2015: Battle for Aso rock hots up

Ahead of the 2015 presidential election, three interest groups in the country are clamouring to produce the next president. LAWRENCE ENYOGHASU writes. The race for the 2015 presidential poll is gathering momentum by the day. Already the South East, South South and the north are strategizing and making strong cases for the next president to come from their respective areas.
While the South East, which has not produced an elected president for the country since 1960 when the country gained independence from Britain believes that for the sake of equity and fair play somebody from the zone should be allowed to occupy the seat of president in 2015, the northerners want the presidency to return to it in 2015. On the other hand, the South South which is the zone of the incumbent president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan believes that the President and by extension the zone deserves another tenure of four years.
Former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu says the best thing that can happen to Nigeria in 2015 is for an Igbo man to become president. Speaking recently during a political programme on Radio Nigeria, the former governor said as long as the country continues to shut the South East out of the presidency, it will never know real progress.
As part of measures to realize the Igbo presidential project in 2015, Kalu has put together a political group, Njiko Igbo to mobilize South easterners for the 2015 elections. Acting National Publicity Secretary of Njiko Igbo, Mr Brady Chijioke Nwosu, says there is no stopping the South east in 2015. Nwosu says in as much as Ndigbo believes in the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria, they also believe there should be equity in the country. While urging other geo-political zones to support an Igbo man to become president in 2015, he argued that “since the inception of the present democratic dispensation, with the South-east contributing substantially to the emergence of presidents from other geopolitical zones, it is imperative for the other zones to reciprocate by supporting an Igbo man to be Nigeria’s president in 2015”. Similarly, the north is also plotting on how to regain the presidency.
Recently, former Sokoto State Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa reportedly met with former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) behind closed door at the latter’s Kaduna residence, apparently to strategize on the 2015 presidential contest. Buhari, who was the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change CPC in 2011 general election is known to be warming up to contest has the next presidential election. However, Bafarawa said his meeting with the former (CPC) presidential candidate   has no political undertone.
He said the meeting was on how to unite the north., “I didn’t come as a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to visit Gen. Buhari and I did not come to see him for political reasons;  I came to him to discuss  on how we can unite ourselves in the North because it  is in disarray. Therefore, we need to unite since we are masters of all trades when you talk of political activities in the North.
That is why I have come to see my brother, Gen. Buhari, on how we can unite ourselves before we even talk of political parties. I came to see him as a senior brother and partner in progress in order to move the northern region forward. “Our strategy is that we will take our time, plan things and see how we can come out with something on the way forward.
And like I said, I have come to see him, so I will not tell you the further strategy we will take, but this visits a step forward towards moving the north forward. What we are looking out for now is unity; we are not talking about  the CPC, the  ANPP or any other political party. All we are after is to see that the North is united.”
The north is convinced that since the dump of zoning after the demise of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua the region is left with no choice other than use its mass voting power in the next election. But Ijaw leader and first Republic Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark wants other zones wanting to occupy the presidency to be patient until Jonathan has had a second term. “Nigeria belongs to all of us.
There is no second-class citizen in this country and that is why I sometimes find it very difficult to believe that our northern brothers are still carrying on as if they are more Nigerian than other tribes. I think the best thing for anybody to do is to remain patient and honourable if after 40 years of being in the saddle in this country, power leaves you and goes to another section of the country.
Does it not look worrisome that someone will one day wake up and threaten fire simply because power has shifted away from his region? Even though I do not want to talk about 2015 now because the time is still far, the North should know that only Nigerians have the power to stop anyone from becoming president. If Jonathan wants to run today, the North cannot stop him because apart from the fact that he has the right to run, the North should equally know that they are not born to rule over others in the country for ever,” he stated. President Goodluck Jonathan interestingly has the power of incumbency on his side. The north has the seemingly unity and population as the biggest zone.
For the South east, their strength lies in the fact that unlike any of the other major ethnic groups in the country, none of their own has been president in spite of their contributions to the socio-economic development of the country. Therefore, fair play and equity demands that they produce the president. But it depends on how much they are able to unite and increase the political consciousness and participation of their people.
TheSun

Bishop David Oyedepo, Eddie Iroh and his other traducers

This was not the article for the week. I had wanted to run notes from the 52nd anniversary celebration of our nation, but had to change to what you are reading, in anger, about what citizens can do to each other.  In the families, companies (corporate world), government settings and even in religious circles, I have seen what brothers and sisters (relations), persons of same blood or races can do, the extent they can go to pull down a  successful and thriving relation.
I have seen wives go for the jugular of their husbands just to bag appointments in high places. I have witnessed brothers sell-out one another with the sole objective of gaining unsustainable advantage. I have seen best friends and business partners tear at one another apart just for a mess of pottage. I have asked why this is so and the answer I often get is that it is normal with the human personality. Is it really normal? Where this trend is the main character trait, progress is difficult to access.
