Serving Nigerian Senator Killed in Jos

Senator Gyang Dantong

Nigeria's serving senator Gyang Dantong Dalyop of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), representing Plateau North has been killed by unknown gunmen at Maseh village in Riyom LGA of Plateau State. He was gunned down while attending the mass burial of about 50 persons gruesomely murdered by suspected Fulani herdsmen during the Saturday morning attacks on villages in Barkin Ladi and Riyom local government areas of the state. The Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr. Gyang Fulani and several others persons were also killed at the event. 

The gunmen reportedly stormed the venue of the burial and opened fire on mourners, causing more painful deaths and injuring many. Among the injured is the member representing Barkin-Ladi/Riyom Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Simon Mwadkon, who was sucessfully resuscitated at the Barkin-Ladi General Hospital.

Mustapha Salisu, spokesman for a special taskforce (STF) - an anti-insurgency security outfit - said assailants launched “sophisticated attacks” on several villages near Jos early Saturday"... “They came in hundreds...and some had (police) uniforms and some even had bulletproof vests.”

Senate President David Mark today described the killing of Senator Gyang Dantong as shocking, saying "the incessant killings of innocent Nigerians must be stopped." Describing Dantong’s death as a personal loss, the Senate President described the deceased as "a patriotic parliamentarian, quintessential gentleman and committed nationalist who was killed in active service to his fatherland”.

SPACES FOR CHANGE condemns the Sunday, July 8, 2012 killings in very strong terms, and decries the recurrent violent clashes and sectarian crisis in Jos. Successive administrations of the state have set up various committees and commissions of inquiry that have examined these issues, but the reports from these bodies, and the occasional government white paper, have mostly been shelved.

Furthermore, the death of these prominent Nigerians introduces a new twist to the unprecedented bloodletting and human carnage currently witnessed in Northern Nigeria, suggesting that the attacks are possibly shifting from ordinary citizens to the ruling class. In very swift response to the killings, a very mournful Senate (Nigeria's highest legislative body) has vowed to pass stiffer anti-terrorism laws. Will this latest trend jolt the leadership out of their complacency to treat security with the absolute seriousness it deserves? Only time will tell.

THE PIB AND YOU: MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT!

PREAMBLE

The petroleum minister, Honorable Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke set up a committee on January 17, 2012, to review the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), towards accelerating its passage before the National Assembly. On June 29, 2012, the petroleum minister announced that a revised draft was ready, and has been forwarded to the president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for consideration.

Since its introduction over 4 years ago, the PIB continues to face persistent setbacks to its passage despite the Bill’s enormous prospects for improving the technical, operational and regulatory efficiency in Nigeria's oil industry operations, and through enhanced efficiency expected to reduce oil waste, corruption and environmental degradation. In addition, the new regulatory ethics offers systems and mechanisms that balance a wide variety of technological, economic, political and social interests with the goal of maintaining a forward-looking and broad-based environmental polity.
 
SPACES FOR CHANGE recognizes the passage of the PIB as a catalyst for the entrenchment of probity, transparency and accountability in the Nigerian oil industry. To depart from the previous non-participatory strategies employed in 2009 that forced popular resistance to the draft Bill, SPACES FOR CHANGE is convening an E-Conference to expand the spaces for citizen engagement around critical provisions of the revised Bill. The e-conference promises to unite industry experts with ordinary citizens, especially young people, to debate, learn and benefit from robust analysis of the Bill, as part of a broader strategy to ensure that the voices, concerns, priorities and perspectives of all Nigerians, including women, the youth, oil bearing communities and critical stakeholders are reflected in the final document.   

Using media advocacy techniques to advance public participation in governance is based upon an understanding that the 21st-century communications technology has the potential to expand the frontiers of citizen engagement, allowing everybody to have an opportunity to be heard, and to influence peers and people in positions of power and to improve their own lives.
  

BE HEARD#... MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT!

We happily present to you the queries about the PIB sent in by Nigerians from different parts of the world. Questions, commentaries, and analytical papers are still being collated. Send in yours today!  To submit, send an e-mail to info@spacesforchange.org, or click HERE!

Ndubuisi Victor Ogwuda: Do the fiscal terms guarantee a reasonable return on investments, to IOCs, and a fair share to the state -- resource holders? What mechanisms will ensure the community funds to be held in trust don't disappear without a trace and condign punishment? Is there a blueprint, in the works, for how to transform NNPC from an opaque behemoth to a world class NOC in the mould of Petronas, Petrobras, & Statoil; to make it a self-financing, self-governing, and commercial entity?

Mike Tunde Hubscrown Adewumi I will like to know how the new PIB affects those who have small businesses that depends on petroleum and how the price affects their businesses. Consumer Rights groups too. How will the PIB inject transparency and openness in the NNPC. I still can't wrap my head around NNPC operating Foreign Crude Oil Account outside the country by JP Morgan which the country has no idea how much was stashed away there.

Ibrahim K. Oyekanmi My concerns are on the environmental issues that are involved in exploitation/exploration activities. Any gain we envision will be nullified by environmental disasters if proper safeguards are not put in place to ensure the extraction activities are carried out with utmost respect for the environment.

