tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609420023214212092024-03-05T11:48:54.309-08:00OkaibaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-17297203924194619722015-04-03T17:20:00.001-07:002015-04-03T17:20:26.003-07:00Across Cross River, Ayade’s Popularity Soars, Articles | THISDAY LIVE<a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/across-cross-river-ayade-s-popularity-soars/203534/#.VR8me7I7bj4.blogger">Across Cross River, Ayade’s Popularity Soars, Articles | THISDAY LIVE</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-81879727248579594882015-03-11T16:21:00.001-07:002015-03-11T16:21:43.339-07:00Across Cross River, Ayade’s Popularity Soars, Articles | THISDAY LIVE<a href="http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/across-cross-river-ayade-s-popularity-soars/203534/#.VQDNRCe6a0Y.blogger">Across Cross River, Ayade’s Popularity Soars, Articles | THISDAY LIVE</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-61337856777293170462014-01-27T18:56:00.001-08:002014-01-27T18:56:25.721-08:00APC and its concept of heroes and villains - Vanguard News<a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/apc-concept-heroes-villains/#sthash.YNornNCx.cmfs">APC and its concept of heroes and villains - Vanguard News</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-15521988891674303412014-01-26T15:08:00.001-08:002014-01-26T15:08:04.713-08:00PDP, APC : Two wrecked boats on rescue mission —1 - Vanguard News<a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/pdp-apc-two-wrecked-boats-rescue-mission-1/#sthash.CaHj9LkT.cmfs">PDP, APC : Two wrecked boats on rescue mission —1 - Vanguard News</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-7712664615845292782014-01-04T03:29:00.001-08:002014-01-04T03:29:40.186-08:00APC: The limit of audacity - Vanguard News<a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/apc-limit-audacity/#sthash.wpx2VqlZ.cmfs">APC: The limit of audacity - Vanguard News</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-65569756543253245982013-11-28T09:33:00.000-08:002013-11-28T09:33:16.378-08:00My Spouse And I: Why I won’t write a Will —Agbakoba<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em><strong>By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It all began way back in 1974 at the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, during what was then famous as ‘October Drive’, when the coy,
militaristic and young Olisa Agbakoba was literally cajoled into what would
later morph into an enviable union with the then youthful Miss Lillian Harlem.
For a young man who was weaned on the strict diet of discipline and who was
just smarting from the experience as a child-soldier fighting on the side of
Biafra, during the Nigerian Civil war, romance was considered more as a
frivolity for Agbakoba, now a frontline lawyer, an activist and a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).</span><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hinting that he had never had anything to do with a woman,
not until he met his would-be wife, Agbakoba reveals how the ice was eventually
thawed, paving the way for an intimate relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It all started at the University of Nigeria
Nsukka. Both of us were law students but I was a year ahead of her. It was
during the famous ‘October Drive’ or what is now known as ‘October Rush’ that
my best friend, Maxi Okwu, former factional chairman of CNPP, who was having a
great crush on my friend, Miss Ngozi Nwokolo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maxi came to me to do the ‘chasing’ or courtship for him. I
went to Ngozi and told her what my friend Maxi felt for her. She agreed and
said: ‘Okay, since you are bringing your guy for me, I am also bringing my
friend, Lillian for you.’ Incidentally, she became my wife. Before then, I had
never had a relationship, neither had I spoken to a lady in my entire life. Of
course, my father was a very tough and a strict disciplinarian. And so I learnt
to behave myself. So, Ngozi introduced me to Lillian Harlem, as she was then
known.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On his coyness, Agbakoba offers an insight: “Back then, I
was a very shy and withdrawn person and I was not used to the concept of
girlfriend. Besides I was a highly militaristic and no nonsense kind of guy. I
had fought on the side of Biafra during the civil war. I was a boy-soldier. So
women were not one of my strong strengths. I was too serious for myself.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIGGbp1wdrxth-qOOneuGRt0xjPEuiZ19JwZe5lILVgHo3mv0Y7AUajF__dfzAe6c1GvxGqmUCE3TD19IkA7R4Ah11_NCys-ebcQUOLoD6mBtfg2KVnydrRY1M-VfB0ksn6noMJoXd_5us/s1600/Agbakoba+&+Child+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIGGbp1wdrxth-qOOneuGRt0xjPEuiZ19JwZe5lILVgHo3mv0Y7AUajF__dfzAe6c1GvxGqmUCE3TD19IkA7R4Ah11_NCys-ebcQUOLoD6mBtfg2KVnydrRY1M-VfB0ksn6noMJoXd_5us/s320/Agbakoba+&+Child+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Gradually I had to tone down my hard mien. Even though the
war had ended in 1970, it was still fresh as late as 1974. So even while in the
university, I was still carrying on and thinking like a soldier than a civilian.
When people say soldiers are no-nonsense people, I understand exactly what they
mean.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Butterfly in my stomach</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Overwhelmed by a mixture of timidity, naïveté and
artlessness on issues of relationship, signs of goose bumps were evident as
Agbakoba awaited his ‘package’. “So when Ngozi said she was bringing her friend
to me, I knew I was trapped. And since I did not want to betray my friend,
Maxi, I knew there was no way out for me. I was terrified about how I was going
to manage the relationship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“At first, I did not know what to say or what to do. In
fact, it was my wife who had to take the initiative. I did not know what to
say. I was a bit timid and shy. Of course, it is the place of a man to do all
of the courting, the talking and what have you. But I could do none of that.
But slowly in the course of our four years of courtship, she bore with me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Taking it a notch higher</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Most marriages usually start with a proposal, but for
Agbakoba, theirs was way out of the ordinary. “There was no proposal. In fact,
she made me to be conscious of where we were going after we would have left the
university. After four years, we had bonded very well. So, it became a natural
process for me to know that we were going to take the relationship a notch
higher after our studies. So we did.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Distilling areas of commonalities and differences</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Besides their common background in law, both Agbakoba and
Lillian shared a lot more in common. “Being law students, we were involved in a
lot of academic and social activities that made us understand each other very
well. It was clear to us that we were heading into marriage and we got to know
that both of us were generally a quiet pair. We were very introverted and we
are still a very introverted couple. Neither of us is outgoing nor a party
person. Neither of us also is inherently genetically defective. There is a
commonality that exists between us. A lot of marriages fail today purely on
medically challenging issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“So courtship enables you to distil commonalities and
differences in marriage, which also allows you to decide whether, in spite of
the differences, you still want to forge ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What courtship does and what it did for us, was that we were able to
share a lot of things in common. So as we are entering the final act, the bonding
process is continuing until death do us part. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“In the first two to three years of our marriage (They got
married in 1979), my wife had a more stable income than me. And so she was the
one paying the rent and picking up some bills. And when I eventually came into
a much stronger means of income, nothing and absolutely nothing should stop her
from enjoying my wealth. After all, we are part and parcel of each other.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Running joint account</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In an age where marriage relationship is now more
highlighted by mistrust, suspicion and crass secrecy, the Agbakobas are like an
open book whose pages continue to flip in your face as you rummage for its
thematic thrust. He says: “If I drop dead today, my family continues because we
have a succession plan. We run a joint account. All our property are jointly
owned. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I am not going to write a will. But why should I, when I
have a wife? We have gone past husband and wife. We are now talking about a
transition. We know we will not live forever. So we are no longer keeping
things in our names. For me, a strong family unit should not even own a legal
document called a will for change to carry on. We have three daughters and we
are now preparing for a transition from us to them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“My wife has integrally been part of everything I do and
own. I have an irregular signature and because of that, my cheques are always
returned. It is my wife’s signature that the banks rather recognise and I have
no problem with that. She is the manager of the family’s resources and a
bursar. Kids go to her for money. They do not come to me. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I am shocked when my clients come crying to my office that
they do not know how to access their late husbands’ estate. How can you say you
have married somebody for 40 years, yet she cannot legally access your property
except through a court order? It is ridiculous.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>We have our imperfections<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is it always a bed of roses for the Agbakobas? He disagrees,
insisting that they as a couple also have their occasional spats. For them,
disagreement is part of the spice in a marriage. “Of course, we disagree all
the time. Are we not human beings? The issue is not about disagreeing but how
to reach an agreement after a disagreement. Disagreement is part of what
strengthens the relationship because you must have a point of view. A few days
ago, we were discussing the various political parties and she held a view and I
had mine. So I didn’t agree with her and she got annoyed and said: ‘This is why
I do not like talking about Nigeria with you’. There was a bit of tension and
quarrel in the house, but the following morning, she made my tea and life went
on. Any couple that says it does not quarrel is living a lie or living in
denial.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>The first to say sorry</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well, she says I am stubborn. While I may not say I am
sorry, my conduct shows. What if say I am sorry and I do not carry on as if I
am truly sorry? That is hypocritical apology. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-20079595234915145222013-11-02T07:03:00.000-07:002013-11-07T07:08:09.212-08:002015: Jonathan should honour the agreement he allegedly had with governors, if there is any-Ex-Kwara Governor Bola Latinwo<strong> By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong><br />
<strong> November 2, 2013</strong><br />
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<strong>Retired Group Captain Salaudeen Adebola Latinwo is former military governor of Kwara State, in the short-lived regime of General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) between 1984 and 1985. A native of Offa, Kwara State, Latinwo is an aviation technology and management specialist. He is also a public affairs analyst. In this interview with Deputy Editor, VINCENT AKANMODE and Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, Latinwo recalls his travails in the military which culminated in his early retirement from the Nigerian Airforce. He also laments the crippling corruption bedevilling the country, ditto the aviation sector and shares his perspective on the proposed national conference, even as he accuses President Goodluck Jonathan of suffering credibility deficit on account of his several failed accomplishments. Exercepts:</strong><br />
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<strong><a name='more'></a></strong><br />
You had always wanted to be an aeronautic engineer before you were cajoled against your wish, by the late Sardauna of Sokoto and the then Premier of Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, to get enlisted into the Nigerian Airforce. How much of your dream would you say you eventually realised?<br />
The point was that as a young man growing up, there was always that ambition of wanting to be a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or an engineer. The engineering we knew then was aeronautic and everyone wanted to be an aeronautic engineer. Fortunately for some of us, there was this call then by the Sardauna of Sokoto to be part of the young airforce that was being put together then for the country. While some of us thought the opportunity was something that had to do with the building of an aircraft, others thought it was about the military.<br />
Initially, some of us were reluctant because we did not want to have anything to do with the military. But somehow, the Sardauna of Sokoto recognised the fact that the Northern part of the country needed to be strongly represented in the air force. And so, he started looking for young men with the potential to be enlisted. We were called to the Government House in Kaduna and convinced to take advantage of the opportunity provided we were qualified. It was like a father talking to you and that was how about two or three of us were shortlisted and taken to Germany for the training.<br />
It was when we got to Germany that we realised that it was a military affair, when they started issuing us military uniforms. When we saw that it had more to do with the military than the building of aircraft, some of us insisted on returning home. We made it clear that it was not something we wanted to do. But we were persuaded to stay and we did. We were told then that being an air force officer was all about prestige, power and authority.<br />
So, to answer your question, I will say that I did not, as a matter of fact, realise my aeronautic engineering ambition. But some of my children have surpassed that with PhD in aerospace engineering.. In fact, my last child has a Ph.D in aerospace engineering.<br />
Did any of your children take after you militarily?<br />
No, but they have been able to excel in their various chosen careers. When you remember the terrible experience some of us had leading to the premature end of my career as an air force officer, it was not something to encourage the children to voluntarily to take after me in terms of career. But despite everything, I still remain grateful to God for His love.<br />
It is obvious that you are still seething with anger and resentment. Do you still hold the grudge against those you feel were part of your travails and premature exit from the air force?<br />
It was not exactly about anger, but about unfilled career aspiration. It could be saddening when you remember how you were cajoled into starting something that was initially not part of your life’s desire only to see it, having taken the bold move, terminated abruptly in what I will call the prime of mine youth. At 42, I was a Group Captain, but I would not say that was how early I wanted my career to come to an end. It was a painful experience to find oneself roped into something you knew nothing about and I was faced with the threat of my life being brutally taken away for no just cause. And by a stroke of divine providence, my life was spared.<br />
Of course, as a human being, you are expected to hold a grudge. But when you realise where the opposition and hate is coming from, what could one do? It came from the very top level because some people wanted power at all costs and in so doing, they stopped at nothing to actualise and retain it, even if it meant doing away with those perceived as standing in the way. This kind of thing is often very prevalent in a developing country such as ours where someone must pull two or three people down through blackmail and conspiracy just to grab power.<br />
With that being said, I took everything that happened to me as part of my sacrifice that I needed to give to Nigeria as a developing country. I have since moved on because as long as I remain alive, life must go on. One must learn to put aside grudges and move on in life because the attributes you have will always assist you to forge ahead to the envy of those who do not want you to succeed. It was not an easy experience to be forced out of what you know and love all of your life into a world you hardly understood their language. A world where people tell you they are coming while they are going.<br />
A lot of people would want to attribute your travails and subsequent exit from the force as part of the consequence of the military incursion into the political governance of the country. Would you say that was your own price for the military involvement in politics?<br />
There is always a misconception in that regard. My understanding is that the military had to step in when there was excessive corruption and ineptitude in the system and they did that for a reason. Unfortunately, in the course of trying to restore sanity in the system, some people had personal ambition and agenda which tended to subsume the larger mission for the intervention.<br />
My answer to your question is to try to assess the military by narrowing it down to regimes rather than the military as a whole. Every regime must be broken down and assessed by whatever contributions it made while it was in power rather than by wrongly generalising the military. The military incursion was more of a necessary action to better the lot of the country. It was true that some regimes came and twisted everything to zero level and squandered the respect the people had for the military as an entity.<br />
Whether this is true or not, there was the perception that the country would not be where it is today if the regime under which you served had endured a little while longer. How correct is this perception?<br />
I think it is matter of personal opinion because nobody knew what would have happened after one and a half years. Sincerely speaking, for the one and a half years that the Muhammadu Buhari’s regime lasted, it was straightforward and focused. It came out with the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), the queue culture, the monthly sanitation culture, among other policies meant to reorient and mobilise the people and galvanise that nationalistic fervour in them. The moment a leader is able to manage the people in the way that they should act, they will be able to see a future where they will not think of stealing public money and doing those things that will bring the name of the country to shame. It was apparent that people admired and embraced the policies the regime of General Buhari was instituting. But unfortunately somebody thought otherwise and decided to alter the regime.<br />
What is your comment on the alleged highhandedness of that regime?<br />
No, it was not highhanded. There was no doubt that there was a lot of corruption and embezzlement within the system and the administration said: ‘We heard this and that about your corrupt practices.’ So, the onus was on the politicians to prove that they were not corrupt. But in life generally, sometimes you need to do certain things to galvanise actions from the populace. That was precisely what the regime did at the time. In life also, you cannot sit down and have things too easy with you. If you desire an orderly society, you must be ready to pay a price. That was the price we insisted the Nigerian society must pay. If trading in cocaine was your business and we found out that it was destroying our image internationally, it meant therefore, that you could lose your life by doing business in cocaine. As a matter of fact, that tended to frighten people. I think that was one of the few things people saw as being highhanded.<br />
It was rather unfortunate that those who succeeded in pulling the regime down were key members of the same regime. That, in itself, highlighted the personal ambition that was at play. I have read about a country which found out that an issue like religion was becoming too difficult to manage and it had to hands off religion as a policy of state for 10 years to concentrate on issues that were of economy. For 10 to 15 years, nobody talked about religion. That is how a nation is built. It must be built on sacrifice from all and sundry, both the leadership and the lead.<br />
Given your revulsion for corruption, how do you react to the N255 million armoured car scandal surrounding the Minister of Aviation?<br />
By now, the President should have asked her to step aside until investigations are completed. Stella Oduah is one out of about 170 million Nigerians. Neither the country nor the Ministry of Aviation will grind to a halt if she is shown the door. Even if she was the one who founded the PDP, as far as it has become a party for everyone, it is no longer her party. Therefore, giving her the boot is not something that requires long contemplation. Of course, she could be brought back after the investigation if she is found not culpable. There is no point pampering her and appearing to be glossing over the scandal.<br />
Aviation is a serious sector. It is like medicine where if you put a quack gynaecologist as your brother or sister in place of an expert, all the patients will die one after another. So, in aviation, you do not put anybody as minister simply because the person is close to you. It will be a recipe for air disaster. The moment corruption has crept into the sector where a minister is exposed to such temptations as gifts of armoured cars, then, there is real and present danger. That is what we are witnessing. (The minister, however, on Thursday denied that the cars were bought for her).<br />
Still on corruption, the regime which you were a part of postured to be fighting corruption at the time. How would you defend the allegation of ’53 Suit cases’ against that regime and which no response was offered until it was sacked?<br />
In my mind, I think people got it wrong on the issue of the 53 suit cases. Well, I was not at the headquarters then, but what I gathered was that the father of the ADC to the head of state was returning to the country and he (ADC) was at the airport to assist him with his luggage. I really don’t think there were up to 53 suit cases. But the whole thing was blown out of proportion and out of mischief.<br />
I knew both General Buhari (rtd) and the late General Tunde Idiagbon very well. They were strict, honest and distinguished gentlemen who operated a zero-tolerance for graft and sleaze. These were men who did not know what was going on at the airport. If his ADC’s father was returning to the country and the boy was at the airport to assist him, I don’t see what is wrong with that.<br />
Do not forget that this is a country where people take advantage of situations just to blackmail you. And this particular incident could not have been an exception. Even though I was at Ilorin then, I was not fascinated by the story because there was no substance in it. It was more of making a mountain out of a molehill. Beyond this singular incident, I do not think there was any incident that you could lay hands on and say this was what that regime did in terms of compromising itself.<br />
I was part of that regime and it was one that was honorable, focused and determined to straighten issues. If you look at the character of somebody like General Buhari, you will understand that he is someone with a very strong personality. He is passionate about what he upholds. It is this passion that has been driving him to see if he can turn things round for the country, if allowed the second chance now that he is in politics. Buhari has so much to offer this country and he is propelled by this self-belief and determination. Judging him from his military performance, Buhari is more than capable. But as a politician, I cannot say because that is quite a different constituency altogether. He is not one who listens to gossip. I just hope and pray that he will be allowed the chance one day to offer his service in a leadership position.<br />
Have you been in touch with him ever since his administration was terminated?<br />
I have not been in touch with him. Sincerely no! There was really no personal relationship or close relationship. It was purely official. He was my boss as a senior officer and head of state.<br />
If Buhari believes he has something to offer, do you also believe that he’s got something to offer?<br />
Well, given the circumstances we found ourselves, we need somebody who is very firm. For now, I do not know of any. The only challenge is the difference in circumstances. At first, he operated under the military, but is it the same circumstance now? No. that is where there could be a constraint. If we have to stay together as a country, then we need somebody as firm and honest as Buhari. I think he has got the attributes. This is not to say that I am recommending him for anything or canvassing for him. So, you have to get me right.<br />
Some of your colleagues are in politics either in elective or appointive capacity. What has kept you away from politics?<br />
My own way or my attitude to politics is quite different from other people’s approach to it. I knew I could not fit into the brand of politics being played here. I like doing things in an honorable way. Our politicians are people who say one thing and turn round to do the other. I am someone who stands on his honour. I know places where people find it uncomfortable when they see people like me around them because they know that I operate on the side of truth.<br />
I have since made up my mind not to be involved in serious politics but to be making contributions when asked upon. I do not want to be involved in active politics. Maybe the opportunity will come one day, but if it does not come, maybe my children will be the ones to take it up.<br />
Some people are already expressing a sense of foreboding ahead of 2015 because of the opposition to the return bid by Mr. President and the likely backlash this will trigger. Do you nurse this fear as well?<br />
No. I do not nurse the fear. As a matter of fact, I understand there is an alleged agreement he purportedly went into with some people. I do not know how true this is. But if there existed such an agreement, for me, it is only honorable to honour it. It might be difficult to say there was no agreement, because politicians of the Nigerian hue hardly do anything or go into something without an agreement. So to turn round and say there was no agreement is unacceptable. If the atmosphere was friendly, cordial and involved two to three men and you accepted it, then it is only honorable to abide by it. But if you decide to bring the law or constitution into it, it becomes unmanageable because you have defaulted in your honorable position to honour what you conscionably went into. There is no basis to make recourse to law or constitution because you did not remember the law when you went into an agreement.<br />
He will be looking for crisis, anarchy if he reneges on an agreement he purportedly went into. I recalled talking about the manner I was retired with my wife and I told her that if this was the sacrifice we had to make to keep the country together, then we had to let go what they did to me. That was how we put the whole thing behind us. This is the way leaders should look at issues. They should learn to look at issues beyond themselves in the overall interest of the country.<br />
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<!-- .entry /--><span style="display: none;"><a href="http://thenationonlineng.net/new/tag/governors/" rel="tag">governors</a> <a href="http://thenationonlineng.net/new/tag/jonathan/" rel="tag">Jonathan</a></span><span class="updated" style="display: none;">2013-11-02</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-64627629280806082032013-11-01T14:20:00.002-07:002013-11-01T14:20:41.716-07:00Senators don’t earn bigger salaries than ministers and judges –Senate’s spokesman Abaribe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</div>
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Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is the Senate Committee Chairman on Information. He was also the deputy to former Governor Orji Uzo Kalu in Abia State from 1999 to 2002. He had a frosty working relationship with Kalu and survived three impeachment attempts. In 2007, he was elected the Senator representing Abia South Senatorial District. He was a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant for Abia State in 2011. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, Abaribe relives his trying times as deputy governor, saying that he was naïve at the time. He also speaks about the Nigerian project, insisting that the Igbo nation has not been fairly treated in the national scheme of things. Excerpts:<a name='more'></a><br />
A lot of Nigerians have advocated a sovereign national conference but the President opted for a national conference, which the National Assembly endorsed. Why this conference when similar ones had offered nothing in the end?<br />
If you recall the last NBA Conference in Calabar, the Senate President reiterated the need for a national conference. And it was on the September 17 when we resumed for the 2014 legislative year that Mr. President, in his speech welcoming senators back from their vacation, also reiterated the need for a national discourse, so to say.<br />
Let me say that it is necessary at this point for us to engage ourselves in a discussion. The reason for the discussion is that we seem now to have got into a position where people, rather than talk to each other, are settling issues through violence. In every part of the country, what we are seeing is violence from one end to the other. Things that could be resolved by mere discussion and seeing another person’s point of view, we just try to resolve them with people taking extreme positions.<br />
The essence of democracy is to be able to see the other person’s point of view, aggregate it and be able to reach some form of accommodation if we have to all live together. The only way to do that is by having a discussion. That is why when the Senate President mooted it, the Senate was behind it. And once the President also agreed and announced it during the Independence Day broadcast, the Senate quickly endorsed that position.<br />
The bottom line, of course, is this: it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war, like the late British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, once declared. That is exactly where we are now.<br />
But why is the word ‘sovereign’ so dreaded by political office holders as well as lawmakers?<br />
It is because of the word ‘sovereign’. We are operating a system presently where we have the sovereign state of Nigeria with three arms of government. When you now wish to introduce another sovereign, what that means is that you are willingly giving away the sovereignty that is already embedded in the established structure of government. No two sovereigns can exist side by side. It is either you have the sovereign that is already embedded in the constitution, that we are already running, or you abrogate it and bring in another one.<br />
Sovereign national conferences happen in countries where you have already decided that you no longer have a country; you just want to have a means to secede. If it is a question for us to sit together and discuss our differences and determine our way forward, that can be done without necessarily having to abrogate the systems of government.<br />
We also feel that when you now put in such a thing and you want to call it sovereign or whatever name, what you are looking for is anarchy. I say this with due respect to those who seek to have a sovereign conference.<br />
What we are saying is that if you want to go ahead to talk about a sovereign conference, you are going to deal with who confers that sovereignty on the sovereign conference you are looking for? Sovereignty comes from established process, established protocols and established structures that we already have and I think that, that is the reason why we really shouldn’t waste our time dealing with the semantics of the word ‘sovereign’.<br />
I can give you a simple example. I am an Igbo man, I come from Abia State. Even within Abia State, I come from the Ngwa stalk. Even within the Ngwa stalk, we have the Nkwa-Ngwa nationality. So, at what point will we decide who will represent us, assuming, as it is commonly said, we have between 250 and 300 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria? For the Igbo race, would we be represented by one person? The Igbo nation has five states. Are we going to be represented by five different persons? If we would be represented by five different persons, who will represent me in Abia State? would it be the person that comes from my own ethnic nationality, the Nkwa-Ngwa, or somebody that comes from the Ngwa nation itself? Or is it going to be somebody that will represent Abia as a group?<br />
You can see all the questions that will arise when we start to pursue this aspect of sovereign conference. In fact, I read something interesting that was said by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State in which he said what was the need to have a conference when we already have people who are representing us in the National Assembly, at the Senate level on equality of states and at the House of Representatives level on constituency basis? Why would we now seek a different set of people to represent us? You could see that there would be all manners of questions that would arise from the conference.<br />
But for us in the Senate, what we say is that if Nigerians want to talk to each other, if Nigerians are presuming that there would be something to be gained from a discussion between various groups, we are all for it. That is the position of the Senate.<br />
Recently, Prof. Ango Abdullahi made a statement to the effect that the North is not afraid of Nigeria breaking up and the people going their separate ways. Is that an indication of what the conference is all about?<br />
He is correct. You should not live in this country with fear. The North shouldn’t be afraid to make their positions known. But as I told you, which North is he referring to? Is it the physical expression or the geographical expression? Is it an emotional expression? There must be some point in which you must have to locate the statement because that same statement may not be agreed upon by somebody from the same place he comes from, who may have a different position.<br />
What we think is that for a dialogue of this nature, everybody must come to it with confidence. You shouldn’t come to it with a gun to your head, so to say. When he says the North should not be afraid, I agree with him. Nobody should be afraid. You should come and lay your cards on the table and let us know what is it you want and other parts of the country would also respond accordingly. That way, we would be able to reach an acceptable conclusion for all.<br />
What do you think should be the agenda of the Igbo with regards to the conference?<br />
I think the Igbo nation and the disparate groups within the Igbo nation will all meet and take a position, and when our position is enunciated after our meetings, then we can come up with something. I am a small person in the larger Igbo nation. I am representing Abia South. In the Senate, there are 15 other senators and one thing that we were taught as representatives of the people is that you should not put your own position forward until you talk to your people. I will confess to you today that I have not had any meeting with my people in Abia South to enunciate or to determine what our position would be. And until that happens, I am not at liberty to presume to speak for them for whatever may be their position.<br />
I will plead that you give me the time to talk with my people before I tell you where we would need to go. Also, I think that the 13-man committee set up by Mr. President would first of all set out their modalities and that would also guide us in the ways that we would also meet and make our positions known.<br />
In general terms, would you say that the Igbo nation has had a fair deal in the Nigerian enterprise?<br />
In general terms, no! We think we have not had a fair deal. We think that we the Igbo nation contribute so much to the country. We think that the Igbo nation is actually the glue that continues to hold the country together and we think that that fact has not been properly recognised by the rest of the country as it were.<br />
What are the Igbo senators doing to galvanise that recognition?<br />
Part of the reasons why we are having this conference is also to be able to ventilate these feelings. I am not a pessimist. By my profession as a politician, I am an optimist. Therefore, I would continue to feel that something good will come out of this conference.<br />
Given that we have had several of these conferences in the past and nothing came out of it, why should Nigerians be hopeful this time around?<br />
I will agree with you that sometimes it looks that way. But if you are an optimist, you will also feel that the mere fact that something had failed in the past does not mean that it will fail again. And so, an optimist would always want to try and continue to try. When I was younger, part of what we were taught in school in order to be able to do well was that if you try and you do not succeed, try, and try and try again. I think that if in the past we had conferences and those conferences did not achieve their results, nothing says that this particular conference will also not achieve its own resolve.<br />
Even at the time we had those conferences, I don’t think that we had been faced with the type of challenges that we are facing today. I think that there is no Nigerian who does not recognise that we need to deal with the problems we have today to be able to confront our tomorrow.<br />
Let us talk about your party, the PDP. The PDP has finally imploded to the point that its centre can no longer hold. Where does it go from here as the crisis continues to simmer?<br />
I do not think that the PDP has imploded. I do not agree with that assertion. I belong to the PDP. I am of the PDP. What I think is that a few persons within the PDP are dissatisfied and are expressing their dissatisfaction. This does not mean we are having a new party and so forth. But that is simply a way of expressing their dissatisfaction.<br />
There are several ways of expressing your dissatisfaction. You could decide to leave or go to another party. You could decide not to participate in what they are doing. But that does not remove the fact that PDP is still there as an entity. That is why if you noticed, at a point in our debate in the past couple of weeks, somebody tried to bring it up in the Senate and we said no, you cannot bring it. This is not the place where you ventilate party disagreement. You should go and deal with party disagreement at party level outside of the chamber. I think that the crisis will be resolved and very soon.<br />
The PDP in Abia State where I come from, there is no disagreement. All of us are working with our governor and all of us are committed to the PDP in that state.<br />
Would you say in all sincerity that all is well with the PDP?<br />
I will say all is not well because there are some disgruntled people. But what we have to do will be to resolve those issues with those who are disgruntled. But that does not mean that the PDP has imploded as you said. That is too strong a word to use.<br />
You were recently confronted by a group of protesting youths who demanded to know how much senators earn. Were they convinced by what you told them?<br />
I think what happened was that they probably did not expect that they were going to get a response. My feeling is that they came, assuming that they were just coming after sending a letter saying that they wanted to meet with the Senate and that nobody would bother to see them so that they would go home and claim that it is normal that our leaders are insensitive, they don’t want to talk to us, they don’t want to do anything.<br />
So, they were surprised that we actually came to see them, because I was in the chamber and the Senate president called me that he just got a letter now in the chamber, that there were a group of people who wanted to engage the Senate. We had no problem with that because they are Nigerians. They have every right to come to talk to us and we agreed to go and see them.<br />
The Senate President asked me to go with some senators to speak to them. I went there and they started listing their demands. You could see how rowdy the situation was. It was rowdy like I said because they never expected that we would come. Be that as it may, they now reeled out their demands. Their spokeswoman made allusions to the National Assembly budget and so forth. I needed to correct the impression because what I felt was that all along, there had been this impression given that the cost of governance is located in the National Assembly. I had to make the point that the total budget of the National Assembly, being the third arm of government, which includes the staff, the bureaucratic staff under the National Assembly service Commission, over 2000 persons, the running of the National Assembly as it were and the running of the different offices of the people who are there, including the offices of the National Assembly Commission and so forth, everything amounts to three per cent of the total budget.<br />
I then said to her: ‘If you are looking actually for reducing the total cost of governance, this is actually the wrong place to come to because you have 97 per cent residing elsewhere and you are coming to find out what is happening to three per cent. I told them that it was not that we did not want to answer them, but that you might do much better to cast your net wider than you are casting it here. They insisted that our salaries are jumbo salaries and all that, and I said I was going to give them my pay slip so that they could see that I earn the same thing as a minister and I think as well as a Supreme Court Judge.<br />
That is how it is actually done by the Revenue Mobilisation. But when they want to call the salary of a Supreme Court judge, they don’t call it jumbo salary. When they want to call the salary of a minister, they don’t call it jumbo salary. So, why is it that the same salary that comes to this arm of government is referred to as jumbo salary? It is the words that are being used in that manner that tend to pit the public against us. That was exactly what happened on that day.<br />
You were reportedly shunned by the traditional ruler and elders of your constituency on the allegation that you were not transparent with the botched visit. How did the plan crumble?<br />
That is what happens when you have what is called jaundiced journalism. Nobody asked the question, how was I shunned for coming to my place? What did they mean by planned visit? The point really is that the person who wrote that story simply went ahead to write what I would describe as yellow journalism, which we all know about. What was the visit about? That is the question that was not asked. The story was just concocted.<br />
What really happened was that the governor of the state made a statement stating that in the interest of Abia Chatter of Equity, come 2015, there should be a rotation of the office of the governor among our three senatorial zones. Abia North has produced a governor, same with Abia Central, and that it would be the turn of Abia South in 2015. Certain people within the Abia South Senatorial Zone decided that we would meet to thank the governor. But because some other people also want to run for governorship from Abia Central, they organised themselves and said our visit would mean their preclusion from the governorship race and that it was not in consonance with the constitution. They went to make a complaint to the governor and the governor said he did not want to heat up the polity, and advised that we shelved the visit. That was how the visit was shelved.<br />
Rather than report the truth, somebody now turned around and didn’t report what happened. They simply said that I wanted to come home and I was rejected. Does that make sense? It did not make sense. I did not bother to refute it because there was absolutely no need to. Those from Abia South know my relationship with them. These are the things that happen once there is a looming clash of interest. All sorts of people will say all sorts of things. Really, it doesn’t mean anything. When the time comes, it is certain that everybody will know who actually is loved by his people and who is not loved.<br />
