Columns

My Binoculars: Of partisan politicians, defection, lack of consultations and the pending rebellion of young people against the present unproductive political order

Published

3 years ago

September 5, 2022

My Binoculars: Of partisan politicians, defection, lack of consultations and the pending rebellion of young people against the present unproductive political order

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Since 1993 when billionaire Moshood Abiola set the pace from the private sector by throwing his hat into the ring for the presidential election, he used his charisma to lure a lot of young people into partisan politics. Abiola ignited a mini revolution by going into some higher institutions in Nigeria and donating to several causes that would better the lot of the entire community. Many of them who were students in those days have graduated and some are still struggling to make ends meet till this day. He achieved similar feats outside the shores of this country which earned him the title of pillar of sports in Africa. His constituency was mostly young people and he never wasted opportunities to help them become better citizens. Almost 20 years after his demise, the opposite is the case, the present leaders keep recycling themselves. They don’t care about the young in spite of the so-called not too young to run bill which has been passed. In Nigeria today, the population of young people keep increasing and most of them have been edged out of the political system. And you know what that means, they will be bouncing back with violence if not well handled before the next general election.

If over 70 percent of the population of Nigeria is made up of some of these young people, who saw the winner of the June 12, 1993 election move around and received the kind of acceptance he got in company of his vice Presidential candidate Babagana Kingibe, then all those politicians in the older bracket of the age ladder should be terribly scared about the current enlightenment around the young people of today. I am talking about those in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s who form less than 6 percent of the population of Nigeria. These young people have been frustrated over the misbehaving political class and have vowed to take back the country from these political casanovas. People who defect from one party to another without principles. I mean the foundational principles laid down for them by Aminu Waziri, Solomon Lar, Obafemi Awolowo, Zik of African and many others who lived up to the early eighties. These people gave hope to their followers. And even when such hope is diminished, like when Awo lost to Shehu Shagari, the principles of being progressives guided them on.

Why politicians defect from one party to the other

Politicians who defect from one party to the other do so mostly for their personal interest and not for the people they claim to serve. That is why some of them who have contested for the same position several times unfortunately do so to oil the engine of me, my wife and children. And not for the generality of their people. Very few political stalwarts can actually claim to be innocent of this awkward behavior including the progressives. After defecting some of them are promised of sure victory because they are sure of using the young people to rig them into office. They believe that the winner takes it all mentality is a good thing and the shortest route to join the upper class. So let’s rig and win. This is so since there is no guarantee of such long term riches again in the middle class which is almost wiped out in Nigeria.

One senator acquires so many cars and houses yet the condition of his people does not improve in anyway. These young people are mostly used as his thugs and they see all these forms of ostentatious life oiled by stolen cash. Stolen mostly from the porous system created to favor a particular section of the country. They award contract to themselves in the name of settlement and patronage for those who work for them to be rigged into office. And they share the butty with the civil servants who are willing tools in the hands of these political plunderers.

Sadly some defect when they are deprived of stomach infrastructure or a chance to get to a particular office. And when they ultimately move to the new party they will contest several times until they are in position of power which is the ultimate aim. Some even see partisan politics as a profession that should feed them instead of a call to service. And that is what most Nigerians who flock around them know as feathering their nest by acquiring so much to keep them going during the rainy day. The sad reality of what is going on in Nigeria is that ignorance is perpetually used as a weapon to keep the followers from knowing the truth. And when that is done, they begin to hope that the next President will be better. If he is not better, their hopes begin to deem till it gets to a point of no return. The cult like figure that some of these politicians have will surely disappear if by the end of the 2023 election, the young people do not see hope at the end of the tunnel. The billions that some of them have will no longer work as a bait and these political stalwarts will no longer be safe. Some may be going back to their mansion in London to hide. This time not for politics but to stay underground. Of a truth some of them had billions made from businesses before coming to look for the power like Chief Moshood Abiola, who was a philanthropist and longed for power, while others came to power purely out of greed before looking for the cash using the very civil servants they met in the system.

