Characters of 2013

These are some of the negative and positive events that shaped 2013 in Nigeria.
Patience Jonathan Ill
In the course of the year, Nigerians albeit from unofficial sources, received the news of a critically ill First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan. The presidency was somewhat worried about the situation, especially the need to manage the information without attracting obnoxious media exposure. First, there was an attempt to cover up and distort the facts of her illness. The first lady’s Media Assistant, Mr. Ayo Osinlu, had denied any such thing and maintained that Mrs. Jonathan was not sick but had gone on vacation.

It wasn't long before it became obvious that the media assistant lied because an online medium, Sahara Reporters, which actually broke the news, gave what many described as convincing revelations on the first lady’s medical trip. It therefore became public knowledge that she had an issue with her health which was said to have deteriorated due to food poisoning. She was flown to a German hospital for treatment.

The whole issue was eventually laid to rest when the first lady arrived Nigeria and declared that she died and woke up after seven days during her illness. She also claimed to having undergone seven surgeries in a month and that the doctors had given up hope on her survival before she came back to life.

Anambra Election
In the year under review, a major governorship election was conducted in Anambra State. The election, which was won by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Willie Obiano, turned out to be the worst outing of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Pro. Attahiru Jega.

It is already being trailed by litigation over allegations of electoral malpractices. During the main election and the supplementary exercise, some parties and their candidates lamented the monumental irregularities and called for an outright cancellation of the whole exercise.
Indeed, Jega admitted that the election was marred by irregularities orchestrated by some bad eggs within the electoral body. Convinced that INEC would not yield to its demand that fresh election be conducted, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has approached the electoral tribunal to seek cancellation of the election.

Soaring Corruption
That corruption is a major problem confronting Nigeria is no longer news. And so the outgoing 2013 has its share of the usual allegations and counter allegations that come with issues of corruption. The phrase- ‘missing money’- has become part of Nigeria’s lexicon in 2013 as Nigerians were inundated with controversial allegations of money that were not properly accounted for.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, raised the alarm that the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not remit $49.8 billion to the Federation Account. The said sum was money due from January 2012 to July 2013. Although Sanusi was said to have recanted, it didn’t change the fact that corruption was present.

There was also the alleged missing N500 billion SURE-P fund. The Senate also uncovered that unspent pension funds for the last five years, amounting to N195 billion could not be accounted for.
Also, there was the allegation of two armoured cars bought by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA) for the use of the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah. The two bulletproof cars were bought for N225 million and were allegedly made available for the use of the minister in order to make her feel more secured. The aftermath of that is yet to subside with allegations of attempt to cover it up.


NGF Election
One of the major political crises in the country in the outgoing year was the one precipitated by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) chairmanship election. The election, which held in July and featured the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi on the one hand and his Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang, on the other hand, was variously seen as an extension of the dogfight between the presidency and Amaechi.
Amaechi had indicated his intention to seek re-election as NGF chair while the presidency was no longer comfortable with his leadership of the group, which it claimed had become a platform for opposing the federal government.

As a result, everything was done to stop Amaechi who gave the exercise his all and eventually won. But since then, the crisis has taken its toll on the polity. Whatever national crisis that followed afterwards had a bearing with the NGF election.

Rivers Assembly Crisis
In what seemed like a replay of the November 2012 debacle in the Kogi State House of Assembly where the lawmakers who were in the minority successfully sacked the speaker, the Rivers State House of Assembly in July 2013 ran into a crisis following an attempt to impeach the Speaker, Hon. Otelemaba Dan-Amachree.
Five members of the 32-member House opposed to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, believed to be acting out a script had also attempted to impeach Amaechi. The move resulted in a free-for-all between the two camps until Amaechi waded in with his personal security and quelled the situation.

However, piqued by what had played out, the National Assembly stepped in and took over the functions of the state assembly. But recently, a court pronounced that the National Assembly could not continue to take over the responsibility of the assembly.
But Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, has said the National Assembly would appeal the ruling and follow it through to the Supreme Court.

PDP Implodes
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered a major setback in 2013 which climaxed into the defection of five of its governors and 37 lawmakers in the House of Representatives a few weeks ago. Observers traced the genesis of the PDP crisis to the yet-to-be declared second term bid of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Some powerful forces, especially those sympathetic to the North in the party, are agitated by the moves by the president to seek re-election. Whereas they argue that with the death of President Umar Yar'Adua, the North deserved to complete its tenure within the PDP power rotation arrangement, especially that Jonathan had allegedly promised to spend just a term of office.
The division in the party came to prominence after the Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF) election won by Amaechi, despite the efforts by the presidency to user the Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, to undermine his victory. From the NGF election in July to the August convention of the party where seven aggrieved PDP governors and their supporters walked out on party, the PDP is yet to know peace.

