Should Africa Legalize Gay Marriage in Exchange For Economic Aids From The West?

Malawian Gay Couple Steven Monjeza (L) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (R)

I wrote this story in May 2010 while working with the BUSINESS IN AFRICA magazine. I find it relevant to share once again, especially as the Nigerian Senate yesterday damned the threat of aid cut to the country by Britain and passed the Same-sex marriage (Prohibition) bill into law. The law criminalises same-sex relationships with 14 years jail term. Details of the law will be explained in later posts. Enjoy this first.

Although, the practice is foreign to virtually all African cultures and religions, the continent is facing a renewed pressure from the West to legalize same sex relationship. But, how ready is Africa to stand its ground against the onslaught given the subtle attempt by the West to tie economic aids to accepting homosexuality in some countries on the continent? Sulaimon Alamutu reports

Africa, many will agree, is a continent that holds dearly its treasured culture, which is by all standards unique. This culture though, may not be absolutely the same among all the countries on the continent; and even within a country a lot of cultures exist, there are similarities that differentiate Africans from other peoples of the world.

African culture has its own wisdom, insights and values that informed the way Africans live their lives. This fact underscores the widespread resistance across the continent against renewed effort by the West to impose and further entrench the culture of homosexuality hitherto alien to it.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the continent has suffered greatly from the influence of Western cultural imperialism which could be seen in the erosion of its once cherished values such as chastity, virginity and respect for elders, proper dressing, marriage and honesty. Under western influence, the traditional notion of chastity and virginity have been rendered unreasonable by western pornographic and sleazy materials displayed on screens, distorting sexuality and condoning promiscuity, which gave rise to active homosexuality and lesbianism the continent is contending with at the moment.  Any individual with an African eye today will agree that, the very material, spiritual and aesthetic base of African people had been destroyed by western civilization.

This is why the call against legalizing same sex relationship being advocated by the West is gaining ground. Currently, 38 of 53 African countries (approximately 70%) have laws criminalizing homosexual sex. In Uganda for instance, the war against gay marriages and other anti-nature marital relationships has just been pepped up with a bill that seeks to further impose harsh punishments on gays and lesbians. On 14 October 2009, David Bahati, a member of the Ugandan Parliament proposed the Bill titled the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009. The Bill widens the definition of homosexuality, and proposes severe prison sentences, and in some cases the death penalty for offences involving homosexual acts. Though, yet to be passed into law, the bill seeks to mandate a three-year prison sentence for any individual failing to turn in gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transsexual individuals within 24 hours.  It also proposes a prison sentence of up to seven years for any individual or organization “aiding and abetting” homosexuality. This includes organizations providing humanitarian aid to homosexuals, such as hospitals and clinics providing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The Bill also provides for the death penalty upon conviction of “aggravated homosexuality,” which refers to a number of behaviours, such as homosexual intercourse in which one partner is HIV positive. 

The wisdom behind Bahati’s Bill, many will agree, may not be detached from the need to protect the traditional African values of sanctity of marriage and respect for divine injunction. “Do not look at this bill as Bahati’s – this is God’s bill - this is not a physical fight, it’s a spiritual fight and God is using this bill to shake the foundations of sin in the world,” he said.

Expectedly, Bahati’s Bill has drawn widespread criticisms not from Ugandans but the West and some pro-gay groups across the Globe. US President Barack Obama described it as "odious” and US Secretary of States, Hilary Clinton declared that “we have to stand against any efforts to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT community worldwide. It is an unacceptable step backwards on behalf of human rights. But it is also a step that undermines the effectiveness of efforts to fight the disease worldwide.”  The UN Special Rapporteur on health, Anand Grover, said the Bill is not only a violation of the fundamental human rights of Ugandans, but will also “undermine efforts to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.” The Canadian Transport Minister John Baird was quoted by The Globe and Mail to have noted that: "The current legislation before Parliament in Uganda is vile, it’s abhorrent. It’s offensive. It offends Canadian values. It offends decency."

Interestingly, a 2007 survey conducted by the public opinion research firm, Steadman Group of Kenya had indicated that 95% of Ugandans view homosexuality as immoral. And this, obviously, is one of the reasons why, in Uganda at least, there has been widespread support for the Bill.

But beyond passing the ‘controversial’ Bill, the country’s President Yoweri Museveni, who had hitherto kicked against anti-homosexual tendencies in the Ugandan society, is distancing himself from the bill, obviously, after prolonged pressure from donor countries that have been pouring millions of dollars of aid into Uganda for years and their threat to cut ties should the legislation pass. Specifically, Sweden a major donor to Uganda’s budget and a staunch opponent of the bill has said it would withdraw the $50m (£31m) of aid it gives to Uganda each year if the measures become law. Germany has also made similar threat. Dirk Niebel, Germany’s Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development said that financial aid to Uganda will be cut, stating that a stepwise plan for this has already been made.

Like many other African countries except South Africa, homosexuality is illegal in Eritrea. The Eritrean Penal code of 1957, which is an inheritance from colonial times, strictly prohibits "sexual deviations," among which is performing sexual acts with someone of the same sex. Homosexuality, described as "unnatural carnal offences" by the penal code, can be punished with imprisonment of between 10 days and 3 years.

Legalizing the act was out of question according to the Eritrean government.

At a recent UN review of the human rights situation in Eritrea, Rowland Jide Macaulay of the Canadian HIV AIDS Legal Network challenged the Eritrean government to "repeal all legislative provisions which criminalize sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex."

But, Girmai Abraham of the Eritrean Ministry of National Development declared that the Eritrean government rejected the demand to legalize same-sex activity between consenting adults, which he said was "in direct contradiction with the values and traditions of the Eritrean people."

In Rwanda same sex relationship is also a taboo. There is a provision for punishment for perpetrators. “Any person, who practices, encourages or sensitizes people of the same sex to sexual relations or any sexual practice, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment ranging from five to ten years and a fine ranging from 200,000 to 1,000,000 Rwanda Francs.”

