Clay Richie

2019 has been one of the best years for both human and cargo transportation in the past 30 years. Only a few accidents have been reported on air, at sea and on rails; and even the few mishaps recorded hardly claimed human lives. Road transport is always the sore thumb, but the magnitude of casualties pales in comparison with the happenings of the previous years.

In the last four years, the General Buhari administration has taken more foreign debt than almost all past administrations of the last 30 years put together. I am not referring to domestic debt, which does not have the capacity to enslave a nation. I am referring to foreign debt.

One of the major indications of the dysfunctional nature of the Nigerian social and political ecosystem is what can be best summarized in pidgin English as the “Na my brother dey there” syndrome. It is the politics of proximity by another name, the thinking by an average Nigerian that he or she is much safer, better off psychologically and in a better position to gain access to opportunities, and even exercise power and influence, only when in the company of a kinsman, or surrounded by kinsmen or when someone of the same ethnic group or who speaks the same language or dialect is in charge of a public office, or any department at all at any level in society. While persons of the same ethnic group or identity may quarrel or disagree among themselves, their relationship in the public arena, especially when other persons of other ethnic extraction are involved is governed by this code of identification and association. The idea of “brotherhood or sisterhood” may even be stretched bey...

By the time many of us would be reading this, essay it would be the last 48 hours of the year 2019 or the first 48 hours of 2020. For me it is not so much about 2020 but about 2030, let me put it in perspective.

The godfather of Lagos politics, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2015, led the Southwest into an alliance with the north to birth the All Progressive Alliance (APC). His decision, evidently, was informed by the expectation that the two geopolitical regions will share power, invariably to the exclusion of the Eastern bloc. And ultimately that he, or the Southwest will take power by the time the north completes two terms in 2023. But it has proved to be a miscalculation.

About seven months ago, I wrote an article on the political crisis in the Edo State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) which has become intractable and deeply troubling. Why is it so difficult to resolve this matter? The point I made then was that as friends and brothers, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who is the National Chairman of APC and former governor of Edo State for two terms of eight years under the APC banner and Governor Godwin Obaseki should sit down and iron out their differences.

In an interview he granted in February 2008, former Defence Minister General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (Rtd) promised to publish a tell all book about his life and times. ‘’It will be explosive’’, he said ‘’and so it is going to be one grenade of a book’’ (sic).

Nigerians look around! Can you see the multitude of the poor amid the care and struggle of daily life? Can you see them in the jar of the noisy streets and amid the squalor where want hides?

One of the most chilling claims I have ever heard in my life was allegedly made by the chief security officer to a Nigerian military ruler years ago. Nicely confronted by journalists over his suffocating influence on the head of state as well as the spate of bombings and state-sponsored assassinations in the country, he reportedly replied: “I am the CSO to the head of state and commander-in-chief. I have the duty to protect him with everything and anything, including taking out those who pose a threat to him. Whatever I do is to protect him and he knows that very well. That is my job.” That precisely is the warped logic behind the workings of “state security” in Nigeria.

As the year, 2019 is almost coming to it’s logical end, there is need to carry out a thorough appraisal of this present regime superintended by Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

In 2016, when I took over the leadership of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as Director General, our vision at the time was to strengthen the capacity of the agency to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases and other public health threats. Over the last three years, we have worked hard in actualising this vision. As the year 2019 ends, we reflect on the journey so far and priorities for the coming year.

Fellow Nigerians, please, let me start with my favourite passage in the Holy Bible, and, believe me, this I hold very dear to my heart:

I never thought President Buhari cared about posterity or how he would be evaluated when he leaves office because his actions now betray any reflection on the future. I also never thought he was a ‘’philosopher president’’ who ponders and asks ‘’why’’; again, because his actions have been that of a sciolist.

The Nigerian Senate under the leadership of Senator Ahmed Lawn has fallen. It has completely surrendered to Major General Muhammadu Buhari and needs to be saved from itself before it does irreparable damage to the meaning of checks and balances in a constitutional democracy. Since Senator Lawan emerged as the Senate President, he has left no one in doubt by his utterances and body language that the National Assembly, particularly, the Senate is an extension of the executive arm of government.

This is indeed a serious topic. I choose to write on this topic for the fact that President Muhamadu Buhari has been receiving bashes from all fronts, and the media think tank appointed to rise to his defense has gone to sleep.

On December 29, it will be exactly four years that you have been re-arrested by the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS). Since that disheartening day in 2015, you have been clamped in illegal detention, in utter disregard for the rule of law and unconcealed contempt for court orders directing your release from unlawful custody.

Those who are advising president Buhari are clearly doing a very ugly job, though they are being paid handsomely for serving on his team. There is no president on earth that can succeed beyond the collective quality of his team. If his team is wishy-washy, He would be scoring goals against himself more than he scores against his opponents!

