Jonathan is disgracing Nigerians – Oyegun

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the first civilian governor of Edo State, is one man who craved, long ago, for an alternative national political party that can check the seeming arrogance of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the federal level.

Today, he is one of the Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN, leaders working for the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC). In this interview, he discloses how the leaders of the opposition have been able to bury their personal interests to ensure that the APC merger becomes a reality.

He describes the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP as a failure, just as he notes that the activities of the First Lady of the nation, Dame Patience Jonathan, are making the President more unpopular. He speaks on other national issues including Edo State politics.
Excerpts:

Some of the leaders of the opposition have been busy trying to register the APC. What impact do you think the party will make if eventually registered?

I think that the day after we get the official letter, registering the APC, the political dynamics of this nation will totally change, because it will be a move nearest to a two- party system. Secondly, we will be creating, from day one, a credible national party which will have root in every state, every geo- political zone of the country. We will be offering, from that very day, a choice between the PDP and the credible alternative, the APC.

We will be offering the people a choice between two proven entities, the record of the PDP is there and I think it is one great endless list of mismanagement, bad governance and extreme level of corruption, as against an APC which also has a record; fortunately, when you think of the record set by the South-west governors, when you think of the record set by the only APC government in the South-south, which is Edo, when you think of the Nassarawa governor who knows that he has an Assembly that is controlled by his opponent but he has been able to make a landmark achievement in the short time he has been there, you know we have an edge over the PDP. And, of course, you must think of the ANPP contribution in terms of its strength in the North-east.

Also coming into the fold very strongly is Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, and you have to count Anambra where we control one senatorial area, and, but for electoral manipulations, we would have won the governorship there.

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the first civilian governor of Edo State

So we have a party that is evenly spread all over the country. The one component of the party in the North, the CPC, their candidate in the last elections garnered about ten-eleven million votes; by the time we add to that the massive votes that are to be harvested in the South-west, in the South-south, South-east, I think the voting public will now see that, truly, they have an alternative with performance that can be the ruling party at the center.

So it is going to be interesting, it is going to be challenging and i think the course of political events in this country will dramatically alter. I don’t want to go into the endless crises and the threat of implosion within the PDP which, of course, can only rebound to the advantage of the APC.

Several governors of the PDP will be lining- up, knocking at the gates of the APC in the not too distant future; so the future is absolutely bright for the APC.

Many people think that the same crisis you spoke about in the PDP may tear the APC apart due to personal interests of the leaders?

 It does not worry me. I have seen miracles happen since the negotiation for the merger of this party started. I have seen politicians accept what I never thought politicians will accept. I have seen politicians making sacrifices that I never thought politicians were capable of making.

I have seen the hand of God in what is happening now; we have already set up an interim executive to meet up with the requirements of INEC. We have three major parties each of which has an executive already, almost the same number of positions.

There were three, four chairmen, but we now have only one; so there are chairmen today who are just playing the role of ordinary members and they have accepted the situation. Nobody has had to make extraordinary promises of anything whatsoever.

In a political circle, I think that is nothing short of a miracle. God loves this country. I have no doubt about it and what is happening now is God’s way of saying, ‘look, I wish you people well, I want to give you another chance,’ and, thank God, the various leaders of the parties, have been modest enough, sacrificing to make what has happened possible.

Yes, there will be disagreements here and there, but the pattern is already set on how to spread the offices between the various interest groups and the minute the APC is recognized, all the barriers of  ‘I am CAN’, ‘I am CPC’, ‘I am ANPP’, will be totally broken down; we will now have one single national party.

But how optimistic are you that APC will take over the Federal Government come 2015?

I am not a gambler but, on this particular issue, I am ready to wager anything. The discontent in the country is palpable, you can see it, you can feel it, even touch it.

The hopelessness in the country is very high and you can see that the people are waiting for a way out. What they have been doing in the past is based on the fact that they did not perceive that they had a credible alternative so that they can punish a non- performing Federal Government. Now that the alternative is here, I have no doubt that the long suffering Nigerians will know where to dismount and back the party that will restore hope to their lives.

 What do you think about Rivers political crisis/ factionalization of NGF?

 I don’t know if there are words harsh enough to describe the developing situation in Rivers State . It is disgraceful, it is shameful. Not only before Nigerians, we are also dancing naked before the international community. 35 responsible leaders, the second layer of governance in this country could have such arguments over an election in which only 35 actors, leaders, executives governing millions of people participated.

The situation is also very alarming because it is a precursor to what is happening,  it has now degenerated to such an extent that the consequences are going to be enormous if it continues. The whole nation cannot be behaving as if this is kindergarten politics, as if this is student union politics. Minister, Honourable members, police commissioner, the Presidency, behave as if there is a cult war in a university. Five people trying to impeach a Speaker and a governor; if it were a fairy tale, it would still have been very outlandish, but to think it is disgraceful that supposedly responsible people are fighting for something the end of which they may not live to see, and the nation is tense.

They don’t even think of the consequences, they are so myopic and so blinded by events which are yet to come, two years from now. Everybody keeps saying power belongs to God, so why have they decided to play God at this very early stage of the process? The issue today is nomination, the election is not even an issue, but when people are pontificating and talking, they bang the table, ‘if this one does not become this, Nigeria will cease to exist, we heard that from the South-south and from the North’.

