INEC has turned an appendage of APC — Adetoyinbo

Chief Yemi Adetoyinbo, a legal practitioner, is the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Democratic Party (ADP). In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, he expresses optimism that the major political parties would be stunned in the 2019 presidential election. He also speaks on the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, among other issues

How prepared is your party, Action Democratic Party (ADP) for 2019 general elections?

We have been fully prepared for the 2019 general elections over a year ago. We clocked one year on June 17, and we are moving close the actualisation of our goals and objectives. With our membership and structures across Nigeria, we have become the third largest political force behind the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the emergence of Advanced Democratic Congress (ADC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) did not alter that. ADP remains disciplined and squabblefree, even as politics play on some issues within, but not overly. The relative peace has galvanized us to field experienced candidates across Nigeria for the various offices that would be contested for in 2019, and we are sure of springing surprises in some states.

Do you think your party has what it takes to compete with the major parties like APC and PDP?

We have some limitations, given our age, size, structure and membership. We are not in the same position or level with APC that is currently at the helms of affairs and PDP that was in government for 16 years before 2015, when it handover to APC’s Buhari. That, notwithstanding, we are ready to fight the 2019 election battle and compete if the election would be free and fair and not characterised by vote-buying. That means ADP is a viable opposition to APC and PDP… God’s willing, if ADP can brace up, strategise and reach out to Nigerians based on our manifesto and constitution; we represent hope for a better Nigeria. To this end, the party is determined to wrest power from the APC given the current disorientation and gloom in the land. As it stands, ADP is the third largest political party in Nigeria and the presidential race is going to be three-horse race between President Muhammadu Buhari of APC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of PDP and Engr. Yabagi Yusuf Sani of ADP, contrary to political permutations of analysts, given the fact that ADP represents an emerging new political platform that is charting a new beginning of hope and a prosperous Nigeria. Your party’s national chairman emerged as the presidential candidate unopposed; was his choice a reflection of the voice of members of ADP? The emergence of our party’s National Chairman, Engr. Sani as presidential candidate is part of political normative value inherent in our politics and political party system as party members will continue to work towards party manifestoes, agenda, core values and constitutional realities for attainment of common goals as political parties are formed with the main goal of capturing power, irrespective of who fly their flags.

Do you think Sani has what it takes to contest against the candidate of the APC, President Muhammadu Buhari and that of the PDP, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar?

He is an engineer in oil and gas and has contested for the post of governorship on the platform of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) in Niger State. Based on his political acumen and resources and backed by the Bida Emirate, he is qualified and competent to face Buhari and Atiku of APC and PDP respectively in the presidential election. He has been a party’s national chairman for one year and has added his voice to the political space to be known by Nigerians. He was recently bestowed with the United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Leadership award and also honoured by the Congress of New Jersey in the United States, among others. Though, as a party, we are limited by resources and time, we remain the best credible alternative platform considering that APC and PDP represent bad governance, graft burden and disaster. So, Nigerians should look inward to discover and align with a new party like ADP to rescue the nation from continued misgovernance, political peril, maladministration, killings and rudderless leadership the country has faced since independence.

From the look of things, your party seems to be strong in the South-West, considering the caliber of people who emerged as its governorship candidates. The likes former Speaker of House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and ex-Oyo State governor, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. Do you see your party changing the political order in the zone come 2019?

We worked for the strength achieved in the South-West. The word ‘Action’ in our party’s name relates to Action Group, which seeks to move Nigeria from rhetorics and ensure transparency in governance, basic social welfare values for citizens and support for restructuring of the country to stop killings and ensure equitable harness and distribution of resources. This remains a selling point in the South- West. Then the presence of credible politicians like the chairman of our Board of Trustees (BoT), High Chief Alani Bankole; Deputy National chairman, Alhaji Nojeen Awodele, who is a former Minister of State for Agriculture under the Goodluck Jonathan administration and others is a major boost. Our Lagos State governorship candidate, Mr. Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, is a household name compared to Babajide Sanwo-Olu of APC and Jimi Agbaje of PDP.

At present all seem not to be well in some state chapters of APC and PDP, do you see your party reaping from the crisis in the major parties?

The indefatigable well-groomed Dimeji Bankole, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is flying our flag in Ogun State is a reality to attract and behold, and his chances are bright as the PDP candidate Hon. Ladi Adebutu and APC candidate, Dapo Abiodun as well Gboyega Isiaka of ADC are no political match to him. ADP in Ogun State happens to have the best structure in Nigeria. This is complemented by a large following. In Oyo State, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao Akala, a former governor remains a political metaphor and recurring decimal in the state’s politics. He is on ground in Oyo North and the Oke-Ogun axis, and the remark of Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi that only Ibadan man can become governor, had been proved wrong before by Alao-Akala, who is ADP’s governorship candidate. APC and all other parties are in disarray in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states. In the last Osun State governorship election, the ADP governorship candidate, Moshood Adeoti, came fourth and established his foothold in Iwo. We have many of his foot soldiers like Prince Dotun Babayemi, Dr Wale Bolorunduro and Alhaji Lai Oyeduntan contesting for Osun West, Osun East and Osun Central senatorial seats respectively. We also have Oluomo Sunday Akerele, a former Osun State commissioner for Information, seeking the ticket of Boluwaduro/Ifedore federal constituency. Also, the performance of our candidate in the last Ekiti State governorship election, Otunba Segun Adewale, was a clarion call. In Edo State, ADP has in its fold, former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Roland Owie. The party is very strong in Owan East and West, where Hon. Charles Alihe is running and a host of other legislative seats are sure for ADP. Senator Bernard Birabi, another former Chief Whip of the Senate has entrenched ADP in Rivers State. With Senator Usman Nagogo and others in Nassarawa State and other parts of the Middle Belt, ADP has high hopes ahead of the 2019 general elections. APC and PDP are in disarray over primaries in most states, so ADP will reap from the crisis and change its fortune in South-West and the nation in general.

Do you have confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducting a credible election in 2019 and how would you assess the commission’s preparation for the polls?

Nigerians have lost confidence in INEC as presently constituted under Prof. Yakubu Mahmood. INEC got some confidence restored under Prof. Attahiru Jega, but the electoral commission is now known for inconclusive elections. INEC has been tagged an appendage of APC and is associated with the worst era of vote-buying and electoral rules summersault. The APC has not won any election since 2015 as a majority of Nigerians now detest the change they voted for. In the legislative by-elections in Rivers, Kogi, Bauchi and Katsina states, it was hell let loose by APC to win by crooked means and the party was aided by INEC. Willie Obiano was re-elected by the people during the last Anambra State governorship election, but in Ekiti and Osun polls, it was day light robbery, orchestrated violence and vote-buying aided by INEC and the security agents to re-install APC. We hope INEC will conduct a free and fair election in 2019.

