Osoba: Presidency Killed Pre-2011 Alliance Talks

Chief Olusegun Osoba

A veteran journalist and former Ogun State governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, is a prominent member of the opposition merger team. He was confident that the merger plan would not fail this time, even as he explained why the previous moves did not go far. These and more he discussed in this interview with Olawale Olaleyeand Shola Oyeyipo.Excerpts:

Let’s start with the merger plan. There are doubts that factors identifiable with interests and ambition are waiting to tear it apart and there is a reference point.

We agreed at our merger meeting that under no circumstances should we debate the process on the pages of newspapers because we are conscious of attempts and moves to sabotage the merger. I must however tell you that in principle, we have come together, not because of political offices, not because of sharing loot or simply because we just want to win the presidency at all cost but our philosophy and determination is to redeem Nigeria.

We are on a redemption mission. We are determined to redeem the lost glory of this country. It is our belief and philosophy that we must create a genuine, trustworthy and reliable alternative to the evil that the PDP has become in Nigeria because they have been in power since 1999 and I cannot point out to any major achievement of the PDP government since they have been in power after the emergence of the current democratic dispensation.

Have you tried to analyse why the previous attempt failed?  
It failed because we had a presidency that wanted to create a one party state; a one party country. The totality of government machinery and the weapon of intimidation were unleashed on all forms to sabotage previous effort in the current democratic dispensation. The EFCC was used at a time when some governors felt there was need for a change. INEC was used to register multiple parties. Financial inducement was used to create disaffection in parties. The one I can tell you authoritatively was that of Alliance for Democracy. The presidency then funded the breakaway AD deliberately to sabotage the progressive in the South-west. This time around, we are determined to learn from previous experiences. If any of those weapons are unleashed, we have our own strategy to meet them.

Two things: one, people see this as a merger of strange bedfellows. Two, a recent report said PDP governors are also considering being part of the merger. But these are members of a party you’d sworn never to have anything to do with.

PDP as a party is different from decent, reasonable and honourable people who by circumstances found themselves in PDP. In 1998, when parties were being formed, some of our leaders, including Chief Bola Ige were part of the 34 leaders who were the foundation members of what metamorphosed into PDP. If we, the progressives, in the South-west did not break away from APP then, we would probably have created a two-party system right from 1998. A lot of progressives were lost to the PDP. People like Solomon Lar, I can tell you from my experience, were part of those who in the Second Republic, laid the foundation for the progressives to come together in the nine governors group that increased to 12 governors meeting.

It is the efforts of those progressive governors then that led to the formation of Social Democratic Party. When you call us strange bedfellows, you know it is a thing we had done before, when we all coalesced into Social Democratic Party, at that time, when the NRC was described as the conservative. In spite of the different background, because of the progressiveness in all of us, we survived in the SDP and produced the best election in this country that has not been beaten by record. We are back to the days of SDP where those progressive elements that we lost to the PDP will return to their folds. 

Is this part of efforts to return the south-west to the so-called mainstream politics?
Our own attitude to the so-called mainstream politics is different from PDP’s mainstream politics. PDP mainstream is sharing of positions, largesse and pocketing as much as they can pocket. Our own principle of mainstream is true federalism, in which power is evolved from over concentrated centre to the federating states– fiscal federalism where revenues are shared between the federal and the states.

Each of the federating state can create as many LGAs as it wants. These are part of our own philosophy of mainstream politics; not mainstream to enrich ourselves and enrich our pockets.  It will be a country where attention will be focused on security of lives and property, management of the economy, regular and sustained power supply and the philosophy of Awolowo, egalitarianism and equality.

Talk of true federalism, where is the place of council autonomy?
There is nothing like local government autonomy. We had a Supreme Court judgment that ruled that local governments are creation of states. I agree with you that in some states, they are shortchanging the local governments but that is because we don’t have true federalism. I have never heard of a country where you have the number of local governments listed in the constitution; 774, and making it impossible for states to create local government that will be developed.

