The Monday, February 27 New York Times Editorial on Nigeria appropriately titled, “Danger Signs in Nigeria” is spot on, except in two crucial respects. First, it wrongly assumes that some of the current violence is “a backlash against the Nigerian government’s recent anti-corruption successes” and secondly, it fails to explore nay acknowledge the fact that Obasanjo’s unconstitutional attempt to perpetuate himself beyond 2007 is indeed part of the reason the polity is heating up.

No doubt, Nigerians have been waiting for a government that can show the political will and honesty of purpose to fight corruption, but what they’ve got with Obasanjo is a selective, manipulative and essentially criminal administration using the excuse of fighting corruption to target its enemies while still protecting the real establishment criminals.

For more than two years now, Nigerians have been waiting for the promised official release of the Okigbo Panel Report which probed how $12.4 billion oil windfall of the late eighties and early nineties was spent by the Babangida administration. Not only was President Obasanjo caught lying on the issue, his promise since 2003 to release the report is yet to be kept for no reason other than the fact that those reportedly indicted are members of his own military constituency of ultimate sacred cows. In fact, the government farcically declared it was “searching” for the report when in fact Obasanjo’s own Secretary to the Government, Mr Ufot Ekaette, was himself a member of this panel. And lest we forget, William Keeling, the then Lagos correspondent of the London Financial Times was unceremoniously deported in 1991 when he began investigating and reporting on this matter.

As we speak, the proceeds of the privatization of state enterprises supposedly accumulated since the Obasanjo government came to power have vanished into thin air, while the companies supposedly privatized have found their way into the hands of Obasanjo and vice-president Atiku’s fronts and cronies. Obasanjo’s Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir el-Rufai, who used to head the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the state privatization agency has been roundly indicted by the National Assembly over shady deals in this regard, yet he’s still there as part of the president’s inner cabinet. Recently, the president’s own son, Dr Gbenga Obasanjo came out publicly to point accusing fingers at the Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nasir el-Rufai and a formerly convicted banker, Jimi Lawal as the linchpins of corruption in the country, but rather than for the president and the supposed anti-corruption agencies to look into these allegations, it was all hushed up. Needless to say, the president and his friends are the same people feeding fat on the proceeds of oil to the detriment of the nation and the people who actually own the resource.

In truth, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is no more than Obasanjo’s Cerberus against those he’s either fallen out with or who directly or remotely pose a threat to his immoral and irresponsible self-perpetuation agenda. Nigerians are not deceived and that is why they oppose his attempt at manipulating the process of constitutional change to actualize his vile ambition. They know that the same Obasanjo now posturing as an uncompromising anti-corruption crusader was the same person who scandalously signed a public agreement with the Abacha family allowing them to officially walk away with part of their loot from the nation’s treasury!

Of course, no one is discounting the age-old sociopolitical factors as part causes of the present violence across the nation, but the New York Times ought to know that it is no longer in doubt that the political machinations of the president and his hangers-on pursuant to the third-term agenda is a contributory factor. Here we are, a few months before the campaign officially opens for the 2007 elections and not a single person has come out to declare an interest in contesting for the presidency, because, like General Abacha, General Obasanjo has cowed every opposition to silence as he bestrides the political space like a vengeful colossus.

The New York Times is right in its analysis of the importance of Nigeria to the United States and the world at large, but what it’s failed to do is see the Mobutu dimensions of Obasanjo’s actions. The “Strongman syndrome” in the Africa of the 21^st century is a recipe for graver disasters than Africa has ever witnessed in the last fifty years. It is the duty of such credible and influential voices as the New York Times to point this out.

Robot  # 1 | 28.02.2006 23:29

The Monday, February 27 New York Times Editorial on Nigeria appropriately titled, “Danger Signs in Nigeria” is spot on, except in two crucial respects. First, it wrongly assumes that some of the current violence is “a backlash a...Read the full article.

