Tinubu Does Not Have Parkinson, He’s Hale And Hearty — Ajomale

Contrary to speculations circulating on the social media that the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the party’s interim chairman in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria, Chief Henry Oladele Ajomale, said Tinubu is hale and hearty.

Ajomale, in a chat with P.M.NEWS, debunked the allegation and described it as a figment of the imagination of the party leader’s detractors.

He confirmed that Tinubu had undergone a surgery for an accident he suffered on his knee cap, but stated that he is recuperating in London.

“I wonder where those who started the speculation got their information from. There is nothing further from the truth, because the Asiwaju I met and discussed with last week in London was as fit as fiddle.

“In fact, he was upbeat while our discussion on political happenings and the way forward in our country lasted. Besides, he has been in regular contact with his associates and followers back home and all other parts of the world,” Ajomale stated.

Ajomale added that it had become imperative to allay the fears of the members of public as well as their party following the unfounded rumour surrounding his health status..

An American-based online magazine, Paparazzi, recently on the social media alleged that Tinubu was down with the Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that is characterised my muscle tremor.

The news, which went viral, has been retailed on other social media platforms, like twitter and facebook, therefore eliciting panic among the teeming supporters of the former Lagos State governor and a man who has come to be known as the leading light of political opposition in Nigeria.

PM NEWS

Why They Think Yoruba Are Cowards

Where Yoruba are concerned, the most influential component of the common narrative subscribed to by some from Nigeria’s other indigenous nations is this : “Yoruba are cowards.”

Unfortunately, a significant proportion of Yoruba are yet to objectively examine and correctly adjust to this perspective of themselves by others. Which explains why such people are unable/unwilling to accept that it is folly to continue exhibiting the characteristics that encouraged the formation of this view of themselves by outsiders – why they remain reluctant to bring to the fore other characteristics that will disabuse those holding on to erroneous conclusions.

This is an exercise in procrastination that is likely to have detrimental consequences.

Repeat this description of the collective in the hearing of the type of Yoruba described above and the most likely reaction will be one where the description is dismissed as been nothing more than a piece of braggadocio that will be easily demolished if those who utter it ever attempt to act upon it.

This line of thinking is mistaken because it is potentially very wasteful. It is in fact more prudent to let people know that they will have a lot to lose if they try to impose upon you than to wait for them to make the attempt. Because as a rule, more treasure (in persons and materials) is spent in physically repelling attacks.

Chinua Achebe’s last book marked the inauguration of a new phase in the low-level conflict that has been wrongly described as ‘competition’ between Yoruba and Igbo.

In the heat of this ongoing battle, a number of leading Yoruba intellectuals and political leaders either stayed all the way out or restricted themselves to making ambiguous (AKA ‘nuanced’) interventions. This has been noticed – not only by Yoruba, but also by others…

In seeking to justify themselves, some of these Yoruba persons of ‘nuance’ let it be known that they are persons too advanced/sophisticated to participate in ‘tribal warfare’[1].

Meanwhile, Igbo leaders of thought from all parts of the spectrum were (and still are) busy molding the world’s perception of themselves as a ‘marginalised’ people who live under the threat of genocide in Nigeria[2]. In other words, while individuals like Ezekwesili, Kalu, Achebe, Obi, etc. have been busy differentiating the Igbo in global consciousness as a special group that is under threat of extermination at the hands of other so-called Nigerians (in a reprise of Rwanda 1993 perhaps) our own ‘de-tribalised’ intellectuals, being as they are so much in love with their self-constructed images as good/enlightened Nigerians, are mostly busy either maintaining their ‘nuanced’ perspectives or, a very significant silence.

A silence that may well be fatal because when the inevitable conflict starts, the entire world will see the Igbo as helpless victims – i.e. ones who belong to the same category as the Tutsi of Rwanda and the Albanians of Kosovo.

