How Nigeria can move forward, by Ribadu

 

Ribadu

 

by: Yusuf Alli

•Says no regrets over EFCC years

Former Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday, said Nigeria needed strong institutions to move forward as a nation from its present decadence.
He also asked youths not to lose hope of rebuilding the country but said that they required a strong will and incorruptible life to salvage the nation.
Ribadu, who spoke at a “Mentor Me Forum” for youths organised by Group of Patriotic Corpers in Abuja, said he has no regrets for fighting fraudsters as the chairman of the EFCC.
“What Nigeria needs to realise its potentials is, unfortunately, not a mere change of leadership. We don’t need anyone from outer space to come organise our polity,” he said.
“We need ourselves—our virtues and belief in a collective struggle for good governance. What we need are functional institutions; we need institutions that pander to the principle of honesty and that socialise successions of citizens who will extol this principle.
“We need leaders for whom the sufferings of the masses are immediate concerns, not jokers that insult the yearnings and honest observations of the electorate. We need institutions in which the lawmakers gather to discuss the plight of their constituents, not losing their sense of our realities in the luxuries of the state and federal capitals.
“We need a judiciary that exerts its independence and resist any prejudice in the discharge of justice. We need a civil service that does not ask for bribes to do that for which they receive salaries. We need institutions! We need functional institutions to restore the lost glories and trust that make a sane nation.”
He pointed out that the real problem of the country “is principally the collapse of our institutions. Our potentials are lost in our civic decadence, which stares at us in the face wherever we go: we see the decadence in the eyes of the policeman flipping through our particulars, we see the decadence in the eyes of the university registrar demanding for bribes to grant or facilitate admissions, we see the decadence in the eyes of every citizen who has lost hope in Nigeria.”
On his EFCC assignment, he said he has no regrets for fighting fraudsters to a standstill.
His words: “My appointment as Chairman of the EFCC, for instance, was a turbulent task in which I had to follow the statements of my previously written will to serve in a country where, for lack of functional institutions to check mismanagements of public funds and related criminal misconduct, trust in public institutions had become demolished and perpetrators went about wearing their crimes like badges of honour.
“I was given an appointment to stand in the way of these celebrated fraudsters—without an office and funds to launch my operations. My success at the EFCC, especially in resisting all tempting offers and calls to bend the rules, was a direct result of my vow from when I was like you that I will never be corrupt. I resented corruption not by lips of mouth but by personal conduct. I refused to be bribed or compromised throughout my public service career. Yet, I am ever happy with myself.
“I have no regrets that I don’t have mansions all over the world or own a private jet.”
The ex-EFCC chairman said although the decadence in the country is not the fault of Nigerian youths, they should develop a strong will to save the nation.

TheNation

Jonathan, PDP fret as opposition consolidates

 

 by: Yusuf Alli

•Rainbow coalition imminent as PDM may collaborate with APC
•Atiku under PDP watch

There is disquiet in the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following what some associates of the President term “consolidation by the opposition” towards 2015 poll.
To the associates, the newly registered Peoples Democratic Movement may collaborate with the main opposition coalition, All Progressives Congress, to unseat President Goodluck Jonathan. The development is said to be causing unease for the President.
Our correspondent learnt that the permutations of Jonathan’s strategists on 2015 poll are no longer adding up due to the birth of APC, emergence of PDM, recalcitrance of five PDP governors, the likely split of PDP as a result of internal stress and the crisis in Rivers State where about 2.3 million votes are at stake.
A reliable source, who does not want his name in print, said: “We are aware that the opposition is consolidating in different forms. Initially, APC is being tackled but it seems the mega party, as the promoters call it, is just an eye opener of what the opposition is up to.
“The emergence of PDM is a new challenge, it is no doubt adding to the political headache posed by the APC. It is apparent that the opposition is firing from different flanks in readiness for a coalition. One will not be surprised if another strong party from the opposition emerges tomorrow.
“The presidency and the PDP have started weighing options; trust that we will devise means of curtailing the opposition”
Another source said: “The President has done everything to secure at least five out of the six states in the South-South and four out of the five states in the South-East to neutralise the huge votes the opposition is likely to get in the North-West.
“If there will be any setback, it will be in Rivers. The battle in Rivers State is crucial to the Presidency because about 2.3million votes are at stake. Loss of Rivers State to the opposition could wipe away the votes from other five states in the South-South.
“Even the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) had always had its victory determined by the old Rivers State.”
Although the President is banking on votes from the six states in North-Central, he is unsure of support from Niger, Kwara, and Nasarawa States. While he can take the situation for granted in Plateau and Kogi, it is slippery in Benue State with strong opposition coming from APC. Many believed that the Action Congress of Nigeria, one of the parties in APC, was robbed in 2011 in the state and with other opposition parties now in APC, Benue will be a battleground state.
A PDP chieftain said yesterday: “The President knows that the threat from the opposition is real. And the consolidation of the opposition through the PDM is causing tension in the PDP.”
He said the PDP is particularly worried by the political development because forces behind the PDM had played a crucial role in the formation of PDP.
He said PDP leaders believe that ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had a hand in the formation of PDM, despite his denial of being the brain behind it.
To checkmate PDM, some stalwarts of PDP and forces in the Presidency, it was learnt, are pushing for deregistration of Atiku from the ruling party. The PDP, it was further learnt, will do everything possible to find out if Atiku is the financier of PDM.At an appraisal meeting at the weekend, some PDP leaders were said to have declared that there is no difference between Atiku and his associates who formed the PDM.
It was alleged that Atiku merely came up with Plan B through his associates to avoid being humiliated in PDP as was the case in 2011 when he was stranded after he was defeated by President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential primary.
It was learnt that some PDP chieftains and forces in the Presidency rated the formation of PDM as an attempt to divide PDP by Atiku and his associates.
Some party leaders felt it would be dangerous to continue to have Atiku in PDP when his heart is in PDM.
A renowned member who spoke in confidence said: “There is no doubt that PDM came as a result of a plot to divide PDP. Some aggrieved members of the party are behind the new party.
“PDP leaders are unhappy that some leaders will be pretending to be in the party and at the same time, they will undermine it. The emergence of PDM has thrown a challenge to PDP to look for these dissidents or rebels in its midst because if they continue like this, they will be spying the ruling party for PDM.
“So, the involvement of some PDP members in the formation of PDP is being looked into. Such members or leaders might face disciplinary action if necessary.”
Responding to a question, the source added: “I think some of our leaders are of strong opinion that Atiku allegedly had a hand in PDM. They alleged that Atiku had done a similar thing in 2007 when he found solace in Action Congress (AC) to contest the presidential poll.
“The ex-VP had denied the allegation but the PDP is investigating a few things on how PDM emerged. But there is no way PDP will harbour members of another party in its midst. This will be tactically dangerous. We are looking into many options to keep the PDP intact from intruders.”
But the PDM yesterday unfolded its mission and vowed to tackle the security crisis facing the nation.
It also said it has placed priority on national unity, economic reforms, the rule of law, public accountability, human rights, democracy and the legitimacy of dissent.
The PDM has unveiled its mission statement in a release in Abuja by its National Secretariat.
The party it in its Mission Statement said: “In the last decade, Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented decline in its social, economic and political fortunes.
“The recent lingering political and security crisis has magnified the cleavages in the nation’s multi-ethnic society and pushed our national psyche into a state of confusion, uncertainty and helplessness.
“ The nation is now faced with a rapidly deteriorating situation of human deprivation and economic stagnation which is threatening the nation with an ultimate structural collapse.
“This needs not be the plight of Nigeria and the Nigerian people because our nation is endowed with a large, quality population, abundant natural resources and a unique geo-economic location.”
It promised to reposition the country and restore its lost glory.

