Why President Obama Will Not Visit Nigeria

By Dr. Peregrino Brimah  

Barrack Hussein Obama is not only the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, but he is the celebrated black president of the United States. Love him or not, he is at a pinnacle for the black race on the earth today. However, the black president of America has thus far refused to visit the biggest black nation in the world and by all projection, will not do so till he completes his second term as U.S. president if things remain the same with Nigeria. Why will Obama not visit Nigeria? Here are some of the reasons:
The Nigerian government is a bunch of bandits.
The military leadership of the nation aids and abets terrorists.
The military leadership of Nigeria lies that it has freed captive girls.
Repeat: The military leadership of Nigeria lies that it has freed captive girls.
Nigeria’s military chiefs, ministry of defense and heads of state security lead the deliberate massacre of innocent civilians and soldiers.
Abuja, the nation’s capital is the residence of thieves and hideout of terror sponsors.
Abacha, a dictator, killer and treasury looter is honored in Nigeria.
Al Mustapha, M.K.O. Abiola’s wife’s murderer and an Abacha marksmen team leader is freed.
Bayelsa, the home state of Nigeria’s president is the most toxic piece of land on planet earth with 40 oil spills recorded every month.
Nigeria pollutes the sea more than any oil producing nation on earth.
Nigeria today does not arrest sponsors of terror whose money now finances Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda.
There are more kidnappings in Nigeria than any nation.
Nigeria currently hosts the most dangerous high sea piracy events on the planet.
Nigeria this 2014 has succeeded in scoring the highest number and worst cases of death and violence from terror than any nation on earth.
Nigeria’s youth are the most deprived on the planet, considering the nation’s immense wealth.
Nigeria’s government steals from almajiri (beggars), the youth and unemployed to give to the government bloated thieves and Cabal.
Nigeria is the only nation on earth that rather than developing is regressing.
$20-127 billion dollars, oil revenue has been stolen by Nigeria’s government officials and their partner, billionaire Cabal. #WhereIsOurMoney?
Nigeria’s fourth republic civilian regimes are worse than its military dictator regimes.
Nigeria has an oil goddess, Diezani Allison-Madueke.
Nigeria has achieved the highest level of government corruption ever recorded in the history of planet earth.
And finally:
Not only is Nigeria’s government clueless, and recklessly hopeless, but so are its people also recognized to be for permitting such a Cabal regime and system to remain in power.
There have been civilians like Gandhi and soldiers like Rawlings who have walked their nations out of the mess, but of its 168 million victims of the treacherous, lootocratic fourth republic, Nigeria does not have a single civilian or soldier, talk less thousands willing and able to deliver its children, elders and most helpless.
This is why president Obama does not only not visit, but does not even talk of or remember Nigeria, a nation in a new dark age.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah      

Prologue: The Ghost Of Nero

By Jide Ajani

The paradox of life! What is not good is very, very bad!Think of this:   The manufacturer makes and sells it! The buyer buys but is not going to use it! And the one for whom it is to be used never saw it! What is it?

You will get the answer at the end of the script. Life! Figures may never mean anything in life beyond those that make up dates of birth, anniversaries or other such remembrances. But numbers made up of the same figures take up the garb of seriousness when they are attached to casualties or fatalities under any
circumstance.   For instance, the number of those who disappeared aboard a missing plane – 239 – in the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370

In journalism, except you hit the double digits, figures of casualties or any other thing for that matter are to be rendered in alphabetic words – nine, eight, seven, three, one. When the double digits come
in, you write in figures – 75, as in the official number of the dead at the Nyanya bus park bomb explosion in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja; or 129, the figure earlier quoted for the number of girls abducted by members of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, which, in English, means, “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad”, and otherwise known as Boko Haram.