What kind of rubbish is that? Let them talk within their parties, concentrate on making sure that those they favor get nominated, we have not come yet to voting and we have to trust the Nigerian people, put their case before them, and stop beating war drums and promising bloodshed if A or B is not returned as President, not even to be nominated as a candidate. I find it astonishing.

It is as if normally responsible people are taking leave of playing ordinary common sense. So one can only appeal that they should go step by step; everybody should shift his belt and carry the battle to his party, get nominated; when campaign time starts, we can start the game. I don’t see reason for this kindergarten type of overheating the polity and endangering the corporate existence of the nation. Let these people keep quiet and not play God, when the time comes, God will show the people what to do.

 How do you view the recent war of words between the President’s wife and the Nobel laureate, Prof.Wole Soyinka?

Normally, the President’s wife should not be doing what she is doing, out of respect for her husband, the President, out of respect for the position she holds. But she is a Nigerian, she has a right to a party card, she has a right to aspire for whatever she wants to be politically in this nation but that has a price. From her exalted position, immediately she decided to be involved in political combat and political conflict, then she should be ready for the consequences. I find that very sad indeed because she was a pinnacle, but she has abandoned that pinnacle and decided to be a politician like every other person.

That is unfortunate and that is of course the reason for the comments that we observed recently. I read some of the comments and they were surprising. I even listened to a few radio programs and some people said ‘you should not talk to the First Lady that way’.

I agree, you should not even talk to the President like that, but if anybody, President or the First Lady, decides to go into the mud of politics, then he/she must expect the mud to be thrown at him/her. Even though I am in the opposition, I admire the President’s wife because she is a very strong- willed lady, but there is a lot of good she can do without descending into the murky waters of political conflict.

It is easy to make that deduction that she could be the cause of the crisis in Rivers State because she was in Rivers for ten days, the whole place was virtually locked down and days after she left, this conflagration started. Well, this is a case of putting two and two together. Wole Soyinka and Ben Nwabueze are respected Nigerians and she cannot ignore their advice and it will be very unfair for her to condescend to a level of trying to insult such great men.

But are not surprised that the President has not been able to caution the First Lady and stop this national embarrassment?

 The President probably thinks and his advisers have probably convinced him that these things serve his political interest. May be they are right, may be they are not. But like I said earlier, the fight should not be something that involves the total population of Rivers State. It should be something to be carried out within the structures of the PDP. It should not affect the House of Assembly.

If you want to induce members of the House quietly, whatever you need to do, do it, but carrying thugs there, with the police supporting them one way or the other, that is not the best way to convince anybody. This is something for persuasion, inducement, not something for breaking heads. It is unfortunate, I would have expected that the President will be more presidential both as the issue relates to the Nigeria Governors Forum that is a disgraceful show of ineptitude at too high a level of governance in Nigeria.

The NGF problem and also this Rivers angle, the President should step out as a statesman, he is the father of this nation, he is the number chief executive of this nation, the governors are chief executives of their states, they have a common interest outside politicking. He should now take whatever else he wants to do within the PDP family and not allow the kind of show of shame we are witnessing today. His position must be clear, must be firm, he must put himself at the right side of history and posterity and his own personal reputation.

What do you see ahead of 2015?

The fear I have for the country is the nomination process. Once the candidates emerge, the political battle lines will be very clear and will be decided. And that won’t be subject to structures any more, it will be subject to your ability to convince the people that you have performed in the past and you will even be able to do better in the future. And I don’t think that in this age, it will be possible to do, with INEC, the police force, the totality of the security agencies, what happened in President Obasanjo’s time.

The world has moved on including the Nigerian world. Of course the opposition has learnt very bitter lessons and, but for the courts, some of its victories could not have been achieved, only a few were snatched back from the seizure by the PDP. So it is clear that we have to be better prepared for 2015 and any other election for that matter, because the first election is coming in October, Anambra State.

And we are going to have elections in Ekiti, Osun, and the rest; we are not going to take chances. The only people who would want to fake the elections will be those who want to be self -destruct, because things won’t be like they used to be because we too will be prepared.

 How do you view the battle for the presidency between northern leaders and the South-south?

Sometimes I think I am over simplifying issues but I could go back to what I said before, it is for the Nigerian population to decide who will be their president. The day will not come when all those contesting will be northerners or where all those contesting will be southerners; there will be a mix of North, South, East and West contesting in 2015. It will be left to the good sense of the Nigerians voters to know what is in their best interest. I have got calls from strange people who say I am one of Jonathan’s supporters and I said no, that is not the issue.

The issue is that he has fundamental constitutional right to contest and you cannot take that away from him, just like it is the fundamental constitutional right of the Nigerian voter to decide who governs him. To me, the issue is simple; all the people over heating the polity and shouting it must be a northerner or a southerner; that does not arise. President Jonathan is entitled constitutionally as a Nigerian to contest the election. It is for him to convince the PDP.

Any other person is also fully entitled, it is for him to convince his party, then we meet at the political battle ground. I hate people creating arguments and difficulties where there are none. Of course they are initial drums of political excitements leading to the big event, but if they can do that without endangering the political health of the nation, the better for us. But I don’t think Nigeria will collapse for any reason.

You were one of the South-south leaders who fought for a president from the region which eventually produced Jonathan. Will you say you are satisfied with his performance today?

That is a difficult question because I am in the opposition. I am in a totally different party, but I do not think the economy is doing well in spite of all the good things that they quote. When capital flows into Shell, into Chevron, and when the banks shuffle their papers and money is being made and exchanging hands, we are said to be going at six, seven per cent.