UNREGISTER  # 2 | 01.03.2006 00:59

Kenedy's piece provoked me to re-read the New York Times Editorial. I came inevitably to the conclusion that it is one of the best reviews ever written about Nigeria by any media in the West. All we used to read was terrible stuff aimed at scaring foreign investment and doing harm to our National image. In fact the piece specifically called on the Bush Administration to use its influence to assist Nigeria on Niger Delta and TRANSPARENCY in the use of oil proceeds. The "heating" of polity is normal in a pre-election year and it is false to assert that not a single person has indicated interest in Presidency due to fear of President Obasanjo. The atmosphere has never been more robust. What with new parties being registered daily; each with its Presidential Aspirant. Even Abacha that you refered to was not unchallenged. President Obasanjo will surely face challenge at the polls should he remain eligible in 2007. IT is for us Nigerians to determine his fate if he contests. (Frank Nweke)The real reason why aspirants are keeping their cool is that no sensible person wants to waste his efforts if the Presidency has not been zoned to his geopolitical zone. For your information even though some are (debilitated and unsure) the following Aspirants are already campaigning for Presidency: Ibrahim Babangida, Muhammadu Buhari, Muhammadu Buba Marwa, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Wole Soyinka, Atiku Abubakar, Orji Uzo Kalu, Gov Nnamani and many others who cannot be intimidated. Primaries must be held before a person proclaims himself a Presidential Candidate. None of the registrered Political Parties has done Primaries. Some are still processing registration. You must be the only Nigerian who does not appreciate the good job the EFCC is doing. Nuhu Ribadu's EFCC has laid a good precedent in the Anti-corruption war. But you are entitled to your own opinion. That I must conceed to you. The New York Times piece also highlighted the fact that part of the causes of violence is the success of the Anti-corruption War. The general opinion is that the EFCC should go after the Presidential Aspirants and help recover loot. But we must all await party primaries. The 2007 Election will be lacking in integrity if looters are allowed to use their loot to contest. Not all aspirants are looters. The truth is that third term or perceived third term is irrelevant to the Niger Delta/oil issue. Whoever is President in 2007 must still deal/live with Niger Delta and oil which is the main thrust of the New York Times piece.

Acting Major Benbella  # 3 | 01.03.2006 01:27

Kenn, In your clear and succint response to the said NY Times article "Re: Danger Signs in Nigeria", you summed what is wrong with Obsanjo's government and which also has the potential of tragedy for our country. It is so disheartening to witness a man who should be so grateful for having by a whisker survived Abacha now turn around and punish Nigeria and Nigerians with utter cruelty and with total disdain. I assume that they may be a reason for such a psychological state of mind. At its elementary level, down below, where it all started from, we venture to say that Obasanjo's ambition for a third term, despite his inadequate governance in the last 6-7 years (though an eternity to millions of Nigerians) arises from his anger at Nigerians for having "allowed" his ihumiliation and incarceration at the hand of the Kanuri lunatic, Abacha. First, here is a man, who first began life as a bully and later at a young age, assumed the mask of hypocrisy which he never afterwards learned to set aside. That hypocrisy, as it always does, gave way to pride that has become the ruling passion of his soul. And pride to me suggests a person whose virtues and vices are often artificial. That pride, I think, finds it absolutely difficult to counternance his trial for treason and the death sentence passed on him. How else must one begin to estimate his current posture, inept presidency and his excessive ambition for a third term? We are really in trouble, unfortunately, while we suspect so we are yet to come to grips with the full extent of our trouble. Here we are almost at the end of two terms of Obasanjo's presidency and we are still struggling with the beasts we struggled with when he first began - religious uprisings and slaughters,, lack of electricity, terrible schools with terrible products, a police department that coctemplates work stoppage as they threatened to do earlier in the life of this government, unpaid pension to government retirees, the Niger-Delta on the edge of disaster, refineries that don't refine anything except "gulp" money, trains without tracks, collapsing airports, falling airplanes, no roads, no employments and no society. The situation is dire. I daresay that the situation is even worse than what one finds in war-ravaged Mesopotamia. I have gone beyond the intention I had in mind when I first read your piece and decided to respond. But I suspect it is even better to howl at the moon than to remain quiet. "What did you do, dad to prevent it?" is the unasked question from my kids that haunts me to no end. You see, there are two types of light one sees stuck in a tunnel. One is the light of a new dawn, and the other, the other is the light of sunset. I have no doubt that Obasanjo, if he goes for a third term as he appears likely will bring about the sunset of Nigeria. When a person, imbued with the office of authority based on electoral outcomes that are governed by rules that all accept decides to change those rules in a manner that clearly benefits him and threatens the republic and to do so with the instrument of state and at expense to the public treasury, no sentence better than death will do. Let Obasanjo continue with his madness and his contempt for Nigerians but we shall have the last laugh at him and his entourage of imbeciles because we have the lessons of history - of ours and those of others. And that lesson is that every terrible and arrogant leader will reap a harvest rich in tears.

