By ISAAC OLUSESI

The ultimate for the critic is the relative acquisition and exercise of power, and at the take off point, from no where, the critic got a term as an elected lawmaker during which political rabble-rouses as self idiosyncrasies fired the critic at the speed of light, to the stardom of amoral populist, penchant like indifference to the rightness or wrongness of actions or deeds, and with a cult of criticism created for the critic as part of the arsenal of criticism.

But in social equation, the lawmaker or just any leader, for that matter, owes a moral duty to the constituents or the led upon which depends his right or wisdom to draw actuated populism. Reasoning, the critic has always, unfortunately, argued, is of no impact to gain eclat respect but shameless criticism, lacking in logic and facts, as obsessive magic wand to control people, in the critic’s own imagination. Control who?

Control nobody. The ex-lawmaker’s proclivity for criticism, with criticism as strong instinct, is not a communal thing, joined and shared by nobody, to have afforded the critic the command control of people, or clutched any intricate relatedness of the one and the whole in any acute or vicarious sense. Neither has the criticism any mass grip, the kind of fellowship that binds people together, in any camaraderie of conspiracy, in this case, on a goodwill message. Rather, the criticism of the goodwill is the hurt of all. And nobody, outside the critic, brandied any ovations. But what goodwill message? It’s a goodwill message, nothing but, the goodwill to the recent meeting of a chapter of the All Progressives Congrats (APC ) in Osun State.

Initially, it was silence at the criticism of the goodwill message, but before the binding dust of the furry died down, the shock of the criticism, shot itself, first, into limbo that got me between abysmal ambivalence and certitude. And I managed to tell myself that out of incertitude, one can scratch out some relics of the smirching with the mud of mischief, the criticism gave the goodwill message; and out of certitude, one can inject pragmatism.

And the piece on your hands is begotten between the two, with the first, almost knocked dead, but not as much of a bother as the seconder that came up and birthed the piece with every bit of frankness, desiring me to do, among others, more of education on the misunderstood place of the criticized goodwill message, in advancing party politics and administration; and to get the critic restricted under political therapy, away from further sycophancy, hypocrisy, noisy politics, and such nuances, in the garb of politics of criticism.

Or is the criticism of goodwill message, in its ordinariness as it were, a trivial matter? No, it is not. And that compels some huge lessons for impartation in party politics and administration for the benefit of all political parties, in the collective good of the nation in democracy. The critic’s argument against sending a goodwill message to the regular meetings of APC drew the flak of the perceptive and truculent political observers. Evidently, analysts of party politics and administration, now put on alert, have branded the criticism of the goodwill as a deliberate one to whip up sentiments, emotions and upset the apple cat to decelerate the party, and generally, political parties in the country from pushing full steam; and the gargantuan tragedies as consequence, cannot he ignored in the face of reasoned arguments for goodwill message to party meetings.

Such goodwill messages by the party leaders, the force for good that wished the meetings of the political party, constructive and productive deliberations, are the guidance angels for the soul of the party’s regular or extraordinary meetings. The first strand of the soul is the encouragement given to punctuality to such party meetings; and the second strand propels the party members’ active contribution to discussions at meetings. To be otherwise, is to drive the meeting into docility, the delight of the critics of goodwill message but, the criticism is a luxury, any mindful political party can ill afford.

And new ideas or frontiers of knowledge, hints of alternative operative or workable possibilities and correlative suggestions, other multiple physical, financial, moral or psychological healing solutions that could secure the party from disturbing swings and swerves, as part of the goodwill to boost the party and morale of party members but cannot be advanced due to such silly criticisms. In the context, the criticism is a malcontent, the beast one sees with a smack on its face and cannot be a favourite preference. And that was why everybody in the politics of Osun was shocked by the criticism of the goodwill message that made party members cast doubts on the integrity of the criticism.

