NIGERIA : L'éveil d'un géant

A propósito do dream team de Obasanjo, vale a pena recuarmos até 10 de Julho de 2005, a fim de relermos este artigo de Abdelaziz Barrouhi, publicado no dossier da revista Jeune Afrique e dedicada às reformas e ao combate à corrupção na Nigéria . Só à luz deste desígnio se entenderá a razão da necessidade de estabilidade e continuidade...

La « dream team » d'Obasanjo

Abdelaziz Barrouhi

Le président a dépêché des spécialistes au chevet de l’économie du pays. Des technocrates triés sur le volet, apolitiques et bardés de diplômes.

Les fans de foot, admirateurs de Jay Jay Okocha, Yakubu Ayegbeni et Obafemi Martins, ont de tout temps rêvé d'une équipe nationale gagnante qu'ils appellent la dream team - l'équipe de rêve. Un nom qu'ils ont naturellement repris pour désigner le groupe de technocrates qu'Olusegun Obasanjo a chargés, en juin 2003, de mener à bien les réformes économiques destinées à jeter les fondations du renouveau. Quant au président, il appelle les membres de cette équipe ses « disciples », pour utiliser un langage religieux dont il est familier. Ce n'est pas exagéré, quand on sait que l'homme de la rue n'hésite pas à dire d'eux qu'ils sont « envoyés par Dieu ».

Choisis parmi l'élite intellectuelle du pays, bardés de diplômes et souvent formés aux États-Unis et en Grande-Bretagne, ces technocrates sont presque tous apolitiques, contrairement aux pratiques anciennes où seuls les hommes d'appareil - souvent corrompus - tenaient le haut du pavé dans l'exécutif.

Chaque semaine, il réunit cette équipe pendant quatre-vingt-dix minutes, juste avant la tenue du Conseil des ministres. Certains de ses membres figurent au rang des plus proches conseillers à la présidence, d'autres occupent des ministères ou des institutions clés, d'autres encore dirigent les organismes spécialisés autonomes qui lui sont directement rattachés.

Au nombre de quelques dizaines, ils comptent parmi eux quelques personnalités : le Pr Charles Soludo, gouverneur de la Banque centrale ; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, ministre des Finances ; Nuhu Ribadu, patron de la lutte contre la corruption ; Nasir el-Rufaï, ministre du District de la capitale fédérale, Abuja ; Oby Ezekwesili, conseillère spéciale du président Obasanjo pour le budget.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Madame Solutions

Première Nigériane à devenir ministre des Finances, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a considérablement contribué, depuis 2003, à ce que les institutions financières internationales prennent au sérieux la volonté de son pays de réformer son économie et d'utiliser ses revenus pétroliers pour lutter contre la pauvreté. Diplômée d'Harvard et titulaire d'un PhD en économie du développement du Massachusetts Institute of Technologie (MIT), où elle a également travaillé entre 1976 et 1981, elle est entrée à la Banque mondiale comme économiste en 1982, pour ne la quitter qu'en 2003. En une vingtaine d'années de carrière à la Banque, elle a gravi les échelons jusqu'à en devenir le numéro trois, en tant que vice-présidente et secrétaire générale. Obasanjo l'a appelée à ses côtés au début de son second mandat, en juin 2003.

Juste après sa nomination, deux départements vitaux, la planification et le budget, ont failli être soustraits au contrôle de son ministère. Elle a aussitôt menacé de démissionner, obligeant le chef de l'État à faire machine arrière. Depuis deux ans, elle s'attache à mettre de l'ordre dans les finances du pays en introduisant plus de transparence, notamment en publiant dans les médias le montant des allocations versées aux États de la fédération, qui absorbent une large part du budget national. Elle a aussi fait avancer la cause de la réduction de la dette extérieure. « Elle est dynamique et brillante, c'est Madame Solutions », dit d'elle l'un de ses collaborateurs. Reconnaissable à ses pagnes traditionnels, cette battante au sourire avenant a fêté ses 50 ans le 13 juin.

Charles Soludo

L'apôtre des réformes

Âgé de 45 ans, Charles Soludo est au centre des grandes réformes de l'économie nigériane. Il a supervisé la mise au point de la Needs (Stratégie nationale de maîtrise et de développement économiques) comme conseiller économique en chef d'Obasanjo et président de la Commission nationale de la planification de juillet 2003 à mai 2004. Il a engagé, depuis juillet 2004, en tant que gouverneur de la Banque centrale du Nigeria (CBN), une profonde réforme du secteur bancaire qui, si elle réussit, fera de lui son sauveur. Professeur d'économie, il est l'un des plus fins analystes de la problématique du développement au Nigeria. Selon lui, l'économie n'a pas apporté de bénéfices tangibles aux citoyens. Et la faute en revient essentiellement à « l'État rentier qui perpétue une politique du partage des recettes pétrolières plutôt que de la production ».

Oby Ezekwesili

Transparence d'abord

Directrice de l'unité pour le contrôle du budget et des prix, elle est l'une des fiertés du pays pour son rôle dans la lutte contre la corruption, dit d'elle Obasanjo, dont elle est aussi la conseillère spéciale en matière budgétaire. Oby Ezekwesili a contribué à assainir les processus de passation des marchés publics. Son contrôle minutieux des contrats en cours a permis de découvrir un gonflement des montants, et ainsi fait économiser à l'État près de 1 milliard de dollars ces deux dernières années. Ezekwesili s'est distinguée en matière de bonne gouvernance et de développement. Diplômée en administration publique de la Government Kennedy School d'Harvard, elle a notamment été directrice financière de Transparency International. Elle a aussi exercé dans le privé comme consultante en audit comptable.

Mais elle a encore du pain sur la planche, notamment en matière de recouvrement de la part des revenus pétroliers qui revient au Nigeria dans les contrats de partage avec les compagnies étrangères. Car, en ce domaine, l'opacité règne. Or la récente adhésion d'Abuja à l'Initiative sur la transparence des industries extractives (EITI) requiert plus de coopération de la part des compagnies étrangères. Stricte et soucieuse du détail, elle a introduit une discipline rigoureuse dans la préparation et l'exécution du budget de l'État. Inutile de dire que les politiciens se méfient d'elle et que les entreprises adjudicataires la prennent désormais au sérieux. D'ailleurs, elle va faire son entrée au gouvernement dans les prochains jours.

Nasir el-Rufaï

La détermination au pouvoir

Il est l'un des Nigérians les plus brillants de la génération montante. Âgé de 45 ans, il est bardé de diplômes décrochés dans les plus prestigieuses universités américaines. Après un passage dans le privé, il est entré au service de l'État comme directeur général du Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), organisme chargé des privatisations. En juillet 2003, lorsqu'il l'a nommé ministre du District d'Abuja, Obasanjo lui a simplement dit : « Nettoie-moi la capitale ! » Et c'est ce que Rufaï est en train de faire. Il a d'abord « nettoyé » l'administration de la ville en supprimant 5 000 emplois fictifs et en remettant à la disposition de la fonction publique 2 000 autres employés. Puis il a commencé à « nettoyer » la ville des constructions sauvages qui y ont proliféré sur fond d'escroqueries et de corruption. Pour cela, il fait respecter le plan d'aménagement de l'agglomération, en ordonnant la démolition, effective depuis mai, de centaines de constructions dont la propriété et le permis de construire ne sont pas enregistrés. Ce qui l'oblige à s'attaquer à de puissantes personnalités. Il n'en craint pas les conséquences sur sa carrière politique. « Je ne suis pas un politicien, car un politicien ne ferait pas ce que je suis en train de faire, explique-t-il. Certaines de mes décisions d'intérêt public ont fait du bruit, mais ce sont plutôt celles d'un novice en politique. »

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: How to help Africa? Do business there

Negative images of Africa dominate the news: famine and disease, conflict and corruption. But Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Finance Minister of Nigeria, says there's a less-told story unfolding in many African nations: one of reform, economic growth and business opportunity. Cracking down on corruption -- and the perception of corruption -- will be the key to its success. She tells how high-ranking Nigerian officials taking money illicitly have been jailed, and how citizens and prospective business partners are getting at least a partial picture now of where money flows.

