Ojukwu would have joined APC — Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha, the host of the rally, spoke to select newspapers on why he dumped PDP, APGA leadership crisis, why he chose to join APC and the prospects of the mega party in the South-East zone. The Nation was there.

At the beginning, when the APC was to be formed, there was the fear among some South-East leaders that the interest of the zone may not be fully protected in the new party. What is the merger deal and why are you so sure Ndigbo would be better secured politically under APC?

The APC in the South-East is a done deal. I said so because the South-East has not had it good in PDP. The South-East is looking for a political party that will have a say as to what happens at the national level. Today, the South-East has no say at all as to what happens at the national PDP, because any time in any political party or setting, a particular zone does not produce the president, the vice president, the speaker, the senate president, and is not the chairman of the ruling party, then any other thing you’re talking about does not give them any good representation.

But for the South-East, they’re better off in APC. APC came as a result of failure of PDP. There wouldn’t have been any APC if PDP was doing well as a party. So, Nigerians are yearning for a change, something that can provide them an alternative hope due to the failure of PDP, especially in the South-East. If you look at the history of South-East since the inception of PDP, there is nothing to show as a PDP zone, nothing, absolutely nothing.

Today, the issue of the Niger Bridge is still a political discourse. The road from Enugu to Port Harcourt, a very simple thing to do, is still an issue of politics. So, the South-East is worst off with PDP, and APC is indeed their best alternative, their very best alternative. And I can assure you that every South-Easterner, majority of people in the South-East will be in APC, except for those who have made politics a business, and who have always enjoyed the patronage of PDP. Such people may still be found hanging around PDP. But in the real sense, the ordinary person in the states of South-East will be in APC.

Talking about the issue of APGA, it has been… APGA to me is not a political party. APGA is just like a cultural thing for Ndigbo; it’s not really a political party. You cannot say that APGA controls the South-East, no! South-East is being controlled by PDP. So, this notion that APGA is a South-East party does not really arise. It’s only with my emergence as a governor now that we began to give APGA that sense of an Igbo party thing.

If you look at it critically, you’ll agree with me that APGA is still a minority even in the South-East. People are comparing APGA with ACN that controls the South-West; that’s called a regional party. A party becomes regional when it is in total control of the region where it operates. I was in PDP. I didn’t come under PDP because I know their failure of internal democracy would not guaranty me a free and fair election on primaries.

But for us, APGA is like an identity for Ndigbo. It’s like a way of life, so it’s not a bad thing. It is rather a thing that belongs to us, that’s why I say to people that every Igbo man in any other political party is in APGA; every PDP member is an APGA man; every APC member is an APGA man. APGA is not therefore a party per se, but it’s like a fallback thing for Ndigbo, assuming politics is not played the way it ought to be played nationally.

But for now, we should not allow ourselves to miss this opportunity, where you have the South-West that has the control of their zone giving up their identity of ACN; CPC giving up their identity; ANPP giving up theirs in a merger, not in a coalition, not in an alliance to form a brand new party to challenge PDP, and APGA will say it will not join, what will you be after the merger? You become so inconsequential that you either have to go and chose with PDP.

The question remains all these our marriage and alliance with PDP, how have we faired? There is nothing APGA can show for their support for PDP in the last election, absolutely nothing. I will not deceive Ndigbo. For me, I’m not ready to deceive Igbos; I must take them to the right place.

We must have a party that cuts across the length and breadth of the entire nation. Why will I be in a party that I cannot have a say in what happens in the North or South-West or South-South simply because I find myself in the South-East?

I want to go to Maiduguri and see my party members receiving me in their local angle, go to my place, the same thing applicable. I don’t want to be a 100% shareholder of a N1000 business. I’m the Chief Executive of N1000 company. I want to be a one percent shareholder of $1 billion business, even if I’m just an ordinary member. So, we’re looking at the bigger picture for our people. I hate to sound like a sectional or tribal leader, because having being born in the North, having being an Igbo man brought up in the North, and having being empowered by the West, Nigeria remains my constituency. So, I’m looking at the bigger picture.

There is this fear that APC is a party owned by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Will it be healthy to give up everything and join such a party?

ACN could be described by critics as Tinubu’s party but not APC at all. Some people have also said it is Buhari’s party; it’s not anybody’s party; it’s a Nigerian party. APC is a Nigerian party, and to what advantage will Tinubu make out of it? What advantage will Buhari make out of it? How are you sure they’re even running for the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? If they do, they’re Nigerians.

Does APGA still exist?

The party exists with Victor Umeh as the National Chairman. The party cannot just fold its maps and join the APC because we still have issues in court, but I’m optimistic that once these matters are all over, we will come to the round table, discuss about the full merger with other parties. I don’t think APGA will like to be a very tiny party in Nigeria that cannot even guaranty itself a state, and it is not ready for that. But because of the issue in court, and that is why I think that it is not proper for APGA to submit their certificate now. Since I’m there already as the APGA APC, that is good enough.

So can you conveniently say Imo is now an APGA state?

Imo is an APGA state until the merger is consummated. Once the merger is consummated, then we’ll be in the APGA APC as far as this state is concerned.

I also know we are not in disagreement with the national leadership of APGA. Umeh remains the chairman of APGA as far I am concerned, but I am saying that there is a better picture for us that will benefit our people and you will see that the moment we conclude this court case.

But some are alleged to have been planted by the Presidency to ensure APGA becomes an annex of the PDP…

For PDP, they want to annex APGA, really really, but I can’t be annexed by the PDP. So, I’m telling you that in the last election, there was what is called alliance with the PDP for presidential election. We did, especially in my state, it was people like us that guaranteed victory for PDP in the presidential election. It wasn’t the PDP governorship candidate then, no. It was people like us that had the magic that brought about that victory. We’re saying that we need a better thing; this is all about politics really.

When you said that APGA is the minority in the South-East, controlling two states, the PDP see it the other way round; they see those two states as very strategic…

When you talk about APGA as a party, it is a minority party. But if you ask APGA as an Igbo thing, then I’ll tell you that everybody is APGA. I think I made that point clear. So, there is different APGA, when you bring the term APGA. Let me shock you that if Ojukwu is alive, he would have been the first person to join this merger, because if you remember his relationship with Buhari and the rest of them at the time of ANPP, Ojukwu was the chairman of Board of Trustees of ANPP. So, he would have been glad to join this. I’m sure he wouldn’t have joined the PDP. I think we’re doing what Ojukwu would have done if he is alive today.

In 1998 you were denied the ticket, do you have any regret that if you were allowed then you would done better?

