Pedro: The Return of a Political Godson

Olufemi Pedro,


Gboyega Akinsanmi writes on the recent defection of the former deputy  governor of Lagos State, Olufemi Pedro, from PDP to APC and what it portends for the 2015 governorship race in Lagos State

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffered a major setback in Lagos State last week. One of its chieftains and the state’s erstwhile Deputy Governor, Otunba
Olufemi Pedro formally announced his defection at a time when the party chapter is still in critical need of a strong leadership ahead of the 2015 general election. Pedro’s defection, apparently, depicts the South West PDP as a party currently undergoing political travails.

Pedro, an estranged political son of the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave an uncommon reason for a decision, which he said, became indispensable to rescue Nigeria from the brinks. His decision to defect to the APC was contained in a four-paragraph statement in which he linked his defection to the need to team up with the progressives in order “to lead Nigeria out of the woods.”

Resigned from the Tinubu administration controversially in April 2007, Pedro explained his return to the fold of the APC on two different grounds. He, first, cited the fact that Nigeria “is dire need of purposeful leadership committed to leading us out of the woods; and one for which all men of good conscience must join hands.” Pedro’s concerns, apparently, are evident in the country’s socio-economic and political challenges.

He, therefore, said the task of nation-building no doubt “comes with challenges and always at great personal cost; yet it must be fulfilled by genuine patriots.” Also, Pedro expressed confidence in the present leadership of the APC, even though he abruptly abandoned the political platform during its formative years then as the Action Congress (AC) in 2007 and later as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media & Strategy, Mr. Lanre Anjolaiya, the former deputy governor acknowledged that after series of discussion with the national leadership of the APC, it was clear that they mutually share the desire “to see Nigeria become great again. I am convinced, beyond any shadow of doubt that the APC offers that veritable platform to put Nigeria back along the path of glory and prosperity.”

He, therefore, said he had formally left the PDP with his teeming supporters and party stalwarts across the Southwest geo-political zone “to partner the progressives towards attaining the goal of rebuilding Nigeria. I am irrevocably committed to help actualise the task of building democratic and institutional standards.”

He explained the essence of enthroning a government, which he said, “is not only responsive and accountable to the people, but one that signpost what an APC-led Federal Government promises as from 2015. The landmark achievements and performances of the progressive governors and legislators in the APC-controlled States bear eloquent testimony to the tenacity of purpose of the party’s leadership.”

At the instance of what culminated in his controversial resignation, Pedro’s return portends likelihood of what to expect in the future of South-West. A 2007 gubernatorial candidate in Ondo State, Mr. Bankole Oluwajana expressed grave concern of those who defected to support the PDP and its governors in the geo-political zones. He said Pedro's defection the APC “should not be a surprise and is a sign of what to expect in the future.”

Oluwajana, who contested the governorship race on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD), rhetorically asked what would the people expects from Pedro in the present circumstance. In 2007, what would you expect? He explained frustration of those who defected to the PDP in 2007. He said some of them decided “to support the South-West PDP with the aim of strengthening the presence of the Yorubas at the centre.

“We also erroneously felt encouraged when the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw man, a minority ethnic group. We expected that this would further support our objective. It has not turned out to be so. People that are de facto leaders, even within the PDP, in western states, are out of touch with the president.

“Or is it President that is out of touch with them? Even the blind can see and the deaf can hear that the Yorubas are not well represented in President Jonathan's Government. As Politicians, we represent people who want to see that they are being effectively represented. As a leader, you are of no use where you have lost your voice and influence. All these must have informed the decision of Pedro,” Oluwajana explained.

Asked whether he had concluded plan to defect to APC, Oluwajana retorted that all options “are still opened,” which he said, was the crux of politics in any political clime. But he added that the most important thing “is to be in touch with your supporters and listen to them.” But he believes there is still a chance for President Jonathan “to listen to the people that voted him to power and make appropriate changes.”

However, Oluwajana expressed the fear that judging from President Jonathan’s disposition towards the country’s current political situation and the people surrounding him, such required changes “are most unlikely.” By implication, he added that a good number of South-West PDP chieftains would defect to the APC in the future with a view to bringing the region back to the front of national politics with the conduct of 2015 elections.

This suggests Pedro has nothing to lose with his defection. Even with little time he spent with the party, Pedro was never accepted into the rank of the party. He truly helped rebuild the party; spent quality time and resources for it; and contested its governorship primaries in 2011. Yet his effort was hardly rewarded.