Bad influence of the politicians on the civil servants

Once upon a time, it was mostly the political holders that used to end up being stupendously rich before the present sick form of corruption in government which has become the norm disturbingly at the Federal level in spite of anti graft agencies breathing down their heads. Now it is the civil servants that are eying the billions. At present, the civil servants no longer want to teach the political elites how to steal while they go home with a paltry gratuity after 35 years. They too now steal with impunity as we have seen from the statistics churned out by the Economic and Finance Crime Commision (EFCC).

Indeed, some of the reasons why Africa has so much backwardness is because most of the people who clamoured to get into political offices are equally backward and possibly unemployable. So the only option is to steal through getting into the system or come in through the backdoor as a credible contractor, collect juicy contracts and steal most of it after the accountant general has been given his share. Some of them claim to have gone to school but gone are the days when the sound of their certificates draws one to attention. This is because most of them bought their teachers and acquired the certificates at all costs which is why when some of them stand up to speak for their people in the National Assembly watchers of the polity wonder how this one got there.

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When they get out of school, their mindset is channelled on how to get a white coloured job where they can be able to steal as much as they cannot spend in their life time. That explains why a man will climb the ladder of the ministry of finance only to get to the level of Accountant General of the federation and steal as much as N200 billion in the period of his appointment. The man who replaced him is suddenly replaced after being fingered as having soiled fingers by the financial intelligence agencies. And sadly these are the people that teach politicians how to steal. It is this stealing with impunity that these young people have been seeing that has built up these pent up anger. That is why the general election of 2023 will be a strange one because so many unthinkable surprises will emerge.

Strange reasons some Nigerian politicians are desperate to hold on to power

Most Nigerians want to get into politics because it’s the easiest way to get rich quickly and establish members of their families. The Nigerian polity is so distablized because you have people with no principles jumping from one party to the other wanting to situate themselves where it is happening so that they will participate in the sharing of the Commonwealth of the masses, making them worse than they met them. They rely on the politics of patronage and settlement to achieve their goals. That is why the nation has never had good governance since President Shehu Shagari left office. It’s either we have a military despot who was killing everyone to civilian leaders who ran the country based on trial and error. We have not had a Commander in Chief who has been able to handle security effectively for instance in the last 20 years. These are the worries of the young people.

What you have now are recycled and sick leaders who lack ideas but are holding tightly to parties to help them get into power. None of them can in their individual merit run as independent candidates and even win in their council areas. That is why they don’t be want the independent candidacy clause to be inserted into the reviewed constitution and passed in the National Assembly.

If not why would there be so much desperation in the realm of politicking to become President of Nigeria? Why would someone be so condescending to insist that it is his turn now? Even if we were in a federation of turn by turn inserted in the constitution, is it really his turn? How will these young people feel seeing someone desperately insisting that it is his turn? What about those in the south east don’t they have a right to say it’s their turn too?

Sadly, these are some of the questions these young and angry members of the public use to pose to us whenever we come across them. As a journalist, I am trained to ask the questions and not to pretend to understand the minds of all politicians including the diabolical ones who steal and are dragged to court by EFCC. Of course the innocent ones will escape even without a good lawyer but what marvels me is that some guilty ones still find time to go back and re-contest for offices. Such politicians hardly have shame. No need to name anybody here but they know themselves. Why is it that some of them who have actionable cases with the EFCC are not ashamed to contest? Known drug dealers and sniffers are in public offices with heads raised high up. Some of them contest elections and the same young people who take their drugs kill and steal ballot boxes on their behalf. Win or loose, they are allowed to walk around and pollute every one. Why should anyone vote for you when you disrespect and look down on the people by telling us that it’s your turn? Or you have contested 5times and you think you are the only one qualified to contest again. Why should I piety any sick one just because he has thrown his hat into the ring? Who says our tribe is not qualified to have the presidency? How about our religious group, are we so useless that no one is qualified to represent us? Why is it that there is no ideology in the parties? All of them lean towards a common front? The stomach ideology which is common to all the strong parties.