I am an economist, my career was basically at the Ministry of Economic Development, Economic Planning, but until that word, development, reaches and touches the average Nigerian, until I see stability in power, until I see growth in employment, until I see graduates who have  hope that even after three years they will get jobs, governance have not been effective. My attitude is that it does not matter where the President comes from, those are the basic indicators of a successful government. I think it is clear that there I nothing on ground to show that this government has performed.

Coming to your state, Edo, the battle for Governor Oshiomhole’s successor is already on. Do you not think that may tear the coming APC apart in the state?

The only surprise to me is that the struggle for his successor started so early and such an intense manner, and I think it was wrong. We still have a lot of catching up to do in Edo and I mean that seriously we don’t want anything for at least two years to divert the energy both of the government and of the people. There is a lot of time for that, the advice one wants to give  in a situation like this is that those who get into the ring too early are likely to fight themselves to a state of exhaustion by the time the real fight comes and you will allow a third party to run away with the prize. It is even in the interest of all those that are involved to back down and let the proper time come. It was really threatening to destabilize the party, and, if the party is destabilized, government will also be destabilized and we don’t want such thing. I was very upset about that and I think at the appropriate levels we all made that very clear.

  Edo PDP is strategizing also ahead of 2015 and 2016. Do you think the APC will have the fire power to check the PDP since Oshiomhole’s tenure will come to an end in 2016?

I don’t see the PDP featuring in the struggle. The real struggle will be who will satisfy the people within the ACN and being capable of continuing at the same level that Governor Oshiomhole was operating; not whether the PDP will feature of whether they are re-organizing. I know human memories are short, but the last ten fifteen years is also short and people remember what they lost in twelve solid years of PDP governance in Edo State. And the excitement that the last five years has brought, the hope, the change, will always be considered, not the PDP. So the real issue is going to be who will replace Oshiomhole rather than whether or not the APC as it is will retain office. I have no doubt about that in my mind. Oshiomhole has made us proud and Edo people will always be grateful to him and reward him with their continued support.

Vanguard

Bananas Thrown At Italian Black Minister in Latest Racist Attack

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Italian Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge has been the target of yet another racist attack, the latest in a series of racist acts against the country’s first black minister.

The incident occurred in the town of Cervia in Ravenna Province on Friday when a spectator attending Kyenge’s speech during a Democratic Party rally hurled bananas at her.

The bananas missed the stage, though.

Kyenge later responded to the incident on Twitter, saying the move was “sad” and a waste of food, considering the country’s economic troubles.

“The courage and optimism to change things has to come above all from the bottom up to reach the institutions,” the Italian minister added.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno disparaged the move as “another shameful and disgraceful gesture.” He said individuals with such behavior should be “isolated.”

Friday’s banana-throwing is not the first time Kyenge has come under a racist attack since she assumed her position in April.

Earlier in July, Vice-President of the Italian Senate Roberto Calderol said that Kyenge “made him think of an orangutan,” sparking criticism and condemnation from the country’s ministers.

In June, the Congolese-born minister even received online death threats ahead of a scheduled visit to the Veneto region, home to the racist Northern League party.

Last month, Dolores Valandro, a local Northern League politician, was expelled from the party after she wrote on Facebook, “Why doesn’t someone rape her (Kyenge), so she can understand what victims of atrocious crimes feel?”

Kyenge has also been the target of repeated racial slurs such as “Congolese monkey”, “Zulu” and the “black anti-Italian.”

NewsRescue

Obituary

by: Sam Omatseye

When former President Olusegun Obasanjo penned his war memoirs, he called it My Command, a cocky title since no one expected anything less than command for a general’s account of his soldiery during the Nigerian Civil War. Again whose command should it have been? Could he have woven the war tales of another general? Readers would have called him presumptuous. Yet, when his fellow combatants read his story, they called him presumptuous. They implied that the earthy man lied through his pen, the man who ran this country twice, once as civilian and the other as soldier, who claimed victory for the war, who affects the air of the soldier as statesman, who even tinkers with the toga of thinker, was not the soldier he claimed. To his credit though, Obasanjo might have claimed to be a soldier but not a gentleman.

Last week, in the presence of other generals, a new book was launched by a participant and witness. The book, titled The Tragedy of Victory, shot to attention through a series of interviews the author, General Alabi Isama, granted this newspaper.

At the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, the book, My Command, was ambushed, tackled, shot and killed. It was also buried without fanfare. The command was led by Isama, with a book as counter-narrative. The pictures and maps served as artilleries, the memories and other documents as bullets. But the witnesses who materialised on stage at the launch starred as the bombs. The grenadiers include the urbane General Alani Akinrinade, the fiery General Theophilus Danjuma, the genteel General Yakubu Gowon as well as General Mobolaji Johnson, General Sunday Tuoyo, Col. Oyinlade Iluyomade, aka Hitler, Major Salau. We also had the female testimonies from Mrs. Utuk and Senator Ita-Giwa.

The witnesses came one after the other to attest to the testimony of Isama. Two truths cannot inhabit one room, since one represents light and the other darkness. With the blast of illumination from Isama’s book, Obasanjo’s My Command slid into an obituary. So My Command, aged 32, was buried in a ceremony of witnesses. Kunle Ajibade, a master book reviewer, brought the book alive for the audience. For irony, a lady named Taiwo Obasanjo, the creator’s ex-wife, said the closing prayers.