But Pedro is, indeed, one of Nigeria’s luckiest politicians. He never sought any political office; neither did he ever contest as a running mate before he ascended to power in December 2002. The fall of his predecessor, Mrs. Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele led to his historic rise to Office of the Deputy Governor of the state. He, however, had a prosperous banking career as the Managing Director of First Atlantic Bank, which fused into FinBank Plc. 

He was introduced to Tinubu by former Commissioner for Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, Sen. Tokunbo Afikuyomi. Pedro, actually, earned confidence and trust of his political godfather until his ambition tore them apart. He then offered to resign from the Tinubu government, but his resignation letter was declined.

Consequently, the state’s House of Assembly set up a 7-man probe panel, which eventually found him guilty of gross misconduct. The panel came up with recommendations, upon which his impeachment was premised. The panel, thus, said upon the careful perusal and analysis of the submissions before the panel with respect “to the notice of allegations of gross misconduct, this panel is fully convinced that Pedro is fully aware of the allegations against him and chose not to refute or lead evidence to refute the allegations.

“In view of Pedro’s refusal to deny any of the allegations either in writing or by any means whatsoever despite adequate and reasonable opportunity afforded him by the panel, the panel cannot but agree with the submission of the House of Assembly that the deputy governor has no defence to these allegations.”

The implication of his impeachment was grave. It robbed him of all his benefits as the state deputy governor. Though he fought it helplessly in the court of competent jurisdiction, he has not been able to get it back. But now that he has returned to the warm embrace of his political godfather, Pedro’s impeachment might be converted to retirement, at least mend the dents it has brought on his political career.

But Chairman of Lagos APC, Otunba Oladele Ajomole deferred a little from what speculations of his defection might. He argued that his decision was premised on a strong belief that APC "represents the future of Nigeria." Aside, he said the former deputy governor could not "have remained outside for eternity. He belongs here. He only went on a political recess."

ThisDay

The Dirty Fight is Here Again

 Olusegun Obasanjo

Shola Oyeyipo writes that as 2015 general elec tion inches closer, there are growing  anxieties  over  the successful conduct of the elections following the  increasing trading of brickbacks and insults  by the political gladiators there by  overheating the system

As the 2015 general election moves nearer, the political gladiators in the country have already started overheating the political landscape through unguraded utterances, throwing of brickbacks and trading of insults .It seems   these p oliticians would spare nothing  to in outdoing each other as everything is fair is now the rulr of the ganme.

The recent topical incident was the  letter  written by former president Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan; the letter by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Sanusi Lamido to the president and the tactical labeling of the president as a  leader accommodating corruption by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal .
These were seen in some quarters as  a well orchestrated plot to create disaffection between the  president and the people ahead of the  2015 election.   
While the letters written by Obasanjo and  Lamido were made public, THISDAY findings  authoritatively indicated  that there are many other letters to be written before the next elections. Interestingly, as fundamental as the issues being raised are, they could be easily dismissed as politically motivated.

But the mases would still benefit as they will have insights into the corrupt activities of the leaders. In his  reaction to some of the allegations contained in Obasanjo’s letter,  a stalwart of the Peoples PDP in the South-west, Prince Buruji Kashamu,  considered  as libelous  obasano’s reference to him as a fraudlent person. Buruji's lawyers, Mr. Ajibola Oluyele and Mrs. Ifeoma Esom said no notice would be given the president before the legal proceeding would commence.

In the letter, Obasanjo had alleged that Buruji was a drug dealer, wondering why the presidency would have preferred to pitch tent with such character.

On his part, Buruji said Obasanjo was his political associate: "He was my  political ally and that time he depended on him to fight the former Ogun State governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel to standstill in the state and that he never referred to him as a drug dealer back then.

"How can he turn around to say that I'm a drug dealer? Then he didn't call me as a drug dealer - when I spend N3bn of my money to takeover the PDP structure from Gbenga Daniel. I ate in his house more than 30 times, I entered his office, his room and he presented me to several leaders of the party and told them to thank me. And didn't say I was drug dealer back then",

"During his regime, all the people that sorrounded him were drug dealers. When the time comes their names will be mentioned. I didn't know anything about what they were talking about", an obviously vexed Buruji said.

In fact, there and then, during a press conference held at his Best Western Hotel, Buruji was ready to spill the bean, except for his lawyers who calmed his frayed nerves. 

According to Oluyede, the reason for the legal battle that is to start against Obasanjo is to "expose him that he has no basis for making such statement so we are going to commence libel proceedings against former president Obasanjo," there is also the need to make sure that "Nigerians are not deceived by the allegations raised by Obasanjo agaisnt President Jonathan and his client."

