20022021 - INSECURITY Give us state police now - Govs

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18—SATURDAY Vanguard, FEBRUARY 20, 2021 Last week, I told you a strand of the story of my trip to the popular Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Lagos. I also told you about the heavy rain that caught up with me while I was there. By the time the rain subsided, everywhere was flooded. Floating on the flood were empty food packs, plastic bottles of water and drinks, among other debris that were earlier disposed of indiscriminately. From Ladipo Market to Agege Motor Road, the story was the same, flood everywhere, with debris Real eal and met floating. On Agege Motor Road, one of the reasons for the flooding became apparent. The flood had started debris subsiding, leaving behind the debris. I saw one vulcaniser clearing the debris service, but I know in some low by the road side, where he plies his trade, income neighbourhoods, residents do and dumping them into the drains. Down not like paying for such services, so the road about 150 metres away, a hotel the refuse disposal there is either security man was doing the same thing. epileptic or non-existent. The roads There lies the problem of Ladipo, Agege and drains are basically their Motor Road and many parts of Lagos and dumpsites. the rest of Nigeria during the rainy Whatever the shortcomings of the season. We have converted the open Ladipo Market spare part dealers, I drains to garbage dumps. When it rains, admire them for their ingenuity. You they are useless to do the work they are cannot take it away from them. Long built to do. I have asked this question before your vehicle comes to a halt, many times before: where did we get this their expert eyes have surveyed it culture of open drains that breeds this and they bring forth many of the parts irresponsible behaviour from? I have gone and services you need. Many of us to a few places in the United Kingdom, in business and marketing our colonial masters, I never saw open departments need to learn from their drains. marketing skills: spotting business The other thing that beats my opportunities with an eagle eye imagination is why people decide to be wherever we find ourselves. Many of so cruel to themselves. In Mushin and us gloss over opportunities in our adjourning areas like Idi Araba and Itire environments and it is hurting our (that is not to say middle class and businesses and life generally. highbrow Ikeja, Surulere, Lekki, Victoria The traders are also very Island and Ikoyi are spared), any heavy persuasive. They talk you into buying rain brings sorrow. As my vehicle waded parts you need (sometimes want), but through the flooded roads in Mushin, not the reason why you came to the some people were already baling water market. In those days, I used to from their flooded houses. If you go into spend at least twice the money I had these houses, some do not have dustbins. budgeted, each time I went to Ladipo. They dump their garbage sometimes by But on this day, I only went with the the roadside or inside the open drain in money I had budgeted. front of their houses. Some people are Notwithstanding, I overspent, thanks quick to point fingers at government to that plastic we carry about called inefficiencies, but in some cases, the debit card. But in all fairness to me, people are the problem. Where I live, every item I purchased was needed. trucks come to empty the bins every week, But give it to them, they are great so we have no reasons to dispose our salesmen. The traders are also very waste anyhow. And we pay for the resilient: it is this resilience, in eal and metaphoric floating addition to their eagle eyes for opportunities and great salesmanship, which has made many of them runaway successes. But before you go to Ladipo, like many other markets, carry out your little research to have an idea of the prices of the items you want to purchase. If not they will rip you off, but still leave you with the feeling that you are a great bargain hunter. One of them wanted to sell an item I bought recently for N300, albeit the fake one, for N2,000. If I had not fallen victim to the fake, I could have parted with a lot more money, but I ended up buying the original for N500. I learnt my lesson long ago on how traders rip customers off. In year 2000, I needed to buy a generator. I contacted John (not his real name), the electrician nearby, to take me to Alaba International Market. He was nowhere to be found on the day we agreed to go to Alaba. The next day, he showed up. We went to Alaba International Market. After over four hours of hard bargaining, we got one for N96,000. I went home feeling very fulfilled and thankful that John had helped me to get a good bargain. That was until my brother, Emma, came from Delta and saw the generator. “Brother, bro wod’onana (Brother, how much did you buy this gen?)” He asked. I adjusted myself and proudly told him N96,000. “Awhawere (They cheated you),” he exploded. He bought the same type of generator for N63,000 in Onitsha the previous weekend. Then everything began to fall into place. The initial date we were supposed to go to Alaba, when John did not show up, he had gone to