Figures, numbers, damned numbers! What do they represent? They represent anguish in this instance.
These numbers represent lives lost or burdened. They represent, by association and multiplicity in terms of those affected, discomfort and discomfiture. They represent sorrow. However, the incremental nature of the number of the dead in terms of attacks appears to make a mockery of lives in Nigeria.   At about this time last year, when casualty figures of any Boko Haram induced incidents oscillated between 10 and 15, they made banner headlines. Over time, towards the end of last year, the figure shifted to 20 and above before it could grab attention – headline attention, that is. Today, it appears a very conservative figure of 75dead does not have any psychological impact on Nigeria’s leadership as exemplified by what happened last week. Last Monday morning, after the crocodile tears in some quarters and visit by President Goodluck Jonathan to the Nyanya park and hospital to commiserate with victims and their families,Mr President was in Kano within 24hours to attend a rally; a political rally of no meaningful significance other than the celebration of prostitution by politicians engaged in the shameful act of carpet-crossing pax Nigeriana.

What went wrong?

It was Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924), who, while writing on art, character, growth, guidance, judgment, life, seriousness, spirit and spirituality, posited, “A man is the part he plays among his
fellows. He is not isolated; he cannot be. His life is made up of the relations he bears to others – is made or marred by those relations, guided by them, judged by them, expressed in them. There is nothing
else upon which he can spend his spirit – nothing else that we can see. It is by these he gets his spiritual growth; it is by these we see his character revealed, his purpose, his gifts. A few (men) act as those who  have mastered the secrets of a serious art, with deliberate subordination of themselves to the great end and motive…. These have `found themselves’, and have all the ease of a perfect adjustment”.

When Wilson talks about “those who have mastered the secrets of a serious art, with deliberate subordination of themselves to the great end and motive”, he was referring to the greater need for
introspection, deep thinking and a realization that leading a country of over 170million people is not about what the leader merely wants for himself or what catches his fancy but what he has to offer for the general good. That singular incident in Kano blighted the President’s mournful disposition of the day before. Why did Jonathan fall so cheaply for the shenanigans of his party jobbers?

Only one explanation: The ghost of Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, simply referred to by historians as Nero, reigns supreme in the land.   He is notoriously known to have been fiddling away while over 70% of Rome was burning. Paradoxically, he was also recorded to have been a bit popular but the controversy about that engages the overdrive gear when placed side by side his viciousness and nihilistic disposition. At the Kano rally, it was as if nothing had happened in the last 24hours. What was so important about the Kano rally that Mr. President could not postpone it? What level of deep thinking went into not passing off that event till another time?

What were the leaders of the PDP and Aso Rock thinking of that the loss of 75 Nigerians appeared not to move them? The importance of statistics and numbers dawns on every individual when tragedy hits hard at home, in the family, at the work place or in the neighbourhood. Pray, had any close family member of the leaders of PDP and Aso Rock been victims of the Nyanya blast, would the Kano rally still have held?

Just last Friday, three-days of mourning were declared for the Mexican Nobel Laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez – this was declared by the country’s President. In Nigeria, because we are gradually but strangely being inoculated against the strong effects of losing fellow countrymen to the cold hands of death in the hands of terrorists, the government did not call for days of mourning. What has gone wrong? What is going wrong? Even the statement issued by the ruling party’s megaphone, Olisa Metuh, pointing accusing fingers, was disgusting at best and embarrassingly insensitive to right thinking Nigerians. Then add the ever present All Progressive Congress, APC, leadership that relishes jumping into any fray with pretensions to siding with Nigerians.

What does this say of the crop of leadership in the country?
As if dramatizing a tragic-comical script, the Federal Government of Nigeria, led by  Jonathan, was made to look more impotent when terrorists stormed a school in Borno and abducted 129 female students  before the dust raised at the Kano rally could settle that same night of last Tuesday. And as if waking up from a slumber, the Presidency then summoned a security-council meeting – after the fact – and after the Kano rally. Worse still, the military authorities, within 24 hours, went to town with the news that it had rescued all but eight of the abducted girls. Then, suddenly, another fact was released damning the first rescue report – only 14 of the girls “escaped on their own steam”. Between January and this April, over 2,000 lives have been lost. Yet, government acts after the fact – this is without prejudice to the episodic gallantry of the members of the armed forces who continue to risk their lives.

It is time for President Jonathan and his handlers to sit back, reflect, think deeply and engage a more proactive and meaningful approach.

The answer to the puzzle is: A coffin! The sizes and the shape of the coffins that would be used to bury the identified bodies from last Monday’s bomb blast were never seen by those to be buried in them just seconds before the bomb went off. It could have been anybody.   A governor or a minister may have scheduled a visit to the park that morning. Therefore, government should not continue to dishonor the memories of the dead by acting as if once the victims are not close home, then we can all go about our businesses as if they do not matter. What is not good is very, very  BAD.