How would you react to the recent ban on 50 personalities from traveling over corruption related issues?

It is a violation of the rights of the individuals to freedom of movement, association and private of life as enshrined in the constitution. It is aimed at prosecuting members of the opposition. So, it should be challenged in court.

Do you think the present government is really fighting corruption as it claimed to be doing?

APC and Buhari are recycling corruption as they go only after perceived opposition figures and few APC members, while entrenching corruption.

What is your advice to the electorate and politicians ahead of the 2019 general elections?

To vote for a new socio-political order by looking inwards at the new political parties and personalities in order to bring an end, the old order of misrule and bad leadership.

How would you assess the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government in the last three years?

The Buhari administration and the APC represent disaster, poverty, dead economy, infrastructural decay and misrule, bad governance and deceit, corruption and unemployment as the government has failed in all facets.

Politics in Nigeria is gradually becoming affairs of a few families as some of them sit side-by-side to deliberate on important legislations and policies that affect the future of more than 180 million people, Felix Nwaneri reports

Though it has often been contended that political dynasties go against the values upheld by democracy since it does not provide an equal opportunity for people to hold offices of power and service, it has thrived even in advanced democracies such as the United States (U.S.) even the country’s founding fathers, wholeheartedly objected to power flowing through blood rather than the ballot, as they declared in the constitution that “no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.”

This perhaps, explains why the narrative of one of the country’s most prominent political families, the Kennedys, avoids the word — dynasty. Rather than referring to the New England clan as a dynasty, it is romantically painted as Camelot — the supposedly golden age of the presidency of John F. Kennedy (196- 1963). The colouration notwithstanding, there is no doubt that there exist political dynasties in the U.S., with their members understanding how to pool resources to convert their last names into impressive and longlasting political brands. The Kennedy dynasty is arguably the most famous dynasty in U.S. political history. John F. Kennedy became president, his brother Robert was an Attorney General and presidential candidate, and their brother Edward was a long-time US senator.

John and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated while in office, JFK lost two children in infancy, and John F. Kennedy’s son John Jr. died in a plane crash in 1999. For 64 years, at least one member of the family has been active in politics. Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III continues that tradition today If the Kennedys have been at times considered the “royal family” of Democratic politics, the Bush family is the Republican equivalent. Prescott S. Bush was the first member of the wealthy family to seek office, winning election to the Senate in 1952. Since then, the family has produced two presidents — George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush — and a governor and presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, George W.’s brother. George P. Bush, Jeb Bush’s son, was recently elected land commissioner of Texas.

There are also the Rockefellers identified with New York, West Virginia, and Arkansas; the Udalls, who first became prominent in Arizona but the most recent generation had three cousins simultaneously serving in the US Senate from Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon; the Clintons, who moved quickly from Arkansas to national politics, with both Bill and Hillary elected to posi-tions in the federal government. In Canada, there is the Trudeau family. Theirs’ is an interesting story. It was reported that when Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and U.S. President Richard Nixon met at a state dinner in Ottawa in 1972, Nixon proposed a toast to Trudeau’s four-month-old son — “the future prime minister of Canada, Justin Pierre Trudeau!” When Justin Trudeau did become prime minister in 2015, the “prophecy” was fulfilled. Earlier this year, Trudeau half-jokingly told an American TV show host that he would like to see his daughter, Ella-Grace, now eight, succeed him someday.

Outside the Americas, the Nehru– Gandhi dynasty has dominated Indian politics since independence from Britain in 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first post-independence prime minister. Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, was the country’s first female prime minister, serving from 1966 until her assassination in 1984. Her son, Rajiv, succeeded her and was assassinated in 1991. In 2004, Rajiv’s Italian-born wife, Sonia Gandhi, became leader of the then-ruling Congress Party and her son, Rahul, nearly succeeded her. Although the Congress Party lost power in 2012, Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi’s two children remain active in politics. Africa has also had its own fair share of political dynasties. They include the Kenyattas of Kenya, Bokassas of Central African Republic, Nguemas of Equatorial Guinea and the Eyademas of Togo. Jomo Kenyatta was a respected, articulate and highly ambitious activist in Kenya’s struggle for independence from Britain.

While working at the Kenya African Teachers College, he founded a nationalist party and was arrested when his followers were implicated in a bloody 1952 rebellion. At independence in 1963, he became prime minister, and later president, of a one-party state. He remained president until his death in 1978. In 2013, his son, Uhuru Kenyatta, won the presidency and was re-elected in this year’s polls.

The Central African Republic where the Bokassas held sway for decades represents one of the most bizarre political interludes in modern Africa. In 1966, Jean-Bedel Bokassa became president of the recently independent country. Eleven years later, he had himself crowned emperor. The ceremony, a surreal remake of Napoleon’s coronation, cost $20 million and was largely financed by France. Bokassa’s fouryear- old son, Jean-Bedel Bokassa Jr., was named crown prince. Protests and French intervention toppled the empire in 1979, before Bokassa Jr. could reign. Another Bokassa son, Jean-Serge, ran for president of the restored republic in 2015.

For the Nguema family, it has run the small West African country of Equatorial Guinea since independence from Spain in 1968. Francisco Macias Nguema was elected president and ran a bizarre personality cult, calling himself the “sole miracle” of the country. He was overthrown by his nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in 1979 and later executed.

Obiang Nguema has kept an unchallenged hold on power ever since. Nigeria has also seen the rise of political dynasties. They include the Yar’Aduas, Ojukwus, Nwodos, Adedibus, Obasanjos, Akinjides, Shinkafis, Sarakis, Tinubus, Okorochas, Ubas, Igbinedions and Abiolas. Most of these families have moved from state or regional power bases to national prominence.

