by Yusuf Alli
• Recovered N36bn remitted to Federation Account
About N300million is looted daily from the Police Pension funds, the
Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Force, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, has
said .
The task force has already remitted N36billion of the recovered funds to the Federation Account.
Maina while on a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo
Nta, said 120 properties acquired with money stolen from the funds have
also been seized.
The commission’s Head of Media, Mr. Folu Olamiti, in a statement,
said: “The Reform Task Team said it had covered some grounds in the
fight against Pension Funds thieves. It disclosed that it was able to
uncover a fraud to the tune of N36 billion within the Police Pension
Funds Office, alone.
“It said it had remitted the whole sum to the purse of the
federation, while seizing about 120 properties allegedly acquired with
stolen pension funds by the cabals.
Maina said investigations by members of his team had revealed that
the cabals in the Police Pension Office were in the habit of stealing up
to N300 million on a daily basis through fictitious cheques prepared in
the names of fake pensioners.
“He said investigations into the Police Pension Office were still
ongoing, disclosing that his team had covered 40 percent of
investigations into the pension funds scam.
“A member of the Pension Task Team, who is also a former member of
the House of Representatives, Ngozika Ihuoma, told ICPC about similar
fraud with Local Government Pension Funds, disclosing that from 1976
till date, a total of N3.3 trillion had been deducted from the funds
without proper accountability.”
The breakthrough recorded by the Pension Task Team on recovery of
stolen pension funds is said to have started attracting the attention of
the Presidency following a formal invitation extended to the Chairman
by the Economic Management Team for special briefing.
Mr.Olamiti said: “According to Maina, President Jonathan had
personally invited the Pension Task Team to brief the Economic
Management Team on its achievements so far, most especially the
e-pension model the Team had developed to reduce stealing of pension
funds across the country.
“Maina thanked President Goodluck Jonathan and the ICPC for the
support both have been throwing behind the Task Team, just as he
appealed for further support from the government of Nigeria on how to
rid the pension departments in Nigeria of fraudulent cabals.
“He disclosed that he has continued to receive death threats from
those he suspected as Pension funds cabals, recalling the recent mail
sent to him, threatening to bomb the office of the Pension Reform Task
Team.”
The ICPC chairman, Nta, said the consistent pilfering of pension
funds by officials of government could cause a major national disaster.
According to the statement, Nta said “since pensioners were in every
home in the country, the idea of denying them their rights and
entitlements through stealing of their pension could put pressure on the
national economy.
“He observed that the stealing of pension funds easily attracted irreversible curses on perpetrators.
“He assured the Pension Task Team of preparedness by ICPC to support
the fight against stealing of pension funds in Nigeria, promising to
partner with the National Television Authority (NTA) and the Africa
Independent Television (AIT) in a Special Forum on Pension Funds.”
TheNation
Saturday, 20 October 2012
ONDO VOTES: Mimiko crushes ACN, PDP
Power Game
From TUNDE RAHEEM, RAZAQ BAMIDELE and DUROJAIYE ADESEKO Akure
Yesterday, the long-awaited Ondo State governorship election held under a peaceful atmosphere with massive turnout of voters recorded in the ‘Sunshine State’. Early results showed that governor Olusegun Mimiko of Labour Party (LP) was coasting home to victory.
Though not without pockets of hitches, the exercise seemed an improvement to the last governorship election in Edo State. Many were full of praises for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting a free and fair election. Sunday Sun reports that there was a heavy presence of security operatives who were positioned in strategic parts of the state to forestall breakdown of law and order.
Election peaceful –Mimiko Ondo State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, described the poll in the state as peaceful and expressed optimism that he would emerge victorious at the end of the exercise. Speaking to journalists after casting his vote in Ondo town, he said the reports he got confirmed that the election was peaceful. ACN alleges irregularities
The opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ondo State raised the alarm that the election was marred by irregularities. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, ACN alleged delay in the distribution of election materials and acts of thuggery in the poll. The statement reads, “Inadequate security has been reported in many localities in Ondo State, with the worst-hit areas being Idanre and Okitipupa. In Idanre, for example, thugs on motorcycles are harassing voters and agents of the opposition. There are also reports of stuffed ballot boxes being moved to polling booths with the protection of Labour Party thugs.
In Owo, a state government Commissioner has been arrested by soldiers after he was found with weapons.” The party also complained that many agents of its agents whose names were forwarded to INEC were not given accreditation tags in several polling units across the state, raising fears that they may not be able to monitor the election. He also decried the late arrival of materials to the polling units, adding, “Though election materials have been distributed to many polling units across the states, they are yet to get to several polling units, more than one hour after the election ought to have commenced.” ACN misinforming Nigerians –Akinmade The first frightening sign that the governorship election in Ondo State would not be free of violence manifested at Owo where a commissioner was allegedly arrested with a pistol and a pump action by a team of vigilant soldiers. The reports had it the Commissioner for in company with a local government Caretaker Committee Chairman, were apprehended around 7.30am by the soldiers around Arigidi-Iloro junction within Awaluwa area of the town. A
s at the time of filing this report, it could not be ascertained where the duo were taken to as soldiers who were said to have made the arrest were not ready to entertain questions from any reporter. But when contacted on phone, the State Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade said through a text message that “you can only get that from ACN misinformation stable.” Improvement on Edo guber The INEC National Commissioner in charge of South-South and South West, Professor Layi Olurode, said the election was an improvement on Edo election. “Voting started early in Ondo East and Ondo West and there were no reported cases of violence. It is an improvement on the Edo election.
