Loomnie

Here. The concluding paragraph:

At close quarters it is hard not to warm to the man. He has a winning sense of humour and unshakeable belief in self as well as country: “I love Nigeria,” he says over breakfast. “Some people see that as a weakness.” There is also a streak of ruthlessness and a Machiavellian ability to steer a political course between dark and light. It is a mix well-suited to the complex task of governing Africa’s most populous nation but perhaps less so to the role of former statesman. He is no saint, as his first wife makes plain in a searing account of their marriage published recently in Nigeria, but is he the scheming, vindictive and ultimately corrupting influence he is portrayed as now in much of the Nigerian press? Certainly, he will never admit as much. “Human beings are what they are: ungrateful souls,” he says of all the sniping. “That is why I am very happy with my animals and birds I rear on the farm,” he says, showing a hint of disingenuity and no sign of withdrawing from the fray.

The Economist interviews Dele Ogun, head of the Genesis Project, on the political situation in Nigeria.

1. Akin pulls out tissues for President Yar’Adua

2. Goodluck Jonathan makes his first address as president to the country (Video)

3. Reuters says Yar’Adua death leaves succession wide open

4. Next gives details of the burial

5. Discussions and speculations about who will become the new vice president

6. Is it ever too early for 419ers to start trying to use the president’s death in scam emails?

The dust will settle soon. I reserve any major commentary until then.

This is from Tatalo Alamo, writing for the Nation:

Taking inspiration from the conflict tree paradigm, we can say that while the immediate cause and outward foliage of the Jos crisis is economic, ie a conflict arising from allocation of scarce resources and the distribution of political patronage, the root causes are cultural and historical. While the current conflict is framed in terms of religious differences, Christian indigenes versus Muslim settlers, the bitterness is rooted in ancestral memory and the resentment arising from hegemonic quests.

But while ethnic resentment and bitter ancestral memory always exist in a state of dormancy in heterogeneous societies, they always require an active politicisation to become active, ie to achieve a collective and communal momentum. While members of different ethnic groups may disdain and hold each other in contempt, it always takes a degree of political mobilisation to tip over into active hatred and murderous rage.

The paradox of genocide is that although it usually involves ordinary people targeting other ordinary people, it is always an elite-fuelled phenomenon. As we have seen in Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Turkey, Hitler’s Germany and now Jos Plateau, ordinary people do not simply wake up and start killing each other. It usually requires a considerable degree of elite propaganda and religion-induced dementia.

Despite bitter ancestral memory about thwarted conquests, repulsed invasions and attempted cultural domination, there have been long periods of history when the so called indigenes and settlers of Jos lived side by side with each other in peace and harmony. Despite cultural and historical differences, children of both communities often found common political cause even as they joined the army in droves. Some of the notable leaders of the revenge coup of 1966 are from this region. Many of them fought valiantly to keep Nigeria one.

The so called Langtang mafia that wielded disproportionate influence in the post-Shagari military dispensation are from the region. Governor Jonah Jang himself was an outstanding product of this cultural mishmash until he began to sing about being unfairly cashiered from the Air Force. Surely, his ethnic identity did not prevent him from being enlisted into the armed forces in the first instance. And it did not prevent him from receiving the gubernatorial nomination of the ruling party, the PDP.

We have heard tales of how some of the most physically ineligible cadet candidates from the region were summarily enlisted on the orders of the late Sardauna. Except in hushed tones of ancestral recriminations, nobody, particularly from outside the region, could tell who was what among the political elite. Population-wise, no ethnic group loomed disproportionately over others. There are some Berom who are Muslims just as there are Hausa/Fulani supporters of Jonah Jang. The late Joseph Garba told a riveting tale of how his father, a native chief, finally succumbed to Sardauna’s proselytisation.