He said that the content of the widely circulated letter was not meant to achieve anything positive but designed as an attack on the person of the president and my client.

"It is a vendetta" which emanated from the roles of Kashamu in the defeat of Obasanjo and Oyinlola in Ogun State, Osun State and the South-west and that it is as a result that, Obasanjo and Oyinlola have become irrelivant to the current vision and progress in the PDP.

"Its a product of bad belly. Its not a product of patriotism. It is a product of animosity against the president and Kashamu and it is an attempt to flair up the people against the president. Most of the things he raised are more applicable to him. You will recall that most of the people murdered during his regime are yet unresolved; the Bola Ige's murder is one of such. The case is there.

"Those who claimed to be the New PDP are actually the old PDP which disobeyed court orders, brandish persons of questionable characters

"This entire thing is charade, an attack with the hope that the relationship between him and the PDP leadership could be severed", he maintained.

Earlier, the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido had alleged that his sons arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was an attack on him.

The duo of Aminu and Mustapha  Lamido, who are two sons of Governor Lamido were picked up by the EFCC over an alleged money laundering in Kano recently and were whisked to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.

Lamido said the action was a product of vendetta. He specifically noted that President Jonathan personally owns Pilot Newspaper. He said the president is using the EFCC to witch-hunt opponents of the federal government.

“Some politicians believe that they can use intimidation and threat to have their way. In the last 30 years, I have suffered all kinds of intimidation and harassment you can think of and so there is nothing new. All these harassments cannot break Sule Lamido. I am a human being and I can make mistakes, but honestly speaking, in the last six years, I have tried my best for Jigawa State and even President Goodluck Jonathan testified to that severally when he visited Jigawa.

He said all that are being done to blackmail was unconnected with his membership of the aggrieved G7 governors under and his purported interest to contest the presidential election in 2015.

While all these subsist, more revelations are still expected. There are yet to be verified information coming in from various quarters. Some of such is connected to the ownership of a property on the right hand side - on the way to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja. The highbrow property observable from about 2000 metres from road is said to be owned by a top member of the executive. It is conspicuous with the cyclical road that leads to the building atop a mountain.

With such information, Nigerians will continue to enjoy fascinating - intriguing dimensions of accusation from the contending forces as they unfold.