Can Hillary Clinton Count on Women This Time?

Gaston De Cardenas/Reuters

Keli Goff

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They famously supported her in 2008—until they helped Obama win Iowa. So will the grandmother-to-be inspire female voters next cycle, or will they judge her on a harsher scale?

The event where Chelsea Clinton announced her pregnancy this week was billed as “Girls: A No Ceilings Conversation.” But many saw it as much more than a “conversation” about the future of girls and women around the world. Instead, it looked like the first unofficial campaign event of a 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential run. After all, women have been considered the key to any Clinton victory. The question now, however, seems to be: Will they be?

Clinton has a notoriously complex history with women. In some circles, she has been a feminist icon forever. In others, she’s seen as the woman who stayed with Bill Clinton when plenty were rooting for her to leave him, and the woman who pointedly did not stay home and bake cookies, and who seemed to question the choices of women who did.

While a new Fox News poll finds the 2016 presidential race is Clinton’s to lose—she leaves Vice President Joe Biden in the dust in a primary matchup and beats all other Republican contenders, albeit by a smaller margin—women voters are really a wild card. Many forget that Barack Obama’s presidential hopes went from long shot to real shot after an Iowa victory over Clinton that was due not only to young voters but also to women.

Of course women voters are not required to support a female candidate, but in Clinton’s case, if they don’t support her, and in strong numbers, she has a tougher path to victory. Risa Heller, a communications consultant who has worked with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), among other politicians, said Clinton winning the White House would be a “watershed moment for women.” Calling the “Girls” conversation “brilliant,” Heller said: “She as a female candidate for president should be able to captivate women. I think the idea behind what they are doing right now is allowing her to talk to all kinds of women. Theoretically, they should be her base.”

But asked whether women voters are harder on other women and that’s why certain female candidates, including failed New York City mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, are unable to captivate women voters, Heller said women are held to different standards—by both men and women. “I think women facing female voters or male voters feel in a lot of ways they have more to prove,” she said. “I think that’s just the way the world works.”

“She can bring to the table people who want to make history with her.”

But Marcia Dyson, who served as a surrogate for the Clinton campaign during the 2008 primary—while her husband, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, served as a high-profile supporter of the Obama campaign—says women are much harder on other women, and Clinton’s last campaign fell victim to that. “It amazed me when I heard some of the things I did from other women about the secretary of state,” Dyson said. Men may compete in venues such as sports, she said, but women can be competitive in much less overt ways: “We judge based on our own narrow biases and lack of self-esteem.” Women “portray our own inadequacies on her: ‘[Hillary] couldn’t do it because I couldn’t even think to do it’ [run for president].’”

David Paleologos, a leading national pollster, said that despite women being the majority voters in primaries and general elections, in polling and focus groups he has found women are extremely tough on female candidates. But he also said he believes Clinton is one of the women who can transcend that—because he’s seen her do it before. Paleologos, in his role as director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, was one of the only pollsters in the country who didn’t have egg on his face after Clinton engineered her primary comeback in New Hampshire in 2008. While most polls had Obama handily winning the state, Paleologos, citing two of his polls of so-called bellwether towns, predicted the race was at least a dead heat. One of the reasons for Clinton’s success, he told me in a phone interview, was that her campaign found women who had not voted in as many as four election cycles and convinced them to vote for her.

“Voting is an emotional act,” he said. “As a pollster, I look at intensity. I look at not only ‘Are they likely voters?’ but ‘What’s the real motivation?’” He continued, “The key is: ‘Who can a candidate bring to the table who are the un-polled?’” The key to Obama’s victories, Paleologos explained, has been finding people who are not traditional voters but who like him, and then convincing them he is worth registering and turning out for. Clinton now has that quality among more people than she used to, the pollster said: “She can bring to the table people who want to make history with her.”

