Bakassi: Soon Gowon, Obasanjo may be tried for treason – Anya

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR
PROFESSOR Anya Oko Anya, 75, pioneer chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and 1992 National Merit Award winner is sad over Nigeria’s handling of the Bakassi Peninsula and insists that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) would reverse its 2002 judgment ceding the territory to Cameroon if the Nigeria appeals the verdict with prevailing facts and documents.
He wants former heads of state, retired Generals Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo, who signed off and ceded the territory respectively to Cameroon to take part in the recovery efforts because they might be charged with treason in future. Excerpts:
The Bakassi matter
Bakassi is a very unfortunate development for Nigeria. It is also not a very good advertisement for our leadership. Nations develop military power. The whole armed forces is established to protect the territorial integrity of the nation. Serious nations don’t cede their territory except in war; in peace time, no nation cedes its territory.
ICJ judgment can’t stand
There are three reasons why the International Court of Justice judgment on Bakassi cannot stand. The reasons are historical, international law and the concept of patriotism.

Obasanjo and Gowon

History -The Efiks are a major tribe in Nigeria and historically have been on the Atlantic Coast. Bakassi has always been part of the Efiks without a war. In 1884, the British entered into a treaty with the Efiks, which included Bakassi. There would not have been a treaty if there was no ownership.
International law
It does not make sense to cede any part of Nigeria. Arnold Smith, former Commonwealth secretary general is alleged to have said in his memoirs that he was surprised at the ease with which General Yakubu Gowon appeared ready to handover Bakassi to Cameroon. He was alleged to have raised the matter with Gowon, who told him that he wanted to make sure that Biafrans are denied access to the sea in case of a future war. That shows hoe serious he was about ending the war and reconciling Nigerians.
Gowon is said to have said it wasn’t true. Anyway, Gowon could have wished to cede Bakassi to Cameroon but he could not have effected it and he did not effect it for two reasons.
One, the matter of delineation of boundaries and ceding of territory must be bound by an agreement and a treaty. A treaty cannot be valid or binding on a nation unless it is approved or ratified by the sovereign authority, which in most cases is the Parliament. Under Gowon, no treaty was presented to the Supreme Military Council, SMC, which wielded executive and parliamentary powers at the time. So, there was nothing that could have been effected.
Then came President Olusegun Obasanjo, who signed the Bakassi Green Tree Agreement, GTA. His case was worse because it was during a civilian era and the National Assembly was in place. A Head of State can reach an agreement with a foreign power but that agreement has to be approved by the National Assembly, which has the sovereign authority.
Beyond that, subjecting yourself to the authority of the ICJ is by choice, it is not mandatory. That is why the US does not recognise the ICJ on any matter of national interest. So, why did Obasanjo agree to go to the ICJ? It was not necessary and mandatory.

Anya Oko Anya

There is an opinion that either now or in the future, Gowon and Obasanjo would be accused of and tried for treason because you don’t give away your territory.
Turkey came and seized part of Cyprus because it has not been recognised by anybody. The world cannot allow it or else the world would be an unstable place.
Another dimension to the treaty of 1884 between the Kings of Calabar and Great Britain is that it was concluded between two sovereign people and it pre-dated the Vienna Convention of 1885. So, the 1913 agreement with Germany has to return to the source, 1884, which does not support it. In international law, laws follow earlier laws, which set precedent.
So Bakassi has always been administered as part of Nigeria. The people of Bakassi took part in all election before and after independence. They were not treated as part of Cameroon as the 1913 agreement claimed. Even if it was in the trusteeship agreement, there is a clause that says you cannot change the trusteeship agreement without going to the people through a plebiscite or referendum to determine where they want to go. The right to self-determination still exists. You must consult the people of Bakassi and that has not happened. You can’t just remove them from their ancestral land and settle them elsewhere as if they are stones.
Lack of compassion
There is a surprising dimension to the whole issue. The dimension is that those of us, who claim to be Christians like Gowon and Obasanjo, should have compassion, an important character of a Christian is compassion. If you have compassion, you will ask: have been compassionate towards our brothers and sisters in Bakassi? The answer is no. It is not only Gowon and Obasanjo, even the press and other Nigerians are guilty because they have treated the matter as if it is not a matter of great interest.
That shows we have not learnt lessons from the civil war and because we have not recognised those lessons we are repeating them. We treat problems affecting other parts of the country as ‘it is their problem, it is not our problem.’ We cannot continue treating problems like that if we want remain as a united country. In a united country, a problem affecting one part is treated as a collective problem.
The press has not shown much interest. In the effort to evict Bakassi people from their ancestral home, Nigerians have not asked themselves what they would do if they were in Bakassi’s shoes.
We have to learn a lesson from the US, who are prepared to go to war over one American citizen. Even when an American commits a crime, they will fight that the American should be repatriated and tried at home under American law.
Bosnian war, America mobilised to Bosnian to rescue on American. If you have a country that is prepared to go to war because of you, why won’t you give your life for that country? We are talking about patriotism and reward of citizenship. By donating Bakassi, your territory to another, what are you telling Nigerians? You are telling Nigerians that no Nigerian is worth anything. How do you expect the citizen to be patriotic in that circumstance?
We must defend our territory and recover Bakassi. Looking at the map of Africa, we often say God has shaped Africa like a gun and Nigeria is the trigger and in Nigeria, the actual point where the trigger is, is Bakassi. It is important to recognise the significance of that. Bakassi is so strategically located that anybody who controls power there can control the Southern Atlantic.
Why is France, Britain and US so interested in Bakassi?  Nigeria with the potential to develop into a major power will be in a position to control what happens in the Southern Atlantic, therefore
The solution
The Nigerian government must immediately respond to what has happened by inviting the ICJ to revisit the Bakassi issue. The bases for such requests are:
First, ICJ expects you to come back if you are not satisfied within 10 years of th judgment, which will expire in October.
Secondly, the decision of the ICJ was not even unanimous. Three dissenting judges -Madagascar, Senegal and Jordan, faulted the judgment of their colleagues. If it were a split decision then, you will win now if the ruling is appealed with facts and developments that were not available then.
We should approach the appeal with our A Team, a competent team to handle the case. With due respect to Chief Richard Akinjide, the issue of Bakassi were not issues he had first hand experience. Even if he had, he needed insight because the matter had legal, cultural, historical and strategic dimensions. So, the Nigerian team should have had the best that Nigeria has in those areas.
An authority in Nigeria and in the world on the history of Bakassi; the interactions of people of that area with the metropolitan authorities; interactions of traders that live in the area is Dr Walter Ofonagoro. His Ph.D Thesis at Colombian University dealt with the treaties in that area.
I understand that when the matter reared its head during late General Sani Abacha era, Abacha sent Ofonagoro to the United Nations with source documents to show that Cameroon had no leg in Bakassi and matter died until Obasanjo came. The question is, did anybody consult Walter before going to the World Court? I doubt.
Finally, one must say there is a huge political dimension to the problem, which the current Nigerian government must be aware of.
The political dimension is while it could be easy for Gowon and Obasanjo to take a decision relating to Eastern Nigeria in a whimsical and cavalier manner, politics will not favour President Goodluck Jonathan, to take that kind of decision because he is an easterner. An easterner cannot be at the helm to rubber stamp the donation of an eastern territory to a foreign country. It is a dilemma for Jonathan. Even if he fails, history will record that he tried.
Dealing with issues like this intellectual power. Nigerian governments don’t pay enough attention to harnessing the intellectual power of the nation. We must do so in this case because we don’t have an alternative to Bakassi.
We must appeal to Gowon and Obasanjo to be involved in the crusade for restoration of Bakassi to Nigeria. It is a matter of simple personal interest. It is beginning to happen where people, in other parts of the world, are called to account for what they did 20, 30 years after they left office. They can say, ‘I made mistake, how do we solve the Bakassi problem?’ The problem will not vanish, future generations will ask questions.
Vanguard

