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Lessons from Nigeria’s eleven years of democracy

Glory be to
almighty Allah for His mercies in seeing us through eleven unbroken
years of democratic rule in Nigeria. It is a great achievement and
quite an exciting experience. I sincerely commend Nigerians for the
consistent faith they have shown, and the patience they exhibited to
sustain democracy.

From all indications, Nigerians cherish democracy. The system is growing and our trust in it is deepening.

There is no doubt
that the challenges have been enormous, but with the commitment of the
people and the leadership at all levels, the nation has overcome most
of the initial obstacles and pessimism. It is a cause for joy that
democracy has come to be. In our 50 years of political independence, it
is this time around that we as a people have been able to sustain
democracy for over a decade. This is no mean feat.

That is why the PDP
deserves special commendation for providing the longest period of
democracy in the history of Nigeria, despite all the odds.

Critics say Nigerians have little to show for the years of civil rule

Not exactly. Before
you draw any conclusion on whether Nigerians gained something or not in
the journey so far, you have to cast your mind back to the period
before the advent of the current democratic dispensation. Nigeria was a
virtual pariah nation, with totally collapsed socio-economic
structures. Fundamental human rights was non-existent. But with the
advent of democracy in 1999, human rights of the people were restored.
Social and economic activities received greater boost at all levels.
The people now have a say on how they are governed. Agreed, some of the
expectations of the people have not been met. This is due to the
distortions in our system. That was exactly what prompted the renewed
focus on rule of law and strict adherence to the concept of due process
in public administration.

Visible achievements by politicians in the North West Zone

More than anything
else, since my election as zonal party chairman for the North West zone
on Tuesday 4th March, 2008 to date, our ability to ensure sustenance of
atmosphere of peace, unity, stability, and steady party progress in all
the seven states under the zone remains paramount.

Secondly, is the
enthronement of internal party democracy and cohesion in all the state
chapters and at all levels. Let me hasten to express my profound and
sincere thanks to all the party leaders in the states, particularly the
governors, local party leaders, and all members and supporters of the
PDP in all the seven states for their consistent support.

One notable
achievement was the successful and peaceful conduct of party congress
in Kano State in August 2009, which produced the first ever
democratically elected state executive committee. I also spear headed
the decamping of Zamfara State governor, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, and his
government from ANPP into the PDP in December, 2008. We also received
two senators and five members of the House of Representatives,
representing Zamfara State, from ANPP into the PDP. The political
profile of the North West zone was boosted once again on Wednesday 19th
May, 2010, when Muhammadu Namadi Sambo was elevated from governor of
Kaduna State, to the position of Vice President.

Litany of court cases in the zone

Yes, indeed we were
in courts defending the election of our candidates. All the cases have
been conclusively decided, and we appear to have won most of them, if
not all. Some of these include the election of the governor of Kebbi
State, Saidu Dakingari; that of the governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu
Magatakarda Wamakko; the election of Katsina State governor, Ibrahim
Shema; and the election of the former governor of Kaduna State,
Muhammadu Namadi Sambo.

Crisis in the party’s Kebbi State chapter (over the position of party chairman)

Yes, the issue of
the position of PDP chairman in Kebbi State has been resolved, once and
for all. A new state chairman has been appointed and he is Mansur Shehu
(Mamser). He was duly ratified as the state party chairman on Tuesday,
May 25, 2010.

Support for the federal government

My expectation is
that the people of Nigeria would give maximum support to our President,
Goodluck Jonathan. He is our leader, a patriotic and credible leader
who deserves our full support to enable him succeed in the task of
nation building.

Akure kingmakers may soon take
disciplinary measures against the Deji of Akure, Oluwadare Adesina, who
publicly assaulted his wife, Bolanle, at her residence on Monday. The
woman has also resolved to seek legal redress.

The head of the kingmakers and Lisa of
Akure kingdom, Folorunsho Davies, said in a telephone interview that
the monarch’s action was unacceptable, and against the customs of
Akureland.

Mr Davies, who noted that the council
of chiefs was taking statements from the monarch and his estranged
wife, said if the claims are true, it was wrong for a first class
monarch to have descended so low.

“We are meeting on the matter to decide
what will be our next line of action. It is unacceptable in the custom
of Akure for a Deji to fight in public places,” he said. “We have once
reported his behaviour to the state government before and we are going
to report him again so that necessary action is taken on the matter”.

Mrs Adesina also told us in a telephone
interview that she will be suing Mr Adesina over what she labelled his
indecent behaviour in public.

“I am not going to treat the matter
with levity because he infringed on my human rights. He ordered me out
of his house eight months ago and he came to assault me in my private
residence,” she said. “If not for the police that rescued me from him,
what would we have been saying? Maybe I would be dead by now. My family
and I have resolved to take the matter to court”.