Meanwhile, the unspoken truth remains – the unspoken truth about how an ongoing war of words that may very well turn to bloodshed is not over who owns what in Igbo land. That is to say, no Yoruba person, from the ordinary citizen to the elites, is making a claim on any part of Igbo land or its resources. The conflict is in fact over Igbo assertions that not only is part of Yorubaland a ‘no man’s land’, but also that they (Igbo) have a right to aspire to leadership at all levels of government in Yoruba land.

That is it. That is what this quarrel is based on. But, Igbo leaders do not frame it like that. Instead, they accuse Yoruba of being ‘tribalists’ – simply because Yoruba say that they are not willing to be colonised.

So, the myth of Yoruba ‘cowardice’ – a myth that has over emboldened some other so-called Nigerians – is something whose source can now be summarized. And it is simply this: While many Igbo have been allowed to exercise their self-interest in Yoruba spheres of influence without challenge and while the most visible Igbo leaders have simultaneously maintained a false narrative about Yoruba and, about the role of Igbo in Nigeria, their Yoruba counterparts have mainly kept silent, preferring (instead of responding), to intensify futile efforts to make sense out of the infinitely complex mess that is Nigeria.

And it is this lack of an assertive Yoruba response to long-running provocations that has led some Igbo to believe that Yoruba are cowards.

Yoruba are not cowards, they were simply unfortunate (in recent times past) to have had naive fantasists as leaders and spokespersons. But, that period has now come to an end. And should the current political leadership fail or compromise in the pursuit of asserting Yoruba authority over the entirety of Yoruba geographical space, they can be assured that they will be replaced. The era of fake ‘Nigerian nationalism’ is over. Yoruba did not accept colonialism from Europeans and we will not accept it from fellow Africans.

NOTES
[1] ‘Tribal warfare’ – a deceptive label what was actually originally minted by manipulative people and later echoed by the naive (and the willfully ignorant).

[2] “Tears Of The Sun” (a film starring Bruce Willis) can be seen a fruit of such propagandising. In this film, the murder of an Igbo President was followed by a wide-spread massacre of Igbo all over Nigeria. Sometime this year (or early next year) Hollywood will be releasing the film version of “Half Of A Yellow Sun”. It can be expected that this film’s release will not be allowed to go to waste by those who wish to remind the world of how ‘unfairly’ the Igbo are treated in Nigeria and, the ‘dangers’ that they still face.

NIGERIA VILLAGE SQUARE

Balogun: FCMB is Half Way into its Journey

Chief Olasubomi Balogun 

First City Monument Bank was 30 years old on August 11 . Its founder and former chief executive officer, Chief Olasubomi Balogun, shared his vision of the bank with business editors. The foremost banker who bestrode the financial sector like a colossus for many years, spoke passionately about how, with sheer determination and strong faith in God, he established the first indigenous bank in Nigeria, when all and sundry thought it was impossible. Kunle Aderinokun presents the excerpts

How will  you describe your journey in the Nigerian  financial market?
My journey to what you now see, has been divinely guided and if you care to know and to have details, go to the  Primrose tower at the headquarters of the organisation you will read on the plaque: “This block, primrose tower is dedicated to the glory of God, as an embodiment of a young man’s faith in the unfailing support of the almighty God and in his own destiny in spite of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles.”

Secondly, it is also a monument of a young Nigerian’s determination to succeed and to prove that given the opportunity, he has the might to attain the commanding height in the management of a financial institution.

Lastly, it serves as a lesson to all mankind that in all things, mortals may have their say but in the final analysis, the almighty God would have his way. That encapsulates my whole journey. I had a dream and had a vision. I was cheated as I was an employee of another institution created by Nigerians and expatriates. I was the brain behind the whole thing. I went on a course in the United States and I came back with ideas that we should set up a merchant bank, but when it came to selecting the chief executive, I was told that because I had a basic training in law, I could not be the chief executive. I was 42 and they brought a young man with little or no experience from America at 32 to come and boss me.