Furthermore, he said that contrary to highlighting her age in a way that may work against her, becoming a grandmother only expands the circle of voters who are more likely to find her relatable. Describing political constituencies as a venn diagram, he said, “She has enough intersections in the circles to drive the intensity of women voters.” To women who once thought she was driven only by her career, she’s now a relatable soon-to-be grandmother. To women who once found her cold, she is the woman who endured marital troubles but bounced back. To women who feel they’ve been passed over for a promotion for a younger, less experienced male, she has handled losing the presidency with dignity and ultimately became secretary of state.

“Those who hated on her when she was running probably rethought it when they saw what a stellar secretary of state she was,” said Dyson.

Paleologos predicted that making “history will likely supersede all of the splinters that may exist among these different women voters.” He concluded: “Ultimately voters have to ask themselves, ‘Does Hillary Clinton deserve to be a part of history? When you’re down in Washington and you go to the wax museum’s Hall of Presidents, do you believe she belongs there?’ And that ultimately may be the deciding question, not whether you agree with her on Benghazi.”

“I think a lot of women will buy into that,” he said.

Read This Exposé on The "Madness" Going on In Nigeria Today

This is the best piece I've read in recent times: The Politics of Life and Death by Dele Momodu:

I don’t even know where to start from. I have been in this state of stupor and confusion since the bomb blast of last Monday in Abuja. The location did not matter to me because it could have been anywhere. Any serious analyst would have known by now that the brains behind such an audacious act with maximum impact wouldn’t lack the capacity to detonate their massive explosives at any location of their choice and pleasure.

We are obviously at their mercy and must make bold to admit our failure and confess our helplessness. There is no point pretending to be a heavyweight when you are truly a featherweight. If we cannot take the battle to their conclaves wherever it may be, we must be ready to surrender. Those saying we shouldn’t negotiate with terrorists are speaking bollocks and should urgently have a rethink before these guys obliterate us out of the world map, or deplete the population of Nigeria beyond recognition and redemption. There is nothing shameful about accepting and managing your limitations in life. It is one of the grand rules that if you are not able to move forward you must know how to retrace your steps. We won’t be the first nation to do so.

As for our apparently overstretched soldiers, let no one blame them for doing the needful by dodging bullets, premature deaths and unnecessary heroism. Ours is a peculiar nation of oddities. Strange things do happen here...

Our soldiers have perfected the science of killing but not the art of dying for a thankless country. They are like our footballers who have learnt the wisdom of not breaking their legs in the field of play because when you get injured, you are on your own. And your career is over. Pronto.

And for our Police, don’t even go there. They are poorer than church rats. I’m not trying to make excuses or provide a ridiculous hiatus but just being realistic and practical. I used to abuse them for taking bribes with reckless abandon. But I have since reconsidered my stance. It is impossible to survive on the pittance they receive as salaries and the filthy environment many are conditioned to live and operate. They are not adequately protected against potential dangers and other vicissitudes of life. They are ill-equipped and lack the modern appurtenances of policing and crime prevention. Let us start with the most basic of police equipment. Not just arms and ammunition but wearing apparels and communication gadgets that cost next to nothing these days. How many times have we seen policemen wearing bathroom or rubber slippers on duty? I can’t even tell. And these men and women are meant to chase burglars not to mention armed robbers and then terrorists in such disgraceful gears. This is why they have become sitting ducks!

Give it to the Americans they are experts at packaging death. They make it look so attractive and inviting. From the Commander-in-Chief to the smallest man, everyone participates in the rites of passage. Their nation stands ramrod for the fallen heroes. Dying for America is so prestigious that you may wish to die in advance of your real terminal date. The honour it brings to your family is immeasurable. And you are readily accounted for unlike in our clime where we don’t even know how to count our casualties let alone give them decent burials. Our matter is a sorry case. We know what to do but lack the will to do it right.

There is nothing worse than dying a worthless death. Many have laid their lives down for Nigeria but are soon abandoned and forgotten. Only the families are left to bear the brunt of the suffering that naturally follows. Attempts are even made to rubbish the memory of the dead by good-for-nothing characters seeking to justify every act of chicanery. Sixteen years after Chief Moshood Abiola died for the democracy we are bastardising today, we are still debating whether he deserves any honour or not. What nation argues over such obvious martyrdom except Nigeria? The reason is not far-fetched. Ours is a politics of life and death. Those who can never contribute anything tangible in life would always try to belittle every act of valour. That is the crux of the matter.

