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One of the strong
points of former information and communications minister, Dora
Akunyili, is her ability to confound expectations, and this she
confirmed last Wednesday when she left her former colleagues in the
Peoples Democratic Party to defect to the All Progressives Grand
Alliance (APGA) on whose platform she plans to contest the Anambra
Central Senatorial ticket. Mrs. Akunyili, last Wednesday stunned the
nation when she resigned her appointment from the federal cabinet to
pick the senatorial form of the APGA. Many politicians, including the
Anambra State governor,

Peter Obi, hailed
her action as courageous and wise. But others saw it as a risk. Yet to
some others, her adoption of the APGA platform made no difference. But
it is a different kettle of fish for some of those vying for the same
seat in the party who feared there was an orchestrated move by the
party hierarchy to foist her on APGA, despite early assurances by the
party that there would be no favoured candidates. While receiving her
into APGA, its national chairman, Victor Umeh told Mrs. Akunyili there
would be no automatic ticket for her as she would have to endure the
rigours of a primary election.

Apparently not
satisfied with that assurance, the only APGA House of Representatives
member from Anambra State, George Ozodinobi, who represented Anaocha,
Njikoka and Dunukofia federal constituency from 2003 to 2007, fired the
first salvo when he accused Mrs. Akunyili of political prostitution.
According to him, there was no reason why she should leave her party,
PDP, for APGA at a time when she was needed by President Goodluck
Jonathan in his election bid. Mr. Ozodinobi believed she might have
taken the decision based on assurances of an automatic ticket, even
though he did not buy the idea she had been adopted by the party.

“Adoption is not a
proper word because no one has said anyone is to be adopted. But if we
can pre-empt what is happening, something must have given her the
confidence to come out and want to join APGA between now and January
2nd when there will be primary to begin to know the grassroots; to know
even the name of her ward’s women’s leader and stand for an election in
APGA to win the primary,” Mr. Ozodinobi said.

A level field

He threatened to go
to court if eventually she was adopted by the party. “I believe in the
rule of law. The Electoral Act says every party must do primaries. Let
there be transparent primary. That’s all I’m asking for. Nobody is
above the law. And the courts are there for redress to be sought if
things are done to the contrary,” Ozodinobi warned.

But APGA insists
there will be a level playing ground for all the candidates. In a chat
with NEXT in Awka, the state vice chairman, North, of the party,
Fidelis Okafor, assured the other candidates they had nothing to fear.

“To the best of my
knowledge, yes, APGA intends to do a transparent primary. That’s what
we’re preparing for and that’s what we promised our aspirants. The
issue of who picks APGA tickets will solely depend on the outcome of
the primaries,” Mr Okafor said. He said it was natural for aspirants
such as Mr Ozodinobi to be apprehensive, but assured that nobody in the
party, no matter how highly placed, was thinking of an automatic ticket
for Mrs Akunyili.

“Akunyili, like others, is desirous of running for senate and APGA is her choice as she has told the world,” Mr Okafor said.

But while her new
party appears happy to have her, given her intimidating credentials,
other parties say they are not intimidated. Underwhelmed opposition
parties Afam Ilounoh, state publicity secretary of the People’s
Democratic Party, PDP, while welcoming Akunyili into the race said his
party had nothing to fear.

“It’s an
interesting development. She’s well known and well respected. The game
has become even more interesting now she has thrown her hat into the
ring, but PDP has nothing to worry about as it will win next year’s
elections in Anambra State. In no way are we intimidated by her entry.
Anambra is a PDP state and PDP will take it over in 2011,” Mr. Ilounoh
said.

Tony Nwafor Okafor,
a leader of Congress for Political Change (CPC), said Mrs Akunyili’s
entry was just like any other person’s. He said she needs to win her
party’s nomination first before other parties could worry about her
candidacy. “After that, she should brace up to face other parties’
candidates. She may have been successful as NAFDAC boss and in other
positions, but she has never been elected. This time she should prepare
for battle,” Mr. Okafor, who boasted that CPC would sweep the stakes,
said.

For the Action
Congress of Nigeria, Mrs. Akunyili’s entry into APGA had not added
anything to APGA’s electoral fortunes, even as the party spokesperson
said it amounted to a vote of no confidence on PDP which she left.

“The equation has not changed one bit with her entry,” ACN’s Anambra State publicity secretary, Madukaife, told NEXT.

According to him,
Mrs Akunyili had just succeeded in reducing the Igbo quota in the
federal cabinet. He said ACN would win the three senatorial seats on
offer in the state.

Support from above
However support is coming Akunyili’s way from an unexpected quarter. A
prophet, Rama Asuzu, from the ancient Nri Kingdom in Anambra State,
wants Nigerians to support Akunyili so that she could even become the
senate president.