The most telling irony of the Jos tragedy is that post-military politics seems to have opened the Pandora box of ethnic bitterness and religious hatred on the plateau. This is precisely what has also happened in the Kaduna metropolis which has led to a virtual partitioning of that beautiful city. The liberating tonic of politics has turned out to be an ugly poison. It is a steep descent down a dark and dangerous precipice. In political dispensations, unlike military dictatorships, there are usually more elite mouths to feed and the feeding frenzy is usually driven by the politics of exclusion and the politicisation of ethnic and sub-ethnic identity.

Unfortunately in Jos, the army, the ultimate national institution, has been fingered as being part of the problem. There are dangerous insinuations out there that the Nigerian Army is partisanly embroiled in the Jos conflict. For weeks, serious allegations have been flying around about the culpability of the entire military command in the Jos tragedy. These allegations are a veritable threat to national security and are simply unprintable. God forbids the army of an ethnically combustible and religiously fractious nation being led by mullahs and religious fanatics. But when a normally sedate and even-tempered four-star General like Domkat Bali dismisses the military commander in Jos as an idiot, we have reached a most dangerous flash point.

Fortunately for conflict resolution, there are intriguing plays of signifiers across the rigid binary division in Jos. The Christian Berom indigenes are predominantly in the ruling party, the PDP, while the Muslim Fulani settlers appear to have pitched for the opposition ANPP. The hegemonic group is not in the hegemonic party. The imperialising culture is not part of the imperialist faction. It is a profound local difficulty. So, when the PDP rigs in Plateau State, it is rigging against the national consensus of its own party and its hegemonic thrust.

The open partisanship displayed by Umaru Yar’Adua did not allow him to take advantage of this sly adumbration of the forces in contention. Hence an embarrassingly ineffectual policy which could only have encouraged impunity on the part of a principal faction. General Obasanjo did not fare any better. His military frame of mind led him to slam an unwarranted and unjustified state of emergency on the fractious state. As a military tactician, it was the thing to do. But as a political strategist, it simply means that the poor general could not see beyond his nose. The result is that the ruling party is at the end of its tether and there is open genocide on the Jos Plateau.

Goodluck Jonathan can fare much better than his two predecessors. The first thing to do is to order an immediate and swift redeployment of General Saleh Maina from the theatre of genocide to a posting where his offensive skills would be better appreciated. Second, he should, as a matter of urgent national priority, inaugurate a National Restitution Commission which will look at the Jos catastrophe in a holistic manner and come up with acceptable solutions. This is not the usual job for the boys. Jonathan must source for tested patriots and experts of conflict resolution.

Jos has put Nigeria on the international spot. It is a purulent boil on the body politic and the earlier we lance it the better for our collective health. It is not enough to condemn Muammar Ghaddafi as a madman. We must first convince the global community of our own sanity.

Would ordinary Nigerians have felt Yar’Adua’s absence? Since the experience of the Nigerian state for most Nigerians is limited to demands for bribes by officials and policemen, the government and who is running it is of little consequence to them. Everything positive in their lives is achieved by themselves in spite of the ruling elite and their officials, not because of it. Many might say that Nigeria would be better off without a government at all.

I wrote something along those lines sometime ago. Read the whole post here.

Hat-Tip Roving Bandit.

Adewale Ajadi writes in NEXT:

Is it not possible that in a heated polity Mrs. Yar’Adua sees herself as isolated and her husband as threatened; viewing each delegation that approached Saudi Arabia with the same cynicism that is abroad across the land and drinking from the same sectional cesspool from which the national psyche is daily watered; she would watch life ebb out of her man, her insecurity and loyalty driving choices that are now the source of criticism? Is it possible that this is a wife fighting for her husband the best way she knows how?

In this aspect the restraint of the Acting President, which is seen in some quarters as slowness and even cowardice, takes the shape of wisdom and humanity, standards that are rarely ever prominent in our win-lose public life. It is possible to see the fingerprint of misogyny all over the glee of the attacks on Mrs. Yar’Adua.

I feel that this is a possible understanding of the situation Mrs Yar’Adua is in, and I said as much in a somewhat rambling post (forgive me, a combination of lack of sleep and too much coffee sometimes takes its toll).

