PDP calls for calm over suspension of chairman who criticised Obaseki

Governor Obaseki has been accused of giving preference to former associates in APC in his political appointments. Harrison Omagbon, the acting state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, has called for calm among party faithful, following the suspension of the state chairman, Tony Aziegbemi. Mr Aziegbemi was suspended by the PDP after he accused the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, of marginalising the PDP in his political appointments so far and also making moves to sack the party structure in the state. The acting chairman, Mr Omagbon, said in a statement on Thursday in Benin that his task is to unite the PDP in Edo. “My task as acting chairman will be to unite our party and ensure that the unity which our electoral victory bestowed on us is sustained and enlarged to the glory of God,” he said. He said that the suspension of Mr Aziegbemi was to allow for proper investigation into the allegations against him. “Following the recent developments in our great party, I wish to appeal to our teeming members and supporters to first accept our profound regret for the uproar of the last few weeks, as well as the recent developments at the party secretariat. “On behalf of the state working committee, I am deeply sorry. “However, we cannot wish away our party’s sanctity, integrity and pride on the altar of parochial sentiments. “That is why we have set up a committee to investigate and unearth the facts of these allegations,” he said. Mr Omagbon added: “My dear party faithful, we are at a very auspicious time in our democracy. “It is on record that our governor is counted among those delivering the dividends of democracy to the people. “We cannot engender a party culture of corruption and flagrant disregard for the wishes of the people.” The suspended PDP chairman, in a letter he jointly signed with the party secretary in the state, Hillary Otsu, accused Mr Obaseki of marginalising the PDP in his political appointments so far and also making moves to sack the party structure in the state. The duo said the letter was written on behalf of the “expanded State Working Committee of the party”. Mr Obaseki had defected from his former party, the All Progressives Congress, to the PDP where he contested and won the election for his second term. “Edo people voted for PDP and Godwin Obaseki to deliver the dividends of democracy to them. “If he wishes to appoint only his friends and former APC colleagues in his cabinet and sundry positions and leave out the legacy PDP members, so be it,” said Mr Aziegbemi in the letter which was sent to the national leadership of the PDP. (NAN)

Things fall apart in Edo PDP, as Obaseki, party’s alliance hits bump By Ozioruva Aliu

• Chairman suspended, gov takes over party WHEN Governor Godwin Obaseki and many of his supporters defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the September 19 2020 governorship election in Edo State due to his disqualification by the APC, some political analysts had opined that it was a marriage that may not last but many people did not believe that crisis would erupt so soon; barely eight months after the election which Obaseki won. As of today, Obaseki has not been able to form a government but the announcement by the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie, on Wednesday, of the appointment of Hon Osaigbovo Iyoha as the governor’s Chief of Staff tactically closed the door against any of the members he met in the PDP being part of his kitchen cabinet. Iyoha has been a very close ally as he was the first member in the state House of Assembly then to publicly declare his support for Obaseki’s election in 2016. He already has his dependable deputy, Hon Philip Shaibu, and Ogie who has been the strategist operating behind the scenes for the governor. The leadership of the party in the state is in disarray with the purported suspension of the state Chairman, Hon Tony Aziegbemi, and a three-man committee set up to investigate allegations against him. His deputy, Harrison Omagbon, has been asked to take his place as Acting Chairman. Even though Azigbemi has denied being removed from office, he agreed that there are issues in the party that necessitated the setting up of a committee. To confirm the crisis in the party, Omagbon issued a statement as Acting Chairman, calling on members to remain calm and promised he would reunite the state PDP. Observers believe that the PDP in Edo is missing people like the late former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, who could rally all the divides together but the party, as it is right now, has several warlords across the three senatorial districts holding unto their areas of strength and struggling to outdo one another. The crisis in the party is multifaceted: members are not united, and there are those who call themselves original members of the PDP who are not united and then the governor who came with his supporters from the APC. Sunday Vanguard gathered that Obasek has decided to move ahead with strategies to take over the party where the original members may have to “bow to him” before they can retain