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Where to start with
such a trail is the primary question; which kind of money are we
talking about and who to follow, is another. Recently, I saw on
television, a collaborative effort at curbing corruption by the EFCC,
the FBI and another American agency. The FBI spokesperson was the one
that said “We call it: follow the money” because, usually, there is a
trail left behind by such money. Well, even if I did not follow his
story from the beginning, I got enough inspiration for my story.

We are bombarded
daily in Abuja by the pungent wafts of naira and even dollars, such
that one cannot really imagine the amount of government money that
flies around every second of the day. This includes the money that uses
the ‘due process molue’ and the others that are conveyed in ‘undue
process jets’, and the activity of this ‘necessary evil’ has been
heightened by the firing of the starting gun for the 2011 elections by
Jega and his team.

I was in one of
these government offices last week and an acquaintance that I hardly
ever see outside the office was outside leaning by his car, looking
forlorn. Without prodding, he started lamenting about the present
predicament since their chief executive indicated his interest to run
for the governorship of his state. This young man used to be a bit
light and very robust, looking really healthy, and he works in a
department where he used to lick his fingers regularly, as in, on a
daily basis. He always used to stay inside the office so that the
goodies do not pass by him. This time, he went off on a litany of
complaints.

“Bros, nothing is
happening right now (pointing to their office building) in this office.
If oga no dey around, everything is grounded. See now, everybody is
outside because there is nothing to do. The entire office budget has
been licked by the ‘thief’…chief executive. He is the all in
all…can you imagine, if he is not around nothing moves because it is
him alone that signs…and now, as I speak to you, there is no money to
run this office…in fact, most of us are applying to be posted out of
this place before we go under…can you imagine, this is how we hang
outside looking for whom to beg…as I talk to you now, I do not know
how to get money to fuel this car back home…and you know I just got
married…this man is very wicked, in fact, he is a demon…”

I felt pained by
his situation and was moved to narrate the story to a close friend in
another smaller government department. But before I could finish, he
also interrupted me with “… ah-ah, oh so you no know…our oga wan
run for House of Reps and every contract now for this office, na she
dey do am. No matter how small; she get reach 50 business name wey she
dey use…ah, dey there, express don leave you finish.”

Running for office

Are you following my money, sorry, story?

That was all I
needed to draw the attention of the EFCC to all the government offices
being led by prospective governors to be, senators or representatives
to be. Even local government chairmen or councillors to be.

Or maybe one needs
to learn how to shout like Jega, for immediate and urgent response to
this issue? Well, no dice because if you get the attention and we move
a motion, who will pass it into law? It is the same distinguished
senators or members. Have you not noticed that any law, no matter how
sweet or good, if it does not favour this bunch of extinguished or
dishonourable people, such laws do not see the light of day?

My first acquaintance, however, ended his sad tale with some distant
light in the horizon. “…anyway, as God go punish the yeye man, you
know say dem say if you want contest for election as government
officer, you must resign…the devil think say im smart…e come apply
for ‘leave of absence’ so dat, if im lose, e go fit come back after the
election, come replace the money wey e don thief. But for where? All
the other small-small oga wey dey join us suffer, don put leg for
ground say this our thief executive must resign. This is so that if im
lose, e go suffer like all of us dey suffer here.” Abeg, is Farida
Waziri listening? Let somebody follow “dis money”.

The battle for
control of Kogi in the 2011 elections will be a litmus test for the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to show the world its ability to
enthrone fairness and equity among its followership, as politicians
from all the zones jostle to replace the incumbent, Ibrahim Idris, who
has served his legally permitted two terms.

The majority Igala
has dominated the political scene since its creation and the other
minority groups, especially the Yoruba-speaking Okun, now want power…

For details, pick up a copy of today’s NEXT newspaper

Two years after it
was gutted by fire, the Inspector General of Police Officer’s
relaxation centre, known as the “IGP mess,” located on Shehu Shagari
way, in Area 11, Garki, Abuja, remains in tatters. A substantial part
of the N200 million said to have been released for its renovation has
disappeared. The ruined building is just one of the testaments Ogbonna
Onovo left behind as he ended his tenure as head of the nation’s Police.