This seems to be the main attitude in the black world; and the result is what we see in the peculiar kind of backwardness that plagues these areas. The Nigeria problem, I have told friends, has a deep root in wrong spirituality. The cut-throat competition, kill and go mentality, selfishness, deceit, hedonism, hardness of heart, stealing for tomorrow, mediocrity and absence of vision has its root in what wrong spiritual inclination can do.
Where you find idolatry, no progress can be found there. I was telling somebody few days ago that our troubles have grown worse because of ignorance. Every challenge has an already made answer, because no problem is new under the earth. Many have passed the path before, and were confronted by the same issues for which they found answers.  But for us here and the black world in general, every challenge looks novel, because we don’t have time for research, and those entrusted to take this responsibility do so, but put the outcomes under the table. In the end, we never get to know if anything was done.
The Roman Empire did not blossom until Christianity gained ground there, the same for Great Britain. The struggle to have Anglican Communion was not without reason for sustainable progress by the British nation. What about the industrial age?  How did it come? The Church spearheaded printing revolution, for instance, two-third of those who discovered America were ruffians. But when they got to America and touched the soil for the very first time, they did not call themselves names, what they did as they disembarked from the ship was to kneel down to thank God Almighty and to hand over the land to Him.
Before they made their constitution, it was generally accepted that they have the inscription, “In God We Trust”.  This article will not take the place of the Church and State, which I intend to do very soon. In that piece, I will, among other things, look at whether the Church is actually teaching in detail what they should be teaching. Today, however, I want to concentrate on the attacks on Bishop Oyedepo by Eddie Iroh in his column in “THISDAY Newspaper on Friday, November 2, 2012.
My interest on the issues raised by Eddie Iroh does not arise from any close relationship with Bishop Oyedepo; it is motivated by the fact that I am naturally allergic to any attempt aimed at unjustly pulling down any of our best ambassadors. Shining lights in our midst are few, and if I had my way, they should be adored, cherished, and protected at all costs. Is David Oyedepo one? By my assessment he is more than a national icon, he has grown to be a world star. He is not a politician neither has he held any public office, yet, from what God has given to him he has grown into a pillar that is positively shaping the destinies of millions of individuals across nations of the world.
This is a great feat by any standard. Mr Iroh, by picking on Oyedepo, has the right as a commentator on public affairs. Bishop Oyedepo, by working himself up the ladder of huge success and fame, has by that token become a public figure. Yet, in taking the right to free speech, it is important that we recognize that others too have their rights, both natural and legally guaranteed; among them the right to self-esteem and dignity.  You don’t just wake up and run a man or business concern down, just because you don’t like his face or whatever it is they are doing.  It is also part of the deal that a commentator understands clearly the issues at stake.
In this instance, Eddie Iroh began his treatise on Oyedepo by placing inverted comas open and close, on his appellation of Bishop. What this connotes to the ordinary reader is that he does see the man of God as qualified to be a Bishop, or that he is a fake one. Mr. Iroh relying on a write-up in the British Mail newspaper, indirectly labeled Oyedepo an extortionist, who was extorting huge sums of money from vulnerable Africans and Caribbeans in Britain on account that if they did give, God will give them back.
He displayed jealousy when he said there were pictures of Oyedepo “luxuriating” in London in his private jet and that his London Church makes returns of huge amount of money monthly. I was infuriated when Mr. Iroh said he could not understand what Christianity, which in his view, is a religion that made poor and taught people to live poor, was turning into.  According to Iroh, Jesus had nowhere to lay his head and rode on donkey, the dirtiest animal at the time. For Iroh, this is a prescription for poor living, the “true” Christian must live poor, drive rickety cars, own no houses, much less own planes.
It no longer makes sense, in that even planes can be owned on the basis of necessity. It does not even occur to the likes of Iroh that the world has grown complex and so has become the daily demands of evangelism. The above just confirms the danger Christianity faces today. It is exposed to real threats when peripheral Christians (nominal Christians) and downright cultists take up the gauntlet to dabble into critical aspects of this encompassing faith without having a good grasp of what the issues are. Let me start from the first, Christianity is not a religion. It is a culture. It is a lifestyle. It is a relationship and a mystery, which only those deep in it would discover and appreciate.
Bishop-hood, which has attracted so much attention in our nation, is not a title, in Christianity, it is just an office. Any congregation can decide to name its officials by it.  Secondly, and very importantly, Christianity is not a faith that promotes poverty; on the contrary, it is about beauty, fulfillment and glory. It is about God’s kind of success, which manifests in being the best in spirituality, health, fiancés, inventions, industry, power, family, intelligence, marriage and positive social relations. Christianity is about wholesomeness. It is not the plan of God that His true children lack anything or worship him by gnashing their teeth.  Deuteronomy 8:18 says, “It is the Lord that has power to give wealth”; Psalm 24:1 says the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
I will not talk and worship God, if after realizing His mightiness He allowed me to wallow in want, scorn, deprivation, to be defenceless against the many satanic agents masquerading as humans, and other dislocations that go with it.  A true believer should be the head and not the tail. When Eddie Iroh alludes to poverty or austerity as symbol of Christianity, I am left to wonder what he is saying. Iroh was not representing the Bible correctly when he said Jesus had no place to stay; for proper education, he should read John 1:35, and see where He told disciples of John the Baptist, who wondered where such a great man could be staying, to come and see.  You don’t tell people to come and see a wretched building: Jesus stayed in big buildings when He had cause to do so. Jesus fed multitudes frequently – John 6:26, this is evidence of great abundance even to the present. Jesus moved in convoy – Mark 4:36 – He moved in a big beautiful ship, and smaller ones followed on all sides. Only the big and powerful move this way.
