The labour of our heroes past is certainly in vain. What is wrong with Nigerians? Selfish, disorganised, wicked, sentimental and lawless. The attributes are countless. These are the issues that are standing between the nation and development. We cannot make any headway unless these distractions are removed from our individual and collective lives as a people.

Since the Yar'Adua palaver began, the debate has transformed from a national issue to petit aspirations and sheer political brutality by those who wish to seize power through a dubious way. The thirst began with the existence of a vacuum, then to a call for transmitting a letter to the National Assembly, then to conferring of acting status on Goodluck Jonathan. And when all these were got, the final blow is to seek to invoke Section 144 of the constitution so that the president would be declared incapacitated, thus giving his deputy the automatic ticket to the presidency even when he was not elected as such and the principal is still alive and not impeached.

The debate at a point was over why the substantive president should be allowed to return to Nigeria without clearance from the acting president? This is nonsense and a sheer display of ignorance by a few who believe they are all that matters. This is wanton provocation from a power-hungry cabal that is desperate to put the nation on war path.

If truly, as a portion of the National Anthem says, the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain the developments in Nigeria over the last 50 years seem to suggest that either it will be impossible for the nation to attain any meaningful growth and development as it is recently constituted or there is the urgent need to revisit the issue of sovereign national conference so that the various groups that make up the country freely decide what to do: either be part of the entity called Nigeria or go their ways.

It appears that there are a lot more issues than the things that have continued to make Nigeria an impossible enterprise, and the earlier these issues are confronted, the better for the nation. Why is it so easy for Nigerians to be lawless? Why is it that 50 years after independence, several years after a ravaging civil war and years of political, social and economic turmoil, it is still very difficult or even impossible for Nigerians to agree to live together?

The current debate as regards the health of the president has been exhaustively debated. Several citizens have since made up their minds, out of sheer desperation, that come what may, President Yar'Adua will never be well again or will never bounce back as the president of Nigeria. Some people are irritated by the mere thought that President Yar'Adua could, sooner or later, resume work. They don't want to hear that - and the only item on their agenda is that the man must either get well or otherwise be removed from office. This is unfortunate and an illegality.

The privilege of acting, which the vice president has, is the farthest the nation can go unless if, God forbid, the president is not able to bounce back. What the nation's political machine needs to be doing at this point is strategising on the post-Yar'Adua era after the 2011 elections.

I believe that the confusion which the nation finds itself in today provides any credible opposition the opportunity to increase its stake and possibly capture power from the PDP in the next round of elections in 2011. The trick therefore must be to exploit the advantages opened by the power tussle amongst the two warring cabals in the   presidency. It is not President Yar'Adua alone that has been cornered by a cabal, but equally and more viciously his deputy who is acting for him. Nigerians are shameless and lacking in morals and standards.

The PDP has a lot of work to do to be relevant in 2011. There are, at the moment, two standing theories of how they intend to approach 2011. What is clear is that the party has told its acting president in very plain language that he would not have the ticket to run in 2011. In the event that the acting president desires to remain in his party, he may step aside after ensuring that free, fair and credible elections are conducted and a new government has been constituted in Abuja. That, to me, would have made Jonathan an honourable person against this desperate scramble for power that he is engaged in at the moment. Another scenario is having a powerful presidential candidate with whom Jonathan can run as a running mate. There are, of course, several people within the ruling cabal that can fit into this, but the consideration of protocol and other matters is capable of reducing the list to a manageable size. If the insinuation of an IBB presidency is true, then, Goodluck Jonathan will improve his vitae if he is nominated to run along with IBB. If the IBB candidature is a hoax, the second thesis seems to suggest that the Governors' Forum, being the strongest organ of democracy in the country, may wish to nominate one of its own to run for the presidency while Jonathan deputizes.

Whatever the case may be,  the PDP will once again face Nigerians with a lot of baggage, and how well it is able to wriggle out of the mess will, to a great extent, depend on several factors among which is how it is able to address the major issues at stake. Certainly it won't be easy resolving the puzzle. I want to believe, still, that the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.

Sokoto: The Need For Caution

The Appeal Court Tribunal sitting in Sokoto has announced that it would deliver judgment this Tuesday in the appeal case before it between the governor of the state, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, and the defeated candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP),Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi. This announcement came in spite of the intervention of the chief justice of Nigeria, Katsina-Alu, and the National Judicial Council (NJC), to the effect that the Sokoto Appeal Tribunal should suspend all further action on the case pending the resolution of the allegations made against the judges. As a result of this inexplicable defiance by the judges, the normally peaceful state capital, Sokoto, and its environs have been gripped by a rising tension which, if care is not taken, may explode at any moment.