I have been in politics since 1999. I left government house in March 2003. I ran for election in April against the incumbent governor and I lost. Yet I bounced back in 2007 to win the senate against the incumbent governor with the whole machinery of government in place. That should offer an insight into the type of political asset that I am. I have built one of the most enduring political structures in Abia State and it is still there till today. Those who are a little scared of it think that they could get at me by planting all these things. There is no need to bother about that.<br />
What has been your relationship with your former boss, ex-governor Orji Uzor Kalu?<br />
I really have no relationship in the sense that his interest is different from mine and I am representing the people in the Senate. Our paths do not cross. Since our paths do not cross, we have no interest that overlaps in any way.<br />
What was your relationship with him like when you were deputy governor, given that you survived about three impeachment attempts under him as governor?<br />
Let me say that the whole country had an idea of the type of relationship we had. A relationship that witnessed three impeachments as deputy governor was not a relationship that you will call a very good relationship. I would think that our relationship was not the relationship that would be described as very good. I think we have learnt a lot of lessons, especially for me. Kalu made me to grow up quickly. I was a little naive at the beginning but I quickly grew up because of what happened.<br />
Be that as it may, that is now in the past. I do not want to waste my energy recalling or reliving those experiences. I have taken the lessons from what happened then and I have moved on.<br />
If you have another opportunity to work with him again, how readily would you jump at it?<br />
No, I won’t.<br />
Why not?<br />
Because I do not think that our personalities would be agreeable with each other.<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-63097843065220733452013-08-24T05:08:00.000-07:002013-10-04T05:09:54.041-07:00Jonathan has been ambushed by non-politicians – Mantu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong>By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong></div>
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<em><strong>Senator Nasiru Ibrahim Mantu was Deputy Senate President from 2003 to 2007. He was Director-General, defunct National Republican Convention Presidential Campaign, 1993; National Chairman of the defunct Peoples Democratic Alliance and National Publicity Secretary, defunct United Nigerian Congress Party, UNCP. He was also Chairman, National Assembly Committee on Constitution Review. Senator Mantu, in this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, went down memory lane on his alleged role in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s botched third term project and expressed his views on President Goodluck Jonathan, among other issues. Excerpts:</strong></em></div>
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One of the harshest criticisms today against your party, the PDP, is that it is heading a government that has elevated corruption to an art and as a cardinal principle of governance. Just like insecurity, is it not also a serious challenge to governance?</div>
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My friend, please say it louder. Indeed, let me say that it is corruption that has given birth to the insecurity in the country today. If we had not been corrupt, we would have been able to manage our resources very well, and in turn, provide social security to the nation’s teeming populace. It is this absence of social insecurity that has consequently given rise to the various agitations across the country.</div>
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Corruption, like you rightly stated, has been the foundation of all our problems. If we are able to fight corruption, and I can tell you that even if we are not able to solve all problems immediately, we will no longer have the kind of crisis that we are having today. If we sincerely and judiciously channel all our money that is being cornered by corrupt political officials, we will be able to have good roads, hospitals, schools, electricity and potable water as well as put in place social security for our people and make life worth living.</div>
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Sincerely speaking, anyone who is enjoying good life will not like to die. It is the absence of good life that is pushing the people to the wall to act the way they are acting. Corruption is the basis of everything that is happening to us today. No government has been able to successfully fight corruption to a standstill. It is only in Nigeria that when you are fighting corruption, corruption fights back. In fact, they have just been scratching the surface and paying lip-service to the war on corruption.</div>
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There is no denying the truth that today, every facet of our society is corrupt. From the judiciary to the executive and the legislature, corruption is pervasive. People have lost faith in the judiciary because of corruption. Why will you run to the judiciary when you know that the man whom you are taking to court will engage a SAN who is going to be given certain privileges by the judge simply because he is a SAN? The entire country is engulfed in various dimensions of corruption. It is so endemic in our system and I am of the opinion that we have not really got our act together to fight corruption.</div>
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The All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of four opposition parties, has finally become a reality after the initial confusion that threatened its registration. With your party, the PDP, literally becoming a “Fuji House of Commotion”, how much threat does APC pose ahead of 2015?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For someone like me who has been around the political terrain for over three decades, I hope and pray that the emergence of the APC or the merger itself becomes a reality after all. I have witnessed three failed mergers in this country, and I pray earnestly that this latest merger does not go the way of others before it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Recall that in the First Republic, the opposition came together to wrest power from the NPC which was the ruling party then, but when the time came to choose their candidate for the prime ministerial position, everybody wanted to be the candidate. When they could not agree on a consensus choice, the merger crumbled like a pack of cards.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The same scenario played out again in the Second Republic, and what appeared then like a foregone conclusion failed woefully. So, this time around, I am praying for them to succeed so that we can have a formidable opposition party as an alternative to the ruling party. I feel strongly that Nigerians need an alternative party to put the PDP on its toes.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The emergence of a viable alternative party will nudge the party in power from its slumber. That is the culture all over the world, and Nigeria cannot be an exception. Nigerians will have a well informed choice, if there is a credible and viable opposition party in the country.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the only way an opposition party can be successful is to put national interest above personal and narrow interest. But I hope and pray that this time around, the merger arrangement works. Nigerians need an alternative party, especially when they are tired of the PDP.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Would you also subscribe to an alternative to President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, as Nigerians are tired of what they consider as his leadership failure, nearly three years in the saddle?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I want to answer your question by saying that Jonathan’s presidency is divinely ordained. Today, nobody can say with all sense of conviction that he was responsible for bringing President Jonathan to power. Only God can take that glory. Power is from God and not from man. If it was not the will of God, nothing any man or woman would have done to install Jonathan as President.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Frankly speaking, as I said before, Jonathan is a good man and he has a good heart. But people are taking advantage of his good nature by not carrying out some of the fantastic programmes he has laid down for implementation as he would have had them executed.</div>
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Part of the problem I have identified in the system is the fact that Jonathan is surrounded by ministers and aides who are not politicians. A lot of people are of the wrong notion that it is only when you go and bring those in the Diaspora in the name of technocrat to form your cabinet that your government can succeed. If I were an engineer and I have been practising in Nigeria, does that not qualify me as a technocrat? And if I were a lawyer and I have been practising in Nigeria all through the years, am I not a technocrat? Does the fact that you have been holed up in America or one European country confer on you technocracy? My answer is no. An economist in Nigeria and an economist in Britain are economists. The two are economists.</div>
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These are some of the problems that Jonathan is actually facing because he is surrounded by people who are not politicians and do not know how Nigerians live and survive beyond Abuja. The greatest problem of Jonathan is that he is surrounded by people who are supposed to implement his policies and programmes, but who are not doing that because they are not politicians. I really do not have any problem in bringing experts into the government, but they can be brought in as advisers. You will agree with me that not many of his ministers or advisers went out with him during his campaign for his presidency. So they may not be bothered whether he wins the next election or not because they are not politicians in the real sense of the word. Many of them do not seem to appreciate the fact that they owe the electorate an obligation to deliver on the President’s promises. But if these people were like politicians, they would know what it means by making promises to the people and not fulfilling them. As election is drawing nearer. I think the President must have learnt his lessons, and I am sure he is going to address some of these issues because we still need him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some of your staunch critics who think they have watched keenly your brand of politics tend to pass you off as one they jocularly would refer to as “Any Available Government in Power” or “Any Government in Power”. They cite your alleged role in the adoption of the late General Sani Abacha for the presidency and former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s botched third term, among others. While the label of “AGIP” may be untrue, would you be available for President Jonathan, should he need you as one of his foot soldiers in 2015?</div>
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Let me say that the greatest perpetrators of ignorance in this country today are the media. The media are expected to be better informed than any other segment of the society. It is only in Nigeria that the media will write anything and go scot-free. It does not happen anywhere else except in Nigeria.</div>
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Some media have accused me of going to Ota to lobby Obasanjo to contest election in 1999. It is not true. I was never in the PDP, rather I was in the ANPP where I contested for the Senate and won. So how would I have been part of the lobby group to bring Obasanjo to contest election in 1999? In 1999, we had our own presidential candidate. Therefore, there was no way I would have canvassed for Obasanjo or anyone in the PDP for the presidency.</div>
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With regards to the alleged third term bid, I will come to that presently. But of note is, when have I ever been in government in appointive or elective position in this country in my 35 years in politics? I have only been in government for once from 1999 to 2007 in an elective capacity. So, how many governments have I actually participated in to deserve the label, “AGIP”? I am asking you. If I were like my friend who has served so many different military and civilian regimes and is still serving, I would not take offence at the appellation.</div>
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My only presence in government has been the legislature which is elective and not appointive. Now you can understand that I have been in government only with the mandate of my people. Throughout my political career, I have never been appointed into government.</div>
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During the time of the late Sani Abacha, I remember forming my own party, the Peoples Democratic Alliance, PDA. Later we merged and became the Nigeria Centre Party( NCP). After the merger, I was elected as the National Deputy Chairman of the NCP. Three days later, I told them thank you and left the party. The NCP was not formed by Abacha. It was an amalgamation of 23 political parties.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So if you are following someone’s track record, you should follow him correctly in order to analyse him in correct perspective. That is what I expect of the media. For instance, if you had not come to interview me, you would have viewed me as “AGIP “. If you had not come here to interview me today, you would never have got my own side of the story.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have been in politics since the First Republic. This was when Abacha had not dreamed of becoming the head of state. Even when he became the head of state, I was not a member of his regime. I have always followed my path as a politician, seeking elective office. I won an election as a senator during Abacha’s regime. In 1990, I also won an election as senator. I have never been minister or commissioner throughout my political career. I have always done it the hard way, contesting and winning elections so that I can open my mouth as wide as I want and talk on behalf of the people who offer me their mandate. I prefer to toe that path.</div>
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Now, on the issue of me going to Ota, the only time I went to Ota to ask Obasanjo to contest was during his second term bid. Again, this is one area that Nigerians have got it wrong and I blame the media in particular. In case you have forgotten, I was the Chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee on the Constitution Review. In case you may have also forgotten, I took over that assignment from somebody. I was not the pioneer Chairman, may be people thought I assumed that position because of my perceived relationship with Obasanjo at that time.</div>
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Nigerians are quick to forget that in the entire National Assembly, nobody attacked Obasanjo the way I did. When I was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Obasanjo was my breakfast, my lunch and my dinner because I was always attacking him. My attack on Obasanjo was so fierce that former President Nelson Mandela was in this house to beg me to soften my attack on Obasanjo who was his friend. As if that was not enough, former President Jimmy Carter personally invited me to Hilton for a dinner with him where he pleaded with me to reduce my attack on his friend, Obasanjo.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When I was attacking him, nobody was clapping for me. No one remembers that. It is only when it comes to the issue of the third term that people are quick to remember. I became close to Obasanjo after I was elected Deputy President of the Senate. My election as Deputy Senate President was based on the fact that the National Assembly wanted somebody who was anti-Obasanjo. They wanted someone who hated Obasanjo with passion. To a very large extent, my perceived hatred for Obasanjo became part of my qualification for the Deputy Senate presidency. Owing to my position as Deputy Senate President, we were meeting with the executive weekly and that was the closest I came in contact with Obasanjo. For the first six months of our closeness during those sessions with the executive, both of us maintained our hostility to each other. But after a while, he came to appreciate the fact that I was criticising him objectively and not out of hate. One day, he called me and said to me that we should reconcile our differences. Nobody initiated it. It was Obasanjo’s own idea. He told me that even if I did not agree with his ideas or policies, it was good that I respected his age and office, and I agreed with him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As Deputy Senate President, I was also the Chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee on the review of the constitution. My duty was to collate the views of Nigerians on the clauses of the constitution we wanted to amend. The Speaker of the House of Representatives was my deputy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The clauses we wanted to amend were based on the views expressed by Nigerians regarding them. By this time, people refused to differentiate my relationship with Obasanjo and my role as Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee. There were those who felt that Obasanjo must have appointed me. But Obasanjo had no power over appointment in the Senate or the entire National Assembly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After collating the views of Nigerians, one of the committees headed by Senator Ham Batsa came back with a report to the effect that some Nigerians were of the position that instead of two terms of four years, we should have three terms of four years in the constitution. According to them, Nigeria was on the same economic pedestal with China, India, Singapore and Malaysia. And since these countries have leaders who have stayed so long in office, much longer than Nigeria’s, they have been able to make tremendous progress, while we remained where we were. They felt that we should give more time to our presidents to be long in office in order to fast-track our developmental strides.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We conceded to them as Nigerians to hold and express their views. There was nothing wrong with that. So we included that aspect under “Tenure Elongation” clause. After collating all the reports from the various sub-committees, I presented a report to the Senate, and it was accepted. From the moment my report was accepted, I had finished my job. The document presented became that of the National Assembly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When I had concluded my assignment, many people felt that I was actually behind Obasanjo’s third term ambition. I have said this time and time again and for the umpteenth time, I will love that this be presented factually. Obasanjo did not tell Ibrahim Mantu that he wanted to continue in office. But in the course of my job as the Chairman of the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee, I received a report from one of the sub-committees on tenure elongation which I presented to the National Assembly public hearing. The assignment of my committee was to collate views of Nigerians, whether bitter or sweet. I was just a mere umpire or referee. And as a referee, if you scored or committed a foul, I blew the whistle. But my assignment terminated the first day I collated all the views of Nigerians and submitted same to the National Assembly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The issue was that some people did not want Obasanjo to elongate his tenure, and so they started using the press. But in a democracy, no one has the right to deny another from expressing his own views. That is why I still describe the third term issue as a mere storm in a teacup. It was amplified by people who were more interested in going to Aso Rock than Obasanjo. People who were burning with the desire to occupy Aso Rock and at the end, they made us to throw away the baby with the bath water. One of our recommendations was to have two vice-presidents, one from where the president hails and another from the vice-president’s zone. The thinking was that if the president dies, the vice-president from the president’s zone will be sworn in as his replacement to complete his term.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What was wrong in anybody saying he wanted Obasanjo to continue? Even after saying that, was that enough to have made Obasanjo to continue after his second term? If Obasanjo wanted a third term and he subjected himself to the due process of the constitution, what was wrong with that? As long as anybody subjects himself to the constitution to seek for what he or she wants, as far as I am concerned, I have no axe to grind with that person.</div>
<strong></strong><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-84274824008955355002013-08-16T07:25:00.001-07:002013-08-16T07:30:58.255-07:00How Femi Fani Kayode’s Wife and Daughters Slept with Atiku, Obasanjo, Shama And Others Under Femi’s Nose – By Shama Maliga<em><strong>This article was written by one Mr. Shama Maliga and culled from 247UREPORTS</strong></em><br />
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Femi has finally displayed his wealth of Idio-stupidity…hence his immoral house hood chapter is hereby opened<strong>. </strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmoR2RnSoUPWPiKFxa4LAvBkjT6zaxScKOLxxBy7wBGkEsdwC7EOriR4JBKqk23XNAiJgw5hmH9pZREdSfvr4zuk4SxUtNe_4uYf_y6oCiE807KtQOG5LI5cD8CUh5SpQNZ7GRShc1OfX/s1600/Fani-Kayode's+daughter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmoR2RnSoUPWPiKFxa4LAvBkjT6zaxScKOLxxBy7wBGkEsdwC7EOriR4JBKqk23XNAiJgw5hmH9pZREdSfvr4zuk4SxUtNe_4uYf_y6oCiE807KtQOG5LI5cD8CUh5SpQNZ7GRShc1OfX/s320/Fani-Kayode's+daughter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://247ureports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1157576_517710188296962_1445651341_n.jpg"><strong><img alt="His Daughter" class="size-full wp-image-37292" height="338" src="http://247ureports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1157576_517710188296962_1445651341_n.jpg" width="450" /></strong></a><br />
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<strong>His Daughter</strong></div>
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1. I have been in dispute with Femi since September 2011 over personal issues.<br />
2. I worked with ObJ between, 2004 to 2007 (Second term) as private in house Agent before leaving to back to Canada in late 2007.<br />
3. I have known Femi since 2002; we first met during an evening Private meeting, on a Sunday at Otta (OBJ’s Parlor).<br />
4. Femi never hide his sexual taste on women (both single and Married. And in many occasions with OBJ, OBJ stylishly joke over Femi’s unending libido on women who rush for assistance, favor or help in Abuja.<br />
5. OBJ calls him “Woman Rapper” and usually warn him to be careful.<br />
6. Many of us including his Aides and OBJ’s Aides knew that Femi is usually on drugs.<br />
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<a href="http://247ureports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1175435_517709964963651_119627086_n.jpg"><img alt="His Daughter" class="size-full wp-image-37293" height="150" src="http://247ureports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1175435_517709964963651_119627086_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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His Daughter</div>
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7. I can categorically state that Femi has slept with the lady (Adaobi Uchegbu) he mentioned on his FB wall, I don’t know about Miss Chioma Anasoh, I have never heard or seen her before but I say he’s only dreaming of sleeping with Bianca. I believe he’s only lying or trying to make his petition against Ibos strong by dragging Bianca to his chains and lists of banged women. Throughout my time with them (OBJ, Atiku, Imoke and Femi), I have never seen or heard of any relationship between him and Bianca. It would be surprising to know that Femi has never in his life met Bianca, because Femi is very good at lies.<br />
8. No doubt Femi has slept with many Nigerian women (Yoruba, Hausa, Ibo, IJaw etc); Married and Unmarried women.<br />
9. He was not only the person that slept with Adaobi Ukaegbu. I have done it with her severally even when Femi was poking her day and night in Abuja. Even many security men have done it with her under Femi’s nose. So I don’t think Femi should make noise about Adaobi. Adaobi to security men who have banged her severally in and outside Villa was seen as one of those Abuja Prostitutes. She and many other ladies even from south west, South-East, South-south and North were just popular to many of us as political sex hankers. Anyone can bang Adaobi and others even just by mentioning that you are a son to a local government chairman, but you must be ready.<br />
10. She (Adaobi) is not alone in warming of Abuja men’s bed, many Yoruba, Hausa, Tiv, Edo etc were all in the same business of being fucked for one favor or the other. Today, many of them were lucky to head or work in one office or the other as they continue their political bed warming in Abuja.<br />
11. Unfortunately, what Femi doesn’t know is that; while he was busy messing up with people’s wives, girls friends, others were also busy fucking his house hood (his wife and female children) under his nose.<br />
12. I can authoritatively inform you that in two different occasions in 2006; one in Abuja and the other in Saudi Arabia, Former VP (Atiku) wiped Regina (Femi’s wife). Madam Regina Fani-Kayode is also a hot pant and money hunger just like her husband Femi.<br />
13. Femi has five beautiful daughters and I can authoritatively inform you that OBJ has severally slept with Regina and Oluwafolake (Femi’s first daughter).<br />
14. Femi’s daughters; Oluwafolake, who’s mostly called (Folake) and Oluwatemitope who’s mostly called (Temi) are Bi-Sex, and worst of it they are into incest relationship. Two one them have been caught severally making things out on the bed by their own father, who is also crazy about sex and drugs.<br />
15. I, personally have banged Folake, and Temi, but my other colleague has banged Femi’s second to the youngest daughter of his second divorced wife; Oluwatobiloba, who at her prime age love sex more than food.<br />
16. Femi might be aware of the sexual relationship between his wife, daughter with OBJ. He has in some occasions quarreled with Regina and threatens her of Divorce, but for the sake of OBJ and his job, Femi kept mute.<br />
17. In October 2010 during Femi’s private dinner for his 50th birthday, Regina went home with OBJ and spent the Night with him while Femi was busy bedding Adaobi who assisted very well for the social event. Adaobi case nearly destroyed Femi’s home as his wife usually use her as an excuse of sexual immorality even with young campus boys and ex-boy friends.<br />
18. In 2007, one of the security men who has severally banged Femi’s daughter Temi was caught happily showcasing his big black dick to another Femi’s daughter Oluwatuminu during her holiday break, which she admired with smile. They were caught on a newly installed CCTV and the young man was fired thereafter.<br />
19. The only daughter from Regina was the only decent girl in Femi’s house, although she’s still growing up.<br />
20. There’s trouble in Femi’s house hood over madness of immorality sexual relationship and drug addicts. Femi has personally told me when things were okay between us that “Women are only tools for enjoyment”. He said he divorced his first wife (Saratu) the late 1990 over trust. Saratu who I met once was Folake’s mother, even though they have divorce and the woman remarried, Femi still bang her whenever she visit Abuja as I know in 2006.<br />
21. Femi’s second marriage lasted only five years (1991 – 1995 as I later knew) with three daughters; Oluwatemitope, Oluwatobiloba and Oluwatuminu. He’s divorced second wife Yemisi Olasunbo Adeniji once accused him of sleeping with their first Oluwatemitope(Temi), although she’s no longer his wife, Femi usually demand sex from her which to my knowledge the woman never give in but have slept severally with Femi’s friends and politicall associate.<br />
22. Regina Fani-Kayode (nee Regina patience Amonoo), Femi’s third and present wife have also been accused by Femi of sleeping with his brother Rotimi Fani-Kayode. Regina who had only one daughter; Oluwaremilekun for Femi has been warned by Femi not to operate or open FaceBook account, because Femi thinks she will end up getting dating more young guys on internet.<br />
23. I can state here that Femi’s marriage with Regina will still not last. The lady is also smart and sexually active like Femi. Femi hasn’t divorce her yet because he’s still eating through her as the Lady keeps secret dates with top politicians, makes money and ready to fix Femi too politically. OBJ’s relationship with Femi has been cordial because of this lady who warms OBJ ‘s bed regularly. The same lady has been making personally effort with GEJ for herself and probably for fix for Femi.<br />
24. Finally, I have never banged Femi’s third wife Regina but I can say she’s a nice woman in her good side, though I have enjoyed nice sexual views of her. Seen her being banged by VP and Presido and assisted her many times with her clothes. My problem with them is that they are ingrates. Thanks for their daughters who made me happy several times with their tits, pussy and mouths. There’s no need throwing stone when you have so many glass houses. Nigeria MUST remain One. Those preaching division from south-south and south-East are wasting their time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-66814628817236191712013-08-09T13:53:00.002-07:002013-08-09T13:53:42.191-07:00I know my bounds at home as a soldier’s wife –Mrs. Olufunke Adekoya (SAN)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmgLCfCaQds5sQi950iVLWvba_q4k0lCDR6J6Zyq-i7lJdh7lGOPr3efvUoPBqV_m4a_dz8JTqW7-p2jw2TND-pIcc2zbp8boLiWH3BXm-LSLoGsRbrnbyCJSSCdg4k6Bm6MtV-n6Ccz_/s1600/Olufunke+pix.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmgLCfCaQds5sQi950iVLWvba_q4k0lCDR6J6Zyq-i7lJdh7lGOPr3efvUoPBqV_m4a_dz8JTqW7-p2jw2TND-pIcc2zbp8boLiWH3BXm-LSLoGsRbrnbyCJSSCdg4k6Bm6MtV-n6Ccz_/s400/Olufunke+pix.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mrs. Olufunke Adekoya is head, Dispute
Resolution Practice Group at AELEX, a firm of Legal Practitioners and Arbitrators.
she was appointed Notary Public in 1986 and elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate
of Nigeria (SAN) in 2001 (only the 5th woman to be so elevated). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">She has been a member of the Body of
Benchers since 1999 and elevated to Life Bencher in March 2007.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the field of arbitration, Mrs.
Adekoya represents both local and transnational parties as counsel in both
domestic and international arbitration proceedings within Nigeria and abroad
and has acted in numerous disputes as either- party appointed Arbitrator, Sole
Arbitrator and Presiding Arbitrator. She is a member of the LCIA African Users
Council and the Nigeria’s ICC National Committee; and is listed on the ICDR
Energy Arbitrators List, the panel of neutrals of the Lagos Regional Centre for
International Commercial Arbitration. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In this interview with Assistant Editor,
LINUS OBOGO, the wife of Air Vice Marshall Oluwole Adekoya (rtd), spoke on the
rise of women on the Bench, corruption in the judiciary, as well as the balance
between her role as a lawyer and wife to a soldier. Excerpts:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">With
the elevation of a woman as head of the country’s apex court and with more
promoted as justices of the Supreme Court, would you say the women are finally
assuming their right of place, particularly in a sector dominated largely by
men?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sincerely, I will say yes. The women are
assuming their rightful place in the judiciary. Having said that, it is
pertinent to point out that we have had women chief judges at the state level, in
the northern, western and eastern part of the country. It is only at the
Supreme Court that we are finally getting to the apex. Again, I will say that
it is only a question of timing, because as we all know, from Justice Aloma
Muktar’s CV, she has been in the profession a long time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">However, I want to say that women in any
career will also know that it takes a longer time to get to the height of their
career than their male counterparts. This is because women have additional
responsibilities as wives, mothers, other obligations and family commitments to
take care of. So, while we are balancing all these various roles, one thing
will take precedence at a particular time and another will take precedence at
another time. Therefore, it generally takes a woman a little bit longer to rise
to the top than it does take a man. And this is not any different in the legal
profession. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What,
in your view, would you consider as challenges likely to constrain women, who
have risen to the top from succeeding, whether in the judiciary or other
sectors?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Whether one succeeds or not, having
climbed to the top has nothing to do with gender. Anybody who has risen to the
top has the same responsibility to use the time to make a mark, to be different
and stamp her own imprints on where he or she finds herself at that point in
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe for Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar, I
think because she happens to be the first woman to have risen to the position
of Chief Justice of Nigeria, all eyes are on her. Also, given the state our
judiciary has found itself at the time she assumed office, there will be a
little bit more of the searchlight and the spotlight on her as people will
expect her to be a magician and move mountains. But this may not be possible in
the two years she has to be in office. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But so far, she is doing her best and
most people are quite happy with what she has been able to do. She has a
two-year-tenure because she has to retire at 70 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A
lot of people would want to imagine that judges should be full of wisdom as
they get older. Does it not amount to robbing the country of the wealth of
experience and wisdom, when judges are statutorily stampeded into premature
retirement at the age of 70 years?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Absolutely!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while I wouldn’t link tenure to age
because we have people who are well over 70 years and who are still very active.
If I had my way, I would rather that at that level, it should be tenure than
age. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, the late Justice
Kayode Eso was well over 80 years, yet he was still very active at the
arbitration community, even though he had retired from the Supreme Court.
Conversely, we have people who are under 50s and 60s, yet they are already
tired and finished. So, I would want to suggest that tenure should perhaps be
reviewed to some renewable terms, in the same way that we have four years
renewable term for the presidency. This is worth considering to have the chief judge
of a state or the chief justice of the federation to have a four-year-tenure,
during which if he or she fails to perform, he goes back to being part of the
Bench and someone else takes over. But if you perform, your tenure should be
renewed for as long as you are physically able to perform. I do not subscribe
to the 65/70 years retirement age for our judges. If as a judge, you do not
perform, you should rather return to the Bench, because leadership skills are
not the same as the skills to judge or decide a case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Someone could be good at judging a case which
makes him or her a good judge, but because by seniority you become the chief
justice or the chief judge, if you do not have the administrative and
leadership skills, you may not be able to lead. Apart from being a good judge,
you need management skills as well. And if you cannot balance the two, in a
situation where you have a good judge who is good at judging cases in
leadership position, one of either will fall apart. The administration will
suffer. So, if you cannot be the administrative head, you might as well go back
to the Bench and someone else becomes the chief judge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There
is this refrain that has gradually acquired a dated appeal, which is that ‘the
judiciary is the last hope of the common man’. Today, the common man’s hope is
irredeemably dashed, no thanks to obvious institutional corruption that has
held the senior officers of the bench captive. Who, in your view will bell the
cat?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I must say that the Chief Justice is
doing her best to face up to these issues. Additionally, the Bar also needs to
face up to these issues. On our part, we are also trying to do something by
setting up the anti-corruption committee. But on the whole, we really need to
engage with the populace. Just like the SERVICOM, we can also have complaint
boxes in the court rooms and court premises, where people can write and drop
their complaints about corrupt legal officers. There can also be a website
where people can send posts about legal officers demanding bribes to facilitate
or obtain justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Honestly, I think we are getting to a
point where we must face up to the issues that confront us both as members of
the Bar and the Bench. Hopefully, things will change if we continue like that.
Obviously, the Bench is disciplining itself. Even in the profession, we have
gotten to a point where we have said that as a legal profession, we are also
involved. Some of our members are not helping the situation by corrupting the
judicial process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We can also see that the Legal Practitioners
Disciplinary Committee is becoming more active in publicising it activities.
And once the public gets to know that once you make a complaint, there will be a
quick decision, confidence will definitely return. That is what we are trying
to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
trend all over the world today, is in the direction of how to settle dispute
outside the usual court method through arbitration. Why is the emphasis still
more on litigation in Nigeria than arbitration?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I think that firstly, the arbitration
community or practitioners in Nigeria have woken up to the fact that we are
losing focus. People go to arbitration because they want a quick decision and
they do not want to go to court. But we find a situation where people get a
decision and yet they go to court to challenge that same decision. What the
arbitration community has decided to do is to educate ourselves and secondly
the judiciary. To educate ourselves as lawyers is to explain to our members
that look, today you are in court and tomorrow, you are before the arbitration.
If you appear before the arbitration and you are not satisfied or successful
and you take the case to court, at the end of the day, you have destroyed 50
per cent of your potential income. For instance, if those who are bringing
arbitration matters to you think that at the end of the day they will still end
up in court, they will rather not bring arbitration matters to you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So, we are actually cutting down our own
practice. Secondly, they may decide that they are not going to court at all.
They may decide to leave the country and forget about the whole matter
entirely. Alternatively, they may decide to take the arbitration abroad. What
we are trying to do therefore, is to tell our members that in arbitration, you
must choose the correct person as your arbitrator and once the correct
arbitrator has given you the right decision, accept it and let your client
accept it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We are also talking to judges to explain
to lawyers what arbitration process is and that we are both partners working
together, so that when arbitration matters come to their court, they should
dispose of them quickly. And over a period of years, people will come to
appreciate that it is not worth going to court to prolong what ordinarily
should have taken a short time to resolve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How
can arbitration be made accessible to the ordinary man without undue financial
encumbrances to him and in a binding manner?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Well, one of the things, for instance,
that the Lagos State Government has done is that from January 2012, if you file
any paper anywhere in court, the court will decide if it should go for
mediation settlement or arbitration, and why it should not come into the full
courtroom. That is one of the ways in which many cases will be resolved at the
arbitration stage, or even mediation, trying to negotiate a settlement between
the parties. Many of these instances will affect smaller disputes where you
will not have to spend a lot of money and time in court. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Courts also have mediation courthouses
attached to them. You will find this in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, where
you also have arbitration courthouses or court annex. Here, if you have a
dispute, you just pay a small amount, after which they will collect your paper
and call the other party and help settle the matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Arbitration
appears to be narrowly skewed in favour of a few privileged lawyers, despite
that it is somewhat an integral part of legal service delivery, why the seeming
segregation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You are not totally correct. In the law
school, every single student takes a course in arbitration. In fact, it is
called Alternate Dispute Resolution, ADR. It is arbitration, mediation
conciliation and negotiation. Every law student takes the course. What has
happened is the mentality of a typical Nigerian lawyer to want to try something
new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In our part of the world, we have always
been brought up to reason in a way that unless you put on the wig and the gown
and go to court, you are not a lawyer. And this is what we have been trying to
preach to everybody that arbitration is open to every lawyer. It is not
restricted to select privileged lawyers in a way you are trying to paint the
picture. If you want to be involved as a lawyer in arbitration, it is simple.
If you have a dispute, do not try to rush to court. First and foremost, you
have to check the agreement. If the agreement has an arbitration clause, you
commend the arbitration proceedings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sadly for many lawyers, when they have a
dispute, they want to prove they are lawyers by rushing to court first before
considering other options. That is what we are trying to explain to lawyers who
think that arbitration is only for privileged lawyers that once you have taken
that route of first going to court, you cannot go back to arbitration. You have
to first think arbitration and it is only when that fails that you then explore
the option of court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You
recently chaired a workshop organised by the Centre for Corrections and Human
Development (CCHD), an advocacy group against human and child/sex trafficking.
What do you imagine to be the underlying motives behind the trade and the
constraint in arresting the boom?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It is purely economic. Both the
trafficker and the trafficked are involved purely for the fundamental reasons
of economic. Those engaged in human and child/sex trafficking do so purely for
money and nothing else. They prey on the fact that the women and the children
they are trafficking also want to make money. The workshop which was very well
attended was an eye opener. It was the general observation that many of the
women and the girl child do not go into it with the knowledge that they are
going into prostitution or human slavery. They are usually told to begin
fending for themselves soon after they leave secondary school and with the
prospect of furthering their education apparently bleak. They are baited with
fantastic pictures of European countries and the abundant job opportunities.