Mr. Onovo was
named Inspector General of Police on August 5, 2009, taking over from
Mike Okiro, who retired. When he first took office, he promised a
series of sweeping reforms that included: raising salaries and
improving benefits, establishing a Special Monitoring Unit to check
officer misconduct and an array of retraining programmes. The early
days of his leadership witnessed some of these changes. However, Mr.
Onovo’s reforms soon began to falter.

After the 2008
fire incident, which killed James Mseilla a deputy commissioner of
police and an aide to Mr. Okiro, the former police chief promised to
renovate the IGP mess as part of his bid to improve the welfare of his
officers.

A NEXT
investigation confirmed that Mr. Onovo awarded the renovation to one of
his relatives known only as Majek. Officers say Majek may have
collected several millions of naira as a mobilization fee for the work.
In February this year, Majek removed the damaged roof, but has since
abandoned the building.

The police’s
public relations officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel
Ojukwu, said no official renovation contract was ever awarded for the
building.

“I am not aware of any contract in respect of the officers’ mess in Area 11,” he said.

Beyond the broken
promises to his staff, it was his inability to curb violent crime,
particularly kidnapping, and improve police performance that were
considered Mr. Onovo’s biggest failures.

Damning reports

Several
international human rights organisations have condemned Mr. Onovo’s
performance. In May, this year, he was dubbed a “Predator of Press
Freedom” by Reporters without Borders. The group noted that the police
enjoy complete impunity, even when their abuses are well documented.

“The abuses often
occur when reporters go to cover operations by police who decide they
do not want witnesses,” said the group on their website. “The verbal
threats, beatings, unwarranted searches and confiscation of equipment
are not the result of any official policy or use that politicians make
of the police. They are just the acts of an ignorant and thuggish force
that does its job with a great deal of enthusiasm.”

Another report
released by Human Rights Watch in August this year accused the force of
corruption, rape, murder and detaining innocent people then demanding a
fee for their release. It said the problem was systemic, as officers
were often forced to pay their seniors a share of the money they
extorted from the public.

A NEXT editorial noted that widespread impunity for officers accused of misconduct had led to “a rot in the system.”

Lack of account

Mr. Onovo has also
shown a lack of accountability in his personal affairs. Earlier this
year, he was sued by a human rights organisation over the illegal
detention of two police corporals accused of kidnapping an unknown
victim. The Abuja court ruled in the group’s favour and ordered the
police boss to release the two men. However, Mr. Onovo consistently
ignored the court’s orders – four of them – and denied knowledge of a
bench warrant for contempt issued by the court.

Officers have also
accused Mr. Onovo of using his office to corner choice business
contracts. A source, who asked not to be mentioned, said the recent
contract for the production of new shoulder badges was awarded to one
of his relations, Mike Onovo.

“Police officers,
including rank and file, totals 500,000; but the young Mr. Onovo was
only asked to produce 300,000 pieces, running to several millions of
naira,” said the source.

A difficult task

However, the
former IGP has defended his tenure, noting that reform of the force is
an especially difficult task. When he appeared before the House of
Representatives Committee on Police Affairs, during the 2009 budget
review, he said outside forces were interfering with his drive to
remove corrupt officers from the force.

“Out of the 10,000
policemen sent out of the force during a recent manpower audit, about
50 percent of them found their way back into the system,” said Mr.
Onovo. “They used various guises, including questionable
recommendations from influential persons in the society.”

Despite his poor
performance, the Inspector General of Police was among 186 people who
were honoured with the 2009 National Award by President Goodluck
Jonathan in July.

As Mr. Onovo leaves what is the shortest tenure for an inspector
general of police in the nation’s history, speculations are rife over
his future. But a look at his official website might suggest a clue:
the future portion is blank.

Sometime in 2002, in the quest to
fortify its plan to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party during the 2003 general elections, the leadership of the then All
Peoples Party began negotiation with some prominent politicians in the
country who it believed were electoral assets. Among them were former
military vice president, Augustus Aikhomu, a former petroleum resources
minister, Don Etiebet and a former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke.

Messrs Aikhomu and Etiebet were
coming from the United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP), a party reputed to
have been floated by political associates of former military president,
Ibrahim Babangida. They had also been in the PDP.