Bakassi belongs to Nigeria – Fresh facts reveal

By Hugo Odiogor, Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Dotun Ibiwoye, Nkiruka Nnorum & Kunle Kalejaiye
LAGOS — Fresh  facts have emerged, showing that the disputed Bakassi peninsula which the International Court of Justice, ICJ, ceded to Cameroon, actually belongs to Nigeria.
Vanguard gathered that the jurists at ICJ might  have been misled by the legal teams of Cameroon and Nigeria, who did not show vital information that clearly placed Bakassi as a territory within the geographical, political and administrative jurisdiction and control of Nigeria, contrary to the October 10, 2002, verdict which awarded the sovereignty of the peninsula to Cameroon.

Bakassi protesters. Photo by Johnbosco Agbakwuru

International relations experts, renowned historians, researchers and politicians told Vanguard in Lagos, last week, that contrary to the claims by the Cameroon and Nigerian legal teams that the first legal treaty on the Land and Maritime borders between Nigerian and Cameroon was the 1913 Anglo-German treaty, it was discovered that the limits of the Land and maritime boundaries between both countries went as far back as 1811 when the British made the treaty that went from the Lake Chad region down to the Atlantic ocean through the Rio Del Rey Estuary.

The Great Fraud

1. There are evidence to show that in 1994 when  a dispute erupted between Nigeria and Cameroon, Nigeria asked the British government to attest to the true status of Bakassi Peninsula, the British government replied to assert that the Peninsula belongs to Nigeria.
2. This was when Alhaji Babagana Kingibe was Nigeria’s Minister of External Affairs but curiously that document was not tendered at the ICJ trial.
3. There are fresh evidence to show that in the March 18, 1961 plebiscite in Southern Cameroon, to determine areas that either wanted to stay in Cameroon or join Nigeria, Bakassi Penisular was not among the areas that participated in the exercise because it was given that it was not part of Cameroun.
According to Southern Cameroon gazette, Volume 7 no. 14,  the areas that were asked to determine where they wanted to belong included Mamfe, Bamenda, Kumba, and Victoria.  Also, the people of  Bakassi have voted in Nigerian elections and the Nigerian Customs has been in control of the territorial waters since 1811.
4. The 1913 Anglo-German treaty which Cameroon rested its claim was not signed by both countries before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
5. Germany renounced all its terrirorial claims at the end of the war in 1919 and all the former territrories controlled by Germany came under the mandate of the League of Nations.
6. There were clear cases of ethnic cleansing in Bakassi peninsula in the past 10 years in violation of the Green Tree Agreement.
According to Prof. Walter Ofonagoro, a historian and former Nigerian Information Minister, who did  his Ph.d thesis on Southern Oil protectorate, “fresh facts have emerged to show that the Cameroonian legal team deceived the ICJ into believing that before the Anglo-German treaty of 1913 upon which it rested its case, there were no other treaties that delineated the  land and maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon, which is a fraudulent claim”. Prof. Ofonagoro said that he has in his possession, 1822 documents which vested ownership of the Bakassi Peninsula to the Old Calabar Chiefs, by extension to Nigeria, and debunked claims that the 1913 Anglo-German treaty was the first recognised treaty on the land and maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon. Said Prof. Ofonagoro:  “This is not true because as far back as 1811, the British had already established a strong sphere of influence over the territories that eventually became Nigeria in 1914.  The Anglo- German treaty upon which Cameroon built its case was contestible because after the First World war ended in 1919, all the territories controlled by Germany were taken away  from them and given to the League of Nations.
He said:  “There were other treaties between Nigeria and Cameroon on the Land and Maritime boundaries, which were entered into in 1884, 1885 and 1886, all of which clearly demarcated the land and maritime border between Nigeria and Cameroon from the Lake Chad region down to the Akwa Yafe River, which was the land border from Akwa Yafe to Rio Del Rey estuary to the Atlantic ocean.
He said: “When the Germans got to Akwa Yafe River, they discovered that they could not gain a direct access to the sea because going toward West of Akwa Yafe River will take them straight to the Calabar Sea Port. The Calabar Sea Port was clearly outlined in the treaty.  This was the main port of entry for the British merchants, and later missionaries, who were the first to establish sphere of influence in Nigeria.” He said there was no way the British would have granted the Germans a boundary access that would have constrained their access to the Calabar power.
The British were fully in control of the Calabar Sea Port. The Germans went East of Akwa Yafe River, which took them to the Rio Del Rey estuary to the sea. This ensured that the Bakassi Peninsula was on the West, which put the Peninsula on the Nigerian territory. The predominant population on the Peninsula then were the Efiks and Efuts, who were of Efik kingdom which stretched up to Khumba, Victoria and Bamenda.