their membership of the party. Genesis The crisis in the party is believed to have started shortly after the election when some leaders of the party believed that they should have a say in the governor’s appointments. Some of the leaders, it was gathered, told Obaseki to immediately dissolve the Board of Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) and that of Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOGPADEC) but they were said to have been miffed when the governor declined and told them that he was planning to extend the tenure of the EIRS Board. The governor also reportedly requested that as the leader of the party, the leadership of the PDP from the ward to the state level be dissolved and a mini congress conducted to infuse his members who came with him from the APC, particularly the former state Chairman of the APC, Anselm Ojezua, and members of his State Working Committee (SWC) but this was also rejected by the leaders of the PDP. This led to some of them instituting a court case in Abuja to stop the governor from tampering with the leadership of the party. Obaseki since then reportedly reduced his interaction with the leadership of the PDP and it became a case of the governor working with two sets of SWCs; Ojezua and his team that came from the APC and the elected PDP SWC headed by Hon Tony Azegbemi. Meeting About three wks ago, Obaseki met with leaders who it was alleged he personally selected that included Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, former Deputy Governor, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and Aziegbemi where he was said to have informed them of his plan to dissolve the PDP SWC and call for fresh congresses. Reactions Irked by this decision, the SWC met and wrote a strongly worded letter to the national leadership of the party, protesting the plot to dissolve leadership of the party and also frowned at the delay in the appointment of commissioners. In the letter to the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, and signed by Aziegbemi and the State Secretary of the party, Hillary Otsu, which they said was part of the resolution passed in the emergency and expanded SWC meeting of the party, they frowned at the state leaders’ meeting where it was resolved that the leadership of the party at all levels be dissolved. They also alleged that the said meeting was called to ambush the state Chairman of the party who they said was in the minority with only three leaders of the party as against ten who came with Obaseki. They alleged that the governor was being misled by three categories of people in the party which they identified as aspirants for 2023 and 2024 elections, members of the party who lost during the party’s congresses and alleged godfathers they said came with the governor from the APC to the PDP who they said have refused to register with the party in their wards. In a swift reaction, Obaseki summoned a meeting that had Aziegbemi and members of his SWC and Ojezua and his team where the governor was said to have made some revelations that the meeting he called earlier was suggested by a high profile leader of the party (name withheld) and that the political figure was the one who suggested most of the names to be invited for the meeting but, shockingly, the same person did not show up on D-Day and even allegedly encouraged some of the persons he suggested not to attend. The governor was said to have informed the meeting that his intention was to make the PDP strong and that the people at the grassroots must be carried along and be part of decision making rather than the existing style where decisions are breathed down to followers. Sunday Vanguard source said, “After the governor explained his intentions, they asked for time to suggest a way forward and the governor gave 48 hours for that to be done. He also explained to them that himself, his deputy and the SSG were in the meeting he held earlier by virtue of their position and not there to represent any interest”. Plot However, Sunday Vanguard gathered that the governor may have concluded plans to take over the party irrespective of the position of those opposed to him using two strategies. The strategies, it was learnt include his appointment by the national leadership of the PDP to organise e-registration of members of the party nationwide. Sunday Vanguard gathered that he has appointed coordinators across the 18 local government areas of Edo and many of them are said to be LGA chairmen who came with him from the APC to handle the planned e-registration. He is also said to have set up a committee largely made up of those who came with him from the APC to suggest people he would need in his cabinet. In a related development, which seemed to be part of the plot to take over the party, a congress was called in Egor local government area by loyalists of Obaseki and suspended the Chairman of the party in the council, Manfred Ekundayo, and Secretary, Moses Osarumwense. Addressing members of the party at the party secretariat near Five Junction in Uselu, Assistant Secretary of the PDP in Egor, Ikponmwosa Eguavon, announced the former Deputy Chairman of the PDP, Ayo Efosa, as the Acting