Wednesday, 1 June 2016

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI'S ADMINISTRATION: SYNOPSIS FROM THE GGI PLATFORM



On January 1st, 2015, the unexpected occurred at the private office premises of General Muhammadu Buhari at Lobito Crescent, in Abuja.
Four individuals from different background – Hajia Hannatu Ali-Akilu, Mohammed Adebola, Ibrahim Dauda and Eddy Ogunbor – held a meeting under the auspices of the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO). Hannatu Ali-Akilu and Mohammed Adebola, came to Abuja on Baba Ahmed Joda’s instruction to set up a structure at ensuring that GMB’s presidency was guaranteed. That was the birth of GMB 2015 Support Group. The experience has been quite incredible.
The 2015 Presidential election has come and gone.  Muhammadu Buhari is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Therefore, the GMB 2015 Support Group transformed into the Good Governance Initiative (GGI) Group.
In May, 2015 the Group had a sit-out talk at the coffee Bar of NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja after Baba Ahmed Joda, our Convener, hosted some members of the Group in Abuja. At the sit-out, members of the Group, including those from diaspora, brainstormed and decided to host a Group Summit in Abuja during the Presidential Inauguration week. This brought together great patriots, minds and intellectuals of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Summit was a huge success and widely celebrated. The GGI Platform is celebrated as a TEMPLE by members because of the intellectual content of opinions and analysis.
Undoubtedly, members from diverse background – social, religious, ethnic, profession etc, on daily basis present divergent views, opinions, analysis of the nation’s problems and proffer solutions to the problems.
Today, 29th May, 2016, marks the first year anniversary of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in office. The President made an early morning broadcast at about 07.00 hours. Naturally, the GGI Platform members reverted to the Group’s whatSapp platform to analyse the President’s speech to comment and share opinions on the speech. (ref. President’s Speech @ eddyogunbor.blogspot.com).
Surprisingly, there was convergence of opinions and comments, even from the most critical and antagonistic pair (TMZ & Chief Azek on the economic and financial front); the legal minds (BYD, Afropreneur, Umehfrank, Udems & Austin); the oil industry gurus (SMS et al); the poetic and extraterrestrial minds (FBN, FD, Prof. Achara et al); our Queen Aminas (BS1, AaD, BS, TFaj et al); the subtle and gentle minds (MGM, BayoJ, NR, AL et al); the advisors (Haj. Zak, CEO, OA,  Ishaq K et al); and of course the vibrant and political activists (MA, Abudugana et al).  The general and unanimous opinion was that, PMB has achieved a lot , despite flaks from predictable angles and opposition and will need more time to consolidate and deliver the dividends of CHANGE he promised Nigerians.
It is therefore, in celebration of the one year anniversary of Mr. President’ s Administration the synopsis of comments and opinions from the GGI Platform (THE TEMPLE) is compiled for posterity.
 HAPPY DEMOCRACY DAY.

The president is a patriot  and an honest man who finds himself among one of the most corrupt and difficult  people  on the surface of the earth
As he is trying to solve one problem  another is raising its ugly head. As Boko Haram is being silenced so are the heardsmen coming  out boiterously to avenge the always unbroadcasted  killing of their folks
As solution  is being sought for the fulani cattle  rearer onslaught then the Avengers of Niger Delta started bombing  pipelines through  the instigation  of those  of their leaders who stole the Nation blind. I was almost in tears when the old man was reading  his speech today.
He is tired and sick  because a microscopic  minority  of his team are on the same page when it comes to the issue of the change we all shouted to high heavens  we want to effect. A lot of those with us on the campaign  trail who are now in the corridors  of power have become inaccessible and some have become as corrupt  as the PDP and the president  is aware. How do you give honest advice to people who are inaccessible? Some who are accessible already have a mindset to become wealthy which means whatever suggestions  you give if it will not turn them to billionaires overnight would find its way into the dustbin few minutes after you take your leave. So why would the old man not be sick. I am amused when I see criticism  of the old man in the social media. This country is too complex  and I sympathize  with the president  who thought  most of those around him have the same philosophy  with him of moving the country towards the path of greatness. The president  needs prayers and needs to weed away the PDP still in
Power who seems to have blinded him through some spiritual  forces. These  are those sabotaging  the country  from within
I hope the problems  of Nigeria  will not kill this great man with an uncommon  integrity
- Ishaq Kunle

@Ishaq Kunle. God bless you for your summary on PMB. You captured the one year of PMB perfectly. The President is weighed down not only by the magnitude of problems inherited, (never anticipated) but mostly by the PDP subversive elements working with him and sabotaging him. The attitudes of those that were with us in the struggle and now appointed into various positions, had their personal agenda not different from that of the PDP elements. So, it is business as usual and not different from what we patriots fought against. For PMB to help himself, one year is more than enough to continue to harbor the PDP elements in positions at his own risk and health. It is also enough time to put in check those he gave appointments and weed them out. When he does these, PMB will enjoy good health and govern in happiness and satisfaction that he has a team of his own that will deliver as promised to Nigerians. I wish the President good health and success from this day hence. My thoughts and prayers for him always.
- Eddy Ogunbor.

 As we celebrate 17 years of unbroken Democratic Governance in Nigeria. I congratulate my great and progressive family. We may not be there yet but definitely we shall get there ...It is a work in Progress...The difference between Here and There is the T.....Positive Change is here loading! It's a gradual process... It's our collectives effort that we steer the positive change we desire for our generations born and  unborn...We owe it to future generations that we leave planet earth  better than we met it...sustenable abundantly in everything good...Happy Democracy Day with all my love..

-❤Binta Saheed.

FIXING THE BLAME IS EASY. FIXING THE PROBLEM IS CRAZY.

Good morning Patriots and happy anniversary.

PMB has etched hope in the heart of  weakness and given strength to the pillars that held our existence together  since May 29th 2015.
Falling Forward, we must rebrand, re-strategise, reinvigorate and add our values to remain relevant. Knowledge without sharing is useless, it creates pit that consumes the owner.

Our challenge remains undaunting and tasking in the coming days. We already  know our problems...many of us boast of having the knowledge and solutions...on paper. But are shy to share!

On a serious note we prefer offering solutions in the beer parlours, boardrooms, village squares, classrooms, dinning tables and even in our drawers. And not on door step of thinkers and doers.
I strongly believe PMB's nature situates him as a man of wisdom and our modern day Moses. You could tell from his swags and pronouncements; he knows where the vault is and I trust his wit.

I have long refused to be trapped with the blame game because I have come to understand his weaknesses; very shy at sharing and very old school but stubborn to let go when he knows the truth.

For us believers in the brand, we must give our best in thoughts and actions. WE MUST SHIFT FROM BLAMING TO FIXING AND FROM KNOWING TO DOING.

Our problems could be simply solved if we bend a little backward and contribute our know-how.

May we smile again and shake hands across the high terrains of the North through the plantations of the West to the rising sun of the East across the tributaries of the Niger Delta.

WELCOME TO THE REAL PMB DEAL!

God bless Nigeria.

Mazi Charles Eze.

 Good morning Patriots and Good people of the federal Republic of Nigeria.

On this Special Day, I salute and celebrare all my comrades in this awesome struggle to procure social, economic and political justice for all Nigerians.

This is a very special celebration, nothing like we have seen in this generation, that with the help of the ALMIGHTY GOD ordinary citizens of the federal Republic of Nigeria overthrew the wicked rukers and removed them from presiding over their lives.

Congratulations Nigerians.
- Dr. Phillip Ideawor (London).

 PMB is a worried man in charge of a country whose citizens hate themselves and don't care if the nation goes to blazes while they secure their selfish/personal interests. Despite how tired he looked during the broadcast am happy to hear that he will negotiate peace with Niger delta leaders and definitely bring to book those criminal avengers engaged in bombing our oil installations. We shall move faster now in the next one year. The economy will respond positively to oil price deregulation and a flexible exchange rate. PMB is on track.
Good morni all.
- Chief Lawson Omokhodion.

Here is a Statesman guys. He talked about his international work, Ebola, desertification and environmental. Thanks was given to our biggest international partners including Gates Foundation & ICRC in health, first time, for a change. We are not an ungrateful "taker"
- TMZ (Micheal Oluwagbemi.

Courtesy: Afropreneur.
 "Today is democracy day. One year after Buhari got into power. Honestly have I been impressed? Absolutely no. Maybe I was too hopeful, too hopeful for a man who has attempted it thrice and kept an outlook of honesty. A virtue scarce among Nigerian leaders. Things like "we will hit the ground running" or "we will immediately" endeared me so fast. Having Osinbajo, a learned man, gave me that confidence.

Down the road, one didn't get it that it will require six months to form a cabinet, keep a sycophantic CBN Governor, maintain a disastrous currency peg when realities have happened or than 700 people will be killed in Zaria, act indifferent for herdsmen and it still feels normal. I am now measuring my excitement, using every angle to demand accountability.

To be fair, the macroeconomic environment was hostile to Buhari with falling oil prices. However from Churchill, Lincoln, Reagan, FDR, Lee Kuan Yew etc. great leaders are crafted in difficult times. That's the faith I kept in Buhari, a valid faith.

Now you see that loyalty is trumping competence, you see that same sycophancy that heralded GEJ is spun around. One finds people more interested in klieg lights and imaging than substance, so that a patchy 75 achievements were quick pieced together.

However, the people feel it more. We have stagnated contracting for one year. Public sector not funding projects. If we are fighting corruption, must we ground the country?

I have learnt deep lessons. We need to raise the bar higher when it comes to electing and vouching for people. It can't all be about blind trust but stay on the facts.

The next two years will matter a lot to the legacy of Buhari. He won't be another Awolowo "The best President Nigeria never had". He better starting looking for more competent people and start running. I still believe in him but just lost all that emotion. I will rather judge him by facts. I hope in the end he comes out well. Right now, his tenure is less than average."
-Seun Onigbinde

 Fellow Members, good morning to us all. As we approach May 29, let us reflect on the following positive facts.

All over the world Nigerians are setting the pace and becoming the standard by which others measure themselves.
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
In the US, Nigerians are the most educated immigrant community. Google it and you'll see it. Not one of the most educated, the most educated.
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
60% of Nigerians in the US have college degrees. This is far above the American national average of 30%
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
Nigerians in US are some of the highest earners, typically earning 25% more than the median US income of $53k
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
In Ivy League schools in Europe and America, Nigerians routinely outperform their peers from other nations
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
A Nigerian family, The Imafidons, have officially been named the smartest family in the UK. Prof. Chris Imafidon has been referred to as a world intellectual icon by Harvard Professor William Maxwell. Prof. Imafidon grew up in Nigeria.
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
The designer of the famous car, Chevrolet Volt, Jelani Aliyu, is a super talented Nigerian from Sokoto State. The Volt has been described as an American Revolution and one of the hottest concepts in the design line. Jelani grew up in Nigeria & graduated best in his Architecture class from Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic after abandoning the same course at ABU because he preferred the course content. He only left for Detroit in 1990. The rest is history. πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬

The wealthiest black man and woman on earth are Nigerians, Aliko Dangote and Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬

South Africa couldn't have ended apartheid & achieved Black rule if not for the leadership role Nigeria played. Of the 3 Presidents who ruled South Africa after apartheid, two of them once lived in Nigeria under asylum- Nelson Mandela in the 60s and Thabo Mbeki in the 70s. Nigeria gave financial & human support, boycotted an Olympics and our politicians, musicians and activists campaigned relentlessly.
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
Nigeria spent over $3 Billion and lost hundreds of soldiers to end the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone that the world ignored because they have no oil.
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
When there was a coup in SΓ£o TomΓ© and PrΓ­ncipe in 2003, Nigeria restored the elected President back to power President Obasanjo initiated talks with the military junta & personally took the ousted president who was visiting Nigeria at the time, back home to be reinstated. 

