The discovery of dead persons names on President Muhammadu Buhari’s boards’ appointments made last weekend signposted a nation in constant trauma, plagued by inept leadership and a stubbornly disoriented clique that has held Buhari’s Presidency hostage, while the people who are at the receiving end languish in abject penury. We are talking about dead; its meaning and those in President Buhari’s government. Termination or expiration of existence sounds most profound — a dead government, organisation, organism or a person is dead to reasoning; emotion, recognition and feeling — or when leadership can no longer put a face to its name. Literarily speaking, President Buhari has been a dead ‘man’, as much as his presidency. He fails to put a face to his presidency by ensuring that he fulfils all or some of his electoral promises to the mass of Nigerian people. Buhari is ‘dead’ for refusing or failing to fulfil his 2015 Presidential manifesto to revive and reactivate our minimally performing refineries to optimum capacity. 

The president is ‘dead’ for his inability to see through his promise to ensure that the oil industry becomes one of the world leading/cutting edge centres for clean oil and gas technology by producing leading world Oil and Gas technologist, scientists, and owing mega structure installations, drilling, processing, and production facilities and engineers. He is ‘dead’ because Nigerians are yet to see the fulfilment of his promise that these facilities and scientists will be supported with the best services and research facilities. President Buhari is ‘dead’ since the promise to fully develop the oil sector’s capacity to absorb more of the nation’s new graduate in the labour market has not come to fruition. He is ‘dead’ governmentally because he told us that the oil sector will be funded to produce more home-grown, but world-class engineers, scientists, technologist, etc, and nothing has happened. Buhari government is ‘non-existence’ because his pledges to modernise the NNPC and make it the national energy champion has not been actualised. Buhari is ‘dead’ because he vowed to breakup NNPC into more efficient, commercially driven units and strip it of its regulatory powers, so as to enable it to tap into the international capital market, and Nigerians are still waiting three-year down the road.

Mr. Buhari is ‘dead’ since his promise to enforce the government master plan for oil companies to end flaring that pollutes the air and damages the communities and people’s health and ensure that they sell at least half of their gas produced within Nigeria has failed. His presidency might just be alive because he advocated speedy passage of the much-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and ensure that local content issues are fully addressed. But he is ‘dead’ because he vowed to make Nigeria the world’s leading exporter of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) through the creation of strategic partnerships. President Buhari is completely ‘dead’ because he promised to stabilise oil price and the same oil price has quadrupled.

This President is ‘dead’ for not initiating policies to ensure that Nigerians are free to live and work in any part of the country by removing state of origin, tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations from documentation requirements in our identification of citizens and replace these with State of Residence and fashion out the appropriate minimal qualification for obtaining such a state of residency, nation-wide in accordance with his party manifesto.

President Buhari is ‘dead’ since he could not put in place a N300bn Regional Growth Fund with an average of N50bn in each geo-political region to encourage private sector enterprise and to support places currently reliant on only the public sector, to migrate to a private sector reality, as he promised. Buhari government is ‘dead’ for not creating a Social Welfare Program of at least Five Thousand Naira (N5000) that will cater for the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon the demonstration of children’s enrolment in school, create 5 million jobs and evidence of immunisation to help promote family stability.

This government has ‘expired’ for not providing free antenatal care for pregnant women; free health care for babies and children up to school going age and for the aged; and free treatment for those afflicted with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. The APC government is at its ‘tipping’ point for not creating an Insurance Policy for our Journalists as the nation faces hard times and our Journalists face more dangers; for not establishing zonal world-class sports academics and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria occupies a place of pride in global sports and athletics as it promised.

Buhari cabinet is truly and ethically ‘dead’ for not assisting Nollywood to fully develop into world class movie industry that can compete effectively with Hollywood and Bollywood in due course; guarantee that women are adequately represented in government appointments and provide greater opportunities in education, job creation, and economic empowerment, and for not using the party structures to promote the concept of reserving a minimum number of seats in the States and National Assembly, for women.

This government is in abeyance for its refusal to create shelterbelts in states bordering the Sahara Desert to mitigate and reverse the effects of the expanding desert. There is a ‘carcass’ of government presently since Buhari refused to create 20,000 jobs per state immediately for those with a minimum qualification of secondary school leaving certificate and who participate in technology and vocational training.

President Buhari antigraft war is a mere ‘cadaver’ for not placing the burden of proving innocence in corruption cases on persons with inexplicable wealth. His anti-corruption crusade is a cynical mockery of due process because he refused to pursue legislation expanding forfeiture and seizure of assets laws and procedure with respect to inexplicable wealth, regardless of whether there is a conviction for criminal conduct or not.