Registration of APC
In what came like a lifeline for many of the aggrieved members of the PDP, the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria  Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) gave birth to another mega party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Though there were initial conflicts and suspicions between INEC and proponents of the merger over the decision to unite and become a new political party, at the long run, the commission said it found that the parties had met all statutory requirements for the merger, and accordingly granted their request.
Since its birth, the APC has continued to position itself as a party capable of giving the ruling PDP a run for its money and it has maintained that its biggest quest is to oust Jonathan in 2015.

Major Deaths
The outgoing year, typically, recorded the passing away of many prominent Nigerians including a former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Kokumo Agagu, who died on September 13, a former chairman of the PDP, Chief Solomon Lar, who died in an American hospital after a long illness at the age of 80 years and former Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, who died of cancer.

Ministers Sacked
In one fell swoop, nine ministers were sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan. Even though the presidency said it was only a reshuffle aimed at introducing fresh blood into the executive and anchored on the president’s drive to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians, it remains glaring that something was amiss.
Those sacked were Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs); Dr. Shamshudeen Usman (National Planning); Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’I (Education); Hajia Hadiza Mailafia (Environment); Ms. Ama Peppel (Housing); Zainab Kuchi (State for Power); Erelu Olusula Obada (State for Defence); Buka Tijani (State for Agriculture) and Professor Ita Ewa (Science and Technology).

The list of sacked ministers revealed that apart from the former Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Ewa, a nuclear physicist who had known President Jonathan for many years and was personally nominated by him in 2011, the rest were seen as minions of Obasanjo and PDP rebel governors bent on stopping President Jonathan from seeking re-election in 2015.

Defection Galore
From the defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in both the national and state levels, it is without confusion that loyalty lies with the governors and not the leadership of the ruling PDP. The crisis within the PDP has fuelled some members dumping the party for the opposition.
In one mass cross-carpeting, 37 members of the House of Representatives, who were formerly under the PDP, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The defector-lawmakers all come from the States where the governors had fallen out with the national leadership of the PDP. At one of the plenary sessions of the House, the lawmakers, while citing section 68, subsection 1G of the Constitution, said they were joining the APC due to “division and factionalisation” within the ruling PDP.

The Taraba Drama
The Taraba State drama has its roots in the 2012 plane crash which involved Governor Danbaba Suntai. Pilot-Governor, Suntai escaped death after his plane, a Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ, which he was flying, crashed in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. The governor, his aide-de-camp and chief security officer, who were also on the plane that took off from Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, and three others, were seriously injured.
Suntai was first taken to Yola Specialist Hospital for treatment, but was later moved to the better-equipped Federal Medical Centre, Yola. He would later be flown abroad for treatment. From that moment until his return, it has been one drama to another.

The initial allegation was that some cabal, headed by the wife of the governor were bent on repeating the Yar’Adua saga. It was said that the governor was not mentally and physically fit to govern. That settled, later it was rumoured that the deputy governor, a Muslim was whipping up religious sentiments and lobbying the state House of Assembly members to declare his principal unfit to govern. This is where the matter stands as the drama lingers.

Constitution Amendment
A second attempt to amend the nation’s constitution turned out one of the events that give the outgoing year some deserving attention. Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, while delivering a paper titled, ‘Perspectives of Constitutional Amendment’, at a presidential retreat for civil society organisations and professional associations, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, sometime in 2012, said the new Constitution that would emerge from the amendment process would be ready latest by the second quarter of 2013.
At the same venue, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, said this current alteration on the 1999 Constitution was the fourth in 13 years.

This nonetheless, majority of Nigerians believe that no amount of alteration would be too much, until all the contentious issues contained in the constitution are addressed to make it truly become a people’s constitution, reflecting the wishes of all Nigerians. They allude to this anomaly as the reason many people promote ethnic interests as against national unity.

Fast forward to December 2013, six months after Ihedioha said the process would have been completed, the constitution amendment process remains unfinished. Last time any news was heard regarding it, was that some pro-Jonathan lawmakers were making moves to dump the idea in favour of national conference.

The Chime Drama
For the Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, a greater part of 2013 was a game of hide and seek with the Nigerian people. Either he was being secretive about the state of his health or it was that of his wife. The Chime drama began with the governor falling ill and travelling out of the country where he was rumoured to be treating cancer, while remaining incommunicado for about five months.
Those curious would have noticed that something was amiss when he returned into the country. The following day when he arrived Enugu, from all the available photos taken of him at the Enugu International airport, there was none that had Chime and his ‘supportive’ wife by his side.

Not too long, notable human rights lawyer, Femi Falana purportedly got a phone call from someone claiming to be Mrs Clara Chime, the wife of the governor, accusing Chime of holding her hostage in the Enugu State Government House. At a later press conference that had Chime, Clara and her doctor in attendance, Chime broke the news that his wife was mentally unstable while an ‘uneasy’ Clara denied ever calling Falana.
Again, not long after, the can of warm was opened and Clara granted a telephone interview to a national daily, four hours after she summoned the courage to leave the Enugu Government House.