TheNation

Inside the presidential fight

 

Jonathan

Opponents – within and outside the ruling party – are undercutting President Jonathan’s authority as he prepares for the 2015 elections
Two factors – rampant factionalism in the governing People’s Democratic Party and a coherent opposition alliance are changing the calculus in Nigerian politics. For the first time in 14 years, the PDP could lose power at the centre in credible national elections. The PDP has never been a solid structure. Formed as an alliance of convenience by some leading politicians and their patronage networks in 1998, the party nearly broke apart in 2007 and was fractured badly before the 2003 and 2011 elections. However, on each occasion, party bosses corralled the squabbling politicians with a mixture of coercion and co-option – and delivered a victory, boosted by the party’s control of state security and attendant vote-rigging.
Successive presidents have used their access to oil export earnings of nearly US$100 billion a year, combined with the threat of highly selective anti-corruption investigations and prosecutions, to reimpose the party’s political dominance. Divided opposition parties have also helped the PDP tremendously.
Various reincarnations of the historic Lagos-based and Yoruba-dominated left-of-centre parties with their roots in the anti-colonial struggle have vied for control of the south-west, steadily strengthening their grip. Northern-dominated parties have taken a few states in the north-east or the north-west but in total, opposition parties have struggled to win more than a third of the total 36 states.
That has changed with the opposition party merger under the flag of the All Progressives’ Congress. At the same time, President Goodluck Jonathan looks increasingly vulnerable within the PDP, where he faces an all-out rebellion by the powerful state governors, who control local politics and whose cooperation is vital to win a presidential poll. Much of the dissension comes from the President’s undeclared plan to run for re-election in 2015.
Jonathan, from the Niger Delta, took office after President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a northerner, died in 2010. Since the constitution says an individual can twice be elected president for four-year terms, Jonathan’s allies insist that he is still eligible to run in 2015. Yet that would give him an unprecedented decade in office because he served out President Yar’Adua’s last two years as well.
The cheated north
Northern factions in the party already felt cheated out of office after Yar’Adua’s untimely death and pushed hard to have Jonathan stand aside in 2011. Under the PDP’s regional principle, the major offices are supposed to rotate between north and south. However, Jonathan broke this rule in the 2011 election and the prospect of his running for a second term in 2015 has further angered northern leaders.
If Jonathan has foes in his own party, his popularity with the general public has also declined. The growing middle class in the main towns and cities combined with the youth vote to help him win the last election. Indeed, he could have won in a straight vote, even without the widespread rigging in PDP strongholds.
Since then, frustration has grown about the President’s unwillingness or inability to tackle political and business corruption. The turning point came quickly in January 2012 when his government ended the fuel subsidies, regarded as one of the few mass benefits of oil production.
The cut sparked nationwide protests under the banner of Occupy Nigeria. For two weeks, professionals, civil activists, trades unionists, students, musicians and even civil servants held mass protests and brought the country to a standstill. A planned strike by oil workers finally forced Jonathan to reinstate about half of the subsidy.
To the protestors, the government had revealed itself as weak and vacillating in the face of organised opposition. Activists also began to pick open the corrupt rackets and their links to political sponsors that were part of the subsidy. It emerged that the arrears on subsidy payments owed to fuel importers in 2011 amounted to $18 bn. or more than half of the federal budget of $28 bn. Given that 2011 was an election year, activists quickly linked the largesse to the country’s biggest fuel importers and party campaign contributions.
Initially, the legislators in the National Assembly fared best from the fuel-subsidy crisis.
They summoned the leading fuel trading companies to the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Management to explain who was benefiting from the subsidy system and how. Then the credibility of the members of parliament nose-dived when it emerged that Committee Chairman Farouk Lawan had been caught in a sting operation, demanding bribes from billionaire fuel importer Femi Otedola.
Reform trio
Although the fuel-subsidy crisis deeply undermined the government, some resolute optimists still put faith in the credentials of its reform trio: Coordinating Minister of the Economy Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi. Former colleagues at the World Bank (where many had backed her last year to become its president) say that Okonjo-Iweala has pushed through detailed technical reforms in public finance management which will make grand corruption and the diversion of state revenue much more difficult. She complains that these important changes have gone largely unrecognised by the local and international media.