Then, this is an industry that requires a highly skilled workforce. Are there enough plans to ensure the policy facilitates the establishment and proper funding of world-class training and research institutes to produce the required workforce from the local base. If we'd still depend on expatriate experts to man sensitive aspects of the industry, the nation can never expect all accruable gains from the sector to ever come to our nation. Any expatriate's loyalty is firstly to his country of origin and no matter any claim to unbiased professionalism, that lack of a patriotic stake in the industry will still be an avenue that can be unduly exploited by multinationals and ever countries whose nationals are employed. That is not to talk of the need to use the sector to mop up some of the human resources that lay waste across the nation.

Tunde Akogun If the bill aims to make the petroleum sector function in a transparent manner, will it take take care of the issue of thief and metering of oil production?Will the much touted bill make the retrograde NNPC to operate efficiently and profitably like Petrobras of Brazil and other reputable oil corporations?


Ibrahim K. Oyekanmi And coming to financial issues, are there direct intervention clauses to ensure a FIXED quota of the income from the industry goes to clearly defined projects? Then, i'd add what are the concrete provisions to take care of the security situation in most of the producing regions? And what assurances are there to ensure ALL agreements entered into are made with NATIONAL INTERESTS being the core focus of the agreements?

These and many other questions nag my mind as a Nigerian whose past experiences of various policies has turned into a Skeptic when it comes to govt policies! And it'd be interesting to hear if the bill has also taken care of the process of granting oil well concessions! And then, will it affect the present 'politically motivated' allocations in the sectors


Tunde Akogun So, what happens to the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI)? Will it be scrapped?

Chinedu Chiefsan Akwuobi: However, if I am more concerned with gas flaring in the oil industry. Between 1976 to 2011, its estimated that Nigeria has lost about $84.5 billion from gas flaring. That's one third of our GDP or $2.5 billion per year.  I am more concerned with gas flaring in the oil industry. Between 1976 to 2011, its estimated that Nigeria has lost about $84.5 billion from gas flaring. That's one third of our GDP or $2.5 billion per year. This is worrisome knowing that Nigeria stands to gain more via developing the gas subsector of the oil industry when you consider our huge gas reserves. How will the bill address this challenge? will the PIB impose taxes, fines and penalties on companies that flare gases? If that's the case, how are the proceeds of the taxes, fines and penalties be effectively utilized? Also how does the PIB aim to close the gap between the oil sector and the energy sector to make for better synergy towards addressing Nigeria's energy challenges?

Sam Kunle Oyelude Are there plans in the offing to improve local content utilization as well as either improve on our refineries/build new ones?

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Chukwudumebi Norbert ‎'Little business owners' like barbers and taxi drivers should be involved: they are some of those who feel or would feel MORE,the impact of any petro-related laws.I equally suggest that we could get some of the ''religious'' leaders here, because of their ideal role in the citizens lives.

Victor Ajayi It has become common practice for the operators in connivance with some unscrupulous government officials to circumvent their fiscal responsibilities. Huge amount of money is lost to this criminal act of tax evasion and the failure to properly remit necessary tax due to the government. What stringent measure is being put in place through the PIB to strengthen the national fiscal discipline so as to plug the hole of economic sabotage caused by these firms? This should also include the worrisome graft that has incarcerated the oil sector and Ministry. Moreso, PTDF through its mandate has trained quite a number of world class Nigerians with various post graduate degrees in Oil & Gas engineering , Petroleum engineering, engineering, Subsea Engineering, Energy Economics etc. It’s so pathetic that some of these scholars end up being sales boy in Tesco, Sainsbury, Care Home spread across the UK. This is an arrant waste of human resources! Given the financial resource expended on these scholars by PTDF and the knowledge & skill acquired which is equally competitive with these foreign workers, I reckon there should be a platform by which government through quota system can absorb them into our expatriate- dominated Nigerian oil sector to avoid frittering away of best brains. 

Ikenna Iheanacho My questions are: What potential does the PIB bill hold for local indigenous refineries? What measures are in place to ensure the PIB bill provides food, security, energy and power so as to enhance the Niger delta development and living standard amongst Nigerians?

Chike Okonkwo The main issue in the PIB is the powers of the minister. The original bill watered down the powers of the minister,while the present one gave the minister back its powers. Why the powers of the minister was watered down was to insulate the industry from politics,but it seems that it has been over ruled.Also,the oil industry was meant to have a strong regulator,like NCC,NERC etc. Lastly, I am concerned about the gas flaring.

Kuti Sofumade The Federal Government has to, for the first time, harangue the bull by its horns. More stringent measures and actions...especially in terms of regulation and enforcement should be courted in ensuring multinationals operating in our country don't bake their cakes and eat it.  British Petroleum, for instance, had to elect their first American Chief Executive in the whole of their history to placate the Americans at the dawn of the unprecedented Transocean manned BP rig explosion...and resultant oil spillage. Not to mention the USD20bn that BP was forced to set aside by Congress as contingency bullion. Yet, a grander, more appalling spillage by Chevron-Texaco is being caressed with kids gloves in Nigeria. 