For details pick up a copy of today’s NEXT Newspaper

Residents of Yayale
Estate in the Dutse district of Garki in Abuja are constantly
threatened by floods resulting from the Federal Capital Development
Authority’s (FCDA) inconclusive work on roads in the area.

During a typical
rainy day, poor drainage within the estate causes floodwaters from the
road to rush into residents’ compounds, destroying property and
threatening lives.

Solomon Daudu, a
resident of the estate, said his building is worst hit when it rains.
Last Wednesday, he almost lost his Toyota Camry to the flood. Mr. Daudu
said he left for work in the morning and returned around 11:00am to
pick up his children for lunch. On their way home, at around 4:00 pm,
he received a phone call that his compound was flooded.

“The flood pushed
down the fence at the back of my house and pushed my car outside to the
main road after it forced open the gates,” he said.

“Everything kept outside the building was swept away in the flood,” he said.

However, officials
of the FCDA deny that the flooding is linked to the road construction.
The FCDA’s chief resident engineer, who declined to be named, said that
there was no need for the government to build additional drainage on
the road. Instead, he blamed the problem on the inability of the
estate’s developer to utilise the survey data for the area.

“If they had the survey data, they would have known that in future, there was going to be a major road there,” he said.

“We did our best on
that project and there is nothing more to it. There is no need for
drainages on express roads, or are we expected to provide drainages in
the estate too?”

He warned that the road will be expanded into a dual carriage way in future and that the estate will definitely be affected.

Irregular construction

But the residents
disagreed with the FCDA’s assessment. They pointed out that drainage
was provided on other sections of the road. Emmanuel Okoronkwo, a civil
engineer who lives in the estate, said the road project was poorly
executed.

“It is wrong of
them to have gone ahead to do this thing without providing for a
channel for the flood. They could have put what is called a ‘cut-off
drain’ and then channel it properly,” he said.

Mr. Okoronkwo said
that the road should not have been categorised as an expressway, as it
passed through a residential area. He said the government had evaded
its responsibility to the estate.

“You cannot provide
a road and not take care of that,” he said. “That is ignorance at its
height. You must channel water somewhere, otherwise you leave it to
wreak havoc,” he said.

Ahmed Yabagi,
chairman of the Yayale Estate Residents’ Association, said the problem
was the irregular planning and construction of the road. When the road
was designed, the estate was not in place. However, by the time the
road was constructed, no one bothered to update the initial survey data
for the road, which channelled the flood into the land where the estate
now stands.

Blame the management

The issue has been
complicated by poor government management of the estate, said Mr.
Yabagi. The estate was built in 2004 to provide accommodation for civil
servants. The head of service partnered with a private developer,
Shelter Initiatives, on the project, while the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) provided the land.

Beneficiaries of
the housing scheme were to make monthly payments for their houses to
the government which would, in turn, remit a part of the money to the
private developer. However, the government has not been making adequate
remittances to the developer.

Mr. Yabagi said
that was why so many of the estate facilities, including the drainage
system, were in such a deplorable condition. The developer had even
sold some of the estate’s units in a bid to recover his money, he said.

There are over 150
residents within the estate and they have made several attempts to draw
the federal government’s attention to their plight, but to no avail.

“We demonstrated,
we blocked the road, and stopped the work on the road at a time. We had
also written to FCDA but no response yet,” said Mr. Yabagi.

“We equally held meetings with the office of the head of civil
service of the federation, but none had yielded fruits,” he said.

Last year when they
struck, members of the Boko Haram group spread their violence across
states such as Borno, Bauchi and Kano. Little wonder officials in those
states are skittish following last week’s resurgence of violence in
Bauchi by suspected members of the same group.

At the height of
the Boko Haram insurrection in 2009, the sect members ambushed
policemen at the Wudil Divisional headquarters and fought security
operatives in bloody encounters. No fewer than 25 members of the group,
whose cases are yet to be dispensed with, are still held at the Kano
Central Prison, not too far away from the city’s main praying ground,
the Kofar Mata eid praying ground.

Days before last
Friday’s Sallah celebration, there was noticeable heavy presence of
security officials, including detachment of the army, across Kano city.
On Thursday, this was reinforced, as about 15 trucks loaded with mobile
police were spotted moving around every nook and cranny of the city in
a show of force.

