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The National
Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party has denied
complicity in the last month’s resignation of the party’s former
chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo.

It, however,
refused to state clearly if the former chairman left N7 billion in the
coffers of the party when he was leaving office, as claimed.

Mr Nwodo’s
political adviser, Buhari Bala had in a recent media interview accused
the Working Committee members of complicity in the resignation of his
principal last month. He also claimed that Mr Nwodo left N7 billion in
the party’s account at the time he resigned.

The NWC, in a
statement by PDP national publicity secretary, Ahmed Alkali on Sunday
in Abuja, said that Mr Bala’s comment was jaundiced, ill-timed,
uninformed and in bad taste. “When we first heard of the story, we
could not believe that an aide to a former chairman of our party could
make such allegations. We therefore waited, thought that he must have
been quoted out of context. But having waited up to this time without
him retracting the statement, we have reasons to believe that the
action was deliberately taken,” Mr Alkali said.

“It is not the
tradition of the leadership to join issues with our past leaders or
those who worked with them. There is however need for us to make some
clarifications in this case in order to put the record straight and
avoid a situation where party members and especially Nigerians will be
led to believe a lie.” he said.

Intentional attack

The PDP spokesman
said the committee finds it strange that Mr Bala could choose this
period when the party had just concluded its presidential campaign at
the zonal level and about to commence the door to door campaigns in the
states, “to throw spanner on our collective efforts and determination
to achieve success for our party in the forthcoming general elections.”
Stating that the committee will not go into the details of the
circumstances that led to the resignation of Mr Nwodo, Mr Alkali,
however, recalled that the former chairman himself said he was quitting
based on the need to “maintain cohesion in the overall interest of the
party.” He added, “For an aide to the former chairman to turn around
and make unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations against the NWC of
the party speak of mischief and indeed a deliberate attempt to create
bad blood, hatred and odium between members of the NWC and the former
national chairman whom we hold in high esteem. “We want to put it on
record that since June 2010 when Okwesilieze Nwodo was elected the
national chairman of the PDP, he enjoyed the highest level of
cooperation from members of the National Working Committee who
supported every single programme that he introduced.

Mr Alkali dismissed
Mr Bala’s claim that Mr Nwodo left N7 billion in the PDP’s purse,
saying that he (Bala) was never in a position to know the state of the
party’s finances and therefore not qualified to speak on the matter.

The PDP spokesman asked Mr Bala to give clarification on the
allegations he raised, adding that this will determine the committee’s
next line of action.

The special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on
Niger Delta affairs, Kingsley Kuku, has praised the federal
government’s amnesty programme for militants in the region, saying this
has helped to improve the country’s economy.

Speaking at a forum for stakeholders of the Niger
Delta held in Lagos over the weekend, Mr. Kuku disclosed that the
amnesty would go down in the history as the “sincerest effort by the
federal government of Nigeria to holistically address the Niger Delta
question”, as he noted that prior to the proclamation of the official
pardon, militancy and general insecurity in the region virtually
crippled Nigeria’s economy.

Mr. Kuku said that investment inflow to the upstream
subsector of the oil industry had dwindled remarkably, threatening the
country’s crude oil reserves.

“Nigeria had targeted 40 billion barrels proven
reserve by the end of 2010 but insecurity in Niger Delta led to the
exodus of investors from our country to more stable business
opportunities in Africa. For example, due to militants’ activities in
the Niger Delta, Shell Petroleum Development Company, by early 2009,
had declared force majeure on its operations, which caused a drop in
its production capacity from one million bpd to about 259,000 bpd.

“Worse still, citing insecurity, union officials all
too often called strikes to protest insecure working environment. It
got to a point where Nigeria’s export dwindled to as low as 700,000
bpd, compared with a targeted 2.2milion bpd for the first quarter of
2009. In 2008 alone, it was estimated that Nigeria lost over N3trillion
as a result of militancy in the Niger Delta,” he said.

The special adviser said that with the proclamation
of amnesty for the militants agitators, reasonable disarmament took
place and relative peace was restored in the Nigeria Delta, adding that
oil companies reopened shut-in wells and under four months, Nigeria’s
oil production increased from 700,000 barrels per day to 2.3milion
barrels per day.