Imagine, Lagos State, the most densely populated state in this country with the highest internal revenue, having 20 local governments and Kano State that was broken to Kano and Jigawa States combined have over 60 local governments, does that make any common sense; arithmetic or mathematical sense to you or even political sense? And then, you keep saying autonomy to local governments. It’s autonomy to lopsidedness and marginalisation. Look at London. You know London is the most cosmopolitan country in the whole of UK. It has the highest number of local governments. That is how it should be.

There is an entrenched perception that there are tendencies in the ACN with greed and lust for power. So, where is the place of ideological politics with the grouping of people of different characters and background?
I have told you that the ideological politics in Nigeria was created by Social Democratic Party; this is not a military coalition. So, when you talk about greed and all that, you just might be enslaved to PDP’s propaganda.

Ahead of the 2011 election, your party, whether overly or covertly supported the Jonathan presidency. At what point did you fall out?
There was never a time when the ACN ever sat down as a party to say we wanted to support Jonathan. There was never any negotiation between ACN and Jonathan in 2011.

How come he won in the South-west except Osun State?
I’ll tell you at the price of repetition. Adamu Ciroma, then, had alienated a lot of southerners at that time with his northerness. He did not play his card well. Therefore, a lot of people who had never voted resented the idea of northern hegemony. Religion came into it. Jonathan was at the Redemption Camp and every born again group just went for Jonathan. Professionals who felt that some people just wanted to come back and grab power for their own interest went for Jonathan. The likes of respected activists, well tested leaders of the likes of the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka fought on principle for Jonathan to be made president.

Just like retired General Alani Akinrinade who had been Chief of Defense Staff, with Bakare– highly placed people on all forms– the Save Nigeria Group went round the whole country for Jonathan to be given the power of presidency when Yar’Adua was sick. At that time, Nigerians’ perception was that we needed to have dynamic person to take charge. Go around the Save Nigeria Group and ask what their experience is now– ask what their feeling is? What do they feel about the situation now? That was the situation in 2011; it went beyond party politics.

What do you think about the celebration of Nigeria at 100?
The centenary celebration, I have no objection to it. It is a fact that in 1914, we were forced to come together as a country. 100 years, for whatever it is worth; it’s worth looking at- reviewing. It is not for me now to start crying over spilled milk. We know where we went wrong. In 1999, they imposed on us a president of the PDP without effort to win in the South-west. The PDP continued to rig elections; perfected rigging; created an INEC that was ready to collaborate and cooperate with them. And when I say we are on redemption mission; we want a situation where we would save this country from going over.

Do you think a National Conference can address our challenges?
Oh yes, definitely! What is wrong in talking!? It is very important. If you go to London every Sunday at Hyde Park whatever subject you want to discuss, you can just mount the rostrum and start talking- mentally derailed people, intellectuals and all kinds of character were always there. When I was younger, I used to go to there every Sunday to listen to all kinds of characters. There is freedom of association, freedom of expression was allowed. What is wrong in convening a Sovereign National Conference and let all of us come and discuss the relationship. It is like in a family– what is wrong in the family sitting down and asking themselves some questions of fundamental truth. I don’t know why anybody is afraid? Has Britain broken into pieces all because people talk? 

Are you not worried about the situation in APGA now following Governor Rochas Okorocha’s support of the merger?
I told you that we are not going to debate the merger matter on the pages of newspapers. At the right time, when the recommendations of APC goes to all the parties and it is endorsed by the political parties because- we, as members of the merger committee, are the agents of our respective political parties. Our respective political parties are still to examine what we have done and come back to make pronouncement on it. So why do you want to ask me questions that are beyond my power?