If I say I have regrets, I would be questioning my creator and I don’t want to do that. But there is nothing now in this my head that I didnt know as at that time. I have been consistent with my policies. If you remember as far back as 1998, I have been talking about Rochanomic; Rochas’ economic theory. The four tier system of government is there, decentralization was there. I had all these things lined up. So, there’s nothing that I am doing now that I wouldn’t have done then. That is why when I came into government, it did not take me one hour to key in, in fact I stated working on the 28th of May before my swearing-in. And since that day, there has not been a one hour break. Because I knew what to do from the onset. So I am not in this to learn. If not how could I have come up with a thousand projects in two years. It is unprecedented in the history of mankind.

The truth is that what this government has done within this period has not been done in the history of Imo State in the past 30 years. What is happening here can only be the handwork of God.

Some of us are not in this business to look for money. We want to use what we have to give to the system. Then, when I wanted to be governor they refused me so I went and picked a party, APGA, and won the election. If I had run under PDP one million times and the whole people wanted me, I would have lost.

PDP has this characters that do not produce for Nigeria the much needed leaders but politicians who are not thinking of the next generation but the next election, that is my grouse with the PDP.

The only election I won before this one was when PDP had no hand in it, when Abacha conducted the elections for constitutional conference. PDP has this kind of trend that if you are independent minded or have a mind of your own, then PDP will not allow you to have political power. Unless they feel you are a dummy that could be controlled and that is not what will bring progress. Until they change from that, they cannot move this nation forward.

If your mother had been alive, would be doing things the same way you are doing it?

Oh my God! Today when somebody mentioned that, I wept. If my mother had been there, that would have been a different story because she was indeed an inspiration but all the same, for whatever she is not there for, my wife quickly jumped into the shoes, providing motherly care and encouragement because sometimes it is not easy to run a government, sometimes you get pissed off by people’s attitudes, at times you feel like taking a walk out of the whole system. You ask yourself what is even there for you but somebody is there to pat your back and say listen, ‘you are on a divine mission.’

Will you seek reelection in 2015 or are going to …?

2015! I tell you, I have not decided. But I’ll soon make a decision, but definitely, I will run for an election.

Was there a pact that you will do one term?

No, there was never a pact. But it has always been my desire to serve in Imo State for one term, even now, I desire to do a term. But that is where I need help and prayers because here, I might take a risk of being lynched if I say I am not going to continue, unless I do something to make them hate me, but now it would be difficult to get out of that entanglement.

And again remember, I have always run for president and it has always been my desire to be the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to give that which is inside me which would bring about the development of the country. So, these things are conflicting at the moment so I would simply wait and see.

TheNation

Buhari: Jonathan lacks capacity to end insecurity

 by: Gbenga Omokhunu and Kolade Adeyemi 

• Change is rallying cry as CPC, ANPP dissolve into APC

The National Leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari, declared yesterday that President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the security challenges in the country has shown that his government lacked the capacity to deal with the crisis.

The violence, the former military leader said, is pushing the country towards anarchy hence the need for well meaning Nigerians to step in immediately with a view to saving the country from going under.

Buhari who was the Presidential candidate of the CPC in the 2011 elections, spoke at the party’s national convention in Abuja to ratify the planned fusion of the CPC, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) into All Progressive Congress (APC).

He said, “Anarchy is knocking on the door of many sections of this country and the Federal Government has not demonstrated that it has the good sense to understand what is going on, or the competence to check it.”

“The nation is hopelessly adrift. But, if we are to survive, this vicious circle of violence that has engulfed this nation must be brought to an end; and we implore the National Assembly to take the lead in this quest for peace.

“The government has failed in almost everything. It has proved unable to secure the nation’s internal environment: there is widespread and rising poverty and unemployment across the length and breadth of the country. There is spiralling lawlessness all over the country. There is a complete and total decline in the quality of social services and an irremediable dilapidation in the nation’s socio-economic infrastructure across board.”

He said the patience of Nigerians and the constituent parts has been severely tried and stretched to its limits and citizens now owe it a duty to salvage the situation.

On the planned merger of the parties, he said: “Many political analysts have long stated that the only way to stabilise the country is for opposition parties to merge and oust the ruling PDP.

“This is a historic moment when several different political parties have resolved to come together to change Nigeria for the better and stop the mindless drift that has been going on for the last 14years. We must understand and accept that we are here gathered to make history or forever stand accused and condemned by it.”

Buhari emphasised that the only way to stabilise Nigeria is for the opposition parties to merge and oust the ruling PDP.

The parties in the merger are coming in as equals, he said, and have resolved that henceforth all votes must count.

The National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, who also addressed the convention, spoke of APC’s determination to save the country from PDP’s poor governance.

He said: “We are, however, not unaware of the huge challenges we would face in this endeavour, and the series of minefields we are to cross in our common resolve to rescue this country from total collapse. It is against this backdrop, that we are gathered here today as we did in Lagos to fulfil one of the requirements under the law to actualise our coming together under a single political platform – All Progressives Congress (APC).

“We have heard the Macedonian call of our people and we have set sail on an irreversible course to contest and assume power at the centre. Our undying quest to refocus and, possibly, to re-fix this massively endowed but hugely debased country has made us to set aside our individual interests for a larger national one. For every PDP’s years of the locust, we are offering, in exchange, a new regime of prosperity, fiscal discipline, security and a more emancipated society.

“For about a decade and a half, since the People’s Democratic Party came to power, the development of this country has been arrested and almost stalled. Their strange institutionalised style of governance has engendered a general sense of hopelessness, despondency and inertia among the citizenry.

“In just the same way as the entire democratic space has been fouled with fraud, leadership failure and high level insecurity, our social and economic management has been constricted through unbridled corruption and widespread poverty in the face of enhanced revenue earnings to such an extent that the strata of the Nigerian society too has been engulfed in mutual suspicion and fractured with national disunity.

“This coalition of progressively minded leaders represents a major shift in Nigeria’s political paradigm. As leaders, and indeed, as political parties, we are convinced, beyond any shadow of doubts, that Nigerians deserve a better country.”

Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State was optimistic that APC would defeat PDP in 2015 and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to shun bias in considering the application of APC for registration.

His Ogun State counterpart, Ibikunle Amosun, spoke along the same line, saying INEC should be just in handling the APC application, while Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo asked for the support of the generality of Nigerians for the party.

The running mate to General Buhari in the 2011 Presidential Election, Pastor Tunde Bakare, warned the government against any attempt to truncate the current democratic dispensation in the country as the APC is ready to defeat the PDP in 2015.

Bakare moved the motion for CPC to dissolve and merge with three other opposition parties to form APC. The National Legal Adviser, Abubakar Malami, seconded the motion while Alhaji Yahaya Sule Hamman moved the motion urging the convention to adopt a resolution to approve the merger agreements.

The motions were approved.

At the Gusau convention of the ANPP it was shouts of ‘Change’ as the 6054 delegates mandated the party leadership to go ahead with the plan to fuse into the APC.

The ANPP National Chairman, Chief Ogbonanya Onu, said it was time for the ruling PDP to start preparation to go into opposition in 2015.