When generals tell war stories they owe us truths. It is a point of view but it ought to be faithful to facts. Hence other generals have written stories like the legendary but brash George Patton who titled his memoirs War As I Knew It.

My Command told basic stories. One, that he was the true hero of the 3 Marine Commando. Two, all the other generals and subordinates stumbled. Three, that he crafted the strategy that ended the war. That the 3 Marine Commando women operated mainly as flesh comforts for the soldiers. Maps also told the stories. Isama called Obasanjo a blundering general. Obasanjo denied the claims. At the launch, he painted a picture of a fleeing Obasanjo in battle who suffered a bullet in the buttocks.

Isama’s account made better sense to me because of the authority of the pictures and maps and the consistency of the narrative. Nothing helped this position than the corroboration from Akinrinade and the others.

Isama’s book told important stories. One, that General Benjamin Adekunle, who commanded the division before Obasanjo took over, gave a good account of himself until the latter part of the hostilities when he became paranoid. According to Isama, and confirmed by Akinrinade, Adekunle plotted an ambush and murder of the two gentlemen. Adekunle, through his son, backed Isama’s accounts. The book also unveils the interconnectedness of the war, Igbo fighting for Nigeria and Nigerians fighting for Biafra. Isama shows pictures of Igbo caught in battle but they signed up to fight for Nigeria. It depicted the war as a meaningless bloodshed of brothers.

Gowon came across as a bumbling commander in chief who ran a war without a central command. Isama fought shy of that conclusion but it was obvious as General Madiebo affirms in his books. Akinrinade confirmed this in a recent interview with this newspaper. Gowon could not rein in his errant generals. He also has blood of thousands on his hands for not stopping General Murtala Muhammed from forcing his troops across the Niger Bridge. As Akinrinade and also Isama show, it threw soldiers into a suicide dive. Murtala, the erratic general who played hero in his short time as Nigeria’s ruler, gave account of himself as a strategic tragedy, bearing deaths and wounded. He could not escape the charge of genocide in the Igbo-speaking Midwest.

Also bumbling was General Shuwa, who commanded the First Division. He kept moving from village to village in the East, a thing that forced the Igbo into a rudderless life of impoverished wanderers. Nigeria did not design the war to kill Igbo but to defeat Biafra. His understanding of war, as Akinrinade himself confessed, could have taken the war another ten years. Those who call Shuwa a hero miss the point, and Gowon, the leader, played the politics of survival and let Shuwa and Murtala their tyrannous runs. Gowon became head of state as a Christian, non-Hausa-Fulani compromise in the aftermath of the pogrom that killed Igbo and other southerners who were not Yoruba. Historians should get the facts right. The pogrom was directed at Igbo but killed non-Igbo in huge numbers. That accounted for the preliminary neutrality of Midwest at the beginning of the conflict. No one has accounted for the number of Efiks, Annang and Ibibio slaughtered in the North. The phrase Igbo pogrom understates the fatalities of other ethnic groups.

Gowon wanted to entrench himself and so would not upset his applecart by expressing authority over two supposedly northern generals. Murtala was from the old Midwest, now Edo, by birth, although he lay claim to the North. Gowon was, therefore, too weak a soldier to craft a grand scheme and implement them. He was lucky Biafra did not pull through Ore. Thanks to soldiers like Iluyomade who held off the numerically superior Biafran troops.

In Isama’s narrative, the Biafran army blew important opportunities to win the war early. Why did Ojukwu, another bumbler, ask his army to undertake a long trek to Lagos? Why did the army not restrict itself to defend the East, which was the seceding entity? It was Ojukwu’s ego, his rivalry with Gowon but also, ironically, his divided selves as a Biafran who also was instinctively Nigerian all the same. Frederick Forsyth, who worked for Ojukwu, wrote recently that Victor Banjo lost the war. Banjo was an opportunist who hoodwinked Ojukwu but wanted to take over the country in the so-called Third Force. The Ija Ore that resulted led to a disorganised Biafran retreat to the Midwest. Why again did Biafra want to pass through Ibadan? Other routes of surprise existed? Say, for instance, Ilorin. The Ore narrative is still not fully told as yet.

Why did Biafra recruit many Midwest Igbo officers of sterling records and abilities, and why, according to Isama, were all of them either locked up or killed for being saboteurs? The story begs for details how a whole corps of officers, who exhibited Biafran elan at the outset, became enemies? Was Ojukwu, like Adekunle, not paranoid? Isama said Adekunle wanted to conquer Aba, Owerri and Umuahia (OAU) to make a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity meeting in 1969. He neglected counsels of caution from Isama and Akinrinade about taking Owerri head on.

Isama argued that Obasanjo took over and wanted to continue Adekunle’s follies. Obasanjo’s first foray was a disaster. He also remained in Port Harcourt and did not know how Akinrinade finished the war but used subterfuge to ensure that other generals like Shuwa, Muhammed, Adekunle did appear at the Biafran surrender ceremony.

Was it not a statement of Ojukwu’s naivety that he had the best officers but failed because of strategic errors? As Tolstoy shows in his book of love and generals, War and Peace, a war is won not by those who shoot the gunpowder but those who devise the strategy. Ojukwu assumed that his army alone could win the war. Shuwa thought so too. Germany had the strongest army in the world when World War Two began; so did Napoleon in his wars. Weather, more than American prowess or Russian doggedness, humiliated Hitler. Snowed crippled the “little” generals machine.

