Festus Odimegwu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Breweries plc, pulls no punches whenever he fields questions from the media, especially at media briefings presaging the company’s Annual General Meetings. A first class Chemistry graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he spares no opportunity to exhibit his articulation, in flaunting the achievements of Nigeria Breweries plc, appreciating the exquisite features of the female anatomy, or lately, extolling what he perceives as the indispensable qualities of President Olusegun Obasanjo. On this last score, Odimegwu, it appears, has been opening his mouth too wide.

At NB plc’s last pre-AGM media briefing on Tuesday 18 April 2006 at Eko Hotel, Lagos, it was not unexpected that a question on Obasanjo’s third term project would be thrown at Odimegwu. The chief brewer has never hidden his admiration for, and closeness to the president, and indeed, support for elongation of his (Obasanjo’s) tenure. To a reporter’s question on the burning issue at the briefing, Odimegwu did not disappoint in his response. Obasanjo, he fired back, has been an accomplished administrator, especially with his economic reforms, which, the brewer posited, mainly contributed to the good health that the reporter who asked the question radiated. Odimegwu disclosed that he is a member of 25 presidential committees, which constitute the President’s policy direction, and was, in fact, in Ota, Obasanjo’s farm home, the previous week to meet minds with the president, as he and many other associates of the president often do.

Indeed, Festus Odimegwu spares no opportunity to heap praises on the President. At one forum, he said those saying the Nigerian economy had not recorded considerable improvement under the regime of President Obasanjo were talking nonsense. “I have a graph in my office with which I have been monitoring the economy. And the graph has been going up since Baba took over,” Odimegwu enthused.

Odimegwu’s affection for President Obasanjo is becoming so irritating, as he engages in vain praising of the Nigerian leader even when it is absolutely unnecessary. During the final of Star Quest, a talent hunt organised by his company, he pointed at a tall member of the winning band, D’Accord and said: ‘‘can you see this tall guy; he must have been born during ‘Baba’s presidency. He must have been drinking milk because Obasanjo has made Nigeria a better place.” Of course the audience was not impressed.

To the NB plc boss, Obasanjo has done so well he deserves another term, and it can only be enemies of the country who would scoff at such idea.

As it is turning out, this could well be famous last word. Since Odimegwu’s gaffe, there has been a whirl of developments. A group of some private sector players has been sponsoring advertisements in national newspapers calling on Nigerians to support Obasanjo’s third term project. Both THISDAY and Vanguard newspapers bore conspicuous wrap-arounds screaming, “Vote for Greatness, Vote for Tenure Extension” on their Thursday 20 April and Sunday 23 April editions. The advert was placed by a faceless group which calls itself the Private Sector Supporters for Good and Transparent Governance, PSSGTG. To THISDAY, the group paid a huge sum of N25 million for the insertion, while Vanguard reportedly bagged N10 million. To THE PUNCH newspaper where the advertisers later headed to place yet another wrap-around of the same hue, they met a brick wall. THE PUNCH editors firmly slammed their door against the tenure elongation promoters, in conformity with the paper’s principled opposition against the third term project. In their desperation to see the advert through, the advertisers offered to pay up the N40 million which they initially offered THE PUNCH for the wrap-around, but the newspaper stood its ground.

Just as the real identities of members of the PSSGTG are yet to be unraveled, editors of THISDAY, Vanguard and even THE PUNCH have not disclosed the name of the agency which came with the wrap-arounds. Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Dr. (Mrs.) Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, in an interview with TheNEWS last Tuesday where she denied any involvement with the third term idea, challenged the editors to unfurl the name of the agency that is handling the wrap-around campaign and further investigate and reveal identities of the characters that make up the PSSGTG.

As the Third Term project gets messier and key players in the private sector believed to be close to Obasanjo are spiritedly denying any link with it, the head of Odimegwu, an apostle of the idea who has publicly made no bones about it, is on the chopping block. His “satanic verses,” this magazine learnt, have thrown the NB plc into a spin and are making its owners, Heineken B.V. of Holland, and the board, headed by Felix Ohiwerei, who was Odimegwu’s immediate predecessor as MD/CEO, very uncomfortable. A source within the company confided in this magazine that Odimegwu has been summoned to Holland by Heineken’s bigwigs to explain what all those comments and activities on Third Term are all about. It is not clear what the outcome of the query would be, but as the tenure elongation mess gets more convoluted, a loss of a most plush job cannot be disregarded, according to the company’s source.

 Odimegwu appears to have recklessly engaged his Third Term gear on overdrive. From admiration, it has become an obsession. Last year, on 5 March, when Odimegwu headed a “Lagos Group” to organize Obasanjo’s 68th birthday bash at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, it was taken to be a mere appreciation of what the NB plc CEO, who gave the toast at the event, described as Obasanjo’s “single-handed re-integration of Nigeria.” As acknowledged by Obasanjo, the birthday bash was put together by friends of Nigeria “and I must single out Festus Odimegwu.”

Besides Odimegwu, private sector operators who graced the birthday party included Alhaji Aliko Dangote, chairman of the vast Dangote Group; Dr. Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom, Equitorial Trust Bank and Conoil; Chief Michael Ibru, billionaire patriarch of the influential Ibru family; Dr. Cecilia Ibru, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank plc; Femi Otedola, owner of Zenon Oil; Tayo Aderinokun, Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc; Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke; Oba Otudeko, chairman of the Honeywell Group; Erastus Akingbola, Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank plc and Mr. Jacob Ajekigbe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank plc.