Like Gen. Buhari, he also deplored the present socio-economic situation in the country.

His words: “As I look around I do not like what I see. The signs are troubling, the situation on ground is worrisome, light and darkness have no meeting points, poverty has crippled the country, and high rate of unemployment, the ruling party has plunged the masses into high rate of insecurity.

“For 15 years Nigeria has not known peace and we are not at war as innocent citizens are being killed day and night as justice has become a scarce commodity.”

He said despite Nigeria’s abundant resources, the people have remained poor.

Promises are made and yet the same promises are broken thing, he said, adding that the situation has degenerated to this level because “we allow a dominant one party system in the political system, as monopoly in politics is completely unacceptable. It increases decay, scuttles competition, strangulates innovation and weakens creativity.”

Onu said the merger has come to strengthen the unity of the country so that different ethnic and religious groups can come together and salvage the country.

The Chairman of the organising committee and the host governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, said the coming together of the CPC, ACN, and ANPP is to end the dictatorship at the centre.

At the convention were the Presidential candidate of ACN in 2011, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun).

Chief Fani-Kayode in a statement on the merger said it “provides hope for Nigeria and it represents the only vehicle and platform that can deliver our nation from the hands of the PDP and the Jonathan administration.”

He added: “I salute those that have found the courage to stand up against the tyranny, blackmail, pettiness and incompetence of the Jonathan administration and I, together with millions of others, stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their quest to restore and resurrect the fortunes of our country. The various resolutions to merge into one new party is a first step in the right direction.”

TheNation

2015: Buhari woos IBB, Gusau

By ADE ALADE

The desire of northern leaders to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from retaining his seat after the 2015 election has received a boost with the acceptance of a former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, to bury his differences with his then successor in office, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) and form a formidable alliance that will give victory to the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) at the next polls.

The relationship between Buhari and Babangida has not been cordial since the latter overthrew the regime of the former in a bloodless military coup in 1983.

To achieve reconciliation with Babangida and other northern leaders in his camp, like former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Mohammed Aliyu Gusau, Saturday Sun gathered that Buhari has set up an eight-man high-powered committee “that will not only work on smoothening the relationship between him (Buhari) and a section of the northern elite but also seek their support for his nomination as APC presidential candidate and at the election proper.”

Speaking at a public lecture in Minna, Niger State on Wednesday last week, Gen. Buhari had expressed his preparedness to contest the 2015 election and also his willingness to step down for a better candidate that may emerge from APC. Many believed that the former Head of State was referring to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who is being backed for the top job by a group of northern leaders led by Gen. Babangida.

Buhari had declared: “Whoever thinks he has got a chance, let him come out because the more we are, the merrier it becomes. I will be ready to step down if there is a formidable and better candidate. It is not about me but for the survival of the party. APC is about ensuring internal democracy, whoever emerges is the person I will support. Yes, I will be ready to step down,” Buhari had declared in a veiled reference to the ambition of Tambuwal to contest the next presidential election on the platform of APC.

Investigations, however, revealed that Buhari’s public declaration notwithstanding, he has, of late, intensified efforts to reach out to a number of northern leaders, who have, in the past, refused to support his presidential ambition due to some personal and ideological differences.

To make this possible, an eight-member committee had been set up to drive the process. A member of the committee, who would not want to be named because of the strategic nature of their assignment, revealed: “As a result of the work already done so far in this regard, a comfortable number of ACF (Arewa Consultative Forum) leaders are now ready to back Buhari while the next critical stage is to get the IBB camp to work on the same page with us to see Buhari through the next contest.”

When asked the details of how to get Babangida to support a Buhari presidential campaign, the source said: “The contact committee is working hard on bringing the two former heads of state together so that some impressions can be cleared and settled. This won’t be difficult. Remember former Abia State governor, Orji Kalu, had brought the two of them together before. What we need now is to build on such past efforts by first taking Buhari’s message to IBB, Gusau and others.”

Asked about the type of message Buhari is sending the contact team to these northern leaders, the source said: “The message is simple and not only for IBB but for some other Nigerians that have a mindset about Gen. Buhari’s candidacy. Nigerians need to know that Buhari has come of age. Time has changed and as such cannot be the dictatorial leader some people perceive him to be. He wants the people to know that in this democratic dispensation, he can’t do some of the things he did under the military decree, which some still count against him.  He said the wishes of the majority of CPC members that have been allowed to prevail in the party’s primary elections in Kano and Katsina recently should prove to the people that he is a totally changed person when it comes to allowing the wishes of the majority. He also wants the people to know that he is not going to chase anybody out of Nigeria as has been speculated in the past.

“Another message he has mandated us to take round, especially to those we will be reaching out to in the South of the country, is that he is not the religious bigot some people believe he is. He said his choice of a radical Pentecostal pastor (Tunde Bakare) as his running mate in the 2011 presidential election should be enough to convince those that still doubt his stand on religious tolerance.”

The contact committee member argued that the interest of Tambuwal in the APC presidential ticket is not much of a threat to Buhari because the former Head of State “believes he has all it takes to get the new party victory in the next election,” adding: “This is without prejudice to his public promise that he is ready to make the needed sacrifice if there is any better candidate in the party fold.”

It was further gathered that after the last convention of the CPC in Abuja today, activities of the contact committee will be intensified and become a little visible, while Buhari’s message of reconciliation and new improved personality will be amplified at the convention.

“Starting from the CPC’s last convention in Abuja on Saturday (today), we will start amplifying publicly some of these messages we have been taking round to our leaders and our people on the need to drop some of the old negative impressions about Buhari so that the latest effort to close ranks and chase out the PDP in 2015 will achieve the desired impact,” the source added.

When Saturday Sun contacted one of the national officers of the ACF to confirm the claim of the committee, the forum’s National Vice Chairman, Senator Joseph Kennedy Waku, said he has only been briefed about the Buhari’s moves but yet to be personally contacted.

According to him, “I have been in the US for some weeks now; nobody has contacted me personally, but I can’t deny that I am aware that some of our leaders are working hard to close ranks, bury their individual differences and collectively bring an end to the PDP misrule in Nigeria. I must add that I personally appreciate Buhari’s humility in the latest effort and I say it’s a welcome development.”

He added: “Whatever we can do in form of personal and collective sacrifice is what we are ready to do as northern leaders with the support of other compatriots across the country to end the current impunity, insecurity and senseless looting of our commonwealth going on in our nation.”

TheSun

An Open Letter To Gen. Muhammadu Buhari

By: Abubakar Alkali

Sir, I salute your commitment, steadfastness and resilience in your efforts spanning over 30 years to bring about good leadership and by implication a desirable change in Nigeria. It could be said without any reservations that you are the shining star of Nigeria’s latest adventure as a democracy since 1999. My dear general, you stood out as the last man standing against corruption in Nigeria. Indeed you are an inspiration to me and all progressive youths in this great country Nigeria.