Grounds for Appeal for review

Although the Federal Government has been reluctant to listen to the calls from the National Assembly, the Judiciary, the Nigerian Bar Association to appeal for a review, Prof.  Ofonagoro said “Nigeria has very strong ground to ask the ICJ for a review of its decision because there were concrete material facts and documentary evidence that were not before the ICJ in 2002, which would have helped to guide the world jurists in their decision”.
According to him, the Cameroonians concealed other vital treaties during the trial and told the court that the treaties were for mere adminstrative convenience, but more suprising is the fact that the Nigerian team did not do their home work to debunk the claims of Cameroon; rather they went there to resurrect a dead treaty in their attempt to justify the 1975 Maroua Declaration which was also an illegal treaty.
He said:  “If the ICJ should allow a judgment that was obtained by fraud and concealment of fact to stand, grave in justice would have been done to the people of Bakassi. The reputation of  ICJ would have been tarnished because the whole world expects it to do justice at all time”.
Ofonagora said the Nigerian defence team went to the Hague to agree with the Cameroonians that before 1913, there were no other treaties between the two colonial powers, which is false. But more fallacious is the fact that the Cameroon of 1919, was not the Cameroon of 1913, because after the end of the First World War, Germany was forced to give up all its territories in Africa, which came under the mandate of  League of Nations.
Germany renounced all its claims to territories and all the treaties it entered into which  gave it control of territories, became a nullity. The League of Nations consisting of Britain, France and Italy, the territory of Cameroon was carved up by France which took the Northern part.
Senator Ewah Bassey Henshaw, in his reaction said: “We have evidence from the memoir of the German Ambassador in 1913, who negotiated the so-called 1913 Anglo-German treaty”. He said the treaty was not signed because of the distrust between Britain and Germany at that time and the conflict between the envoy and some officials of his own country.
“In 1961, when a referendum was conducted in Southern Cameroon to determine on which part of it wishes to belong to Nigeria or Cameroon, after the British ended its colonial rule, Bakassi Peninsula was not included because it was regarded as part and parcel of Nigeria. In the areas such as Issangale that were included in the referendum, they voted to be in Nigeria”.
Speaking at the Vanguard Conference Hall in Lagos,  Senator Henshaw said the ICJ has a duty to review its judgment wich gave the sovereignty of Bakassi to Cameroon because it was obtained by fraud and deceits.
He said: “We are not asking for too much for the ICJ to take a second look at the fresh facts and our action is covered by Artcle 61 of ICJ which empowers people to come back for a review of their judgment if there were fresh facts that surfaced after the decision was made, which have substantially affected the judgement.
The president who has sworn on oath to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria and the constitution should assist the people of Bakassi by asking the AGF to appeal for a review of the ICJ verdict.”

‘True federalism is the way forward’

From left: Mr Kunle Famoriyo, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) and the convener of the meeting, General Alani Akinrinade at the Yourba Assembly 2012 held at the Oyo State House of Assembly, Parliament Building, Ibadan.

The Yoruba Assembly shook the national socio-politcal edifice when it came up with far-reaching positions on major issues of the moment. The welcome address of the convener, General Alani Akinrinade, is reproduced here.