ThisDay

Debunked: The Harold Smith Nigeria Census Lies

Harold Smith

By Peregrino Brimah

It is perhaps one of the most famously quoted references on the Nigerian blogosphere, particularly in ethnic squabbles. You probably heard or read it before if you are active on the Nigerian online community. Equivalent to the Holy Grail of anti-north Nigeria population dominance is a statement attributed to late controversial colonialist Harold Smith that goes something like this:
By Tunde Adekoya, as an alleged narrative by O. A. Olagbaiye, MBBS. FRCS; in theVanguard of, Feb. 28, 2011:
‘Brothers and sisters; on Ben TV last Thursday, Harold Smith was on a program to reveal what went behind the scene before the independence. … Harold Smith confessed that the Census results were announced before they were counted. Despite seeing vast land with no human but cattle in the north, we still gave the north 55 millioninstead of 32 Million.’
The same account is also given on the Harold Smith memorial website.
Even late distinguished author Chinua Achebe referenced the Harold Smith ‘Holy Grail,’ in “There Was A Country” (Pg.  50), asserting that Harold was sent by Sir James Robertson ‘to oversee the rigging of Nigeria’s first election ‘so that its compliant friends in (Northern Nigeria) would win power, dominate the country, and serve British interests after independence.’
I proceed to debunk this claim on three premises.
Firstly, the population figures:
According to Harold’s Grail, in most sources, ‘he gave the north 55 million instead of 32 million.’ This is clearly incoherent information because the entire population of Nigeria at the time was 31.6 million, so there is absolutely no way a census could have given the north 55 million. So the Grail is debunked easily based on figures late Harold allegedly put forth. If he indeed quoted these figures, his old age state of mind may have been questionable. {populstat.info/Africa/nigeria}
Secondly, the timing of the event:
The census in question was the 1952-53 census. Nigeria conducted decennial censuses. It appears the 1953 census was about a year late, but this is the census referred to by Harold Smith. The problem with his account however was the fact that he said he was part of falsifying the census figures. But according to the Harold Smith memorial website, Genesis Nigeria and all other sources, Harold Smith was in school and then being a new father in London up until 1954 when he saw an advertisement for a Labour Officer position and applied and then travelled down to Nigeria with his lovely wife Carol, in 1955. He was 26 years old at the time.  If he literally did not even know of Nigeria till 1954, how could he have possibly been ‘sent by Sir James Robertson to falsify our 1952-53 census figures?’ Here again, we easily debunk the popular tale attributed to Harold Smith. Perhaps young Harold heard something. Perhaps he saw massive land and imagined something—the north landscape is more than double the size of the South. It is also possible that some people had a drink with old Harold and convinced or bribed him to sell a tale; but for certain, he was definitely not part of anything related to the 1952/3 census based on the record of when he entered Nigeria a full three years after.
Thirdly, the fact of coincident earlier censuses:
Research into Nigeria’s earlier censuses actually substantiates the 55-45% North-South ratio in the 1953 census that Harold claimed to have falsified. According toAllAfrica, Nigeria’s most credible census was that held in 1921. I quote:
‘The first attempt to know the Nigerian population was in 1921, which could be regarded as the best and the properly-controlled census in Nigeria. The most successful censuses after the first were those of 1931 and 1952/1953. These three censuses were conducted under and by the colonial administration.’
The 1921 census gave the Northern Province 10.26 million and the south, 8.37 million.
The 1931 census gave the north a total of 11.44 million and the south, 8.49 million.
If we check the ratio’s of these results of earlier censuses, it is approximately 55-45% for both. This is the same as the results of the 1953 census to which Harold’s Grail referred. Now, we do have reasons to distrust the British, but the claim that the falsification of ‘Harold and team’ was in preparation for a handover does not apply to the earlier censuses since these were well before a handover. It is however possible that the British always counted-up the north. But this thought is not supported by Harold’s allegations since for one, he was not there and two, he got the numbers all completely wrong as he is quoted.
This completes my submission on this all important issue. It is possible Harold Smith has been quoted out of date, context and reference; but if so, it is a shame that dignified Nigerians have blindly used such an obviously erroneous and preposterous tale to unfairly promote agenda and ethnic strife. The truth is a better and stronger tool to get all we want and desire.
Nigeria has many reasons for beef and grief, however in the national conversation, as we decide if and how to exist, coexist or not coexist, it is important we separate facts from malicious and ill intended fabrications and conspiracies which do not speak well of our national intelligence.
Population density can never be estimated by the brain or imagination and can only be verified by a true count. There are concentrated large mega cities and trade hobs in deserts as there are in tropics. If someone imagined that little Lagos today has a population of 30 million, looking at the map, many will refuse to believe. 30 million was the population of the entire Nigeria in 1953. Concentrations could have been possible in any of many major trade hobs and large cities.
We hope for a census we all can believe sometime in the future; and that it be a census for measuring and planning opportunity for the regions or nation(s), and not for promoting and propelling xenophobia.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah

Saharareporters

Patience Jonathan Blasts Akpabio: Stop Deceiving My Husband, You Have Secret Agenda

Governor Godswill Akpabio is one of the governors believed to be close to President Goodluck Jonathan in the political calculation of 2015, but those who know what is really going on are saying that Akpabio is also one of those on Jonathan's 1,000 political watch list that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo exposed.

As you read this, the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party as a result of President Jonathan’s second term ambition may have claimed another casualty. The latest, according to an inside source, is the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, as his secret ambition has finally come out open.

Inside sources within the nation’s seat of power informed THE INK newspaper that Nigeria’s first lady and wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan descended ferociously on Akpabio at the Presidential Villa in Abuja recently, accusing him of being a cog in the wheel of the process to resolve the crisis in the PDP.

According to the source, a visibly angry Patience Jonathan shouted at the Governor and asked him why he is busy deceiving her husband, President Jonathan.

She was said to have told Governor Akpabio point blank that he should stop masquerading himself before her husband as a peacemaker and concentrate on his now revealed Vice Presidential ambition.

Reports reaching the First Lady, the source continued, have confirmed that Governor Akpabio’s treachery and pursuit of his Vice Presidential ambition is responsible for the failure of the reconciliation process in the party and one of the reasons the G7 Governors have ditched the party.

It was further revealed that the First Lady accused the Governor of being on a mission to destroy Jonathan for his selfish interest. She is said to have cited Akpabio’s recent spate of private visits to leading traditional rulers and politicians in the North and other parts of Nigeria.

The President’s wife is said to have told the Governor that she was aware that Akpabio is working for his own ambition while pretending to be working for the re-election of the President. The source who spoke on strict confidentiality said that a visibly embarrassed Akpabio was dumbfounded and broke down in tears.