He had a Treasurer (Judas Iscariot), who must have kept stealing without the master disturbing Himself about that.  In John 19:23, at the Cross, Italian soldiers, the ruling world power at the time, struggled for His clothes. Do you struggle for rags or low quality clothes? Iroh should tell me! The truth is that early preachers gave emphasis to holiness, which is the most important goal: yet, this doesn’t remove the fact that there are other equally very important components in Christianity like well-being of the saints. Christianity, if Iroh must understand, is not against wealth (money inclusive), it is against the love of it.
You don’t make wealth or money a god for which you are ready to devote all time and attention to, or ready to lie, subvert, destroy or spill blood to have. Oyedepo and the Winners’ Chapel I know preaches holiness. It also teaches excellence as Christ’s Ambassadors on earth. If you ask me, Oyedepo via Winners Chapel is taking major responsibility and leadership in an area where government should be seen to be the undisputed leader.  Christianity, like I observed earlier, brings out God’s mystery in the way no religion does. One of the cardinal operating strategies in God’s Kingdom as depicted by the lives of Christian patriarchs like Abraham and David and revalidated by Christ is that if you must receive, you must first give.
You give yourself and your resources; then God responds. (The ground does not need man, it is man who needs the ground. Nothing you give the ground makes it fatter). Those who give in Churches are not stupid. Many of them are well-trained, can reason for ourselves and have gone far in the things of this world.  So, if they continue to give, it means there is something they gain. After all, the Bible has said to the earthly wise, the things of the spirit (Kingdom) are foolishness. Can Eddie Iroh explain why God must have His Son die before He can reclaim His children? Does it not look foolish? If a Nigerian led by the spirit can go outside to make money, legally, I think, it is in our place to encourage and commend him.
Developed nations are rich, yet many of our citizens stay long there only to return here looking wretched, with phony cigar puffing fingers and speaking English in terrible accent. This is not what we want. Oyedepo, for all I know, is building universities, creating jobs, offering scholarships, redirecting wrecked destinies and stabilizing spirits that were on the path to quick end.
Such a man deserves respect and honour and not vilification from mean persons. For Oyedepo, he must watch his back, for where there is great success; there the enemy lurks to wreak havoc. Once again, the likes of Oyedepo in our midst must be protected and encouraged, I insist.
TheSun

Reprieve for Edo death row inmates

The recent signing of death warrants on two prison convicts in Edo State by Governor Adams Oshiomhole has pitched the labour activist turned politician against members of the human rights community. Amnesty International, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and Human Rights Social Development and Environment Foundation (HURSDEF) are among rights groups campaigning for a reprieve for the two convicted inmates of Benin Prison.
Specifically, the international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has appealed to Oshiomhole to rescind the decision to carry out the death sentence passed on the two inmates at the state prison. According to reports, Amnesty has based its appeal on the fact that “it was difficult for many accused persons to get justice in Nigeria’s justice system.” It also observes that it would not be fair to execute those who might not have received fair trials and who had been on death row for many years. Amnesty International’s Director-General, Mr. Salil Shetty, states that the body is concerned that Oshiomhole wants to carry out the execution to tackle the challenge of prison congestion.
While the ACHPR has written to President Goodluck Jonathan to prevail on the governor to halt the anticipated execution of the duo, the HURSDEF has joined the campaign to seek reprieve for them based on the outcome of studies that had shown that the country’s criminal justice system could not guarantee a fair trial. But Oshiomhole has defended his action to have the duo executed based on their dastardly and heinous criminality against humanity. The duo are said to have robbed their victims, dismembered them and buried their body parts separately. Oshiomhole is insisting that the law must take its course on the matter to deter others from indulging in such bestiality in future. It will be recalled that there were four convicts involved.
While the governor freed the first two and rehabilitated them and asked them to sin no more, he however, sanctioned the death of the duo that showed untoward brutality to their victims. Therefore, the argument that the governor’s action is to decongest Benin Prison advanced by Amnesty International is spurious and untenable. In a country where criminals rob and kill their victims in most a horrendous manner such as the duo, there is need for justice to prevail. It is good that the rights groups have expressed their reservations on the matter.