From Isama’s account, Biafra succeeded in propaganda to the outside world, but did not win the hearts of the minorities in the present Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo and Bayelsa states. They easily signed on to fight for 3 Marine Commando.

Isama’s book raises many more issues. It is a book written with decency and candour but shows that war never solves anything. Germany rules Europe now without a shot, and all the battles have turned out to be a waste of lives. Isama did not want the fire of hate but healing power of truth. That is what My Command lost. We gained a better story from Isama

TheNation

Mid-term report: Jonathan has failed, Nigerians say

Nicholas Ibekwe

President Goodluck Jonathan

Over 60 per cent of Nigerians say the president has failed in his first two years as elected president.

A vast majority of Nigerians have rejected the claims contained in President Goodluck Jonathan’s mid-term performance report that he has out-performed his predecessors and has superintended over a vast improvement in Nigeria’s fortunes.

Perhaps distraught by growing unemployment, insecurity, worsening corruption, and poor provision of electricity, many Nigerians have scored the president’s performance abysmally low.

In a PREMIUM TIMES poll to gauge people’s opinions on Mr. Jonathan’s performance after two years as Nigeria’s elected president, a total of 1544 people participated in the poll that lasted a month.

How would you grade President Goodluck Jonathan's mid-term performance

• F ( Failure < 40%) (61%, 943 Votes)
• D (40 - 50%) (15%, 234 Votes)
• C (50-60 %) (9%, 142 Votes)
• A (70% and above) (8%, 131 Votes)
• B (60- 70%) (7%, 94 Votes)

Total Voters: 1,544

A total of 61 per cent of the participants (three in five) said Mr. Jonathan has failed in his job as the leader of the country. The remaining 39 per cent (two in five) say the president has not failed, and gave the president a pass with various scores.

Fifteen per cent of the respondents gave the president a “D” – a score of between 40 and 50 per cent performance appraisal. Nine per cent rated his performance as a “C” – a score between 50-60 per cent while 7 per cent said he has done well enough to be given a “B” – a score of between 60 and 70 per cent.

Eight per cent of the respondents (about 1 in 10) said he has performed excellently and gave him an “A”, which is a score of between 70 per cent and above.

Not a unique poll

The PREMIUM TIMES poll is not unique in showing that the president, who prior to and during the 2011 presidential election enjoyed an overwhelming support of Nigerians, is fast losing his popularity rating; the NOI Polls had also recorded a steady drop in the president’s approval rating.

In March, According to NOI, the president’s approval rating dropped by 8 points to be followed by a further 4 point drop in April. However, his rating marginally improved by 2 points in May and remained unchanged in June.

Corruption

While trying to explain his administration’s effort in combating corruption, a menace majority of Nigerians identify as a major hindrance to the country’s development, Mr. Jonathan said in his mid-term report that his “administration is addressing and containing the challenge of corruption with the required urgency and commitment. The government is determined to make Nigeria a key global economic power, and therefore recognizes that it cannot tolerate any degree of corruption.”

This appears contrary to the reality expressed by Nigerians and observers of the country. Last December, global corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), ranked Nigeria as the 35th most corrupt country in the world. Also, in early July, TI, in its “Global Corruption Barometer 2013”, said to be the biggest-ever public opinion survey on corruption, noted that 75 per cent of Nigerians say the government’s effort at fighting corruption is ineffective.

Some decisions taken by Mr. Jonathan have, unfortunately, helped to strengthen this perception. Last March, the president granted state pardon to the former Governor of Bayelsa State, and a convicted money launderer, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who stole billions of Naira of public funds. The pardon sparked both local and international condemnations while the presidency has also refused to honour a request by the U.K. that Mr. Alamieyeseigha be extradited to face money laundering charges there. The former Bayelsa governor jumped bail in the U.K. in 2005 after he was arrested for money laundering.

It is also believed that the president has shielded members of his kitchen cabinet who have been accused of corruption. Prominent among them is Diezani Alison-Madueke, the petroleum minister. Mrs. Alison-Madueke has several allegations of financial malfeasance against her as well as supervising one of the largest multi-participant heist: in the 2011 petrol subsidy scam; but still retains her position.

Also in August 2011, the Jonathan administration facilitated the transfer of almost $1.1 billion to convicted felon and former petroleum minister, Dan Etete, for the murky Malabu Oil deal. The deal is already a major item of investigation both in Nigeria and the U.K.

Worsening Security

Another major concern to majority of Nigerians is the worsening security situation across Nigeria.

In the 2012 and 2013 budgets, nearly N1 trillion was budgeted for national security respectively. In spite of these huge allocations, ethnic militias have been on the rise. Armed robbery and kidnapping are at an epidemic level, while crude oil theft has also risen to an unprecedented level in the Niger Delta. A 2012 U.S. government report on terrorism ranks Boko Haram as the second deadliest terrorist group in the world. With over 1, 800 people killed in 525 attacks.

Until the declaration of a State of Emergence in some North Eastern states, Boko Haram more or less operated unrestrained in several local governments. The insurgents constituted themselves into law in three local governments replacing the national flag with and chasing out symbol of state authority such as the police.