Jonathan Took Ill
Twice, President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly took ill before his appearance for major international events. The first was at an Africa Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The President who was billed to deliver a speech, was nowhere to be found when the time came for him to mount the podium. The online media were awash with uncomplimentary stories, an allegation that the presidency was quick to refute as “fictional nonsense”.

The second was in London, where he was billed to also chair a meeting of the Honorary International Investors Council on Nigeria, which forced his absence at the opening session of the council which held at the London Hilton Hotel in the Park Lane area of the city.

To douse any suspicion, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, who was also in London with the president, said in a statement, that the president’s sickness was nothing serious. The meeting which drew prospective investors from Europe and other countries went ahead as Co-ordinator of the Council, Baroness Lynda Chalker presided over the session missed by Jonathan.

National Conference
A mix of enthusiasm and suspicion has continued to trail the proposed national conference by President Goodluck Jonathan. Reason for the suspicion is because once the president was strongly against the call for a national dialogue as the way out of many of the challenges plaguing Nigeria.
While majority of the citizenry believed the president’s new position on the matter was welcoming, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) felt the president who was initially opposed to the idea of a national conference, nurtures a hidden agenda. There are rumours that the national conference could linger past 2015, thereby elongating the president’s tenure.

Season of Letters
The outgoing year will also go down memory lane as one that bore a lot of drama. One of such was the exchange of letters amongst major actors in the country. The first letter was caused to be written by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, wherein he alleged corruption in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and accused the body of not remitting about $49.8billion.

Following this was another letter caused to be written by former president Olusegun Obasanjo where he warned that the country was bleeding and headed in a wrong direction. The Obasanjo letter elicited mixed reactions, the result of which was a response generated by Jonathan in which the president literally laid the blame of most of Nigeria’s woes on the door step of Obasanjo.

Lagos Deportation Saga
A Lagos State Government policy which seeks to relocate and reunite displaced or mentally deranged persons with their families after rehabilitation was moved to the political front when about 14 persons where allegedly dumped in the early hours of a day in Onitsha. Coming at a time the Anambra State governorship election was close, many understood the politicisation of the issue by the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, who made issue out of it.

Although Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State would later apologise for being misunderstood by the majority of Igbos living in and outside Lagos, it later came to public knowledge that Obi himself had done similar thing in 2010 when he allegedly relocated Enugu indigenes residing in the state. But he was believed to have made that of Lagos a political issue for electoral purposes.

Of George, Al-Mustapha, Others
The release of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha as well as the quashing of the conviction of Chief Olabode George and five others ranked amongst the key issues that strewn the outgoing year. Al-Mustapha who had been in the prison since 1998 over alleged involvement in the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, was released on the grounds that no link was established between him and the murder.

In the same breath, the conviction of George and five others by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole was quashed by the Supreme Court on the grounds that the charges of “contract splitting” filed against George was unknown to the law as at the time of his conviction.
Others convicted and cleared alongside George were Alhaji Aminu Dabo, Captain Oluwasegun Abidoye, Alhaji Abdulahi Aminu Tafida, Alhaji Zanna Maidaribe and Mr. Sule Aliyu.

Increasing Terrorism
What may have become a regular feature in the body polity are the increasing activities of terrorists in the country. Although government has continued to deployed different strategies to containing the menace, nothing appears to have effectively checkmated the activities of the anti-social groups.
Despite shutting down, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, the insurgents have grown more daring by attacking more sensitive government facilities in a regular show of strength.

Budget Controversy

The last two years have followed a particular pattern, whether in budget presentation, approval or implementation. A disagreement between the executive and the legislature often dot the issue of budget. Since President Goodluck Jonathan presented the 2013 budget to the joint sitting of the National Assembly on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, the Appropriation Bill has been greeted by many controversies. The budget has pitted the legislature against the executive arms of government leading to a needless media war among the two institutions.

The lawmakers were not impressed with the level of implementation of the 2012 budget as it has become a perennial problem for Nigeria’s budget not to be fully implemented. Aside the poor implementation of the previous budgets, 2012 edition inclusive, the Senate and the House of Representatives were also unhappy with the executive’s insistence on the budget being passed with minimal alterations or as presented to the lawmakers by the president.

Sadly, the 2014 has followed suit. The presentation of the 2014 Budget by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been stalled as the two chambers of the National Assembly are yet to agree on the benchmark. While the executive and the Senate had agreed on $76.50, the House of Representatives has pegged the oil benchmark at $79 per barrel. And so, the controversy continues.

SOURCE:www.thisdaylive.com