ThisDay

There Are About 2 million Ghost Workers On FG’s Payroll – Former Civil Service Director

A former director with the Federal Civil Service; Mr Gabriel Omohinmi has revealed that the recent investigation that discovered 45,000 ghost workers in the Federal Government’s payroll is just a drop in the system.
According to him, if a thorough investigation is conducted, “there are about 2-3million ghost workers in the civil service.”
“The audit that revealed the 45,000 ghost workers was only carried out on 251 Ministries and Department and Agencies (MDAs). We still have 321 MDAs that have not yet being touched” stated the former director.
Further explaining the rot in the civil service, Mr Omohinmi stated that the service operates a system whereby relatives of a family pack themselves onto the government’s payroll.
“It is disheartening. In some agencies, you will find a mother, a cousin, a nephew, a son, a daughter, all loaded in the same agency posted to various departments. If you have cause to complain about the person who brought them in, they go home and meet the person and the following morning, queries start flying all about….so you dare not protest.”
He further adds that this network frustrates any iota of activism of union members. “Once they see that you are active, they throw you to Siberia where one cannot operate.”
The former civil servant also revealed that the agency created to take complaints and petitions from workers; SERVICOM is bloated with people that are loyal to the system hence the anomaly is further enshrined without remorse.
“I don’t know how to describe what is happening in the federal service. It is terrible” he affirmed.
Other revelations made by Mr Omohinmi are that there are serving directors in the civil service that are richer than state governors with the kind of allocations they get in terms of property. The leakages are embarrassing”…… “a lot of unspent money is shared amongst themselves at the end of the year.”
He narrates how corruption is persevered in the current civil service by the weeding out of any staff that do not want to cooperate with the corrupt tradition.
OsunDefender

“She complained of severe headache” – Keke Ogungbe speaks on Goldie’s death

Kennis Music, the producers and managers of Goldie Harvey, who reportedly collapsed and died, after she returned from the United States yesterday, have confirmed the news..
In a statement released by Kennis Music, they noted that the entire music industry is still struggling to terms with the shock from Goldie’s death.
Excerpt from the statement:
“On behalf of Kennis Music, I’m sad to officially confirm the shocking and untimely passage of Nigeria‘s pop star, Goldie Harvey. With a deep sense of loss, we announce the shocking death of our darling music star, Goldie Harvey.
Goldie, 31, died on Thursday after she complained of a severe headache at her Park View, Ikoyi, Lagos residence shortly after her arrival from the United States where she went to witness the Grammy Award. She was rushed to her official hospital, Reddington, Victoria Island, Lagos, where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. We consider this period a gloomy moment for us and the entire Nigerian music industry in view of the circumstance Goldie passed away, the abundance of talent she has exhibited in her short but eventful music career and the various opportunities her trip to the United States of America would have availed her.

She is survived by her father, step- mother, brothers and sisters. We deeply sympathise with her family and fans all over the world and very grateful to all and sundry, especially, the vibrant Nigerian media for their concern and prompt reportage. We shall keep everybody informed as events unfold as we are still devastated by the sudden loss.”
Meanwhile, the remains of Goldie, who hails from Ekiti State has been deposited in the mortuary of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos. Goldie represented Nigeria at the Big Brother Star Game in 2012. Her latest effort, she described as three nawti singles from her forthcoming African Invasion album are “Skibo”. “Miliki” and ” Got To Have It,” are presently enjoying heavy rotations on radio and TV stations across the continent. Burial arrangements will be announced by the family. May her soul rest in peace.