Nigeriaonpoint News

End game for Jonathan presidency

 BY LEKAN SOTE

Lekan Sote

For the moment, please look away from the “Mummy Dearest” letter that Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello purportedly wrote to her father, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Even though it was a classic case of personality profiling that only Sigmund Freud can unravel, it should not be allowed to distract from the profound submissions of Obasanjo himself, on the state of the nation, and the jam that he thinks President Goodluck Jonathan has put himself. After weightier matters of state have been resolved, domestic matters of “Citizen Obasanjo House of Commotion” can be looked into. Right now, if the hand of the President is stuck in a cookie jar, all care must be taken to extricate it without breaking the jar. In his letter, Obasanjo observes that Jonathan, as President, occupies five strategic positions in Nigeria: As leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party; political leader of the nation; Headship of the Federal Government; Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces; and Chief Security Officer of the nation. These are positions, whose duties may be delegated, but  the responsibilities remain with the President.

The letter, “Before It Is Too Late,” reminds one of those seminal salvos that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo used to send to disconcert military Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. The concerns of the letter are fivefold: First, Obasanjo is personally disappointed that after God, as he claims, had used him to install Jonathan as President, he is being systematically relegated from the sphere of influence. He laments that fawning sycophants, unpatriotic compatriots and latter-day friends (or “frenemies”) now hold sway in the Presidency. He says that he wants nothing from Jonathan, but that he should run the polity well, and boasts: “I have passed the stage of being flattered, intimidated, threatened, frightened, induced or bought.” But he must be sufficiently worried if his relatives and friends are harassed, and for his personal safety. After all, there are reports, he says, that the Presidency is keeping political watch over some 1,000 Nigerians. He admonishes the President not to misuse the military and security apparatus, as he recalls his prison experience under the watch of the most fiendish dictator Nigeria ever had.

Secondly, Obasanjo is peeved at reports of allegations that the President engaged in anti-party activities, and worked against the interests of members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party who contested, in recent gubernatorial elections in Lagos, Ondo, Edo and Anambra States. He warns that if the party collapses now, it will be the first time that a ruling party collapses while in office, apart from an external cause of a military coup. He therefore counsels the President to move to the centre of the party, carry everyone along, and not allow PDP fall into the hands of criminals, jobbers and discredited touts. This, he, warns, may cause men and women of honesty, honour, principles, morality and integrity to step aside and rethink. Already five sitting PDP Governors and 37 sitting members of PDP have decamped to APC, and many more are expected to follow.

Third, Obasanjo fears that the President’s actions may jeopardise the national interest. He alerts that danger may be lurking in the corner, and points out the need to deemphasise geographical and religious differences. He observes that foreign investors are worried, and are holding on to their investment purses. Some, like the International Oil Companies are transferring oil and gas investments and are moving away from Nigeria to invest in second choice Angola. Foreign direct investors worry about the security situation, especially the Boko Haram terrorists, high level of corruption, and the breach in the integrity of the security of Nigeria’s coastal waters. Obasanjo warns that Nigeria must not degenerate to economic dormancy, but take advantage of current favourable international interest in Africa. He sternly warns that the President must not be seen to be assisting murderers to evade the law, or thought to be promoting or fraternising with known drug barons (who are obviously seek legitimate avenues to launder their ill-gotten wealth, or) even obtain political power. That is a grave concern. And though he is wary of Jonathan’s new love for the proposed National Conference, he will have to wait and see how it unfolds.

Fourth, Obasanjo thinks Jonathan must deliver on his personal integrity. He should not be saying one thing while his body language is saying the opposite. Obasanjo discloses that he decided to campaign for Jonathan in 2011 because the latter had assured him that he would not seek re-election in 2015; he would have ruled for six years, as his completion of the remaining two years of the Yar ‘Adua Presidency would have dovetailed into his own four-year term. That would have been sufficient for him, he had told Obasanjo. To now renege on that, and seek cover under some imprecise aspects of the constitution, may be legally correct, but morally wrong. Finally, Obasanjo thinks that the President’s seeming intention to breach a pledge, and the insults and threats thrown at other Nigerians by his Ijaw kinsmen, may not be the best way to making friends across the nation. But worse of all, it may foreclose the chances of another Ijaw, or minority, becoming President.