There’s more sanity in sending goodwill messages to the meetings of political party at all levels, than the insanity of the criticism and its attributes of incomprehensibility. A goodwill message has networks of care for the party and its soul. To the critic of goodwill, the health of the soul of the party counts for nothing, that sends shock and disbelief to those who are not naive and were infact, worried but have chosen to remain quiet, by the abiding virtues of silence to pass for a sage, leaving the critic to his own gross ignorance and gross insensitivity to the soul of the party

Ignorance? Yes, so it’s generally, with small minds, the Lilliputian. And frankly, the critic acted as if he hasn’t any stake in the continued survival of the party and thinks so grand of his right to remain ignorant, but the sight and sound of the ignorant cannot be an edifying one. It’s not awkward to the ignorant to turn off self censorship and turn on the right to be self chained, perpetually in servitude to the criticism that is painful to the marrow, prospecting to gravitate the party politics and administration towards despairs. The criticism of the goodwill remains a blot on our collective conscience as a nation, and a precursor of what may yet come to show off more ignorance, and less essence of goodwill message to party meetings.

Instructively, the criticism, its politics, has made no impression, influential and pervasive, as though, the critic had spent the legislative tenure, and through now, still doing criticism, usually, unwholesome, that remains one count for which the critic in the art, will closely be assailed, in a kaleidoscope, by history. And that can not be anything, an anxiety for anybody but critic’s by the nightmarish process of self arrest. And for another, the critic has tethered himself to the solid rock of party leaders, the force for good personified, and the critic can only spare some tears of commiseration for self. A look at the critic’s face tells harmless, a lamb’s outside, but a tiger’s inside.

The critic for sometimes now has been under thematic therapy and found to be as fit as a fiddle. The extirpation only shows, the critic has to walk away with routine aloofness, from the virtuosi of criticism that daily make his ego superfluously, needlessly and deceitfully larger than life. Otherwise, watch out, the critic of the goodwill message would continue, engendering in the breach what he seeks to engender, amounting to a matchstick struk to light the near tinderbox.

That way, the value of some issues, in the instance, a goodwill message, clearly innocuous, from the party leaders whom God had bestowed so much intellect, to the meeting of the party, ought not to have accentuated to the danger realm of criticism by the critic, to articulate discordant voices and cause horrific uproar. The critic, for that matter, was supposed to be careful, circumspect in his utterances, and not to be seen with anything in dissonance with goodwill to the party. But the critic wishes always to instil, not hope for the best.

OLUSESI writes via [email protected]

By Bola Bolawole

On the evening of Tuesday, 16 January, 2024, an explosion rocked Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state. The location of the explosion was later identified as Aderinola Street, Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija Estate. The explosion was of such magnitude that people in the vicinity thought the world had come to an end!

Close to 100 houses were seriously damaged or totally reduced to ground zero while not less than seven lives were immediately lost to the blast. Other losses owing to collateral damage caused by the blast followed. Hundreds of people suffered various degrees of injuries while property valued at billions of Naira were lost.

 According to the Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde, preliminary security findings indicated that the explosion was caused by illegal miners who had stored Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the house they lived in, in the area, thereby causing the blast. Makinde vowed that those responsible would be “brought to book” and that the victims would get the back of the government.

A statement posted on the governor’s verified Facebook page read as follows: “I have directed that the medical bills of all victims be covered by the government. We will also be providing temporary accommodation for those whose houses were affected and ensuring that they are supported to rebuild their lives” That was six months ago.

On Tuesday, 6 February, 2024, Gov. Makinde received an official report of the incident. A news medium reported the event thus: “Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday received an official report of the January 16, 2024 explosion at Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija in Ibadan, the state capital.

The report, however, said three ‘persons of interest’ have been identified in connection with the cause of the unfortunate incident, adding that they will face the full wrath of the law based on the investigation carried out.

It will be recalled that five persons died, 77 others sustained injury and 55 houses were damaged during the explosion that rocked Aderinola Street, Adeyi Avenue, Old Bodija, Ibadan.

The report, which comprises findings of the Medical, Security and Engineering teams, was submitted to Makinde, on Tuesday, at the Executive Chamber, Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.