“With cessation of hostilities, government began
giving assurances that Nigeria once again fill its OPEC (Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries) quota and be trusted by major
consumer nations to meet its contractual obligations,” he said.

Disappointment from oil companies

Mr. Kuku disclosed that oil companies operating in
the Niger Delta have not being helping the region in terms of enhancing
the lives of residents of the area, adding that the companies have
remained indifferent when it comes to recruiting ex-combatants.

“The oil and gas companies have not done enough and
they must do enough because it is a problem they caused this country.
They said they are putting together $30m and they can only support te
training of 3,000 out of 26,358 ex-combatants. We demanded if they were
going to employ them? But they said they cannot guarantee that.

“We reject that completely, because from that point
of view, the people they want those to be trained by them to be just
artisans, but we are saying that they must train our people in
employable fields that some of them can stand the chance of being
qualified to be chairman in the SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development
Company)one day,” he said.

Sustainable development Dennis Ogwaro, a participant
at the forum called for sustainable developments in the Niger Delta, as
he explained that this could be achieved by the construction and
establishment of institutions and higher education centres in the
region.

“With this kind of development, our youth will have
their minds taken away from the high demand for money and this will
increase the number of increase the number of entrepreneurs in our
Niger Delta,” he said.</

Anti-government
protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen’s
presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said. The clashes
occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition
group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help
avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital
U.S. ally against al Qaeda.

Saleh decided to
postpone a visit to the United States planned for later this month “due
to the current circumstances in the region,” About 1,000 people
attended the demonstration shouting “the Yemeni people want the fall of
the regime” and “a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution,”
before dozens broke off to march to the palace.

In the harshest
response yet to a wave of protests in the capital, police prevented the
smaller group from reaching the palace, hitting them with batons, while
protesters threw rocks at the police, witnesses said. Four people were
injured. Opposition officials said 10 protesters were briefly detained
in Sanaa on Sunday and 120 more were taken into custody overnight in
the city of Taiz after protests on Saturday.

The United States
relies heavily on Saleh to help combat al Qaeda’s Yemen-based arm,
which also carries out attacks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia. U.S.-based
Human Rights Watch criticised Yemen for allowing government supporters
to assault, intimidate and sometimes clash with protesters calling on
Saleh to quit. U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Saleh to follow up
his pledges of reform with concrete action.

Algeria police stifle protest

Meanwhile,
thousands of police in riot gear blocked off the centre of Algeria’s
capital on Saturday and stopped government opponents from staging a
protest march that sought to emulate Egypt’s popular revolt.

Small groups of
demonstrators angry at President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gathered in May 1
Square shouting “Bouteflika out!” They waved newspaper front pages
reporting Friday’s overthrow of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak.

However the riot
police was deployed to suppress the protest. After about three hours,
hundreds of people left the square quietly, with police opening up gaps
in their cordon to let them through. Some 200 young men from a poor
neighbourhood nearby stayed on the square. Some threw objects at
police. Widespread unrest in Algeria could have implications for the
world economy because it is a major oil and gas exporter. But many
analysts say a revolt is unlikely because the government can use its
energy wealth to resolve most grievances.

Huge police deployment

Government
officials had banned Saturday’s protest, citing public order concerns.
A massive police mobilisation, which started on Friday afternoon,
appeared to have stifled it. Human Rights Groups condemn this move;
they say it is bad for Algeria’s image. The protest was not backed by
the main trade unions or the biggest opposition parties. Most members
of radical Islamist groups in Algeria banned in the 1990s, but still
have grassroots influence, stayed away.

Responding to
opposition pressure, government officials say they are working hard to
create more jobs and improve housing, and they have promised more
democratic freedoms including the lifting of a state of emergency in
force for 19 years. The Interior Ministry statement on Saturday’s
protest said: “An attempt to organise a march was recorded today at May
1 Square by a crowd estimated at 250 people. Fourteen people were
detained and immediately released.” But contradicting his statement,
officials with the opposition RCD party, which helped organise the
protest, told Reuters the demonstrators totalled between 7,000 and
10,000 and that 1,000 people were arrested.

The PDP candidate
for the post of House of Representatives for Abeokuta South
constituency from the Jubril Martins Kuye-led faction of the People’s
Democratic Party in Ogun State, Peter Olusegun Alawode, yesterday
withdrew his candidacy in favour of the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Dimeji Bankole. Mr. Alawode, who disclosed this while
speaking with journalists in Abeokuta, explained that his withdrawal
was on the order of the party’s leadership and that he had no
ill-feeling over that, stressing further that he could not go against
the wishes of the party authority.