The young hapless women see the opportunities as one to better their lives and
they unknowingly jump on the chance. It is the same story with the woman in the
village who begs a city woman to take her child to Lagos or Abuja to be
assisted with one form of trade or the other. By the time the child gets to
Lagos, he or she literally becomes a slave without the parents knowing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The challenge, essentially, is to
persuade people not to believe everything they are told. Many Nigerians are
engaged in one form of menial job or the other in Europe and the U.S. without
those back home knowing what they are into. Occasionally, they will send home a
few dollars and some good photographs. Their innocent parents hardly get to
know that their son or daughter wakes up as early as 4.am to clean the toilets
for a white man or wash plates at the restaurants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The only way out is that we must make
our economy as buoyant as possible to make our people stay back in Nigeria. The
economic environment must be made conducive so that people do not fall victim
to human trafficking. We need this kind of workshop from time to time to
sensitise the unsuspecting and gullible public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As
head of AELEX, a firm of legal practitioners and arbitrators, how is it like
managing over 40 lawyers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It is all about being focused and
knowing what it is that you want. You have to be prepared to make the
compromises necessary. Managing a chamber such as ours is like marriage. Today
the man wins and tomorrow the woman wins. That is it. It is also like putting
yam in oil or putting oil in yam. As long as both come together, that is what
is important. That is how we balance things in our chambers, among the partners
and even among the lawyers. We understand and agree that we are looking at a
common goal, which is to improve the profession and improve ourselves as
lawyers. I think that women are better managers and administrators than men. As
women, we have to manage our children, our husbands, our brothers and their
wives and that makes women better managers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Speaking
of women being better managers, why has it taken the women lawyers so long to
rise to the headship of the Nigerian Bar Association, many years after Mrs.
Priscilia Kuye, who was the first female NBA President?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Well, I am aspiring to that position in
the next election. But I do not think being the NBA president is an issue of
gender. Rather, it is about whoever wants to be the president must be for a
reason. You must have objectives or goals you think can be done differently or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that can be achieved either differently or
even better. We have a lot of women who are actively involved in the activities
of the NBA. We have women who are chairmen of branches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But I think in the same sense in which
before the CJN could rise to the top of her profession and become the CJN, this
takes time because of other commitments. It is the same for women, even within
the bar association. You cannot rise at the same as the men because you have
other commitments and you have to do the balancing acts. But then, we have a
lot of women who are actively involved in the Nigerian Bar Association.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As for the next NBA presidency, I will
put my hat in the ring when the time comes. But I will not say more than that
so that I will not be accused of campaigning ahead of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
NBA used to be known for its radical socio-political and economic activism. But
same cannot be said today with allegations of the association reportedly
becoming a willing tool available for hire by politicians for rallies. At what
stage did the NBA sink to this level?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Well, I am not really aware of the NBA
being rented for rallies at any given time. NBA, like any association, has to
move with the situation in which it finds itself. The stance of the NBA when we
are in a military regime will be different from when we are in a civilian
regime. So if you say we are no more radical, it is because if we were in a
military regime, we may have to be a bit more vocal and more radical because
you are confronting a regime, which from the point of view as a lawyer, does
not have legitimacy and it is more likely to trample on the rule of law because
of the manner of its training. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In a civilian regime, you need to be a
bit more circumspect to ascertain that the position that you are trying to put
forward is one that has democracy behind it. If we all agree that democracy is
government of the people, by the people and for the people, and if everybody
says ‘that man is a thief, but we want him as our leader’, that is the voice of
the majority, even when you as a lawyer would want to say this is wrong. So,
one must be more circumspect. The role of the Bar association in a civilian
regime is more of a partner with the government, the civil society and with the
people to elevate everybody’s standard. Yes, we should speak out when we
should, particularly when the government is not doing what it ought to do. But
at the same time, we are expected to educate the populace about their rights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">To say we are not radical may be as a
result of the change of regime because we are no longer in a military regime.
But having said that, I think we can do better and engage more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Some
lawyers, not long ago advocated for the scrapping of the award of the Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, arguing the award tends to confer undue privileges on the
bearers of the title and which in turn tilts the balance of justice. Do you
agree with this?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I think SANship is still relevant and I
do not subscribe that it should be scrapped. What I think should be done is for
the process of elevation to be reformed. I feel it is relevant because
everybody needs something to aspire to. Otherwise, we will become complacent in
our comfort zone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Even in the media, a correspondent in
the newspaper wants to be chief correspondent, a sub-editor wants to be editor,
a publisher wants to be a proprietor etc. In every profession, there should be
something for everyone to aspire to. In our profession, the privileges that we
are given are for a reason. The major privilege is that your cases are often
called first when you get to court. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For me, my understanding is that even
the courtroom is supposed to be a learning experience so that the younger
lawyers who are there can acquire and acquire some level of additional knowledge
and erudition from the senior lawyers who are Senior Advocates. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Like every facet of our national life,
the elevation procedure has its problems and this needs to be reviewed. I do
not think that the award should be done by age or length of practice. As we
speak, there are lawyers of forty years who have never practised, but have been
doing tenancy agreement for the last forty years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Meanwhile, a lawyer of ten years may
have been at a point where he is negotiating transactions with international
lenders or international financial institutions, which brings us to what is
called exposure. With that being said, we need to reform the award procedure
and make it more transparent. This will bring back the prestige and the glamour.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Also, among the Senior Advocates, we
need to look at ourselves and tell each other the home truth that even as SANs,
we are not performing up to the level expected of us as SANs. There are many
Senior Advocates today who, having been made SANs, no longer go to court. It
has become like a chieftaincy title to them. They are alright being addressed
by the title and nothing more. They no longer lend their intellectual capacity
to lift the younger lawyers. The process needs to be reformed but not scrapped.
It should not be something of a monopoly. There is the notion that once you are
made a SAN, it is million, million all the way. It is not true. The experience
is that once you become a SAN, the first casualty is that you begin to lose
your clients. Those who could afford your services before you became SAN will
tell you, look, I can no longer afford your services. Having lost some of your
clients because of SANship, you begin to build a new clientele all over again.
I became a SAN in 2001 and I experienced it. I lost some of my clients who
thought they could no longer afford me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As
someone who came from a family of lawyers, did that ever mean anything special to
you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My father was a lawyer, I am a lawyer
and my daughter is also a lawyer. The one thing I could say I gained from
having a father who was a lawyer was that I had to explain and give reasons for
every demand that I made of my father. For instance, if I needed N100, I had to
explain to him why and what I needed it for and how I was going to spend it.
That was the kind of man my father was as a lawyer and a father. But if it was
just any other man, he could say okay, here is the N100 or that he does not
have exactly N100 and if I could manage N50.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So, for my father, everything was in
debate and in discussion. He taught me how to think logically and to be able to
explain my actions at all times. There was no time I needed to go out and to
return at say 8pm or 9pm, that my father would not insist on me explaining to
him in detail why it had to be that time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a lawyer married to an army officer, what was
the atmosphere like in the house, given that in the military, there is this
command and obey structure, of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘obey
before complain’?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYkQPlwq75OC5xRrIrcHAQt4xYUi0Au0Q-oMpAqhZ_SNESUPL4JjZD_IE3frz0kwq6vrFwFqw3YU-1cOkVsQVhBaqz5GMX0jx3Dag2dBM_getK4DG_BerZSAreiwkq5iEujQPl3ujJVW4/s1600/Olufunke+pix.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYkQPlwq75OC5xRrIrcHAQt4xYUi0Au0Q-oMpAqhZ_SNESUPL4JjZD_IE3frz0kwq6vrFwFqw3YU-1cOkVsQVhBaqz5GMX0jx3Dag2dBM_getK4DG_BerZSAreiwkq5iEujQPl3ujJVW4/s320/Olufunke+pix.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As a lawyer married to a military
officer, I knew and still know that I could only be a lawyer in the office and
not in the house. Also, sometimes when there is a discussion between my husband
and me, as a lawyer, what I usually say is ‘let’s reason it out’, ‘this is what
I think should be done’, but as a military man, he will say ‘no, this is how I
want it to be. I will say okay, you are the boss. So if it turns out the way I
had earlier suggested, next time when such situation arises, he will remember
and align with my position. But if he does not remember, we will do it his own
again, until such a time that he realises that we may have to try my own point
of view. Over a period of time, if I hold a view contrary to his, he will
listen and engage my own view. There is the tendency for him to look at issues
from the angle of the military, while I will like to consider the same issue
from the position of law. That is how we have managed ourselves over the years,
35 years to be exact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
would you consider as your most embarrassing moment as a lawyer, if there was
any?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My most embarrassing moment was not
exactly in court. It was in the office of my principal in Kaduna, where I
started practising as a lawyer. We were the second set of youth corps members
then. It happened that a male client walked into the office and demanded to see
my principal. He was not only surprise to see a woman but one he actually
regarded as a ‘Nyarinya’, a young girl as a lawyer. When I wanted to attend to
him, he said ‘no, I want a lawyer’. He probably thought I was a secretary. Even
when I told him I was a lawyer and I was assigned to his case, he said no, that
he wanted to see my boss who he thought was probably the only lawyer in the
chambers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I went in to tell my boss that Alhaji
does not want me. He says he wants a lawyer. Unfortunately for him, my boss led
him out of his office with his file, and asked him not to come to his chambers
any longer. He told him he was not handling his matter and that he could go
elsewhere. The man started shaking. My boss said to him that if say she is the
one handling your case and you do not respect her, it therefore means you do
not respect or have confidence in me. Eventually, he allowed me. That, to me,
was very embarrassing for somebody to walk in and assume that because I was a
woman, I was supposed to be a secretary and I could not be a lawyer. and he
wanted to see a lawyer. Not even when I told him I was a lawyer. He said ‘no, I
want to see a lawyer, a man.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went
home that day and reflected on what being a woman was. For the first time, I
was confronted with the issue of being a woman and actually came to terms with
the gender issue for the first time. The assumption then was that as a woman,
you could never be a lawyer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How
do you relax?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I read novels. And if I have the time, I
go to parties and dance. That is just about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If
you were not a lawyer, what would you have been?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If I was not a lawyer, I would have been
in Nollywood as an actress. When I was in the university, Ife, to be precise, I
used to be very active in the theatre. I was in the drama group acting plays.
We used to travel to Dakar, Senegal. During the holiday, I used to act in the
now rested <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Village Headmaster</i>. So, if
I was not a lawyer, I would have been an actress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
would you consider as the most expensive piece of apparel in your closet?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Honestly, I am not into fashion and so,
I cannot see any expensive clothing in my wardrobe. What I have are just my
office wears. I am not a style person. Rather, I am a functional dresser and I
wear what I am comfortable in at any given time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
would you regard as your worst habit?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What I will consider as my worst habit
is perhaps the fact that I do not give much attention to myself. I am always
busy doing one thing or the other for one person or the other without giving
much attention to myself. I would not know if that is a habit. If it is, then,
that may be my worst habit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-24590218738755368412013-07-29T08:53:00.001-07:002013-07-29T09:11:52.522-07:00James Eze's Ode to a fallen pal, Douglas Ude<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcGWXyZkyUa-tv3av654uBPIhyphenhyphenQlgSdleYqFPvP_ml7cg-NQs3adHwvmuy47VoVFjKWl-FO7pMGq7J4v_sSmU8g6A9SfPYzqcy1m_jMs7_I-lZ396ge1eKsWhntuQaVHGZJbb_FsJRE_D/s1600/James+Eze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcGWXyZkyUa-tv3av654uBPIhyphenhyphenQlgSdleYqFPvP_ml7cg-NQs3adHwvmuy47VoVFjKWl-FO7pMGq7J4v_sSmU8g6A9SfPYzqcy1m_jMs7_I-lZ396ge1eKsWhntuQaVHGZJbb_FsJRE_D/s320/James+Eze.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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<span class="userContent">As I stretch my mind across the years that I
have known Douglas Ude, a central image dominates the universe of my
thoughts – the image of a shooting star, blazing across the evening sky,
releasing a burst of glorious sparkles that fade into<span class="text_exposed_show">
the distance after their job of lighting up the horizon is done. The
remains of the Big Doug will be interred tomorrow, July 26, 2013, in his
home town of Mgbowo in Augwu, Enugu State. Farewell Dude!</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-38902093022321507652013-07-24T09:53:00.002-07:002013-07-24T09:53:47.801-07:00PDP crisis is exaggerated -Senate Majority Leader Ndoma-Egba<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfT08gTI8L4sHpHGCxd1RMM3I13d3mRxOTMvtlYIizObNpdR-eCfJ9-picOe2mtWEWGMaRQt1AtEqtm6BmqepS6WfQDo2jI5JcuDBFKoBX3JYbkO57zTmGjvdQ-w5S4J_Eta-EcRcQ5OR/s1600/Ndoma+Egba.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfT08gTI8L4sHpHGCxd1RMM3I13d3mRxOTMvtlYIizObNpdR-eCfJ9-picOe2mtWEWGMaRQt1AtEqtm6BmqepS6WfQDo2jI5JcuDBFKoBX3JYbkO57zTmGjvdQ-w5S4J_Eta-EcRcQ5OR/s320/Ndoma+Egba.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) is the Senate Majority Leader and a three-term Senator representing Cross River State Central Senatorial Zone in the upper chamber. Senator Ndoma-Egba was at various times a member of Senate Committees on Upstream Petroleum Resources, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Information and Media, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, in his office, he spoke on state creation, crisis in the PDP, zero allocation to SEC saga and sundry issues. Excerpts:</strong><br />
<strong><a name='more'></a></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>There was a seeming helplessness on the part of the Senate to compel the Inspector-General of Police (IG) to arrest and produce the former Assistant Director with the Nigeria Pension Fund, Abdulrasheed Maina, over alleged monumental corruption in the agency, leading to his eventual disappearance. Was that the last Nigerians may have heard on the matter?</strong><br />
Our constitutional responsibilities are carried out within constitutional bounds. The powers to investigate also include the powers to recommend. We do not have any constitutional obligation to implement or execute our recommendations. The responsibility to implement or execute those recommendations lies with the executive arm of the government.<br />
That is why if you look at Section 88 of the Constitution which empowers us to carry out oversights, it also empowers us to carry out oversights with the purpose of exposing or minimising corruption. So the moment we have succeeded in exposing corruption, we have carried out our constitutional mandate. What happens thereafter is for the executive arm. We have done our bit. So, we cannot, having done our bit and exhausted our constitutional mandate, be said to be helpless. So, the issue of helplessness does not arise in this situation at all.<br />
Implementing our recommendation is entirely that of the executive.<br />
<strong>So, while the executive glosses over this serious issue of corruption in the Pension Fund administration, will it be right to conclude that the matter is dead and buried as it seems?</strong><br />
Well, it is for Nigerians to demand action from the executive arm. The legislature has done its bit. So the ball is now in the court of the executive. It is for Nigerians to insist that something be done. I want to believe that the matter is squarely being pursued by those who have the responsibility to do so. The matter is before the Federal Civil Service Commission. Remember also that the police had also declared him wanted.<br />
<strong>Does the Constitution also circumscribe the Senate from reining in the IG of Police or any other head of federal agencies who flagrantly flouts your resolution?</strong><br />
The IG appeared before the Senate Committee on Police Affairs to give an explanation on the challenges or difficulties they were having. The committee is yet to bring its report to the plenary of its interaction with the IG. When the committee submits its report, we will proceed from there.<br />
<strong>Following the debate in the Senate on the Petroleum Industry Bill and subsequent revelations that a section of the country controls 83 per cent of the oil blocs, what is the position of the Senate on the disclosure?</strong><br />
The Senate, like the executive, is a creation of the Constitution that also created the three arms of government. Every arm has its responsibility, limitations and powers. The granting of oil blocs is exclusively the preserve of the executive and not that of the legislature. Let us assume without conceding that the allegations made by Senator Ita Enang are true, it is now left for the executive to make sure that, that is corrected. Correcting a balance in the allocation of oil blocs is an executive function and not a legislative function, but I think that there is this mindset out there that the legislature has the powers to do everything, it is not true. There is a clear separation of powers. Ours is to expose inefficiency and corruption. The moment we have done that, it will be left for the relevant arms to take the necessary actions to redress it.<br />
<strong>Some people have called on the Senate to be scrapped while others have called for a part time legislature. As a Senator who is serving his third term, how do the recommendations strike you?</strong><br />
Let us first of all look at the issue of the National Assembly or the Senate being the drain pipe. This year, we have a budget of almost N5trillion and the budget of the Senate, the House of Representatives, the bureaucracy, the National Assembly Service Commission, the Legislative Institute and our subscription to international bodies is N150 billion. The percentage of this N5 trillion is a little over two per cent. So are they saying that this percentage is the problem of Nigeria? If you have two percent of the budget, it means that you have two percent opportunity for corruption and if you have 98 percent of the budget, it means that you have 98 percent opportunity for corruption. How come the fixation is with the two percent and not the 98 percent? Now, we are talking about the N150 billion and the OPEC fuel subsidy scheme which is just one of the small programmes of the government costs almost N2 trillion. Even the pension fund that you mentioned earlier is far in excess of the N150 billion of the National Assembly budget. Using the figures that I have mentioned, it goes to prove that the National Assembly cannot be responsible for the wastage in the system. It definitely is not.<br />
Let us now come back to the issue of the National Assembly being part time or full time. As a child growing up, when we had the parliamentary system, we had part time legislators and I remember that the headmaster of my primary school was a member of the House of Representatives. He went to Lagos where they used to have their sittings and after that, he resumed his work as headmaster. But it was the same Nigerians who clamoured for a full time legislature. Today, we operate a presidential system of government. Tell me, in which other presidential system anywhere in the world do we have a part time legislature? Again, if the reason for the clamour is cost, I have told you that what we spend in the legislature is two point something percent of our total national budget.<br />
<strong>Out of the N150 billion, the Senate takes a part which is totally inconsequential when you place it side by side with the billions in the pension funds. So the issue of cost cannot be the argument because you would be looking at the wrong place to save cost. When people talk about scrapping the Senate, I wonder what the logic is in having a bicameral legislature. In the world over, you have a bicameral legislature when you have a diverse heterogeneous polity because if you check the representation of the House of Representatives all over the world, you will see that it is based on population. Now, the Senate is based on the equality of the states, so if you scrap the Senate, it means that you have taken care of only the major tribes. So what happens to the minorities who are also Nigerians?</strong><br />
The minorities are accommodated on the basis of representation through equality of states. It is a bicameral legislature in a multicultural heterogeneous like we have in Nigeria that can address the fears of every Nigerian whether you are from the majority or minority tribe. If you now remove the Senate, you are leaving people like me who are the minority of the minorities to be virtually unprotected. The only people that would be protected would be my colleagues from the major tribes. Would it now be that it is because you want to save cost that you would be denying protection to minorities who are Nigerians? As far as I am concerned, the call for scrapping the Senate has no basis either in fact or in logic.<br />
<strong>Aside the cost which the National Assembly seemingly represents, is it not within the powers of the national legislature to recommend an alternative system of government to cut cost as people say the presidential system we are operating is very expensive?</strong><br />
Did we not try the parliamentary system before? Why did we abandon it? That answers your question.<br />
<strong>Wasn’t the system not truncated by the military, and not abandoned?</strong><br />
But when you had an opportunity to choose, you chose a presidential system. So it is not as if you are coming from a situation where you had not tried the other one. We tried it and at that time, the complaint was that it did not work for Nigeria. Now we are operating the presidential system, you say we should go back to the parliamentary. The mindset of the average Nigerian is very curious. I remember in the past when everyone was saying we should liberalise the political space by registering more political parties.<br />
The argument then was that if you registered more political parties, it would weaken the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), then INEC went ahead to register almost 60 parties, but the PDP got even stronger. Now they are saying that we should go back to a two party system. I think we should investigate the reasons why the parliamentary system was abandoned. Under that system, we kept slipping into one crisis after another and the belief was that we needed a presidential system where the chief executive would be strong enough to hold the country together. I do not think that anything has happened to that logic.<br />
<strong>What would you say about the crises in the Governors’ Forum, the leadership of the party and even the presidency?</strong><br />
It is an exaggeration and I can give you an example. I was in Port Harcourt some time ago to receive the National Chairman. The next day, all the newspapers reported that Governors Rotimi Amaechi and Emmanuel Uduaghan walked out on the party, but it is not true because that didn’t happen. They refuted it because it was not true. I was there. What happened was that we were already in the bus leaving for the venue when we got information that Governor Uduaghan was nearby and we agreed to wait for him. When he came in, after exchanging pleasantries with everybody, he made it clear that he would have to rush back because he would be travelling. The Asaba Airport, as you may be aware, closes at 6:00pm. So we went to the venue and at a point he had to leave. He went to the National Chairman and took permission from him to leave. Governor Amaechi was the host, so he had to see his guest off. The next thing we heard was that they walked out on the party. If you are walking out, do you seek permission? So all these talks about face-off are exaggerations and imaginations of some sections of the public and media. These governors are PDP governors as well as so many of us. We have our forums for resolving our issues. So people should stop dramatising and creating situations just because they want to paint a particular picture.<br />
<strong>The country has lost millions of dollars through subsidy payments for imported petroleum products. Is it not part of your oversight as lawmakers to put an end to this through an act of parliament by compelling local refining of the products?</strong><br />
If one part of your body causes you to sin, what do you do? Why are you avoiding the answer? The Bible says that if your left hand leads you to sin, cut it off. If subsidy has become the major source of corruption in this country, then do away with it. Let us not beat around the bush. What act of parliament will you make to force people to invest their money in an environment where they are not sure? People invest money where market forces are at play. You tell somebody to come and invest in a refinery and you are subsidising products, who would invest in such an environment? My take is that if subsidy has become the bedrock of corruption in the country, then we should do away with it.<br />
<strong>You were quoted as blaming the backwardness of the country on the creation of more states. But I want to ask that if Cross River State, where you come from was not created out of the old Eastern Region, would it have given you the opportunity to be in the Senate?</strong><br />
How many states did we have in 1979 when Dr. Joseph Wayas who is from a minority group emerged as Senate President? Coming from a minority group has nothing to do with state creation. Let us not be emotional about this and let us use facts in our arguments. As at 1965, the economy of the then Eastern Region was the fastest growing economy in the world. By that time also, Nigeria was at par with countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil and Indonesia. There are certain political developments that we have shared in common with those countries, especially in military intervention. Indonesia had its fair share of military rule. One thing we did not share with them and which we must investigate is that their federating units remained the same while ours kept multiplying. Could that be the reason why they left us behind? It is something we have to think about.<br />
<strong>How does state creation undermine development?</strong><br />
<strong>The question you should be asking is how has multiplication of states aided development?</strong><br />
<strong>But people argue that the creation of more states and local governments has brought development or better still, government closer to the people. Do you also differ on this?</strong><br />
As a child growing up when we still had three regions before the Midwest Region was created, you could open a tap in my remote village and water would gush out. In those days, we had what became known as county secondary schools, but during the civil war when the government took over, they became government secondary schools. Those secondary schools were built by local governments, and then they were called county councils. Local governments built hospitals, water works and tarred roads. Today when a local government pays its members of staff, it becomes news and it is celebrated. Is that development?<br />
I remember when I wanted to write my first Common Entrance exam in Government College, Afikpo, I was put like a parcel in a vehicle that conveyed mails for the post office. Do we still have that today? And we are talking about development.<br />
I went to school at a time when we were two in a room in the University of Lagos, when our law library was reputed to be the biggest and the best in the whole of Africa. Those days, when you left your room in the morning for lectures, potters came to your room, dressed your bed and picked your laundry. During meal times, you had a hall mistress that went round and ensured that your meal combination was healthy. By the time we were in our second year, we were being interviewed for jobs. Today, people tell me about development when students graduate without even knowing what a library is. I was discussing with my colleague the lowering standards of education and he told me that there were people who spend four years in school without seeing a proper toilet. These days, when you graduate, you have to wait for 10 years to get a job, is that the development that has been brought about by state creation?<br />
We should learn to separate emotions from reality. My training as a lawyer is to keep emotions aside and look at facts and I have been looking at these facts. State creation has served its purpose. I was a commissioner when we had 19 states and things were still working. In those days, the states were feasible and there was a lot of development then. A lot of positive things were happening. As we now multiplied the states, bureaucracy bloated, so we are now paying more on salaries than capital development. Is that development? What happened to our economy? What happened to those plantations that we used to have?<br />
As a child growing up, we had rich people in places like Ikom and Ogoja who made their money by being in Ikom and Ogoja. Today, with state creation, if you are not living in the state capital, you do not have any chance and they tell me it is development. It has gotten to a point when, if you are not in Abuja, you have no chance and they say it is development. It is not about saying that if there was no Cross Rives State, would I have made it to the Senate? There were people who were nowhere and still succeeded. I gave an instance with Dr. Joseph Wayas who was Senate President in 1999, so it has nothing to do with state creation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-52927160322937098662013-07-19T16:25:00.004-07:002013-07-19T16:29:03.215-07:00It’s sad to see Port-Harcourt turned into war theatre –Ex-SSS boss AK Horsfall <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlH8K_BVGYLLNLlIZ9hxmKPy0650m98z89NtfZ8J3Wau10323qOVpBLA2UhOKzcfqesEmQpavpIV5OMCBUokTs3Tofbb23VFYY9Dpf7mrDuynBGt5qLCw5kSVHg781rrjVSEC5CJxA8o1_/s1600/Horsfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlH8K_BVGYLLNLlIZ9hxmKPy0650m98z89NtfZ8J3Wau10323qOVpBLA2UhOKzcfqesEmQpavpIV5OMCBUokTs3Tofbb23VFYY9Dpf7mrDuynBGt5qLCw5kSVHg781rrjVSEC5CJxA8o1_/s320/Horsfall.jpg" width="242" /></span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_chief" target="_blank" title="Tribal chief"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Chief</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> Albert Korubo Horsfall is a former
Nigerian security chief and prominent </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijaw_people" target="_blank" title="Ijaw people"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Ijaw</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> leader. The pioneer member of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Organization" target="_blank" title="National Security Organization"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">National Security Organisation</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;">
(NSO) was also the first </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director_general" target="_blank" title="Director general"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Director-General</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_Agency_%28Nigeria%29" target="_blank" title="National Intelligence Agency (Nigeria)"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">National
Intelligence Agency</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> (NIA), the fifth Director-General of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Security_Service_%28Nigeria%29" target="_blank" title="State Security Service (Nigeria)"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">State Security
Service</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;"> (SSS) and the pioneer </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman" target="_blank" title="Chairman"><span style="color: #eeeeee; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Chairman</span></a><span style="color: #eeeeee;">
of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) now known
as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO,
Chief Horsfall, currently the Chairman of the Rivers State Social
Rehabilitation Committee, charged with the rehabilitation of ex-militants from
Rivers State, laments the insecurity that has been foisted on the state and the
nation at large by the Boko Haram sect and the political crisis in the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP). </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As former head of an arm
of the nation’s security services, how would you assess the state of the nation
in terms of politics and security?</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a name='more'></a></span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Nigeria is going through
a period of severe political and security stress. Clearly, not many people
realise in this country that the apparent ambition of the Boko Haram, for
instance, is to mount a territorial claim on Nigerian sovereignty and
integrity. From all indications, the terrorists intend to stay in this country,
establish themselves and then religious sect, etc. The ambition of the earlier
groups appears limited compared to what is happening with the present Boko
Haram insurgency.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The Boko Haram sect has
clearly been heavily infiltrated by outside forces and external terrorist
groups whose objective is to take over parts of Nigeria as they seem to have
done in Northern Mali before French forces flushed them out. No country worth
its sovereignty will allow a terrorist gang to occupy its territory and thereby
diminish the sovereignty and territorial authority of that country. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">I did say in a lecture
to Catholic Men’s Organization in October, 2011 that ‘Ghaddafi’s guns from Libya
would extend radical and extremist insurgency to West Africa, including
Nigeria.’ I did say then that ‘we now find these fears expressed rather so soon
in parts of West Africa, especially in Mali where our troops are already being
dispatched to fight to save that country. The truth is that the insurgency will
not affect only Mali but could soon find its way to Niger where Colonel
Ghaddafi’s guns are already in evidence, but also in Chad, Central African
Republic, Mauritania and indeed, our country Nigeria. There is clear evidence
that Boko Haram is in contact with insurgences in Mali, Libya, Sudan,
Mauritania and even Somalia.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">As a result of the
negative posture of the late Col. Gaddafi towards Nigeria, Libya had usually
been a threat to our national security. Among other hostile acts, Ghaddafi was
suspected to be one of the external sources funding the Islamist fundamentalist
fighters popularly called Boko Haram. Our national security and intelligence
must have foreseen and should clearly foresee the potentially adverse effect on
Nigeria’s security which the conflict in Libya posed to Nigeria. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In transmitting money
and saboteurs to Nigeria, Ghaddafi and his former officials were a potential
security threat to Nigeria. Security/intelligence has to anticipate that
Ghaddafi cells for propaganda, indoctrination, training, infiltration and
actual sabotage and subversion exist in this country and are run by Ghaddafi’s
loyalists. Such elements must be quickly identified and rooted out. The media
had reported the large scale movement of former Ghaddafi supporters to Niger
and Chad Republic. Some of our national papers have even gone so far to suggest
the possibility that some Ghaddafi agents may have infiltrated Katsina and some
other states in Nigeria.’<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The development in parts
of northern Nigeria is clearly a manifestation of such threats. The terrorist
cells and organisations ousted from different parts of the Middle East and
North Africa in particular, including Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania,
etc, are all at present busy looking for places and territories to house
themselves and foment their nefarious activities. It is therefore important for
all concerned to realise the magnitude of the threats which the country faces
from those terrorist armies and appreciate the measures taken by the government
to contain them.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A lot of people were of
the view that the declaration of state of emergency did not come early enough.
Do you also think so?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The declaration of state
of emergency by the President and Commander-in-Chief did not come soon enough.
But thank God, Mr. President had to take the bull by the horn. The declaration
had indeed become inevitable. It was either the Commander-in-Chief did what he
eventually did or allow the terrorists to settle down and the issue of
terrorism would become endemic in Nigeria. We pray not. Having taken the bull
by the horn, the correct and wise thing for Mr. President to do is to chase the
terrorists out of wherever they may have infiltrated. We must not allow them
any breathing space or respite. Any such lack of relentless pursuit will allow
them to find a foothold somewhere else in the country and continue to threaten
the security, integrity and sovereignty of the country.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">A state of emergency is
a state of emergency. It must be pursued fully and relentlessly. Therefore,
this is a time for all Nigerians to rally round the leadership of the President
and ensure that our country is rid of this threat to the national sovereignty.
We must equally rally round our armed forces, the police and the security
services. They are trained and paid to do this job, but we must remember that
they are Nigerians and they have flesh and blood. They have wives, children and
family. And having placed themselves in this position to make sacrifice for the
rest of Nigerians to find peace, relax and enjoy themselves, they deserve to be
encouraged and publicly appreciated. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">They must not be
condemned as appeared to have been the case following the Baga incident. We
must see our armed forces, police and security in the present situation as
though they are our national football or athletic team. They expect us to
encourage and cheer them up so that they can decisively defeat this threat to
our national security.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In real sense, how much
threat does insurgent and militant activities in the North and Niger Delta
pose to our national security?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The threat of an
insurgency has recently become a major factor in our national politics. Let us
take, for instance, those of the Niger Delta which ended a couple of years ago.