Before there were street lights in European cities, Lagos had electric street lights. The ancient Benin kingdom also had street lights fueled by palm oil

500 years ago, Benin casted metal alloys to create magnificent art including the world famous Queen Idah Mask
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
Amina was a warrior queen who ruled the Zaria Emirate in Kaduna state, Northwest Nigeria 400 years ago in 1610
πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬      πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬      πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬
We gave monetary gifts to Ireland during our oil boom years

The first television station in Africa was Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) in Ibadan in 1959 long before Ireland had their RTE station.

The greatest comedians on earth are Nigerians. Just walk the streets of Warri and you will die of laughter.

Wherever you look in this great country Nigeria, heroes abound both now and in our recent and ancient past.

If all we do is help  mainstream Western media, to bash us in the Press by bashing ourselves, we will never be great again. We have a rich and proud Nigerian heritage. Others envy us but we destroy ourselves.

Not all Nigerians are criminals. We're not a nation of scammers, drug pushers & corrupt Govt. officials but a people with a verifiable track record of greatness.πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬

Bad leadership over the years has brought us where we are but we now have a second chance to CHANGE the narrative & we should seize it.

Throughout history, nations have gone through their dark patches and emerged stronger. The western nations we idolise today & seek to emulate have gone through periods they are ashamed to recollect. They keep silent & put their best feet forward. So should we. πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬

What CNN, BBC, Aljazera and western media will not tell you about Nigerians is that apparently on the 7th May, 2016 at Howard University in Washington D.C history was made. Out of 96 graduating Doctor of Pharmacy candidates, 43 of them were Nigerians and out of 27 awards given, 16 went to Nigerians. Also a Nigerian Dentistry candidate, Queenate Ibeto was chosen to be the Valedictorian and welcome the Commencement Speaker, President Obama. But you will hardly see anything about that in the press.

Olympic medallists that didnt get to the UK until they were almost adults are "Nigerian-born British" but terrorists who were born & bred in the UK and have no ties at all to Nigeria save for their names are "British-born Nigerians". Oyinbo sef like better tin!

The under 17 Nigerian football team are the most successful in the history of teenage football in the worldπŸ‡³πŸ‡¬

If we don't believe in ourselves, why should anyone else? If we don't believe Nigeria can change, who will? If we don't blow our trumpet, who will blow it for us?

We are NOT a criminal nation. Be proud of Nigeria. Be proud of our heritage. Be enthusiastic and optimistic about our future greatness.

If we believe it, we will say it.
If we say it we will act it.
If we act it we will begin to show it.πŸ‡³πŸ‡¬

I am a proud Nigerian and I believe in Nigeria!
#Change the narrative
#CelebrateYourNigerianness
#VIVA NAIJA

We are a GREAT people and a GREAT nation.
* Each one tell one!
*Let's share more stories of who we REALLY are.
*Let's stop complaining about where we're not and start celebrating where we are and where we are going.

Let's stop saying and start DOING something to change Nigeria's narrative.
GOD BLESS.
- Binta Saheed.

 HEAR THE THIEVES
1- I acted based on Jonathan instruction- Dasuki
2- I didn't give order- Jonathan
3- I collected 350M from Dasuki for consultation-
Iyorchia Ayu
4- I only collected $30,000 from Dasuki not
N100m- Bode George
5-I got N4.6b from Dasuki for spiritual purposes-
Bafarawa
6-I got N650M from Dasuki for my Abuja burnt
office- Thisday Obaigbena.
7-I got N2.1b from Dasuki for publicity- Dokpesi
8- I got another N100m from Yuguda he didn't
tell me from where- Bafarawa
9- I gave N100m each to Odili, Jim Nwobodo
Bode George and others- Yuguda
10- The president asked me to change N10B to
foreign currency for PDP delegates- Dasuki
11-My boss asked me to get $11M from the
CBN- Dasuki account officer.
12-I got order from above to pay Tompolo N13B
for Maritime university land.- Nimasa DG.
With all this looting and many more revealed some people are still shouting no sign of change yet, they even say it's political persecution. But I believe, it is the right thing to do. The fight against corruption is a task that must be done.
- Binta Saheed.

 This Estate: A Year Later
=================

I'm a son of a 56-year old polygamous father. I don't even know how many step mothers I have. Our dad is well endowed in many ways. He deals in black gold & easily makes a lot of money for our upkeep.

For 16yrs, the children of one of the wives were in charge of the estate. They were supposed to run our father's business, feed us & maintain the estate.

Sadly, they got drunk on power & alcohol. We watched helplessly as they ostracised the rest of us, squandered the income, stole some, stashed some abroad and vandalised every house in the estate, ripping off all fittings, including those connected with earning us money.

One year ago, the children of another wife of our dad won the right to run things. They won because they convinced the rest of us that there would be a change. We were excited & highly expectant. We waited...

Exactly one year ago, they opened the gate to the estate. They met scum, vandalised houses with a lot of cracks. At the same time, our father's business - black gold - started to lose value. The new managers became confounded & for several months didn't know where to begin.

Finally, the new "boys in the hood" decided to go after the previous (mis)managers of the estate.

For example, one of the past chief "mai-guards" alone cornered  $2.1b meant for protecting us all & shared it among other step brothers. They & those in charge of the main (black gold) business have castles in the UK & the US, using "oyinbo" as "boy-boy", flying around the globe & within the estate in chartered jets, helicopters & bulletproof, exotic cars. They shared some money to cronies & even the umpires for choice of managers (i-Neck).

Things started to fall apart as the yam eaters refused to vomit our yams without a fight, black gold's value fell, money became scarce, utilities stopped working, servants working in many houses within the estate could not be paid... Trouble!

Not unexpectedly, sympathisers of the old order started wailing. They're selling the idea that the rut that took 16yrs to make should have been fixed in a day or two. To them, a year is too long.

Intelligence took flight from "intellectuals", logic stood on its head & here we are, still lacking basic needs, including food.

Then came some "avengers" destroying everything in sight that could earn the estate some money. To avenge what? Loss of power by their siblings?

The wailers would cheer on the "avengers" & keep telling the new managers to stop "complaining" whenever an attempt is made to explain the situation.

I'm scared! The wailers who are siblings of our father, who live in the same desicrated estate & suffering equally like the rest are doing all possible to make the new managers fail so that the old order could return. Are they bast bastards?

They call the new managers names, curse them and even "pray" for more chaos & failure.

Get this right morons! One year on, the estate is being redesigned, reinforced & repaired. We have to bear the inconveniences typical of renovations before we fully get what we need. We need to pray that God should guide the new managers to lead us to the change for the best.

Two-three years of sustained efforts will only go a long way to get us out of the mess, but not completely. Let the wailers wail!

[No apologies to anyone offended with this piece. I live in the estate & I pay my dues!]
- AbduRahaman Lekki.







One Year In Office: NOI Poll gives Buhari 64% approval rating

Muhammadu Buhari in an Aljazeera Interview
Muhammadu Buhari in an Aljazeera Interview

Nigerians have given President Muhammadu Buhari 64 per cent average in its overall job performance rating after one year in office.
The latest polls results by NOIPolls Limited released on Monday revealed that President Buhari’s approval rating between June 2015 and May 2016 ranged from his highest of 80 per cent in October 2015 to the lowest of 42 per cent in April 2016.
NOIPolls regularly conducts periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria.
Compared to one year ago, the poll said 44 per cent of Nigerians now believe the country was currently moving in the right direction under President Buhari, against the opinion of 37 per cent of the sample population that said the country was moving in the wrong direction.
Only 19 per cent said the country was neither moving in the right nor wrong direction.
Further analysis of specific indices of the study showed that Nigerians rated as average at 55 and 47 per cent the president’s performance on corruption and national security respectively, while 14 per cent rated very poorly his performance on job creation and handling of the economy (21 per cent).
On the most important issue(s) the administration should focus its attention on over the remaining three years, the poll said Nigerians identified unemployment (21 per cent), power (17 per cent), and the economy (16 per cent) as top priority areas.
Details of the findings based on geo-political zones indicated that the North-West and North-East geopolitical zones with the highest proportion of respondents gave the president 81 per cent each, while the South-South and South-East zones accounted for the highest proportion of respondents who disapproved the president’s performance with 35 per cent each.

The report said the average overall approval of 64 per cent by respondents cuts across all age groups, with more male respondents (67 per cent) approving his performance than female (60 per cent).
On why they approved or disapproved the president’s job performance, the result showed that the open-ended answers, particularly in May 2016, cited the improved security (31 per cent), the fight against corruption (17 per cent) and the president’s good intentions (16 per cent), among other reasons.
On the other hand, those who disapproved the president’s performance cited the worsening economy (30 per cent), the unrealized expectation for change (29 per cent) and the increase in prices of goods and services (21 per cent), to mention a few.
On recommendations for the most important issues the administration should focus on in the remaining three years, 21 per cent of Nigerians said unemployment; 17 per cent rooted for power/electricity, while 16 per cent were in support of economy.
Other categories included food and agriculture (11 per cent), education (nine per cent), and security (seven per cent), among others.

 ONE YEAR of CHANGE......The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Way.

1959 Elections were imperfect, full of hate displays and regional restrictions of campaign but Awolowo went with his helicopters to the core north, distributed his handbills in the north. Some were reportedly fell on the roof of Emir palace in Kano.....This angered Sardauna and warned Awo to desist and go back to his SW base. But Awo said "I want to be the Prime Minister and not SW Premier, so I will campaign here!". Awo's men in the north were beaten up, arrested and thrown in jail.....The elections came and gone, Balewa won through the Alliance of Igbo dominated NCNC and the Northern Peoples Congress NPC. And therefore, NCNC and NPC formed the government and Action Group Awolowo became the Leader of Opposition.

Before the 1964 elections, NCNC and NPC had fallen apart due to lack of trust, unrivaled greed and acute tribalism....And both NCNC and NPC saw the SW dominated by the AG as their battleground or should I say their spoil to be shared. Whoever has it will surely form the next government!

And indeed, Yoruba dominated AG played to their hands due to misunderstanding between Awo and his Deputy Akintola. NPC grabbed Akintola, NCNC grabbed Awo but Awo wanted to stay alone so NCNC supported the Central Government to kill Awolowo politically and dialogue with whoever succeeded him. The battle began. Yoruba were killing themselves, houses were burnt down.....Sardauna even with the reluctance of Balewa ensured that Awolowo was killed politically and Akintola became the only reference point.

We must never forget to remember that Balewa actually loved Awolowo....Even Awolowo said so. The wish of Sardauna prevailed. However, that wish led to the total destruction of the first republic as bloodbath refused to seize in the SW.......Yoruba wanted their leader back from the prison. Also, the 1965 election was thoroughly rigged, it was the worst election after 1983 general election.

Then coup. The military  in their speech promised to remove the 10% slogan of corruption then but only succeeded in making it 90%. Then NCNC and NPC took their political battle to the military and Nigeria went to war. People died for nothing because by 1979, the NCNC/NPC had come back again to form another democratic government. And Nigeria was at peace.