“Thanks be to God
Almighty, we have been able to resolve issues and that is based on the
order of my leaders and elders, the likes of Buruji Kashamu. There is
no way I could go against the wishes of the party and not only the
party but the elders and the leaders,” Mr Alawode said.

Denying
speculations that he withdrew following financial inducement from the
camp of the speaker, the former candidate added that the party leaders
are in control.

“If I should be
asked to step down for the speaker to go back to that seat, there is no
big deal,” he said. “I want to say yes, wilingly and without much
pressure. I was able to say okay, I agree with you. No any ill-feeling.
The decision of me serving in Olurin’s cabinet is solely the affairs of
the party and leaders.”

Ongoing consultations

On the crisis rocking the party, Mr. Alawode said that the party leaders have been making efforts to resolve the issues.

“There are lots of
consultations here and there in order to resolve issues because time is
not on our side; we do realise that. My leaders and elders are trying
their best in resolving these grievances,” he said.

Mr. Bankole participated in the primaries of the party organized by
the faction of the party loyal to the state governor, Gbenga Daniel.
Although he won the ticket, his name could not be forwarded to the
Independent National Electoral Commission because the commission
recognised candidates supplied by the Martins-Kuye faction of the
party. These candidates were last week presented with the party’s flag
at the presidential rally held in Ibadan, Oyo State. Mr. Bankole
received the flag on behalf of House of Representatives candidates,
although his name was not on the INEC-recognised list. Mr. Alawode’s
withdrawal of his candidacy means that Mr. Bankole can now be presented
as the candidate of the party.

As President
Gooodluck Jonathan officially launches his state campaign tour, all
eyes will be on his style of dressing. This is because it has been the
tradition of the president to always identify with his hosts through
their traditional attires during his state visits.

Apart from such
instances where the President has been seen dressed in other Nigerian
attires, his traditional Niger Delta attire has been seen by many as
his trademark.

While the
president’s peculiar dress code has drawn both criticism and
admiration, the man behind his wardrobe describes him as a marketer of
his culture through his customary use of the native Ijaw attire.

Looking at the
dress code of past Nigerian leaders, it could be seen that Mr Jonathan
is not the first to dress consistently in the traditional attire of his
ethnic group. Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was always in
‘agbada’ and the traditional Yoruba cap. Shehu Shagari and the late
Umar Musa Yar’Adua were always in ‘babbanriga’ and cap, a common dress
in northern Nigeria. Fashion analysts say that this trend may be
indicative of the quest for acceptance and a statement of their
identity as Nigerians and solidarity with their own personal ethnic
groups.

Prince Oyefusi, Chief Executive of NobelAfrik believes that the leaders are trying to identify with their ethnic groups.

The president’s
official clothier, Ebi Spiff, adds said: “That is his official uniform;
portraying his culture anyone on that level should not wear things like
the British attire.” Mr Spiff, in a telephone conversation with NEXT,
said, dark colours appeal to the president and explained he selects
what the country’s number one citizen wears. “To choose his clothes, I
have to consider his mood and the occasion. He likes dark colours and
they bring out his shade.” Explaining the difference between the types
of Niger Delta attires used by the President, Mr Spiff said there are
two kinds.

“The one with the
three buttons is called Woko (jumper) while the other is called Etibo
(which is casual), but the one the president wears more often is the
Woko,” he said.

As the country awaits the different looks of the president during
his nationwide tour, he will certainly give up his trademark for most
of the days of the tour. Who knows, we may even see him in a three
piece suit.

All speculations
about who the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) will endorse for
this year’s presidential election were laid to rest last Thursday at
the national convention of the party in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

The party members at the convention endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan unanimously.

Speaking on the
choice, APGA’s national chairman, Victor Umeh, said Mr Jonathan has
proved to be a good friend of the Igbos by doing many things for the
south east zone, thereby leaving APGA no choice than to endorse him
after extensive discussions with members of the party.