Yet sceptics say that even the redoubtable Okonjo-Iweala has made little progress in securing greater accountability over the oil revenue managed by the Department of Petroleum Resources under the aegis of the Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, a key ally of Jonathan. Although Adesina is widely praised for boosting farm productivity, crop storage and transport, in addition to rationalising seed and fertiliser distribution, there are periodic reports that he will be reshuffled. Adesina and his colleagues see the rapid development of agriculture as the next main economic focus; in terms of Nigeria’s market share, it could outpace oil and gas. There is, too, a wave of new interest in farming from investors, whom Adesina has wooed assiduously on the conference circuit.
The term of the much feted CBN Governor Sanusi ends next year and he has made it clear he will not seek a second one. Sanusi is best known for his bold reform of the financial sector and pioneering financial support for agricultural development schemes, his departure could significantly weaken the reformists.
Powerful merger
The biggest development shaking the political system is the merger of four opposition parties into the APC. In the past four elections, opposition parties joined only ad hoc alliances that had often unravelled by election day. The APC, however, is a credible merger into a single party, formed from the south-west’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); the small northern-based All Nigeria People’s Party; the leading party in the south-east, the All Progressives’ Grand Alliance; and Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change. The APC controls 13 governorships and could seriously challenge the PDP across the country.
The key architects of the APC have been Buhari and the ACN leader, former Lagos Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He has rebuilt the old Yoruba political machine after it was reduced to holding only one state in 2003. By 2011, the ACN controlled nearly the entire south-west and one Niger Delta state.
Tinubu and Buhari tried to form an alliance in 2011 but the arrangement collapsed over their inability to agree on who would occupy the top of the ticket. This year, however, the two reached a compromise that forms the foundation of the APC. The exact terms of the agreement have not been made public but one aspect is clear: Tinubu has agreed that the presidential candidate will be a northerner and that he will not be the vice-presidential choice.
Less clear, however, is Buhari’s future in the APC. He lacks a strong political organisation but he is tremendously popular on the streets of the north – and among some southerners – for his anti-corruption credentials. Buhari is without doubt one of the most popular politicians but big questions arise about his role in an opposition organisation.
Under the terms of the APC merger, Buhari appeared to have agreed to stand down in 2015, leaving himself and Tinubu as kingmakers. Now, Buhari says he plans to run again. He might again withdraw. At the same time, members of the Tinubu camp say that they could work with Buhari as their candidate if they could play the leading role in developing the new opposition coalition. In any event, they may have to. Buhari has name recognition and grassroots popularity but he has no viable political organisation, even in the north.
The APC’s prospects for 2015 also depend upon whether or not a significant number of the northern PDP governors can be convinced to cross the floor. The current tally suggests that six to nine PDP governors, most but not all in the north, are considering decamping to the APC.
Sokoto imbroglio
The Jonathan-controlled PDP leadership has suspended the party’s governor in Sokoto and is threatening others (the governor’s suspension has since been lifted). Open warfare has broken out between Jonathan’s camp and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the PDP Governor of Rivers State, over control of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. Amaechi has faced down Jonathan’s efforts to oust him as Chairman and has won strong backing from all the opposition governors and several from Jonathan’s party. An articulate and lively advocate of political change, Amaechi is due to address London’s Royal Institute of International Affairs this month.
By contrast, Buhari cuts a more sombre figure. He also frightens most of the political establishment, particularly those involved in corruption. Previously, he has talked of the need to gaol many from the political class as a way of cleansing the system.
Uncharacteristically, he has made quiet overtures in recent months, suggesting that he might be willing to overlook past corruption if it stops when he takes office. Indeed, Buhari’s alliance with Tinubu and his patronage machine suggests that he is open to more pragmatic tactics. Many leaders – even retired military officers such as Ibrahim Babangida and Aliyu Mohammed Gusau – who have crossed Buhari, worry that they would still remain targets.A mass exodus to the APC is unlikely right away, perhaps not until mid-2014. The northern governors will continue to undermine Jonathan within the PDP at first, working with former President Obasanjo and other disaffected members to win control of its machinery.
The third way
Their chances of success are slight, given the massive resource advantage of the presidency and their fears of an APC led by Buhari. The northern PDP governors are now discussing a ‘third way’ option of forming their own party. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and other senior politicians have entertained similar notions. Such developments would be a major blow to the PDP but would also present the APC with some difficult choices. For now, it looks the least likely route for the northern governors, if only because it would require a solidarity among them that they have yet to demonstrate.