AllTrue  # 4 | 01.03.2006 01:38

Mr Kennedy Emetulu is 100% correct in his analysis of the New York Times article. Here is how the article begins “Mayhem in Nigeria, the fifth- largest oil supplier to the United States and Africa's most populous country, is escalating. The New York Times writer is understandably concerned about the impacts of the escalating conflicts on the supply of oil to USA. For him to worry about US self-interests is human. But it is equally human for Mr. Kennedy Emetulu to worry about the interests of the masses of Nigerians in Nigeria. If EFCC is serious about fighting corruption, then IBB, Adedibu, Gorge Bode, Anenih, Chris Uba, members of YCE and many more would be in prison now. But they are not in prosecuted because OBJ is corrupt to the core. Buhari’s supporters were murdered by the terrorist policemen unleashed by OBJ to stop protests at the illegal third-term ambition of a dying tyrant. Orji Kalu’s bank accounts were recently frozen by the same EFCC while IBB is running around spending his loots. Therefore, OBJ is on deadly rampage, hounding his potential successors. But he must leave comes May 2007 or the real war will begin against the real enemies of Nigeria. Danger signs in Nigeria Mayhem in Nigeria, the fifth- largest oil supplier to the United States and Africa's most populous country, is escalating. Since mid-December, crime and violence have regularly shut down about 10 percent of the country's oil output. In the last week, production has been cut by nearly 20 percent - a shortfall of 455,000 barrels daily - amid kidnappings of foreign workers, arson against offshore oil installations, bombings of pipelines and lethal clashes between Muslims and Christians. The economic impact of the loss of Nigerian oil is magnified by other circumstances: the worsening of Iraq's oil industry, the nuclear impasse with Iran, heightening tension with Venezuela and last week's attempted suicide bombings at the main oil processing center in Saudi Arabia. The price of a barrel of crude oil spiked on Friday to nearly $63. But the world needs a stable Nigeria for reasons that go beyond oil. Nigeria is crucial to all of West Africa, having often provided the military troops and negotiating forums to quell civil war and related violence in neighboring countries. Nigeria is also important to counterterrorism efforts, both as it tries to monitor and defuse an encroaching fundamentalism among its own Muslims and in cooperating with international efforts to secure the strategically vital Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is also now on the front lines of combating bird flu. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to Nigeria's troubles. A big part of the problem is that the people of the country's oil-rich Niger Delta remain deeply impoverished, largely because of endemic corruption in distributing oil wealth and the historical indifference of oil companies to those economic inequities and to environmental devastation in the Delta. At the same time, the militants who claim to represent the Delta people have evolved into criminal gangs, adept at stealing huge amounts of oil to sell on black markets, the proceeds of which are used to buy ever more sophisticated weapons. Some of the current violence is a backlash against the Nigerian government's recent anti-corruption successes. But overall, Nigeria is not strong enough to solve its own problems. The Bush administration, with its good relations with Nigeria and with oil companies, is well positioned to broker international arrangements that would enhance transparency in the flow of oil dollars and development in the Niger Delta. Sub-Saharan Africa is on track to double its oil production in the next 10 years, much of it from Nigeria. The American government should pay more attention to this region.

Kabikala  # 5 | 01.03.2006 03:32

Mr. Unregister, Kindly refer to this statement in your response to Kenneth's piece: "You must be the only Nigerian who does not appreciate the good job the EFCC is doing." I am one other Nigerian who thinks the EFCC is the Federal Government's Gestapo Force and tool to whip real, perceived or potential opponents into line. Did you not hear the EFCC Chairman declare publicly that he sought and obtained permission from the President to inevstigate him on Orji Kalu's corruption allegations agianst him (we didn';t herar anything since). The information was targetted at generating public support for the President as someone who was honest and transparent and also willing to subject himself to investigation, but rather, it showed the EFCC as an appendage of Aso Rock which needed the President's nod to investigate every allegation. It is not enough that you submit a petition, it must be approved by Aso Rock for it to be pursued. Is it any wonder that Peter Odili was never investigated while EFCC had virtually relocated to Plateau State, a state with a Governor who is Aso Rock's enemy? What had happened to Dariye's allegation that he used Plateau State ecological funds to support the President's 2003 elections? I have said it earlier on this site; this regime had classified corrupt persons into 3 groups: Guinea Pigs (Nwude, Wabara, Osuji, Ladoja), Scape Goats (Tafa, Alamieyesegha, late Afolabi) and Sacred Cows (Odili, Anenih, Uba, Babangida, Makanjuola, George etc). I agree with your views Mr. Kenneth except that we have aspirants who had publicly declared their presidential ambition. At least Orji Kalu had done that and even set up campaign offices in some state capitals. Mr. Unregister (ed?), please don't speak on behalf of other Nigerians. Speak for yourself alone, and maybe your wife and children.