“I wish that a
woman would be the senate president in the next dispensation and the
expected woman is Prof Dora Akunyili. She will perform more than she
did at NAFDAC and in her former ministerial position because she is a
chosen vehicle that will take the less privileged beyond the shores of
lack of want,” Mr Asuzu said.

He added that Mrs Akunyili was destined to use her position to give succour to orphans and widows.

“This will be a manifestation that will encourage women to keep
participating fully in the Nigerian polity in order to save the country
from the vicious circle of unreason,” he said.

One of the strong
points of former information and communications minister, Dora
Akunyili, is her ability to confound expectations, and this she
confirmed last Wednesday when she left her former colleagues in the
Peoples Democratic Party to defect to the All Progressives Grand
Alliance (APGA) on whose platform she plans to contest the Anambra
Central Senatorial ticket. Mrs. Akunyili, last Wednesday stunned the
nation when she resigned her appointment from the federal cabinet to
pick the senatorial form of the APGA. Many politicians, including the
Anambra State governor,

Peter Obi, hailed
her action as courageous and wise. But others saw it as a risk. Yet to
some others, her adoption of the APGA platform made no difference. But
it is a different kettle of fish for some of those vying for the same
seat in the party who feared there was an orchestrated move by the
party hierarchy to foist her on APGA, despite early assurances by the
party that there would be no favoured candidates. While receiving her
into APGA, its national chairman, Victor Umeh told Mrs. Akunyili there
would be no automatic ticket for her as she would have to endure the
rigours of a primary election.

Apparently not
satisfied with that assurance, the only APGA House of Representatives
member from Anambra State, George Ozodinobi, who represented Anaocha,
Njikoka and Dunukofia federal constituency from 2003 to 2007, fired the
first salvo when he accused Mrs. Akunyili of political prostitution.
According to him, there was no reason why she should leave her party,
PDP, for APGA at a time when she was needed by President Goodluck
Jonathan in his election bid. Mr. Ozodinobi believed she might have
taken the decision based on assurances of an automatic ticket, even
though he did not buy the idea she had been adopted by the party.

“Adoption is not a
proper word because no one has said anyone is to be adopted. But if we
can pre-empt what is happening, something must have given her the
confidence to come out and want to join APGA between now and January
2nd when there will be primary to begin to know the grassroots; to know
even the name of her ward’s women’s leader and stand for an election in
APGA to win the primary,” Mr. Ozodinobi said.

A level field

He threatened to go
to court if eventually she was adopted by the party. “I believe in the
rule of law. The Electoral Act says every party must do primaries. Let
there be transparent primary. That’s all I’m asking for. Nobody is
above the law. And the courts are there for redress to be sought if
things are done to the contrary,” Ozodinobi warned.

But APGA insists
there will be a level playing ground for all the candidates. In a chat
with NEXT in Awka, the state vice chairman, North, of the party,
Fidelis Okafor, assured the other candidates they had nothing to fear.

“To the best of my
knowledge, yes, APGA intends to do a transparent primary. That’s what
we’re preparing for and that’s what we promised our aspirants. The
issue of who picks APGA tickets will solely depend on the outcome of
the primaries,” Mr Okafor said. He said it was natural for aspirants
such as Mr Ozodinobi to be apprehensive, but assured that nobody in the
party, no matter how highly placed, was thinking of an automatic ticket
for Mrs Akunyili.

“Akunyili, like others, is desirous of running for senate and APGA is her choice as she has told the world,” Mr Okafor said.

But while her new
party appears happy to have her, given her intimidating credentials,
other parties say they are not intimidated. Underwhelmed opposition
parties Afam Ilounoh, state publicity secretary of the People’s
Democratic Party, PDP, while welcoming Akunyili into the race said his
party had nothing to fear.

“It’s an
interesting development. She’s well known and well respected. The game
has become even more interesting now she has thrown her hat into the
ring, but PDP has nothing to worry about as it will win next year’s
elections in Anambra State. In no way are we intimidated by her entry.
Anambra is a PDP state and PDP will take it over in 2011,” Mr. Ilounoh
said.

Tony Nwafor Okafor,
a leader of Congress for Political Change (CPC), said Mrs Akunyili’s
entry was just like any other person’s. He said she needs to win her
party’s nomination first before other parties could worry about her
candidacy. “After that, she should brace up to face other parties’
candidates. She may have been successful as NAFDAC boss and in other
positions, but she has never been elected. This time she should prepare
for battle,” Mr. Okafor, who boasted that CPC would sweep the stakes,
said.

For the Action
Congress of Nigeria, Mrs. Akunyili’s entry into APGA had not added
anything to APGA’s electoral fortunes, even as the party spokesperson
said it amounted to a vote of no confidence on PDP which she left.