SW will never cause a national trouble or go to physical war because it wants power.....NO! The region always strategise.

In 1984, just as it was in 1964, the alliance failed again between the duo. Then the military came. In 1993, free and fair election which the AG has always campaigned for became a reality and produced MKO Abiola a Yoruba man from Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria. Abiola won in Kano, a place where Awolowo had been prevented from campaigning in 1959. Nigeria has woken up. New thing had started.....It's like we want to start loving one another.

In the June 12 election,  remove the entire SW votes, Abiola  still won. Remove the SE or SS, Abiola still won. Remove the NW NE or NC, Abiola still won. Then this song by Sikiru Ayinde Barrister;

Hausa d'ibo e f'Abiola
Igbo d'ibo e f'Abiola
Yoruba d'ibo e f'Abiola
Kaka kan gbe fun Moshoodi
Ko ba wa se
Oyinbo Annulment lo w'aye!

That is, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba voted for MKO but instead of handing over to him, what we heard was annulment! LOL....Even that annulment was used for the first time in our politics. I remember I was asking for the meaning after IBB's speech.

Then SW and other well meaning Nigerians started protesting. No destruction of lives expect those killed by the junta. No destruction of properties. No insurgency No Vandals but All the Press, Civil Societies,  Students,  Workers Union etc joined in the fight.

NB: It was an intellectual struggle. A papa port was never bombed!

Then Abiola was killed in detention. Abacha too ate apple. And NCNC/NPC Alliance resurfaced but cunningly used OBJ as the President. It was never a successful Presidency. Nonsense!

PDP ruined Nigeria the more for another 16 years. It was a terrible period of wedlock between corruption, poverty, sorrow, tears and blood!

Before the death of Awolowo, precisely during his 77th birthday leccture in Ikenne, he carefully spoke about his death. He also predicted that one day the good hearted Nigerians will come together from the north and south to save Nigeria from the unending evil alliance of the NPC/NCNC. Two years ago, the prophecy came to partial fulfilment. Alliance, realliance, merger, acquisition etc brought up APC which unanimously produced Muhammadu Buhari, a man who eventually  took over a dead nation and must now revive her hurriedly.

Unfortunately, some goats still managed to pretend as sheep in the boat of APC.

APC had planned how it will rule the country but little can only be done if the NASS politics was not properly played. The first failure of Change and first successful attack on change by NPC/NCNC Coalition was the election of the NASS principal officers. It was a suicide mission. Buhari ought to have belonged to somebody if only to save Nigeria from destruction. That mistake turned the Jet of Change to a mere Suzuki Motorcycle. I am of the opinion that Buhari shouldn't have allowed Saraki to emerge. He should  have insisted on the Party's choice. The party was in the majority. That singular act killed the discipline and morale of change. And Change began another struggle after winning election. It has never recovered till date. Buhari was politically naive. He is still receiving punishment from the NASS till date. Prevention is  better than Cure.

Fortunately for him, his military acumen has no rival. Anywhere there's no politics, Buhari will excel maximally. That was why he was able diminish boko haram and combed the nooks and crannies of Sambisa. Anybody can criticise Buhari’s one year in Office but the people of the NE will never do such. Buhari has given them opportunity to sleep at nights again. Therefore, his success against Boko haram is unprecedented and cannot be denied. One of the Chibok girls had returned, a sign that hope is still there for others.

Buhari received tremendous help from the judiciary unlike the terrible NASS of evil. Buhari’s success on war against corruption is another area where only the devil's incarnate will deny. He has opened two gates......Arms Fund and NNPC. These two had affected majorly members of the PDP. I'm not surprised because no one would have died from poison if the person had not eaten poisonous food. By the time other gates are opened too, it may spread beyond PDP.......Mark my words! The rain that hasn't stopped, only God knows how many people it will beat.

Buhari has stopped the culture of waste. We are used to waste especially when it is government resources. Many daily millionaires are broke. Those who are not broke yet will soon be broken when the searchlight come on them.

Buhari has a lot to of  reversals to do because the direction we faced until  2015 was a destructive one. So, there will be a reversal before the speed. When you're reversing, you do it carefully.

Buhari promised 3 things during his campaign. 1.Security which he has done in the NE, unfortunately, we now have killer herdsmen and ND Avengers. The former is not new anyway but I have no doubt  that Buhari is capable of handling them. He is doing well on security  judging by the success recorded on war against boko haram. 2. Fight Corruption  which obviously he's doing religiously. Money is being returned,  MOUs are being signed by nations and we have secured the first conviction. Blocking of loopholes among others.

3. Economy. This is where the failure of the last one year actually resides. Free fall of Naira,  double digits inflation, loss of jobs, bad infrastructures, power problem, acute poverty and of course oil sector instability. All these are effects of the massive looting and robbery of our treasury, policy somersault by the OBJ and Jonathan governments, dollarisation of political corruption by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan especially in the last election. 90% of the corruption during these period  was done in dollars. Ekitigate, Arms Fund and NNPC. People were stealing dollars  from the CBN, selling  it to the BBC and nothing $1 was spent in infrastructures. Effect has come to live with us. No one plants cassava and harvest cocoyam even if the planter is different from harvester. It is still what the planter plants that the harvester harvests.

Corruption is also fighting back through Niger Delta Avengers while Terror is fighting back through Herdsmen!

Going forward, I expect the Peoples General to start meeting those that matters, apart from on corruption issues, in the ND. He must be seen with a lot of carrots first before using the stick if need be. He must visit SS more than visiting other nations because charity begins at home. He must fight the killer herdsmen the same way he's fighting boko haram. Killer herdsmen are terrorists. Whether they're Nigerians or not, tackle them, afterall they are in our territory. We need peace of mind in Nigeria.

I expect full deregulation. We don’t need to dress it. You can only kill oil sector corruption by deregulation.

He must be involved  in politics, else he will  destroy APC. He's a politician. Politics is not a disease, that's the vehicle that brought him to power when the military failed him. His negligence has given us Saraki who has now become a big shame to change and a stumbling block to this government.

I expect your government to be a target driven one. Hire and fire. Don't tolerate complacency.

Nothing short of full implementation of 2016 budget is the only thing that revive this economy. Infrastructures, that will provide jobs for people. Power that will reduce cost of business and dependence on petrol.

The next one year will surely be good for Nigeria. If we kill poverty and corruption, our unity will surely come because it is the masses not the elites that will unite this country.

Muhammadu Buhari........You will succeed, the spirit of our forefathers will help you to carry this load. God will strengthen you. You will not die in the process. You will sure be triumphant. Nigeria will enjoy prosperity. There will be light, jobs and other good things of live. Almighty Allah that stabilises Mecca for the Prophet will stabilise Nigeria for you.

Happy Democracy Day.....D ONE AYEKOOTOGreat Patriots

Happy Democracy Day

I was moved to tears to see PMP in that state of physical wellness, he looks terribly emancipated

As Alh KUNLE Sanni earlier posted, we must all be really worried

He needs our prayers for strengths

The corrupt system and people in and out of Government are fighting back and having their tolls on him

I salute those who sympathize with him and even suggest we give him time and a breathing space

I appeal to people like MA who are deservedly disappointed to please put it all in the right contexts and perspectives and realize that PMB is just human like us all

He is inundated with host of comments, opinions and recommendations daily that are capable of overwhelming any mortal

I don't think he is on analogue mode, although he may also not be digital yet, he is just plain GMB that we know with uncommon standard of characters that may sometimes be seen as "inflexibility"

I reecho and commend to us all the elderly wisdom of OmoLaw earlier posted this morning

"@eddyogunbor as you can see TMZ and I actually argued from two different angles to achieve congruence on economic transformation. We have arrived at the same answer because this platform is for patriotic Nigerians who truly love Nigeria. Reforms take time. If one begins a reform process from the south pole you may end up in the north pole in search for an answer. PMB has finally found the answer. The second quarter GDP will grow by .05%. All variables are in place. Crude oil at 1.5mbp for $50 per barrel is fine for us. In six months rice, wheat and grains harvest will be on the market and that is food sufficiency being tackled. Ministry of Science and Technology has woken up to the challenge of tomato pest the socalled "tuta absoluta". The journey has truly begun. Let's see progress going forward.
@lekki if you cast your mind back I always said that we should allow the federal budget to be in place before we tinker with other variables in the "change" process. Everything is now set for a takeoff. PMB will tackle insecurity and we are then ready. God bless Nigeria."

Let us take solace in the positive progress made so far

In the end, we as humans will always do better if we live in the hope of God's mercy than in the despair of his judgment

This is because His Mercy and love for us all is greater than His anger that brings His wrath and punishments

Once again, happy Democracy Day.
- Haj. Zak.

 On PMB Speech:

1. His priorities are spot on and next steps too. Just that speed is crucial now.

2. His remarks about structural change and changing the economic spine is seminal; after 30 years, its a long walk from Militarism to Democracy and from Socialsm to Capitalsim.

3. Having fully embraced the double helix of modern progress without abandoning the compassion of social justice we hope that speed in recruiting more competent hands make Public Service reforms gain traction will be applied.

4. The Social investment program is bold expirementation. We can only urge that it be bolder and more persistent!

5. PMB deserves defeaning applause for the war on corruption and insurgency and for the political flexibility to talk to Niger Delta communities.