Chairman of the party in the LGA and pledged their support for Obaseki. A statement signed by eight members of the party executive, including Efosa, Eguavon, Auditor of the party, Dickson Obazee, three ex-officio members Hon Paul Osaremwenda, Alhaji O. Ebomwonyi and Funmi Usiabulu including Idemudia Stanley and Ekhator Stanley, who are both ward chairmen, accused the suspended officials of not allowing the national leadership of the party to resolve the crisis in the PDP in the state among other issues. The statement passed a vote of confidence on Obaseki, Shaibu, Ogie and the PDP Co-ordinator in Egor, Chief Odion Olaye. Sunday Vanguard gathered that with the success in Egor, the same action is to take place across other local government areas in the state and this was done in Akoko- Edo local government area where the meeting was hugely successful in line with Obaseki’s intentions. It was reliably gathered that loyalists of the governor held meetings in several local governments few days ago with only one agenda which is to redefine their relationship with the PDP. Opinions When Sunday Vanguard contacted the National Vice Chairman, South-South of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, on the development, he said the issue had not been brought to his attention and he would not want to comment on what had not been brought before his office and referred us to the state chairman. But a member of the party, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “This crisis is multifaceted; the original PDP members are not united, they are fighting themselves and then you have the governor and those who came with him and are bent on taking over the party. “This thing is being caused by lack of leadership in the PDP. “The governor is already working with Abuja even though the issue that the governor is the leader of the party is not in the Constitution of the PDP. “It was the making of former President Obasanjo but the national leadership can decide to wade into the crisis and they are most likely to be with the governor “The end result might be the governor tampering with the party executives or quasi-harmonisation that may not last.” A leader of the party and former Commissioner for Information in the state, Hon Charles Idahosa, said the best option for the party was harmonisation. He said the problem in Edo PDP is “a group of people who got used to not winning elections”. According to him, such people use party structure to collect money from neighboring state governments and share among as they are not really interested in government. “It is a small clique holding to the party to ransom. How will you say that the governor is the leader of the party and then you insist that you will not harmonise? Just like me, I will be looking at you people, I cannot even produce a councilor in my ward because I don’t have anybody in the ward executive”, Idahosa said. “There is a precedent, Edo is not the first. Governor Aminu Tambuwal moved in Sokoto, they harmonized. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue moved and they harmonized” In the same vein, the senator representing Edo South, Matthew Uroghide, called on members of the SWC to apologise to the governor. Speaking at a stakeholders meeting he had in his residence, the senator said his zone, in a three-point communiqué, accepted the leadership of Obaseki without reservations. According to the senator, Edo South PDP expressed implicit confidence in Obaseki and his ability to pilot the affairs of the party in the state and also handed over the entire structures of the PDP to him. “And three, we directed all members of the State Working Committee, SWC, who are from Edo South, to go and append their signatures to the letter of apology to the governor over the letter the SWC sent to the national body”, Urhoghide added. He warned party members to abide by the constitution of the PDP which forbids members from making public critical comments about the policies and actions of government controlled by it. He said, “Those who decamped from the APC were once PDP members. It is foolhardy to say you don’t want people to join you. We cannot bring down our own party that is in government. “If Chief Anenih were to be alive today, he would have been the happiest man. It took us 12 years to get back to power in the state and we have a duty to sustain the government and the party”. Vanguard News Nigeria

BREAKING: Twitter deletes Nnamdi Kanu’s tweets By Idowu Bankole

Giant microblogging site, Twitter has reportedly deleted tweets made by the Supreme leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for violating rules of the bird app. The post, according to theCable was made on Kanu’s Twitter handle on June 2, was no longer available as of Saturday evening. Reports claimed that the tweet was made in reference to the federal government’s decision to take action regarding attacks on security formations in the southeast, which have led to the killing of several security operatives.

Reports have it that, In the post, Kanu had threatened government officials and said “any army they send to #Biafraland will die there. None will return alive even if it means sacrificing my people”.