Mr. Umeh said the
south east geopolitical zone has not had it so good under any
president,‘‘The president is our friend, he has a listening ear and he
relates well with us. Under his administration, the Niger Bridge got
attention, the Enugu airport has been upgraded, and our brothers can do
business again due to the lifting of ban on importation of certain
items,” Mr Umeh said.

He said the party
had to adopt somebody after no one picked its presidential form, ‘‘
We’ve been involved in discussions with members and we came to a clear
appreciation that there’s only one person, APGA could support and that
is the incumbent president,” he said.

He however said the
party’s support is only for Mr Jonathan and called on members of the
party to vote en masse for the rest of APGA’s candidates in other
elective positions. ‘‘We’re contesting all the other elections and we
want our supporters to return all our other candidates. We have not
merged with anybody.” The motion for the adoption of Jonathan was moved
by the Anambra State deputy governor, Emeka Sibeudu, and seconded by
the national chairman, south west Tayo Sowumi.

Before now the
south east governors under the aegis of the South East Governors’ Forum
chaired by Peter Obi of Anambra State had declared their support for
the president giving similar reasons for supporting him.

INEC was there too

The convention
which was attended by representatives of INEC including the state
resident electoral commissioner, Chukwuemeka Onukogu, also ratified the
decisions taken at the party’s NEC meeting which returned the current
national executive of the party to serve for another four year term.

The event then
moved from the convention venue of Women’s Development Centre to
Ekwueme Square where the party’s candidates were presented to the crowd
of supporters and given the party’s flags. Governorship candidates from
many states of the federation were in attendance. Former information
and communications minister, Dora Akunyili led the senatorial
candidates who were presented with the party’s flags.

Echezona Etiaba,
son of former deputy governor of Anambra State, Virgy Etiaba, who also
attended the convention, stated what the south east will gain by the
adoption of Mr Jonathan by APGA, ‘‘It can never get worse with the
south east by this adoption and it will only get better,’ he said.

Also, the chairman
of Coalition of Lagos State Opposition Political Parties, an umbrella
body of 26 parties, John Uche, said the coalition was formed to provide
a platform for unseating incumbent Lagos State governor, Babatunde
Fashola, whose regime he described as wicked. ‘‘We have the people, we
have the means and we have the structure to remove Mr Fashola. His
so-called achievements are mere photo tricks,’” Mr. Uche said.

The National
publicity secretary of the party, Bernard Akoma ruled out any chances
of reconciliation with Chekwas Okorie, a factional leader of the party,
saying that the issue has been taken care of by the court. Mr. Akoma
said although the matter is still pending at the Supreme Court, he had
no doubt that it will not favour Mr Okorie just as the two previous
judgments had not favoured him.

“APGA will forge ahead without him and as you can see we have been growing from strength to strength,’’ he said.

The occasion was also attended by the party’s national secretary
Sanni Shinkafi; Bianca Ojukwu, special adviser to the president on
Diaspora matters; Tim Menakaya, former health minister; and the host
governor Peter Obi.

The forgery of court document is a
criminal offence which carries a seven-year jail term. But the Nigerian
Army does not seem to consider the offence such a big deal. When told
how Paul Egbo, a Major in the army’s medical corps, allegedly forged
divorce papers to enable him leave his wife and take up with another
woman, a female army officer, an official letter from the Chief of Army
staff said the offence is of no concern to the army.

In May 2006, Mr Egbo, a native of Delta
State, while serving in Maiduguri, Borno State, decided he wanted out
of his 12-year marriage to Uche Egbo. He called Mrs. Egbo, a house wife
and mother of their three children living in their home at the Ojo
military cantonment in Lagos State, and told her that the marriage is
over because God had told him to marry another woman.

He then changed his salary account from
which Mrs. Egbo and the children take money for their monthly upkeep.
Mrs. Egbo remembers that for the next eighteen months, up till
September 23, 2007, her husband and father of their children only came
home once; and that was to pack his belongings.

“He came from Maiduguri to pack his
things. I told him that if he takes everything how does he want us to
cope, that why has he abandoned his family, that he should make
arrangement for his children’s upkeep,” Mrs Egbo said, “Instead he
accused me of being a criminal and got me arrested. I was taken to the
guardroom and would have remained there if not for an officer who
intervened. But he took everything and left us with nothing.”

