Nigerians rush to stock food after strike

LAGOS Weary and hungry, scores weave their way through rutted and chaotic alleys in a food market in Lagos city, seeking to replenish their food stocks after a week-long strike against soaring fuel prices shut down the country.
Roads to Mile 12 market, Lagos's largest food market, were jam-packed with vehicles as people jostled for parking space.
One woman, a shopping bag in hand, stops by a stall selling yams, a staple food in Nigeria. The vendor says his price. She walks past -- it's too expensive -- but steps back.
"I have to buy. It's food. We have to eat," said Funke Kayode, a furious 45-year-old mother of two.
But both sellers and buyers have one common problem: food prices have hit the roof.
"The price of yam is high. All the same, we still have to buy because we have to eat," lamented Olabisi Adekoya, a mother of four.
Traders say prices have been affected by the hike in transportation costs since fuel prices went up.
Fish trader Oluwatoyin Oluwaseun has not sold much.
"Although many people have come, very few are buying due to the high price," he said.
In some cases prices of vegetables such as tomatoes have risen seven-fold after fuel prices abruptly more than doubled in Nigeria since January 1 when the government lifted subsidies on petrol prices.
The decision sparked anger, and labour unions called an open-ended strike which totally shut down Africa's most populous country for five days.
Sunbo Ahmed said a basket of tomatoes now costs 7,000 naira, up from 1,000 naira last week.
For Abiola Ayansanya the strike has brought misery to her family.
"I came out today because I am hungry. No money. No food. We are suffering. My children suffered a lot during the strike," she said.
"Some of them were crying for food but the older ones were able to show some understanding. Government should go back to 65 naira," she said.
   A decision by the government to end petrol subsidies without warning brought tens of thousands of people out into the streets in protest during the week.
   The decision caused petrol prices to more than double overnight, from 65 naira ($0.40, 0.30 euros) per litre to between 140 naira and 145 naira.
   Strike organisers ordered a two-day pause on Saturday and Sunday to allow people to stock up food in case unions and government fail to reach a deal. Government and labour representatives held a first round of talks on Thursday and began meeting again late Saturday. Unions are sticking to their guns, refusing accept any deal but a return to the old petrol price.
The talks are to take place with government under intense pressure after the country's white-collar oil workers' union PENGASSAN threatened to stop production at midnight if no deal is struck.
Most of the population of Africa's leading oil producer live on less than two dollars a day and see cheap petrol as the only benefit they get from their largely inefficient and corrupt government.
"Everybody is angry and hungry. We voted for (President Goodluck) Jonathan so that he can improve our condition," said Muda Ogunniyi, a 25-year-old driver reading newspapers near the market, summing up the mood in the country of 160 million people.

Reuben Abati now spokesman for Goodluck Jonathan

Renowned columnist and Editorial Board chairman of The Guardian newspapers, Dr. Reuben Abati, has been appointed by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as Special Adviser on Communications. This is authoritative.

Abati, who runs two columns weekly in the newspaper, has thus become the official spokesman of the President.

The appointment, has put paid to speculations about how the president plans to rejig his information management. On Friday, the media was awash with reports claiming that the appointment of Abati was a hoax.

By the appointment, he becomes a cabinet member of the Jonathan administration. The highly respected columnist bagged his doctorate degree at age 25.

http://victorikoli.blogspot.com/

The Next President: Who Should That Be?

The media have led us to believe that there are four leading presidential contenders, thus rather unfairly dismissing the sundry others even before the first ballot is cast.

Here are my views on the “top four” contenders, in no particular order:

Ibrahim Shekarau – What I like of him?

He came out shining like a million stars at the “Presidential Debate” televised live on the 18th March. I was impressed. Pity I have not been to Kano in the time he has been governor to be able to personally assess the development he has brought to my good old Kano, but if his persuasive claim during the debate is to be believed then the North, nay, Nigeria has a gem in Shekarau.alt

What I don’t like of him? Nothing really other than the fact that he’s jumping into the fray even before his tenure as governor of Kano State has ended, thus effectively robbing Kano of any meaningful governance in the last few months, if not whole year!

Gen. Muhammadu. Buhari – What I like of him?

