Femi Aribisala: Dear Buhari, you cannot fight corruption with corruption

by Femi Aribisala

This leopard has not changed its skin. It is asking much to expect Buhari to change his habits at the ripe old age of 72. Buhari is already caught in his own anti-corruption hogwash. Anti-corruption is likely to become a Pandora’s box of unanticipated wahala for the in-coming administration.

One of the myths about the 2015 presidential election is that it was a vote against corruption. Buhari and the APC did a good job of singing the anti-corruption mantra all over the country, and they gave everyone the impression that a vote for the APC was a vote against corruption. But this impression is neither supported by the character of the APC itself, nor by the manner by which it secured its famous victory.

Voters in 2015 were not confronted with anti-corruption choices. There were no new breed politicians in the APC class of 2015. The overwhelming majority of those who fought and won the elections were the same old, same old. If the 15.4 million people who allegedly voted for Buhari are now supposed to be anti-corruption, then Nigeria is in trouble because 12.8 million people voted against him. That would constitute an equally big vote for corruption.

The 2015 elections were attended by massive rigging by both the PDP and APC, contravening any pretensions to anti-corruption. Chukwuemeka Ujam was paraded around after being caught with 4,000 PVCs at Ozalla in Enugu State. Nevertheless, he contested for and won the post of member of the Federal House of Representatives in Nkanu East/West, Enugu. So much for anti-corruption in the elections!

Physician Heal Your Self

Buhari promised during the campaign to kill corruption in Nigeria. He said: “If we don’t kill corruption in Nigeria, corruption will kill us. So, the choice before us is to resolve to kill corruption and free our country from the firm grip of corrupt men and women.” Such hyperbole wins elections: but it does not solve problems. One thing is for certain: corruption will not be killed in Nigeria by Muhammadu Buhari. In no country on earth has anyone ever succeeded in killing corruption.

Chances are Buhari will not even make a dent on corruption in Nigeria. The proverb says: “Physician; heal your self!” The president-elect promises to fight against corruption. However, his party cannot be described as an anti-corruption party. Integrity is not a membership requirement of the APC. On the contrary, the party does not discriminate: it welcomes saints and sinners into its ranks with equal alacrity.

If Buhari were serious about fighting corruption, he would have started the fight within APC. The party made the payment of 27.5 million naira the prerequisite for contesting its presidential primaries. Buhari raised no objection to this. Instead, he claimed he was constrained to borrow the amount from his bank. Surely the president-elect must know that costly elections lead to corrupt governments.

APC corruption means the president-elect has no realistic anti-corruption platform on which to perform any magic. As a matter of fact, the APC fought the 2015 election with corruption. In many places in the North, APC votes were blatantly inflated. Its party-workers encouraged widespread under-age-voting. In Lagos, APC traded money for votes. In Oniru, the fee was 1,500 naira. It did not matter if you had no PVCs. PVCs were distributed to non-registered voters at polling booths by APC faithfuls. Only God knows where they got them from.

There was no reproof from our anti-corruption president-elect for these sharp practices in his own party. Neither did we hear anything from his vice-president-elect, Yemi Osinbajo; a pastor no less. Clearly, the anti-corruption panadol is only applicable to the Jonathan administration and the PDP. However, most of the so-called APC members were snatched from the allegedly corrupt PDP.

While APC supporters claim Jonathan spent 2 trillion naira fighting for re-election, without bothering to explain how they got the account details of his expenditure, they fail to tell us how much APC spent dethroning the PDP. For example, how much did APC spend defending Lagos? Every 10 metres on Lagos roads had a billboard or placard of Ambode. Every local website and newspaper was conscripted to sing his praise. Ambode clearly outspent Agbaje by at least 20 to 1. What exactly was the anti-corruption source of this over-the-top expenditure?

Legislative Bandits

The people APC is now sending to the legislative houses at the federal and state levels are not known for integrity. They belong to the same classical group of corrupt politicians who spend a fortune getting elected in the expectation of recouping their money when in office. Any plans Buhari might have with regard to reducing the hefty salaries and emoluments of our legislators first have to go through the same legislators. This means such plans are dead in the water.

It is significant, for example, that most of the chief APC contenders for the post of senate president were discovered to have outstanding cases with the EFCC. In embarrassment, President-elect Buhari is said to have indicated he would not support any of those still under EFCC indictment. While this stand seems commendable, it only serves to underscore the hypocrisies in Buhari’s anti-corruption posture. Timipre Sylva also has unresolved corruption cases with the EFCC. How come this did not disqualify him from appointment as the chairman of Buhari’s transition committee?

