By Tiko Okoye

The common thread that connects the lives of Grigori Rasputin, Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin is tied to the city where they became transformed from erstwhile local champions to icons with breath-taking national and international name recognition: St. Petersburg. But let me first narrate a crucial part of Russian history that might explain why the empire-building Putin is so fixated on Ukraine.

Kiev, aka Kyiv, an ancient city on the bank of the resplendent Dnieper River, aka Dnipro River, and capital of modern-day Ukraine, was the first of three Russian capitals at a time the nation – founded on 882 – was known as Kievan Rus. Christianity is said to have been introduced into the East Slavic state of Kievan Rus with the baptism of the Rus’ Grand Prince of Kiev, Vladimir the Great, by Greek missionaries from Byzantium more than 2,000 years ago in the 9th century.

Nobody can therefore gainsay claims that Kiev is a sacred place for all Orthodox Christians in Russia and Ukraine, more significantly underscoring the fact that the Eastern Orthodox Church, of which the Russian Orthodoxy became a dominant orientation, took roots here in 988. Kiev is home to the St. Sophia CathedraI – an imposing 13-domed architectural masterpiece, one of the chef-d’oeuvres of world culture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – was built in 1037. The city also houses the Lievo-Pecherska Lavra (monastery) – a majestic edifice and National Historical Architectural Preserve, with architectural ensemble of 11-19th centuries – considered sacred to the Orthodoxy.

The foregoing explain why Putin was very keen on procuring the green light of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church – also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (including Ukraine and other post-Soviet states and Russian diaspora), Patriarch Kirill, prior to commencing blistering raids of the city and other targets in Ukraine.

That Ukraine was part and parcel of Tsarist Russia explains why so many people, especially in Africa, who equally recognize Israel’s claims on Palestinian lands as a divine mandate, boisterously support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But members of this school of thought forget that it was only after the East Slavic state of Kievan Rus disintegrated in 1263 that a large chunk called the Grand Duchy of Moscow grew to become the Tsardom of Russia, and the rest has become history.

Apart from confronting the knotty Catch-22 puzzle of who first ‘owned’ who, it must also not be forgotten that Russia and Ukraine were equally occupied and ruled for over 600 years by invading Austrians, Polish-Lithuanian confederates, Mongols, Serbians and Ottoman Turks who equally built several key cities, such as Rostov-on-Don, and many more. Does this, therefore, confer on them the unquestionable right to invade and plunder these places at will?

Besides, just as the census conducted about 10 years ago indicate that 17.3% of the indigenes of Ukraine – mainly in eastern and southern regions – are Russian-speaking, a census conducted about the same time in Russia indicated that a whopping 28.3% of the Russian population are actually non-Russians. What now? Should other nations invade parts of Russia to bring their peoples under one national flag and country?    

St. Petersburg, Russia’s cultural centre and second-largest city, is an ancient city built on the bank of the river Neva – renamed Leningrad in honour of the founding father of Socialist Russia, Vladimir Lenin, for 70 years prior to reverting to its old name in 1991. It is imperial Russia’s second capital and was founded by the rebel Tsar Peter the Great. Russian tsars resided here prior to the relocation to Moscow.

Rasputin was a Siberian-born peasant who found fame in St. Petersburg by making himself indispensable to Tsar Nicholas II and Queen consort Alexandria in the treatment of their only son, Alexei, afflicted with haemophilia. A group of conservative noblemen opposed to his influence over the imperial family subsequently assassinated him, precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov during WWII, the nunc dimitis of imperial Russia and the ascendancy of the Bolsheviks.

Putin – is this ponderously an abridged form of Rasputin? – was born and bred in St. Petersburg. After enlisting in the KGB and serving in various theatres, such as New Zealand where authorities claim he worked undercover as a Bata shoe salesman in central Wellington, Putin became Station Manager of the KGB and its successor organisation, the Federal Security Service, FSB, prior to relocating to Moscow to join the administration of then-President Boris Yeltsin. Starting as the national director of the FSB, he rapidly moved through the ranks to being appointed prime minister by Yeltsin.

After the resignation of the latter, Putin was named acting President prior to being elected to his first term as substantive president. The fourth term he is now serving is a consequence of controversial constitutional amendments he signed that can extend his presidency to 2036. He is currently the longest-serving Russian president and second longest-serving president in Europe after his soulmate and whimpering lapdog, Alexander Lukashenko of neighbouring Belarus.        