This latest development was coming on the heels of a suspension recently announced by the Federal government of Nigeria, through the minister of Information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Lai Mohammed who announced an indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria claimed that the Social media Networking site was inciting violence and promoting fake news in tyhe country, claims that have long been refuted by many Nigerians and the suspension widely condemned in the international community. The presidency, through Garba Shehu also reacted to the development claiming that the federal government merely wishes to safeguard Nigerians from negative social media influences, hence its decision to ban twitter operations in the country. Garba Shehu had said, ”A terrorist organisation (IPOB) poses a significant threat to the safety and security of Nigerian citizens. ”When the President said that they will be treated “in a language they understand,” he merely reiterated that their force shall be met with force. Vanguard News Nigeria

SPECIAL REPORT: Oshiomhole's "Clever by Half" Felicitation.

By Publisher Although many had failed to realize early, that the disgraced former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole was a fitting example of a man that is too smart for his own britches, but few close allies discovered early that this deceptive smartness might be his achilles heel. As it is popularly said, pride goes before a big fall, and so as it was, Oshiomhole’s rise from grass to grace and back to grass is squarely a reflection of his conceited overconfidence and unyielding self importance. Right from his haydays when he was the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), to his sudden position as the governor of Edo State, he succeeded with his attitude of ‘Mr’ know all. He soaked himself in full overclever notions, and this has finally brought colossal harm to his twisted ego and image. Sadly, but fortunate for Edo people and Nigerians at large, any piece of advice now, is akin to pouring water into a basket. It just too late for the once upon a ‘maradona’ to relaunch himself as the ‘masses man’. A great opportunity had just slipped through his fingers! For those that had the opportunity to work with Oshiomhole, they can attest to the fact that the ex governor resides inside inconsistency. He is the perfect example of ‘do what I say’ and ‘not what I do’. Any leader, must always ask his or herself, “did I do what I said I would, and have I done it consistently?” Reputation on the other hand is interconnected and related to truth. The underbelly of a poor reputation is that one become a co-conspirator in human failure because people who relied on you are damaged by your ethical breaches. For those of us who were close to Oshiomhole when he first made political contact with Edo State, we gave ourselves the onerous assignment to groom him on the ethics of consistency with his make believe values. We also resounded the need to guard his relationships with others. We coached him to speak truth (no matter the circumstances) and to leave a legacy of his truth through his teachings to us (his apostles). When the malady called Edo People’s Movement (EPM) started, I boasted to political pundits that the promoters of the now defunct pressure group would be dumped by Oshiomhole who was their commander-in-chief. My thoughts were that the ex labour leader was too grounded in political maneuvering to know when to eject himself for safty. That was not to be! Some of us watched in utter amazement how a seamingly smart diminutive strategist gradually traveled to the ‘land of no return’. In the end, Oshiomhole had suffered the worse political defeat, so much more than what he inflicted on his political rivals in ten years. In the heat of battle between him and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the octogenarian had hinted that, the APC would be enmeshed in crisis at various levels if Oshiomhole is allowed to have his way. We all know how he managed to maneuver his way to become the national chairman and how he unsettled the party, mainly with absence of internal democracy, imposition of candidates at elections and opaque leadership. With his advent, APC lost the primary stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which the party won under Oyegun. The APC had taken Adamawa, Bauchi, Sokoto, Plateau, Benue, Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Zamfara, among others from the PDP in 2014. He managed to keep Kano and Osun in very suspicious circumstances. Majority of these states were lost on account of Oshiomhole’s highhandedness and dictatorial leadership style. Some commentators had said that the “…Bayelsa episode was the last Oshiomole’s opponent in APC would take in his strings of misadventures.” Despite all his failings, he refused to learn from the past, and embarked on his last fight and a very rancorous route, to fight his successor – Obaseki over the control of Edo politics. He had his way and denied the governor a re-election ticket and forced him to join the PDP. By this decision, Oshiomhole took his gambling habit too far, and the move incurred him more opposition from APC leaders. In all his atrocities against Edo people, nay Nigerians, Oshiomhole’s major error was his orchestrated disqualification of Mr. Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki as candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the 2020 gubernatorial election. Basking in his usual boisterous ‘nerveless’ attitude, he boasted the he was the ‘supreme court’ and that even if Obaseki was cleared by the screening committee he had handpicked and briefed, he was ready to annul their recommendation. His naked threat came at the beehive of Obaseki’s high ratings, both at the national and local levels. That decision put Edo State on reverse gear ignited the political flame that has already consumed many of his blind followers. Oshiomhole’s decision to show uncut political power brought redicle to Edo State and put a hitherto referenced ‘oshioquake’ to abysmal level. Among his many sins that needs atonement is the palaver in Edo State House of Assembly. His hurried decision to control the assembly led to the refusal of 14 members elect to present themselves for inauguration on June 17, 2019. Today, only 10 members of Edo State House of Assembly are deciding the fate of 24 Constituencies. Sadly, my Constituency (Ovia North East) is caught in Oshiomhole’s retrogressive decision. Let us fast track to post election litigation – from the Federal High Court to Appeal Court and finally, the (REAL) Supreme Court. We, his foot soldiers had waited and prayed that he will seize the opportunity of his final decimation by the justices to apologize to Edo people and ask for their forgiveness. Expectedly, Oshiomhole missed a once in a lifetime opportunity to rebound. His handlers decided otherwise to construct a very half hazard letter of congratulation to his successor, Governor Godwin Obaseki. What this simply means is that he has failed to accept his fault and appreciate the pain and retrogression he brought upon the people of Edo State. The audacity of the so-called letter prompted this conversation. In his letter, he lauded the Supreme Court and also congratulated Obaseki. He said nothing to us, the common man that went through horrendous pain and stress when his onslaught lasted. Oh my God! Certainly, this is the height of insensitivity and skewed bloated ego!! Like a convict, Oshiomhole and his handlers failed to use the opportunity of allocutus, to plead for our leniency. His very unrepentant words that shot him to infamous fame, has eventually resigned him to the deplorable corner of history. Sarcastically, Mr. Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole wrote: “…as I had repeatedly reminded you during our several meetings, our relationship has through the years developed beyond being friends to being brothers of different parents. “Whatever happened is unfortunate and I believe God has reasons for everything. “I have put all behind me and moved on. As I have consistently advised, please be magnanimous in victory. You are the Governor of all Edo people regardless of political leanings.” There is so much impunity in this letter to warrant any forgiveness. The content is still replete with Oshiomhole’s tough talking stance that brought so much trouble to his party, the APC. Suffice to say that his latest blunder is a reflection of his new advisers. Apart from Dr. Pius Egberanmwen Odubu, former Deputy Governor to Oshiomhole, 99% of the EPM members are those that we defeated on April 14, 2007 on our way to form government in November 12, 2008. He lost the services of majority of the planners and executors, or if you like, Oshiomhole’s foot soldiers when he sailed off to his political wilderness. The likes of Rt. Honourable Philip Shaibu who was the ground commander of our youthful volunteers, Osarodion Ogie Esq who was the planner-in-chief, my good self (Orobosa Omo-Ojo JP), late Prof Omo Omoruyi, Don Omorodion and others that were spread across the state are not around him to moderate his atrocities. Being one of his (true) friends, I have restrained myself not to write him off but it is yet to be seen how our once beloved masses man will change his present definition of a metaphor of political failure to that of a labour leader who came, saw and conquered. midwestherald.com.ng

Prophet T.B. Joshua is dead at 57 by MARIAM ILEYEMI

Prophet T.B. Joshua is dead at 57 Mr Joshua reigned for several decades as a fiery preacher on television, using his platform to attract a large number of Christians from across the world. Temitope Balogun Joshua, a frontline Nigerian preacher and televangelist, has died, family sources told Peoples Gazette. Mr Joshua, the founder of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), died in Lagos on Saturday evening shortly after concluding a programme at his church, The Gazette learnt from family sources who did not want to be quoted as an official statement was still being prepared. He was 57. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed to The Gazette, but family sources said his remains had been deposited at the morgue and an autopsy would be performed forthwith. Mr Joshua reigned for several decades as a fiery preacher on television, using his platform to attract a large number of Christians from across the world. Emmanuel TV, run by Mr Joshua’s SCOAN, is one of Nigeria’s largest Christian broadcast stations, available worldwide via digital and terrestrial switches. In 2014, his church was at the centre of a multi-national investigation following a section of his church headquarters in Lagos collapsed, leaving dozens killed and many more injured. Mr Joshua denied allegations of negligence and a trial over the incident was still underway prior to his demise.