All the flaws noticed would be factored into our future plan,” he said. He added that security was so tight that electoral officers taking voting materials to their respective centres could not get to the polling centres early. Ondo South Senatorial district In Ondo senatorial district, accreditation exercise commenced about 8:30 a.m. in Ore, Okitipupa, Irele, Igbotako, Odeaye, Ilutuntun, Igbokoda and other towns. Sunday Sun which went round the zone witnessed an impressive turnout of voters, who came out early for accreditation.
As early as 8: 10 am, INEC officials had arrived many polling units with election materials. Many of the voters who spoke with our correspondents at different polling units, expressed satisfaction on the early arrival of INEC officials with electoral materials at various polling units. Sunday Sun also observed that there was no heavy presence of security personnel in most of the polling units compared to the large turnout of voters. Voting peaceful at riverine area
There was heavy security presence in the riverine area of Arogbo, Ajapa, Bolouwo and Ukparama area of the zone. It was alleged that an ex-militant leader, reportedly unleashed terror on presumed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the area, seizing their boats and maiming their followers, on the eve of the election. Some boats belonging to the special adviser to the President on Niger-Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku and that of a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Akpoebi Lubi were allegedly hijacked personally by the militant in Bolouwo town on Friday night. Sunday Sun observed that three gunboats belonging to the Nigerian Navy, Forward Operational Base, (FOB), Igbokoda and the Marine Police were parading the Igbokoda-Agadagba-Arogbo-Bolouwo waterways to forestall any breakdown of law and order.
The INEC officials and youth corps members used as ad-hoc staff for the election arrived Arogbo town, in Ese-Odo council area at about 8.15 am, but officials could not get to their respective polling units until 11: 00 am. The reason was due to late distribution of electoral materials at the collating centre at St. Peter F.A.C Primary School in the coastal town. But it was learnt that people in Arogbo came out in large number in their respective wards, waiting patiently for electoral officials and materials to arrive. Although, the weather was so hot because of the scorching sun, when materials and INEC officials arrived, the people were not deterred as they lined up orderly to check their names on the voter’s register. Voting commenced at about 12. 35pm, while those who were yet to be accredited, did so simultaneously when they were voting.
Polling units visited by our correspondent included; St. Peter R.C.M Primary school, Ojogo unit 001,Gbamila unit 006, R.C.M 2 unit 5 and R.C.M unit 004, all in Arogbo Ward I. Accreditation started as early as 8:am in Idanre, in the Central Senatorial District, as INEC officials and election materials arrived before eight. In Irowo Ward (Ademulegun unit), large crowd of voters were seen on the queue, waiting to cast their votes in an atmosphere devoid of rancour, violence or uncultured behaviour as everybody as conscious and eager to play his or her civic responsibility and right to elect the leader of their choice.
Security Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in-charge of operation, Philemon Leha, described security arrangement in Ondo yesterday as an improvement on the Edo election. Speaking with journalists in Owo, he said that, “Apart from the efforts of other security agents in the country, the police posted two policemen to every polling booth,” adding that, “with this arrangement, anybody who plans to misbehave would just be making a fool of himself.” He, however, expressed delight that “politicians themselves have learnt that any attempt to behave funny would be an exercise in futility.” On the arrest of a commissioner, who was allegedly caught with arms,
Leha, who said he was in Ondo to supervise the election, said he was yet to be briefed. He said, “If he was caught by another security agent, he will surely be handed over to us for prosecution.” While commending the electorate for conducting themselves well so far, he warned trouble makers to keep away from the state, assuring that “my officers and men are solidly on ground to ensure there is no breach of the peace.” Soldiers detain Oke at Igbotako Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olusola Oke, and his entourage were detained at Igbotako town for over an hour by men of the Nigerian Army for allegedly contravening electoral law. Oke and his entourage were detained about 6:30 a.m. while soldiers ordered hefty men that accompanied Oke to the town to sit on the ground.
He put several calls to some people believed to be in high places before he was eventually released at 7:35 a.m. Oke, according to the electoral law, was supposed to be in his home town, Ilowo, in Ilaje Local Government Area or within his local government area at the time he was detained at Igbotako in Okitipupa Local Government. In a telephone chat, Oke confirmed that he was at Igbotako and had an encounter with soldiers, but denied that the soldiers ordered his men to sit on the ground. The PDP candidate, who did not disclose his mission at Igbotako, said he met some people sitting on the ground on the order of the soldiers, but they were not his men. Akeredolu loses booth Ondo State governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Rotimi Akeredolu yesterday lost his polling booth to Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party. LP party polled 144 votes against AC N’s 139 votes while PDP polled 35 votes. 20 votes voided. Akeredolu along with his wife, Betty, voted at Ijebu 2, Ward 5 of Unit 6 in his Owo home town at about 12.55 pm having been accredited earlier at about 10.08am. The total number of voters on the register was 958 while only 378 turned up for accreditation.
The voting that started around 12 noon ended by 3.20 pm and sorting and counting followed immediately in the presence of the party agents, security agents, journalists and a handful of the residents that cared to stay back.