Prigozhin was a nondescript seller of hot dog on the streets of St. Petersburg, until he saved enough money to open his first restaurant, and more restaurants thereafter. On one opportune day Putin – while serving as the KGB station manager in the city precincts – ate at one of Prigozhin’s restaurants, and it became the latter’s first giant leap on the road to fame and fortune.

It was love at first taste for Putin! As soon as he settled down in Moscow he requested Prigozhin to join him as his personal chef and he soon became known and addressed as “Putin’s chef.” But this wasn’t all. His closeness to Putin soon gifted Prigozhin the highly lucrative contract of being sole supplier of food to the Kremlin and Russian military formations.

His high-intensity involvement with the military might have enabled him to envision gaps in the international security architecture that could best be filled by a formidable mercenary military organisation, and Wagner was born, pronto! The highly commendable efforts made by Wagner to extend Russia’s influence and power across the globe shortly earned Prigozhin the highest honour of a grateful nation: Hero of Russia. His troops proved themselves to be men of valour in the fight for Bakhmut in southern Ukraine. It was the only Russian military outfit to gain territory at a time the regular Russian troops were being humiliated and chased out of the territory they previously held in eastern Ukraine.

It soon became a case of “Shoigu (long-serving Minister of Defence, Sergei) and Russian generals have killed their thousands and Prigozhin his ten thousands!” From this point onwards, there was increasingly no love lost between him and the military hierarchy. Prigozhin went on to launch an increasingly bitter diatribe against the military chiefs that didn’t augur well for unity and singleness of purpose in the war effort.

Unfortunately, Putin, who could’ve nipped the snowballing animus in the bud, took a sanguine view of the problems, believing that Prigozhin’s invectives would push the military top guns to put up a better effort in prosecuting the ‘special military operation.’ But the brickbats ultimately reached a point when the falcon could no longer hear the falconer and the centre could no longer hold, as Prigozhin withdrew his troops from Bakhmut while bitterly accusing regular Russian troops of deliberately launching a rocket attack that killed scores of his followers.

Within the hour, Wagner entered and occupied key military sites in Rostov-on-Don without firing a single shot! Were Ukraine to recapture Rostov, it won’t only mark the end of the city’s usefulness as a critical command and logistics hub for the Russian army, but it would equally set up Crimea as a plum target just waiting to be plucked. Why and how?

• The concluding Part 2 would answer the questions of Why? and How? and further crucial and topical matters attendant and arising. Don’t miss it! 

By Daniel Onwukwe

The pay and perks of political officeholders in the country are back in the spotlight. This time, more damning and sickening. It’s raising dark clouds as ever. Right now, the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission, is behind the astonishing, wicked, and mindless proposal. Behind the veil, lies a tangle web of conspiracy. It amounts to high level of insensitivity to the current economic crunch and the harrowing plight of poor Nigerians who are already pushed against the wall due to previous government’s flip-flop policies. If the pay raise proposed by RMAFC is not a conspiracy of sort between it and the rampaging political elite, nothing comes closer to the harsh truth.                                                                    

Take, for instance, in 2020, when the financial health of the country was better than it’s now, RMAFC had recommended a downward review of salaries and allowances of political office holders and their aides, including that of the President, vice President, state governors and lawmakers. What has changed now? Is the economy better now than three years ago? Is the life and livelihoods of Nigerians better now than three years ago? Although the presidency has denied that the proposed increment in the emoluments of political office holders did not get presidential approval, don’t be deceived, the presidency is just testing the waters to feel public reaction. And the public reaction is unambiguously clear: this pay raise cannot stand. Let’s unpack the package as proposed by the commission. RMAFC has recommended a hefty pay rise of 114 percent in the basic salaries for political and judicial officials in the country. If the proposal is approved, this is what it entails: the review will increase the president’s monthly emolument from  N3.515 million to N8 million.  That of the vice President, governors and lawmakers will increase astronomically. According to reports, 20 of the president’s Special Advisers will gulp about N1.126 BN in four years.  Currently, a federal lawmakers  reportedly  earns over  N2 million monthly, excluding allowances. If the proposed review is approved, a federal lawmakers may have a monthly running costs in excess of N15 million, according to those familiar with the salaries and allowances of our lawmakers at the National Assembly.            