Naija for life  # 6 | 01.03.2006 04:04

rather, it showed the EFCC as an appendage of Aso Rock which needed the President's nod to investigate every allegation. It is not enough that you submit a petition, it must be approved by Aso Rock for it to be pursued. Kabikala, I completely agree with you. As long as the EFCC receives orders from Aso rock, it cannot truly be said to be operating with integrity. What kind of country would the United States be if the Securities and exchange commision, for instance, was controlled by the president? I am also one of the dissenters who, like you, believe that the EFCC is simply a witch hunting organization maintained by Aso rock ostensibly to fight corruption.

edoji  # 7 | 01.03.2006 05:58

I have nothing but tears for Nigeria, my beloved country. I once read an article in Thisday that Obasanjo is Yorubas' nemesis. I hasted to add that its also Nigerias' nemesis. Nigerians wasted their Opportunities in 1999. I dare ask; Was Obasanjo the best presidential material in 1999? NO. If my memory is still sound Ekwueme was there! Even Olu Falae would have been better. Would anyone imagine Ekwueme or OLu Falae scheming for a 3rd therm? I still remember Abubakar Umar prophesying that the North would regret supporting Obasanjo in preference to Ekwueme. Were Bola Ige still alive , he would wonder, why had he not remained in PDP and supported Ekwueme for president. It has always been like that for my dear country. Was Shagari the best in 1979? NO. Adamu Ciroma was there. ABIOLA?. Yar Adua, wherever he is now, would still wonder, why he and other northerners had not supported Abiola for president after the criminal annulment of June 12. My hypothesis is that OBJ was ABACHAs' unfinished Business, and that is why he is needed alive to further punish and humiliate the NORTHERN OLIGARCHY! What gave them the audacity to impose OBJ on us in 1999? My friends agree with the views above, that EFCC is a getapo-like agent for OBJ to whip his perceived opponets into line. I have no problem with that! Orji Uzor Kalu, Atiku, Alameseigha,Dariye, Afolabi and so on dont have any of my sympathies. I have no tears for them! They are all corrupt. OBJ should use EFCC to fight them. Why? One day he too will no oonger be in power, and somebody else will use some other body to fight him. The World is a standing Fan! Remember ABACHA and his Mustafa! Abacha is dead, Mustafa is fighting for his own life. Abacha and his Failed Banks Tribunal, Obasanjo and his EFCC. PLEASE LAUGH, SUCH IS LIFE! Nothing is as transient as power!

Ajay  # 8 | 01.03.2006 06:08

Gentlemen, I have read all your comments and I agree to a great extent to MOST of what is written here. However, like all things NIGERIAN no one has proffered a solution!!! We ALL know what the problems are. I can assure you!! I think the time has come for ALL Professionals, and every right thinking NIGERIAN to say very LOUDLY,.....ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!! We must stop sitting on the fence, and continue this "Siddon look attitude"! We have done for too long now. Square pegs MUST be put in Square holes...NOW! We must not allow this Stupidity to continue, these people have no right anymore to continue pushing this beloved country of ours ever closer to the edge; and believe me when I say the "Edge is Nigh"... very Nigh! Our Voices must be heard!!!

Chidi Giniji  # 9 | 01.03.2006 07:32

Yes, all said and done, I am still waiting for the day only fifty million Nigerians, thats less than half of our population, shall throng the streets of our cities and in one voice demand a dysfunctional government to step down like we have witnessed and are still witnessing in many European and Asian countries who have been disappointed by their governments as well. When that happens, any succesive government will know that the Nigerians of today are no longer the Nigerians of yesterday. This might be one way to drve home to them who the boss is.

Akete  # 10 | 01.03.2006 09:12

QUOTE "It is the duty of such credible and influential voices as the New York Times to point this out." UNQUOTE KEN, YOU WROTE A GREAT RESPONSE TO THE NYT EDITORAIL BUT FOR THAT NAIVE LAST SENTENCE WHICH DESCRIBES THE NYT AS A 'CREDIDLE' MEDIUM, IT IS NOT SO. THE COMMERCIAL PRESS IN THE US OR ELSEWHERE DOES THIS TYPE OF EDITORIALS AT THE BEHEST OF THEIR MASTERS AND A NEO-COLONIAL AGENDUM, I'D THOUGHT YOU WOULD KNOW THAT BY NOW!

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