Speakers Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Economic reformer

As the first female Finance Minister in Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala attacked corruption to make the country more desirable for foreign investment and job creation.

Why you should listen to her:

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, was Nigeria's Finance Minister and then briefly Foreign Affairs Minister from 2003 to 2006, the first woman to hold either position.

During her tenure, she worked to combat corruption, make Nigeria's finances more transparent, and institute reforms to make the nation's economy more hospitable to foreign investment. The government unlinked its budget from the price of oil, its main export, to lessen perennial cashflow crises, and got oil companies to publish how much they pay the government.

Since 2003 -- when watchdog group Transparency International rated Nigeria "the most corrupt place on Earth" -- the nation has made headway recovering stolen assets and jailing hundreds of people engaged in international Internet 419 scams.

Okonjo-Iweala is a former World Bank vice president who graduated from Harvard and earned a Ph.D. in regional economics and development at MIT. Her son Uzodinma Iweala is the celebrated young author of Beasts of No Nation.

"Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a heroine not just of Nigeria, but of the entire continent. Her crusade against corruption has put her life at risk." The Independent (UK)

Forget aid and money, Africa needs IDEAS ! By Philip Emeagwali

Ideas, Not Money, Alleviate Poverty By Philip Emeagwali

If ideas are capital, why is Africa investing more on things than on information, and more on the military than on education? Suddenly, I realized what this idea could mean for Africa. If the pen is mightier than the sword, why does a general earn more than the work of a hundred writers combined? If ideas are indeed capital, then Africa should stem its brain drain and promote the African Renaissance, which will lead to the rebirth of the continent. After all, a renaissance is a rebirth of ideas. And knowledge and ideas are the engines that drive economic growth.

By Philip Emeagwali (Speech delivered at the University of Alberta, Canada, September 23, 2006)

I once believed that capital was another word for money, the accumulated wealth of a country or its people. Surely, I thought,

wealth is determined by the money or property in one’s possession. Then I saw a Deutsche Bank advertisement in the Wall Street Journal that proclaimed: “Ideas are capital. The rest is just money.” I was struck by the simplicity of such an eloquent and forceful idea. I started imagining what such power meant for Africa. The potential for progress and poverty alleviation in Africa relies on capital generated from the power within our minds, not from our ability to pick minerals from the ground or seek debt relief and foreign assistance.

If ideas are capital, why is Africa investing more on things than on information, and more on the military than on education? Suddenly, I realized what this idea could mean for Africa. If the pen is mightier than the sword, why does a general earn more than the work of a hundred writers combined? If ideas are indeed capital, then Africa should stem its brain drain and promote the African Renaissance, which will lead to the rebirth of the continent. After all, a renaissance is a rebirth of ideas. And knowledge and ideas are the engines that drive economic growth.

When African men and women of ideas, who will give birth to new ideas, have fled to Europe and the United States, then the so-called African Renaissance cannot occur in Africa. It can only occur in Paris, London and New York. There are more Soukous musicians in Paris, than in Kinshasha; more African professional soccer players in Europe, than in Africa. African literature is more at home abroad than it is in Africa. In other words, Africans in Europe are alleviating poverty in Europe, not in Africa. Until the men and women of ideas - the true healers of Africa - start returning home, the African Renaissance and poverty alleviation will remain empty slogans. After all, the brightest ideas are generated and harnessed by men of ideas.

The first annual report by J.P. Morgan Chase, a firm with assets of 1.3 trillion dollars, reads: “The power of intellectual capital is the ability to breed ideas that ignite value.” This quote is a clarion call to African leaders to shift purposefully and deliberately from a focus on things to a focus on information; from exporting natural resources to exporting knowledge and ideas; and from being a consumer of technology to becoming a producer of technology.

For Africa, poverty will be reduced when intellectual capital is increased and leveraged to export knowledge and ideas. Africa’s primary strategy for poverty alleviation is to gain debt relief, foreign assistance, and investments from western nations. Poverty alleviation means looking beyond 100 percent literacy and aiming for 100 percent numeracy, the prerequisite for increasing our technological intellectual capital. Yet, in this age of information and globalization when poverty alleviation should result in producing valuable products for the global market and competing with Asia, the United States, and Europe - shamefully, diamonds found in Africa are polished in Europe and re-sold to Africans.

The intellectual capital needed to produce products and services will lead to the path of poverty alleviation. Intellectual capital, defined as the collective knowledge of the people, increases productivity. The latter - by driving economic growth - alleviates poverty, always and everywhere, even in Africa. Productivity is the engine that drives global economic growth.

Those who create new knowledge are producing wealth, while those who consume it are producing poverty. If you attend a Wole Soyinka’s production of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” you consume the knowledge produced by Soyinka and Achebe as well as the actor’s production, much like I consume the knowledge and production of Bob Marley’s through his songs.

We will need wisdom, that which turns too much information - or information overload - into focused power, not only to process, but also to evaluate the overwhelming amount of information available on the Internet. This wisdom will give us the competitive edge and enable us to find creative solutions.

The following story illustrates the difference between information and wisdom. Twelve hundred years ago, in the city of Baghdad, lived a genius named Al-Khwarizmi, who was one of the fathers of algebra. In fact, the word algebra comes from the title of his book Al-jabr, which for centuries was the standard mathematics textbook. Al- Khwarizmi taught in an institution of learning called the House of Wisdom, which was the center of new ideas during Islam’s golden age of science. To this day we computer scientists honor Al-Khwarizmi when we use the word algorithm, which is our attempt to pronounce his name.

One day, Al-Khwarizmi was riding a camel laden down with algebraic manuscripts to the holy city of Mecca. He saw three young men crying at an oasis.

“My children, why are you crying?” he enquired. “Our father, upon his death, instructed us to divide his 17 camels as follows:

‘To my oldest son I leave half of my camels, my second son shall have one-third of my camels, and my youngest son is to have one- ninth of my camels.’”

“What, then, is your problem?” Al-Khwarizmi asked. “We have been to school and learned that 17 is a prime number that is, divisible only by one and itself and cannot be divided by two or three or nine. Since we love our camels, we cannot divide them exactly,” they answered.

Al-Khwarizmi thought for a while and asked, “Will it help if I offer my camel and make the total 18?”

“No, no, no,” they cried.

“You are on your way to Mecca, and you need your camel.” “Go ahead, have my camel, and divide the 18 camels amongst yourselves,” he said, smiling.

So the eldest took one-half of 18 - or nine camels. The second took one-third of 18 - or six camels. The youngest took one-ninth of 18 - or two camels. After the division, one camel was left: Al- Khwarizmi’s camel, as the total number of camels divided among the sons (nine plus six plus two) equaled 17.

Then Al-Khwarizmi asked, “Now, can I have my camel back?”

These young men had information about prime numbers, but they lacked the wisdom to use the information effectively. It is the manipulation of information to accomplish seemingly impossible purposes that defines true wisdom.

Today, we have ten billion pages of information posted on the Internet - more than enough to keep us busy the rest of our lives, and new information is being added daily. More information has been created in the last 100 years than in all of the previous 100,000 years combined. We need the wisdom to sift through and convert these billions of pages into information riches.

The genius of Al-Khwarizmi was not in his mathematical wizardry or even his book knowledge: It was in his experiential knowledge - his big-picture, right-brain thinking; creativity; innovation; and wisdom. It was his wisdom to add a camel to make the total 18 and still get his camel back.