This will take the cost of governance in Nigeria to unprecedented heights. This is a situation that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresaw way back in 2015, and advised the federal government to stop, describing the cost of governance in Nigeria as “financial recklessness”. The Buhari government ignored the advice and has put the country in a big financial hole with unparalleled debt burden of N82 trn, the highest in the nation’s history. Let’s be clear on the issue of emoluments of political office holders and judicial officers. Section 84(1-3)  gives RMAFC the mandate to determine the remuneration, salaries, and allowances to be paid to political and judicial officials as may be prescribed by the National Assembly. Section 84 (2) says such renumeration, salaries and allowances “shall be a charge upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation”. The commission also claimed that it arrived at its decision based on the provision of paragraph 32(d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution( as amended)                                                           

The dust in the present proposal by RMAFC was raised by the commission’s Chairman Muhammadu Shehu, represented by  Hajia Rakiya Tanko Ayuba, last Tuesday during the presentation of the review of remuneration package for political and judicial officers. The commission said its recommendation was in “line with rules of equity and fairness, risk and responsibility, national order of precedence”, among other considerations. The commission further said that it considered the “consumer price index of some selected basket of commodities that have collectively grown by an average of 371 percent from 2008 to 2022”.  This is one law for some, another one for others, a different market for political leaders, and another one for the rest of Nigerians. Where is the equity and fairness that RMAFC is talking about? Is that why the federal and state governments and the National Assembly have not seen any ‘equity and fairness’  to increase the workers’ minimum wage for workers? Even though the organised Labour in the country seems almost dead now, but whatever breath that is still left in it, the proposed increment in the emoluments of political office holders should serve as a template for its ongoing negotiation with government on a new minimum wage after the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, last month.                                 

The Federal Government says it has made an offer to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on income with an estimated spending pegged at N702 million. The harsh truth is that the emolument of public officials in Nigeria ranks among the highest in the world, and the highest in Africa. Yet, Nigeria is home to 133 million ‘multidimensionally poor people ‘, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Any keen observer of our politics will have noticed that our politicians are the greatest enemies of the people they claim to serve. That is why, today, the citizens find it difficult to trust politicians. They also have come to believe that the legal and political systems favour only the wealthy and powerful. The complexity of ambition and the role that the greater good can play in the making of a good leader is fast disappearing.  Don’t be deceived by the initial ‘gra gra’ of ‘Baba too fast’, the accolades which Tinubu’s is currently tagged.

He’s taking his time until the conclusion of the petitions against his election before his real persona unfolds. Mark my words,  Nigeria is at a critical juncture now. It’s ‘my way- or the highway’. That’s how some leaders begin. Our political history, especially in this dispensation, does not give any crumbs for comfort. As far as the RMAFC proposal is concerned, the lawmakers will have their way, and the presidency may pretend it’s on the side of the people. It’s all political deceit. For example, in 2020, didn’t the NASS have its way when it budgeted a hefty N37bn for renovation despite public outcry during the pandemic? In the same year, didn’t the presidency spend N3.3bn on travel alone, and a princely N150bn on entertainment?                                                 

What happened to the Presidential Committee that was set up in 2020 to review the salaries and allowances of political office holders? Available data shows that between 2014 and 2018, the 36 state governments budgeted N14trn for salaries, allowances and overheads of political office holders and their aides. Last week, I argued in this column that the Tinubu presidency should be careful not to lose the trust of those who voted for him. I cautioned that a catastrophic implosion might be in the offing after the removal of fuel subsidy. I advised that the administration should seek solution providers in addressing the challenges facing the country, or we may be up with the ‘Rohoboam treatment’.    

Recall how Rohoboam, King Solomon’s son ill-advisedly adopted harsh economic policies that divided Israel down the middle, into different kingdoms. The Bible says Rohoboam took the advice of the ‘elders’, that was in conflict with the wishes of the people. His infamous quote: “My father made your yoke heavy, I will make it heavier. My father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions”(1Kings 12:14). I don’t want to believe this government wants to unleash more hardships than the ordinary Nigerians have already. But it appears that’s the easy road the government may be headed.                                                              

The imminent 40 percent increase in electricity tariff, effective, July 1, could just be the horse whips and scorpions put together. ‘Suffer today, enjoy tomorrow’, is a metaphor that has lost its logic and reason, either now or in the near future. Governance is a human enterprise, and the welfare and security of the people should take precedence over everything else. We heard the promise of the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, on the altar of  Aso Rock Chapel few weeks ago. She said, ‘I promise you on this altar that my family does not need Nigeria’s wealth to survive. Nigeria’s wealth is the commonwealth of all’. Nigerians are groaning. The suffering is too much. They are watching. The President should strike the right balance. He should look beyond the present, transient cheering and clapping.