In Ghana, the government recently banned a conference for gay men and lesbians scheduled to take place in the country with a stern warning that it does not “condone any such activity which violently offends the culture, morality and heritage of the entire people of Ghana." Kwabena Bartels, Ghana Information Minister warned that disciplinary action would be taken if anyone was found to have contravened the law. He also declared: "Unnatural carnal knowledge is illegal under our criminal code. Homosexuality, lesbianism and bestiality are therefore offences under the laws of Ghana."

In The Gambia, homosexual sex is illegal and those convicted of consensual homosexual acts face jail terms of up to 14 years. Recently, two Spanish men accused of making homosexual advances to taxi drivers, were arrested according to the police.  The President Yahya Jammeh was reported to have threatened to behead gay people at a political rally and said they had 24 hours to leave the country. A number of homosexual men have fled to The Gambia from neighbouring Senegal after a crackdown there following arrests at a "gay wedding" in February.

As obtained in The Gambia, homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and punishable by up to 14 years in jail. Five people were arrested for planning a "gay wedding" north of Mombasa in March. They were later released for want of evidence.

In Africa’s most populous Country, Nigeria, homosexuality is not only illegal but highly detested by a large proportion of the population. Apparently in response to the desire of many Nigerians, the country’s National Assembly has been debating a bill that seeks to criminalize same sex relationships and other related behaviours.  Titled "Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act", the bills makes provisions for imprisonment for anyone who speaks out or forms a group supporting lesbian and gay people’s rights, and also silence virtually any public discussion or visibility around lesbian and gay lives in Nigeria.

It also imposes a five-year prison sentence on anyone who "goes through the ceremony of marriage with a person of the same sex." Anyone, including a priest or cleric, who "performs, witnesses, aids or abets the ceremony of same sex marriage," would face the same sentence.

Also, anyone "involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organizations, sustenance, procession or meetings, publicity and public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly in public and in private," would be subject to the same sentence.

The bill has been widely condemned, again not by Nigerians, but the West! The New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a strong-worded protest against what it called "sweepingly homophobic bill".  According to HRW's Scott Long, "this law strikes a blow not just at the rights of lesbian and gay people, but at the civil and political freedoms of all Nigerians. If the National Assembly can strip one group of its freedoms, then the liberties of all Nigerians are at risk."

"Provisions of the draft bill discriminate against a section of society, are an absolutely unjustified intrusion of an individual's right to privacy and contravene Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," says a panel of UN human rights experts in an assessment.

The questions to be provided answers here are that should homosexuality be recognized in Africa on the basis of protecting individuals’ personal rights to privacy and freedom of association? Apart from HIV concerns and human rights ‘violation’, are there any other social implications for not legalizing homosexuality?

Uganda’s Bahati believes the phenomenon should not be recognized as a right. "Here, we don't recognize homosexuality as a right. We are after the sin, not the sinners. We love them - and we want them to repent and come back," he says.

Adding, "It's not an inborn orientation, it's a behaviour learnt - and it can be unlearnt. That's why we are encouraging churches and mosques to continue rehabilitating and counselling these people."

Speaking in the same vein, Uganda’s Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo has stated repeatedly that Uganda will never embrace homosexuality or even acknowledge it as a human rights issue. His comment came on the heel of a call at the Commonwealth meeting in November 2009, where several Western leaders urged President Museveni to consider the dangers the proposals could pose to Uganda's rights record.

All members of the Inter-religious Council of Uganda (IRC) have recommended that the government should cut diplomatic ties with countries that want Uganda to accept homosexuality.

Many on the African continent are agree on the fact that Homosexuality is a Western import that must not be allowed to gain prominence. Even with the threat to cut economic aids, Africa can still preserve its values by properly harnessing and using its abundant natural resources to sustain itself economically. Western civilization is not totally harmful to African values, in fact it has done great good to Africans, but the continent should not sacrifice its cherished culture and true identity on the altar of total economic exigency.