Alaba to set me up. In anger we went to Alaba the next day to confront the seller, but his army of boys wanted to fight with us. We were badly outnumbered. I told Emma we should leave. I wanted to arrest John, but my parish priest told me to ignore him, which I reluctantly did. He went further to tell me to pray for John, which I was even more reluctant to do. A few days later, John started selling wires and electrical parts, apparently from the money he made by defrauding me. He, with his collaborators, ripped me off, of over N30,000, which was plenty of money in year 2000. The exchange rate was about N35 to a US dollar. You do the arithmetic. That was We have converted the open drains to garbage dumps. When it rains, they are useless to do the work they are built to do. November. By December, John travelled home for Christmas. He never got back to Lagos. He died in an accident at Ore. Teledensity was low then, so his corpse was in the morgue for two weeks before his wife in Lagos and his people in the village knew what happened. When I heard, it was tough to ignore his betrayal of trust, but I did and prayed for the repose of his soul. Another thing that hurt me was that my money went to waste, John’s new business packed up. I would have been consoled to see John grow to a successful electrical parts merchant, knowing that my money, albeit illegally taken, contributed to his success. The whole incident reminds me of the fickleness of life, the emptiness of trying to make it by all means and foolishness of pursing vengeance. If not well managed, our lives can easily become floating debris. Isee myself as a stakeholder in what was known as Nigerian Prisons Service but changed to Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS). Whatever affects that para - military organisation also affects the nation. Now the name suggests that our leaders need to balance the polity. New Service chiefs were appointed recently and the South-East geo-political zone was ignored. No officer of South-East extraction has so far been deemed fit to head any of the various paramilitary agencies. The Controller -General of NCoS, Ja’afaru Ahmed, from Kebbi State retired from service in January 2021. There is no substantive CG yet. John Mrabure is acting as boss at the moment but is due for retirement. I have a feeling that fair play must be applied in picking the next CG. We have enough Service and Para- military chiefs from the North. It would be inconsiderate to pick a Northerner as Ahmed’s successor. I am sure there are officer gentlemen from other zones who are eminently qualified to move up. However, the South- East deserves another shot at this plum job. The story is not sweet to the ear at all. It is like there is a deliberate policy to diminish the people. On July 1, 2005, Okwara Uche Kalu, from the South-East was appointed Acting CG. This followed the exit of Abraham Iyorker Akpe. It was expectations turned to exasperation. Kalu acted for one year and was never confirmed. Olusola Adigun Ogundipe moved in and was there until 2012. Zakari Ohinoyi Ibrahim took Ogundipe’s place and left in 2014. Aminu Suley acted for five months before stepping aside for Dr. Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu from the South-East on December 5,2014. Ekpendu spent just two years before Ahmed was announced as the next CG. This is the same agency where the first substantive indigenous Director of Prisons, Frank Sumola Giwa-Osagie, spent 10 years and six months between 1961 and 1972. The rank of Controller- General was first worn by Lily Ojo in 1991. He retired in 1995. I also know that A. A. Ahmadu was in charge for about 11 years, from 1975 to 1986. Even Ibrahim Mohammed Jarma, the man who Balancing equation @ correctional services introduced weapons training spent six years as boss. Carrying arms was not novel for the second Director of Prisons, Lt.col E. L. Salier and the fourth, Col. V. L. Mabb, were soldiers. Mabb was in office for 11 years and three months between 1932 and 1943. I insist on fair play in choosing the next CG because the Correctional Services and Sports have come a long way. Giwa- Osagie was Vice President of the Amateur Athletics Association of Nigeria in the 1970s. He was picked on merit as Director. For a man who attended Kings College, Lagos and joined as a cadet in 1948, that appointment was generally accepted. Steven Ibn Akiga was Minister of Sports in 2002. We met in Japan and he said he was a member of the Prisons Football Club. Akiga was also Aide de Camp (ADC) to Jomo Adapoyi, Director of Prisons between 1972 and 1975. David Ejoke perhaps remains one of the best athletes produced by the Correctional Services. He won two medals at the First All African Games, Brazzaville ’65. Ejoke made it to two Olympic Games, Tokyo ’64 and Mexico ’68 respectively. My good friend, Malam Alhassan Yakmut, is today, Secretary, Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB). He represented Nigeria in Volleyball and was a Director, at the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development. Yakmut is very popular in the South-East where he kept the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu glowing as Zonal Coordinator. Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, is an Ijesha man. May I remind him that there is a strong bond between the Igbo and Ijesha- Yoruba. He knows that the Ijesha Progressive Association Canada (IPAC) is led by an Igbo man from Enugu. I am sure,beyond politics, he is supposed to make recommendations based on merit. I am a keen watcher of developments in the Correctional Services because it is like family business. My grandfather, Chief Obasi Onukwuire, was made a Warrant Chief in 1912 through the influence of his kid brother, Uchegbu, a Warder. Uchegbu’s wife, Sarah, called her husband ‘Gand roba’, for warders were known as Gang Drivers. The Traditional ruler of my town, Eze Nelson Obasi, retired from Service, as a Controller. I know so much about the big Correctional Services farms in Ibite Olo. I also met a Controller at Ikoyi, I guess, Mrs. Ononye in 2007. I was told she was good in Karate during training. I had an in- law, Chief Henry Ehijator, who retired as Controller of Prisons, old Anambra State. He helped the Esan of Edo State in the Correctional Services as much as Chief Tony Anenih did in the police. They were contemporaries. I also know that CG Ogundipe is one of the younger siblings of Brig. Babafemi Ogundipe. So when I speak passionately about this paramilitary organisation, I am in order. President Buhari must be informed that at this time when ethnic tension is high, it will be politically wrong to give the CG job to someone from the North. It will be politically correct to look for a candidate from the South-East, based on merit. I am so sure that should Yakmut and Aregbesola shine their eyes, they will find one worthy senior officer from the South-East. Customs, Immigration, New Service chiefs were appointed recently and the South- East geo-political zone was ignored. No officer of South-East extraction has so far been deemed fit to head any of the various paramilitary agencies EFCC are all headed by Northerners. I am personally going to write a protest letter should this job elude the South-East. President Buhari is also my friend, those who think they have connections at the Villa must respect my friendship with the President. And if the wrong candidate is announced, I will find out exactly what happened. Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Arewa Consultative Forum, Middle Belt Forum and the South- South Peoples Assembly will definitely wade into this appointment. Enough of injustice. I am so sure those who think Mr. President is not watching are in for a big surprise.
C M Y K Anyone who lives or has lived in Nigeria knows that the occupy Lekki protest of last Saturday would not hold. And if it did, it would be low key probably with some casualties on the side of the protesters. They would know that the balance of the power which was touted by the preceding grandstanding and flexing of muscles by the two sides would invariably tilt towards the side with the real muscles – the law enforcers. So I was not surprised when the Lekki neighbourhood and most of Victoria Island were disturbed by the sound of sirens throughout the weekend – even after the protest had been completely muzzled. Neither was I surprised by the massive movement of heavily armed personnel to the Lekki toll plaza. Nor by the belligerent swagger of the law – or anti-protestenforcers. It’s our way. We lack a sense of proportion. We use excessive force where minimal force would suffice and are curiously absent where overwhelming force is necessary. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in support of the protest. Not at this time. My reason is largely economic. The last protest which came soon after the COVID 19 lockdown, brought Lagos to its economic knees and set it back several decades developmentally. Besides, the argument that the toll gate should not be opened yet after four months of closure is curious. If the alleged shooting of the endsars protesters had taken place on the Third Mainland Bridge would the bridge then be closed until the tribunal finished its sitting? Again, one has to ask what the occupy Lekki protest would achieve except another economic disruption which could escalate to another purposeless carnage. At the end, the poor, largely the youths would suffer more. Besides, the protest seemed to be targeted at the perceived financial revenue of an individual which gives a political colouration to it. I am more in support of a monument of sorts being put there to remind us all of what happened on October 20, 2020. Having said this, the level of force deployed to the scene was hardly proportional to the perceived threat. These protesters would not be armed. Friends and charitable foes must be pitying the lot of Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s minister of information and tormentor in chief, first of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and subsequently of Dr. Bukola Saraki. When Yekini Nabena, who was in the shadows in the heyday of Lai’s activism, decided to take on Lai and rubbish his contributions to the Muhammadu Buhari legacy, it again brought another oddity associated with politicians. Nabena who was or is the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC had delved into the crisis between Lai and Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State and urged the minister to submit to the leadership of the governor. When Lai rebuffed him as a nonentity, N a b e n a squirmed back depicting the minister as the baggage in the Buhari cabinet! Saraki must be having a laugh and so, must Reno Omokri and all the many folks who had in the past suffered from Lai’s sharp-witted tongue and statements. As the longest-serving spokesman of the opposition, with a pedigree ranging from A c t i o n After the party leadership tilted towards the governor and against Lai in handing over the registration of party membership materials to the governor, the minister is undoubtedly faced or headed towards a cul de sac that only God can help him out of. Congress, AC, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN to the militant days of the APC, Lai’s contributions to the evolvement of the democratic culture remain memorable. As opposition spokesman, Lai wouldn’t Swatting a fly with a sledgehammer The ammunitions in the hands of most of them would be posters. The protesters would not be many given the lack of consensus among the major actors and the lukewarm attitude towards it by the rest of us. So deploying road and air operations against a handful of unarmed protesters was comical and an overkill. Especially since many areas in the country need the services of the security operatives more. In Ogun State, just a few hours’ drive from the toll plaza, a helpless community has sent an SOS to government to help save its farms from invasion and its people from being kidnapped. Further down in Oyo State, there have been weeks of skirmishes which could have been prevented had authorities acted proactively. Many States have cried out that their forests have been infested and need them cleansed and bandits flushed out. But the security operatives have been largely unresponsive to these cries. Many roads have been made unsafe by kidnappers and herdsmen. The nation knows these roads. The security heads are aware of these roads. But they pay lip service to the security needs of the areas. We all know that a small fire soon becomes a conflagration if it is not quickly attended have let it pass that people were stopped from peacefully demonstrating. He certainly would have as opposition spokesman shouted himself hoarse if Nigerians do not see the president up and about and challenged the president to move from his den in Abuja and feel the pulse of Nigerians outside Aso Rock. And certainly, Lai as opposition spokesman would have daily embarrassed any spokesman of government who claimed or claims that Boko Haram had been defeated or degraded in the face of insecurity all around the country. Even more, Lai as opposition spokesman would have so much embarrassed the ministers in government and challenged them to travel on Nigeria’s roads without loads of security. As an opposition spokesman, his attributes were legendary. Your correspondent gathered reliably, that he was a first choice for the position of Chief of Staff at the inception in 2015, but it was an offer he politely declined for personal reasons. Perhaps, Buhari’s legacy may have been better defined. So, given his attributes, it was SATURDAY Vanguard, , FEBRUARY 20, 2021—19 to. So our tardiness in putting out these fires could cost us dearly at the end of the day. Yet should there be a senatorial election in a State in which the powers that be are interested, the place would be crawling with ‘law enforcers’. And a State CEO on an official visit would go with a large contingent of armed personnel just to feel safe and to feel good. This speaks to the mind set of our leaders and security chiefs when it comes to their perception of security threats. It explains what they feel about the plight of Citizen Joe and Citizen Jane who just want to earn a modest but decent living and thereafter be able to sleep on their beds at night. But to them, a security threat is probably limited only to things that affect their tenuous hold to power. A recent social media post after the botched occupy Lekki protest showed two contrasting pictures. The first one showed the protesters being shoved, shirtless and handcuffed, into police trucks. The other picture had politicians sitting down to take To rid the country of growing insecurity will mean focusing on substance and not on shadows The travails of Lai Mohammed embarrassing that someone who many Nigerians have not heard or seen articulate a statement on his own as ruling party spokesman would come and embarrass him. Lai’s problems with Abdulrazaq did not just start recently. The first public flash of crisis came when Lai was appointed a minister for the second term and the governor honoured him at the reception in Abuja in August 2019. At that reception, Bashir Bolarinwa, BOB the chairman of the state chapter of the party introduced Lai as the leader of the party in Kwara. Within a week of that reception, mobilization for signatures to remove BOB as chairman among his exco members commenced. However, fortunately for him, not enough signatories were obtained to remove BOB. Since that Abuja incident continued efforts to