Protocol
I greet our distinguished traditional rulers. Kabiyesi, k’ ade pe lori o, ki bata pe le se, irunkere a di abere, ase a pe lenu o! Your excellencies the executive governors of all our states, Our highly regarded elders, former and serving members of Federal and state legislatures, ministers of the Federal Republic and state commissioners, retired and serving jurists, former and serving ambassadors, members of the professions, members of the organised private sector , members of the Armed Force, members of the Forth estate of the realm, representatives of market women, artisans, road transport workers, students, representatives of the unemployed in our region, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. 
I greet you all and heartily welcome you to this important gathering of the Yoruba family from all parts of our country and the Diaspora. I thank the government of Oyo State for allowing us the use of this ‘PLACE’. A very symbolic place in our history just as the city of Ibadan. 
I am Alani Akinrinade, a Yoruba and Nigerian patriot. I believe in the unity of our federation and have spent most of my adult life lending credence to that assertion. I have, after wide consultations with elders and leaders in Yoruba land; called this family meeting to reflect on how to make Nigeria conducive to the development of Yoruba civilization. Today’s meeting is not to do or say anything that will detract from the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is intended to allow us, as Yoruba sons and daughters all over the federation to rob minds on the way out of the country’s crippling underdevelopment, with special emphasis on the parlous state of affairs in the Southwest. Our forefathers have a maxim that says: Omode gbon agba gbon ni a fi da Ile Ife. Today’s assembly is to allow the Yoruba nation, across social, political, and sub-ethnic divides to rob minds about the future of our own corner of Nigeria.
Historical background
But first, let me crave your indulgence to take you on a very brief historical journey of the Yoruba. Our people are believed by historians backed by archaeological evidence to have lived in this very place for over 1,000 years. Our ancestral home, Ile-Ife, was already a thriving kingdom by 1000 C.E. Most of our major cities have celebrated over 500 years of their respective kingdoms. By the time Portuguese explorers first came to what later became today’s Nigeria in the 1400s, many of the Yoruba City-States were comparable to cities of similar size in Europe. Yoruba land at that time was considered one of the most urbanized areas in the world. 
Before the arrival of the colonial enterprise in the 1880s, the Yoruba had already established one of the most complex federal or con-federal networks of kingdoms in the world. This was centuries before Switzerland or Belgium created a system of government that gave constituent parts of each country, simultaneously, the freedom to progress as equals and the responsibility to cooperate with each other for advancement of common goals. Around 1500 C.E., when Oduduwa sent different groups, each led by one of his sons, to found new kingdoms or city-states, he gave them the crown and the freedom to rule the new kingdoms without being subjected to a fiat from Ile-Ife. In the few cases when empires grew within the Yoruba territory, we all know that such efforts led to civil wars. In other words, the Yoruba have traditionally organised their polity along the model of federalism. It was not surprising; therefore, that one of the highlights of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s contribution to political thought in response to the amalgamation of Nigeria by Frederick Lugard as well as during the struggle for independence was the importance of federalism to national unity and development in a  multinational state like Nigeria. 
Contemporary development
In more contemporary times, those of us in this hall that grew up in the ’50s and ’60s would have no problem remembering that the  quality of life of the average Yoruba was much better than what it is today. When the United Nations says that the quality of life in present day Nigeria  is much lower than what it was in the 1970s, we all know that there is no exaggeration whatever in such an assessment. The tragedy is that most children growing up in Yoruba land as from the ’80s have come to see life as an experience to endure, rather than enjoy. Most of them would readily take the Andrew option, migrate legally or illegally, to other countries of the world, including even some of our neighbouring countries like Ghana, which became independent about the same time Western Nigeria obtained self-government. You have to visit important establishments abroad to experience the magnitude of the brain drain from Yorubaland. 
 Those who have no means of escaping from the country have become frustrated and would do just about anything to survive. Between 1952 and 1966 Nigeria operated a federal system that allowed each of the three regions then to develop in consonance with the dominant values of its culture and at its own pace. Western region, home to the Yoruba, obtained self-government in 1957; started the first free primary education in West Africa in 1955, built the sub-region’s first modern stadium within the same period, established the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1962, created the Western Nigeria Television Service and a corporation devoted solely to economic development (WNDC), both first in Africa.  Long before Nigeria became independent in 1960; our region developed the most professional civil service under the leadership of Chief Simeon Adebo of blessed memory.  
The Yoruba were the first to officially recognize opposition in governance and provided official accommodation for leaders of opposition in the region, a clear sign of our philosophical commitment to the plurality of perspectives as a necessary aspect of democratic governance.  All of these achievements and others too many to itemise were made possible, not with petro dollars but with resources from agriculture. It is the period 1952-62 that historians now nostalgically refer to as the Golden Age of Yoruba land thereby acknowledging the unmistakable decline in the region in the decades after the ’60s. The cruel irony of all these is that the region is now almost fully dependent on revenue from oil and hand outs from Abuja. At independence in 1960, the federal government was taking loans of substantial amounts from the government of Western Nigeria. Unfortunately today, the truth is that, apart from Lagos State, our region has become a mendicant region that waits for limited droppings from the table of the federal government in Abuja. A distant Federal government has become an overlord that has unnecessarily attracted to itself the charges of marginalization from the constituent nationalities.
Despite its oil resources, Nigeria today remains one of the poorest countries in the world; it ranks almost highest, world-wide, in corruption being only a shade better than Bangladesh and Togo! Nigeria has the least developed transportation system for any country of its size that possesses her quantum of natural resources throughout the entire world. Its railway system is in a state of complete disrepair while its roads are abysmally decrepit. No wonder it is completely unable to sustain any meaningful industrial activity! Particularly on account of crippling lack of electric power, factories have turned to worship places just as many multinational companies have migrated to other countries like Ghana. Thousands of jobs have thus left the country in search of more stable economies. Insecurity has nose-dived beyond even the Biafran war time years since the emergence and upsurge in the activities of Boko Haram, -a rampaging urban terrorist group that has completely enveloped the North-Eastern part and making menacing incursions into other parts of the North of the country. Boko Haram may not have struck in Yoruba land, but our people, like many other Nigerians, in their teens, are daily being slaughtered, or incinerated, in the North. Given the feckless way the federal authorities are handling Boko Haram, it is only a short time away from when the marauders will be emboldened enough to attempt attacking other parts of the country. Indeed, not too long ago, the University of Ibadan like the University of Benin had to postpone end of semester examinations for no other reason than an alleged Boko Haram infiltration of the two campuses.
Leadership and structural problems
Political theorists have argued that the problem with Nigeria is a problem of leadership just as some have attributed it to a warped geo-political and governance structure. The choice of a country’s leadership is determined by political partisanship in a democracy. But the structure of government is one matter that can be addressed by all, regardless of party affiliation. Knowing where we are coming from, it is crystal clear that the absence of functional federalism in the country has exacerbated the decline of Yorubaland.