Gadhafi, best leader Africa ever had-Obasa

Obasa Hon. Mubashiru Obasa represents Agege Constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Southwest Nigeria. Recently, I had an interview with him where he talked on issues in the assembly including the N7billion embezzlement allegation against the Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji. He is of the view that government should be about putting smiles on the faces of the people. To him, Late Libyan leader, Muammar Gadhafi was the best leader the continent of Africa ever had in terms of good governance and care for the masses. He also bore his mind on the controversial plan by the federal government to remove fuel subsidy in January  excerpt:  The assembly recently approved administrative guidelines for local government administration in the state, what benefits would this development have on grassroots governance?  The essence of the administrative guidelines is to assign functions to the officials of the local government so that they will know their responsibilities. Starting from the chairman, the vice chairman, the supervisors, the elected councillors and the civil servants, that is the CM, the CT and other staff of the local government. It is to create responsibilities and to saddle them with assignments so that the council activities can be managed in a smooth manner. The July 10 flood in the state affected a lot of areas including your constituency, Agege 1. What effort have you made to facilitate relief measures for the victims of the flood? I will like to put this straight to the people, not only in my constituency but Lagosians as a whole, that flooding is a global phenomenon. It is an annual problem. It happens everywhere, Europe America and those who are even more advanced in technology to combat flood witness it annually. Ours is not an exception but that does not mean we should look for ways to curb it so that we can reduce the negative impact on our people. I was there in the rain when it happened. I was there in the flood throughout for about almost five or six hours with those affected. The state government also intervened. We also called on the state government on the need to come to the aid of our people and they responded. A committee was set up to take account of those who were affected and I think a kind of relief packages were given and also we have a plan already before then. The state government has plans to take up some projects, very big, laudable and expensive projects to reduce or eradicate the effect of the flood so that it won’t happen again. There is going to be a new construction of channels all around the locality so that the flood can come and go away in a smooth manner without causing any damage. It’s over a month now that the house resumed from its recess and it’s surprising that no single mention has been made of the N7billion fraud allegation against the speaker. Why are you people not talking about it? I think there is nothing to talk about. Even though we all have embargo that we should not speak about the issue, there is nothing to talk about. The allegation is baseless. It’s unnecessary. It’s fictitious. It’s the imagination of external forces who are looking for ways to destabilise the house. I can assure you, they will not succeed. The house has focus. We are one and we strongly believe in the leadership of the house and that’s why we are together. That’s why you are not seeing anybody rasing dust or talking about it because it’s not true. The N500,000,000 issue started around mid-last year and that is six months. If you get N500,0000,000 in six months, how much is that? And besides, how can a single person embezzle the whole allocation of an institution. Will the civil servants not take their imprest which they need to manage the whole complex? The sweepers are there. The gardeners are there, the vehicles are there, the generator is running, everything is going on. So, it’s just the imagination of those who are idle and those people who like creating problem where there is none. Probably, may be for political reason, but for me I am sure, it’s a baseless allegation and it’s not going to work. You talked about an ‘embargo,’ where did it come from… Well, because it is unnecessary. We don’t want distraction. That’s why all the members agreed at the parliamentary that we should just ignore it. Removal of fuel subsidy is a burning issue in the country at the moment. What is your take on it? Well, so far, I have read from many people, the economists, financial experts and they all concluded that it is a good thing for the masses. But the problem is that, how can we believe the federal government? This has been happening for almost 10 years ago. It started with the military government and yet there is no impact. There is no difference in terms of infrastructure. So, it’s difficult to convince people that this one will make difference in their lives positively. So, it’s a difficult one, that’s one. And secondly, so many other sectors are not increasing charges. The PHCN has just introduced one. So if PHCN has done its own and some other one too and all these are being done at a go, it’s going to make life difficult for the people. The masses are going to pay for it at the end of the day, but if there is a kind of relief package where people can fall back on, it would have been a better idea. But now, there is no relief package anywhere. You cannot go to the federal government and get what you want. There is no school, there is on road, electricity is not there. So how will you now add to the burden of the people? The other European countries who are now going introducing different kinds of economic measures have a kind of packages that people can fall back on. But we are lacking this in Nigeria. As far as I am concerned, no matter how we weigh the issue, I think this is not the best of time to remove the subsidy because the suffering is too much. People are complaining bitterly. Food has become a major problem despite the expanse of arable land that we have in Nigeria. To get the daily meal is a difficult thing in Nigeria. So, if we are being faced with these challenges, it will be out of place to now introduce additional hardship, because to me it’s additional hardship, there is no way you will take it off without bouncing back on the masses. No matter how good it is, it shouldn’t be now. Without any relief package I think the removal has to be put on hold. A follow up to that, the government has also announced that it would reintroduce toll gates on federal highways in 2012… That’s what we are saying. That we keep on adding to the peoples’ burden without giving them a relief package. We have mentioned PHCN increasing the tariff, for a month I am being charged N13,000 probably half of the month there won’t be light! Now, the toll gate is coming, you have to pay tolls. It’s a difficult time for this nation. It’s a difficult time for the people of this country. The federal government should be of how we can put smiles on peoples’ face because without that we are not going to get anywhere. We should be thinking about what is happening around us. We should not believe that nothing will happen and we can see what is happening in Yobe and other states through Boko Haram. I believe if the economy is rosy and people are living happily and conveniently, no one will take to bombing, no one will resort to crimes. But because the future seems to be bleak, it does not allow anybody to think deeply before acting. Nobody cares again about what happens. In fact what will happen besides hunger? If you know what you will eat in the morning, you don’t know what you will eat in the afternoon, then you won’t care to look for it anyhow and damn the consequence. Will it be convenient to say that the FG may be inviting what happened in Libyan, Egypt and the rest… That’s what we are saying. We must learn from the happenings around us. The Arab Spring started from a single man who was so frustrated and set himself ablaze and that was all. Before you know it a lot of lives have been claimed. Governance is all about the people. The people have to come first before any other thing. We must always think about putting smiles on their faces. We must always think about making life convenient for them, even for the generation yet unborn. But that we are lacking in this country. That’s why I wonder and keep smiling when people, especially, you journalists, started writing about Gadhafi. Gadhafi did this, Gadhafi did that. It seems you people don’t know what you are saying because, of what benefit is it when you have democracy and nothing to show for it? But where you have a dictator, that whatever you can think about in Europe, you also have it in Libya. In fact Libya is even better than some European countries. And when they started this problem, no amount of money was traced to him. That, this was found in Gadhafi’s account, all they said was Libya’s account here, Libya’s account there! As far as I am concerned, that was the best leader we ever had in Africa. His exchange is one to four dollars. What else are we looking for? In terms of infrastructure, Libya can stand, side by side, with any European country. Here, we have democracy, almost 12 years, nothing is walking. Baba Obasanjo introduced the cancellation of toll gates, this man, of the same party, is reintroducing it. Obasanjo started monetisation the other time, when Yar’Adua came he cancelled it. Two steps forward, many steps backward and all these policy somersaults are not helping us. Today, I read in a paper that Nigerians are investing about N200 billion plus in Ghana can you imagine that! And yet, we are searching for investments and investors in Nigeria. It’s unfortunate that Mr President is not getting it right. PDP had not always getting it right. In the last 12 years, the PDP has not achieved anything for the country. No single project? And this is the period that we’ve had substantial amount of money from oil to run the country.  A kind of stabilisation fund was created, it was depleted. Immediately the man that saved the money left, the man that came in depleted it and this man has come again to create another one. There is confusion everywhere. PDP is not helping is. It has nothing to offer. That has been said before that PDP has nothing to offer. It’s quite unfortunate that all our people voted for PDP because of Jonathan, that probably Jonathan is going to make difference. Unfortunately, Jonathan seems to be worse than Obasanjo. Even Obasanjo was able to be identified with one thing. At least, in terms of peace, he was able to achieve lasting peace all over the country. But now, the peace is not there, the economy is not rosy, infrastructures, dead. You talked of government being about putting smiles on the faces of people. But, the ACN government in Lagos State just increased school fees in LASU by over 700 per cent, is the government putting smiles on the faces of people by this action? My friend, we all believe in education. We must be realistic in what we do. If you go to America or Britain today, you will realise that education is not free. Gone are the days where you have scholarships, the government pays for your school fees. But today, I can tell you that we produce nothing less than 100,000 graduates annually if not more than that. These children you are talking about most of them attended nursery and primary schools and they paid times ten of what the state government is asking for. Go and carry out your research and investigation, you will understand what we are saying. The kind of education we offer, if we want it to improve and you cannot take this in isolation. You must also consider the private schools that we have around. In these schools they pay N500,000 to N600,000 per term. We have the same curriculum and the same standard. If we want the best and if we really want our education to improve, we really have to do something about it. There is a need for us to improve the facilities in LASU. There is a need for us to engage those who are qualified. If we don’t get the qualified staff, you cannot get the qualified students or graduates. In essence, what we are saying is that there should be a kind of understanding between the students, the school authority and the parents. We should always have it at the back of our mind that there is a need to increase the school fees. But, do you think a parent earning N18,000 in Lagos state can afford such a high fee? Well, sincerely I don’t know of a parent that is earning N18,000 in the state. Basic salary is N18,000. There are other allowances that follow. There is no worker that is earning N18,000 per month. The basic, excluding other allowances, is N18,000. By the time you add other allowances, it’s far above N18,000. Aside from that we have said it that compared to Europe and everywhere, you see people working at the same time going to school. And they have a kind of system that allows students to take loans to fund their education and at the end they refund it. What we are saying now is that for you to go to school there must be somebody to pick the bill and the government is not in position to do that. If you are talking about the higher institution, are you not also talking about the primary and secondary schools? Primary education is free. Secondary education is free. Books are being given free of charge. The WAEC and NECO are being paid for by the state government. So, you cannot talk about the higher institution in relation to the government of the day without thinking about the primary and secondary schools. If you don’t want the system to collapse, definitely there is a need to do something about it. As of today there is no school in my local government that can complain of desk and benches and they are being supplied textbooks. You have been a member of the assembly for the third term running, what would you say are the landmark achievements of the assembly so far? The assembly is not in isolation. It’s part of the government. We work hand in hand with the executive.  But I can tell you that our achievements are well known both to international and local observers. If you are talking in terms of bills, a lot of them have been passed to law. The condition of Lagos state has improved tremendously due to majority of bills that have emanated from this house because without the house, I don’t think they can achieve the success they have achieved today. We have just talked about education now, the collaboration between the legislature and the executive also informed this. All in all I can tell you Lagos State House of Assembly ranks above all legislatures that you can think of in this country in terms of qualities of deliberations, in terms of the laws we have passed, in terms of the collaboration with the executive and so many other things. This is the 7th assembly, what should Lagosians be expecting and your constituency in particular? Well, we believe there is going to be improvement on our infrastructure. We believe there is going to be more protection in terms of lives, and that is in respect to the number of laws that we have passed, the security trust fund. I can tell you that the rate of crime in the state has reduced compared to other states. In m y constituency, a lot of projects are going to be executed in Agege.