Secondly, the Petroleum Technology Institute in Effurun is not enough to equip Nigerian local content for a 21st century petroleum related technology and know-how transfer and teaching...considering that we have comatose faculties in our universities hilariously pretending to be minting 'quality' geologists, geophysicists, petroleum and chemical engineers etc...who at best are only familiar with 70s and 80s theoretical 'nonsense'. Instead of the conventional apolitical geo-political zoning scheme of doing things...nominate a few forward leaning Universities offering courses and having faculties relevant to the Oil Industry...say 10 of them, and do an assisted program jointly piloted by NNPC and the multinationals in a Joint-Venture kind of way...and turn such faculties to mega Petroleum Institutes where technological transfer would not only be touted as occurring...but seen and felt in a calibrated and measurable manner. 

Thirdly, marginal fields sale (to), prospecting and exploration (by) most especially indigenous companies should be encouraged...as we concentrate our efforts and gaze on the high-volume, high-yield blocs...we should not totally abandon or dilapidate marginal fields which also are formidable oil properties in their own rights. Nigeria, sadly, may not produce an indigenous twin brother to the ubiquitous Royal Dutch Shell...even in the next 50years, making an horrendous tale of a wife (Nigerian Leadership) hiring a five star chef (oil multinationals) to cook for her home (Nigeria) for 100years...but we can at least albeit painfully so, be seen as encouraging locally bred entrepreneurs to steer the oil industry in the positively constructive direction it ought to go.

Kuti Sofumade: Honestly speaking, we didn't do well as a people and a nation. How come Shell, Gulf Oil (Chevron), Agip, Mobil et al stayed for almost 5 decades before we could have Sahara, OANDO and Conoil? Even though, Oando and Conoil morphed from already existing multinationals. If by 2021, which marks 2 decades of GSM telephone operation in Nigeria, we don't have as many Globacom as Etisalat, Econet Wireless, MTN...then we have thoroughly failed once again as a Nation. Oil property and infrastructure and telecommunication are supposed to be treated as industries having National Security dimensions and proportions...Multinationals are a myth. Ask CHINA and RUSSIA....ask even the United States, father of harsh protectionism usually clothed in subtle diplomatic national security fabric.

JOIN THE E-CONFERENCE: "The PIB & YOU"

SPACES FOR CHANGE convenes E-Conference, "The PIB & YOU"!

YOU are all invited to this webinar aimed at promoting awareness and citizen engagement on the critical provisions of the revised Petroleum Industry Bill. Participants will debate, analyze and assess the Bill's coherence with human rights and environmental justice, and also make inputs that would help strengthen the accountability and transparency objectives urgently needed in the regulation of the oil industry. Among other things, the webinar participants will compare and contrast the current draft with the previous one to identify the improvements, additions or similarities that may exist between them. 

Lead discussants include:

Ledum Mitee (ex-MOSOP leader),

Jeremy Weate ( Extractive Industries Expert)

Nninmo Bassey (Friends of the Earth International), 

Peter Esele (Labour leader)

Samuel Diminas (Chevron) 

Opeyemi Agbaje (Business Day editor)

You are only required to connect online with other 1,500 participants from your base (home, office, anywhere).

Venue: SPACES FOR CHANGE'S DISCUSSION ROOM

Date: Saturday, July 14, 2012

Time: 4-6 p.m.

 Please send in your questions, commentaries and analytical papers in advance. Let's take citizen engagement to another level!


.........................SPACES FOR CHANGE.....................

Asking the Unasked Questions: Was the Crashed Bellview Aircraft Bombed?

•  By Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  

  Last week, the  Red Cross boss,  Professor Charles Ohiku alleged in a national daily, The Sunday Sun, that the Bellview Airlines' aircraft that crashed on October 22, 2005 may have been bombed. The report of the investigation conducted in the wake of the crash incident has never been made public, raising concerns why it took him so long to come up with these claims.
  
  

   Continuing to shroud the report in secrecy will only fuel speculations among the citizens, and propel conspiracy theories that can only be effectively challenged by making the findings of the crash investigations public. The June 3, 2012 Dana Airlines plane crash at Iju Ishaga, near Lagos, which claimed 153 lives, have forced many Nigerians to re-open the conversation about the previous plane crashes and to interrogate the unusual silence that greets the routine ensuing investigations. While accountability continues to lag behind, the questions on the lips of many Nigerians remain: Who bombed it (Bellview aircraft)? Why was it bombed? Why should the report be kept away from the public? Those that lost their lives therein, are they not Nigerians? Therefore every Nigerian has the right to know what actually caused the Bellview plane crash. It is thus, the responsibility of any sitting government of the day to make the report available for everyone to see.

  Two of our ardent readers made the following strong analysis regarding the Bellview "bombing" debate: 

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  John Ogunlela: I had been holding to my speculation that that plane was bombed and I want to play the reel of my conspiracy theory for everyone here. It is based on an enthusiast's informed knowledge of how flying objects ply their routes. The plane went down after about four minutes in the air. What that bluntly means, ordinarily, is the engines failed on take-off or the craft stalled. Planes stall for roughly 3 reasons: ascent or descent at angles too acute for the tolerance of the aircraft's design. The third is a massive lightening strike. A stalling plane suddenly looses its aerodynamic qualities bellies into the wind and tumbles anyhow out of the sky. Its the worst form of a plane crash. And a passenger plane of that size in a stall will come under a terrible strain instantly and start to break into pieces right from the sky. It wont fall down in one place like a warplane that is shot down like you see in the film.So, the debris will be strewn over a wide area. 
  