Odimegwu’s lionisation of the Obasanjo personae was etched sharply by the fact that only the colours of NB plc’s products and ushers adorned the birthday bash at Dodan Barracks. No other beverage from other companies was served. It could not be ascertained, though, whether the organising committee paid for the drinks and the service personnel or the entire expenditure was underwritten by Odimegwu and the giant brewing firm.

But it was the recently replaced President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Engineer Charles Ugwuh, who first gave an indication that some powerful businessmen favor tenure extension for the president. Speaking at MAN’s 34th Annual General Meeting, AGM on 5 November last year, Ugwuh noted that the various economic reforms initiated by the president since 1999 “are being gradually entrenched, and it would be a pity as a result of the need to ensure formal compliance with constitutional provision, if we allow a reversal of these positive developments.”

The industrialist proceeded to dress the president in a garb of indispensability: “President Obasanjo, as a leader has recorded quite considerable and indeed, spectacular achievements. In the process, he has risen to the status of major African president and leader of considerable international clout, respect and repute. The on-going debate should also focus and contemplate what Nigeria should do with such experienced, mature human resource in Africa where there are few reputable statesmen with personal discipline and integrity.” Many Nigerians interpreted Ugwuh’s speech as a call on the president to violate the maximum constitutional provision of two terms. It was not a surprise that many branches of MAN across the states as well as the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI promptly disowned Ugwuh.

The private sector players now rooting for another term for Obasanjo are believed to be operating under the canopy of Corporate Nigeria, a collection of some influential private sector operators. As, however, dispelled by Okereke-Onyiuke, chairman of its board of trustees, last week, this would be giving a dog a bad name to slaughter it. Corporate Nigeria, she explained, is a non-governmental organization established in 1993, in aping the Corporate America initiative in the United States of America, where major business people have come together on one platform to influence somehow the economic policies of government. Corporate Nigeria, she maintained, is purely a non-political organization with no interest in the affairs of any political party at any time, or the political ambition of any individual. The body, she said, restricts itself to organizing luncheons for candidates to afford them the opportunity to present and explain their economic programs to the public

In 1993, Corporate Nigeria actively backed Chief Moshood Abiola, presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party whose victory was controversially annulled by his friend, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who was then the military president. Corporate Nigeria actually organized a luncheon for the telecommunications magnate-turned-politician, who later died in 1998 in the struggle to actualize his mandate. Okereke-Onyiuke explained that their decision to support a particular candidate is always taken after a party’s candidate has emerged from its primaries. In 1993, Abiola naturally emerged Corporate Nigeria’s favourite son by virtue of his acceptance across the country, a leading light in the business community and significantly, a former chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, which Okereke-Onyiuke now heads.

The NSE director-general recalled that after the annulment of Abiola’s election, Corporate Nigeria, in the absence of a democratic dispensation in which it could play out its objectives, focused on philanthropic activities and organization of seminars. In 1999, the body returned to its original turf after Obasanjo emerged presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party. As the NSE boss posited, Corporate Nigeria “evaluated the political spectrum and found no alternative to the ticket of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”

Four years later, in March 2003, the body again threw its weight behind the re-election campaign of President Obasanjo because of, as Okereke-Onyiuke said, “The performance of the administration in the last four years and the need for continuity in the Nigerian polity.” Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Industrial and General Insurance, IGI, Mr. Remi Olowude, asserted the group’s decision to stick to Obasanjo was informed by “the objectives of the organisation, the strength of our conviction and most importantly, our objective assessment of the first term performance of the Obasanjo presidency.”

Membership of the group remains shadowy, although it is widely believed there is hardly an oil magnate or a bank CEO in the country, especially from the South, that is not in its line-up. When asked to confirm the membership of some key corporate chieftains, Okereke-Onyiuke replied that membership of Corporate Nigeria is an open affair into which any private sector operator can walk. She was also emphatic that the body is in no way involved in the support for tenure elongation for Obasanjo. Also asked to clarify the linkage between Corporate Nigeria and Transnational Corporation, a new but huge local private sector concern, the NSE director-general stated there is no correlation whatsoever between the two.

Transcorp, as Transnational Corporation is widely known, is the brainchild of President Obasanjo, as Okereke-Onyiuke admitted. He, however, sold the vision to some 32 Nigerian business people. The objective, as professed by its promoters, is to build a wholly-owned Nigerian corporation “into a global conglomerate with a view to rebuilding and repositioning Nigeria at the forefront of the comity of nations and as a clear leader in Africa’s economic renaissance.” Through Transcorp, the private sector, it is hoped, would be “galvanized into an investment vehicle and instrument of change and reform to expand the frontiers of Nigeria’s skills to different corners of the world.”

The corporation was launched on 21 July 2005 by President Obasanjo himself at Aso Villa, Abuja. Its board of directors comprises Okereke-Onyiuke, who is the chairman; Fola Adeola, former Managing Director of Guarantee Trust Bank plc, who is Transcorp’s Group Managing Director; NB plc’s Odimegwu; Aliko Dangote; First Bank’s Ajekigbe; Tony Elumelu, Managing Director of UBA plc; Jim Ovia, Managing Director of Zenith Bank plc; Femi Otedola, the Zenon Oil chairman; Tony Ezenma, chairman of Orange Drugs Ltd; Funsho Lawal; Adegboyega Olulade, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AdonaiNet and Nicholas Okoye, the corporation’s Technical Secretary and Business Strategy Adviser. Atedo Peterside, Managing Director of IBTC, is also involved.