“The equation has not changed one bit with her entry,” ACN’s Anambra State publicity secretary, Madukaife, told NEXT.

According to him,
Mrs Akunyili had just succeeded in reducing the Igbo quota in the
federal cabinet. He said ACN would win the three senatorial seats on
offer in the state.

Support from above
However support is coming Akunyili’s way from an unexpected quarter. A
prophet, Rama Asuzu, from the ancient Nri Kingdom in Anambra State,
wants Nigerians to support Akunyili so that she could even become the
senate president.

“I wish that a
woman would be the senate president in the next dispensation and the
expected woman is Prof Dora Akunyili. She will perform more than she
did at NAFDAC and in her former ministerial position because she is a
chosen vehicle that will take the less privileged beyond the shores of
lack of want,” Mr Asuzu said.

He added that Mrs Akunyili was destined to use her position to give succour to orphans and widows.

“This will be a manifestation that will encourage women to keep
participating fully in the Nigerian polity in order to save the country
from the vicious circle of unreason,” he said.

The governor of
Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, on Friday called for negotiations with
lecturers of the Lagos State University (LASU) chapter of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the ongoing industrial action.

Explaining that
the state is willing to pay the workers their wages, Mr. Fashola, while
speaking to reporters at the presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed
Airport (MMA), Lagos disclosed that his government has other pressing
needs that require financial attention.

“We are concerned
about the strike and we expect that some understanding [will] prevail
in our negotiations with the striking workers for we cannot afford that
this strike continue in the interest of the students. But here we are
as we continue to negotiate and discuss with them to see the reason;
this is not a case of unwillingness to pay but our inability to do so
if we must attend to all other competing social responsibility of the
state,” he said.

The governor
argued that the increase of employees’ wages by the federal government
should not be mandated of the states, adding that the lecturers should
be considerate of the plight of their students.

“The point really is that this is not an agreement we were part of.
The federal government negotiates a salary structure with its own
staff, it cannot impose that on the states and that really is the
substance but we believe that dialogue will be the critical element and
lecturers should be showing restraint and concern for the students
whose academics are being affected. Here we are too, we are dealing
with the problems of infrastructure; even the school, we are dealing
with the issue of accreditation, new classrooms, new libraries and it
is from this same purse where salaries are meant to be paid and the
money to re-acredit and to build all these structure,” he said.

WikiLeaks’ founder
Julian Assange has declared that he is the victim of a smear campaign
after being freed on bail over rape allegations and sent to spend
Christmas at an English country house. The 39-year-old Australian
computer expert said that curbs on him, which he described as “hi-tech
house arrest,” would not halt the release of official secrets. Assange
walked free from a London court Thursday, freed on 200,000 pound
($312,500) bail after nine days in London’s largest jail. Sweden wants
to extradite him for questioning over alleged sexual assaults on two
WikiLeaks’ volunteers.

“This has been a
very successful smear campaign and a very wrong one,” Assange told the
BBC after arriving late Thursday at the country house in Suffolk,
eastern England where he will spend Christmas and the New Year.

He said he expected further attempted smears from the Swedish authorities but did not elaborate.

Assange angered the
U.S. authorities after his organization began releasing some of the
250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables it had obtained, teaming up with
newspapers around the world to amplify their impact.

Assange said his opponents had seized on the accusations against him to attack WikiLeaks.

“One only needs to
look at the sneering smile of Defense Secretary (Robert) Gates upon
hearing of my arrest… to understand the value to opponents of this
organization,” Assange said. Gates last week described Assange’s arrest
as good news. Assange is accused of having unprotected sex with one
woman, and sex with another while she was asleep.

“HI-TECH HOUSE ARREST”

As part of his bail
conditions, Assange must stay at the sprawling house owned by former
British army officer Vaughan Smith, situated close to the city of
Norwich, around three hours’ drive from London.

Smith has said that
the Internet connection at the house is not good. Assange, who must
report to police daily, abide by a curfew and wear an electronic tag,
said the conditions were “a gross impediment to my work” but would not
stop him.

“Now that I am back
to assist directing of our ship, our work will proceed in a faster
manner. But as we have seen with my absence, things are well set up to
proceed even without my direct involvement.” Assange told reporters
soon after his release that he was more concerned the United States
might try to extradite him than he was about being extradited to Sweden.

Assange and his
lawyers have voiced fears that U.S. prosecutors might be preparing to
indict him for espionage over WikiLeaks’ publication of the documents.

Australian police said WikiLeaks was not committing any criminal offence in Assange’s home country by releasing the U.S. cables.

Celebrities such as journalist John Pilger, film director Ken Loach and socialite Jemima Khan are backing Assange.

Janice Game, 63,
who lives opposite the Georgian house said she had come out to see
reporters waiting in the snow for Assange to drive through the gates of
the 650 acre estate.