N7b fraud allegation: EFCC files 39-count charge against Lagos speaker

Ikuforiji

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji will, any moment from now, be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to face charges in the N7billion fraud allegation against him.

Someone in the know at the anti-graft agency confirmed to our correspondent yesterday evening that a 39-count charge has been filed against the Speaker at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The source said Ikuforiji would be arraigned alongside four others.

They are a member of the House, the Clerk of the Assembly the Accountant and the Speaker’s personal assistant.

The source however, declined to mention the PA to be arraigned.

But the Chief Press Secretary to the embattled speaker, Rotimi Adebayo, said there was no truth in the story, claiming that those behind it were only whipping an old issue known to everybody.

Speaking with our correspondent on phone last night, Adebayo claimed that the EFCC spokesman denied knowledge of the charges when he spoke with him in the afternoon.

‘It’s an old story. They are just whipping an old story. It’s published in today’s (yesterday) ThisDay and Punch abi? It’s an old story that everybody is aware of. I spoke with the EFCC spokesperson this afternoon (yesterday), he denied it. He said it’s not in his knowledge. He is our colleague in Abuja,’ Adebayo said.

The EFCC had, in September, invited Ikuforiji to its Abuja office, where he was questioned over allegation of misappropriating the sum of ₦7 billion belonging to the Assembly.

Some other principal officers of the assembly, including the former clerk, who retired in July, were also quizzed in Abuja after operatives of the commission raided the Assembly.

The operatives were said to have carted away valuable documents from the office of the Speaker and the assembly’s accounts department after the raid.

It would be recalled that an NGO, Kick Against Corruption, had petitioned the EFCC, alleging that Ikuforiji misappropriated the N7billion belonging to the house.

Ikuforiji, however, denied the allegation.

N7b fraud allegation: EFCC files 39-count charge against Lagos speaker



Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji will, any moment from now, be arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to face charges in the N7billion fraud allegation against him.
Someone in the know at the anti-graft agency confirmed to our correspondent yesterday evening that a 39-count charge has been filed against the Speaker at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The source said Ikuforiji would be arraigned alongside four others.

They are a member of the House, the Clerk of the Assembly the Accountant and the Speaker’s personal assistant.

The source however, declined to mention the PA to be arraigned.

But the Chief Press Secretary to the embattled speaker, Rotimi Adebayo, said there was no truth in the story, claiming that those behind it were only whipping an old issue known to everybody.