Sokoto residents who expressed opinion on the issue say that they were angry because the matter had already been decided by the people twice: in 2007 and in 2008. There is an urgent need for the law to take into cognizance the societal parameters that determine the wellbeing of the people by avoiding rancour that is likely to jeopardize the essence of justice. We are of the view that justice as the foundation of social engineering must be conscious of direction of flow of the people. Yes, it is blind. We need to ensure that the peace in Sokoto is retained and improved upon. And the judiciary definitely has a positive role to play in that by closely understanding the aspirations of the people. We are told, time and again, that the law is an ass. In any case, in this digital age, the law cannot afford to serve negative purposes.

At a point I did fear that Mr. Ogbonna Onovo wouldn't be made the inspector-general of the Nigeria Police. But on that evening the news of his elevation flashed on the television screen, I instinctively felt, for reasons I couldn't even understand, that justice had been done. I   may   not   know a thing about Nigeria Police politics, but I had always regarded the present IG as a likeable officer. If my memory serves me right,  I  think  I  once  watched him strum a guitar on a Charley Boy Show; and perhaps that could have been it. My thought then: for a very senior   Police officer to push aside the seedy world of the Nigeria Police to play the guitar, for me, had meant "here's a regular, quiet, artsy guy who, if given that high office, can, at once, connect with the real people and the real situation to fully grasp the rhythm and the reality of things. He could stroll down the neighbourhood and shake up some hoodlums by their scruff," such were the extent of my imaginations.

That sort of reasoning made me happy when Mr. Onovo took over from Sir Mike. The seat of the IGP of Nigeria is understandably red-hot, trying and demanding. Nigerians have seen it all. IG Onovo is currently having it full, as would be expected. My impression is that his approach to handling public reaction to police conduct has to be overhauled to reflect, not only a willingness by the police, as a public institution, to listen to criticisms, complaints and exhortations, but also to take time to explain its many difficulties, without resorting to evasions and counter-arguments.

Last year, there was a case of "fight-them-back" reaction of the police to a report of the Amnesty International on the police. That report documented possible graphic instances of police brutality; their institutional failings, operational difficulties, etc, and without much spadework,  the  police dismissed it.

Police Affairs Minister, Dr. Ibrahim Lame, recently harangued the Force, citing some grave incidents of insecurity in the country and told its management to buckle up. The most gruesome of such incidents was the killing of 20 passengers in an  armed  raid along the Benin-Ore road. I am a reporter, but the first time I saw the picture in the press, I gasped. The accounts of the massacre depressed me, and so I didn't worry about the correct date, time or such other particulars of news reporting. Now, the police are out with an uncommon zing to prove the media wrong over possible finer details of that report. First, I had heard the charge that the picture was a product of modern photographic technology deployed to morph what we saw. Then came the hair-splitting details of the actual hour, date, month, year and the circumstances in which poor Nigerians were run over by a motor vehicle because they hadn't money on them to give rampaging highway robbers. OK, the killings didn't happen on February 25, 2010, as the media accounts put it, but rather on July 1, 2009. Yes, it wasn't the luxury bus driver that ran over the passengers, ordered down by the robbers, as reported in the media, but rather another vehicle that came on the scene did the smashing. Of course, all these were never reported by the Police then, in order not to "heat up the polity."

The Police authorities may desire to talk classical journalism, but you'd have to wonder about how the variations in the accounts of the gory event can explain, or even make it a less significant piece of news, that Nigerians now, cannot travel if they don't hold sufficient money to pay armed robbers on the highway.

Let's hear more of the lamentable woes of the Nigeria Police, not some scape-goating narratives, because the truth is that the police in Nigeria perform under very severe operational situations. The public barely trusts the Force to protect or save lives. That's the greatest danger. We should, therefore, stick to these problems and explore ways of convincing the government to run its police well.An Evening With Ghanaian FriendsGhanaians resident in Calabar, last weekend, marked the 53rd  National Day of their ever forward-looking nation. I was in Calabar on their invitation. Let's say that this part of Nigeria has had age-long interaction with Ghana. In music (highlife), common names, (Ansa, Essien, Oko, Edem, Ama, etc) and some slices of cultural life, Ghana and the Calabar area of Nigeria are remarkably similar.With their glorious yards of kente, slung over their shoulders, the Ghanaians strutted about the venue of the ceremony, extolling the quality of the early hard work done by their nation's founding father, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and with highlife lyrics on their lips.As one of the patrons honoured at the occasion, I was seized by the instant magic of justified sense of patriotism eloquently displayed by Ghanaian brothers and sisters. Whither Nigeria my native land!

When I wrote my piece last week entitled "Incapacity and Illegitimacy", I did not know that it would attract many reactions. From text messages, voice mails and even phone calls, I got over a hundred reactions. Those who liked it were as passionate as those who did not like it. There was a lady from the office of the minister of information who insisted that I was not fair to her principal. And I asked her to write a counter-argument pointing out what is not true or not correct and I would publish it. There was a young man who left me six voice mails and considered me "not worth being a human being". By and large, I think that piece has achieved its purpose and I stand by everything I wrote.