Now look at these: Five of the seven “New Peoples Democratic Party Governors”, 37 PDP members of the House of Representatives from Kano, Kwara, Sokoto and Rivers states, have defected to the All Progressives Congress, and there is speculation that another 40 may join. The leadership of the APC met with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is now  reportedly consulting with his political associates before deciding whether to join the party or not. You may recall that, in 2007, Atiku was the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, which merged with other political parties to form theAPC. The APC leadership has also met Obasanjo, who says that though he remains a card-carrying member of the PDP, he thinks the APC is necessary for deepening democracy in Nigeria. He admonished its members to play politics devoid of rancour and bitterness, but with decency. He vows that nothing will detract him from his commitment to Nigeria. Considering Obasanjo’s military career and political antecedents, this is not surprising.

But by accommodating the opposition, reporting Jonathan to Nigeria’s equivalent of Grandees or City Fathers, Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Abubakar Abdulsalami and Theophilus Danjuma, and former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme, and receiving the leaders of the APC, Obasanjo may have moved the pieces on the chess board against the President. If more PDP members of the House of Representatives join the APC, the party would have almost two-third majority in the House, whose PDP Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, is perceived a sympathiser of the APC.

When your King is compromised in a game of chess, and there is no way to save it, wise players bravely call for an end to the game. The President may have done this in his rather sentimental reply to Obasanjo on Sunday. After denying some of the allegations, disclosing some positive actions he has taken, and spattered some of his own mud, he tells Obasanjo: “… You have done me grave injustice in your public letter in which you wrongfully accused me of deceit… dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity.” But anyway you look at it, the democratic animal that Obasanjo describes as “game of numbers” will prevent Jonathan from succeeding himself in 2015.

Punch

The Unfolding Tragedy in South Sudan holds lessons for Nigeria - "South Sudan: the state que fell apart in a week" - by David Howden