“I do not think that Vaughan would have him at the house unless he believed completely that he was innocent,” she said.

Nicholas Ibekwe,
now an award-winning reporter, did not have such a good start. As a
rookie reporter, one of his earlier stories was so salacious that his
editor asked him to take it elsewhere.

“Go to Sahara Reporters,” the editor said.

Mr. Ibekwe had been
in a bus that morning when a girl sitting behind him suddenly squealed,
pointing at the man beside her who was hastily pushing something down
his pants. She was talking so fast that her lines ran into each other,
like a child painting in watercolours. It took some time to separate
her words from sobs and string a meaning together. Apparently, this
fellow had, without investigating her taste, brought out his penis
right there in the bus as she bent her head, and proceeded to wag the
thing close to her face.

“Why did he show that to me?” she asked in horror.

Mr. Ibekwe’s story
tried to answer this question, and show how a peddler of sex-on-transit
met his Waterloo. But the reporter’s story, including comments by
passengers, were considered too risqué for a family newspaper, and Mr.
Ibekwe ended up with a lecture instead of a byline.

I took a bus from
Obalende to Oshodi recently, and a boy on the bus made such a gallant
effort to woo a deaf girl that Mr. Ibekwe’s report came to mind.
Although, nothing as brazen as the whipping out of privates took place,
the entire “conversation” – full of gestures, vigorous mime, and missed
cues – left little to the imagination. When the girl spread her palms
to ask what he wanted, he cupped the palm of his hand and put a finger
through. The girl covered her mouth in shock.

It was high drama and the young Cassanova’s brother who was sitting beside me ran commentary.

“Kunle is like that,” he told me. “He likes girls too much. Our father is tired of talking.”

When the conductor
came round, Kunle paid for the girl and gestured that his brother would
pay for him. My seatmate had to pay for two, and he wasn’t too happy.

“Kunle,” he warned, “Wait first. I hope you know that you cannot bring this kind to the house?”

The girl,
blissfully deaf, was giving Kunle her full attention. By now their
public romance was in full swing, and bemused passengers egged them on.
She was laughing at the boy’s reckless use of sign language. While she
could convey a lot by a small gesture, a twirling of the fingers, the
boy had to dramatise everything, talking the whole time, sometimes
forgetting that she couldn’t hear him.

“How much will you take to follow me home tonight?” Kunle asked, using a combo of words, signs and dance.

The girl put her palms together.

“Ten what?” asked
Kunle eagerly, “N10?” and he brought out a N10 note to show her. She
shook her head vigorously. “Oh, you must mean ten tens then,” he said,
taking out a hundred naira note. But the girl laughed.

“You people are hard to understand,” said Kunle who delved into his pocket to fish out a crisp N1,000 note.

“Kunle!” exclaimed
his brother, “You said you had no money when we went to eat, and now
you want to give N1,000 to a deaf girl, abi?”

Loverboy, deaf to
recriminations, was busy pressing the money on the girl. She shook her
head, and brought her palms together, again. Kunle was now confused.

“She said she wants N10,000,” said an old man beside him, helpfully.

Kunle flipped his lid and abandoned pantomime altogether.

“You are a thief,” he shrieked. “If I give someone like you N10,000, how much will I give the ones who can talk?”

And there was politically-incorrect hearty laughter all round.

“Good for you,”
said his brother, alighting as the bus came to a stop at Iyana Oworo.
“Are you going to come down now or are you following the deaf one
home?”

Still, our friend
continued to press the girl to reduce her charges. The driver engaged
gears, warning that he wouldn’t be stopping until Oshodi.

“What of N3,000?” Kunle asked, one eye on the door as the bus began to move.

Suddenly, as if on cue, a number of voices shouted: “Kunle!” and he scrambled out of the bus to fits of laughter.

Allies of
presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara urged Ivoriens to join a new
march through Abidjan to seize the state broadcaster’s building on
Friday, raising fears of more violence in a dispute over last month’s
election.

A failed attempt by
Mr. Ouattara’s camp to occupy the building on Thursday left at least 10
protesters dead as they clashed with security forces armed with live
rounds, while pro-Ouattara forces waged a brief gun battle with forces
loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo in central Abidjan. The United
Nations, the US, African states and others have called on Mr. Gbagbo to
stand down after the November 28 poll they say was won by Mr. Ouattara,
but which Mr. Gbagbo insists was rigged by rebels who still hold the
north after a 2002-2003 civil war.

“We will continue
to march,” Mr. Ouattara’s spokesperson Patrick Achi said by telephone
after Thursday’s violence in the West African nation’s economic capital
heightened fears of a return to all-out conflict.