It is the structural problems thrown up against our security, general wellbeing and the future of our children that motivated me to convene this family meeting. If some parts of Nigeria or even the rest of Nigeria have no problem with the current constitution and political structure, and I am sure they do, that should not stop us from raising issues with a system that daily traumatizes, impoverishes and completely degrades our people. We must not continue to look askance, at a political structure, and Constitution which continue to deny us our place in the sun as it completely rubbishes our freedom to develop at our own usual pace as eloquently demonstrated in the days of Awolowo and his team when each region had the authority and the freedom to grow as it wished. We believe this should not be a matter that divides the country or even the region into warring groups. It is, ordinarily, a contestation that should be civil and peaceful, being basically constitutional and which can therefore be approached in the most respectful manner amongst the various people making up Nigeria. 
Without a doubt, Yoruba land is not the only part of the country suffering from our national rudderlessness. The truth is that Yoruba should really have no stock with the all-pervading misery that has enveloped the nation; not with our education, exposure, location, industriousness and cultural richness. While analysts are still battling with the cause of Nigeria’s underdevelopment close to sixty years after independence, we are duty bound as a people, to come together in a non-partisan manner, such as we are doing today, to interrogate the various issues militating against our well-being and, together look for solutions.
The dialogue option
May I suggest that in place of brick-batting and hard-line mudslinging pervading the Nigerian atmosphere, giving the impression that it is impossible for the nationalities to sit together and dialogue peacefully, we turn to civility.  We should come to terms sooner than later, that science and technology is drifting to the realm of negotiation with death and it may remain only taxation that is not negotiable.  All matters including the unity of Nigeria are negotiable. Perhaps we should remember that all the apostles of non negotiability in defunct Yugoslavia, Rwanda etc have either died in jail or are serving long terms of imprisonment or still facing criminal trials. Never mind the avalanche of destruction that they wrought on their countries. When some states decided to install Sharia and organized hisbah to police and enforce it, the others saw no reason why they should go up in arms even though it  was not sanctioned by the constitution. 
Today’s family assembly is therefore convened, to think together on how to ensure that our children do not remain unfed; that our roads are safe for our people to move around and for business, that our streets are safe for citizens and residents, and that generally our region does not remain underdeveloped. In other words, we need to examine the structure of the polity together and make recommendations on how to facilitate the overall economic development of the country and the South-West geo-political zone, in particular. We need to brainstorm about how to make sure that “the architecture of governance”, to borrow a phrase from Chief Emeka Anyaoku, is designed to strengthen the unity of the country through a constitutional system that favours restoration of regional autonomy that made it possible for our region to create the largest pool of manpower in sub-Sahara Africa half a century ago. At the rate at which we are going, being constantly pulled back by a dead weight federal structure our children may not even be able to obtain good education and knowledge which is the only competition left in the globalized world.
This Assembly has also been called to allow us to help Nigeria optimize the potentials of its cultural diversity and to enhance its unity through a clear headed re-engineering of its observable structural imbalances. We can provide leadership for other regions in the search for the proper structure that can sustain democracy, development, and unity in our diversity. May I suggest that we discount the noise of the war mongers who believe that a conference will necessarily end up in the battle field. They have carried decadence too far. They are steeped in reaping unfairly where they didn’t sow.  They believe in the unity of purpose of the donkey and its owner.  Or how do we explain a Federal government that collected punitive duty on imported alcohol and returns to collect heavy value added tax from the consumers and repair to Abuja to distribute the proceeds to all states including those that banned alcohol, using some dubious calculus.  
While we are at it, can our present leadership find ways and means of not just preserving our language and culture, but employ it for fast-tracking knowledge. I have been hinted by a psychologist that we do not dream in foreign language. I, and myself have not found a good example of any nation that made salutary contribution to science and technology using someone else’s language. It sounds like share violence expecting a five year old to think in someone else’s language. I was assured by late Baba Fafunwa and Chief Cornelius Adebayo that it is easy and rewarding to teach in our language. They successfully did so. Can we possibly start a revolution? Please forgive me, I digress.
One more matter. Can we refuse as an article of faith, to allow anyone rampage our land in the name of partisan politics and elections? I mean, can we remove the brigandage that accompanies elections. The stigma, the unnecessary destruction of lives and property is avoidable. By all means, let us enjoy vigorous rivalries of ideas, principles and healthy canvassing, but leave the rampage out of it. That is the Yoruba way.
In the last twenty years, the Yoruba have gotten together under various auspices to examine the structure of the polity. The exercise leading to the production of the Yoruba Agenda is the most memorable of such efforts. The Yoruba Agenda contains ideas that can be reviewed and improved upon. There may be some things that are no longer applicable and need to be taken out at this Assembly. There may be other issues that need to be considered and added to the position taken by our traditional rulers, elders, professionals, and other patriots when the Yoruba Agenda was put together during the pro- democracy struggle of the 1990s.
Kabiyesis, Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, before I take my seat, I would like to bring some of the salient points of the Yoruba Agenda to your attention. This is to help us arrive at decisions on what we need to do to enhance the unity and overall development of the country, Nigeria, in general and Yoruba land, in particular. The Yoruba people fully subscribe to certain universal values which influence and govern the behaviour of peoples throughout the modern world. The values which may be termed Fundamental Principles leading to peace, stability and progress of a people like the recognition of the Sovereign will of the people, equal political, economic and social opportunity for all, and respect for human rights, equity, justice and fair play are all extensively dealt with in the Agenda. 
Kabiyesi, Your Excellencies, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our region can be much better than it is. It can and should be much better to live and work than in the 1960s if we put our heads together to work for a more conducive structure that can nurture our civilization and that of others that co-habit the country with us. Only a proper constitutional and political agreement, enhanced by a consensus among the Yoruba to press for re-structuring and creation of a truly federal constitution, can help resolve the current constitutional and structural logjam in the country. This Assembly is convened to start the process of restoring true federalism with its cornerstone of regional autonomy in our country. This, as I said earlier, should be without acrimony as it could be achieved the same way Scotland has, through a peaceful constitutional process, demanded home rule within the framework of the United Kingdom. Today’s Assembly is a family meeting aimed at starting the formal process of demanding a restructuring of the Nigerian federation.
Finally, we know that lions eat lambs, but when fire starts raging in the valley, all animals become equal. E ma jeki o di igbati aja ba nle ikoko ki a to mo pe ogun ti de bode. The Yoruba need to rise, in the wise saying of our fore fathers that Agbajo owo ni a fi so aya.  
The Nation