The Yar’Aduas The patriarch of the Yar’Aduas,who hail from Katsina State, Musa Yar’Adua, was a teacher who later served as Minister for Lagos Affairs between 1957 and 1966 during Nigeria’s First Republic. His son, Shehu, who enlisted in the army in 1962 as part of Course 5 intake of the Nigerian military training school, later became Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters under the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo. He held the position between 1977 and 1979. He had earlier served as Transport Minister in the General Murtala Mohammad’s regime. On retiring from the army, Musa Yar’Adua joined politics. He formed the Peoples Front of Nigeria, which had the likes Babagana Kingibe, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Ango Abdullahi, Yahaya Kwande, Babalola Borishade and Rabiu Kwankwaso as members. The organisation later merged with other groups to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which he sought its presidential ticket in 1992. He was leading the race for the party’s nomination before the results were cancelled.

A new presidential primary was later conducted and business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, emerged winner. In 1994, Yar’Adua won a seat to represent Katsina in the National Constitutional Conference. He was an outspoken delegate and that earned the attention of the military leadership who detained him for four days. He, Obasanjo and others were arrested in March 1995 on allegations of plotting to overthrow the Sani Abacha regime.

He was sentenced to death by a military tribunal in 1995. The sentence was commuted to life in prison, but died in prison on December 8, 1997. The presidential ambition, which General Yar’Adua was unable to realise was however achieved by his younger brother, Umaru, in 2007. He was elected president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after he won the April 21, 2007 presidential election. He had earlier served as governor of Katsina State between 1999 and 2007. Death, however, cut short his reign on May 5, 2010 after a protracted illness. He was succeeded by his vice, Goodluck Jonathan, who later appointed General Yar’Adua’s son, Murtala, as minister of State for Defence.

The Ojukwus

What comes to the consciousness of most Nigerians whenever the name — Ojukwu — is mentioned is the late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. Not many know that the name was a household even before the emergence of the warlord. His father, Sir Louis Philip Odumegwu Ojukwu was one of the greatest businessmen ever produced in Africa and one of the richest. The Nnewi, Anambra State born businessman, was at aged just 30, managing his own chain of businesses which included, Ojukwu Stores, Ojukwu textiles and Ojukwu transportation company.Besides business, Sir Louis was also a financial pillar of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), a political party led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe during the preindependence era and in the First Republic.

He was a one-time member of the House of Representative. Ojukwu died in 1966, just a year before the Nigerian civil war and his son Chukwuemeka, who led the breakaway Biafra, was before then, the military governor of the Eastern Region. Educated at King’s College, Lagos, where he was involved in a controversy leading to his brief imprisonment for humiliating a white British colonial teacher, who assaulted a Nigerian lady, the younger Ojukwu later studied in the United Kingdom, first at Epsom College and later at Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he earned a master’s degree in History.

He returned to Nigeria in 1956. Ojukwu joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer. In 1957, after two years of working with the colonial civil service and seeking to break away from his father’s influence over his civil service career, he left and joined the military initially enlisting as a non-commissioned officer (NCO), but later recommended for an officer’s commission.

The Chukwuemeka Ojukwu was active as a politician from 1983 until his death in 2011. He contested for a senatorial seat in 1983 on the platform of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), but lost to Dr. Edwin Onwudiwe of the Nigerain Peoples Party (NPP). He also contested for the presidency on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2003 and 2007.

His son, Emeka Ojukwu jnr, who followed his political footsteps, once served as chairman of Nnewi Local Government. But he caused a stir, when he dumped APGA for the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the eve of last year’s governorship election in Anambra State. Besides, Ojukwu’s son, his wife, Bianca (a former Miss Nigeria), who was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain in 1994, is also notable figure in the political scene, particularly in Anambra State. She was on the race for APGA’s senatorial ticket for Anambra South in the 2019 elections, but lost to Nicholas Ukachukwu.

The Abiolas

May be, theirs would have been one of Nigeria’s largest political dynasties if not for circumstances that cut short Chief MKO Abiola — presidential ambition. The late business mogul won the June 12 1993 presidential election that was annulled by the then military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. Initial figures released by the then National Electoral Commission (NEC), showed that he was already coasting to victory, before the military junta directed it to stop further announcement of results from the remaining few states. Abiola, who worked his way out of poverty through hard work, symbolised the aspirations of many downtrodden Nigerians then.

His “Hope ’93 political manifesto,” which became a sing-song, also played a significant role in his electoral victory. Unfortunately, he never lived to implement the progamme in which he had provided answers to the pervasive poverty and dearth of infrastructure in the country. The man, who would have been president between 1993 and 1998 and or beyond, died on July 7, 1998, in the custody of the Federal Government, four years after he was arrested and detained by the then head of state, General Sani Abacha, for daring to declare himself President-elect. But, his harrowing experience in politics did not deter some of his children from venturing into politics.

His first daughter, Lola Abiola- Edewor, represented the Apapa federal constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) before she moved to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and has had several unsuccessful bids to represent the people of Ogun Central Senatorial District at the Senate. Another of his daughters, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, served as Special Adviser to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, while another, Rinsola, who was formerly an assistant to Kaduna State governor, Nasri el-Rufai, is contesting for a House of Representatives in the 2019 elections on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The Nwodos

The Nwodo political dynasty of Ukehe, Enugu State ranks among the greatest so far in Nigeria’s politics. The family has produced numerous political office holders including a governor, ministers, legislators, national chairman of a political party, among several others. The patriarch of the Nwodo family was Igwe J.U. Nwodo, a traditional ruler who served as Minister of Commerce in the former Eastern Region under Premier Michael Okpara, and was subsequently minister of Local Government. Three of his sons toed his political path and have succeeded in playing at the national level. The eldest of the trio, Joe Nwodo was a former gubernatorial and presidential candidate. His immediate younger brother, Okwesilieze Nwodo, who later became governor of Enugu State in Third Republic afterward served as the first National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National Chairman. Another of the Nwodos, John Nnia, was minister of Aviation under President Shehu Shagari, and again minister of Information under President Abdusalami Abubakar. He is at the moment, the President-General of apex Igbo body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

The Obasanjos

Another political dynasty that is synonymous among Nigerians is that of the Obasanjos. This dynasty has produced a head of state and president as well as a commissioner and senator. It also had one its members running for the presidency.

The patriarch of the dynasty, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been described by many as the father of modern Nigeria due to his contribution to national development, was head of state between 1976 and 1979 and president between 1999 and 2007. Born on March 5, 1937, in Ibogun, Ogun State, Obasanjo had his early education at Baptist Boy’s High School (BBHS), Abeokuta (1952–56). He kick-started his military career by enlisting in the Nigerian Army in March 1958. His first formal training was at the Regular Officers’ Special Training School, Teshi, Ghana and later at Mons Officers’ Cadet School, Aldershot, England (1958–59).