The APC’s fortunes depend above all on its presidential candidate. Although Buhari dominates discussion at the moment, other strong candidates are quietly testing the waters, some of whom have reformist credentials. If the APC can produce a presidential flagbearer who is sufficiently credible to attract both elite and wider electoral attention, as well as encapsulating the frustrations of the north, the party could gain a good number of PDP governors and supporters as well as tap into the vast well of public exhaustion with corrupt PDP rule.
If the APC is able to construct a sufficiently national organisation to challenge the PDP in most of the 36 states, two additional factors will work in the opposition’s favour. Firstly, the large coalition of civil society groups that came together under Occupy Nigeria remains fairly organised and could throw its weight behind the opposition. That would help election monitoring and street protests if the 2015 elections are close. Trades union leaders, however, have long relationships with the PDP that will make their role uncertain.
Secondly, the Independent National Electoral Commission is headed by a reformer, Professor Attahiru Jega, who has been battling to break the grip of the politicians on the election system. Unfortunately, the INEC is structured so that that he does not control its state or local offices, so that the local political machines were able to alter many results in 2011 after the results left the polling stations and before they reached the federal level. Jega is considering several ways to get the actual polling station results directly to the INEC leadership and to the public, but he faces strong resistance from political networks.
Recipe for an APC win
APC leaders express private doubts about whether Jega is really independent. Nevertheless, his efforts at INEC, combined with civil society support, could provide the required ingredients for an APC victory if the party gains backing from the northern governors to give it the national organisation it needs.
Yet the hurdles are high. First and foremost stands the remarkable ability of the PDP to reinstall a modicum of party discipline, typically fuelled by the deep pockets of the presidency. Jonathan still has time to reach out to northern leaders and negotiate a new deal with enough governors, although that could be difficult. PDP organisers could take advantage of the heavy military presence in the north-east to interfere with election outcomes there.
All this focussing on the presidential election, however, obscures other issues for the APC and its countrywide reach. The opposition now has enough organisations in many of the states to contemplate a more comprehensive strategy. If it does not employ all its energy on winning the presidency, the APC could prepare a Plan B in case Jonathan outmanoeuvres it in 2015. It might add more state governorships and reach 18 or 19 states. That would give it a powerful base from which to take the presidency in 2019.
Such advance planning would be untypical of senior politicians but if they can stitch together a viable opposition, they will need a far more strategic approach from now on.

TheNation

ROTATION AND IT'S PRESUMPTIONS - Eddy Ogunbor

Buhari has been accused of various 'crimes' and no one has been able to prove these with facts.
I have read write -ups on Buhari by Tony Momoh,Duro Onabule,Prof. Tam David-West etc. and good commendations on him by Nuhu Ribadu,Kingsley Osadolor,Femi Falana and even Olusegun Obasanjo etc; none of those who parade themselves as politicians in this our democratic dispensation since 1999 has come out clean as Buhari.
Also, i have read some write-ups on Buhari by some journalists accusing him of being a dictator,fanatic, religious bigot and ethnic promoter etc,all without facts and evidence to convince me of such accusations.They are all sponsored write-ups just to discredit Buhari.
The political class brand him as a dictator and the Press amplify it to please their masters who amassed wealth ,stole and are still stealing the country blind.
It will be then proper and safe to refer to our former President Olusegun Obasanjo,our no.3 citizen David Mark the Senate President,Olagunsoye Oyinlola,Governor of Osun State,Murtala Nyako,Governor of Adamawa State,Tunde Akogun,majority leader in the House of Representatives and many others in the NASS, as dictators because of their military background and having participated in military coups and regimes in one appointment or the other in the past.
If the above named ex-military officers can benefit in the present democratic dispensation,which many of them,as we know,worked hard to truncate in the past,why should Buhari be singled out for branding as a dictator?Who therefore are those afraid of Buhari?
If there is a politician that has contributed more to our democratic process since joining politics in 2003, that politician is Buhari with the meticulous approach to presenting his cases at the election tribunals up to the Supreme Courts in 2003 and 2007 elections.
What else do Nigerians require therefore, to prove that Buhari is a true democrat?
For the first time in the history of Nigeria, Buhari/Idiagbon regime was a muslim/muslim pair.Nigerians did not complain and throughout the period of the regime,there was no religious riot,sponsored or otherwise. The country's observer status at O.I.C was not upgraded to full memebership status and there was no religious persecution of any sort.What therefore makes Buhari a religious bigot and fanatic?
