Political novel or Nigerian reality?
This story does not bode well for President Jonathan's anti-corruption camgaign. It does seem to be as incredible as fiction.
It's complicated and Jonathan's party in Congress has blocked debate because it's a "national security" issue, so details are hard to find.
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| South African police photo |
Let's see: two Nigerians (unidentified so far) and an Israeli citizen (also unidentified) fly to South Africa on a jet owned by the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria. South African customs discovers $9.3 million ($100 bills) packed into 3 suitcases. The money wasn't declared and it and the plane were seized by customs.
Nigerian officials quickly claim that the money belongs to the Nigerian government and was intended to purchase military hardware. The officials also quickly claim that having private citizens carry cash for such purposes is globally accepted standard operating procedure.
Just imagine a couple cousins of U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel carrying a trunk full of cash to Prague on a plane owned by Texas Pastor Joel Osteen claiming to be on a Defense Department mission to buy Czech CZ700 sniper rifles.
Standard operating procedure? Rule of law? Transparency? Corruption? Plot for a Tom Clancy novel?
Uproar in House of Reps Over Seized U.S.$9.3 Million
The atmosphere was tense in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, as All Progressive Congress (APC) lawmakers staged a walkout following a perceived attempt by Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, to kill a motion on the alleged smuggled $9.3 million cash into South Africa…
The protesting lawmakers staged a walkout from the chambers when the Deputy Speaker moved to stall debate on the controversial $9.3 million said to have been seized last week by the South African government.
A private jet, with two Nigerians on board together with an Israeli, reportedly conveyed the huge sum said to have been intended for procurement of arms and ammunition into South Africa…
FG Evasive on Seized U.S.$9.3 Million - JNI
The Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) Monday described the explanation given on the $9.3 million seized in South African as unclear.
The money was smuggled into South Africa aboard a jet belonging to CAN President Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.
Government was said to have claimed that the money was meant to procure arms for the military…
A JNI statement… said: "What is more shocking is government's full knowledge of it despite its illegality and the attempt to intervene in such a scandalous matter which attracts the full weight of the law to address. There is more to the explanation given by the government on the matter. Government should tell Nigerians the real fact on the issue."
JNI said due process was not followed in the arms deal and there were a lot of unanswered questions on the part of government.
It said the money ought to have been transferred electronically and an official aircraft should have been used…
And perhaps the issue spills over into identity politics.
The Cash-for-Arm Scandal And Security Of Nigeria's Muslims
The cash-for-arms scandal in the airplane owned by the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ayo Oritsejafor, should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet just like other issues before it.
 |
| Rev. Oritsejafor's jet |
This is because the man whose plane is at the center of the questionable arms purchase is an avowed enemy of Nigeria’s Muslim…
He has openly asked the Nigeria government, headed by his spiritual son, GoodLuck Jonathan, to allow the Christian community to bear arms. It appears when the government was not audacious enough to openly acquiesce to that request, they decided to bear the arm through the back door.
Is this the other side of the Boko-Haram war? Is this the manifestation of [the] claim that Boko haram is being funded from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)?…
The search for the truth must start from within. Muslims head the Nigeria Security Agency and Defense Ministry in the person of Ibrahim Dasuki and Aliyu Gusau, respectively.
They must account to us how such a huge cash for arms was found in a private airplane belonging to a sworn-enemy of the Muslim…
Nigeria, South Africa At War Over Seized $9.3 Million Cash
Detectives in South Africa have rejected Nigerian government’s explanations of the purpose of the $9.3 million cash seized from two Nigerians and an Israeli as “flawed and riddled with discrepancies”...
Nigerian security officials also said that it was normal practice to procure arms with cash.
“The Federal Government has submitted relevant data and documents on the transaction to South Africa and insisted that the transaction was legitimate. It also clarified that the funds were not laundered or smuggled for any covert manoeuvres...
Investigators also cast serious doubt on the Nigerian government’s explanation that the money was meant for the procurement of arms and that it has provided documents and receipt to back its legitimacy, raising serious concern that suspects might have been in the process of laundering the money before it was intercepted.