We think that the best thing they can do is to appeal for leniency. We also note that it is presumptuous to suggest that these people did not get fair trial in Nigeria’s judicial system. Fair trial cannot be determined by one party alone. In fact, what constitutes fair trial should not be the preserve of the rights groups alone. The best they can do in this matter is just to appeal for clemency and they have just done that. However, the desirability or otherwise of capital punishment in the modern world is still debatable. Regardless of which side the argument swings, we are totally against capital punishment in all its ramifications. Capital punishment does not serve any useful purpose. It is not in any way reformatory or corrective.
The person punished does not in any way benefit from the lesson the punishment is supposed to effect in his life. We, therefore, appeal to Governor Oshiomhole to reconsider his position on the matter and temper justice with mercy. Killing them will not bring back the lost lives and it will not solve any problem. Moreover, death sentence has not deterred people from taking to crime. It will be better if the two spend the rest of their lives in prison and possibly learn one or two lessons from their criminality. The essence of prison is to reform individuals that have flouted the laws of the land.
TheSun

Mikel fights alone

…As Mata chickens out of racism row
By Onyewuchi Nwachukwu
The racism row between Mikel Obi and referee, Mark Clattenburg, has taken a more controversial dimension following revelation by his Chelsea teammate, Juan Mata that he did not hear the referee saying anything during Chelsea’s 3-2 home loss to Manchester United. The referee remains investigated for allegedly using ‘inappropriate’ language against Mikel in the most controversial match played in the Premier League this term.
The Blues originally issued two complaints against the match official, one for inappropriate comments made against the Nigerian midfielder and a second for something believed to have been said to the Spanish international, only for the latter to now back out. Mata has now admitted he did not hear Clattenburg mutter anything at all, but reminded people that the matter is being handled by the club and the English FA.
“I didn’t hear anything, but it’s an issue that Chelsea and even the FA are already investigating. I repeat that I didn’t hear anything though,” Mata told Spanish paper, AS. This new dimension might come as a cog in the wheel of the case being pursued by Chelsea, and it might have an adverse effect on Mikel in the long term.
The Football Association expects to complete its investigation into Chelsea’s claims that Clattenburg racially insulted Mikel in few days time. Chelsea players, including Mikel and Ramires, gave witness statements to Jenni Kennedy, head of governance at the FA last Monday. FA chiefs, who are under pressure to make a swift decision, could even make an announcement on potential charges soon.
TheSun

Nigeria and pretences about American elections

It is acceptable in our clime today for every Tom, Dick and Harry to begin making comments about the success story of the American presidential election, which was concluded last week. No less is expected from a people dehumanized and traumatized by perennial betrayal of trust by those they find in leadership positions.
A nation that has celebrated damning and embarrassing headlines after every election even at the local government level should bury her head in shame when respected and civilized countries like the USA and Ghana post impressive election profiles. As the CNN prediction neared manifestation in the early hours of Wednesday morning, it became obvious that the losing candidate, Mitt Romney, and the victorious incumbent President Barack Obama were to make speeches. It came to pass, and after listening to the two American patriots speak, it was difficult to know which of them love America most. Romney was simply as superlative as Obama.
How else can anyone explain this love for one’s nation? The reason is simple. Americans have worked hard to be great since they liberated themselves from British colonial dominion and declared independence on July 4, 1776. On the other hand, Nigeria has worked much harder to diminish its strength since gaining independence from the same British colonialist since 1960. Elections in Nigeria produce the opposite results.
This is a story for another day, but the point being made here is that Nigeria and Nigerians deserve the kind of post election speeches they get from both the “victors and the losers”. When an electoral process is credible, free and fair, it is almost certain that the loser will be gallant in loss and the winner humble in his victory. At that stage, the Nigerian system as well as the people will be collective winners. This is the point Nigeria has continued to miss at every opportunity to be great in organizing elections at all levels of government. In June 2010, this column had written that Nigerians were not ready for free polls in 2011.
The prediction was almost as certain as night follows the day. Some Nigerians and members of the international community chose to decorate an inglorious election with a cloak of integrity so that the sleeping dog can lie. We will repeat some of our concerns at that time, which have become even more relevant in the light of the joy, which pretentious Nigerians have expressed in the Obama/American victory. We said then that in truth, “Nigeria is not ripe for free polls. Beyond Iwu’s exit, we now know that the journey to a free and fair election is still far.
The governors and what they can do with the free money they have been freely stealing, and enormous powers they wield has been easily glossed over. That is why those shouting loudest against Iwu are opposition leaders and governors who know what it is to have INEC against you. Most governors (even some in other political parties) offer to deliver their states during elections. There would have been nothing wrong in this, if it only involved campaigns, mobilizing and urging voters to a mass turnout.
The governors negotiate many things in delivering their states. They want to nominate any federal appointee, get the ear of the president, and beat the EFCC, etc. They also want to undo their opponents at home and get away with it. What they do and can do to achieve this is far more than any harm Iwu can inflict on Nigeria in his lifetime. The governors manipulate to get the kind of Commissioner of Police (CP) they wanted. They use the police command to do all sorts of things. The police escort the ballot boxes, guard the sensitive warehouses, quell the rioters (if any) and give security reports the presidency will act upon.