The ‘demise’ of President Buhari and his government are loudly amplified by his failure to provide free tertiary education to students pursuing Science and Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), a promise he stoutly made to Nigerian students in 2015, prior to his presidency. His presidency is not ‘alive’ to provide free tertiary education to education majors and stipends prior to their employment as teachers, as contain in his manifesto; create incentives and dedicate special attention to the education of girls, ensure every child attending primary school is properly nourished and ready to learn by providing a Free Meal a Day.

Buhari government is a ‘skeleton’ for not achieving the construction of one million low-cost houses within four years for the poor; stop all travel abroad at government expense for the purpose of medical treatment. In fact, the president has been unexampled in this regard since independence! This government can’t be said to be ‘alive’ for not providing incentives for Nigerian doctors and health practitioners working abroad to return home, to strengthen the health care industry in Nigeria and provide quality care to those who need it, and making sure people at a local level benefit from mining and mineral wealth by vesting all mineral rights in land to states.

Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, former Lagos State Governor and currently the Federal Minister of Power, Works and Housing echoed one of his party’s manifesto when he jabbed at former President Goodluck Jonathan’s wobbling government that “a serious government will fix power problem in six months”. “There is a danger that very soon, we will miss the lesson we have learnt over the years. This is because if a government makes a public commitment, the government must fulfil that promise. Electricity was not discovered yesterday, it is over 100 years old and no excuses will be acceptable from the federal government for not providing electricity.
“We are the only nation that has oil and gas and no electricity to its citizens. Angola and Gabon don’t have the kind of oil we have. There are many countries that do not produce oil and they enjoy electricity. Very soon we will make a choice on the next set of leaders and this will be done through the ballot papers.”

By a twist of fate, Fashola has been made minister over the last two-year and has been aping at electricity generation and has failed woefully. Fashola is one of the ‘dead’ members of President Buhari’s cabinet. He has failed himself and failed Nigerians who he deceived to vote for Buhari. Buhari, Fashola and the likes of Ibe Kachikwu, Maikanti Baru, Mr. Abubakar Malami, Abba Kyari and other cabinet members are not different from the truly dead Senator Francis Okpozo; Rev. Fr. Christopher Utov, DIG Donald Ugbaja (rtd), Garba Attahiru, Umar Dange, Dr. Nabbs Imegwu, Magdalene Kumu and many more to be discovered in the disjointed appointments that took nearly three-year to materialised.

While we await national rebirth of some sort, it is of the essence that we think our way out of the present leadership conundrum offered by the PDP and the APC for nearly two decades, respectively. No nation can make meaningful progress when when her political, civil, economic and spiritual wellbeing is disorderly yoked together by military Fiat without the people’s input. Nations are doomed when the people lazy away in their irresponsibility to call leaders to account and sanction them with a verdict of rejection at elections. President Buhari deserves just that in 2019.

Erasmus, Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Lagos. 
Email: ikhideerasmus@gmail.com
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @ikhide_erasmus1

Email: olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

After more than 100 days away from the country, President Muhammadu Buhari returned last Saturday to a tumultuous welcome. It was an indication that he still commands the popular appeal that brought him to power despite the glaring failings of his administration. But his address to the nation on Monday fell far short of expectations. First, he started with a wrong salutation. ‘My dear citizens’ does not convey the fact that we (the president and the rest of us) are equal stakeholders in Nigeria. In case he has forgotten, Nigerians are not to him what Britons are to the Queen of England where he has put up residency in recent weeks.
Perhaps, we should not read too much into just one speech. The president may yet surprise us if the style and substance of his leadership change for the better in the coming weeks, though there remains the small task of first chasing away the rodents that have taken over the number one office in our country! However, those writing their own speeches in place ofBuhari’s six-minute address would have to wait until they become president of Nigeria or that of their own little dream enclaves.
Meanwhile, as we wait for the Change we were promised by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), I want to rehash what I wrote on 28th May 2015, a day before the president assumed office. Titled, “A Word for Muhammadu Buhari”, I believe the short intervention is still very much relevant today:
…What is perhaps President Buhari’s biggest selling point today is that he comes to office with what is usually described as “Referent Power”. He is generally trusted as a man who would not fiddle with the treasury in a society where integrity in the public arena is very much in short supply. But leading by example does not make Buhari a perfect man, and that is what worries me about the way some of his supporters are going on as if we have just elected a prophet.