In May, Transcorp will be hoping to raise the sum of N40 billion from its Initial Public Officer. It has already raised N16 billion through private placements. In the short term, Transcorp will be participating in the on-going privatization program by acquiring decaying or inefficiently managed public enterprises. It has already bought the Nicon-Hilton Hotel, which has been renamed Transcorp Hilton. In the mid-term, Transcorp plans to foray into industries and sectors which have otherwise been the exclusive preserve of foreign companies. Such sectors include the upstream oil and gas business. In the long term, Transcorp plans to foray into industries and sectors which have otherwise been the exclusive preserve of foreign companies. Such sectors include the upstream oil and gas business to this end, TheNEWS gathered, Transcorp has already been awarded an oil bloc by President Obasanjo. The oil bloc gift is however, being widely criticized as a bribe to members of the corporation for their support to the Third Term project. It is also interpreted as empowering them so that they can continue to find the financial wherewithal to bankroll the evil agenda.

In the long term, the corporation hopes to expand beyond Africa and do, here and elsewhere, what major foreign companies are doing in Africa in Information and Communications Technology, energy, the hospitality and tourism industry and trade generally.

There are speculations of Obasanjo’s direct ownership in Transcorp. He is believed in some quarters to have provided a substantial sum for the take-off of the corporation. Okereke-Onyiuke debunked that notion, saying the President only had the Transcorp vision but left every other thing to the private sector. She, however, said it would be in order for the president to buy shares in Transcorp, as it behoves every Nigerian to participate financially in elevating the corporation to be a major global player.

Like Okereke-Onyiuke, Adeola, the Transcorp CEO, denied that the corporation wants tenure elongation for Obasanjo in order to protect their businesses. “I don’t want the President to hang on. Indeed, I don’t want anybody to hang on because from my antecedents, I don’t hang on. I move on,” the former bank chief declared. Hauwa Audu, Chief Executive Officer of Amyn Investment Limited, a stockbroking firm and partner in Transcorp, agreed with Adeola that the president does not need to hang on to power. Audu also denied that Transcorp is involved in the Third Term project.

Failure is, indeed, an orphan as everybody distances himself from an inordinate ambition that is threatening to throw the country into another round of crisis. Already, there are dangerous signals of what it portends. Last month, when Vice President Atiku Abubakar visited Lagos, a group of miscreants, believed to have been hired by a retired naval officer who has been mentioned in many corruption-infested deals and well-known to be one of the self-serving cronies of Obasanjo pushing the president to elongate his tenure, waylaid the VP’s convoy to boo him. And on Monday 25 April 2006, anti-third term protesters were reported to have pelted President Obasanjo’s convoy with stones and sachets of pure water in Kano. In the confusion that ensued, three motorists were said to have been killed.

Opposition against the Third Term idea mounts daily. THISDAY editors still talk of the deluge of letters condemning their decision to honor the wrap around advert which promotes tenure elongation. And after another round of condemnation harangued Vanguard which followed suit, it is clear to the advertisers that not many newspapers or magazines would want to be part of the dirty campaign, in spite of the huge money being splashed on it. Femi Adesina, editor of The Sun, called it “suicide.”

Beyond the media, many patrons of NB plc’s products have also been turning their back on those products in protest against Odimegwu’s utterances and support for Obasanjo’s Third Term idea. Olukayode Bamidele, a banker, told TheNEWS he had stopped consuming the Star lager beer brand as his contribution to the “nationwide protest against the Third Term madness.” Bamidele believed that by buying NB plc’s products, he would be “contributing financially to the pool of fund that oil the Third Term project.”

In spite of the strident opposition against the project, its promoters are moving full steam ahead to realize it.

That members of Corporate Nigeria are backing President Obasanjo is not a surprise to discerning Nigerians, given the fact that some of them like Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola publicly bankrolled his electioneering campaigns in 1999 and 2003.

A sum of over N3 billion was said to have been raised last month by key persons in Corporate Nigeria for distribution to individuals and bodies sympathetic to the cause or would be bought over. The promoters have been distributing huge sums of money to certain bodies regarded as vital to the actualization of the project. Bribes from such wealthy promoters have torn apart the National Assembly, where the legislators are expected to vote on constitutional amendments that would either smoothen the Third Term path or scuttle it outright. A source said a sum of N50 million has been earmarked to be given to each senator, as first installment, when the debate on the amendment kicks off in the Senate. Plots of land in choice areas in Abuja and oil contracts have also been slated for those who choose to vote for the Third Term option.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Festus Odimegwu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of N...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 02.05.2006 07:05

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 2 Such sectors include the upstream oil and gas business to this end, TheNEWS gathered, Transcorp has already been awarded an oil bloc by President Obasanjo. The oil bloc gift is however, being widely criticized as a bribe to members of the corporation for their support to the Third Term project. It is also interpreted as empowering them so that they can continue to find the financial wherewithal to bankroll the evil agenda. Where are the magic words - Due Process? Aluta! Gwobezentashi Posted by gwobezentashi| 02.05.2006 13:39