5. We wish him the very best!
- FBN

Monday, 30 May 2016

Professor Who Plotted Armed Struggle Against Abacha Dying Of Cancer

He is a Professor of Anatomy, practised medicine and worked in some of the world’s best hospitals and universities. In 1995, Prof Adesegun Adebanjo, younger brother to the late Col. Victor Banjo, bought  arms worth millions of dollars with his entire life savings. He was shipping them to Nigeria with the hope of starting a war of liberation for the Yoruba and Itsekiri nations, when his dream was cut short by Beninoise gendarmes. Adebanjo now lives in extremely poor conditions. Worse still, he is battling with cancer without succour. He speaks with Adewale Adeoye in an exclusive interview. Prof. Adesegun Adebanjo
It is now 20 years since your arrest in Benin Republic over the June 12 annulled election. How do you see Nigeria’s democratic experience since your return?
Our major problem is rooted in our differences and the futile attempt to build a nation out of many nations. For a long time right from independence, the ethnic groups have always had different agenda. This is why we hardly can develop given the structure and superstructure of Nigeria. Since independence, the fundamental problems are the same. You need to see what is going on all over the world, while Nigeria continues to squelch in the mud with an illusion of development. Nothing fundamental has changed since 1999. For me, what I saw in 1962 on the streets in the South West convinced me that there is a section of the country that has the agenda to bring the whole country under its domination. Imagine, we had to fight 38 years of military rule and nothing fundamental has changed.
What propelled you to take such deadly risk of arms struggle during the June 12 crisis?
Before then, I had witnessed series of events during the operation wetie in the South West. I saw how soldiers of Northern origin shot and killed my people with glee. I was  living witness. I saw people shot and the soldiers were laughing. During the June 12 crisis, I was in the United States and a friend told me that they had a good intelligence report that the June 12 election result would be annulled.  I came back into the country. One day on the streets of Lagos, people came out in large numbers to protest. Suddenly, I again saw these same non-Yoruba soldiers open fire on innocent people. A lot of people fell and there was a stream of blood. The soldiers were excited. They were so happy. It happened around the Yaba area. I was a witness. Then I told myself that this had to stop. It was that day I said that the Yoruba people must fight back.
How did you organise the armed resistance?
Throughout that week, I was ill. It was sickening. I had depression due to the killings of the people that I saw on the streets of Lagos. I went back to the US. Then at a conference on poor nations that I attended in Philadelphia, there was a debate on whether Nigeria’s debt should be written off. I spoke and said that the debts should be written off. Then one adviser to President Bill Clinton stood up and said that Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world and that one person can write off the debt. He said the solution was for Nigerians to change their leaders. Then one Fulani man stood up and said his people were born to rule and that there was no point changing the leaders. He said handing over power to the South was like committing suicide. I got up again and said that we were going to resist the hegemony and fight. He thought it was a joke. I put aside my medical research. I started reading books about dictators, about wars, about guerilla warfare. I read about Adolf Hitler, about the revolutions across the world. In the past, I had personal contact with some of the dictators like Idi Amin. I knew him. I was a lecturer at Makerere University. I also knew Museveni who was my junior in the school. I started reading about different types of arms, how to procure and ship them. I read about training guerilla and the theory and practice of combat. I pushed away all the medical books. The question then was: Will the average Yoruba person fight? So, I came back to Nigeria and started scientific research on whether or not the Yoruba would fight. I was amazed to discover that many Yoruba people were ready to carry guns and fight for their liberation. I discovered that 90 percent of people I interviewed were ready to fight if armed. I discovered that even old women and people above 70 years were ready to fight if armed.
How did you raise the money?
It was my entire savings in the US, about 4million dollars. It’s really not about money, but about determination. Museveni started with only five people. He had only one pistol. All you need is a core group of committed people. So I invited some people in Nigeria, they were enthusiastic, but when the issue of arms came, slowly, slowly, they backed down. I decided to lie low for months, then started with another group. In planning, you train ten people; the ten will train another ten people. In guerilla army, you don’t train too many people. You train them on how to access and recruit more people. So, I spent my savings on buying the arms. I bought rifles, AK-47, which is a very good rifle. If you put it in water, it would stay there for years. I bought SKS; with that you could shoot from long distance of about 1000 meters, equipped with laser beam, telescope and silencer. I bought Uzi, the Israeli weapon you could keep under your Agbada. We had machines that could cut arms too and several medical utility. I was bringing the weapons, when I was arrested in Benin Republic.
What happened, how were you arrested?
At Cotonoue, we were asked to deposit 5,000 dollars. The other option was to off-load and bring them by trailers. One custom rating saw the stub of a gun in the carton and decided to pull it out. He sent it to the gendarmes. They pounced on the containers. I was not there then. I was in Nigeria. My comrades said I should not show up in Cotononue, that they would go there and take responsibility. That was an error. One mistake I made was to go there. I came forward, with my wife, Ngozi. They ransacked the containers throughout the night. We had bullets that could penetrate armoured tanks or steel. The Benin Republic soldiers saw the weapons, but they had no such weapons in their own armoury. They actually did not know how to use the weapons. I was later arrested and detained with my comrade wife.
How did they treat you in detention?
It was traumatic. We were given gari to eat for the over one year.
Did the Sani Abacha regime get to know about your plans and what did he do?
Immediately Abacha heard, the Beninoise authorities told us Abacha was scared. He sent Col Frank Omenka of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, (DMI). The first thing they did was to arrest members of my household, including my younger brother. We were informed that Abacha could no longer sleep. He sent emissaries to me, offering 100 million dollars to the government of the Republic of Benin, to bring me back to Nigeria. The military high command in Benin Republic held a meeting and said ‘Let this man go.” But the then President of Benin Republic, said “No, we won’t allow him to go.” A top military officer came to relay everything to us that Abacha had given them 100m dollars to bring me back into Nigeria and for me to give up arms struggle. I was about to be brought to Nigeria; it was President Bill Clinton who intervened and asked Benin Republic not to deport me to Nigeria on human right grounds. The top military officer then told us that Abacha was planning to invade Benin Republic. He said this prompted the US government to send two war ships into Benin Republic, though it was said that the Clinton administration was so worried over how someone could have taken so much arms out of the US without the knowledge of the FBI or the CIA. The US intelligence community felt it was an extraordinary venture. Clinton called President Neociphoe Soglo on phone, telling him not to send us back, that if he did, he would be sending us to death. I was then taken to Wida, in the North of Benin Republic. I was begged not to escape since “you are bringing money to our country.” Each time Benin was broke, they would ask Abacha for funds, which he gladly released.
How did you secure your release?
We were not registered as prisoners, because under the ECOWAS rule, what we had were goods in transit; they could only be accompanied to the border, not opened or seized. Benin Republic had no right to inspect the goods. So, the detention was illegal. We were taken to court later and charged for attempt to overthrow the government of Benin Republic, but they had no evidence. The judge, a Yoruba woman later released us. But the Beninoise President, Soglo called the judge and asked her to order our detention.  It was Abacha at work.  I said this was wrong. She said it was political. We stayed for several extra months. Mathew Kerekou had become the President and the country could not pay salaries of its soldiers and police. Using us as blackmail bait, they rushed to Abacha for money again. After the third adjournment, we were released. It was Moshood Fayemiwo, a Nigerian journalist, then Publisher of Razor Magazine and former Students’ Union President of the University of Lagos that assisted me in escaping to Ghana and later to Uganda and then to Zimbabwe. It was in Ghana that I met other exiles like Dr Bunmi Aborisade who now lectures at the Afe Babalola University. He was declared wanted by Abacha regime, and many others that took refuge in Ghana at the time. In Benin Republic, there were lots of traitors. One of them was an official of the United Nations who took money from Abacha and promised he would ensure our capture.
Did Abacha stop pursuing you after your escape to Ghana?
No. As soon as we escaped to Ghana, Abacha was after us. A meeting was facilitated between me and Abacha’s aides. The meeting was held in Ghana, where Abacha’s agents offered me 50million dollars to call off the arms struggle. They asked for my account number and that the money would be paid in days. The Abacha agent said everybody has a price and that I should take the 50million dollars. He said “I have permission to offer you even a billion naira if you can give up arms struggle.”
Your arms were seized. You had no money. Why didn’t you take the 50m dollars offer?
No. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, with my conscience. I just told him, no deal. At the negotiating table, the Fulani man said something I will never forget. He said “I’m Hausa-Fulani, for the first time I have met a Nigerian who cannot be bought.” I was contented. The game was not over. Abacha continued his witch-hunt. He sacked over 200 soldiers of Yoruba extraction. He took the Yoruba as his enemy. I had to flee to Uganda.
When did you return to Nigeria?
I came back in June 1999.
How have you been coping?
It’s been really tough. I’m now suffering from a type of leukemia. It is a kind of cancer that affects parts of the blood cells when it goes crazy. They displace some cells in the marrow.
What happened? How did you discover that you had cancer?
It happened some years ago when I travelled to the United States. It was through a routine check that the physician discovered that I had this kind of blood cancer.
How have you been treating the disease?
It requires a costly treatment like all cancers and I don’t have any money. The drugs are expensive. You need Ritusimah or Ritusin or Bendamusin. One vile is 10,000 dollars. I will need about six vile. It is a specially prepared drug which kills the cancer cells that contain CB 20. I need series of treatments over a period of six months. The experts have said that I need between six to eight million naira, going by the various drugs and the tests. There are so many cancers of the blood. This is just one variety of the blood cancer.
Does it mean that no help has been forthcoming from any one?
Well, I have not told many people. I thought I could raise money from friends but they are not forthcoming.
One would expect you to have had some savings, having worked for so many years as a Professor of Human Anatomy?
I worked at the Obafemi Awolowo University as a lecturer until the early 1990s. But I didn’t get my gratuity. I worked at a private university; I also was not paid my entitlements. I have worked all my years without entitlements. The one I got in the US was what I plunged into the liberation struggle.
You are the immediate younger brother of the late Col Victor Banjo. What do you think of his place in history?
There have been a lot of distortions about Nigerian history. For instance, Prof Grace Alele Williams, when the Federal Government gave her an award, was listed as the first Nigerian woman professor. This is not correct. My elder sister who is still alive, Prof Adetoun, is the first woman Professor in Nigeria and in Africa. My eldest brother, Dr Ademola Adebanjo, was the first General Manager of the old Electricity Commission of Nigeria, the precursor of National Electricity Power Authority, NEPA. He was the best student in the world among those who sat for the London GCE in 1948. My immediate elder brother, Col Victor Banjo, was a brilliant engineer and soldier. He was the first Nigerian military engineer. He was arrested and detained by Gen Aguiyi Ironsi. He found himself on the side of Odumegwu Ojukwu. I can tell you that Col Banjo was responsible for the design of all the locally made military weapons of Biafra. He did the design and construction: the bunker, the armoured tanks and all the ingenuity. He was an engineer and was responsible for converting tractors and other equipment into military equipment in Biafra. He was instrumental to the building of Ojukwu bunker as an engineer. Biafra has failed to acknowledge his skill and inventions and in fact consciously subverted it. He was one of the best graduating students of his set in England.
Why did he lead the campaign to invade his own fatherland?
The Yoruba had very few people in the then Nigerian fighting force. This is the first time I’m releasing this information. The first Nigerian Engineering Ordinance was to be established in Ibadan, Col Banjo was to be the head. The idea was to manufacture military weapons locally in Ibadan. During the war before he came to Ore, my brother had plans to defend and protect the Yoruba people, even as Northern soldiers were stationed across Yorubaland. Col Banjo made secret arrangement to ship arms into Yorubaland from one of the Nordic countries. The arms were actually on board. He was working on establishing the first military ordinance in Yorubaland. He had also started to train about 200 members of a core group that would defend Yorubaland under his command. I think at a point……..(breaks the conversation)”
When was the last time you saw Col Banjo before his unfortunate execution?
He was executed by Col Odumegwu Ojukwu. I saw him some months before he was detained. But we were communicating with him throughout the time of his detention until he was murdered by Biafra.
Did you ever find out where he was buried?
We did our own private investigation.  He was buried in Enugu. We know.
As it is now, what is your dream of a greater Nigeria?
For development to make any meaning in Nigeria, we must go back to the old regions. We need a loose federation. The emergence of any decent or honest man as president is not the issue. There is something fundamentally wrong with the foundation. We need to rebuild the foundation for any meaningful development to take place. The world has left us behind. For instance, scientists have just discovered the gene that is responsible for aging and they want to tamper with it to be able to increase the lifespan of man. Here, we are still talking about basic needs like light, water; what kind of development is that?  What we have are people looting the country dry and blind without sanctions. For me, I’m most concerned with the Yoruba people and their leaders. We must realise that freedom is not free. People who desire freedom must be able to make sacrifices. We cannot get the best without fighting for the best, without suffering, without sweat, without making sacrifices, if possible, death. If we want good life without any effort, it is like expecting to harvest without planting and tilling the soil. There is nothing more difficult to handle today, nor more daunting, nor more inevitable than to establish a new order in Nigeria, through restructuring for regional autonomy.

Rewane asks: How come militants returned after Buhari stepped up anti-graft war?