He further trained at the Royal College of Military Engineering, Chatham, England; School of Survey, Newbury, England; Indian Defence College, Indian Army School of Engineering, Poona; and Royal Defence Studies, London, among other military institutions. Following the quick succession of his military training opportunities and experience, he was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as Second Lieutenant in 1959. He was attached to British Battalions in England and in Germany. A year later, in 1960, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. As a soldier, President Obasanjo held several command positions including service with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in the then Congo.

He transferred from the Infantry to the Corps of Engineering in 1961. His outstanding military moment came in 1969 when he took over command of the 3rd Marine Command from the then Colonel Benjamin Adekunle and helped to bring the civil war to a quick end. On his return from a Senior Officer’s Course at Britain’s College of Defence Studies in 1974, he was appointed Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing and he became the second-in-command to Brigadier Murtala Muhammed as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters in the following year after the coup of July 29, 1975. Following the assassination of General Muhammed in a military coup on February 13, 1976, General Obasanjo stepped into Muhammed’s shoes as head of state.

In 1979, he became the first military leader to voluntarily transfer power to a civilian government in Nigeria. This epochal event marked a watershed in the evolution of democratic governance in the country as it ushered in the Second Republic. In 1995, the late General Sani Abacha clamped a phony coup plot charge on him.

He was found guilty and jailed. In 1999, he was elected president under the platform of the PDP. Obasanjo’s daughter, Iyabo, who holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Ibadan and a masters and PhD Epidemiology, served as commissioner for Health in Ogun State before she was elected as senator for Ogun Central senatorial district on the PDP platform in 2007.

She was the Chairman of the Senate’s Health Committee, and a member of the Security & Intelligence, Land Transport, Science & Technology, Education, National Planning, and Inter-Parliamentary Committees. She ran for reelection in 2011, but was defeated by Olugbenga Obadara of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Another of the Obasanjos, Mojisola (an ex-wife of the former president), who is a retired major of the army is also a key political player. She founded the Masses Movement of Nigeria in 1998 and later ran for the presidency on its platform in 2003, interestingly against her husband. She also contested the 2007 presidential election, the only female on the ballot.

The Sarakis

The Sarakis, who hail from Kwara State in North Central Nigeria, are like the Kennedys of the U.S., who are considered the “royal family” of democratic politics. Their patriarch Oloye Olusola Saraki (1933–2012), who attended the University of London, and St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, worked as a medical officer at the General Hospital, Lagos and the Creek Hospital. Oloye Saraki first entered politics when he ran in the 1964 parliamentary election for Ilorin as an independent, but lost. After the election, he returned to his medical practice in Lagos, only returning to party-politics in 1979 and was elected senator on the platform of the NPN and became Senate Leader. He was re-elected in 1983.

He was earlier (1977) elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 constitution. In 1998, Saraki became a National Leader and member of the Board of Trustees of the All Peoples Party (APP), contributing to the APP success in Kwara and Kogi States. He assisted Mohammed Alabi Lawal in becoming governor of Kwara State. He later switched allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and in the 2003 elections supported his son Bukola (also a medical doctor) as candidate for governor of Kwara State, while his daughter Gbemisola was elected senator for Kwara Central.

His plan to have Gbemisola succeed Bukola as governor in 2011 did not materialize as his son’s choice — Abdulfatah Ahmed — won the poll. Gbemisola contested the election on the platform of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), a party formed by Oloye Saraki after his son took over the PDP structure in Kwara State. Besides taking charge in the state, the younger Saraki got elected into the Senate and was re-elected in 2015 on the platform of the APC, when he became president Eighth Senate. He recently returned to the PDP and contested for the party’s presidential ticket, but lost to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

The Tinubus

Another budding political dynasty in Nigeria’s political space is the Tinubus. Unlike the others, theirs is not limited to family members. It has as members, politicians across the states of the South-West zone. The dynasty is headed by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who could be described as an enigma. Like the king, who William Shakespeare in his book: “King Richard 11,” said all the waters in the rude rough seas could not wash off the anointing balm on his head, the former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of APC is blessed with uncanny ability to identify political as well as electoral assets. Born in Lagos, Tinubu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Accounting and Management) from Chicago State University, Illinois, United States. He contested and won his first political election as the President of the Accounting Society of the institution in his final year at the university. On his return to Nigeria, he joined Mobil Producing Nigeria as a Senior Auditor before he retired as the company’s Treasurer.

His first foray into active politics was as a founding member of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and was elected senator for Lagos West in 1992. Though the Third Republic was short-lived as a result of military incursion, Tinubu distinguished himself as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, Appropriation and Currency. With the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential Election, Tinubu became a founding member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a pro-democracy group, which for several years engaged the military for a restoration of democratic governance. Threats to his life later forced him to flee Nigeria. He, however, did not give up the struggle as he joined NADECO abroad to continue the agitation.

He returned to the country in 1998. A year later (1999), he was elected governor of Lagos State on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He was reelected in 2003. His wife, Remi, was elected senator in 2011 and she would be taking a third shot in the 2015 elections. Besides Tinubu’s wife, his first daughter, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first daughter, Folashade Tinubu- Ojo, is the Iyaloja of Lagos State and the President General of the Market Men and Women of Nigeria. Tinubu’s mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji held the position before she passed on. A son-in-law of the APC leader, Oyetunde Ojo, was elected into the House of Representatives in 2011 to represent Ekiti Central II federal constituency and just recently, his cousin, Gboyega Oyetola, was elected governor in Osun State.

The Adedibus

The patriarch of the Adedibu political family that held sway at a time in Oyo State, Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu (1927–2008) was popularly known as “Strongman of Ibadan politics. He was also at a time described by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as “father of the PDP.” Adedibu’s political career started in the 1950s, when he joined the Ibadan Peoples Party from where he moved to Action Group under Chief Obafemi Awolowo and National Party of Nigeria (NPN). There is no disputing the fact that nobody assumed any political position in Oyo State without Adedibu’s approval during his reign.

Besides his son, Kamorudeen, who was elected senator for Oyo South in 2007, his protégées –Teslim Folarin and Rasheed Ladoja, who he later fell out with, served as senator and governor, respectively. One Adedibu’s wives, Bose, who contested for PDP’s senatorial ticket for the 2015 general elections was not successful. Presently, she is one of Atiku Abubakar’s campaigners in Oyo State. The former vice president would be flying the party’s flag in the 2019 presidential election.