Mrs. Egbo’s ordeal was not over. On May
20, 2008, Military Police personnel came to her home and handed her a
Lagos State High Court order dated December 31, 2007, which declared
her marriage to Mr. Egbo dissolved. On the orders of her husband, they
had come to evict her with immediate effect from the house.

“It was only because the cantonment
commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Apere, intervened that I was spared. He
instructed Paul to come and sort things out himself because the army
gave the house to him and not me,” said Mrs. Egbo, who hails from
Anambra State.

Being the only child of an elderly
pensioner mother, Mrs. Egbo was totally dependent on her husband. Now
abandoned, she became a wreck. Unable to bear the psychological trauma
any longer, she moved out of the barracks in September 2008 and began
squatting with some acquaintances.

To put food on the table, she started
doing menial jobs. She could not pay her children’s school fees, and
they had to miss one year of school. She and her three children
practically lived off handouts from sympathizers.

A case of forgery

It was in this condition that Kayode
Ogunjobi, a lawyer, met Mrs. Egbo. Filled with compassion, he took up
her case free of charge and ran a check on the decree nisi and the
decree absolute allegedly issued by the court dissolving the marriage.
The response from the Lagos State judiciary in a letter dated July 17,
2008 revealed that Mr. Egbo’s documents were fake.

“We have checked our records and we
report that the document did not emanate from the High Court of Lagos
State as Suit No. HD/241/2007 does not exist in our records,” wrote
Mariam Emeya, then a Chief Magistrate. “Furthermore it is very obvious
that the document is fake as Mr. A. Ola Dada, the ACR (Assistant Chief
Registrar) Litigation who purportedly signed the letter in 2007 retired
in 2005.”

Mrs. Emeya, who at the time was also
the deputy chief registrar of administration in the Lagos State High
Court, further observed that a decree nisi only becomes absolute after
three months but Mr. Egbo’s decree absolute terminated his marriage
after two months.

“In the final analysis, there is no
indication of the court or judge who purportedly dissolved the said
marriage. It is therefore clear that the document is fake,” concluded
Mrs. Emeya.

The army didn’t care

In December 2008, Mr. Ogunjobi, through
Rouq & Company Solicitors and Advocates, petitioned the Office of
the Chief of Army Staff, then headed by Abdulrahaman Dambazau, a
lieutenant general; and Mike Okiro, the then Inspector-General of
Police. While the Police never responded, the Army through its Special
Investigation Bureau (SIB) in Apapa, Lagos State, between August and
September 2009, investigated Mr. Egbo’s forgery case and the abandoning
of his family responsibilities.

“We were invited by the SIB and we
went. The investigation was concluded and the report forwarded. They
said they were sending recommendations to Defence Headquarters, and
that it is an internal thing, so they will get back to us when they
need us. And that is the last we have heard from them, till now,” Mr.
Ogunjobi said.

By June 2010, the army had still not
responded and Mr. Egbo had not rendered any financial help to his
family in years. During this time, Mrs. Egbo said her husband had
married another woman, a female army captain she identified as Rachael
Gashua, serving in the army’s Military Police Corps in Maiduguri.

After her children were sent away from
school just before their promotion exams for non-payment of school
fees, Mrs. Egbo approached Project Alert, a non-governmental
organisation promoting women rights. They assisted her with N35,000;
and together with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
petitioned the present Chief of Army Staff, Onyeabo Ihejirika, over Mr.
Egbo’s forgery of judicial documents and abandonment of family.

But Mr. Ihejirika’s response to the
Commission was that the army would not entertain the matter. Through
his staff, one Lieutenant Colonel A. A. Ali, via a letter received by
the NHRC on November 22, 2010, the army chief further recommended that
if Mrs. Egbo felt so aggrieved, she could lay her complaints at the law
courts.

“The issues raised are purely domestic
in nature and should be settle between the spouses. On the other hand,
if she feels strongly about the alleged ill treatment by her husband,
she may take up a legal action against him. The Nigeria Army does not
have the capacity to impose a wife on a personnel,” read the letter
signed by Mr. Ali “for Chief of Army Staff”.

Mr. Egbo could not be reached on his
mobile telephone. When contacted, his lawyer, Jonah Daniel of KC
Okolodia & Co, said the media does not have any merit in reporting
the case.