If truth be told, he stands head and shoulder above all the other contenders in verifiable probity. Even against the suspicions I had long held that his running for president thrice meant he’s got some money hidden somewhere from which the repeated race drew from, or that he’s been running on the steam of those he had “suspiciously” empowered while he held those ‘treasury-key’ offices in the past, I now feel that may not be the case and that support for his campaigns were more from those truly appreciative of his quality and integrity, even while benefitting (not improperly) from his past offices. Everything points to the fact that if Buhari gets to be the president, not only would he depart from the ugliness of self-enrichment previous presidents had wallowed in, he would stand guard over the treasury and instil a greater sense of discipline and probity in the polity.

What I don’t like of him? Again, to be honest, I just don’t like him, period. Simply, he does not fit the picture I have of the president I want now for Nigeria – he is too old (being more or less of my age!) to have the dynamism of youth in an age where the average age of presidents in the developed world is 45. He does not impress me as someone with the vision to catapult our country into spectacular technological advancement. But, hey, perhaps not to run before we can walk, we may need first to get ourselves back on the track of discipline and good moral values. Buhari hasn’t said anything about the structural problem of the country. While he is shouting that he is ready to probe those who have milked us in the past and recover our stolen commonwealth, he has said nothing of the continuing burden of structural imbalance and public sector dead weight. Lastly, I don’t like the fact that he belongs to that abhorrent class of past military generals (and rulers) to whom, collectively, our miserable past is owed.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – What I like of him?

He’s a homeboy! There’s something reassuring about that! He’s the boy next door. President Jonathan has shown, even whilst his methods are unclear, some capability to get results! The things those rooting for him chalk as his achievements so far seem factual, namely, disappearance of fuel queues, improved power, less restive Niger Delta, etc – even if it is yet to be determined how proportionate the costs have been. Moreover, I am persuaded that GEJ truly wants to give us a free and fair election. He’s saying and doing mostly the right things in this direction. His appointment of Jega lends credibility, so is the manner he has so far left the guy to run the show his own way without pulling him aside! At 50, GEJ is also of the age bracket I want for our president – an age that should still be capable of listening to and understanding issues; an age that should still be able to work through the night ploughing through volumes of work and not see books or reading as some kind of sedative. He has also shown admirable capacity to take blows – coolly! I also like his being Niger-Deltan – about time someone from the creeks got elected president of a country that depends on resources from there.

What I don’t like of him? Quite a number: He does not fit the picture of the president I want for Nigeria now or at any other time! But that’s just silly me out of 150 million country-folks. I want an articulate and cerebral president. I don’t like the idea of dodging a debate and not coming out to dispel our fears. But it is his prerogative. GEJ seems lost most of the time or just going through the motion, a motion all too tedious and disturbing. Above all, I don’t like the party to which he belongs – the PDP. I am left in no doubt the PDP is inimical to the progress and wellbeing of Nigeria and that it is highly improbable that anyone can bring about desired positive changes in the country whilst remaining a member of that party.

Nuhu Ribadu – What I like of him?

Nuhu is full of life and idealism! In a country where being a policeman carries the odious tag of “corruption personified” it is remarkable indeed that someone of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police can exist within the same system without his cupboard dripping with skeletons! Nuhu was one. Then in his time as founding EFCC chairman, he won me over with some striking actions and even more striking words. He chained and jailed ex-cop supremo, Balogun; harassed and jailed big boy governor Alamaseigha; he made governor rogues like Igbinedion and Ibori sleepless – regardless of them being PDP members and Obasanjo’s “boys”; and sundry others. And throughout his tenure, even if he was accused of being selective and of running Obasanjo’s errands, he could not be accused of having enriched himself in the process; and none that worked for him (known to me) had anything but respect for him. He is daring, young, and sufficiently articulate.

What I don’t like of him? Lately, and more from that “Presidential Debate” I began to feel very uncomfortable. While his impatience and anger over the state of the country is understandable, his brashness, even ill temper, unsettles. He looks like he’s not a team player but a Rambo with Messiahnic-complex.

So, finally, who is my choice? Ribadu, for whatever it’s worth. But in all likelihood GEJ is next president – and he doesn’t even have to rig. The opposition are help enough!

Chilean Miners and the Nigerian State

The joyful news of the rescue of the miners trapped under the earth in Chile for months should be a good news for everyone everywhere. But not in Nigeria. This great news has turned into a sad fable about failure of the state in Nigeria.