When an organization operating largely from outside a country seeks to regulate the President of a country ...

When an organization operating largely from outside a country seeks to regulate the President of a country into silence on security matters, those who think insecurity must be sustained will applaud such move. They will be accompanied on that fatal voyage by those who erroneously rates freedom and politics higher than national security. Those ones are not even embarrassed to be categorized as ignorant of lack of freedom in a war situation, There's no freedom during a war! Preventing a war is the sustenance of freedoms! A man with the duty to secure a nation and consistently under fire for not doing enough is putting forward a policy of treating those involved with creation of insecurity "in the language they understand" after referencing a 30-month civil war and destruction of government property is surprisingly being vilified by a section of his country for starting with the organization that surreptitiously supports the insecurity? He should have traveled to France or the US to lodge a report against the destructive elements within or just commence operations without a warning? He shouldn't have said it on twitter but the platform can accommodate those who preach violent disintegration? I care so little about disintegration. I care very much about a violent route to achieving it. Haven't we clamored for increased action from the actors in state security? We will applaud a Sunday Igboho's violence in the bush and on YouTube but antagonize a President's expression of his resolution to tackle violence on Twitter? I heard some talk about freedom of expression of citizens being curtailed by the Twitter ban. Citizens want unbridled consumption of Twitter services even as their President is taken down and most probably even when risk to life and properties are sustained? The power of a nation doesn't lie in the nobility of ideas cultured therein, it lies in the intellectualism deployed in the actualization of the ideas. Those who want power shouldn't bring us down intellectually in the comity of nations. Are we so ignorant of the depopulation agenda of the superpowers against Africa? The only thing France has done in it's former colony in Africa is the establishment of military hotels therein and bringing soldiers and guns! Bill Gates recently told us that the world needs depopulation. Haven't we noticed how unimpressed they've been about Africa's successful battle against HIV, Ebola and Covid19? Is it too difficult to notice the US embellishment of India and Brazil's failures in pandemic containment? Of course they should if it aligns with their depopulation agenda! If we refused to die by their diseases and their "pity and misery wishes" are wasted here, must they be given a red carpet reception through their agents and forerunners of war? Every law-abiding inhabitant is safer and life more abundant on the streets of Beijing than in New York. Oh yes, freedom doesn't outweigh national security. The Nigerian Supreme Court once said it recently in Dokubo-Asari v FRN.. It's reported in 2007 part 1048 of the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports. China recognizes the unending war of superpowers against one another and interests not aligning with them. China banned Twitter. Citizens can use Sein Weibo.....and that's taking her citizens out of foreign manipulation and subtle control! Russians whether or not supported by state powers are now deploying Ransomeware against US companies and helplessness appears to be reigning. We didn't even realise how devilishly they've deployed Cambridge Analitica against Africa until their own implosion revealed gory details. The riots of Hong Kong sustained and supported by the Trump-US and US policy is what the US tackles in the Capitol riots/protests. One policy at home another for foreigners. And we claim to sabi. ....lol India banned TikTok and Snapchat for being inimical to security of India. Uganda and Egypt doesn't have Twitter. Remember the Jeff Koinages CNN story against Uganda that got the reporter axed? Jeff later had his properties sold due to indebtedness. Someone broke and ready to sell off a country? I wish I have the resources to investigate Nima Elbagir's finances also of CNN after her EndSars news roll out that reopened healing wounds in Nigeria. Mewa n'sele ... The US under Donald Trump started the process of banning TikTok before he left office. Many claimed its for economic reasons. Tell me which reason is bad for the US? Huawei, a Chinese technology company was banned in US and Sweden