EARLY RESULTS
ONDO UPDATE
Okitipupa, Ward – Erekiti, Oriola/
Surulere unit 1 – LP-48, PDP-34,
ACN-19
Victoria Nur & Pry Schl Unit 18
Okitipupa,
PDP 152
ACN. 38
LP. 35
Okitipupa market unit
LP 55
ACN 24
PDP 202
Okitipupa unit 17 ward 2
PDP 198
LP 76
ACN 57
Ijapo High Schl unit, Ward 4
Akure
LP-192,
ACN-53;
PDP 41
Sukori compound
ACN-108,
LP 17,
PDP 42
Olori compound
ACN 68,
LP 67,
PDP 34
Yakubu compound (Hon. Jide
Yakubu’s unit)
ACN 145,
LP 114,
PDP 53,
Polling Unit 10, ward 5, Oka
Akoko South
West L.G.A
ACN 109,
LP 82,
PDP 43.
Owo L.G.A, ward 9, unit 8
ACN 51,
LP 46,
PDP 15.
St. Paul Pri. Sch., Ondo
LP 34
PDP 3
ACN 8
Agunloye unit Akure
ACN 42
PDP 68,
LP-175
PDC- 20
ACN- 3.
Okitipupa ward 8
PDP-60,
LP 56.
ACN-30.
Oyin Akoko unit 2,
LP 15
ACN-14.
PDP-2
Supare 2 unit 10
ACN-19.
LP-95.
PDP-28
Okitipupa, Erekiti ward/oriola/
surulere unit 1
LP-48.
PDP-34.
ACN-1
Ifedore LG ward Igbaraoke
unit 2.
LP-102.
ACN-30.
PDP-19
PDP-294
LP 420
ACN-287
Ako Isa unit 2 Ugbe
LP-122.
ACN 111.
PDP-90
Ose LGA
Ward 006/unit 008
l.P-183.
PDP 41.
ACN 37. Void 19
Akungba
Akoko S/W ward 12 Ibaka vs Aud
Skl
ACN 107,
PDP 38. LP 17
Okitipupa Ilutitun LP 42. PDP 81.
ACN-34
Owo LG/Iyere ward 10/
Unit 11
PDP 66.
LP 48.
ACN-89
Igbaraoke ward 1/unit 2
LP 185
PDP ACN 1
Oka PU10 ward 5
ACN 109,
LP 82,
PDP 43, void 17
Futa Akindeko unit 24
LP 104,
ACN 36
PDP 28
Supare 2 Akoko SW
LP 95.
PDP 28, ACN 19
Akure South LG/Oke-aro Idile area
LP-1,100, PDP-39, ACN-12
Ondo west LG,Akinjagunla
LP-616,
PDP-61
FUTA COMMUNITY
Akindeko LP 103, ACN 36,
PDP 28, PDC 1, BNPP 1, CPC 1
EMBASSY
LP 240, ACN 63,
PDP 34, PDC 10, BNPP 1, CPC 1
ABA
LP 197, PDP 12, PPC 16,
ACN 66
ROAD BLOCK
LP 276, ACN 117, PDP 34
ORITA OBELE
LP 274,
ACN 63, PDP 35
Erusu Akoko Ward 10
LP 1808
ACN 676, PDP 108
Majokolasan Unit in Okitipiupa LG
LP 135
PDP 72
ACN 50
Erekiti/Oriola/Surulere Unit
LP 48
PDP 38
ACN 19
Victoria Nursery Primary School Unit 18
PDP 152
ACN 19
Okitipupa Market
LP 55
ACN 38
PDP 202
TheSun
BAKASSI GONE FOR GOOD: The actors in the eye of history -1
By Hugo Odiogor
Nigeria became the first country in history to cede its territory and willingly agreed to displace its own citizens, in their home land in peace time, to honour its war time obligations and in the spirit of African brotherhood.
The United Nations recognised this extraordinary accomplishment and duly sent a message of congratulations to Aso Rock. To us, when the full history of Bakassi is finally written, there will be chapters for some individuals, institutions and agencies whose role would appear in bold gold prints as heroes while others would end up in the foot notes. This perspective is just a guide.
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the President and Commander-in-Chief.
Franz Fanon once wrote that history will not forgive those who possess the extra-ordinary ability to speak the word of truth to their oppressors, but chose to indulge in an attitude of passivity. So, the role of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the Bakassi saga will remain a case study for champions of ethnic interest in national geo-political balancing.
Given his background as a son of South-South and faced with the ethical challenges of the oath of office that he swore to, the constitutional responsibility to defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity, secure and protect the lives of its citizens as well as uphold their rights, the president played the Pontius Pilate.
When the opportunity presented itself for the Commander –in –Chief to uphold the right of over three hundred thousands of the citizens of Nigerians unjustly displaced from their ancestral home, he turned his face away, and chose to sermonise on obedience to the rule of law. He “came, he saw and he refused to conquer”.
Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
What has remained the bane of Nigeria’s evolution as a nation and the under accomplishment of its leadership is the quality of leaders and geo-political contraptions that enthroned men and women whose interest in public office is to appropriate the common good for itself.
Given the hurried manner that Whitehall prepared Nigeria for its
political independence, it is obvious that vital national information
were withheld from the leadership of the new nation. At the same time,
the new leaders were anxious to impress on the national and
international stage.
The Balewa administration, with all its naivety, regarded Africa as a universal canvass for interactions and, as such, set the tone for the brand of Father Christmas diplomatic disposition. It was not out of character that it went to send a diplomatic note to Ahmadu Ahijo, who was from Northern Nigeria, assuring him the Bakassi Peninsula belonged to Cameroon. Alhaji Tafawa Balewa’s knowledge of the issue was limited just as the world view of that administration was myopic.