“I don’t think it is safe for your
paper to publish this story. Paul’s wife has reported to the Nigerian
army and it’s being investigated,” Mr. Daniel said. “Also the Human
Rights Commission is investigating. This matter is under investigation,
so I don’t know what you want me to say.”

But when asked if he procured the fake
divorce documents for Mr. Egbo, he replied: “I can’t answer that
question. I won’t be part of a campaign of calumny”.

The waiting game

The head of the Directorate of Army
Public Relations, Chris Olukolade, a brigadier-general, when contacted,
requested that he should be left out of the matter.

Kayode Ogunsanya, a lieutenant colonel
and the spokesperson for the Army’s 81 Division, which oversees Bonny
Cantonment, where Mr. Egbo is said to be currently serving, promised to
contact him and then get back to NEXT. Two weeks have gone by and he is
yet to respond. With tears in her eyes Mrs. Egbo said all she wants is
for the father of her children to live up to his parental duties. As
she wakes up early every day to prepare the food she sells on a
roadside, she worries about raising enough money to pay her children’s
school fees, as schools resume February.

“For five years I have been struggling on my own. I have made up my
mind to move on. I am not out for revenge but if Paul wants to divorce,
he should do it the right way. He should also have compassion on his
children and cater for them and not leave them to suffer this way,” Mrs
Egbo said.

Alcohol causes
nearly 4 percent of deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or
violence, the World Health Organisation has warned. Rising incomes have
triggered more drinking in heavily populated countries in Africa and
Asia, including India and South Africa, and binge drinking is a problem
in many developed countries, the United Nations agency said. Yet
alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most
governments despite drinking’s heavy toll on society from road
accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism, it
said. Approximately 2.5 million people die each year from alcohol
related causes, the WHO said in its “Global Status Report on Alcohol
and Health.” “The harmful use of alcohol is especially fatal for
younger age groups and alcohol is the world’s leading risk factor for
death among males aged 15-59,” the report found. In Russia and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), every fifth death is due to
harmful drinking, the highest rate. Binge drinking, which often leads
to risky behaviour, is now prevalent in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico,
Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, and rising elsewhere, according to
the WHO.

“Worldwide, about
11 percent of drinkers have weekly heavy episodic drinking occasions,
with men outnumbering women by four to one. Men consistently engage in
hazardous drinking at much higher levels than women in all regions,”
the report said. Health ministers from the WHO’s 193 member states
agreed last May to try to curb binge drinking and other growing forms
of excessive alcohol use through higher taxes on alcoholic drinks and
tighter marketing restrictions.

Alcohol is a causal
factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries, according to WHO’s first
report on alcohol since 2004. Its consumption has been linked to
cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents,
violence, and several types of cancer, including cancers of the
colorectum, breast, larynx and liver. “Six or seven years ago we didn’t
have strong evidence of a causal relationship between drinking and
breast cancer. Now we do,” Vladimir Poznyak, head of WHO’s substance
abuse unit who coordinated the report, told Reuters.

Alcohol consumption rates vary greatly, from high levels in
developed countries, to the lowest in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa,
and southern Asia, whose large Muslim populations often abstain from
drinking. Homemade or illegally produced alcohol – falling outside
governmental controls and tax nets – accounts for nearly 30 percent of
total worldwide adult consumption.

The music filled the bus and the driver tapped his chubby fingers to the rhythm.

“Pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop something/Pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop something/We dey pop champagne, pop champagne…”

He cradled the
steering wheel to his huge belly, his fat cheeks eternally seeming on
the verge of breaking into a smile. You could see how hard he had tried
to groom himself; the long nails chipped in parts; the dark oily hair
cut in the style called Gallas, tribute to the former Arsenal player
who made it so famous.

He seemed a bit too
old for relaxers and shady hairstyles, but the twinkle in his eye said
that perhaps he knew that, but so what? His check-shirt hugged his gut
so tight the buttons appeared ready to pop at the next big meal of
amala and ewedu washed down with the inevitable Gulder. Oh, yes, he
looked like a man who enjoyed his food with some brew.

But he was not a
big talker, preferring to limit his vocal efforts to singing the chorus
of the Dr. Sid/D’Banj song. When an angry driver overtook our bus,
hurling insults at him for no apparent reason, he didn’t even shout
back. He gazed placidly at the fellow through his window, and placing
an index finger to the side of his head, he turned it sharply, like a
screw. At Ogudu, he stopped to pick up an odd couple; a smallish fellow
in the garish colours of the LASTMA uniform and a much taller man. It
was soon clear that he knew them both. On spying the shorter guy, he
began to protest after they entered: “Oh no, no!”, shaking his head
like one who had committed an irredeemable blunder.