Elaa

# 3 It is important for people to identify what is most valuable/pressing for them, and to stick with it. In this regard, we cannot quite fault the business community. They have identified on which side their bread is buttered. And given the apparent lack of cohesiveness among the Nigerian people to stand up for their rights and remain resolute on what they consider unjust, it is no wonder that some of them should decide to pitch their tenet with Obasanjo. Besides, it is in line with some business principles to change the goal post in the middle of the game - the objective is usually to minimize cost and maximize profit, so anything goes - in which case, they may not be totally at sea about what the President is doing. Rather than gripe about them though, we should look at what we can learn from them. How bad to we want a new credible nation? At the prospect of a law criminalizing illegal immigration, Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, put his mouth where his conviction is: he called for civil disobedience should the need arise. That is what conviction does. The business community sadly, must be flip-floppers - it goes with their territory. They will go with any agenda that ensures business. If things seem set to unseat the President, you will be surprised to hear how they always thought the man should leave. Didn't Obasanjo just find out at the eleventh hour that Charles Taylor was a bad guest?! Talk about convenience! The leaders of the civil rights movement were as important as the people they led, but it was important to have those leaders who were willing to coordinate the movement. Let those who feel strongly about the future of this nation identify what they can do: speak if you can speak, write if you can, give money if you can, organize if you will, whatever we do though, we must not give up. This isn't about saving Nigeria for ourselves, it is about saving the likes of Obasanjo from themselves. It is about creating an enabling environment for people to believe in a need for integrity and character, and to make them desirable traits. People want democracy in Nigeria - they really do. They just think Nigerians understand dictatorship in any form, better, and have resolved that dictatorship must be our lot. Posted by Elaa| 02.05.2006 14:51

DoubleWahala  Villager

# 4 "As the Third Term project gets messier and key players in the private sector believed to be close to Obasanjo are spiritedly denying any link with it, the head of Odimegwu, an apostle of the idea who has publicly made no bones about it, is on the chopping block. His “satanic verses,” this magazine learnt, have thrown the NB plc into a spin and are making its owners, Heineken B.V. of Holland, and the board, headed by Felix Ohiwerei, who was Odimegwu’s immediate predecessor as MD/CEO, very uncomfortable. A source within the company confided in this magazine that Odimegwu has been summoned to Holland by Heineken’s bigwigs to explain what all those comments and activities on Third Term are all about. It is not clear what the outcome of the query would be, but as the tenure elongation mess gets more convoluted, a loss of a most plush job cannot be disregarded, according to the company’s source." The above quote may end up to be mere wishful thinking. Indeed, may i ask: whatever happened to all those Abacha stooges, all those 'big men' who supported Abacha's attempted self-imposition as President, and also the million man march in Abuja? Are they not alive and kicking? Nothing will happen to Odimegwu and his ilk. They've already perfected their exit strategies - should the need arise. Heineken of Holland will not dare upset the goose that lays the golden egg. They may be responsible for the employment of Odumegwu, but they are also subject to Nigerian laws - by reason of the various company,commercial and invesment laws in operation in Nigeria. Simply put, the government will find a way to retaliate ruthlessly. DoubleWahala Posted by DoubleWahala| 02.05.2006 20:41

tanibaba  Villager

# 5 It is important for us to realise that Nigeria, indeed any country can be likened to a system consisting of several tangible and intangible variables. Just as people are free to oppose third term others should be allowed to support it. My major disagreement with anti-third term people is that they display nothing but intimidation, violence, blackmail etc. I wonder if I want to be identified with such people and if these are their credentials, it is natural that they can only visit calamities on the people if allowed to rule. Which brings to mind the THISDAY issue. If Chief Odimegwu is sycophantic, THISDAY was abusive and cheap in the article titled ENEMIES AS FRIENDS. The article, according to them was written in July 2005 and at a point when some voices were raised against them for the political advertisent they carried they looked for a scapegoat in Odimegwu and published that article. WHO ARE THE ENEMIES OF NIGERIA. Am I an enemy because I choose to support an idea which I am convinced is the best for my nation at a time when the alternatives are threats, blackmail, disorganised opposition etc.? Are corporate organizations not stakeholders in the Nigerian economy and politics What happened to the freedom of speech and choice that civil society groups, newspapers etc have been fighting for.Why are they crucifying Odimegwu Is there any offence in supporting tenure elongation? Is there a law against it? In America who are the backers of President Bush? And in other places too Is it wrong for businessmen and women, Nigerians and foreigners alike to protect their interests especially if the policies of the government is stable and guarantees them growth. Who benefits from a stable and growing economy? Any damaging costs in this process of stability and growth? Is this move by corportate Nigeria not a vote of confidence in this government and her reform programs? Why do public commentators arrogate to themselves the right to determine who is an enemy to the state and who is not. Do we even realise that foreigners are also stakeholders in this economy? THISDAY was simply blackmailing the Chief and that is cheap. It is a disaster. The challenge which the opposition have refused to take up is for them to produce an alternative. Let us stop this culture of violence - bring the names of those in favour so we can burn their houses, those in favour are enemies of the people etc. they are enemies yet they provide jobs, livelihood, pay huge taxes etc to the people. But those who cheapishly put pen to paper and who do not even pay their taxes in Nigeria are claiming to be more of the peoples friends. What an irony? The anti third term people have taken this issue to the level of violence and intimidation which is unfortunate. If any product should be boycotted in Nigeria today, my opinion is that that product should be THISDAY newspaper. taslim Posted by tanibaba| 03.05.2006 04:29