Prime numbers are to whole numbers what the laws of physics are to physics. Twenty years ago, I used an Al-Khwarizmi approach to solve a notoriously difficult problem in physics. I added inertial force, which enabled me to reformulate Newton’s Second Law of Motion first as 18 equations and algorithms, and then as 24 million algebraic equations. Finally, I programmed 65,000 “electronic brains” called processors to work as one to solve those 24 million equations at a speed of 3.1 billion calculations per second.

Like Al-Khwarizmi, I derived my 18 equations through out-of-the-box thinking in an in-the-box world, adding my metaphorical camel: inertial force. In other words, I applied wisdom to known knowledge to generate intellectual capital.

Unless Africa significantly increases its intellectual capital, the continent will remain irrelevant in the 21st century and even beyond. Africa needs innovators, producers of knowledge, and wise men and women who can discover, propose, and then implement progressive ideas. Africa’s fate lies in the hands of Africans and the solution to poverty must come from its people. The future that lies ahead of Africa is for Africa to create, after the people have outlined their vision. We owe it to our children to build a firm foundation to enable them go places we only dreamt. For Africa to take center stage in today’s economic world, we have to go out and compete on a global basis. There is simply no other way to succeed.

Philip Emeagwali was voted history’s greatest scientist of African descent - and the 35th greatest African of all time - in a survey for the September 2004 issue of the London-based New African magazine. He won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, the Nobel Prize of supercomputing. To view the video recordings of this speech, visit

http://emeagwali.com .

~ by myglobalhustle on August 7, 2007

Le président Zoellick nomme Mme Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala à un poste de directeur général de la Banque mondiale

Nota HV: Após a recente nomeação de Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesli , ex-minstra da Nigéria para o posto de Vice-Presidente do Banco Mundial, a convite do então Presidente Paul Wolfowitz, eis que Zoellick, o novo Presidente do Banco Mundial acaba de convidar Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala para o distinto e exigente cargo de Managing Director do Banco.

Em Junho de 2003 , no início do seu segundo mandato, o ex- Presidente Obasanjo chamou ao governo um conjunto de tecnocratas , apolíticos e jovens , logo apelidados pelo home da rua como " dream team", empenhado em fazer profundas reformas económicas , em combater a corrupção e em usar apropriadamente as receitas do petróleo para combater a pobreza.

No "dream team" contavam-se nomes como o do Prof. Charles Soludo, gouvernador do Banco Central ; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, ministra das Finanças ; Nuhu Ribadu, patrão da luta contra a corrupção ; Nasir el-Rufaï, ministro do Districto da capital federal, Abuja ; Oby Ezekwesili, conseilheira especial do presidente Obasanjo para o orçamento. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala passou desde então (2003), a ser conhecida pelo cognome de " Madame Solutions" e a Nigéria deve-lhe o facto das IFI terem começado a levar a sério o empenho do governo federal em levar a cabo as reformas e em utilisar eficazmente as suas receitas para combater a pobreza.

Diplomada por Harvard e titular de um PhD em economia do desenvolvimento pela Massachusetts Institute of Technologie (MIT), onde trabalhou entre 1976 e 1981, Ngozi ingressou no Banco Mundial como economista em 1982, donde saíu em 2003, para integrar o "dream team" de Obasanjo. Ao longo de vinte e um anos de carreira no Banco ela subiu degrau a degrau até ao topo da instituição, tendo sido numero três do Banco , enquanto Vice-Presidente e Secretária- Geral. Ei-la de regresso a casa pela porta grande. Bem- Haja !

Washington le 4 octobre 2007 – Le président de la Banque mondiale a annoncé aujourd’hui la nomination de Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala à un poste de directeur général de l’institution. Mme Okonjo-Iweala rejoint les directeurs généraux, Juan Jose Daboub et Graeme Wheeler, les vice-présidents exécutifs, Lars Thunell (IFC) et Yukiko Omura (MIGA), et le directeur financier, Vincenzo La Via, à la haute direction du Groupe de la Banque mondiale.

En annonçant cette nomination, Robert Zoellick a déclaré : « Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala apporte une expérience et des compétences hors pair au Groupe de la Banque mondiale. Remarquable ministre des Finances, puis des Affaires étrangères du Nigéria, elle a aidé à piloter le programme de réformes du pays sur des questions telles que la prudence budgétaire, la transparence des comptes publics, la bonne gouvernance et la lutte contre la corruption.

Elle a été le moteur de l’allégement de la dette du Nigéria, aidant son pays à obtenir du Club de Paris une annulation de dette de 18 milliards de dollars, un chiffre record. C’est en grande partie grâce à elle que son pays a obtenu sa toute première notation de crédit-souverain (BB moins), attribuée par Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. C’est une dirigeante politique mondialement respectée.

En outre, elle connaît bien la Banque mondiale où elle a travaillé pendant 21 ans. Son attachement à la cause des pays en développement est sans pareil. Je suis ravi de la voir rejoindre mon équipe de direction. »

Ressortissante nigériane, Mme Okonjo-Iweala, est fondatrice de NOI-Gallup, un institut de sondage d’opinion nigérian, et cofondatrice du Makeda Fund, un fonds d’investissement dans des entreprises dirigées par des Africaines. Elle est membre (Distinguished Fellow) de la Brookings Institution. De 2003 à 2006 elle a été ministre des Finances, puis ministre des Affaires étrangères. En tant que ministre des Finances, Mme Okonjo-Iweala dirigeait l’équipe économique nationale chargée de mettre en œuvre le vaste programme de réformes économiques et sociales de l’administration Obasanjo. Les réformes ont notamment permis de progresser sur la voie du rétablissement de la stabilité macroéconomique, multipliant par trois le taux de croissance, lançant un combat résolu contre la corruption et améliorant la transparence.

Avant de prendre son portefeuille ministériel, Mme Okonjo-Iweala a occupé plusieurs postes importants à la Banque mondiale, dont ceux de vice-président et secrétaire, de directeur des opérations pour la région Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord, et de directeur des opérations pour l’unité sous-régionale Asie du Sud-Est et Mongolie. Elle est entrée à la Banque mondiale en 1982.

En acceptant ce nouveau poste, Mme Okonjo-Iweala a déclaré : « Je suis ravie de revenir et heureuse de la possibilité qui m’est donnée de travailler avec cette grande institution pour changer la vie de nos jeunes, et de nos travailleurs et travailleuses dans les pays en développement. Je me réjouis tout particulièrement à la perspective de travailler avec le président Zoellick au moment où il trace de nouvelles perspectives très prometteuses pour le Groupe de la Banque mondiale.»

Mme Okonjo-Iweala a reçu de nombreux prix et distinctions : European Hero de 2004 du Time Magazine, Ministre mondial des Finances pour l’année 2005 de l’Euromoney Magazine, Ministre africain des Finances pour l’année 2005 du Financial Times/The Banker, Ministre nigérian pour les années 2004 et 2005 de This Day, Docteur honoris causa de droit du Colby College en 2007, et de la Brown University en 2006, Docteur honoris causa de lettres et sciences humaines de la Northern Caribbean University, en Jamaïque.

Elle est membre ou présidente de nombreux conseils et groupes consultatifs du secteur public, privé et non gouvernemental, à savoir : DATA, World Resources Institute, Clinton Global Initiative, Nelson Mandela Institution/African Institutes of Science and Technology, Mo Ibrahim Foundation Governance Prize Committee, Friends of the Global Fund Africa.

Elle conseille également la Banque mondiale sur l’Initiative pour la restitution des avoirs volés (STAR) et est membre du Comité Malan sur la collaboration entre la Banque et le FMI.