Many of us always try to hide behind one finger and as Abiola himself would have put it, it is nothing but a futile effort. If we must situate our present predicament properly, we missed our boat on June 12, 1993, when we refused to uniformly insist on the restoration of the mandate voluntarily given to Abiola. Abiola’s feat was never an accident but a product of assiduous hard work by an unrepentant and unapologetic bridge-builder. The passion of Abiola for the unity of Nigeria was uncommon and salutary. Other would-be Abiolas have only been paying lip-service to such lofty ideals. There was no religious consideration on June 12, 1993. Ethnic jingoism was buried on that day. Political rascality was jettisoned on that occasion. No skulls were broken. Everyone voted in peace and not in pieces.

Nigeria was on the march again. There was no question about it. We believed fervently that hope was about to return to our nation. Mass poverty was going to vamoose. And prosperity was going to follow. All the fabulous excuses later offered for terminating the fantastic election and suspending its results were nothing but mere after-thoughts. There was no reason to put our unprecedented progress in reverse gear. It was a victory worth exploring. But some powerful clique thought otherwise. We shall continue to remind our people of how we got things wrong lest we forget as usual.

Nigeria died the day June 12 was killed. Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, that was the day we murdered sleep. What’s worse is the fact that we’ve refused to accept the collective stupidity and unbridled selfishness that gave birth to such irrational decision. It is all the more painful when we see what Nigeria has become since then. It is the same egocentricity that has given fillip to our present debacle; the attempt by a few control freaks to always want to be in charge. Abiola was considered too strong and would not be malleable or manipulatable. That was his only sin. And for that nothing was too sacred to be wasted.

Nigeria has continued to throw up all manner of leaders, the good, the bad, the ugly. We are blaming the wrong people for not performing. A man cannot give what he doesn’t have. We should place the blame appropriately at the doorsteps of the godfathers and Mafia dons who have continued to hold Nigeria by the jugular. I’m no longer under any delusion or illusion that this crazy trend and evil pattern would end very soon. I believe we have crossed the Rubicon. As we move closer to 2015, the situation will in fact get far worse. Sorry if I sound irredeemably despondent and like a prophet of doom. You can’t blame me. Experience is the best teacher. We have reached that point zero and except something very extraordinarily drastic happens, our situation will not get better. For once my dose of optimism has expired and I doubt where the next supply would come from.

If you think I’m being excessively jittery, please consider the following. Our politicians are already warming up for the next electoral battle and getting their dangerous arsenal ready. Everything else is immaterial. Those blaming our President for going to Kano for the PDP unity rally, and Ibadan to felicitate with our royal father, The Olubadan, on his centenary birthday, are missing the point. The ubiquitous scammers in the corridors of power have succeeded in doing “wash-wash” for our dear President.

They have sold him the dummy that he needs to visit every part of Nigeria ahead of his declaration for a second term in office. Such advisers are never in short supply. They are always in place to mislead every leader. The budgets for such contracts are usually hefty. Otherwise, how could anyone have gone on such flights of fancy a day after such a calamitous event occurred in Abuja? Shortly after, so many young girls were abducted from their school in Borno State. Yet life continued as normal as if these were normal occurrences. Whilst the world media sought to update us with news of both gruesome events our own friends especially downplayed the events. Even our soldiers threw honour to the winds and began to concoct fiction. The whole world watched in utter disgust and amazement as we bungled the opportunity to show the humane side of us.

We also failed to rally our leaders together as one at a time we needed to stand strong and confront a national tragedy and an international embarrassment. Our politicians have been busy trading blames and fighting like kids over cookies. Our military too have been speaking from both sides of their mouths. And information has become a scarce commodity. To whom then do we turn in this season of stark raving lunacy? The solution is not going to be as simple and straight-forward. I will offer a few simple ideas in good faith.

Our President and Commander-in-Chief should, in the name of God, resist the demons of power and suspend the PDP jamborees until further notice. Everything has a season. This time calls for sobriety. I’ve said it before. The President’s body language is the thermometer with which we measure the temperature of the nation and the tachometer for measuring the speed or inertia of governance. I sincerely sympathise with our President who seems to be receiving unkind bashings from every angle. This barrage of attacks is beginning to take its tolls on him. This was palpable in Kano where the President exploded in public and resorted to the use of expletives. I wish to plead that he should resist such temptation in the future, no matter the degree of provocation. What he’s carrying on his head is heavier than the elephant and he should not worry about crickets on the ground.