The British government that ought to have corrected that error kept mute, believing that one day it would profit from the blunder, which it created in converting the treaty of protection which it signed with the Obong and Chief of Efik Kingdom into a treaty of cession of territory.
From the Berlin conference of 1884 to the International Court of Justice perfidy at the Hague, in 2002, the character of the white man in scavenging for resources in Africa has not changed and the people of Bakassi may need to sue all those involved in this act of bad faith and mess of history.
Gen. Yakubu Gowon
Nigeria’s number one prayer warrior has a prayer point to raise on what he did at Maroua, which he has failed to make public. Whether General Yakubu Gowon acknowledges that his role in Nigeria’s political history would always be viewed from different angle of national prisms or not, the fact remains that the people of Bakassi would never regard him as a hero.
At 27, Gowon was obviously too young to understand the political dynamics at work at the national and international stages. Faced with the prospect of managing a complex multi-national geo-political entity, in war time, he panicked and committed a blunder that will live with Nigeria forever. He trusted Ahidjo, the Camerounian leader, well enough to secure the South Eastern flank from Biafra by making concession to trade off a Nigerian territory. It was an opportunity Ahidjo would seize to the advantage of his country.
Gowon’s second prayer point at this time will be for history to judge him kindly because the lives of Bakassi people will never be the same again. Some of them have died, others have been displaced, those still on the peninsula have become immigrant and heavily policed by Cameroonian security forces. Although Gowon has refused to talk about Bakassi, it is certainly going to be a cross he would continue to bear.
Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed
Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed came to power as a Brigadier General in 1975 but, as the Commissioner for Communication, he was a member of the Supreme Military Council, SMC, that turned down the Maroua declaration.
In fact, Mohammed vowed that no Nigerian territory would be ceded to
appease any country for supporting Nigeria to fight the civil war.
Mohammed and some members of the SMC were reported to have threatened to
go to war to stop such from happening. It is important to state that
the SMC refused to ratify the Maroua declaration and, six months after,
Mohammed came to power. Maroua declaration was put in the cooler.
Justice Dr. T.O. Elias.
He was a distinguished legal luminary, whose views must command respect all over the world. He was a professor of law at the University of Lagos, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the government of General Gowon, Chief Justice of the Federation of Nigeria, and President of the International Court of Justice.
These credentials are, by all standards, intimidating. He is credited with writing a legal opinion of September 3, 1970 which is being cited as a proof that Nigeria has no claims to Bakassi Peninsula based on the outcome of the vital decision taken by Federal Director of Surveys.
Most importantly, Elias was known to have advised the Federal Military Government that “Every effort should be exerted on our side to ensure that Nigeria does not show ingratitude to a sister country that stood by us during the Civil War”. This, in effect, was what the Maroua declaration was meant to achieve by resurrecting a dead 1913 Anglo-German treaty, to reward Cameroon for supporting the Gowon administration in fighting the civil war in the Calabar sector
He was the war time External Affairs Minister who hailed from South
Eastern Nigeria during the War and now Cross River State. His role in
the deliberations that took place in Yaoundé 1 and 2 197O as well as
Maroua 1975 remains suspect but, as a son of the soil, his role in
ceding of Bakassi is less than cheering..
Alhaji Shehu Shagari
Before he became President in 1979, Alhaji Shehu Shagari served as the Commissioner for Finance after the exit of Chief Obafemi Awolowo from the Gowon administration. Shagari, who had been in government since 1954, was among the delegation that went to Maroua where Gowon and Ahidjo finally agreed to set on a new boundary line to serve as the international maritime boundary between the two countries.
Incidentally, Shagari and other members of the delegation were left in the situation room while Gowon and Ahidjo allegedly went to make the deals to cede Bakassi Peninsula. When he became President from 1979 to 1983, Shagari never accepted that Bakassi belonged to Cameroon. His administration once mobilised troops to challenge Cameroon, following the killing of five Nigerian soldiers by Cameroonian gendarmes.
It is on record that Shagari also stated that “the boundary between Nigeria and Cameroons had long been settled down the Rio del Rey, and the territorial waters of the two countries finally defined and settled between the British and the Germans up to the 3-mile limit since 1913, and demarcated on a colonial map which both Britain and Germany signed”.
Shagari, who hails from Sokoto, asserted correctly that “it was the discovery of oil in large quantities under the sea in the Bakassi region that aggravated the problem of maritime international boundaries”. He went further to say that Cameroon “took advantage of Nigeria’s preoccupation with the civil war in the late sixties, to start drilling for off-shore oil, in a disputed area in the sea along the Nigerian border”.
The former President, finally, noted “ that the existing Nigerian border at the sea coast of Rio Del Rey was protected by the OAU Resolution of 1964, respecting the inviolability of inherited colonial boundaries”. A President from the South-South region could not make such a profound case for his region and for Nigeria.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
Buhari’s administration was shortlived but, as the GOC of the Jos based 83 Division, his credentials for giving Chadians rebels a hot chase warned the Cameroonians to be quiet. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida was too busy plotting how to perpetuate himself in office than to give a damn to what Cameroonians were doing in Bakassi.