Meanwhile, notable indigenes of the state have started reacting to the action of the monarch.

The former leader of the Ondo State
House of Assembly, Kunle Agunbiade described the behaviour of Mr
Adesina as repulsive and unwarranted.

“The Action of Oba Adesina is not only
an embarrassment to himself but the entire Akure people who are noted
for hospitality and good conduct,” Mr. Agunbiade said.

The former secretary to the government of the federation, Olu Falae refused to discuss the matter. “I have no comment,” he said.

The oba’s public assault on his wife
has also attracted scathing criticisms from members of the civil
society, who labelled his action as barbaric, nauseating and criminal.

Women want justice

The state chairperson of Grassroots
Women Emancipation Movement, Phebean Adejuyi called for the immediate
arrest and prosecution of the monarch.

“Every mother and house wife must do
everything in their position to see that the matter is not swept under
the carpet. Justice in this case must be seen to have been done; it
must not end on the pages of newspapers alone,” she said. “This will
serve as deterrent to other people of crude character like Oba Adesina.
We have decided to write the state assembly to take over the matter, so
that justice can be achieved”.

The President of Women Alert, Joe
Okei-Odumakin described the monarch’s action as embarrassing and
inhuman. Mrs Okei-Odumakin, who is also the president of Campaign for
Democracy, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the action of
the traditional ruler has revealed that our leaders are highly
intolerant. She added that the action of the king, who should be a role
model for the society, portends serious danger for the future of our
youths and challenged security agencies in the state to ensure that the
king is brought to book.

“In a sane society, anyone, no matter
how highly placed, should not be allowed to carry out such act against
a woman and be allowed to go scot free. The police should take
immediate action and ensure that the King is punished,” she said.

“As the President of Women Alert, I will mobilize other Nigerian
women groups to ensure that the case did not die and this will be a
litmus test to the Nigerian police.”

The Head of the
Civil Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, yesterday
inaugurated the administrative panel set up by the federal government
to investigate the crisis in the Ministry of Interior.

Speaking at the
inauguration, Mr. Oronsaye said the government was concerned because
the incident at the Ministry of Interior on Wednesday, last week, where
workers demonstrated and demanded for the removal of the Permanent
Secretary, was unprecedented.

He added that the aim of setting up the panel was to understand the remote and immediate causes of the crisis.

The panel, he said,
is free to go into any area and summon anybody in the course of its
investigation. He however urged its members to be fair.

Solve the problem

“The
recommendations of the panel should not only help to solve the problem
in the Ministry of Interior but also assist in defining the
relationship between workers and management and that between Ministers
and Permanent Secretaries,” he told the panelists.

The Head of the
Service disclosed that members of the three-man panel were carefully
selected because of their track record in administration and public
service.

Responding on
behalf of other members, chairman of the panel and Special Adviser to
the President on New Partnership for Africa Development, Tunji
Olagunju, thanked the federal government for trusting them to do the
job and said the assignment is a challenge which members will try to
discharge responsibly.

Others members of
the committee are Titilayo Iroche, a retired Permanent Secretary and
Commissioner with the National Salaries and Wages Commission; and Isa
Bello Sali, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, who will also serve
as its secretary.

The panel has a period of two weeks to complete the assignment.

The President of
the West Africa Bar Association, Mousa Coulibaly, yesterday, disclosed
the readiness of his association to provide legal assistance to family
members of victims of the Boko Haram murder.

Mr. Coulibaly, who
said this in an exclusive interview at the association’s secretariat in
Abuja during the formal handing over of the leadership of the group to
him, condemned the killings of the Boko Haram members by the Nigerian
Police.

A Maiduguri High
Court recently awarded a compensation of 100 million naira to the
family of Baa Fagu, a victim of the extra judicial killings, who was
arrested and killed in police custody for being a father-in-law to the
Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf. The group was involved in violent
clashes with the police and men of the Nigerian Army, resulting in the
death of several members of the group and many police and army
personnel.

While outlining the
plans of his administration and praising the previous administration
led by Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, Mr. Coulibaly stated that his
administration would focus on “the promotion and defence of human
rights, rule of law, and the defence of democracy within the ECOWAS
space.”

The WABA boss, who
promised to build a strong relationship between the bar associations of
the various West African countries, also condemned the military coup in
his home country of Niger, while explaining that the actions of the
former democratic leadership caused the coup.

Monitor elections

The new WABA
President said that his association will always help to monitor
elections in the West African sub-region, to ensure that they are
transparent and meet international standards. He explained that they
had already commenced plans for this.

“WABA has just
written to the president of the ECOWAS Commission to be included in the
team of election monitors in the elections to take place in Guinea on
July 24.”