And in relation to the constitionality of how the Acting President was appointed:

As things stand it will be difficult under the provisions of the current Constitution to justify the creative process with which the Senate fashioned an acting president, an action, which was not only laudable and in fact heroic in the context, but also not necessarily constitutional. It is a mark of the institutional progress that even though a president had been missing for three months, there was a process that kept the affairs of state grinding even if slowly. It stands to reason that what we need is a far less ambitious document.

That is also my stance. Indeed, it is a sign of institutional progress that the country has been able to muddle through a very difficult situation and come out of it with something that we all might not agree with, but that somehow works. It is also impressive that the country was run quite well all through the time that there was no president, something that made me write, cynically, that we probably do not need a president.

These are really impressive things that should be highlighted. Agreed, we need to have discussions on recent and ongoing happenings, but reducing things to sensationalism only distracts from the issues that really need focus. Sensationalism sells paper, but does it really serve the public?

See Akin’s blog for a similar take.

The Nigerian president got back to the country in the early hours of Wednesday. It is reported that his flight landed in a well-guarded presidential wing of the international airport in Abuja. From an investigative report by NEXT, we learn that the acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, as the acting Commander-in-Chief, did not release the troops that went to secure the airport, and that he did not approve the guards that are currently guarding him.

Mr Goodluck Jonathan apparently called off the Wednesday meeting of the Federal Executive Council because of the uncertainties surrounding the return of the very sick president.

On the same day, the spokesperson of the president, Mr Segun Adeniyi, issued a press release that says that the vice president is still the acting president, until the president is fit to return to work:

After being discharged by the team of medical experts overseeing his treatment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua returned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja early this morning.

President Yar’Adua wishes to express his profound gratitude to all Nigerians for their prayers for his recovery, their exceptional generosity of spirit and their appreciation of the fact that all mortals are subject to the vagaries of ill-health.

President Yar’Adua is grateful to the Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for competently overseeing the affairs of state in his absence.

The President also wishes to thank the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the entire membership of the National Assembly, the Governors’ Forum, the Judiciary, the Armed Forces and other security agencies, former heads of state and other eminent Nigerians for their roles in maintaining order and stability during his absence.

President Yar’Adua wishes to re-assure all Nigerians that on account of their unceasing prayers and by the special grace of God, his health has greatly improved.

However, while the President completes his recuperation, Vice President Jonathan will continue to oversee the affairs of state.

Everything reads pretty normal up to this point, right? Well, it turns out that the spokesperson who issued the press release had not even seen the president up till then. And when you read a headline like Turai Takes Over you start wondering what is really happening in the country.

Obvious questions: Is the president as fit and in the state of mind that the press release says? Who authorised the press release?

And, is Mrs Turai Yar’Adua, the wife of the president, really the one running the country? Did she make them release that press release in order to cover up the fact that her husband is very sick?

Let me try to answer those questions.

According to reports of the return of the president, the man is in a really critical situation. NEXT:

his critical condition has necessitated his continued stay in the Ford E-250 intensive care ambulance that picked him at the Abuja airport. He is expected to be in the ambulance until the intensive care unit that will receive him is retrieved by Julius Berger from Katsina and re-installed in House 7 within the grounds of the Presidential Villa.

If he is in that state then one would not be surprised that nobody is allowed to see him except his wife and his security guards. I don’t think that visitors are allowed in ICUs. This might answer the question as regards why nobody is allowed to see him. The fact that the acting president has not seen him might also be due to that. Remember, the Mrs Yar’Adua has not issued any public statement about the state of her husband’s health.

If nobody has seen him then the press release was probably written by the press office. The main information in the release, besides the part that tries to claim that the president said that he was recovering, is that the vice will continue acting as the president. The part where the report claims that the president asks Nigerian citizens to pray for him might be the work of a press office that is used to writing press releases on behalf of a president who has been in poor health for a long while. They are probably simply used to writing these sorts of things on his behalf.