Bismarck Rewane, a renowned economist, is bothered by the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta region, wondering why the attacks on oil installations started after the current administration “stepped up its anti-graft war”.
Speaking on a special edition of Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, Rewane encouraged the government to focus more on intelligence gathering because the attacks could be a “massive conspiracy”.
“Who are the avengers and what are they avenging? The Niger Delta struggle was about self determination, resource control, about environmental pollution, all the way from Isaac Boro to Ken Saro Wiwa,” he said.
“The destruction of assets at this time happen to coincide with the step up on the anti-corruption war. Is there a link between the anti-graft war and the militancy? What is this all about? There’s a riddle that needs to be unravelled.”
Rewane said the attacks have been more disturbing because oil installations where Nigeria generates huge revenues have been the main targets.
He said the disruption in oil production is capable of affecting the economic programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
“The reality is that the disruption of oil production and its impact on our fiscal revenue and our foreign exchange resources, on our exchange rate, and our external reserves is profound. Really huge!” he said.
“Now, what is more disturbing is that oil assets that have been disrupted are those where Nigeria gets it highest revenue, so the impact on the fiscal revenue of Nigeria is beyond comprehension.
“One asks the question: ‘Who are these people, and what do they want?’ Is this a proxy war for the politically disgruntled? Because this is a very elaborate attack, they go deep into the water, and they are well sophisticated. These are not people who are talking about amnesty.
“So, we need to talk about intelligence. There could be a massive conspiracy. This is crunch time for Nigeria. The last thing we need now as a bullet in our head is a drop in production.”
Analysing the different reactions that trailed the increase in the pump price of petrol under the previous and the present administrations, Rewane said while former President Goodluck Jonathan had “trust and fiscal deficits”, his successor had “a trust surplus and a fiscal deficit”.
Rewane explained that labour unions could not organise a successful strike under Buhari because of “trust surplus”, but advised the president to work on “fiscal deficit”.
“The reason why this time the strike on petroleum failed was because the president has what is called a trust surplus, but has a fiscal deficit. The combination of both made sure that everything failed,” he said.
“What Jonathan had was a trust deficit and a fiscal deficit. What is happening now is that because of the trust surplus, we’ve been able to right that but the trust surplus is being used and you have to build on that and you have to reduce that fiscal deficit as you go along, so there’s an equilibrium there.”
Follow us on twitter @thecableng

I lost my wife, son, money to pro-democracy struggle — Prof. Banjo


Banjo
Professor Adesegun Banjo, a medical doctor and scientist, who launched an armed struggle against the military junta of General Sani Abacha tells KAYODE FALADE about his foray into guerrilla warfare, his incarceration at the Republic of Benin prisons and his health challenges. He refused to mention a lot of names in the interview
How did you get involved in the armed struggle for Nigeria’s democracy?
I am an academician. But a lot of people make mistakes; they think academicians are people who just stay in their laboratories. I am a scientist, we feel everything they do and we are conscious of what is going on in our country.
As young chaps in the university, we all had ambition. Mine was to be a medical doctor and scientist. But I was politically conscious because I attended Ibadan Grammar School which was in the seat of (Chief Obafemi) Awolowo’s government. Thus, we saw everything and were aware of everything. I was aware of the arrest of about 31 members of the Action Group.  I was aware of the “Operation wetie” and all the fight with the Yoruba. It was at that time that I thought that one day, we might have to fight the northerners who the British government handed power to. I believe in one Nigeria because I realise that the greater a nation is, the more powerful. Small nations have no power; they have to align themselves with bigger countries to be powerful. And that is why in those days, the Western powers decided that Africa must not be developed. In the 60’s when African nations were clamouring for independence, the West made a declaration that Asia and African nations would remain raw-material producing countries and receptors of finished products. But China developed. India, Pakistan, Malaysia have all developed. So only Africa has failed to develop. Nigeria is the key to African development. If Nigeria develops, Africa develops.
 I was aware of all these. I also attended Oxford University where I learnt about British manoeuvring, their foreign policies towards Africa. I was the first Nigerian to get in the Elite Class of 14 in medical school.
Then came June 12, 1993 when the freest and fairest election held in Nigeria was won by Chif MKO Abiola . The election was later annulled. But before this, my friends in America had told me that Abiola would not be allowed to be the president. I asked why and they explained that though he won the election, the Hausa Fulani rule would continue. I told them that things had changed but they insisted that the election would be annulled. And true to what they said, the election was annulled. And there was no good reason given. It was only that the neo-colonialists never wanted a Westerner to be at the helms of affair. They wanted a continuation of the Hausa Fulani feudal rule which is similar to neo-colonialism.  Feudalism does not want the people to develop and neo-colonialism does not want countries to develop.
And in 1993, people were agitating and there were protests as people rose up in the South. Then one day, I was Ojuelegba in Lagos, people were protesting and the people were stoning the soldiers. Suddenly, the soldiers opened fire on the protesters and people fell. The soldiers stood afar giggling and pointing at the people who were on the ground bleeding dying and dead. Of course, I too went flat on the ground because that was the way to avoid gunshots.
And I thought in my mind, these people were shooting human beings and were laughing as if they were shooting games. I was terribly disturbed by that incident. Then I made a determination to fight. I realised that talking would not remove Abacha; we had to fight him with weapons. I asked myself the question, ‘will all these soldiers still continue to laugh if they were faced with weapons? And will they still continue to fight?’ From time immemorial, when people are faced with death, they ask themselves, what am I dying for?
I told myself that 90 per cent of these people shooting unarmed people down will run if faced by an armed group with equal or superior weapons. I doubt they did it because is Abacha worth dying for?
After this, I returned to the States where I was teaching and doing research. Around the early part of 1994, at a conference about writing-off the loans of poor countries, every one was leading for theirs to be written off, a certain man who turned out to be an adviser to President Bill Clinton on economy stood up and said if all loans were to be forgiven, Nigeria’s should not because Nigeria’s money was outside and only one Nigerian could pay off their country’s debt. As this was going on, I argued that still it was a debt that could be written off. But the man said that Nigeria was so rich and that her problem was her ruling class which should be changed.  And that if she did that, she might not even have to owe again because she was a very rich country. Then one fellow, a northerner, stood up and said, ‘We have ruled Nigeria since independence when the British that saw the rulership in us handed over to us. And we will continue to rule Nigeria because we are born to rule and to hand over to the South is to commit suicide.’ He said it with glee. I sat there boiling.
I got home that night and could not sleep. I then reviewed the history of Nigeria from 1914 till that time.
There and then, I decided that something drastic must be done. I decided that I was going to organise an armed struggle.
What did you do after?
I abandoned my research. I started buying and reading books about dictators, revolution and guerrilla warfare. I read so many books about arms struggle; various types of armed struggle: urban, guerrilla, and jungle; about Hitler and Genaral Franco. I knew Idi Amin personally. I also read about South American countries that were poor as ours. I studied all them and I noticed something common in all of them.
What is that?
It is the insatiable lust for power. One of the members of our organisation worked in the Aso Rock. He sat at every meeting and he told us a lot of things which could not be relayed. I read about the human psychology of arm struggle and  how to sell arm struggle. I also read about weapons and came to the conclusion that the best weapon for guerrilla warfare is the Russian AK47 assault rifle. You can drop it in a mud, pick it up and it will still fire. It is very easy to dismantle and reassemble. You don’t need to clean it as often as you must clean others. Another good gun is the Israeli uzi. These were the ones I chose and of course the berretta as handgun.
Also, I raised some money because I knew we needed money.
How much did you raise?
I raised about $60m. Some of it was mine. In fact, a major part of it was my life savings. Let’s look at it this way. To arm one guerrilla soldier adequately, one needs at least $10,000. He must have a gun, a pistol, bullet proof vest, bushdators, steel reinforced boots, a small camp pack. And since you are not going to buy these things officially, you buy in the black market which would be more expensive. I planned an army of 3,000 which is like $30m. Then, logistics, medicines, anti-snake venom serum, dressing, transport, communication equipment at least within the range of 10 miles and so on.
How did you raise this fund? Did you have external collaborators, and so on?
I never raised a kobo from Nigeria. I won’t be able to tell you in details how I raised the money. But some of it was my own money.
You can see the enormous money one had to spend. And I needed an army of about 3,000 people. I could not do it alone so, I had to inform some people. They were Yoruba. I needed a core group which could be only about 50 to 100 people. When you look at it, Fidel Catro started with 90 people but they were betrayed. Only seven of them escaped. They included Fidel, his brother who is now ruling, Raul; Che Guevara and a few others. In Uganda, it was started by five people, three of them died leaving Musseveni and another person. So you don’t need a high number of people to start. I planned to only get 50 highly trained and bring them to Nigeria to train others. We were fighting for the people so we didn’t have to kill them; we only needed to fight and kill those working for Abacha. We knew we had to fight the army but in a guerrilla warfare in that type of sceme, you hit and run away.
What now happened?
I had got 25 people. Surprisingly, the people I had recruited dropped out one after the other remaining three of us: a doctor friend of mine, my wife and I. It was the three of us that underwent the intense training by ex-American GIs I hired at a training camp I rented.
How old were you then?
I think I was 55 years old then.
Where did you recruit your people from?
We were all Yoruba living in the US. We were all discussing Abacha together and contemplating the arm struggle.
The fact that I had a family history helped me to raise funds. Many of them knew my late brother, the late Col. Victor Banjo. They were quizzical about the intention of some Nigerians who had come to raise money for that purpose and spent it on something else. In fact, I knew one who after raising funds to raise an arm struggle used the money to buy a house and a Rolls-Royce.
If this had not been so, I would have raised more.
How many people did you eventually raise?
I planned to raise funds to arm 3,000 but at the end of the day, the money I raised was able to arm more than that number. In fact, there was an organisation that eventually got through to me. After talks with them, they were able to supply arms that could arm half a million people.
How did you get to know this organisation?
I was in my lab one day when the phone rang and on picking up the receiver, a voice asked if I was Dr. Banjo. I answered in the affirmative. He now said, ‘we know what you are doing.’ I quickly dropped the receiver. He called back and assured me of the confidentiality of our discussion. He said if I was interested, I should come to a train station dressed in red. Exactly midday on the appointed day, I was there. A man got in touch with me and after some manuouvering, took me to a car which took me to their office. But I had a hood over my head.
At their office, I was informed that they were an oil company with interests in many other things. To cut a long story, short after offering to help my course, i asked what they wanted. Their simple answer was oil. They said if I eventually won, I would sell Nigerian oil to them. I told them that it was sold in an open market. But they said, no, that our oil was sold to some particular countries and people. It was the first time I got to know that oil was not just sold anyhow. I agreed.
What were your terms?
They introduced someone to me and asked me to draw a list. I thought I was having fun with them so I drew a list which contained all sorts of things like tanks, fighter helicopters, 5000 AKs or similar categories, 2,000 berretta, 3,000 uzis, armoured vehicles, Surface to Air Missiles and all sorts.  I was just having fun. But do you know they got them?
How did you take delivery?
No, I did not take delivery. But the ship got to the high seas in Lagos. I was taken to the ship in a motor boat. And I was shocked. Twenty tanks, five helicopter gunboats and when I saw the racks of guns I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Was that the shipment that was seized?
No, it was not. It was the one I routed through Cotonou, Republic of Benin that was seized. Thirty people came with the ship to train us. I was glad and a little scared. But I was arrested shortly after.
What became of the shipment?
When I was arrested, two of them came to the Cotonou prison to see me. I told them to wait for two weeks that I would soon be out.
However, when I realised that I was not going to be released as I thought, I sent word to Yoruba leaders to send some of our retired generals to come and see me in prison. I wanted to introduce them to these people so that they could take delivery of the consignment. Nobody came. After six weeks, they had to leave.
How were you captured?
I should not have come forward. I should have sent somebody else. My principle is that what I can’t do, I can’t send others.
What were the things inside the shipment that was seized?
A lot of things were there. They even included a bullet manufacturing machine. It could produce bullets for four types of guns: AK47, SKS, berretta pistol 9mm and double or single barrel shot guns. I also bought raw materials that could produce up to 500,000 bullets and 5,000 boxes of bullets, jungle camouflage, bulletproof vests, and ballistic helmets apart from guns.
How were you discovered?
It was the shipping company that sort of slowed us down. I routed it through Cotonou sea port.
Ordinarily they were not supposed to open the trailer that carried these arms, I paid N1.5m as bribe. On the day of the delivery, the agent of the sgipping company, a Denmark firm, said Nigerians didn’t usually return containers and that I should pay $5,000 for the container since it was a special one. I would have paid him but for the short time notice. So, I decided to get a trailer and offload the consignment into it. We got some dock workers and we started offloading. Unfortunately, unknown to us, one of the persons hired to join us was a security agent for the Republic of Benin. While offloading, he found the stock of a gun and he alerted the port’s security. It was not the gun itself but the stock. I bought some stock so that it could be folded and put under agbada. I didn’t know how he passed across the information to the Beninese Ports Authority. Suddenly, they pounced on us and seized the container. But I left when they seized the container. I should not have come back. I should have asked somebody else to come back.
Why did you come back?
I allowed myself to be persuaded that if they saw me, the commander would release the consignment. And he wanted to but for their president who insisted that I must not be released. We were not taken into custody until later in the evening. The thing happened in the morning. And I went away after. I told them I was coming back. That was my greatest undoing. Being a guerrilla leader entails a lot of responsibilities and if anything happens to him, that is the end of the struggle. That was the mistake I made. I allowed myself to be captured. But when they were offloading in the night, they found so many other things.
They had an executive meeting which before he left (head of the ports) to attend, he was hopeful for our release. But when he came back, he was looking gloomy. He said every other person voted that we should be released but President Sogolo (President of the Republic of Benin) insisted that we should be detained.
Why did he (Sogolo) do that?
We did not know. It was later that we learnt that President Sogolo allegedly received $100m from Abacha. Our existence was initially denied for 10 days. Then, we were taken to prison. And the torture started.
Were you tortured?
You think they didn’t torture us? I was tortured. I was beaten mercilessly and all sorts of unprintable things were done to us. Finally, they took me to Wida to kill me. Come and look at this. (He showed the correspondent a detailed diagram of the Wida Prisons and where he was kept).
What is the significance of the cell?
The cell was specially built for me. There was only a wall between my room and the huge prison septic tank. Faeces, fluid, maggots seeped through and covered everywhere. They pushed me there. Immediately, they pushed me in that night, I was stepping on maggots – millions of them. What a significant and ingenious way to kill a person!  There was no window, only some small slates. The gas that came in displaced the oxygen; hence there was no oxygen but putrid gas in the cell.
They pushed me into the place at night and within minutes I was losing consciousness. I was breathing but I realised that there was no air and that I was only breathing in putrefying gases. I quickly went to the slits, I pushed in my nose and took some six puffs and my head cleared. Then I knew I would live. They pushed me there every night for four and a half months. And for those four and a half months, I never slept in the night.
When the guards came back the following morning of my first night there, as they opened the door one of the three pulled his gun and wanted to shoot me. I quickly cried out that I was not a ghost. They could not believe that I could still be alive.
Why?
He told his fellows that, ‘this man was supposed to die overnight.’ They knew they had brought me there to die. And it was true, if I had not discovered those slits, I would have died. It was a gas chamber. I would have suffocated.
They would push me there at 7pm and open the door at 7am every day for four and a half months.
Did you suffer any health issue while you were there?
Yes, I did. I had a stroke when I was there. I was rightist (right handed). Now, I write with my left hand. I am one of those lucky few who have bilateral cerebral dominance ; that both hemispheres of my brain can perform. If one goes, the other can take up its functions. I was unable to speak at first but now I can speak. My right hand shakes.
For how long were you detained?
We were detained for 14 months.
Were you tried?
Yes, we were tried thrice and freed but we were not released. But before our eventual released, we tried a number of escapes.
How many times did you try to escape?
I planned about 12 escapes.
Within those 14 months?
Yes. One was almost successful until we were betrayed at the last moment.  I had a Swiss Army knife that had 28 functions, two of which was to cut steel and wood. I cut the iron in our cell, cut the wood and got to the wall that had broken glasses over it. We had to use our mattress and cardboard to cover the broken bottles on the 10-feet wall.  My wife was on the wall and as I was passing our stuffs to her, some people raised the alarm outside and we had to quickly jump back. We heard shootings. They eventually discovered that it was us as our mattress was still on top of the fence.
How many of you were offloading and how many of you were arrested?
We were many but I claimed responsibility. So they asked the others to go.
How come your wife was with you in prison?
She was also asked to go but she refused. She wrote a statement and implicated herself. She didn’t want me to be there alone.
Were you sharing the same room?
No. She was in the female section and I in the male. Did you know that in the prison, our meal was a cup of garri per day? Yes, only garri with nothing else. We would soak it in the morning, take some and finish the rest in the evening. That was what we took for 14 months.
Was that what they were giving other prisoners?
Yes, but they allowed their relatives to bring them food. As we had nobody to bring us food, we were stuck with the garri.
Do you have children?
Yes, I have children
How old were they then and where were they?
I have a daughter who was already a medical doctor then. My first son died in 1994.
Was it during the struggle?
Yes.
Was he also involved in the arm struggle?
Yes. He died of bullet wounds during training. It was a shooting accident. A gun went off in his hands and he was mortally wounded.
How many of you were trained?
We had a system of training. The system adopted was this. We trained the first 10. Each of those 10 would also train 10 other people each. As so it would go on. In that way, if there was a betrayal, you could only betray the 10 people you trained with.
Did your son train with you?
Yes, he trained with us.
How did your wife take it?
The person I call my wife now is not my first wife. She is my second wife. She became my wife later. She was a member of my team. It was in prison that we signed ourselves as husband and wife.  My first wife was the mother of the boy that died. She did not train with us because she never believed in the struggle.
Where is she now?
She is dead. She died when Abacha was hunting them. They had to run. I couldn’t see them. I had sent all of them abroad. She died in America.
But my son died here in Nigeria. I was the one training him and others because I had been highly trained.
How would you quantify your loss to the struggle?
I lost everything. I lost my money. I lost my health. I lost all.
When were you released eventually?
I was released after 14 months.
Copyright PUNCH.