Why Is My Name Missing In The Awards List?

By Chinedu Ekeke

To be clear, I am angry. Don’t wonder why it is that way. Actually, if you were in my shoes, you’d be as angry as I am.
I read in the papers that this year’s list of national honours awardees has been released. As a stakeholder in the Nigerian project, I thought my making the list was already a settled matter. I had expected my friends to call me and tell me they saw my name, and then offer their congratulatory messages before dropping the calls. It never happened. I quietly called SA (Yes, you won’t know him. He’s one of my boys at the Villa) and asked if he had seen the list, and whether I was there. He told me I wasn’t included.
Then I begged him to forward the list to me. I wanted to find out whether the tradition had changed this year. Have the criteria for awarding the national honours suddenly changed? He forwarded the list to me, and I took my time to read through. It wasn’t to search for my name. I believed SA when he said my name wasn’t there. He has more time to pore through long lists than myself. I don’t read too much. It isn’t what makes one rich or powerful. SA must have done a proper reading before confirming to me that my name wasn’t there. I was searching for the names of those in the list.
I saw them. And my anger further increased.
Why was my name skipped? To clear your doubts, I would list my achievements which every rational mind would confirm fall into the requirements for the conferment of national awards.
About thirty years ago, I met Chief (again you won’t know him. I’d rather not disclose his identity) who advised me to become a contractor. He said it was the easiest way to make money. I respected Chief a lot, and still respect him. You see, he’s one of the best men in this whole world. He held me by the hand and showed me how to meander through the rough trails of the Nigerian society. And he’s vastly experienced in Nigerian matters. So I managed to get some loans from him – of course he became a shareholder – and we set up a construction company.
Since that year, we have won several contracts in many states of Nigeria. We also have all the monetary values fully settled by the government ministries and parastatals in charge of them. Yes, we didn’t complete any. Chief warned us not to complete any. And he was right. Chief has always been right. He warned that if we complete the jobs, we wouldn’t have enough money to “thank” the government people involved. And once the government people aren’t thanked for one job completed, they would not give you another one in the future. Since that secret was given to me, I’ve always made it a point of duty to thank the government people after each job. And that has helped keep us in business since then. None of the roads handled by us were completed. And who really needs a tarred road anyway? Did our forefathers go by paved roads? And didn’t they live longer than we do today, right? You see, we are not into that business of project completion.
This record effectively puts me amongst the rank of those qualified for national awards. I am shocked that I am not there. But I’ve watched from year to year how the governors with whom I shared contract money have been awarded.
Well, I stopped being directly involved in the day-to-day running of the construction firm many years ago. But myself and chief still help them get contracts from the governors and the presidency. O yes, we simply peddle our influence and voila!, contract is won. I am now in oil and gas. We import the money-minting machine and claim subsidies. I have actively participated in several subsidy claims. We know how to do it. We didn’t need to import the number of litres we would eventually claim payment for. Who does that? There’s money in oil and gas, and by the grace of God, we have made the money. Adenuga is there. And with my level of contribution to the nation’s economy, why wasn’t I considered worthy of receiving this year’s national awards?
This is even more painful because I belong to our great party. From Abuja, I took the party to my state in 1999 and financed it single-handedly. In all previous general elections, I’ve delivered. I have been the one personally financing the boys who helped our great party stuff ballot boxes in the whole of my senatorial zone. Yes, I recruit the boys and pay them for the job of keeping us victorious in elections. I am a chieftain of our party, yet this is the treatment I receive from our own people. During last year elections, or even before then, I made sure some direct data capturing machines were hidden for me and chief in the bush. We used them to handle special registration of our boys who would do multiple thumb-printing for our great party. And during the elections, we delivered. After this manner of sacrifice, see the treatment I’m receiving.
I explained to chief and he asked me to exercise some patience and wait till next year. He was a governor during one of the defunct republics. Actually, he has once been awarded, but that was when it became quite obvious that chief left office without constructing even a kilometer of road. He told me to work harder at giving decision makers more cuts from all the contracts we’ll be winning. He also advised that I get more daring in the quality of boys I use for ballot-snatching during elections. I will do what he says, chief knows too much about this system. It’ll be risky if I ignore his advice.
Chief equally told me how sad he felt to know that his friend, a judge, who acquitted many former governors of all glaring criminal charges against them wasn’t part of those who made the list. Chief lamented that the man had worked very hard all these years to ensure he excelled in our national trade; from upholding rigged elections to acquitting rogue governors in his court. This is even worse because in the list, there are some people like him. Chief says the judge didn’t work hard enough to make the list. He has advised him to learn to discharge and acquit all offenders in his court, and to start charging higher in bribery. Chief is sure that this improvement will guarantee his inclusion in next year’s list.
I called my lord spiritual (you don’t know him, he’s a bishop) and asked him why his name wasn’t there. My bishop was sad. And I understand. Bishop has done his best in the last two decades to deliver prayers to those in government, in sufficient doses, in exchange for cash which comes either in forms of seeds, tithes or offerings. He ensured he never asked his followers to question the government. He was consistent in his protection of government and “upholding them in prayers”. Today the time for reward has come, and bishop wasn’t recognized. He couldn’t understand why his name was omitted. By virtue of the names he saw there, he thinks, like I do, that he is eminently qualified to be in the list; except, of course, if his level of nation-killing is underestimated by the award givers.
Just yesterday, Alhaji called me. He is a traditional ruler (I won’t tell you his name). We’ve always worked together right from my early years as a contractor. He has been very instrumental to the successes of successive governments. He helps mobilize his people, for money, during elections. In fact, his house was used as INEC registration centre the other time. He helps mobilize underage voters just like I help out with ballot-snatchers in my senatorial zone. And just like me, he was left out of the list. He has determined to do more during the next election. He believes, like I do, that we may not have done enough. He even knows the traditional rulers in the list and seem to agree that those ones perform miracles both during and after elections. Alhaji will up his game this time.
While I was searching for the names on the internet, I ran into some disgruntled elements accusing the government of patronizing their loyalists, as well as corrupt people, with the national awards. I don’t understand what their problem is. There are stakeholders in every society, and Nigeria is no different. One of the boys who writes on Ekekeee.com (a foolishly political blog created to discredit all the good works we stakeholders have been doing to keep this country as one), Efe Wanogho, was even questioning why a taxi driver who returned a certain amount of money wasn’t included in the awards list. That is stupidity elevated to the height of philosophy. Who listens to that taxi driver? How can he bring peace to this country in times of conflict? How many boys does he settle per month? People just sit in their homes and talk what they have no sufficient knowledge about. He returned that money because it is small. All these people who put up a façade of sainthood are waiting for the opportunity to be exposed to real money. We aren’t moved at all. Well, that’s not even my business.
Back to my anger, I am convinced Mike Adenuga hasn’t done better than me in this stakeholding business. For instance, our companies are into the subsidy game together. In fact mine, Akpako Oil, did more subsidy claims than Adenuga’s Conoil. So why wasn’t I included?
Okay, my other governor friend (I have many of them as friends, by the way) is also sad. He belongs to our great party also. Historically, he did the impossible by becoming a member of three political parties in just two weeks. In fact before he became a governor, he was the Chief of Staff of his former governor. And he did a great job, helping in the stealing of sufficient billions from the state coffers. And again, he also made history by winning the governorship from prison. That alone qualifies him for the honour of a lifetime achievement award. And now that he is a governor, he has even pushed the boundaries of his qualification further north. He has reduced the state to a non-functional space, which, again, in itself, qualifies him eminently for national recognition. But they refused to include him.
When I was talking with him, he was touched that his counterpart from Delta State played a similar role as a commissioner to the former governor there. But he was wondering if he hasn’t reduced the state enough to be included in the list. But if the rumours filtering in are anything to go by, he’ll be topping the list next year. We hear he went to buy a ship recently. That is unprecedented. The awarders can’t let that go unrewarded.
You see, we need this recognition badly. It helps to shore up one’s credibility – which is not in doubt anyway. For me, I’ll have to start thinking of delivering the whole of my state to our great party in the next elections.
I even asked Chief if my financial contributions to our party is that small as to make me considered a lightweight, but he dismissed that. Trust Chief, he is the smartest man I’ve seen. But he suspected something. He suspected that the awards committee has one or two things against some of us. I gave this a serious thought and concluded we’d need to see the members. How much will it cost to make them happy? Small money. Small thing.
Next year can’t be this way for me. At my level of both political and economic influence in this country, two titles – “Chief” and “Dr” – aren’t just enough. I am deserving of a CON, at least.
Saharareporters