John Akalonu

# 6 Unchaining the lion in neo-patrimonial cage By Olusegun Alebiosu (The Guardian of May 3, 2006). THE fact that the idea of development is not merely a set of wish list for the future, but a defining feature of modern societies is a function of the fact that modern institutional systems and cultural values that sustain them 'routinise innovation'. This is because they are dominated by incentives and accountability system that oblige those who run them to meet ever increasing performance targets. The credibility of the idea of development as aspiration, process and enterprise also depends on its existence as an expectation that presupposes a necessary and therefore teleological relationship between human rationality, the emergence of modern institutional arrangements and progressive social change. Neo-patrimonial Nigeria has been reluctant to embrace "modernity" out of the fear that modern institutions would create new centres of power that would threaten traditional powers, which is based more on ethnic, lineage, patronage and prerogatives of birth. The transformation of a neo patrimonial state into a cohesive-capitalist state tends to be challenging, because such require decisive political intervention. It is disturbing that the so-called 'third term agenda' is getting emotional among the elites and politicians. They all have moral burden to convince us why Nigeria should not be unchained. Based on my conviction that the current administration at the national level is developmental, I suggest the ' third term agenda' be termed 'developmental agenda'. The politicians and elites against this agenda appears to be struggling over lost share of national cake, and not that the current government is not developmental. If we agree that the current government of Obasanjo is developmental, then we should simply dismiss the rumbling of politicians and their clients, and march forward with the transformation. A constitution is a means to an end and not an end in itself. It is a working document for development. If such document has acted as an impediment, it should logically be changed or amended to accommodate rational features that pave way for attainment of its' goals. As my contribution to the current review of the constitution, I will like to suggest that Obasanjo should have additional single term of six years after 2007, while election to other arms of government should hold in 2007. This is necessary to wipe out the misfits elected into political offices in 1999 and 2003 respectively. While democracy represents the best form of government, its structure must be made to fit into the nature of each country and their level of development. In a bifurcated country like Nigeria, there is need for some level of democratic-authoritarian government to achieve national cohesion and growth. History offers us examples of many successful programmes managed by authoritarian states, and none of weak countries that have voluntarily adopted western democracies and overcome the problems of late development. The political economy debate on why some parts of the developing world have had faster growing economies than others has been centred on the role of strong institutions and a cohesive developmental state, which the current administration represent in Nigeria history with the PDP as a national and unifying party. A way to understand the political conditions that engender capitalist development is to draw lessons from the experience of late developers such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the New Industrialising Countries of East Asia( Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia) . A liberal economic development requires that state foster a general socio political and legal framework conducive to market relationships, an environment of security of property, contract enforcements and predictability to encourage investments. This requires political stability, consistency and minimum degree of social harmony . Development is a mountain race that involve persistence, perseverance, consistency; and an informed and determined leadership. This is what we have in Obasanjo and we may not have this golden opportunity in the next 50years, going by the conduct of the Governors and their comrades in the National Assembly. A leader who will lead Nigeria to prosperity must be nationalistic, selfless and be ready to weaken the tribes, religious establishments, and isolate the 'urban locusts' . Obasanjo has achieved these to a greater extent and it is only logical for him to complete this God-directed assignment. He has been able to defeat the Yoruba establishment, and the Kaduna mafia has since been dismantled. He defeated regional parties in their domain and reduced their leaders to 'political wanderers', seeking for association with groups of co-losers in the Nigerian power structure. It is actually disheartening that AD, a party with great agenda and strong grass root follower ship was destroyed by the selfish interest of its leaders. Today, its looking for partnership with ' rejected' or 'ejected' politicians who are fighting for their pockets and against the interest of Nigerians. In the past, political requirements of regimes and personal survival took precedence over economic policies and practices needed to promote sustained economic expansion. Such political decay discourages investment and productivity, frustrating economic development. Compliance with reform programmes depends on the existence of a strong state apparatus run by groups that are willing to forego the benefits to be derived from existing institutions, and able to manage the conflicting interests and resource transfer that change always generates. These benefits are a function of the fact that changes to the existing rules and incentive systems don't only affect behaviour, but also the allocation of power and wealth. New rules threaten the rents that elites can extract from existing relationships and undermine the social networks, coping mechanisms, knowledge systems and cultural values associated with them. Introducing and sustaining new rules therefore requires more social, economic and political capital than what a new government seeking legitimacy can offer. Institutional reforms create situations where new structures emerge before the old ones, and the class and value systems that sustain them disappear. Integration occurs slowly and partially, so new rules and incentives co-exist with old, and some groups benefit by invoking the former, others by invoking the latter. The result is " Institutional dualism or hybridity" and a contradictory and antagonistic relationship between the competing power structures, rules, incentives and value systems embedded in the new and old structures. Compliance is not only a function of limited knowledge, or vested interests, but of the extent to which people not only support the new arrangements, but have also acquired at least some of the skills and values required to make them work. Freedom, security and prosperity require the creation of modern institutions in Nigeria. Managing the antagonistic relationships from losers means that reform programmes cannot be treated with imported political ideas and constitution, but a political process that demands solutions that are adopted to local conditions that take account of these demands. There is need for persistent order and an orderly process of developmental change to avoid stagnation or 'Gray zone syndrome'. Some might argue that Obasanjo is corrupt just like any other politician and therefore cannot be solely righteous. While I may agree that he is a carrier of the Nigerian disease (corruption), he is likely to be a lesser sinner than all the other politicians parading themselves as angels. At worst, Obasanjo will be a "stationary bandit" as opposed to the coalition of losers and anti-development politicians who are "roving bandits". As a "stationary bandit", he has interest in furthering the interest of the state so that the enterprise can flourish. The "roving bandits" on the other hand are only interested in looting the state, and inflict poverty on the populace . We have had "roving bandits" as our leaders in the past and we do not want them any more. Additional single term of six years please in the interest of our generation. •Alebiosu is with the Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science Posted by John Akalonu| 03.05.2006 07:57