Apart from the few truly nationalist elements among those militants, a lot of
criminal and self-seeking elements took advantage of the genuine demands of the
Niger Delta militants and destroyed both human and material property as well as
destroyed the lives of innocent citizens living in their community. Such is the
consequence of these acts of insurgency and terrorism once they are started.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Sometimes, the
consequences which flow from such acts are based on political, ideological or
religious differences as we have seen in recent times. We have also seen that
many times such security threats are started by political agitation and
encouragement and pronouncement of a few vocal self-seeking elements in the
society. But once the fire of insurgency has been lit, these elements who <i>ab
initio</i> started the agitation find themselves incapable of putting out the
fire they had started. Such is the case in parts of the country at present as
was the case with the recent Niger Delta militancy. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Therefore, whilst addressing
the cases of Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa, the government should equally and quickly
look into the disturbances in Nassarawa, Taraba, Benue and particularly Plateau
States, which has lasted for too long. The defence and security forces should
also be directed there as soon as their present task is done to flush out the
seemingly endemic disturbances in those states.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Side by side with the
security threat raging in parts of the country at the moment, we have to
contend with a number of political issues which have kept the polity in high
gear. Yes, politics is about argument, discussions and sometimes quarrel. But
some of these, like the one between the Presidency and the Nigerian Governors
Forum (NGF), are clearly avoidable. They are avoidable because the NGF is not a
constitutional organ, and having started by doing some good jobs, they seem to
have now constituted themselves – with permanent secretariat and
Director-General – into a parallel political group which tends to rival or
checkmate the federal government on national issues. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The truth of the matter
is that each of the 36 governors has a territory to administer within their
constitutional authority. They are not independent states. Therefore, their
limits are clearly defined by the constitution and the law. For them to
constitute themselves into a parallel national political organ to checkmate the
Federal Government and to make pronouncements, especially such pronouncements
that go against the Federal Government’s authority on matters within the authority
of the Federal Government, is to subvert the constitution and create avoidable
friction within the polity. To say the least, such situations are totally
uncalled for. The states governments are to operate within their constitutional
boundaries and the federal government should similarly do so within its own
constitutional authority. It will be wrong for one or the other to encroach or
cross these boundaries. It is my firm opinion that the present crisis between
the federal government and the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) is as a result of
this clear encroachment by the NGF into federal territories.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The former EFCC
Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, once said the judiciary has constituted a cog in
the anti-graft agency’s fight against corruption with the granting of
interlocutory injunctions. Would you say the judiciary has acquitted itself
well in the war against graft and terrorism?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The problem with us in
this country is that we enjoy sensationalism and hyperbolism. Almost every
issue that threatens security at present had been tackled and highlighted in my
previous lectures and interviews. Let me quote a piece on judiciary in the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)-sponsored lecture of 13th January, 2013: ‘The
judicial arm, in particular, has a major duty to perform in this matter. The
dispensation of justice is on the shoulders of the judiciary and the least one
would expect from the judiciary in the matter of violent terrorism, economic
“terrorism” and corruption, is to emulate the action taken by their Indian
counterpart, a Commonwealth country like us, to set up special courts to deal
with these dangerous cases that are capable of destroying our country. It will
be recalled that following the gang-rape of a 23-year-old lady by six Indian
youths, the judiciary in that country designated special courts to rapidly
dispense justice in that outrageous criminal matter. In my opinion, that is
what the Nigerian judiciary should do by immediately designating special courts
to rapidly deal with persons on trial in these matters!’<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">But no responsible
persons or institutions appeared to heed. The main reason is that I am not one
of those hyperbolic presenters of issues and narratives. Rather, I am an expert
and I present issues in their true perspectives.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">There are already a
number of Boko Haram and other insurgents held in our prison custody awaiting
trial. One or two of them are taken to court from time to time, but for one
technical reason or another, they are returned to the cell, their cases having
been further adjourned. When will these cases be dispensed with and justice
done to the state or the individuals or groups concerned? What about
consideration for the morale of the officers and men who labour tirelessly, and
risk their lives day in and day out in an attempt to bring these alleged
culprits to book? These alleged culprits remain in custody under terrible
conditions while those who had striven to bring these suspects to book feel
frustrated, while judges, lawyers and pressmen practise their trade and
profession and delay their cases, not minding the plight and frustrations of
these suspects and those who had worked so hard to bring them to trial.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In my humble opinion,
all that the judiciary needs to do, even if that requires the introduction of a
new law, and I do not believe it does, is to designate special courts or judges
to fast-track and deal with these cases and those of fraud and corruption
expeditiously, and punish the guilty and free the innocent. The Indian
judiciary, a Commonwealth country and common law jurisdiction like ours, did a
similar arrangement when a 21-year-old medical student was gang-raped. Why
can’t our judiciary produce such innovation if we can smuggle the issue of plea
bargain into our law to favour the rich and the privileged? We must therefore
most sincerely plead with our judiciary to address this issue of special courts
for this brand of serious crimes and criminality which have come to threaten
our national sovereignty and integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You alleged that the NGF
has constituted itself into a parallel national government or organ. How has
the existence of the body of governors conflicted with that of the government
at the centre?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The posture of the
Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) on matters of national security and governance
is sometimes rather shocking. On the 14th of May, 2013, the NGF released a
communiqué after one of its regular/emergency meetings advising or rather
warning the Federal Government not to issue a state of emergency in any of the
North East states where Boko Haram was nesting. Later that night, the Federal
Government announced the state of emergency in three North Eastern states. Did
members of the NGF have prior hint of the impending federal government
pronouncement or indeed merely anticipated it? If it was the former – that they
had prior hint – then they could be accused of divulging official secret which
they swore to protect. If it was the latter, then they might have been expected
to channel their advice through official channels to the federal government or
expose themselves to constituting the NGF into a hostile pressure group by
offering such negative and contrary advice to the federal government on a
matter that touches on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation,
which they, as governors, have equally sworn to uphold.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">It must be observed that
each of the governors is responsible within his constitutional limit for a
chunk of Nigeria’s territory. But the Federal Government is responsible for
protecting the entire territorial expanse and limits of Nigeria. The NGF is not
a constitutional body. It is sadly promoting its affairs and activities as if
it is part of the organs of government created by the constitution. Were it not
for its negative posture, the faceoff between Governor Amaechi and the Presidency
need not, in my opinion, to have happened in the first place. President
Jonathan is Governor Amaechi’s political leader. All I think he needs to do and
should still do is to invite Governor Amaechi to a little chat and talk him out
of the NGF confrontational stance or, if that fails, use the party whip to call
the governor and the rest of the PDP colleagues in the NGF to order or ask the
party to withdraw the PDP governors from the NGF, using the party whip.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">As for the governors, I
maintain that they have assumed and are continuing to assume powers well beyond
their constitutional limits. In an earlier interview in 2012, I had given
detailed information regarding the absolute powers of some of our governors in
their respective states. I made similar references to some of the governors’
attempt to exercise absolute power and authority within their scope. I might
add that in the present case, for instance, the governors who already have
‘full power’ in their states where they control not only the executive arm of
government but the legislature and the local government in some cases, try to
influence the judicial arm through appointments, and so on. They are clearly
moving out of steps with the intendment of their constitutional role. They
already have enormous powers indeed and are trying to capture more through the
back door. And having all these powers, they are now trying, through the NGF,
to encroach on the powers of the federal government as they demonstrated in the
matter of the emergency declaration, and so on, by advising against such action
by the federal government. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Indeed, by taking such
actions, they could be guilty of provoking avoidable constitutional crisis. In
this regard, I can’t agree more with Prof. Jubril Aminu that the country should
be protected from the overbearing authority of the state governors.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #eeeeee; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From your analysis of
the situation, you risk being accused of bias. If I may ask, on whose side are
you, really?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">You call for a
straightforward answer, and I will give you one! <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amaechi and Jonathan are my ‘sons and brothers’. Jonathan is my Ijaw
brother and Amaechi is my Ikwerre brother! I am not taking sides with either of
them. I am rather on the side of the Nigerian nation and treating the issues
involved as an elder statesman who should speak forthrightly and truthfully in
the national interest.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">As a young Special
Branch officer of 25 years, I had fought most relentlessly to maintain the
security and unity of this country. With humility and pride, I recall that
under the leadership of Alhaji M. D. Yusufu, I established all the security
stations and establishments of what is today’s Rivers and Bayelsa States and
other places in neighbouring states. Thereafter, I made major contributions in
building up Nigeria’s first security service—the NSO. I single-handedly set up
the nation’s intelligence service following its establishment by law; after
which I was returned to the internal security organ, the SSS, when it fell
under severe stress, to turn it into the solid service it is at present. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">I therefore feel not
only qualified but duty-bound to speak out, not only for myself as an elder
statesman and non-partisan politician, but perhaps also speak the minds of
other elder statesmen who had contributed immensely to the rebuilding of this
country following the civil war, at a time like this, when the country is once
again coming under severe security and political stress involving our
territorial integrity, as a result the invasion by foreign and local terrorist
groups. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With regards to your question as to the behaviour of our politicians at
this time of national emergency, I can only reply you with a statement quoting
a famous American war-time general, George S. Patton.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">At the
end of the war when he was asked to comment on the behaviour of the then allied
politicians, he said: ‘Politicians are good at starting wars, not ending them.
Before you finish one war, they are busy sowing the seed of another.’ One hopes
that this will not be the case with our emergent situation and our current crop
of politicians</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">I have to address issues
frankly in the manner that will ensure the continued unity and indivisibility
of the country, and not to take sides with either party in this matter. That is
my stand. After all, Governor Amaechi has done some marvelous job in stemming
the tide of insecurity in Rivers State and in terms of developing
infrastructure in the state, which is a big boost for his party, the PDP.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is sad that once again, Rivers State which, thanks to Governor
Amaechi’s efforts, only recently recovered from near anarchy has been turned to
a fresh battle field because of the internal struggles within the PDP to bring
down Governor Amaechi, with a series of pro and counter demonstrations,
including the unleashing of militants who had only recently retired, back on
the streets of Port Harcourt and its environs, to remind innocent citizens that
they are still lurking around and driving the fear into the hearts of the peace
loving citizens from going about their legitimate businesses.</span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is happening in Rivers State at present confirms the saying
that it is the grass which suffers, when two elephants fight. I would like to
plead with all concerned that Port Harcourt and its environs, which have only
recently recovered from the trauma of militancy, be left alone in all of these
pro and anti-Amaechi demonstrations and allow the prevailing peace in the land
to be sustained.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-17299922356757877902013-07-19T07:02:00.002-07:002013-07-19T07:03:52.250-07:00Where is my husband?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="articleabstract">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTscEGGv7X0_woODOVaaQpwFFlbwitfx-YeVPq0dm26WUfbRaczWtAIr1WIv6gTc0ViSz4StEOsqM8XS87EQboG7JK9cLlQMGORbNqvvWGXSRWvknygt8zLu6p0VrI2Xont2JVkS7zMFn/s1600/Akpandara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTscEGGv7X0_woODOVaaQpwFFlbwitfx-YeVPq0dm26WUfbRaczWtAIr1WIv6gTc0ViSz4StEOsqM8XS87EQboG7JK9cLlQMGORbNqvvWGXSRWvknygt8zLu6p0VrI2Xont2JVkS7zMFn/s320/Akpandara.jpg" width="201" /></a><b>By LINUS OBOGO </b><br />
<br />
Pregnant wife of 40-yr-old Friday Akpandara, who got
missing after hanging out with friend, cries out</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Where
is my husband? Where is my husband? Where is my husband? This is a familiar
refrain on the lips of Mrs. Yejide Obidipe Akpandara, wife of 40-yr-old Friday
Akpandara, as she stares vacuously but anxiously into the ceiling at 39 Omololu
Road, off Randle Avenue, Surulere, Lagos.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
a gush of tears nestling down her protruding tummy, Yejide is overwhelmed by
anxiety about her husband’s strange disappearance without a trace since August
24, 2012.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Yejide’s
mother-in-law is not spared the torment of a missing son either, as echoes of
where is my son? Where is my son ricochet everywhere in their living-room.
Indeed, the entire 39 Omololu Road residence of his parents is wholly encased
in a pall of gloom with the unexplained whereabouts of Friday Akpandara. The
mood is melancholic, even as the ceiling fan swirls woozily in empathy with its
aggrieved owners.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
where is Friday Akpandara? This is a million dollar question begging for an
answer. Was he ‘raptured’? And if so, could his Toyota Corrola with
registration number, Lagos: BV 400 APP, have also been ‘raptured’? Loads and
loads of questions, as neither he nor his car is anywhere to be seen. Herein
lies the puzzle about the disappearance of a 40-year-old man.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Friday
Akpandara, a native of Bayelsa was born 40 years ago on a Friday, which was why
his parents christened him Friday. But as if he had an interminable fate
with Friday, Friday reportedly went out with a friend on August 24, 2012 being
Friday, in what has sadly, turned out a seeming outing of no return. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">On
the fateful day of August 24, he reportedly hopped into his car from his
Ikorodu residence with no feeling of foreboding along with his pregnant wife,
his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and a friend and drove to 39 Omololu Road,
off Randle Avenue, Surulere, where he dropped off his family with his aged mum
for the weekend and left for Seunu Street off Western Avenue, Surulere.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">According
to Friday’s younger brother, Anthony, “having left his wife and daughter with
his mother, he drove his car and packed in front of his friend, Ubong’s house.
He was billed to attend a function on Victoria Island, with his business
associate, Kenneth Egendi, in whose car the two friends drove at about
6pm.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Anxiety
mounting</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">For
what was earlier thought to be a brief function or rather a short business
parley, The Nation gathered that the outing stretched very late into the night
culminating in Mrs Akpandara becoming sufficiently worried and anxious about
her husband, who she hinted was not known to keep late nights. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
the anxiety about her husband yet to return mounting, Anthony told The Nation
what went down: “At about 11 pm of the same day, Friday’s wife called him to
find out where he was and he told her they were already heading home from
Victoria Island. When he was not forth coming, she put a call to him but this
time, unsuccessfully. The following day at about 4pm on Saturday, his wife called
me to inquire if I had heard from or seen Friday. According to her, she was not
able to reach him on his cell phone after her last call to him at 11pm on
Friday, having tried unsuccessfully throughout the morning and afternoon of
Saturday.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
why did Friday Akpandara’s two cell phones suddenly go stone-dead between 11.30
Friday and 7am the following day Saturday? And if Akpandara was indeed dropped
off as claimed by his friend, Kenneth Egedi, why was it such a long haul from
Western Avenue to Agric in Ikorodu? Was it possible that Akpandara could not
find his way home? These are posers that are agitating the minds of Yejide and
other family members. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
Anthony recounts what Mrs Akpandara said were details of how he (Kenneth Egedi)
and his friend parted on that fateful night of Friday: “After inquiring from
Ken whom her husband had gone out with, she was told that he (Ken) had since
dropped him off at Ubong’s house at about 11pm, where he was to pick up his car
to drive home to Ikorodu. Ken told Mrs. Akpandara that after picking up his
car, he was driving closely behind Friday and indeed saw him ascend the
barracks end of Ojuelegba bridge along Western Avenue-Ikorodu Road. He said he
could not establish further communication with his friend any longer as his
cell phone batteries were down. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Frantic
search</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
minutes counting into hours and hours into days, it was increasingly becoming a
race against time to find the missing Akpandara. Anthony said he tried
frantically on Saturday to reach his brother on phone but all to avail. “So, I
had to rush down to my parents’ house to see my brother’s wife and get more
detailed information on his movement the previous day. She told me she last
spoke to her husband at 11.06pm on Friday. I asked for my brother’s friend’s
(Egedi’s) number from her which she gave me. I called and inquired from Egedi
when was the last time he saw my brother. He said it was 11pm Friday night when
they were both driving home from a social function on Victoria Island. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“I
asked him if my brother took alcohol and if he could have driven under its
influence, he told me Friday did not take any alcohol or excess of it. Again, I
asked him if anything happened to him on their way back from V/I, he answered
in the negative. I later went to see Egedi at his house and we both left to
look for my brother along Western Avenue-Ikorodu Road. We also checked with the
Onipanu police station and continued the search up to Ogudu, but without any
trace of my brother. We checked under all the flyover bridges if he was
involved in an accident. Yet there was no such indication.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">We
also inquired from the police patrol, FRSC as well as LASTMA officials if they
arrested anyone driving between the hours of 11pm Friday and 4pm Saturday. They
said they did not arrest anyone. We were told there was an accident but they
could not give details of about which car was involved. We checked at LASTMA,
FRSC and VIO offices whether his car was towed, but we could not find anything.
We engaged locals to assist us check along bush paths if anything funny might
have happened. All these did not yield any result. We also checked critical
rescue areas along Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, in case he was rushed there for an
emergency, but it was the same story.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So,
we went from one hospital to another. Kenneth and I were at LUTH, LASUTH,
Gbagada General Hospital and the emergency and casualty wards of these
hospitals to find out if any emergency was reported. The following day, we went
to Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary and we still could not find my brother
whether dead or alive.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">While
we were searching for my brother, we called other friends of his to make a
report at the nearest police station to his house, which is Owutu police
station. We implored them to check at every police station in Ikorodu if there
was any arrest or incident that would have warranted his arrest by the police.
But there was no arrest or incident involving my brother or his car,” he said.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A
search in futility?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Having
failed to find Akpandara on Saturday, it was gradually appearing like a
fruitless search that would go on and on into another day. Anthony continues:
“We continued the search as early as 7am the following day on Sunday and
checked if his car accidently skidded off the road, but we still could not find
anything as such. At Majedun River, we checked if any car veered off into
the lagoon. We found nothing. We dispatched different search teams to different
areas to assist us look for him. All these efforts yielded no result. By 12pm
on Sunday, I had to make a formal report at the Barracks Police Station,
Surulere.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Blackberry
broadcast</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
the search for Friday Akpandara getting bleaker and yielding no positive
result, a strategy for spreading news of his disappearance was devised.
According to Anthony, “with no prospect of locating my brother, we had to
broadcast the incident on Blackberry broadcast so that anybody who had seen him
during the period could help us with information. Four days later, a young man
by name Ehis Udin, got back to us that he had seen my brother at about 1.55am
at Soul Lounge night club, Shoprite Plaza, Lekki. Ehis described the exact
colour of clothes, without being hinted of what my brother wore on the night of
Friday, August 24. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Twist
in the tale</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">With
fresh insight emerging, it was obvious that Ken had not revealed all the
details about their outing which he described as a business function on August
24. But reality would soon begin to stare him in the face. Anthony offered:
“When we confronted Kenneth with this shocking piece of information, he said
they were at the club briefly when my brother wanted to empty his bladder. But
Ehis confirmed he saw my brother actually dancing in the club and he was not
looking like one who merely stopped by to relieve himself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">At
first, Ehis was scared to come up and face the police and offer any
information, but we pleaded with him that he could be of assistance to us in
locating our brother. That was when he agreed to give a statement to the
police. He gave his statement in the presence of Kenneth Egedi, my elder
brother and other friends and family members at the Barracks Police Station,
Surulere. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Based
on Ehis’ piece of information and the statement he gave to the police, my elder
brother, Kenneth, along with other family members went to Soul Lounge night
club and after a thorough scrutiny from the close circuit television (CCTV), it
was confirmed that my brother and Kenneth were in the club up until 1.55am of
Saturday. At that point, Kenneth’s facial expression suddenly changed and he
struggled to respond to questions put across to him by the Shoprite Chief
Security Officer. In fact, he was caught on CCTV entering his car and driving
off with Friday at about 1.55am. This was in spite of the fact that he had
earlier given a statement to the police that he saw my brother leaving Surulere
at about 11pm of Friday, August 24. He told the police that he had dropped off
my brother in front of Ubong’s house to pick up his car and had
actually saw him ascending Ojuelegba bridge at 11pm.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Ken’s
rump exposed</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">While
truth is said to be constant, it is often difficult to tell if a lie could be
told consistently the same way. This is where Ken’s claim of attending a
business function with Friday as well as dropping him off at Ubong’s house at
11pm of Friday was punctured. Anthony said of how Ken was confronted with the
truth and the obvious chasm between his earlier account and the latest
discovery: “There was a huge contradiction between the account he gave to the
police and his later account that he and my brother stopped briefly at Soul
Lounge for him to relieve himself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When
he was further confronted with the discrepancy in his account by the manager of
the shopping plaza after watching the CCTV footage, he said he was not quite
aware of the time they left the spot. But why was Kenneth not able to tell the
difference between 11pm and 2am? Was he under the influence of alcohol
not to know the difference?”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Given
the twist in the tale, Kenneth Egedi has been the guest of the police since
August 31.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">What
has continued to astonish many is if Akpandara was indeed dropped off in front
of Ubong’s house at about 11pm as claimed by Ken, why was he not seen by anyone
removing his car from Ubong’s house? Why did he not call to tell his friend
that he had removed his car, despite the time of the night? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Curiously,
Ubong allegedly confirmed that the car was there until the time he went to bed.
But, according to Anthony, “On Saturday morning when we went to Ubong’s house,
the car was no longer there.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Who
could have driven Akpandara’s car away if he was not the one? Was it
driven away by a spirit or a ghost? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Why
was Egedi shy to mention that he was at Soul Lounge with Friday until the CCTV
revelation almost a week later? If they were supposed to be attending a
function at a friend’s house, how did they end up at Soul Lounge?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When
this reporter was at The Shoprite, Lekki, Wednesday, the Chief Security
Officer, CSO, Mr Bashiru said some police personnel were at the plaza with Ken
and relations of Friday. according to him, they were shown the CCTV footage
where Ken and Friday were captured driving out at 1.55am Saturday. He said
after watching the footage, a copy was made available to the police. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
Nation gathered that with the screw seemingly turning on him, Egedi allegedly
told an elder of Akpandaras that he had a hunch that some family members may
have a hand in Friday’s disappearance. He allegedly produced some GSM numbers
which he said he got from a friend who works with one of the telecom operators.
But incidentally, Anthony said: “the numbers happened to be those of my two
cousins, Maxwell Akadabo and Edimomo Tony. These two cousins of mine had
sometime provided accommodation for my brother and Kenneth whenever they
travelled to Bayelsa for their projects. But why would Ken suspect the duo of
allegedly having a hand in Friday’s disappearance? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Last
moment with wife</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In
what could be termed ‘the last supper’ offered by her husband, Yejide who
described Friday as an open-minded, loving husband and dad to their
two-and-a-half-year-old daughter told The Nation: “Before he brought us down
that day, he went out to buy me amala (meal made of yam flour) to eat. We left
Ikorodu after that for Surulere, where he dropped me off at his parent’s house.
It was about 6pm when he told me he was going to Lagos Island with one of his
friends, Kenneth Egedi. He said Kenneth was going to link him up with a man who
is into property development. On that evening, he told me he was leaving his
car in front of Mr. Akpan Ubong’s house and to join Kenneth in his car. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘’At
exactly 11pm, I called my husband to know why he had not returned from Lagos
Island. He said he was returning with Kenneth to pick his car at Ubong’s house.
That was the last I heard from my husband. The following day, Saturday, I kept
trying his two lines but could not get through to him. His two cell phones were
switched off. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘’I
became so worried and agitated that I had to call Kenneth to tell him I had
neither seen nor heard from my husband since both of them went out the
previous. He told me my husband’s cell phone batteries were down.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘’I
later called Ken again to inform him that I had still not seen my husband, he
just told me he did not know what had gone wrong. This was in the afternoon of
Saturday. I also called my husband’s mechanic to find out if he took his car to
the workshop for service, but he said no. I became more worried. In the
evening, I called his younger brother, Anthony, and told him I had not seen his
brother since he went out (August 24). He quickly called Ken and they both set
out in search of my husband.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘’I
sent my younger brothers to go to Ubong’s house and check if my husband’s car
was still where it was packed, but they could not find it. It was removed from where
it was packed. Nobody knew who removed the car. I understand that while the
issue of who removed the car was being discussed, somebody walked past and said
he saw a red car packed at the very spot at about midnight on Saturday.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘’But
the account of a passerby who said he saw the car at midnight sharply
contradicted Ken’s claim. To me, Ken’s account just did not add up. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">All
through the period of the search, Ken did not say he was at The Soul Lounge
night club with my husband until three days later when someone volunteered
information that he saw them at the night club. That was when he admitted that
they were at The Soul Lounge at about 10.30pm. He said my husband wanted to
relieve himself, after which he (Ken) bought a bottle of water for himself. He said
my husband did not take anything. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The
young man who said he saw them also mentioned the exact time of about 1.55am
they were at the club. CCTV footage corroborated the young man’s claim. But Ken
knew this and chose to keep it from us. It means he knows more than he has told
us.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But
who was Ken to Yejide’s husband, Friday? She replied: “I knew Ken with my
husband since April 2010. He used to accompany my husband when he had building
contracts outside Lagos. He had also followed him to his village in Bayelsa
State. He occasionally visited us in Ikorodu.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">‘’My
husband was a straightforward, loving husband and dad. He was very open to me
and he was not into any shady business.” </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">According
to Friday’s distraught mom: “Ken and my son were really close. Ken told me one
of their friends whose identity he did not disclose had a function on Victoria
Island which he and Friday attended on August 24. When I asked him what the
function was all about, he ignored and shifted attention to someone else. I
have always trusted Ken throughout his friendship with my son, Friday. But when
he had to lie that he dropped him off at 11pm to pick up his car only to be
exposed by CCTV footage means that he knows something about the disappearance
of my son, which he is not telling us.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">When
contacted on the matter on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO)
of the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Conchita, confirmed that the suspect,
Kenneth Egedi, was being held at the Homicide Department of the State Criminal
Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Lagos, over the whereabouts of Friday
Akpandara who was allegedly in his company at time of his (Friday’s)
disappearance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-60599375743104725462013-07-19T06:57:00.000-07:002013-07-19T07:04:26.212-07:00A peep into Ojukwu’s love life<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVy8-jgJGmvYPqfw2o3dyEz8Gl36efatGbjFhlG3lTpK8fCV1AAvVhKRNM0sxSqueUq_1Xfok6SZ_jJRYNuvYGd3cxkObyQRXs6yaGYaFZVAbYjBLnplW2MzDksJUdhpxxEguBub9ybXn/s1600/Ojukwu-Love-Pix-ok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVy8-jgJGmvYPqfw2o3dyEz8Gl36efatGbjFhlG3lTpK8fCV1AAvVhKRNM0sxSqueUq_1Xfok6SZ_jJRYNuvYGd3cxkObyQRXs6yaGYaFZVAbYjBLnplW2MzDksJUdhpxxEguBub9ybXn/s320/Ojukwu-Love-Pix-ok.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ojukwu with Elizabeth (left); with Bianca right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>By LINUS OBOGO </b></span><br />
<br />
HE had a tough and oracular mien. The
more you tried to understand him, the more difficult and complex he
seemed. Not many, especially the men folk, could decode him easily. But
beneath those deportments were his charm, élan, oratory.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While his fellow men found him a bit
impenetrable, the ladies seemed to know his genetic code and could
conveniently decode or deconstruct him. He was </div>
<a name='more'></a>such a dashing young man
with an aura that was simply irresistible. Little wonder he cut a dash
among charming and beautiful women.<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Those were the portraits of the enigma
called Dim Chukwu Odimegwu Ojukwu, the late Biafran warlord, the
People’s General, The Lion of the Tribe of Biafra, the Generals’
General, Ezeigbo Gburugburu, as he was known in his commune.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu was not one you could derisively
label a lecher, yet he was a lady’s man: affectionate, romantic and
pampering He was believed to be a connoisseur of beautiful women. Women,
it was claimed, inspired his thought but never rule his life.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Questions were often posed by women as
to why Ojukwu was so adored by not just women but beautiful women. But
the posers were barely answered before they found themselves dotting
around or hankering after him. No woman could wave aside his charisma,
elegance and seductive poise.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The late Biafran hero embodied all that a
woman craved for and much else. A patrician pedigree and upbringing, an
Oxford education and a suave outlook were qualities that could not be
discounted. Like nectar to butterflies, so was Ikemba to women who knew
what they wanted.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In his interaction with women and
romantic epistles to them, he was believed to have sumptuously deployed
his rich repertoire of poetry and comforting words. Those who came his
way, he swept them off their feet with his flowery vibes and verve, and
they fell a dime a dozen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He was said to have displayed his
absolute love for beautiful and brainy ladies. It was also said that
“you never really stand a chance as a woman if the Ikemba decides that
you are really going be his love interest…. You know Ikemba, he’s
ladies’ man…,” Bianca, his widow, had revealed in an interview.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu’s disposition was believed to
have been informed by a notion in the military that most military
officers who trained at Sandhurst Military Academy, England, were weaned
on a precept that they must remember that they were only sure of
‘today’, as they may be gone tomorrow. This kind of orientation in the
army, especially among the top military echelon, is believed to
encourage them to seek good companies among beautiful ladies whenever
they have the opportunity to relax, as ‘tomorrow may never come.’ And
Ojukwu, a ladies’ man, had more than his fair share.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From Elizabeth Okoli, daughter of
Nigeria’s first Post-Master General whose marriage to the Ikemba Nnewi
lasted for just two years, to Njideka Onyekwelu who had earlier been
married to a certain Dr. Mends, before tying the nuptial knot with
Ojukwu; Victoria who he met in Cote d’Ivoire; Stella Onyeador, chief
bridesmaid during Njideka’s marriage and finally to Bianca, they all saw
in Ojukwu a Romeo or King of love in whom they were well pleased.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Following the revelation emanating from
the reading of his controversial will, of a lovechild, Tenny Haman, The
Nation tried to seek the views of some of the late Ikemba’s associates
and confidants on his love life as well as the different women in his
life.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Asked to offer his perspective, Colonel
Joseph Achuzia, a Biafran Commander and confidant of the Biafran warlord
said he would not be dragged into taking a peek at the life of his
friend, who he said should be allowed to rest in peace.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
His words: The person who you are
referring to was my personal and dear friend. Today, many people who did
not know him are all out to caricature him. Not even his children
understand him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It will be wrong for me to join the
fray in caricaturing him or saying anything uncomplimentary about him
until we understand the forces manipulating what is going on. That is
why I cannot answer your question.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Whether it is about his love life or
lovechild, it all boils down to the same thing. I know everything about
the man you are asking about. I know the women he married and those he
did not marry.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We as a soldiers who were involved in
the war, we know all the girls who came either as friends or something
else. It is an intimate knowledge which I am not ready to share or talk
about. I would not like a situation where I am gone tomorrow only for me
to be dissected for what people will describe as my amorous life.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Offering an insight into the women in
Ojukwu’s life, first cousin to the Biafran warlord, Chief Anthony
Nnadozie Udemefuna Ojukwu, 73, while admitting that their family is
known for polygamy, had hinted that there was always something different
each of his wives wanted in him: “Look at Bianca; what she wanted in a
man might be very different from what Njideka or Stella wanted. But what
I want to assure you is that these four women were alike. They were all
beautiful women.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Emeka loved beautiful things and
beautiful cars. He was a man of courage and was handsome, which was an
irresistible combination. Ojukwu married four wives in all, but he was
married to each of them one at a time. He married early. You know he was
a young, rich and handsome man, with a lot of prospects.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The many wives of Ojukwu:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In what would mark Ojukwu’s
metamorphosis from boy to man was his marriage to his first wife
Elizabeth Okoli from ‘Nnukwu Awka’, Anambra State in 1956. Elizabeth was
a senior nursing sister by profession and daughter of Nigeria’s first
Post-Master General. He was said to have wedded her in court. The
marriage, however, suffered a setback, leading to the couple going their
separate ways in 1958.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Njideka</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Among the late Ikemba’s numerous wives
who he married after each separation or divorce was Njideka Onyekwelu,
his second wife. They were married in 1964. Njideka had earlier been
married to one Dr. Mends, with whom she had a set of twins, a boy and a
girl, before they separated.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to an insider account, Njideka
and Ojukwu were said to have met through their fathers who were friends
and business partners. After their first encounter, they met again
three years later at a tube station in London. A relationship ensued
soon afterwards and was subsequently cemented through marriage, which
produced three children, two of whom were named Emeka (Jnr) and Okigbo.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Describing the kind of husband the late
Ojukwu was, Njideka had said: “He is just a very kind man, very polite,
not intrusive. He cared less about what happens in the kitchen; he just
settles for whatever you offered him. He respected me and my opinion a
lot. Later, when the children got across to him, he would ask them what
my opinion was on issues and I loved him immensely in return.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Njideka and Ojukwu, according to a
source, had what was called ordinance wedding then and the reception was
in the family house, Eastern House in Lagos. Ojukwu married Njideka
when he was the 5th Battalion Commander and they stayed on till he was
appointed the governor of Eastern Region. The marriage reportedly ended
in separation in Cote d’Ivoire when Ojukwu decided to take a second
wife. Njideka was alleged to have left him angrily.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Victoria</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A ‘hot commodity’ he turned out to be.
Just as one woman was walking out of his life, another was making her
way into his life, as if to fulfill the scriptural provision that ‘it is
not good for a man to be alone’.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu’s taste for ravishing beauties
was never in doubt. But it was during his exile in Cote d’Ivoire that it
assumed a new height. That was where Victoria stepped in to keep the
Ikemba’s marital life aglow.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu reportedly met Victoria in Cote
d’Ivoire. They remained married till the early 80′s when Ojukwu was
granted a state pardon by the then Nigeria’s president, Alhaji Usman
Shagari.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stella Onyeador</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the affair with Victoria began to
grow cold, the Eze Nd’Igbo Gburugburu had a replacement waiting in the
wings in beautiful Stella Onyeador, sister of society impresario, late
Angela Onyeador. According to reports, Ojukwu and Onyeador nestled
together for about 10 years without an offspring to show for it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The two lovebirds, it was gathered,
later had a spat and went to court over custody of a girl-child they
adopted while in Cote d’Ivoire. Ojukwu eventually won the custody brawl
as the court ruled that under French law, a woman is not eligible to
adopt babies, which was the norm in Cote d’Ivoire then.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Welcome Bianca</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Each time the curtain was about to be
drawn on a dying relationship, there was another lurking in the corner.