Sunday, 29 May 2016

BREAKING! FULL TEXT: PRESIDENT BUHARI’S DEMOCRACY SPEECH

MY COMPATRIOTS,
IT IS ONE YEAR TODAY SINCE OUR ADMINISTRATION CAME INTO OFFICE. IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF TRIUMPH, CONSOLIDATION, PAINS AND ACHIEVEMENTS. BY AGE, INSTINCT AND EXPERIENCE, MY PREFERENCE IS TO LOOK FORWARD, TO PREPARE FOR THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD AND REDEDICATE THE ADMINISTRATION TO THE TASK OF FIXING NIGERIA. BUT I BELIEVE WE CAN ALSO LEARN FROM THE OBSTACLES WE HAVE OVERCOME AND THE PROGRESS WE MADE THUS FAR, TO HELP STRENGTHEN THE PLANS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE TO PUT NIGERIA BACK ON THE PATH OF PROGRESS.
WE AFFIRM OUR BELIEF IN DEMOCRACY AS THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT THAT BEST ASSURES THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION AND ACTUAL BENEFIT OF THE PEOPLE. DESPITE THE MANY YEARS OF HARDSHIP AND DISAPPOINTMENT THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION HAVE PROVED INHERENTLY GOOD, INDUSTRIOUS TOLERANT, PATIENT AND GENEROUS.
THE PAST YEARS HAVE WITNESSED HUGE FLOWS OF OIL REVENUES. FROM 2010 AVERAGE OIL PRICES WERE $100 PER BARREL. BUT ECONOMIC AND SECURITY CONDITIONS WERE DETERIORATING. WE CAMPAIGNED AND WON THE ELECTION ON THE PLATFORM OF RESTORING SECURITY, TACKLING CORRUPTION AND RESTRUCTURING THE ECONOMY. ON OUR ARRIVAL, THE OIL PRICE HAD COLLAPSED TO AS LOW AS $30 PER BARREL AND WE FOUND NOTHING HAD BEEN KEPT FOR THE RAINY DAY. OIL PRICES HAVE BEEN DECLINING SINCE 2014 BUT DUE TO THE NEGLECT OF THE PAST, THE COUNTRY WAS NOT EQUIPPED TO HALT THE ECONOMY FROM DECLINING.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE, NOTABLY RAIL, POWER, ROADS WERE IN A DECREPIT STATE. ALL THE FOUR REFINERIES WERE IN A STATE OF DISREPAIR, THE PIPELINES AND DEPOTS NEGLECTED.
HUGE DEBTS OWED TO CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS HAD ACCUMULATED. TWENTY-SEVEN STATES COULD NOT PAY SALARIES FOR MONTHS. IN THE NORTH-EAST, BOKO HARAM HAD CAPTURED 14 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, DRIVEN THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES OUT, HOISTED THEIR FLAGS. ELSEWHERE, INSECURITY WAS PALPABLE; CORRUPTION AND IMPUNITY WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY. IN SHORT, WE INHERITED A STATE NEAR COLLAPSE.
ON THE ECONOMIC FRONT, ALL OIL DEPENDENT COUNTRIES, NIGERIA INCLUDED, HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING SINCE THE DROP IN PRICES. MANY OIL RICH STATES HAVE HAD TO TAKE TOUGH DECISIONS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE ARE DOING. THE WORLD, NIGERIA INCLUDED HAS BEEN DEALING WITH THE EFFECTS OF THREE SIGNIFICANT AND SIMULTANEOUS GLOBAL SHOCKS STARTING IN 2014:
A 70% DROP IN OIL PRICES.
GLOBAL GROWTH SLOWDOWN.
NORMALIZATION OF MONETARY POLICY BY THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL RESERVE.
OUR PROBLEMS AS A GOVERNMENT ARE LIKE THAT OF A FARMER WHO IN A GOOD SEASON HARVESTS TEN BAGS OF PRODUCE. THE PROCEEDS ENABLE HIM TO GET BY FOR REST OF THE YEAR. HOWEVER, THIS YEAR HE COULD ONLY MANAGE 3 BAGS FROM HIS FARM. HE MUST NOW THINK OF OTHER WAYS TO MAKE ENDS MEET.
FROM DAY ONE, WE PURPOSELY SET OUT TO CORRECT OUR CONDITION, TO CHANGE NIGERIA. WE REINFORCED AND GALVANIZED OUR ARMED FORCES WITH NEW LEADERSHIP AND RESOURCES. WE MARSHALED OUR NEIGHBOURS IN A JOINT TASK FORCE TO TACKLE AND DEFEAT BOKO HARAM. BY THE END OF DECEMBER 2015, ALL BUT POCKETS AND REMNANTS HAD BEEN ROUTED BY OUR GALLANT ARMED FORCES. OUR IMMEDIATE FOCUS IS FOR A GRADUAL AND SAFE RETURN OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN SAFETY AND DIGNITY AND FOR THE RESUMPTION OF NORMALCY IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THESE AREAS.
EFCC WAS GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO PURSUE CORRUPT OFFICIALS AND THE JUDICIARY WAS ALERTED ON WHAT NIGERIANS EXPECT OF THEM IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION. ON THE ECONOMY, IN PARTICULAR FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND FUEL SHORTAGES, OUR PLAN IS TO SAVE FOREIGN EXCHANGE BY FAST TRACKING REPAIR OF THE REFINERIES AND PRODUCING MOST OF OUR FUEL REQUIREMENTS AT HOME. AND BY GROWING MORE FOOD IN NIGERIA, MAINLY RICE, WHEAT AND SUGAR WE WILL SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND DRASTICALLY REDUCE OUR FOOD IMPORT BILL.
WE RESOLVED TO KEEP THE NAIRA STEADY, AS IN THE PAST, DEVALUATION HAD DONE DREADFUL HARM TO THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY. FURTHERMORE, I SUPPORT THE MONETARY AUTHORITY’S DECISION TO ENSURE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN MONETARY POLICY AND FISCAL POLICY. WE SHALL KEEP A CLOSE LOOK ON HOW THE RECENT MEASURES AFFECT THE NAIRA AND THE ECONOMY. BUT WE CANNOT GET AWAY FROM THE FACT THAT A STRONG CURRENCY IS PREDICATED ON A STRONG ECONOMY. AND A STRONG ECONOMY PRE-SUPPOSES AN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVE BASE AND A STEADY EXPORT MARKET. THE MEASURES WE MUST TAKE, MAY LEAD TO HARDSHIPS. THE PROBLEMS NIGERIANS HAVE FACED OVER THE LAST YEAR HAVE BEEN MANY AND VARIED. BUT THE REAL CHALLENGE FOR THIS GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN RECONSTRUCTING THE SPINE OF THE NIGERIAN STATE. THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS HAVE BEEN SPENT COLLABORATING WITH ALL ARMS OF GOVERNMENT TOREVIVE OUR INSTITUTIONS SO THAT THEY ARE MORE EFFICIENT AND FIT FOR PURPOSE:
THAT MEANS A BUREAUCRACY BETTER ABLE TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER POLICY
THAT MEANS AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY, ABOVE SUSPICION AND ABLE TO DEFEND CITIZEN’S RIGHTS AND DISPENSE JUSTICE EQUITABLY.
THAT MEANS A LEGISLATURE THAT ACTUALLY LEGISLATES EFFECTIVELY AND
ABOVE ALL; THAT MEANS POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICIANS COMMITTED TO SERVING THE NIGERIAN PEOPLE RATHER THAN THEMSELVES.
THESE ARE THE PILLARS OF THE STATE ON WHICH DEMOCRACY CAN TAKE ROOT AND THRIVE. BUT ONLY IF THEY ARE STRONG AND INCORRUPTIBLE. ACCORDINGLY, WE ARE WORKING VERY HARD TO INTRODUCE SOME VITAL STRUCTURAL REFORMS IN THE WAY WE CONDUCT GOVERNMENT BUSINESS AND LAY A SOLID FOUNDATION ON WHICH WE CAN BUILD ENDURING CHANGE.
AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP HAS BEEN TO GET OUR HOUSEKEEPING RIGHT. SO WE HAVE REDUCED THE EXTRAVAGANT SPENDING OF THE PAST. WE STARTED BOLDLY WITH THE TREASURY SINGLE ACCOUNT, STOPPING THE LEAKAGES IN PUBLIC EXPENDITURE.
WE THEN IDENTIFIED FORTY-THREE THOUSAND GHOST WORKERS THROUGH THE INTEGRATED PAYROLL AND PERSONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM. THAT REPRESENTS PAY PACKETS TOTALING N4.2 BILLION STOLEN EVERY MONTH. IN ADDITION, WE WILL SAVE TWENTY-THREE BILLION PER ANNUM FROM OFFICIAL TRAVELLING AND SITTING ALLOWANCES ALONE.
FURTHERMORE, THE EFFICIENCY UNIT WILL CUT COSTS AND ELIMINATE DUPLICATIONS IN MINISTRIES AND DEPARTMENTS. EVERY LITTLE SAVING HELPS. THE REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF MINISTRIES AND WORK ON RESTRUCTURING AND RATIONALIZATION OF THE MDAS IS WELL UNDERWAY. WHEN THIS WORK IS COMPLETE WE WILL HAVE A LEANER, MORE EFFICIENT PUBLIC SERVICE THAT IS FIT FOR THE PURPOSE OF CHANGING NIGERIA FOR THE GOOD AND FOR GOOD.
AS WELL AS MAKING SAVINGS, WE HAVE CHANGED THE WAY PUBLIC MONEY IS SPENT. IN ALL MY YEARS AS A PUBLIC SERVANT, I HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS THE PRACTICE OF PADDING BUDGETS. I AM GLAD TO TELL YOU NOW WE NOT ONLY HAVE A BUDGET, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE HAVE A BUDGET PROCESS THAT IS MORE TRANSPARENT, MORE INCLUSIVE AND MORE CLOSELY TIED TO OUR DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES THAN IN THE RECENT PAST. 30% OF THE EXPENDITURE IN THIS BUDGET IS DEVOTED TO CAPITAL ITEMS. FURTHERMORE, WE ARE PROJECTING NON-OIL REVENUES TO SURPASS PROCEEDS FROM OIL. SOME CRITICS HAVE DESCRIBED THE BUDGET EXERCISE AS CLUMSY. PERHAPS. BUT IT WAS AN EXAMPLE OF CONSENSUS BUILDING, WHICH IS INTEGRAL TO DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. IN THE END WE RESOLVED OUR DIFFERENCES.
WE HAVE, THEREFORE, DELIVERED SIGNIFICANT MILESTONES ON SECURITY, CORRUPTION AND THE ECONOMY. IN RESPECT OF THE ECONOMY, I WOULD LIKE TO DIRECTLY ADDRESS YOU ON THE VERY PAINFUL BUT INEVITABLE DECISIONS WE HAD TO MAKE IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS SPECIFICALLY ON THE PUMP PRICE OF FUEL AND THE MORE FLEXIBLE EXCHANGE RATE POLICY ANNOUNCED BY THE CENTRAL BANK. IT IS EVEN MORE PAINFUL FOR ME THAT A MAJOR PRODUCER OF CRUDE OIL WITH FOUR REFINERIES THAT ONCE EXPORTED REFINED PRODUCTS IS TODAY HAVING TO IMPORT ALL OF ITS DOMESTIC NEEDS. THIS IS WHAT CORRUPTION AND MISMANAGEMENT HAS DONE TO US AND THAT IS WHY WE MUST FIGHT THESE ILLS.
AS PART OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW ECONOMY WE HAVE HAD TO REFORM HOW FUEL PRICES HAD TRADITIONALLY BEEN FIXED. THIS STEP WAS TAKEN ONLY AFTER PROTRACTED CONSIDERATION OF ITS PROS AND CONS. AFTER COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION MY ADVISERS AND I CONCLUDED THAT THE MECHANISM WAS UNSUSTAINABLE.