A Reuters
eyewitness said there were few early signs of protesters gathering on
the streets of Abidjan, which were much quieter than usual. Many shops
remained shut and there was little traffic in the streets.

The success of Mr.
Gbagbo’s forces in repelling the march on state TV and radio on
Thursday suggests he retains a strong grip on key parts of the armed
forces, including the presidential guard that witnesses said played a
major role in Thursday’s incidents.

Mr. Gbagbo’s
government spokesperson said at least 20 people were killed in
Thursday’s anti-Gbagbo street protests in Abidjan, 10 of them
demonstrators and 10 security forces. Mr. Ouattara’s rival government
said security forces had killed 14 protesters when they opened fire on
them. Mr. Gbagbo’s camp has alleged that some of the protesters were
armed, while Mr. Ouattara’s allies have cited the presence of armed
Liberian militias in Abidjan attacking demonstrators. Both sides deny
the allegations of the other camp.

Violence flared
elsewhere in the country on Thursday as pro-Ouattara rebels and
government forces exchanged fire for hours in Tiebissou, the central
town marking the line between the rebel-held north and government-held
south after the war.

“Both the
pro-Gbagbo FDS (security forces), and the pro-Ouattara former rebel New
Forces (FN), appear battle-ready, and it would take very little to
spark all-out confrontation,” said Rolake Akinola, Africa analyst for
VoxFrontier Consulting.

Fear of a
disruption to supplies in the world’s top cocoa grower pushed future
prices close to four-month highs reached last week. The key March cocoa
contract in New York rose $24 to end at $3,003 per tonne on Thursday.

All eyes will be on
the actions of the local U.N. peacekeeping force if the situation
deteriorates. The United Nations has about 10,000 soldiers and police
in the country. The force has a mandate to protect civilians but said
its job was not to protect the march. Separately, a top-level African
Union delegation is due in Abidjan on Friday to attempt discussions
with both sides on the crisis. However the continental body has said it
does not think a power-sharing deal similar to that reached by Kenya
after disputed 2007 elections would not be acceptable.

On the phone recently, a friend let slip that he was going to a
meeting in a matter of days at which Chief Anthony Enahoro would be present. My
mouth fell open but no sound came, a quiet hysteria gripped me. Here was my
chance to brush fleetingly with indestructible history. To have my existence
validated by this meeting of paths, as a small stream is validated by its
confluence with a mighty river. It was my chance, and it was slipping away.
Then came a lifeline as my friend said, ever so casually: “You can come
along if you want”. I seized upon it, and blurted out: “Of course I
would love to come!”

We walked into the hotel on the day and saw Taiwo Akinola,
Secretary of the National Reformation Party (NRP) Europe Chapter. He was
weighed down by six or so hardback copies of Enahoro’s 1965 book Fugitive
Offender. Akinola waved goodbye to a lady from the book’s publishers, who
had helped source these used copies from various libraries in England. We
proceeded further into the hotel until I could make out Chief Enahoro’s figure
further ahead in a reception area. My smile masked the butterflies in my
stomach as I forged ahead with my two companions. I heard my name announced as
I took the Chief’s hand, my knees lowering in courtesy.

I took a seat on another table from where I could catch some of
Chief Enahoro’s conversation, conducted sometimes in English, sometimes in
Yoruba. I was pensive as I contemplated the moment. No words could adequately
capture my feelings about seeing this man whose life has been closely
intertwined with Nigeria’s history; whose actions helped shape the course of
that history. To me he was like an oracle, on whose person is written epochs I
could not even begin to imagine.

Soon others arrived, including Dr Philip Idaewor, head of NRP
Europe. He had read some of my writings and shook my hand warmly, saying:
“Ah! The lady who destroys people with her pen!” This he said with
great conviviality, and one does not defend oneself against a compliment. I was
the only female present, and when I wondered aloud whether it would be
appropriate for me to “put my journalist’s hat on”, Chief Enahoro
jokingly replied: “It would have to be a journalist’s gele”. There
was a benevolent atmosphere to the meeting, during which we mere mortals spoke
freely in the presence of a great man who made one feel at ease. It dawned on
me that true greatness needs not assert itself. It can simply be.

Dr Tony Kakhu, a research fellow at London’s Imperial College, was
also a first time observer in the group. He wanted to know the party’s plans
for regrouping ahead of the 2007 elections. Chief Enahoro’s definition of a
political party differs somewhat from that of the INEC, which places more
emphasis on the number of seats held by parties. To Enahoro, a political party
does not have to contest elections: “A party can be about ideas, and
Nigeria lacks ideas”. His is a long-term vision in which it matters not
that the NRP is not in power today; it can be in 10, 20 years time, or as he
explained, the big parties can adopt NRP’s ideas. “Politics is a game of
ideas. If a game of numbers, China would rule the world”, he declared.