One of the gifts God gave me is courage and tenacity of purpose so that was what gave rise to the dream and vision which was clear by nature that God gave me. I knew where I was going but the vista was misty. It was unbelievable that one Nigerian would say that if he did not get a position in a bank, he would go out to set up a bank. But as this encapsulated, I was trying to prove that given the opportunity and with the support of the almighty God I had a vision to attain the commanding heights in the management of a financial institution. I was trying to prove a point but I was not arrogant, but by the grace of the almighty God. So when I felt cheated by not being allowed to head the institution created by a foreign institution, my then former employers, I had the courage to resign and without anything in my pocket. I decided to start on a journey of self actualisation. It was not a proud journey; it was a journey of faith. It was turbulent and so many people still see me around after about 40 years of doing what no other Nigerian had done.

Those of you who are older in the media know what battles I had fought and people who didn’t know me felt I was arrogant. I wish they learned from what happened to me by being focused and having courage. You would find that through my journey, the whole thing has been punctuated by my faith in God and that faith was very strong.

So 35 years ago, without thinking of what to do I threw in my letter of resignation. Dream is a personal thing and it is known all over the world that many institutions that have become large, an individual started it and I had a template which in this country was either not known or if it was known, people where cynical. In the world, you have heard of the JP Morgan, Rockefeller, Cadbury etc.; they were all individuals and if you heard of Sir Siegmund Warburg, who was actually my template, who started the oldest merchant bank in Britain… So, when I decided to do it, I looked for him, I read his book I even visited him before he died. You would find that most of his stories you would hear divinely guided, had been based on precedence. But in this country, for one individual to say I want to set up a bank, people thought it was sacrilegious whereas I was setting an example, I was being a pioneer. When I did it, seven or eight years ago, the likes of other banks you know now followed. So, FCMB is a 30-year journey that was started by me.We had the old generation banks that were started by expatriates and we had a few banks which were started by mergers, but there was no individual like my own case.

I got into it because I had the dream and vision that I put in my own personal culture of always looking for the best. Culture of integrity, culture of business ethics. So when you say how it all started it was a dream by a young individual who felt cheated and wanted to start a bank by being a pioneer in his time.

How does it feel when you see your bank succeeding and growing?
Like a mother who has a child, even though you cannot walk with the child, your eyes , your mind would still be with the child. You want to see the child grow and develop. The child is able to meet up with its peers so even though at about 80, I am retired, I still continuously give advice when I am asked.

Towards the end of my career, I found that investment banking was not enough for us to make resources and revenue and profits that can make us compete with the other banks. When the idea of universal banking came, in addition to you being a good investment bank, you should be able to take deposits and give cheque books. So there is no way any mother can take off her mind from the progress of the child. That is the way I feel. 

From time to time, I try to give them my ideas just like this morning I asked why my shares on the market are not performing. I became an adviser, I took them through being quoted on the market.

So this hatred of what people call a one-man show in Nigeria, like in those days when I went to central bank and told some people I wanted to start a bank, one young man said you would go to jail because he did not have faith in himself because no other Nigerian had done it. I am now sitting as a founder and from time to time, I bring out words of wisdom and observation from the founder.  

Did your training as a lawyer help you get this far?
I was doing very well in law as a student. The government of Awolowo decided to train lawyers in the drafting of laws but not just public laws alone, but laws for agreements and financial documents. So when I trained in the British parliament, I continued it in London. It was while I was in London I heard of stocks and shares. That was when I had the idea of setting up an investment company called Primrose Investment. So definitely that training opened my eyes wide then I came into this country. I rose to some of the highest levels of the civil service and at 28, I was the assistant parliamentary counsel of the federation, I was the assistant legal drafts man. I got to know of NIDB- Nigerian Industrial Development Bank and I said to myself I must go there. What I did was useful for all coming generations and that training helped me to get into this financial thing.