By Bola Bolawole

[email protected] 0807 552 5533

The allegations – or do we call them the road to prosperity – that human rights activist and legal luminary, Comrade Femi Falana, has forcefully pushed into the public domain in the past one or two weeks are too weighty to be ignored by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. It is like you have a problem and someone says not just that “I have a solution” but “this is the solution!” You either try his solution or tell us why his touted solution is not the solution. Falana’s argument is that subsidy should first be withdrawn from the rich; that if and when this is done, there will be more than enough funds in the kitty to fund government activities and there would be no need to inflict more pain on the long-suffering Nigerian masses who are the ones always being called upon to tighten their belt.

Falana also posits that there is so much corruption and wastages allowed the rich and powerful; that if the leakages in the system are plugged and the low-hanging fruits, which he enumerated, are brought into the basket by the government with little or no effort – except the political will and honesty of purpose to act against the concerned members of the ruling class – then, there will be no need to multiply the misery and sorrow of hapless Nigerians. There is no denying the fact that Tinubu’s “medicine” in his first few weeks in office has monumentally increased the suffering of the mass of our people – and we are still counting!. Whether or not this is desirable in the short run as some have argued is beside the point. Are there alternatives to the excruciating pain in the land? Falana says there are! Let’s listen to him! If someone says he knows the road to our collective prosperity, we should follow in his footsteps unless someone can prove to us that his road is no road or that there is a better, faster and pothole-free road to our collective prosperity as a country.

Titled “THE REAL SUBSIDIES ARE NOT FOR THE POOR BUT FOR THE RICH”, Falana listed 22 items to justify his argument that the government has ignored low-hanging fruits to gratify the rich while inflicting avoidable hardship on the poor. Hear him:

“Globally, subsidies, whether for food, transportation, energy or housing, are part of good governance. So, the issue is not subsidies but who benefits from them. In Nigeria, subsidies are primarily of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. I will highlight a few, how they are being manipulated and how huge sums of money can be recovered not just to subsidize fuel but also provide funds for development.