With the death knell finally sounded on the 10-year-old romance with
Stella, ravishing and delectable Bianca stepped in.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The story of how the Ojukwu met Bianca
is well documented. The story goes that for the love Ojukwu felt for
Bianca, he became a sonneteer, writing sweet feelings with pencil and
painting same with crayons to send to her. This was in spite of the wide
gap in their ages. But age posed no blockade for his love for Bianca.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu was said to have been one of the
high dignitaries at the Silverbird beauty pageant where Bianca was
crowned. He came prepared. According to a source, he wrote a love note
to her with a flower inside.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu reportedly defied all the camp
rules for Bianca. According to the rule, no man courts a queen, and no
queen dates a man while reigning. But both of them fell for each other.
Bianca refused to let go of Ojukwu and sacrificed her Most Beautful Girl
in Nigeria. She also went against her father because of Ojukwu.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But Bianca was not alone in offering
Ojukwu her queenly love. She was in fierce competition with other ladies
who desired his attention. There was the late Governor Sam Mbakwe’s
daughter, one Barrister Onwuelo’s daughter from Nnewi and another
beautiful lady.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ojukwu’s marriage to Bianca was arguably
the most celebrated celebrity marriage in Nigeria till date. Their
controversial romance was a national talking point in the early 90s and
reports had suggested that she was dethroned after her romance was
exposed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bianca had spoken of their relationship
thus: “We have been into a relationship since 1989 but we got married
formally on November 12, 1994. We have been together for over 20 years,
because we had been living together since 1989. I was 22 and he was in
his mid-50s when we started. It was not your conventional relationship.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Looking back now, I certainly realise
that I was very young at that time, but it didn’t seem to matter,
because we had so much in common and we had good communication. The gap
was not there in our day-to-day interactions.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“People thought the relationship was
bizarre because of the age difference but it’s only when I look back now
that I have children of my own that I realised that it was rather
unusual.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I don’t know whether I would classify
it as being in love. I just knew that the difference tended to melt away
when compared to the common grounds that we had. We had a similar
background and we had so much to talk about. We had common interests and
we just did a lot of things together. We went to see plays at the
theatre. We went on vacations and there was just no disparity in our
interaction.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What the late Ikemba loved, he held so
dear. He loved his women and cared for them. While he allowed other
women to walk out of his life, his love for Bianca was so uncommon that
even in death, he is not ready to let go. Little wonder he caused to be
inserted in his will a clause that would keep Bianca bonded to him until
they reunite in heaven. Indeed, the</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-8392611894041453062013-06-29T09:29:00.000-07:002013-07-29T07:58:15.495-07:00Why we must renegotiate the basis of our corporate existence –Sen. Ehigie Uzamere<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_AC1JlqFnmhCDNfk44PoYFjnVH20y3vyivQCLinIfs6ijL5uf-fZX6UxI3mbS8ApxL26_TZElNnCgMKEY9OCDcNMOYQxdOPhWDCzpZDFsvkVmnFnN80hn-b6G1Wh0WiuUvS-DmkuqInfA/s1600/Uzamere.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_AC1JlqFnmhCDNfk44PoYFjnVH20y3vyivQCLinIfs6ijL5uf-fZX6UxI3mbS8ApxL26_TZElNnCgMKEY9OCDcNMOYQxdOPhWDCzpZDFsvkVmnFnN80hn-b6G1Wh0WiuUvS-DmkuqInfA/s400/Uzamere.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><b>Godwin Ehigie Uzamere is a senator of the Federal Republic. He is a two-time senator representing Edo South Senatorial Zone. Uzamere was first elected senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in 2007 but in 2011, he was later reelected on the ticket of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Uzamere who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Foreign and Local Debts, in this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, spoke on Nigeria’s spiraling debt profile, barely six years after it met her debt obligations to the Paris and London Clubs. He also spoke on the need for a national dialogue in the light of the raging insurgency in the North , Edo politics and sundry issues Excerpts:</b></i><br />
<i><b></b></i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>How would you evaluate the state of emergency in the three affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, given that opinions still appear divided along party lines on the propriety or otherwise of the imposition?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Personally, I was happy with the declaration of the state of emergency in the three northern states. And I must state clearly here that my position has nothing to do with that of my party. What President Goodluck Jonathan did was to give a human face to the imposition of the state of emergency, unlike what we had during former President Olusegun Obasanjo where existing political structures were shortchanged.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
By invoking the provision of Section 306 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, to impose a state of emergency, he was careful not to have tampered with or dissolved the existing political structure on ground in the affected states. For me, he should be commended for that.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As to whether I supported it, I will say yes I did, to the extent that so long as it would bring about relief or respite to the people in the affected states and by extension, to the entire northern states including Abuja. The situation we find ourselves is a terrible one. But the President was kind enough to have set up a committee to consider the prospect of an amnesty. This did not seem to be yielding fruit and he probably ran out of patience.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That being said, the declaration was timely. I know that my party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, was not in support the imposition. But the views I have expressed remain my personal opinion as an individual and not that of my party.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a country, we will be 100 years next year and we have come to a point where we must ask ourselves: do we need to reexamine some of the factors which brought us together? Do we need to go back and renegotiate the basis of our existence? It is very important and we must not shy away from it, if we must continue as one.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We were cobbled together by our colonial masters and if the factors that made that necessary are no longer necessary, we need to discuss the terms and conditions for our continuous existence as a country.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Personally, I support the indissolubility of Nigeria. But this cannot not be, when our young men and women are being slaughtered like cows by a few misguided elements. Before the imposition of the state emergency, a pastor of my church told of a man who was pursued to his house by suspected members of Boko Haram. On getting to the house, he could not be found, but they met his son. He was asked to produce his father, but when the young man could not do that, he was slaughtered. The elderly man was watching from the ceiling, where he was hiding how his son was being butchered. Three days later, this same was in church. That showed the old man’s faith in God and also that not even the killing of his son by Boko Haram members was enough to break his spirit and relationship with his creator.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also, my son’s former roommate in the Customs Service, an Igbo man, was travelling from Maiduguri down to the south. And along the way, they ran into the Boko Haram elements. All the occupants in the bus were asked to get down identify themselves by their religion. Sadly, all the Christians including my son’s roommate were ordered out and slaughtered like goats. This was a young man who had graduated seven years from the university but without a job until he was recruited into the Customs and posted to Maiduguri.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Given the aforementioned horrific scenario, is this how we are going to watch while young and vibrant innocent lives are being wasted in the name of religion or politics? This was where this country was headed until President Jonathan had to embark on this last resort. They say they want every Nigeria to be a Moslem, no problem. But how possible is that? So, we must sit down together and negotiate whether or not we all want to be Moslems. For those of us who do not want to be Moslems, we can decide to allow them have a different country where everyone will practise his religion unmolested. So, I do not fault the action of President Jonathan at all in imposing a state of emergency.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Should the President have acted otherwise by being sweeping in his imposition of emergency rule?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I do not agree that he should have acted otherwise. He acted prudently by allowing the democratic institutions to remain. He was patient enough and that is why he should be allowed to experiment with the measure. He acted within the bounds of constitutional powers allowed him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The story of our upstream subsector of oil and gas is well documented- one of graft and inefficiency. As a member of the Senate Committee on Upstream Petroleum, what effort is your committee making to curb the menace of corruption commonly associated with the sector?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sincerely, I think this question should go to the chairman of the committee. What I can say is that as a member, the PIB which is before the Senate, with about three or four committees brought together under the chairmanship of Upstream Petroleum, Senator Paul Paulker, we are positive that once the bill is passed, it will correct inherent corruption as well as associated anomalies in the sector.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The politics of Edo state assumed a new hue with the advent of Governor Adams Oshiomhole on the state’s political landscape. How do you ensure the state does not recede into the hitherto dark days of political fiefdom when he vacates office in 2016?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As we speak, the comrade was voted in last year, 2012, and was sworn in in November of same year. It is not even a year yet and so we should not be talking about when he is leaving office. Let us pray to God to grant him wisdom to be able to steer the ship of the state in the right direction and sustain this tempo of development and popularity he has brought to the state.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is no doubt that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has given us a new hope and a new face as far as the politics of Edo State is concerned. Before now, nobody had a voice in the politics of the state unless you were sponsored by one or two leaders from the state.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Governor Oshiomhole is a wind of change God gave to Edo people. He came like a bolt out of the blue and said let the people lead. Today, you can see a bus driver driving into Edo Government House to offer his advice to the governor. That is how he has democratised and simplified governance in the state.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How to sustain this is through good governance and so far, he has been exhibiting this. He is being likened to former Governor Samuel Ogbemudia and late Governor Ambrose Ali whom everyone has continued to sing their praises. Definitely, Governor Oshiomhole is going to leave a legacy of good governance and unparallel achievements.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He has giving voice to the voiceless and hopes to those who thought that until they knew a certain godfather, they would never get elected into any political office in the state and at the centre.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Will it then be proper to conclude that we may have heard the last on the politics of godfatherism in Edo politics?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, I cannot predict tomorrow because I am not God. But all I know and all I can say is that there is awareness today in Edo politics all across the three senatorial districts where votes count. Hitherto, elections were conducted and results of such elections were written and released from one man’s house. But thank God, Oshiomhole emerged and saved us from the embarrassment.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>As a former PDP senator who won an election into the senate at a time results were ordered written by one man, how would compare where you came from and where you are now with regards to party ethos?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I will not comment on where I came from and where I am now because an election has been won by me on the platform of the ACN, and I am representing the entire Edo South Senatorial District, irrespective of party affiliation. Whether one is ACN, the PDP or the Labour Party, I offer everyone representation. Of course, this is not an election year where we have to castigate one another. As a slogan, I believe that there is no animosity, no quarrel and no bitterness once voting is over.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>As Chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic Debts, how would you react to Nigeria’s current debt profile of over US$6 billion, barely six years that former President Olusegun Obasanjo ensured the country was free of any debt overhang? And how disturbed are you by this new trend?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is true that former President Obasanjo exited Nigeria from the Paris Club. But we were not entirely free of debts as Nigerians will want to believe. Again, governance in any country of the world is associated with borrowing because there are situations that may confront a country that you cannot help but resort to external facilities to address them. So from time to time, government of any country, both developed and underdeveloped will need external facilities to solve some of its pressing needs. Therefore, Nigeria cannot be an exception. Every country borrows.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What we have noticed is that Nigeria is borrowing and it is doing so at a very alarming rate. That being said, let me clarify here that we are still below the 40 per cent borrowing threshold. Nigerians need not be disturbed about that. For Nigeria’s debt profile to pose a threat to the economy, it has to be above the 40 per cent threshold. And currently, we are far below that. We are not even up to 20 per cent.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>But why would Nigeria borrow at such alarming rate, despite its huge foreign earnings from crude oil sales? Is that the way countries like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela borrow to sustain their economies?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You are right. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela may not be borrowing because they know how to manage proceeds from their crude oil sales. But same cannot be said of Nigeria which is also a rich oil producing country.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The problem with Nigeria is management and that of leadership. We are praying that God should give to Nigeria such selfless leaders who will manage key areas of our economy. In that way, we can navigate ourselves out of our current quagmire. This country needs selfless leaders.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Borrowing, as we speak is ongoing and our debt profile is on the increase.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Of course, just as we are borrowing, we are also paying. For instance, in the 2013 appropriation bill, about US$500million was appropriated for the servicing of foreign loans.</div>
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<b>How much oversight does your committee exercise over foreign borrowings by the federal government?</b></div>
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What is currently before the senate is the 2012 and 2014 borrowing plan which is about US$9 billion over the next two years. We have alerted the Ministry of Finance to furnish us with details of what and how much is going to the different sectors of the economy as well as the ministries and agencies.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is when we are armed with these details that the senate can then ask the different committees to monitor what is going to each ministry and agencies. For instance, the housing sector is going to get about US$300 million for its experimental housing scheme. So, the committees in both chambers should be able to play oversight functions to ensure that the allocations are appropriately applied in line with target goals.</div>
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Some of the foreign loans Nigeria has obtained fall within what is called concessionary loan which interest rate is not more than two per cent with a 20 to 40-year moratorium.</div>
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The challenge of our committee currently is to ensure that every loan collected or obtained is attached to projects.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We have also sensitised other standing committees in the National Assembly of the need to ensure that all the loans from the executive which are before them and requiring their approval are attached to specific projects. This is to enable the committees to follow up with their oversight role.</div>
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On the domestic borrowing, the committee is working hard to limit the rate at which government goes to the bond market so that the private sector is not snuffed out or shut out from accessing the bond or capital market.</div>
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One major problem or challenge with our debt management is the Fiscal responsibility Act or fiscal autonomy which allows even the other tiers of government to access foreign loan facilities. Recently, the Akwa Ibom State Government went to borrow from one of the foreign banks to refinance a loan they had previously borrowed from one of the banks abroad.</div>
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This is so because the Federal Government has no strict control over the states as a result of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.</div>
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<b>How verifiable are these debts?</b></div>
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Of course, they are verifiable from the Ministry of Finance, the Debt Management Office as well as the various MDAs.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-68441842855392938692013-06-08T20:17:00.000-07:002013-08-16T20:17:49.619-07:00‘State of emergency timely, but not sweeping enough’<strong>By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong><br />
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<em><strong>Professor Jubril Aminu was Minister of Education and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources respectively, from 1989 to 1999. A professor of Cardiology and one-time Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Aminu was elected, senator of the Federal Republic, representing Adamawa Central between 2003 and 2011. He was also Nigerian Ambassador to the USA from 1999 to 2003. In this bare – knuckle interview with LINUS OBOGO, Assistant Editor, Aminu speaks on the political crisis in his home state, Adamawa, his regrets, the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, and sundry issues. </strong></em><br />
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President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. How far reaching is the measure in putting down the violent activities of Boko Haram sect in those states and particularly in the North?</div>
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It was an expected action, and therefore, one was not surprised. As a matter of fact, I think someone in the Aso Rock Villa appeared to have spilled the beans. And in the broadcast by the President, he appeared to have been very angry and disturbed and he wanted to make sure that the step taken, if it would be effective, would largely contain the security that appeared to have gone haywire.</div>
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It also appeared that it was widely accepted, because usually, the problem presidents are likely to have in declaring a state of emergency is to have a two thirds majority of the National Assembly to endorse it and for it to be effective in law. It also looked to me like an extensive consultation was done.</div>
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Now, the question will be what will be the reaction of the political parties and the people from those localities where emergency law has been declared? I think that apart from the political jiggery-pokery associated with measures such as this, the measure will be accepted, pending what effect it will have. There is no doubt that the affected states and people will give the state of emergency the benefit of the doubt.</div>
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I could understand why the President has not gone far enough. It is very simple to appreciate and it is simply politics. Ordinarily, it would have been expected that the two tiers of government would be suspended and military administrators be put in place. This was not done and so, I fear that the current measure will affect the effectiveness of the state of emergency in the affected state. As I said, it is all politics. This is 2013 and very soon, it will be 2014, with the general elections coming on the heels in 2015. You know, we are in a country where political parties suspect each other very much. The opposition will suspect that the President will want to take advantage of any declaration of a state of emergency to remove the governors. Do not forget that two of the affected states do not belong to the PDP. The PDP would have been happier if things were done more thoroughly. Like Adamawa, for instance, where the sitting governor lost the local government election very woefully and obviously, does not enjoy the confidence of the people, removing such a governor from office would appear to go down well with those who have lost confidence in him. If a leader no longer enjoys the confidence of his people, how can they cooperate with him in making the law effective? They will rather want to depend on the federally controlled authority.</div>
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We may just have to wait and see. But I would have preferred the emergency declaration to be more thorough so that the effect will be on the insurgents and maybe on the politicians. Like now, it looks to me that it is only the security agencies that have been gingered up and their heavy might will ultimately fall on the ordinary people. Of course, they will want to do their job by controlling the people and controlling the movement of the people in the affected states.</div>
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I wish that we will not see some of the things we used to see in the past. However, I still think that unless care is taken, once more, the people who will feel the effect most, apart from the insurgents that they are looking for, will be the ordinarily law-abiding citizens.</div>
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In summary, I think the emergency law will be accepted by the people, but then, let us wait and see.</div>
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By allowing the political status quo to remain, what implications will this have on the effectiveness of the emergency law in the affected states?</div>
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The measure is not sweeping enough with the governors, legislators, and local government chairmen in place, the measure cannot be said to be sweeping. But again, politics is involved. The President did not want to create room for suspicion that the opposition states were the target, just as he also wants to enjoy the goodwill of the PDP state.</div>
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How timely or belated was the President’s declaration of the state of emergency?</div>
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This is the kind of question you should be asking those in opposition and not a member of the PDP like me. I am sure you want me to make an editorial on the President’s action. In my opinion, there is no problem in the timing. Rather, there is a problem with the extent or scope of the emergency.</div>
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Your state, Adamawa has been enmeshed in political crisis for some time now, with the governor pitched against the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. And now, more salt has been added to the injury with the imposition of state of emergency. What collateral damage has this on the politics of the state?</div>
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You are asking me to comment on what you already know what my position is. It cannot be any worse than it is already. The latest development can only make things better for the people. As for the political implications of the crisis between the governor and the PDP National Chairman on the state, the people of Mayo Balwa Local Government Area, where the governor hails from, have demonstrated their unhappiness with the state of affairs in their area by voting massively against the governor’s candidate in the last local government election.</div>
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What that means is that thank God, the PDP in Adamawa is no longer in the governor’s hands. You may not agree with me, but the governor went and hired a candidate from an obscure party called Kowa Party, which in Hausa, means ‘Everybody’, but which I will prefer to call ‘Bakowa’ Party, meaning ‘Nobody’s’ party. He was squarely routed or defeated in the election despite all that went on before and during the election.</div>
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That, in itself, was a massive plus for the people of Adamawa. I feel that if this type of restorative measure is continued, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.</div>
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As one of the key political gladiators and stakeholders in the Adamawa State, what have done in your capacity to bring about amity in the simmering political crisis?</div>
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Why do you refer to me as a gladiator? I thought we were already two thousand years since the Roman Empire. There is really no gladiator in all of the crises in Adamawa State. The governor just took his sword and has been shoving it in the face of everyone. All we have been trying to do is to ensure that Adamawa is okay while the governor has been doing what he likes.</div>
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You asked me what I have been doing. Call us whatever you like, elders or stakeholders, the important thing is that we are working together for our national chairman, Bamanga Tukur. We have been working hard and with the cooperation of the National Working Committee of the PDP, we have elected a new executive for the state and also carried out new registration for members.</div>
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Unfortunately, one of the state House of Assembly members died. But this provided a sad opportunity for us to show who enjoys the support of the people. And we had an election in the governor’s local government, which was an opportunity to show his standing in the state, unfortunately he lost scandalously, despite going out to rent a candidate from another party. It was obvious he had no viable candidate to foist on the people and he had to go and rent one who was roundly defeated in the election. The election was monitored by INEC and observers from other states.</div>
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The emergence of Governor Murtala Nyako on the state’s political firmament was through your instrumentality. Any regrets for propping him up?</div>
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I am full of regrets for my action and I have since apologised many times to the people of Adamawa State. I came to realise that I did not know Nyako very well. He is a brother. That is fine. But as a politician and a leader on whom the trust of the people has been placed, I did not know him very well. A lot of people were surprised that he could do the kind of things he has been doing. He was a military governor once and one-time Chief of Naval of Staff and now governor again, but he has not justified the trust and confidence of the people of Adamawa State.</div>
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How exactly do you mean by people were surprised that he did the kind of things he did?</div>
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It’s been all over in the papers. I do not think I can capture all of them now for you. I cannot say it eloquently like the Adamawa people will. You represent a great paper like The Nation, so, I expect that you should go there and take a look at the situation for your paper. There is nothing I will tell you here that will make much sense to you without being accused of bias. You just go to Adamawa and see things for yourself. Ask anybody in the state and they will paint a picture of the deplorable situations in the state for you. Suffice it to say that Adamawa is today the worst administered state in Nigeria. They have not received anything by way value for the money, votes and trust invested by the government and the people.</div>
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If you say you did know him, was the first four years not enough to have done a checklist on him to ensure that he was not returned to leadership position in the state?</div>
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After his first term, he contested and won, following which the court annulled his election. So, as faithful party members, we were all with him when a fresh election was ordered by the court. We supported him and ensured that he won his rerun election. But things soon began to change and the man started showing his colour, much to the surprise of everyone. He was no longer doing what we elected him to do. And we parted ways because I could not go on deceiving myself that all was well with the way the state was being run.</div>
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Do you feel betrayed by Governor Murtala Nyako?</div>
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I felt I had made a serious mistake by pushing him into the heart of the people of Adamawa State and I have severally apologised.</div>
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Do you imagine former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar having the last and best laugh?</div>
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Do you think we have finished laughing? We have not finished laughing yet. And as for Atiku, I have no reason to apologise to him, because he was the one who transgressed against me. I was just sitting down in Abuja doing my job as a senator when he decided to use his vice presidential powers to remove me. Fortunately, the Constitution of Nigeria was there to make recourse to and I escaped being removed by whatever means Atiku wanted. That was long ago. There are really no differences between us to settle. He is my younger brother and he will always be my younger brother. We are back and working together. What is going on in Adamawa is not a matter of who is going to have the last and best laugh. I never, in my wildest imagination, thought that Nyako would do the sort of things he is doing in the state.</div>
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There are insinuations that the festering crisis between Nyako and Tukur in Adamawa State is as a result of the struggle to install or impose their sons on the state as governor, come 2015. Is this truly the undercurrent?</div>
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I do not exactly think so. But it might as well be so. But I doubt strongly if that is Bamanga’s problem. Do you know what Bamanga’s problem is? He is a national chairman who was elected in a very hostile atmosphere. Everything under the sun was done to stop him being made chairman. I do not know what they had against him.</div>
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But with regards to his son wanting to be governor of the state, the young man has been a politician for a very long time now. He was a member of the House of Representatives in 1999. He was acting minister for a brief period at a time. He was Chief of Staff before Nyako’s election was annulled. So, he has been a politician in active politics all the while. He does not come across as one who is being prepared to be governor by somebody.</div>
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But in contrast to Governor Nyako’s son who was in the Navy and who, up till now, we cannot say whether or not he has left the service or not. But he relocated from Lagos to the Government House in Yola. We saw that as very odd. He was always seen in uniform. I do not know if he has retired. But today, they say he is the chief and leader of all youths in Adamawa State, appointed by a certain chief. He goes around as if he has already been elected governor with siren and security escorts. Up till now, no one can say what kind of job he has in government. Absolutely, there is no comparison between Tukur’s son and that of Governor Nyako’s. But the trust is no one knows who will win the governorship election in the state when the two come head to head against each other in 2015.</div>
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Is there any prospect of the crisis in the state chapter of the PDP ending anytime soon?</div>
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As far as I can say, we have virtually resolved the crisis in the party in the state. The party is supreme and it has won the election to constitute the state executive. And what is more, it has won the local government election in a key council area. So, we are on the way to resolving the crisis. By 2015, when the PDP wins the governorship in the state, the party would have finally resolved its differences.</div>
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And it would not matter whether it is Tukur’s or Nyako’s son who wins the election and…</div>
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(Cuts in) You are trying to be mischievous now. If you have any more questions ask me, or else, we call it a day.</div>
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Another seething issue in the polity today is 2015, with the North menacingly poised for a showdown with President Goodluck Jonathan. What is your understanding of the unfolding power game?</div>
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The problem with politicians and ditto, Nigerians, is that they do nothing other than to speculate and take position on the next general elections. Now we are talking about 2015, it will amaze you to know that there are already people who’re jostling for 2019. That is what Nigeria has become. People take a job but they are not ready to do the work. They use the current job to look for the next one without bothering about what they were first and foremost elected to do. Nigeria is gradually turning to a country where electioneering is a permanent preoccupation. That is not good for democracy. Democracy is not all about electing people to show that you have a democracy, but to ensure that they work for the electorate. But this is not happening.</div>
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Are you in sync with those who insist that President Jonathan cannot vie for second term?</div>
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The Constitution is very clear on the qualifications for the office of the President of Nigeria. It is not the prerogative of anyone to ascribe. Of course, I know that President Jonathan is going to stand for 2015. I have always said this, but that is not the understanding of many other people from the North who alleged that they had a talk with him with regards to 2015. But I know that nothing is going to stop him. Asking the President not to run in 2015 has no legal provision in the Constitution. Even if you decide to pursue the matter up to the Supreme Court, there is no provision for him not to run in 2015. The only thing is that there will be a lot of bad blood. Everybody should be free to stand for elections, so long as you are constitutionally qualified. The outcome of the election is what matters at the end of the day. It is not everybody who stands for an election that gets elected in the end. The outcome of the election will resolve whatever issues that may exist. And I want to seriously warn that we must bear in mind that most of the crises we have had in this country were occasioned by election outcomes. That is why we must be guided by what we say in the run up to elections.</div>
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Pressure is also being cranked up in the polity by the body of governors, under the aegis of Nigerian Governors’ Forum. They have carried on literally, like pressure group and constituting a formidable force against the Presidency. How politically healthy is the development?</div>
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I have maintained that the governors cannot constitute themselves into a parallel government to the one at the centre. There is no constitutional basis for that. They have been behaving like an opposition government or a tier of government. But of recent, they have tried to behave themselves. However, the ongoing rift between the Rivers State governor and the Presidency is not good. It leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The two are sister-states. I cannot see how our governor can mobilise opinions and press against the Presidency just to create a situation of tyranny or to paint the Presidency as a tyrant. That is not good enough. You cannot find this elsewhere, not even in our neighbouring countries. Outside Nigeria, nobody knows anyone as leader of the governors’ forum. In effect, he is challenging the President all in the name of the leadership of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. What is governors’ forum and which section of the constitution is it found? Why would they take a mere consultative body and make it look like a statutory body? After all, we have the National Assembly, which is a body to check the President and not the governors’ forum.</div>
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As a former Minister of Education, you enunciated the Nomadic Education policy. Years after your stewardship, how alive is the scheme and how would you rate its success or otherwise?</div>
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It was successful and is still very much alive. There are children of the cattle Fulani herdsmen who are students of the scheme. What has pleased me with the programme is that the children of the herdsmen are the ones who are defending it today. If you start anything new, make sure that the beneficiaries are the ones who would want it to continue. I am not saying that there were no problems with the nomadic education policy. There were bound to be and there are still bound to be. I am not happy with some of the things going on with the policy. But nomadic education was established under the law and you cannot wake up one morning and want to abolish it. The policy is still on but not like a wild fire that I would have liked. There are always appropriations for it in the budget and approved by the Senate Committee on Education.</div>
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Do you know any of the graduates of the policy or school that you can point at and say yes, these are the graduates?</div>
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Of course, yes. There is one who comes to my house and there are many others who are graduates of the policy.</div>
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You mean cattle Fulani beneficiary graduates come to your house and you happen to know them as beneficiaries of…?</div>
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(Cuts in amid laughter) Do you want them to come to my house with herds of cattle for me to recognise them as beneficiaries?</div>
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Critics of the policy insisted then that it was introduced apparently to benefit your fellow Fulani kinsmen. Would you say that was a fair criticism?</div>
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It was an unfair criticism because I could not have introduced nomadic education to favour the Igbo. There were no nomads and there are still no nomads among the Igbo.</div>
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What about the Ijaw fishermen, were they beneficiaries as well?</div>
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Of course, they were also targeted. They have their secretariat somewhere in Aba. Did you expect me to have gone to your state (Cross River) to introduce nomadic education when you do not have nomads among you?</div>
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There was a revelation in the Senate recently that the North controls 83 per cent of Nigeria’s oil blocs. How many of these did you award to your Northern brothers and sisters during your spell as Minister of Petroleum?</div>
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How many did I award to myself? How many did I award to myself? You should have asked me how many I awarded to myself. Go and find out how many I awarded to myself before you ask me that rubbish question.</div>
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You described my question as rubbish?</div>
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Yes, it is absolute rubbish.</div>
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But you awarded oil blocs during you time as minister, didn’t you?</div>
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I awarded to everywhere, not only the North.</div>
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But with the majority to the North?</div>
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It is not true. If that was the case, I would be feeling very bad about it. But it wasn’t the case. Definitely, not during my time as minister. Maybe it was after my time and under what circumstances, I wouldn’t know. So the revelation from the Senate may be true, but I doubt it.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-3875172641324393322013-06-08T11:21:00.000-07:002013-08-01T11:23:29.513-07:00Jonathan’s undoing is his bad advisers and tribesmen –Ex-Presidential candidate Bashir Tofa<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong></div>
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Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa is a businessman and politician. He was the National Republican Convention presidential candidate in the botched June 12, 1993 presidential election. Ahead of June 12 anniversary next Wednesday, Tofa spoke with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO and reflected on the date, May 29 and October 1, and concluded that he would rather that Nigeria sticks with the Independence Day as Democracy Day. He also faulted President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, arguing that his decision was rather hasty, among other issues. </div>
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Excerpts:<br />
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Just last week, May 29, the government held the 14th anniversary of what has come to represent Nigeria’s Democracy Day. What is your general assessment of Nigeria’s 14 years of unbroken civil rule?</div>
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First of all, let me say that the worse form a democracy is better than the best form of military dictatorship. Despite my disappointments over the last 14 years of this new democracy, the freedoms we enjoy, even though with some distortions, are preferable. We have benefited a great deal from the criticisms and ideas of Professor Wole Soyinka, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and Mr. Femi Falana. If only our leaders listen, we would have made better progress.</div>
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My main complaint about President Goodluck Jonathan has always been the dearth of good and competent advisers around him. My friend, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, is a very experienced leader. Mrs. Okonjo Iweala, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman and the Minister of Agriculture are excellent in what they do. But only Pius is a true politician, and people like him are a minority in the government. Many of his other ministers are not an asset to the President, either in the efficient running of their ministries or politically. Many have not done him and will not do him any good politically.</div>