Addressing newsmen shortly after the presentation of the report, the Special Adviser on Security to the Governor, Fatai Owoseni (retd. CP), said, “Three persons of interest have been identified in connection with the cause of the unfortunate incident, and they will face prosecution based on the investigation carried out.”

He explained that a Closed Circuit Television in one of the affected houses gave footage of how the incident happened, insisting that the state government would bring the perpetrators to book.

“The character of the explosive is known as ‘Water Gel Type Based Explosive’ and the explosion was triggered by an electric spark. The government will check on the immigration status of all the people of interest since a majority of them are from Mali. The street where the incident happened was Aderinola Street and not Dejo Oyelese Street, as earlier reported. The epicentre of the tragedy is No. 8A and No. 8B…

“The EOC has so far collated information, data of things that happened there and some of the data collated include census of the respective houses and the fatalities that were affected, including the extent of losses suffered. As of 6 p.m. on Friday, February 3, which was the 18th day of the incident, a total of 335 affected persons had registered at the emergency centre, including 16 companies or business operators, churches, mosques, three schools and the University College Hospital also approached the centre to report on their losses.

“The losses reported also include fatality, injuries of various degrees, damages ranging from total collapse and submerging of houses, houses that suffered collateral damage and the ones that suffered minimal damage…”

The Head of the Emergency Operation Centre, Temitope Alonge, said 80 victims in total were managed across various hospitals following the incident but that only five patients were on admission as of the time of the press conference. He explained that four of the patients are being treated at the University College Hospital and are at various levels of recovery, while one patient is at the Redeemers Hospital being managed for spinal cord injury.

As with everything Nigerian, the explosion attracted attention from far and near. The Minister of Mines, Dele Alake, vowed a diligent investigation to get to the roots of the matter. He also pledged that explosives storage rules would be reviewed. Despite official investigations and statements, all manner of conspiracy theories were still flown like kites. And the victims of the blast also accused the government of neglecting them. All is quiet now on the Ibadan front. Everyone is back to their daily chores. Statements made in the heat of the explosion now belong to the archives while the victims are left to lick their wounds.

 Early this month – Friday, 7 June to Sunday, 9 June, 2024 to be precise, I was in Oyo state, together with other top Nigerian journalists, on a facility tour of some of the legacy projects of the governor. We visited a plethora of projects. I took advantage to ask Makinde questions on the explosion. Yes, he made promises to the victims and is ready to fulfil them but the Federal Government is tardy with coming clean on its own promises. Makinde has written letters, paid visits and made efforts – all to no avail. In the event that the FG continues to drag its feet on the matter, Makinde said he would go ahead and give what he has to the victims and close the chapter. That will be sad!

I also asked the governor questions on the Strabag precious stones (gems) international market located at the Ojoo area of Ibadan where foreigners, their local godfathers and fellow felons strip the state of precious gems, with nothing beneficial accruing to the state. Is Makinde aware? My first report on that saga was in April 2021 and a special adviser to the governor at the time got in touch with me to say they were aware and were doing something about it. Makinde confirmed they were aware but Federal policies that tied the hands of State governments on the issue of mining made them impotent on the matter. Now that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, mercifully, has reviewed the law, States can now acquire mining licences and tap into their God-endowed natural resources. Has Oyo state began to reap in this regard? Not yet, said Makinde, but efforts were in the pipeline.

This is one area where Labour leaders and our egg-heads in the Ivory Tower should focus attention instead of fighting over the peanuts they call minimum wage. I heard one Labour aristocrat complain that some state governments were yet to pay the old minimum wage of N30,000 per month and now you want them to pay N250,000 or whatever! Sit on the neck of state governors to begin to take advantage of the new policy by Tinubu to tap into the mineral resources of their respective states and create wealth for their people, instead of the present system where Malians and other foreigners are those making hay with our gems and precious stones.

 Why are the states not getting licences to mine gold, gems, etc? I have it on good authority that rather than apply for licences in the name of their state governments, many governors are doing so in their private capacity as individuals! Traditional rulers and top politicians are also involved in illegal mining all over the country. These are real issues that Labour leaders should concern themselves with.