“Egbon,” he said,
addressing the tall chap and pointedly ignoring the uniformed fellow,
“I seriously thought you were alone. Seriously. I don’t usually carry
these wicked people.”

Goliath chuckled.

“Because of me,” he said, settling down, “Carry am today, I beg.”

The LASTMA official
pursed his lips, predicting dire consequences for errant drivers who
didn’t know how to show respect for authority. The driver made a face
and laughed. Suddenly, a bike man cut into our lane from the blind side
and went speeding past without a care.

“The people who drive okada are crazy,” he said quietly, “Every single one of them.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you an oxymoron: a danfo driver with no stress.

Sitting beside him
up front, I again wondered what it was about fat men that makes you
feel comfortable in their company. They seemed more able to absorb
life’s pressures, to hide their neuroses under all those layers of
flesh. I remembered Caesar saying to Anthony: “Let me have men about me
that are fat; sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights,” and I
thought, the Roman general would have loved this bus driver.

I got down at Ojota
feeling quite mellow, as if I had indeed popped some champagne, and I
began to see Lagosians differently. At the criminally built steps of
the overhead bridge at Ojota, an elderly lady with a tall load
stumbled, and a dashing young woman in an Afro and elegant shoes
stepped forward: “Mama, let me help you with the load,” she said. The
elderly woman refused, but the smile on her wrinkled face was priceless.

At the other end of the bridge, I ran into a schoolboy helping a blind man negotiate the bustle, and they were both laughing.

“Can they not see too?” asked the blind man every time someone
brushed past him. And their laughter would resume. I looked around me.
Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, all the Lagos madness gone. It
looked like my danfo driver’s attitude was catching. Yeah, pop the
champagne jare. Eko o ni baje.

The forthcoming elections

One thing I know is
that it is not possible for us as a people to get to our destination
immediately. We have been having problem with our electoral system in
Nigeria since the first republic. The western region electoral problem
of 1965 should still be fresh in the minds of the people. The
personality of the INEC chairman is very important if we will have a
credible election come 2011. What is the antecedence of Professor
Attahiru Jega? This man is not going to be a magician and is not going
to be God. However, I’m happy that Mr Jega himself understands that his
person, his record, his personality, his integrity are on the line. I
must say that in the history of ASUU struggle in Nigeria, he performed
creditably well and when he left as the ASUU Chairman, series of
articles were written in the newspapers to commend him as a sincere,
faithful, credible, and dependable Nigerian. If the will is there, I
believe Mr Jega is going to make a success of it.

However, the INEC
chairman has been complaining about time factor, he had complained
about this times without number, he has also told Nigerians to expect a
credible election in 2011. But to have a credible election, we can’t
depend solely on the body that will organise it, the civil society; the
media, political parties, and Nigerians must put in a great will so as
to have a credible election in 2011. The sincerity of the political
class and internal democracy in the various political parties will also
go a long way at ensuring a successful election come 2011. The most
important thing is the will of the people to have election conducted
latest by April 2011, and if the will is there, success will be the
result.

Traditional rulers and the Constitution

The class that I
represent want roles specified for traditional rulers in the
constitution, but I believe that roles are already specified for all
Nigerians in the 1999 Constitution. The traditional rulers are also
subjects to all the roles specified in the constitution.

Traditional rulers’ involvement in politics

We are all
political animals in the first place. I am a political animal and for
me as a political scientist and a traditional ruler, I will be
interested in what is going on in my society, including the political
events. As someone who was so close to the corridors of power who is
now a traditional ruler, how will I not be interested in politics?
However, I am a father to everybody. For me, I am not partisan. I don’t
have any favourite candidate. All candidates are all my children and I
tell those who care to listen to embrace all candidates as their
children. As traditional rulers we should not be partisan. We are
supposed to be fathers to all of them. But, we have a responsibility to
advise and support the government in power. Any government in power at
any time should be supported by the traditional rulers, it’s our
responsibility to give advice and counsel to the government of the day,
even God urges us to do that in the Holy books.