By Christian Anosike
Long before the 2003 elections, his opponents had branded him ‘Adaobi’, a name that said much about how they saw him. In Igboland, Adaobi is a woman’s name and it was their way of describing him as weak, ineffective and lacking any political threat. But many years later, and after a long trail of historic achievements, the man called Adaobi has transformed into ‘Okwute’, the Solid Rock of Anambra State and Nigeria; the man without who the history of Nigeria’s modern democracy cannot be written without copiously mentioning his exploits.
While his opponents were flexing their ‘macho’ muscles at every turn, Obi had been quietly and effectively using his God-given intellect as a manager of men and resources to impress and convince the people that matter. At this time too, politicians like Chris Ngige were busy bragging about their toughness and how they were confronting Obasanjo. Yet, with all his toughness, Ngige could not drive out NARTO from the parks which they had been using to divert revenue meant for the state to private pockets. For all his ‘machoness’ he failed to stop Obi from toppling him from the stolen seat he occupied for three years. Ngige boasted after his defeat by Obi at the court that Obi could never beat him one on one in an election but Obi did it in grand style on Feb 6 to further infuriate Ngige. Obi, the woman, simply demystified Ngige, the man and that’s why Ngige is fuming like an angry bee today. It is clear he has not forgiven Obi and probably never will.
What of PDP? They made a hell of noise about owning Anambra State and of having all the political heavy weights in the state. They told everyone who cared to listen that their taking over the government house was only a matter of time. But come Feb 6, the masses spoke and they crumbled like a pack of cards. Again, while they made noise, Obi was busy consolidating on his ANIDS project, touching and changing lives like no one had ever done in the state. When his opponents said he had done nothing, he took the people of the state round his projects to see how he was spending their money. Seeing the danger in this, his opponents, led by Ngige and Emeka Etiaba, cried foul and tried to discredit the project tours but it made no impact. Rather, all those who saw what Obi had achieved, held Obi in awe and collectively endorsed him for second term. These people had included the organised labour, teachers, traders, students, journalists, town unions, royal fathers, the clergy, knights of the church and virtually all Anambrarians.
When we wrote this, the enemies of progress accused us of cooking up the stories. They were in mortal dread of the tours because they exposed their lies that Obi was not working. When this failed, they resorted to blackmailing Obi organising kidnaps and heaping the blame on the government. This continued until they kidnapped Soludo’s father and the bubble burst. This was when the truth came out as the kidnappers confessed they did it in order to recoup their campaign funds in PDP. One of the lynch pins arrested even happened to be one of those hired by Ngige in his time and equipped with arms in the name of security. It turned out they were using those arms to terrorize the state. After this the tempo died down as real kidnappers carried out pockets of operations that the police easily contained.
When it was time to vote, the masses went for the man with discernible track records, a man with proven good character, a man with the fear of God and a man whose yes was yes, and his no was no. The result was the freest election in the country from which Obi made yet another history as the man that broke the second term jinx.
In returning to serve a second time, Obi has indeed proved that action is better than noise making and that ideas rule the world, not naked power. It now behoves us to support this God-sent man in his sincere, committed effort to build a better tomorrow for our children.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Peter Obi: And It Came To Pass
By Peter Clever Opara
And so, truth triumphed over falsehood, light over darkness, virtues over vices on the issue of who rules Anambra from May 2010 to May 2014. Anambra has made a fitting choice and with it comes the equally strong message to the many political interlopers that descended on Anambra just because its governorship was vacant to hasten to their tents and allow the state to continue enjoying the refreshing breeze of the past four years. In deciding to renew the mandate of Peter Obi, the people of Anambra aptly demonstrated that they are discerning enough to choose between a reality they can feel and touch and a placebo they can hardly identify, let alone feel. In making the emphatic choice of retaining a governor that epitomizes almost all the ennobling virtues we had lacked in the present political dispensation, the people of Anambra served notice to those that had hitherto taken them for granted that they reserve enough strength of character to identify and go for the best, especially on the vexed issue of who is best fitted to take that badly governed state to the apogee of their collective desires.
