’s men are planning to push for a constitutional amendment to enforce a seven-year single term for both the president and the governors.

Rudolph Okonkwo of “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” fame wrote that “On the surface and at your own risk, Emeka Anyaoku’s suggestion was an innocent deduction of an astute observer of Nigeria. But coming just days after President Jonathan stated that four years is not enough to transform Nigeria, we can assume that a discrete campaign to extend Jonathan’s term in office is already on.”

Four Years Not Enough?

In an article entitled “The speech Jonathan shouldn’t have made”, Reuben Abati, a renowned public affairs analyst, debunked the president’s claim that four years are not enough, thus: “In states where the governors are prepared, we have seen so much done in four years. Gbenga Daniel, Bola Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Bukola Saraki, Mohammed Goje, Adamu Aliero, Godwin Akpabio, serving and former governors, all cannot complain that four years is ‘too short’ because in their first four years, they made great impressions and strides. It is in fact when governors stay too long in office that they begin to fail. Promises that a governor or president needs a second or third term to make an impact have not been borne out by our experience. President Barack Obama definitely would not say that ‘four years is too short.’ In less than four years, his administration has shown such purposefulness that comes from the will to lead. Obasanjo as President did a lot more in his first term of four years whereas his second term was taken up by his ‘bolekaja’ fight with Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and the selfish politics of tenure extension. General Murtala Muhammed spent 200 days in office as Nigerian Head of State and yet he made a lot of difference. Libya’s Gaddafi has been in power for 41 years and he says the period is ‘too short’. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, 31 years in power, also insists that this is ‘too short’.”

Abati further stated that if any elected officer should need time to settle down, it shouldn’t be President Jonathan. “He cannot ask for the luxury of settling down after spending four years in office as Vice President, Acting President, with the last one year as President. Nigerians don’t want him to settle down; they want results. That is why they voted for him,” he said. He therefore advised the president to avoid all the shortcomings that would make it possible for four years to be too short, since “any sign of tardiness on the part of his administration can be rightly interpreted as an attempt to justify an extension of his tenure.”

True, it must not take eternity for any goal-oriented and focused leader to leave memorable footprints on the sands of time. Nelson Mandela of South Africa who is today referred to as a ‘living legend’, for instance, did not spend more than a single four-year term to bow out honorably. Although it could be argued that he earned much of his political marks during the apartheid struggle, yet he did not yield to the temptation of clinging on to power, sweet as it may appear. Within four years in office, he had achieved the reunification of South Africa with the instrumentality of the ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’.  The greatest challenge of South Africa at the time was the shortage of housing for the poor, and slum townships which continued to blight major cities. Mandela did his utmost best to solve the problem. While leaving the day-to-day running of the government to Thabo Mbeki, he worked assiduously towards building a new international image for South Africa.

Back home, General Murtala Mohammed was the Military Head of State of Nigeria between July 29, 1975 and February 13, 1976. It is on record that within this short period of time, he had embarked on far reaching reforms in the country and his policies won him broad popular support, while his decisiveness elevated him to the status of a ‘folk hero’. In a very short while, Murtala Mohammad sought to restore public confidence in not only the federal government, but also in the civil service, judiciary, police and armed forces, diplomatic service, public corporations, and even the universities. Some officials were brought to trial on charges of corruption. He equally initiated a comprehensive review of the Third National Development Plan with special emphasis on stemming the tide of inflation as the greatest danger to the economy. Even the foreign policy of Nigeria received positive touch within this short period.