On Thursday, I received an email with these words: “Last night I dreamt that 33 Nigerian miners were trapped underground and the government decided to send a capsule down to rescue them one after the other.

When the miners knew of the rescue plan, they began to argue amongst themselves on who goes first. Zoning was suggested but they could not agree on which zones will go first. Eventually in a struggle to determine who goes first, several of them got injured and MEND issued a threat message warning that they would set off a bomb if any South-south miner was critically injured. Meanwhile, the FEC had awarded the capsule contract to JB and we are still awaiting delivery three months later.

There is a probe going on to unravel this and retrieve the award sum before we get to the issue of what formula to adopt for the rescue and which miner comes out first. In the mean time, traditional rulers from the miners’ town are paying solidarity visits to the president to thank him for his efforts to rescue the miners.

And the first lady had just invited the wives of the Nigerian miners to Abuja for dinner at the Hilton! The first ladies from the 36 states will also be in attendance. All including the wives of the miners will wear the Goodluck for President Ankara.

CNN reported early this morning that after 10 months underground all the 33 Nigerian miners have died and the Nigerian government has declared seven days of mourning during which the Nigerian flag will be flown at half mast to honour the dead. Meanwhile, JB has sued the FGN for the balance of the contract sum”.

I think this is a wicked joke about Nigeria. I was more shocked when I read this fiction on Page Three of THISDAY newspaper of the same day. I found it distasteful that this comprehensive put-down of the capacity of the Nigerian state found its way into a well respected newspaper like the THISDAY. I was horrified about how foreigners would think about us after reading the fiction about the rescue of miners in Nigeria.

But my distress and horror were limited when I realized that going by media reports of how Nigeria has managed disasters in the past, this fable may not be as surreal and unimaginable to foreigners as I initially thought.

But the truth is that this story captures the problem of the last 50 years of Nigerian independence and the challenge of the next 50 years. Nigeria’s major problem is the absence of the sense of citizenship. Modern states are built on the conceptual foundations of citizenship. If there are no citizens there cannot be modern states as we understand them today. Democracy is possible where we have citizens.

Accountability is imaginary if citizens do not exist. It is not a happenstance that Saudi Arabia is not a democracy. There are no citizens there in the proper sense. There are of course nationals, but not citizens.

Only where people have rights that the states are ready to protect even against the leaders and ruling elites can we begin to talk of a modern democratic state.

So, the heroic effort of the Chilean government to dig the depth and rescue the miners quagmired under the earth is a clear demonstration of both the democratic disposition of the government and its capacity to deliver on its commitments. The central issues here are citizens and the capacity of the state. And this is where the sad fable about Nigeria calls for serious attention.

Chile could go this far because it values its citizens. The state exists for the citizens hence it could expend every resource to make sure not one of those miners trapped under the earth remained trapped. Even the United States marveled at the feat accomplished by not so rich Chile.

Now imagine what could have happened if the leaders (sorry, rulers) in Chile cared no hoot about the fate of those dispensable miners. Or like President Obasanjo at the bomb blast in Lagos, the Chilean President had shrugged off the concerns of the citizens and berated them for not being grateful that he managed to visit the tragedy sites.

In these circumstances we would not be talking about a historic and courageous rescue operation. We would have forgotten these miners and wished their widows and children God’s grace.

The real problem in Nigeria is not ethnicity as many people propogate. The problem is that there are no true citizens. No group of Nigerians is treated well as citizens. If the tragedy happened in Sokoto or Kano and all those trapped were Hausa-Fulani, the wheel of rescue would still be clogged. If it happened in Aba or Akure, the result would have been the same.

The problem is not that our leaders care only for people from their ethnic group. The problem is that they care for no one. The state is not for the citizen. The citizens are to sustain the state. Actually, the state is another name for a shifting oligarchy of those who have captured the state.

The lesson from Chile is simple and clear. The state becomes capable as it focuses on the welfare and wellbeing of the citizens. State capability means nothing if the state does not bother whether its citizens live or die.

A country that has won a natural lottery and can open the tap to get oil revenue without the contribution of its citizens may not care much if some of its citizens are trapped under the earth because it does not need the people to produce. Even when the state does not suffer from oil curse, its institutions and directive principles of state policy may dispose its elite to disregard the citizen. Such is the Nigerian case.

When such is the case, the tragedy like the one that happened in Chile will end disastrously. That is the message in the sad fable.