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I strongly recommend that the President reshuffles his cabinet as soon as possible to mark two years of his presidency, and appoint a mixture of very competent technocrats and able, experienced and popular politicians into ministries he is convinced they will make a mark. He must also come away from that myopic policy of placing appointed ministers as leaders of the PDP in states where there are elected governors. This exposes the President’s deficit politically.</div>
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In all, we have not done as well as Nigeria should have done in the last 14 years. Reason: utter corruption, lack of competent advisers, political chauvinism and general impunity. We must all share in the blame. But the President must take the lion’s share, as the leader.</div>
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It is my candid advice that the President should summon a mixture of about five elders and others with unquestionable integrity, from each state to meet for a few days in Abuja and review the situation in the country, and also offer their advice as to the best ways to promote unity and sense of belonging and to repair the damages done in recent times.</div>
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Opinions remain divided between those who still question the May 29 date, some who insist it should rather be October 1, and others who feel it should have been June 12. Where do you stand in all of this?</div>
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Personally, I would prefer October 1, as everybody can identify with that date. We became independent as a country on that date, and we have to constantly remind ourselves that we are still on the road to becoming a nation.</div>
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June 12 is a controversial and a very divisive date.</div>
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Beyond the tokenism of transiting from military to civil rule on May 29, is there anything tangibly worth celebrating in your view?</div>
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People do celebrate dates and occasions for good reasons. Freedoms are vitally important, as without them, humanity is doomed. We can celebrate these freedoms as I said, but with reservation. That is, without the freedom to be secure, and without the joy we need to celebrate our unity, which is now in tatters, the celebration is meaningless. Most Nigerians have become poorer, but not just as a failure of democracy to produce its so-called dividends, but because the democracy we practise is riddled with corruption and nepotism. These are the ills we have to cure our society of.</div>
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I advise that these dates, whether democracy or Independence, should also be days of prayers. But we rather budget billions of naira for bogus ceremonies which in reality which are undeserved. I cannot see what hungry and angry people can celebrate. I looked at the President’s face during his broadcast, and he did not look at all happy. Something was clearly worrying him, and we all know what it was!</div>
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Much as you have tried in some of your public comments to convince Nigerians not to go on crying over spilled milk and rather move on with regards to June 12, 1993 debacle, the issue has continued to stick out like a sore thumb. As a prime participant in the election process which was subsequently annulled, what collateral damage would you say it has had on our politics 20 years after?</div>
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A sore thumb, indeed! And it stinks. Anyway, I had promised not to discuss June 12 again because it does not help anything. It is now a subject for those who lack the intellect to help this country with anything positive that will move us forward. If any lesson had been learnt from it, let those lessons guide us to plot a better political culture for this country. But those who have nothing better to say or do can continue talking about it. I suggest that the elections we rig at every level, in every election, allowing “unelected” people to represent or lead us, is an equally serious matter, if not worse. People should focus more on current issues that will make our electoral process and governance better. What matters to young people who were toddlers in 1993, is education and employment, not June 12.</div>
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Those who have followed your evolution as a politician would attest to the fact that you are of a conservative stock. But today, you are counted among the liberal political elements in the country?</div>
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I am only conservative in keeping and nurturing our collective values. We are a very decent and traditional society, in both our individual make ups and histories. I think, our diversity should have been our greatest asset, if we had bothered to appreciate them and use them for our collective good. I am not a liberal in the sense of Western Liberalism, where every sin goes. I am a good Muslim and do relate very well with good Christians. My liberalism is only in the sense that I believe everyone should be free to pursue his or her innate desire to improve himself or herself and the community generally, so long as these are done in accordance with the laws of the land. That is one reason we named the political association I formed and led: The Liberal Convention, which joined the National Republican Convention NRC, of which I was the presidential candidate in 1993.</div>
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You once spoke against those who called on President Goodluck Jonathan to resign over alleged leadership ineptitude as well as his handling of the security crises in the country. You even went ahead to praise him for not being a dictator. What are your thoughts on the imposition of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States?</div>
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I personally believe that President Jonathan is not a bad person as an individual, and did not start out with evil intentions. His basic misfortune is that he lacks good advisers, and some of his tribesmen have almost reduced him to a tribal leader. Secondly, the unnecessary debate immediately before and after President Umar Yar’Adua’s death as to whether he should be sworn in or not as a full President, plus the result of the 2011 elections, as well as the utterances of some people, somehow indicated to him that a section of our society loathes him. These negatives have stuck in his mind and have seriously confused him. The current debate about where the presidency must come from neither helps matters. My opinion is that such noises are unnecessary in a democracy. People will elect whoever they like, and whoever it is must be allowed to rule.</div>
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Again, in a democracy, where someone is elected, you cannot call upon him to resign. Either organise his recall, or he loses an election that will return him to office, if you have the wherewithal. He was not appointed, so why would you call upon a president of a country to resign? Don’t elect him next time. That’s democracy.</div>
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With regards to the state of emergency imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, I was not in total support of it, because at the stage we were in before the declaration, when a Reconciliation Committee was inaugurated by the President, it should have been allowed to run its course. And if it fails, then the imposition of the state of emergency would be justified. Having said that, however, my opinion, which I expressed before, is that we should pray for our country and also for the success of the action taken in the interest of all concerned.</div>
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You appear not to be favourably disposed to the zoning of the presidency as a political arrangement. What will be your position should the APC decide to zone its presidency?</div>
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It will be a serious mistake for the APC to zone the presidency at this early stage of its development. If any section/zone of this country is axed from this aspiration, it will be fatal. A national convention must be held, and all aspiring members of the party must be allowed to present themselves for election.</div>
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I have always advocated that what Nigeria needs is a Nigerian president, not a sectional or zonal or tribal leader as president. While rotation makes some people comfortable, I am sure Nigerians will much prefer a president that cares for all the people, listens to them and acts on their needs with dispatch, equity and fairness; a president who will make Nigeria a country of “know how”, instead of “know who”; a country where all Nigerians will feel equal sense of belonging and security wherever they choose to live in their country.</div>
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What zoning has done most is to ingrain in our psyche the false notion that with our own at the helm, we will be better off. This has been shown not to be the case, except for the few thieves around the seat of power. If that has been the case, then the others will be worse off.</div>
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This situation draws us further apart into our tribal and sectional cocoons. And, when you talk of a zone, you later find that there is so much rivalry within the zone, as most would want the benefits or appointments to go to their states. And, within the state, you degenerate into the local government, and then the clan. We are damaging our unity by refusing to learn to be one; by not doing much to appreciate who is just and honest, but who is our own. This is a major problem in this country, and we have to make a serious u-turn to the direction of reality, if we want to survive as a united country.</div>
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Now, with regards to the APC, this party to be has some other serious issues to be careful about. These are internal and external sabotage. Some bad people are up to something very sinister. If APC is sabotaged, we will have very serious problems managing this democracy. That may be the beginning of the end of it. Whether or not APC will win any election, the fact that the opposition may become stronger, is in itself good for our democracy.</div>
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You were quoted in your response to Asari Dokubo’s threat as saying that the North will be better off as an entity than the South South, should the latter break away from Nigeria. How exactly did you mean?</div>
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The North truly cares for the unity and integrity of this country. There is no section of the country that truly cares for the unity and integrity of this country than the North. But this nationalistic stand is taken by some pools as a weakness, or as lack of an independent and prosperous future for the North. Far from it. I will be the last person to call for the dismemberment of our dear country. But, I will also be the last person to admit that the North cannot stand on its own, if necessary. I love this potentially great country, but I hate some of the rascals, from whatever section they are, that seek to promote disunity and the destruction of our country for clearly myopic and utterly selfish reasons. Many of these people are ignorant of history, or are just mischievous. I hope, Mr. Dokubo and others who made similar utterances will have the good sense to apologise.</div>
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The North will never consider the option to dissolve this country. But if some irresponsible people steer the country in that direction, my only advice is that there must not be any war to keep the country as one. Another civil war will be futile and it will destroy everything. We will all be the losers, as no single viable country will arise from the ashes of the old one. So, it is better for us to manage what we have. President Nixon, when resigning from the US Presidency after the Watergate scandal said something like this: ‘You will never appreciate how glorious it was when you were on top of the mountain, until you find yourself at abyss of a deep hole’. But if we cannot find a way to stay together, even after a national conference, then we must sit and negotiate separation as we have seen done successfully in some parts of Europe. But, we must pray to the Almighty not to bring that moment. May we be forgiven by Him in whose hand lie our destinies. May He cause us to come to our senses and resolve to revive our unity and live in justice and peace.</div>
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Nobody wishes to see any war to force this country to be one. The next war will destroy everything everywhere. So, what’s the point? We better negotiate and separate peacefully. That way, we can still have some dealings with one another. But, may the Almighty God forgive us and forbid this tragedy.</div>
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What is your comment on the crisis rocking the Governors’ Forum?</div>
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The President is already the President. He should not have bothered with the governors electing whoever they so wish. If I were the President, I will never interfere with such elections, like those of the leaderships of the National Assembly, the NGF etc. If I were the President, I will let them elect whoever they wish, and I will get him/her by my side. If I were the President, I must know how to do that easily and without rancor. But when a President or a governor has some sinister agenda, he resorts to this types of interferences. The President should work for the country, and should get the support of everyone concerned.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-44315132092598746282013-05-04T20:43:00.000-07:002013-08-16T20:43:37.842-07:00How I’m tortured by telephone -Sen. Chris Anyanwu<strong>By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong><br />
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<strong>Senator Chris Anyanwu is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy. She represents Imo East Senatorial Zone of Imo State on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). An advocate of effective representation, she is of the view that no representation is worth it when the doors are shut out on those who elected you. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, in Abuja, Anyanwu spoke on APGA, politics of Imo State as well as the secrets of her youthful looks. Excerpts:</strong><br />
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<strong>You have always looked pretty, young and ageless, and I bet a lot of women will envy you. What is the secret behind your good looks?</strong><br />
I envy them too and they are more youthful. There are many Nigerian women who are very excellent in their looks and all that. Anyway, what’s my secret? I have no secret at all. I just ascribe it to God and His works. It is the grace of God. But what I do is that I try to exercise as often as I can. I try not to live a very complicated life. I think all that comes together to help.<br />
<strong>Are there particular kinds of food you avoid?</strong><br />
Well, we’ve been told that oily food is not good for you. This is so for children as well as some adults. You are told to avoid greasy food and try to eat less of the starchy food. You know, Nigerian diet is very starchy, but I am not going to walk around like a scare crow or a piece of iron because I want to look pretty. What I have to do is to eat in small measures.<br />
When I am really hungry, I eat but there is a level you will eat and you are already doing harm to yourself. I try not to get myself to that level. So, I just eat in small measures and avoid greasy, fattening and extremely starchy food. There are times you see the table is so rich and so wonderful, but it is not necessarily good food. Some of our soups are very oily and greasy; the vegetables are over cooked and all that. But you really have to watch what you eat.<br />
<strong>What do cosmetics have to do with your good looks?</strong><br />
A lot. You have to know how to enhance what God has created. When you get to a certain level, you have to know what is good for you, what is right for you and what is not right for you. There are a lot of people who think that cosmetics are bad and that they don’t need to enhance nature, but I am of the belief that you can do a lot to enhance what nature has gifted you with. Anyway, there is a whole lot happening in the sector. Everybody is moving away from chemically-based cosmetics because there is the fear that many of them are carcinogenic. They are shifting to natural products; cosmetics that are based on herbs.<br />
They seem to be much more healthy and they are very good too. The face of that sector is changing.<br />
Cosmetics are good if you choose the right kind of product, in quality and what suits you. It is not every kind of cosmetics that is good for you, especially if you have a dark skin.<br />
<strong>Many people see you as a very serious-minded person…</strong><br />
Yes I am.<br />
<strong>And having observed you over the years and the work you do at the National Assembly, how do you relax actually? What do you spend your leisure time doing?</strong><br />
Honestly, I was serious the day I was born and I will probably remain so throughout the rest of my life. So how do I relax? I drive it. I drive it for a long time and then go back and compensate. You cannot drive your system or body hard forever without compensating for that time. You must find sometime in-between those times of extremely hard work that you just sit down and put your feet up. For me, I just sit down under this shelter (behind her house in Abuja) and look at nature. Also, I do my gardening and I swim sometimes; but I continue to exercise. It is a good habit for me. And then I read. You have to feed the brain. Unfortunately, we are all so wired up. You have your I-pad; you have your mobile phone coming at you. I get calls at the rate of maybe, 10 every minute, text messages and then you have emails and all that. So, there is little time to do the things one wants to do. Sometimes the greatest thing you can do for yourself is to throw away the phone or keep it somewhere and walk away.<br />
Telephone is becoming a source of torture for many of us. You can’t rest, you cannot do any hobby so long as you are so wired up. And you know even the people in the villages know how to use it to torture you. They are coming at you from all over every second, even at ungodly hours including 2 am, 3 am.<br />
<strong>Looking at you also from a close distance, one can say that you are a fashionable person. What does fashion mean to you?</strong><br />
I am not a slave of fashion. I wear what suits me. What suits, to me, is what is fashionable. Maybe at this point, that is the way I see fashion. There are classical looks, but I don’t remain there. I don’t follow what is in vogue. I think that everybody should have a strong sense of personal style. I do have my own sense of personal style; if you don’t dig it, maybe too bad. What suits me, what suits my personality, my attitude; the way I see the world and interpret things around, and my Africanness; what fits into all that is what is fashionable. And if<br />
you have a strong sense of personal style, sometimes you dictate the fashion.<br />
<strong>What is your favourite colour?</strong><br />
I don’t have any particular colour, but I know that some colours are very nice. Pink suits me and sometimes I used to wear a lot of brown suntans but at some stage in my life, I know I need to add a little more colour because one is getting a little older. At this stage, you need to make some extra effort to pep up your wardrobe. But green is certainly not my colour, even though it is Nigeria’s national colour. Red is occasional; it depends on the occasion. You don’t wear red and you are walking around anyhow in broad day light. Red often is a ceremonial kind of colour.<br />
<strong>What puts you off?</strong><br />
Bad attitude, greed, vulgarity. All these put me off easily.<br />
<strong>The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) was one of the parties that did not suffer the casualty of Independence National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) deregistration exercise. But the party cannot be said to be having the best of times. How disturbed are you and how does the party intend to overcome the infighting currently bedevilling it?</strong><br />
Let me first of all go back to your preamble which I consider as wrong. There was no way APGA would have been considered for deregistration because it produced two governors, one senator, over 12 House of Representatives members. And in a state like mine, more than half of the state legislators are APGA. The same goes for Anambra State. There is no doubt that it fulfilled not only all the requirements expected of a serious party, but it also surpassed them. APGA is a serious party and that is why the whole country reckons with it.<br />
I am sufficiently disturbed by the happenings in APGA, but permit me to say that the experience is not peculiar or unique to the party. Even the PDP has its own internal problems. Isn’t the PDP in Ogun State enmeshed in crisis? The same goes for the party at the national level. Even though we don’t get to hear of the crisis in other parties so loudly, that is not to say that they do not have their own undercurrents sometimes. Every party has its own issues. Of course, that is expected. APGA is an assemblage of different people from different backgrounds and it is normal to differ on opinions and views. People will have their own personal high goals which often may not be in sync with the collective goals and objectives of the party.<br />
You expect these differences to come up from time to time. But it gets to a point where you must come together and say hey, enough is enough, let us sit down and talk. I think that we are getting to that point where we must sink our differences as members of APGA and where the party has to get its act together and work towards the goals and objectives that we all uphold. The Anambra governorship election is coming up this year and if the problem is not solved, it is going to affect the outcome for us as party and as a state. We all know that whatever happens in Anambra State has a way of ricocheting in Imo State as well as other South East states. That is why we have to be very cautious. And it is imperative for the leaders of the party to come together and find a way to resolve whatever disagreement that has the potential of threatening its corporate existence.<br />
<strong>As a party controlling two states and closely knit by a common faith, one would expect that any differences that exist should ordinarily not assume the hue of a conflagration capable of consuming it. Where would you trace the genesis of the crisis the party is embroiled in?</strong><br />
We still remain a closely knit family. Do not forget that APGA is more of a national movement than a political party. It started as a movement and it is still a moment. The people who started APGA are so into the party that nothing can take them out of it. What the real people, the ordinary people of that region know is APGA. For them, it represents a movement. There is this strong sense of ownership and it is very difficult to pull them away from the party. It is, by and large, a closely knit party. There is a perceptive of cultural flare to APGA.<br />
<strong>Does it not bother you that for all that APGA represents, it has not been able to spread beyond Anambra and lately Imo states?</strong><br />
APGA is everywhere. It is in the South South, with a strong presence in Rivers State, which was why the former governor, Mr. Celestine Omehia, ran on the platform of the party. When some candidates who fly APGA’s flag do not win, it tends to appear that the party is not everywhere. That is not true. APGA is a national party and that is why the National Secretary, Alhaji Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi, the former governor of Zamfari State, is from the North. We have membership spread across the federation. APGA has a strong membership pull also from Abuja.<br />
<strong>What are your thoughts on the crisis in Imo State which ultimately led to the removal of the former deputy governor, Jude Agbaso, from office?</strong><br />
I am really troubled about the development in my state. But I am very optimistic that it is not going to last very long. Once in a while, it is good for things to happen like this so that people can be jolted from their revelry. Having said this, the crisis in Imo State was a temporary thing. It was about the governor wanting to displace his deputy. Of course, it was not new. After all, it happened in Akwa Ibom State where the governor also displaced his deputy governor. Heavens did not fall. It happened in Bauchi and some other states. It was not peculiar to Imo State alone. That is part of the instability that you will witness in a democratic state that is still emerging. So, for me, it is just an extension of that. It is not something novel and it will come to pass. I am sure sanity is gradually returning to the state.<br />
<strong>Some people have argued that the undercurrent in Imo State is as a result of 2015. Isn’t it too early in 2013 to begin to spoil for war over political office which is still far off?</strong><br />
You know, Nigerians are very restless people. No sooner have they concluded an election than they will plunge into another one. So, it is never new, especially in some of these places like Imo State to see people begin to heat up the polity. I would not be surprised if it is all part of jostling for 2015. But I will hope that people will allow peace to reign and be focused on their subsisting mandate. Everybody has a mandate, part of which includes delivering on the democratic dividends to the people. Honestly for me, it is a privilege to be allowed to serve. The only way to show gratitude to the people is to do your very best. If you use all the time fighting for an expected event which is three years away from now, it is definitely not the way to go about things. For me, I will prefer that elected officers concentrate on meeting the yearnings of the people and fulfill their electoral promises to them and hope that what they do serve as testimonies that will speak for them when it comes to 2015.<br />
<strong>Factionalism is threatening to tear APGA apart, with Chief Victor Umeh on one hand and Maxi Okwu on the other in a battle for the soul of the party, ditto Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha seemingly charting a new ideological compass and Governor Peter Obi cleaving to the old ideology that defined the party from the outset. What do you make of these babel of voices or ideologies in the party?</strong><br />
For the records, Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha is now in APC and not in APGA anymore. If he has left for APC, the APGA that he left behind in Imo is no longer his own. APGA has long taken a position and insisted that it does not want to merge with any party, but that individuals could go and join new entities on their own. As a party, it wants to retain its identity and remain so in a long while to come as a political party. And that is its position. It was clear from the beginning that the action of the governor of Imo State did not represent the position of APGA as a whole. As an individual, everyone is free to hold whatever views he or she believes in. And that is what it is.<br />
<strong>If you were to advocate for a merger with the APC, how much threat do you imagine this would pose to the PDP?</strong><br />
I cannot speak for the PDP, but all I know is that a more pluralistic political system will help Nigeria a great deal. There is nothing wrong in having other strong political parties coming up, especially if you have two or more parties creating platforms for the people. More importantly, it will create a healthy competition for a party that has become entrenched. It will make the ruling party to sit up and be alive to its responsibilities to the electorate and not take them for granted. It will also make for more negotiation. It will lead to a more robust debate on issues rather than having a coterie of people ram it down the throats of many which does not bring the best out of the polity.<br />
So, for parties forming alliances and coalition, it is not a bad thing. What this means for the PDP is that it will make it sit up, make it to be more rigorous on issues than what obtained in the past and still obtains today. It will make the PDP reach out to the elements that will add value to the party. They will no longer run roughshod over other people. It might also bring internal democracy to the PDP. So, I think at the end of day, if the other new parties are not merely coming to undercut people, but to add value to the polity, it will work for the good of all..<br />
<strong>How do you react to the erection of bumps in the way of securing autonomy for the 774 council areas in the country in the ongoing constitution review by the National Assembly?</strong><br />
The only people rejecting autonomy for the local governments are the governors. The local government chairmen have not said they do not want autonomy and the people at the grassroots have not said autonomy is not good for them. When we did the public hearing all across the country, the position from all the geo-political zones was the same: that we need to give both political and financial autonomy to the local governments. I hope that in the end, the right thing will be allowed to happen because as they say, in democracy, the view of the largest majority should weigh in the actions that we take. As for the states assemblies, we just hope that they will summon the courage to accept their own autonomy. They need to do a rethink and come to terms with the huge benefits of being weaned from the apron strings of the governors.<br />
Owing to the occasional instability at that level, governors themselves are afraid that if the House of Assemblies are allowed the autonomy, they will be impeaching their governors every day. That is what they are worried about. The level of maturity and experience at that level is also an issue. But by and large, it is up to the state assemblies themselves to stand up to say they want their own autonomy from their governors.<br />
<strong>How close are you to your constituency in terms of development and empowerment?</strong><br />
I have been staying very close to my constituency and constituents. The general impression that national lawmakers are not close to their constituents is really not correct. A lot of lawmakers have been voted out for not visiting home or staying close to their people. But I will imagine that in those volatile areas of the north that have come under the onslaught of Boko Haram, lawmakers will find it hard to do so. But other than that, some of us come from where there is competition to surpass or get one up over your rival in terms of affecting your constituents. So, my people have continued to benefit from my presence as a lawmaker at the federal level. They have never had it so good. On the whole, legislators collectively are doing very well. Personally, I have been working on key projects and at the end of the day we will begin to show what we have been able to do.<br />
<strong>As Senate Committee Chairman on Navy, how would you rate the preparation of the navy in tackling some of the security challenges along our waterways?</strong><br />
I want to say that I am very pleased with the current head of the Navy because his actions are very right headed and in the right direction. The Navy is working hard to deal with peculiar challenges of illegal oil bunkering and theft. But owing to the enormity of the challenges and how far they had been allowed to fester, we should not expect the problems to fizzle out overnight. The Navy has been more prepared than ever before in combating the illegal activities of oil theft and bunkering in the Niger Delta region. The number of vessels destroyed in the last three months has been phenomenal. But because the criminal themselves are more daring, the more of the vessels you destroy, the more they return and the more daring they get. But the Navy will continue to attack the heart of these criminal activities on our economy until the saboteurs are run out. We need to applaud the Navy. They are doing extremely very well. But they need more logistic support from the government to be more effective in policing our waterways.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-34930196384172287082013-04-27T08:32:00.000-07:002013-08-01T06:28:46.096-07:00Our battles with the virus, by Benue people living with HIV/AIDS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong>Written by Linus Obogo, assistant Editor</strong></div>
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Posted by: <a href="http://thenationonlineng.net/new/author/david/" title="">Linus Obogo, </a>
in <a href="http://thenationonlineng.net/new/category/saturday-magazine/special-report/" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Special Report">Special Report</a>
<span class="post-date">April 27, 2013</span></div>
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The sea of heads, with women constituting a preponderance at the
vast concourse of the AIDS Preventive Initiative of Nigeria (APIN)
complex, Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Benue State, tells a glum
story, a story of a state ambushed by a debilitating scourge.<br />
A conjectural estimate put the figure at well over 800 persons- men,
women and children. On this day, April 9th, this gathering reportedly
paled significantly against the previous days’ figure put at about 1,000
of People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), who daily throng the
complex from Monday to Friday, for counselling and treatment.<br />
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A cursory peek of the PLWHA hordes first conveyed a picture of a
congregation of religious faithful waiting for their pastor’s homily.
But the images became starker when this reporter eventually found
himself swathed by people who were in no way out to receive a sermon on
the kingdom of heaven, but on how to live normally with the pandemic of
HIV/AIDS.<br />
This sight is not peculiar to the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi,
alone. In Otukpo, Ohimini, Okpoga and elsewhere, the spectacle mutually
replicates itself, with women and children mostly, at the highest rung
of the HIV/AIDS ladder. For long, the monster has been stalking the
state like an incubus. Finally, it has laid a seeming terrorist siege,
progressively for eight years running.<br />
Benue State is currently burdened not only by the high prevalence of
the disease but more as the highest army of people living with HIV/AIDS
in Nigeria. From the available statistics released in 2010 by the
National HIV Sero-Prevalence Sentinel Survey, the state reportedly had
12.7 per cent prevalence rate, a figure considered far above the
national average of 4.1 per cent.<br />
Additionally, Benue State is adjudged as having the highest urban and
rural prevalence rate of 12.5 per cent and 13.3 per cent respectively,
with prevalence as high as 21.3 per cent in wannune, 18 per cent in
Ihugh and 5.3 in Okpoga, Okpokwu Council Area, all of which are rural
communities.<br />
During the period under review, Makurdi and Otukpo (both urban centres), posted 10.3 percent and 9.1 percent respectively.<br />
Investigations also show that the youth population stands imperiled
by the HIV prevalence in the state, with the figure reported to have
been consistently higher at 5.5 than its value or projection in 2008.
Transmission dynamics, according to existing data, affect both key
most-at-risk populations and a strong generalised constituent driven by
behavioural patterns through high-risk sexual network of the general
population.<br />
But prior to the 2010 sentinel survey, the 2005 United Nations
General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) report had put the HIV/AIDS
prevalence rate in Benue State at 10 per cent, with Otukpo Council Area
ranked as one of the highest with incidence rate at 7.2 per cent.
Makurdi, the state capital, was 10.3 per cent and 4.4 at the national
level respectively.<br />
The corollary of the survey showed, therefore, that there was a
geometric increase of 2.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent within the five-year
period from 2005 to 2010 for state and Otukpo local council
respectively.<br />
According to a progress report by the Otukpo Local Government Area
Local Action Committee on AIDS (LACA), a copy of which was made
available to The Nation by the council’s Head of Department on Health
and LACA Coordinator, Mrs. Rebecca Audu, showing the result of a
sentinel survey in 2010 on pregnant women, 160 sites were sampled across
the country, of which 86 were urban and 74 were rural sites. A total of
36,427 pregnant women were sampled across the country.<br />
Similarly, in Benue State, five sites, involving the three senatorial
zones, were sampled during the period under review. The outcome of the
study revealed the highest incidence rate of 12.7 per cent with
infections mostly in the rural areas. The age groups most affected were
between 15 and 35 years.<br />
In summary, the study showed that there was a 20 per cent increase of
HIV prevalence from 2005 to 2010, with a dire consequence of about 40
per cent projected increase if nothing was done to abate the trend by
2012. The survey further reveals that about 603,000 people are infected
with HIV, while about 28, 948 pregnant women are infected yearly with
HIV/AIDS, and about 10,421 children infected yearly through mother to
child transmission (MTCT).<br />
Records from the Comprehensive Health Centre, Otukpo (Ward 2), showed
that of the 178 ante-natal cases, three are positive and currently on
drugs as at January 2013.<br />
Further check by The Nation at the Otukpo General Hospital revealed a
worrying incidence of new cases in the last quarter of 2012 (October to
December). For instance, in the month of October, 71 people were
admitted, 22 of whom were males and 49 females. November records also
indicated that out of the 75 new cases, 24 were males and 51 females.
For the month of December, 2012, there were 43 new cases, 13 of whom
were males and 30 females.<br />
Conversely, in the first quarter of 2013 (January to March), The
Nation investigation at the same Otukpo General Hospital shows that of
the 88 new cases of people living with HIV in the month of January, 25
were males and 63 females. February records put the figure of new cases
at 43 with 10 males and 33 females. While those of March were 73, with
26 males and 47 females.<br />
At the Pediatric Ward of the same hospital, new cases of children
admitted in October 2012 were three, in the ratio of one female to three
males. in November, the figure shows that eight new cases were recorded
in a disparate ratio of five males to three females. In December, it
was two males to zero female.<br />
Similarly, in the first quarter of 2013, January to March, eight
children in an equal ratio of four males to four females were recorded.
In February, out of six cases, one was male and five were females. It
was two males to five females in the month of March.<br />
A survey of death rate in the last quarter of 2012 stood at one in
January and one in February, all of whom were females, while three male
deaths were recorded in the month of March.<br />
Figures at other centres –Makurdi, Okpoga and elsewhere – could not
be immediately gleaned owing to unavailability of data and red tapism.<br />
According to the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), 10
in every 100 persons are said to be living with HIV in Benus State, with
ages ranging between 15 and 49.<br />
According to The Nation investigation, the conveyors of the epidemic
in the state include high illiteracy, particularly in rural areas, high
rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in vulnerable groups,
poverty, general apathy to condom use and carefree attitude to perceived
personal risks.<br />
Findings also revealed that average monthly new cases in the state
are put at 200 per general hospital, which brings the aggregate haul in
the state to about 3,000 per month.<br />
Investigation by The Nation indicated that Nakar town has recently
been discovered to have high prevalence of people living with HIV as
records at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, showed, prompting APIN
and other implementing partners to contemplate the setting up of care
centres in the area. At Logo in Gwue Council Area, it is the same
running story as statistics at the FMC also revealed.<br />
The outlook cannot be any grimmer for a state famed as the ‘food
basket’ of the nation. Not with its productive farming population
insufferably being pillaged by the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. It just
may gradually be turning the world of the state’s agro-industry on its
head.<br />
Factors aiding prevalence<br />
Considered as one of the biggest headaches in the effort at
containing the scourge, is the general apathy on the part of the men
folk to submit themselves to testing. According to Isaac Agbe Azor, Data
Manager with the AIDS Preventive Initiative of Nigeria (APIN), FMC,
Makurdi, “the men have posed the biggest challenge in combating the
scourge. While their women counterparts are easily convinced to come
forward for screening and testing, men have constituted our biggest
obstacle. So they constitute a factor in the spread of the disease. As
long as they are positive and refuse to come forward to be tested,
diagnosed and managed, they will go on spreading the HIV virus.”<br />
He also identified logistics in the rural areas as hindering
awareness campaign. “The awareness campaign has not been so vigorous as a
result of logistics. Even in some of these areas, the response level is
always higher with the women than the men.<br />
“Another challenge is poverty. There are many who cannot afford to
bring their wards for testing. If, for instance, a member of the family
is found to be positive and we ask them to bring the rest of their wards
for testing, it is usually difficult for an individual to transport
herself or himself, much more transporting the entire family from a
distance of say, 50 kilometres.”<br />
The emergence of gay clubs in the state has also been identified as
working to undermine the efforts at containing the spread of the
disease, with Makurdi and Otukpo as the epicenter of the new trend in
homosexual activities. According to The Nation finding, membership of
these gay clubs currently stands at over 400, a figure, it is feared, is
likely to snowball as youths are said to be the prime target usually
recruited from some of the state’s tertiary institutions.<br />
High rate of promiscuity, especially in rural areas with dense
illiteracy rate, an APIN official noted, is another disturbing concern.
“Sexual activities in such areas are often concentrated because people
do not migrate. So the spread is also concentrated, leading to a crisis
proportion. In these communities, there are cases of either deceased or
infected victims of HIV/AIDS in almost every household,” the official
said.<br />
Indifference to use of condoms<br />
Ali Baba Emmanuel is the General Secretary of the State Coordinator
of Benue People Living with HIV/AIDS (BenPlus), a network of
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which coordinates the activities
of people living with HIV/AIDS across the state.<br />
He lamented the general apathy of the people of the state to the use
of condoms. “Despite campaigns for behavioural change, people are yet to
embrace the advocacy for the use of condoms. Poverty among the people
has also accounted for the rapid spread of the disease, just as
stigmatisation is a major hindrance to people submitting themselves to
HIV screening.”<br />
Ali Baba further hinted: “It has also been discovered that even those
on ARV have gone on to spread the virus through reckless sexual
activity because their HIV status is known only to themselves. Here in
Benue State, your sexual partner is likely to find it strange and will
ask why you want to use a condom on him or her. He or she will demand to
know why because they say sex without condom is more enjoyable. So, to
avoid this embarrassing situation, an HIV person who does not want to
reveal his status will go ahead and have unprotected sex with a non-HIV
person. And the spread goes on and on.”<br />
Dr. Ali George, an anti-retroviral therapist (ART), at Saint Mary’s
Catholic Hospital, Okpoga in Okpokwu Local Government Area, offers an
insight into how the scourge has assumed this pandemic proportion in
Benue State, culminating in its top ranking in the country’s HIV/AIDS
log.<br />
“From my experience and from the much I have gathered as an ART at
Saint Mary’s Catholic Hospital, Okpoga, the ignorance of the people is
one of the factors that have facilitated the high rate of HIV/AIDS
prevalence in the state.<br />
‘’Oftentimes, those who are infected by the HIV virus, rather than
seek medical treatment or diagnosis, resort to other means than medical.