Ailing First Lady To Accompany President Jonathan To UN General Assembly

President Goodluck Jonathan and Patience

By SaharaReporters, New York

With an eye on public relations stunt, President Goodluck Jonathan plans to reunite with his ailing wife, Patience next weekend, and thereafter head out with her the following day to the United Nations General Assembly in New York against doctor's advice.
 Presidency sources told SaharaReporters that Mr. Jonathan is expected to arrive New York on September 24 for the plenary debate of the 67th General Assembly, which kicks off the same day.
Mr. Jonathan will also co-chair an event with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.
Doctors at the German hospital where Mrs. Jonathan's remains on treatment have reportedly delayed her treatment by another week while they await test results from body tissues sent out to other European specialist hospitals.
If all goes well, our sources said Mrs. Jonathan would return to Nigeria after the General Assembly.  The presidency has, however, maintained official silence about Mrs. Jonathan’s condition, an irony that parallels late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s treatment in Saudi Arabia in late 2009 and early 2010 when Mr. Jonathan was Vice-President.
Meanwhile, a Dubai newspaper is refuting reports that Mrs. Jonathan suffered food poisoning there. 
Original reports said the First Lady took ill in Dubai with food poisoning, following which she returned to Abuja only to be airlifted to Germany in a dire emergency.  She was then said to have had her appendix, which had ruptured, removed.  Subsequent reports said she had further surgery concerning fibroids.
But the Khaleej Times, in a September 8 story, said that food control officials said they are unaware of the alleged food poisoning in the emirate in the first place concerning “Patience Faka Jonathan.”
The newspaper quoted an Assistant Director-General of Public Health, Safety and Environment Monitoring Sector Salem bin Mesmar and the Director of the Food Control Department Khalid Mohammed Sharif Al Awadhi as saying they had not even heard the complaint.
“If she had come here, she would have stayed in and had food from well-reputed places only,” the paper quoted Mesmar as saying. “I don’t think they would serve her anything that is bad. We have not heard anything about such a food poisoning issue.”
The paper said the Jonathans are expected to be in Dubai in late October for the African Energy Summit and First Ladies’ Summit scheduled to be held as part of the World Energy Forum.
 

DISOWNED? PDP governors boycott Tukur’s book launch

Guests at the book presentation to mark the 77th birthday of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, in Abuja on Saturday, were surprised when they noticed that only three governors were present at the event.
President Goodluck Jonathan attended the event, while the three governors in attendance were Alhaji Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Chief Theodore Orji (Abia), and Patrick Yakowa (Kaduna).
However, the governors of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema and his Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang; sent their deputies.
There were insinuations that the governors decided to boycott the event to register their displeasure with the leadership of the party.
Noticing the side talks about the absence of the governors, Orji apologised on behalf of his colleagues.
He said he had their mandate to pick ten copies of the book for each of the governors.
He said the governors were absent because of circumstances beyond their control.
The governor said, “I have been mandated by PDP governors in the PDP Governors Forum to come and speak.
“To all the PDP governors in the governors forum, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur represents  the Iroko in the forest.
“If you enter the forest and you don’t see the Iroko, it is no forest. Where you see the Iroko is in the forest. Bamanga Tukur is the leader of our party.
“Let me apologise on behalf of PDP governors who are here, because of circumstances beyond their control. Some of them have sent their representatives, but of course, an event for Bamanga Tukur isn’t one for excuses.’’
In his remark, President Jonathan said the PDP national chairman “is a man of honour, a detribalised Nigerian and an enviable businessman.”
He said his commitment to the nation should be emulated by all Nigerians.
The President said, “Today gives us an opportunity to honour a man, who has done well in contributing to the economic growth of Nigeria. We are here to honour a man of honour. His life story is that of patience and orderly rise to the top.
“He didn’t suddenly become rich.  He has lived a life that symbolises that the best is possible in this country; he symbolises the life of perseverance in times of adversity.’’
He described him as Africa’s President without a country.
Also speaking at the event, a former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, praised Tukur’s contribution to the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria.
The book, ‘The Global Villager,’ a biography on Tukur, was written by Eddie Adeoye. It was presented by Chief Arthur Eze, with the sum of N10m.