Adieu Goldie!!!!
DailyPost

Court to hear Al-Mustapha’s appeal April 29

The Court of Appeal Lagos, on Friday fixed April 29 for hearing of the appeal filed by Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, who was sentenced to death last year for masterminding the murder of late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Al-Mustapha, who was the Chief Security Officer to the late Gen. Sanni Abacha and Lateef Shofolahan, a Personal Assistant to late Abiola, are challenging their conviction by a Lagos High Court on January 30 last year.
The appellate court, presided over by Justice Chima Nweze, fixed the hearing date after counsel representing both convicts had applied for a regularisation of their briefs of argument.
Counsel representing the appellants, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN) and Mr. Olalekan Ojo, had both applied for leave to file their brief of arguments and serve same on the respondent.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the convicts were arraigned sometime in October 1999, on a four-count charge of conspiracy and murder of Abiola on June 4, 1996 on the Ikosi-Ketu Road.
The trial judge, Justice Mojisola Dada had found both appellants guilty of the offence and sentenced them to death by hanging.
However, Daudu and Ojo, counsel to both the first and second appellants respectively, appealed against the conviction 24-hours after the sentence.
In the notice of appeal filed by Ojo, the appellants were contending that the death sentence handed by the lower court was unwarranted, unreasonable and a manifest miscarriage of justice.
The appellants further contended that the trial judge erred in law by arriving at the conclusion that they conspired to kill the late Kudirat on June 4, 1996.
The appellants are therefore praying the Court of Appeal to entertain the appeal, set aside the judgment and discharge them of the charges of conspiracy and murder.
NAN further reports that Al-Mustapha’s appeal was premised on four grounds, while that of his co-convict (Shofolahan) was hinged on five grounds.
They faulted the trial judge’s admissibility of the “contradictory statements” of Barnabas Jabila (aka Sgt. Rogers) and Mohmamed Abdul, and the reliance on the testimony of Dr. Ore Falomo on the bullet extracted from the corpse.
The appellants also faulted the rejection of portions of Jabila’s testimony which they felt favoured them and applying only areas which did not favour them.
NaijaCenter