Gen. Sani Abacha
In 1994, Gen. Sani Abacha moved troops into Bakassi Peninsula to stop the harassment of Nigerians in the territory. Two years later he created a local government in the area. Opposition groups criticised him for the move which they saw as an attempt to divert attention from domestic pressures to his administration which came to office on November 17, 1993 amid nationwide rejection of the annulment of the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The government of Cameroon, on the advice of France, approached the International Court of Justice at The Hague the Netherlands. Whether it was proper for Nigeria to appear at the trial is a matter for diplomats and legal minds to analyse but, as a soldier, Gen. Abacha did his work
CONTINUES NEXT WEEK:
What roles did the following play: Alhaji Aminu Saleh, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar ‘Adua, Mr. Donald Duke, Senator Florence Ita Giwa
Vanguard
Nigeria became the first country in history to cede its territory and willingly agreed to displace its own citizens, in their home land in peace time, to honour its war time obligations and in the spirit of African brotherhood.
The United Nations recognised this extraordinary accomplishment and duly sent a message of congratulations to Aso Rock. To us, when the full history of Bakassi is finally written, there will be chapters for some individuals, institutions and agencies whose role would appear in bold gold prints as heroes while others would end up in the foot notes. This perspective is just a guide.
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the President and Commander-in-Chief.
Franz Fanon once wrote that history will not forgive those who possess the extra-ordinary ability to speak the word of truth to their oppressors, but chose to indulge in an attitude of passivity. So, the role of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the Bakassi saga will remain a case study for champions of ethnic interest in national geo-political balancing.
Given his background as a son of South-South and faced with the ethical challenges of the oath of office that he swore to, the constitutional responsibility to defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity, secure and protect the lives of its citizens as well as uphold their rights, the president played the Pontius Pilate.
When the opportunity presented itself for the Commander –in –Chief to uphold the right of over three hundred thousands of the citizens of Nigerians unjustly displaced from their ancestral home, he turned his face away, and chose to sermonise on obedience to the rule of law. He “came, he saw and he refused to conquer”.
Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
What has remained the bane of Nigeria’s evolution as a nation and the under accomplishment of its leadership is the quality of leaders and geo-political contraptions that enthroned men and women whose interest in public office is to appropriate the common good for itself.
Late Sani Abach
The Balewa administration, with all its naivety, regarded Africa as a universal canvass for interactions and, as such, set the tone for the brand of Father Christmas diplomatic disposition. It was not out of character that it went to send a diplomatic note to Ahmadu Ahijo, who was from Northern Nigeria, assuring him the Bakassi Peninsula belonged to Cameroon. Alhaji Tafawa Balewa’s knowledge of the issue was limited just as the world view of that administration was myopic.
The British government that ought to have corrected that error kept mute, believing that one day it would profit from the blunder, which it created in converting the treaty of protection which it signed with the Obong and Chief of Efik Kingdom into a treaty of cession of territory.
From the Berlin conference of 1884 to the International Court of Justice perfidy at the Hague, in 2002, the character of the white man in scavenging for resources in Africa has not changed and the people of Bakassi may need to sue all those involved in this act of bad faith and mess of history.
Gen. Yakubu Gowon
Nigeria’s number one prayer warrior has a prayer point to raise on what he did at Maroua, which he has failed to make public. Whether General Yakubu Gowon acknowledges that his role in Nigeria’s political history would always be viewed from different angle of national prisms or not, the fact remains that the people of Bakassi would never regard him as a hero.
At 27, Gowon was obviously too young to understand the political dynamics at work at the national and international stages. Faced with the prospect of managing a complex multi-national geo-political entity, in war time, he panicked and committed a blunder that will live with Nigeria forever. He trusted Ahidjo, the Camerounian leader, well enough to secure the South Eastern flank from Biafra by making concession to trade off a Nigerian territory. It was an opportunity Ahidjo would seize to the advantage of his country.
Gowon’s second prayer point at this time will be for history to judge him kindly because the lives of Bakassi people will never be the same again. Some of them have died, others have been displaced, those still on the peninsula have become immigrant and heavily policed by Cameroonian security forces. Although Gowon has refused to talk about Bakassi, it is certainly going to be a cross he would continue to bear.
Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed
Gen. Murtala Ramat Mohammed came to power as a Brigadier General in 1975 but, as the Commissioner for Communication, he was a member of the Supreme Military Council, SMC, that turned down the Maroua declaration.
Buhari, IBB and OBJ: had their roles played
Justice Dr. T.O. Elias.
He was a distinguished legal luminary, whose views must command respect all over the world. He was a professor of law at the University of Lagos, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the government of General Gowon, Chief Justice of the Federation of Nigeria, and President of the International Court of Justice.
These credentials are, by all standards, intimidating. He is credited with writing a legal opinion of September 3, 1970 which is being cited as a proof that Nigeria has no claims to Bakassi Peninsula based on the outcome of the vital decision taken by Federal Director of Surveys.
Most importantly, Elias was known to have advised the Federal Military Government that “Every effort should be exerted on our side to ensure that Nigeria does not show ingratitude to a sister country that stood by us during the Civil War”. This, in effect, was what the Maroua declaration was meant to achieve by resurrecting a dead 1913 Anglo-German treaty, to reward Cameroon for supporting the Gowon administration in fighting the civil war in the Calabar sector
GowonDr. Okoi Arikpo, Commissioner for External Affairs,
Alhaji Shehu Shagari
Before he became President in 1979, Alhaji Shehu Shagari served as the Commissioner for Finance after the exit of Chief Obafemi Awolowo from the Gowon administration. Shagari, who had been in government since 1954, was among the delegation that went to Maroua where Gowon and Ahidjo finally agreed to set on a new boundary line to serve as the international maritime boundary between the two countries.