Heavily armed
military and mobile police took over Kano Central Mosque ahead of the
Eid el Fitr prayer session, held to mark the end of the Ramadan.
Movement of vehicles to the praying ground were restricted, just as
Muslim faithful were allowed entrance after they have been thoroughly
searched by the security men.

There was unusual
tight security around the governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, as stern looking
soldiers surrounded his official cars, with an armoured tank, during
his trip to the mosque for prayers from his Government House residence,
about three kilometres away.

At the end of the
prayers, the soldiers accompanied Mr Shekarau’s convoy to the
Government House, leaving many residents who were not used to this
bizarre style pondering what must have gone wrong on a day that should
be celebrated.

Security report

Top security
sources in the state who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the
heavy presence of the military is because of security reports on
possible attacks by the members of the Boko Haram. The source added
that the tight security is owing to fear that the members of the
dreaded sect could use the celebration day to attack the governor and
other targets.

However, the Sallah
day was celebrated peacefully, as Mr Shekarau joined thousands to offer
prayers and urged Kano residents to remain peaceful at all times. Mr
Shekarau said that this year’s Sallah festivities called for double
sober reflections and appreciation, as it coincides with the 50th
anniversary of our country’s nationhood.

He added that his
government was working to ensure that security of lives and property is
respected in the state and called on the people to go about their
duties without fear.

The emir of Kano,
Ado Bayero, expressed gratitude to Allah for bringing an end to
religious and sectional crises in the state. “We hope that the peaceful
development has come to stay,” he said, calling on all in the state to
continue to cooperate with security agents for the maintenance of peace
and stability.

He also called on
the people of the state not to take for granted the recent successes
recorded in the fight against polio, and maintain vigilance at all
times. He cautioned residents to take all preventive measures to check
the spread of cholera, which is currently ravaging neighboring states.

A senior special adviser to Mr Shakarau, Sule Yau Sule, said the heavy security in the state was proactive.

“After the security council meeting yesterday, the Bauchi State case
was reviewed and that is why there is heavy presence of security in
Kano to ward off any threat,” he said.

The National Drug
Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Thursday that the rate of drug
trafficking at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA),
Lagos, has dropped.

The agency said in
a statement that the drop was noticed in August. “We arrested only
seven suspects (four men and three women) with 8.62kg of cocaine during
the month,” it said in the statement signed by Mitchell Ofoyeju, the
agency’s head of Public Affairs.

It said the number of those arrested for drug trafficking rose to 20 in July with a haul of 28.13kg of narcotics.

“The drastic reduction is suggestive of a natural response to the death of a suspect who ingested the substance.

“It is hoped that drug traffickers will consider the consequences
of their action and quit the criminal acts,’’ the statement added.

Two Russian sailors that were kidnapped about a month ago have been released by unidentified men in the Niger Delta.

The Seafarers Union of Russia confirmed
to The Associated Press agency that the kidnapped sailors, identified
as Igor Ivanov and Andrei Pukke have been released by their captors.
The union also confirmed that the two men are already back in Russia,
but declined to give any further details. However, an unconfirmed
ransom of $60,000 was allegedly paid for their release.

The Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC) will mobilize the masses to demand from public
office holders an account of their stewardship, the deputy chairman of
the CPC Board of Trustees, Sule Hamma, has said.

Mr. Hamma, who
spoke while receiving a delegation of Group Four, Course 32 of the
National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), said if
elected in into government in 2011, the party led by former military
leader Muhammadu Buhari, would ensure that there is sanity in
governance.

“We are going to
use the power of the masses to crush the elites and their cohorts who
have continuously connived to dupe the masses and we will provoke the
masses to look into what their representatives received without doing
anything for their constituencies. If the present situation is allowed
to continue, there would be no hope for Nigerian masses,” Mr Hamma said.

He also said the
failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to
understand the dynamics of the processes of rigging of election may mar
the success of the 2011 general elections.

Unchanged PDP

Mr. Hamma accused
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of rigging in all elections,
adding that the party has not changed going by the results of recent
local government and senatorial bye-elections across the country.

According to him, the forthcoming elections may not be free and fair after all.