“Despite a voluminous and often fervent literature on “income distribution,” the cold fact is that most income is not distributed: It is earned.” – Thomas Sowell

The ninth Nigerian Senate was inaugurated on June 11, 2019. Six months after, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and his colleagues have a lot to celebrate even if also some things to ponder on the task ahead.

Dear Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), I trust that this letter meets you well. Sorry I have to get across to you in this manner. I don’t know of any other channel to reach you, so please don’t take offence.

Nigeria is a difficult place to live in. Ayo Sogunro has written a book titled Everything in Nigeria is going to kill you. I have also heard it said that Nigerians in the diaspora should stop asking Nigerians living at home to speak truth to power, because the mere fact of living in Nigeria, by itself, constitutes speaking truth to power.

On December 20, the United States government issued a statement, speaking through the US Department of State and US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, designating Nigeria “a country of particular concern” with regard to religious freedom and the freedom of thought and conscience. The statement opens with the patronizing declaration that “the protection of religious freedom is a top Trump Administration foreign policy priority.” It adds that: “The United States continues to work diligently to promote religious freedom and combat abuses. These recent designations continue that important work.”

The 2019 elections marked 20 years of unbroken democratic rule in Nigeria, the longest in its history. Beyond the well-worn definition of democracy as the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people, the American political scientist Larry Diamond posits that democracy has four key elements: a political system for choosing or replacing the government through free and fair elections; the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civil life; protection of human rights; and the rule of law, in which laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens. A cursory review of Nigeria’s progress against these 4 core elements paints a mixed picture.

A few days ago the United States of America placed Nigeria on a Special Watch List (SWL) of countries that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom”.

I am yet to understand the basis for a new bill on compulsory basic education for Nigerian children when a subsisting Act on the same issue has not been implemented to the letter. The new bill, sponsored by the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has reportedly scaled second reading at the plenary session. Mohammed Monguno from Borno State, while moving for the debate of the bill on behalf of the speaker, had said that the bill would ensure that millions of out-of-school children in Nigeria return to the classroom. He also stated that the bill would cure the lack of education drive as well as insurgency in the north-east. His counterpart, Toby Okechukwu, from Enugu State, equally stated that the bill would make education accessible to all while the Speaker noted that it would ensure that basic education was no longer a privilege but a fundamental human right for Nigerians.

If you felt intimidated by the public notice on “national enforcement on tax defaulters” issued last week by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), let’s say that is just the introduction. By the time President Muhammadu Buhari signs the Nigeria Financial Bill 2019 into law — possibly before January 1, 2020 — your life will never be the same again. The bill has been passed by both chambers of the national assembly. All it needs to become active is the green pen of the president. The bill amends seven tax laws in the country: petroleum profit tax, customs and excise, company income tax, personal income tax, value added tax (VAT), stamp duties and capital gains.

I am not a Yoruba but an Anago. I am a proud son of Oduduwa. I appreciate General T.Y. Danjuma’s contribution but he is wrong about one thing: not all the Anagos and sons and daughters of Oduduwa have “lost their voices”.

When the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Ibrahim Barau, was presenting the just passed 2020 budget, he justified the increase in the budget by saying the top-up would offset the infrastructural deficit in the country.

In February 2017, the United States news industry reported the demotion of Major General, Ronald Lewis, to the rank of Brigadier General, for “…conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman on multiple occasions.” The man was found to have used government credit card to pay at a strip club in Paris and Rome. We also know of a Major General who was demoted for plagiarising the work of another in order to be promoted to his new rank.

That so many of our professionals are leaving Nigeria for societies where things work and where they believe their families can be assured of a secure means of livelihood is a normal human aspiration. I understand the frustrations arising from government failings and dwindling opportunities pushing this drift, especially for our young men and women. But I fail to understand why members of my generation and those before us would join the chorus that we owe Nigeria nothing. That is not true.

Nigeria’s democratically elected president turned military tyrant, Muhammadu Buhari, from all indications has turned Nigeria into an evil empire.

Remove French Language Course From Our School Curriculums My beloved people of our country, in the name of Osinegba, Oghena, Olorun Olodumare, God, and the Gods of our land, Africa, please remove all the foreign language courses from our children’s school curriculums.  Especially, the French language course should be removed without any further delay.

John Quincy Adams once said “there are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” He may have very well been referring to Nigeria of the last three years.

Last week, PUNCH took a stand to start using the military rank of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in all its titles, as its reaction to Buhari’s dictatorial tendencies. In addition, the newspaper said it would use “regime” rather than administration or the like to describe the government of Buhari.

THE Sowore saga shows a state in search of a sage. They set up a stage, filled it with a cast so peculiar and they treated us to a theatre of the absurd. It first seemed improbable, then it was a laugh, then a farce and now it is unveiling what seems like the beginnings of a tragedy.