I have always blamed a section of the Press for the negative publicity of Buhari because of their refusal to forgive him on decree4 and the jailing of Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson.The Press forgot conveniently that Buhari's regime was a military regime that came on a corrective mission and therefore,such situation as we found ourselves during the NPN 'moonslide'etc, required special handling as the political class then was worse than armed bandits.
In a military and corrective regime,the constitution is suspended and decrees promulgated and amended. When the regime took over,top and senior journalists from Newswactch magazine interviewed Buhari and when asked about the Press decree,he bluntly replied that he was going to 'tamper with it' and that was as honest as he could be and he is.The Press knew this and for Christ sake,it was a military regime! and subsequent regimes and democratic governments did same and worse.
The irony of it all is,if you will recall, when Nduka Irabor served as Press Officer to the CGS during the IBB regime and the sacking of Patrick Itioghe as NTA DG during the Oyakhilome/Madike issue. Nduka Irabor gave a verbal order to Itioghe through the telephone to announce the removal of Oyakhilome as DG of NDLEA and that is, after the government had expressed confidence on the NDLEA boss.When Itioghe demanded a written statement from Irabor,which he bluntly refused to give,Itioghe was removed as NTA DG unceremoniously!
Buhari is also accused of jailing politicians for being corrupt during the Shagari administration.Were the politicians not corrupt?Most of them are still around today and they form the main stakeholders of the ruling party - a party bent on leading the country on a path to destruction and implosion.
In 1984,during a Rotary Club(Kaduna/Kawo precisely)session,an officer from the American Embassy in Kaduna was invited to give a lecture on drug trafficking and attendant implication.He drew our attention to the fact that Nigeria was being used as a transit route to traffic drugs to Europe and America and that concerted efforts were being made by European and American governments to close and mark their borders against the inflow of drugs to these countries.The implication therefore will be that the traffic routes like Nigeria, will become dumping grounds for drugs and therefore the consequent usage of these drugs and the gradual destruction of our youths.See what has become of our youths and thier generation today!
Then the Buhari regime apprehended some young men for trafficking in drugs and sentenced them to death. Their godfathers,sponsors,barons and kingpins have not forgiven Buhari for that attempt to cleanse the country and save our youths.Most of them are the key players in our polity today.
Whereas in some civilised and democratic countries of the world today,drug traffic offenders face stiff penalties including death sentence.These countries have come out more sanitised than our country.
Buhari excelled as a brilliant,humble and incorruptible military officer and Head of State.Out of the four(4) or so Army Divisions,Buhari was GOC in at least three(3) of the Divisions.No other officer achieved that feat in his time.I stand corrected.Added to that, no one so far has accussed Buhari openly of ethnic victimisation in these Divisions.
Buhari has followership both in the military and civillian(oppressed) classes and he also has his faults like any human being,which is expected.
At this point in our country,we need a NATIONAL REBIRTH and we should be able to speak up, identify with the truth and identify the leadership qualities and antecedents we require of our leaders and chart a direction for this country instaed of the directionless leadership we have now,after eleven(11) years of 'democracy' by the ruling party.
It has always been my opinion that since 1999,we should still be transitting from military to civilian rule before full democracy.We needed to be disciplined,we needed to confront corruption head-on,we needed to check the military mentality of our politicians who are products of the military class and we needed a Buhari character to lead us through the transition.But then,we missed it in 2003 and 2007.Can we afford to miss is this time?The consequences will be unimaginable.
I thank you Simon Kolawole,for your incisive and truthful write-up and you have earned my respect for that.It is the type of write-ups we need and not double speak or flip-flopping.We have to tell ourselves,at this defining moment in our polity,the truth.We should get over sycophancy,political jobbing and condemnation of everyone without expressly endorsing a canditate based on performance and antecedents.
Let every Nigerian constitutionaly qualified to contest for the Presidency present himself/herself and let the people decide who they want,through the ballot boxes,without bias.This is Buhari's stand.
When and if this is achieved,Nigeria will wake up from slumber and no more be refered to as the sleeping giant of Africa.
Finally,I call on true patriotic,progressive and proactive Nigerians to, as a matter of urgent NATIONAL DUTY and REBIRTH, support Muhammadu Buhari and forget ethnic and religious sentiments.
Consider antecedents,experience,leadership qualities,achievements,forthrightness,incorruptible personality,ability to clean the mess and rot in our system and most of all,choosing between the 'devil' and the deep blue sea.Nigeria will be great again to lead the African Continent into the next millenium and beyond.