The NPA said its investigation shows that Tier One Services Group, the firm Nigerian government claimed it wanted to procure the arms from, is not authorised to sell or rent military hardware...
The NPA added that the transaction did not follow normal procedure in the procurement of the kind of equipment it was alleged to have been meant for.
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Labels: cleavages, corruption, identity politics, Nigeria, politics, rule of law
Conservative Party Annual Conference
The Tories started their annual conference yesterday. Search Google News for details.
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Labour Annual Conference
The conference may be history already, but here are some sources about it.
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Chairman Xi
President Xi in China seems to doing what Putin is doing in Russia. He's just not going so far back in his nation's history.
The power of Xi Jinping
[I]n China Xi Jinping’s common touch and courting of public opinion are a striking departure. Since Deng Xiaoping came to power in the late 1970s, the party has been extolling the virtues of “collective leadership”… Mr Xi is not only jettisoning long-established convention; he is dismantling the very system of collective rule.
Since becoming military chief and general secretary of the Communist Party in November 2012 and president in March 2013, Mr Xi has been sending a clear message that the country is not just ruled by a faceless party—it is ruled by a man…
These changes in style hint at a profound shift in the nature of Chinese politics. Even as he plays to the public gallery, Mr Xi is tightening his grip on power among the elite. He has added a new layer of authority at the top, taken command of numerous committees, and now personally supervises overall government reform, finance, the overhaul of the armed forces and cyber-security. Always small, the number of decision-makers is shrinking further…
He does not want anyone to threaten his power in the way his predecessor, Hu Jintao, was overshadowed by Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee who was in charge of the entire law-enforcement apparatus, from the police and secret police to the judiciary. Mr Xi is trying to eliminate all vestiges of Mr Zhou’s influence. Mr Zhou, who retired when Mr Xi took over, is now being investigated for corruption…
 |
| Beijing souvenir |
At 61, Mr Xi is the first leader to be born after Mao seized power. He is a “princeling”, the privileged child of a revolutionary figure. But in common with many Chinese, he suffered during Mao’s Cultural Revolution…
These are nothing like the days of fanatical Red Guards waving Mao’s “Little Red Book”, but party-backed adulation for Mr Xi has reached levels rarely experienced since the 1970s. In the first 18 months of Mr Xi’s leadership, his name appeared in the People’s Daily, the party’s mouthpiece, more often than in the comparable period of any other leader’s reign since Mao…
Mr Xi’s bid for popular acclaim, however, does not involve any attempt to shed the secrecy that surrounds the doings of the party elite…. He has tightened controls on online social networks and launched a sustained campaign against political dissent, including the rounding up of dozens of activists. Even those calling for officials to be more open about their wealth are being targeted…
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Don't even say devolution or accommodation
In China, there will be no talk of devolution or even accommodation. There will only be obedience.
China jails prominent Uighur academic Ilham Tohti for life
A court in China has found a prominent Uighur scholar guilty of separatism and jailed him for life, his lawyer says.
 |
| Ilham Tohti |
Ilham Tohti had spoken out on China's policies towards the Muslim Uighur minority in the restive Xinjiang region, but had denied being a separatist.
Correspondents say China is taking a tougher line amid rising Xinjiang-linked violence…
Calling for independence is illegal and always punished severely when the offender belongs to China's minority Uighur community. But what is so extraordinary about the sentence is that Ilham Tohti was not an independence activist, far less a terrorist, but an outspoken advocate of building bridges between the two communities.
Until his arrest in January he was an academic at a university in [Beijing] and a member of the Communist Party. In his academic essays and on the website he ran, he insisted that Xinjiang should remain part of China and frequently expressed revulsion against growing violence employed by Uighurs against the state.
But he likewise criticised the mounting police crackdown in Xinjiang, complaining that punitive policies were radicalising young Uighurs and convincing them that the battle was not between China and terrorists, but between China and Islam.
Today's life sentence is a message that amid the battle to contain Xinjiang's surging violence, there is no longer room in China for an outspoken moderate…
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Labels: China, cleavages, politics, rule of law
What's good for Scotland is good for England, isn't it?