Speaking with our correspondent on phone last night, Adebayo claimed that the EFCC spokesman denied knowledge of the charges when he spoke with him in the afternoon.

‘It’s an old story. They are just whipping an old story. It’s published in today’s (yesterday) ThisDay and Punch abi? It’s an old story that everybody is aware of. I spoke with the EFCC spokesperson this afternoon (yesterday), he denied it. He said it’s not in his knowledge. He is our colleague in Abuja,’ Adebayo said.

The EFCC had, in September, invited Ikuforiji to its Abuja office, where he was questioned over allegation of misappropriating the sum of ₦7 billion belonging to the Assembly.

Some other principal officers of the assembly, including the former clerk, who retired in July, were also quizzed in Abuja after operatives of the commission raided the Assembly.

The operatives were said to have carted away valuable documents from the office of the Speaker and the assembly’s accounts department after the raid.

It would be recalled that an NGO, Kick Against Corruption, had petitioned the EFCC, alleging that Ikuforiji misappropriated the N7billion belonging to the house.

Ikuforiji, however, denied the allegation.

Armed robbers kill pregnant woman, policeman in Oshodi

YAKUBU ALKALI: LAGOS STATE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

There was pandemonium, this evening in Oshodi area of Lagos State, when a gang of armed robbers opened fire in an attempt to make their escape.

In the process, a pregnant woman, one policeman and another unidentified man were killed while several other people got injured.

An eyewitness, who called our correspondent on phone around 6.29pm, said the armed robbers had probably gone to rob a locality in the Bolade area of Oshodi.

According to him, the robbers opened fire at the Bolade Junction and the policeman stationed there ran away to safety.

He narrated that it was the sound of gunshots, which rented the atmosphere that drew the attention of policemen from the nearby police station.

‘We all ran to safety when the robbers started firing the shots. The policeman at the Bolade junction had to run away. The robbers’ gunshot attracted the policemen from the police station close to that place. They came and one of them got killed in the ensuing exchange of fire.

‘Later the RRS, KAI and others came to the scene. I saw them carrying the dead policeman. The other two people they carried were a pregnant woman and another young man,’ he said.

The gunshots sent most commuters running helter-skelter for safety as motorists and traders abandoned their vehicles and wares.

The robbers, according to the eyewitness, made their escape with none of them arrested or shot by the police.

All attempt to get the state police public relations officers, Samuel Jinadu, to confirm the development proved abortive as all calls made to his GSM line were not picked.

Again, I am sorry! Expect more this time around.

Dear readers! Deeply sorry for not updating this blog for quite a very long time. Promise to do that henceforth, at least once in a week. But the focus will change a bit from opinions and analyses. The blog will now feature news items from Nigeria and othe states, with Lagos as major interest area. Actitvities of the Lagos State House of Assembly will also be featured as well. Thanks.
For my readers outside Nigeria, you all are highly appreciated.

‘Jonathan is a product of corruption, so he cannot fight corruption’

Here, I present the text of the interview I had with Mr Yinka Odumakin, the spokesman of the Buhari Campaign Organisation in the last April election. He gave a detailed account of what happened during the election and the violence that followed the announcement of President Jonathan as the winner. He said the current anti-corruption war in the country will not yield any fruit as long as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, remains in power.

We have not heard from your principal, General Buhari, of late, what is happening to him now?

Well, after all the stress of the election and the tortuous process of electioneering, General Buhari has decided to take some leave and attend to his medicals and have some rest while the party continues to battle and prove to the whole world that what happened on April 16 was no election in Nigeria but an aberration.

The post-election violence in some parts of the north has made some to tag your party, the CPC, with violence. Will this not rub off on its quest to bounce back to national reckoning in future?

It is a negative and line propaganda being orchestrated. It is so interesting that the media in particular have not been helpful in this matter in the sense of reporting one side of the story. There is no media organisation in Nigeria that has gone to do extensive investigative report of what happened in the crisis to give a balance account. It was unfortunate that 10 corps members were killed. The media has concentrated on that aspect of the story without reporting that there are thousands of Nigerians who were killed in the north during the crisis and who were CPC members, PDP members, Christians, Muslims and all sorts.

There is a place called Jami’a in southern Kaduna. It was said that close to 5,000 people were killed in that community. The human right watch said over 800 people were killed. The Nigerian government was talking about only 10 corps members. And talking about violence, in this country, we are given to line propaganda and we live in denial and because we live in denial we are not able to face the truth or embrace it, and that’s why we cannot solve our problems.

The cause of political violence is as old as electioneering in Nigeria. In 1964/1965 in the western region, there was what we called ‘operation we ti e’ when people revolted against electoral perfidy and made mince-meat of the whole exercise. And remember that late Hubert Ogunde made a record on that incident, where he was talking about the exploit of the people in making bonfire against soldiers. It is still a classical record till today. In 1983, after Omoboriowo did what he did in Ondo state, the people took to the street. 1993, we saw what happened after the annulment of June 12. 2003 and 2007 elections many people were killed. According to the information over 200 Nigerians were killed in the 2007 election. Nobody talked about this.

Now, coming to 2011, what happened in the north was what I called the revenge of the poor. The crisis that happened in the north was a revolt by the Hausa poor against the Hausa elite. Against the three institutions that have been used to suppress them over the years. And what are the institutions? The traditional institution, the religious institution and the political class. In the last 12 years of PDP, the north has suffered poverty that today, the three zones in the north, northeast, northwest and north central occupy number one, number two and number three in the poverty index in Nigeria. Before, there used to be a virile textile industry in the north that employed about 380,000 people but today most of them have closed down, employing less than 20,000 people. In fact the textile industry workers in Kaduna were protesting few days ago that their salaries from 2003 to 2007 have not been paid and in the process over 2,700 of them have died. In those areas, the people have seen how their elite have continued to prosper at their expense. I will give you an example.

