26052020 - We'll jail parents who enrol children into Almajiri system

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16—Vanguard, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2020 The withering of Nigerian state THERE was a Professor who taught Spring in a classroom all his life and one day came out to see what he was teaching out of the walls. Alas, he could not recognise it and said it must be some disorder in nature. It is only such Professor that would look at the Nigerian state today and would not understand that it is already auto-restructuring. The positive note is from Zamfara in the mode of what we have called for over the years. We have said that in a federal arrangement, that Nigeria is supposed to be, the federating units should be in charge of resources in their areas: mine them and pay agreed taxes to the Centre. But in upside country Nigeria, mineral resources are under the exclusive list which the incompetent Centre cannot manage and so are at the mercy of illegal miners and criminals. Zamfara goldfields So had Zamfara gold been until Governor Bello Matawale came and put on his thinking cap. He chased criminals out of the goldfield and approached Abuja that the state wanted to mine the gold and pay Abuja what is due to it. The Centre that was swimming in petrodollars but about saying bye to it now cannot say no to that deal. Any state that has minerals on its soil and is waiting for the day they rewrite the Constitution before thinking of what to do with it is the one Fela sang about in 'dem don release you now but na you never release yourself.' But auto-restructuring is also happening at another end that is also a warning to the Nigerian state; that it is fast disappearing as the governable space is fast shrinking and the authority of the emperor is reducing, thanks to coronavirus. By virtue of the 1999 Constitution, the Nigerian President is the most powerful constitutional leader in the world. It was with that full authority that President Muhammadu Buhari stood during his third coronavirus broadcast and proclaimed: "I have ordered the lockdown of Kano for two •Gold field in Zamfara...now to be mined officially by the state? weeks." Kano people simply ignored him. It was only Governor Ganduje who saved the face of the President by The Nigerian state has been quiet about these unfortunate developments and doing nothing about it; and I have spent nights thinking about what could be the motive of those behind these movements making some excuse that he had negotiated away his authority with him. There have been some rumour of a presidential broadcast after that replaced the SGF's press statement. Then came Eid day. With all the Presidential order against crowd gatherings and the special announcement by the Sultan, it was massive prayer sessions all over the North. Muslims in Kano, Katsina, Borno, Zamfara and Bauchi states on Sunday shunned a directive of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, which stated that there should be no large gatherings at Eid prayers. There would be harvest for this seed no doubt. Muslims in the South in enlightened self-interest complied with the order because of the better awareness of the pandemic. Nonetheless, a strong message is being sent to the Nigerian state that it is withering and that any constitution that does not bend will ultimately break as we have seen with USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. It is an irreversible process that the Nigerian state that has lost the authority to enforce directives meant for the safety of the people cannot stop. FEEDBACK Re: Amaechi is so cold about it Sir MANY thanks for the above article. I also wish to thank the minister for confessing that it was unemployment that drove him into politics. When we go into history, we will discover that leaders who made positive impacts on the advancement of their society in general possessed 'leadership vision'. This is why they were able to put on ground giant development programmes that transformed their nations. Visionless leaders have nothing to offer. Politicians whose vision Gen T. Y. Danjuma warned the other day of the surrendering of state authority to thugs and bandits in his speech about collusion. Of late there have been serious apprehensions about movements of such elements across the country under the guise of Almajirai. The Nigerian state has been quiet about these unfortunate developments and doing nothing about it. And I have spent nights thinking about what could be the motive of those behind these movements. Is anyone still thinking of a repeat of the onslaught against the Hausa kingdoms of yore in which under the guise of pure Islam they were made to kill their own rulers and emirs installed? That is far-fetched in the world of today. Is the intention to chase people away from their lands? To where do you want to chase indigenous people who have lived hundreds of years on their lands? Once it becomes clear that the state is no longer there to arbitrate in these matters, it would be fighting to the last man. This of course shall be a silly project to want to pursue in is to enrich self by looting the public wealth cannot help in the development of their villages what more of their nation. It is a pity that this is our lot in present day Nigeria. Matters are made complex by the politicians' divisive ethnic and religious kites they fly before the masses who are easily deceived. What makes me to shed tears many a time is that some of us who are educated and who claim to be 'progressives' have joined in the battering of progress and development in Nigeria. three years if you have failed to uproot any major town in five years. And why should this be a pre-occupation of any enlightened people in the 21st century? There is no section of the country where I don't have enlightened minds as friends who can make any modern society function well. Such minds should become dominant and prevail towards the future that defines shared prosperity and greater humanity. The game that is on now is on its way out. The humptydumpty will wake up and realise it's all gone! On the Governance Index Platform IT was a three-hour of serious brainstorming on the night of May 22 on a zoom conference on COVID-19 pandemic and the need to reevaluate Nigeria's political restructure. It was a loaded house of Nigerians across the globe. Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Chief John Nwodo were in the house as main speakers with Dr. Bitrus Pogu unable to come in. But yours truly, Ms Ankio Briggs and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko were drafted in. It was a night of serious exchanges with a house of concerned Nigerians across the world during which the total failure of the present structure of Nigeria to meet the challenges of the pandemic was highlighted. There was also a clear loss of faith in the present arrangement and apprehension about the capacity for renewal. The resistance to change by some section of the country was seen as a major hindrance to the restructuring we push by loud voices who advocated the dismantling of the present Nigeria. But the voices of restructuring insisted on it, saying that what preceded "to your tenths o Israel" was negotiation for restructuring. It was added that negotiated settlement was the cheapest option anyway. Tochukwu Ezeoke and Dan Elombah did a great job coordinating the conference. With many of the new breed politicians who say one thing today and do another thing tomorrow what hope do we possess to have the likes of Pa Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa? I have my doubt on this. Most of the youth we call leaders of tomorrow are watching. Since nobody is giving them good examples on leadership vision and development how can they lead tomorrow? How can they help to save Nigeria so that Nigeria will not fail? Your guess is as good as mine. We must, however, keep hope alive. Tony O. Ekwe. C M Y K
18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY MAY 26, 2020 IT is a sad irony that our security agents mobilised to man our checkpoints and state boundaries have become perhaps the biggest facilitators of community and nationwide spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria. In addition to the policy of social distancing between individuals, governments also sought to establish barriers between the states and communities by using security agencies such as the Police, Road Safety Corps, Civil Defence, state task forces, among others. The social distancing protocol has failed for the most part due to indiscipline and hunger among the populace. More importantly, our security agents are largely unable to control the tide of inter-communal and interstate infiltrations by recalcitrant citizens. People have continued to travel despite the directive that all Nigerians should stay wherever they are until the Security agents and COVID-19 infection mess pandemic is contained. Some food suppliers hide human cargoes in their trucks to smuggle them through the security barriers. It was also during this period that we saw hundreds of truckloads of mostly young men being shipped to the Southern states from the North. Our security agents not only allowed them to pass but some highly-connected individuals capitalised on their influence to force these people whose agenda and motives remain unknown through the security checkpoints for dumping in towns and villages throughout the South in clear violation of the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governors. The inability of our security agents to carry out their duties effectively has manifested in the geometrical spread of the COVID-19 infections. While there were 131 confirmed cases in Nigeria when Buhari made his first national broadcast on the pandemic on March 30, 2020, it more than doubled two weeks later to 323 on April 13, 2020. As the President made ready to address the nation again on Monday, May 18, 2020 the figure had literally gone through the roof at 5,959. The repatriation of almajirai children in the North and the illegal shipments of people to the South have helped to shoot up the infection rate, especially in the South East which hitherto had consistently recorded low rates. Corruption and incompetence are not the only factors responsible for the failure of security agencies in stemming the movement of people during the lockdowns. We are yet to know those behind the strange mass movements of people from the North to the South, and what their objectives might be. We call on the Federal Government to probe these movements, unravel those behind them and their motives and why the security agents ignored government directives and let them through. Our fear is that beyond helping to “redistribute” the COVID-19 prevalence in Nigeria, these human movements could spell doom for the security of lives and property. HE was called to bar on February 7, 1956 and enrolled on March 12, 1956. He became a SAN, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in 1978 and his number is eight. On the Nigeria’s legal practitioner’s list, he is lawyer number 509. I met Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide (November 4, 1931-April 21, 2020) in 1973 after his tenure as President of Nigeria Bar Association was over. The then Governor of Western State, Brigadier Christopher Oluwole Rotimi (85) appointed him Commissioner along with Alhaji Lateef Adegbite (March 20, 1933- Septembe 28, 2012), Chief Mrs. Folake Solanke (88) (SAN), Professor Bolanle Alake Awe (87), Chief Ilemobayo Akinnola (1934- 2013), Chief Ladosu Ladapo, Chief Gab Fagbure and others. He declined the appointment. I was then in Nigerian Tribune in the old Ade-Oyo hospital road, Ibadan, along with Folu Olamiti, Olu Osungbohun, Biodun Laniyohun, Valentine