As one of your political adherents and a firm believer in your political philosophy, your recent remarks regarding your candidacy in the upcoming 2015 general elections aroused my curiosity and prompted me to write this open letter to you. At the maiden edition of the Sam Nda Isaiah lecture series in Minna in an answer to a question from a journalist, you were quoted to have said that you will be ready to step down if a better candidate emerges within the All progressive congress (APC), the yet to be registered coalition of political parties. Indeed this is a very smart answer to the question even if to bring home the point that Gen Buhari doesn’t regard the presidency as the beginning and the end of the world. That question is very instructive and it may have been yet another unsuccessful decoy by the PDP to score some cheap political points and discredit your well established political profile. The answer that your political adversaries in the PDP wanted was for you to insist publicly that you MUST contest and be president. Then they (the PDP and its agents) will go to town and tell everyone that cares to listen that Gen Buhari is a do-or-die politician. That infamous and sinister political game plan that is the hallmark of former president Obasanjo and the PDP. In the run up to the 2015 elections where you will be contesting and winning Insha Allah, the PDP is ready to use everything in order to stop you because it has long been established that the only candidate that stands between the PDP and the presidency in 2015 is Gen Buhari.

Indeed Nigerians are tired of being tired of the contraption of political beneficiaries called PDP (Papa – Deceive- Pikin) – (Shegiyar Uwa) and all Nigerians are hungry for a desirable change and cannot wait to see Gen Buhari sworn in as president on 29^th May 2015 to restore the Nigerian dream, fight corruption and poverty to a standstill and ensure fair distribution of the country’s enormous resources. The PDP has established a culture in Nigeria whereby the enormous resources are concentrated in the hands of a select few who constitute just about 1% of our population while the rest 99% swim in abject poverty, hunger and deprivation. Gen Buhari will change all that and ensure that democracy serves the people and democracy is not used by those in government to enrich themselves as is the case under PDP. Asari Dokubo earns N1.44 billion monthly from a phony contract to oversee ‘security’ in Nigeria’s waters while 86% of Nigerians live on less than one dollar per day. Asari Dokubo should be in jail but under the culture of chop-i- chop PDP politics, this rag tag political thug and economic terrorist cum militant has the audacity to insult Nigerians and threaten to make Nigeria ungovernable if his paymaster president Jonathan is not returned in 2015. Asari Dokubo is no different from an armed robber because he carries gun to make money yet he is a prominent member of the Jonathan cabinet. Asari Dokubo has the courage to insult Nigerians because he is sitting on blood money. Asari even added that the Northern Oligarchy is trying to smuggle Gen Buhari into the presidency in 2015. The import of Asari Dokubo’s statement lies in his reference to Gen Buhari. Asari Dokubo is scared stiff of a Buhari presidency because he thinks Buhari will probe the socalled ‘security’ contract that he and his fellow militants and political thugs are making ridiculous amount of money from and which they share with their masters. Asari and his co travellers should know that the incoming APC government in 2015 has no choice than to probe this security contract that President Jonathan awarded to Asari and Co. Asari Dokubo takes N1.44 billion per month, Government Tompolo takes N3.5 billion per month, Ateke Tom takes N2.5 billion per month. Who are they taking their returns to? Who is the pay master? Nigerians need to know who is involved in this contract, who gets what, when and how? Asari Dokubo and all PDP riggers should note that all Nigerian youths are saying is that if the PDP rigs the 2015 presidential elections, the projection by the U.S that Nigeria will cease to exist in 2015 will come to pass.

Plot to stop Gen Buhari from contesting in 2015

Much as we know that you gave the right answer to that PDP-sponsored question, some of us your ardent supporters had our stomach turn when you mention the word ‘STEP DOWN. This is moreso when juxtaposed with the fact that to my knowledge, this is the first time that Gen Buhari is using the word ‘STEP DOWN. In the other previous cases where the PDP has sponsored this type of question to Gen Buhari, he simply says ‘Let’s allow the people to decide because this is democracy. It is no longer news that the PDP has voted billions of Naira to stop Gen Buhari from contesting the 2015 elections. What is news is that the PDP is inducing some prominent leaders of the APC with money and promises of juicy appointments to prevail on them to stop Gen Buhari from contesting in 2015. Quite unfortunately, there are leaders of the Action congress of Nigeria (ACN) that are being used by the PDP to stop Gen Buhari. There is now a big project sponsored by the PDP tagged ‘STOP BUHARI FROM CONTESTING IN 2015 AT ALL COSTS’. If the APC stops Gen Buhari from contesting in 2015, then they should forget the block votes from the North and by implication, the presidency. Then the APC will only make an impact in the south west states and the whole efforts will only turn to change of name from ACN and the APC will continue another round of opposition politics. All this will definitely happen if the APC excludes Gen Buhari from contesting the 2015 general elections. Anybody who is working to stop Gen Buhari from contesting the 2015 presidential elections is in effect giving a straight jacket victory to the PDP.

For those who feel that Gen Buhari can anoint a candidate, that option will just be giving the PDP victory on a platter of gold because it is too late to present another less popular candidate with less than 2 years before the elections. Any new candidate cannot galvanise the required political support within 2 years to beat the PDP. There are even reports that the PDP sponsored a top leader in the ACN who led a delegation of ACN leaders and met Gen Buhari and tried in vain to persuade him to drop his 2015 presidential ambitions. The insinuation within the APC is that the ACN is using its position as the largest party in the coalition to ally with the PDP to stop Gen Buhari from contesting in 2015. Although the ACN is the largest party in terms of number of states it controls, actually the largest factor in the APC is Gen Buhari. Gen Buhari is the soul of the mega party the APC and it is his struggles and determination against the PDP since 1999 that brought up the sentiments on the need to form the APC in the first place. It was Buhari’s 14 years of hard work that exposed the destructive tendencies of the PDP for all Nigerians to see. The PDP is indeed scared stiff of Buharimania which is the new political philosophy that is the nemesis of the PDP and will surely get the PDP out of circulation in 2015. If indeed the ACN is serious with this merger as we all believe, now is the time for the ACN to come out and publicly announce its support for Gen Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate of the APC. There is no more time to waste; the ACN should start selling Gen Buhari to its supporters in the south west.

To beat the PDP, the ACN has to avoid a repeat of the 2011 elections when the ACN secured all its seats in the south west ODUA states at the state, local government and ward levels BUT voted for PDP at the presidential elections. The ACN abandoned even its own presidential candidate Nuhu Ribadu and voted for President Jonathan in 2011. The ACN should immediately start spreading Buharimania in all ODUA states and beyond. The North is already secured by the CPC and ANPP for Gen Buhari. Buharimania is the political hurricane that will sweep across Nigeria like wild fire in the 2015 elections.