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 7 As the National Assembly Decides (1) 05.03.2006 Editorial In July, presidents of the eight most industrialised countries of the world, the Group of Eight (G8), will be holding the group's annual meeting in the Russian Republic to map out their global economic strategies. As is now customary with G8 meetings, leaders are invited from around the world to represent regional and global interests. As we write this, authoritative information at our disposal has it that Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has been invited to the G8 meeting; so also has Sassou Nguesso of the Congo who is the new chairman of the African Union (AU). Against this background, it is certainly curious that at press time, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo is yet to receive the invitation of the world's most powerful leaders. Without doubt, this is a huge sea-change for Nigeria and our president. Last year in Gleneagles, President Obasanjo was one of the more prominent regional leaders at the G8 meeting in Scotland, leading the way in the campaign for debt relief which Nigeria got and then used to work its way out of the Paris Club of creditors. In fact, every recent G8 meeting has featured both Obasanjo and Mbeki, as conspicuously as possible, to state the case for Africa. And on every occasion, they did so with all the moral and persuasive force in the world. Rather than the usual red-carpet treatment for our President, Nigerian diplomats, we are informed, have had to busy themselves trying to “work out” the G8 invitation to President Obasanjo. What could be responsible for this dramatic change? the diplomats need not scratch their heads to fathom the reason for this obvious rebuff. It is a signal from the world community that should the constitution amendment bill, now before the National Assembly, succeed in elongating the presidential tenure with a third term, the world will return Nigeria to the pariah status it was consigned during the days of Abacha's dictatorship. At the weekend, the American Embassy in Abuja issued a statement against tenure elongation in Nigeria. And this follows earlier statements from Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Vladimir Putin of Russia, who despite the near total control of their parliaments by their ruling parties, they would respect term limits. And all the signals of that infamous era are beginning to manifest in this dispensation. Two weeks ago when this newspaper ran a paid-for front-page wrap-around advertisement for tenure elongation, in accordance with its avowed commitment to free speech, the anger across Nigeria was overwhelming, showing the intensity of public feelings against the third term project. And only last week, the Senate virtually conducted the business of the day in chaos. As did the House of Representatives yesterday. Again, yesterday, former President Ibrahim Babangida joined former Head of State Yakubu Gowon to offer lessons of history and warn against the third term project. Even more telling, scores of angry youths stoned the president's motor convoy when ANPP and PDP supporters clashed over the third term agenda. The upshot of all this is abundantly clear--these are not normal times for Nigeria and its leadership. It is against this history-making background that the National Assembly is debating the amendments to the constitution. From its rancorous past, it is certain that the one item that would define the entire constitution review debate is tenure elongation, now characterised as the infamous third term agenda. As many Nigerians see it, a third term is only the first step to a life presidency. In the circumstance, is there any overarching reason why the nation must take this uncertain step? Proponents of the third term agenda insist there is. Their argument is that President Obasanjo has done so marvelously well that he needs an additional tenure to anchor his reforms. They have listed the gains to be anchored to include banking consolidation; institution of a regime of due process, transparency and anti-corruption; revolutionary expansion of telecoms services; debt relief; increase in foreign reserves; and the attraction of foreign investors into Nigeria. They also insist that his intentions are noble, patriotic and genuine. While all of this may be so, certain unsettling historical truths are being glossed over. Nigeria is just another country on the African continent where tenure elongation has too often proved disastrous. On this score, when we look through the continent, what do we see? We see a Zimbabwe pillaged by decades of Mugabe's rule; we see a Zaire laid waste by more than three decades of Mobutu's tenacity of office, only to be engulfed by unending civil war after the dictator's death; we behold a Togo ruled by the senior Eyadema for nearly four decades, occupying the unflattering position of the third poorest country in the whole wide world. Even Cote d’Ivoire, the most western-celebrated of them all, imploded into an interminable civil war after Houphuet Boigny's life presidency. On the contrary, despite its high HIV rate, Botswana is not just an economic miracle in Africa, it is a model of democracy where leadership change is a matter of course. In South Africa, Mandela's godlike status did not tempt him to serve as president beyond a single tenure. If we must have a third term, the National Assembly needs to ask itself the sort of countries we are emulating. Is it disreputable examples such as Chad, Uganda, Gabon or Haiti? Beyond all this, something fundamental about this country is not being appreciated by those pushing for tenure elongation. It remains a fact that Nigeria is a fractured country, with different and complex power dynamics. Even this democracy and the ensuing presidency is a product of compromise over the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. It took the ceding of the presidency, so to speak, to a particular section of the country to assuage feelings over the annulment to bring the nation's paralysis through violent demonstrations and the consequent loss of lives to a close. What the third term project is doing in effect is to stab at the scabs of those wounds. On account of tenure extension, we now have a broken presidency, a divided National Assembly, and massive geo-political animosities. All of this is enough to inflame a nation that, even at the best of times, is easily combustible. Whichever way it goes, we are about to set unpleasant precedents about term limits. Even in the unlikely situation that the third term project succeeds without Nigeria coming to grief, we would have set the dangerous constitutional precedent for the successors of the present incumbent, namely, that the constitution can always be amended to vary term limits in favour of those in office. By most yardsticks, President Obasanjo has done extremely well, both in Nigeria and on the continent. He is entitled to declare his administration victorious in 2007 and, thereafter, depart the stage in a blaze of glory and accolade. We call on him to resist the lure of power and greed that would ultimately lead him to sit in the squalid hall of infamy with a Mobutu and Mugabe rather than in the pantheon of adulation with Mandela to whom he was being favourably compared less than a decade ago. If anything, the National Assembly must not allow this national icon of leadership to be desecrated by a misadventure called third term. And Obasanjo is neither a Mobutu nor a Mugabe. He is Africa's elder statesman who stepped in from retirement to save his country and rebuild his continent. But he has been captured by a cabal of self seekers; he has been held hostage by sycophants who are bent on using him as a shield to pillage the nation. Obasanjo, our president, must be set free. As the National Assembly therefore votes, they must realise that a vote for third term is a vote against Obasanjo, a vote against the deepening of democracy, a vote against continued reforms, and a vote against Nigeria. The people of this country, from leaders to the led; from employers to employees; from teachers to students; from men to women--all shades of opinion-- within ethnic groups and religious persuasions; have all spoken in unison against the third term agenda. Thus, a vote against third term is a vote for Obasanjo, a vote for his outstanding legacy, a vote for democracy and a vote for the people of Nigeria. And in the unlikely event that the third term amendment passes in the face of serious allegations of corrupt inducement, the amended constitution will lack credibility, and any government built on it wil face a monumental crises of legitimacy. The National Assembly must rise to the occasion to save Obasanjo and indeed Nigeria from impending doom source: THIS DAY Posted by gwobezentashi| 03.05.2006 12:55