PROVIDENCE AND PASSION - Eddy Ogunbor

 The ingenuity of Nigerians,especially the political class,has never seized to amaze me.When you think you have been able to keep pace with them in understanding or giving meaning to words frequently used by them,they come up with new words to outwith or confuse you and therefore shock you to a ''state of unshockability''(apology to late Dele Giwa).
In the recent past since our journey into 'democracy',the plitical class has coined words and in so doing give explanations to cover a bad decision or mistake in course of duty.Samples of such words in the political class vocabulary are:-
-home grown democracy
-moving the nation forward
-stakeholders
-family affairs
-equal joiners and owners
-godfatherism
-doctrine of neccessity
-dividends of democracy
-cabal etc.
Since the swearing in of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan(GEJ) as President and the warming up to the 2011 general elections,suddenly the political class has elevated a new word to the forefront in its political vocabulary.The new word is PROVIDENCE.
PROVIDENCE -God, or a force that some people believe control our lives and the things that happen to us,usually in a way that protects us.(Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary).
The arguement by the political class now is that since providence threw up GEJ as the President,he should be allowed to run and continue as President irrespective of achievements,antecedents and ability to lead and sanitise the country.Nigeria is a country of prayer warriors,very vast in in biblical verses and expectations.They believe generally that,''God is a Nigerian'' and that explains why most Nigerians do not plan and prepare for anything.This has been the Nigerian arbatross politically,economically,administrativelly etc.,since independence in 1960.If you do not plan,there is no success;in otherwords,if you fail to plan,you plan to to fail.
Whatever course of direction,profession or career one decides to pursue in life,there should be planning and a passion for same no matter how lowly.
It is in this regard i will like to justapose PROVIDENCE and PASSION against the background of the various leaderships and governments we have had in this country since independence and let us determine if providence in government has actually produced the desired leadership in Nigeria.
PASSION-a very strong feeling of love,hatred,anger,enthusiasm etc(2)a state of being very angry(3)a very strong feeling of liking sth.a hobby,activity etc that you like very much (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary).
In 1960,Nigeria had three(3) regional governments and leaders that were very passionate in leading and serving their people The leaders were Obafemi Awolowo,Ahmadu Bello and Nnamdi Azikiwe,all of blessed memory.They also built followership and had lieutenants that were also passionate.
However for sake of serving their people in the regions,Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello stayed back as Premiers in the regions untill Awolowo's passion to lead the country propelled him to the centre to contest for the Prime Minister position,which he never became, while Ahmadu Bello with the added traditional title of Sardauna of Sokoto, chose to remain in his traditional domain to serve his people.
Tafawa Balewa, a lieutenant of Ahmadu Bello,out of providence, had to be seconded to the Federal level and he became Prime Minister, a position he did not have the passion to aspire to in the first instance.How well he was able to perform as Prime Minister,is not the issue in this write-up,but a debatable subject.
In 1966,we witnessed the military incursion into governance with the Major Nzeogwu led coup and the coup has been and still a subject of controversy and debate as to whether it was propelled by patriotism,passion, providence or otherwise for the country.
Also the Gen.Ironsi and Gen.Gowon's regimes have also become subjects of controversies and debates as to whether the regimes were that of providence,passion, patriotism or otherwise for the country.I will restrain myself from discussing these regimes and allow students and writers of histrory to decide.
However in 1975,late Gen.Murtala Mohammed took over from the Gowon regime and we do not need students or writers of history to tell us that Mohammed's passion for governance and for the suffering people of Nigeria and the passion to cleanse the rot and injustice in the system then,propelled him to oust the Gowon's regime in a palace coup.
To all intent and purpose,planning and execution of programmes of the Mohammed's regime,it had direction but unfortunately his life was cut short by those in the system who had no passion for the country.Then providence threw on the country the Gen.Olusegun Obasanjo regime.
By providence in 1979,Obasanjo gave us the Alhaji Shehu Shagari's government.Shagari's ambition politically was to at best, be a parliamentarian.That was his passion and did not have the passion to become President.Did he perform as President?
However in 1983,Gen.Mohammadu Buhari's regime outsted the Shagari's government with a passion to correct the ills,corruption and injustice of NPN government.The regime was outsted by fifth columnists in that same regime and providence produced Gen.Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida's (IBB) regime with the aid of the system and establishment people.
IBB took the country through a winding,tortous and expensive electoral process which MKO Abiola won,a man that had the passion and drive to aspire to become the President.The passion and drive was truncated by IBB and his loyalists,even though the election was rated and still is considered as the freest,fairest and best conducted election so far held in the political and electoral history of this country.
Then by another providence, we got the Interim National Government (ING) of Chief Earnest Shonekan and subsequently the late Gen.Sanni Abacha and Gen.Abdusalam Abubakar's regimes.
Providence brought Gen.Obasanjo out of prison and from the hands of death and he became the country's President from 1999 to 2007.Did the country benefit from this providence?
We had barely recovered from Obasanjo's government of providence,then Obasanjo gave the country another government of providence in the late Umaru Musa Yar'dua's and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) as Vice President,after Obasanjo's failed third term attempt.
The government of GEJ is no doubt a government of providence.His supporters and support groups have not failed to remind the country of this fact.
The crust of the matter and the question we should ask ourselves in all honesty is - has governments of providence led the country on the right path?
Providence since 1960 has led the country nowhere and obviously will lead to nowhere this time around.
We should forget providence and let us be passionate in what we desire for and from our country Nigeria.
Let the country choose and vote for a Presidential candidate with the passion to lead Nigeria to greatness.
That candidate is MUHAMMADU BUHARI.

Read Dele Momodu’s Brotherly Advice To Governor Akpabio

Your Excellency, I find it necessary to write this open letter to you in order to let you know what I had always wanted to tell you as an admirer and keen watcher of your activities and commendable performance in the oil-rich State of Akwa Ibom.

Let me confess that I was one of those who felt you were a media creation, all hype and gas, without any solid substance. Your hyperactive nature makes it natural for people to conclude that you are a noise-maker, attention-seeker and publicity-grabber.

However, I had the opportunity and privilege of visiting Uyo, the beautiful capital of Akwa Ibom, early in 2011, a few months to the Presidential election in which I humbly participated. It was not part of my original plan to visit your magnificent Government House. But man proposes and God disposes. I had hoped to quietly spend quality time at the wedding of my young friend, and the then President of a large chunk of the fratricidal National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr Ini Ememobong. I was pleasantly surprised when you breezed in half-way into the colourful ceremony and electrified the atmosphere. Your arrival and participation took the youthful wedding soiree to a crescendo and I was gratified by your effortless connection to the young folks.

I observed your friendliness and affability. When you saw me, you were extremely warm and you told me you had to accord me the protocol which befits a Presidential candidate visiting your jurisdiction and invited me over to dinner later that evening at your home. I was quite impressed that our politics was no longer that of bitterness. I saw hope in you and your tribe of new-breed politicians. My dream for Nigeria had always been for us to climb up to a stage where we can all work for the good of our country no matter our different persuasions.

I honoured your invitation and visited your ultra-modern palace, which is the true description of the high-tech edifice. The dinner you laid out was elaborate and fit for a king. Of course, the powerful Commandant of the Nigeria Defense College, Rear Admiral Thomas Jonah Lokoson was on a visit and he was your special guest that night. Also present were some Senate members of NANS who came along to taste your exceptional hospitality. I was particularly impressed about your eloquent oratory. You spoke passionately from the heart and reeled out the endless achievements of your government and stewardship. It was difficult not to be enraptured by your sweet rhapsodies and sonorous melodies.

My conclusion as I drove out of your official residence that night was that a few of the bright PDP Governors might end up being the saving grace and the handsome face for the grossly incompetent monstrosity called the Federal Government. Your party had wielded enormous power and spent humongous budgets in 12 years with nothing to show for it. Those campaigning for Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had assured Nigerians of a breath of fresh air if he was sworn in as substantive President. How I wished Nigeria as a whole could witness the type of development, albeit sporadic, that I saw on ground in Uyo. I truly wondered why you did not seek to be the President with your apparent larger-than-life vision. Why is it that conservative parties in Nigeria can’t see the common-sense in fielding some of their outstanding members? I could never fathom why our avuncular President, General Olusegun Obasanjo could not support the charming, modern and forward-looking Governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, when he was brewing the ugly mess that has led us to where we are today.