That lone decision could be felt from the nooks and crannies of a parched and hobbled country such that when it came and with the finality that encased it, no one was left in doubt that if things were done properly, Nigerians can still make a free and fitting choice of who they want to preside over their fate. The lessons were not lost to any one that Nigerians desire to be left to freely choose who governs them. They want no let or hindrance in making this choice and the belief is writ large that once this fundamental right is granted, Nigerians can get it right. Anambra will serve as a metaphor of the suppressed neighing of Nigerians for freedom.
Going into the February 6th gubernatorial race, Peter Obi was an underdog in a race where he was supposed to be the front runner. He was dismissed as an unserious candidate in an election he was supposed to be the candidate to beat. He was underrated by his opponents for the simple fact that he was seen as a queer candidate in a race that in typical Nigerian fashion, should be decided with brawn and muscle. He exuded no known physical strength and sounds annoyingly effeminate, to the chagrin of those who relate politics to one brute and ghoulish enterprise where no captive should be taken. They said he was not a politician, by which the typical Nigerian politician was seen as one that has enough largesse to throw around, with enough empty air and vanity to go round and who wears the epaulette of a superman around him. But he was effeminate, simple and too fragile for a politician that is primed to contest the governorship of a state as Anambra. Even when he was a sitting governor and even when he has the record of seeing off two governors and dissembling the radars of a rampaging and notorious political party, he was not counted as one front runner in the race for Anambra in 2010.
Curiously, no one doubted Obi’s honesty and commitment but we were made to believe that these were rustic virtues and valueless antiquities that do not matter again. No one contested the fact that he was the most honest and straight forward of all the contestants but these noble ideals were turned to vices by the desperate politics that was unleashed on Anambra by those desperate to covet the stool he was sitting on. Before our very eyes, a hard working governor was turned to a punching bag but thank God, the grassroots, where it matters most and whose interests forms the corpus of Peter Obi’s works as governor never allowed itself to be so fooled.
But then, there is no doubting that in the history of Anambra State , Peter Obi remains unmatched in terms of achievement. When they want to be fair to him, his opponents will grudgingly concede that he has done his best but that his best is not good enough for the state or that he was doing so much so late in his reign. Because he does not believe in turning the instruments of the state to personal use, his opponents dubbed him as a weak and hen pecked governor and never wasted time in poking their hands into his eyes and daring him to do his worst. But having this simplistic notion of power, Obi never took up the challenge but rather invested his entire waking time to what he termed the good of all. In his queer attitude to Nigerian politics, he did not hew a godfather for himself and this further exposed him to the taunts and ridicule of his political foes.
But his opponents went far in underrating the voters they seemingly hoped to swing the votes for them. Given the way and manner they carried on, it was obvious that they simply hoped to swindle Anambra voters. The manner they launched the many deliberate mischief they forged, the spontaneity of the launching of this mischief and how they were employed to advance the emergent campaigns for Anambra showed that those that wanted to snatch Anambra from Obi never invested much respect on the voters’ intelligence. In typical desperate fashion, everything was programmed as a short span, buyable enterprise with the aim of swindling the people and cart away their votes. I noticed all these and wrote the vastly published piece, “As the Cloud of Mischief Gathers over Anambra”, where I stoutly insisted that what was happening in Anambra in the period leading to the election were plain mischief by some people to get the votes of the people of Anambra State.
I observed the frenetic build up to the polls and the sudden dawn of an era of misinformation and tale bearing that sought to desperately rubbish the enduring legacies of a hard working and honest governor whose biggest crime was that he chose to serve the people and not few godfathers. I noticed the huge effort and investment in tarnishing the image of a governor who was not considered politically correct because he refused to employ the resources of the state to service political rent seekers and charlatans that masquerade as stakeholders. I noticed the misinformation and the propaganda about the activities of the Obi government, the induced alignments and realignments, the momentary wave of insecurity in the state and the wave of resignations that hit the Obi government and concluded that all were tailored towards bamboozling the Anambra electorate and walk away with his votes. I warned the people that Anambra will make the worst mistake of its history if it allows itself to be swindled by the people that fabricate those mischief. Thank God, they refused to be so easily swayed!
In deciding to go with Obi, I know that the people of Anambra were making a poignant statement that they are no fools. They are sticking with a governor they know and can easily relate with. They are deciding to tag along with honesty and forthrightness in government. They voted for hard work and thrift. They are going along with the stability which Obi has brought to bear on Anambra in the last four years. They voted for a simple government that connects with the people at every level. They voted for accountable and trustworthy government, which had proved itself to be genuinely committed to the good of Ndi Anambra. They are sending a strong message to those that have deigned them cheap merchandise that could be bought off the counter that they are not cheap and malleable after all. They have demonstrated a strength of character that sends strong message to the mercenary ‘professional groups’, cash and carry guilds, rented hack writers and fake pollsters that they know who their leaders are and will stick to them at all times.