But when I was in NIDB, and I had to be offered the appointment and they told me after all, you are just a lawyer and to rub it in, they brought in a young new 32 year-old American who only had a first degree. I was 42 and he was 32 so I wrote petitions to Obasanjo of those days. I was a fighter so I attracted enemies, ill-informed enemies; I didn’t fight them back because I was focused in what I wanted to do. So that training gave me the broad mind and exposed me to finance. People expected that you should be an economist or accountant before you can do what I did. So to those of you who had different discipline, if you listen to the voice of God, if you listen to your inner self, you can be at the top.

Will you say banks offered more opportunity today looking back from 35 years ago?
The opportunities are growing but have the opportunities been taken advantage of? There are opportunities but people have not tapped the opportunities.

Looking at FCMB today would you say you are comfortable with what it has become?
My mind is entrenched in something much bigger that was why I led FCMB to be quoted on the market. That was why I also disabused the myth that the bank was only meant for elites. Go into FCMB, we are very much involved in retail banking; that is why we have grown from five branches to nearly 300 and we are still growing. So it is more or less a function of the environment that we are going the way we are going. We are just about half way with where we are going and I thank God that I am associated with the chief executive because his dreams are much wider than what I thought. He took the bank from over a hundred branches to nearly 300 branches and he has acquired nearly eight banks and we are still growing. This means that FCMB is a dynamic institution; we have not reached our journey. The chief executive said within a period he wants to make us among the first five I pray for him and I am in full support of it.

When the dividend was high, at what point did you decide to go and achieve what you called an industry benchmark?
I had set a stage that at a particular time I must allow the old order to change yielding place to new. Success without a successor is not success. So at a point, I was thinking of the stage I would retire and I actually said to myself at the age of 70, but at 65 to 68, hell was let loose even when I knew I hadn’t done anything but my God was with me. At the eve of my 70th birthday, I retired. Growth is something that is continuous so I was making arrangement for succession.

A lot of people look up to you as a role model, what would be your advice to them?
They should persevere through the guidance of the almighty God that all would be well. They should not give way to the syndrome of doubting Thomas. They should be determined, focus straight and have integrity and then out of the scarcity in a tough environment, God would show them the way out. They should not give up. I believe God has used some of us as a pointer to the next generation that they should not lose faith.

Where would you want to see the group in the next decade?
Not because Ladi is my son, the sky is the limit and I want him to explore. Very soon, the London branch would be expanded and its horizon is being widened but in Nigeria, there is a crying need to bring back banking facility to your computer and mobile phones. The best of the state-of-the-art banking practices being cashless, I want FCMB to be among the first five as I agree with this dream, but not in size, also in service.  In London, I used my card in a big shop and within seconds I got an alert so I am not telling stories, but the shop manager asked if we had a branch in London and they wanted to open an account. I felt proud with myself so that is the next change I want for FCMB.

Tracing  your steps backward in your  journey, what have you done that you think you should have done better?
If I come back again in life, I would want to go all over it again with FCMB. So there are no regrets. When I look back, I smile and raise up my hands to thank God.

What will be your advice to young CEOs?
Professionalism, ethics are culture of excellence. A faith in your God and anchoring what you are doing of the Supreme being. The reason I emphasise God is because much of what has happened to me, has been God-driven. You must not compromise integrity no matter what profit you are going to make, you should be transparent and clear. I have learnt considerable lessons in life, and I have gone through the crucible of a chastising experience with the support of providence, I have renewed my strength like an eagle and I am now in a position to soar to whatever level my God would take me. Although I was thoroughly shaken, I was not uprooted and my head was bowed, but not cut. In spite of all these, the almighty God gave us the grace, to reorganise the group in order forge ahead.

So I told God that neither my health nor my personal composure within the system and the public, suffered any losses. My faith in my God became firmly established and I am able to serve my God more faithfully and more steadfastly.

You may start to wonder what makes this man thick as I am a very thorough person. Like a swimmer, you cannot suddenly stop in the middle of the sea without making your hand progress otherwise you would sink. So you have to continue to swim and face the waves but you must have confidence and faith in God. That is what has been sustaining us and that is where I continue to be seeking the face of God in the progress of FCMB.

What would you do differently if you were made CBN governor?