1. Additional Revenue of $1.5 billion payable to Federation Account: In July 2015, I drew the attention of the Federal Government to the fact that the 15-year fiscal incentives given to the oil and gas companies operating under the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act had expired in June 2014. When the Federal Government ignored our request, we drafted a Bill for the amendment of the law. The Bill, which was adopted and sponsored by Senator T. Orji, scaled the first reading in the Senate but was not passed before the dissolution of the 8th National Assembly. However, the same Bill was modified and passed by both houses of the 9th National Assembly and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 4, 2019. In justifying the passage of this Bill, Senate President Ahmed Lawan announced that the new law would increase the revenue of the nation by not less than $1.5 billion per annum.
2. Outstanding royalties of $62 billion. In campaigning for the amendment of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, I requested the Federal Government to collect outstanding royalty payable by the International Oil Companies under the Act. The Federal Government admitted that the country had lost a whopping sum of $60 billion but my demand for the collection of the huge fund was ignored. The governments of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states then approached the Supreme Court which, on October 20, 2018, ordered the Federal Government to collect the royalty for the past 18 years. The Federal Government confirmed that the outstanding royalty withheld by the IOCs is $62 billion but has not collected it.
3. $7 billion fixed in 14 banks: Sometime in 2006, the CBN yanked off $7 billion from the nation’s foreign reserves and fixed it in 14 commercial banks in Nigeria. The deposit and the accrued interests were not recovered from the banks. When I reported the matter to one of the anti-graft agencies, the CBN claimed that it had forgiven “the forbearance”.
4. Sale of Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Union Bank and Polaris Bank by CBN: The CBN took over Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Union Bank and Polaris Bank, spent trillions of Naira to revitalise them only to turn round to sell them under the table. For instance, CBN invested N1.3 trillion in Polaris Bank but sold it for N50 billion!
5. Theft of Crude oil: The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has revealed that Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of crude oil valued at N16.25 trillion ($46.16 billion) to crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020. Immediate past National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno, said that Nigeria might lose $23 billion in 2023 to crude oil theft.
6. Theft of gold and other solid minerals: The theft of the nation’s mineral resources is not limited to crude as solid minerals are equally smuggled out of the country by highly-placed criminal elements. Former Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr Uche Ogah, recently disclosed that private jets are being used by the rich for gold smuggling in Nigeria. He stated this at an investigative hearing on $9 billion annual loss to illegal mining and smuggling of gold organised by the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy. During his contribution at the hearing, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu disclosed that Nigeria lost close to $54b from 2012-2018 due to illegal smuggling of gold.
7. AMCON is owed N5.4 trillion by the rich: A few years ago, commercial banks were going to collapse due to toxic loans taken by members of the ruling class. To prevent the impending economic doom, the Federal Government set up the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to buy off the loans with trillions of Naira provided by the CBN. AMCON has not been able to recover the loans of N5.4 trillion from about 370 corporate bodies.
8. Indiscriminate import duty waivers: A few privileged members of the business community buy dollars at an official rate while they are allowed to import all manners of goods into the country. In the last five years, import duties worth N16 trillion were waived for them.
9. N10 trillion diverted by CEOs of Government enterprises: The Buhari government revealed on December 19, 2018 that government enterprises, including the CBN, owed about N10 trillion in unremitted operating surpluses as at August 2018. The details were provided.
10. N6 trillion unpaid ground rents by buyers of Government properties: On March 29, 2023, the Senate noted that since 1992, over two million houses across the 36 states and the FCT had been built and allocated to beneficiaries by the federal government without evidence of payment of ground rent on the properties. Consequently, the Senate set up an Ad Hoc Committee to recover over N6 trillion unpaid ground rents from property owners in the country.
11. Stolen crude oil valued at $29.17 billion: A group of lawyers engaged by NIMASA confirmed that 60.2 million barrels of crude oil valued at $12.7 billion was stolen and illegally exported to the United States of America between January 2011 and 2014. This has not been recovered. Also, the House of Representatives investigated and confirmed that undeclared crude oil worth $17 billion was exported to global destinations during the same period. The affected companies are known but the government seems to lack the will to bring them to book and recover the sum of $29.7 billion, being the value of the stolen crude.
12. Oil theft of N16.25 trillion: The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) revealed that between 2009 and 2020, Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of crude oil valued at N16.25 trillion ($46.16 billion) to oil theft. The security forces have not been able to stop the stealing and smuggling of crude oil from Nigeria. However, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd (TSSNL), a private company, discovered pipelines through which crude oil was being diverted from a 40,000 barrel per day Forcados pipeline to the high seas for export. The indicted oil companies, including an IOC involved in this grand theft, are yet to be prosecuted.

Falana listed 22 items; we have picked only 12 here. Interested? The Tinubu administration should reach out to the activist. If you ask me, I will say it is better to go after low-hanging fruits than go cap-in-hand to International Finance Capital in search of more loans. Are we not indebted enough!

• Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of THE WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.

Somber Tuesday! Democracy on my mind. Given the global erosion and backsliding observed, I wonder what matters the most. Is it the integrity of the process or the outcome and its reflection of adherence to minimalist requirements such as the right to run for elections and vote? Is it about elite consensus to follow rules that said elites produced? Not only is there a long history to the contestations on these issues, but the transitions to democracy literature in the last decades of the twentieth century also spilled much ink on them. My point: scholars of democracy know that these are not new questions. Neither are they unique to Nigeria. The “emil’okan era can in light of these contestations, be assessed using metrics that have become popularized in the era of pax Americana, one of which is Freedom House’s.

According to Freedom House, Nigeria is regarded as “partly free,” in part due to the persistence of “electoral irregularities.” For political rights, Nigeria is ranked 20/40, and for civil liberties, (http://23/60 (https://freedomhouse.org/country/nigeria/freedom-world/2023). This was before the 2023 elections, so, the ranking would probably be different now. However, I cannot imagine that there are more than minuscule changes.

Meanwhile, this just happened in Paris: “Summit For A New Global Financing Pact: Towards More Commitments To Meet The 2030 Agenda?” (https://nouveaupactefinancier.org/en.php). Some Africans who are sick and tired of having our heads of state attend such events without speaking truth to power were jubilantly circulating Kenya’s President Ruto’s pronouncements that challenge global north powers’ dominance over the institutions and rules that govern the world’s economic and political systems (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3umy3D_gSL0). The star of the event is PM Mia Mottley of Barbados (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74AnmWmtpEs), although President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa also made a good showing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhHBIpvyQ_A). Some Africans have even dug up Ghana’s President Akuffo-Addo’s similar pronouncements from a few years ago (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPEeiFBUwM4).