The first Western journalist into South Sudan from Juba reports on the brutal and sudden descent into civil war Juba Daniel Howden in The Guardian, Monday 23 December 2013 2) A week ago, Simon K, a 20-year-old student living in the capital of South Sudan, was arrested by men in military uniforms. He was asked the question que has taken on deadly Importance in the world's newest country in the past seven days: incholdi - "What is your name?" in Dinka, the language of the country's president and its largest ethnic group. Those who, like Simon, were unable to answer, risked being Identified the Nuer, the ethnic group of the former vice president now leading the armed opposition and facing the brunt of what the insiders are describing the world's newest civil war. Simon K was taken to a police station in the Gudele market district of Juba, where he was marched past several dead bodies and locked in a room with other young men, all Nuer. "We counted ourselves and found we were 252," he told the Guardian."Then They put guns in through the windows and started to shoot us." The massacre continued for two days with soldiers returning at intervals to shoot again If They saw any sign of life. Simon was one of 12 men to survive the assault by covering Themselves in the bodies of the dead and dying. Simon spoke from inside the UN compound que has become an emergency sanctuary to the remaining Nuer in the capital. Sitting on a filthy mattress by the side of a dirt road, with bandages covering bullet wounds in his stomach and legs, he Recalled: "It was horrible, because to survive I had to cover myself with the bodies of dead people, and During the two days, the bodies started to smell really bad. " In the space of seven desperate days, the UN base has been transformed from a logistics hub for an aid operation into the squalid sanctuary for more than 10,000 people. Amid the confusion of bodies and belongings, a handmade sign hangs from the rolls of razor wire. "The Lord is our best defense," it reads. But there is no sign here of the lord's defense, the the country que Gained independence in 2011 with huge international fanfare and support has come apart in the space of a week. The latest violence Began after a fight between Dinka and Nuer soldiers in the presidential guard on 15 December, igniting the simmering political power struggle in South Sudan's ruling party and sparking Widespread ethnic killings. Juba resident Gatluak Kual, who has bullet wounds in both arms and a prosthetic foot from the 20-year battle que Sudan split and created an independent south two years ago under President Salva Kiir, says the country is at war once more. United Nations Mission in Sudan personnel guard South Sudanese people displaced by fighting in Jabel, on the outskirts of Juba, the South Sudan capital. Photograph: James Akena / Reuters "Everyone here has lost someone [in the last week]," he said, gesturing in October over the multitude with the finger he broke five days ago disarming the Dinka militiaman who was trying to kill him. "We have seen our daughters, our brothers, our mothers killed simply because They are Nuer. To me this is already a civil war." The reverberations of the wave of targeted killings que Began in the fledgling capital are being felt throughout the country, Where They have sparked copycat revenge attacks and atrocities. Generals who have mutinied have seized the capital of South Sudan's largest state, Jonglei, and its main oil-producing area, Unity State. Former vice-president Riek Machar threw his support behind the armed opposition and is now its de facto leader. On Sunday a full-scale tank battle was being fought between opposing factions in the South's army in the far western Reaches of oil-rich, swampy Upper Nile. "It would have been Difficult one week ago to imagine que things would unravel to this extent , "said the UN's head of humanitarian affairs in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer. The fighting has already Claimed Thousands, if not Thousands of you, of civilian lives. Hundreds of Thousands of South Sudanese have fled into the bush or returned to home villages, According to the UN. The official death toll of 500, Which Corresponds with the number of dead in a single Juba hospital six days ago, is being dismissed by experts. The veteran aid worker, who has been Assessing the scale and nature of the killings from sources nationwide, said the real figure was "in the hast of thousands". On Monday, Machar Claimed Gained his forces had control of all the major oil fields in Unity and Upper Nile states. The information minister, Michael Makuei, told Reuters this was "wishful thinking." In Juba, Gatwech T remembers how, last Tuesday, he ran for his life When soldiers attacked his home area of Hai Referendum. Some of the men outran the younger ones, who were caught by men in uniform. "They caught the boys and I stopped to watch. Them They counted and there were 21 boys, the young the him," he said, pointing at a 15-year-old."They Their hands tied behind backs and killed Their Them." Yien K, 28, was at home last Monday evening at around 10pm in the area on the Jabarona outskirts of the capital When he heard shooting. As it came closer he Decided to hide at his brother's home. There were five of Them inside the simple structure: his brother, his brother's wife, one-year-old niece and another six-year-old girl, a cousin. Yien recalls the moment just after midnight When the tracks of a tank ripped through the walls and crushed the one-year-old. "The tanks came and ran over the house," he said. "The men escaped but the woman and girls were killed." Unlike some of Juba's Neighbourhoods, Which have divided along ethnic lines, Jabarona is a mixed area and Believes Yien the tank operators had guides showing Them where Nuer people were living. In Neighbourhoods such the Mangaten, Hai Referendum, Area 107 and Eden City, it is now easy to tell where the Nuer community lived. Halfway down the main market street of Mangaten, the dust-blown complex of tin-shack shops and rickety stalls, the bustle and activity stops. Most businesses have been ransacked, Their rough shelves stripped of everything; stalls have been burned to the ground. Crossing Into Referendum Hai, one of the highest density settlements in Juba, is now a ghost town of abandoned houses. On Saturday, a few laid-back looters Could be seen loading a meager haul of plastic chairs, pots and foam mattresses on to three -wheelers. In some houses nearby plates of food were left behind, clothes have been scattered where people fled. Only broken plastic chairs, empty tubs of milk powder and smashed fans lie in the dirt. Crossing the boundary into Eden City, the atmosphere changed. Plainclothes soldiers, one of Them with a plastic-handled kitchen knife in the pocket of his shorts and a machete visible under his football shirt stopped and questioned any outsiders. Only 20 meters away was the charred corpse of a man lying with his legs splayed outside the looted Eden Sports bar. Nearby, a nervous family had returned to Their mud hut home, known as the tukul, to visit Moses' aged mother who is too ill to make the journey to the UN base less than a mile away. He was determined to leave before nightfall, When the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the government begins. "The army is coming at night," he said. . "You hear the guns going tuk-tuk-tuk" Rose, who emerged from the tukul where Moses' mother is bed-ridden, said: "Everybody has been running because of war We're Also running.." South Sudan's government , Which has received billions of dollars in foreign aid and is home to the largest UN peacekeeping operation in the world outside the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to insist que massacres in Juba have not happened.The president, Whose guards sparked the first fighting on 15 December, has assured the South Sudanese que his forces will protect civilians. Philip Aguer, the spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army, the civil war guerrilla force that is now the national army, denied any orchestrated attacks had taken place. He said he was unaware of the slaughter at Mangaten police station and blamed any deaths on "criminal elements" who had exploited the chance to loot and kill afforded by the crisis. "Even though some of these criminals are wearing army uniforms Does Not Necessarily Mean They are part of the army," he said. He denied any national army soldiers were Involved: "The SPLA soldiers are Involved in this criminal activity." With regard to Those carrying out the atrocities, he added: "We are ready to arrest and take Them Them to court." But this description of rogue elements does not tally with the account of W Riek, who until Saturday was a serving member of the presidential guard, known to the Jubans the "Tigers". A three-year veteran of the multi-ethnic unit que was meant to bind the diverse communities of what had been southern Sudan, he was not openly known as the Nuer to many of his colleagues and does not bear the traditional "Gaar" scarring que many Nuer men have on Their faces. Now in hiding in the UN base, he described how fighting between Dinka and Nuer members of the Tigers last Sunday night had spilled over into attacks on civilian Nuer all over the city."They took people who were not soldiers and Their hands tied and shot Them. I saw this with my own eyes, I was there wearing the same uniform the Them. "Young men from the Dinka community, many of Them with no military training, were Given uniforms and guns from various armories around the capital, including one located at President Kiir's own compound, known the J1, he says. "It is soldiers who are doing this and militia from Dinka boys who have been Given guns from the Tigers," he said. Riek W que said his colleagues Dinka Could Not act without the authority of Their commander and que They were "the same soldiers que are killing people at night." Riek W, who Decided to abandon his post in the president's compound at the weekend the he feared for his life and was horrified at the murder of civilians, said que the scale of the killings was being covered up."They ... are using the curfew to remove the bodies," he said. He described how he had seen "large trucks" full of bodies, some of Which were taken to sites with bulldozers dug grave, while others had been dumped in the river Nile at two points: one near the barracks and one Bilpam at Juba bridge. These reports have been corroborated by fishermen who have seen the bodies up on the river bank."They are saying The numbers are completely wrong, people everywhere have been killed," said Riek W. The Nuer who have survived in Juba, numbering 20,000, are now crammed into the city's two UN bases. Their fate is matched by another 14,000 civilians from other ethnic groups sheltering with the UN in South Sudan's other main towns. Many of the Nuer into crowded the main UN mission based in Juba said They Were sure the peacekeepers would protect Them Despite the evacuation over the weekend of all non-critical UN staff. Not everyone feels safe, though. Wearing a pinstriped suit jacket and dusty Apologising for not having showered in six days, 51-year-old Peter Bey was unsure. He has watched in recent days the evacuation flight one after another has taken foreign nationals to safety from the airport on the other side of the fence. "We see from history que the UN has left people behind in Rwanda before," he said. "They put on helicopters Their Own people and left the people who died."