The governors also compel or induce the INEC national chairman to employ certain persons who turn around to be resident commissioners, returning officers, etc. When time comes, they stuff the place with temporary INEC staff that would conduct the elections. By this, from top to bottom in any state would be allies and cronies of a governor. Iwu or no Iwu, the result is obvious. The local council elections are not handled by INEC or Iwu, but the elections have been a sham in states where they are held at all. States that do not have any machinery to rig LGA bosses into office such as Anambra, Imo, Edo, etc. have done worse, using illegitimate persons such as sole administrators to control the council areas for as long as they wanted.
These are the same persons clamouring for free and fair elections and shouting against Iwu. Even Lagos that is seen as a bastion of genuine democracy in Nigeria for now, the battle between Tinubu and Fashola would hardly allow for any genuine LGA elections. Governors want to control the LGAs far more desperately than the FG wants to control the states. There has been no case of illegitimate deductions from state’s allocations, but most governors have cases at the EFCC on account of tampering with LG allocations.
The governors also impose their thugs as LG bosses and use them to rig elections in the councils, intimidate opponents, make hell for rural dwellers, run out opposing voices, and divert allocations. For this, the race to control LGA areas and rig elections is fierce. Yet, Iwu and INEC are not part of this. We would have shamed Iwu if elections in the LGAs were a wonder to behold. Again, the political parties, where democracy is groomed and nurtured, are not anywhere near democracy. They witness the worst form of rape, hijack, imposition, autocracy, wickedness, intolerance, marginalization, single views, etc.
Yet, Iwu and INEC are not part of this. How can people groomed in internal disaster turn out to be good copies for democracy? Most of those who leave PDP on excuse of marginalization and imposition of candidates go to minor parties to impose themselves on the old members just because they came with some funds. We know that most cases of substitution of names, wrong names, false nominations, etc, that have lingered in courts to this day were mere party issues, not INEC and Iwu. Many do not know how removing Iwu would wipe off all this junk. Finally, it has been known that two factors make good elections impossible except something drastic is done: excessive greed and absence of deterrence factor.
There is a huge disregard for the right of the next person in this country now. Even in our private lives, deals and agreements are hardly honoured anymore, promise of marriage is hardly sustained, share of money in any deal is hardly delivered, those who ask uncles to keep money for them hardly get it back, etc. This general dishonesty is affecting how we participate in elections. When those preparing for elections stockpile guns, money, blackmail weapons, etc. instead of goodwill, love for the constituents, good principles, etc. would we say it is Iwu? The reign of violence, harm, cheating and maiming in elections is the reason why people flee on election days instead of seeing it as a day of liberation.
Some settlers simply hide, not wanting to get injured for what is happening in another man’s land. They watch as youths run rage and destroy the homes of opponents in a bid to incapacitate them. The other factor is the absence of the deterrence element. People perpetuate evil at all times and at elections and live to boast about it. If electoral offenders were to face criminal charges, and there is quick justice in which the man we saw with guns is crying soon after on his way to jail, others would be scared.
If the man with guns soon begins to parade in jeep and affluence, no amount of Iwu’s removal would stop others from joining in the election rigging. These are the areas the opposition leaders are silent about, and keep clamouring for Iwu’s removal, who appoints INEC boss, etc. as if these were ends in themselves. They merely play into the hands of the monster by these demands because now that Iwu has been removed, the international observers would expect the opposition to be free to win elections, and this is erroneous. The opposition leaders are busy decamping to the so-called monster party.
This habit is worse than Iwu’s harms. The tendency of men in opposition to insult the PDP today and join it tomorrow has confused the electorate and made them vulnerable. This is a greater evil. Those who hated the PDP and supported a man have been defrauded by the return of the opposition men to the same party they asked the masses to hate. Local persons who got injured for following the leader have been exposed to local danger and ridicule because the leader has sorted himself out and jumped ship.
This is a greater evil worse than Iwu’s. In all of these, we know that Nigerians are not ready to stand for and defend free and fair election and so those expecting magic after Iwu are in for a shocker. We do not know where the President would start, but he has a great task, and the target should be beyond Iwu’s removal. Now, the real challenge begins. The 2011 election is now bad history, but 2015 will be worse in Nigeria.
TheSun

N’Delta plans to secede in 2014–Shuluwa

From ROSE EJEMBI, Makurdi
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Benue State and former member of the Revenue and Fiscal Mobilization Commission (RFMC), Chief Abu King Shuluwa, says the Federal Government should accept the dialogue move by the Boko Haram sect in the interest of peace in the country. He also speaks on other burning national issues. Excerpts:
How do you see the dialogue move by the Boko Haram?
Well, the issue of negotiation did not start with the Boko Haram, because some of us had called for dialogue with Boko Haram long ago. We don’t want the killings to continue. We want the Federal Government to negotiate with the sect. And if Boko Haram has decided to negotiate with the Federal Government, then the Federal Government should open the door for negotiation except it wants the killings to continue. If the Federal Government doesn’t want the killings to continue, just like some of us don’t want it to continue, yes, there should be a negotiation.