The president-elect is still somewhat oblivious to limits of his powers under our democratic system. The senate president is chosen by senators and not at the discretion of the president. Goodluck Jonathan failed to get his candidate elected as chairman of the Governor’s Forum. With current in-fighting going on for the post of senate president among APC bigwigs, it is not unlikely for the person finally elected to turn out to be a PDP man. If APC can play this wayowhile in opposition, when it secured the election of Aminu Tambuwal against the wishes of PDP central; it can also be played against it while in government.

Separation of Powers

In expounding his bogus anti-corruption policy, Buhari promises that those who steal public funds will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is all well and good, except that the judiciary is not under the presidency. The Nigerian judiciary is corrupt; nevertheless, it does not have to dance to the tune of Aso Rock. The executive can send big-fish corrupt politicians to the courts. However, nothing prevents the courts from continuing its usual practice of protecting them from arrest and declaring even rogues not-guilty.

In Nigeria, justice is at the mercy of a handsome bank-account. It can be bought for the price of a good lawyer, or of the presiding judge. Even though Bode George was jailed on corruption charges, his conviction was retroactively nullified by the courts. Buhari cannot re-invent the judiciary without circumventing the separation of powers provision of the Constitution. Therefore, sooner, rather than later, Mr. President-elect would know the difference between a democratic president and a military dictator. In a democracy, a president does not determine the prerogatives of the judiciary.

Hot Air

Buhari also boasts his ministers will be required to declare their assets. If this is one of the cardinal principles of his anti-corruption policy, then he really needs to go back to the drawing boards. We all know his ministers will be chosen for him by APC bigwigs as paybacks for their electoral support. This hardly bodes well for anti-corruption determinants. The requirement for assets-declaration has been in the books for donkey years. It has not curbed corruption. Nobody bothers to query or confirm what is declared. Neither are public officers in the habit of declaring stolen money when they leave office. So there is nothing new or corruption-breaking about assets-declaration.

As presidential candidate, General Buhari himself failed to produce a bona fide school-certificate result, as required by INEC. Anyone who thinks we are done with the issue of the president-elect’s missing Cambridge/WASC result because he has won the election and the case was dropped in court needs to think again. When the time came, Obama had to produce his birth certificate in order to kill the brouhaha of his doubted citizenship because the issue would just not go away. Buhari’s anti-corruption posture will continue to be undermined as long as he refuses to fulfil the requirement of producing his original school-certificate result.

State Governments

Since winning the election, the president-elect has also bolstered his anti-corruption rhetoric by declaring that the amount of pension currently given to former governors in the states is too high. That is all well and good, except that there is nothing a president can do about this except talk. Governors’ pensions are passed by state legislatures individually; meaning they are completely outside the purview of the president.

To repeal the pension laws in the states would require two-thirds majority votes in each of the 36 states of the federation. The beneficiaries of the state pensions for governors are some of Buhari’s key allies, including Bola Tinubu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Babatunde Fashola and Bukola Saraki. What this means is that the president-elect is just speaking to the gallery. He knows his lofty plans have no hope of seeing the light of day. Even if they did, they would amount to a storm in the teacup of corruption.

Selective Anti-corruption

Speaking to a delegation from Adamawa, president-elect Buhari said: “Imagine a situation where the former CBN governor, who by God‘s grace, is now the Emir of Kano, raised an issue of missing billions of money, not in naira but in dollars, $20 billion. What happened, instead of investigating whether it was true, they simply found a reason to remove him. So, these are the issues we are talking about.”

Who precisely are the “we” still talking about this? How come Buhari ignores the forensic audit done on NNPC accounts on this matter by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which declared conclusively that no $20 billion is missing? Does Buhari doubt the credibility of PWC; one of the most prestigious auditing firms in the world? Who then is Buhari going to hire that will be more credible than PWC? How come Buhari believes Lamido Sanusi innocence implicitly without investigation, but disbelieves the investigation of the reputable PWC about NNPC?

The signal here is inauspicious. Buhari is back to his old familiar terrain of playing the ethnic and partisan card. Everyone knows Lamido Sanusi is partial to the APC. There were allegations during his stint as CBN governor that he even donated government money to Buhari during his 2011 presidential campaign. Buhari signals he would be probing the NNPC; declaring it guilty until proved innocent by his own probe. But he fails to tell us why the PWC probe is not good enough; and he fails to tell us if he would probe the sharp practices of the Emir of Kano at the Central Bank, for which he was summarily suspended. Would he also probe his new ally, Obasanjo, who was his own petroleum minister for eight years?