They are happy that some African heads of state are letting the former colonizing countries know that they are responsible for many of the problems confronting the world today and that things must change. I’m glad too. However, these pronouncements are not new. Other African leaders whom people have forgotten have spoken up in the past. Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere, Burkina Faso’s Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, even Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe come to mind.

Some courageous African women like Kenya’s Wangari Maatha’i also criticized the global north’s domination in the past but are usually never remembered. Prior to that, there were valiant struggles against colonialism and imperialism by African women which hardly receive attention in historical and contemporary recollections (https://republic.com.ng/vol5-no3/gender-and-anticolonialism/). The Group of 77 and the non-aligned movement tried to push for a new international economic order in the 1970s, achieving the proclamation of a UN declaration to that effect (https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/218450?ln=en), but given that we are yet to see any appreciable change in the world order, I wonder how effective such efforts are. Concrete results notwithstanding, I also wonder with many Nigerians why we heard nothing from Nigeria’s new President.

More importantly, in my now out-of-print book, I considered the interplay between democratization and economic liberalization in the context of Nigeria’s political economy in my first book: A Sapped Democracy: The Political Economy of the Structural Adjustment Program and the Political Transition in Nigeria, 1983-1993 (https://a.co/d/8oYf52i).

The suspension and arrest of Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, and his interrogation continues. He did not act alone, and even the suspension and arrest plus interrogation of the EFCC’s chairman, AbdulRasheed Bawa does not suffice to address the problem (https://guardian.ng/opinion/emefielisation-of-the-buhari-administration/). The NDIC matter of being prevented from fulfilling its mandate continues. Femi Falana’s “Catalogue of Looting and Brigandage in Nigeria” (A Sapped Democracy: The Political Economy of the Structural Adjustment Program and the Political Transition in Nigeria, 1983-1993 (https://247ureports.com/2023/06/catalogue-of-looting-and-brigandage-in-nigeria-as-the-real-subsidies-are-not-for-the-poor-but-for-the-rich-class-femi-falana-san/) and the matter of Nigeria subsidizing crony capitalists who benefit from the lack of institutions to check kleptocracy continues.

High inflation is still a problem. So is the problem of how to make ends meet for majority of Nigerians. Of course, the 133 million multidimensionally poor Nigerians suffer more, but nothing on the horizon shows that their plight is a priority for the powers that be. How do interest groups, including organized labor see their role as actors in a democratic system? They are expected to act in the interest of their members. Are they doing this? Are they doing it well?
I decided to recall some of what I’ve said over the years about the matters I write on weekly. Here is one written on insecurity in 2015 A Cause for Alarm: The State, Human Security and National Security in Nigeria (https://www.academia.edu/11574209/A_Cause_for_Alarm_The_State_Human_Security_and_National_Security_in_Nigeria).

It bears repetition that the emil’okan era continues Nigeria’s nonchalance about gender equity, the inclusion of people living with disabilities, the poor, and the youth. On the gender issue, 11 months ago, I presented this: (Gender, Elections Integrity & Accountability: Moving Nigeria towards corruption free elections, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDTvvoAxBYk&t=43s). Nigeria seems determined to keep political power in the hands of a somewhat ableist, but definitely oligarchic gerontocracy. 70 percent of Nigeria’s population are youths (under 30 years old) Let’s not forget the 133 million Nigerians mired in multidimensional poverty, and that they are 63 percent of the population. People living with disabilities remain marginalized and excluded from power in Nigeria.

Insecurity, abductions and kidnappings are still serious problems for Nigerians. Good governance remains elusive. The political institutions remain weak and state capacity and political will are equally weak.

Nigeria Bureau of Statistics’ 33.4 percent unemployment and high underemployment statistics (https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/) show that many Nigerians are in dire straits. Decent jobs would solve the problem, but they are nowhere to be found for most. Entrepreneurial efforts should be deployed but statistically, more businesses fail than succeed.

Nigerians remain hopeful that the socioeconomic problems that can be solved through good governance. Through this hopefulness, people are demanding the physical manifestations of the hope promised by the current president. For everyone’s sake, I hope that the country is able to go beyond promised hope to its concreteness as lived reality for majority of Nigerians.

