03032018 - APC budgets N500m for 20 vehicles

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2018
OPINION
Chibok and Dapchi girls:
The whoredom of karma
By Sufuyan Ojeifo
History repeats itself, first as tragedy,
and second, as farce.” -Karl Marx
On Monday, February 19, 2018, Boko Haram
insurgents invaded Government Girls Science
Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe state,
abducting 110 of the 906 student population.
It was yet another tragic day for a nation
that is yet to get over a similar incident that
took place on April 14, 2014 in Chibok, Borno
state, when the insurgents invaded
Government Secondary School, carting away
as “ready luggage” 276 schoolgirls.
Sadly, both incidents happened in similar
historical circumstances, which accentuated lax
security that made the wholesale abductions
of the schoolgirls possible without the slightest
resistance. The girls were left to save
themselves. That is what makes the first
incident, in Chibok, tragic and the second one,
in Dapchi, farcical. The nation apparently
failed to protect the schoolgirl when it mattered
most. It also failed to harness the lessons
from the mismanagement of her security
architecture and intelligence in Chibok to avert
a recurrence in Dapchi.
The Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction was so
heartbreaking that it elicited an emotional
reaction from a bewildered Dame Patience
Jonathan, wife of the then president, whose
husband was pondering over the 2015
presidential election. Her “there is God o”
riposte to the inability of officials, who should
have known what happened, to give credible
explanations about the seamless invasion and
movement of the schoolgirls under their watch,
was to subsequently turn her into a butt of
hilarious national joke in the social media.
Dame Jonathan was derided for showing
empathy to the victims and their parents.
Understandably, the government did not
initially believe the report, given the number
of the schoolgirls involved. It concluded that
the movement of the children was a result of
some collaborative enterprise to blackmail it
ahead of the 2015 presidential election. The
All Progressive Congress (APC) government
in Borno state acted in curious ways that
portrayed it as a collaborator in the grand
design to embarrass and promote a campaign
of calumny that fitted perfectly into the agenda
to de-market the PDP-led federal government.
The sustained narrative that the administration
was clueless and unable to provide national
security was part of the overall agenda to
demonize it. Dame Jonathan saw through the
mischief and, apparently helpless, became
lachrymose. The decision by an opposition state
government to encourage the West African
Examination Council (WAEC) to disobey a security
directive not to use Chibok as examination centre
rendered the state government complicit. But because
national security matter is within the purview of the
federal government, it did not matter that the girls
were taken from Chibok village; what mattered was
that the nation under the Jonathan administration
was unsafe and the president was
vicariously liable.
The APC’s propaganda
machinery went haywire with the
mantra that the administration
was incapable of protecting the
lives and property of citizens.
Muhammadu Buhari was, in
approbation, positioned as a
capable alternative to Jonathan.
Coupled with the theme of
corruption to drive its campaign,
the opposition succeeded in
preparing the grounds for
Jonathan’s rejection at the 2015
polls. That precipitated frenzy in
the presidency. Similar frenzy has
also drenched Buhari’s presidency.
But apparently missing in action
is the mother of the nation, Aisha
Buhari, who is yet to publicly
express her pains over the tragedy
that has befallen the schoolgirls.
She must have been too
preoccupied with attending to the
health of her only son, Yusuf, who
just returned from a foreign
hospital where he had received
treatment for injuries sustained in
a recent motorbike crash in Abuja. That is,
understandably, more than a world of commitment
to her. Aisha is a good woman and has the
capacity to publicly relate and connect with the
pains of mothers whose daughters are in the
custody of the insurgents. That she has not done
so does not mean she is insensitive. I believe her
heart goes to the victims and their mothers in their
moments of grief. A terse press statement from her
will, nevertheless, suffice. But at the level of
official interactions, the abduction of the Dapchi
110 has not elicited much of expressive humanity
from President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency.
It is obvious that its reaction has been tepid and
the actions taken are aligned with political
correctness of sorts. The nation is confronted with
the usual perceptible cold disposition from the
president and those in his court. There has
been a mélange of incredulity and confusion in
their camp. Living with the truth of the harsh
reality is a burden they must bear.