Sir, I am sure that you will understand my apprehensions about the word ‘STEP DOWN’ as you will for that lady in Kaduna who was in labour on the day of the last presidential elections in 2011 but summoned courage to ask her midwife for permission to enable her go to the polling booth and cast her vote for Gen Buhari. That lady by the will of Allah (s.w.a) delivered a bouncing baby boy whom she affectionately named Buhari (after you). Dear general you will easily recall speaking on phone with that lady to congratulate her on her safe delivery after obtaining permission from her husband. Although that child is just about 2 years old, Baby Buhari is looking forward to his invite from you after 29^th may 2015 as Mr president Insha Allah to come to Aso rock with his parents and congratulate you and the new first lady. That child and many more like him want to see you not only on the ballot in the 2015 general elections but also want to witness your swearing in at that well attended ceremony on 29^th may 2015 at the Eagle square when president Jonathan will hand over to Gen Buhari and relocate to his Otuoke country home. Stopping Gen Buhari from contesting by the APC for any reason will mean disenfranchising the almost 15,000,000.00 voters who voted for him in the last presidential elections in 2011. And remember none of these voters collected a kobo for his/her votes. The PDP uses state funds to rig elections in Nigeria. It was alleged that about N1.5 trillion of Nigeria’s cash was used by the Jonathan administration to rig the 2011 elections.

With all the billions they spent and the effective use of their rigging machine, the PDP was only able to garner a little over 20,000,000 votes in the 2011 presidential elections. These genuine voters who voted for Buhari in 2011 are still singing their slogan ‘Nigeria sai mai gaskiya’ and ready to come out enmasse and vote again for Gen Buhari.  The army of supporters of Gen Buhari know very well that as a deserving general who led his troops to victory during the civil war in 1966, Gen Buhari will not abandon his troops this time round and will lead all of us to victory again in 2015 to save Nigeria as he did during the civil war. The PDP is hell bent on breaking up Nigeria and we must all stand up to defend our country and ensure that Nigeria remains one corporate indivisible entity. Several analysts believe and rightly too that Nigeria is too big for President Jonathan to handle. The high level of insecurity and corruption in the last 2 years has given credence to this school of thought. President Jonathan himself has also admitted that he cannot transform Nigeria. So what is he doing in Aso rock?

Gen Buhari as the right presidential candidate for the APC

Gen Buhari is the best candidate to soundly and squarely beat the PDP in 2015. The strongest political asset of the APC is Gen Buhari’s political value and support base which spans across the length and breadth of Nigeria. At the last presidential elections in 2011. Gen Buhari as the CPC flag bearer beat the PDP in 12 of the 19 states in the North (that is 2 of the 3 political zones in the north). In the elections, Gen Buhari scored a total of 11,914,953 votes fair and square while President Jonathan scored 22,350,242 votes. In the 2003 presidential elections which Gen Buhari contested under the ANPP, he scored a total of 12, 216, 171 (32.82% of the votes cast) votes to PDP’s 22, 809, 446 (61.27%). And remember that none of these voters who voted for Buhari received even a dime for his/her votes while almost all of the PDP votes were either bought or rigged.

Gen Buhari defeated President Jonathan in Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara. So Buhari’s electoral value makes it easy to beat the PDP in 2015 because these votes and even more are there ready for him if he contests in 2015. The political arithmetic clearly points to victory for the APC in 2015 if it presents Gen Buhari as its candidate. The calculation is very clear: Buhari will deliver at least 15 states in the North (3 more from the 12 he won in 2011), the ACN will deliver 7 states in the south west and Edo which will give the APC 22 states in total. Apart from defeating the PDP in 22 states for sure, the APC will certainly gain 25% in few other states.

The PDP can only claim votes in the south south and south east geopolitical zones. That means Buhari will deliver 2 and a half geopolitical zones, the North West and the North East and part of the North central. The ACN will deliver the south west and add up with Edo state. With Buhari as its candidate, the APC will garner the required 25% of the votes cast in at least 2 third (24 states) of all the states of the Nigeria including the federal capital territory Abuja to win the presidency. Section 134 (1) (b) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria was clear on this requirement and states that ‘A candidate for the office of the President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election, has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the states in the federation and the federal capital territory, Abuja.

Gen Buhari’s political value transcends that of any politician today in Nigeria. He is one man terminator squad that has stood against the PDP for 14 years. Many politicians who claim to be leaders of the APC today have collected either cash or contracts or both from the PDP but not Gen Buhari. After the 2003 elections which Gen Buhari is widely believed to have won, former president Obasanjo had sent a delegation to Gen Buhari to persuade him to forward names of ministerial nominees but Gen Buhari told them that he is not in politics to make money or for appointments. The APC has to bear in mind that money cannot defeat the PDP in 2015. The PDP has access to the nation’s treasury and can out money anybody. What can beat the PDP is a candidate who can get the votes without having to pay for them. That candidate is Gen Buhari. Gen Buhari will institute discipline in the Nigerian system because Nigeria needs a paradigm shift. This man will institute the rule of law and make everyone alive to our responsibilities and we all know that the level of corruption without borders going on in Nigeria today under President Jonathan is because there is no deterrent. There is no leader to provide an example for everyone to follow. People turn to corruption because there is no price to pay and even the leaders at the very top are also corrupt.

Gen Buhari: Man above board

Gen Buhari is one man who has lived above board. People freely call him and deservedly too, THE INCORRUPTIBLE. Gen Buhari has held virtually every juicy position in Nigeria at the very top but till today even his worst enemies couldn’t pinpoint even one kobo against him. Nobody has yet come out to accuse Buhari of taking even a kobo that doesn’t belong to him. Buhari was head of state, minister of petroleum resources, governor of Borno state and more recently, the chair of the petroleum trust fund (PTF) which was then the cash pot of the nation. However, there has not been even an allegation of Buhari taking even a dime that is not his. This is remarkable. The Moto of Gen Buhari which he stated was that anything that doesn’t belong to him, he doesn’t need it. This is the man to lead us in the fight against corruption and clear the Aegean stable of corruption created by the PDP in Nigeria. Jonathan is sitting pretty as president while corruption without borders takes over every fabric of Nigeria. PDP has unofficially inserted corruption as a provision of the Nigerian constitution. The fuel subsidy scam involving sons of ex and serving PDP chairmen is a PDP creation to loot the treasury, the Halliburton scam involved PDP chieftains and members/former chair of the PDP BOT. The pension scam is running into several billions of Naira, the national I.D card scam was created by the PDP, the electricity regulation scam was a PDP affair. The NPA corruption scandal inspired by Bode George was a PDP family affair. Former president Obasanjo during his 8 years misrule (1999 – 2007) has turned the PDP into a high frequency stealing machine yet this shameless man gallivants around the world delivering cynical lectures against corruption. The PDP is using corruption to destroy Nigeria and one man that can fight corruption sincerely, honestly and without fair or favour is Gen Buhari.

