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Politics of Power Shift and the Future of Nigerian Masses By Aliyu Abdullahi Yarima
As may 2007 draws nearer, intrigues, maneovrs, and strategies have continued to be applied by one group or the other, all in an attempt to capture power from the self-styled President Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of his second term which will constitutionally elapse on the 29th day of May, 2007.
While the northerners are clamouring for power shift to the region, so also are the south-south as well as the south-eastern part of the country. All the zones have offered various explanations on why they should be allowed to produce the next President.
The northerners are claiming that having relinquished power to the south for eight years, they are the best set of Nigerians to take over power come 2007. On the other hand, the south-south and the south-east are capitalizing on the issue of political marginalization of the two geo-political zones which they claim to have suffered over the years. They always make mention of Major General J.T.U. Agui-Ironsi and Ex-Ceremonial President Nnamdi Azikiwe as the only sons of the zone that headed or chaired the exalted position. These are the major reasons advanced by these sectionalists in order to actualize the struggle for power shift to their respective geo-political zones.
As this debate lingers, the victims are of course the over one hundred million population of the Nigerian masses who have over the years remain the victims of political elitism in Nigeria . One notes dispassionately that these integrate elites across both south and north are shouting mostly because they have lost relevance within the confines of Nigerian political game. They have come once again to cajole, mystify or if possible bamboozle the masses in the name of protecting their (masses) interest. How many of our political elites of northern extraction can claim to be championing the course of the down-trodden masses in the North? How many of such elites can as well say so to the down-trodden masses in the South? It is a fact that most of these elites are out for personal interest. That they are tasty for power, influence and affluence they think they can use our psyche to achieve political ascendancy.
That Obasanjo does not want to go, so what if he’s not interested in vacating Aso Rock? Were they not the same people courtesy of Audu Ogbe that led the party that confiscated our mandate and gave it to some political investors in the name of election. Now Audu Ogbe, Atiku Abubakar among others want us to sympathize with them, for what? Where were they when Obasanjo was and still implementing draconian IMF/World Bank Economic Policy with impunity? Where were they when the President and most of the state governors as well as the local government chairmen could not account for the enormous billions of naira accrued to their respective offices since June 1999? All these while they did not deem it wise to challenge the President and his kitchen cabinet governors, for their rape on democratic values, constitutional ethics and abysmal poor performance until they discover a gradual and a systematic control of all institutions of state power by Mr. President and his associates. Apart from Buhari, Rimi, Na’Abba, Gani Fawehimni and possibly Uzo Kalu, nobody among the advocates of power shift to the south-south, south-east or even to the north has been critical of obasanjo’s seven years of civilian dictatorship. They hobnobbed, dined and wined with him until he booted them out. Throughout the seven years of Obasanjo’s regime, I have never for once supported his regime. This is because he has proven to be an anti-masses via his policies, actions and inactions. This he succeeded with the support, courage and advice received from these advocates of power shift. As argued by the late Dr. Bala Usman, what is most important to this country is to have a leader that is just, vast and well experienced in piloting the affairs of a cosmopolitan and heterogeneous nation like Nigeria. It does not matter whether he is a Muslim or a Christian, a northerner or a southerner, a Yoruba, Fulani, Kanuri or an Igbo. Infact, he could come from the sky so far he is ready to do justice to all Nigerians. This is what the elites do not want the masses to understand. Had it been the political elites vie for power to represent their people, at least, there would not have been such a high chronic poverty, wretchedness and scalour in the north where most of our ex-president and ex-head of states came from. A region that produced Ministers, Ambassadors, Head of Service and so many influential position more than every other region or geo-political zones in the country. Ironically, north and northerners remain most backward, most under-developed and poverty stricken than every part of the country. Even the so-called advocates of resource control are doing so to promote their selfish interest, if not, how can they account for the billions of naira monthly allocation received by each oil producing state in the Niger-Delta. Look at how hunger, poverty, diseases and deprivation have systematically become the future of the masses and order of the day in the Niger Delta States.
It is therefore imperative the masses open their eyes to fight this elites dictatorship. It must be understood that most enemies of progress within any system are within. We must be able to identify those that are with us and those with the power at be. We must jointly oppose the way and manner our politicians are blowing the power shift whistle.
The future of Nigeria ’s democracy lies in good governance, constructive criticism and ideological politics. The demise of opposition base on ideology in Nigeria is more disastrous to our democracy than Obasanjo’s plutocratic led government. We must be ready to serve and protect our democracy. This I believe, can only be achieved via the promotion of national politics as against the present promotion of ethno-centric and primodial politics in the country.
Yarima, a Political Scientist and a Social Critic can be reached via yarimantalakawa@yahoo.com.
BABALOLA BORISHADE: THE DEVIL I KNOW! “It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities” Josiah Stamp
Babalola Borishade first came into limelight when his name was sent to the senate as a ministerial nominee in 1999 by the Obasanjo administration. His clearance at the senate was not that herculean, hence he got support and endorsement from most of the senators then. He was later assign to man the affairs of the ministry of Education – one of the biggest, if not the biggest ministry in the country, in terms of responsibilities, staff size and what have you.