OmoNigeria

# 8 THE REAL ENEMIES NIGERIA It is quite unfortunate that TheNews is publishing this type of junk article to attack Nigerian citizens who are simply exercising their unalienable right to freedom of expression and association. The real threat to our democracy is therefore the current smear campaign of calumny orchestrated at tarnishing the image of very hard working Nigerians who are sacrificing daily to see that Nigeria is getting all it deserves. The attempt by the media these days to impose its thinking and mindset on the people of Nigeria without any regard to dissent is worrying. It seems on this matter of “third term” any opposing view from that of the media and it sponsors is blackmailed and labeled “enemies of democracy” whereas the REAL ENEMIES OF DEMOCRACY is MEDIA TYRANNY. Those who do not have a single answer to Nigeria’s problem but will attack any suggestion are the enemies of Nigeria. Those who cannot tolerate democratic struggles and debates are the real enemies of our dear country Nigeria. Those who allege wildly without substantiating them thereby causing disaffection and bad blood are the real enemies of our nation. Those who will not rise above pettiness and jealousy even in commenting on national issues are the worst enemies of our land today. Those who call people to arms because they have lost out or cannot win any democratic contest are the REAL enemies of Nigeria and democracy. Those whose mentality has not risen above University unionism and campus political bellicosity are the REAL enemies of democracy. Those who are hiding under “third term” agenda to settle board room contest are the REAL enemies of democracy. Those who have ran out of strategies, but continuing the anti-military strategy in a democracy are the REAL enemies of democracy. The recent happening all over the world where even law breakers are demonstrating to protect their interest (illegal immigrant in the United States of America are law breakers) point to the fact that democracy is tolerant of other people’s interest. Were those demonstrations to be in Nigeria the tyrannical media would have blackmailed those who are freely expressing their opinion. All over the world, democratic decisions are decided through referendum and elections, but our own “democratic Lords” are telling us that those measures are not democratic in their opinion and they want us to buy that. They want us to believe that “CELLPHONE TEXT MESSAGES” are better measure to decide what people want. They want us to believe that sponsored editorial opinions are the real measure of what the “majority” want. And when the same MEASURE is used against them, they called people MAD MEN. They are simply intolerant. Those who have genuine concern about the future of their lives, children, businesses and the nation in general are told that those things do not matter. What matters to them is what they alone can prescribe even though they have not been elected by any constituency in any election. They tell us that our elected representatives are self serving by exercising their mandate. What they call democracy is what they feel it is and not what the people decide. These are the REAL ENEMIES OF OUR COUNTRY. Gone are the days when they tell us lies and cook up stories without substance, instead of marching argument with a superior one, with incontrovertible facts, they favour blackmail and smear campaigns. They are daily seeing that Nigeria is fast becoming impatient with their lies. They are daily witnessing a people that do not want anything but PRACTICAL ANSWERS to their problems. Then they resort to call to arms and destruction and blackmail and sedition. What we used to hear was electoral problem which was preventing people to elect their choice candidates, but as soon as they noticed that serious measures are being put in place to cub electoral malpractices, they started singing another tune. If 90% of Nigerians are against an issue and a person, the most democratic thing to do is to get another alternative to that person/thing and vote for it/him. But they won’t do that, instead, they tell us elections would be rigged. Can 10% rig the election of 90%? Those who are taking PRACTICAL steps in solving the problems of Nigeria no matter how complex are the ones our “know all” but “do nothing” media and elites call enemies of democracy. Nigeria is the only place where reforms are (grudgingly accepted) but the reformers despised. This is the real enemy of democracy. AND THOSE BEHIND IT ARE THE REAL ENEMIES OF OUR DEMOCRATIC NATION. May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Posted by OmoNigeria| 03.05.2006 13:48

Joseph

# 9 "If Chief Odimegwu is sycophantic, THISDAY was abusive and cheap in the article titled ENEMIES AS FRIENDS. The article, according to them was written in July 2005 and at a point when some voices were raised against them for the political advertisent they carried they looked for a scapegoat in Odimegwu and published that article. " Taslim, you got this absolutely right! Just like a friend wrote in a different thread, this whole anti-third term saga is being taken to a dangerous length. It's become a do-or-die battle.....yet, it's still a speculation! Pat Utomi even threatened to put his cute life on the line over this specualtion. Does this not say something about these anti-third term people....something about an obssession. And lest we forget their concern for personal, selfish interest or (and) ethnic issues? What really are their objectives in the whole wahala? As for Thisday, you can't really blame those guys...they had to deflect the harrassment meted to them over the recent advert in their paper....it's all about business interest for them. One must also thank the guy (Akalonu...hope I got the name right) who reproduced an article from The Guardian by one Alebiosu. That is what I call a food for thought.....at least for those of us who are still wondering where all this brouhaha will lead the nation. It's a good thing that we all Nigerians are not sleeping with our heads facing the same direction (apologies to those who have already used this adage). Posted by Joseph| 03.05.2006 14:58