The President needs to convince our beleaguered nation that he truly cares about protecting every inch of the Nigerian land mass and that he’s not a tribal warlord. We have reached the stage where we must swallow our pride and call for foreign input and help without further delay. Our first port of call should be the United Nations, where Nigeria had always contributed immensely to missions of peace-keeping abroad. We must urgently get our armed forces and UN peace-keepers to occupy the most porous parts of our borders. There is no doubt the challenges faced by our security forces, Immigration and Customs have made it difficult to keep away the invading marauders. To complement them we must deploy technology to monitor our land borders. For some reason we seem scared of employing scientific solutions to assist us in the area where we need it most. We embrace biometrics in every other sphere of our lives, even in breach of the constitutional rights of our citizens to private life. But in the case of security where the constitution allows such intrusion we shy away from the use of such technological tools that would have helped us stem some of this madness.
We must saturate the areas most affected with surveillance equipment particularly CCTV cameras. These must be monitored round the clock. We need to employ, mobilise and deploy far more security personnel than the few we are sending to war at this time. We must overwhelm the battle fronts with so many well-equipped Army, Air force, Navy, Secret Service agents, paramilitary forces. The proliferation of security forces would aim at intimidating intending troublemakers. The ease with which those guys saunter in and out suggests a superior firepower. This cannot continue unchecked.

Governments at all levels must intensify efforts at ameliorating the suffering of most citizens in Nigeria. Crime and criminality will increase when people are driven to the walls with no hope in sight. The seeming indifference of our politicians to the plight of the people must change. The people are not asking for too much. What they want are the basic necessities which Nigeria can definitely afford. Our students should enjoy quality and affordable education. Incessant closure of schools must be discouraged by fulfilling government promises and agreements to academic unions. Our chronic infrastructural decay must be speedily addressed. The daily hardship faced and the agony suffered by Nigerians has become too unbearable. They are enough to keep most people on edge. The issue of mass unemployment is the most desperate. There are just too many jobless youths floating around. We should not be surprised if some become easy prey and ready recruits for terrorists.

There are many more ways in which we must combat these heinous activities of a few bitterly disgruntled elements. They include use of state and community police forces, greater involvement of our traditional rulers, education of the citizenry, social awareness, use of cultural beliefs and above all dialogue with the approachable ones in these terrorist groups. We will continue to amplify on these measures in the near future.

I wish I could say Happy Easter but there is too much sorrow in the land.

2015: Jonathan, Shekarau unite against Kwankwaso in Kano

 by Ismail Mudashir & Haruna Gimba Yaya, Kano

The utterances of stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during last Tuesday’s rally, no doubt, have shown that the party is relying on a former governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau to recapture Kano State in 2015.