There was a message from somebody who is obviously very sympathetic to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. It must be realised that I have nothing personal against Dr. Jonathan. As far as I am concerned, both Jonathan and Mallam Umaru Yar'Adua belong to the same Peoples Democratic Party that has had the opportunity and means to turn around this great country for the better in the last 10 years but has allowed us to remain stagnant and static. I am not a journalist. I am just an ordinary columnist. And, God knows, I am not interested in any personal glory. That is why even my picture does not appear on this page. I am only a concerned citizen who is desirous of positive changes in the only country I can call mine.

What is most important is for whoever has a contrary view to dazzle us with facts and figures and not to baffle us with sentiments and emotions. If the last piece was perceived as pro-Yar'Adua, then, it must have been unintentional. I was just trying to point out the wrong approach of those who are trying to unseat him. I have never read in the constitution or in any law where being sick is a crime. And if one is trying to dig the ditch of evil, one should remember to dig it wide and not deep, for the digger may be the one to fall inside.

In any case, why should I serve any narrow, personal pro-Yar'Adua interest and not our collective national interest? For one, Mallam Yar'Adua does not know how to attract loyalty. Instead, he repels it. Secondly, by most accounts, the last three years of this administration have not witnessed any qualitative improvement in the lives of our people. And, thirdly, those perceived as closest to him, the so called kitchen cabinet, have not been associated with any spectacular achievements since they came to office. Abba Sayyadi Ruma is the agriculture minister and from Ruma village to every other part of Nigeria, what improvement has he brought to this important sector? Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi is the economic adviser. He will only be remembered as one of the most arrogant and inaccessible public officials in Nigeria's history.

These are the people around Yar'Adua. They are also his greatest baggage. No. I have no reason to stick my neck out for this obviously anti-people regime. And Dr. Jonathan is constitutionally the chairman of the National Economic Council. In all honesty, what is the economic policy of this administration? Can anybody tell me? But for the singular intervention of the Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the whole of the Yar'Adua/Jonathan regime would have been uneventful; and only God knows what the banking industry would have been like. That is why I consider Yar'Adua and Jonathan as two sides of the same coin until I am convinced otherwise As the Fulani say, an antelope will not jump and its child will only crawl.

So, I honestly, do not understand the hysterical view of those who think Jonathan should be supported and Yar'Adua should be opposed. This must be a sectional agenda which has no basis in logic. And I also cannot comprehend the calls for the removal of some military officers for giving protection to Yar'Adua when he came back from Saudi Arabia. With all the hypocritical posturing of some high government officials, can anyone blame the military for organising such secret protection for him? Was it not at the airport that Rwanda's Habyarimana was blown up, which led to the genocide in that country? Thus, if these soldiers cannot be commended, they should not be condemned.

My attention was also drawn to page 44 of the Vanguard newspaper of Wednesday, March 3, 2010, where an advertorial entitled "Southern Nigeria will go if..." was carried by a group called the Southern Protectorate Movement.  In paragraph 24, they wrote that "these Northern rascals should be careful; Southerners are no fools. Recall that Lagos and Kano states were created on the same day in 1967. While Lagos state remains as a single state, Kano has since been split into three states of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa. Lagos State today has 20 local government areas while Kano, Katsina and Jigawa together have 105 LGAs and contributing nothing to the federal purse they share from".

In their conclusion, they wrote: "Therefore if the Northern elements refuse to accept Goodluck as the President of a united Nigeria, then we will gladly endorse him as the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria.  In which case, the Northern Protectorate can go with the content of the air ambulance."

First of all, either out of mischief or sheer ignorance, these people mentioned that Katsina was part of the old Kano state, which indeed is a big lie. Katsina was part of the old Kaduna State. And because Lagos has small landmass, there has never been any clamour for a new state from there since it was created in 1967. Anyway, very soon all these issues they raised will be properly addressed here.

Also, if these people are doing this to help Jonathan, then, it is counter-productive and may achieve the opposite. In the first place, how did Jonathan become acting president without the support of the North? In fact, how would he have become vice president without the North's support? And, if really he is interested in being a national leader, why is he not dissociating himself from these terribly costly adverts and calling them to order? What efforts have anyone made to create the sea or oil that is in the South and which these faceless groups are using as propaganda weapons?

We must not lose our heads just because of some individuals who are actually fighting for power and ego and not any common good. No amount of cheap blackmail or baseless intimidation can make anyone achieve his or her objectives. Nigeria will never be the same without any part or section. We must learn to accept, respect and accommodate each other in the spirit of unity and brotherhood. If Jonathan wants to be a national leader either now or in the future, he knows that he needs to build confidence, convince others to trust him by his deeds and actions and not by propaganda, lies and deceit from faceless groups. We must also know that our problems are not tribes, religions or sections but a certain corrupt class of people that have been retarding our progress since independence. God save Nigeria.

Plateau Again!

Just as I was writing this, the issue of reprisal attacks in Jos came up again. I sympathise with the victims and condemn any destruction of life and property by anybody or group. It is a most deplorable and despicable act. May God bring peace to Plateau and to our nation. Amen.