Buhari will do this. Buhari will do that. Those are the tales we have been hearing from some time-servers who may not even know the man but are already positioning themselves in the media in a bid to hijack the man and our collective destiny. Yet, the reality of our national condition today is that Buhari can do practically nothing without seeking the patience and understanding of Nigerians. And for that to happen, Buhari must be seen to be human. That means having the courage to admit to mistakes and failings (where they occur) along the way and being bold enough to make course corrections.
As I wish the president-elect well, I want to end my piece with a simple story that will serve Buhari who should be wise enough to dispense with the cult of personality being built around him if he does not want to fail. Concerned that her son was addicted to eating a lot of sugar, a mother sought appointment to see the legendary Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi. When she finally did, with her son in tow, she said: “The whole nation listens to you, please tell my son to stop eating sugar, as it is not good for his health”. Ghandi replied, “I cannot tell him that. But you may bring him back in a few weeks and then I will talk to him.”
Upset and disappointed, the mother took the boy home.Two weeks later, she came back. This time Gandhi looked directly at the boy and said “Son, you should stop eating sugar. It is not good for your health.” The boy nodded his head and made a solemn commitment to heed the admonition. Puzzled, the boy’s mother asked Ghandi, “Why did you send us away two weeks ago when you could have simply told the boy what you just did?”
Gandhi smiled and said:“Two weeks ago, I was eating a lot of sugar myself.”
ENDNOTE: There are several lessons in that simple tale but I will point out just a few. One, Ghandi demonstrated an uncommon capacity for introspection which made him to admit to his own imperfection. Two, Ghandi was not ready to be a hypocrite by preaching to the boy what he himself had not been practicing. Three, Ghandi was ready to make course corrections so that he could, in good conscience, offer an honest advice to the boy. Four, flowing from the foregoing was the recognition by Ghandi that he was accountable to every citizen, young or old. Five, Ghandi had the grace to admit to the boy’s mother that he was but an ordinary man who was prepared to rise above himself when occasions demanded.
I join in thanking God for President Buhari’s health recovery and return to the country even as I wish him all the best in the remaining months of his administration.
MKO Abiola At 80