Many people in England note that while Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have legislatures to consider local issues, English issues are decided by the UK parliament. They ask, "Shouldn't England have a legislature for local issues?"
Because an MP from West Lothian (in Scotland) raised the issue during a debate in Commons, the topic has become known as The West Lothian Question.
West Lothian question continues to puzzle
Lingering in the margins of Labour's conference on Sunday has been a simple question with a complicated answer: is the promise of further devolution to Scotland conditional on England getting the same?
Let us examine the evidence.
Early on Friday morning, a man relieved still to be prime minister of the United Kingdom stood in Downing Street and categorically linked the two issues together.
David Cameron said: "The question of English votes for English laws - the so-called West Lothian question - requires a decisive answer.
"So, just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues of tax, spending and welfare so too England, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, should be able to vote on these issues and all this must take place in tandem with, and at the same pace as, the settlement for Scotland."
But what do "in tandem with" and "at the same pace as" actually mean?…
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| Chief Whip Michael Gove |
Chief Whip Michael Gove… said: "It would be impossible to move forward without making sure you have changes both in Scotland and in England.
"This means that a system of English-only votes for English-only laws must be brought in before Scotland can get the devolution it wants."
From that, you might think Scottish devolution was actually conditional on progress towards English votes for English laws…
But after accusations from some that the prime minister was putting Scottish devolution at risk by linking it to change for English, Downing Street today acted to try to clear up the confusion… They said the chief whip had been misinterpreted by the paper.
They said it was always clear there were two separate processes.
The PM, they said, will keep his vow to the people of Scotland - no ifs, no buts…
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Ruling party in Nigeria sets primary election dates
PDP Fixes Dec. 6 for Presidential Primaries
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday fixed Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 for its Governorship and Presidential Primaries respectively, ahead of the 2015 general elections…
The party spokesman also said that the primaries for the National Assembly would hold on Nov. 22, adding that the dates were proposed by the party's National Working Committee (NWC)…
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More devolution in the UK?
The Scottish example has more people in the UK seeking more political independence.
Ignored and fed up, U.K. regions call for Scottish-style devolution
A big gap has widened in Britain in recent decades between cities and regions at each end of the country. The ‘North-South Divide’ came about because manufacturing and mining industries in the north and midlands failed while London and the south east saw a boom in financial and media industries.
It’s a source of bitterness for many British voters, who see London as a city state increasingly detached from the rest of the United Kingdom not just economically but culturally…
Now however the Scottish referendum, coming after the United Kingdom endured several years of recession, has prompted local politicians, leaders and businessmen to shout louder for the regional autonomy they need to boost growth in their areas too.
Nearly half of Britons - 48 percent - support more decision-making powers being devolved to English and Welsh cities and regions…
In England’s biggest county, Richard Carter launched the “Yorkshire First” campaign in August, calling for devolution to a regional government.
With a population the same size as Scotland and an economy twice the size of Wales, Yorkshire is suffering because it has the powers of neither, Carter says…
Elsewhere in the north, many inhabitants of Greater Manchester agree.
The county in north-west England has a bigger population than Northern Ireland and a larger economy than Wales. That makes it a prime candidate for devolved powers, says Phillip Blond, director of think tank ResPublica…
Yorkshire, with its white roses fluttering on flags over city halls across the region, and Manchester, with its engineering output and cultural profile, have, along with other English cities like Liverpool and Newcastle, strong identities that help fuel their inhabitants’ desire for autonomy.
Not all parts of Britain can say the same however and so far, attachment to local regions has not translated into enthusiasm for what devolved power is currently available.
Towns and cities have been permitted to have elected mayors since 2000 but few have taken up the opportunity. In 2012, 11 of England’s largest cities voted on whether to introduce an elected mayor with 9 of them - including Manchester and Newcastle - rejecting the idea.
In part this is down to public distrust of politicians…
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Scotland votes NO
(AP Comparative Government teachers breathe a sigh of relief.)
Well, and many other people celebrate while others sob. Can Scotland pull itself back together after such a close vote?