During the election on the day we went to campaign in Adamawa, we got to a place and got information that Jonathan was campaigning in Adamawa and was coming out of Yola and if we went ahead we were going to run into his convoy. General Buhari said, with this very large crowd we would not be able to control anybody and something may happen and to avoid any incident let us avoid meeting him (Jonathan). Then, we diverted to take Ganyan, the town leading to Atiku’s town. As we were moving we got to a town called Jeda and I saw a house that was as mighty as Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja and every other house in that village is a mud house with thatched roof. And I asked who owned that house, they told me it belongs to Bamanga Tukur and that graphically tells you the gap between the northern political elite and the ordinary people. It then got to a point when, in frustration, the northern masses said that they wanted change. That’s why everybody sang Buhari‘s campaign ‘change doole, change doole’ (Change is compulsory). And they saw Buhari who lives a Spartan life, a principled life, who had been everything in this country, who had been governor of north-eastern states, who had been petroleum minister, NNPC chairman, PTF chairman, Head of state and yet does not have a filling station in his name. He does not have a house in Abuja. He has two houses, one in Kaduna and one in Daura. And in fact, people testified to it. John Campbell, former US ambassador to Nigeria, said in his book, Nigeria Riding on the brink, that the only politician of integrity, who is absolutely incorruptible in Nigeria is general Buhari but as for the elite of Nigeria who are benefitting from this rot Buhari is a high risk.

So, when they announced that Buhari did not win, the masses became incensed that their hope is dashed. I will give you two stories to show you the hope that the northern masses invested in the election. In Kaduna, there was a woman who went into labour while on queue to vote. She went home and gave birth, came back to the queue, voted and went back home to name that child Buhari.

In Daura, after Jega had taken his red sheets from his professors and announced Jonathan as the winner, one woman in Daura, after hearing the news on air, said ‘Buhari lost… Buhari lost…Buhari lost’ she fainted and died. That tells you the expectation of the masses, who felt that there should be one of the elite, who is different from the rest, to come to power and bring about changes in the country so that their lives would be better. So, when the violence started on that Monday, General Buhari was in Daura. He left Daura to come to Abuja. He got to Kaduna because of the situation he had to go to airport to take a flight. He sent his cars to go to his house in Kaduna. As they were going the three cars were vandalised by the mob. They did not even know that they were Buhari’s cars, they had vandalised them before they knew they were Buhari’s cars. That is to tell you that it was an angry reaction by a mob. Because he had no access to the media in Daura, immediately he got to Abuja, I arranged for him to speak on the BBC Hausa service, on Aljazeera, Radio Nagarta, Radio Freedom and all other local stations that covered the north effectively. Because if I just issue a statement carried by The Moment, Punch and the rest, the masses of the north don’t know what is written there. There are many states that you get to, apart from the capital, you cannot get newspapers. All the newspapers in Nigeria today do not sell one million copies. If we just wanted to play to the gallery, we could have issued a statement through the newspapers and the elite in Lagos and other people would say ‘yes’ Buhari has addressed the matter, they will be satisfied. But those who are fighting will not hear it and the fighting would continue. But the moment he spoke to them in Hausa language that ‘look, stop this’ in fact some of them burnt their voters card, that they are not going to vote again if the man they are fighting for is calling for calm. You can go to the BBC Hausa service and see their transcript if Buhari did not speak. Now, look at Nigerians.

They started blaming that Buhari did not speak. Jonathan, the president and commander in chief of Nigeria, who is in charge the army, the police and every security apparatus of the state, who has constitutional duty to put the crisis under control but lack the moral authority, because he has stolen the votes of the people, did not make a statement until six days after the incident. I can’t remember where he made any statement until six days after the incident and when he spoke, what did he say? He said ‘oh, this reminds me of Biafra,’ so what are we saying?

The question we must ask ourselves is that, why do we always conduct elections that attract violence in Nigeria? Ghana had election there. They had a presidential election, two run-offs. The ruling party lost to the opposition party, was anybody killed. It’s because they conducted free and fair election but in Nigeria we are always afraid of facing the truth. We deny the reality of the cause of the disease and we now begin to attack the symptoms and once we continue to do that we are going to repeat that cycle all over again. It is those who manipulate the will of the people, it is those who were using corps members to rig election, who exposed those young people, unfortunately to the anger of the mob that should be blamed and vilified. Before the election, there were bombings in Niger which corps members were killed, what has the president done till date? On October 1 in Abuja during the independent anniversary, bombs exploded, MEND said ‘we did it.’ The only reaction of the president was that ‘no, it’s not MEND it is Jomo Gbomo.’ He said he compensated corps member N5m per head, a family lost four children on October 1 when MEND claimed that they bombed Abuja, did he compensate them?

The day he went to campaign in Nasarawa, people were killed there. When he went to campaign in Port Harcourt scores of people died during a stampede, what did he do, did he compensate anybody? Nigerians should think!

The President is trying to constitute a Government of National Unity (GNU) but your party has said it would not participate. It also did not attend the President’s parley sometimes ago with opposition parties. Now, what are the measures the CPC is putting in places to make it provide a strong opposition to the ruling PDP?

First of all you will agree with me that it is only the CPC today that is challenging the dubious victory of Jonathan at the poll, to show that it is only the CPC that is opposing the rot in Nigeria. Even, don’t take the words of the CPC, take the words of Prof. Itsay Sagay (SAN) who said ‘I am from the south-south but when it comes to election, we are barbarians.’ South-south, southeast, there was no election, figures were just written. We have evidence to show that in a place in Rivers state, where 6,000 plus voters were registered, PDP got 76,000 votes.