I am an old man, and I don’t get into controversies. All I do is pray for the holders of office.

What is the secret of your health?

When you people leave, I am either in the swimming pool or walking around this place. I just feel that God still has a big plan for me even till 100 years. But the basic thing is to ask God to give me that grace to live well and serve him in total contentment with what God has done for me. I am not over ambitious, I am throwing myself like the net which a fisherman throws into the water and leaves it and harvests it to what God will give him. So the secret is the grace of God.

ThisDay

APC, Aggrieved PDP Govs May Form Alliance for 2015

Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo 

As the intra party crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) continues to take its toll on the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it may go into a strategic alliance with the seven aggrieved northern PDP governors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

The open invitation by APC came just as the newly appointed youth leader of the rival PDP, Comrade Timi Frank, warned yesterday that if the move by the New PDP to rescue the party and to reposition it fails, the party would lose the 2015 general election.

In a statement in Abuja, the New PDP youth leader threatened to lead a mass protest over the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) strike, saying the non-resolution of the strike by university lecturers was the height of insensitivity on the part of the federal government.

Speaking on the phone with THISDAY yesterday, the interim National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, said the party would not hesitate to receive the seven governors behind the New PDP revolt with open arms.

“We will welcome them with open arms and like I said before, we feel that these seven governors are too important to our political dynamics to be ignored. So we are going to welcome them and we will accommodate them,” he said.

Muhammed, who spoke against the backdrop of a recent statement credited to the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso, that the aggrieved governors might be forced to pitch their tent with the opposition party should the struggle in PDP fail, noted that APC considers a partnership with the governors as very strategic.
On whether the governors’ agenda and that of APC was in sync, Muhammed said: “To the extent that they are not satisfied with the PDP because of the lack of proper organisation by the PDP, it tallies with our own.

“It is when they come that we will now see which part of their agenda we can accommodate and how they can add value also to the APC vision.

“We should not forget that many of these governors are serving two terms in office, and as such have got vast experience both at the state and national levels. In fact, some of them have been former federal ministers, permanent secretaries and they are not the kind of people you can ignore.

“They are very vital resources, they are very strategic for us and if we are able to strike a bargain and agree on a position with them, of course it will help the polity, not just APC but the whole of Nigeria.”

However, the youth leader of the splinter PDP, Frank, said its leaders were determined to rescue the party and as such were not yet considering leaving it to join any new party.

He said the objective of the New PDP is to take the party back to its glorious days.

ThisDay

Jonathan, PDP and 2015…(1)

THE VERDICT  By OLUSEGUN ADENIYI  Email: olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

"…The National Working Committee (NWC) members of PDP had held an elaborate meeting at the party’s Wadata House national secretariat in Abuja with the aim of adopting a common position. At the session were Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, Hajiya Inna Ciroma, Dr. Musa Babayo, Dr. Sam Ortom, Chief Uche Secondus, Mr. Olusola Oke, Mr. Tukur Mani, and the late Muyiwa Collins. At the end of their discussion, they had all accompanied Ogbulafor to the meeting with the PDP governors. So, it was evident the position that he canvassed—that zoning would remain an article of faith within the PDP for the 2011 presidential elections—was not his personal opinion. The implication—even if it was not expressly stated—was that it foreclosed the possibility of Dr Goodluck Jonathan emerging the PDP presidential flag-bearer for the 2011 general elections. But that was all that the governors wanted to hear. That was also the highlight of the meeting.

“The session rounded off with the unanimous decision that the party’s zoning formula would remain for the 2011 elections. But there was no consensus about how this should be handled, though the popular opinion was that it should not be announced after the meeting. A few of the northern governors, however, argued that the party chairman should immediately announce it as part of their decisions. It was thus a reluctant Ogbulafor who had the unenviable task of briefing the media on the outcome, which was essentially to state that the party would retain the zoning formula, with the presidency rotating between the north and the south. Put simply, only a northerner could fly the flag of the party as its presidential candidate for the 2011 election. “We discussed [the] zoning formula with the governors. The south had presidency for eight years. It is fair and just that the north also keep it for eight years,” Ogbulafor said.