This was the stream-of-consciousness that raced through my thought-process as I returned to my hotel that night. I secretly prayed for you to see the wisdom in raising your ante by seeking a bigger role sooner than later. In other climes, it would have been possible for you to challenge the incumbent President to a rigorous duel but not in our dear country where the omnipotent leaders practically use their talismanic scanners to read the minds of ambitious colleagues ahead of time. I did not know my innocuous wishes for your type would later come to haunt one of Nigeria’s most energetic Governors, Mr Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi who has virtually become a pariah in your party today.

This is the crux of my epistle to you. I have not been very pleased with the assignment you’ve been given or awarded to yourself since the beginning of this unfortunate imbroglio. You’ve been sending wrong signals to your great fans like me. The impression from certain quarters is that you view Governor Amaechi as your arch-rival and you are all out and determined to run him out of town. If the truth must be told, it is beginning to show you as someone who would do anything and everything to damage and destroy any form of competition. This is very unnecessary and extremely tragic. Indeed that was not the view of you that I formed and took away from that chance encounter in Uyo. I saw you as a man who wanted to live and let others live.

You were elected to serve and promote the best interests of Akwa Ibom and not to run errands for the Federal Government. You can do your job very well without getting involved in the pettiness being foisted on our nation from the very top. What shall it profit the Presidency if it achieves its crooked ambition of removing Amaechi as Chairman of a social club called the Nigeria Governors Forum? More importantly, what shall it add to your own curriculum vitae if Amaechi is eventually impeached as the Governor of Rivers State?

I believe you have gone too far and too deep into this matter that it would seem there was a personal animosity between both of you when there may not be any. However perception is key and public opinion even more so. There is no reason, whatsoever, for you to get involved in a matter that concerns one of your colleagues. The Federal Government is big enough to fight its own battles. It has Ministers, Special Advisers and many hangers-on who are willing to act as cannon fodder or even suicide bombers. You are too big and far too important to be used as a human King Kong. You stand to lose more than what you can gain if you persist and continue on this dangerous road to perdition. What I can see very clearly is that you’re eroding and wasting your excellent equity on a worthless venture.

Please, permit me to refresh your memory a bit. Once upon a time, there were Governors that were supposedly close to President Olusegun Obasanjo. They included `Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, Joshua Dariye, James Ibori, Peter Fayose, Olusegun Osoba, Gbenga Daniels, Bukola Saraki, Peter Odili, and several others. They wielded stupendous powers, or so they thought! What happened to them? One by one, they were cleverly elevated to a point where they felt comfortably secure before being surgically removed and clinically eliminated. It is not in the character of our leaders to entrust power in more competent and charismatic subordinates. They always promote the dregs of society whom they believe lack ambition, vision and ultimately, the grit to challenge them. Popularity and fame are veritable sources of irritation to such leaders. This is why you should be very careful.

No matter how much you portray yourself to be humble and absolutely loyal to the Him-on-High in Abuja, it is a wasted effort. Your future ambition screams from afar. Anyone discerning enough would know you’re heading somewhere and don’t President Jonathan is fooled about your voluptuous desire. You’re an irrepressible soul, and when the time comes the Nigerian Mafia will try to cut you down to size. Your aura is such that is so sharp and palpable. Take it from me; the forces that control our nation would never go to sleep with two eyes closed while you’re around. Right now, what they are thinking is that you’re just pretending to be with them in order to achieve a pre-determined mission. That was how your predecessors ran into troubled waters. Most of them were used and dumped. I cannot see your case being any different.

Governor Alams was particularly close to President Obasanjo and was called the Governor-General at the height of his power and glory. President Obasanjo wrote two eloquent letters to him at different times testifying to the giddy success of Alams’ administration in the space of a few years because of the developments that he had witnessed in Yenagoa on both occasions that he had visited. All it took to hack him down was a rumoured romance with the then Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Chief Olusegun Osoba and President Obasanjo are of the same Egba tribe. I remember the wedding of Kofoworola Obasanjo in London, Aremo Osoba was the father of the day. He wore the same Agbada with the President and they looked very chummy together, blood brothers on a mission only they were privy to. However, one thing led to another and Obasanjo decided he needed to grab the South West to prove his manhood to the PDP. In this calculation, Osoba was expendable. His interest was inconsequential, notwithstanding whatever pact Akinrogun imagined that he had extracted from the Generalissimo. No consideration was given to his feelings and he was simply squashed underfoot and erased from the equation.

The case of Dr Peter Odili was particularly instructive. He worked assiduously and traversed the whole nation promoting his Presidential dream. At a stage, everything looked promising and it was just a matter of time before his mission would be accomplished. That was when the axe-man moved in and sliced him to pieces. Even when he was promised the Vice Presidential slot, it was merely a ploy to buy time and pave the way for a man they foolishly thought was stupid but later turned out to be smarter than his sponsors, Dr Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was the Governor of Katsina State at the time.

Let me take one more example out of so many that I can assemble. The story of Chief Ibori was more dramatic. Somehow, he was able to out-manoeuvre the fox and made himself one of the most prominent kingmakers in Nigeria. But the principalities never left him totally out of sight and when it was time they moved in on him. What was strange was it was a President from the same geographical zone who smoked him out of the hole that eventually exposed him to a couple of years of detention in Dubai and a long prison sentence in London. If anyone had foretold all these tragedies would befall the ‘Ogidigborigbo of Africa’ some years back we would have called the person a fake prophet of doom.