The Okorochas

Perhaps, the Okorocha political dynasty is the fastest growing given the way its members are jostling for almost every public office in Imo State. Its arrowhead, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, criss-crossed several political parties before he was elected governor of Imo State in 2011 on the platform of APGA before defecting to APC on which he was re-elected in 2015. One striking feature of the Okorocha dynasty is that it provides little opportunity for outsiders to hold offices of power and service.

Such is the character of their politics that to them belong the spoils of war. In Okorocha government, a sonin- law, Uche Nwosu, is the Chief of Staff and has been anointed by his the governor as his successor. Okorocha’s younger sister, Mrs. Ogechi Ololo, is the commissioner for Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment in the state.

Before her appointment as commissioner, Ololo had served as the Chief of Staff, Domestic Affairs in his brother’s cabinet apart from being in charge of the Christmas Decoration Project, since the inception of the administration. Also, another of Okorocha sonsin- inlaw, Uzoma Anwuka, is also an important personality in his government. Uzoma is the son of the current Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka. The governor, whose tenure elapses on May 29, next year, has picked his party’s ticket to contest for the Imo West senatorial seat.

The Ubas

Of all the political dynasties, the Ubas of Anambra State is the most interesting. It has produced a “governor” and two senators within 16 years. It also boasts of installing a former governor along with all state and federal lawmakers in the state in 2003. The dynasty comprised three brothers — Ugochukwu (a physician and former senator), Andy (a former presidential aide and serving senator) and Chris (a businessman and party chieftain), at a time closed ranks, fought and ousted other political godfathers in the state and ascended the political throne to call the shots.

But, rather than embrace the normal norm of members of political dynasties pooling resources to convert their family names into impressive and long-lasting political brands, the dynasty is presently torn by senatorial ambitions, prompting two of its members — Andy and Chris to turn their respective political weaponries against each other. The eldest of the trio — Ugochukwu — occupied the seat between 2003 and 2007, but was defeated by Obiorah Ugwu, when he attempted a second term.

The family, however, bounced back and clinched the seat through Andy in 2011. He had earlier been sworn-in as governor of the state (May 29, 2007), before the Supreme Court sent him packing two weeks later. The former presidential aide returned to upper legislative chamber after his victory in the 2015 elections. His second coming to the Senate was however threatened by Chris, who insisted on being the validly nominated candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Anambra South senatorial election.

The two brothers had pitched their tents with different camps of the state’s chapter of the party prior to the election and emerged candidates from parallel primaries. While the 2015 battle was won and lost in the court, another clash looms between the Uba brothers as the stage is set for a tougher duel in the 2019 general elections. Andy has picked the senatorial ticket of the APC, while Chris emerged the candidate of PDP. Already, Chris has given a hint of what to expect as he said that he is contesting the senatorial seat against his elder brother because he would not want him to overstay his usefulness in the Red Chamber.

The Shinkafis

Another political dynasty is the Shinkafi family of Zamfara State. It was led by Alhaji Umaru Aliyu Shinkafi (now late), who served as Federal Commissioner of Internal Affairs before being appointed as Director General of the National Security Organisation. On his retirement in 1983, he delved into politics and was one of the promoters of the Nigerian National Congress (NNC), a political association formed in 1989 after the disbanding of political groups by the General Ibrahim Babangida-led military junta.

The NNC later joined the defunct National Republic Convention (NRC). Shinkafi emerged as a leading presidential candidate of the party, but the primary was later annulled and the presidential aspirants banned from politics. A new primary was conducted and Bashir Tofa emerged as the party’s presidential candidate with the support of Shinkafi. The late Marafa Sokoto younger brother, Aliyu, was elected governor of Zamfara State 2007 on the platform of ANPP after he served as deputy governor during the eight year tenure of Governor Ahmad Sani Yerima.

His defection to the PDP cost him re-election in 2011 as he was defeated by ANPP’s Abdulaziz Yari. He re-contested in 2015 and lost again to Yari. Besides his sibling, the late Shinkafi’s daughter, Fatima, was appointed as commissioner for Commerce and Industry by Governor Yari in 2015. She was later appointed Executive Secretary, Solid Minerals Development Fund by President Muhammadu Buhari. Two of his other daughters, Zainab and Hadiza, are first ladies in Kebbi and Zamfara states. The former is married to Governor Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), while the latter is wife wife of Zamfara governor, Yari.

Emerging dynasties

While these political dynasties are likely not quit the stage for now given the way they are consolidating their grip on power; new ones are emerging on the scene. They include the Iboris led by former governor Delta State, James Ibori; Kalus led by ex-Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State; Obanikoros led by a former minister of State for Defence, Senator Musliu Obanikoro; Igbinedions led by Sir Gabriel Igbinedion, Orjis, led by former Governor Theodore Orji; Ibrahims led by former Governor Buka Abba Ibrahim; Kwankwasos led by former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso; Osobas lead by former Governor Olusegun Osoba and the Alao-Akalas led by former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, among others. But the questions over this development are: What key elements existing in these political dynasties make them dominant in the political arena? Does the existence of the political dynasty really help the people, or is it just making the political maturity of the nation stagnant? Speaking on the issue, the Chairman, Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, said the electorate share the biggest chunk of compromise that ensures that politicians perpetrate themselves into a dynasty. His words: “It is gradually exported from Lagos to other parts of the country. The elite only share 30 per cent of the blame, but the electorate takes 70 per cent blame of the malaise.

The electorate have conceded the integrity of the ballot to the political class. They have conceded it to the godfathers. It’s a function of vote buying and political patronage; the moment the community leader gets a slot for his son, he keeps quiet. Most of those in local governments, Houses of Assembly, commissioners are children and family members of these politicians. We should educate and mobilize the people, we must also challenge electoral commission to take interest in the process of primaries of political parties.”

Former presidential candidate of National Conscience Party (NCP), Chief Martins Onovo, said: “We must be vigilant to always condemn deviations especially from people in leadership positions because, when such deviations are tolerated, they become not only precedents but because of leadership authority, they can become standards. “While relations of office holders are Nigerian citizens and may be ordinarily qualified for the positions they seek, we must ensure that their sponsors do not abuse the power of their offices to install them unlawfully. However, since Nigeria is dysfunctional, abuse of power is rife.