President Goodluck Jonathan along with members of the top echelon of the party was in Kano to formally receive the former governor who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to their fold in January this year.
The Africa House, Kano seat of power, slipped off from the PDP when Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso dumped the party for the APC.  From the president’s statement to that of the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu and all other speakers at the crowded occasion, one may not be wrong to reach a conclusion that the PDP is relying on Shekarau, a political foe of Kwankwaso to reclaim the State.
The enmity between Shekarau and Kwankwaso started around 2002 when the latter was governing Kano. Shekarau was permanent secretary in charge of cabinet office.  There was misunderstanding between them. So, Shekarau was edged out as he was redeployed to classroom. He later resigned and ventured into politics.
In 2003, he contested for the governorship position of the State under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) against Kwankwaso, the then PDP candidate.  Surprisingly, Shekarau defeated Kwankwaso, who was then the incumbent governor in the State. His success, to pundits, was influenced by the popularity of General Muhammadu Buhari, who was then the presidential candidate of the ANPP.
For eight years, Shekarau reigned in the State. But after the expiration of his second tenure, Kwankwaso staged a comeback as he defeated, Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai, the political godson of Shekarau.
Since the 2011 elections, the rivalry between the two key political figures went down like morning dew. But the competition was rekindled by the defection of Kwankwaso to the APC, a party nurtured by Shekarau. Not satisfied with the turn of events, Shekarau dumped the party with his teeming supporters and moved to the PDP, a party he had hitherto lambasted.
Now that he has joined the PDP, the song of Shekarau has changed as he has started singing a new song. To formalise his defection to PDP, President Jonathan was in Kano last Tuesday. He formally received the former governor Shekarau along with his teeming supporters to the PDP fold at the Polo Ground, which witnessed a mammoth crowd.
Opening the floor was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Aminu Wali who described the defection of Shekarau to the PDP as milestone and landmark for the party.  “I’m happy that this is happening under my watch because with Mallam Shekarau by our side, we will succeed in our quest to reclaim our mandate,” he said.
In his address, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State said Kano remained a PDP State, stressing that the defection of Kwankwaso to APC would not make any difference.
“With this crowd coming to receive Shekarau, we will recover our Government House which was donated to the APC.  Our job is to thank you and ask you to strategise and come out enmasse like this to reclaim our mandate. The little works you are seeing in Kano are done by PDP. Now that they are in APC, nothing is happening again.
“Out of selfish interest, they take Kano to opposition. But let me tell you, Kano is still PDP State. With what we have seen, the people who want to take power by all force won’t succeed. We will work with you to reclaim our state,” he said.
Commenting on the crowd that thronged to the venue, Senate President David Mark said since they commenced their unity rally, the PDP had not witnessed crowd like that of Kano.
“Since we started going round just to say hi to our people, no where that I have seen heads like the ones in Kano today.  Kano cannot afford to be relegated to the background. Kano must be in the mainstream of governance and the mainstream is PDP,” he said.
On his part, Farouk Lawan, a member of the House of Representatives, reprensenting Shanono/Bawai federal constituency of Kano State said the stolen mandate would be recovered in 2015.
“The people of Kano State voted for PDP and not individuals. We will join forces with Shekarau to reclaim our State,” he said.
Vice President Namadi Sambo on his part said the crowd that attended the gathering showed that the stolen mandate would be recovered in 2015, stating that “Shekarau, you are welcome to PDP. Kano is for Mallam and Nigeria is for Jonathan”.
In his address at the occasion, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu said joining the PDP is like joining Islam.“ Yes, joining PDP is like joining Islam. In Islam, if you convert today, you are like any other Muslim. So, in PDP, if you join us today, you are like any other old member. So, Shekarau is like any old member,” he said.
Apparently giving a match order to Shekarau, President Jonathan said PDP must recover Kano State, saying “if you wear red cap or whatever, we will recover our stolen mandate by 2015”. The president spent better part of his 15 minutes’ speech to tonguelash Governor Kwankwaso, accusing him of working against his success at the poll.
Responding, Shekarau urged members of the PDP to come together as one family and work together to consolidate the status of PDP as a formidable party dedicated to building a better Nigeria for all.
“Let us begin the new formation of party machinery that works for the good of every member irrespective of who, when or where from he or she joins the party. If we do that, we can be rest assured of victory in the next election in 2015 and beyond.
“Fellow citizens of Kano State, you all know what I stand for. I stand for justice, good governance, development, protection of dignity of every citizen, respect for elders, empowerment for youth, support for women, strengthening of institutions of governance and commitment to Shari’a.
“As I thank you all for the encouragement and support you continue to grant me for more than a decade now, let me explicitly affirm to you that so long I remain in active politics, so long shall I remain dedicated totally to serving you the people with every effort I can muster irrespective of the party I belong to,” he said.
The former governor took time to appeal to President to address the problem of power supply in the State that had crippled industries.
“In the face of mass misery, poverty and lack of employment, our people are right now requesting empowerment for power to operate our remote industries and for massive intervention in agriculture, including development of infrastructure for our huge farm lands and various Fadama that flow across the State,” he asked.
Highpoint of the occasion was the presentation of a white horse to the President by Shekarau, the Sardaunan Kano. The music by the popular kannywood actor, Sani Danja and the dance by the President alongside other top-notch members of the party added colour to the event.
With the formal reception of Shekarau to the PDP fold, the battle line between him and his political foe has been drawn. The political wrangling between the duo was further deepened after the open altercation between the President and Kwankwaso.
Whether Shekarau will succeed in delivering Kano State to PDP in 2015, only time will tell.