I have laboured to write this epistle because I adore your capabilities and positive energies. If I were you, I will dream bigger than you are doing presently. I will remove myself from the present mess and mind my own business. There are bigger targets to fix your gaze on beyond the shores of Nigeria. Forget about going to the Senate and forcing your way through. You don’t need such distraction. As a matter of fact, such moves have become the trend and are just too predictable.

As one of the better materials we have in Nigeria today, you should climb the world stage as a Statesman and not as a local champion. I expect to see you teaching Leadership courses in Harvard and propounding practical theories. The world should be able to benefit from your wealth of experience. You have the chance of also joining world figures as global Ambassadors and can earn a decent living from speaking engagements and by so doing turn your back on the plundering of the nation which doubles for governance in these parts of the world.

I’m seriously pleading with you to change how we do things in our around here and help to open new vistas and set new standards in public life. I pray you will see the sense and sincerity in my brotherly advice and act accordingly.

If you do, I’m sure you will find yourself on the threshold of honour. It is not too late to achieve this possibility.

Stay blessed as the future beckons…

NaijaUrban

Why Does The President Enjoy The Company Of Gangsters?

By: Sam Nda-Isaiah

They said we are nobody. Then they have seen. When you are dealing with nobody, be careful. The nobody will show you that he is somebody. We will make sure they will not sleep again. As they are sleeping, they will not sleep with their two eyes closed. One eye will be open, because they know there is danger.”

You won’t believe it but this statement was made by a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The minister of state for education, Mr Nyesom Wike, who is at the centre of the crisis in Rivers State with the clear support of the president, Goodluck Jonathan, and the co-president, Patience Jonathan, now operates above the law in the state. To worsen the joke, he has even declared for the governorship of the state. It is very hard to believe that a serving minister would make that kind of statement and still be kept in the cabinet by the president. But that has been our lot since Jonathan became president.

For those who may not know, the minister of state has virtually relocated to Port Harcourt to organise his thugs, and he is the force behind getting five state legislators to impeach the speaker in the House of Assembly made up of 32 members. His plan, of course, was to organise these five people to impeach the governor. And if that had happened, police commissioner Joseph Mbu would have been on hand to enforce it. That was Mbu’s mission to the state in any case. Both Wike and Mbu have been indicted by the National Assembly in the Rivers disgraceful crisis, yet the president has refused to remove them. In fact, the IGP has just announced that police commissioner Mbu is one of the best “professional” policemen that the Nigerian police can boast of. I want to assume that the IGP was misquoted. Because if it is true that Mbu is one of the best that we have, then, the entire police force should be disbanded immediately. No decent nation should keep that kind of police force.

It was also Wike’s thugs that stoned the five governors that went on a solidarity visit to Governor Amaechi, when the plot to impeach him with five legislators out of 32 collapsed. It was also reported that the minister had to rush to Port Harcourt on that same day to ensure that the stoning of the governors was carried out “professionally”. A serving minister? Only in Jonathan’s government of course.

It is probably in appreciation of all these professional services that Dame Patience recently publicly endorsed the minister. Speaking at the wedding reception of a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Evans Bapakaye Bipi (one of the five anti-Amaechi members and the one who specifically ordered the police to shoot the governor when the governor arrived in the House on the day of the crisis), the first lady declared: “Wike has been a major unifier for the state; it is him that has made it possible for me to be here today. We need peace in the state; if not for Wike, I wouldn’t be opportune to be here today. It is good to be good. Wike, I doff my hat for you.” Imagine the kind of company our first lady enjoys. Nigerians have never seen anything like this before.

The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has to raise his standards. He cannot continue to keep a minister like Wike in his cabinet. And Nigerians are embarrassed at the kind of company their president keeps. If it is not Wike, it is Tompolo, Dokubo-Asari and their ilk.

The Niger Delta has some of the most enlightened, educated and serious people in the country. Many of them are very well-known in the public and private sectors of this country. If our president wants to choose company from these, he has many, many of such people to choose from. Not Wike, not Tompolo, not Dokubo-Asari, for God’s sake.

EARSHOT

Must They Deny Everything?

Last week, the African Development Bank released a report which showed that poverty increased in Nigeria in the 14 years that the PDP has been in power. This report of course tallies with similar reports from several respected global institutions. Besides, Nigerians do not need any report to know that the only real achievement of the successive PDP governments at the federal level in the last 14 years has been the deepening of poverty in spite of the very good prices crude oil has attracted since 1999. Before the PDP came to power on May 29, 1999, crude oil prices under General Abacha and Abdulsalami hovered around $20 per barrel, sometimes even much less. But it was under Obasanjo that the price got as high as $140 per barrel. It currently sells for $106 per barrel. Yet, poverty and unemployment since 1999 have continued to rise. The recent World Bank report actually said unemployment rate in Nigeria increased from 12 per cent of the working age population in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2011 under President Jonathan and went further to declare that the official definition of employment in Nigeria is unusual and therefore not comparable to what obtains in most countries. What that means in plain English is that Nigeria’s current unemployment rate in real terms could be more than 50 per cent. Recently, there was a vacancy for 10 people in a well-known establishment, and 10,000 qualified people applied. Many PhDs have applied to be truck drivers with the Dangote Group. The chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, himself said so not long ago.

As usual, the presidency has denied the AfDB poverty report on Nigeria. But must they deny everything no matter how silly such denials may sound? Friends of the presidency should advise them to stop making a fool of themselves. Maybe the PDP mandarins need to know that Nigerians have renamed the PDP “Poverty Development Party”. I hope this helps the PDP to refocus and restrategise, especially now that there is a real alternative platform, instead of lying to themselves.

Leadership