This leopard has not changed its skin. It is asking much to expect Buhari to change his habits at the ripe old age of 72. Buhari is already caught in his own anti-corruption hogwash. Anti-corruption is likely to become a Pandora’s box of unanticipated wahala for the in-coming administration.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of NUJ Europe

Red Alert Over Media Attack: Tao FM In Okene, Kogi State Bombed!

Red-alert Around Media Houses

Five people have been confirmed dead at the Tao FM radio station in Kuroko, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria.

Perceived to be the first  gruesome media attack recorded after Nigeria general election it was reported that the community radio station was blowned off by some unknown gunmen at about 8pm on Monday according to a Nigerian media, Channels Television.

Eyewitness accounts sourced by Channels TV pointed out that the bombers entered the premises of the radio station pretending to come for commercial purpose and were allowed access by the security guard.

He said after gaining access to the building they headed straight to the operation room were they threw the explosive inside the building, killing five people – the security men and the Chief Engineer.

The Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ogunjemilusi, who confirmed the incident, however said that he could not confirm the number of casualties at the time.

He stated that there was dynamite explosion on the part of the building housing the station.

It was reported that added that security had been beefed up in the area while investigation was on going.

 I-G Orders Security Red-alert Around Media Houses

The Street journal Magazine full report.

Aftermath of Monday’s bombing of TAO FM radio station in Okene, Kogi State, by unknown assailants, the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, has ordered tight security around media houses in the country.

Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, Force Spokesman, in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, said the Acting I-G issued the order because he was worried over the recent attacks on journalists and media houses.

According to him, it was the mandate of the force to protect the lives and property of the citizenry under the law and so the directive was intended at safeguarding journalists and media houses generally.

Arase who acknowledged the valuable roles of the media in the enthronement of democracy in the country, advised citizens to be more vigilant and proactive and report any suspicious movement or persons to the police promptly for appropriate action.

It would be recalled that the blast from suspected improvised explosives which occurred at about 7pm killing at least four people and wounded many others, was preceded by sporadic gunshots that lasted for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information, Sen. Patricia Akwashiki, on Tuesday strongly condemned the bombing, describing the attack as a criminal act of arson and assault on democracy and freedom of expression.

Akwashiki in a statement issued by the ministry’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Joseph Mutah, also urged security agencies to immediately launch an investigation into the attack with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice.

In France early this year, twelve people were killed in a terror attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine over alleged publishing of controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

French authorities had similarly raised its terror threat level and stepped up security for media organizations across the country.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the station, Dr. Tom Adaba and the Kogi State Commissioner of Information, Zainab Suleiman, have also confirmed the bombing.

Credit : Channels Television, Nigeria.
The Street journal Magazine

Revealing The Real Worth of Aisha Buhari, Wife of Nigeria's President

Moments Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in on May 29, 2015 and there arose many questions and speculations about the person of the wife of President, Mrs Aisha Buhari. Particularly well circulated over the social media are speculations ranging from her personage, her character, her charisma, to giving attention to details about the worth of her wrist-watch.
The new first lady of Nigeria at the presidential villa, Aso Rock in Abuja is to be continously x-rayed as expected by Nigerians each time she comes to public glare. Although there is no official role for the spouse of Nigeria’s elected ruler, the wife of outgone President Goodluck Jonathan has notoriously played a very public part in Nigerian politics.

The first lady, Aisha Buhari, stayed out of the public eye for much of the election campaign. But she will be able to exercise a different style of influence from Patience Jonathan, thepast first lady of Nigeria. Here are eight things to know about the new first lady and the wife of Nigeria’s president:

1. Aisha, now 44, married her husband in 1989 after Buhari, now 72, divorced his first wife.The couple have five children together, Agence France-Presse said.

2. She was born Hajiya Aisha Halilu into the family of Nigeria’s first defense minister, Mohammadu Ribadu, in Adamawa state. Aisha was raised by Fulani traditions and customs,Naij news site said. The Fulani people are an Islamic African ethnic group spread across West Africa, primarily northern Nigeria.

3. Aisha is an educated woman who speaks fluent English and Arabic. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Ahmadu Bello University, the largest university in Nigeria and the second-largest in Africa. She later received diplomas and training in cosmetology and beauty from institutions in Paris and London. Aisha is currently a graduate student of international affairs and strategic planning, Vanguardnews in Lagos said.