Age and religion

Agents of retrogression in Nigeria who foisted bad leadership on all of us have tried albeit unsuccessfully for more than 30 years to portray Gen Buhari in several images to Nigerians. However, the blackmail against Buhari has only added value to him and strengthen his political profile. The most prominent tool that these agents have tried to use against Buhari is that of branding him a religious fanatic. They even said Buhari will Islamise Nigeria whilst they forget that Nigeria is a secular state. These macabre dancers have imported Islamophobia into Nigeria. Gen Buhari will not attempt to islamise Nigeria and has never said he will islamise Nigeria. Anyone who wants to confirm what Gen Buhari said on this issue can search in Youtube. Gen Buhari will only fight for the less privileged and downtrodden citizesn who have been shortchanged by our socalled leaders. The claim that Buhari is a hardline Muslim has only galvanised more support for him across the length and breadth of Nigeria not only amongst Muslims but Christians as well. Afterall what is wrong with being a good Muslim? Personally, my deep rooted commitment to Buhari is more because he is a committed and practising Muslim. Is it not people with the fear of God that we are interested in to lead us to the Promised Land? The level of corruption foisted on the nation by PDP wouldn’t have been the case if people with the fear of God are leading us.

After using religion and failed, the agents of retrogression trying to stop Buhari from being president in 2015 are now using age. They said Buhari will be 73 years old in 2015 and hence too old to be president. But they forgot that age is a state of the mind. Age is just a number. Buhari is as strong and agile as a 40 year old man. I had the rare privilege of meeting this man and I could recall vividly that when he shook my hands, I felt like a 35 year old man has grabbed my hand. I didn’t feel 70 years on that hand. Gen Buhari is athletic and very strong. While we were all sitting down and waiting for him, the agility and sportsmanlike nature with which he came into the room were outstanding. He breathed in with such comportment and courage that you will think this man is another 100 meters champion in the making. I may be in my 30’s but from what I see in Gen Buhari’s body physique and physical ability, if I was to square him up in a boxing contest, I do not think that I will survive the first round.

Who is afraid of a Buhari presidency?

There are insinuations and sentiments being peddled around that the Nigerian elite is afraid of a Buhari presidency because they will all be made to account for the various atrocities that they visited on the nation. Particularly, people feel that Gen Buhari is going to massively arrest those who stole the nation’s common wealth and put them perpetually in jail. Something that was done when he was head of state in 1983 when some politicians who corruptly enriched themselves with public funds were arrested and jailed for as many as 150 years. People feel that the powers brokers and money bags that control corruption in Nigeria are very uncomfortable with Buhari as president and will do everything possible to stop him. But all these are part of the tools of blackmail that are being used against Buhari as he has never said he will arrest anybody this time round. Times have changed albeit Buhari’s anti corruption stand has not and will never change. We should remember that 1983 is 32 years apart from 2015. Gen Buhari was very clear on the issue of backdating corruption trials and revisiting the old book of corruption and corrupt leaders.

What he said was that as a democratically elected president, he is never going to apply the big stick retrogressively. He is never going to go on a spree of arrests and detentions but that anybody who has an ongoing/pending case with the judiciary will have to answer his/her case. This is fair enough. Impliedly, Gen Buhari is not going to do a Jonathan by giving state pardon to convicted criminals who have looted our treasury.

DSP Alamieyesegha was arrested, charged by a competent court of law, found guilty and convicted of looting and corruption but President Jonathan pardoned him. Whoever pardons a convicted criminal or looter is not ready to fight corruption and may well be guilty of looting the treasury himself.  Gen Buhari cannot start arresting everybody on sight. We should remember that this is democracy not a military regime where there are checks and balances. The doctrine of separation of powers is firmly entrenched in our constitution and all arms of government have a role to play. The executive, legislature and judiciary work together towards a common objective: service to the people. None of these 3 arms of government has the monopoly of power. The legislature makes the laws, the executive puts the laws into practice and the judiciary interprets the laws. Government doesn’t mean only the president as President Jonathan thinks. And come to think of it, Gen Buhari arrested people in 1983 because most of them deserve to be arrested as they have corruptly enriched themselves and turn public funds into their personal property.

A Buhari presidency will help the socalled power brokers and money bags because if the level of poverty, deprivation and corruption continues, then the masses will one day rise in full force against these power brokers and leaders which will result in a revolution and anarchy. Gen Buhari can douse that tension by providing good leadership which will give everyone a sense of belonging.

My dear Gen Buhari, you are in demand in Nigeria. Nigeria needs you at this time to take us away from the path of disintegration which the PDP has placed us. To fight corruption, ensure economic prosperity, social justice and fair politics for all. Nigeria is today on a free fall under President Jonathan. The average Nigerian lives on less than one dollar per day, Poverty is 86% and rising, infant and maternal mortality rates are rising. Unemployment figures are about 35% and rising and insecurity is everywhere with thousands of innocent lives being killed in Nigeria such that some people are asking the question: Do we REALLY have a government in Nigeria?  From Sokoto to Port Harcourt, Maiduguri to Lagos, Adamawa to Abeokuta, Katsina to Umuahia, Kebbi to Yenagoa, every Nigerian is calling for you to contest and win the 2015 presidential election under the APC. All Nigerians call on you to contest and win the 2015 presidential elections. Indeed it is only your candidature that could defeat the PDP in 2015. No retreat, no surrender, no blinking, no turning back until Nigeria is free.

PointblankNews

Escalating insecurity may destabilize Nigeria – U.S.

Ogala Emmanuel

Barack Obama chatting with Goodluck Jonathan

The U.S. government is worried that escalating insecurity in Nigeria, matched with ineffective control, embarrasses and may destabilize Nigeria.

The United States, Nigeria’s major international ally, has expressed ‘deep concern’ over the rising insecurity in Nigeria, warning of the potential instability it poses to the country.

The U.S issued the warning in a statement on Thursday after a meeting with theNational Human Rights Commission in Abuja.

Nigeria has been dogged by escalating conflicts in the past one month leading to the loss of hundreds of lives, majorly civilians.

In April, over 185 civilians were killed in Baga – dubbed Baga Massacre – after government forces raided a small border town in troubled Borno State, in search of Boko Haram fighters.

At least 55 Nigerians were also killed last week after Boko Haram fighters attacked security formations in Bama, another town in Borno. The attack saw the Islamic insurgents also free over a hundred prisoners.

Only this week, at least 30 security officers were killed in an ambush by a relatively unknown group in Nasarawa State, less than 100 kilometres away from the capital city of Abuja.

Boko Haram, an Islamic terror sect that has killed thousands of Nigerians since three years of bombings, shootings, kidnappings, and coordinated attacks on security facilities, has been blamed for most of the growing insecurity.