There were concerns about external forces seeking to influence the
emergence of a Nigerian leader in 2007. It was noted that similar policies in
the fifties and sixties had resulted in the elimination of progressive African
leaders like Lumumba and Nkrumah to be replaced by despots like Mobutu and Idi
Amin. All agreed that the monetisation of Nigerian politics further exacerbates
the problem, and should be resisted.

The group reiterated its position on a Sovereign National
Conference at which all groups in Nigeria would be represented. Chief Enahoro
recalled the Conference held before Nigeria’s independence, for which the
British had initially asked for the three leaders only – Awolowo, Azikiwe and
Balewa. “We wrote a stinker”, said Enahoro, smiling at the memory;
“it was my honour to take the stinker to the Consul General”. The
“stinker” informed the British that they would need more than just
the three leaders for a Sovereign National Conference, and the colonial power
was forced into rethinking the process. The Chief also shared his views on party
composition: “You can no longer sell the idea of a party based purely on
ethnicity. Even in Yorubaland, people don’t want that. They like the idea of
members in Calabar and other places.”

Copies of Fugitive Offender lay on the table. One, bearing
the sticker and stamp of the House of Commons Library, had come from the many
copies of the book in the British Parliament. I sniffed at it, wondering if the
Nigerian Legislature had a copy, or valued its importance at all. It was my
first time seeing the book and Taiwo Akinola informed me that this was by no
means unusual; 95 percent of Nigerians had never seen it either. I leafed
through the pages. A photograph of a young and handsome Enahoro in traditional
dress – he could have been the prince of some ancient kingdom. Awolowo and his
beloved HID on one page, Zik of Africa smiled on another, and so on – each page
suffused with history.

There are plans to publish a second edition of Fugitive
Offender later this year, to give younger generations the opportunity to
know about the book, and the man. This is important, Akinola said,
“because of his relevance in Nigerian life and politics”.

Official meeting ended, I moved across to Chief Enahoro’s table to
ask him questions over drinks. He was feeling peckish but all the hotel could
offer by way of snacks were chips, which the Chief called by their American
name, French Fries. A plate of chips duly arrived and he motioned for me to
join him as he tucked in. I looked at the chips but held back, not wanting to
break the spell of this enchanted hour.

I asked for Chief Enahoro’s views on the way forward for Nigeria.
“The way forward to where?”, he asked. I certainly didn’t know. But
he was forthcoming: “We need to recreate Nigeria on the basis of a
restructured federation and it should be a federation of nationalities. Each
nation should itself be a federation of the sub-nationalities. This should
accord with our natural existence. It would be easier to build a democracy on
that basis”. News of Chief Aminosoari Dikibo’s killing had broken in
London but the details were still sketchy, so Chief Enahoro did not want to
comment. But on the spectre of high-profile assassinations in Nigeria
generally, he expressed the view that the system we are operating “is
contributing to this outbreak of violence”. He believes the easier it is
to remove people from office the more senseless it is to seek to eliminate them
because there is no other way.

Chief Anthony Enahoro had been away from Nigeria for two months,
preoccupied with the “daunting task” of writing his memoirs. He hopes
to complete the project in the next 15 months. The new edition of Fugitive
Offender will be followed by a collection of his speeches through the
years. The final part of the memoirs will be mainly political, covering major
events in Nigeria from 1963 to the present. In undertaking the project, Enahoro
believes his task is to report and interpret the events for the benefit of the
post-independence generation. In so doing, he is “not trying to lecture
them, just stating the particulars of life” as he recalls them.

Our chat over, I moved along to allow others the chance to talk to
him. There were still plenty of chips left but the Chief seemed to have had his
fill, so I pulled the plate close to me. These were historic chips, and I was
determined to get some inside my belly. I wolfed them down with relish, though
I wasn’t hungry.

Then it was time to go. “Ee pe fun wa Sir”, I said to
Chief Enahoro in Yoruba as I shook his hand in farewell, wishing him plenty
more years this side of heaven. “Why do we write things down?”,
someone asked in print recently. “To make them real, perhaps”, she
sought to explain. The friend who took me to the meeting, NRP Europe official
Dele Ogun, knew instinctively that I would write of the experience.
“Somehow, the chips will find their way into the recount, I’m sure”,
he speculated. “You bet”, I felt no shame confirming. When you have
eaten from the same plate as the man who moved the motion of Nigeria’s
independence, you don’t let the matter rest.