It is sardonic for the government, which rode
to power on the crest of its assurance that it
possesses the capacity to deal with Boko Haram
insurgency and other security issues in a matter
of few months in power, to continue to
unconscionably fumble and unravel as grimly
incapable, after all, to deal with insecurity three
years in the saddle. This parodies a failed
promise and gives the citizens a solid ground to
judge the administration about a year to the
presidential election in 2019, coincidentally, as
it happened to Jonathan in 2014, moving
towards 2015.
The Buhari administration has treated the
nation to salacious tales about how the shame
of Dapchi happened. The army and the police
have been locked in blame game, with the army
claiming they secured Dapchi after which they
withdrew and handed over the town to the police
a week before the abduction, while the police
rejected the claim. Amid the blame game, the
administration is trying to create the impression
that it is on top of the situation, despite the fact that
the incident did not get reported by the media until
Wednesday, February 21, 2018. Was it that they
planned to obfuscate the details of the incident or
what?
I think it must have been a failure of intelligence.
An expeditious response to intelligence report
could have helped to mitigate the spatial distance
between the soldiers on rescue mission and the
insurgents. The administration’s acceptance that
110 and not 105 schoolgirls were missing, the
further steps to publish the victims’ names and set
up a 12-man committee to investigate the
circumstances surrounding the abduction were
inevitable actions to prove it is dealing with the
situation.
But, I do not think the administration had expected
that it would suffer this sort of embarrassment from
the hands of a technically defeated and degraded
Boko Harm terrorists’ group. If, indeed, the
administration is not trying to pull a stunt with the
Dapchi schoolgirls’ abduction (I will attempt to
explicate this in a subsequent piece), it then becomes
very remarkable how “what goes round comes
round.” I call it the whoredom of karma.
Gruesome fates have continued to play
out in Boko Haram’s episodic abductions
of schoolgirls in the northeast zone.
When it happened the first time,
Jonathan’s re-election gambit was
shattered. Now that it has happened
the second time, Buhari’s second term
aspiration now hangs in the balance.
Jonathan lived with the tragic reality of
Chibok girls’ abduction; it is the turn of
Buhari to live with that of Dapchi girls’.
Buhari is, without a doubt, more
embarrassed. With his highly-rated
military background and capacity to deal
with security much better than Jonathan,
the Dapchi farce should not have
happened. That it happened is a lesson
for those who aspire for the highest office
in the land to learn to moderate
electioneering assurances and promises
as well as downplay emphasis on socalled
innate or acquired capacities to
deal with certain elements over which
guaranteed control is only through
divine interventions and not
administrative precision. Truth!
•
Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja
viaojwonderngr@yahoo.com
Alafin is a strong man
The Alafin is firing on all cylinders. He will be 80 this year. One of his
young wives had a set of twins last week. Another young wife had a set of
twins this week. Alafin's virility must be studied. He must have the virilty of
a fresian bull.
In an age when young men are all talk , no action, Alafin deserves an
award. At 80 he is in his twilight. Yet he is shinning like a morning star. I
would plead with the Kabiyesi on the need for skills transfer. Apart from
his shooting abilities, he may have to teach the younger ones his selection
skills.
Good seeds on good soil. How and where does he mingle and seek out
these fertile jewels. If its African science, a few young men would like to do
internship in the palace.
Every time I see him parading his harem, I marvel at the glory of a
college of gorgeous wives. I came at the wrong time. I have taken keen
interest in the Alafin whom the Sani Abacha government almost made a
drug courier. He buys his women the finest of liveries and bags. The old
man apparently has not lost his sense of aesthetic appreciation.
His younger wives are eternally voluptuous. Alafin has to explain to the
youths how he keeps them perpetually excited. You can see so much in the
flourish of their poise and wrappas. Their gaits are filled with satisfaction.
But all the time I see wives of monogamous men literally writhing
besides their husbands with constipated faces. The young men can't make
one woman happy. They become bored too early. Alafin must explain his
staying power. His first wife is 79. He has been at this for over 50 years
I heard someone insinuating evil. He was talking about palace guards
working overtime. I told him that it was such unbelief that would not
allow him perform great feats. Is it palace guards that fill these young
ladies with visible contentment. Is it palace guards that parade them in
Westfield mall in London, all looking like tomato J0S.