“This was a very weighty decision that was hailed by many prominent politicians from the north but condemned by those from the south, especially by people like Chief Edwin Clark, who had long championed the cause of a Jonathan presidency the moment Yar’Adua fell ill. With that declaration, Ogbulafor was deemed a man that could no longer be trusted. A few days later, he was facing a corruption charge filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The case had been filed originally in 2004 and was in relation to N104 million campaign donations. But the prosecution of the matter had been stalled for some inexplicable reasons. This charge of corruption began for Ogbulafor a chain of events that ultimately led to his forced resignation as PDP chairman. Instructively, the moment that was achieved, nothing was ever heard about the corruption charge again!...”

It will be naïve for anybody to assume that the recent catalytic eruptions within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are responses to a problem that developed overnight. The fact of the matter is that they are not; as one can easily glimpse from the foregoing long narrative (of a 2 March 2010 meeting) which I excerpted from my book on the Yar’Adua years. Even when there have been shifting alliances and new actors in the long-running drama, any serious attempt to identify critical pathways in what has become a contestation for power (which has all the elements of ethnicity, religion and desperation) will be futile if we do not attack the issue from source.

What I find particularly interesting is that a motley of party leaders has been cobbled together to find solution to the problem. Not surprisingly, neither President Jonathan nor the leadership of the breakaway faction of the PDP has shown much confidence in the committee. The reason is simple: the level of distrust on both sides is deep and long standing aside the notorious fact that some of the arbitrators are themselves part of the problem. There is even a subtext that not many people are paying attention to: President Obasanjo who resigned his appointment as Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman a few months ago is now back as chairman of an omnibus elders’ committee of which the current BOT chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, is only a member!

While we will come back to some of these lingering issues in the course of what may be a long series, for us to have a better appreciation of the challenge at hand, we must first look at the character of the ruling party itself. It must be said that the PDP, like all the other parties in this era, is not a political party in the strict sense of the word in that members have never been known for any shared ideals. Nothing illustrates that more eloquently than the manner in which its officials have always emerged. Even if there have been pretensions to some elections at their choreographed conventions, winners have always been product of some Aso Rock consensus. That explains why Ogbulafor who contested the 1999 Gubernatorial election in Abia State on the platform of the All Peoples Party (APP) and was defeated by Chief Orji Kalu of the PDP would emerge only about two years later as the National Secretary of the PDP (where he could dictate the party’s candidates for elective positions) and about four years later as its national chairman!

In fact, the history of all the people who have chaired the PDP in the last 14 years reveals that many of them were actually not originally members of the party in 1999. The same for many of those who are now in the Board of Trustees who tout “the vision of our founding fathers”. But if anybody consider all these as absurd, what would one say about the case of Sokoto where in 2007, the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) Deputy Governor was given the state’s PDP gubernatorial ticket with the official party candidate now made to become his running mate. Of course we also remember that the sitting Vice President at the time (Atiku Abubakar) of the PDP contested the presidential election on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

There have been superficial attempts to discuss the PDP crisis on which I have read many online postings but the one I consider most instructive is by someone who uses the alias, ERG, even if his riposte was a dismissive one-sentence reaction to a criticism of the president. He wrote: “The Umbrella was designed to give shelter to a finite number of persons, notably the man holding it (Bamanga Tukur) and the one for whom it is meant to be covering (President Goodluck Jonathan). All other renegade passengers can exit into the rain in their trench coats”.

As funny as that may seem, the guy sounded truer than he probably intended because it exposes the contradictions of our political parties that place more emphasis on personalities than the need to assemble and associate in promotion of some cherished values. On the surface, it would seem that Tukur is the issue and that once he is removed as being demanded by some of the PDP governors, the crisis will be over. It is naïve for anybody to assume that. If we will be honest, at the root of this crisis is the plot to either make President Jonathan not to seek re-election in 2015 or to weaken the party to such an extent that in the event that he runs, he will fail at the polls.