I boarded a commercial airliner heading to Lagos from Abuja. I was already seated, and strapping my seat belt, when a young man approached me. He must have been in his late 20s, or at most, early 30s. I shook hands, greeted him warmly, and he slipped something in my palm. He went back to his seat. It was a piece of paper, and on it was written: “Please, tell Baba we are with him all the way.”

For the umpteenth time, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari is drifting into the dangerous domain of public politics, this time around choosing to throw decorum to the wind, by attacking her elders and the code of practice, in the duties of public relations personnel.

When I inaugurated this countdown six months ago, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) was at the beginning of his second term and had 1444 days left in office. But I must point out that this calculation is based only on the Gregorian calendar.  Time and chance—the very lotteries of life—may have other plans for him.

Acid rain is falling, the green grasses of the rainforest are turning into yellow. The trees are falling, animals are scampering for safety. What is the source of this rain that carries with it death and destruction? The prophecy of old is becoming a reality. Anyone unlucky enough to be beaten by this rain will suffer a long, agonising and painful end, so says the ancient wisdom. What can we do to stop this evil rail from destroying everything we have laboured for? If only we know that the power of the people is much greater than any strongman or whatever he may throw at us.

It is neither a bad idea for the Federal Government to take measures aimed at bolstering the total revenue accruable to its purse, nor was it ignoble or less productive for its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to compete and struggle to outdo one another. However, all competitions for relevance by the MDAs must be done in accordance with the stipulated laws of the land. A case in hand is the Stamp Duty collection which, if not well-managed, may set two prominent agencies of the government on the warpath. The cost of collection is the issue here!

Nigerian politics is in intensive care. All the components in the chain of political activities in the country; the electorate, politicians, political parties, electoral institutions, security and law enforcement and the judiciary are variously in advanced state of disarray, disillusionment and dysfunction. The blows on our body politic inflicted over the years by political actors have brought us to this pass. And it is no brainer that despite all appearances and statements to the contrary by some, the cumulative effects of these will sooner lead us to a point of no return unless by some positive turn of fate.

The first time I heard the name, “Major General Muhammadu Buhari”, it was a compliment — as it were. That was on the evening of December 31, 1983. Early in the morning, we had woken up to martial music, followed by words that stuck to my head: “Fellow countrymen and women, I, Brigadier Sani Abacha of the Nigerian army, address you this morning on behalf of the Nigerian armed forces…” I actually crammed the speech. It was fun. I was very young — a tiny secondary school boy — and quite naïve. My step grandfather explained to me that President Shehu Shagari had just been overthrown and the military had taken over power. I became happier.

By now (13th December 2019), there should be a sense of foreboding and the fear of uncertainty in the minds of Africans and Nigerians regarding the future trade and diplomatic relationship with Great Britain outside of European Union.

Some Nigerians erroneously think that their country is rich and to the extent of their warped imaginations, the country is stupendously wealthy. It breaks my heart to just re-echo a verifiable fact that Nigeria is massively poor and indeed the capital of poverty in the whole wide world. Many Nigerians who ignorantly believe that Nigeria is a rich nation often think it is patriotic to do so. It is very important to say things as they are because utopic phony patriotism does not change statistics and reality.

Fellow Nigerians, it seems we are back to our season of anomie, a state of total chaos and confusion. Whenever we think we are close to our destination, some invisible demons must drag us back. It didn’t start today but what baffles me is that we appear totally jinxed. And no help seems to be in sight.

Jane Appleton Pierce, the wife of Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States, is perhaps, most remembered as the ‘’calamity first lady’’. She spent her years working against the political ambition of her husband. And when he eventually became president she still did not let up. Is Aisha Buhari ‘’calamity first lady’’? Really, I ask because she appears to reveal all the dirty and soiled undergarments of the villa to the chagrin of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Yesterday on my Twitter handle, I announced that my response on the disengagement from Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) shall be the subject of discussion in my column today. So, where we are! Tuesday, December 10, 2019, my tenure as the chairman of AMCON would seem to have expired upon the nomination of Mr. Edward Adamu as the new chairman of the bad loan vehicle. News about this development came to me while in London in the middle of a crash education programme.

If you are supervising an important ministry like that of communication even without the recent fancy addition of “digital economy” to its name, and you still need a spokesperson to pen almost 2,000 words of polemics in order to project your image, then your self-inflicted trouble is just starting in my reckoning.

In my phone conversation with SaharaReporters publisher, Mr Omoyele Sowore, shortly after he was released on bail by the Directorate of State Security (DSS) last Thursday evening, he informed me of the court appearance scheduled for the next day. What he could not have envisaged was the unfortunate courtroom drama that has become an international embarrassment for Nigeria. No matter how much spin officials have tried to put on the ugly incident, Sowore’s continued incarceration is not in any way helpful to the administration.

Since we have eyes but cannot see, the Department of State Security (DSS) invited us to look again at the viral video of the invasion of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu’s courtroom on Friday. Laughable, if it wasn’t a travesty.