Hassan DM NO! WE MUST NOT GO DOWN THAT ROAD AGAIN

When some of us campaigned and voted for General Muhammadu Buhari, we did that in hope that he will move us from the old order, from the way things are done in this country. However, this morning we saw on Facebook, Twitter and other social media a picture people were gleefully sharing as something positive. Yes it is, if what we focus on is having a more modern and sophisticated trains. But it is far more than that.

This incoming government was elected on the platform of change, due process and adherence to the rule of law; a complete departure from the way things are? And if we are to go by that, then this picture is all wrong and it is by all standards a long walk back to what we are running away from. I'm an optimist about what General Muhammadu Buhari will do, but I'm also a pragmatist. In this picture, I see a maintenance of the status quo. And this is how and why.

One major promise (Nõ 5) that GMB and his Campaign Organization made to Nigerians is that upon becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he will immediately inaugurate the National Council on Public Procurement (NCOP). If he fail to do that within 100 days, we should consider him a failure. NCOPP is a fundamental requirement of the Public Procurement Act of 2007 (Part 1, Section 1).

The refusal of both late President Umaru Yar'adua and President Goodluck Jonathan's administration to inaugurate that council meant that from June 4th, 2007 till date all contracts exceeding N50million and subsequently adjusted financial limits were executed illegally. It also meant those responsible should be cooling off in jail. It will be a long list spanning 8 years, from June 4th, 2015.

The refusal of the two administrations to inaugurate that Council is understandable to professionals. Doing so means that contracts that meets certain financial thresholds cannot be award without the approval of the Council. And the reason they refused to institute the Council is because it is made up of two group of members - 6 full time and 6 part time.

The full time members of NCOP are members of the government appointed by the President, made up of;

<> Minister of Finance (Serve as Chairman)

<> Accountant General of the Federation

<> Secretary to the Federal Government

<> Head of Service

<> Economic Adviser to the President

<> DG, Bureau for Public Procurement (Serves as Secretary of the council.

While the part time members are largely organizations that are not in government. They are represented by their leaders, whose positions are subject to elections by their members are;

<> Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPSMN)

<> Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)

<> Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE)

<> Media (NUJ)

<> NACCIMA

<> Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

Each of the named professional bodies and CSOs are to send one member to represent them at the Council. By the letters of that Act, Presidents, Governors and Ministers cannot award contracts. The Council should. And the politicians will not allow a small burden like abiding by the same laws they create disturb them. They don't want scrutiny from core professional bodies and CSOs. Just imagine the Presidents of CIPSMN, NBA, NSE, NUJ, NACCIMA and CSOs in every NCOP meeting and the nuisance they will cause political thieves. They want steal and steal and steal. So, no Council.

Now, here we are with GMB been shown a prototype of train by an executive of ONE foreign firm. Just one. The law requires ALL firms interested to go through open competitive tendering process, which Bureau for Public Procurement, Tenders Board of the Ministry or the Procuring entity or any recognized body should organize the process, from whence the winner will be awarded the job. We have to change the situation.

For this reason, if we wake up any day after May 30th, 2015, and we are told that the Federal Government has awarded a contract for the construction rail tracks, supply of engines and coaches and other equipment required for the smooth running of the system, without going through the process and without an NCOP in place, then GMB and his administration will by then continue the practice of breaking our laws and impunity, and especially with breaking campaign promise, which is to inaugurate an NCOP within days of coming to office.

I understand why people celebrate this picture of a Chinese, Japanese or Korean train building executive showing our President-elect a prototype of a train. Apart from the fact because we deserve better what is going on, it is borne out of ignorance of the legal, ethical professional and economic implications of having some foreign business person who possibly paid those that led him to the President-elect without recourse to the laws of our land. This is to hand an undue advantage to a firm and ignoring the principle of ethics and competition.