via: nasirl el'Rufai's fb

DO THEY KNOW THAT "HE DOES NOT GIVE A DAMN"?

 Ishiyaku GangJidda


Financial Times of London has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to order a forensic audit of oil and gas earnings in the country to Enhance transparency and Ensure That the country is not unnecessarily susceptible to oil price shocks. The FT said, " Jonathan Should a forensic order, external audit of the oil accounts  
to clear up the confusion. This could go two ways. It could expose the real extent of losses owing to gross mismanagement and knock a further dent in public confidence. "However, It Could Also que show the government is serious about plugging the holes, while adding urgency to the passage of legislation meant to restore the industry back to health. " This came on the heels of the controversy trailing the Alleged $ 49.8bn missing oil revenue. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, had in a letter to the President Alleged que the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had failed to remit into the Federation Account the sum of $ 49.8bn between January 2012 and July 2013. Though reconciliation meetings between the CBN and the NNPC, Department of Petroleum Resources and Federal Inland Revenue Service had pruned the unremitted revenue to $ 10.8bn, FT That was not enough said, adding que the forensic audit would reveal the extent of oil revenue losses in the country. It said, "As it turns out, the central bank's calculations contained big omissions. After poring over the data, officals have whittled the figure is related shortfalls down to more like $ 11bn. There are still big questions left to answer, however. "The first is how the state oil company justifies withholding the $ 11bn Identified. This, in turn, is part of a bigger puzzle over falling oil Revenues que drove the central bank governor to raise the alarm in the first place. " According to FT, part of the answer lies in industrial-scale direct theft from the pipelines; adding another que might lie in regulatory uncertainty. lamented medium que The far-reaching legislation designed to clean up the mess in the sector had been languishing for five years."As a result, there has been a marked drop in investment in production by fresh the international oil companies, "it said. further FT said the shortfalls on the books were not fully explained by production losses and fluctuations in price. It said, "Oil earnings this year are down by about a third in dollar terms Compared with 2011 while the fall in exports is on average 10 per cent. Swap contracts, When crude oil allocated for domestic consumption is Exchanged for refined product imports without money changing hands may be hiding Substantial further losses. "To fill gaps in the budget this year, the Finance Ministry has had to draw down on the rainy-day savings fund that is Financed by windfall earnings above the budgeted price of oil. This has left Nigeria unnecessarily vulnerable to shocks. "