Also, within a record four years, the late Sam Onunaka Mbakwe of Imo State left a record that has today become a benchmark for measuring the performance of successive governments in the state. Between 1979 and 1984 when the military regime of Gen. Buhari disrupted the Second Republic, Mbakwe had transformed Imo and commenced a process of industrialization of the state. He saw governance as a tool for the rehabilitation of the infrastructure destroyed during the civil war and tackled it headlong. He established the multi-campus Imo State University which transmuted to Abia State University, one of the best campuses east of the Niger. The defunct Progress Bank was his brain child and he also invested heavily in palm produce and poultry to earn the Imo people huge revenue. His greatest landmarks were recorded in the development of infrastructure. Before him, roads in the area were in a terrible state of disrepair. By his third year in office, Aba, Umuahia, Okigwe, Orlu and Afikpo could boast of modern roads. Till today, it is difficult to out-match Mbakwe's legacy either in road rehabilitation or rural electrification. It was with the same zest that he turned to industrialisation by establishing an aluminum smelter company, a resin and paint factory, a cardboard packaging industry, flour mills, and a glass industry. His plan to prepare the state for industrial take off did not regrettably outlive his tenure. Mbakwe spent only about four years in office and achieved so much.

Away from the distant past, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola did not have to spend donkey years before transforming Lagos State, a record that is still glaringly obvious. Before his coming, nobody could imagine that the face of Lagos could be easily transformed ‘overnight’, but he achieved the better part of what gave him a clean bill of health just within the first three years in office while the last one year was devoted to fighting detractors in the State Assembly. Today, Fashola has become a veritable symbol of good governance and a role model for other governors with only four years on. Why then would President Jonathan say that four years is not enough?

The South-East And 2015

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of President Jonathan’s earlier promise to rule Nigeria for a single term of four years and his recent statement that “four years is not enough”, which is an indication that he would either try to extend his tenure through amendment of the constitution or by presenting himself for re-election in 2015, what is the fate of the South-East geopolitical in 2015?

Many who believe that the South-East still has bright prospects in 2015, even if President Jonathan decides to contest, are of the opinion that if the likes of Nwadike Chikezie of the Peoples Mandate Party, PMP, Lawson Igboanugo Aroh of the Peoples Progressive Party, PPP, Peter Nwangwu of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and Iheanyichukwu Nnaji of Better Nigeria Progressive Party, BNPP, could secure 6^th to 9^th positions respectively in the last presidential elections in spite of their unpopularity in the South-East, a person from the region can win the presidency. Once the candidate is credible, famous and has unquestionable integrity and impeccable track record of service, he can be supported by the majority in the region, since the region is now beginning to come to grips with realities of the time.

The South-East region, which has cried of marginalization since the end of the Nigerian Civil War, believes that the rest of Nigeria should support them to produce a president for Nigeria in 2015. Apart from Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe who was a mere ceremonial Governor-General, and Aguiyi-Ironsi who ruled Nigeria for barely five months, no other person from the zone has had a shot at the presidency.

During his electioneering campaigns in the South-East, Dr Jonathan was said to have told the leaders of the Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, that he would do only one term of four years, but whether there was any agreement that he would hand over to a South-Easterner in 2015 is another question. But the zone had gone ahead to throw the whole weight of their support behind Jonathan, with their eye on 2015, recording 25 percent of the total votes cast for the president.

According to Prince Onyinye Chilaka, a Rivers State-based public affairs commentator, Jonathan got exceptional support from the South-East because people of the zone felt it was their turn to rule the country but decided to support Jonathan because they felt he was one of their own and that he could give them a chance in 2015. But he was quick to point out that the South-East was not the only region that gave Jonathan massive votes. On the issue of agreement with the president over 2015, however, Chilaka said that the South-West, the North-Central or any other zone for that matter could also have had one agreement or the other with President Jonathan.

Informed opinions in the North-Central region also affirm that the support of the South-East region for Jonathan was predicated upon the fact that they needed to support someone who had a close affinity with them and can guarantee their dream of presidency in 2015. They also affirm that because the South-West, represented by Olusegun Obasanjo, has had a shot at the presidency between 1999 and 2007, the North-Central, represented by Babangida, and the North-West represented by Buhari and Yar’Adua, have all occupied the seat in recent times, it is most reasonable that Jonathan should give way in 2015 for the people of the South-East to take their rightful position.

But some prominent citizens of the South-East who spoke to us saw the president’s utterance as it affects 2015 from a different perspective. Former Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly, Dr K.C, Enemuo, was of the opinion that the question of who emerges as president in 2015 should be left in the hands of God. According to him, “What we are seeing in politics today shows that anything can happen. A person from the South-East can become president in 2015. But let’s not speculate. For now, let us believe that though Jonathan is a South-South person, he is the president of Nigeria now.”