The Ibadan trip opened my eyes to the quality of leaders that the Western Region had in the First Republic. At the Government Secretariat, we saw the Independent Power Project (IPP) that the Action Group government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo conceived and was constructing as far back as at that time. The structures stood solid after decades, despite wear and tear and the forays of the elements. At Fashola farms in the Oke-Ogun area of the state, we saw relics of Awo’s farm settlements (including cattle ranches) of yore, with the structures still standing solid, weathering the storm and neglect of decades.

Makinde echoed Chinua Achebe repeatedly: There was once a country! “With the vision of the leaders then, there was a country!” he said. His government was expanding the scope of the IPP and would restore and preserve other Awo-era structures at Fashola, including files and documents recovered from them. “The buildings are still standing after  decades. It shows the integrity of the buildings and of the leaders of that time. We will restore and preserve them so that people will know that there were men and women of vision in this country. There were men and women of diligence and integrity,” he added.

The first military coup of January 15, 1966 and successive military coups and governments truncated the only leaders with vision that this country ever produced. Military incursion into politics is the greatest havoc visited upon this country. Unfortunately, present-day politicians give no one cause for cheers. To whom, then, do we turn?

Bolawole a former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, can be reached via [email protected] or 08075525533

By Michael Owhoko, Ph.D

In every government or institution, there is a corresponding invisible hand that remote-controls its affairs with immense influence over decision-making process, predominantly on matters of interest.  In most cases, while the head, and perhaps, the kitchen cabinet, may be aware of this imperceptible parallel, it is mostly unknown to other members of the team, who ignorantly believe that the administration’s decisions are without external interference.

The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is a victim of this invisible hand.  The head of the Commission, and possibly, his inner caucus, are not oblivious of its presence and interference, but may be unknown to other members of staff.  By conferring the power to appoint the Chairman of the Commission on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, lawmakers have unwittingly created an invisible hand for the EFCC.

The invisible hand is the President, and by extension, the Presidency. Section 2 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, clearly states that “the Chairman and members of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall be appointed by the President,” and the appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.By this Act, the EFCC was delivered as a bondservant from inception, lacking autonomy and courage to function effectively outside the grip and body language rhythm of its master, the President.  And since the head of the Commission occupies the driver’s seat, obeying all traffic regulations as beamed by the President, liberty is replaced with dependency.

Under this circumstance, what courage can the Commission’s Chairman muster to prosecute the President’s loyalists without upsetting his ego and sensibilities?  This is the burden of the EFCC. Until the power to appoint the Chairman of the Commission is removed from the President, the head of EFCC will continue to operate under dominance and influence of the President, doing his bid and covertly yielding to his whims and caprices, without ethical courage to act otherwise.

No matter how committed and sincerely intentional the Chairman of EFCC may be, his drive for efficiency is weakened by presidential interference.  Even if angels are imported from heaven, or heads of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States of America (USA) are redeployed to manage the EFCC, their competence would be undermined by effect of the President. This finds expression in the crux of allusions to EFCC’s selective war against financial crime and money laundry in the country.

The public must recognise that the President is first, and foremost, a politician, who came to power on the ticket of his political party. He has his loyalists and those who supported the process of his ascension to power. Besides political affiliates, some of these stalwarts permeate both the critical public and private sectors. As a politician who sets his eyes on consolidation and re-election, the President may want to stand with his loyalists during moments of travail, as part of a reciprocation gesture for sustained support.  By this action, he stifles the power of the Commission to effectively go after real and powerful perpetrators of financial crime and money laundering in the country, making the Commission’s Chairman helpless without courage to step on toes for fear of being removed from office.

 The President also has the power to suspend or remove the Chairman of the Commission. Evidently, circumstances that had led to the sack of all past chairmen of EFCC could be linked to the invisible hand of the President. To avoid this route, EFCC handles high profile cases deemed to have ties with the President with caution, classifying them as persons with blue blood in their veins.  This is the trouble with EFCC, and why it is unable to effectively wage war against financial crimes and money laundry. Most ex-governors, ministers and other political and business bigwigs that have been prosecuted and convicted till date are those with either weak link or fallen out of favour with the President.