Are We Goats In Human Skin? By Amene Ter'Hemen

By Amene Ter'Hemen

Some may feel insulted after reading this; to such, my apologies. It is not my intention to insult anyone, but provoke us (if I can) to a more responsible people.
This piece came into life because of something I heard this morning (14 February 2013). A certain individual called in on a phone-in programme on radio and said that in his area in Katsina State Nigeria, there are no Road Safety officers (Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC) as such every road user is on his/her own; drive as you will without regard to any road sign (if any exists) or even road safety regulations. The first question that came to my mind was “are they goats”, but then I realized even where I am, it is the same; ‘it is do as you will when the officials are not there or not looking!' Are we goats? Only goats will disobey even when the disobedience puts them in danger.
As an individual who enjoyed the privilege of growing up in the village, I know a few things about animals, especially the domestic ones. One group of animals that are extremely difficult to control are goats, especially the he-ones; when you think of mischief, they rank first; for destructive tendencies, they are first. Goats are a special kind of animals when it comes to disobedience. When you are standing there and looking at them, they can ‘pretend’ to be the most obedient of all animals but the very second your back is turned on them they will become their normal mischievous and destructive self.
Have we Nigerians gradually become goats? It has become evidently clear that MOST Nigerians will NOT obey even a simple instruction unless there is an enforcer standing by!
I believe a few examples here would suffice:
1.    Vanguard Newspaper reported on 17 July 2012 the ‘arrest’ by the Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola SAN of an army colonel (a law preserver turned law breaker). His offence; using the BRT lane to beat traffic when he thought no higher authority was looking;
2.    Yesterday (13 February 2013), it was in the news the dismissal (and probable prosecution) of three police men (in Niger State, Nigeria) for their role in vandalizing and selling NITEL and PHCN cables (when they thought no one was looking).
I started with these law preserving individuals who turned around to break the law when they thought there was no superior power to call them to order, to show you how difficult it is for a Nigerian to obey the law except there is a law enforcer watching. For a law enforcer to himself break the law when there was no superior enforcer looking says it all.
Other examples:
1.    In Nigeria; a junctions with traffic lights, MUST also have either a police man (or men), Road Safety officers or the like standing to make sure road users obey the lights. If this is not done, the lights will NEVER be obeyed (I have witnessed it several times). I don’t know how true, but I once heard (on radio) that Gov Fashola of Lagos State, Nigeria gave a new cab (as reward for good behaviour) to a taxi driver who obeyed the traffic light at an odd hour in the night when no one was there to arrest him even if he diobeyed the traffic light;
2.    MOST motorists will NEVER use their seat belts until they approach points where they know law officers normally stand to check its use, and the moment that point is passed, the belt goes off;
3.    It’s rare to see motorcycle riders wear helmets except they know Road Safety officers will be out checking the use of helmets (or in some barracks where it is mandatory to wear helmets);
4.    It is a common sight to have people struggling to cross the road right under a pedestrian bridge even when there are bold signs telling them to use the bridge!
Like the goat, I believe most of us Nigerians have developed a penchant for flouting orders. The very thing we know we are not supposed to do is what we want to do, by all means. It is the point carrying the notice “Please, Do Not Urinate Here” that congregates the most number of ‘free-to-air-users’. Why? Have you noticed (if you presently stay in Nigeria), that the points with the sign “Do Not Dump Refuse Here” almost always end up with mountains of refuse? WHY? May be like the goat, disobedience is something we just can't do without! May be the long years of being told to obey, while the ones telling us to obey disobey those same laws have turned us into silent rebels, striving to outdo each other in disobedience?
Do we continue like this and expect that we would have a brand new nation? It can’t happen! We will NEVER have a new nation unless we first CHANGE into new people. We can amend the Constitution every four years without ever having a visible difference in the way the nation is run and in our progress towards a developed status unless we start with a change of attitude. It is not the mere presence of laws that makes an ordered society; it is the obedience to the laws.
It is the citizens that one day become leaders. If as citizens we do not take orders, obey rules and keep laws, is there any wonder the leaders we have today pay little attention to the letters of the constitution and the moral dictates of their offices? It is logical; when they were citizens like we are today, they never made it a point to obey the simple instructions handed to them; so as leaders, they find it difficult to obey even the laws they themselves make.
There is no perfect human, as such there can NEVER be a perfect society; but a society that its players are WILLING to do their bit to make it work better can/should be said to be perfect or walking to perfection. Perfection is not necessarily in the achievement of a flawless status, but the possession of a drive and to be seeing working to achieve that flawless status. We all make mistakes and it would continue to be so as long as we still live in this imperfect and frail human body, but we should be seen striving to become better; except if we want to say the developed and ordered societies are made of beings other than human. They are humans like us; aren't they?
Until EVERY Nigerian (leaders and followers alike) points a finger to his/her chest and say; “I hold the key to make Nigeria better”, we cannot have a better nation. When I say “It is my duty to make Nigeria better” and you say; “But, it is my duty too to make the nation better”, we would have a better nation in no time. It is until EACH of us does his/her bit, a new and beter nation will continue to elude us! So long as we think it is the other person’s responsibility to make Nigeria better, I would advise us to stop fooling around and kiss a better nation good bye. Yes, there are some that MUST be coerced and forced to fall in, that should be an exception rather than the rule. It is true leadership has a part to play, but like I said earlier, it is the citizen today that becomes the leader tomorrow; a bad citizen will ultimately make a bad leader; whereas a good citizen may eventually make a good leader. Each right action you and I take moves the nation forward; each and every wrong step stagnates the nation or throws us backwards.
A new Nigeria is POSSIBLE; but it MUST start with me and then you.
Saharareporters

"How My Dad Was Murdered" - Chief Onimole's Daughter

Chief Kayode Adesina Onimole, the Lagos white-cap chief, was murdered in his home on Thursday last week. Princess Adedolapo Onimole Akinola, his first child, fights back tears as she recounts how her dad, 73, was murdered in his bedroom in the wee hours of that day.