Now to the issue of his wife taking over.

First, let us assume that she is just a very distraught wife who is able to call on friends of her husband to help secure the airport while her husband – not the president – returned. She obviously would not allow people to see her husband since he is in a critical condition. In any case, the country has an acting president so there is not much to worry over in that.

The second scenario is one in which she is the one calling the shots, taking charge of government, dictating to the Chief of Army staff about how many troops to release in order to secure the airport, and trying to stop Mr Jonathan from performing his duties as the acting president. If this is the case then it is absolutely the fault of those she lords it over that way. She is really nobody, just the wife of a very sick  man who is unable to act in the capacity of a president. If she can command the power she is claimed to be commanding then the so-called ruling elite are to blame for rolling over and letting her take control.

And that might well be the case. In many situations in Nigeria, if you want to curry favour with the boss you do not go to the vice, you go to the wife. Power is often seen as being embodied in the person who holds it. In order to have access to that power one needs someone who has unrestricted access to the Power. That is the wife. Which is why, in order to get the head of, say, a university department to do something one would be advised to talk to his wife.

So, maybe the wife is running the show in that way. Maybe people run to her for favour and she makes them do her wishes because she is the only one who has access to Power.

Whatever the case is, things are going to have to become clearer in the next few days.

And, oh, you are surprised that there has not been any outcry among the populace? Well, it is because nothing has changed in the country. Salary workers still get paid and things appear to be normal. It seems that the machine of government is better oiled than I ever thought.

Matthew Tostevin, Reuters editor for Africa, writes in the Reuters Africa News blog:

It now appears very unlikely that Yar’Adua will ever return to office, but that only intensifies the battle ahead of the election due by 2011.

According to an unwritten agreement within the ruling PDP party for rotating power between Nigeria’s regions, Jonathan would not be able to stand because he is from the south and the next term should still go to Yar’Adua’s north – although no doubt some of his aides will be wondering whether they really need to stick to that.

Most likely the fight for the PDP nomination will be among northerners and there is no shortage of contendors. But it also means it needs to be someone happy to serve only one term so that the presidency can return to the south in 2015.

Although the army has firmly insisted on staying on the sidelines so far (perhaps another good reason for the backslapping in Abuja), there is no guarantee it would if the transition turns out to be chaotic, corruption soars on a spending spike and there is no improvement in the irregularities that are anything but irregular when it comes to Nigerian ballots.

One also has to think about the machine that was ruling the country all the while Yar’Adua was not available. Is the new President Goodluck Jonathan going to be able to take charge of the machine? Is he going to be deferring to it/them? Those are going to be crucial questions in the next few months.

Ban the use of foreign products at official functions and in government offices:

Nigeria’s Daily Champion -The Federal Government on Tuesday imposed a ban on the use of foreign beverages at official functions and in government offices.

The ban covers tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit juices, water and soft drinks. President Umaru Yar’Adua gave the directive at the official launch of the Made-in-Nigeria products camapign in Abuja. Yar’Adua, who was represented by Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, also directed that Nigeria’s foreign aid to other countries must utilize Nigerian products like “Nigerian assembled vehicles and Nigerian made blankets.

“Henceforth, all government contractors must give priority to the use of Nigerian products whose quality is certified by relevant regulatory agencies of government like Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC.

“All uniforms and boots of the armed forces; Army, Navy, Air Force, Police as well as para-military, Customs, Immigration, Prisons and Civil Defence Corps, Road Safety etc must be sourced from Nigerian manufacturers certified by SON,’’ Yar’Adua added.

The president noted that the policy measures were to boost industrial production, check imports and revive the nation’s ailing industrial sector.

He said that the campaign to buy Made-in-Nigeria products was one of the measures meant to counter the negative effects of the global economic crisis on the manufacturing sector.

Yar’Adua reiterated the government’s commitment to the revival of the industrial sector, particularly the textile industry that used to be the most vibrant of the economy.