Incidentally, Shagari and other members of the delegation were left in the situation room while Gowon and Ahidjo allegedly went to make the deals to cede Bakassi Peninsula. When he became President from 1979 to 1983, Shagari never accepted that Bakassi belonged to Cameroon. His administration once mobilised troops to challenge Cameroon, following the killing of five Nigerian soldiers by Cameroonian gendarmes.
It is on record that Shagari also stated that “the boundary between Nigeria and Cameroons had long been settled down the Rio del Rey, and the territorial waters of the two countries finally defined and settled between the British and the Germans up to the 3-mile limit since 1913, and demarcated on a colonial map which both Britain and Germany signed”.
Shagari, who hails from Sokoto, asserted correctly that “it was the discovery of oil in large quantities under the sea in the Bakassi region that aggravated the problem of maritime international boundaries”. He went further to say that Cameroon “took advantage of Nigeria’s preoccupation with the civil war in the late sixties, to start drilling for off-shore oil, in a disputed area in the sea along the Nigerian border”.
The former President, finally, noted “ that the existing Nigerian border at the sea coast of Rio Del Rey was protected by the OAU Resolution of 1964, respecting the inviolability of inherited colonial boundaries”. A President from the South-South region could not make such a profound case for his region and for Nigeria.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
Buhari’s administration was shortlived but, as the GOC of the Jos based 83 Division, his credentials for giving Chadians rebels a hot chase warned the Cameroonians to be quiet. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida was too busy plotting how to perpetuate himself in office than to give a damn to what Cameroonians were doing in Bakassi.
Gen. Sani Abacha
In 1994, Gen. Sani Abacha moved troops into Bakassi Peninsula to stop the harassment of Nigerians in the territory. Two years later he created a local government in the area. Opposition groups criticised him for the move which they saw as an attempt to divert attention from domestic pressures to his administration which came to office on November 17, 1993 amid nationwide rejection of the annulment of the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The government of Cameroon, on the advice of France, approached the International Court of Justice at The Hague the Netherlands. Whether it was proper for Nigeria to appear at the trial is a matter for diplomats and legal minds to analyse but, as a soldier, Gen. Abacha did his work
CONTINUES NEXT WEEK:
What roles did the following play: Alhaji Aminu Saleh, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar ‘Adua, Mr. Donald Duke, Senator Florence Ita Giwa
Vanguard
Sanusi Decries Politics of Ethnicity, Region in Nigeria
Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
By Seriki Adinoyi and Odionu Florence
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has decried politics of ethnicity and region, identifying it as the bane of economic development and true democracy in Nigeria.
Sanusi stated this while delivering a lecture titled: Nigeria Economic
Development Aspiration and the Leadership Question: Is there a Nexus? to
mark the 78th birthday of the former Head of State, General Yakubu
Gowon at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS)
on Friday.
He said political class in Nigeria has failed to realise the danger
of building their political empire on the basis of ethnicity and
tribal associations, adding that they no longer think of competent hands
to steer the affairs of the nation, but all they think is which part of
the country produce the next president.
"It is irresponsible to frame election on ethnicity, but the political
class has failed to realise the consequences of this. The ethnic and
socio-cultural associations like Arewa Consultative Forum, Afenifere,
Middle Belt Forum South-South Forum, Christian Association of Nigeria,
Ja’amatu Nasir Islam among others are created by the political class to
champion their interest.
"How do you grow a nation on ethnicity and expect it to grow without
problems? Cultural organisations have become political institutions; I
am of the opinion that they should be abolished, if it is not possible,
there should be law banning public office holders from being part of
such organisations. The activities of such cultural organisations are
diversionary" he warned.
According to him, any nation wishing to develop and catch up with other
developing countries should not saddle itself with the question of
which section or part of the country produce the next president.
"If we believe in turn by turn or a president should come from a
particular section of the country, it means we are promoting mediocrity.
This is the time for us to re-trace our steps and ask ourselves
fundamental questions, what kind of leaders we want. We need to promote
transparency and credible election; it is not just free and fair voting
but also free and fair election.
To address these malaise, Sanusi said there should be reinvigoration of
the Civil Society Group charged with the responsibility of using their
intellects to bring about the desired change, adding that the group and
all those outside government need to ask those in government some
fundamental questions and tell them they deserve better treatment.
ThisDay
Edo State Transport Management Agency As Hypocritical Copy Cats of LASTMA By Ifeoma Okoronkwo
By Ifeoma Okoronkwo
Lagos State, since the inception of civilian rule
in 1999, has arguably demonstrated the best example in the application
of thinking to governance. This is why many other State governments are
copying many government policies of Lagos State. However, as is
characteristic of imitation, these States disingenuously copy the good,
the bad and the worst from Lagos. This is clearly exhibited by the
operatives of Edo State Transport Management Agency (ESTMA), which is a
third-rate copycat of its Lagos counterpart, LASTMA. The vice of
imitation has made ESTMA the source of traffic problems in Benin City.