  
  That plane flew out of Ikeja, took a right bearing to turn north as Abuja-bound planes do. (Those heading to to Owerri, PH, CALABAR take a left bearing) At 3, 4, minutes, it was still climbing. It would have turned over Ejigbo and be near Ogun state and by then, the pilot would have left it on auto, further reducing the possibility of a stall. Again, it was a 737, the most reliable passenger aircraft and thus the most abundant in the world. (One lands every 5 minutes or so).

  
   What went on was this:
  
  

  "A bomb must have been smuggled into the cargo hold of that plane, which is towards the tail section. It may have been an altitude bomb which will sense the rise in elevation and be triggered. Or it could have been a time or remotely set-off charge. But certainly it was in the tail section as I will soon explain. The blast went of in a downward direction, more like what they call a shaped charge in the military. The blast pushed the tail of the aircraft up and tipped the nose section down. The engines, working ever so perfectly and in full engagement for climbing, now faced the ground. The plane got into nearly a vertical position and rocketed into the ground, not just under gravity, but driven by its own two engines under full power. 
  
  That explains why the debris stretch was localized and why the plane was driven into the ground so hard that the nose cone, which houses the flight data recorders (black box) and even the cockpit melted off in the searing flash heat of that moment of impact. It also explains why nothing of any reasonable size was recovered. The plane's fuselage (the main body) went right into the ground! Take it anywhere and any professional will be inclined to think this view is precise. 
  
  

  They bombed that plane and the explosive was smuggled into the cargo section. What if the engines failed. Had the two engines failed (a most unlikely scenario), the aircraft will not drop out of the sky like lead. It will turn into a glider, coasting silently but loosing altitude in an orderly manner like the Dana plane. The pilot will be trying to restart the engines while holding on to the controls or trying to ditch the plane, that is, crash it as safely as possible. Now you ask, what was the motive? It could only be two things. Was there a politically sensitive person on board, foreign or local? Was there a local aviation trade war? The rest is left to the reader and to the processes of truth".

  
  In case you are shocked by John's analysis, i think you should the contrasting analysis by Bologi Jimada:

  
  

  
  Bologi Jimada: I published an article after the Bellview crash stating some not too widely known facts (then) about some peculiar crashes of the same type of aircraft, the 737. There were two prominent accidents mirroring exactly the Bellview crash in America which was eventually traced to the control unit at the tail of the plane, the rudder specifically. The control unit commands the rudder to deflect completely in one direction on its own without any pilot input. It was called a 'hard over' which is like having your car steer it's self in one direction without any input from you at very high speed. The most bizarre aspect of the incident was that there was also a reversal of controls- meaning that, unknown to the pilots, when they attempt to steer the plane with opposite rudder input, they were inadvertently steering the plane in the direction of the trouble increasing the roll of the plane till it is completely barrel rolled and vertical. I need to explain that without a tail, the aeroplane wants to naturally yaw because it is a tube. 

  
  Also, there are massive dynamic forces working on a planes surfaces so control inputs are very little, almost imperceptible at high speeds- try sticking your palms out of a moving car at between 120 to 160kmh to understand this, then consider a plane moving at over 800kmh with the whole rudder sticking to one side. Mechanically, there is a stopper which prevents such extreme deflections, but the faulty mechanism blows the whole unit over to one side. 

  
  Now, the bomb theory cannot be supported because of the following reasons;

  
  1. There were no plane fragments found anywhere but at the crash site;

  
  2.  An inflight explosion will most likely be seen and depending on the pressurization, will have blown the plane to bits; because the plane was just climbing out, it can be argued that the hull may not have been so pressurized as to blow up the entire hull. So, at this critical phase of flight, the bombs must either take out the wings or the entire tail including the rear pressure bulk head. A 747 flew around a bit, though erratically before crashing after loosing its tail from a rear bulk head blow out. There were no indication of any dismemberment of the airframe before it crashed. One in ten of that particular vintage of 737-200 had crashed. As at the time of the Bellview crash, FAA in America had issued AD, airworthiness directives to have all such control units changed and Boeing, the manufacturer, also issued new training procedures to recognize the onset of the problem and the measures pilots could take. 

  
  In my 2006 article, I hinted that it was not uncommon, though illegal, to have a plane of that vintage on the used market without a Blackbox- the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) and Flight Data Recorder (CVR). The Blackboxes on planes of that vintage were analog recorders and most were wired for very few parameters making it difficult to determine some critical things the plane and the pilot may or may not be doing within a flight envelop. The casing of the Bellview recorder was found but the recorders were never found which indicates they were either not there at the time of the crash or they were, most improbably, stolen at the crash site. One of the planes from the US crash was delivered within a month of the Bellview plane. 

  
  Finally, because of peculiarities of air crashes, I only cited similarities of the Bellview crash with those two in America. While no one can be sure what led to the accident, a lot of causes can be eliminated. One thing was clear, the plane was still under full power when it ploughed into the ground indicating that the pilots were taken unawares and had probably been fighting to regain the control of the aircraft. No parts of the crashed plane were found any other place other than the situation local of the accident. Even though an official who showed me the very few remains of the plane at a hanger in Lagos pointed out a possibility of structural failure at a point around the cockpit, there has not been strong evidence to support this except if it crippled control cables.