Mme Okonjo-Iweala est diplômée de Harvard en économie (A.B., magna cum laude) et titulaire d’un doctorat (PhD) en économie et développement régional du Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dans ses nouvelles fonctions, Mme Okonjo-Iweala sera responsable des régions Afrique, Asie du Sud, et Europe et Asie centrale de la Banque mondiale. Elle supervisera également le département des Ressources humaines. Elle prend ses fonctions le 1^er décembre.

Nigeria: Failed Elections, Failing State?

Dakar/Brussels, 30 May 2007: After deeply flawed elections, Nigeria’s new President must act urgently to pull the nation back from the brink of chaos.

Nigeria: Failed Elections, Failing State?, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the implications of the country’s electoral injustice in April 2007, which is undermining Nigeria’s status as a democracy and weakening its position as a broker of peace across the African continent. The report calls on President Umaru Yar’Adua to reach out to the opposition to form an inclusive government of national unity, in which all major parties are represented.

“Nigeria’s democracy has derailed”, says Crisis Group Senior Analyst Nnamdi Obasi. “Yar’Adua has to understand that no number of overtures will satisfy the opposition unless and until his administration seriously confronts all the institutional failures that must be redressed if Nigeria is to escape collapse and widespread violence.”

The out-going administration of Olusegun Obasanjo declared the 2007 elections as a success, constituting the first-ever civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Nigeria’s history. In reality the transition to a hand-picked successor through a flawed election was more like a dynastic succession, and it has been denounced not only by opposition leaders but even by members of the triumphant People’s Democratic Party. Yar’Adua assumed the presidency on 29 May with less legitimacy than any previous president and thus has less capacity to moderate and resolve Nigeria’s violent domestic conflicts.

Pre-existing tensions in the Niger Delta and demands in the south east for Biafran separatism have been exacerbated over recent months due to diminished civilian confidence in governing institutions. Resolving these issues requires a government that enjoys legitimacy and respect in the eyes of its people and can enlist their cooperation.

To stave off this brewing crisis, Yar’Adua must work with the opposition to form an inclusive government of national unity and not by co-opting individuals but rather by accepting their own official nominees. His administration must also establish an independent inquiry to identify responsibility for fraudulent electoral practices.

The Senate should launch a judicial inquiry into election commission’s financial management, and the UN, US and the EU should give material and technical aid to future election tribunals adjudicating transparency.

Concerted measures are required within the next few weeks to heal the most evident wounds of the elections”, says Francois Grignon, Crisis Group’s Director of Africa Program. “Immediate steps must be taken to build government legitimacy if Nigeria is to be pulled back from the brink of state failure.

The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation covering over 50 crisis-affected countries and territories across four continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.

Pre-existing tensions in the Niger Delta and demands in the south east for Biafran separatism have been exacerbated over recent months due to diminished civilian confidence in governing institutions. Resolving these issues requires a government that enjoys legitimacy and respect in the eyes of its people and can enlist their cooperation.

To stave off this brewing crisis, Yar’Adua must work with the opposition to form an inclusive government of national unity and not by co-opting individuals but rather by accepting their own official nominees. His administration must also establish an independent inquiry to identify responsibility for fraudulent electoral practices. The Senate should launch a judicial inquiry into election commission’s financial management, and the UN, US and the EU should give material and technical aid to future election tribunals adjudicating transparency.

“Concerted measures are required within the next few weeks to heal the most evident wounds of the elections”, says Francois Grignon, Crisis Group’s Director of Africa Program. “Immediate steps must be taken to build government legitimacy if Nigeria is to be pulled back from the brink of state failure.”

Le Nigeria élit ses nouveaux gouverneurs dans le désordre et la violence

LE MONDE 16.04.07 16h10 • Mis à jour le 16.04.07 16h10 LAGOS ENVOYÉ SPÉCIAL

Le Nigeria élit ses nouveaux gouverneurs dans le désordre et la violence
LE MONDE | 16.04.07

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Nigeria’s Elections: Avoiding a Political Crisis

Dakar/Brussels, 28 March 2007: The April general elections in Nigeria must be transparent and credible if the country and the region are to make progress towards achieving peace and stability.

Nigeria’s Elections: Avoiding a Political Crisis,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, analyses the approaching vote, which is one of the most important challenges the country has ever faced. Success would offer Nigeria the first opportunity to achieve a genuine constitutional succession from one civilian administration to another since independence in 1960, thus consolidating democracy. Failure could provoke violent rejection of the results by wide sections of the populace, denial of legitimacy and authority to the new government, intensification of the insurgency in the Niger Delta and its possible extension to other areas, with potential for wider West African destabilisation.

“The election will have to provide reliable results if it is to improve the country’s democracy and promote its image within the African Union and beyond”, says Nnamdi Obasi, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst in Nigeria. “This vote is also an opportunity for Nigeria to take a step forward in solving the many internal conflicts that persistently threaten to reignite new focuses of violence”.

The political situation in the country is already unstable, particularly after the exclusion of Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the ballot due to politically-motivated corruption charges supported by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who last year tried, unsuccessfully, to change the constitution so that he could serve a third term. The electoral process is endangered by Obasanjo’s “do or die” desperation to ensure the victory of his hand-picked candidate of the People’s Democratic Party’s, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It is also threatened by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) lack of credibility, as its officials are under heavy influence from the presidency.

The African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should urgently dispatch a joint mediation team to Nigeria to resolve the dispute between Obasanjo and Abubakar and avoid a post-electoral political crisis. The president should respect INEC’s independence and provide approved funds to execute its mandate. INEC must guarantee the transparency of the process by cooperating with national and international election monitors to ensure that electoral fraud does not take place.

“If the results are unaccepted and disputed, violence may erupt and escalate into a more serious conflict”, says Crisis Group’s West Africa Project Director, Carolyn Norris. “The electoral frauds that took place in 1965 and 1983 undermined the legitimacy of the governments that emerged, leading to longer term instability. The stability of the whole region may well depend on political developments in Nigeria over the coming weeks”.

'Those who thought I wouldn’t survive in office for more than 3 months are now courting me'

By CHIDI OBINECHE Thursday, February 22, 2007

Kogi State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, says his initial antagonists in office have turned round to embrace him, having come to know much about him.

Idris, who already has the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in his kitty for the April 14, 2007 elections, believes that this turn around in his relationship with the people puts him in good stead for a second term in office.

Fielding question from journalists in Lagos, Gov. Idris revealed that when he came into office in 2003, some skeptics didn’t give him a chance. They felt he might not run the state for even three months. Having put them to shame, he is now marching assuredly with the people, doling out goodies for them and enjoying their goodwill, to the extent that he now contends that a gang up of all the parties cannot truncate his comeback bid.

"Even if all the parties come together against PDP, I am assuring you that by God’s grace, we will kick all of them out," he says.

Congratulations for the survival of your daughters in the ADC crash. What is your experience as far as the crash is concerned?

You may not believe it even when I heard about the crash and I was made to believe that my three daughters were on the plane, I was not moved at all because I had confidence that my daughters would be okay. Even after I heard that the plane caught fire in the air, I told my son who was with me that my conscience told me that every thing was okay because I didn’t see any reason my three daughters would die in a plane crash. I found it so difficult to believe.

After being the governor of Kogi State for three years, what have been the challenges? Now that you are contesting for the second time, what are your priorities for the state if elected for the second term?

You have to know that I came from the private sector into the public service. There are two different things. The unfortunate part of it is that when people in the private sector want anything done, it is done immediately because they are always looking forward to the result. That has always been my lifestyle from the beginning.

When I came in, I didn’t find it easy at all with the civil service because things refused to work the way I wanted it and that meant I had to do something. I said that if I had to take the challenge by fighting or by being too hard, I might not get the result, I had to educate them on how I wanted my administration to run. It took me some time, but I was fortunate to get their cooperation and they have adjusted. For instance, on my assumption of office, I discovered that if an approval was given for money to be disbursed, it doesn’t come out on time. I told them I would not take that nonsense and I told them that henceforth any approval must not take more than three days.