“The United States condemns Boko Haram’s campaign of terror in the strongest terms… Those members of Boko Haram responsible for the violence must be held accountable according to the rule of law,” the U.S demanded.

The Nigerian government, apparently unable to curtail the sect, and under pressures from northern elites, has since constituted a committee to persuade members of the sect to accept amnesty. A similar strategy, where criminals are placed on pay by the state, was used to solve a large part of insecurity in the Niger Delta region in 2009.

Counterproductive counterterrorism

A woman walks past burnt houses in the aftermath of what Nigerian authorities said was heavy fighting between security forces and Islamist militants in Baga, a fishing town on the shores of Lake Chad, adjacent to the Chadian border, April 21, 2013.  Picture taken April 21, 2013. REUTERS

The Nigerian government’s counterterrorism response has also been complex, complicit in at least a quarter of the deaths, and ineffective.

The U.S government expressed ‘deep concern’ over the military tactics of the Nigerian government in combating Boko Haram – including extrajudicial killings, prolonged detention, and disappearances – warning that it is tarnishing Nigeria’s global reputation.

“We are concerned that such an indiscriminate force approach to counterterrorism is increasing extremism and decreasing confidence in the federal government,” the U.S said. “These tactics tarnish Nigeria’s reputation as an emerging leader and a stable democratic government.”

The U.S. demanded that Nigeria puts civilian protection in the forefront of its counterterrorism campaign.

“The government now has the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law and well being of Nigerians by, first, adopting tactics in the North that are effective and protect civilians, and, second, ensuring that the National Human Rights Commission carries out an independent and transparent investigation” of killings, the U.S. demanded.

PremiumTimes

‘There will be internal democracy in APC’

Rep Usman Adamu

Rep Usman Adamu (ANPP)representing Ajingi-Gaya-Albasu Federal Constituency of Kano State talks about the alternatives the emerging party will offer Nigerians and what the members are doing to ensure unity all levels.

Your party, ANPP, is one of the parties merging to form APC, how do you see the journey so far?

In 1999 when the transition came on board, the time period was so short to enable Nigerians to be able to set up and evolve a party that will have the nature and character as well as the texture required to drive a modern state like Nigeria.

The concern then was about succession, now the issue is how do we do politics correctly? Correct politics is where issues are in the forefront. The PDP since 1999 has developed into a  humongous body that is about who gets what and who takes what.

I’ll want to assume that this coming together of other parties to challenge the status quo, with the PDP system as it is today will enable Nigerians to now discuss politics based on these realities that are critical to the development and growth of our nation. To me as a member of the opposition and certainly an emerging member of the APC and God willing the next government in 2015 through a democratic process, I will want the merger to be issue-based.

By that, we will challenge the PDP to come up with its own; of course, I don’t expect them to come up with something that will satisfy Nigerians, because for 16 years, they have had the opportunity to do it. If we’re able to offer Nigerians the option for development, the option for re-inventing Nigeria and making that Nigeria that every African wants it, PDP will definitely lose the election and will probably try to re-invent itself over period of eight years or so. To me, this should be the defining moment of our politics.

People are envisaging there might be problem when it is time to decide a flag bearer for the APC, what is your opinion?

I am on the side that believes in issues related political development that is, offering Nigerians a practice that holds sway in developed jurisdictions where issues are the driving force.

For the last 16 years, PDP has been so insensitive and irresponsive to the feelings and dynamics of Nigerians. People are suffering; there are cries all over the country, nothing works, everything is drifting, yet PDP is just a clique doing its business, the business of sharing. We’re offering what is different and distinct from that. Our difference is clean and clear. We’re offering Nigerians a departure from that practice to the practice we used to know in the 1st Republic which can be put to test on the international scale.

So, believe me, the issue of a candidate should not matter to us. I believe the leaders as at today are not anxious about this. We’re coming together not to loot Nigeria like they have done. We’re not here to offer Nigerians regression but a progression.

As an opposition member of the House, what is your assessment of Tambuwal as Speaker?

I got to know Aminu since 2003 as we came to the House together. Aminu is a great team player. He has been an all engaging activist. As an ordinary floor member, he has always been active in all his committees. So, it was not surprising that in less than two years, then as a member of the opposition, he emerged as the minority leader. He led from the perspective of integrity and singular determination to offer selfless service and being exemplary. That’s the Aminu I know.

So it was not surprising that the same person in the 6th Assembly emerged as one of the most important principal officers of that tenure as deputy chief whip of the House.

I can tell you the summary of that 6th Assembly: any issue that was worthy to work on, it’s him that would work on it. He splendidly delivered the House in all its crisis moments. To be honest, my summary of Speaker Tambuwal is he represents the all round legislator, about the best presiding officer the House ever had since 1999, active, reliable, intelligent.

His becoming the Speaker was something waiting to happen and the 7th Assembly is simply the result. It was not surprising to most of us that he emerged our leader.

The intra party crises within the opposition parties were said to have made the PDP win in Kano in 2011, what steps are you taking to ensure this does not repeat itself in 2015 as you from the APC?

Mind you, we’re politicians. All these jostlings are legitimate. But the truth is the crisis the CPC had in 2011 can be reduced to the time constraint they had. Today we have time in abundance. Mark you, the forces at play, were sharing the same bed many years ago. Remember, CPC was a component of the ANPP; most of CPC members were part and parcel of the ANPP.

We know ourselves. If you add it to the fact that we had seen the sufferings Nigerians have had under this PDP mismanagement and misrule, we’re duty-bound to take off most of our personal drive to offer Nigerians service. If you want service, you got to be selfless. So, the virtue of selflessness is taking its toll on the rank and file of the emerging APC. I expect it to flourish and dictate the tune of things. We don’t expect people to be so reckless, self-desired; we know what is right; we know what is wrong.

This time, we expect to have a firm leadership that will demand that all and sundry subscribe to the rules as provided. We’ll always be mindful of the fact that we’re out to serve; we’re out to offer things different from what the PDP has been doing to Nigeria and Nigerians. If we’re doing that, this rancour thing should not in any way be a hindrance to the success of the bigger goal, the macro-level kind of window or opportunity we are throwing up for Nigerians.

I will want to assure you that given what I’ve heard and seen around the young turks running around the APC conglomeration, all these things wouldn’t take place in our politics. We’ll handle it with some level of decency, because the motive that we’re selling around is that we’re offering something different to save Nigeria.

The issue of housing is a big problem in Nigeria, as chairman of the House committee on housing, are you doing anything to address this problem especially in Kano where the deficit is said to be huge?

Well, Kano is my state and I’m chairing the committee on housing. You know housing is not an exclusive list issue; it’s concurrent issue by the constitution, so states, the federal government, and even the private sector, have a role to play. Truth is there is a 17 million deficit of number of houses across the nation by the statistics today, but there are windows that are out there for any state government or any federal agency or private entrepreneur to lock in to help in having houses in place for Nigerians to decently live. The windows are there.

