The unpalatable palliatives of the lockdown

In the past three weeks that Nigeria has been on a lockdown brought upon by the global pandemic, Covid-19 the issue of palliatives for the vulnerable deserve a closer look.

When the Federal and state governments finally decided to jointly lockdown the country as a precaution, the consideration was more on enforcing the lockdown willy-nilly than in arranging for measures to cushion the effect on the vulnerable who constitute the majority in the country.

When government eventually caved in to the demands for palliative measures, its intervention has so far been pitifully puny and a clear mockery of the efforts to which more score is set at the publicity opportunity than in making sure items get to the people who deserved it most.

Per the palliatives what comes through is money money everywhere but none seen by the supposed beneficiaries. Wealthy individuals, institutions, foreign countries and international agencies have reportedly donated billions to aid government in implementing the lockdown. Both the Federal and state government have reportedly set aside billions in the name of providing relief.  The Federal government claimed it had compiled a data base of 2.6 million persons eligible to benefit from the palliatives which President Buhari announced in his most recent broadcast will be upgraded by another million names to 3.6 million. How was this arrived at? In country of some 200 million how realistic is the claim that only 3.6 million are captured as poor and vulnerable?

Minister of Information Lai Mohammed was not left out. He was reported to have stated that Nigerians groaning under the lockdown did not need to do so because 100 billion naira had been doled out to take care of their needs during the lockdown. I thought in this regard he had taken his love for spin too far. If we are to take him on his words and if truly that much was disbursed to Nigerians then definitely there would have been visible effect.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management which is responsible for distributing the palliatives both in cash and in kind has received knocks all round. Senator Ali Ndume of Borno south accused the ministry of making up fake names for the distribution and called for the disbandment of the committee responsible for the exercise and its replacement with another more transparent.  Although the presidency described him as an irresponsible politician seeking to shore up his popularity, his observation against the background of similar happenings elsewhere could not be faulted. In Abuja the Federal Capital and most states many complained of not receiving any cash even though it was reported in the media that they did. In many areas it was reported that the food items meant for the people did not reach them as local politicians and influential persons had hijacked them. I watched the Minister Sadiya Umar Farouk on TV struggling giving her perspectives on the matter. In a rather wooden presentation she sounded incoherent and unconvincing. An exasperated and weary populace are left wondering why the government could not just relax if not stand down the lockdown totally if it could not provide the reliefs promised. Under the circumstances I doubt seriously if further extension of the lockdown will be sustainable.

On another level, the relevant question is whether the funds being expended for the palliative measures have any legal and constitutional backing.  If the funds were diverted from contingencies earlier appropriated then this must necessarily be approved by the National Assembly as the Covid-19 could not have been anticipated as such.

In a way the whole Covid-19 palliatives conundrum bears an uncanny resemblance to the scandal of diversion of money meant for the fight against Boko Haram during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Although not of the same magnitude this one however follows the same trajectory. Both are examples of how the misery of the people is capitalised on by public officials saddled with responsible to bring succour to them. Because of their semblance the two scenarios could well be justifiably described as PDP’s terror money and APC’s corona cash.

Brashness as governance in Rivers

Twice within a month Rivers state governor Chief Nyesom Wike had to climb down from an action which had he allowed better judgement to guide him, would have turned out differently.  The first was his arrest and hasty prosecution of two pilots of Caverton helicopters and their subsequent detention. As a lawyer whose wife is also a Judge, Governor Wike knows that the matter he involved himself in such an unnecessarily dramatic fashion, was not under his purview constitutionally. Granted that he had a point that he ought to have been prior informed as courtesy by the Ministry of Aviation and the agencies under it that gave approval for the flight, his subsequent action and bellicose statements were uncalled for.

And just as the ink on the Caverton caper was yet to dry he followed it up with arrest and detention of workers of an international oil company who were on essential duty and covered by both the extant provisions of the law and measures governing the Covid-19 lockdown. Here again, Governor Wike went for the grand stand and followed it up with statements unbecoming of a chief executive of a component part of the country.

Governor Wike has set high score on such actions as mechanism for making his point. It is not the first time. In the run up to the last presidential convention of his party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) he threatened the party with dire consequences if the convention was shifted from Port Harcourt the Rivers state capital. During the convention itself when proceedings did not appear to favour his candidate he abruptly walked out of the venue.

He has exchanged uncomplimentary words in public with Seriake Dickson the former governor of neighbouring Bayelsa, and Hope Uzodinma the current governor of Imo. Traditional rulers of his Rivers state also were not spared the caustic side of this brash, pugnacious and impulsive governor who obviously is not enamoured on the importance of the position he occupies which requires him to be of exemplary behaviour in words and action no matter the gravity of the situation.

Rivers state where I resided for nearly a decade with fond memories and as a very important component of this country deserves better. Regardless of his current position as governor, flushed as it were with so much funds from oil operations in the state which obviously fuels his overweening sense of self-importance and dangerous flights of self-delusion, it behoves on responsible elder statesmen from the state and beyond who know the value and importance of Rivers state to call Governor Wike to order.