Ahams, Mufu Akinloye, Kayode Osifeso, Dan Ikuniaye, Alfred Ilenre, Bode Oyewole while our News Editor was Fola Oredoyin. Our Editor was Ikhan Yakubu, our Managing Editor was Kayode Bakare and our Managing Director was Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (90). Oga Jakande, as we use to call him then, instructed myself and Mr. Biodun Laniyonu to go to Chief Akinijide’s chambers at Dugbe, Ibadan, to ask him why he rejected the appointment. His junior partner at the chamber then was a handsome Prince, Dr. Ahmed Kusamotu (March 23, 1941- July 8, 2005) from Ikirun in the present Osun State. Chief Akinjide told us that he rejected the appointment because he could not serve under a military regime. That was the beginning of my friendship with Chief Akinjide. In 1977, he defeated Alhaji Busari Adelakun alias Eruobodo for the Lagelu/ Oluyole/Akinyele Constituency election into the Constituent Assembly. He had earlier served in the Constitution Drafting OPINION Richard Akinjide in his own words Committee that produced the draft of the constitution which was debated at the Constituent Assembly. However it was at the Constituent Assembly of 1976-1978 that my friendship with Chief Akinjide got fully cemented. We saw each other regularly during the deliberations in the Constituent Assembly. In my recollection, the best contribution Chief Akinjide ever made in the democratic process was the speech he delivered at the Constituent Assembly on November 16, 1977. Regrettably, I could not Chief Akinjide told us that he rejected the appointment because he could not serve under a military regime see him in the last three years at his Idishin residence in Ibadan but I sent my regards through our common friend, Chief Lekan Alabi, The Agba Akin of Ibadanland. The only point of disagreement I had with him was the issue of the Presidential System of Government which he endorsed but which I disagreed with. To me that speech still stands as his legacy in the defence of the Presidential System of Government. For the benefit of readers, I hereby present the speech. “My name is Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide. I represent Lagelu/ Oluyole/Akinyele constituency. I had the privilege of serving in the Constitution Drafting Committee, CDC, but I now rise to speak as an elected member and not as a member of the CDC. “May I, before I go on, pay tribute to Chief Rotimi Williams, the Chairman of CDC, who was an excellent leader at the CDC. We had very difficult times. Mr Chairman, may I also, by way of general comment, pay tribute to our past leaders. When I say leaders I say leaders in inverted comas because these include not only politicians but also workers, farmers, leaders of religion, who brought us Independence. I think they did excellent job. It is not enough for us to condemn them. We must assess them in the light of the circumstances under which they worked. They were the first generation of Nigerians to taste true political power. They had little experience. They might have made mistakes, but I am wondering whether, if we were in their shoes, we would not have made worst mistakes. “Now, Mr. Chairman, some gentlemen had painted a rather gloomy picture of this country. May I beg to differ. I believe that this country, Nigeria is a great country with great people, with great resource, and with great future. We are only passing through a necessary phase in our history. Our mistake is that we tend to compare ourselves with developed countries of the world. I do not think we should. If you look at the history of the developed countries of the world, you will find that they passed through exactly the phase through which we are now passing. I would take one as an example, that is Great Britain which was our former colonial power. Britain, of course, had the Send Opinions & Letters to: opinions1234@yahoo.com Norman Conquest and it became necessary to enact the Magna Carta. “You do not enact a law for nothing. There were reasons for enacting it - because of the state of their society. And, of course, they had their military coup, too. Cromwell had to seize power. Charles the First was beheaded in 1649. The Parliament was sent packing and Cromwell governed till 1660 when they had their Restoration. Of course, it became necessary to enact the Bill of Rights in 1689. Again, the fact that that Bill was enacted shows that it was necessary, and Britain did not even settle down until 1832 when the Reform Act was passed through a very stormy Debate in the House of Commons and with a majority of only one vote. If Britain could pass through all those phases - revolutions, coups, Bills of Right, Magna Carta, who are we to say we can jump that phase and then settle down immediately. This is why I think it I wrong to predict that we are doomed. I do not think we are doomed. “Well Mr. Chairman, we have presented to you the CDC a Draft Constitution, but may I enter a caveat. It is very important to present a very good constitution, but there are other things more important and that is the people of this country, particularly the politicians who will work the constitution. No matter what constitution you put down, no matter what form of government you put down in the constitution, and no amount of pages or volumes, if people do not want it to work, it will not work. But if you write your constitution in 10 pages, in five pages or, like Britain, virtually unwritten or partly written, if you want it to work, it will work. So, at the end the day, it is not what we approve here that really matters (it matters I concede) but we should warn ourselves that the people of this country, particularly the politicians should be determined to make it work.” To be continued next week
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26052020 - We'll jail parents who enrol children into Almajiri system

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