  
  The plane had not too long to that time undergone a 'C' check which requires the stripping of the entire airframe. If I am able, I will reproduce my article which included details of the similar crashes, the AD's issued by FAA in America, the cost of repair and time required to replace the faulty component. I also compiled quite a few details of accidents which were suspected to be caused by this faulty device. Curiously some planes flipped over on the runway, which may tempt one to want to doubt the conclusion of the ADC crash in Abuja which was blamed on wind shear. The AIB in America noted that temperature differentials may cause the control unit to fail. Hydraulic fluids are usually hot while the control surfaces they course through are usually cold from the elements. The Bellview crash was at night, while the ADC crash was during a rainfall. Again these could be argued either way, but suffice it to say that it carried a much higher probability than the bomb theory in the case of the Bellview incident.

  
  Wow!  Two amazing contrasting positions from ardent members of our discussion group! The theories and counter theories emerging in recent times provide a compelling basis to demand that the report of the Bellview crash investigation be released. Impunity flourishes where steps are hardly taken to make erring citizens and officials accountable for their inactions. Like Bologi Jimada added: 

  
  

  "I had written the observation to then minister Aborishade, but decided to publish when I got no response from the ministry. I also wrote then President Obasanjo on the matter. Boeing serial numbers 22734, 22742 and 22775 were all delivered within 6 months of each other and they all crashed in almost similar circumstances. The Bellview plane was 22734, the United Airlines plane that crashed as Flt 585 at Colorado Springs (one of the US accident plane I referenced) was 22742 while an Angolan Airways plane which crashed at Lubango airport was 22775 ( this plane was delivered same day as the UA plane 22742 ref above. Of all 1,103 plane fatalities in 2005, 488 were from four 737 crashes, one of which sadly was the Bellview plane. Nigeria that year lost 225 souls from both the Bellview and Sosoliso crashes. We have turned full circle and are back to the same issues I raised then- lack of information because accident reports are not made public so we end up speculating, lack of proper oversight, lack of access to cheap capital by airlines, unsafe airspace, unfriendly airports, inability to manage trauma suffered by relations of victims, release of corpses and personal effects and compensations. Do we ever learn?

NIGERIA: A STITCH IN TIME 2

Chris Nwokocha

For the benefit of those who do not fully understand all the ‘gobbledygook’ about political restructuring, let us consider the following poignant facts:

1. The Nature of Nigerian Federalism

Federalism as a system of government was first practiced in the United States of America. Whereas the American constitution was originally a con-federal document, providing for a very weak central government and granting full autonomy to the states, the federal arrangement, which was adopted in 1789, was a response to the series of problems which arose in the practice of confederation. Under confederation, the states treated the central government with utter disregard, even violating with impunity agreements they had voluntarily entered into. Federalism was therefore designed to strengthen the central government, in a manner that would not completely compromise the power of the states to act on behalf of their constituents. Under federalism, the American central government is therefore not weak, but strong with respect to its core functions, which include those things the states cannot effectively do for themselves as individual states, such as Defence, Foreign Policy, Control of Interstate Commerce and International Trade, and Currency Regulation. All other functions of government are carried out at the level of the states. Properly defined then, federalism is a system in which power is shared at two levels – the centre and the states or regions.

Nigeria’s founding fathers settled for a federal system of government at the time of the nation’s independence because they understood that Nigeria’s multi-ethnic nature required the kind of balancing of power that would prevent clashes of interest among the ethnic nationalities, and to enable each one develop at its own pace. But while the choice of the federal principle may have been appropriate in the light of the nation’s pedigree, the first model of it, which was operated between 1960 and 1966, actually created more problems than it solved. It had heavy colonial input in terms of its character and focus, and did not reflect the true nature of the nation’s political realities at the time. One of the three regions into which the country was divided at that time was a virtual monolith in both geographic size and population, easily dominating the other two in national politics. This unfortunate imbalance led to instability – the exact opposite of what was intended - which in turn resulted in military intervention in 1966. The military, relying on a deficient understanding of the problem, threw the baby out along with the bath water, by completely discarding federalism on coming to power in 1966, opting for a centralized system. 

Since then, Nigeria has remained a nominal federalism, with the sharing of power being heavily tilted in favour of the central government. For instance, all land in Nigeria and all natural resources in the states are owned and controlled by the central government, something that is not found in any other federal system. Nigeria’s central government has appropriated to itself functions and resources that properly belong to the states, such that the annual budget gives it over 50% of the nation’s revenue, while the states and local governments ‘share’ a little over 40%. This in turn has created a number of avoidable problems:

(i) The federal government has become clumsy, unwieldy, and without focus, with corruption and misuse of funds taking centre-stage in its operations;

(ii) The excess resources at the centre has occasioned a mad, unnatural scramble for the control of federal power, such as has often threatened the existence of the country itself;

(iii) At the centre, patriotism has been sacrificed on the altar of greed, avarice, and political expediency. Because the centre is far removed from the people, those who are privileged to serve there tend to see it as a kind of no-man’s-land, where they must obtain their ‘share of the national cake’, without bothering about how the ‘cake’ is baked or who bakes it;

(iv) The policy of ‘sharing’ revenue has had a negative effect on the psyche of state governments, such that rather than try to maximize opportunities for internally generated revenue, they sit pretty, and wait for subventions to come from the centre, which because of a weak accounting system, they quickly mismanage, and wait for the next month’s allocation. The net result is that the states have continually remained incapable of providing jobs and other amenities for their citizens, having so far failed to explore and develop their vast economic potentials; whereas in America, where federalism came from, the states control their own resources, and are thus able to develop their potentials and specialize economically, paying taxes as appropriate to the federal government;