We want to know why they are doing what they are doing. We want to know if they are tired of the killings and want negotiation. There must be reasons behind what they are doing, because they are doing it on purpose. With this negotiation, they will tell us why they are killing people.
But why was Gen. Buhari mentioned as part of the negotiation conditions?
Anybody’s name could be mentioned. The people (Boko Haram) are the ones who said this is the person we want. And if they said this, perhaps, they discovered that he is in-between; he is not for them, and not for the Federal Government. So, they are probably looking for a neutral person. Another issue is that a lot of people believe the Boko Haram is the making of the PDP, which I belong to. And if you remember, I spoke about this before; I said Boko Haram is the handiwork of Obasanjo and Modu Sheriff, because during the 2003 elections, Obasanjo did not want the PDP to win in Borno State.
He wanted a friend of his to win, and that friend was Sheriff, and they formed an organization to make sure they put Modu Sheriff. Thereafter, that organization, which was like a militia group, was abandoned. Modu Sheriff abandoned them and they metamorphosed into what is today known as Boko Haram. That is why I said we must investigate those people and find out the root cause of their action. There is no way Obasanjo and Modu Sheriff would not have a hand in what is today called Boko Haram insurgency. It was an organization formed to make sure Ali Modu Sheriff became governor against the PDP candidate, who first won election in Borno.
They kicked him out and those young people were left unattended. Eventually, either they have been hijacked by another organization or they metamorphosed into what is today called Boko Haram. And if that is the case, the choice of Buhari could be blackmail. Probably, the government may want to use Buhari so as to say Buhari is behind Boko Haram. And then, they would find a way of roping him into the sect and blackmail him again so that he would not contest in 2015. I know Nigerians. I am a Nigerian and I have been in this game.
What is your opinion about the choice of Saudi Arabia as venue for the negotiation?
The Boko Haram sect would want a neutral ground because security agencies in this country have not been fair to them. They kill them as soon as they capture them. They want a place they can come out openly, because you cannot arrest or detain them in Saudi Arabia. They want a place they can feel secured. And I think if we truly want to negotiate with them, we should be prepared to meet with them wherever they want. Are we afraid to go to Saudi Arabia? For the sake of peace, if they want us to go to the moon and we are able to go there, why not, if we are interested in stopping the killings? But, if we are not, then we reject the proposal. But I think the killing is enough.
The ordinary man that has nothing to do with government is suffering. Yet, we are given the choice of reconciliation and we sit and watch? Haba! So, anywhere they want, let us go and know who their leaders are and the basis for what they are doing. Right now, nobody knows. So, if we can go to the moon to know what the sect really wants, who are those behind it, and what they stand for, the better for the government to plan. So, I support wherever they want for the peace talks to hold.
But there is a problem; the Gederal Government said recently that it will not negotiate with the sect under any condition. What do you say to that?
Who is the Federal Government? You are not saying Jonathan said he will not negotiate. Tell me that Jonathan said he will not negotiate. Yes, if Jonathan says he will not negotiate with the sect under such condition, under what condition does he want to negotiate? Let him tell us his own condition. But just telling us he won’t negotiate under such condition is rubbish. He must tell us the condition he wants. When you want to negotiate with somebody, he brings his own condition and you bring your own and we balance it up. And let me say this, that my perception of Boko Haram is totally different. Some people see them as a religious sect. No, they only happen to be Muslims.
But, even if you look at the bombings, some of the people arrested are Christians. Why so? Some of the people who help them in making bombs are Christians. Some of them have been arrested but the security agencies are hiding the Christians among them. Why? So, there is more to it that meets the eye. When the first bomb went off in Abuja and MEND claimed responsibility, the President said they are not responsible because he knows them. And when Boko Haram said no, he didn’t say he knows them. What happened to that first bombing? Who started throwing bombs in this country if not MEND? Nothing has been done about it. Boko Haram exists as a result of poverty, and many people do not want to see that.
And if Nigeria is not careful, you will have Boko Haram in different forms. Boko Haram is not different from the militants in the Niger-Delta. The Niger-Delta militants had good reasons for what they did until amnesty came. Boko Haram may have a good reason. It is now left for the Federal Government to go anywhere, even if it means going to know who the people are, they should go.
Recently, there was a failed attempt by the Bakassi people to declare independence for themselves. Also, MASSOB has hoisted its flag in a parade witnessed by over 100,000 people. What does this portend for the country?
I am not a prophet, but I have talked about the amalgamation that brought this country into being in 1914. And I said by 2014, if we are not careful, Nigeria will not be the same. And from the statements coming from the South-South, particularly the Niger-Delta region, one can deduce that this country will no longer be the same again from 2014. For instance, there was a time Edwin Clarke said Jonathan will be President, but not the President of Nigeria. Sadly, people don’t understand some of these statements.