In Imo state, Jonathan got 1.3 million votes, a week after in the governorship election, which is a local election that was keenly contested, went into supplementary election, Okorocha got 300,000 votes. But every other party said ‘it’s okay, we can move on.’ And that is because most of the leaders of other parties, I am not talking of their followers, I am talking of the leadership, are also satellites of the PDP. Mimiko has come out to say that Labour party did not present any candidate because they had a pact with Jonathan. It will be a reference point in history how Jonathan defeated Ribadu in the southwest, the stronghold of the ACN, and the ACN, now winning all the states the following week. That tells you there were some deals.

You’ve not talked about how the CPC would bounce back as a strong opposition party…

The CPC is going to be a vibrant opposition to the PDP and it is the only party that has shown in spite of their falsified figures, the party still had 12 million votes. The next party after CPC had only two million votes in the general elections. That tells you that the CPC is the party that is going to give the vibrant opposition. The party is at the tribunal today challenging the result and asking that the election be cancelled in 24 states and asking for a run-off between Jonathan and Buhari.

So, when the proceedings of the tribunal are over, the party will unfold its plans of giving Nigerians a vibrant opposition. In spite of all the negative media campaigns being sponsored mostly by Aso Rock, the CPC is still the party that is founded on principle of sustained opposition to the rot in Nigeria.

Away from Politics, the former president Olusegun Obasanjo, few days ago in Geneva, Switzerland, said that his successors, Yar’Adua and Jonathan, lacked the will to fight corruption, what do you make of this statement vis a vis what Jonathan is doing at the moment?

I think Obasanjo is very right that his successors, Yar’Adua and Jonathan, lacked the capacity and political will to fight corruption but what they are doing is a continuation of his legacies. Because Obasanjo himself is corruption personified. How did Obasanjo, who had just N20,000 in his account in 1998, suddenly become one of the richest men in Africa today? How did he build all the mansions in Abeokuta? The Presidential Library, the Hilltop mansion in Abeokuta after eight years of being President on Nigeria. The two had lacked the will to fight corruption because they are true children of their father. Obasanjo spread corruption in Nigeria, corruption of values, corruption of selves, corruption of everything in Nigeria in his eight years rule.

Looking at the trial of ex-speaker Bankole and his deputy, Nafada, a school of thought says the case should not be treated in isolation, that the leadership of the Senate and the clerk of the National Assembly, should also be investigated because they were privy to some of the deals that Bankole is being tried for now, what is your take on this?

The first point I want to make is that, as a person I believe that anybody who has dipped his hands in the public coffers illegally, should face the music, no matter who you are. You must face the music and account for your action. But, do I hale what is going on? No, I don’t, because I understand and I know that corruption cannot fight corruption.

PDP is corruption. Jonathan is a product of corruption. Jonathan became president through corruption. So, how can you now say that such a person will fight corruption?

Without holding brief for Bankole, I don’t have all the details of the weighty allegations against him. But I want to believe that his travail is more of stepping out of line by not allowing the House of Reps to have the rules of open-secret ballot for election of the leadership of the House. That was all.

And President Jonathan once said in my presence and few others that if I don’t want all the governors in Nigeria today to sleep on their bed, they will not sleep on their beds, I know what to do. That tells you that this may well be a way of settling scores among themselves. Any member, who go out of line have to be disciplined, that’s the law of the mafias. If you step out of line, they deal with you. They may eliminate you or put you under serious punishment.

The present occupier of Aso Rock today has been dignified. The reason why he is the president of Nigeria today is that all the crooks of Nigeria believe that he is the man they can use to sustain what is on ground.

You’ve not comment on the leadership of the Senate regarding corruption…

Look, are they not PDP? What they have accused Bankole of, as weighty as they are, they are a tip of the iceberg if you know what is happening over there. If you are saying they should investigate David Mark too, who will investigate him? If Dimeji did not fall out of line would they have treated him this way? Until we get the PDP out of power in Nigeria, there is no way we can fight corruption and I think that is what their BOT chairman said in Geneva, that the people he put in power are not fighting corruption. That tells you that he knows his people. There is no way anybody in PDP can fight corruption because the party is an epitome of corruption.

What is your view on the security situation in the country?

I think it is rather sad and unfortunate that Nigeria today has become an insecure country where bombs are flying like Christmas bangers almost on a daily basis. We have had it virtually everywhere. But the worst of it was the one that happened at the Police Headquarters in Abuja. That was the symbol of law and order. When the Police at the highest level are no longer safe, then, who is safe? The IG boasted to face the Boko haram sect, but without anything on ground. I expected the IG to get his population plan ready, move against them and when he arrests them, dislodge the movement and you now begin to boast. There was nothing but an empty boast.

Somebody was sending me a joke saying that what is the difference between ‘shakara’ and action? Then, ‘shakara’ is when Ringim boasts to Boko Haram that their days are numbered but action is when Boko Haram strikes and tell the IG that his own days are numbered.

 So, what’s Jonathan doing against the bombers? Secondly, we have been told that by the police that the suicide bomber drove into the IG’s convoy, he got to where IG was going to pack, they now directed him to go and pack somewhere and ask somebody to check who is inside the car. When the Presidential tribunal started sitting in Abuja, I drove to the court, every car was frisked at the gate before you enter the premises. How can anybody tell me that the IG goes to the office every day that they don’t know where his convoy ends and you allowed a strange car to move with you until he gets to the car back before you now say ‘come’. You asked someone to frisk inside the car. When you want to frisk a car you start from the boot.
So they are not telling us the truth.

I think the president has shown his incompetence over the matter. He has not shown the capacity to govern this country. The spokesman of the SSS was on Channels television few days ago and was saying that there are some people who believe it is their birth right to rule the country, trying to politicise the issue of bombing. That’s the SSS! In a country under a president, such person would be fired! That IG should be removed. People now watch their shoulders. If the exhaust of a car gives loud sound now, Nigerians will run because they don’t know where the next bomb is coming from. There is a sense of insecurity all over the country.

How can we address the problem?

First of all, there are short-term and there are long term measures. The short term measures, there should be coordinated approach by the security forces driven by the Presidency, to show that there is some seriousness in fighting terrorism in the country. Not an IG going about, boasting. The long term aspect of it is that we have to look at the root causes of these problems and tackle them.

When the leader of Boko Haram, Yusuf Muhammed, was executed extra judicially in this country, I was one of those who spoke openly that it was an unlawful thing to do. Some people were saying, out of emotion because Nigerians were run by emotions they can’t look beyond now, no, no, he has killed people he should be killed too. In a civilised country that wants to get to the root of it, they should have arrested him alive, interrogate him, get information from him and they will be able to extract a lot of information from him to know about their modus operandi. But they are interested in covering the evidence, they killed him extra judicially. And we told them then that by doing that they are going to get a movement that is more dangerous because what they had done was just to scrape the surface, the whole of the movement is still intact. They now come more daring

. Whereas, if they had extracted information from Yusuf before killing him, they would have used such information to get into their structure, their operations and kill the sect without sweating. Today, Boko Haram has turn out to be something else! I don’t know whether anybody knows those who are leading the movement. Under Yusuf they knew those who were leading. Look at Niger Delta, what is causing problems there are also in the north. It is poverty that has raised this kind of movement because they are young people. Most of them don’t go to school. The only thing they read is the Qur’an and they look at it and discovered that what their political leaders are doing are not in the Qur’an and conclude that it’s because they have western education, that’s why they are doing all they are doing. That’s why they said that western education is taboo. How do we change this orientation? How do we take them through proper education? How do we wean them from that kind of ideology? Nobody is addressing that. MEND started this way. Instead of tackling the problem, they started bribing the militant leaders. Today, it is said that the biggest houses in Nigeria today are owned by ex-militants. Have we solved the problems in the Niger Delta? Few days ago, MEND was making threats.

In Lagos today, you see that the problem of area boys is reducing. Why? It is because a lot of them have been absorbed into LASTMA, KAI, LAWMA and others. They are beginning to have money, own cell phones, and rent houses!

The Boko Haram came up with some demands, one of which was the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of its leader, Yusuf Muhammed, do you think the government would be able to meet this demand in the light of what Aljazeera reported of the killings by the Nigerian Police during the crisis?

In Nigeria, we are always attending to a side of an issue.

What Boko Haram is doing is wrong but those who killed Yusuf in handcuff have also committed a crime. Once you arrest a man, you have no right to kill him. It is only the court that can find him guilty and say base on this and this, so so person is guilty of homicide, kill him. So killing the man without fair trial is a crime. Until we observe the scale of balance in Nigeria, we cannot have justice and once we don’t have justice we not have peace. So, we need to be rounded in our sense of Justice.

Emergence of Tambuwal, a final burial to Zoning

The drama that played out in the lower chamber of the national assembly where, against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s, directive, members overwhelmingly voted Aminu Waziri Tambuwal from Sokoto state, as the speaker, is a pointer to what lies in the pipeline for the nation in the aftermath of President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to rock the boat of the country’s stability when he contested and won the presidential election.

Although, some may explain it away as the triumph of democracy and a statement against the culture of imposition in the PDP, the truth, in my opinion, is that northern elements in the lower chamber subtly banked on President Jonathan’s precedence when he jettisoned the zoning policy of the party.

While Jonathan told the whole world that the number one citizen could come from any part of the country, regardless of the zoning arrangement within his party which many believe had contributed to the stability of the country, just to achieve his personal ambition, he wanted the same policy to be applied in the selection of the leadership of the national assembly.

Hiding under the slogan “party supremacy” the president and his fellow journeymen in the PDP, zoned the speakership position to the southwest and went ahead to impose an unpopular candidate on the members.

Why shouldn’t the leadership of the NASS emerge from any part of the country now when it did in the case of the executive?

Zoning was buried long time ago when Jonathan stepped into the presidential race. And to attempt to bring it back under another guise, to say the least, is the peak of hypocrisy.

I once wrote on this blog that the entrance of Jonathan into the race may end up fragmenting the country. I had also written that, on the surface, the argument put forward by Jonathan that all Nigerians irrespective of the regions they come from should be free to contest the presidential election as stipulated in the country’s constitution was tenable and in fact incontrovertible.

However, the reality on ground is that the relative political stability Nigeria has been enjoying since 1999 when the military handed over power to civilians might not have come without the zoning arrangement, though an internal affair of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The fragmenting of the country, by one man’s ambition to rule, was clearly pronounced in the pattern of voting in the last election. The ethno-religious fault lines of the country became more manifest with the north lining behind General Buhari and the south, Jonathan.

Again, the post-presidential election violence that greeted the announcement of President Jonathan as the winner, which claimed over 520 lives, according to the Police authorities, might have been averted or even not occur had he respected the zoning policy of his party. If a northerner had run on the platform of the PDP against General Buhari and won I am certain that no single soul would have been lost because it was north versus north.

I fear for the country. The boat of its stability had been rocked. By 2015 when zoning will not be a criterion for selecting the next president, the country may disintegrate further. I pray it does not break and if it does, JONATHAN SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE!

But, mind you, I had said it before that I am not an advocate of zoning and I reiterate same now. What I advocate is that if the principle will bring up quality leadership for the country and help sustain its unity, it should be fully embraced but if not, then it should have no place in our consciousness.

BACK ON THE BEAT AGAIN!

I have been recieving comments from my numerous readers in the last few months of my absence here. Many wonder why i have not been updating this 'site' as i used to despite the fact that a lot has happened and are still happening in our country Nigeria. It wasn't a deliberate act rather it was another duty call that prevented me from the task. Now, i am back on the beat, more energised and refreshed to give my take on issues affecting our dear country. I appreciate all the encouraging comments and commendations.

Keep reading and making the comments and together we shall reform the country and take it to a greater heights.