(v) The excessive power at the centre has constantly been used against the people by those who have wielded it at various times. Federal power has too often been used to suppress human rights and subvert state institutions. Too many times, candidates have been imposed upon the people at various elections through the operation of federal power. What we have had since 1960 is an eloquent example of Mostesquieu’s submission that “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The result is that democracy, rather than advance, has actually been in decline;

(vi) On the economic front, federal control of key sectors of the economy has led to economic decline due to corruption and mismanagement. When in the turn of the 80’s and 90’s the World Bank and other international donor institutions insisted on structural adjustment (which involved the privatization of key sectors) as a precondition for aid, leading officials of most African governments quickly sold off state owned concerns to themselves and their cronies, and this led to even greater economic failure. In this regard, Nigeria has been no exception, and this factor largely accounts for the failure of the nation’s privatization program of last two decades.

Commenting on this phenomenon with reference to Africa as a whole, former President of the World Bank, Barber Conable, while appraising the failure of World Bank and IMF policies in most African countries in the 1980’s said: “The development of many Sub-Saharan African countries has been quite unnecessarily constrained by their political systems. Africans can and must tackle this issue”. For us in Nigeria, I believe there is no other way out.

Thank you for reading this far. Please feel free to post questions and comments. Next we’ll be discussing Transparency and Accountability, Representation, and the Defective Structure of Government In The States.

No, Sir Femi Fani-Kayode, YOU ARE WRONG!

By Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri

This article is a rejoinder to Femi Fani-Kayode’s recent essay, Communities Harbouring Boko Haram Deserve the Odi Treatment”. 

I wish to respectfully, but vehemently disagree with the ideas, perceptions, bases and facts leading to the conclusions in Femi’s essay dated June 23, 2012 posted in African Herald Express. My disagreement is firmly hinged on Femi’s apparent lack of understanding of the intensity, scale and character of the insecurity situation in the northern part of the country. More so, the entire essay especially paragraph 5 contains some embarrassing fallacies, which are quite perturbing and extreme, coming from a man of his standing. Those fallacies will be the main focus of this rejoinder. 

First off, paragraph 5 reads in part:  “There must come a time when we as a people can boldly say ”enough is enough” and when we draw the line in the sand. And if Boko Haram crosses that line they must be confronted by the full force of the Nigerian Armed Forces who must be ready, willing and able to unleash hell on them regardless of the collateral damage and immense infrastructural destruction that this will cause in various parts of our country. President Olusegun Obasanjo did this decisively and with ruthless efficiency in the town of Odi in the Niger Delta area a number of years ago with remarkable success. By the time the Nigerian Armed Forces finished shelling Odi from the land, the sea and the air there was not one building left standing there except for, interestingly, the local bank. The casualties in terms of human life were extremely high but the point was made and the objective achieved. From that point on the Niger Delta militants stopped killing policemen and soldiers right up until the time that Obasanjo left power. Why can the same solution not be applied to the Boko Haram problem by the Jonathan administration today? What is the fear? Why should the same treatment not be meted out to any city or community in our country that grants the foot-soldiers of Boko Haram covert support, safe haven, sanctuary or shelter?”

FALLACY ONE: Femi imagines that the Boko Haram sect is a unique organization of some sort, with card-carrying members who have a special mark on their foreheads,  as would make them readily identifiable by anybody, including people and communities who habour them.  The truth is that every Nigerian is a potential victim, habourer, or member of the Boko Haram sect. That maiguard that lives in, and watches over Femi Fani-Kayode’s house; that aboki that repairs or polishes my shoes; that water vendor that serves most of Lagos communities without access to potable water; that security chief surrounded by gun-wielding and mean-looking soldiers….everybody, anybody could be a member or innocent habourer of the sect’s members. It is worthy of note that Boko Haram members are ordinary citizens like everyone else, except that they have a self-acclaimed wicked agenda: to punish, kill and destroy! Unmasking their identity is an exercise detectable by security expertise, tactful vigilance and collective surveillance. 

In the very least, applying Femi’s ‘decrees’ as summed in paragraph 5 above could be interpreted to mean that he is equally urging the United States of America to unleash drone attacks, air strikes, nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons on Nigeria since the country is habouring terrorists.  What a “patriotic” call! On that note, I am extending a call to Sir Femi Fani-Kayode to demonstrate leadership and martyrdom for the sake of Nigerian unity, by relocating with his family to the alleged Boko Haram-habouring communities, and be the first-known collateral damage, brought down in the name of countering terror. By so doing, Nigerians shall extol his virtues, and appropriately immortalize his name by renaming all streets and federal universities after him. 

FALLACY TWO: Femi again, expounds the uncharitable theory that collective punishment must always accompany, or flow from the felonies of a few individuals. This idea is consistent with the pervading culture of corruption and impunity in public office whereby the inactions of a few political leaders continue to inflict monumental social and economic deprivations and unrivaled poverty on the majority. Femi belongs to that political class that has continued to twist and manipulate both the judicial and legal systems in order to escape accountability. Today, the Senate Committee has launched a probe to investigate the linkages between the corruption-infested, incompetently-run aviation sector and the recurrent plane crashes. Femi has not attended these public sessions, nor has he given account of his stewardship to anyone. It is therefore not strange to continue to hold the view that collective punishment is befitting for Nigerians, especially when the bearers of the unjust mass punishments have neither the voice nor visibility to engage and challenge the structures of their disempowerment.