Scottish referendum: Scotland votes 'No' to independence
Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence.
With the results in from all 32 council areas, the "No" side won with 2,001,926 votes over 1,617,989 for "Yes"…
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Labels: devolution, Scotland, UK
Historic political culture
History and political culture have a lot to do with how governments function and policies that leaders adopt. When the two coincide, the results can be powerful. How much of the operation and policies of the Russian government can be explained by history and political culture? What about the role of leadership? Does economics offer alternative explanations?
Ukraine crisis: Is the noose around Putin tightening?
The Kremlin is a very different seat of power from 10 Downing Street, the Elysee Palace or the Washington White House.
The word Kremlin means "fortress".
For hundreds of years, that is exactly what it has been, with high walls, towers and a moat; besieged by foreign invaders, from the Polish army in the early 17th Century, to Napoleon 200 years later.
Today there are no foreign armies knocking at the gates.
Yet once again the Kremlin feels threatened…
"Putin sincerely believes that 'Orange Revolutions' in Ukraine were instigated by the US State Department and that Kiev's Association Agreement with the European Union is an EU conspiracy to take dominance of Ukraine," says political analyst Andrei Piontkovsky…
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Labels: economics, history, leadership, political culture, Russia
Details on referendum results
Scottish referendum results won't be available until Friday morning in Edinburgh. Scotland is 5 hours ahead of EDT, so if you're up at 3:00AM in Boston or midnight in Seattle, look for the first results.
How will the Scottish referendum result be decided?
Polling stations close later this evening with the result expected Friday morning.
The BBC's Jeremy Vine explains how the votes will be counted.
[See video at BBC]
Labels: devolution, Scotland, UK
A failing state?
Charlotte Alfred, writing in the
Huffington Post, offers this summary of demonstrations of Nigeria's capacities and incapacities.
Remember #BringBackOurGirls? This Is What Has Happened In The 5 Months Since
On the night of April 14, 2014, hundreds of schoolgirls at the Chibok boarding school in northeastern Nigeria awoke to the sound of gunfire… Their abduction sparked global outrage and a huge campaign calling for their rescue, partly propelled by the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Sunday marks five months since the girls were kidnapped. Here's what has happened since.
Not one student has been rescued…
Even though they were reportedly located months ago: In May, a Nigerian military official claimed he knew where the girls were being held. A month later, U.S. surveillance planes also spotted a group that officials believed to be the girls.
Other countries have made little progress…
Meanwhile, the girls' hometown is still in danger…
And Boko Haram violence rages on…
Nigeria’s military has buckled under pressure...
And been accused of grave human rights abuses…
While the country worries about its image problem: Nigeria's government paid a Washington public relations firm more than $1.2 million to change the media narrative surrounding the schoolgirls' abduction…
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Labels: Nigeria, politics, state capacity
The last arguments
Everybody gets one last chance to change voters' minds.
Scottish independence: Campaigns seize on Scotland powers pledge
Both sides in the Scottish independence referendum debate have seized on a pledge by the three main Westminster parties to devolve more powers.
The pledge, signed by David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, also promises equitable sharing of resources and preserving the Barnett funding formula.
The "Yes" campaign described it as an "insult" to voters and asked why it had taken so long to offer.
Better Together said it was "a vision around which Scotland can unite"…
The pledge signed by the Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem leaders appears on the front of the Daily Record newspaper.
The first part of the agreement promises "extensive new powers" for the Scottish Parliament…
The pledges were first outlined by the former prime minister, Gordon Brown, and endorsed by the three main unionist parties in Scotland.
On the penultimate day of campaigning ahead of Thursday's referendum, the "Yes" side is focusing on jobs and the NHS, while the "No" side is promising change and a "better Britain"…
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Nation, state, country
This op-ed essay about the vote for Scottish independence is worth the time it takes to sort out the analysis (that includes references to Thomas Hobbes).
BTW, does writer Neil Irwin properly use the terms nation, state, country, government, and regime?
Why Does Scotland Want Independence? It’s Culture vs. Economics
It’s been a good three centuries, but now Scotland may want out of the United Kingdom.