Since then and up till now, some even took a day, but the highest is two days and there are so many things I met on ground that were not supposed to be. I believe in encouraging the workers, making them feel they are part of me and I had to carry them along and also give them their due respect and what they are supposed to have by right, like salaries, benefits and so on. As soon as that is done, they will be happy. If it has always been so in the private sector, I am sure it could be so in the civil service and that is why I have been getting on with them.

When you came into office, there were backlog of loans and emoluments left by the former administration. How have you been able to pay as well as embark on development projects?

It has not been easy actually, because as I am talking to you, I am still paying the last loan that my predecessor took, about N2 billion. I was the one that paid off that loan and they initially asked me to pay about N1.4 billion as interest. I told them no, that I was not going to pay because it seemed that there were some plans to defraud the government. If not, why was it not inclusive while they were taken from the allocation? I decided that I was not going to pay. Of course, I went to court and instead of paying N1.4 billion, they brought it down to N620,000, which I am still paying up till now. I am paying N50 to N100 million every month to clear that one.

Beside that, there are other debts that have been hanging on us. Government is a continuous exercise. You continue to do the little you can and squeeze out again for development. Naturally in government, everybody expects you to do something. They want to see your achievements .

Where this is not there, they would feel you have done nothing. Nobody would ask you whether you have the money or not or whether you use the money in paying debt; nobody cares what you have been able to do as at the time in question. I am happy that I have been able to manage the resources available and I have been careful and making sure that every thing is in place just as I did in my private business.

You just secured the ticket for the second term. How do you see Kogi politics in the past three years as governor?

Many people outside Kogi politics feel people in Kogi fight themselves, probably that might be the experience of people who are not within, but it is not so. I think there are problems everywhere, but I believe that our own is well managed. If not, it could escalate like other people’s. I believe for you to have people rooting for you, first of all you must show good example. You must earn their feeling trust and by the time you are able to win their hearts, whatever you tell them, they would believe. Initially, it was not easy because the people needed to understand and some people felt I would not handle or administer the state for even three months.

I am sure most of them are surprised and they couldn’t believe what they have seen. I have never been a failure and I would never be a failure I look at it as a challenge not only from God but even from the people who feel I have been asked to come and do these things for them. I believe that God has a hand in it. I always have that at the back of my mind. I believe that after the first and second year, most of the people must have been known the kind of person I am. They are now convinced that I am not somebody they need to fight.

All of them decided to work with me. I am happy and grateful that most of them who were not with me before eventually came in, and they became my best supporters. I don’t see Kogi State as a state that is volatile. The secret behind it is patience and tolerance. If you are able to have these two qualities, you have no problem because everything will come and it will pass.

Recently, it was learnt that the EFCC officials were here in Kogi. So, what is the latest on this?

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as far as I am concerned, is a blessing to me because I know there are so many petitions, not only in Kogi but in so many other states and I am sure they have visited all the states in Nigeria and I am looking forward that they should visit us too, so that we see whether we are doing the right thing. When I learnt they invited a few people, I said fine. Let them come and ask us what these people petitioned about, whether it was true or lies. I think it is only in Kogi State where the people invited by EFCC were discharged the same day. I believe it is the right thing because they are doing their job.

For example, they said the Meme Bridge was built for N1.5 billion which is not true, it is just N208 million. All these claims are not true. So, you can see how they magnify the whole thing. To me, EFCC is a blessing because I would be clear myself and I am sure that after this, they will know that there are states with transparent dealings. I am happy with it because I want to be checked to ascertain my deed. Whoever you are, if there are no checks and balances, you may loose. Let us see it as something good for the whole country and even for us that are governors.

In 2003, it is ANPP and PDP that contested. This time, we have ANPP, AC alliance PDP and others. What are your chances in the forthcoming elections?

As far as I am concerned, ANPP and AC, are no threat. They are no threat at all, because already we are holding the crown and we are still holding the public, not because we are PDP, but because of what we have been able to do for the people. We must know that it is the people who decides who to serve them and if people have seen what the PDP government has done compared with what ANPP has done, they would make up their minds on who should be there. I am not bothered at all. There must be a contest and when the day comes, we all go to the polls and then we see who is more popular. Even if all the parties come together against PDP, I am assuring you that by God’s grace, we will knock all of them out.

There has been call for power shift. What is your stand on it?

Power shift is in order. It will be wrong for anybody to say there won’t be power rotation and as far as I am concerned, I am not part of it. I am one of those who are clamouring for power shift for peace to reign in any state or in any country and it has happened in Nigeria. Those days, northerners believed power must never leave the North. Nobody believed it would happen, but if it happened and it has gone to the South West and it would still go to the South-east. It is our right that any other region must have a taste of power. We must take note of what is happening in Nigeria. Power would return to the North. Next time it should go back to the South.

This will bring about peace and harmony. The same thing should happen in Kogi State among the three senatorial districts we have. I am in support of this and I am working towards it.

Distribution of projects

Why should I give people basic amenities because they did not vote for me? Why? Any leader who does that is a selfish leader and I don’t call that person a leader. I must be fair and ensure justice in all I do. Whatever I have done for East, where I come from, is what I will do in other zones. For example, roads are scattered all over the place; I never concentrated them in any zone. Water and school are evenly distributed. For instance, Okene didn’t vote for me, that does not gives me the power to neglect them. No, I can’t do that because Okene is part of my place, and they are part of me.

New university

Education is our backbone. In fact, it is better to give your children education than money. I take education as a priority. As at today, I doubt if there is any state, which can compete with Kogi. Though they say I am the first in North/West and third in the whole Nigeria, I doubt if there is any state that will compete with me. When I came in the university was a glorified secondary school. I knew what it means to the people of Kogi State. I went to the university personally to confirm what the problem was. I promised that before the end of the year, most of the courses would have been accredited. Today, I am proud and happy and I thank God to have fulfilled my promise. For now, we have 15 courses accredited.

Most states of the federation disputed the figures given to them by the recent census in the country. Would you say they got the right figure in Kogi State?

I believe we worked hard to ensure everybody was counted. I have the feelings that most of the people were counted. I believe that the people should do their job well and make sure that all that were counted were actually featured. Actually, we have not been able to get the breakdown to know precisely, what we have in different senatorial districts. Maybe that would tell us whether they got the actual figure.

Nigerians have expressed doubt about the sincerity of INEC, ahead of the 2007 elections. Most people felt it might not be free and fair. Are you worried about it especially when people feel that forces in Aso Rock are controlling INEC?

I am not worried. Why won’t they conduct free and fair election? Again, what would they gain in causing problem in Nigeria. As far as I am concerned, I don’t believe that they are being controlled or somebody somewhere is teleguiding them. I am sure they know what they are doing.

What is your message to the Kogi citizens?

My message is that so far so good. It has been quite good. Even if you notice the primaries we had, it was one of the best primaries we had in Nigeria and that is a pointer that we are getting better. I believe that elections in Kogi State will be free and fair. People now know that there is no need for violence. I believe it is going to be peaceful.

PDP ticket: Obasanjo, unfair to Babangida

The Special Adviser to General Ibrahim Babangida on Media, Prince Kassim Afegbua, says that despite what happened to the former military president in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he is already a candidate for the 2007 presidential election.

Prince Kassim Afegbua

According to Afegbua, who spoke in Abuja, Babangida is already the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party (NDP), adding that it was obvious that there would be a gang-up against the former head of state in the PDP.

"Whether you like it or not, few people determine your fate when it comes to party primaries," he said, adding, however: "Essentially, Babangida has not been a party man, as it were. But he has all it takes to win a general election, to defeat anybody."

Afegbua spoke on these and many other issues.