What a burden it must be for men like Chief Enahoro, for almost
every person you meet to look at you as a living relic of a valiant past, which
must of necessity point the way forward. I remembered a documentary I saw last
year about Nelson Mandela. In one scene, the Madiba was leaving a function at a
hotel in South Africa when suddenly a kitchen maid appeared in the lobby,
plastic cap and apron still in place. Forbidden perhaps from leaving the
kitchen, she heard that Mandela was passing by and, unable to help herself,
broke hotel protocol. She wept and tore at herself as she wailed after the
hero, yet made no attempt to approach him. Her words about what he meant to her
were subtitled for us in English at the bottom of the screen. Mandela, who must
get this kind of thing daily, did not look back. “Mandela! Mandela! I have
waited for this moment!”, shouted the kitchen maid as the old man made his
way slowly to the lift, burdened by history.

If Chief Anthony Enahoro is burdened by history, or the constant
gaze of an endless stream of people like me, it didn’t show. Enahoro is now an
octogenarian like Mandela. There are no sweeping comparisons to be made between
the two, but it could be argued perhaps that certain parallels exist. In
Enahoro’s presence I knew something of what that South African kitchen maid
must have felt on seeing Mandela, only I was not weeping or tearing at myself.
Unlike her however, I had not waited for the moment. Quite simply, I never thought
I’d see the day.

First published in The
Guardian (2004)

A fog of uneasy
calm is building at local government secretariats across Oyo State as
pockets of protests greet the state government’s announcement of names
of those to oversee the affairs of the local governments.

Following the
expiration of the three-year terms of the state’s local government
chairmen on December 16, the state government, on Thursday, forwarded
names of some party members to the state’s House of Assembly to seek
its approval for their appointment as caretaker committee chairmen.

The letter, signed
by Olayiwola Olakojo, secretary to the state government, argued that
the appointments were necessary ‘in order not to allow any vacuum in
the local government administration’ in the state.

But, just before
the names were approved, some aggrieved members of some of the local
governments were already protesting the appointment of their new
caretaker committee chairmen.

A group of people
from Iseyin local government besieged the entrance of the governor’s
office on Thursday, carrying placards to protest the appointment of
Olayinka Taiwo, who was returned after the expiration of his tenure.

Most of the names
approved by the state government on Thursday were those of the council
bosses whose tenure expired on Thursday, but were returned as caretaker
committee heads.

Apart from the
people who mobilized from the constituencies of the newly appointed
caretakers, two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had gone
to court to stop the appointment.

Gbenga Bamidele and
Ismail Adepoju, in a suit number I/1180/2010, on Thursday, prayed the
court to restrain the state government and its legislative arm from
appointing caretaker committees to replace the former chairmen.

Abuse of office

The claimants, in
the interlocutory injunction, said the governor lacked the power to do
so, adding that such action would amount to abuse of office and
outright illegality.

Until yesterday
when the names of the new interim local government bosses were approved
and announced, the state government had denied ever contemplating
setting up any caretaker heads to take over from the outgoing chairmen.

Among the 33 local
government in the state, the government provided names for 30, while it
offered to name heads for Ibadan SouthWest, Ibarapa East and Ibarapa
North local governments later. While seeking approval for a special
adviser for each of the wards in the local government, the state
government announced that the government of the new interim chairmen
will be assisted by six members each.

The chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has announced
the distribution of the direct data capture machines it has received,
to all its offices nationwide.

He said the
commission is mindful of the errors of the past and will set up a call
centre wherein aggrieved people can call in to get rapid response
during the coming 2011 general elections.

Describing the theft of some of the imported equipment for the election at the Murtala Muhammed Airport,

Lagos as a symbol
of systemic failure in governance, Mr. Jega said however that it cannot
affect the activities of the commission as the machines cannot be
useful outside the commission.

Speaking at a round
table talk on “Free and Fair Elections: Citizens Or INEC’s
Responsibility?”, organised by the National Economic Summit Group in
Lagos yesterday, Mr. Jega said that the commission has concluded the
training of trainers. According to him, the machines are carrying INEC
logos and cannot be used by just anybody since each machine, before it
is actually deployed, will be programmed to ensure that it can only be
used by a particular polling unit.

He said that there
are a lot of deficiencies in the system, especially in the logistic of
moving officials and materials to the places of demand during
elections, noting that “Things have been so bad for so long in our
electoral and political processes that we should not be totally
disappointed if we do not attain perfection in the current endeavour.”
He regretted that officers of the commission had to rely on politicians
and political parties to move materials during elections.

We will do better

He said it has
been difficult planning a way out of the challenges, with the
commission still not having enough vehicles to cover the entire routes,
“So what we are trying to do now is to ensure that there is enough
logistic as needed to reduce the incentives or excuses that people will
have to be source of such needs, because we will just start going down.
As time goes on we will do better.” Also, describing the 2011 election
as a period that Nigeria must work hard to get it right, he said that
“Nigerians have aspired and struggled for democracy and have been
continuously frustrated,’’ and that yet, “there is a clear national
consensus in Nigeria today for free, fair and credible elections in
2011 and beyond.”