Some blame their circumstance on witchcraft or spiritual attack. Their
next line of action is to go to their pastors for prayers and
deliverance. This belief is also common among the enlightened ones.<br />
“The emergence of ‘miracle pastors’ has also been found to be one of
the factors for the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, not only in Benue State, but
in Nigeria as a whole. Without mentioning names, we have had cases here
in Okpoga where PLWHAs abandoned treatment and sought relief in
churches. Many have taken off to Lagos to get ‘cure’ from a particular
church in Lagos renowned for miraculous claims in such areas. It is a
major challenge in the management and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the
state.<br />
“A particular patient was recently ripped off by a pastor who
allegedly demanded for and collected N250,000 to pray for him. The same
patient, who could barely afford decent meals, had to borrow to pay in
order to be prayed for. A month or two later, he came back looking like a
bag of bones. Before we conduct a check, the virus had seriously
ravaged him because he discontinued his treatment. After much probing,
he confessed and said the pastor told him to stop taking drugs as God
had already healed him.<br />
‘’But the sad and unfortunate thing is that the virus will begin to multiply and ravage them progressively.’’<br />
Pregnant women not going for ante-natal<br />
In many parts of the state, many pregnant women do not register for
ante-natal. And when it is time to put to bed, they go to traditional
birth attendants. There is also the existence of substandard maternity
clinics operated by quack nurses. Pregnant women usually prefer these
quack clinics because they feel they are cheaper. In these clinics, both
mother and her new born child are not given quality services usually
extended to pregnant women. It is very common to find mothers infecting
their new born babies with the HIV virus.<br />
Disappearance of Support Group<br />
According to Mrs. Roseline Agbo, Health Line Coordinator, Otukpo
Comprehensive Health Centre, “the disappearance of the Support Group has
also been hampering the management and control of the spread of
HIV/AIDS in the state. The Support Group deals with the welfare of
PLWHAs, counselling, social wellbeing, break up of stigma which hitherto
made it impossible for victims to interact socially. Paucity of funding
has led to the disappearance of the Support Group. Funding used to come
from both the government and donor agencies. Through the Support Group,
PLWHAs are counselled to socialise sexually within the same ‘positive’
group. On a few occasions, marriages had been contracted for some
members of the support group. The idea is to ensure that they do not
seek sexual remedy outside the fold.”<br />
Benue government speaks<br />
When The Nation sought the comment of the Executive Secretary of the
Benue State AIDS Control Agency, Mrs Grace Wendy, on the high prevalence
of the HIV/AIDS in the state, she declined, claiming that she had
earlier been misrepresented in the media on the issue. But the Media
Officer at the state Ministry of Information, Mr. Pius Torkuma,
attributed the inexorable prevalence and spread to stigmatisation,
“which has prevented people from coming forward for testing, with the
attendant consequence of further spread by those unwittingly living with
the virus.’’ According to him, there is currently an
Anti-Stigmatisation bill before the state House of Assembly.<br />
Similarly, the state Government had, through the former Commissioner
for Health and Social Services, Dr. Oduen Abunku, expressed concern over
the worrisome development when he disclosed that over 600,000 persons
are currently living with the dreaded HIV/AIDS in the state.<br />
Speaking at the joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing
ceremony between the Benue State Government, the NKST Health Services
and the Nigeria Indigenous Capacity Building Project, Abunku lamented
that skyrocketing figures had left the state on the top of chart of
available statistics of the most endemic states in the federation.<br />
The commissioner regretted that HIV/AIDS infestation in the state was
destroying and eroding the state’s capacity in the food and
agriculture. “In Nigeria, Benue State has for many years topped the
chart of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS with over 600,000 persons living
with the virus in the state.<br />
“The virus is destroying our farms, schools and churches and that is
why we will continue to partner organisations who are providing services
to the infected and affected in the state.”<br />
Governor Gabriel Suswam, who was represented on the occasion by the
Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. David Salifu, had
reaffirmed that his administration would continue to partner relevant
agencies and international partners to ensure that the scourge of
HIV/AIDS in the state was effectively checked.<br />
The governor urged the people of the state to put aside their
socio-political differences and join forces against the virus in the
state, adding: “We must put aside our socio-political differences and
stand up against the virus, so that our people will be able to lead a
normal life.’’<br />
As it stands presently, the state faces a stiff struggle. A struggle
between sustaining its famed status as the ‘food basket’ of the nation
by winning the battle against HIV/AIDS scourge or losing the battle and
its acclaimed image as the nation’s ‘food basket’. In truth, Benue is a
state under siege.<br />
An encounter with some of the PLWHAs<br />
From Makurdi, Otukpo, Ogobia to Okpoga, the story of how they came to
be associated with the disease is virtually the same: infidelity and
other factors as well as the attendant consequences. Except for Gertrude
(real name withheld) who is single but whose HIV positive status was as
a result of reported blood transfusion, many others had so much to do
with untamed libido, sexual recklessness and betrayal.<br />
For Gertrude, “It was in 2006, while I was a student of College of
Education, Katsina-Ala, Benue State, that I noticed I was having
frequent fever. My uncle’s wife with whom I was staying had to take me
to the university clinic where I was treated for fever and malaria. When
it was discovered that the fever was a frequent occurrence, our family
advised me to do HIV test. Lo and behold, the outcome was positive. That
was June, 2006.<br />
‘’Since then, I have been on ARV. Before I started taking the drugs, I
discovered that I was emaciating and losing weight. But the drugs have
been working for me. I noticed that I have gained so much weight and I
am feeling much healthier.’’<br />
Jonathan (surname withheld) is a staff with APIN. For 17 years, he
has been living with the virus. Jonathan, whose wife is also HIV
positive, said: “I have been living with the disease for the past 17
years. I got to know I was HIV positive when I went for a test to know
my status. That was then I discovered that I was positive.<br />
‘’I might have contracted the virus from my first wife who is now
late. I remember that before we went our separate ways, she was always
falling sick and losing pregnancies. So there was pressure from my
people to put her away and marry another woman. So, I did. But it was
later I got to know that she died of AIDS.<br />
‘’Despite testing positive, I did not seek treatment until four years
later. I have four children, but none of them has tested positive. I
have been doing regular HIV tests for them.’’<br />
Thessy (surname withheld) is a primary school teacher with one of the
state’s primary schools. She has been on ARV for the past 10 years. She
got married at the age of 16 years and had her first child at the age
of 18. A mother of four, Thessy’s first child is a 25-year-old medical
student. Her story is not only heart-tugging, but depressing and
tears-conjuring.<br />
At 44 and widowed, life can only be said to be abrasive, dreadful and
unkind to her. At the onset of her travail as a person living with
HIV/AIDS in 2002, she said she had journeyed to the land of the dead
only to be chased back to continue her now gloomy life among the living.<br />
She lost her husband to the dreaded AIDS scourge in 1997 and
thereafter, life took a battering for her and her four HIV-negative
children. But she was not so lucky as her late husband had bequeathed
her the HIV virus. Reliving what has now become her life’s downward
trajectory since her husband’s death, Thessy said: “My condition became
very critical when my husband died. There was no remedy as there were no
free drugs then when I tested positive.<br />
‘’Earning below N10,000 monthly income as a primary school teacher,
it was not easy accessing the drugs, hence, I had to be borrowing to
stay alive and look after my four children. I am alive today by the
special grace of God. When my husband died, I did not know what was
responsible for his death. It was not until a doctor friend confided in
me that he died of AIDS.<br />
‘’It was the same doctor who advised me to do HIV test. The test was
N10,000 then. I did not have the money but the doctor advised me to
borrow the money anywhere I could to do the test. I resigned myself to
death, because I was already a dying woman. Where would I get N10,000 to
pay back as a primary school teacher? So I was waiting for death to
come.<br />
‘’Fortunately, some health personnel were available to carry out
tests. So, the cost was later slashed to N7,000, but it was still
difficult to raise the money. Eventually, I did. Nobody thought I could
still be alive as my case had neared a terminal stage. Even the doctors
had given up on me.’’<br />
Thessy’s first son is a 300-level medical student. She has been
slumming life to see him through medical school. But life itself has
been a sticky patch for the family, leaving her in a lurch as to how her
son will graduate as a doctor. Destitute of a breadwinner, Thessy has
been buffeted on all fronts: inability to feed her four children,
sustaining her son in the medical school and sundry deprivations in her
home.<br />
She bemoaned her helplessness to The Nation in Otukpo amid sobs: “In
Benue State, primary school teachers are not part of the minimum wage.
In order to continue to support my children, I took up a part time job
with the Catholic Archdiocese of Otukpo which was also involved in
HIV/AIDS programme, earning a stipend. But since their project stopped
in 2010, I depend solely on the irregular income from the government. I
have continued to borrow to see my son through the medical school and
taking care of his siblings. today, I owe N300,000.’’<br />
For Okpanachi (surname withheld), his plight was self-inflicted. It
is the comeuppance for his unbridled libido. With bloodshot and sunken
eyes, burrowed deep into their sockets and a long woozy neck completely
receding into his collar bones, Okpanachi cuts the image of a man whose
life hangs in the balance. Pithily, he relived his stigmatisation
ordeal: ‘’Even my own biological brother who was serving in the military
and with whom I used to share food, started keeping me at a distance.
This discrimination became unbearable for me. I felt that the only thing
left for me was suicide.”<br />
A once-upon-a-Sunday school teacher with the Assemblies of God
Church, Otukpo, Okpanachi would soon discover that the stigma he
experienced at the hands of his own brother was also waiting for him in
the house of God where he conflated with the brethren and taught the
scriptural tenets of love, compassion and meekness.<br />
A father of eight, Okpanachi told this reporter at Otukpo
Comprehensive Health Centre, where this dialogue took place, that he
married his wife as a virgin and vouched for her fidelity, but admitted
amid penitence that he brought the faggot to his home as a result of his
philandering.<br />
His wife, now separated, and their last child, 7, are plagued by the
scourge. His other seven children, he said, are, however, all negative.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-78143726315455556922013-04-04T10:06:00.000-07:002013-07-24T10:07:35.773-07:00Nothing can Stop the Merger – Senator Hanga<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0L9QD_Jao9GrdOwxbUsSropUkahpMvVtoVnrmwENjeSUDgmv2WaR0wKcdkupXwZxT6fyBr1Wwd5e_W1slYxflkpPqH0IhazZhJsRqlf4R8m3LQmn0evd7cuAapI0UyXMVYxJGR_LvuHoQ/s1600/Hanga-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0L9QD_Jao9GrdOwxbUsSropUkahpMvVtoVnrmwENjeSUDgmv2WaR0wKcdkupXwZxT6fyBr1Wwd5e_W1slYxflkpPqH0IhazZhJsRqlf4R8m3LQmn0evd7cuAapI0UyXMVYxJGR_LvuHoQ/s320/Hanga-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"In case I die, I have told my Son to give the CPC Certificate to Tinubu-Senator Hanga (CPC). “In Nigeria today, we know that the strongest opposition party is the ACN, which is why I told my son that if I die any moment, he should give the certificate to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to surrender to INEC for the purpose of forming a merger. The merger is already a reality and nobody can stop it now, not even the PDP” – Senator Hanga</div>
<em>Senator Rufai Hanga was pioneer National Chairman of the Congress for Progress Change (CPC). He represented Kano Central Senatorial Zone from 2003 to 2007. A businessman and administrator with over 25 years in the corporate world, Hanga talks of the commitment and determination of his party to ensure that the proposed merger plan with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), among other parties, becomes a reality ahead of 2015. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, he also faults President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance, describing him as ‘Baba Slumber’.</em><br />
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<strong>The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, has blamed the Boko Haram and other security challenges ravaging the North on the region itself. What do you make of this open indictment of the region by the Islamic leader?</strong><br />
The Sultan was absolutely right about what has become a source of embarrassment to the region. It is the result of long years of bad leadership and injustice in the region and at the centre. The region has not done enough to bring the scourge to an end. It is a result of long years of deprivations and exploitation by the leadership.<br />
<strong>The Boko Haram sect proposed a dialogue with the Federal Government and it has yet remained unrelenting in its attacks on both the security agencies and Christian institutions. Do you think the militant sect is desirous of peace to warrant the Federal Government to take their dialogue overtures seriously?</strong><br />
I recall that the sect had proposed a dialogue with the Federal Government, but surprisingly, it was rejected. The position of the government then was that the dialogue option by the Boko Haram was in bad faith.<br />
On the other hand, the sect was equally suspicious of the government. But whether the sect was sincere or not, I cannot say because I do not even know them. I do not have much knowledge about the character and composition of the militant group. The only thing I know of them is what I read in the papers like any other Nigerian. I cannot lay claim to have sufficient knowledge of the Boko Haram and their motives as to arrive at a judgment on their insincerity or otherwise.<br />
<strong>We are being taken along the path similar to what we witnessed during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s era when he disappeared from governance radar for months without transferring power to his vice-president. Some governors have been out of office for months on the ground of ill health, yet without their deputies functioning in an acting capacity. What does this say about our brand of democracy?</strong><br />
Today, the governors have become part of Nigeria’s problems. They are selfish and wicked. They are no longer in office for their people but for themselves. That explains why they seem to be afraid of the unknown. They do not trust anybody, not even their deputies who are supposed to be their closest allies. They are self-centered and selfish. They are more concerned about themselves and their families alone. That is why they would rather guard their office so jealously.<br />
With that being said, I want to say that what is happening to them is not of their own making, but an act of God. They did not swear an oath to fall sick. Illness is something that comes naturally.<br />
However, the culture of not wanting to delegate or transfer power under a situation of ill health is undemocratic and unfair.<br />
When this similar scenario played out during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, some of us made our position known that it was not the best practice in a democracy. So, it will not make a difference if I maintain the same position now because I had said it before and I am saying it now that it is wrong and unfair for not wanting deputy governors to hold the fort when they are sick.<br />
<strong>When you say that the governors are Nigerian’s problem, how exactly do you mean?</strong><br />
I say it with all sense of responsibility that the governors are our problem because they always want things their own way. It is rather unfortunate and unfair. Whenever there is an issue that should agitate their minds, that is when you will hear of the Governors’ Forum. I have not seen or heard of this anywhere in the world where governors have a forum and constitute themselves into a cabal. They constitute themselves into a forum in order to manipulate the system and serve their selfish interest. There are so many issues like unemployment, insecurity and corruption confronting the country which the governors ought to concentrate their energies on tackling. They are not doing that, but rather, forming a forum to protect their interest. They are busy fighting for the control and pillaging of local government fund. That is why I said the governors are our problem.<br />
<strong>Could this be the reason why they are alleged to be working hard to frustrate the aspect of the autonomy of the local councils in the ongoing Constitution Review exercise?</strong><br />
This is one of the ills that the governors have become, which is why I said they are part of the problems of the country. They control the local governments and House of Assemblies of their states. The governors know that they are part of the two-third requirement for any constitution review or amendment to be effected, that is why they will have a forum to arm-twist any process that will bring about the autonomy of the local governments. They will want to see that this does not happen.<br />
<strong>The local governments should be autonomous. If the federal government is not controlling the resources of the sates after the sharing exercise, why should the states control that of the councils? Are they doing it simply because they are the senior partners in the state/local government relationship? Why should the state control the joint account of the councils?</strong><br />
The constitution provides for the autonomy of the federal, state and council tiers of government. They are supposed to be independent of one another. Today, as we speak, there are states that have not held local government election in the country. What happens is that they will constitute a caretaker arrangement for six months as allowed by the constitution and dissolve them and reconstitute them after two months. This is part of the manipulation that goes on at the state level, which is why no election has been conducted in some of the states. It is in bad faith and it is rather unfortunate.<br />
<strong>How can the governors’ overbearing control of the councils be checkmated?</strong><br />
The only way is to ensure that there is an intense pressure from concerned stakeholders and civil society groups on the governors to give in to the demand for the autonomy of the local councils in the ongoing constitution review by the National Assembly. We must stand up as a people and ensure that there is a provision in the reviewed or amended constitution for the autonomy of the local councils in Nigeria.<br />
Governors, including those who are serving their second term, must be told in clear terms that they cannot aspire to be the next president or senators when it is not in their interest to allow local government councils to be autonomous of the state governors. We must fight the governors and wrest the independence of the councils from their vice grip.<br />
<br />
<strong>After your first term in the Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), you could not make it back for obvious reasons. Was it that you were edged out or the excitement was no longer there?</strong><br />
I did not attempt to go back to the Senate this time around because I am the National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). I may still go back to the Senate. After all, I am still in politics. It is not the end of me yet, so, anything can happen. I will never be tired of lending my voice to issues of national concern. Tomorrow is still pregnant and we cannot tell what it will bring.<br />
<strong>Your party, the Congress for Progressive Change, is about going into a merger discussion with some political parties, how optimistic are you?</strong><br />
I am highly optimistic because all the parties to the merger are ready to surrender their certificates to INEC and fuse into one party. The ANPP is willing to surrender its certificate, same as the ACN, the CPC.<br />
It is just a matter of time and we will all surrender our certificates and come out on one platform and as a new party. The last time the alliance did not work because we were in the eve of an election, but it is not going to be like that again as we are going to collapse into one big party.<br />
Nothing is going to stop me from surrendering the certificate of CPC to INEC in a bid to forge a successful merger. As I speak, the certificate is deposited in a bank and I have written a Will stating that if I die, my children should collect it and hand it over to INEC for the purpose of a merger.<br />
In Nigeria today, we know that the strongest opposition party is the ACN, which is why I told my son that if I die any moment, he should give the certificate to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to surrender to INEC for the purpose of forming a merger. The merger is already a reality and nobody can stop it now, not even the PDP.<br />
<strong>Do you think that with parties merely surrendering their certificates of registration, it guarantees the presidency or ensure a defeat of the PDP in 2015?</strong><br />
We are going to have a single candidate as soon as we fuse into one party. And what that means is that all the supporters of the three or four political parties will yield their votes and support to a single candidate to emerge from the merger exercise. There will be a strong synergy as all the different candidates that hitherto contested on their individual platform will pool their followers for a single and strong candidate.<br />
The whole North will never vote for the PDP this time around. When the entire South West, South East, vote for a single candidate, you can only imagine the kind of landslide that will be witnessed. Come 2015, the PDP will become the smallest minority party in Nigeria, you just wait and see. From their claim of being the biggest party in Africa, they will become the smallest party in Nigeria.<br />
With most of the parties being deregistered, PDP will crash from being the biggest to the smallest party in Nigeria.<br />
<strong>Some section of the North and particularly their leaders, have in recent times, been in virulent opposition to certain issues that affect some other regions in the country, like state creation, derivation formula, the Petroleum Industry Bill, among others. What do you think is often at the heart of such leaders like Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State and his ilk?</strong><br />
On state creation, the argument of the likes of Governor Kwankwaso has been that you just do not create states for the sake of it or on the basis of regions or zones simply because you want to satisfy some people.<br />
There must be criteria for creating these states such as population and land mass. Let me give you an instance, while you can traverse the entire South East and South South in just one day, you cannot traverse one state in the North West in one day.<br />
Secondly, a state like Akwa Ibom has 31 council areas, yet the entire population of the state is not more than two million people. And if you put the population of the entire South South zone together, it is not up to that of Kano State. Again, the entire land mass is not up to Kano State. That is just the simple argument and so, you cannot go about creating states on the basis of regions, ethnicity or zones.<br />
You will also agree with me that it is grossly unfair to have one senator representing just two local governments, while one senator will represent about 16 local governments in the North. The same also holds for one senator representing one million people while elsewhere, five million people have one senator representing them. That is the argument Kwankwaso seems to be making. Sincerely, I think there is a sense in it.<br />
<strong>You cited land mass as one of the criteria for creating either state or council area. Would you or Kwankwaso be comfortable to have desert with no human beings mapped out as states and council areas, when the so called land mass is just a vast stretch of sand dunes with no human habitation? And have you forgotten that the so called population you touted has for years been manipulated in favour of the North by Northern officials in charge of census?</strong><br />
Well, I am not arguing in support of his position, but that is what I perceive him to be saying. However, I agree with you on the issues contained in your questions and the fact that nobody is living in the desert and it is a vast stretch of sand dunes. But let me remind you of some of the censuses conducted from 1960 to date. I am from Kano and I will speak from that perspective. 80 per cent of people from Kano have three or four wives and their wives bear a lot of children for them. Each wife is capable of bearing ten or more children. So, if one woman has ten children, multiply ten by four wives. That gives you 40 children.<br />
Meanwhile, my university mates from the south of Nigeria, who got married to one wife, would end up with either three or four children. Yet he is a husband of one wife. Will his practice of one wife and three or four children help in increasing the population of his zone? The answer is capital NO! We met after about 30 years of graduation as ‘Old boys’ and I asked them how about their families? Some of them told me they were married with three kids and others with two.<br />
For some of us from the North, we have four wives with each of the wives have eight to ten children. This is very logical to me as a sound argument. However, I do not intend this argument to generate bad blood. I remember telling a senator colleague of mine back then when argument like this came up.<br />
So, you are correct on the issue of desert with no human being but when you come to Kano, you will understand what I am talking about.<br />
Well, having said this, I want to make it clear that that is just the governor’s argument and not mine. What I am interested in is the unity of this country and the common good of Nigerians as a whole. I believe in justice, equality and equity for all.<br />
How would you rate the performance of the PDP government in Kano and at the centre?<br />
As a matter of fact, there is no PDP government in Kano. He does not believe in PDP. He merely contested on the platform of the PDP, but he is not of the PDP. What we have is ‘Kwankwasiya’ government. Even the PDP members in the state know that as much. ‘Kwankwasiya’ is a philosophy or a movement and he acts as the group head. He runs the state as ‘Kwankwasiya’ and he does not believe in the PDP anymore.<br />
He is executing a lot of projects for the people and at the same time stepping on toes. He is taking on the ‘big men’ in the state, the aristocrat and the rich. But he is doing a lot for the masses.<br />
As for President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, while people said Yar’Adua was ‘Baba go slow’, I will describe Jonathan as an abysmal failure. It is true that Yar’Adua was ‘Baba go slow’, Jonathan is ‘Baba slumber’. For me, Jonathan’s scorecard will definitely read as ‘poverty, unemployment, hunger and insecurity’. That is Jonathan’s performance index in his three years as President.<br />
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<!-- End each blog post --><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-42482767945387029752013-03-23T20:28:00.000-07:002013-08-16T20:28:47.378-07:00Let’s not allow things to get worse than they are now –Ikimi<strong>By Linus obogo, Assistant Editor</strong><br />
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<strong>Chief Tom Ikimi is a consummate architect and politician. He was elected first National Chairman of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), one of the two political parties in the botched third republic in 1990. Ikimi was Special Adviser to the late head of state, General Sani Abacha in February 1994 and later Foreign Affairs Minister from 1995 to July 1998. He was also a founding and Board of Trustees member of the then All Peoples Party (APP); and following his de-registeration from the PDP, Ikimi co-founded the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), a rallying platform on which the alleged third term bid of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was swiftly nipped in the bud. He spoke with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, on the rescue mission of the All Progressives Congress (APC); why INEC Chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega, must steer clear of the obvious minefield being laid in his path ahead of 2015. Excerpts:</strong><br />
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<strong>There appears already, what could be regarded as a bump in the way of the yet to be registered All Progressives Congress (APC) with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) claiming that some groups have approached it for registration with similar acronym, APC. Would you say this is a mere coincidence or part of what is now appearing like an attempt by the PDP – led government to frustrate the take off of your new party, the APC?</strong><br />
The emergence of the APC on February 6, 2013, when the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a major section of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), decided to merge to form a mega alternative party in Nigeria has created a major stir in the Nigerian political firmament. The successful merger of such large opposition parties would instantly transform the country into a two major party state as is the case in other major successful democracies in the world. This prospect which serves notice of the end of tenure to the PDP, has shaken the very foundation of the PDP which over the past several years has operated across the country with reckless impunity. The option of a strong alternative party has been overwhelmingly welcomed by the generality of our people.<br />
We are reliably informed of the roles of some highly placed persons in the establishment currently financing willing political jobbers and agents provocateurs whose assignment it is to cause mischief, precipitate chaos, mess up the democratic space in a manner reminiscent of the Arthur Nzeribe’s notorious Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) which in 1993 succeeded to irredeemably truncate the IBB transition programme.<br />
Since February 6, 2013, when we addressed a World Press Conference announcing the decision of our parties to merge and adopted the name All Progressives Congress (APC), the name and acronym not only became our Intellectual Property but has since received very wide publicity in the print and electronic media. INEC has acknowledged this through its spokesperson several times in the press, received our correspondences on the matter long before some paid busy bodies approached it on February 28, some 22 days after we announced our name to seek the registration of the so-called African Peoples Congress.<br />
I watched the shameful television display on Thursday evening of March 14 of a hired crowd, clearly recruited from nearby markets, streets and bushes, assembled in a first floor flat in a building in Apo Village – Abuja, hurriedly provided by their handlers, purporting to be the promoters of this charade. Nigeria, in my view, has moved away from this kind of disgraceful gimmicks well known to be associated with some of the expired barons of PDP now surviving on emergency heavy doses of Abuja oxygen. The revelations of the past couple of days provide irrefutable evidence that the series of fake APCs is a PDP official project. I certainly hope that Professor Atahiru Jega’s INEC would steer clear from this obvious minefield.<br />
The process of merger is quite different from the procedure of registration of new parties. Merging parties being already registered political parties do not need to obtain and fill any forms! We are therefore diligently proceeding with the merger process. I understand that the young lawyer, one Nwokorie Samuel Chinedu, deceived and recruited to make the application to INEC, now bitterly regrets his role in the plot.<br />
The so-called African People’s Congress has not scaled through the first basic hurdle for registration as a political party and has no place in the prevailing political atmosphere when more serious groups are being deregistered. The show of shame they put up that Thursday brandishing forged INEC documents is serious enough for our nation’s security agencies to descend on these criminals and save our country from further corruption of the democratic process.<br />
What could anyone be afraid of about a group that is yet to be registered as a party which seems to be causing the PDP or its agents and government insomnia to the level of frenzied desperation by the government in power?<br />
Since 1999 when the departing military government officially installed General Obasanjo and the PDP, OBJ who was the beneficiary, proceeded to decimate the opposition with the sole purpose of establishing a one-party state. I happened to have been a founding member of the APP and one of the main reasons I left the party was because I could not understand how and why after the bitterly fought general election, our National Chairman, the late Mahmoud Waziri, would abandon his party with nine state governors to take office as Political Adviser in the government that defeated him. OBJ who successfully lured him in order to weaken the APP, went further to organise the registration of over 60 other parties to be in the opposition, most of them not worth more than their registration certificates. A good number of them were, for a small fee, always willing to play one role or the other for the PDP against the opposition. The role they played was always crucial in ensuring the perpetuation in power of the PDP.<br />
For the past several years, desperate efforts have been made by concerned members of the opposition to unify the opposition parties in order, not only to provide an alternative viable platform for Nigerians but to make the PDP more accountable. Those efforts failed for various reasons, including personality interests, PDP’s successful manipulations, the activities of moles and bad timing. It is now, however, clear to the PDP and the establishment that our current effort is well calculated, being systematically well pursued in the national interest and backed by the overwhelming people’s support, pointing towards the inevitable change of baton which many of them have difficulty in contemplating. That is their fear. The PDP has held the country hostage and plundered it since 1999. They have ruled with impunity, established massive corruption as a way of life and so the fear of stepping down is real. One of their past National Chairmen openly boasted that the PDP was to rule Nigeria for one whole century. Those at the helm of affairs today believe that nonsense and so are operating recklessly. The day to account for their stewardship is knocking at the door!<br />
<strong>The parties coming together to form a merger have been rather focused on ousting the PDP from power. But beyond that, what is likely to change after you would have succeeded in banishing the party from power?</strong><br />
In 2006 I was among the 23 leaders who broke away from the PDP on the same day to link up with some others from the AD to found the ACN. Some of my colleagues who left with me then included the late Abubakar Rimi, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Gali Na’aba, Alhaji Lawal Keita etc. I went down to Edo State in 2006 to link up with a number of others to establish the ACN there. I dare say we have been successful in uprooting the PDP, which ran that state aground. Edo State happens to be the home of some of their most boastful leaders. We established there an ACN government that has been highly successful. The first ACN government in the country was that of His Excellency, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State whose brilliant performance has been a benchmark in the country. His colleagues of other ACN states refer to him as class prefect. In summary, the present governors of the opposition are progressives who are leading progressive governments with clearly distinctive achievements. A change of baton at the centre and the enthronement of a liberal democracy with clear vision would ensure the positive refocusing of our nation state.<br />
The APC will be a totally new party. The first draft of the Constitution and Manifesto has just been presented for our discussion and vetting. Among other things, the Constitution will establish an acceptable level of party supremacy, will ensure the creation of a broad-based political party whose membership will cut across all strata of our society permitting equality of membership of all Nigerians willing to join and who will enjoy the full measure of internal party democracy. A transparent method of congresses and conventions will open up the democratic space for all to aspire to any level of their God’s given personal ability. The enthronement of discipline in our society must commence from our party and so proper safeguards for discipline is being enshrined in our new constitution with a guarantee for adequate access to justice by all members without prejudice. Confidence in politicians and the political system needs to be urgently restored.<br />
A detailed and robust manifesto will soon be published which will guide all our governments from local government to the Federal Government. We will not entertain ridiculous jokes of personal point agendas by any head of government at any level. They must all faithfully execute the party manifesto which constitutes the solemn pact that we make with our people who vote us into power. Consequently the party will subject its various executives from the local government to the presidency to regular periodic open conferences to discuss their performance and compliance with our manifesto. In this regard, our core commitments to education, eradication of corruption, uninterrupted power supply, full and gainful employment, affordable local fuel price, health care delivery, abundant food supply, industrial growth, efficient transportation, housing etc. will be watched closely by the party. This process does not exist in the PDP that has “captured” Nigeria for the past 14 years!<br />
Unfortunately, what we have witnessed in these past 14 years is the enthronement of monumental corruption at the very highest level of government. Today, people of questionable character are celebrated with National Awards while a few who are unfortunate to be convicted are granted state pardon. That is the level to which Nigeria has descended.<br />
<strong>Critics of the APC insist that there is nothing new in the convergence of those behind the party, maintaining that it is same of the same, a conclave of power-hungry people merely angling for a piece of the action. How right are they?</strong><br />
Nothing can be farther from the truth. I already drew your attention to the sterling qualities of the governors of the states controlled by the opposition parties; I have also given you an insight into the painstaking processes that have gone into the production of the party Constitution and Manifesto. What we offer Nigerians is a blueprint that is borne out of a clear vision with the will to drive the process by the enthronement of a focused and well grounded government as against the clueless and visionless apology now offered by the PDP.<br />
Frankly, the situation in our country must not be allowed to get worse than it is today. National infrastructure has suffered a calamity of a colossal decay which includes the disastrous condition of the roads, a demise of the railway system, virtually non- existent power supply; the health care system has so deteriorated that plane loads of Nigerians depart every day to far away India and other similar destinations to seek basic healthcare. The issue of insecurity has gripped the country and thrown 155 million citizens into perpetual fear, while unbridled corruption has brought the nation to its knees. The once pleasant environment enjoyed just before and after Independence has vanished! Millions of Nigerian youths are jobless while the educational system, where available, is receding into the Stone Age level, forcing those who could afford it to send their children to Ghana and other neighbouring countries or elsewhere to seek higher quality education. The anxiety for change across the country is palpable to such an extent that everywhere one turns today, there is an overwhelming yearning for a rescue mission.<br />
There has never been a political party merger in any form in our country’s history. This is the first of its kind. Apart from the four parties advertised as those now in the merger arrangement, there are several other parties as well as groups, civil society organisations and individuals who have freely approached us to join the merger. We are definitely on an urgent rescue mission. So far, I have heard not a whisper from any individual in the merger arrangement suggesting any personal interest in one position or the other. I am convinced that it will not be business as usual<br />
<strong>There have been calls for the granting of amnesty for the violent Islamic sect, the Boko Haram, regarded as a faceless group. As former Foreign Affairs Minister, would you advise the government to negotiate with a group likened to terrorists and is the amnesty call in sync?</strong><br />
The activities of Boko Haram have turned out to be one of the most serious security problems in the country today. It has been responsible for the loss of hundreds of innocent lives in parts of the country, including the Federal Capital, Abuja and its environs. One of my saddest days was the Christmas day bombing of a Catholic Church! Apart from rendering some states in the northern part of Nigeria, particularly Bornu and Yobe states, virtually no go areas, the Boko Haram insurgency has portrayed our country to the world as an unsafe destination for tourists and business people. Anyone fortunate to be the ultimate leader in the country must see it as a priority to find a lasting solution to the security situation. I have heard that some reckless individuals in the corridor of power utter careless comments to the effect that Boko Haram is a northern problem which should be left to the northerners to solve. The problem has not only advanced to the Federal Capital but is creeping southwards with vigour. Even if it has not crept down south yet, is the North not part of Nigeria? It was indeed a welcome development that the President decided to pay a visit to Yobe and Bornu two weeks ago after the Progressive Governors’ visit. His visit was the first since 2009 when the problem began. There are several examples of such insurgency problem that has occurred in other parts of the world from which those who advise Mr President can draw lessons.<br />
I recall the RUF, Revolution United Front that foisted terror on Sierra Leone during my time as Foreign Minister. Its leader, Foday Sanko took refuge with his faceless terrorists in the deep jungle of Sierra Leone. We approached the resolution of the menace by a method of the carrot and stick. Eventually we persuaded Foday Sankor to come out and we brought him to Abuja. Negotiations became more effective. I believe the Foreign Ministry has good records.<br />
The Sultan of Sokoto’s call for amnesty for Boko Haram should not be disregarded or taken lightly. The sultan’s high standing in the country, particularly in Northern Nigeria and in Islam supports this view. He must be in custody of information that could be helpful in the direction of his suggestion. The security agencies have in their custody several individuals they have arrested as the sect members. OBJ visited Bornu State sometime back and had discussions with persons reported to be leaders of the sect. The press has published photographs of various individuals named as Boko Haram leaders. The immediate past governor of Bornu State is reported to have had some interaction with the sect during his tenure. I am therefore a bit concerned with the President’s statement during his recent visit in Bornu State declaring that he was not prepared to engage “ghosts”. As it was possible to send high level contacts to the creeks in the Niger Delta to engage the militants there, I believe a similar engagement with Boko Haram is possible and necessary.<br />
<strong>What do you make of the recent statement by the former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida to the effect that Obasanjo’s 1999 presidency saved Nigeria from break-up?</strong><br />
It is not unusual for leaders to sit down from time to time and in their quiet moments, reflect and look at matters with hindsight. Sometimes, they may beat their chest with a satisfying smile for their past actions, but it is not unusual for them to harbour some regrets. It is a well known fact that General Ibrahim Babangida was one of the authors of Obasanjo’s 1999 candidacy and ascendance to the presidency. Only IBB can testify today whether or not his decision was the right one. It is also a fact that the poor handling of the events leading to the June 12, 1993 presidential elections as well as its aftermath are issues that should engage IBB’s reflection for a long time to come. There are many things I dare say he should have done differently. The reaction of South West Nigeria to those events in the aftermath of June 12, particularly their various political wings including the very powerful National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), needed an appropriate response. Following devine intervention, IBB, aided by a handful of others, seized the moment and chose a former military colleague from the South West. Nigeria would not have broken up as the South West leaders know the history of “Biafra”, but Nigeria would have been in continuous political stress. General Obasanjo was not a South-West’s choice, with the loss of his ward in the elections, but being a Yoruba man, the general temperature in that region was substantially brought down with his ascendancy to the presidency. That high temperature has now shifted to another region.<br />