Anambra has made a strong statement on democracy and most importantly, has given a bold endorsement to Peter Obi to continue doing what he has been doing for the past four years, which has recovered most of the mileage eaten by the moths and vermin that have decremented the state especially since the dawn of the present dispensation. The people of the state have served a strong worded caveat emptor to the dancers of fortune, political profiteers, desperadoes, swindlers that descended on the state in recent times for the purpose of hunting for political fortune that they are not for sale. They have decided to rusticate the remnant of the idle speculators that have deigned the state another harvest. They have once again, decided to tag along with Peter Obi, who is proving to be the David of Nigerian politics and who is writing a new and refreshing template for politics in the scorched Nigerian space.
And so, truth triumphed over falsehood, light over darkness, virtues over vices on the issue of who rules Anambra from May 2010 to May 2014. Anambra has made a fitting choice and with it comes the equally strong message to the many political interlopers that descended on Anambra just because its governorship was vacant to hasten to their tents and allow the state to continue enjoying the refreshing breeze of the past four years. In deciding to renew the mandate of Peter Obi, the people of Anambra aptly demonstrated that they are discerning enough to choose between a reality they can feel and touch and a placebo they can hardly identify, let alone feel. In making the emphatic choice of retaining a governor that epitomizes almost all the ennobling virtues we had lacked in the present political dispensation, the people of Anambra served notice to those that had hitherto taken them for granted that they reserve enough strength of character to identify and go for the best, especially on the vexed issue of who is best fitted to take that badly governed state to the apogee of their collective desires.
That lone decision could be felt from the nooks and crannies of a parched and hobbled country such that when it came and with the finality that encased it, no one was left in doubt that if things were done properly, Nigerians can still make a free and fitting choice of who they want to preside over their fate. The lessons were not lost to any one that Nigerians desire to be left to freely choose who governs them. They want no let or hindrance in making this choice and the belief is writ large that once this fundamental right is granted, Nigerians can get it right. Anambra will serve as a metaphor of the suppressed neighing of Nigerians for freedom.
Going into the February 6th gubernatorial race, Peter Obi was an underdog in a race where he was supposed to be the front runner. He was dismissed as an unserious candidate in an election he was supposed to be the candidate to beat. He was underrated by his opponents for the simple fact that he was seen as a queer candidate in a race that in typical Nigerian fashion, should be decided with brawn and muscle. He exuded no known physical strength and sounds annoyingly effeminate, to the chagrin of those who relate politics to one brute and ghoulish enterprise where no captive should be taken. They said he was not a politician, by which the typical Nigerian politician was seen as one that has enough largesse to throw around, with enough empty air and vanity to go round and who wears the epaulette of a superman around him. But he was effeminate, simple and too fragile for a politician that is primed to contest the governorship of a state as Anambra. Even when he was a sitting governor and even when he has the record of seeing off two governors and dissembling the radars of a rampaging and notorious political party, he was not counted as one front runner in the race for Anambra in 2010.
Curiously, no one doubted Obi’s honesty and commitment but we were made to believe that these were rustic virtues and valueless antiquities that do not matter again. No one contested the fact that he was the most honest and straight forward of all the contestants but these noble ideals were turned to vices by the desperate politics that was unleashed on Anambra by those desperate to covet the stool he was sitting on. Before our very eyes, a hard working governor was turned to a punching bag but thank God, the grassroots, where it matters most and whose interests forms the corpus of Peter Obi’s works as governor never allowed itself to be so fooled.
But then, there is no doubting that in the history of Anambra State , Peter Obi remains unmatched in terms of achievement. When they want to be fair to him, his opponents will grudgingly concede that he has done his best but that his best is not good enough for the state or that he was doing so much so late in his reign. Because he does not believe in turning the instruments of the state to personal use, his opponents dubbed him as a weak and hen pecked governor and never wasted time in poking their hands into his eyes and daring him to do his worst. But having this simplistic notion of power, Obi never took up the challenge but rather invested his entire waking time to what he termed the good of all. In his queer attitude to Nigerian politics, he did not hew a godfather for himself and this further exposed him to the taunts and ridicule of his political foes.