WE ARE ALSO ENGAGED IN MAKING RECOVERIES OF STOLEN ASSETS SOME OF WHICH ARE IN DIFFERENT JURISDICTIONS. THE PROCESSES OF RECOVERY CAN BE TEDIOUS AND TIME CONSUMING, BUT TODAY I CAN CONFIRM THAT THUS FAR: SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ASSETS HAVE BEEN RECOVERED. A CONSIDERABLE PORTION OF THESE ARE AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF RECOVERY. FULL DETAILS OF THE STATUS AND CATEGORIES OF THE ASSETS WILL NOW BE PUBLISHED BY THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND UPDATED PERIODICALLY. WHEN FORFEITURE FORMALITIES ARE COMPLETED THESE MONIES WILL BE CREDITED TO THE TREASURY AND BE OPENLY AND TRANSPARENTLY USED IN FUNDING DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS AND THE PUBLIC WILL BE INFORMED.
ON THE NIGER DELTA, WE ARE COMMITTED TO IMPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME REPORT AND ARE ADVANCING CLEAN-UP OPERATIONS. I BELIEVE THE WAY FORWARD IS TO TAKE A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE DELTA COMMUNITIES. RE-ENGINEERING THE AMNESTY PROGRAMMES IS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS. THE RECENT SPATE OF ATTACKS BY MILITANTS DISRUPTING OIL AND POWER INSTALLATIONS WILL NOT DISTRACT US FROM ENGAGING LEADERS IN THE REGION IN ADDRESSING NIGER DELTA PROBLEMS. IF THE MILITANTS AND VANDALS ARE TESTING OUR RESOLVE, THEY ARE MUCH MISTAKEN. WE SHALL APPREHEND THE PERPETRATORS AND THEIR SPONSORS AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE.
THE POLICY MEASURES AND ACTIONS TAKEN SO FAR ARE NOT TO BE SEEN AS SOME EXPERIMENT IN GOVERNANCE. WE ARE FULLY AWARE THAT THOSE VESTED INTERESTS WHO HAVE HELD NIGERIA BACK FOR SO LONG WILL NOT GIVE UP WITHOUT A FIGHT. THEY WILL SOW DIVISIONS, SPONSOR VILE PRESS CRITICISMS AT HOME AND ABROAD, INCITE THE PUBLIC IN AN EFFORT TO CREATE CHAOS RATHER THAN RELINQUISH THE VICE-LIKE GRIP THEY HAVE HELD ON NIGERIA.
THE ECONOMIC MISFORTUNE WE ARE EXPERIENCING IN THE SHAPE OF VERY LOW OIL PRICES HAS PROVIDED US WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESTRUCTURE OUR ECONOMY AND DIVERSIFY. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF PROMOTING AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCKS, EXPLOITING OUR SOLID MINERAL RESOURCES AND EXPANDING OUR INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING BASE. THAT WAY, WE WILL IMPORT LESS AND MAKE THE SOCIAL INVESTMENTS NECESSARY TO ALLOW US TO PRODUCE A LARGE AND SKILLED WORKFORCE.
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA WILL OFFER MORE FISCAL INCENTIVES FOR BUSINESS THAT PROVE CAPABLE OF MANUFACTURING PRODUCTS THAT ARE INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE. WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO REFORMING THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, FOR INVESTORS BY IMPROVING THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS IN NIGERIA.
MEANWHILE, THE FIRST STEPS ALONG THE PATH OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN RICE, WHEAT AND SUGAR – BIG USERS OF OUR SCARCE FOREIGN EXCHANGE – HAVE BEEN TAKEN. THE LABOUR INTENSIVE FARMING ENTERPRISE (LIFE), WILL BOOST THE ECONOMY AND ENSURE INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN LONG NEGLECTED COMMUNITIES. SPECIAL INTERVENTION FUNDS THROUGH THE BANK OF AGRICULTURE WILL PROVIDE TARGETED SUPPORT. CONCERNS REMAIN ABOUT RISING COST OF FOODS SUCH AS MAIZE, RICE, MILLET, BEANS AND GARI. FARMERS TELL ME THAT THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE COST OF FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDES AND THE ABSENCE OF EXTENSION SERVICES. THE FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE ON THE SAME PAGE IN TACKLING THESE HURDLES IN OUR EFFORTS AT INCREASED FOOD PRODUCTION AND ULTIMATELY FOOD SECURITY.
I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION FOR THE INCREASING ROLE THAT OUR WOMEN ARE PLAYING IN REVITALIZING THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR. MODERN FARMING IS STILL HARD AND HEAVY WORK AND I SALUTE OUR NIGERIAN WOMEN IN SHARING THIS BURDEN. IN THIS RESPECT I AM VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE GOVERNMENT WILL SHORTLY BE LAUNCHING THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT FUND, WHICH I HAVE APPROVED TO PROVIDE N1.6 BILLION IN MICRO-FINANCE LOANS TO WOMEN ACROSS THE NATION TO ASSIST IN REHABILITATING THE ECONOMIES OF RURAL COMMUNITIES, PARTICULARLY THOSE IMPACTED BY THE INSURGENCY AND CONFLICT.
WITH RESPECT TO SOLID MINERALS, THE MINISTER HAS PRODUCED A ROADMAP WHERE WE WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE WORLD BANK AND MAJOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS TO ENSURE THROUGH BEST PRACTICES AND DUE DILIGENCE THAT WE CHOOSE THE RIGHT PARTNERS. ILLEGAL MINING REMAINS A PROBLEM AND WE HAVE SET UP A SPECIAL SECURITY TEAM TO PROTECT OUR ASSETS. SPECIAL MEASURES WILL BE IN PLACE TO PROTECT MINERS IN THEIR WORK ENVIRONMENT.
FOR TOO LONG, OURS HAS BEEN A SOCIETY THAT NEGLECTS THE POOR AND VICTIMIZES THE WEAK. A SOCIETY THAT PROMOTES PROFIT AND GROWTH OVER DEVELOPMENT AND FREEDOM. A SOCIETY THAT FAILS TO RECOGNIZE THAT, TO QUOTE THE DISTINGUISHED ECONOMIST AMARTYA SEN “POVERTY IS NOT JUST LACK OF MONEY. IT IS NOT HAVING THE CAPABILITY TO REALIZE ONE’S FULL POTENTIAL AS A HUMAN BEING.”
SO, TODAY, I AM HAPPY TO FORMALLY LAUNCH, BY FAR THE MOST AMBITIOUS SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMME IN OUR HISTORY. A PROGRAMME THAT BOTH SEEKS TO START THE PROCESS OF LIFTING MANY FROM POVERTY, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CREATING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES. IN THIS REGARD, FIVE HUNDRED BILLION NAIRA HAS BEEN APPROPRIATED IN THE 2016 BUDGET FOR SOCIAL INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES IN FIVE KEY AREAS. WE ARE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING JOB CREATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND TEACHERS AND ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ARTISANS ACROSS THE NATION. 5.5 MILLION CHILDREN ARE TO BE PROVIDED WITH NUTRITIOUS MEALS THROUGH OUR SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME TO IMPROVE LEARNING OUTCOMES, AS WELL AS ENROLMENT AND COMPLETION RATES. THE CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER SCHEME WILL PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR UP TO 1 MILLION VULNERABLE BENEFICIARIES, AND COMPLEMENT THE ENTERPRISE PROGRAMME – WHICH WILL TARGET UP TO 1 MILLION MARKET WOMEN; FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY THOUSAND ARTISANS; AND TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND AGRICULTURAL WORKERS, NATIONWIDE. FINALLY, THROUGH THE EDUCATION GRANT SCHEME, WE WILL ENCOURAGE STUDENTS STUDYING SCIENCES, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHS, AND LAY A FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
I WOULD LIKE TO PAY A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO OUR GALLANT MEN AND WOMEN OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO ARE IN HARM’S WAY SO THAT THE REST OF US CAN LIVE AND GO ABOUT OUR BUSINESS IN SAFETY. THEIR WORK IS ALMOST DONE. THE NATION OWES THEM A DEBT OF GRATITUDE.
ABROAD, WE WANT TO ASSURE OUR NEIGHBOURS, FRIENDS AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS THAT NIGERIA IS FIRMLY COMMITTED TO DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES. WE ARE READY PARTNERS IN COMBATING TERRORISM, CYBER CRIMES, CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT. FOLLOWING ON THE PARIS AGREEMENT, COP 21, WE ARE FULLY COMMITTED TO HALTING AND REVERSING DESERTIFICATION. ELSEWHERE, WE WILL INTENSIFY EFFORTS TO TACKLE EROSION, OCEAN SURGE, FLOODING AND OIL SPILLAGE WHICH I REFERRED TO EARLIER BY IMPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP) REPORT.
WE ARE GRATEFUL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY NOTABLY FRANCE, THE US, UK AND CHINA FOR THEIR QUICK RESPONSE IN HELPING TO TACKLE THE RECENT EBOLA OUTBREAK IN OUR SUB-REGION. WE ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THE HUMANITY SHOWN BY THE ITALIAN AND GERMAN GOVERNMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF BOAT PEOPLE, MANY FLEEING FROM OUR SUB-REGION BECAUSE OF LACK OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. WE THANK ALL OUR PARTNERS ESPECIALLY SEVERAL COUNTRIES IN THE EU.
WE APPRECIATE THE VALUABLE WORK THAT THE UN AGENCIES, PARTICULARLY UNICEF, ICRC, THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM HAVE BEEN DOING. WE MUST ALSO APPRECIATE THE WORLD BANK, THE GATES FOUNDATION, THE GLOBAL FUND AND EDUCATE A CHILD OF QATAR ARE FOR THE EXCELLENT WORK IN OUR HEALTH, EDUCATION AND OTHER SECTORS.
FELLOW CITIZENS LET ME END ON A HAPPY NOTE. TO THE DELIGHT OF ALL, TWO OF THE ABDUCTED CHIBOK GIRLS HAVE REGAINED THEIR FREEDOM. DURING THE LAST ONE YEAR, NOT A SINGLE DAY PASSED WITHOUT MY AGONIZING ABOUT THESE GIRLS. OUR EFFORTS HAVE CENTRED AROUND NEGOTIATIONS TO FREE THEM SAFELY FROM THEIR, MINDLESS, CAPTORS. WE ARE STILL PURSUING THAT COURSE. THEIR SAFETY IS OF PARAMOUNT CONCERN TO ME AND I AM SURE TO MOST NIGERIANS. I AM VERY WORRIED ABOUT THE CONDITIONS THOSE STILL CAPTURED MIGHT BE IN. TODAY I RE-AFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO RESCUING OUR GIRLS. WE WILL NEVER STOP UNTIL WE BRING THEM HOME SAFELY. AS I SAID BEFORE, NO GIRL SHOULD BE PUT THROUGH THE BRUTALITY OF FORCED MARRIAGE AND EVERY NIGERIAN GIRL HAS THE RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION AND A LIFE CHOICE.
I THANK YOU AND APPEAL TO YOU TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING THE GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS TO FIX NIGERIA.