The communities alleged to be habouring Boko Haram are also victims of Boko Haram. In fact, they are the ones bearing the brunt of the crisis. In places like Budum in Maiduguri, Borno State that has been the locale of fiery bomb attacks and military invasions, residents live in total, perpetual fear. Their markets have been burnt; their homes and mosques have been demolished; their sons have been imprisoned; their wives and daughters have been assaulted; mothers have watched babies die in their hands because they could not access medical care in time due to curfews and shutdown of hospitals; young children have witnessed the murder and beheading of their parents; their businesses have been destroyed; their schools have been closed;  they have no money, no food, and totally stripped of their sources of livelihood.  Ordinary rural communities face the double blow of a military presence, which is routinely accompanied by a serious risk that they will be caught in the crossfire between the military and the Boko Haram members. The pains of this community are replicated across several northern states. 

When I interviewed the Parish Priest of St Patrick Catholic Church in Maiduguri that was bombed in June 2011, I asked him why he had stayed behind after all the nuns, catechists, mass servants and the religious have all fled. Lamenting the death of several indigenous members of the parish killed in the frequent crossfire between the sect and security forces, he said that he has been assigned to be there to continue to win souls for Christ. He would die there if the Lord willed it. If the government adopts Femi Fani-Kayode’s kill-them-all approach, this priest is among the categories of people that would die needlessly simply because he lives in a Boko Haram-infested region winning souls for Christ. After all, his death would be a mere collateral damage.

FALLACY THREE: Femi’s essay is deeply immersed in the erroneous assumption that those calling for dialogue are either sympathetic to the Boko Haram sect or are outrightly unpatriotic. SPACES FOR CHANGE’s latest study, in which I participated in, made similar calls for dialogue. The study concluded that any credible peace process must involve all parties to the conflict, including representatives of the government, the crisis-torn communities, members of the Boko Haram sect, religious leaders in the region and victims/survivors of the attacks. A framework for discussion, a forum for articulating grievances, and a well-developed agenda are all needed to begin a negotiation process that will lead to a comprehensive solution of the relevant political, economic and security problems. 

Again, I disagree that Goodluck Jonathan’s heeding of those calls is symptomatic of weakness. No sir, that is not correct.  In fact, paragraph 7 and 8 of Femi’s essay are full of contradictions. In one breath, he describes dialogue proponents and the government’s acceptance of same as a “shameful display of weakness, incompetence and insensitivity when faced with their terror”. Yet, in another breath, Femi openly advocates for the speedy convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. “That, in my view, is the only vehicle that can provide a lasting solution to the monumental challenges that we are facing in our country today, including the scourge of Boko Haram”, Femi says.  Is an SNC not a form of a dialogue? Was Femi advocating for a war-like engagement, baptized as SNC?

FALLACY FOUR:  Femi’s essay is totally disconnected from current realities, and effectively reflects his sheer misunderstanding of the complex dynamics of the crisis in northern Nigeria. That again is not his fault, but only a manifestation of the huge, and still widening disconnect between the governing and the governed. In my previous Boko Haram-focused investigation, ‘In the Killing Fields of Maiduguri”, I observed that key representatives of the present administration have not visited Borno State ever since the spate of bombings began in order to make a first-hand assessment of the volatile situation in the state, and show solidarity with affected families. In the past, such official visits to flashpoints have been found to provide an opportunity for the nation’s leadership to douse tension, identify with and share in the pains of a section of the country in trouble as well as starve off exodus by assuring fear-stricken Nigerians living in those areas of guaranteed security.   

Beyond cosmetic, over-photographed visitations and well-rehearsed tear-shedding at a few emergency spots, it is not the habit of “leaders” and politicians to make deliberate efforts to ‘step into the shoes’ of the suffering majority. Their understanding of any situation is only restricted to what news broadcasts showing on hi-tech laser TV screens churn out or what bigoted sycophants present as the truth. So, its easy to forgive Femi Fani-Kayode on this count. That is a longstanding practice he met on ground. He did not start it.

FALLACY FIVE: Femi Fani-Kayode’s celebration, endorsement and approval of genocide as a strategy for curbing Boko Haram insurgency is rather very very unfortunate. It clearly reaffirms that the Nigerian political class have scant regard for human lives, especially if it is the lives of the poor that are at stake. What happened at Odi, is a crime against humanity, deserving of the kind of treatment and punishment meted onto Pinochet. Saddam Hussein, Charles Taylor et al. Practices in China in 1937 between Chinese and Japanese Forces, the Korean conflict of 1950-1953, and other conflicts revealed the tendency of states to apply most of the rules governing war strictu sensu in non-war hostilities. The necessity for the increased protection of the civilian population and of the civilian objectives in time of armed conflict led to the convening of the Geneva Conference of 1974 – 1977 on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, and adopted as additional to the Red Cross Conventions of 1949, Protocols I& II.  The essential purpose of these rules is to reduce or limit the suffering of individuals, and to circumscribe the area within which the savagery of armed conflict is permissible. 