The argument is every one unit of house requires 70 people to work on it. So for 100 units you’re talking about 7,000 people. So you’re offering so many people direct jobs and indirect jobs. In every housing project you see, there are associated activities going on there. It is a multifaceted activity that has the capacity to generate wealth and infuse prosperity in so short a while. In fact it represents the second best option to create prosperity for Nigerians in any economic jurisdiction.

Being a legislator at the federal level, what I will advocate is that government at all levels should try to work out a sound housing policy and come up with a housing plan that will on annual basis be making thousands of houses available to its citizens.

In doing housing, the three major factors are simply land; land is a very useful resource but difficult in its administration, management and processing, because it involves a lot of things.

The most difficult circumstance we’re find ourselves in today is the placement of the Land Use Act within the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Happily enough, we’re reviewing the constitution, and it’s one of the issues that are being worked on to extract it out of the constitution, because land issue is very dynamic to the extent that there is need to fine-tune it from time-to-time.

If you have it resident in the constitution, any time you need to fine-tune it, it means that you must revisit the constitution.  The current National Assembly is working hard during this constitution review to extract it out of the constitution and leave it out as a law in itself so that any time there is a need to fine-tune it to suit and exigency or emerging circumstance, it will be much easier for such an amendment to come through.

The next issue is the funding. Because our leaders have been lazy at all levels, both the financial sector and political leadership level, probably at the legislative level, we’re being lazy about working out the framework to create wealth; that’s why we have so much funds idling in various accounts, various forms and sales are not being put to use. Nations that have developed were able to tap from these resources.

The housing sector represents one of the finest ways by which our economy can be kick-started. It’s left for the lazy leadership that we’ve been having, and I think the new emerging APC leadership will certainly look at all these and come up with solutions to them and make Nigeria a better place.

DailyTrust

The Shattered Dreams of Two Young Pilots

Chiemelie Ezeobi

Flying Officer Ayuba Joab Layelmenson, joined the military as a rookie in 2004 with high hopes and great expectations. He had the zeal and passion as well as sheer brilliance to boot. His biggest dream was to fly planes for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and in essence his country, Nigeria.

With such focus, the young Gombe-born Ayuba who was in the 2004 set of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Zaria, Kaduna, got to the institution and enmeshed himself in his studies. He had little time for unnecessary fun or laxity, although he wasn't rigid. His easy-going nature belied his determination to fly for his motherland.

Back at the NDA, he was known for his quiet and studious ways. After the first semester exams, his diligence was glaring in the grades he made. They soon opened doors for him. Based on his performance, he was selected to travel to Greece to study as an air force pilot. His joy knew no bounds as he was on the way to fulfilling his dream.

THISDAY was made to understand that Layelmenson was picked based on his excellent performance in school and was sent to Greece in 2005 to study at the Hellenic Air Force Academy (HAFA) where he studied to become a pilot and graduated in 2011. Yet, he had initially planned to become a micro-surgeon in the Nigerian Navy.

After his graduation, he came back to Nigeria and was posted to his Area of Responsibility (AOR) at 301 Flying Training School and was later deployed to the Aircraft Fighter Unit, Kainji, Niger State, where he was said to have, again, showed his brilliance and academic commitment. He was the NAF’s youngest T-wing fighter pilot. It was not surprising that when the Mali intervention started, he was among those nominated to maintain peace in the war-torn country.

Although he was a peace-loving person, Layelmenson was only too happy to do what he loved to do best: fly. In preparation for the trip, alongside others from the Nigerian contingent, they were taken to Adamawa for training after which they were deployed to Mali.
Their aerial surveillance, it was disclosed by defence sources, was not the first in Mali but one of the countless ones they had carried out in order to get an aerial view of what was going on, on land.

But alas, Layelmenson's dream was snuffed out on Monday, May 7, alongside his superior officer, Squadron Leader Benjamin Bem Ado, during one of such operations in the Nigerien sky. And that closed the chapter on a career that had offered so much promise, so much excitement and so much hope.

The deceased who’s favourite quote was: “Peace is not the absence of war, rather it's a virtue, a state of mind and a disposition of benevolence and love”, died two months before his birthday on August 18. He was just 25.

Squadron Leader Ado was no different. He enrolled in the NAF, popularly referred to amongst the sister services as the gentleman's force, and rose through the ranks till he got to the rank of squadron leader. He was from Benue State.

Ado was a treasurer of knowledge and did not hesitate to share it with those in need of it. He was seen as a mentor by several young rising officers who did not hesitate to tap from his well of knowledge.

Therefore, not surprisingly, those who spoke to THISDAY from the armed forces had fond words, memories and remarks for the fallen heroes. They were both described as easy going, quiet and collected.

In an emotion-laden voice, Flying Officer Layelmeson's former roommate at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), who spoke under the condition of anonymity, praised the deceased's sheer brilliance, a feat, which he said made him stand out among his contemporaries.

Describing the deceased as studious, he said it was not surprising when he was nominated to complete his studies abroad. According to him, “He was my roommate back in NDA but he was a very quiet and an unassuming officer. If he was not on duty, you would always find him reading his books so we were not really surprised when he topped his class.

“His lifestyle was different. He knew what he wanted and went for it. Although we were not in the same service, his death was a shock to me. I can't believe my ‘roomie’ is gone. He would always be remembered.”

Layelmenson's classmate also back at the NDA was as shocked as everyone else. According to him, he had gone to see the deceased in the training camp back at Adamawa State, before he went for the peace-keeping mission in Mali.

He said: “How was I to know that would be the last time I would see him alive? Was there something I could have done better?  He was one of the few friends that also doubled as my course mate. We were in the same battalion – Abishinya – before he was sent to Greece. The distance notwithstanding, our friendship flourished.” Already, over 900 tributes have poured in for Layelmenson, in a Facebook account opened in his honour Tuesday.

He added that Layelmenson was a very determined and focused person who was not an extremist, except when it came to his books. He said the deceased loved to gather knowledge which was why he got on so well with Ado, because the latter liked to share knowledge.

Another officer, one of Ado's junior colleagues, said he would miss the senior officer’s calm disposition. According to him, Ado was one officer that junior officers were not afraid to walk up to and ask question because he was always eager to help.

He said: “He was my mentor especially back at the 301 Flying School in Kaduna. Although he was an officer and I was just a mere cadet, he took me under his wings and nurtured me.

“He was an easygoing person that didn't talk much except when he was sharing knowledge. He loved to read and acquire knowledge and then shared it out to those who needed it.

“I don't know what must have transpired for the plane to crash but I know he was very efficient as regards his job. It is a very sad moment for the NAF at large but more for us that he mentored.”

ThisDay