The bottom line for a national front for the country is for a third force to come as canvarsed for by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo recently. A third force based on justice fairness and balance.

My Binoculars: Of partisan politicians, defection, lack of consultations and the pending rebellion of young people against the present unproductive political order

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Columns

Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)

Published

3 weeks ago

March 9, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)

By: Balami Lazarus

As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.

Institute of Agricultural Research (I.A.R.), Division of Agricultural Colleges (D.A.C.), and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and other related units are where we were more attracted to because of their implements/tools and equipment. The tractors and their components, like harrows, ploughshares, and harvesters, have awakened the aspirations of some of us to be agricultural experts, farmers, and university dons in agricultural sciences, and others as researchers.

Agricultural tractors have been one of the most important machines in the cultivation of commercial and mechanized farmland, providing food/cash crops and agro-allied raw materials for industries and factories, hence the economic development of Nigeria.

Therefore, tractors like Massey Ferguson, John Deere, Ford, Fiat, and Styre were common sights for us.

When I decided to do some investigations on the whereabouts, or to say disappearances, of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors belonging to the state government and the people of Plateau State. It was really not easy for me because individuals who were in the stream of affairs, past and present, are not willing to speak on this matter. And I began to suspect there was connivance/conspiracy in the disappearances of these tractors by some collective individuals.

Questions are being asked over and over by the citizens of Plateau State about the 400 Duetz Fahr model tractors made in Germany, which were procured by the state government during the administration of former Governor Simon Bako Lalong (2015-2023), whose tenure was nothing to write home about except for his poor performance in governance. Unlike the beginning of the good governance of the present administration of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.

In the course of my investigations and findings, I was told that the one and only person who had asked questions severally and was still speaking on the matter was one Ehis Akugnonu of JFM 101.9 FM. Jos (aka Osama), whom I met on this matter, our discussions lacked adjectives to qualify the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors on the Plateau, a state blessed with fertile land for farming and production of food and cash crops in all seasons.

Agricultural programs have always been the priority of the government, both state and federal. Institutions of learning—universities, institutes, and other research centers—are not left out of the scheme of agricultural activities. Individual and organized private sectors are also playing significant roles in the development of the nation’s agricultural economy, adding value to the agricultural food chain.

Former Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State procured the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors to boost agriculture to enable farmers to cultivate more farmland through the utilization of these tractors. Surprisingly, they were never distributed to farmers in the 17 local government areas. Sources within Government House Little Rayfield Jos told this writer that “there was a clandestine arrangement that played out in the disappearance of the 400 Duetz Fahr’. In simple arithmetic, if and only if these tractors were distributed to the 17 local government areas, each would have gotten 23, leaving 9 tractors for other purposes, but the disappearance has dampened the spirit of the state farmers. “No single individual is happy about this matter.”. We will continue to ask questions until these tractors are brought back to us’. Said a concerned citizen.

Recently, the Executive Governor of the State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, in his good governance programs, procured 200 new tractors of the Massey Ferguson model that were immediately, without delay, distributed to organized farmers’ groups across the 17 local government areas. This gave hope, wiping away tears on the faces of small and medium-scale farmers on the Plateau.

In tidying up this write-up, I was informed that the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors paved

way that saw the carting away in a thievery manner and the gleaning of government house items at Little Rayfield Jos. While fingers are pointing to Senator Simon Bako Lalong on the whereabouts of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors worth hundreds of millions of naira, which could have changed the agricultural landscape of Plateau State.

Balami, a Publisher/Columnist

08036779290

Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)

Columns

Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)

Published

4 weeks ago

March 3, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)

By: Balami Lazarus

Therefore, tractors like Massey Ferguson, John Deere, Ford, Fiat, and Styre were common sights for us.