Babangida and PDP

No matter what happened, we are on top of the situation. The General, IBB remains a formidable force in Nigerian politics and we cannot take that away from him. He enjoys the popularity across board. We knew that party primaries are essentially controlled by the machinery of the party, which could be manipulated to suit certain interests. We have an alternative, which is a fallback option. However, what is clear is that President Olusegun Obasanjo is unfair to Babangida. Babangida played a role in his emergence as president. We cannot understand why he could be against him in PDP. If he would not support him, at least he would have allowed all the aspirants to go to the party’s national convention and test their popularity. That was what we wanted.

What, then is your fallback option?

As I have always told anybody who cares to listen, IBB has been an aspirant in PDP, but he is a candidate in the NDP. That means, he has a political party that has endorsed him. He would embrace the party that has endorsed him and team up with other political parties that share his aspirations, his concerns, his policies and his programmes to present him to Nigerians as a viable political material to champion the aspiration of this country in the next four years.

No matter how you describe it, Babangida’s desire in 2007 is to introduce broad-based governance, which will be all-inclusive in nature such that people from other political parties will be given opportunity to present themselves for elections and represent the political viewpoint of their respective constituencies. He is not going to run an exclusive government. He has to spread it, instead of having just one political party winning 28 states in the governorship race, giving room to one party nation, Babangida will like to see a situation where different political parties win different portfolios.

It will be a kind of cross-fertilization of ideas, both the radical viewpoint and the other viewpoint, to propel the engine of growth. His desire is to see how we can bring people from different backgrounds, different ethnic stocks, that represent the divergent views of the Nigerian polity, to participate in governance so that we can reduce tension. What we have now is a tense situation that is waiting to explode at the slightest prompting and Babangida does not want that. He believes so much in the unity of this country.

Gusau’s declaration and Babangida’s aspiration

Nobody can disqualify Babangida. If you disqualify him, there are provisions in other political parties that will naturally buy into an IBB presidency. Do not forget that he has been a president in this country, he is a law abiding citizen, and he has all it takes. He has met all the constitutional provisions enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. The idea of contemplating that General Gusau is a standby does not arise. The relationship between Gen Gusau and Babangida is cordial. No doubt about that. Babangida is magnanimous.

Babangida is large hearted. He is one man who can stomach all kinds of bestiality and you feel nothing is amiss. That one is God given. He has all the inherent traits that is only peculiar to him alone that one begins to wonder whether this man is actually a Nigerian. But beyond that, this is politics. It has to do with self, the individual. What have you got to showcase and all that? Gusau may be trying to test his own popularity, which is permissible under a democratic process. So he has the right as a Nigerian to participate in the process.

NDP and the coming general election

As I speak to you now, we are doing our primaries and congresses. On December 16, we will be doing our Senate and House of Representatives primaries and on 21 December, we will be doing our presidential convention and in which case since IBB is our sole presidential candidate, we will just ratify him at the convention in line with article 27 of our party constitution.

Babangida’s programmes

Among all the presidential candidates in PDP, IBB is the only one who acts differently. He says he was not going to be a copy cat and that he will be innovative, creative and productive. Other persons said they want to continue with the reforms. He is the only one that has said he is not going to be a copy cat. That also means that circumstances in the future are not predictable.

You should also have at the back of your mind that when such circumstances come, we should have the ability to design policies and programmes to fit into those circumstances. Any other person who is saying he will continue with the reform, what happens when time changes, when climate changes, what happens? IBB is going to look seriously at all sectors of the economy. The energy sector is the number one in his priority. The Niger Delta Region is one area that is attractive and dear to his heart.

He has said time without number that he is going to introduce marshal plan on the Niger Delta region, and that means re-claiming the creeks so that we can build on them. Port Harcourt was reclaimed from the creeks, Victoria Island was reclaimed and today, it is the hotbed of corporate Nigerian business practice. So nothing stops us from reclaiming the creeks in the Niger Delta so that you can build good roads, you can build hospitals, you can build good schools and all that because when you go and understudy the entire terrain of the Niger Delta, you need to drain certain areas, you need to provide artificial land where it doesn’t exist. You need to go to those areas to see how you can make them habitable for the people.

Babangida has all that in mind. In addition, in the energy sector, he is looking at how he can decentralize the energy sector. People are saying that they cannot be connected to the national grid, that concept is becoming too over laboured. Whether we like it or not, we should allow the zones to have different power stations with capability of producing steady power supply that will naturally propel investment and stimulate foreign investors into the country and also be able to sustain our industrial base. He is looking at that. Security of the nation is so paramount in his mind. He has said it time and time that if given the opportunity to serve this country again in 2007, he will declare that particular sector an endangered specie because the security situation in the country is appalling.

When you are talking about foreign investment, one area you have to look into is security and also, the judiciary. The man who is coming to do business in your country must look at the kind of justice to be meted out to him in the event that he is being shortchanged or is being circumvented by sharp practices. He will also have to be sure that as he goes to sleep, he is sure of having a sound sleep.

What we have today is a reversal of that role. We are in a serious dilemma. If you travel on the road, the roads are not safe, arm banditry everywhere. If you are sleeping in your house, you are afraid of being visited by burglars and what have you. It is becoming so worrisome and it is going to be a collective effort. However, the government has to set the pace to pursue that vigorously and try to cement it. That is an attraction to Babangida presidency in 2007.

Babangida has the Midas touch. His Midas touch can be seen in the way and manner he champions his policies and programmes. He re-engineered this country. He took us away from our traditional ways of doing certain things and deregulated the economy to the point that a level platform was created for people to pursue their individual and committed enterprise and today, those who are the big players in the Nigerian economy graduated from that Babangida school of deregulation and aggressive market-driven economy.

The select few, who do not like his face, have been too vocal presenting issues on the reverse side. We have taken time to do a critical analysis that in the history of this country you cannot obliterate his eight years in government and say he did not do anything. He created institutions to manage different sectors of the economy, which is how his mind works. He is a man who believes in initiative, innovations and creativity. That is why we are saying that Nigerians should give him the opportunity to represent them and they will see, in the post-millennium Nigeria, the magic this man can perform. They will see a new Babangida who will have the opportunity of saying thank you to a country that have nurtured and provided him the opportunity to serve them. ( hehehehehihihihi)

Voters’ registration and INEC

Well, it is becoming worrisome. We raised this fear in the past. We said that the process has been cumbersome and that many Nigerians, eligible voters may be disenfranchised. Having said that, we are aware that INEC has its own programmes, in terms of the innovations it is going to introduce. We are saying that whether the innovations are right or wrong, the timing is becoming worrisome.

It is raising a lot of apprehension on the polity. People are beginning to wonder whether the commission is actually not doing the bidding of somebody outside, whether it is not doing the bidding of the Presidency and what-have-you. If you go to the field to find out what is happening, you will confirm Nigerians’ fears that 2007 may be heading for the rocks.

However, we still have to have a level of confidence in the process because head or tail, we want this government to leave power in May 2007, in the spirit and letters of the 1999 Constitution. The government will be terminating its mandate with the people on that date. In view of that, an election must hold. These are the issues at stake.

We must not afford to play with them. We are looking towards a free and fair election. If INEC cannot finish with whatever they are doing now, they should introduce Option A4, queue behind your candidate and the result will be counted there. That process was used in 1993 and it was adjudged to be the most credible election we have ever had in this country. Why don’t we re-visit such a system if what we are having at hand now cannot sustain the process as it were?

Spate of impeachment of governors

We thank God that the Supreme Court has re-instated Ladoja. Whether we like it or not, the way and manner impeachments have been carried out leaves much to be desired. The processes were unbecoming of a nation that is just trying to nurture democracy and follow the rules and regulations. It is quite ridiculous but we have to move ahead. We should not allow those impeachments to bother us so much. They are avoidable, but they said it is part of our learning process. The problem of our learning process is simple. We learn what is right except that we are not learning it right, because when you say you are in a learning process, it means, you do not know it. We know what the law says, but people choose to interpret it upside down.