“We know that President Muhammadu Buhari appointed many consanguineous relations to powerful positions. We must ensure that corruption is controlled, the rule-of-law is respected and the integrity of the ballot is defended, so that power will remain with the people and not be hijacked by political office holders or godfathers.” The negative connotation brought about by political dynasties and their perceived detrimental effects, notwithstanding, they can bring certain positive effects. The solution to stop the negative effects linked to it is not to ban them as some have canvassed, but instead, to educate people to vote more responsibly in choosing their leaders.

In this analysis, BIYI ADEGOROYE and JOHNCHUKS ONUANYIM look at the litany of crises in the All Progressives Congress (APC) since the end of its primaries, arguing that the party is gradually descending into impunity reminiscent of the pre-2015 status of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

From disgruntlement about his style of leadership, protests over the outcome of the party primaries and alleged corruption case instituted against him in the court, it seems the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and indeed the party itself might be in for a tough time in the days ahead.

In particular, since the outcome of the primaries, a glaring crack has been noticed in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, as some members are instituting court actions over their denial of tickets and grumbling over alleged high handedness and executive posturing of Oshiomhole.

The crack in the party’s NWC was manifested with protests against the national leadership of the party over the just concluded primaries. Besides, another cause of disharmony in the NWC was the National Chairman’s action against the state governors by allegedly removing the party structures from them in their respective states. This is evident in Zamfara, Imo, Kaduna, Ogun, Niger, Ondo and some other states where the governors’ candidates lost outin the primaries.

The present NWC came to power in the month of June, as the former Working Committee led by Chief John Odigie — Oyegun had failed to secure a tenure elongation.

Some members of the NWC, especially those that served under Oyegun are not happy with the ways Oshiomhole was running the activities of the party. One of such alleged wrong doing of Oshiomhole, according to Working Committee member, who crave anonymitys is holding NWC meetings and other party activities in his private office in Aso Drive. Oshiomhole had at one point described his private office in Aso Drive as APC Headquarters’ annex.

Another grievance some members of the NWC are having against the National Chairman is the fact that he does not consult with them before handling issues that relate to their states or zones.

All the NWC members were candidates of their state governors, for those who are from APC state, with exemption of Oshiomhole, who was the candidate of the Presidency.

The NWC members who served in Odigie-Oyegun’s period are: Deputy National Chairman (North), Sen. Lawal Shuiabu, National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, National Auditor, Chief George Muoghalu, National Welfare Secretary, Masari, National Vice Chairman (North East), Comrade Mustapha Salihu, National Vice Chairman (South East), Chief Emma Enukwu and National Vice Chairman (South South), Prince Hilliard Eta.

These persons are more aggrieved with the present administration of the party because they were under an administration that carried them along. Also aggrieved are the staff of the national secretariat, who lament on daily basis that the APC National Chairman has taken away the secretariat from its location in Blantyre Street, Wuse 2 to Aso Drive.

According to them, since the chairman does not hold party activities at the secretariat, it makes party chieftains not to visit the secretariat, therefore making them redundant.

Though the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr. Simeon Ebegbulem has come in defence of his principal Ebegbulem insisted that no NWC member was angry with the National Chairman for bringing party activities to Aso Drive, he, however, admitted that some persons might not be happy with Oshiomhole’s style of running the party because he is strict.

As is lending weight to his highhandedness, a national secretariat staff said the opinion of the NWC members does not matter to the National Chairman. “Some of the crises you are witnessing in some state today over primaries were because the chairman did not consult with NWC members from the state or zone.”

At the last National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party, one of the NWC members had expressed his anger publicly that the chairman does not allow them to talk and that he should be reminded that they all were elected.

Also, the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuiabu is in disagreement with the APC National Chairman on the dissolution of Zamfara State executive of APC. Shuiabu issued a counter statement against the decision of Oshiomhole in that state.

Also, Oshiomhole had cancelled the primaries that had gone half way in Enugu State without consulting the APC South East National Vice Chairman, Emma Enukwu, who is from that state or the state party chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye.

It would be recalled that the state party chairmen had met against the decision of Oshiomhole to adopt Direct Primaries in the states. According to the state party chairmen, the decision by Oshiomhole to adopt Direct Primaries for the state was against the resolution of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which resolved that the party would adopt Direct Primaries for the Presidential ticket and indirect primaries for other tickets. However, when the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu was asked about the cracks, he said he was new and could not speak on such issue. But another NWC member, who spoke in the condition of anonymity acknowledged the existence of crack and it existed in the past when the NWC was new constituted.

A top member of the party likened the current development in the APC to the same impunity that followed the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and lack of internal democracy therein in the build up to the 2015 elections.

As if after a role reversal few years down the line, as it is a given in human relationships especially in this clime, the internal democracy of the APC started having erosion and imposition of candidates started corroding the ruling party.

All these were evident in the subsequent governorship primaries conducted in Bayelsa, Kogi, Ondo, Edo, Ekiti and Osun states. Also, the congresses of the party conducted early this year before its National Convention was alleged to have been enmeshed in controversies of imposition.

For instance, the Minister of Communication, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu is in court over the state congress in Oyo State. Shittu is pleading that the court should not give a legal status to the state party executive since they did not obtained forms but were imposed on the party by the governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi.

Such allegations were abound in all the states — Cross River, Abia, Delta, Taraba, Imo, Rivers, Enugu, etc. In fact the Supreme Court recently ruled nullifying the congresses In Rivers State.

The National Convention of the party conducted five months ago at the Eagle Square was in no way different. From the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to the least National Working Committee member was an imposition of some sort.

A federal high court has ruled against the conduct of the National Organising Secretary position. The court ruled in favour of Senator Osita Izunaso, former APC National Organizing secretary. Izunaso had gone to court to challenge the result of the NOS position.

Oshiomhole had admitted in one of the statements issued by his Chief Press Sec retary, Simeon Ebegbulum that the state congresses fell short of internal democracy. In fact, he nullified some states congresses and conducted a fresh one, while in some states he removed the chairmen sworn-in by his Predecessor, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and sworn in new state executive.

Taking off the leadership of the APC, Oshiomhole promised to restore internal democracy to the party. Internal democracy is a situation where everybody is allowed to aspire and contest for any position in the party and his mandate not taking away.

But the recent happening in the party has suggested that the party chairman was not willing to allow every member aspire for elective positions or protect the mandates given to them by members of the party, as he feels strongly that automatic ticket should be given to the APC caucus at the National Assembly.