Stating that the
only concern to the entire country has been how to address the crisis
of leadership and governance, which has be-devilled the country, he
said getting elections right and making votes to count is a major step
in addressing the crisis of governance.

Mr. Jega said that
the challenges towards achieving a credible election is very enormous
for the commission, and wished that it was established at least
eighteen months before the election.

Limited period

According to Mr.
Jega, “INEC was reconstituted in the last week of June and began work
in earnest to actualize the aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair and
credible elections. As a political scientist what I have done is to
look at other countries where election management bodies have been
constituted and I have discovered that on average it takes about
eighteen month for a new commission to be in place before it conducts a
national election.”

Mr. Jega who said
what people call him on the streets now is ‘‘N78.8 billion’’ promised
not to break the law and also to account for every kobo given to the
commission.

The Director
General of the Group, Frank Nweke however applauded the commission’s
chairman for a job well done so far, but urged him to ensure that all
logistical faults that could hinder progress are tackled. He also said
the presidential aspirants would also be brought together soon for a
debate by the group.

Soldiers loyal to
Cote d’Ivoire rival presidential claimants, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane
Ouattara, waged a gun battle in Abidjan on Thursday, and witnesses said
at least four people had been killed in street protests.

Separately
pro-Ouattara rebels and government army forces exchanged fire across
the north-south line of a country split in two by a 2002-2003 civil
war, and whose divisions a November 28 presidential election was
intended to heal.

A spokesman for the
pro-Ouattara New Forces rebels said there had been two deaths on their
side in the gun battle near the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara is under
protection of U.N. peacekeepers, while the army has confirmed only two
wounded.

The incidents
marked a sharp escalation in violence between the two camps since the
incumbent Gbagbo claimed victory in the election the United Nations and
others say Ouattara won. They came as Ouattara supporters marched
through the country’s main city to try and seize the premises of the
state broadcaster.

“I saw four killed
and many wounded. They fired guns to push us back when we tried to
march down the street,” one protester said of live rounds fired by the
military at a crowd marching near a military police school on their way
to the state TV building.

Telephone
interviews conducted by Amnesty International with people at the scene
of the march indicated there were nine dead, the rights group said. It
said the interviews were with five pro-Ouattara protesters and two
local human rights workers.

Guillaume Soro,
Gbagbo’s ex-premier who has defected to Ouattara’s camp, said 14
demonstrators had been killed during the protests. An army spokesman
declined to comment on the reports.

Across town, bursts
of heavy fire rang out around the lagoon-side hotel where Ouattara and
his allies have set up a parallel administration as a tense days-long
stand-off with pro-Gbagbo forces deployed outside turned into a gun
battle.

“There is shooting
all over the place. There is artillery. There are explosions. It is all
coming from the direction of the Golf Hotel,” said one witness.

The U.S. Embassy in
Abidjan was hit by an errant rocket-propelled grenade during the
protests, a State Department spokesman said in Washington.

Fear of a
disruption to supplies in the world’s top cocoa grower pushed futures
prices close to four-month highs reached last week. May cocoa on Liffe
stood 11 pounds or 0.55 percent higher at 2,023 pounds a tonne at 1600
GMT.

The fighting in
Abidjan was mirrored elsewhere as New Forces troops and government
troops exchanged heavy arms fire for some three hours in Tiebissou, the
central town that marks the line between the rebel-held north and
government-held south.

Along with the
United Nations, the United States, African states, and France recognise
Ouattara as the winner of the election but Gbagbo, backed by the
nation’s top legal body, has held on to the presidency, alleging mass
vote-rigging.

U.N. helicopters
flew over the city as the shooting erupted. The United Nations has
about 10,000 soldiers and police in the country. The force has a
mandate to protect civilians, but said its job was not to protect the
march.

In the Nigerian
capital, Abuja, a top-level African Union delegation met Nigerian
President, Goodluck Jonathan, current chief of the West African bloc
ECOWAS, to discuss the crisis.

A statement issued
afterwards reaffirmed the backing of both bodies for Ouattara and said
the AU had agreed with the ECOWAS view that a power-sharing deal
similar that reached by Kenya after disputed 2007 elections would not
be acceptable.

Election commission
results showed Ouattara won last month’s election. But the pro-Gbagbo
Constitutional Council scrapped nearly half a million votes in Ouattara
bastions to hand victory to Gbagbo on grounds of fraud, causing
international outrage.

Ouattara’s allies
have called on Ivorians to come out onto the streets again on Friday to
help them occupy other key government buildings, raising the risk of
further unrest.

“Some of this might
be sending messages,” one Abidjan-based diplomat said. “The key will be
whether they call off tomorrow’s demonstration. It is not tenable.”