ESTMA is now a vehicle for the intimidation, harassment and extortion of
innocent drivers on the streets of Benin. I recount here two true
incidents that can be taken as a general reflection of the operation of
ESTMA in Benin.
The idea was to arrest innocent drivers coming to buy fuel. Their tactics were to lie in wait for drivers coming out of the filling station and impound their cars just at the exit of the station. Three victims, who narrated their ordeals at the hands of these ESTMA copy cats, said that at least five thousand naira was extorted from them by the leader of the group known as ‘Old Police.’ This portly and aging character was the only one with the official uniform of ESTMA among the group that harassed drivers that day. Other members of the group were in shabby mufti attire and one wondered whether they were bona fide ESTMA officials. Soldiers, who regularly buy fuel from OSUNPEC, effectively stopped this organized witch-hunt for drivers. When the cars of a number of soldiers were impounded the soldiers reacted by chasing the ESTMA officials away from their mucky ambush position near the filling station.
The second incident occurred at a service lane opposite CONOIL near the main gate of UNIBEN, Ugbowo campus. This service lane is taking forever to construct. There is no traffic sign or any ESTMA official to tell drivers that traffic on the lane is only in one direction. On the 23rd of September 2012, a driver coming from the UBTH end of the road to UNIBEN stopped on this service lane because her car was over-heating. After thoughtful consideration, she reversed into CONOIL Filling Station, which is just beside the yet-to-be constructed service lane, in order to attend to her car. As she was getting a gallon of water from the boot of the car, three ESTMA officials, who had been ominously lurking in a worthless scrap of a toll van, parked a few metres away on the service lane, jumped out and accosted the innocent lady for driving against traffic. The road at this time was deserted.
This was a no-nonsense lady and a hot argument
ensued between her and the ESTMA officials, again of whom only one was
in his official uniform. The rest were dressed like thugs. This was a
clear instance of devilry by ESTMA because this service lane is still
under construction and the driver only reversed in the opposite
direction so that she could easily get off the road and into CONOIL
Filling Station, where she could attend to her car. She tried to explain
but the malevolent ESTMA guys, who were hell bent on hijacking her car,
refused to listen to reason. The car was hauled to the junkyard called
ESTMA office opposite Adolor Junction on Ugbowo road.
These two instances are typical of many of the iniquitous ways ESTMA
is copying the mischief of LASTMA. Several people have similar stories
of harassment and intimidation by functionally illiterate ESTMA
officials who go by such illiterate names as ‘Old Police’, and ‘Ecomog
247’. The originators of ESTMA should have been careful about the bad
press of LASTMA while enlisting officers for ESTMA. What is worse is
that many of them come across as being cerebrally challenged in the
application of common sense to the discharge of their duties. Their
crude tactics of not wearing the official uniform is simply a deceptive
and criminal imitation of LASTMA. Again, the mindset that any imagined
or real traffic offence deserves to be punished by hauling the victim’s
car to ESTMA’s decrepit office is borne of ill will and animosity
towards Benin City drivers.Moreover, the interpretation of traffic rules by many of these officials is suspect. This is not surprising because of their cerebral challenge. This is even made worse by the fact that Benin is now one huge road construction site. Road dividers and U-turns are whimsically closed and opened at any time of the day. There is no evident attempt to inform drivers and pedestrians alike about what constitutes a traffic offence in the face of the abnormalities engendered by the never-ending road construction. It is this confusion arising from the lack of traffic information that fuels the present display of malice by ESTMA. LASTMA in Lagos has a very bad image. Does ESTMA also want to copy the same bad image in Benin City? I don’t think so. It is morning yet in the activities of ESTMA. They can improve on their activities by simply being honest and friendly in their interactions with Benin City drivers.
Saharareporters
Chris Ihidero: Before you marry an Igbo woman…
Dear Friend,Greetings. I hear you have found a lovely woman you wish to spend the rest of your life with. I hear she is Igbo. Congratulations. Before you go ahead, however, please permit me to say a few things concerning marrying an Igbo woman. I know unsolicited advice is as unwanted as armpit boils, but do spare me a second or two; this is important. See, I know you think the bride price you’ve been told to pay and the long list of traditional marriage items are your biggest issues…trust me, they are nothing compared with what you will face after the ceremonies have been completed and every member of her village has gone home with his/her share of the booty for which you mortgaged your father’s properties.
Now, take note of the following, dear friend:
1. Forget Authority: If you were marrying a Yoruba woman, she would have come to your house with her mother’s voice ringing in her ears that a husband’s house is a place where life’s lessons are learnt. It’s a different story for the Igbo woman. She comes from a long line of ‘unruly’ people who traditionally have no concept of a central authority figure. Prepare to be stared down eyeball to eyeball in an argument. Prepare to be laughed at when you attempt to assert yourself as the ‘man of the house.’ When she’s done laughing, she’ll measure you, up and down with her left, and sneer: ‘Hian! See this one o; who do you think you’re talking to?’ She’ll clap and shake her head, then she’ll add something in Igbo and then saunter away, wriggling her backside. It isn’t for nothing that the legendary Aba Womens’ Riot happened in…ABA.
2. Prepare to be Called Names: No, I am not referring to endearing (more like puke-inducing, actually) names like Baby, Darling, or Nkem. I’m talking about names that qualify your lineage and ethnicity in terms that are not exactly complimentary. If you are Yoruba, you and your people will be Ndi ofe mmanu (something about too much oil in your soup and fried things in your life); If you are a Northerner, you and your people will be Ndi beribe (something about possessing a mumu gene). Find solace in the fact that if you are truly Yoruba, you ‘know’ that Igbo people use kick to wake their mothers up from the mat in the morning.