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"We weren't living with my dad. He lived with our mother and my own children. On that day, my cousin, Damola, and my sister's child were with him and our mother at home. According to Damola, the assassins arrived about 3am and broke into the house. Some of them made straight for our dad's bedroom and tried to force it open. Immediately our dad noticed that someone was forcefully opening his bedroom door, he made frantic attempts to flee. As he dashed out, the assailants confronted him and held him down.
"Two of the assailants had already seized our cousin in his room and were demanding for money, even after collecting his phones. While the two men were harassing him, Damola said a gunshot rang out, followed by our dad's faint cry for help. He said he could not rush out to assist our dad since the two men still held him. He kept telling them he didn't have money to give them.
"After finishing their assignment, Damola said they quickly bolted after locking all of them inside the house. He said immediately they fled, he rushed out of his room to find out what was amiss. But soon he heard the assailants' footsteps again rushing back to the house.
"But before they could again force the entrance door open, he said he quickly jumped over our dad, who was lying helplessly on the floor, and dashed to the toilet where he hid himself. He said at that point, he heard one of them saying: 'This boy has escaped ooo! Let us flee on time.' And that was when they finally left.
"According to Damola, the assailants couldn't have been robbers because they didn't ask dad for money. They actually came to kill him."
Tears rolling down her checks, Akinola manages to recall the last moment she shared with her father.
"I spoke with him two days before he was killed. I didn't notice anything about him being upset with anything or anybody. He was a very decent man. He didn't fight over anything. He was a Christian, though a traditional chief. He was such a good man – honest and straightforward, a very plain fellow.
"He did't compromise his honesty and was not deceptive in any manner. Most people in the community, the church and beyond knew him as a very honest man. He never struggled with anybody for anything, be it land or chieftaincy title. He never dragged any issues with anyone, as he was a gentleman to the core. He was 73."
Amid tears, she speaks about how her father was made the Onimole of Lagos, a white-cap chief.
"As the Onimole of Lagos, my father was one of the Ogaalades – a council chief of Oba Rilwanu Akinolu.
"He had his own class; he belonged to the white-cap category. My father didn't have any grudge against anybody that I knew of."
She also speaks about how her mother, Queen Matilda Kehinde Onimole, had been reacting to the development.
"My parents were one. They were just one soul in two bodies. But since the incident happened, she had placed her hope in God. And God has been taking control of everything because He always takes control of things.
"My dad was very caring of us. He was also very friendly and open. There was nothing he did or that anyone did to him that we didn't know about because he always told us things; he always carried us along. We have only one male among us his children; he is Okanlawon Onimole."
"My dad always told us whatever anyone did to him. Even if you gave him money or offended him, he always told us about it. We do not suspect anybody regarding his murder because he didn't tell us he had a rift or any unsettled matter with anyone. We are leaving everything to God.
"We want God to take control of things. He had been the Onimole of Lagos for about 11 years now and everyone around loved his reign. His other colleagues in the Oba's council are feeling terrible about the development because it was sudden and tragic.
"My father was pillar in Yorubaland. We will all miss him because he was a hero, not only to us his children and his colleagues in the palace but to everyone around. I thank God for the kind of life he lived. I don't believe he has died; I believe God has taken his soul away but he is still with us. That we know because we love him so much and we will never forget him because he did a lot for us."
Naij.com

Why I Launched My Foundation In London – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said in Benin on Thursday justified why he launched  his foundation in London – so that the 54 African countries would have access to its progammes and activities.

Obasanjo made the remark when he visited the Governor of Edo State, Mr Adams Ohiomhole, adding that another reason was to enable the foundation “to tap resources from outside Africa to be able to do good to Africa’’.

The former Nigerian leader commended Oshiomhole for being part of the launch of his Foundation in London.

Obasanjo used the opportunity to explain why he opted for a private sector driven economy during tenure as president.

He said, “ When I was Head of State and I saw that there was no way to manage Nigerian economy except by indigenisation and we went for indigenisation.

“But the truth is that indigenisation did not succeed the way we wanted.

“I became an apostle of genuine private sector-driven market economy.”

Obasanjo said that when God gave him a second chance to become president, he drew from his past experience.

“I hope the governor is learning the lessons I have learnt so that this state, I can see the signs, which was run down, is now being run up.”

Obasanjo said  Oshiomhole had started facing reality and commended  him for turning things around in Edo.

Obasanjo also told newsmen that his administration was able to tackle corruption internally and externally to the satisfaction of  some people and disenchantment of others.

“Some people do all sorts of things but the point is that when you have a problem and you attempt to cover it, you are not solving the problem. If anything, you are complicating the problem,’’ he said.

On security, Obasanjo said “even security, I have talked about it, (but) I have been called names.

TalkOfNaija