The new government must wait for May 29th, be sworn in, inaugurate a Council for public procurement, and advertise the job and invite potential contractors to bid. Anything short of that is both unethical and illegal. It violates section the principles of 4 (c - d) of the PPA. Buhari must never be seen with any business executive. All businesses interested must compete. And that is not me talking. It is a core procurement principle. All contractors, suppliers and service providers must be subjected to open scrutiny and competition. And that is THE LAW.

Time to stop wasting monies we don't have. What happen to the billions Nigeria obtain in loans and spent on that "bogus" trains? What happen to the people that are responsible? Time to start doing the right thing, following the proper procedures. Time to inaugurate the NCOP and allow it.

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Libya and Europe

When France led others including the UK to attack Libya, only their ego was in display. They were not challenged in their home countries, they acted without opposition. They had no forethought for their actions. They had the immediate gratification of removing an old enemy. They had no sense of history or geography. They were of not aware of African parables including, if you shit, you have no right to the flight path of the flies.

Libya is a small country but with huge resources which their big leader invested in his people while keeping them occupied with external fires in order to keep himself in power. Idle minds seeks political freedoms but if busy, happy to enjoy the fruits of their economy, which the Libyans did. The West in its arrogance, it's s self belief that simple third world countries can not arrange their own affairs intervened in Libya with dire consequences for countries north and south of Libya. 

Libya was turned into Somali with money. The state dissolved and private 18th century armies created their various fiefdoms. Arms flow from Libya devastated Mali, and some think entered the Nigerian Northeast. 

Now with no central authority in Libya, it is now a main source of refugees from Africa to Europe. Economic and political refugees from Nigeria to Libya now seek salvation in Europe using the collapsed state that was Libya. 

ISIS now has a foothold in Africa. 

Yet no word of regret from European politicians on the folly of their Libyan adventure. Even Africans are not gloating saying "We told you so". This means the West will continue its ill thought out adventures and the merry go round will continue. 

The Nigerian government must do more to educate its people that the rat run through the Sahara to costal North Africa is not worth their lives. And give the opportunities to make their lives matter in their home country.

In Europe its citizens must electorally punish its governments engaging in ill fated adventures. They must understand that a mothers who beats a child to sleep will not sleep while the child cries. 

Nigeria elections and its Press

The state of our Nigeria journalism and their report card during the just concluded general elections. 

Lazy is the adjective I will use to describe the media both print and television. They failed in all the headings used to judge; education, explanation and entertainment of the nation. It failed to educate the population. Reading the press one is astonished at the lack of information. The headlines usually have no bearing to the thrust of the stories. They were just happy to repeat baseless rumours and became a rumour mill for mischief makers. People in Nigeria just wake up in the morning and without basis or foundation, ring a known journalist with a story of how so much money was stolen. This fire is also heated up by social media press whose irresponsibility knows no bounds. The climate of impunity was not just for government officials but also the forth estate, the press. Mud is thrown, hope and it usually does, sticks. Real scandals are not investigated to give justice to the people and the story. 

The quality of the writings leaves much to be desired. Bad grammar, use of inappropriate words, using Latin phases to indicate their level of intelligence but unintelligible to their audience. Listening to commentators and presenters on TV, they usually just spoken to themselves without regards to the audience. 

Their attitude to politicians usually was tell us dear leader, what you have for the people and your presence glorifies us. It's toe's crawling. The politicians will reel out platitudes and rumours about their opponents without robust challenge. The governor of Rivers state alleged on national TV that an opponent took contract money and never completed the contract nor refunded the money, billions of Naira. That was a full stop and next question. He also boasted of a clear unconstitutional action. He had taken up the management of primary schools, which is within the responsibilities of the local government not of the state, again no follow up question of who died and made you king. Gapping goals, just waiting for a tap in and over the bar consistently. 

The government press are just town criers for the government of the day. 

The elections and its procedures were never properly explained to the populace by the press. And all you had to do was just read out the INEC website to achieve this goal, again no tapping into an open goal. 