The other members of the new WABA executive are Joseph Camara, first
vice president, who is also the president of Sierra Leone Bar
Association; Waidi Moustapha, 2nd vice president, and also former
president, Benin Bar Association; Olawale Fapohunda, Secretary General,
and member of the Nigeria Bar Association; Sidiki Camara, deputy
secretary general, who is also the secretary, Guinea Bar Association;
and Ogugua Ikpeze, treasurer, and also former treasurer of the Nigeria
Bar Association.

The House of
Representatives Committee on Pension yesterday asked the Office of the
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to commence the payment of
N69 billion outstanding pension arrears to federal government
pensioners.

The committee
chairman, Razaq Adewusi, who stated this during a visit to the office
of the Head of Service, Steve Oronsaye, said the National Assembly had
provided for N42 billion in the 2010 Budget following ceaseless
complaints by the pensioners.

Mr Adewusi
explained that the committee made the visit because a lot of issues
were raised by the pensioners over non-payment of pension and gratuity.

“We mandated them
to ensure the payment of the outstanding arrears to the affected
pensioners,” he told journalists after the visit.

The lawmaker said
he and other members of the committee who accompanied him on the visit
monitored the verification exercise of the pensioners and noted that
there will still be complaints after the the biometric system was
applied.

“The system would
enable us to know who and who to pay; the exercise would enable pension
managers know the data base and as they are doing this they would be
collecting their cheques on the spot.

“This was what led
to the delay and now that the biometric system has commenced, the
affected pensioners would be paid on the spot,” he said.

Unhappy lawmakers

Mr Adewusi
regretted that pensioners still complain of non-payment of pensions and
gratuities, adding that the committee members were not happy when
pensioners came to the National Assembly to protest.

Mr Steve explained that since he assumed office, he made it a priority that pensioners get their dues promptly.

He stated further that there is enough money to pay pensioners and
what has delayed the payment had been the verification which he said
has been concluded.

The Senate and the
House of Representatives yesterday received official request from the
president, Goodluck Jonathan, who has urged for a downward review of
the 2010 budget in the face of dwindling government revenue.

Key members
confirmed last week that lawmakers had assured Mr. Jonathan of a speedy
approval for the budget review that will slash federal expenditure and
reduce the oil price benchmark by at least $10, immediately a formal
request was made.

In a letter to both
chambers, dated May 29, 2010 and read to the lawmakers yesterday, Mr.
Jonathan affirmed his earlier position last week, that the N4.6086
billion budget, which he signed into law in April 2010, was no longer
tenable with current economic realities of the nation.

“Recent revenue
developments indicate significant shortfalls in both oil and non-oil
revenue, which may well continue for the rest of the fiscal year, with
adverse implications for the financing of the budget,” he said. “Given
the recent drop in international oil prices from the over $80 per
barrel to under $70 per barrel, it is prudent to revise the oil
benchmark price to a more realistic level.”

Part of the
president’s recommendation to the lawmakers, Ita Enang, a House member
said, is the reduction of the oil benchmark price, initially moved by
the lawmakers to $67, back to its original $57 per barrel. With the
falling international oil price, the government fears allowing the perk
at $67 per barrel will imperil federal savings and affect spending
negatively.

In his letter, Mr.
Jonathan stayed off naming his preferred figures for either the oil
price or the total reduction, although he is said to have also called
for a total budget reduction of 40%. The president also requested for
fresh appropriation for “critical expenditure heads that were either
inadvertently omitted or under provisioned for.”

Such expenditures
will cover funds for the newly negotiated civil service wages increase,
the arrears of monetization for the staff of the Power Holding Company
of Nigeria and the celebration of Nigeria’s 50th anniversary.

“It is my hope that
the National Assembly will kindly consider and approve these request
expeditiously to resolve these challenges,” the president said.
Lawmakers are expected to commence consideration of fiscal submissions
tomorrow.

Supplementary bill

Accompanying the
2010 budget review proposal is an additional supplementary budget
proposal to authorize the executive access to N639.8 billion from the
Consolidate Revenue Fund. The bulk of the supplementary budget, about
N507 billion is for recurrent expenditure while the balance N132.6
billion is for contribution to the Development Fund for additional
capital expenditure.

A large chunk of
the N507 billion set aside for the recurrent expenditure will be shared
amongst the office of the secretary general of the federation, foreign
affairs ministry, information and communication ministry and the
ministry of women affairs to be used for Nigeria at 50 celebration in
October.

The balance of N287
billion in the recurrent expenditure will be applied to the public
service wage adjustment cut across payment of 2 months arrears to
members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), wage
increase for core civil servants, universities, colleges of educations,
and medical professionals.

The balance will also apply to feeding allowances and stipends to
ex-militants of the phase II amnesty and reintegration program and the
rest, to arrears of monetization for Power Holding Corporation of
Nigeria.