There is a clause in the amalgamation of 1914, which says that after 100 years of existence, any part of Nigeria may decide to go. Therefore, because of the oil in the South-South, the Niger-Delta people believe they can go on their own. And all the arrangement they are making is to make sure that by 2014, they will write a memorandum to the United Nations saying they want to become a separate nation from what is today known as Nigeria and they will draw a map and compose their national anthem. It’s just like what happened in Sudan. And that is the reason why they insisted on Jonathan being the President this time, because if you allow a northerner to be president, it will not be as easy to break away as when Jonathan is President. That was the reason why Jonathan had to contest this present position, which he is holding today. Otherwise, there was an agreement Jonathan signed that the presidency, after Obasanjo, should go to the North. Why should he then contest?
He should have completed Yar’Adua’s tenure and then quit the stage. He should have allowed another northerner to contest and complete the eight years, which Obasanjo did. But they knew that if a northerner becomes president between now and 2014, it will not be easy for them to break away. There is a hidden agenda, and Nigeria has to be very careful. All you are seeing is not only MASSOB’s declaration of independence, Bayelsans had done that before with a national anthem and a flag, and what did the President do about it? No comments from the Presidency. No action. Then, the Ogoni people also did theirs, yet no action from the Presidency. We are watching. If Nigeria is not careful, it will never be the same by 2015. Already, the U.S. had predicted this before, and it is working towards that.
In Niger Delta, every young person who pretended to have dropped his arms takes N65,000 in Niger-Delta, while the massive youths who graduated from Ibadan, Oyo, Akure, Borno, Yobe, Benue, Ekiti, Ife, ABU and so on are roaming the streets without job. The uneducated youths in the Niger-Delta are being trained as pilots in different countries of the world. Why is it so? Why are we having a trade agreement between Niger-Delta and South-Africa? What is happening to the youths in Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Yobe, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kano, Taraba, Borno, Benue and so on? Some people in the Niger-Delta region think we are fools, we are not. We have spilled our blood for the unity of this country when Biafra wanted to secede.
But, do you think the North can sustain itself if the South pulls out?
We can. Before we discovered oil what were we doing? We will now go back to agriculture. We will lock up ourselves. We can discover oil in the North also, if oil can be discovered in Niger, or even Chad, why not in the North? Mind you, there is now oil in Kogi State, which Anambra and Enugu are now fighting to take. Who says we cannot discover oil in River Benue? It is a matter of exploring and discovering. If oil can be discovered in the far desert, why can’t we discover it here? Even if we don’t discover oil, tell me, there are lots of countries that don’t have oil and yet they exist. Whoever knew there would be oil in Ghana?
They have gold, that’s all, but today, Ghana has oil. So, it’s a matter of locking up ourselves to discover things hidden here. But we will definitely improve on agriculture and those who have oil will need food. Niger can sell oil to us, while we sell food to them. Today, if you go to Katsina State, the fuel they are using there is from Niger. They don’t care about what is happening here any longer because Niger must sell its fuel. And if that happens, we can tell Niger-Delta to go, which also gives Biafra the opportunity to take over. Remember, it was the North that prevented Biafra from existing then. The Niger-Delta alone cannot stand the force of Biafra. They can’t, but if they think they can, that country will be destroyed because I know that America will back them up and there will be fighting for a long time and we would be watching them fight.
You mentioned distortion in the zoning arrangement. As a PDP chieftain, would you blame your party for the problems the country is currently facing?
How can I blame my party for the problems? No, I blame certain individuals, who were very powerful as to deny the zoning arrangement. Obasanjo is one of them. Obasanjo created the problems because his plan was to secede the whole of the South, but now, it looks like each portion wants to be on its own. So, it means that in the South, you are going to have more than five nations. Every part that has oil will not want the other to be part of it.
What is the position of the Middle-Belt in all these? We observe that when this type of thing happens, the far North takes it all. For instance, in the agitation for 2015, the North is not saying the presidency should be zoned to the Middle Belt.
I believe in one thing, that is, whoever is competent should be allowed to run. We are copying America, for God’s sake. Bush was the President, his son became a president. Can that happen in Nigeria? No, it can never happen. Most of American presidents came from the South – Bush, Clinton, Bush, Carter and so on. But because we are multi-national, WAZOBIA is what is killing us. Wa is Yoruba, Zo is Hausa and Bia is Igbo.
Nobody talks about the minority here. Unfortunately, when a minority occupies the seat he looks up to the majority for support. He doesn’t look for the minority, and that is what President Jonathan is doing now. When Jonathan comes to the North, he doesn’t give a better job to minorities of the North. You people were just supporting him for nothing. I did not support Jonathan, and I will never support him.
But he is planning to go for a second term…
He is wasting his time. By the time Jonathan goes for second term, some of us would become old trailers without brakes, and we will be descending a slope. So, anything on the road we will crush. 2015 is the last year I will be in active politics. So, does it mean I will lose out again? No way. I am not prepared to lose out again.