But his opponents went far in underrating the voters they seemingly hoped to swing the votes for them. Given the way and manner they carried on, it was obvious that they simply hoped to swindle Anambra voters. The manner they launched the many deliberate mischief they forged, the spontaneity of the launching of this mischief and how they were employed to advance the emergent campaigns for Anambra showed that those that wanted to snatch Anambra from Obi never invested much respect on the voters’ intelligence. In typical desperate fashion, everything was programmed as a short span, buyable enterprise with the aim of swindling the people and cart away their votes. I noticed all these and wrote the vastly published piece, “As the Cloud of Mischief Gathers over Anambra”, where I stoutly insisted that what was happening in Anambra in the period leading to the election were plain mischief by some people to get the votes of the people of Anambra State.
I observed the frenetic build up to the polls and the sudden dawn of an era of misinformation and tale bearing that sought to desperately rubbish the enduring legacies of a hard working and honest governor whose biggest crime was that he chose to serve the people and not few godfathers. I noticed the huge effort and investment in tarnishing the image of a governor who was not considered politically correct because he refused to employ the resources of the state to service political rent seekers and charlatans that masquerade as stakeholders. I noticed the misinformation and the propaganda about the activities of the Obi government, the induced alignments and realignments, the momentary wave of insecurity in the state and the wave of resignations that hit the Obi government and concluded that all were tailored towards bamboozling the Anambra electorate and walk away with his votes. I warned the people that Anambra will make the worst mistake of its history if it allows itself to be swindled by the people that fabricate those mischief. Thank God, they refused to be so easily swayed!
In deciding to go with Obi, I know that the people of Anambra were making a poignant statement that they are no fools. They are sticking with a governor they know and can easily relate with. They are deciding to tag along with honesty and forthrightness in government. They voted for hard work and thrift. They are going along with the stability which Obi has brought to bear on Anambra in the last four years. They voted for a simple government that connects with the people at every level. They voted for accountable and trustworthy government, which had proved itself to be genuinely committed to the good of Ndi Anambra. They are sending a strong message to those that have deigned them cheap merchandise that could be bought off the counter that they are not cheap and malleable after all. They have demonstrated a strength of character that sends strong message to the mercenary ‘professional groups’, cash and carry guilds, rented hack writers and fake pollsters that they know who their leaders are and will stick to them at all times.
Anambra has made a strong statement on democracy and most importantly, has given a bold endorsement to Peter Obi to continue doing what he has been doing for the past four years, which has recovered most of the mileage eaten by the moths and vermin that have decremented the state especially since the dawn of the present dispensation. The people of the state have served a strong worded caveat emptor to the dancers of fortune, political profiteers, desperadoes, swindlers that descended on the state in recent times for the purpose of hunting for political fortune that they are not for sale. They have decided to rusticate the remnant of the idle speculators that have deigned the state another harvest. They have once again, decided to tag along with Peter Obi, who is proving to be the David of Nigerian politics and who is writing a new and refreshing template for politics in the scorched Nigerian space.
DORA AKUNYILI: A NATIONAL LEADER IDENTIFIED.
By SEO OGBONMWAN KSC.
There is no doubt that Yar’Adua’s illness has caused a crisis of no small magnitude in the Nigeria political landscape and in spite of the ingenuity and resilience of Nigerians who are determined not to go again through the mistakes of 1966/67 some mischievous individuals who are making profit out of this disorderly situation are determined to plunge the nation into the abyss again.
Right from when Yar’Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia for his treatment after he was said to have collapsed in his Aso Rock, all information about his illness have been coming in a drip, drip form as the whole medical management has been shrouded in secrecy. As we are aware or suspect, the medical situation of the president is not looking good but he and his closest associates still wish to hold on to power at all cost no matter what happens to the nation.
It is true anyone is allowed to fall ill; anybody who is ill is also allowed to seek remedy anywhere in the world for his ailment but what one is not allowed to do is to stop the clock of a nation’s progress, a nation of over 150 million people just that one individual has fallen ill. People must differentiate the subtle difference between the President and the Presidency. Nigerians must not allow any group no matter how highly placed to project the nation's Presidency in an unsavoury light.