For Chief Joseph Amaechi Obidike, the chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Anambra State, constitutionally, nothing stops Jonathan from contesting in 2015. But he was quick to point out that a South-Easterner could emerge in PDP, and can also emerge in other parties. Hence South-Easterners have strong men that can contest in 2015.

Speaking too, Barr John Oguejiofor, President-General of Abatete, Anambra State, averred that even if Jonathan decides to contest in 2015, any qualified South-Easterner could move into another party. In his words, “Revolution is taking place now. If Jonathan does not do well, he should know that he will be voted out in 2015 if he chooses to contest. Even if he decides to contest, a credible South-Easterner can move into the field to challenge him, especially if he does not do well.”

A top leader of an Igbo group who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “Nigerians are impatient with Jonathan. If he does not tackle numberless problems in the country, he may end up being booted out in 2015. He may contest, but I believe that the best thing for him to do is to thank his God and support a South-Easterner in 2015. Otherwise, he may get his greatest challenge from here. Don’t forget that the North-East, the North-West are all there.”

Last Word For Mr President

As Reuben Abati rightly pointed out, Nigerians expect that Dr Jonathan as President must run the business of governance in an unusual manner, dismantle the status quo, and bring fresh energy and initiative to the office, if possible act like a revolutionary militant in search of a new order. Turning around to say that four years are not enough to make any impact shows that he does not really appreciate the people’s deep yearning for change, or that he has not been listening to them.

The issue of amendment of the Constitution to accommodate an extension of the tenure of presidents and governors may be debatable someday, but even if it were to be amended within between now and 2015, it cannot take retroactive effect, otherwise President Jonathan would be accused of subversion and he would have damaged the historic opportunities of his government.

Whatever he does, President Jonathan must know that Nigerians will not accept tenure elongation for an excuse, nor would they hand him a second tenure on a platter of gold. Clearly, the yardsticks for 2015 would be impeccable records of integrity and performance. If Jonathan does not tackle the problems in the power, petroleum, agricultural, and industrial sectors, if he fails to tackle poverty, the current sentiments and love people have for him may not linger, and he should think less of contesting in 2015. If, on the other hand, as Ochereome Nnanna wrote, he is able “to fix our power supply woes, give us a ‘people’s constitution’ as he promised, where power would be devolved to enable the people assume direct control over their affairs in their respective localities, address the inadequacies in our educational, health, security and infrastructural sectors as well as improve the economy with more of our people gainfully employed, Nigerians may not allow him to go after only one term.”

2011: Another Side Of The Story

By Chuks OLUIGBO

The 2011 general elections have come and gone (permit me to borrow that cliché), but the story will continue to be told for years to come, and it will continue to come in different hues and shades, as is already happening. I have chosen one aspect of that big story without which I believe the story will never be complete: the role of bulk SMS in the electioneering campaigns.

Bulk SMS! Yes, that’s what they call it, an internet-based technology which enables someone to send short messages to multiple phone numbers at a go. It may not be the latest technology in the GSM world but it has come to be quite ubiquitous. I could bet that whoever invented it would never have imagined to what use his innocent invention would be put by the ever-creative Nigerian society.

The bulk SMS has come to serve many purposes in Nigeria. Banks and other big corporations use it to send Christmas, New Year, Easter, Sallah and other seasonal greetings to their numerous customers in place of the paper greeting card. They also use it to invite potential employees for job tests and interviews. GSM operators like MTN, Glo, Etisalat, Airtel, etc use it to inform their numerous users of the latest in town as well as give them other vital information. Couples about to wed use it to send invitations to friends, relatives and associates, and it has come to replace the invitation card. Fraudsters have also found it very useful. The so-called ‘Yahoo boys’ use it to send fraudulent SMS to their would-be victims, the commonest being the one informing an innocent victim that he/she has won a lottery and that he/she should forward certain personal data so that vital documents that would assist him/her claim the prize money could be processed. Not a few Nigerians have been roundly duped via this means.