No sooner had the minister assumed duty than his true colours began to reflect his decision – actions and inactions. As we may not have space to critically examine the atrocities committed and the tragedy done to the prestigious education ministry by the Borishade led cabinet, one may just make reference to the inglorious seven months strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities as one. Never in the history of any country in the world that Academic Staff of whichever institution embarked on strike for seven month under a democratic or even a civilian regime except in Nigeria under Obasanjo – courtesy of his all powerful minister Borishade. Even the inglorious days and Halloween periods of Abacha and Babangida regimes where Academic Staff were treated with iron hand and the devil’s words of command were much better than Borishade’s tenure. As a one time academic with a Ph.d degree, one had expected him to motivate ASUU, among other trade unions to logically pursue their legitimate demand for the resuscitation of the degraded and collapsed educational sector in the country. As an insider, we thought he was going to be a middle man of a sort, between the over-conscious and articulate ASUU, and the enigmatic and abrasive President Obasanjo. Disappointedly, Borishade did not only hinder a prompt and quick resolution of the crisis, but went ahead to influence the undemocratic, nonchalant and witless response of the President to the ASUU’s demand. What a pity?
It is the same Borishade that is known to be disrespectful to the Senate Committees on appropriation and education respectively, whenever their constitutional responsibility of oversighting the ministry of Education called for that. He was never cooperative. There is even an argument in some quarters that the professorial title capped to his name was never achieved and confirmed on him by any University Senate as the tradition demands, yet he goes around parading himself as an academic professor. These impudent characters coupled with his arrogance made the senate to turn down his name as a ministerial nominee after the “2003 general elections” that saw his God-father through. President Obasanjo kept sending Borishade’s name to the senate until the umpteenth time when he finally had his way. To show you how desperate he was, there was no portfolio given to him as minister or any reasonable constitutional responsibility, but was asked to assist the then minister of power and steel. As what? Your guess is as good as mine.
Controversial Borishade later had to smile when Mr. President reshuffled cabinet which saw minister of aviation Isah Yuguda out of office. In his capacity as minister of aviation, the country witnessed four deadly plane crashes between October 2005 and October 2006. What a disgrace. Here is a man that was brought in (according to the President), to clean the decayed aviation ministry that has been characterized by the Nigerian factor in all its ramification.
In an advance and civilized democracy, Borishade would have resigned even before the call by the Senate Committee on aviation and the general public. He will be banned from holding any political office as his antecedents have shown gross ineptitude and incapacitation in his person. Rather, Borishade chose to remain. This led to his redeployment to the Culture and Tourism Ministry. Having done more harm than good to the education ministry and now aviation, what does Borishade got to offer Nigerians in his capacity as Culture and Tourism Minister? This is a country that is in between the devil and the deep-blue sea in the sense that there is war between its culture, values and tradition and that of the western world courtesy of globalization of culture and tradition. Borishade had better vacate the ministry in the interest of the nation, for he is not the only person that can turn the ministry around, that is if he can at all.
It is a fact that Borishade is a replica of Obasanjo’s presidency. Both of them have no regard for public opinion. The President has disregarded so many opinions expressed by Nigerians on issues that concern Nigeria and Nigerians. This is what made him redeploy the minister rather than sack him as demanded by Nigerians. The continued presence of Borishade in Obasanjo’s government has further confirmed the assertion and believe that Baba Iyabo only does what pleases him whether Nigerians like it or not. The concept of “popular participation” is not in his dictionary.
I therefore call on concern Nigerians to keep mounting pressure on this unrepented, disgraceful and obsolete academic called Borishade. People like Borisade stint development and growth, ruin regime survival and constitute a threat to democratic governance where the wishes and caprices of the citizenry remain pillars and manual for effective and efficient government policies. Let Borisade be told that the earlier he leaves, the better for his remaining damning image and integrity.
GOVERNOR ALI-MODU SHERIFF AND THE CHALLENGE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN BORNO STATE BY: ALIYU ABDULLAHI YARIMA
“The future remains a closed book so long as the consciousness of the people remains imperfect, elementary and cloudy” Franz Fanon.
Sometime in June 2003, this writer wrote an open letter to Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State on the need to give a top priority to the dilapidated-educational sector in the state. The letter was prompted by the world-acclaimed believe that education is the key to success, and above all political and economic development of an individual, a society and even a nation.
To start with, Borno state, then referred to as Maiduguri was the capital of the then North-Eastern State way back in 1967 when the administration of General Yakubu Gowon created 12 states from the then existing 4 regions. It was later made a state by Murtala Ramat administration in 1975 with capital at Maiduguri . That put the state as one of the first generation states in the country. It will be suicidal for any analyst to talk of the development of Islamic education in Nigeria without reference to Borno State as one of the founders of Islamic education in Nigeria . Uptil this moment, the state remains one of the states in the country with high number of learned Islamic Scholars as well as Arabic schools for a standard and sound Islamic knowledge acquisition.