for security concerns. Citizens didn't cry! They rose up to take advantage and accepted the challenge. What then could be wrong if Nigerians clamour for security and the President issued a warning to destructive elements using Twitter handle? Twitter aligning with dissidents? Not impossible! Boya l'emo ! Twitter is a US company headquartered in San Francisco. The top 5 arms company in the world are also based in the US. General Dynamics and Raytheon Technologies compete with Lockheed Martin and Boeing for market shares in sales all over the world! Every arms manufacturer is searching for where the next big war is most likely just like the casket makers hovers around mortuaries and hospitals. Doesn't that look consistent with marketing trends? Do we have the capacity to know what Twitter or anyone else is doing with these companies? Odiegwu . Our capacity is resilience in Unity against external influence. We shall return home to do our quarrel. As long as those who fight for Africans can only use one hand in their fights because the other hand must be used against those who don't want enemies to be fought, we are most unlikely to escape the fatal consequences of tolerating the lurking jackals. The world is at war and countries are consistent with plans to preserve themselves at any cost and destabilize enemies, Nigeria is at play and consistently with politics to fragment the country and consume enemy baits. Regardless of prayers being my weakness, I pray we overcome. I testify NaijaNoDeyCarryLast . Olukayode Oseni kayodeoseni@rocketmail.com

“A HOUSE OF CARDS WAITING FOR THE RIGHT GUST OF WIND”: TWITTER’S REVENUE IS STAGNANT, AND ITS CEO IS MOVING TO AFRICA—WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Twitter’s valuation has never made sense, except for its user base of celebrities and journalists and Donald Trump. Can Jack Dorsey find enough new users to change the game? BY NICK BILTON Last month Jack Dorsey was standing in Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, which, according to reviews, has “insipid food choices” and a “pathetic duty free,” when he tweeted a major announcement: “Sad to be leaving the continent…for now. Africa will define the future (especially the bitcoin one!). Not sure where yet, but I’ll be living here for 3-6 months mid 2020.” At Twitter and Square, the two companies Dorsey runs almost 9,000 miles away, Dorsey’s employees were as perplexed as everyone else. According to people close to Twitter, no all-hands had been called to explain that their boss was planning to spend a good chunk of next year overseas. There was no explanation—just the tweet. Had someone like Mark Zuckerberg or Tim Cook or even off-the-cuff king Elon Musk sent a similar tweet, their companies’ respective stocks would have plummeted, lobbing a few billion dollars off their valuation; the CEO of a major public company moving oversees without much explanation isn’t normal. But at Twitter, the markets barely registered the so-called announcement. That’s because Twitter is not like any other public company, and its investors are as perplexed as ever about how to judge its worth. Its valuation doesn’t match its revenue. Its user numbers don’t match its influence. And, unlike Apple or Facebook, Wall Street still isn’t sure if Twitter’s CEO, Dorsey, is one of the metrics they should use to decide that value. I’ve long since given up predicting the market capitalization of Silicon Valley companies. There are simply too many random factors, like Russian interference, tens of millions of “users” turning out to be bots, or, more often than not, the firing of a big-shot CEO. Uber, I once believed, could be worth $100 billion, or nothing. (It’s now bobbing somewhere in between.) I once assumed the scandal surrounding Facebook and Russia would chop off a good quarter of the social network’s value, and while it did fall by a hundred billion dollars or so after the Cambridge Analytica news broke, Facebook is now worth more than half-a-trillion dollars, and continues to grow. As for Twitter, a company I’ve covered for more than a decade, while the company’s value has gone up and down like a yoyo, my predictions of where it might be at any given moment have always been off by several quarters, if not years. In 2015, for example, as the usual chaos was gripping the Twitter boardroom and Dorsey had taken over for the third time (his second as CEO), I guessed that the social network’s stock would fall dramatically. While I was right for a while, Twitter’s value is now in the same ballpark as when Dorsey returned, in part thanks to the Tweeter-in-Chief. That’s not necessarily a good thing. Half a dozen people I’ve spoken with who once worked for Twitter or who are current investors have voiced concerns about how long the company can continue on its trajectory of remaining stagnant as a platform with an absentee CEO, and whether it can reverse course on its flattening ad revenue, which increased by a negligible 8 percent this past quarter. (For comparison’s sake, Facebook’s increased by 28 percent. An ex executive who left Twitter after Dorsey returned to the company said the only reason Twitter is still around is because “it’s like the monster from Stranger Things that just can’t be killed and comes back every season.” (The executive left the company precisely because they saw the future wherein ad revenue would slow and, eventually, fall.) Another former senior manager described Twitter’s business model as “a house of cards waiting for the right gust of wind.” And one current investor noted that the stock this week was lower than it was when Dorsey came back almost four and a half years ago. User growth hasn’t fared much better. Twitter now has more than 2 billion users less than Facebook. In America alone, only 30 million people use Twitter daily. Last week this sentiment was made [public by one outspoken Twitter investor: Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, who wrote an open letter to R. Kordestani, the executive chairman of Twitter, pointing out that shareholder return since Dorsey came back was negative 15 percent, compared with Google, which was up 153 percent; Facebook, up 120 percent; and the entire S&P 500, which was up 50 percent. “The poor citizenship of Twitter is bad. What’s worse is Twitter’s malfeasance coupled with scant benefit to stakeholders. The platform is all the calories of big tech (poor citizenship, divisiveness, hate) without the great taste (stakeholder returns),” Galloway wrote. “At least tobacco stocks performed well.” (Zing.) Galloway demanded that Dorsey be ousted from the company again. This seems unlikely—when I spoke to Kordestani a couple of years ago, he indicated Dorsey wasn’t going anywhere: “There is no Plan B.” So how is Twitter surviving with slowing revenue, tepid user growth, flat valuation, and a CEO about to go backpacking around Africa? The consensus from almost all of the current and former employees and investors I’ve spoken with is that Twitter’s saving grace is not how many people use the platform, or how much money the company might pull in, but rather who is doing the tweeting. The best way to explain that is with an anecdote not about Twitter but about Ben Smith, now the top editor at BuzzFeed. At the time of this tale more a decade ago, Smith was an intern at the Forward, which serves a primarily Jewish audience. Anyone who’s ever met Smith knows he’s whip smart and not one to hold back about how he really feels. One day, as the story goes, fed up with low readership, Smith raised the issue with an editor, sarcastically, noting that only “two Jews read” the paper. To which the editor responded: “But it’s the right two Jews.” Twitter, then, is still worth $23 billion because its users are celebrities, journalists, and politicians. But if that can't be monetized, what, really, is the point? Ironically, Dorsey's moving to Africa might be exactly what Twitter needs. Like Facebook, Twitter’s user numbers have basically plateaued in the West. In the U.S. specifically, one former Twitter employee said that it’s almost impossible to get new users to sign up. “Since Trump became president, everyone in the U.S. has heard of Twitter—everyone!—[but] it’s not like they’re going to decide to sign up tomorrow because they heard [about] this platform the president is on. If you haven't signed up yet, you’re never signing up.” Which leaves emerging markets, like Africa. Currently, 1.25 billion people live on the African continent, and only 388 million are online, according to the Internet Society, which promotes the development of the internet around the globe. That leaves a whopping 800 million potential new customers who could get a smartphone and sign up for Twitter (and Square, Dorsey’s payments platform). More than half the continent is still operating on the 2G network, which has been decommissioned by dozens of countries. Which means Africa is about to go through what the rest of the world experienced more than a decade ago. This could be Twitter’s moment to redeem itself, avoiding the missteps it made in the United States. More likely, however, its introduction overseas will simply cause more chaos on the global stage. But hey, at least investors will be happy.