Alafin takes time to till and water the soil.
Of Tinubu and Buhari!
By Dr Ugoji Egbujo
Prior to 2015, Tinubu was desperate. He wanted the PDP and Jonathan
dislodged. It had been impossible to forge a formidable alliance in the
past. The PDP looked invincible.
So he needed Buhari. Buhari had retired from politics. He was retired by
frustration. But everyone knew Buhari was a major political asset. The sort
of asset the Tinubu machinery needed to gather votes in the north. And to
burnish their law and order credentials. So Tinubu and company literally
resurrected Buhari. They knew it was risky. But they knew that losing to the
PDP again was perhaps extinction.
The prospect of an energized and oiled Buhari's ship emboldened
dissenters in the PDP. Compromises were traded and they jumped ship.
That ship anchored in Aso rock in 2015.
Buhari had sought free hand. He was promised free hand. There were no
conditions because his drafters were desperate. After he won, he exercised
his prerogatives without addressing his mind to the debt of gratitude he
owed Tinubu. So he picked Tinubu's renegade boys. And left Tinubu's
preferred nominees.
Tinubu sulked. He tried to influence the senate leadership. Buhari opted
to remain aloof. He tried to foist his boy on the house or reps. Buhari didn't
stand publicly by him. Buhari's diffidence meant that neither Buhari nor
Tinubu nor the APC determined the leadership of the National Assembly.
Tinubu was worried by Buhari's elusiveness.
Tinubu must have weighted his options. He thought of contesting the
presidency through another platform. After Ondo he threw a tantrum. He
thought of shattering the party. Buhari's illness called for patience. He
waited and waited. The cabal ran circles around everybody. Buhari's wife
couldn't stand the circus.
Buhari returned. They expected action. Nothing.
Then Atiku left. Tinubu's stock rose. Everyone including the president
began to refer to him publicly as the sole leader of the party. Tinubu
was not fazed , he knew he was still impotent.
Then Obasanjo and IBB wrote their letters. They tore through
Buhari's clothes and eroded to some extent the legitimacy of his
candidature for 2019. Buhari became politically naked and
vulnerable.
So Buhari sought Tinubu.
It dawned on Buhari. He needed Tinubu very badly. Not so much
for votes. Yes he would need southwest votes. and he would need his
machinery. But the authentication of the legitimacy of his
candidature was the immediate necessity.
If Tinubu had pronounced Buhari's tenure a failure and asked
him not to contest like the others , Buhari's candidature would
have been fractured. It would have suffered a massive internal
hemorrhage.
So the tide has turned big time. Buhari would have needed Tinubu for
2019. But no one knew he would come to need him so desperately even
before the elections.
Buhari who has shown political naivety for 3 years has for once
played smartly . He is suddenly awake and alert
In handing over the reconciliation of the party to one man rather
than a committee, the president has avoided a down the middle
split in a fractious party. The president has literally handed
enormous powers to Tinubu. These are no ordinary reconciliations.
They are power sharing and suspensions and expulsions.
Tinubu understands the leverage he has. He knows he can mend
the party and foster his personal clout within the party in the next
few months. He is already at work. People will grumble. But they
know when Buhari delegates authority , he delegates it.
Buhari will endorse Tinubu's peace plans and many aggrieved
powerful people ,including governors, will sulk and succumb rather
than walk away. But Tinubu will not finish this assignment without
extracting a pound of flesh from Buhari. Once beaten twice shy.
Tinubu knows he was sidelined by the cabal. Tinubu knows he can
be sidelined again. But Tinubu has reached great heights in Nigerias
politics because he is a tactician.
He can push shove and stab. He is not an Imam.
Tinubu knows that his legacy will suffer a dent if the APC fails after
2019. I know he will not fail to tie all loose ends meticulously , neatly .
Or rock the boat.
But his opponents are also waiting for him.
I am watching.