(Picture File: Aisha Buhari with Nigerians at the Continental Park Plaza, London in February, 2015 / credit: Lashley Oladigbolu/NUJEurope)

4. Aisha called for Jonathan’s resignation from office last year, following a suicide bombing and an alleged assassination attempt on her husband in July 2014. Buhari’s wife urged Jonathan to follow former South Korean Prime Minister Jung Hong-won, who resigned following the April 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, after her husband survived a dual bombing in Kaduna state that left dozens dead, Naij news site reported.

“As he saw grieving families suffering with the pain of losing their loved ones and the sadness and resentment of the public, he took responsibility as prime minister; he apologized to his country and resigned because of service to humanity,” Aisha said in a statement last summer. “Jonathan should emulate such a leader, because Nigerians have been dying daily, for the four years, hoping that government is going to do something, but we are tired of this insecurity and increased attacks on innocent people. Where is Jonathan? What is he doing? If action is not taken now, when? It is not enough to verbally condemn. Action is long overdue.”

5. Aisha said she and her husband will respect Nigeria’s rule of law when Buhari takes office at the end of May.That includes whether or not the office of the first lady is constitutionally recognized. But Aisha said she will still perform traditional duties as the president’s wife and hopes to support the development of Nigeria’s women and youth.

“The wife of the president has some traditional roles, like receiving guests, visiting orphanages, helping the less privileged people. Also, leading the fight for the right of women and malnourished children, infant mortality rate, kidnapping and girl child trafficking,” Aisha told Vanguard.

6. Aisha has been described by Nigerian journalists and acquaintances as calm, patient, beautiful, soft-spoken and unassuming. “I met Aisha Buhari three times, and she seems to be a very humble person, very friendly and a good listener,” lawyer Ebere Ifendu, head of the Women in Politics Forum group in Abuja, told AFP.

7. She has been compared in stark contrast with Nigeria’s current first lady, who is no stranger to scandal in the media and has been called power-hungry. Patience Jonathan fueled controversy during the presidential campaign by urging supporters of Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party to “stone” anyone shouting “change,” the campaign slogan of Buhari’s All Progressives Congress opposition party, AFP said.

“Patience has been like a bull in a china shop. No control whatsoever,” Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, head of the Nigeria Network of NGOs, told AFP earlier this month. “We are very hopeful that we will have a very different first lady, who will bring calm and harmony at the presidency.”
8. Aisha said Nigerians have nothing to fear from her husband, a northern Muslim who is a former military dictator. “I know him personally. Not as a leader of Nigeria. I know him as my husband, and I think Nigeria should feel comfortable with him. He will get there,” she told AFP earlier this month

By Morgan  Winsor
Additional report by Lashley Oladigbolu, London.

Neuroscience: UCH Ibadan Successfully Perform Most Complex Brain Surgery

Neurosurgeons are calling on government at all levels to do all possible to subsidize the cost of care to improve access for a larger percentage of the people and invest more in capacity building to reduce brain drain and medical tourism.

Neuroscientists at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, made this call after the successful completion of one of the most complex brain surgeries ever handled by the hospital since it became a centre of excellence for neuroscience in Nigeria.

The surgery was performed on a 31 year old man who was diagnosed for a special kind aneurysm.

The road to the theatre began with intense headache and vision impairment for the young man who had sought series of treatment before approaching UCH where a computerized scan popularly known as CT Scan showed the anomaly in his brain.

One of the aortic valves busted and was seeping blood into the brain. This problem, according to the lead surgeon, Prof. Adeleye, could only be fixed by a complex surgical procedure as he had lost the use of one eye already before the diagnosis.

After about three hours of intense surgery, the bleeding organ was clipped and all functions restored. Just 30 minutes after the surgery, the patient was talking.

The Chief Medical Director, UCH Prof. Temitope Alonge, told Channels TV exclusively that the hospital had done nearly 30 serious cases of brain surgery since the equipment were procured but added that more public private initiatives must be encouraged to improve efficiency in the health sector.

He disclosed that sophisticated procedures like awake craniotomy are successfully done in the hospital but medical tourism for such specialised care can only be defeated if government at all levels involve the private sector.

The advancement in neuroscience must be progressive with well funded sustainable programmes to create a platform for efficiency and better access to specialised care across the country, he said.

Conservative estimate of a complex brain surgery is put at about one million naira and this is beyond the financial capabilities of an average Nigerian.

This means that if some form of subsidy is not urgently provided by all concerned, many Nigerians may continue to die needlessly from severe headaches.