EFCC’s renewed action against politicians

For a long time, we have said that EFCC is selective in the way and manner it handles its anti-corruption activities. The reasons are simple. If you want to do anti-corruption as it is done in every other country that has gone through this kind of process, what you need to do is to build institutions that will provide checks and balances, to remove monopoly and discretionary powers of those who are sitting in offices performing one role or the other on behalf of the state. However, if you allow one man to be performing the role of 10 men, you make him so powerful and you are indirectly and directly breeding corruption. Corruption is monopoly, plus discretion, minus accountability. EFCC ought to build institutions, teach people what its activities are, in ministries and corporate organizations.

Nigeria- The Sun News On-line

By ONUOHA UKEH

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Nigeria : Ibb to obj:You can’t provoke me

General Babangida to General Obasanjo :You can’t provoke me

Our enthusiasm soared to high heavens, last Wednesday, as we cruised in the Bellview airplane to Abuja, en route Minna, the Niger State capital, for the crucial appointment with the former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Our adrenalin spiked as we reviewed our strategy on the flight and anticipated a groundbreaking interview.

You can’t blame us. After all, it is not everyday you secure an interview with a former Head of State, even a controversial one as the Minna-born General. There is, indeed, a lot to excite any editor about the possibility of a Babangida interview at a time like this when he is assailed in virtually all fronts by his political traducers, even the presidency.

However, we got the first shocker at our hotel suites in Minna when the General sent words that the appointment, originally scheduled for 6p.m., would now hold at 10 a.m. the following day. He had thrown ice cubes on our enthusiasm. We all retired to bed early.

But there was no monkey business the following morning as the General was already waiting for us on the dot of time in his exquisite office on the ground floor of his hilltop mansion. “How many of you are fasting?” he asked in the spirit of Ramadan, flashing his characteristic toothpaste smile, resplendent in his immaculate babaringa. Before we could respond, fired another salvo. Pointing at our tape recorders and camera, he asked: “Are we doing an interview?”

We exchanged quick glances as we chorused “yes”. And the interview started in earnest. We sat on the edge of our chairs for most of the one-and-a-half hours the session lasted as Babangida took each question in his stride, either answering pointedly or maneuvering around it.

Although he bluntly refused to answer questions on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Nuhu Ribadu, his youthful chairman, saying it was not in his character to join issues with subordinates, he, however, counseled his traducers, especially the presidency, not to bring his children into the unrelenting war against him, his ambition and his past.

He somewhat advised President Olusegun Obasanjo to rein in his foot soldiers and accord him the dignity and honour appropriate for a former Head of State and a fellow General. To do otherwise would be breaching the code of honour the ‘cult’ of Generals and ex-Heads of States bestows on its members, he added for effect.

And for the first time since the run-off to 2007 began, he made a definitive declaration of his presidential ambition, saying: “…I will contest, insha Allah.”

Excerpts of the interview:

A lot has been written and said about you. How do these things get at you?

Get at me? They don’t get at me in terms of getting provoked. A journalist came here recently and asked all kinds of questions. At the end, he ended up asking me: do you ever get annoyed? I said ‘no’. He tried to provoke me. No way. It’s just the nature.

Is that also why you have not allowed yourself to be provoked by the presidency?

They wouldn’t provoke me.

But they appear to be doing things to provoke you?

If it is to provoke me, they are wasting their time.

Some people are interpreting it to mean that you are afraid of saying too much because they might come after you one way or the other.

To be fair to the president, I don’t think he will allow that. Not only to me but also to those of us who were in that office before. There should be some respect and decorum and I think he stands by that. It’s like during my time, if he abused us on the television, or in the papers, I did have pressures from members of the Armed Forces Ruling Council who would want us to react one way or the other. They would say we must show him this government is in power, we will not allow it. And I would say ‘No, we belong to a ‘cult’. Either you are a four star (General) or a former Head of State; we belong to that ‘cult’. So, we must not do anything that will demystify or destroy that ‘cult’.

The impression people get is that the president is breaching the code of that cult in the way he talks about you, in the way he says blatant things about you, and even arresting your son.

No, my son wasn’t arrested. My son was invited and he went on his own. For him (his son), it’s part of growth. We didn’t have any fear whatsoever. He did do anything wrong. So, they might as well investigate him or do anything they want to do. They asked him questions and he answered those questions to the best of his ability. In any case, he wasn’t just watching. There was a time he started trying to make money. I had been out of office for nine years. So, anybody who is fair-minded cannot blame me. When I was in office, he was in the university. He wasn’t doing anything other than reading.

And I believe because he is a Nigerian, he has to find a way of living, a way to sustain himself. So, he chose to go into business, and legitimately too. And he is entitled to choosing his line of business. I try as much as possible not to get involved because I do tell them that the name, Babangida, might be a problem to them. So, they must use their hands, use their God-given talents to achieve whatever they want to achieve.

You are not to get him involved in what?

No, I try to keep him away from seeking for government jobs, not to be involved in the cutthroat competition that is going on in the business community. So, I said he should do something that he can sit on and if you or anyone asks him: what are you doing? And he tells you confidently, ‘I’m doing this,’ and he does it through the process. For example, he runs a security outfit. People come in, he trains them, gives them uniform and he goes to people to solicit for clientele. So, at least, he is involved. He is not using his head to say ‘okay, let me talk to or plead with Minister A or Minister B’. No, no, no. The principle is first: start doing something for yourself. Let people know you are doing something.

What is his core business?

He has about three important areas. The first one is a security outfit he set up. When he was leaving school, he discovered that he could do a few things with his colleagues who were also leaving. So, he established a small training institution here in Minna and brought those we worked with but who were now unemployed because of their knowledge and expertise. He brought them to come together to put their knowledge and ideas on how to continue providing security services like guards in houses, guards in banks, hotels, in so many other places. People who have the knowledge train them and he runs out to go and seek for clients.

He also runs a cyber cafe here. Again, he has some of his classmates with whom he went to university together, and who were looking for something to do. So, they put their heads together, got into the business. And most of the time, I provided the little money they needed. So, at least, they are doing something productive, as far as I’m concerned,

Why would your name be a burden to your children rather than an asset?

Given the Nigerian factor, given the Nigerian situation, I think it would be a burden. I told him, in life, he is going to meet two types of Nigerians: those who hate me, and they hate me with passion. And those who like me also like me with passion. Maybe, those who hate are more vocal and the moment somebody sees him, it’s ‘ah, Babangida!’ They (his children) know that and somehow, God gives them the strength. And they don’t feel, and they have no cause to feel ashamed to be a Babangida. But they do understand that their father has been in public life for a long time.

I’m happy they read a lot about me in the newspapers. Some are negative, some are positive. But, it doesn’t bother them. And I remain grateful for that. The only thing I keep on praying is that those who fight me should be brave enough to face me. They shouldn’t be cowardly. They should not transfer the fight to kids. They should engage me. They should fight me. They should leave the kids alone. It is probably going to be difficult (to believe), but throughout my military career, I never joined issues with people below me. Anybody below me, I don’t join issues with him.

Still on Nuhu Ribadu. He’s been quite unrelenting in attacking you. Often times, he says you popularised or glamourised corruption.

No, I said I don’t join issues and I will not join issues with him.

Okay, you are aspiring now to come back next year. If that happens, how are going to retain EFCC?

I think in running this country, there is much, more important thing to think about and do really than worrying about various government institutions. They have been established, they have been established. There are more important things to think of, quite frankly. It’s like you asking me if I become the president, whether I would retain the civil defence organization. Those are institutions of government. You don’t devote a lot of time thinking about little things that are part of government.