DailyTrust

Why We Must Find Those Abducted Girls Immediately

By Dr. Nze Anizor

After some hard thinking, I can now dare to say why I think all the girls abducted by the Boko Haram are kept in one camp. The primary question here is why the girls were taken. Once we determine a plausible motive, it will be easy to create a scenario which meets the motive.
In my opinion, the girls were abducted for one primary reason and one secondary reason - sex and soldiers (suicide bombers.) That is why they needed so many girls. It is also an indication that the efforts of the military and the 'civilian JTF' is yielding fruits. It is an indication that the insurgents may have started finding it difficult to easily get into town to satiate their sexual desires, and had no option left but to take the huge risk of abducting more than a hundred young girls at the same time. Of course, we must all agree that they did not abduct the girls for ransom or for use as bargaining chips.
Interestingly, the girls may be their albatross. They are prisoners and not necessarily converts. This means that they may be rebellious and continually seek ways to escape. This may not be so difficult since the camp will not be built up and protected like a prison. Probably they will use chains and ropes to restrain the girls. Because of the huge number, the possibilities of a guard making a mistake is high. The possibilities of a guard going soft on one of the girls and aiding her escape by at least looking the other way is also high. The BH made a major mistake in abducting those girls, but whether we are able to effectively utilize that mistake to our advantage is another matter entirely.
The girls will be in a camp because the BH will have a major camp from where they operate. Although they may have a few cells within the towns and villages in the North East, they are not likely to keep those girls in any of them.
The military and the posse should do well to locate that camp, and find the girls. Just imagining the horrors those children will be passing through is enough to send shivers down one's spine. But all we can do is to imagine it, the girls will be living it.

A more chilling thought is that the longer the girls stay in captivity, the more the possibility of some of them being indoctrinated and brainwashed to become suicide bombers. A strict regimen of extreme punishment to teach fear, anger and hatred, and then using indoctrination to turn that anger against the society can achieve that abominable objective. The strategy may be to use types of sexual activity one may not even imagine to break their spirit. Having made them feel less than human, they will then use punishment and indoctrination to turn them against the society - as lethal weapons. A 15 year old girl who believes she has nothing to live for, and who may not even want to ever be found because she thinks her shame is too much and unbearable, and who has been psychologically turned to blame the society for not protecting or saving her can be a very lethal weapon indeed, in the wrong hands.

They need to be found and rescued today. The earlier they are found, the less will be the likelihood of their having permanent scars - mentally and physically.
Dr. Nze Anizor
@Okenze

Boko Haram, A Political Movement Against Jonathan – Asari-Dokubo

With the current spate of insecurity, terrorism, killings in Nigeria, the leader of Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Dokubo Asari has shared his opinion of what could be the reason for these various attacks by the boko haram sects.

Dokubo-Asari who shows his loyalty towards President Jonathan described Jamāat Ahl as-Sunnah lid-dawa wal-Jihād, popularly known as Boko Haram, as a political movement set up to prevent Christians in the northern part of Nigeria from voting for President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general election.

He made this statement over the weekend in Port Harcourt at the 4th edition of the South South Youth Leaders and Elders interactive forum, said the key mission of  Boko Haram was to instil fear in Christian communities in the northern part of the country, so that they cannot come out to queue up for Jonathan during the election.

Dokubo-Asari further stated that Boko Haram had nothing to do with Islam as this political plan to prevent Jonathan for running for second term will only make the President have no choice other than to contest in 2015.

Asari Dokubo who has been described as a thug by the Deputy National Secretary for the All Peoples Congress party, APC, Mallam Nasir El Rufai would be recalled that he stated in February that he and his kinsmen in the oil-rich belt are ready for war in 2015 if President Goodluck Jonathan isn't re-elected in the 2015 presidential election.

In his words: “If it is war the North wants, we are ready for them because Jonathan must complete the mandatory constitutionally allowable two terms of eight years. 

It would also be recalled that early this year, Dokubo-Asari defended the President in his reply to former President, Olusegun Obasanjo controversial letter to the President accusing him of training a special killer squad to hit 1000 supposed opponents of his government.

Naija.com