remove BOB as chairman have surfaced now and then, here and there. BOB unlike many other political actors has stood firm with Lai. After all, they were both imports from Lagos. After the party leadership tilted towards the governor and against Lai in handing over the registration of party membership materials to the governor, the minister is undoubtedly faced or headed towards a cul de sac that only God can help him out of Ṡurely, he is bound to be frozen out of the political arena in Kwara except the governor decides to have mercy. photographs with suspected bandits after an alleged attempt to negotiate with them. The first picture was captioned ‘how Nigerians treat peaceful protesters’. The second caption read ‘how Nigerians treat terrorists’. Our disproportional approach to the use of force; our lack of discretion on how to maintain law and order is what led to the endsars protest in the first case. The allegations of brutality and use of indiscriminate force against youths who happened to fit a particular profile boiled over and culminated in a reasonably popular youth protest. People were said to be tortured sometimes to the point of death because they were in possession of phones they didn’t know was stolen in the first place. Some had found themselves in detention for the contents of their phones or computers. Misdemeanours at home or in the office that should receive a slap on the wrist would end up in brutalisation and incarceration. Talk about swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. Meanwhile hardened criminals who operate atop a chain of command are given a wide berth. Bandits are courted and negotiated with. Our Courts are equally as guilty. A man was once jailed four years for stealing a goat. Yet politicians and public officials who loot the treasury are left to roam about scot free. The battery of senior lawyers who get rich thieves off the hook on technicalities are as guilty. They shouldn’t complain about the infrastructural decay in the country. To rid the country of growing insecurity will mean focusing on substance and not on shadows. It will mean diverting our scarce resources to dealing with the real criminals and their sponsors. It will mean setting examples. Should the Federal Government have the will to rid the Ondo State forests of bandits for example, it would send an unmistakeable message to bandits in other places who use the cover of the bush to commit heinous crimes. Should the courts have the will to jail a few rich public officials, it would send an unequivocal message to their ‘kith and kin’ still in office. If we can prioritise and deal with crimes according to their severity and not on the profile of their perpetrators; if we can be passionate and equitable in our pursuit of justice and not cherry pick the low hanging fruits then we can maybe begin to get a handle on the various crimes that have unfortunately led to insecurity everywhere in the country. Kwara is a sure test for the APC’s claim to democratic norms. If it is really so, all tendencies including that of Senator Gbemi Saraki should be given an open hand in the registration and the eventual election of party officers. But the unfolding development in Kwara is not the first time that a godson would fight a political godfather. Adamu Attah, the first civilian governor of the state was made by the Oloye, Senator Olusola Saraki in 1979. Attah, however, rebelled midway and the National Party of Nigeria, NPN leaders apparently sided with Attah not wanting to lose a governor. There was also the gist that Saraki’s rivals in the NPN aiming to stop his presidential aspiration decided to humble him by backing Attah. However, Oloye went home and ensured that Attah despite the support of the NPN machine lost the 1983 re-election to Cornelius Adebayo of the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN. Saraki again suffered the same rebellious act from the two governors he foisted on the state in the Fourth Republic. Mohammed Lawal pulled all the tricks but Saraki was so prepared in 2003 and with the backing of his son, Bukola, ensured that Lawal suffered the same fate as Attah in 1983. The second rebellion against Saraki was, however, what finished the old man. This time, the rebellion came from home. It was his son, Bukola who as governor refused his sister Gbemi as his successor as his father desired. Oloye vowed to use the same tricks he had successfully used against Attah and Lawal. But alas, the attack from home wounded him not just emotionally, some allege it killed his spirit, leading to his death a year after that epic 2011 battle. Apparently, Bukola is the only godfather in Kwara who did not suffer a rebellion. His appointed governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed came quietly and went quietly, even if he brought down the roof on Bukola! So, for Lai who led the revolution to upstage the Saraki phenomenon, he has his job well cut out. Only that the echoes of the past now stir him in the face. So bad that one as Nabena is the one hitting at him!
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20022021 - INSECURITY Give us state police now - Govs

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