“Given the short
time frame for preparation, lack of infrastructure and lack of INEC’s
understanding of the dynamics of the processes of election rigging by
desperate politicians and their cohorts among other concerns, we do not
see the possibility of free and fair elections in the country,” he said.

The BOT chairman
also alleged that Commissioners of Police, Brigade Commanders, SSS
Directors, Residents Electoral Commissioners (RECs), traditional rulers
and prominent politicians connived and compromise justice by rigging
elections after being “settled.”

Leader of the NIPSS
delegation and Director of Research at the institute, Olu Obafemi, said
the visit to the party secretariat was part of their academic programme
to find out the level of preparation of stakeholders for the 2011 polls.

July 20 2010,
Concord House, London: The inauguration of the Save Nigeria Group
(SNG), UK Chapter. In attendance was Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain
Assembly; Yinka Odumakin; Nasir El Rufai; pastors from the Gain Group
and other activists that formed the SNG, UK chapter. I was representing
the Transform Nigeria Movement. I listened carefully as these gentlemen
enunciated their vision and mission to cleanse the atmosphere of
Nigeria politics so that – quoting Mr Odumakin – “a Mr Elombah can come
back to Nigeria one day and contest for the House of Representatives
and be assured that the votes of the people in his constituency will
count.”

It was a moving
occasion, as Mr Bakare – who has this extraordinary ability to speak
with such force and emotion that turn your eyes misty – narrated how
Nigeria has been held in the jugular by thugs that have captured our
nation, allowed by a seemingly docile populace whose “social mobility”
has quenched. What I heard that day seems to hold out hope that, at
last, some people are determined to bring forth the change we all
desire. At the end of the launch, I attended another meeting with a
journalist from Nigeria, where I confirmed what Donald Duke, former
governor of Cross River State, said at another gathering of the SNG –
that Nigerian politicians look at activists as “wooly-eyed dreamers”.
This journalist (I will call him Mr J) said if we are hoping for a
Nigeria where the people will freely elect their leaders in a free and
peaceful election, we still have a very long way to go. Some of the
things Mr J narrated cannot simply be published. Suffice it to say he
pointed out that “Nigeria is not a country, but an organized criminal
outpost for crooks whose interest is personal aggrandisement and not
the business of taking care of its citizens”.

Mr J further told
me that whatever I read is merely a tip of the iceberg and that if I
get to know the actual amount of looting that goes for governance, or
the debauched life lived by some of the people I admire in government,
I won’t sleep at night.

Recently, Speaker
of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and governor of Ogun
State, Gbenga Daniel, publicly engaged in fisticuffs over a dispute of
who should cut the ribbon announcing the opening of a simple bridge in
Sango-Ota, in Ogun State. How did thugs get to capture governance in
Nigeria? Mr Bakare said at the inauguration that he will never
encourage any sane human to go into Nigerian politics in this polluted
environment. But he added that members of the SNG might go into
politics, “after the atmosphere has been cleansed”.

The RSVP process

I think what we are
seeing is a civilian version of the military in power. Or the
militarised version of the civilians in power. Who killed Bayo Ohu and
Godwin Agbroko? IBB felt challenged by Mamman Vatsa and charged him
with coup plotting and killed him…now tell me who felt uncomfortable
with former Attorney General, Bola Ige and had him murdered? Who killed
Harry Marshall, Dikibo, Odunayo Olagbaju? Who killed Ahmed Pategi and
his police orderly? Who killed Victor Nwankwo, the younger brother of
Arthur Nwankwo? Who killed Kudirat Abiola, John Nunu, Funsho Williams,
Chimere Ikoku, Ayodeji Daramola, Dele Arojo and Isyaku Muhammad? With
the passing of each year, the list grows longer and longer.

Mr Bakare believes no good Nigerian can succeed as a peoples’
politician and serve the people within the polluted waters of Nigerian
politics because the others will change him into one of their kind. Mr
Bakare also believes that only when the people exercise their rights
and take powers back into their hands, by selecting their candidates
and ensuring free, credible and peaceful elections, will such a
cleansing begin. He called this cleansing process RSVP: R-Register to
vote, S- Select your candidates, V-Vote, P-Protect your votes.