Femi’s essay and decree for a repeat of the Odi massacre constitutes a slap on global efforts to minimize the horror communities caught in the web of conflict are facing. Again, to err is human, to forgive is divine. After all, forgiving the numerous, continuing blunders by politicians has become the pastime of most Nigerians. And here again, Sir Femi Fani-Kayode is forgiven. May he go and sin no more.  

NIGERIA: A STITCH IN TIME

By Chris Nwokocha 

 When Dr Martin Luther King jnr stood up alongside others to insist on civil rights for blacks in the United States, many people, even fellow clergymen, criticised him for being 'impatient'. They felt that King and others like him should 'wait', and allow 'time and events' to sort out the issue of civil rights for blacks. They were sufficiently certain that 'with time', the natural course of history would solve the problem. 

But in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr king pointed out to his critics that 'time' by its nature is neutral. He observed that both the evil man and the good man were capable of using 'time' to achieve whatever aims they set out to, and that if the good man failed to use it while the evil man did so, society would only be filled with evil, and the good man, for all his goodness, would never see his desires materialise because he stayed passive while the evil man worked. Dr King in his submissions, actually echoed a stream of thought that had been voiced in an earlier era by British statesman Edmund Burke, who lived during the 18th century and served for several years in the House of Commons.  Burke, in calling for action with regard to the burning issues of his day said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

Today, the American society is all the better for the work that Dr King and others did. Even fifty years ago, no one could have imagined that a black man would one day sit in the Oval Office as President of the United States, but owing to the long and hard battle fought by Dr King and his colleagues, and the great sacrifices they made many years ago, it is a reality today.

For too long, we have remained passive while our society burned. We have watched, while our values were turned upside down. The looting politician, the terrorist, the armed robber etc, have all been working while we took the role of spectators. But I believe that the time has come when as a people, we must take our destiny in our own hands. The urgency for this has never been greater at any time than now. We must stand up while we still can, and say no to the evils holding our nation hostage today. We must decide what kind of society we want and insist on having the freedom to build it.

 Several years ago, I went to interview Prof Omo Omoruyi, former Head of the Centre for Democratic Studies. I asked him a question on the "Economic Reforms" of then President Obasanjo, and he dismissed the former President with the wave of a hand. I can never forget what Prof Omoruyi said to me on why he didn't believe in Obasanjo's policies. He said: "We have to agree first on how we're going to live together before deciding how much money we want to make." In other words, political restructuring, before economic reforms, not the other way round. 

With the benefit of hind sight, we know that Obasanjo's economic reforms, which centred on privatization and deregulation, failed woefully. In one of the first courses I took in UI's Department of Political Science, my lecturer then, Dr Onyeoziri (now Prof), taught us that "the essence of politics is the formulation and execution of public policy". Governance is not magic. It is not a mystery. It functions on an imput/output principle, just like it is in a manufacturing plant. In other words, if you put in substance, you get substance, and if you put in garbage, you get garbage. The success or failure of a given society can be determined by the following equation: Strong political foundation + right policies + integrity of leadership and followership = successful attainment of social goals and aspirations. It cannot be otherwise. 

The problem with Nigeria today is that on all three counts of strong foundation, right policies and integrity, we are hopelessly deficient. So how can we record success? No one can make an omelette without first breaking eggs, nor can anyone begin the construction of a skyscraper from the penthouse!

DEMOLISHING FOUNDATIONS OF PEACE: A CITIZEN REACTS

By John Ogunlela:

I have read SPACES FOR CHANGE's latest study on JTF's demolitions of residences in Maiduguri in the name of war on terror as published in the Punch Newspapers. Reading it is an incomplete experience in context of our political and security environment if you one fails to read the accompanying anonymous online blog. The reaction of most readers is, as I sadly expected, not just unappreciative, but spiteful and in fact, often violent.

It strongly suggests that Nigerians are thinking more in terms of vengeance, not solutions. People are thinking in terms of exterminations and genocide, unfortunately. Any student of strategy knows that in irregular warfare, the most important factor for success is winning the friendship of the local population among whom you prosecute a bloodly, surgical military operation against embedded guerillas. This is hard for organized armies operating without concealment and employing heavy weaponry due to the weight of collateral damage that must be incurred.

But then,  you must still work hard to limit those destructions or you risk beating local public sympathy to the enemy's side. With acquisition of sympathy comes an ease of recruitment by, and the flocking of volunteers to the terrorist's cause. I have complained mildly about these tactics sometime back but it was unappreciated. The military can not afford to loose the politics of the war and win its genocide but one fears this might be the state of things there right now. Of course it is a very hard job our troops have there and their courage is outstanding and essential for the nation's continued existence. They get killed and then have to start looking for a pin in a haystack. Why not just pour a vat of acid on the haystack and make the job of getting rid of the pin more straightforward.

Well, for humanity and for truth and also for the very success of their mission, that will not be possible. They'll just have to do a little bit more to protect lives. This side to the debate is new to the society and unfortunately to those directly affected, they are voiceless and distant. But it wont be long before the government is put to notice by international organizations or indicators on the battlefields. So, it is an inescapeable tightrope the government must walk. I hope, of cause, that it wont degenerate into a clampdown on free speech and mismanagement of opinions or findings of this nature!