The opposition candidate, GMB got away from a debate rather than boycott all of his press activities until he came to the debate the Press as a body ran with its tail within its legs. Reason being, they also gave a pass to the President in 2011. 

Politicians were allowed and I dear say, encouraged to speak from both sides of mouths and backsides if it made their points. 

There was no pretence to educate the nation on its politics. The presidential spokesmen were allowed to turn press engagement to religious pronouncements. I kicked myself hearing it was in God's hands. That was get their out of jail card played over and over again by all colours and shades of politicians. 

Watching and reading the Press in Nigeria was and is a sight to behold. They failed in the assigned mission. 

Solutions. Retrain all and sundry from editors to reporters. They must check, check and recheck their sources and stories before they print. They must resist the easy temptation of printing wholesale what they see in social media. Social media has limited audience while the Press has mass audience and not allow the tail to wag the dog.

Where to go PDP

PDP should metamorphosis into New PDP. Power is the only cement which hold the party together therefore it's only claim to existence must be the pursuit and retaining of power. 

From 1999 to 2015, it had power and was the biggest political party in Africa. It lost power and it's the smallest opposition party in Africa. Since power is the only glue that can hold the party together it must reinvent itself. It must become the party of the common man, a crusader against corruption, an efficient administrator of resources, against sectional and religious polities. It must be all it was not. 

It must paint and expose the APC government as a bunch of fair weather friends, sectional and seasonal interests party. It must expose within its ranks the corruptible, it knows all of them they were formally within its ranks or in allegiance with them (Tinubu). It knows where all the dead bodies are buried, this is a chance to be like Caesar's wife, be above board and be seen to be above board. 

The charlatans who left and now form the vanguard of the APC should be made to be the face of APC. When Nigerians see APC they should see discredited former PDP henchmen. 

PDP should get the brightest and best men and women as its evidence of rebirth. They should expose the APC as merely promising just for promise sake. They should dog the APC with all of their unattainable promises. They must produce the Chibouk girls immediately as they promised and end Boko Haram within 30 days from the announcement of the elections. Naira must be at par with the U.S. Dollar within 60 days of winning the elections. Heavens will fall on them if free education and medical care is not provided for all Nigerians within their first budget. All hospital must be fully functional and not mere dispensing premises. Every APC member who goes abroad must be exposed as getting for themselves what they have promised and failed to deliver for Nigerians.

At the same time blame APC for all the ills which will befall Nigeria. If GMB makes any military type order or statements like with immediate effect, question his commitment to democratic principles. Always use General to address him especially with foreign press, giving the impression that he is like General Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisiof Egypt. A military man in Civilian cloths with no business in the biggest democracy in Africa.

Tinubu is the soft underbelly of GMB, make him the defacto leader of Nigeria. Create distrust between Tinubu and GMB. Tinubu has ego and wants to be known to have midwifed APC to government, use that ego, credit him with all that is good and evil to GMB. He will claim the credit. Tie OBJ as the puppet master of Tinubu or something, he is so discredited that people will believe it. 

At every turn take legal action against the APC that will rattle them. They will make mistakes. They are bound to, that what we do as Nigerians but make it an APC problem. Let Nigerians believe they never had so good under old PDP and allows refer to pass actions to an old PDP. 

Make somebody from the South West to be the leader of the New PDP. Break the grip of Tinubu on the South West. Placate the middle Belt, turn Kwara and Kogi state against the Saraki's. What have they got to show for the vice grip of these states. Do not tie the futures of the New PDP to any oligarch. If fact burn the witches on the stake to show how repent the New PDP is. Publicly expel OBJ, FKK, Bode George, David Mark and their types. They are finished and have no destructive power or creative power, old PDP still lost with some of them within its rank. Bode George can not catch a cold in Lagos. Under David Mark's watch old PDP lost Benue. Expelling them will give kudos to the New PDP. 

Plan for government, aim for government, walk, run, whatever just get to government. New PDP will be like New Labour or Obama democrats. There is no point being in politics if not in government putting your service for the betterment of the people.