3. Say Goodbye to your Waistline: Your waistline will increase in proportion to the years you spend with an Igbo woman who knows the well-beaten path to her mother’s kitchen. Gone are your days of adding stew to ewedu and okro, or eating egusi soup that was blended with tomatoes. Tufiakwa! The introduction of Ofe Akwu, Nsala, Oha, Onugbu, Ofe Owerri and Oporoko will ensure that when you sit, you fill up the chair. That’s what is called a man, a DIMGBA! Not one that looks like something some hungry wind blew in. When the husband of an Igbo woman stands, people must see that a man is standing. Size matters. Don’t be deceived by the looks of people like Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and that six-pack nonsense; he’s not a proper Igbo man. Look more at people like his elder brother Ugo or imagine Noble Igwe a few years after marriage; now, those are real Igbo men! Size matters to an Igbo woman.
4. Be Aware of the Oriaku Syndrome: You have not heard of the Oriaku Syndrome? Don’t worry, I will tell you. You see, when you marry an Igbo woman, you work for her. Your glory comes from seeing her shine. When she steps out, people must SEE your money on her body. If your wife looks like the dried fish she uses in cooking your soup, you are not a man! If she’s dressed like something that was sent to Lagos along with discarded wares, you have failed in your duties! The Oriaku Syndrome posits that your wife is the chopper of your money, simple. Don’t take this to mean that you are her provider and therefore she isn’t independent. When the Igbo man was planting yam, the Igbo woman was planting and harvesting cocoyam, and as every Igbo household can testify, the cocoyam is more useful than yam. Yam is only the king crop because the Igbo society, like others, is phallocentric. Don’t get it twisted.
5. Beware of the Illuminati: Do not marry any Igbo woman that is the first daughter of her father. All first daughters in Igboland are members of the real Illuminati. They sometimes call it by another name: Umuada. They are the most powerful group in Igboland and can do and undo. No one uses small spoon to measure their food. If you marry one and misbehave and she reports you, you are doomed. Even when you don’t marry one, you are still doomed if your wife ever reports you to them. They may decide that all the first daughters from her village will come and live in your house for a month. You may wish to consider suicide if that ever happens to you. It is the Igbo woman who has forgotten the path to her father’s house that suffers in a man’s house when she has the Umuada waiting.
6. The Catholic Church Intervention: When an Igbo woman is tired of you and your nonsense, she’ll simply pack her bag and return to her father’s house. If you do not run after her and collect your bride price back from her father, whatever child she bears anywhere she goes will bear your name. Yes, I’m serious. This is why there are no bastards in Igboland. But thank God for the Catholic Church, this doesn’t happen often. The average Igbo woman is Catholic and the Catholic Church has issues with divorce. Be smart: if you’re going to marry an Igbo woman, marry one who is a Catholic; it reduces her chances of leaving you by about 50%.
You may wish to ask why none of the above is often the case when an Igbo woman marries an Igbo man… well, I don’t know. Perhaps the Igbo man knows how to be ‘oga’ over the Igbo woman and has refused to share the secret with aliens.
Anyways, is your couch free for the night? Surely there’s no way I’m going home to that woman tonight after all this…
DailyPost
Obasanjo and Ahmadu Ali created Boko Haram, insecurity – Senator Owie
Former
Chief Whip of the Senate and a founding member of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Rowland Owie has slammed the ex-National
Chairman of the party, Dr. Ahmadi Ali, alleging that his tenure created
the present security challenge in the country where members of the Boko
Haram have killed many and property destroyed.Senator Owie who was replying to Ahmadu who had during the week castigated the Goodluck Jonathan led government as a failure, stressed that Ali as PDP National Chairman and former President Olusegun Obasanjo as President of the country created all these problems, adding that the present administration inherited them.
Senator Ali spoke on Tuesday at the Celebration of former Vice President Alex Ekwueme at 80 and at an International Colloquium organised in his honour at the Thisday Dome, Abuja.
The former PDP National Chairman had said, “This idea of six zones was an artificial creation by late Sanni Abacha to find a way of ruling the country and those crying about marginalization are just being smart. Those really marginalized are the West. The clamour for restructuring of the six zones is not relevant and amending the constitution is not the issue, but good governance.”
Senator Owie in a text message to Vanguard said, “I was amused when I read the comments credited to Col. Amadu Ali, that if government was up and doing, that there would have been no cases of massacre in Mubi etc. How could Col. Ali say that when the problems today both in government and our party the PDP were created by the Obasanjo government that forced Col. Ali on the PDP as national Chairman.
“All the ideals of the founding fathers of PDP were rubbished totally during the tenure Ali as National Chairman of PDP. How can the smoke call the kettle black? The major part of the problems of Nigeria today and that of PDP as a party, were sowed in the 8yrs of Obasanjo government and the period of Col. Ahmadu Ali’s headship of PDP.
“These problems are inherited in governance of Nigeria by President Jonathan and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as Chairman of PDP. Was it not during Ahmadu Ali tenure as Chairman of PDP that party nominations in the PDP became who you know? Party primaries were being teleguided from Wadata plaza! His tenure as PDP chairman was a disaster.”
DailyPost
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