Tomorrow in THE NATION PUNCHLINE
SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2012 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.7, NO. 3009
A more rational way to solve the problem of transporting goods and services in the country in general and in the southern states in particular is for the president to send a bill to the National Assembly to move rail transportation from the exclusive to the concurrent list. —Ropo Sekoni
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VER since his exceedingly suspicious alleged role in the murder of the late Attorney General of the Federation and Yoruba icon, Chief Bola Ige, the name of Senator Iyiola Omisore in the South West has been synonymous with all that is vile, evil, sinister, poisonous, corrosive, destructive, foul, offensive and demeaning. Since he has apparently learnt nothing from the past and still harbours a distinct distaste for all forms of decency, this columnist takes off his gloves this week and will tackle this mentally vacuous character bare knuckled. It is unfortunate that Omisore claims to be an indigene of Ile-Ife, the proud origin of Yoruba civilization and the chief custodian of the virtues of ‘Omoluabi’ – the well bred citizen. There is simply nothing well bred about this man who appears to be almost in a permanent state of mental vacation. But for his vast wealth amassed in questionable circumstances under military lootocracy, Omisore would be no better than a common motor park tout. Exhibiting his characteristic hallucinatory impulses, Omisore, a private citizen, threatened during the week to stop and search the convoy of Ogbeni Raufu Aregbesola, Governor of the State of Osun. This was coming shortly on the heels of a widely publicised security report accusing the Governor of plotting the secession of his state from the country. This purported security report is so inane, jejune and unintelligent that I will not bother commenting on its details. But there is a strange convergence of minds between Omisore and the conjurers of the so called security report when they both decried the Governor’s alleged jettisoning of men of the State Security Services (SSS) and relying on his private, allegedly Islamic, security operatives. “It is unethical to use thugs as security”, Omisore thundered, “Aregbesola should explain why he goes about with thugs. During the last election, he rigged with the aid of thugs but this time round we are ready for him…If Aregbesola does not trust the SSS, let him resign. We are going to stop his convoy and search him”. Now, is this a private citizen talking? What gives him this kind of confidence that he can violently confront a sitting governor? Does Omisore still have men of the Mobile Police Force attached to him as is reportedly the case with most PDP top shots? We will recall that shortly before Bola Ige’s murder, Omisore was one of those who reportedly removed the Justice Minister’s cap when on an official visit to the Ooni of Ife. In a widely publicised magazine interview at the time, Omisore did not deny his involvement. He indeed boasted that the Minister was lucky that it was only his cap that was removed. The insinuation was obvious. In a matter of weeks, Ige had lost not only his
A killer on the prowl?
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•Omisore cap but his life. Omisore was temporarily incarcerated for his suspected involvement in the murder. But like all matters of alleged high crime involving its members, this tragedy was settled as a “PDP family affair”. Omisore was ‘elected’ to the Senate from prison, even winning in Bola Ige’s home town, Esa Oke. Isn’t there a familiar refrain here? Bola Ige completely trusted men of the Nigeria Police Force assigned to guarantee his security just the way Omisore wants Aregbesola to invest complete trust and faith in men of the SSS assigned to protect him by the Federal Government! This is the same PDP influenced agency that has concocted a brazenly false security report against the Governor. Now, how did the police repay Bola Ige’s trust in their capacity to protect him? Five of them on duty left their principal at the same time claiming they went to have dinner. The famous Cicero of Esa Oke was mince meat
This implies that President Goodluck Jonathan was being dishonest and dishonourable when he claimed that his action in suspending Salami was based solely on the advice of the NJC. He was merely pandering to the unprincipled hawks in his party like Omisore. Jonathan lacks the character befitting the exalted office he occupies. What a great pity
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for his killers. As Awo declared when General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated, “a community in which a dog kills a tiger is not a safe one to live in”! There is certainly more than meets the eye to Omisore’s strange concern for Aregbesola’s security to the extent of insisting that the Governor must be protected only by men of the SSS. Federalism is a system of dual sovereigns with the component parts ‘equal and coordinate’ in their respective spheres. Given the oft-demonstrated lack of independence of the centralized security agencies, we must move towards a system in which each state provides and pays for the security needs of its elected officials. Let us not forget again, that when the courageous Appeal Court judges sent that elec-