In the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, the bulk SMS technology assumed a new function: that of an apparatus for political campaign. And it seemed to have been more widespread than even the regular paper poster. From the ultra-conservative North to the slightly progressive South, and from the established parties to the ones that exist only on paper, text messages kept flooding unsolicited into people’s GSM phones. While some of these messages contained pure political campaign slogans, others made no pretensions that they were designed to denigrate opponents and confuse the electorate. For instance, one that circulated in Lagos and purportedly signed by Governor Tunde Fashola asked Lagos voters to ‘shame the evil Tinubu’ by voting Fashola for governor and Labour Party for House of Assembly, House of Reps and Senate. A counter-text, also supposedly originating Babatunde Raji Fashola, dissociated the governor from the earlier text whose intent, the text claimed, was to sour the relationship between Fashola and Tinubu, and explicitly stated that a vote for Labour Party was a vote for the opposition.

Another, which came from a certain Mayor Amuwo, took a religious tone. It was a combination of Easter message and political campaign. It said: “Rise up with Jesus to glory. ACN wishes you Happy Easter. To sustain good governance, vote BRF for governor and Sultan Peter Adeniji-Adele for Lagos State House of Assembly.”

But the most calumnious of all the Lagos texts was the one attributed to Dr Oluremi Tinubu, wife of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who ran for the Senate under the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. The text simply said: “Many Lagosians accuse my husband of stealing from the chairmen of the 57 local government area councils in Lagos State, but it was my husband that put all of them there. My husband is a good man. Vote for me.”

At the national level, it was the same. Prior to the presidential polls of April 16, one such text invaded my phone, purportedly signed by Fola Adeola, the ACN vice presidential candidate. It read: “As you cast your votes on Saturday, ask yourself if your life has changed for the better in the last 12 years”, obviously suggesting that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which has ruled Nigeria since 1999, has done nothing significant to better the lot of Nigerians. The second from the ACN was very straightforward: “Vote for competence. Nuhu Ribadu built EFCC, Fola Adeola built GTB. Let them rebuild Nigeria. Vote ACN.”

But the funniest scenario presented itself in Imo State where political desperadoes struggled to outdo one another in what was pure politics of calumny. The hottest battle was between Governor Ikedi Ohakim, who sought re-election, and his opponent-in-chief, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. But truth be told, Ohakim’s camp was always in the offensive, always the first to shoot.

Earlier, Ohakim’s loyalists had thought it was going to be a smooth ride for their principal, but the moment they realised that Imo people were massively leaning towards Okorocha, they began to fire random shots. One of the very first was the one they sent in the name of Samuelson Iwuoha, which read: “Ndi Imo, now that Rochas Okorocha who claims to be a philanthropist and apostle of free education has been exposed. One then begins to wonder and imagine why some students who are beneficiaries of his free education die mysteriously. One also begins to wonder and imagine why nobody in the real sense of it has ever benefited from his so-called philanthropy without encountering problems. It is time to fast and pray for our state. May God save Imo State!” The message, evidently, was aimed first at discrediting the man, Rochas Okorocha, and secondly, putting Samuelson Iwuoha, an avowed critic of the Ohakim government, in the bad books of Okorocha supporters. But what came later proved that the above text was a mere child’s play.

When they responded, Okorocha’s men were not found wanting either. One such reactions came from a group that called itself Imo Youths. It said: “Ohakim is wasting N40billion Imo State money to force himself back to Government House. We’re tired of his 419 government. Take money from PDP, but DON’T vote PDP on 26th”.

I can go on and on without end. The question, however, is whether these campaign SMSs achieved their desired results. The readers may be in a better position to judge. But I can say for sure that in spite of the campaign of calumny, Oluremi Tinubu won the Senate seat in Lagos Central, Tunde Fashola was re-elected as governor of Lagos, Goodluck Jonathan won the presidency, and in our own dear Imo, Ikedi Ohakim lost to the more popular Owelle Rochas Okorocha. And so on and so forth. Meanwhile, bulk SMS operators had plenty food on their table.