The House Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila was the first to moot the idea of automatic ticket for members of the National Assembly when he led the House Caucus to the APC National Secretariat. The House Leader had brought the House caucus to the National Chairman to pledge their loyalty to the party at twilight of defection of National Assembly members to the opposition PDP.

According to him, the only way to keep the members from defecting was to offer them automatic ticket for abiding, even as he spoke about experience of ranking members and the positive effect on the party and legislation.

This discussion had extended to the Senate, as the APC National Chairman, who was noncommittal to House Caucus had assured the senators of automatic ticket should they ensure the removal of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki from office.

The need to remove Senator Saraki from office and to curb more defections made the leadership of APC to make promises that are hunting them today. To make a promise is one thing and keeping it is one thing but to keep it across board is another thing.

Prof. Nnamdi Obiareri, who won the Imo North Senatorial ticket, has accused the APC National Chairman of selective justice. According to him, there should be no reason why the party should take his mandate as given to him by the people and return it to Senator Ben Uwajumogu as automatic ticket. He emphasized that the same party took away a ticket won by a sitting Senator Shehu Sani and gave it to Uba Sani for Kaduna Central Senatorial District.

Speaking on Imo State APC crisis, Prof. Obiareri said: “The party must revisit this injustice because automatic ticket is unknown to law, it is immoral. It is a clear case of selective justice which is evil. Why didn’t they apply it across the board? I paid N7 million, contested in the direct primaries and won the election. Why take away my mandate. Is that not injustice?

Obiareri is not alone on this as three Senatorial aspirants from Niger State, Mohammed Bima, Mohammed Sani Musa and Zakari Jikantoro have also decried injustice meted on them by the National Chairman. The three accused the chairman of planning to offer automatic tickets to the incumbent senators whom they defeated at the poll.

Bima said: “I don’t think even the PDP will do what our party is trying to do. What the national leadership is trying to do is wicked; it is more than short changing us. It is wicked but our next line of action would be in accordance with the laws.

Beyond this, all manners of allegations and accusations have been heaped on the APC National Chairman. From the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari to the governors of Ogun and Ondo states, Ibikunle Amosun and Rotimi Akeredolu, (SAN) respectively to the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu.

Since after the primaries it has been one protest after another at the APC national and state secretariats against the leadership of the party as the allegations of highhandedness and all sorts reverberate.

A party leader made allusion to his altercation with the Labour Minister Dr. Chris Ngige over the constitution of one of the boards. “Remember that the chairman even slighted the office of the President when he said: ‘If the minister refuses, we will suspend him from the party. For me it is the height of mischief for any minister, you cannot purport to be an honourable minister and you act dishonourably and nobody is greater than the party.

“And if the President condones disrespect for his office, I will not condone disrespect for the party. And when we expel the minister we will prevail on the President that he can’t keep him in his cabinet; people who have neither respect for his own decisions nor have respect for the party without which they would not have been ministers,’”

Hon. Nnanna Igbokwe representing Mbaise Federal Constituency in Imo State, has advised the leadership of the party to look beyond party supremacy and see how to strengthen internal democracy in the party. Party supremacy results into imposition of candidates, automatic tickets and all sorts.

Corruption allegation

In June this year, an anti-corruption crusader, Bishop Osadolor Ochei, had asked a Federal High Court in Abuja for an order of mandamus compelling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence criminal proceedings against Oshiomhole on alleged corruption. Earlier on May 4, 2012, one Matthew Edaghese, according to Ochei had sent a similar petition to EFCC.

In an ex-parte motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/628/2018 praying the court to order EFCC to put Oshiomole on trial followed the Bishop’s petition to the EFCC, dated October 28, 2016 against Oshiomhole, governor of Edo State from November 2008 to November 11, 2016.

But in Abuja last week, Oshiomhole challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to compel the EFCC to investigate and prosecute him over allegation of diversion of public funds to his personal use.

Oshiomhole, who briefed a consortium of six lawyers led by Mr. Damian Dodo, (SAN), to file a memorandum of conditional appearance on his behalf, further queried the competence of the suit seeking to invoke an order of mandamus to compel EFCC to initiate criminal proceedings against him.

Though he acknowledged the powers of the EFCC to probe financial and economic crimes, Oshiomhole, insisted that the court could not approve him to be investigated on the strength of a petition he said was lodged against him since 2016 which has become statute barred.

Oshiomhole contended that besides, he challenged the locus-standi of the applicant to file the suit against him, maintaining that the applicant failed to show how actions he took while in office as governor, “affected him over and above other residents and indigenes of Edo State.”

Speaking of the crises, Chekwas Okorie, National Chairman of UPP, said: “What happened in the primaries in some states as regards the APC is sad. It shows that the party’s chairman, my good friend Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is ignorant of rudimentary electoral laws and party administration.

“For APC to have gone to have organised primaries in Zamfara without communication with INEC on change of date was unlawful. The only communication was the initial one on the basis of that INEC mobilsed its men to monitor the primaries but nothing took place. If they continued changing dates on the basis of the initial communication they had, that action is not correct, because it falls short of the law and I want to see how they will wriggle out of it.

“I don’t want to be too harsh on my good friend, Oshiomhole. He is quite enthusiastic about his job, sometimes, over-zealous. But I think he has to calm down and get a little orientation on party administration. There are lots of things he does that still reflect elements of activism, but he should know that this is not a labour movement. And you are dealing with human beings here and not materials and this is a political party and that consideration I have not seen in him.”

Okorie said the President’s wife, Aisha Buhari’s comment on her discontent on the matter, especially on how people who paid as much as N22.5million on nomination and expression of interest forms were not subjected to fair process as a major concern. He said she has spoken the minds of many members of the party and the chairman should not ignore that.

He advised to work with some experienced party administrators for the success of the party. “There are some people who have been in that leadership position as Deputy National Chairman of the APC who returned to the National Working Committee. I know one or two of them and I don’t know whether he is actually tapping into their experience in managing APC because each party has its own peculiarity. He just came in with some ideas but there are some ideas you just don’t introduce when election is around the corner.”

Observers have argued that if all the issues were not properly resolved before the main elections, APC may receive nothing but the PDP treatment in 2019.

In this report, BABA NEGEDU, examines the sectarian crisis in Kaduna State and the unsuccessful quest by successive administrations to tackle the menace

The deep rooted animosity among the diverse residents of Kaduna State again came to the fore penultimate Thursday October 18, when what will have been an ordinary misunderstanding turned into a full flown crisis that left close to 100 persons dead.