Given Freedom House rankings, Nigeria is backsliding in its democratization. Human development indicators also show dismal performance (https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Nigeria/human_development/#:~:text=The%20latest%20value%20from%202021,to%20compare%20trends%20over%20time) Thus, electoral integrity and respect for democratic principles should be fast-tracked in Nigeria. INEC must be strengthened and its capacity for election management enhanced. Nigeria’s economy must also be revived and the interest of the majority should be prioritized.

One does not need to be a rocket scientist to know that nation-building remains an unfinished project in Nigeria. The constitution should be respected and the full rights of citizenship must be enjoyed by all Nigerians. All Nigerians must have equitable access to all benefits available to citizens. Justice and fairness would facilitate the evolution of unity. Peace is impossible without justice. Peace and justice contribute to the possibility of positive political, social, and economic change. However, going from potential to reality requires an end to agonizing, and steady “all hands on deck” determination to create the better Nigeria that we deserve.

Shapa (unrelenting suffering) motivates many Nigerian youths to want to japa–leaving the country by any means necessary as an avenue to upward mobility abroad. Their hopes and aspirations for better lives are legitimate, and decent jobs must be provided for them in Nigeria (International Labour Organisation’s definition of decent work: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang–en/index.htm). Octogenarians’ control over Nigerian politics must stop. Gender equity and gender equality are urgent imperatives.

Emefiele and Bawa were arrested, but the lack of fitness for purpose of economic and financial institutions and technologies continues to cost the country time, money, and energy. It would be a miracle to see ATMs dispensing cash on demand. It would be equally miraculous for internet connectivity to power mobile telephones to deliver some of the promises of the cashless economy. Wasting time and energy on electronic transactions that should be instant should be a distant memory. High inflation and the fuel subsidy removal have made things worse for the poor, who are majority of the population. True democracy and sound economic development, Guaranteed personal and human security, durable well-being and welfare of citizens, and reliable access to basic needs are all necessary.

The 2020 #EndSARS protesters hoped for a better Nigeria and that the 2023 elections would enable us to experience a new Nigeria. They were active in voting and active participants in other aspects of the electoral process but were disillusioned by the shoddy management of the elections. The #EndSARS protests were demands for good governance, for an end to police brutality, extortion, impunity, economic inequality, marginalization, profiling, and characterizing youths and other minorities as miscreants. They demanded the cessation of political violence. They believed that it is possible to achieve the deepening of democracy. The state response was ferocious, vengeful brutality, and repression. As with most protests demanding social and economic justice in Nigeria, state-sponsored disinformation and disinformation categorized the #EndSARS youth protesters as instigated by foreign sponsors. They were also characterized as unpatriotic.

The 2020 Lekki massacre at #LekkiTollGate & other locations should not happen in a democracy.

Nigerians desire unity, peace, democracy, and sustainable development, all fundamental to the demands of the #EndSARS protesters.

Kleptocracy corners and appropriates resources belonging to all Nigerians, accumulating wealth for the few oligarchs and their cronies and jeopardizing the life chances of present and future generations of Nigerians. Kleptocracy, cronyism, and their lethal consequences must end.

Nigeria is ripe for genuine, democratic economic and political transformation. Getting from imagining the desired positive and egalitarian endpoint to experiencing it in real life will be difficult, since the rot began a while back. Regardless, we embrace the agenda with determination, tenacity, and optimism. Hope is also required, as is unity if the Nigeria we want is to materialize.

#NigerianWomenArise

#EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeriaNOW

#EndSars

#EndSWAT

#EndImpunity.

Howard Zinn’s words apply to Nigeria’s situation:

“Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while, the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”

Like a broken record, I repeat:

Let the kleptocrats give back our stolen wealth so that we can fix our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and also offer worthwhile social protection to our people. Let the masses enjoy the full benefits of citizenship in Nigeria. Let the leaders and political class repent and build peace with justice.

This is no time for politics as usual. The people elected should be those trusted to bring justice, equity and human security to the entire country, not expedient, unethical and egocentric individuals determined to dominate for self-aggrandizement or sectional gain. We don’t need oligarchs’ continued domination. We also need a government that puts the interests of the majority of citizens first. I am hopeful that I will see the transformation in my lifetime.