Some of the atrocities of the sect and other armed groups have continued unrestrained despite the emergency rule. The army has also been accused of carrying out extra-judicial killings as well as destroying the belongings of civilians in its operations in the north east. What is now referred to as the Baga Massacre is a bloody reminder of abuse perpetrated by the military. On April 16, the army, in a border town of Baga, allegedly killed about 200 people and destroyed around 4000 houses. The army has denied it was involved in any extra-judicial killings.

Economic crisis

“Poverty rates remain high in Nigeria, particularly in the rural areas,” the 2013 World Bank’s Nigeria Economic report stated.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) puts the rate of unemployment in Nigeria at 24 per cent. With about 1.8 million young Nigerians joining the labour market annually, youth unemployment is believed to be far worse. Some analyst puts it at close to 50 per cent.

Early this month, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, expressed her frustration at the seeming intractable problem of unemployment when she confessed of having sleepless nights over the issue.

“In fact, some people ask, ‘What keeps you awake at night, with regard to this economy?’ I say it is the issue of job creation. And I know this is what keeps Mr. President awake at night as well,” she said.

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Rivers crisis: Jonathan, Amaechi in secret talks

Amaechi met President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the Port Harcourt International airport today

After several months of mutual suspicion, distrust and sometimes snubbing and resentment, President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, sat together on Friday night to talk peace.

The setting was the Presidential Villa, Abuja, which less than 24 hours later, hosted another peace meeting, this time between President Jonathan and five northern governors.

Only a week ago the governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa State), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), and Rabiu Kwankwaso ( Kano ) – were locked in a hide and seek game with the President in Abeokuta where they had gone to seek the intervention of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in the crisis rocking the PDP.

Jonathan was in the town to commiserate with his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, on the death of his mother, and seized the opportunity to pay a courtesy call on Obasanjo.

The governors, who had arrived Abeokuta at about the same time as Jonathan, decided to avoid him and diverted somewhere else to allow the President depart Obasanjo’s before going there.

A few days later, the governors took their case to former military rulers, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Friday’s meeting between the President and Governor Amaechi was brief after the Rivers Governor said he would prefer a lengthy discussion only if his colleagues from the north were in attendance having facilitated his meeting with the president, in the first instance.

The President obliged him and an appointment was fixed for yesterday.

The five northern governors who were on their way to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah (Lesser Hajj) consequently postponed their journey to enable them be at yesterday’s meeting with the President.

The Jonathan/Amaechi meeting, according to a reliable source, reviewed the crisis in Rivers State and explored how to resolve it.

The source said the talks took place in a ‘large-hearted manner’.

Said the source: “Following the advice of the five northern governors, Amaechi accepted to meet with the President on the security and political situation in Rivers State

“I think there is peace in sight because the President hosted Amaechi on Friday night in an atmosphere devoid of security intimidation when the Rivers Governor attended a dinner a few weeks ago at the Villa.

“The mood between the President and Amaechi was reconciliatory. But Amaechi asked the President to allow the five Northern governors, who are brokering the peace talks, to be part of a meaningful discussion or reconciliation plan to resolve the crisis in Rivers State.

“The President obliged the governor’s request to pave the way for another round of peace session on Saturday.”

Investigation revealed that before Amaechi went for the audience with the President, he had met with the five northern governors on Friday night in Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge for debriefing on their intervention.

There were speculations that Amaechi also confided in the five governors on his terms for peace.

A governor said: “It is true that Amaechi had a preliminary session with the five governors at the Sokoto Lodge before going to the Villa. As a matter of fact, some of the governors postponed their trip to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj).”

But a governor said: “Some statesmen and the five northern governors have set the agenda for peace. They wanted the differences between the President and Amaechi handled beyond trading blames.

“They believe that an outright solution to the crisis would be better than addressing sentiments that had dominated the political space in the last two months. Once they are able to secure the commitment of President to peace, other stakeholders would be brought into the deal.”

Yesterday’s meeting with the five northern governors was also attended by Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State and his Borno State counterpart, Kashim Shettima.

Nine governors from across the country, on a solidarity visit to Amaechi on July 18, had advised him to seek audience with the President for the purpose of briefing him on the political crisis in the state especially the role of the Police Command.

On the trip were Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), and deputy governors of Imo, Nasarawa and Zamfara.

They were preceded two days earlier by Governors Kwankwaso, Wamakko, Nyako and Lamido.

They were pelted with stones by thugs on their arrival at the Port Harcourt Airport.

 The Nation

Your safety not guaranteed – Militants warn Soyinka, Falana to keep off Rivers

by: Mike Odiegwu,
A militant group, Ijaw Freedom Fighters (IFF), and a non-governmental organisation, Ijaw People’s Development Initiatives (IPDI), yesterday, warned Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), to steer clear of Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Several civil rights groups have scheduled a rally for that day in the city to protest against what they see as repeated assaults on democracy in the state by some people.

IFF and IPDI said they cannot guarantee the safety of Soyinka, Falana and other non Niger Deltans if they decide to participate in the protest.

The two groups described the position of the civil rights groups on the Rivers crisis as vexatious.

IFF leader, Sese Gideon, said his group “will not allow non-Niger Deltans to add insult in a matter that can be settled without bloodshed.”

Gideon, in a statement, entitled ‘We will not take your coming to Rivers kindly’ said: “We are a group of youths along the creeks, waterways and uplands of the states in the Niger Delta region. We are committed to the protection of rights, privileges and freedom of the Niger Delta people.

