And Four Other Things…

Any keen observer of Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria must have realised a major missing link: central coordination. Most states are doing what they like. Some governors are even exercising powers that they don’t have, such as closing state borders. Some will close worship centres today and re-open them tomorrow. It is so haphazard. Someone said it is “true federalism” at work and I think this is ridiculous. An epidemic of this proportion is a national emergency. President Buhari should have declared it so from day one in order to take full charge, adopt a common strategy and prevent this chaos. It is within his constitutional powers. Baffling.

We’ve had erratic ministers in this country, but Sale Mamman, the minister of power, is heading for the zenith at the speed of light. On Tuesday, he sacked Usman Mohammed as the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). In December, he fired Marilyn Amobi, as MD of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Limited (NBET). He also ordered the indefinite suspension of Damilola Ogunbiyi, now former MD of Rural Electrification Agency (REA). Both were later reversed. Could it be that the man does not know the meaning of his title, “minister of power”? Honourable Minister, it means “electricity” — not “might” or “bully”. Shocking.

Did you hear what Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto east) said on the floor of the senate on Tuesday? In case you missed it, Gobir said soldiers from Niger Republic moved in to Sokoto state to fight bandits after the Nigerian military abandoned the place. “The situation in Sokoto east as far as armed banditry is concerned is pathetic and tragic because it is only the Nigerien army that has been coming to their rescue while the Nigerian army looks the other way round,” he alleged. I have been waiting for the military authorities to deny this massive indictment but, so far, there has been none, to the best of our knowledge. Should we start getting more worried than we are already? Terrifying.

My attention has been drawn to my inaccurate claim, last week, that in the entire north, Kwara and Kogi are the only states where Hausa is not the language of doing business, otherwise known as lingua franca. Pardon me for the slip: Benue state is also an exception. Thanks to my colleague and editor of The Nation, Adeniyi Adesina, who was the first to draw my attention to the error early Sunday morning. He did his national youth service in the old Benue state. I also need to make clear that in Adamawa state, Fulfude — the Fulani language — is the lingua franca, along with Hausa. In Borno, as well, both Kanuri and Hausa are widely spoken side by side. Clarified.