Why I asked is because it is becoming a campaign issue now. Some presidential aspirants are already saying that if they get there, they would retain EFCC and also retain Ribadu because, according to them, for the first time, we are seeing a seemingly concerted effort to attack corruption.

As far as the campaign is concerned, I know the issues that touch this country and the people of this country. And I would use those issues that form the core of our daily existence.

And EFCC is not one of them?

The whole essence of government is for the welfare and security and the people. So, my preoccupation would be the welfare and the security of the people. So, you don’t necessarily single out little things. I think I should be above that now.

Last week, you said you didn’t annul June 12, that you cancelled it. What do you mean by that? Cancellation tells you that somebody would be held responsible. And that’s me. I was never afraid of accepting responsibility.

When are you finally going to explain why it became necessary for you to ‘cancel’ it?

In fact, I’m just reading a book about June 12.

By Omoruyi?

No, no. It was written by another Nigerian who actually got involved in things that led to the cancellation of June 12.

So, we should change the word to ‘cancellation’?

No, no, no. I read somebody (a column) today who was abusing me. He said I’m an idiot because I play around with words. That he checked the dictionary and they (annulment and cancellation) mean more or less the same thing. ‘More or less the same’. He said that was foolish academics. Foolish academics. I agree. But of course, I keep on learning until I die. The important thing about education is to develop your mind and enrich your brain. So, I will keep on learning and I will keep on associating with these professors and the rest of them so that I can pick something from them.

It was also reported that you fear that PDP may deny you its platform. That if that happens, you probably would seek accommodation somewhere. The statement was credited to Kassim Afegbua.

Kassim is an NDP young man and he would and his boss would like to see me in their fold. Three, four days ago, UNPP came here and gave me a resolution and said they wanted me to be their…(candidate). The good thing is that we have 45 political parties in this country. Therefore, God is kind, Nigerians are kind. Forty-five parties. So, instead of wasting my time to be a particular party’s candidate, I have a platform.

The PDP, your present party, has been plunged into avoidable crises. What’s you view on the way it is being run?

From my knowledge, in all developing countries and in not-so-developed countries, there are always crises in party management and the ability to resolve the problems is what stands out a good party. Now, there is crisis in the PDP. No doubt about that. But I know the men and women at the helm are capable of resolving this problem. And I think that’s what you need in any organization. You should have crisis, but you should also be able to resolve it.

What is your take on the sparks between Obasanjo and Atiku? We have been hearing and reading stories of the president buying cars for concubines and all that. What do you make of all these? You were once there.

I think the ‘quarrel’ is not the best for our fledging democracy. But then we should also expect that it’s not unusual to find a president and a vice president coming in to tussle. It’s also not unusual to find a minister who wants to take over from the president whom they are serving together in the same cabinet. So, we should be able to accept that this is normal. But what is important is that we should be able to resolve our differences amicably in the interest of the party, in the interest of the system, in the overall interest of the nation.

As a statesman, you have access to the two of them. What efforts have you made to help resolve the imbroglio because it’s becoming a huge embarrassment?

Yes, I have access to them. Yes, it’s true I talk to them. Yes, it’s also true what I tell them I don't discuss publicly.

In other words, your efforts to reconcile them have failed.

No, they haven’t failed.

But they are still engaging.

No, no, no. Understand it this way and I told you long, long time ago that when I talk with the president or with the vice president or with any other person for that matter, I don’t normally share it. I have done my job by talking. I have done my job by getting to know the other side. I’m concerned enough to talk to both of them.

In 1999, you helped Obasanjo, your former boss and friend to gain power. Now, you want to come back in 2007, are you banking on his support?

I’m banking on God’s support and the support of over 60 million registered Nigerian voters. What we are saying is this: you helped him in 1999…

(Cuts in…) No, I didn’t help him. I supported him.

But he has vowed not to support you.

Honestly, I never knew that.

But you have read about it?

I don’t believe everything that people write.

Why?

Because, for example, you people (some papers, not THE SUN)) wrote that I arranged a loan in Paribal in Paris, and I knew it’s not true because I have no connections whatsoever with them. So, you can understand.

Talking realistically now, there is a concerted determination by the presidency to ensure that you and Atiku do not run. And everything is being done to make sure that it is actualized, including the possibility that you are going to be indicted by the EFCC. Are you still running?

(Pauses…) Okay, let me use the phrase with which the media used in castigating me. I will contest, insha Allah. The media castigated me for using that phrase but I can understand because the man who castigated me doesn’t know what it means.

Despite the presidency, despite the position of the federal government on this issue, you are running?

To be honest, I don’t know the position of the federal government on this issue. These are all speculations coming from the media, other people that are interested, other people who hate this character (thumbing his chest). But left to me, I don’t know whether there is anything like that.

How would history remember Obasanjo as a president?

It is left for history to remember him (any way it wishes). He is part of history. All of us are part of history.

Now that you have said definitively that you are going to run, how do you deal with people out there who are wondering why you want to come back willy-nilly? They said you’ve been there before for eight years. What is it that you forgot that you now want to come back to do? They specifically ask: what did you forget in Aso Rock that you want to come and take?

I think I forgot a lot of things. I left the exchange rate of the naira, for example, at not what it is today. When I left, I left a litre of petrol at 70 kobo and not N75 that it is today. When I left, the fertilizer that the ordinary farmer uses was less than N100. It is now N2000. When I left, there was some security of life and property. So, I feel we should still be able to work on those things that touch on the lives of the ordinary people.

But how far do you think you can go, granting the fact that some people consider the issue of June 12, Mamman Vatsa and a whole lot of things an albatross on your neck? How far do you think you can go?

It depends on what you call an albatross because, deliberately, some people just don’t want to look at some of these issues. If you take the phrase that I stole N12.4 billion, and if you use a little common sense and use elementary arithmetic, you will find that there is no way this country could earn this amount of money in one year at that time because the price of crude oil never went beyond $24 per barrel during my time.

As I have always told my friends, I even managed poverty during my time. I managed it at $10 per barrel. Some times, it went down to $9. And I wasn’t making 2.3million barrels per day. So, it’s common sense. It’s simple arithmetic. Even at maximum production output, I couldn’t have pushed it to 2.3 because everything was batched. So, how can you steal what you didn’t earn?

So, it’s a matter of perception, it’s a matter of explaining.

And as long as you can support what you are saying with documents, with facts to convince the ordinary people, there is no problem. Some haven’t even done their homework. Some already have their mind-set. So, if you keep on shouting for the rest of your life, they just will not believe. They will tell you, Babangida has nine million pounds, 6 billion Dutch Marks. They don’t even know that it is not Dutch Mark now. They don’t even know it’s Euro. Now, a whole country cannot have this amount of money. If I have this amount of money, then, I can be able to dictate to the New York Exchange. But because you don’t like a man, you ascribe all evils to him. But then, the beautiful thing is that I also owe it a duty to explain some of these things to see if I can appeal to the conscience of people to do understand that some of these things are untrue.

Why have you not said something definitive about June 12 up till now? You always dance around it.

Because I don’t want to ethnicise it. I don’t want it to be an ethnic thing. People wanted to see it as a deprivation of the Yorubas, that we deprived them… And quite frankly, I don’t want it to look like one part of the country has been cheated. No. There was a general election. And this election was national. And there was a decision, and such decision didn’t favour a candidate. It’s not that it didn’t favour southwest. That’s why I don’t like the idea of mentioning names. People have a lot of perceptions about this. But I will refrain from putting the blame on anybody. Rather, I will accept responsibility.

I think the issue is beyond putting the blame on anybody or personalizing it. The issue is you coming out, as part of the healing process, and part of entrenching the truth, to say these are the reasons why we annulled or cancelled the June 12 election.