 Punch

Opinion: 8 reasons to vote for Jonathan again in 2015

by Jude Egbas

Alright, I am done with being a Government critic—that line of work is not altogether lucrative any more. It has never been lucrative, anyway. I have sold out completely (apologies to all those I may have disappointed with this rare act of ‘turn-coatism’.That sounded Obahiagbonish, right?). My hands are up right now in total surrender. I have transformed into a Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) Campaign Co-ordinator. And it only took two hours…
You realize you are doing a horrible job as a public affairs commentator, when the youngest of your siblings waltzes into your office at lunch time with one aim in mind: to convince you and your colleagues that President Jonathan is the best thing to have happened to Nigeria since sliced (cassava) bread.
Brian Egbas argued so passionately for President Jonathan last week, it still beats me how he escaped the office without a kick in the head as he raged on in that preacher’s cadence. Soon after he left my office however, I realized my folly and began singing President Jonathan’s praises without even realizing it. He must have ‘jazzed’ the hell out of me. So, here are a couple of reasons why we should all choose ‘shoelessness’ over competence again in 2015….
1.Rome Was Not Built In A Day…Because Jonathan Was Not There: Well, we voted in the Jonathan administration for four years. But what really were we thinking? It is impossible to even speak properly in four years. You can’t fix any type of road infrastructure in four years and you just cannot even articulate your programs and agenda coherently in four years. Nobody does that!
And we should all be thankful that the President has promised that in 2013( that is next year, in case your Calendar is so two thousand and late), we will all be feeling his bouts of fresh air and transformation from the streets to the living rooms. In 2013, President GEJ would just have spent two years or thereabout as Nigeria’s number one citizen. The only reason why that cliché of‘Rome was not built in a day’ gained so much traction was simply because President Jonathan was not alive at the time! Simple.
2.For The Love Of The Committees: There is only one solution for all of our country’s problems. It is a ‘one –size- fixes- all’ solution. Our President has the magic wand. When you catch a cold in the morning what do you do? Set up a committee. When you can’t afford to pay your children’s school fees what do you do? Set up a committee to find out why your earnings have hit rock bottom. If Cassava bread is not the favorite for most families, set up a committee to find out why. Fuel is stolen at the open seas and subsidy funds are been diverted by your friends? Just set up a committee to probe the committee you set up few months before. Never look into the findings and recommendations of previous committees, just ‘dey set up committee dey go’.
In 2015, we may not find another Candidate on the ballot with this much love for setting up committees. We are just so lucky to have one now who can fix all our problems with a string of committees. Why shouldn’t we grant him another four years in office? No brainer!
3.Always Organize A ‘Pity Party’: “I am the most criticized President on earth……The problem with Nigeria is that people play politics with everything, that is why I have not achieved much….I did not cause Nigeria’s problems….” President Jonathan can be so simplistic; he makes Reuben Abati so proud. And we should all appreciate this rare occurrence on our Planet. Gratitude should be the least we could offer. It will be difficult to find anyone else this ‘simple’ and who courts so much pity, in 2015.
In 2015, just few days to the polls, he will ask us to pity him and say something along these lines: “ I am running for office again because you all criticized me so badly four years ago. Don’t you feel some ounce of pity towards me and my people? I am from a minority tribe. Please pity me some more… and vote for me…It will take a while before my part of the country gets another shot at the Presidency .” And then he will sob. If ‘simplicity’ is what you love, kindly vote for President Jonathan again in 2015, and thank me later.
4.Boko Haram Are Our Siblings: President Obama referred to his challenger for the office of the President, Republican Mitt Romney, as a man who “shoots first and aims later”. President Goodluck Jonathan aims and shoots in one fell swoop and we want him back in office as our President in 2015. He is that good a sharp shooter!
The dreaded Islamic militia group, Boko Haram, are our friends….ooops….our sisters and brothers, our President reminded us glibly a few months ago. The problem with these variant of ‘siblings’ is that they are wiping out their own ‘siblings’ in the North of the country and have made sure that industrialization and commerce takes flight from the land of their ‘siblings’. Sibling rivalry at its murderous, you may say.
A man who fetes terrorists? Please vote for him again in 2015. He is our man!
5.Childlike Candor: When was the last time we had a President who spoke with such candor, cathartic fervor and fecklessness? My memory could be unreliably poor, but Obasanjo was so crude he slept with his son’s wife. Buhari hated corruption and indiscipline, Gowon handed us some of the best Federal infrastructure and Shagari left behind his trademark cap as a fashion item for generations.
President Jonathan makes you feel you can touch him…the same way you can touch and feel a child. He cried like a child when he arrived Lagos to assess a National disaster, blames everyone else for his troubles like a child would and holds aloft a loaf of Cassava bread during Council meetings like a child. Don’t we all love children normally? I love this man!!!
Any candidate who appears on the stomp grounds in 2015 wearing no shoes and who doesn’t have diapers on like a child will not get our votes. And I mean this.
6.Promissory Notes President : On the campaign trail in 2010, President Jonathan promised us everything under the sun—he vowed to tackle erosion in the East, to address the falling standard of education, to deal with corruption, to bequeath Nigerians with a Southern link bridge and to contain the crisis in Jos. Recently, he has promised to ‘crush’ Boko Haram and to prosecute Subsidy thieves. No thief of note is facing the law. Some of them recently made the shortlist of National Awards recipients.
The trouble with Nigerians is that we do not possess Patience as a virtue. The President married one, so he is better placed to understand the ramifications. We just have to be patient. Only last month, he promised to proceed on some exile if a certain bridge linking the South South to the South West of Nigeria was not constructed under his watch. Never mind that feasibility studies on the said project may not have been carried out.
Never mind, we should do with some promissory notes now and again from the Presidency. Some music to our ears now and again won’t hurt, will it? We really have to vote for this man again in 2015, because he will let us see the promise land from a distance but may never take us there. Here we are with our own Moses at our beck and call—a Moses who never delivers. Let’s adore him and vote for him again in 2015. He is the real deal.
7.Blessed Art Thou Among Women: The President’s spokesman reminded us of how the womenfolk have never had it so good in Nigeria’s history. He was right. President Jonathan loves his women, especially those in his kitchen cabinet ( they may not necessarily be cooking for him, though) and he loves them in all shapes and sizes. He loves his Dame, his DAM and his Stella. And he leads the way in proving to the whole world that our country will be a boring place without women.
He adores his women so much, he never fires them. They may have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, but not to worry, women are…. well….women. They may have supervised subsidy heists and air disasters…they may even be flying to Dubai to shop at tax-payers’ expense, but he indulges them all.
In a world where women are fighting for all kinds of empowerment, including ‘Pounded Yam’ Rights, the President is showing us all that this can be done– that loving women will lead our country to a better place. And he is leading by example. Vote for Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. Please do, because you love a woman. And don’t you say that you don’t!
8.Boring Speeches? Bring Them On!: My secondary school teacher always reminded us of the power in words and in public speeches. Thankfully, none of our leaders attended my school in the countryside. I can’t recall a Nigerian leader who touched my heart with his oratorical prowess. President Jonathan is happily no different. If you feel like a nap while at work, make your way to YouTube and search for some of our President’s speeches. We don’t need good speakers in our political space. We love them drab—very drab.
During the last Presidential debates, a certain Candidate Jonathan dodged sparring with the rest of the contestants and only appeared a few days later to deliver one of the most boring monologues in Presidential campaign history. We learned that his remarks at the time were read from a prepared text. Nigerians waved him on to Aso Rock months later for his reward.
In 2015, we will need more of the same: colorless politicians who cannot address a classroom of ten people with some eloquence let alone inspire a depressed citizenry with words. And should we be looking for other Candidates who cannot deliver a good speech when we have Goodluck Jonathan here with us? Why should we ‘dull’? American politicians keep us awake during the wee hours with some wonderful speeches. Who needs those speeches here? Certainly not us. We have so many leaders who ply their trade for ‘Dundee United’ on our shores and we love them just fine. They are no albatrosses. In 2015, we will make sure we vote them back in as Presidents, Governors and Chairmen, thank you.
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