Saturday, 28 May 2016

No Difference Between Boko Haram and The Niger Delta Avengers





All things considered, the Niger Delta Avengers are no different from the Boko Haram criminality in the Northern part of Nigeria and if I wanted to be too strict I will say that the Niger Delta Avengers are more deadly, more destructive,  more dangerous and consequently more devilish . Boko Haram has been on a hit and run warfare that derives pleasure in hitting and killing soft targets but the destructive Avengers of Niger Delta targets oil installations and the Power Sector, the two most critical sectors of our economy today.

As I write this Nigeria has lost at least one million barrels of crude oil daily in the past one month or so. The power sector output hovering around 3000 to 5000 MW of electricity has been brought down to miserable level of less than 1000MW. What this means is that we have no economy any longer. Nigeria runs a mono economy that depends on crude oil sales and if anything happens to that critical sector , it will affect every strata of our society. There will be no foreign exchange earnings , no money to pay salaries at the federal, state and the local levels, no money to service importation, no money to buy arms , no money to service foreign debts, no money to service foreign missions and no money to build infrastructure etc.

Without electric power no nation on earth will be said to be serious in building its economy, attracting foreign investments or creating jobs. Most of the nation’s power stations are driven by gas , a product of crude oil production process. Much of the gas comes from the Niger Delta. Before the advent of gas turbines we had hydro power stations in Shiroro and Kainji in the North and a coal powered stations in Enugu State and these are now almost obsolete as gas powered plants have proved to be more efficient , cheaper, cleaner and cost effective. This is what these criminals are exploiting to continue to punish 160 million Nigerians.

They are blackmailers, exploiters, oil thieves, kidnappers, murderers, destroyers, oppressors, armed robbers, liars from the pit of hell, corrupt entities, reprobate minds , dolts, cultural savages , embezzlers etc. I lack words to describe these workers of iniquity. They blackmailed President Obasanjo, they blackmailed president Yar’Adua. They blackmailed and held president Jonathan by the throat and squeezed it without mercy until he helplessly and hopelessly surrendered. They got everything, . They got NDDC , they got the Ministry of Niger Delta, they got 13% Derivation, they stole billions of barrels of crude oil, and got billions of dollars, they got oil wells without paying a dime, they robbed oil companies at gun point, they kidnapped for money, they got amnesty from president Yar’Adua and a deal worth more than a billion dollars. Former President Jonathan opened the nation’s Treasury for them and they carted away billions to build Universities, mansions and even buy arms and warships.

The school drop out called Asari Dokubo is building a University in Benin Republic and so is the silly old man called Edwin Clark. Oh My God , these shameless idiots have had it all and have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They married many wives like Asari Dokubo, owned night clubs, big hotels, estates, all kinds of Special Utility Vehicles, they painted the cities red and intimidated other Nigerians. They wished that the party and the bazaar continue until the 2015 general elections drew near. When it dawned on them that Jonathan may not make it they began to issue threats and intimidation. They got desperate and fear gripped them that a president Buhari may not accept their criminal enterprise and excesses any longer. A president Buhari came on board and removed the feeding bottles from their ugly mouths and hell was let loose. The corruption called the amnesty has to go. Easy money is gone . Extortion is gone . This is president Buhari’s sin.

My take here is that there is no need negotiating with those who have had it all in the past 17 years. The battle has to be fought . We cannot win the battle and lose the war. This president is for everybody and for nobody. These people will not listen until they see that war brings death. There is no difference between Boko Haram and the Niger Delta Avengers. If President Buhari can fight Boko Haram and Shiites to a standstill , these so called Avengers in the Niger Delta should face the same treatment. They have destroyed government installations and facilities , they have killed soldiers and policemen and they have killed many innocent people through the destruction of power installations. This is subversion . This is economic sabotage . This is treason and an open declaration of war on Nigeria as a political entity. Nigeria’s armed forces must apply the doctrine of necessity, intelligence, tact and common sense in the war to reclaim the integrity and honour of Nigeria. We must take war to their doorsteps. If they defeat us let them go with their useless oil  and if we defeat them  and they must be defeated, then other ethnic groups will learn yet another lessons from the war.

Since the massive destruction of facilities in the Niger Delta started, the Governors in the region have not met to condemn the brigandage.  The elders have not met to issue a statement to call the killers and destroyers to order. What we have heard has been cacophony of weak voices drowned in deceit and lies. I saw complicity by this criminal silence . The grave silence is sending a potentially dangerous signals. It is shocking and at best unbelievable. Nigeria can survive without oil and gas. This is the truth we must accept with courage  and call the bluff of these exploiters and blackmailers from the Niger Delta.

I repeat once again that there is no zero tribe, zone, ethnic group, state or culture in Nigeria. Every tribe  or zone in Nigeria has something to bring to the table. Niger Delta is bringing oil and gas to the table while others are bringing food, technology, commerce, intelligence, ideas,workforce etc to the same table. Ours is a case of symbiotic relationship.

Joe Igbokwe
Lagos