An example were former governors of Delta State, James Ibori, and Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (now late), whose demand for resource control irked the then President, General Olusegun Obasanjo.  The former President believed that the ex-governors were a source of funding for the defunct Niger Delta agitation group, the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), and consequently activated the invisible hand which compelled the EFCC to cut the former governors to size. EFCC now tread with caution without discretionary initiative, constraining itself mainly to petitions received from the public, as against initiating and executing investigations on suspected individuals, and organisations, particularly those that are prone to financial crimes and money laundering.

The ministries, agencies, departments of government (MDAs), legislature, judiciary and the organised private sector, are black spots. The Nigerian environment is fraught with financial crime and money laundry, particularly the political space, yet, EFCC pretends not to know. Politics is a big industry and quick source of unearned income where people become multi-millionaires or billionaires overnight just by participation in politics or serving in the Executive, Legislature or the Judiciary. For example, National Assembly members who carry out oversight functions in various MDAs and private sectors, also double as contractors to these same organisations, despite conflict of interest.

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is replete with such unethical practices, yet, EFCC feigns ignorance.Why is EFCC not interrogating legislators on padding of budgets?  Why is EFCC not putting spotlight on MDAs’ budgets, matching line items against executed projects?   Why is EFCC not looking at state governors and how they abuse Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) remittances, including security votes and derivation funds? Despite admitting that Nigerian banks perpetrate about 70 percent of financial crimes in the country, why is EFCC not quizzing banks’ chief executive officers (CEOs) over questionable funds’ inflow, foreign exchange manipulation, and round tripping?  According to the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), financial institutions in Nigeria collectively lost about N159 billion to fraud since 2020, yet, EFCC has not deemed it necessary to initiate any probe. Why are key operators and players in the Nigerian capital market not being investigated over unlawful manipulation of stock prices?

Besides, since crude oil exports constitute about two-third earnings, and over 90 percent of foreign exchange revenue of the government, why is EFCC not extending its investigation into crude oil exports to determine possible mismatch between actual production and revenue receipts?  Also, why are suspected financiers of terrorism and kidnapping not being investigated and prosecuted for money laundering?  Sadly, since the formation of EFCC, corruption, including financial crimes and money laundry, have been on the upward swing. This is contrary to the intention of the originators, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Money Laundering, an intergovernmental organisation created by the Group of Seven (G7).

The purpose of the FATF was to use the EFCC to reinforce global war against money laundering, particularly at a time Nigeria was listed among 23 countries that were not supportive of the war against money laundering.  Response to this challenge led to establishment of the Commission through the EFCC Act, which further expanded the scope to include terrorism financing and economic and financial crimes in Nigeria. With flourishing corruption menace, and by extension, financial crimes in the public and private sectors, the environment is fertile enough to keep EFCC fully engaged.  But, so far, its efforts are not commensurate with the current depth and density of financial fraud in the country.

Except those that are endorsed by the invisible hand for thorough investigation, high profile cases with real negative impact on the economy are either deliberately overlooked or mismanaged.  Prosecuting yahoo internet fraudsters with no powerful links to authorities together with persons involved in spraying of naira notes are inadequate to justify EFCC’s existence.

In the absence of any underpinning motive to use them as a defence mechanism to showcase the Commission’s efforts at fighting financial crimes, these categories of offenders should be left for the Nigeria Police Force to handle. To rid the country of illicit wealth and growing corruption, Nigeria must review the process leading to the appointment and removal of the Chairman of EFCC in order to insulate the office from the influence and covert control of the President. This is imperative given the country’s low political culture.

Dr. Mike Owhoko, Lagos-based public policy analyst, author, and journalist, can be reached at www.mikeowhoko.com, and followed on X {formerly Twitter} @michaelowhoko.