Were he to be alive, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola would have marked his 80th birthday today. He was born on 24th August 1937. And without any doubt, today would have been a remarkable day in Lagos, for Abiola was indeed a man of the people. Yet, he is practically forgotten despite the fact that the democracy we currently enjoy can be credited to his sacrifices and that of a few others who challenged the military that had practically held the nation by the jugular. And he paid a very big price for that: He was incarcerated under a most dehumanizing condition, his wife, Kudirat was murdered, his businesses were ruined and eventually, he lost his life.
What that compels is a reflection on the part of those who only remember Abiola on June 12, essentially for political reasons even when they do nothing to advance the cause for which he died. Granting holidays on June 12 every year in a section of the country when Abiola’s appeal was national, is cheap and meaningless. What would be more enduring is to have a befitting centre in Abiola’s name, like that of his friend (now also of blessed memory), Shehu Musa Yar’Adua that stands as a lasting memorial in Abuja. There must also be a compelling book on Abiola that would deal with four notable areas of his life: Politics, business, philanthropy and sports. That is the sort of legacy Abiola deserves and it is possible if there is a commitment to it, especially as we move towards the 20th anniversary of his death which is next year.
Meanwhile, as a State House Correspondent in the early nineties, I was a member of the African Concordmagazine delegation to Jos in April 1993 when Abiola contested the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential primaries and I followed all the political drama from the beginning to the end. In August 1997, as an Assistant Editor at Sunday Concord, I wrote a book to commemorate Abiola’s 60th birthday at a time he was in detention. Titled “Abiola’s Travails”, the publication was partly financed by the then PUNCH Chairman, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola, easily one of the few genuine friends of Abiola and for me a professional mentor.
Although I no longer have a copy of the book, on Tuesday I asked whether Louis Odion (a friend I know to be very meticulous in keeping records) still has his. Not surprisingly, Louis still does and he lent me the copy I autographed for him on 28th August 1997 with a stern warning that I must return it to his library. In future, I may merge the book with ‘Fortress on Quicksand’ (on how and why 23 presidential aspirants were disqualified in November 1992) and ‘The Last 100 Days of Abacha’ since they follow the same thread and rework them before republishing as a single book. But that is not a priority project right now.
In the foreword to “Abiola’s Travails”, Mr Lewis Obi, the then Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of African Concord (now defunct like most other Abiola businesses) wrote: “Abiola was prevented from being president by approximately seven army officers and less than half a dozen politicians who subverted our institutions and committed the worst treason ever committed against the Nigerian state. That a few desperate men could do so demonstrated the fragility of our institutions—from the army, through the political parties to the National Assembly and the judiciary. None of our national institutions could stand the rampage of a few power mongers and, thus, Nigeria was reduced to something slightly worse than a banana republic…Abiola’s travails are actually Nigeria’s travails. He promised the country prosperity. Now the country is the seventh poorest in the world. He promised democracy. Nigeria is today under the grip of a regime regarded in the world as one of the most repressive and lawless. He promised to open up the country. Today, Nigeria is an international outcast. He promised a united country and the voters responded. Today, Nigeria is more divided than it was in 1914.”
It is indeed instructive that those words were written about the Nigeria of 1997!
On 16th January 1993 when he declared his intention to run for the presidency, Abiola said most memorably: “Everywhere you go, you find the African at the bottom of the ladder; some can’t even find the ladder. I will provide that ladder and help them to climb.” He went on to run a most interesting campaign both for the SDP primaries which he won and subsequently the election that was aborted before the result could be announced. There was of course no doubt as to who the victor was.
Aside documenting Abiola’s political struggles from the moment he joined the presidential race to night he was arrested as recounted by Kudirat to how his businesses were ruined and the drama of the court appearances in the treason trial which I witnessed, I also highlighted a few personal indignities he suffered in detention. For instance, on 23 August 1994, Abiola had a scuffle with DSP Lawal Katsina in the office of ACP Felix Ogbaudu while his lawyers watched helplessly. The fight began when Katsina sought to prevent Abiola from taking possession of the newspapers brought by his lawyes on the flimsy excuse that he wanted to screen them for concealed documents. In the process Katsina pushed Abiola who fell down. The police would later issue a silly statement that “it was chief abiolawho assaulted the officer” in the office of an assistant police commissioner!
Since the only opportunities he could speak came during the few court appearances before they were terminated in August 1987, Abiola on one occasion narrated his ordeals: “Up till Saturday morning I was at Bwari police station in a cell. At 2am on Saturday, some people entered the room and without telling me who they were or what their business was, they took everything in my room, including my tooth brush. No answer was given to any of the questions I asked them. Since that time I have been unable to have sleep of any kind. On Saturday evening, I was moved to Kuje police station and there I was locked up in the room until the two occasions when I had visitors and once when I had to spray the room. The environment the police provided is not conducive to any sustenance of life. No amount of medical care would be of any help in that environment. I don’t have access to newspapers or radio. The food provided is good but the environment does not enable one to eat the food. I am terribly concerned for being asked to go back to such a place is like sending me to an early grave.”
On the specific case of his brush with DSP Katsina, Abiola said since the court had granted him rights to newspapers, he saw no reason why he should be denied. “I respect every person that deserves respect but I have paid my dues. I could have forced the newspapers from the hands of the policemen. They cannot beat me up. I am not afraid of death. This is not the type of country I want my children to live in; that is why we must change it. And we will change it,Insha Allah. I have been kept in five places. They took me to Kuje, then Bwari and last night, I slept on bare floor.”
While this is not an attempt to tell the story of that era, there is a way in which what happened to Abiola contributed to the challenge of nationhood that we are facing today and the military should take the blame. In 1998/99, Babangida and his men thought they could right the Abiola wrong by bringing General Olusegun Obasanjo from detention and working by sleight to have him emerge as the president of Nigeria. What they failed to understand is that the bond of trust that had been broken by the manner in which the June 12 crisis was handled would take more than such cynical appeasement of Yoruba people to heal, especially within the context of Nigeria’s ethnic relations. But those are issues that we must deal with another day.
As I therefore conclude this piece in commemoration of Abiola’s 80th posthumous birthday with a reflection on what might have been, for the Twitter generation that may still be wondering about who this Abiola was, let me leave them with the words of Babangida. In January 1988 when Abiola was conferred the title of Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land by the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the then military president wrote him a public letter which I reproduce below:
“Dear Generalissimo,

“My family and I heartily rejoice with you today on your installation as the 14th Aare OnaKakanfo of Yorubaland. The symbolism of the title vividly illustrates virtually every aspect of your life history which has been marked so far by one gallant battle after another. Your installation today is therefore a testimony to the inspiring success story of your life.
“You scored your first victory in your infancy being the first among many children of your parents to survive, after whom many others follow. Also, remarkably, you survived various odds not the least of which was grinding poverty to prepare yourself for the many battles ahead. You challenged racial prejudices in high places and won for your fellow citizens and black people, the right to fully realize their potentials in their chosen careers. Your charity and deep concern for the less privileged are now legendary. While congratulating you on today’s richly deserved installation, we pray Allah to continue to guide and guard you in your sincere services to fellow men and to HIM, the almighty.”
M.K.O. Abiola may be long gone, he can never be forgotten!
Ayisha’s Love Win Pius

Pius Adesanmi, who arrived from his Ottawa (Canada) base on Tuesday and goes back tomorrow, will this evening join Ayisha Osori at the Thought Pyramid Art Centre, 18 Libreville Street, off Aminu Kano Crescent in Wuse 2, to discuss her recent book, ‘Love Does Not Win Elections’. The highly revealing and very entertaining book captures Ayisha’s 2014 experience as she sought an elusive Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket to represent AMAC/Bwari constituency at the House of Representatives. The book is a compelling manual for any professional seeking political office in Nigeria or trying to understand how in her words “Nigerians keep getting leaders they say they do not deserve”.The book will also be available for sale at the venue.