“We met and observed with interest the continued frivolous and vexatious statements credited to perceived egg heads and civil activists like Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana and many others on the current crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“While we blame the political class in Rivers and Abuja for allowing such comments due to their indiscretion and show of shame, we will not allow non-Niger Deltans to add insult in a matter that can be settled without bloodshed. We have listened to the name-calling and tongue-lashing of the President and his wife by the civil society but what we will not take kindly to is the invasion being planned by the non-Niger Deltans in Rivers State.

“If the people of Rivers want to protest, they should protest and demand for what is right. But when it is shown, as clearly displayed, that it is targeted to ridicule and further discredit the South-South and its quest for Presidency in 2015, we cannot guarantee anyone’s safety again. We are not interested in who impeached whom but we will not fold our hands and allow the sponsored onslaught in the Niger Delta under the guise of civil society gathering.

“We cannot guarantee the safety of anyone interested and plotting to throw Rivers or any other Niger Delta States into turmoil”.

The IPDI leader, Austin Ozobo, called the planned protest “ill timed” and “ridiculous”.

He said his group has met with over 50 civil society groups in Warri, Delta State and appealed to the people Rivers State to shun the protest to avert further bloodshed.

“We urge the police and other security agencies in the state to endeavour to put off the protest to avoid rival group clash and stop planned further cause of disaffection in the state.

“The crisis in Rivers State is a minor issue that does not need external solution as warring leaders could resolve their differences if they mean well for Rivers.”

They warn external forces interference as such will add fire to the situation at hand. We are a body of civil activists in the six states of the Niger Delta and were never part of any planned protest in Rivers State.”

Professor Soyinka and Mr. Falana had condemned the Presidency, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, the state Police Command and the five anti-Amaechi members of the State Assembly for their roles in fuelling the crisis in the state.

The Nation

Only APC can cure Nigeria’s headache – Onu

National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu calls for a change in leadership that could improve the lives of the citizens. He posited that Nigerians need the culture of excellence, for it to quickly move from where they are, to where the hand of destiny has put them. The first governor of Abia State, enumerated the problems confronting Nigeria, and said solution resides in the emerging political party, All Progressive Congress (APC). He spoke to GILBERT EKEZIE on these and other related issues

Excerpts

Situation of the country

We are not at war, but yet we are not in peace. Rivers State with a Governor now has two Speakers of the State House of Assembly and three maces, all meant for a single House of Assembly. Only five Legislators, in a house of Assembly with as many as thirty two members, met and purported to have removed the speaker, suspended many members and installed another Speaker. All these were done in total violation, of both the law and the rules, which should guide their conduct. Our lawmakers now break the law. Our law enforcement agents are not left out of this sad show of shame. The Government House, Port Harcourt, the official residence of the Governor of Rivers State was recklessly tear gassed by men of the Nigeria Police. Heads of Security agencies in the state no longer accept invitations to attend security meetings with the Governor. Something is seriously wrong. It is clear that some people believe and act as if they are above the law. They pick and choose, which laws to obey and those to defy. Peace cannot thrive in a society that has no respect for the rule of law. All Nigerians must be below the law, if peace and order will thrive in our dear country.

In Mamudo, Yobe State, the unimaginable happened. Dozens of young and innocent students in their secondary school were killed in cold-blood. These students, who went to school to acquire knowledge for self-improvement so that they could later contribute more effectively to national development were shot to death by the purveyors of hate and enemies of progress. Their death threw the nation into mourning. All these are happening at a time when violence has reached an unprecedented level in the country. In fact, the level of insecurity is alarming. In many places, the police have been replaced with soldiers. Soldiers are deployed to perform police duties in as many as 32 states in the country. This is happening under a civil, democratic environment. Soldiers are now found around roadblocks on our highways and streets. They are also found around important assets of the nation. This has become worrisome as the ethics and professional conduct of the military, could suffer adversely with such exposure in a purely civilian environment. We must be worried on how this could affect the performance of the military, if and when the need arises for them to perform primary duty of securing the territorial integrity of the country. Also sometime ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC conducted a bye -election at Oguta in Imo State to fill a vacancy in the Imo State House of Assembly. The election was marked with violence and irregularities. INEC had to declare the election inconclusive. In the meantime, the people of that constituency do not have a representation and voice in the State House of Assembly. It is disturbing that with all the security agencies in the country, INEC could not conduct a violence free and credible election to fill up a single vacancy in one State House of Assembly in the country. The signs are troubling. What would have happened, if the election had taken place in different places in the country at the same time? No one can imagine.

The merger by opposition political parties, which ANPP is included

As the National Chairman of ANPP, I am convinced that many would like to hear from me how far we have gone in our efforts to change the way politics is played in our country. Many Nigerians do not like the way things are in the country. Nigeria is such a rich nation, yet majority of Nigerians are poor. Corruption has unfortunately nearly become a way of life. Our young people know when they enter our schools, but cannot easily determine when they would graduate. When out of school, there are very few jobs as unemployment has reached an unprecedented level. When they are sick, they need to be taken to hospitals abroad. While in the country, the level of insecurity is unbearable, in many parties of the country. If they are not victims of armed robbers, they may fall victim to kidnapper. Even places of worship are no longer safe. In order to ensure that things do not remain this way, the major opposition political parties decided to come together and work together, in a way that has never happened before in our country. Many opposition political parties, which control the government, coming together in a merger to form a single political party, in a way to give up the identities of those parties, had not happened before in Nigeria and also in many other countries of the world.