gwobezentashi  Villager

# 10 What then is corruption? By Uzo Nwankwo It is with stunning incredulity that one has observed the shenanigans of this Federal Government on the proposed constitutional amendment, with the unmistakable third term bogey as its main driving force. This incredulity owes much to the fact that this writer was one of the most effusive admirers of this president when he took office in 1999. I even did an article at that time in which I changed his name from Obasanjo to Obasanma. How times can change. Here was a man universally deemed to have been roped into a phantom coup by the Abacha ogre for speaking out against dictatorship. By a twist of fate he emerged from Abacha's gulag alive, with his already towering credentials further enhanced. Before his near-death experience with Abacha and his goons, he was already a member of the eminent persons group, a well regarded world statesman. He had been widely acclaimed as the first African military officer to hand over government voluntarily to civilians; a one-time aspirant to the office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the originator of the African Leadership Forum etc. Now in addition to all these, he had added the toga of "Prisoner of Conscience" and emerged from gaol to lead his long-oppressed people to freedom. In summary, our own very Mandela. Like the legendary Nelson Mandela, he went from prisoner to president in one fell swoop. But alas, there the similarity ends. Whereas Mandela deepened his mystique by ruling for one only term and turning over the reins of power to his lieutenants, our own Nigerian equivalent seems bent on destroying his legacy by instituting for us a corrupt dictatorship. Corrupt! Yes you heard right. One of the cardinal pillars on which this administration has tried to build its reputation is the fight against corruption. However, in this fight, only the narrowest definition of corruption has been adopted and that is the issue of stealing of the national patrimony by those in positions of trust. How very convenient? My Chambers dictionary defines "to corrupt" thus: "to make putrid; to taint; to debase; to pervert; to destroy the purity of; dishonest ...etc" It is therefore corrupt practice when the democratic process is perverted by changing the rules of the game midway for the sole benefit of those already in the field of play. It is corrupt practice for a president who swore an oath to defend a constitution which prescribes a maximum of two terms of office to seek to change the condition and benefit from it. Is it not corrupt practice for a government to pervert the democratic process by flouting the order of the highest court in the land in regard to the release of local government funds to Lagos State? This singular act of the Federal Government has no doubt done more harm to the democratic process and our body politic than all the billions allegedly purloined by Tafa Balogun! What is a society without the rule of law? A veritable jungle! Is it any surprise that following this act by the Central Government, there has been a spate of copy-cat disobedience of court orders in Oyo State and other parts of the country? The utter impunity and contemptuous disregard for the laws of the land which pervade this society gained a tremendous boost from this frightening example by the Obasanjo Government. Is it any wonder then that a group of hoodlums with well-advertised sponsors can set fire to a government house and radio stations among other properties in a state and yet go absolutely scot free? Not only did they not pay for their crimes, their sponsors were subsequently promoted to higher positions in the political pecking order! The debasement of our democratic process by the charade that passed for "public hearings" by the Mantu Committee on constitutional amendment was unmitigated corruption. The committee already had an answer and it appears that their only task was to work out the question to fit. It is not so hard to recall that Mantu, as one of the stalwarts of one of the erstwhile five leprous fingers of one hand (apologies to the late Bola Ige), was active in the raucous crowd that was screaming "Abacha Forever!" Not so long ago in this regime, one Prof. Babalola Borishade had a disastrous tour of duty as Minister of Education. During his tenure, our universities were paralysed for up to six months due to his inept handling of ASUU/Government disagreements. Soon after, Mr. President reshuffled his cabinet and re-presented the same professor for re-confirmation by the senate. Naturally, the senate demurred. But what did our all-knowing president do? He kept bringing forth the Prof's name for confirmation until, thoroughly brow-beaten and intimidated, the senate finally gave in and confirmed the apparently indispensable professor. By insisting on destroying the purity of the normal democratic process where the legislature is permitted to have its say, my dictionary declares this government corrupt. And when the indispensable professor was assigned to the Aviation Ministry what happened? Aeroplanes started tumbling out of the sky. Coincidence? That's your opinion. Why are we so blessed and yet so cursed simultaneously? What makes it so easy for charlatans and selfish politicians to seize this country by the jugular time and time again? Yesterday it was "Abacha For Ever !", "Who the Cap Fits!" and other similar inanities. What happened to decency and integrity on these shores? What is it at Aso Rock that makes whoever enters there to want to stay glued to the seat, whereas in South Africa, Thambo Mbeki (not even Mandela) would brook no suggestion of an elongated tenure for him? Obasanjo can still redeem himself today by cutting loose all those leeches who are trying to convince him that if he leaves in 2007 Nigeria will collapse. He should learn from the experience of Babangida. Nigerians generally have a large heart and will forgive most of his shortcomings provided he does not succumb to this third term bait. Nigerians would have forgiven Babangida his multitude of sins against this land if only he had not annulled the June 12, 1993 election and thereafter being forced to leave office in utter ignominy. This third term trap is going to be Obasanjo's "June 12" if he is not careful. If Obasanjo really wants to be remembered as the man who fought corruption in Nigeria then he must today broaden his definition of corruption and stop perverting the democratic process. He should begin to fight moral corruption, democratic corruption and ethical corruption. All doublespeak and "the more you look abracadabara" should be dropped. Then and only then shall the average Nigerian sit up and applaud his war on corruption. It should be obvious to him that the perversion of our democratic process to satiate a selfish desire to remain in power will cause more long-term damage to the polity than if all the cases in EFCC files remain unsolved. * Nwankwo, an engineer, lives in Enugu. source: GUARDIAN 03/05/2006 Posted by gwobezentashi| 03.05.2006 18:51

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---