On the other hand however, the state remains a ghost as far as modern/western education is concerned. Of course, there are a number of intellectuals/professors of Borno State indigene who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields across the country and the world over. But what about the young lads and that need to be well groomed for the challenge of leadership in tomorrow’s Nigeria ?. This brings us to the role of a state government in educational development in Nigeria with specific reference to Governor Sheriff’s administration in Borno State .
Governor Ali Modu Sheriff mounted the saddle of leadership as the fourth executive governor of Borno State on the 29th day of may, 2003. His administration was most welcome and highly applauded by the good citizens of the state giving the abysmal poor performance of his predecessor – Malla Kachalla. Most people saw Governor Sheriff with that youthful exuberance and the desired ability to transform the state to a higher and more prosperous level. It was a unanimous believe that Borno State needed an urgent attention on the areas of structural development, health, agriculture and above all education which is the lime light of any society.
After three solid and a half years in office, the governor has nothing to write home about as far as educational development is concerned. For the benefit of those who do not know, Borno State has all the tertiary institutions except a State University . The state has a Polytechnic, a College of Education and a College of Agriculture . At the secondary and primary level, we have them all over the state. One may ask, what then is your problem since the state has all these institutions to its credit? Yes! You may be right! Governor Sheriff met all these on ground. It is a fact that effective learning can only be achieved under a conducive academic atmosphere whether at the primary, secondary or even tertiary education level and this is where the governor deserves a capital “F”.
ALI MODU SHERIFF AND THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BORNO STATE The root of every knowledge starts from the grossroot, likewise western education that start at the Nursery or basically primary school. It is unfortunate to note that most primary schools in Borno State lack basic learning materials. Most schools lack classroom furniture, text books, and qualified teachers. The so-called UBE scheme only exist on paper for in Borno State , we are yet to witness a rapid transformation of primary schools for the better. This is not to say nothing has been done at all, No. But what usually happen is, some selected schools are chosen where government officials are meant to visit. Some window dressing renovation will be made, pictures are taken, speeches are made and that is the end of the topic. The children of the downtrodden masses are left with dilapidated structure, unqualified teachers, over crowded class-rooms and many more abhorrent services that hamper any form of progressive learning.
ALI MODU SHERIFF AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BORNO STATE The poor number of students passing the West African Certificate Examinations and National Examinations Council is a testimony to the governor’s poor attention to the education sector. Though, I am not in possession of any factual data from WAEC and NECO to buttress my point, it is most glaring to note that most public schools in the state do not record 10 to 20% pass at Credit level in any five subjects. This is largely as a result of poor learning atmosphere courtesy of the government ineptitude. In Borno State , most of the secondary school teachers are NCE holders without good communication skills.
You may not believe it, but there are cases where SSCE holders teach in secondary schools because of the politics of recruitment of teachers. The government has fail to check-mate such activities by sacking the people involved. Besides, the inability of the government to increase teachers’ salaries and wages, improve science laboratories and provide the schools with all they need has not help matter. Some science laboratories are worse kept than toilets in some state ministries. How do you expect someone to pass physics, chemistry, biology or even agricultural science in this kind of roundy and unequipped environment supposedly meant for intellectual acquisition.
The gospel truth is, our youth are not being prepared for the challenges at the higher level. Rather they are “hoodwinked, compelled and processed” to be “raw-materials” for political thuggery and all sort of witless behaviour that can only be engaged by those that lack proper upbringing and intellectual dexterity.
ALI MODU SHERIFF AND TERTIARY EDUCATION IN BORNO STATE As if the governor’s I don’t care attitude at the primary and secondary schools level is not enough. He has systematically eroded the values of higher education via his government’s insensitive policies towards the sector.. Take for example the state of the Ramat Polytechnic, Kashim Ibrahim College of Education and the State College of Agriculture. No tangible project worth celebrating has been executed by the State government. All the past and the existing projects in those schools are not in consonance with the state revenue strength which is what we use to appraise the performance of any public office holder. The Academic and Non-Academic staff are not at home with the governor due to backlog of un-paid arrears and other entitlements. Academic staff researches are not funded or encouraged by the state government. How do you expect a sound academic staff without a proper research opportunities and privileges?
Moreso, Borno state pays the least
scholarship in the country with the merge
If states like
Zamfara can pay monthly scholarship of It is therefore imperative the state government realizes the danger portend by this ugly trend. The quest for every responsible government is to develop its people and this cannot be achieved without proper and sound education. There are a number of second and third generation states in the country that have overtaken us in terms of educational development of their people.
Lastly, I hope the people of Borno will appraise Governor Ali Modu-Sheriff’s administration performance in education sector as one of the yardstick to be used to determine re-election come 2007. For the next Executive Governor of the state must be well educated, vocal and outspoken, and talented against the current “six-month diploma” holder led government that has no vision for the people and government of Borno State. We need a government that can create an avenue for parents, guardians, NGOs, philanthropists among other donor agencies to make their contribution to the most timely needed educational development of Borno State . This can only be accomplished with a responsive government in place led by an educationist, progressive and people oriented governor that has the interest of Borno State at heart.
Yarima Chairman, Borno/Yobe Students’ Forum, ABU – Zaria
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