Trouble started in the market when someone was said to have stolen a bag of grains. Allegedly caught in the act, he was then beaten by some traders.

But instead of trying to rescue him, those allegedly of his faith felt aggrieved and also launched an attack on those beating him, turning the situation into a free for all in which dangerous weapons were freely used.

When the dust settled, scores had over 60 persons been killed, houses, shops and other properties worth millions of naira laid in ruins, the Kaduna police command confirmed the death of 55 persons.

That was on a Thursday and between then and Sunday tempers remain high. The situation was also compounded by the abduction and subsequent murder of the traditional ruler of the Adara people, who are the dominant ethnic group in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state, including Kasuwan Magani where the Thursday incident took place.

With passions already inflamed, the protest last Sunday mainly in the Southern part of Kaduna metropolis by youths against the killings and violence in Kasuwan Magani was the trigger needed by miscreants to unleash mayhem on innocent residents.

But for the quick intervention of security operatives the situation could have been worse. Even then, according to the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, Ben Kure, not less than 23 persons were killed and 17 Injured.

Sectarian violence in Kaduna State is not new. According to Governor Nasir El-rufai the orgy of bloo- letting started in the same Kasuwan Magani in 1980.

Since then the state had witnessed the Kafanchan crisis of 1987, Zango Kataf crisis of 1992, Sharia crisis of 2000, the Miss World crisis of 2002, the 2011 post-election violence among other minor skirmishes.

Efforts by successive administrations in the state to tackle the situation are yet to be successful, as the recent crisis has shown.

At least since 1999 when Senator Ahmed Makarfi became the governor of the state, efforts have been put in place to assuage the feelings of the people, give all residents of the state a sense of belonging and bring the crisis to an end, but all to no avail as there is still deep rooted animosity and mutual suspicion among the people.

Little wonder the state capital in itself is divided into two with Christians mainly occupying the South and Muslims occupying the North, with exceptions of places like Kakuri, Barnawa and Mando that has a mix of both religious affiliations.

At the inception of this administration, Governor Nasir El-Rufai promised to work with the report of the peace and reconciliation committee established by the government of late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa towards bringing about lasting peace in the state.

Following up on that promise, government recently established and inaugurated the Kaduna Peace Commission under the leadership of the Anglican Archbishop Josiah Idowu Fearon.

Speaking at the inauguration Governor El-Rufai said the Kaduna Peace Commission which is already backed by law from the state House of Assembly was a significant step towards rejecting the legacy of violent conflicts which had over the years defined the state.

He also said that the ultimate guarantee of peace was the willingness of the people and communities to live in harmony with one another.

The governor noted that the commission, which was saddled with the responsibility of seeking a lasting peace in the state, had a lifespan of five years, urging the commission to also establish “peace committees” in the 23 local government areas of the state.

The governor said: “We owe it to the victims to say never again, to try to establish mechanisms to proactively manage grievance and to insist that impunity shall have no place, that all persons and communities must employ only peaceful means to resolve differences.

“This Peace Commission will help to strengthen the resolve of those that choose peace and harmony, trusting in the law and its institutions to resolve conflict and uphold rights.

“Violent conflict is no longer a route for elite figures to wrangle unmerited settlement, but that does not mean all conflict entrepreneurs will stop trying.

“Our people and communities have to be assisted to rise above the limitations of identity politics and its fixation on the things that divide. This government believes in a common humanity and upholds the right to citizenship of everyone who lives in the state.

“This is what can help build talent and unleash the energy of ordinary people to build a society that rewards hard work and merit.”

However, following the crisis over girlfriends and boyfriends that erupted in the same Kasuwan Magani in February this year, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Priscilla Ankut told newsmen at a recent parley on the way forward that efforts were on even in Kasuwan Magani to reconcile the warring parties and bring peace to the area.

However, with the dimension of the new crisis the efforts were clearly not successful. Before his demise, Governor Patrick Yakowa had set up a peace and reconciliation committee to tackle the recurring crisis in the state.

The committee, however, ran into hitches when even some members refused to sign the final report, insinuating that the report was not favorable to them.

Some sources on the committee disclosed that some of the members were not comfortable with the recommendations, stating that instead engendering peace, it might even cause more acrimony and crisis in the state.

It was that situation that the present administration met on ground and tried to find a lasting solution to.

On his part, former governor of the state Ahmed Makarfi also tried to put in place measures that will tackle the endemic crisis in the state. He was credited to creating new chiefdoms and appointing new traditional rulers aimed and not only appeasing the people that felt marginalized but as a way of giving more people a sense of belonging.

However the security situation in the country and the state in particular had also contributed to the orgy of violence in the state.

For example, just as the government reviewed the 24 hours curfew placed on the state capital and environs, trouble started again on Friday following the killing of the paramount ruler of the Adara people who was kidnapped about a week ago.

The Adara Development Association (ADA) had issued a statement to protest the abduction of their traditional ruler and called on government to take action and ensure the safe return of their monarch.

The statement, which centered on the Kasuwan Magani crisis and the abduction of the Agom Adara and signed by Awemi Dio Maisamari, National President Àdara Development Association said before now: “We raised the alarm over the sophisticated weapons and excessive fire power used by Hausa youth against our people during the February crisis. The alarm was ignored and those weapons were once again unleashed on our defenseless villagers.”

They also accused the security operatives of bias saying: “On the arrival of security agents at the scene of these crises, they usually embark on their standard practice of one sided attacks, brutalization and shooting of our people even in their homes. This implies that our people are officially and unjustly always regarded as criminals deserving no mercy.

“In addition to the above biased trends, arrests were one sided. So far, more than 20 of our people have been arrested as against two or three Hausa people.”

On the abduction of the traditional ruler, they said: “We wish to convey our complete disappointment, anger and humiliation at the desecration of the highest symbol of the Adara nation. This atrocity leads to the logical fear that the community as a whole is liable to such a fate or even worse.

“It has since become obvious to the world at large that the Nigerian government at all levels lacks the conscience, political will and the manpower to effectively address security challenges. It is therefore high time the government made security everybody’s business by fully mobilising and engaging local communities and neighborhoods in their security.

“We are further demanding that government be honest and brave enough to identify, arrest and prosecute the real merchants of violence, death and destruction in our community and Nigeria in general.”

How far the present administration can go in tackling the crisis in the state and the people’s will to live with one another will determine whether government will be successful in bring about peace in the state.

Originally published at www.newtelegraphng.com on October 26, 2018.