In tidying up this write-up, I was informed that the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors paved

Balami, a Publisher/Columnist

08036779290

Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)

Columns

My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga

Published

1 month ago

February 28, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga

By: Sam Kayode

Indeed Angbalaga was a reporter’s delight. Firm yet welcoming. His demise is a sudden blow to some of us who have basked in his warmth and detribalized nature. He was of a different make from the generality of uniformed personnel some of us are used to, sharp witty with a strong ability to interface from one generation to another. He was a trained sociologist from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where he graduated in 1984. Taught for sometime at the FCT which gave him the unique ability to understand his generation and all the ones after his.

His training as a customs official since 1988 had taken him to many States including the commercial capital of Nigeria Lagos and many other cities. Controller Joshua Angbalaga was easy going and kept an open door for most of us journalists who came into contact with him through exclusive interviews. He was open minded and was ready to tolerate most of our young colleagues who sometimes displayed slight intolerance for uniforms at news conferences because of the insurgents lurking around.

In Controller Joshua Angbalaga buried today in lafia nasarawa state, I have a personal loss of a man who was an exemplary news maker. He was a public figure who had immense knowledge about the weaknesses and strengths of the gentlemen of the pen. He was a good representative of his controller General. He understood the body languages of most of our intolerant younger colleagues and gave his subordinates in the office then a standing directive that any time any of us comes to see him, we must not be kept waiting unnecessarily if he is free. He was far different from previous controllers who had come and treated reporters like condemned criminals who should never be allowed to come close to the controllers office upstairs.

Some of them in sister agencies especially the ones in the immigration service gave standing orders that journalists should be turned away from the gate as if we were insurgents. This was because some of them were never financially transparent as we learnt from their boys so we understood why they were so vehement at stopping journalists from conducting their constitutional activities. A lot of Angbalaga’s paramilitary colleagues marveled at his dexterity with the gentlemen of the fourth estate.

Our paths met in April 2017 when he reported to Maiduguri as controller and Borno/Yobe area Commander of the Nigerian customs. That was three years after I reported in Maiduguri as correspondent of the nation newspaper.
From then on we continued to work together with him and his entire management team in making expected progresses within the war theatre.
We had several news conferences with him especially on how he had been able to make tremendous progress in turning things around in spite of the insurgency which was at its peak by then. Angbalaga was a rare news maker in uniform because of his belief that none of his officers were too rotten to resist reforms. They were all in sync with his policies to make the state better than he met it. When it was time to go, he left maiduguri on transfer to Abuja where he later retired in 2020. He was involved in stopping a lot of contrabands including hard drugs which is the main fuel keeping insurgents at alert.

On retirement, we kept our communication intact and friendly. Oga Angbalaga was a very studious officer who had already prepared himself for leadership roles by completing his master in public administration in 2000. Feeling a bit bored and not tired in retirement, he went back to school for his PhD program in University of Abuja. He told me recently that he was close to finishing his course work and was kicking to go to the next challenge as God directs. We bantered on the phone while I wondered if he was going back to teaching but he laughed and asked for Gods will to be done. We had a one hour call last year with an invitation to me to visit him during the last yuletide 2024. So with a promise that I would be in lafia to see him for the yuletide, we rounded the call. But due to certain conditions not under my control, that was the last time we would talk as friends. I missed the trip due to I’ll health. Controller Angbalaga is no more as the Lord wills. He has answered the solemn call of nature which sends all mortals back to their creator regardless of age, status, character, race or creed. Death has shown that it’s a leveler of all mankind and my friend oga Angbalaga as I used to call him lived a forthright life before bowing to immortality. May the Lord console his friends at Mount St Gabriel Makurdi, St John Bosco Doma, the entire family of the Nigerian customs service, immediate family and the entire eggon nation where the Lord used him to touch several souls before his passage.
Have a nice sleep oga Angbalaga. From Biodun as you used to call me.

My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga