Eddy Ogunbor

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Real reason why I joined ‘Occupy Nigeria’ protests – Bakare

Written by Femi Akinola.

Pastor Tunde Bakare is the General Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly in Lagos, Vice Presidential Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) during the last general election and of Lagos-based Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG). Earlier in the week, Bakare addressed news men in Lagos on the one week fuel subsidy strike and disruption of continuation of the strike by military men. Excerpts.

What is your assessment of the five-day strike?

What we witnessed during the strike has shown that Nigerians are capable of taking their destiny in their own hands and that they have now understood the challenges before their country. It was marvelous, because from day one of the strike, the number of Nigerians who converged on the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota is unprecedented. Nobody paid anybody to come. People trekked from far and near in the metropolis to partake in the protest against the oil subsidy removal.

During the protest, we never incite anybody against the government or encourage breakdown of law and order as those in Abuja wanted the outside world to believe. We are not rabble-rousers. It is only crazy people who will encourage destruction of the little infrastructure that is left. We risk our lives in those five days. We spent our time, energy and resources to sensitize the public. Our musicians and artistes added glamour to the protest, because they brought life to the park. People came in thousands and showed their grievances against the removal of oil subsidy. The strike proved a defining moment, which a correct lesson must be learnt.

What is your response to the allegation that the SNG took advantage of the protest to overheat the polity?

We did not organize the protest to bring down government, but to kill corruption and not Nigeria. The moment the Supreme Court gave judgment on the suit filed by our party, it means everything is over. We are still insisting on N65 pump price. The protest would have continued, if not that the NLC/TUC called –off the strike and the Federal Government sent troops to Lagos when the protest was on in Kano and Kaduna.

We were harassed, but not arrested as the report was circulated. They sent text messages all over the country to create fear and panic. We were harassed by unknown people through text messages, telling us not to sleep in our homes. I have been sleeping in my house without any problem since the beginning of the strike. Our resolve is un shakable. We did not overheat the polity. We did not instruct anyone to burn effigies neither did we give anyone money to buy effigies to burn.

We will continue to feed Nigerians with the necessary information that is their right to know. One of the challenges before Nigerians is that we have put an emperor who is not accountable in power and we are calling for accountability. Instead, the government is flexing muscle against opposition; they do not need to shut down opposition.

What is your reaction to the Labour’s calling off of the strike?

We are very disappointed in the way the controlling leadership of the NLC/TUC has buckled in the knees without consulting the Save Nigeria Group and its allies and without achieving their resolution that reversal to N65 per litre shall be the basis for any negotiation. We out rightly reject the unilateral fixing of the pump price at N97 by the Federal Government upon which the controlling leadership of NLC/TUC threw a spanner in the wheel of people’s movement. It must not be lost on our patriotic people that if the decision is final, it is the proverbial eating of the humble pie. While the conduct of the controlling leadership of labour at the peak of the movement does not engender much confidence in their fidelity behind closed door, we still enjoy them to bring all negotiations with Belgore Committee to a close within a week. After that, they should report back to the people who still reserve the right to resume their protests if the negotiators compromise the essence of this popular action.

What will SNG do next?

We shall definitely enforce our rights in court to teach the regime the basic principles of civilized conduct in a democratic setting. We shall be heading to court soon to challenge the Federal Government on the violation of our rights to peaceful protest on Monday January 16, 2012 at the Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota. This violation is totally uncalled for, because before we rallied at the park, we sought the necessary permission from the Lagos State Government and wrote to notify Lagos State Commissioner of Police and asked him to provide protection. The policemen deployed to the park were mostly idle throughout the five days we spent at the park, as there was no breakdown of law and order.

Governor Babatunde Fashola, in rejecting the crude assault on our right to protest, acknowledged our peaceful conduct throughout our activities. And we agreed with him totally that if we had conducted ourselves otherwise, the police was the right body to deal with that and not soldiers who occupied the venue and subjected our people to harassment, corporal punishment and intimidation. It is unfortunate that this brutal dictatorship is taking place in a civilian dispensation. Nevertheless, we chose to be much more mature than the Federal Government by not allowing any ugly situation to be created at the park. We shall use the court to compel an investigation into how the Federal Government ended up spending N1.6 trillion as against the N240 billion budgeted for subsidy in 2011 fiscal year. We cannot sweep under the carpet the spending of over N1.3 trillion without appropriation by the National Assembly. We shall neither ‘move on’ on this matter until the full weight of the law comes on all those involved in this illegal spending. Nor shall we fold our hands if the Federal Government through the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) becomes both judge and jury in a matter involving government officials and their corporate cronies.

What is the relationship with organized labour?

It is a big shock to us that NLC/TUC backs down on the N65 pump price demand. It kills the spirit and enthusiasm of the people. We are disappointed about their action. As a mark of appreciation of the new found spirit of our people who demonstrated in the five days of peaceful protest at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, we shall be holding a victory rally at the same venue on Saturday (21st January 2012).

Our gratitude goes to good spirited Nigerians who without solicitation brought water and food to the crowd at Ojota as their own contribution to the nation building project. And to the greatest heroes of the movement who trekked several kilometers daily to show their resolve; we give our thump up. That the Federal Government could not stop the peaceful rallies all over Nigeria especially in Abuja, Kano and Kaduna where millions of our people trooped out on the same day the military occupied Ojota Freedom Park and other parts of Lagos state on the order of Federal Government is a complete demonstration of indomitable Nigerian spirit.

Written by Femi Akinola, Lagos Saturday, 21 January 2012 05:00

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What is your assessment of the five-day strike?

What is your response to the allegation that the SNG took advantage of the protest to overheat the polity?

What is your reaction to the Labour’s calling off of the strike?

What will SNG do next?

What is the relationship with organized labour?

‘How Nigeria can prevent disintegration’

By Emmanuel Oladesu.

• Akinrinade

Former Chief of Defence Staff General Alani Akinrinade (rtd) spoke with Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on national security, Southwest integration, national conference and other issues.

What is your reaction to the agitations for a national conference in the country?
We need to debate, discuss what is really going on in our country. A lot of information has been dished out from all sections of the country, some panacea to problems bedeviling the country. Yoruba has always been in the leadership in this kind of situation. We have always made it clear that we want to be part of Nigeria, we want a very strong country, and we need to fashion out how we can make that strong country come about.
We realise that the Igbo in the East are talking, Southsouth people, especially the Ijaw Congress, are talking and bringing out ideas. Now, the northerners are also talking and bringing out ideas and accepting that this is not a great federation, and that, if we are not careful, we are dancing on the brink, according to Cambell, and therefore, we should do something. Yoruba, since 2005, made a major contribution to this debate by meeting in Ibadan. We got a Yoruba Agenda for Nigeria at that time. It spelt out the way the Yoruba saw Nigeria and what ought to be done to make sure that it becomes a strong country that works, like a nation, not an amorphorous country, a big country, almost a giant as you call it, having a clay feet. We brought out that document in 2005, hoping there was going to be a genuine conference as stated by Obasanjo at that time. That position today is still valid, except there are some issues which we raised at that time. That time, the memory of the June 12 debacle was still fresh in our memory and in 1999, certainly, Yoruba did not participate well in the elections, simply because the issues that preceded the elections were never touched. Yoruba thought that an attempt to ignore the issues by saying that democracy is the answer by just having elections, even if it was a good election, was not a good way of building a good nation. We played along simply because there was no other way of doing it. May be, we were wrong. May be, we were right. We played along and the end result is what we have today.
Why is national debate necessary at this time in Nigeria?
The foundation was wrong. We should be courageous enough to dismantle the foundation, make a new foundation and strive to build earnestly on it. That is the meeting we are meeting.
What are those unresolved national questions which tend to make Yoruba uncomfortable under the fragile and lopsided federal arrangement?
There are mirage of problems. All of us seem to agree that it started right from the beginning of trying to couple together a country. It looks like the French were coming from the west and Germans coming from east and the British stopped them and gave them a territory. The north was administered separately, the south administered separately, Lagos administered separately. Everything was like an afterthought. They forcefully put us together and amalgamated us and called us Nigeria. They made mess of the organisations in that territories and now we are inheritors of the problem. The sad part of it is that, over the years, we sat down there suffering. We didn’t have the courage to say that this would not work, let us sit down and talk. The closest we got to that was at the beginning with Sadauna talking about differences and Awolowo saying that it is a set of nations coupled together; it is just a country, not a nation. I can’t remember Azikiwe’s position. But at least, there were some of our leaders who knew that, certainly, something was basically wrong with the way we were put together. Till tomorrow, it is not going to be possible for a country of over 150 million people to go to the United Nations and have one seat, have no language of their own to speak there, when the rest of the world have their languages being translated. That is what they do for Portugal, which is less than two states in this place. We shortchange ourselves. We have Yoruba, over 40 million; we have Hausa/Fulani, Igbo. They are bigger than 40 other countries in the world. We don’t have a language which the world can recognise in writing, in speaking, in drama. And we expect that we are going to build a nation? I doubt it.
Recently, Yoruba self-determination groups advocated the restructuring of Nigeria into 18 federating unions. Is that part of the agenda you are going to discuss?
Many organisations have their own ideas. I have been dealing with the Ijaw Congress for long and I know they have their ideas about how Nigeria should be restructured. The Ibos have their ideas. I visited Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu many times. We discussed nothing but Nigeria. So do Yoruba. What I know is that in Yorubaland, we are not going to sleep and put our heads on one side. We will hold robust discussions before we make major decisions. Some are talking about 18, others about six zones. Those are the issues we must look at rationally and see the one that will work. That is what Yoruba will bring up as a proposal to the table, ready to defend it and ready to compromise, if people bring out better and more workable solutions. Yoruba will accept good argument. I don’t know the number that will come at the end, but I think it will be nice for Yoruba to have whatever you want to call it now, whether it is state, or region, or whatever; to agree among themselves how to arrange it a way that every facet of Yoruba power will be projected in a way that will work for all of us. Of course, we will encourage others; Ijaw, Ibos and others; to try to do the same among themselves. Then, we will all agree at the centre where we relate and call ourselves Nigeria or whatever new name they give it, what we have to be doing together and how we have to be doing it. But what we have now, which is a do-or-die affair, that a Yoruba man should be President so that Yoruba can lord it over others, or Ijaw or Ibos, is not good. We are going to a dangerous crossroads now where Ibos think it is their turn, because it is turn by turn now, where Jonathan said he is entitled to eight years, where the northerners are saying, wait a minute, how long are you going to keep us out of this. It should never be like that. We should have a situation where we will have the best person who will move us forward, whether he is from the minority tribe or not. But we should try to create a situation where it is not a winner-takes-all affair. No country ever gets up into reckoning under that situation. You talk about unity in diversity and you start asking people to level down, to lower the bar all the time. Look at education today. It is the lowering of the bar that got us where we are today.
Are the elite across the zones ready for national debate?
There is an indication that virtually everyone, including those who said that the situation was good, are saying that it is enough and that we should really sit down and talk. Ango Abdullahi was the last one. I was fairly shocked when I read his interview. These are the people who would think that it is the way we run our government that is wrong, that it is the people that have problem, not the system. Some of us have argued that it is the system itself that is the beginning of the trouble. Now, they are coming to that idea right now. Some say the Southsouth is asking for what is too much. It is when we sit down across the table to discuss that we will be able to look rationally at all these demands. I have a good idea that, with or without the government, the people are likely to sit down to talk. We are really on the brink now, unless we are deceiving ourselves. We always deceive ourselves that we will get out of the dilemma, that we created the problem and that it will blow away. It does not seem to be blowing away at all.
What is your reaction to the menace of Boko Haram?
I am scared when I see people writing and talking about what government should do about Boko Haram. It is historical. In the military, we know that when this type of problem starts, it is a problem. We say rebels with a cause. You better don’t sleep. You better take it very seriously. They may be like a rag tag army now, but a rag tag army that is killing seven people, 10 people at a time, it is no more a rag tag. What is the real problem? They are talking about poverty, nature of our polity, people recruiting thugs and abandoning them. Meanwhile, Boko Haram is talking about religion and we are dismissing it. The religious aspect of it is not what we can really throw away. I think we really have to find a time when we are going to sit at the table and talk to the handlers of Boko Haram and the people who live with them and explain to them that this is a sect that is embedded in the society. And that is always the beginning of guerilla warfare. They are getting themselves into a place where people will respect them, fear them and where they can do whatever they like. It takes years to do it. And this has been going on for some time. When they finally do that, they will then become urban guerilla and the rest of us are in problem. The urban guerilla does not want to take over government. He just does not want the rest of us to sleep. It is as simple as that. You won’t be able to walk into the supermarket with confidence. You will not enter train with confidence or aircraft with confidence because somebody can blow things off. You don’t have to offend him. We are all enemies. I don’t know what is happening in Abuja and how many people are meeting and looking at these things. This is not a matter you look at militarily alone, you look at it politically. You have to go back to history to look at how these matters were dealt with. Don’t forget about IRA. Prime Ministers would say, you don’t talk to rebels, terrorists, until the burnt and destroyed important places. They blew up the airport, part of the airport. These things were happening in Ireland. It took them more than twenty years to do that. London was not comfortable. So, we don’t have that luxury at all. We just have to find an answer to it.
Some people are calling for the break up of the country...
When people are frustrated, they say all sorts of things, but we don’t want Nigeria to break up. But we don’t want Yoruba to be parasitic. They say bigger tribes are oppressing other smaller tribes. Yoruba is a big tribe. Then, they think Yoruba is a culprit. That does not mean that we should go ahead and break the country. Bu honestly, if we are not careful, it might be worse than a break up. Ango says they can look after themselves as northerners. It is very true. There is no part of this country that cannot look after itself. What has happened was that somebody spoilt us by putting oil money on the table all the times and people go there and collect. And we run a deficit budget. Can you believe that this last budget had over N1 trillion deficit? Meanwhile, in a spate of three months, they had located over N1 trillion looted by a few people; permanent secretaries, parastatal bosses, politicians. Why running a deficit budget when trillions are in private pockets illegally in their bedrooms? This system is killing the country. It is our duty to get together and salvage it. Some people are fed up with it that they will not want to hear the name Nigeria. If you present your passport to an immigration officer in any country, including Ghana, he looks at you and thinks that it is from Oluwole. That is how big we are in the world.
What are Yoruba leaders doing about the Yoruba language that is dying?
We have a Yoruba Academy, thanks to the younger people who have that dream to resuscitate the language. We have not forced ourselves to use the language. The constitution does not prevent us, our lawmakers from using the language in our region, in their discussions, debates, or even producing Yoruba Hansard, which we might translate into English for other people to understand. It does not prevent us from using it in our schools. I think it is a psychological problem that we have. We just have to work at it.
I know that, within the Yoruba hierarchy, people are torched by the possibility that our language, our culture, our tradition, some of the things we inherited, especially our prowess in education, are beginning to fizzle away under their watch. If we are let on our own and we don’t have this oil money coming every month, or week, and we have to rely on our own strength the way we did before, people are going to get sober and make sacrifice. How can I get N3million a month and i will be sober? It is not very likely. That is what is going on everywhere. The councillor that represents me in my village earns a bigger salary than the principal of the Anglican Grammar School that is in the front of my house. That school has 2,000 kids, JSS and SSS. The wife of the councillor, the first lady, earns more than the principal. That is madness. In that council, we have people who can represent us without taking salary and make more impact on the lives of villagers more than the councillor who did not pass his school certificate exams. It is all over Nigeria. When there is no money to maintain thugs, there will be no thug.
Is Yoruba integration a minus to national integration?
I am happy to be a Yoruba man because we are always forward looking. We try hard to tackle problem before it becomes very knotty. People who live in contiguous villages talk with each other and think about how to benefit one another, share water and resources. It is better than to do things individually. That is not Yoruba way of doing things. I think it is a precursor of what should be happening in other regions and eventually the country. It is in our interest to integrate through infrastructural development.
Election is holding in 2015 and Americans are warning that it may also be a year of Armageddon for Nigeria. What is your reaction?
I read Cambell and saw the report. If we are honest people, does somebody has to warn us from America? We can see it ourselves. It is coming. It is staring us in the face. What facet of our life does not point to disintegration? Is it the economy, politics, cultural standing? Are we holding the rightful position in the world? Do we get respect in the world? We just contested in the World Bank. I was laughing at our stupidity.

Boko Haram: National Security Adviser blames PDP

Gen. Azazi

The contribution of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency was exposed yesterday by an unlikely source.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Owoeye Azazi, said the party’s brand of politics, especially the way it picks its candidates for elections, is partly responsible for the menace now being visited on Nigeria and Nigerians by the Islamic sect.
“A situation where a political party insists on fielding a particular candidate over another to get a massive win, and that if they get that massive win the party has arrived, is the source of the problem,” Azazi said at the second South-South Economic Summit in Asaba.
Azazi, who himself has been widely criticised for the inability of the security agencies to put Boko Haram in check, added: ”How come the extent of violence did not increase in Nigeria until the public declaration of the people that were going to contest election by the PDP? And I would also like to say this, though the PDP people will not agree with me, they would like to attack me, but I hope they do it in private: PDP got it wrong from the beginning by saying Mr A can go and Mr B cannot go, and these decisions were made without looking at the constitution.
“Is it possible that somebody was thinking that only Mr. A could win and that if he could not win, there would be problems in this society?
“Let’s examine all those issues to see whether the level of violence in the North East just escalated because Boko Haram suddenly became better trained, better equipped and better funded or something else was responsible.
“And in any case, how did they get it all done? It takes very long for somebody to be a sniper. But I can assure you that Boko Haram can garner that level of sophistication over time, if it has not got it already.
“There are a lot we know that they are doing and there are a lot that could be done to address the problem. But then, I must also be quick to point out that today, even if all the leaders that we know in Boko Haram are arrested, I don’t think the problem would end, because there are tentacles.
“I don’t think that people would be satisfied because the situation that created the problems are not just about the religion, poverty or the desire to rule Nigeria. “I think it’s a combination of everything.
“Except you address all those things comprehensively, it would not work.
“It is not enough for us to have a problem in 2009 and you send soldiers to stop the situation, then tomorrow you drive everybody underground.
“You must look at what structures you need to put in place to address the problem holistically.
“There are economic problems in the North, which are not the exclusive prerogative of Northerners.
“We must solve our problems as a country.”
“Some people were wearing white garments 22 years ago and calling themselves Republic of Afghanistan in the north, and some people said they were only keeping to their religion and that there was nothing wrong.
“We try to play the ostrich and think things will blow over. I believe we should stop the politicisation of security issues in Nigeria.
“I believe there is a strong element of politicisation of the crisis, where some people were assured that they would win 80 per cent and they did not win.
‘’Is it not amazing that after the elections, the Boko Haram (sect) became better trained, better armed and better funded? But I can assure you that Boko Haram could not have that kind of sophistication without a backing.
“Today, if you arrest all the leaders of Boko Haram, I don’t think the problem will end, because the situation that created the sect has not been tackled e.g poverty and the desire (of some people) to rule Nigeria. These issues cannot be isolated unless they are handled comprehensively.”
Azazi said the present security challenge in the country was getting complicated on account of the 2015 election with different interest groups desperate to have it their way.
He called for economic empowerment and enlightenment of the masses with a view to checking poverty and crimes.

Why I can’t pray for Jonathan -Pastor Bakare

Written by Nurudeen Oyewole & Femi Akinola.

The convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and Vice Presidential candidate of Congress for progressive Change (CPC), Pastor Tunde Bakare, in this interview, spoke on the planned protest over the implementation of the subsidy probe report, the alliance between ACN and CPC ahead of 2015 elections, among other issues. Excerpts:

At your last press briefing, the Save Nigeria Group gave ultimatum to federal government and also said it planned to protest if those fingered in the fuel subsidy probe are not prosecuted. Why do you want to embark on this protest?

We said at the press conference that we gave two weeks ultimatum to Federal Government to put concrete steps in place, such that those who stole the country blind will not go scot-free nor the matter swept under the carpet. We are not trying to stampede government to take a decision. Even from the way we couched the thing, we made it clear that this should not be like any other probe report. The power probe, nothing has come out of it up till today. Instead government is still investing in it without checking the excesses that go into it. To answer your question directly, on or before the expiration of the two weeks ultimatum, we are going to come out with facts that will really show Nigerians that those in leadership positions in this country double-speak and have double standards. Our emphasis is that this particular probe report doesn’t go the way of others.

Several other probes that exposed corruption have been dumped by government, without any civil society organization raising an eyebrow. What exactly makes this different?

Like the power probe, the aviation probe and all other probes, they all came out of the endemic corruption in our system. But they didn’t touch the lives of the citizens directly the way the fuel hike did. They were not as strong as the fuel subsidy issue was. I’m not saying they do not matter at all because eventually, it is still the people that will suffer for it if anything goes wrong in all of these. For instance, they said there would be increment in electricity tarrif. If those who were stealing the country blind had not been doing that, there won’t have been any reason for the new hike. If there had been a stipulated law in Nigeria or a recognized punishable law, then those who go ahead to steal the country’s money would have been more reasonable and avoid getting engaged in endemic corruption.

I’m sure you know that I’m a preacher. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes Chapter 8:11 that when judgment is not speedily executed, the hearts of men are certainly going to do evils. Ultimately, because of the excesses that took place in the power sector without anybody found culpable, citizens are now going to pay a higher tariff. If any services should be paid for, it should be for a service being rendered. If we had uninterrupted power supply and you are asked to pay tariff increment, not many people will grumble because they have seen things working.

The difference between the power probe and fuel subsidy probe is that the fuel subsidy touches the skins of every Nigerian. We were paying N65 before and all of a sudden we started paying like double of the same price or even more. Everyone said, ‘ha! enough is enough.’ But for you to now refuse to do anything on the report submitted by the probe panel is terrible? We would not allow that to happen! Every Nigerian who has conscience will not allow it to be swept under the carpet. The money earmarked was not known to many people. But this particular one has caught the attention of everybody. Every Nigerian knew that there was allocation in the year 2011 for subsidy, which was N240 billion. And without appropriation, we have spent N3.1 trillion. The House put the excess at N1.3 trillion. In decent climes, that is not an issue to be swept under the carpet. It must be accounted for. That is all we are saying. There is not much (turanci) in it.

Don’t you fear that government would say you’re being sponsored by the opposition again?

Let’s make something very simple for ourselves. You see, when many people speak, they don’t take certain things into consideration. And the question to ask is, in presidential system of government, where is the opposition? We are not running a parliamentary system where there are members of the opposition in your cabinet. What you are simply saying is that Nigerian people cannot express themselves because they belong to other parties than your own. There is no opposition. In the presidential system of government, there is no opposition because winners take it all. Were we in opposition when we marched through the streets of Abuja at a time Jonathan was being schemed out of power equation? President Yar’adua was alive but was ill and yet we took to the streets. Were we for, were we against? No, we stood on the part of the constitutionalism. Sometimes when I heard some people make this kind of comment, permit me to say, they are unintelligent. Who is opposition? What has opposition got to do with this? That you are not doing what you’re supposed to do is the reasons we took to the streets. And the judgment will be delivered on the 24th of this month as it affects what happened at Ojota when they rolled out tanks there.

You were in touch with President Jonathan. Have you attempted to reach him on this matter? If so, what was his response?

Do I need to contact the president? That’s my choice. It’s my freedom. Let me put it this way, do I need to contact the president on the need for him to sit down and do what he is allegedlly voted for? Save Nigeria Group is not a one-man show. You don’t go behind and be contacting the president on your own. If the Save Nigeria Group wants to meet with the President, we know how to put things across to him. But nobody has helped the blind by switching on the light and nobody helps the deaf by increasing the volume of music. All these ideas of haggling around Abuja, giving fat envelopes when you are returning and all that, are irritations to us. Let’s not get out of the main issue. The issue at stake is a public interest issue. How many people have contacted him and what have they gotten out of it?

Talking about going to Abuja, you may be seen as a different kind of Pastor. Others go to Abuja to pray for him, but you want to engage in a protest. Why?

Pastor Tunde Bakare does not hang around the corridors of power and those in government, because it is my choice. And you know what my choice is? Because I didn’t see Jesus pray for President. He is my role model. Show me in the Bible the number of those who were in the position of authority and Jesus went there and prayed for them, that’s one. Number two, is it a must that we should pray for those in government and authority? For me, what is paramount is for us to pray for peace because when you have peace, there would be growth and development. Those things are connected. We keep on praying for those in authority and yet nothing has changed. Pastor Tunde Bakare does not hang around the seat of government and be praying for government officials. If I can speak the truth to you, there is no point trying to reach you behind the curtain. In fact, some of those who are in the corridors of power do not even deserve the prayer of the saint.

General Muhammadu Buhari met Asiwaju Bola Tinubu last Sunday in Lagos and you were at the meeting. Can you tell us why the meeting took place and some of the issues discussed?

To the best of my knowledge, the two leaders of the parties have been talking even before the 2011 elections. And it is customary that parties seek ways of joining their resources together to win elections. It happens everywhere in the world. The Yoruba would say: ta ba nja, bi ti ka ku ko, meaning that “though we may be fighting yet we aren’t praying for any of us to die”. The CPC is not practising do-or-die politics. However, you may want to know what was discussed at that meeting. I think it is better you reach any of the two leaders. Either General Buhari or Tinubu himself. It should not be over sensationalised. We were coming from a Life Time award given to General Buhari. We finished late and it was around 12 midnight when we got there. We didn’t even spend up to 15 minutes or maximum of 30 minutes there. That couldn’t have been anything political. If I know you and I’m passing through your neighbourhood, I can decide to say ‘hi,’ to you. That was all that transpired.

Come 2015, will you say the CPC will merge with ACN to win power at the centre?

As far as I know, the party’s hierarchy has formed a reform committee to look into the past activities and prepare for the future. Until the committee finishes its assignment, anybody talking about CPC affairs is just shooting into the air and singing what he likes to say. When that committee finishes and submits its report and strategic position taken on how to move the party forward, then it would be made public. Until then, it is mere guesswork.

The Vice President just called on Boko Haram to dialogue with government, what do you say to this?

I will answer by using a Yoruba adage that says when your mother’s concubine is stronger and richer than your father, you call your father’s concubine, daddy. That’s my answer to that.

Do you see the Boko Haram insurgency as a plot by the North to destabilise Jonathan’s government?

Anybody who says that should prove it. I don’t know. There is a possibility but I don’t know because I’m not a party to that. Yes, in democracy, it is normal that changes take place. But there is a stipulation that even if there would be a change that may be when the president dies, resigns or is impeached. If any of this happens to Jonathan, he has a deputy that will take over from him. And if any of these also affects the vice, then the Senate President will take over and be acting in that capacity. So whosoever is planning to scuttle another person’s administration, such a person is only trying to inflict pain on himself and invariably, the people will suffer. I do not subscribe to violence. I’m not a violent person. I believe we would achieve more through peace and dialogue. If there are those who are using Boko Haram to scuttle his administration, such people are not doing anybody any good, whatsoever.

So if you are to advise the president on how to tackle the insurgence, what will be your advice?

Boko Haram . Some people call it BH. If you look at it, you will discover that there are many atrocities being carried out today, using the label, Boko Haram and yet they are not part of the original Boko Haram . The president said recently that there are members of Boko Haram in his government and every arm of government. That is, we have Boko Haram members in executive, legislature and judiciary. The president knows so much about Boko Haram that he should tell those of us who do not know.

But if you are the president, what are the likely steps you will take to address the insurgency?

When I find myself there, I will know what to do.

Would you want to be Buhari’s running mate in 2015, if Buhari stands for presidential election?

Today, May 11, 2012, sufficient for today is the evil thereon. There are so many challenges the nation is facing now that should preoccupy our minds now than what will happen in 2015. Is it that Nigerian people do not deserve better services than what they are getting now? How to tackle corruption should also be of paramount concern to us. If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us. In Nigeria, officials are not just corrupt but corruption has become official in Nigeria.

Every nation around us has something to celebrate, but we have nothing to. Ghana, for instance, is witnessing influx of business activities because of stable power supply. Fifty-two years after independence, Nigeria can’t even generate sufficient power supply that can serve one big state like Lagos. I mean, if Lagos is fully industrialized and all the industries are working to capacity, the entire power generation for the whole of the country won’t be sufficient enough to power Lagos. Many of our young graduates are not getting any employment. That shouldn’t have been. Those who are already thinking of 2015 are enemies of the country.

But in order not to look as if I’m shying away from your question, in 2011, I did not seek any post. I did not lobby for any elective post. I was just doing the bit I could do when I received a call from General Muhammdu Buhari to be his running mate. I went through lots of thinking and consultations with some good people of Nigeria. So we agreed to give the chance a try and that was it. So, if in 2015 such opportunity presents itself again, it will surely go through the same process. And if I’m not called upon, there is no problem. All along, I have never been involved in politicking or at any political party until now. I am not a die- in-the-wool politician, someone who wouldn’t do anything because there is no politics. I have a lot in my hands. All I’m interested in is to see a Nigeria that works in my lifetime.

CPC/ACN merger is to save Nigeria -Osita Okechukwu

Mr Osita Okechukwu was the governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Enugu State during the April 2011 general elections. In this exclusive interview with Sunday Trust, Okechukwu spoke extensively on recent talks on possible merger of the CPC, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), among other parties. Excerpts:
Can you give an insight on the recent resumption of alliance talks between the CPC and the ACN?

The CPC set up a Renewal Committee last year to look inward to see what we did during the last general elections which we could have done differently. And this issue of alliance or merger or whatever you can call it was very topical on the agenda and luckily the leadership of the CPC and the Board of Trustees (BOT) are in support of the new move. Let’s take it that you are aware of the pregnancy that was aborted.

Let’s take it that this is the real pregnancy (laughter). We are trying to contrive a new pregnancy and we are hoping that it will be delivered safely. We regretted the abortion of the previous pregnancy between the ACN and the CPC. But in doing this now, they say, necessity is the mother of invention, General Muhammadu Buhari as a patriot and democrat and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his own group as patriots and democrats, they have seen what they could do differently and they said okay how do we now help Nigeria? As of today Nigeria is sliding dangerously towards a failed state. Nigeria is not a failed state yet but it is sliding towards that direction.

Is the ANPP being considered in the proposed alliance?

Yes, we are talking to them because we are saying that if we believe Nigeria has to be saved, the best way to save it (Nigeria) is through democratic court and the democratic court is through voting. And if we need votes to confront a monster that PDP has become, unveiling the Federal Government of Nigeria with the oil revenue; proceeds from the taxation; custom duties, it means the only principled maxim is that we must unite this time around. So, a large number of ACN members and a large number of CPC members agreed that there are things we could have done differently.

In 2011, it was quite clear that both the ACN and the CPC had an understanding that if they unite, they would be able to vote out PDP. But with this power sharing, we don’t know whether it is an issue now because that was what caused the collapse of the alliance?

No. It wasn’t. I will tell you what caused it. It wasn’t about power sharing. If I understand your meaning of power sharing, it is either the ACN is saying they want to be President and the CPC is saying they want to be President. Nobody did that. In all deference and honesty to the ACN, the party never did that. They knew that in political elementary analysis, the ACN is not at par with the CPC because it is a stronger party.

So, the ACN was very clear about that. Even when we were talking about the move for a mega party, nobody ever said that General Buhari would not be presidential candidate. They concede the fact that he has uncommon integrity and that he is one person who can stop corruption. Everybody agreed on that. It wasn’t part of the reasons for the collapse. The collapse happened because the General himself said that since he entered politics in 2002, some people had contrived this dangerous trend of religious bigotry. He said for God’s sake, can we escape from that? He wanted to correct that notion....By my understanding, that was what happened. So it’s not a question that the ACN said they wanted to present a presidential candidate.

But the difference now is that we agree that given the plight of Nigeria sliding dangerously towards a failed state, each person, each group should, first of all, forget about their own special interest and lay a real strategic foundation that will get the members of the CPC in Oshogbo, Ogbomosho to also key into the alliance with the members of the ACN in Oshogbo and Ogbomosho. The same thing will happen in Daura, Mubi, Oran in Akwa-Ibom and Udi Local Government. Luckily, don’t forget that CPC is a very new party, and there was 2011 election, so there wasn’t this kind of time to do a broad strategic thinking. So the good luck we have is that General Buhari has already gotten all members to agree on this position.

There is this thinking that Mallam Nasir el-Rufai is going beyond his mandate in the CPC. What is your take on this?

Naturally, there has always been that kind of misconception. A lot of people do not know who General Buhari actually is as regard democracy. He is one person that if he had a meeting with the core group of the CPC, he wouldn’t insist that everybody must say something. But a lot of people do not know. They thought Buhari will just say this is what will happen and it happens the next day. No. And el-Rufai himself, in all private discussions I have held with him, his major position is how do we save this country. So every authority that exists is based on proper consultations with the leadership of the CPC headed by Buhari, the Chairman of the party Tony Momoh, the Secretary and others. But the point of the matter is that I used to antagonise El-Rufai myself. I had a shoot-out with him in 2006 in America’s Ambassador’s house because he led the government and I led the opposition. But the point is that he is a very misunderstood person and it becomes very easy for people to theorise that. More so, a lot of people did not know that el-Rufai wasn’t really poor before he became a Minister. He was a top Quantity Surveyor. He consulted for a lot of projects in this country. A lot of people did not know that.

But the point of the matter is that when somebody is thinking ahead of you, your tendency is to think that he wants to advance himself. And I don’t see el-Rufai thinking like that. One, none of el-Rufai’s friends have said that they are idiots. They know that we, the CPC is not in the South. And they are also aware that if tomorrow, Jonathan decides he is not running and the CPC is calling for a new candidate, won’t our calculation change? If Jonathan says he is running, won’t our calculation be determined by his ambition to run? We are all aware of this. Unluckily, Jega has also put INEC as a department of PDP.

We are aware that PDP will fix the timetable. And if they fix the timetable and the presidential election come first as usual, it may mean that we may have to be strategic enough. So we are open to all these unintended variables that will determine who runs and who will not run. So I do not see El-Rufai actually thinking like that and he never told me as well. The little he has done, I appreciate it a lot. Some in the party are not happy. Yes, I agree. Some may be doing that because they never see him on the desk of the accountant trying to collect money to run certain activities on behalf of the party. Some of these are drawbacks. Between I and you, both privately and publicly, from what I discussed with General Buhari and Mallam El-Rufai, they don’t have any discordant tune on this issue. If you notice as well, you will notice that Bakare was there during Buhari’s trip to Lagos. So the group is working as a team. They are more concerned about the survival of the country. What they are interested in and on which we all have agreed on is that this country must be saved from the brink of collapse.

One major concern is that few months, weeks or days to the election, the personal agenda that led to the collapse of previous alliance talks resurfaced again among the main contenders. Don’t you foresee that development again?

Your question is very relevant. It is relevant in the sense that these are human element factors. But that is why I told you that the little effort we are putting in today is to block those areas that might prop up that. And I have told you that the ACN has been very generous in this participation. If, as I said, Jonathan decides to run, by then we will have finalised everything. The party will now say who among this group has a better chance because we are going to study the environment. If Jonathan is not running, the activities go to the North. For God’s sake, you won’t go to Enugu state or Modakeke to bring somebody. So these are issues that will be resolved as we move along.

We don’t have any fear that the issue of who becomes the presidential or governorship candidate in 2015 will become a problem. I also accept their fears but don’t forget that the CPC leadership that failed on her own side to get the pregnancy to be delivered were also burnt. The ACN leadership that also allowed the pregnancy to be aborted and went and voted Jonathan had seen that they threw away their votes.

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Written by Muideen Olaniyi Sunday, 13 May 2012 05:03

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Is the ANPP being considered in the proposed alliance?

There is this thinking that Mallam Nasir el-Rufai is going beyond his mandate in the CPC. What is your take on this?

2015: North’s governors back Buhari’s warning

By Tony Akowe

Gen. Buhari

Again, certain facts are understood; that if this happens, that would happen... May be those who may be too concerned (about what Gen Buhari said) have not looked at what other eminent Nigerians have been talking about. I saw one that said Nigeria is going to be Somalianised...

There is nothing wrong in Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s warning against rigging of the 2015 general elections, the North’s governors said yesterday.

Gen. Buhari, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 general election, stirred the hornet’s nest when he said violence will greet rigging of the 2015 polls.

The Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chided him. But the largest opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), backed the general whom it said could air his view freely.

The CPC also supported the former Head of State’s position, saying PDP should not intimidate Nigerians.

Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, who is also the chairman of the Northern Nigeria Governors Forum, told reporters in Kaduna yesterday after reading the communiqué of the 19 governors’ meeting that Gen. Buhari did not err by warning against rigging of elections.

He said: “Again, certain facts are understood; that if this happens, that would happen. I think it is a natural thing to do. May be those who may be too concerned (about what Gen Buhari said) have not looked at what other eminent Nigerians have been talking about.

“I saw one that said Nigeria is going to be Somalianised. I saw another one who has been talking like there would be war tomorrow. So, for me, that statement should be taken on its own value. Do not go and do bad election. I think that is the thing I will take from there.

“All of us who are involved in elections - political parties, contestants and the voters themselves - must be careful so that whatever we do, the semblance of good will be there. But, again, like I said, certain people are in a position that certain vocabularies they use, they should be careful about. So, both ways let us take it on our own stride and ensure that future elections are seen to be transparent and are seen to be good”.

Dr. Aliyu said even though people have various ways of communicating their opinion, the statement made by the former Head of State should be taken in its own value.

The governor, however, cautioned eminent Nigerians against making inflammatory statements capable of affecting the nation’s fragile unity and security. He said Nigerians must be concerned about the unity and development of the country in all its ramifications.

He noted that the central message of the former Nigerian leader is that stakeholders should strive to ensure that there is free and fair election, adding that all those involved in conducting elections must be careful in whatever they do so that the outcome will be transparent.

With the Niger State governor were other governors.

He was silent on Buhari’s threat of bloodbath, if the elections are not free and fair.

In the communiqué, the governors expressed concern about the growing insecurity in the region and pledged to intensify efforts at finding a lasting solution to the problems by reaching out to all stakeholders.

The governors said they had decided to reposition the forum to be more effective and provide good governance, better understanding and cooperation among members.

Speaking at the opening session of the meeting, Aliyu said:”My fellow colleagues, it is very disturbing to note the emerging trend of distractive political activities in the nation, ostensibly to prepare the ground for the actualisation of some people’s political ambition in 2015.

“Whereas it is legitimate for anybody to aspire to any leadership position, subject to the provision of our constitution, we must remember that 2015 or any date for that matter, belongs to Almighty Allah (SWT) who decrees what happens to individuals or society at any given period. We should, therefore, leave 2015 or beyond unto Almighty Allah to do as pleases Him.

“We should recognise that the interest of the people is paramount and we must use the political party platform to promote such interest in fulfillment of the campaign pledges made to the people. We need to rededicate ourselves to the service of our people, especially the underprivileged in the society.

“This is contingent on the fact that we have the mandate of the people and that Allah will hold us accountable for our actions and inactions. Let us resist the temptation to be drawn into issues that may only cause us to lose focus in serving the people or gaining the everlasting favour of our creator.

“If our present opportunity as governors and leaders cannot earn us paradise, it should not send us to hell. Above all, we must do everything possible to ensure that we enter 2015 as a peaceful and united constituent, Nigeria.”

Aliyu said it was unfortunate that insecurity had not abated; rather, it is worsening and attaining very alarming dimension, with attendant negative implications for the economic growth, development and image of the nation.

Nigeria, he said, is “passing through a very difficult phase in the history of the nation, a period that put our patriotism, nationalism, sincerity and responsibility collectively to test.

“This is the period that we have to demonstrate individually and collectively our abiding faith in our nation, when we must confront the common enemies of the nation, those who are sworn to destroying the spirit of nationhood through wanton destruction of lives and property.”

Aliyu praised the Federal Government for its readiness to dialogue on security issues with various interest groups, adding: “We should, therefore, encourage any individual or group that can make positive contributions to the peace building process, while at our own level, we should do everything possible to bring peace to reign in our states.”

ACN Tackles PDP over 2015 Poll

ACN’s Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Igbokwe

By Omololu Ogunmade

Lagos State chapter of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has lashed out at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over its recent “boast” that it will capture power in Lagos and other South-west states, in 2015 describing it as the continuation of its “usual boasts of serial failures.”

In a statement by the state’s Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, ACN advised “PDP to start atoning to the country for turning a rich and well endowed country into a cringing hell hole where life totters on the brinks after 13 years of unmitigated plunder.”

According to Igbokwe, the recent boast smacks of a “dull rehearse that advertises the abject lack of ideas and creativity for such a party,” saying the PDP knows nothing except to loot the treasury and capture every election via crude means.

“It is not surprising that the PDP is sounding like a cracked gramophone on its elusive desire to capture Lagos, a futile desire that is as old as the life of the tenuous democracy we are burdened with. It is not surprising that each fresh resolve to capture Lagos has been met with more resounding electoral defeat because the PDP thinks that it does not need to work for the hearts of Lagosians but want to capture them through its vile means of stealing every election in sight.

“Because the PDP is daft to the feelings of the people and blind to what makes Lagos unique, it continues to repeat such awkward resolve to ‘capture’ Lagos with each election only to meet more humiliating failures. Nigerians know that PDP does not believe that electoral victory or ‘capture’ as they fondly dub it, go with performance and this is the reason a party that has come to symbolise the grand failure of Nigeria as a nation still talks shamelessly of capturing Lagos, seen a beacon of hope and performance in Nigeria and still keeps a straight face after a joke,” the statement said.