On the submission of Ribadu’s report; we heard Orosanye said he was not party to the report. What do you say about that?
It is a plan. For Orosanye to be a member of a committee, if he wasn’t a party to it, he should have written his own minority report. Did he write a minority report? Why was Orosanye made a director in NNPC, while he was still in the committee? When you give Ribadu that kind of position, you know he would come out with a true position of what is there. The Federal government allocates certain quantum of crude oil to NNPC to refine and sell domestically. NNPC kills the refineries and sell the crude outside the country and never returns the money to the Federal Government. What do they do with the money?
If you check properly, you will discover that all MDs of NNPC has oil business companies outside Nigeria. If you retire as NNPC MD, you should not have anything to do with oil again. Go and find another business, not oil. So, NNPC is a conduit pipe for the top people in this country. Even Niger has a functional refinery today. It is sad that up till now, none of our refineries is working. Yet, the subsidies have come. You saw what happened. People are being paid billions of naira for not importing fuel. You see a young man that came up with a company and they allocated certain quantum of refined oil for him to import, and he doesn’t import anything after he had been paid. You think he sits and eats that money alone?
Now, to issues affecting Benue State; there is insinuation that the rotation of governorship seat is lopsided, favouring zones A and B, while zone C watches helplessly. As a party elder, how can this lopsidedness be rectified?
I contested the governorship seat four times in this state and I tell you that no governor of this state has been more popular than me. Governorship position is not a position you just give to anybody. When people from my zone C wanted to be governor, and everybody in zones A and B was afraid to go to zone C, I went. When I got to Otukpo, people thought the Idomas were going to tear me into pieces. I said look, I am the only person in this land who will give the Idomas whatever belongs to them. I can never take what belongs to a Tiv man and give it to an Idoma, also, I can never take what belongs to Idoma man and give to Tiv man. When I started talking, I said, Idoma, you will never get this governorship, and everybody said why.
I said you cannot sit here and expect somebody to carry power and give you, while you sit in Otukpo. That’s crazy. We are talking about power. Come out and look for power yourselves. And when they came out in 2007, you saw what they did. Do you know that the Idoma were the first? Suswam wasn’t the first candidate. How come after the primaries and votes had been counted you now say that Ogiri Ajene’s votes and Igbago’s votes were added to another person’s votes? Now, tell me, already votes were counted and somebody won, yet they kept quiet.
Tomorrow they will say Shuluwa doesn’t like Idoma, Na lie. If there is anybody in this state that likes Idoma, it’s me. I went to school with them in Katsina-Ala, I went to work with them in Kaduna, Jos and Benue. I have a lot of friends in Idoma land. I have girlfriends in Idoma. Why would I hate them? My mother is not Tiv. She belonged to the Kwararafa family. So, what has an Idoma man done to me that would warrant me hating him? Let us put it this way; if you believe that a Tiv man will take the governorship and give to an Idoma man on a platter of gold, you are jokers. It will never happen; not even among the Tivs themselves.
Why are some MINDA people saying they want to contest the governorship and people from Zone A are saying no? Adasu had it for one year only, so we must complete our tenure? Who said it is their tenure to complete? For an Idoma to become governor, they have to play a better card than they are playing today.
 TheSun

Odumegwu Ojukwu: The man who saw tomorrow, By Joe Okei-Odumakin

Sweet is the remembrance of the righteous says the good book and we can say same of all men and women who came into this world and left indelible marks in the sands of time.
Such is the life of Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu whose post-humous birthday is being celebrated.
With the burial of what was mortal of him, it is safe to say that Dim Ojukwu has entered the season post-life career as the battles he fought and the whole life he lived continue to be focal points in our search for nationhood.
The vexed issues of our federalism came to a head in just 7 years after independence and Ojukwu had to lead Eastern Nigeria in an armed dialogue with Nigeria lasting three and a half years with millions of lives lost.
While it would have been more gracious to address the issues at stake without the festival of bayonet, there is no doubting the fact the very issues Ojukwu wanted us to address in 1966 are the same confronting us today in a nastier version.
In the order of hypocrisy that has become our national badge of dishonour, we papered our cracks with a vacuous “no victor, no vanquished” pretensions, we refused to address how the rain beat us; not to talk of looking at how the rain will not beat us again.
Ever after the war has continued in different guises and now we are moving at top speed on the road to Kigali as bombs ravage city-upon city with needless loss of innocent lives.
We cannot continue to live in this denial as we inch towards the brink each passing day.
In the last few years of his life, Ojukwu was strong in demand for a National Conference to address these issues.
If we feared his “warlord” face while he was alive, can we now herken his baritone voice from the other side of eternity?
Time is runnıng out!
Above is a remark by Dr.Okei-Odumakin, President, Campaign for Democracy (CD) and Women Arise (WA) at the birthday of Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, organized by the Igbo community in Lagos, Sunday, November 4, 2012 @ the National Stadium Iganmu Lagos.
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