There are different strands to this move while the motives are diverse and in due course I intend to examine each separately. But for now there is the pertinent question as to whether it is right to bully a sitting president out of seeking the ticket of his political party for whatever reasons. I am sure any fair-minded person would deplore such anti-democratic posture and this is where the supporters of the president actually stand. But then the big question: have they always held on to this position?

That question is important against the background that in November 2011, a certain Timipre Sylva was seeking second term as Governor of  Bayelsa State. That the president did not want Sylva to return as governor of his home state was evident and even understandable since there was no love lost between them. But based on some unproven allegation that Sylva threatened the life of the president, he was made to face the full weight of the presidency in a classical Third World setting. At the end, Sylva was hounded out of PDP and practically bundled out of the Bayelsa State Government House. But up till today there has been no case bordering on the alleged threat on the life of the Number One citizen (a treasonable offence), preferred against Sylva, which then means that all those security tales were mere fabrications to oust him from power.

Yet aside the Sylva case, those who accuse the president of intolerance point to the number of persons who have been PDP’s chairpersons under him. For instance, Ogbulafor and Okwesilieze Nwodo were removed on charges of disloyalty and even though Tukur is the 9th PDP National Chairman in the last 15 years, he is the fifth under President Jonathan—all within a period of less than four years. So effectively we can say that the president himself laid the foundation for the current gang-up. But as I listened to one prominent Northern politician ask another yesterday whether he belonged to “PDP Na Banza” or “PDP Albarka,” I could not but wonder about the gullibility of Nigerians. Just by fighting the president, one faction (a side of the same coin) now earns immediate accolades while the other is demonised. Interestingly, not many people remember that the “umbrella carrier” who wielded the hatchet on behalf of the president to neutralize Sylva less than two years ago is the same man who currently chairs the ‘new PDP’ to which the former Bayelsa Governor himself now belongs!

What the foregoing says very clearly is that nobody should be under any illusion that the current crisis within the PDP is a battle over principles or that it is about the welfare of Nigerians. Notwithstanding, it is also evident that the raging crisis will determine more than the future plight of the party that received power from the military in 1999 as a democratic platform. Whether those in authorities realize it or not, the future of multi party democracy, national stability and security in our country are also at stake. Because if the crisis generates more heat than the polity can absorb, we will all be in trouble. As for Dr Jonathan, there can be no doubt that how he manages the crisis will define his presidency from now till 2015 and perhaps even beyond.

ThisDay

Well-Dressed' Women Might Look Too Healthy To Be Diagnosed With Stroke Symptoms

 By Lauren Duca  

In a terrifying study chronicled in the Telegraph, thousands of women apparently die each year due, in part, to the fact that they are too well dressed.
A study of over 15,000 people found that women were only half as likely as men to be checked for signs of heart disease, which many cardiologists believe is due to doctors missing crucial symptoms when their patients appear well-groomed.
"I think doctors -- general practitioners and cardiologists -- often do not realise the risk for women," said lead researcher Dr. Pierre Sabouret. "Too often they will think if a female patient looks healthy, and dresses smartly, and looks after herself, she is probably okay."
It is important to note that the discrepancy is, most prominently, between men and women -- not between well-dressed women and their poorly-dressed counterparts. But the fact of the matter remains that women often alter their appearance with makeup and grooming that make them appear healthier than men.
Sabouret says the study's findings are globally applicable, though specifically prevalent in the U.K., where women are one and a half times likelier than men to suffer a fatal stroke. He recommends more rigorous screening procedures and at-home tests.
We think the lesson here is clear: Wear sweats to your next doctor's appointment.

HuffingtonPost

Zlatan Ibrahimovic praises Mourinho, calls Pep Guardiola a 'spineless coward'

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed that he was 'willing to die' for Jose Mourinho but described Pep Guardiola as a 'spineless coward'. Ibrahimovic played under Mourinho at Inter Milan and says the

Portuguese was an inspirational coach due to his man-management style and tactical nous.

"Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for," he wrote in his autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, excerpts of which have been reported in the Daily Mail.
"He works twice as hard as all the rest. Lives and breathes football 24/7. I've never met a manager with that kind of knowledge about the opposing sides. It was everything, right down to the third-choice goalkeeper's shoe size.
"It was a while before I met him. He's elegant, he's confident, but I was surprised. He looked small next to the players but I sensed it immediately: there was this vibe around him.
"Mourinho created personal ties with the players with his text messages and his knowledge of our situations with wives and children, and he didn't shout. He built us up before matches. It was like theatre, a psychological game."
Ibrahimovic went on to make a big-money move to Barcelona in 2009 but spent just a year at Camp Nou and he blames Guardiola for his troubles.Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed that he was 'willing to die' for Jose Mourinho but described Pep Guardiola as a 'spineless coward'.
Ibrahimovic played under Mourinho at Inter Milan and says the Portuguese was an inspirational coach due to his man-management style and tactical nous.
"Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for," he wrote in his autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, excerpts of which have been reported in the Daily Mail.
"He works twice as hard as all the rest. Lives and breathes football 24/7. I've never met a manager with that kind of knowledge about the opposing sides. It was everything, right down to the third-choice goalkeeper's shoe size.
"It was a while before I met him. He's elegant, he's confident, but I was surprised. He looked small next to the players but I sensed it immediately: there was this vibe around him.
"Mourinho created personal ties with the players with his text messages and his knowledge of our situations with wives and children, and he didn't shout. He built us up before matches. It was like theatre, a psychological game."
Ibrahimovic went on to make a big-money move to Barcelona in 2009 but spent just a year at Camp Nou and he blames Guardiola for his troubles.
Recalling one incident when he lost his temper after Barca lost to Mourinho's Inter in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and he had angrily shouted at his manager, Ibrahimovic said: "I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward."
Ibrahimovic admits he was surprised by the way players were expected to behave at Barcelona and does not believe he fitted in under Guardiola.
The Swede, who now plays for Paris St Germain, explained: "I'd already got the impression that Barcelona was a little like being back at Ajax, it was like being back at school.
"None of the lads acted like superstars, which was strange. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, the whole gang - they were like schoolboys. The best footballers in the world stood there with their heads bowed, and I didn't understand any of it. It was ridiculous.
"Everyone did as they were told. I didn't fit in, not at all. I thought, just enjoy the opportunity, don't confirm their prejudices. So I started to adapt and blend in. I became way too nice. It was mental.
"I said what I thought people wanted me to say. It was completely messed up. I drove the club's Audi and stood there and nodded my head. I hardly even yelled at my team-mates any more. I was boring. Zlatan was no longer Zlatan."
Ibrahimovic was also disappointed that Guardiola changed Barcelona's game to suit Lionel Messi and felt that he was being unfairly marginalised.
He said: "Guardiola sacrificed me. That's the truth. One of my mates told me: 'Zlatan, it's as if Barca had bought a Ferrari and was driving it like a Fiat,' and I thought: 'Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it.' Guardiola had turned me into a simpler player and a worse player. It was a loss for the whole team.
"He wouldn't even say good morning. Not a single word. He avoided eye contact with me. If I went into a room, he would leave. 'What's going on,' I thought. 'Is it something I did? Do I look wrong? Am I talking funny?' All these things were buzzing around in my head. I couldn't sleep.
"I was thinking about it constantly. Not because I needed Guardiola's love, exactly. He could hate me, as far as I was concerned. Hatred and revenge get me going. Now, though, I lost my focus.
"Because of Guardiola's problem, the club were forced to do a disastrous deal to sell me - it was crazy. I'd scored 22 goals and 15 assists during my season at Barcelona. Yet I'd lost nearly 70 per cent of my value. Whose fault was that? Guardiola, the quiet little over-thinker, had tried to wreck me."
 

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