<strong>Even though Nigeria did not break up then, is the country not much worse and almost heading for a break up now than the period IBB spoke about, given the current charged political atmosphere?</strong><br />
IBB and most of the core individuals who plotted and executed the coronation of OBJ lost control of the man almost as soon as he ascended the presidency in1999. The PDP became more or less OBJ’s private property and he was responsible for initiating the aberration that the President was the leader of the party. The independence of the political party has since been compromised. OBJ, having failed to secure a third term presidency, and being the anointed head of the ruling party, he proceeded to interfere with the internal party democratic process for selecting his successor which led to the emergence of the late President Umaru Yar Aduah and eventually President Goodluck Jonathan. Needless to say, the outcome of all that is the unbearable heat pervading the nation today. All that might have taken a back burner if the government now in power was performing well. But that is clearly not the case. Consequently, we are now in a situation in which the agitation for change has become nationwide. The PDP has displayed a total lack of consistency in its affairs and seems to have no qualms in moving the goal post in serious decisions left, right and centre all the time. The revelation by the Governor of Niger State which he holds tenaciously to, that an agreement exists between the PDP Governors and President Jonathan to end his presidency in 2015 is a case in point. That seems to re-enforce the Northern claim to the next presidency within the PDP.<br />
<strong>A lot of people have tended to blame the woes of the country on the challenge of leadership. How would you compare the leadership under the late head of state, General Sani Abacha and the subsequent ones that followed after?</strong><br />
I am not an apostle of military governments, but General Gowon, perhaps the longest serving military ruler is very well regarded in the country today. One can safely say that the regime of military rulers pervaded Africa in the 70′s, 80′s and early 90′s. Nigeria had its fair share. Military rule is no longer elegant or fashionable. The entry of General Sani Abacha immediately after June 12 and the shaky regime of Chief Ernest Shonnekan was bound to face unprecedented difficulties. While I am not discussing the Abacha regime in this response, I must state that the man was a courageous leader who addressed the nation’s problems astutely. Unfortunately, the man is not around now like some others to answer for himself. There are many who have paraded themselves as democrats and held juicy positions over the past 14 years of PDP rule, but were inside the engine room of the Abacha administration.<br />
The highest amount received per barrel for crude oil during Abacha’s regime was $8, but our currency was strong and a lot of projects were executed around the country. The highly successful PTF – Petroleum Trust Fund – established by the retention of a few kobos per barrel of crude produced carried out notable projects nationwide. During his tenure, I know that not a kobo was borrowed from the IMF or World bank. Those institutions shut down their offices in Abuja. However, in 1999, General Obasanjo, a former military ruler, assumed the presidency and preferred that his name be disguised as he was to be referred to as Chief Obasanjo. He was a lucky President. The price per barrel of crude oil soared from the paltry $8 per barrel only one year before his arrival to an unprecedented over $100 per barrel. That was the real windfall which was and is continually being fritted away. The PDP has since established a system of annual budgeting that grants nearly 80% of such colossal sums, now in trillions, of our annual budget to recurrent expenditures with virtually nothing left to capital development.<br />
We have a staff of the “Brentton Woods” institution firmly in charge and supervising what is perhaps the worst scenario of corruption Nigeria has ever been subjected to; the same woman who lured Nigeria to pay up billions of dollars on questionable and unverified debts is now leading us back to incur even bigger debts without any visible development projects to show for it. Many people have wondered whose interest she will most serve; Nigeria’s or the World Bank’s?<br />
<strong>Edo State is today said to be experiencing what could be described as participatory democracy as a result of Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s one man one vote initiative. Could this be the final death knell on the coffin of the politics of godfatherism which held the people of Edo State captive for years?</strong><br />
It is my fervent hope that the choice of people to hold power in our country at all levels would be based on the will of the people. As National Chairman of the NRC in 1990 to 1992, our contest with the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) was based largely on the outcome of free and fair elections. Hence we ran neck and neck all the time. My quest for a mega party today is to create another party that will contest against the PDP to ensure true competition and balance in the polity. Checks and balances would then be assured. Between the NRC and SDP, of the 30 states in the country then, we in the NRC won 16 governorships and the SDP won 14. But the SDP secured more seats in the National Assembly election. Both parties accepted the outcome of the elections without quarrel and I cannot recall any court cases. I can very well appreciate the former head of state, Gen Ibrahim Babangida recalling those good old days.<br />
The colossal investment of mind boggling cash utilised in elections these days is a phenomenon introduced by the PDP and they have succeeded in corrupting the electoral commission as well down the line. The general elections in 2007 have been recorded as the worst ever in our country’s history. Prof. Atahiru Jega is trying to make a difference but he still has a number of hardened bad eggs in his system. Steps must be taken to rid the place of those characters ahead of the next general elections. Today, elections are no longer decided at the polling stations. Final decisions have shifted to the law courts which development has unleashed new and scary problems on the country with regards to our nation’s Judiciary. Lawyers have become as well so fabulously wealthy.<br />
Comrade Oshiomhole’s launch of the one man one vote concept was very timely. It brought back confidence in the ballot box and it was a relief to hear President Goodluck Jonathan mount the campaign rostrum in Benin City and also proclaimed one man one vote. A celebrated PDP baron made absolute nonsense of the ballot box. Those who wanted office, rather than campaign to the people for votes made nocturnal pilgrimages to the residence of the baron. Governors, legislators, council chairmen and councillors hold office at his behest and so, their hands were usually tied when the time came to deliver to the people the much talked about dividends of democracy.<br />
There must, however, be leadership in political parties to give direction to elected personnel during their tenure in their operations without prejudice to them retaining a reasonable level of free hand.<br />
The people of Edo State have comprehensively rejected PDP since 2007 and from November 2009, when the ACN government was inaugurated, the participatory democracy that you speak of has actually bred real and visible developments in the state. This is largely because unlike what we found during the PDP, when recurrent expenditure gulped almost 90% of the total receipts, leaving virtually nothing for development, the economy has been effectively restructured to ensure that not less than 50% of total receipts are committed to capital development in a manner that is accountable and transparent. The end result is that Edo State has fully realised value for money spent. This type of vision, focus, fiscal discipline and commitment is what we will offer Nigerians when in 2015 they reject PDP and embrace the fresh air of change that APC represents.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-43783240897761854302013-03-02T20:22:00.000-08:002013-08-16T20:22:55.165-07:00Jonathan’s government’s failure has provided an ideology for APC –Senator Kanti Bello<strong>By Linus Obogo, Assistant</strong><br />
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<em><strong>Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello represented Katsina North Senatorial Zone from 2003 to 2011. Known for his bluntness, he had caused a stir in the senate during the ministerial screening when he accused former Information Minister Dora Akunyili of cooking for ex-First Lady Hajia Turai Yar’Adua. Recently, he had sensationally debunked the claims of the Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu of a purported pact President Goodluck Jonathan signed with the governors of the PDP over 2015 presidency.</strong></em></div>
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<em><strong>In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, Kanti Bello spoke on what he described as Jonathan’s leadership ineptitude, why Nigerians should rally round the emerging All Progressive Congress to get the country out of the woods.</strong></em></div>
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<em><strong>Excerpts:</strong></em><br />
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<strong>You left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). What informed your movement at this time, especially when your political acumen would have been most needed by the party?</strong></div>
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I came to realise the situation in which Nigeria has found herself and which is that there is no focus in the management of the affairs of the country. As a politician, I play my politics based on principles. From the perspective of the part of the country where I come from, I had gotten tired of having to look at the papers everyday and all I find is that this much has been stolen and that much has been looted from the national treasury and no action is being taken to put a stop to it by the leadership provided by the PDP.</div>
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I have also discovered that corruption at the national level is on the highest scale under the PDP. As a patriotic Nigerian, I feel I must not allow myself or the name of my family to be associated with this kind of mess. That was my first consideration. Secondly, I earnestly want to contribute my quota to the development of my country and it is a disaster that under the PDP government, all the industries in the North are no more. All the textile industries that were based in Kano, Kaduna, Kaukuri are all gone today and our people have become poorer with the coming of the PDP government in 1999.</div>
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Much more disturbing also, is the security challenge in the country. No country can prosper without security. The security situation in the North is so terrible that nobody feels safe any longer. Not even during the civil war did we witness what we are today experiencing. It is sad that we cannot boast of security of lives and property, not only in the North, but all across the country. It is against this backdrop that I felt that to make a positive contribution to change Nigeria I needed to leave the PDP. That is one of the reasons I had to leave the PDP to join the CPC with the hope of helping General Muhammadu Buhari so that we can, at least do something to salvage the situation in the interest of the future of our children and grandchildren.</div>
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Any right thinking Nigerian should think of the future of this country and leave PDP to join the CPC and the emerging APC to rescue it, otherwise, it will sink irretrievably.</div>
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<strong>You said you left the PDP as a result of the inability of the party to tackle what you described as security challenge and sundry conundrums confronting the country. Are these challenges caused by the party or the political leadership?</strong></div>
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It is about the party which is in control of the government at the centre. And as a party in government, it is a complete failure. The crisis in the country, occasioned by the PDP government is not one in which you can fight as member by staying put in the party. The party is corrupt, inept and completely directionless.</div>
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Those ruling on the platform of the party do not even know what they are doing. For instance, the governor of my state, Katsina, has turned himself into a little emperor. How do you explain a situation in which the governor of a state would take public funds and build a house for a woman in Niger Republic? It is inexplicable that this happened in a state rated as the second poorest in the country. It is even sadder that the governor does not listen to anybody in the state.</div>
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<strong>Senator, can you substantiate your claim that he actually used public funds to build a house for a woman in Niger Republic?</strong></div>
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It is on record. The story was carried in The Leadership as an advertorial. I am not speculating about Governor Shema of Katsina State building a house for a woman in Niger Republic. I am too old, too gentle and so well known to speculate and tell lies about somebody. Why should I? Whatever I say to the media, I must have read or heard it from an authentic source. I am not daft and I am not the kind of politician that just wants to create sensation.</div>
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So, with this kind of leadership at the federal and state level, my dear friend, we just have to change the system. It is that bad that Nigerians are being held by the jugular and what is required is for all right thinking Nigerians to rescue the country from their clutches. That is the situation we are at the moment.</div>
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<strong>You were part of the system between 2003 and 2011 as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where even the legislative arm was also alleged to be neck deep in endemic corruption. What did you do and how come you did not leave the PDP at the time?</strong></div>
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I want to first of all make it clear that I was not in the PDP as a senator in 2003. Rather, I was in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Let me say this with all sense of modesty that it was while I was in the ANPP that I went out of my way to beg General Buhari to come into politics because Nigeria needs a radical leader like him to undergo a radical transformation. So, some of us felt that the only person that could bring about that change was Buhari. The endemic corruption has got to stop. This requires someone who is untainted to achieve that and Buhari remains that person.</div>
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But incidentally, my friend, brother and political associate, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had approached me and told me to come and join him in the PDP because he was running for the Presidency. He said he needed a senator with experience to assist him move this country forward. I saw that he had good intentions for the country, so I obliged him. He was a good man and he had good intentions, but unfortunately, his health challenge took a better of him. However, he was great leader. He was one of the best presidents this country has ever produced.</div>
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So, it was the late president that actually brought me into the PDP, and as a nationalist and realist, I heeded his invitation. That was how I joined the PDP. But as a man who believes in the rule of law, I felt that something had gone wrong when the PDP constitution prescribed zoning in the party, and it had to be abandoned. I came out and told Goodluck Jonathan that he could not contest because the ticket was still zoned to the North, not minding that the bearer of the ticket was dead.</div>
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As far as I was concerned, the PDP constitution was very clear on zoning. So it was the turn of the North. Even though I was the Chief Whip of the Senate and a member of the national caucus at the time, I was not deceived that it was still the turn of the North and that was why I yielded myself as the national deputy campaign coordinator for General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd). I believe fervently in the principle of rotation.</div>
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Unfortunately, those who were not patriotic like the governors turned round and rooted for Jonathan, even though they knew he was not supposed to stand for the presidency on the platform of the PDP. Going by the party’s constitution, they knew that it was constitutionally wrong to have allowed him to contest. Rather than tell him ‘Mr. President, you could run in 2015 after the North must have completed its turn at the presidency’.</div>
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If they had taken this stance, their action would have made the party credible. But they chose, rather, to play the ostrich. I tried as much as I could to convince the governors during one of the meetings that it was not right to allow Jonathan to run, but instead, they all queued up behind him.</div>
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<strong>Now that it is affecting them, they are trying to tell Nigerians that President Jonathan signed a pact with them not to contest in 2015. But as far as I can remember, there was no such pact. The question I am asking them is why didn’t they challenge him when he was contesting in 2011</strong>?</div>
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It was on the basis of this inconsistency that I decide to leave PDP for the CPC. I felt it was time I left the party, something I had done six months ago.</div>
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<strong>Considering the sheer size of the PDP in our party politics today, would you say you made the best and an informed decision leaving the party?</strong></div>
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I am an old man and at my age, there is no decision I make today that I will ever live to regret tomorrow. I graduated from the university 41 years ago as an engineer and so, I am enlightened enough to know the implications of every decision I make in life. At my age also, if I take a decision, it should not necessarily be in my best interest, but in the best interest of my nation. I have been in the public service for the past 41 years. I believe in every decision and action I may have taken to be in the best interest of this country.</div>
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<strong>How would you assess governance under President Jonathan from when he became President of Nigeria after Yar’Adua’s death till date?</strong></div>
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I cannot point to anything he has achieved as President. There is absolutely nothing to place a finger on. The only achievement that can be credited to him is that we have progressed from bad to worse. Look at the insecurity in the country, each time the President says he is on top of the situation, we will witness attacks of fatal proportion. The North was not known to be a region of kidnappers, but now we are deep in it. If a whole Emir could come close to being butchered on the street, what does that say about the state of security in the country? We are in a terrible mess.</div>
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On the issue of corruption, how on earth can we justify the level it has assumed? Take the case of the pension fund, for instance, when the Senate cried itself hoarse that Abdulrasheed Maina should be produced, the IG of police played games with the issue until the man escaped outside the country right under the nose of the IG. There was a time the Presidency was quoted to have said that it had no power to dismiss him. They said it was only the Head of Service that could dismiss him. This game continued for about six months until they paved the way for him to escape. Is that a good leadership scorecard? No.</div>
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If the Senate can be courageous enough, it should insist on the President producing the Chairman of the Pension Fund, Maina, failing which an impeachment process be commenced against him. From the drama that played out, leading to his eventual disappearance from the country, amounts to an impeachable offence. The amount involved is too colossal to be waved aside. Besides, it is billions of naira of people’s life’s savings that was mismanaged by just a few people in government. It is a national shame and embarrassment. In any case, I do not expect much from the scandal. After all, that is what the PDP is all about.</div>
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<strong>Virtually everyone seems to be heaping the problems of Nigeria on President Jonathan, so much so that today, if a man cannot get his wife pregnant, it is blamed on Jonathan. Did the problems he is being pilloried predate him as President? Or did the problems emanate during his time in office?</strong></div>
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Look, if the problems of Nigeria started with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1999 because of lack of progress under his watch, Jonathan has done nothing to improve the situation. Rather, he has escalated them. If Nigerians were not the kind of peace loving people that they are, what Jonathan has been doing would have long created a religious violence in the country.</div>
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How do you reconcile yourself with a President whose every policy statement is usually announced in the church? Is that how to run a country in a pluralistic society? It is even being alleged that he is concentrating his energy on helping only people from his Bayelsa State. Is that how governance is run? I have read this in the papers.</div>
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Nobody should mistake my position as hatred for President Jonathan. I do not have anything personal against him. But the fact remains that I love Nigeria. I just do not like the way he running the country and I think I am old enough not to say it.</div>
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<strong>What do you think is the way out? Should he vacate the presidency so that Nigeria can make progress?</strong></div>
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Change the PDP and change the government. That is all. The PDP has become a system of government today in Nigeria. The party has become something of a cult. Governors are being muscled and they can no longer talk. Some of the governors have become sycophants in government.</div>
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The PDP has become Nigerians’ headache and the only cure is to attack it with APC. That is what is known to cure headache. I want to urge Nigerians to be discernible enough to swallow APC in order to get relief. We must come together to kick out the PDP which has lost it identity as a party and become a system of government. It is a system of government of the crooks, run by the crooks and benefited only by the crooks. We have to kick them out. That is why we are calling on all patriotic Nigerians including you the journalists to come on board to kick the PDP out.</div>
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<strong>It is being alleged that President Jonathan signed a pact with the PDP governors in 2011 that he will not run in 2015 and you were quoted to have punctured their claim. You were not a governor, so how could you claim to be privy to whether or not such a deal was ever struck by a group of governors? Besides, should Jonathan not run in 2015?</strong></div>
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I really do not care whether Jonathan runs in 2015 or not run. But all I know is that from the meeting I attended when the governors met with him, there was nothing like that. And if there was anything like that, then they should prove it to Nigerians that Jonathan signed a pact with them. But as far as I know, there is no fact in their claim.</div>
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<strong>The issue now is not whether Jonathan runs or not but that whoever runs on the platform of the PDP and wins, he should not be allowed to form a government. That is all. Does it not make sense to you that we just must stop PDP at all costs? The truth of the matter is that we must kick out whoever that will rule this country on the PDP platform. Is that understood?</strong></div>
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But how do you intend to kick out a party believed to be the largest on the continent and more national in outlook?</div>
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My friend, they are the largest crooks today, yes I agree. Nigeria being ruled by the largest party is the largest most corrupt country in the world today. But is this what Nigerians want? Nigerians are tired and no longer care about size. What we care now is the morality, how to make the country great so that Nigerians can live in peace.</div>
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Is it because it is the largest party that I should not have security? Is it because they constitute the so called largest party that I should be afraid to travel from my village to Abuja? I am not even sure that sleeping in my own house now is safe. Is that what being the largest party is all about? Is that why US$2.6 billion of oil subsidy money should be missing? My friend, let Nigerians get serious for once and come together to fix this country and the only way to achieve this is to chase the largest party of crooks out of Aso Rock.</div>
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The menace of the Boko Haram sect has continued to threaten the existence of the country and much worse, crippled the economy of the North. What is it that the leadership has not done right to tackle the menace?</div>
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The crisis of Boko Haram is simple only if we had a serious government. If a group of people is bombing and butchering their fellow human beings on the street, they must have an agenda for doing that. What is it that they want? I do not think that any sensible human being will just wake up and for no reason, go on a killing spree. There must be a motive. It is the responsibility of a responsible government in power to try and find out what is it they want. At the beginning of the crisis of the Boko Haram, I remember advising that the government should try and find out what was it they wanted and what were their grudges?</div>
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Having found out what they want, the government should know what is in the best interest of our nation and do what is right for the country. If a whole Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria cannot travel to Maiduguri or anywhere in the North, because he is afraid, what type of commander-in-chief is that? He has refused to visit any part of the North because he is afraid. With that type man as our Commander-in-Chief, who will save Nigeria? As Commander-in-Chief, he has the entire security apparatus at his disposal.</div>
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On the ongoing merger talks with your party, the CPC and others, some Nigerians have expressed cynicism that since merger has never worked in the past, this one might not be different. What is your reaction to this?</div>
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Nigerians are a very funny people. They are talking about the people in the merger talks having different or no ideology. What ideology are they talking about anyway? We already have an ideology given to us by President Jonathan. One of the ideologies is that we have to stop people from stealing public fund. There is also the ideology that corruption must be stopped. We have to provide security to Nigerians. Is this also not an ideology? We must ensure that our industries are resuscitated and our energy boosted to generate electricity. So, what ideology are they talking about? The failure of President Jonathan and his PDP government has provided us an ideology to chart a course for good governance for the country.</div>
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When a country of about 160 million people cannot even clothe its citizens until we import cloths from India and China, then something is fundamentally wrong somewhere. This is an ideology. There is need to overhaul our educational system and make sure that our children get the best of education in Nigeria. Is that not an ideology? The ineptitude of President Jonathan has offered us an ideology. Nigerians are craving for a change. They are not asking for communism, socialism or capitalism. Rather, they are asking for quality life, quality education, healthcare, shelter, electricity, good roads and security. I believe that this has nothing to do with the system of government being operated.</div>
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Those talking about APC having no ideology do not know what they are talking about. What they do not seem to know is that Jonathan has already given us an ideology. Nigerians want economic prosperity and that is an ideology.</div>
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How optimistic are you about the merger?</div>
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The optimism is not something you promise or offer people. But if you are living in Nigeria, you will be able to see the optimism in virtually everyone who has gotten weary of the listlessness of the Jonathan-led PDP government. The optimism is very much palpable in every right thinking Nigerian living in Nigeria. Maybe because you live in Lagos, you may not know what is happening in this country. Who is that Nigerian that does not desire a change? Is it a good thing to hear that PhD holders are queuing up to drive Dangote trucks? My friend, Nigerians are suffering. Is that what our graduates have been reduced to? As a fine journalist that you are, I want to personally appeal to you that you also have a role to play by joining forces to help change this country.</div>
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While you were in the senate, you accused former Information Minister, during the ministerial screening of cooking for the wife of late President Yar’Adua, Hajia Turai. Did you merely say that to humiliate her or you said what you knew her to be doing then?</div>
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(Cuts in amidst prolong laughter) well, I really would have wished not to go into that again. It is all in the past now. But having said that, I wish to also state that I did not say it to humiliate her. What I said was about three or four years ago. Those who know me know that whenever I talk, I talk based on fact and not on hear say. What I tried to do with Professor Dora Akunyili then was to let her know that what she was doing was bad. She was pact of the system and as such, it was not right for her to have come out to label some people as cabal or kitchen cabinet who held the late president hostage.</div>
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She was always with the first family and as such, she was among those that could be regarded as first among equal. She was part of the kitchen cabinet where things were being cooked by virtue of her closeness to the first family.</div>
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I wanted to let Nigerians know that people like Akunyili are not to be trusted. She did not tell Nigerians what was going on when Yar’Adua was alive and when things were not going right. So, she should have remained reticent when Yar’Adua was away. It was not right to discuss the team when she was part of the team.</div>
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What role are we expecting to see Senator Bello to play in the next dispensation?</div>
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I will play the role the Katsina people want me to play. And I will continue to play the role of rebuilding my country, Nigeria. I will do my best to ensure that this country is united so that we can kick out the PDP.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07392689214816659960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2360942002321421209.post-63922551466204507862013-01-12T20:34:00.000-08:002013-08-16T21:02:07.029-07:00Genocide: Fireworks over Achebe’s There was a country…<strong>Written by Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor</strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qPZt7wxxqI7Oh8bzis0pT_ITzDtLyzExeSRleys1pE5XtiNbvIcSXPHhvzqRcnU1W1_61tqoVNHUOj_KibxEqvgkJoq_GPZ3ACPv6cx9-E-iwt_khhWpO_0BtoQaJsaa0mkKR0B5Ui7w/s1600/Awolowo-and-Achebe-jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qPZt7wxxqI7Oh8bzis0pT_ITzDtLyzExeSRleys1pE5XtiNbvIcSXPHhvzqRcnU1W1_61tqoVNHUOj_KibxEqvgkJoq_GPZ3ACPv6cx9-E-iwt_khhWpO_0BtoQaJsaa0mkKR0B5Ui7w/s320/Awolowo-and-Achebe-jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Nigerian Civil War may have ended about 43 years ago, but the ghost of the three-year-old conflict resurfaced, strangely in October, following the release of a book, There was a country: A personal history of Biafra, written by renowned novelist, Prof. Chinua Achebe.</div>
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In what was conceived as Achebe’s personal recollection of what went down during the war, turned out, ironically, a re-opening of old wounds.</div>
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While the conflict which formed the raw material for Achebe’s memoir was between Nigeria and the Igbo, the alleged genocide controversy as captured by the world celebrated story teller in his latest work ended up pitching not just a few of the disciples of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, one of the alleged perpetrators of genocide, but also some participants in the war from other zones of the country.<br />
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The controversy stoked by Achebe which became a feeding frenzy for the media may not have been about whether there was a war or there was a country, it was so much about a war story, either well told, half told, told with jaundice or better still, should have been left untold. And like a bolt out of the blue, arose a groundswell of emotions and sentiments, with some laden with either loyal or ethnic hue. Before long, the argument began to oscillate between the parochial and the primordial.</div>
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By the time the controversy was finally interred, it had taken another genocidal dimension of a media war and ethnic pyrotechnic.</div>
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The controversial book which had yet to make its grand entry into Nigeria at the time, and which many had not availed themselves of its content stirred the hornet’s nest with excerpts in the The Guardian of London.</div>
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While none of the warring parties in the controversial book was in dissonance about Achebe’s gift of artistry in painting pictures of some the events of the war, and his uncanny ability to still recollect the roles of actors in the conflict, despite his ebbing age, a little portion in the book reproduced below, seemingly stratified its expectant readers.</div>
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“The wartime cabinet of General Gowon, the military ruler, it should also be remembered, was full of intellectuals like Chief Obafemi Awolowo among others who came up with a boatload of infamous and regrettable policies. A statement credited to Awolowo and echoed by his cohorts is the most callous and unfortunate: all is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don’t see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder.</div>
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“It is my impression that Awolowo was driven by an overriding ambition for power, for himself and for his Yoruba people. There is, on the surface at least, nothing wrong with those aspirations.</div>
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“However, Awolowo saw the dominant Igbo at the time as the obstacles to that goal, and when the opportunity arose – the Nigeria-Biafra War – his ambition drove him into a frenzy to go to every length to achieve his dreams.</div>
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“In the Biafran case, it meant hatching up a diabolical policy to reduce the numbers of his enemies significantly through starvation – eliminating over two million people, mainly members of future generations.”</div>
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Despite that Nigeria was at the time of the genocide saga battling with the unprecedented onslaught of floods ravaging the country, some Nigerians took time off their flooded and submerged homes to engage in some intellectual acrobatics.</div>
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While some argued that the author of the world celebrated Things fall Apart merely helped to refresh memory and reactivate discourse on the bloody civil war, others differed, arguing why Achebe would not allow a sleeping dog lie, but choose to reopen an already healed wound.</div>
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But while this wound was healed for others, but for Achebe, it was one still festering terminally and needing not only to be treated but permanently cured.</div>
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And for having fired the first salvo, neither Achebe nor his fans could determine the direction this new ‘genocide war’ was going to take. By the time it assumed a fever pitch, it went viral and multi-frontier.</div>
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The media war which saw the South West and South East furiously unified against each other, also helped to unify, albeit briefly, some of the ‘lost disciples’ of the late Awolowo, even as the controversy equally seemed to make the Igbo to be in accord with each other.</div>
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For instance, those long regarded as apostates and who had seemingly gone ahead to either renounce ‘Awoism’ or progressivism as an ideology and pitched tent with the retrogressive, suddenly found common ally in those they had deserted.</div>
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And for some Igbo who thought they could never find reason to agree, There was a country… unexpectedly became a temporary unifying casus belli to agree that there was a country and there was genocide.</div>
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And the battle line was drawn. Yoruba versus Igbo. Intellectuals, politicians, the media, none sat on the fence. It was a war of supports versus condemnations. Virtual commentators from the two divides deployed sumptuous invectives in defence of their ‘hero’. Even the philistines who would not hear of arts were not so phlegmatic this time. They joined the fray in their unbelief. Some were armed while some were not so armed in carrying out the Achebe/Awolowo ‘war’, with the former brandishing transcript of Awolowo’s interview in 1983 in response to the issues raised by Achebe.</div>
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In the interview, the late UPN leader during a campaign for the 1983 presidential election, admitted the policy, but denied it targeted civilians.</div>
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He said the policy targeted the fighting personnel, as a way to end the three-year-old conflict, as food supplies dispatched for civilians use in Biafra, were cornered by the soldiers.</div>
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In what appeared to be a fight to the finish, supporters of Awolowo and Achebe left no stone unturned and fought gallantly.</div>
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Secretary-General, Afenifere, Segun Arogbofa, had fired Achebe: “He has the right to live anywhere he likes but to start denigrating one of Nigeria’s founders and builders like the Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo is not only unfortunate but a great abomination especially when he knows that the man is dead and cannot defend himself.”</div>
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However, as if responding to Arogbofa, immediate past president of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dozie Ikedife, fired his own potshot: “The facts are naked, but only that truth is bitter. The Igbo would not start another war but for Nigeria to move forward, she must acknowledge injustice done to Ndigbo during the war.”</div>
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Similarly, former National Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie, spoke in defense of Achebe: “It is a general knowledge that the civil war has only ended in the battle field but it has not in reality. Go to the South East and you will pity the Igbo. All the roads are impassable and there is no federal presence. The policies of federal character and educational disadvantage are created to deter the progress of the Igbo people.”</div>
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Ebenezar Babatope, a former minister and a protege of Awolowo, had said in a statement: “While Achebe is free to write on any topic that suits his fancy, he has no right whatsoever to irresponsibly murder history by his recklessly attacking a great leader like Papa Awolowo.”</div>
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For Yinka Odumakin, a member of the Save Nigeria Group, “It is unfortunate that a great man of letters of Achebe’s status has descended to the arena of Biafran propagandists who are always ready to sacrifice the truth to achieve emotional blackmail. He has betrayed his intellectual calling by joining in the circulation of low quality rumour against Awo. I had looked forward to reading the book, but now I doubt if I would pick up a copy even if dropped at my gate.”</div>
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former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, said by writing the book and “making some of these baseless and nonsensical assertions, Achebe was simply indulging in the greatest mendacity of Nigerian modern history and his crude distortion of the facts has no basis in reality or rationality. We must not mistake fiction and storytelling for historical fact. The two are completely different. The truth is that Professor Chinua Achebe owes the Awolowo family and the Yoruba people a big apology for his tale of pure fantasy.</div>
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He continued: “This subtle attempt to denigrate the Yoruba and their past leaders, to place a question mark on their noble and selfless role in the war and to belittle their efforts and sacrifice to keep Nigeria together as one will always be vigorously resisted by those of us that have the good fortune of still being alive and who are aware of the facts.”</div>
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Chinwoke Mbadinuju, former governor of Anambra State, lent his voice in support of his kinsman: “I have not read the book. I don’t want to speculate. During the civil war, I was studying in the United States of America. However, I have absolute confidence in Prof Chinua Achebe. He is an acclaimed international scholar and figure; whatever he says about the civil war should be taken seriously.”</div>
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For Dr. A.B.C. Nwosu, former Minister of Health, “This was predictable. Achebe, true to his character, will be unfazed by the insults and abuses, but will welcome criticisms. A writer of his stature should be used to all these.</div>
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‘’In my view, the controversy including the orgy of abuse is desirable because it brings out into the public domain, bottled-up and vile ethnic prejudices. In my view also, it is preferable for such prejudices to be aired rather for them to remain and fester in the innermost recesses of ethnic minds, to be secretly whispered around from door to door, neighbour to neighbour and passed on from generation to generation. Closet ethnicism to me is very dangerous and militates against nation-building.</div>
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‘’There are many who believe that certain things are best not said at this time. I disagree. It is best for these things to be said so that brethren and compatriots will be aware of what others truly think of them. Therefore, let the criticisms, insults and even abuse continue to come out into the open so we can better understand ourselves as individuals, and as micro-nations within the macro-nation Nigeria.”</div>
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Throwing his hat into the ring, Odia Ofeimun, a diehard Awoist, roared: “All that rubbish of children with ribs and swollen stomachs and the rest of it, what did you expect in a war?”</div>
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Refusing to allow Achebe cast aspersions on her father’s memory, daughter of the late Yoruba leader and former to The Netherlands, Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, also took up the gauntlet against Awolowo’s accuser: “One is still trying to come to terms with the sense of disappointment about the person who wrote what is now a brewing controversy in the country. While a formal statement responding to the offensive comments of the writer is being prepared by the family, all I can say for now is that I feel so disappointed.”</div>
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Achebe wrote what were purely his personal reflections on the civil war, his own account of the war as a chronicler, but interestingly, it turned out to elicit robust debates and controversy, leading to the distillation of emotion on both sides of the divides.</div>
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Was Achebe worse for what he wrote? Not exactly, because he engineered a debate. Was the controversy necessary? Absolutely because it was healthy as it helped to let off steam. But in the final analysis, There was a country: A personal history of Biafra was the biggest beneficiary as the controversy only helped to popularise the book.</div>
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