Drifting to the abyss

NIGERIA has never been ruled by a regime that is as clueless as the present one. Not only are we drifting in a rudderless manner, we don’t even seem to have a sense of what is really going on. On April 14th, the United States had alerted the Nation saying that Boko haram was about to attack Abuja again. The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku had reacted immediately dismissing the alert and reassuring us that “government had stepped up security measures.” There was no apology from Government to the people that they had misled us into thinking Abuja was safe when the 26th April attack in Abuja and Kaduna targeting ThisDay and the Sun newspapers occurred. What are we to make of the President’s announcement that the Boko haram menace will be resolved in June?

During last week’s South-South Economic Summit, the National Security Adviser, General Owoye Azazi, announced that the cur- rent escalation of insecurity in the country, particularly the rampaging activities of the dreaded extremist sect, Boko Haram, is traceable to some undemocratic practices by the political parties during elections, especially the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He added that “the issue of violence did not increase in Nigeria until when there was a declaration by the cur- rent president that he was going to contest. PDP got it wrong from the beginning. The party started by saying Mr A can rule, and Mr B can- not rule, according to PDP conventions, rules and regulations and not according to the constitution. That created the climate for what is happening or manifesting itself in country. Is it possible that somebody was thinking that only Mr A could win, and if he did not win, he could cause a problem in the society”?

He argued that his understanding is that it cannot be the case that “the level of violence in the North East just escalated because Boko Haram suddenly became better trained, better equipped and better funded, or something else was responsible…. But, then I must also be quick to point out that today, even if all the leaders that we know in Boko Haram are arrested, I don’t think the problem would end, because there are tentacles. I don’t think that people would be satisfied, because the situations that created the problems are not just about the religion, poverty or the desire to rule Nigeria. I think it’s a combination of everything. Except you address all those things comprehensively, it would not work.”

In his own comments at the occasion, the Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio traced the current state of insecurity in the country to the structural defects in the polity, placing so much respon- sibility on the shoulders of the Federal Government. Mr Akpabio said the federal government had failed to deliver, rating its performance at 10 per cent. As General Azazi has one quarter of the budget to provide security and his intelligence is that the PDP, the ruling party, whose head is the President has responsibility for the destructive violence we are facing, we cannot but agree with him. If the rating of the PDP federal government by a well-informed PDP Governor is 10%, the message to Nigerians is clear. Our survival as a nation and our future progress is totally dependent on removing PDP from power. As an old teacher, I know that any student that can only score 10% in his result is a totally hopeless case.

The rudderless drift of the Nation towards the abyss is exemplified even more starkly by the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee set up by the House of Representatives to verify and determine the actual subsidy requirements and monitor the implementation of the subsidy regime in Nigeria. The report highlights mind boggling levels of mega corruption as a small coterie of people with links to Aso Rock mindlessly loot our collective resources.

What is most distressing about the revelations is that because the looting is planned and executed from the highest levels of the State and its operators of the petroleum industry, there was a deliberate plot within the regulatory agencies to ensure records are not kept and the processes are opaque. In addition, people with no morals or scruples were appointed into key positions so that they could engage in the most massive looting in our country’s history without batting an eye lid.

Not surprisingly, the cabal engaged in the blatant abuse of the 2011 Appropriation Act with reck- less abandon. The executive arm of government actively engaged in the unconstitutional and fraudulent escalation of the approved budget for fuel subsidy in 2011 from N245.96 billion up to N2.58 trillion. In so doing, the Presidency allowed complete lawlessness and lack of accountability of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC), whose board is chaired by the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. In any country with a sane government, the immediate reaction of government would have been to sack this minister who symbolises mega corruption in our country. It is interesting that the response of government was to sack the accounting companies – Akintola Williams and Co and Adekanola and Co, while those who employed them to verify the deals were left in their positions.

The information that the former Accountant General of the Federation and present Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, authorized 128 payments in split withdraw- als of N999 million each, totalling N127.872 billion, within 24 hours would in any other country call for an economic emergency requiring an immediate disbanding of the whole system and creation of a new system. How can the same system are allowed to operate after such revelations. How can it continue to be business as usual with ample evidence that some petroleum marketers had collected subsidy of over N230.184 billion on PMS nut did not supply even a drop.

What these revelations tell us is that yes indeed, Azazi is right; the PDP is terrorising and destroying this country. They are not respectful of our laws and our Constitution. They have no qualms about stealing all our resources. And even more important, they are deter- mined to continue with business as usual. They have squandered out excess crude account from $20 billion a few years ago to only $3 billion today.

It is in this context that N-Katalyst, a patriotic non-partisan net- work of individuals across different sectors who have deep commitment to the promotion of Nigerian unity and progressive change are meeting today at Gombe Jewel Hotel in Abuja to consider these shocking revelations.

Dr Otive Igbuzor will review the report and draw implications on how our economy is being ruined by mega corruption. The Chair- man of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Chidi Odinkalu will draw attention to how corruption has become a major stumbling block to protecting the human rights of Nigerians. Dr Hussaini Abdu and Yemi Candide-Johnson will argue the case for commitment and organised action by civil society and anti-corruption agencies in ending the impunity that corrupt public officials have enjoyed so far under the PDP regime. Finally, Clement Nwankwo and Bashir will address the need for the Parliament and the Presidency to listen to the voices of Nigerians in taking immediate measures against public officials involved in the scam and ensuring that all misappropriated funds are returned to the treasury. One immediate measure that is required is the immediate sacking and arrest of the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison- Madueke. Of course all other public and civil servants who participated in the subsidy scam whether by connivance or negligence in the ministries of Finance and Petroleum or the Accountant General’s office should also be prosecuted and punished.