“With a population of over 140 million people, Nigeria’s market is big enough to sustain a bubbling domestic industrial sector if only Nigerians look inwards at their local products.

“Unfortunately many industries had to close shop due to lack of patronage of their products by Nigerians.

“We mus, therefore, re-orientate ourselves to value what we produce in order to develop a strong and virile industrial base,’’ he said.

The president appealed to the organised private sector to demonstrate a high sense of consumer patriotism by following the footsteps of the government in their procurement programmes.

In his comments, Chief Achike Udenwa, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, called on the government to patronise Made-in-Nigeria products.

“For this campaign to succeed, a strong political will is needed to back it up by patronising Made-in-Nigeria products in government’s procurement programmes.

“This way, the general public will be sensitised to embracing the campaign,’’ he said.

Udenwa said that the nation’s leadership, including both the executive and the legislature, should buy and be seen to be using Made-in-Nigeria products.

He said the target of the campaign was to see that Nigerians valued and took pride in Nigerian products.

He said this could only be achieved if Nigerian textiles as well as other manufactured goods were used by Nigerians in their day-to-day lives.

The minister, however, stressed that the campaign was not about buying poor quality and sub-standard products simply because they are Nigerian.

He, therefore, called on the manufacturing sector to avail itself of the services of the regulatory agencies to produce quality products comparable with foreign ones.

Udenwa noted that the challenges faced by local manufacturers, especially high energy cost and dumping of foreign goods in the Nigerian

market had contributed greatly to the sorry state of the sector.

He said the government was working hard to address the critical infrastructure constraints, adding that it was important to confront smuggling and counterfeit goods that were destroying the economy.

He called on all the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Federal Produce Inspection Services (FPIS) to continue with their good works on standards.

In his remarks, Alhaji Bashir Borodo, President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said the success of the campaign would be “victory’’ for the country.

“Nigeria is a great country and God has endowed us with highly resourceful citizens and abundant natural resources.

“The products that emerge from the combination of these two assets should therefore command our pride and our patronage,’’ he said.

Borodo recalled that MAN had started this campaign more than 30 years ago and had since then continued to carry out the campaign through various media and corporate representations.

He also noted that the association was facing challenges that hampers its success.

Such challenges, he said, included inadequate infrastructure, especially power, lack of patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products by Nigerians and a dearth of business friendly funding windows.

Others are bureaucratic bottleneck and failure of government services and utilities, especially at the ports and the huge influx of foreign goods.

Remember Hernando De Soto’s assertion in The Mystery of Capital that success in capitalism is tied to the structure of property and property rights? Seems like someone in the Nigerian government has been reading the book.

In ThisDay of today:

The Federal Government yesterday said  the ongoing land reforms process is intended to launch the large majority of Nigerians into economic empowerment by providing them with access to land titles which can easily be traded for money.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development reform, Dr. Tukur Ingawa, speaking at the national workshop of the National Technical Development Forum on Land Administration:

“As operators in the field, you must be aware of the advantages of modernising the processes of land administration. The procedure for obtaining title to land must not be allowed to remain slow and irritatingly inefficient. The security of title documents and other defers that impede transactions in land must be given due considerations”

And

In his remarks, Chairman, Presidential Committee on Land Reform, Professor Akin Maboguje said the land reform agenda was borne out of very deep conviction by President Umaru Yar’Adua that a very critical and potent factor in alleviating the poverty of the large majority of Nigerians especially those living in the rural areas is to determine, validate and register the property right they own in their land assets.

In Vanguard of yesterday:

The reform is aimed at removing the hitherto slow, frustrating and cumbersome process of land administration and pay the way for modernisation processes of land administration in the country.

According to the current land laws – the Land Use Act of 1990 – land in the urban areas of each state is held by the state governor, in trust for the people; the right to land in non-urban areas is held by the local government authorities. The governor and the local government authority issue certificates of occupancy. From the reports and the terms of reference from the president it does’t seem like this is going to change….

Let’s wait and see the outcome/recommendations of the committee.