The stakes are enormous for Scotland, and quite high for the rest of Britain. But the debate over Scottish independence also sheds important light on how debates over the nature of the state that are as old as Hobbes and Locke apply in a modern world of instant communication and cryptocurrency.
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| Alex Salmond, Scottish leader |
The latest polling on the referendum, to be held Sept. 18, points to a narrow edge for Scots who wish to pull out of the state that they have been part of since 1707 and go it as a nation of their own. Previous polls, by contrast, had given the edge to those who wish for Scotland to remain part of Britain. Both betting markets and forecasting groups are now putting the odds that Scotland will pull away and form its own state at something like 30 percent.
What’s all the more remarkable about this possible secession is that major, specific grievances over public policy between Scotland and the rest of Britain are hard to identify…
Many Scots feel as if they have more to gain from governing alongside people who look like them and talk like them than they have to lose from no longer being part of a bigger, more powerful nation…
One could point out that Britain as it exists today is the very model of a liberal democracy, that Scots are amply represented in Parliament, and that they have a great deal of control over day-to-day governance within their borders. The government has offered to expand those rights of local control over taxes and public administration if Scotland sticks with Britain. But it may not be enough…
In the 18th century, it was the creation of what is now the United Kingdom out of England, Scotland and Wales (and, presently, Northern Ireland). In the 19th century, it was the expansion of the United States to span a continent and the centralization of smaller states into what are now the nations of Germany and Italy. In the 20th century, it was the creation of the European Union, in which people from Finland to Portugal share a common market and common currency…
Among democracies, the march has been toward greater scale and reach, at the cost of less distinct national identity. There have been flare-ups of resentment in these large democracies… But none have come as close to getting their wish as the Scots will in just over a week…
If Scotland chooses to go independent, it will shed the advantages that come from being part of a relatively large global power (Britain’s population: about 64 million. Scotland’s population: about 5 million) for the chance to be governed by people with whom they share a deeper cultural affinity.
Paradoxically, pro-independence Scots have argued that they will recapture some of the advantages of size by joining the European Union. It seems slightly bonkers for Scots to get so frustrated about ceding power to bureaucrats in London and turn immediately to bureaucrats in Brussels, but there it is…
The Scottish referendum isn’t just about whether a few million Scots will govern themselves. It is a fight over the world of multicultural modernity that makes today’s global economy possible, but also leaves many people with a deep hunger for the sense of national identity it obliterates.
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Labels: culture, nation, politics, Scotland, state, UK
A license for your TV?
People in the US don't think twice about getting a license for their cars. But for a television? The debate in the UK over television licenses (which fund the BBC) is ongoing.
Ministers back TV licence fee powers change
Ministers have backed plans that would give them powers to make non-payment of the TV licence fee a civil rather than criminal offence, the BBC understands…
A TV licence, which is required if a user watches or records live broadcasts on any device in the UK, costs £145.50 per year.
Those who refuse to pay face a £1,000 fine and a criminal record, as well as the prospect of jail if fines are not paid…
Culture Secretary Maria Miller has previously said "decriminalisation of the licence fee should be on the table" during the charter review.
With TV licensing cases accounting for 180,000 - or more than one in 10 - criminal prosecutions in 2012, decriminalisation could ease pressure on the courts system, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said.
Of those prosecuted in 2012, about 155,000 people were convicted and fined for non-payment.
Ministers to review enforcement of TV licence payment
Ministers are to review how payment of the TV licence fee is enforced amid concerns about the number of people appearing in court for evasion.
Culture Secretary Sajid Javid will say more than 10% of all cases heard by magistrates involve TV licences and question whether the system is working…
[Culture Secretary Sajid Javid], in a speech to the Royal Television Society… will say the question of how the BBC enforces payment of the licence fee - currently £145.50 a year for a colour TV - must be considered now.
"In 2012/13, almost 200,000 people ended up in court accused of not buying a TV licence," he will say. "More than 50 were sent to prison… "
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Labels: politics, state capacity, UK