For the merger to take place, it means that most of those who were elected for a term of office to manage the affairs of the political parties would have to give up their positions, even before the expiration of their term of office. We know what this means, in a country where people go to any extent to extends their stay in office.

Possibility of the merger to succeed

Many people thought that our coming together would never happen. We have proved them wrong. We have met all requirements, for us to merge and register a new political party, as demanded of us by law as contained in both the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and The Electoral Act 2010(as amended). We will all recall that the three merging political parties: The ANPP, ACN and CPC, all successfully organized their National Conventions in which the motion to merge into a new political party was successful. The National Chairmen, Secretaries and Treasurers of these parties jointly applied to INEC for registration of a new political party. Also, a list of interim national officers, whose membership cover twenty- nine States, was submitted to INEC. The registration fee, of which I was given the honour to pay on behalf of all the parties, had been paid. By Tuesday, July 9, 2013, officials of INEC inspected our National Headquarters at No. 6 Bissau Street, Wuse, Abuja as well as identified our interim national officers

When APC will be registered

Having met all the requirements, the clock has started ticking. By the grace of Almighty God, the All Progressive Congress (APC) will soon be registered.

Expectations of APC

Once APC is registered, politics in our country will never be the same again. Arbitrations and impunity in governance will cease. Our aim in forming APC is to ensure that we have effective competition in the political arena. We want to ensure that the will of the people is supreme, such that those who are elected into office are the choice of the people. It is only when this happens, that we can have leaders who put the interest of the nation first in whatever they do and who can work to secure the happiness of Nigerians. It is also when this happens that the rule of law will prevail \, such that no Nigerian can be above the law.

Why abandon parties to form APC

ANPP is not joining APC so that we can be in government; if it were so, we would have joined the ruling political party. Our aim and goals are higher than that. We want our country to be better governed. We need to build a new Nigeria that is better. We need to make our country become a nation, where though tribe and tongue may differ, in unity and peace we shall develop. We need to build a nation that other countries will respect not just because of our size and population, but also by our achievements and contributions to world civilization. We must earn our respect.

We do not like the way things are in the country. We know that things can be better. This is why we believe that Nigerians need an alternative to the ruling political party.

The All Progressive Congress’s Constitution

The constitution and manifesto of APC, which are with INEC, clearly shows that we are different. We believe in internal democracy. Those who seek nomination on the platform of APC will have to be chosen by the people. Yes, there can be endorsements, but even when all the people seem to agree on one candidate, a yes or no vote will still be needed. Our aim is that the Nigerian, will be at the center of our developmental efforts. We shall work for the welfare, well-being and happiness of all Nigerians.

Comparing past government to the present

As I stand before you, I remember with nostalgia that in 1976, when I graduated from the University of Lagos, that immediately after the one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, there was no single classmate of mine who did not find a job to do. It is not so, any more. I want to assure you that with the proper leadership, jobs, enough jobs, can be available for our people. If China, with over 1.3 billion people and the USA, with over 300 million people can provide jobs for their people, why not Nigeria? Great nations of the world that are doing so well took their schools seriously and invested massively in education. The most important question to ask is where do we stand as a nation? What is the state of our schools? As I stand before you, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is on strike. For over two months, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had been on strike. It is strongly believed that not too long from now, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU), may also go on strike. What a shame? Does it then surprise anyone that our students, know when they enter into schools, but may not easily know when they will graduate. What is even very sad is that ASUU is on strike because government failed to fully implement agreements it entered with ASUU since 2009. Should government enter into agreements, it does not intend to keep? No. It is not difficult to find out why our schools are not as good as they should be. We, as a nation, are paying a huge price for this. Many of our students now travel outside our country; some go to our neighbouring countries to acquire education.   These pose a lot of headache to Nigerians. That is exactly what APC has come to address.

Solutions to the nation’s problems

In fact, our dear country needs the culture of excellence, for us to quickly move from where we are today, to where the hand of destiny has determined that we will be tomorrow. I am convinced that it is only when Nigerians put in their best, in all fields of human endeavour, that we can meet up with and even overtake the most technologically advanced nations of the world. Indeed, it is the best, only the best that is good enough for our country. Excellence can only be nurtured through education, training and practice. Education, particularly in science and technology, holds the key for the greatness of nations. Great civilizations have always produced great schools. Indeed great schools, make great nations. This was true in the past, as it is true today. Also, our aspiration to be a great nation cannot be achieved unless we have great schools. Our schools, including our universities, should be able to compete with the best in the world. In the past, graduates from our universities where easily admitted into foreign universities, to do postgraduate work without any qualifying examination. These were the schools that produced Prof. Wole Soyinka the 1986 Nobel Laureate in literature and Prof. Chinua Achebe, one of the world’s most renowned novelists.

Things are no longer the way they were. We must spend more on our schools. We must reward hard work, creativity and innovation. We need to attract the best brains, into teaching and pay them well so as to retain them. We must give merit its rightful place, in our schools. We must fight all forms of corruption and anti-social behaviours. Excellence must be nurtured in our schools. It is never too late to start. In spite of our problems, our country still has a bright future. There is really nothing that is wrong with our country, which cannot be put right. All we need is to look for people with vision, character and competence who can provide the leadership, which can help us, build a new nation, a better nation where love, justice, tolerance and compassion abound. And such leadership could only be possible this time through APC. So, Nigeria needs APC to solve many of the problems confronting her.

TheSun