toral armed bandit, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, packing from an Osun State Government House he illegally occupied, Omisore published an advertorial that could only have emanated from a completely deranged mind making the most baseless and unsubstantiated allegations, including physical threats, against the jurists. Confirming that the travails of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, is a function of the PDP’S dirty and unethical politics, Omisore said “If not for Justice Ayo Salami, whose judgement favoured Aregbesola and he is now paying for it by being at home wasting away, who knew Aregbesola?”. This implies that President Goodluck Jonathan was being dishonest and dishonourable when he claimed that his action in suspending Salami was based solely on the advice of the NJC. He was merely pandering to the unprincipled hawks in his party like Omisore. Jonathan lacks the character befitting the exalted office he occupies. What a great pity. Reminding us that violence is his second nature and raising fresh questions on his alleged role in Bola Ige’s death, Omisore vowed “to crush any OYES member found in any voting centre in the next election”. To the best of my knowledge, it is the duty of INEC to conduct free and fair elections and the police and other security agencies to maintain peace and order. Now, can’t an OYES member vote in a voting centre? But Omisore has threatened that he will “crush any OYES member found in any voting centre in the next election”. What does this mean? To crush is to kill, destroy, annihilate, eliminate, exterminate, obliterate, devastate and totally snuff life out of a victim. A self professed killer is clearly on the prowl in our midst and the security agencies are doing nothing about it. Let all Nigerians take note. Apparently realizing his folly, Omisore on Tuesday beat a hasty retreat, eating his words and vowing he never threatened to attack Aregbesola’s convoy. His denial was unconvincing and lacking in credibility. “I have no problem with Aregbesola or any other politician whatsoever. Why should I attack his convoy?” Omisore asked feigning innocence. This is a bare faced lie. Omisore has plenty of problems with Aregbesola. With the Ogbeni’s sterling performance within such a short term in office, Omisore’s undisguised and unbridled ambition to govern Osun State through free and fair elections is fast vanishing irretrievably in thin air. There is hot anger boiling within Omisore and he is capable of imploding at any moment, which would not necessarily be a bad idea. But my warning remains: a self professed killer is on the prowl in our midst and the security agencies have remained mute. Let all Nigerians take note.
Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com
Abuja Stadium’s rot
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RE we cursed? How possible is it for us to build gigantic edifices, such as the National Stadium, Lagos, and now the Abuja Stadium with billions, yet the two complexes are in pitch darkness. Some people are even suggesting that we wait for the rainy season for the grass on the playing turf to be green again. Please, don’t laugh. What happened to the grounds men in the two complexes? Don’t we have horticulturists to nurture the grass? Who ensures that PHCN bills are paid? If there is no power, what of the generating sets? Are they also faulty? What happened to the hiring fees charges for use of the two stadia? Don’t they have surcharges for breakages after every game? Who is in-charge of ensuring that the stadium is in perfect condition? Is someone trying to flex muscles? The National Stadium, Lagos used to be the Mecca of our footballers and fans, until
the khaki boys took our capital to Abuja. One garrulous former minister insisted on taking sports to the federal capital, perhaps to curry the favour of his master. We shouted, until our voices cracked, but he had his way. Today, even with another monument in Abuja, we are told that the country’s soccer matches cannot be played there for such spurious issues as bad playing turf. Pitch darkness resulting from debts owed PHCN, besmirched toilets arising from dry taps in the premises and no one talked about these until this week because the NFF is perceived as a plaque. Globally, when such sporting edifices are built, the contractors usually sign maintenance deals with the owners to train people who will replace them at the expiration of such pacts. My worry is not whether we have such an arrangement. It rests with the fact that money is budgeted annually for facilities, this leaves us with one question-was the Abuja Stadium part of the repair said to have been done all
these years? We are being told that the Abuja Stadium contractors walked out on the N1.3 billion maintenance deal and that it costs government N300 million monthly to maintain Park A. Did we assign people to understudy them? If we did, who are they? If we didn’t, is this not a failure of leadership at the NSC? The House Representatives’ Sports Committee Chairman Godfrey Gaiya was quoted to have said that Abuja National Stadium cost N179,867,155, the repairs of all the stadia (six) amounted to N179,867,155 whilst the maintenance of 6 stadia gulped up N81,021,241. But the truth is that the problem with the Abuja Stadium arose from the failure to pay PHCN bills. The engineers have stated categorically that the complex had light water would be flowing from the taps to wet the pitch. So, what is the difficulty in paying PHCN bills upfront? Or, in the alternative, build water tanks that would serve as reservoir whenever PHCN bills aren’t paid.
Of the N179,867,155 spent on the Abuja National Stadium, how much was paid for PHCN bills? We may need to ask how much they pay PHCN for power at the Abuja Stadium annually. This should set the framework for projecting into the future, such that basic needs as having water in the premises to make the grass lush green without qualms. In other climes, such complexes are financed through leases or loans or from initiatives from sports-loving firms. These arrangements run into years such that the financers can leverage on their products and services, until perhaps the real owners take over. The government had the best opportunity to get the corporate world to finance the building of the Abuja Stadium since it was targeted at hosting the All Africa Games in 2003. But government officials played politics with it. They are now currying blue-chip firms’ support when the facilities are decaying and wouldn’t attract any marketing mileage to their target audience- the masses. It hurts that vandals could easily drive into the Abuja Stadium to destroy cables, days
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