You would expect that Yar’Adua’s closest friends and family to advice him to transmit power fully to his deputy gracefully so that he can have ample time to look after himself in the best medical setting anywhere in the world but they have chosen not to do that. Scared that power may be slipping from his grip the heartless cabal of his closest associates decided to bundle him down to Nigeria and nurse him in an ambulance with out access by anyone which obviously a disadvantage to Yar'Adua as a person but this close cabal determined to continue milking the nation do not care.
The situation obviously creates doubt in the minds of many Nigerians. The questions that come to mind include:
· Is Yar’Adua really in the country especially when one considers the secrecy with which he was brought in the small hours of the night?
· On the other hand is he dead that there is so much secrecy and security about preventing everyone including the mother, siblings and the acting President of the nation from seeing him?
· Are the innermost cabal that is obviously controlling the situation or trying to control the situation presently mindful of the feelings of 150 million Nigerians and his closest family including his mother who seem are being taken for an inglorious ride?
· Is the role of the military in particular the brigade of guard, the Chief of Army Staff, National Security Adviser who seems not to respect the views of the Nigerian people through the actions of the National Assembly of bestowing power on the Vice President to act as the Acting President of the nation in consonant with feelings of Nigerians?
· Is the role and pronouncements of the Personal Assistant to Yar’Adua who seems to be dishing out information from an unelected group of individual to the Nigerian people which seems to have compounded the present situation not counterproductive and heating the national politics unnecessarily?
· What is the role of Yar’Adua personal Physician in all of this? Has he been completely sidelined by the cabal controlling the situation presently? Should the nation not create the role of a Surgeon General as in the first Nigerian Republic who can be backed up constitutionally?
· What is holding the national assembly back from bestowing on Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan the full role the national president constitutionally by doing what is right for an incapacitated president?
Above are pertinent questions that need answering.
However some good has come of out of this ugly situation in the person of unfaltering Professor Dora Akunliyi who shows she has a conscience, believes in the truth of any situation and wishes to do what is right for our people by showing transparency in her dealings with fellow Nigerians. She has shown fearlessness and commitment to her post as information minister to sift the lies from half truth, and truth in her information management. Nigeria needs more of Dora Akunliyi to move the nation forward in a selfless and patriotic manner as she has done. Her actions, devotion to duty, from her days in NAFDAC to her present position has revealed her personality as a women with honour, conscience, transparent, incorruptible, God fearing and has a vision for a progressive Nigerian nation.
It is in crisis time that a leader is emerges and Nigeria has just been blessed with one with genuine followership across the nation and the Diaspora and her name is Professor Dora Akunliyi.
The other benefits of the Yar’Adua illness as I always like to see the good no matter the situation include the unity of purpose of the nation in seeking to stop Nigeria from drifting in a rudderless sea. Nigerians from all works of life have been involved in asking for direction from the national assemblies and elders of the nation. No one has been left out, from students union to market women to civil societies, NBA, and the coalition of political parties. So the ascendancy of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is not only an acts of God but the very strong desire of Nigerian people both from the north and south.
The composition of the cabal determined to hold the country down have been exposed. They are doing this not for the ill Yar’Adu as a person as Nigeria’s President but for their personal gains and personal greed to acquire more ill gotten wealth.
The Yar’Adua illness has exposed the very weak Nigerian Health system that needs urgent attention. What is lacking is not the manpower but appropriate infra structure and modern medical equipments to render a 21st century clinical service in at least a few centres in the country and obviate the need for these medical vacations and the huge expense of estacode that goes along with it.
It is also a good opportunity to entrench in the nation’s constitution that the federal government of Nigeria no longer funds treatment abroad for any of her citizens. This singular move will help the government to invest appropriately in the national health sector and bring it to international standard.
We hope that Professor Dora Akunyili who is the type of incorruptible leader Nigeria needs will put herself forward for elective position at the highest level in subsequent election and we hope Nigerians from all walks of life will emulate her outspokenness, forthrightness, commitment to Nigeria, her transparent attitude and courage.
Those who are moving negative motions in the national house of assembly against Dora Akunyili must be deaf and blind to the quiet revolution taking place across the nation. Nigerians want transparency, accountability and openness and an effective government and they are showing it. No more secrecy which facilitates corrupt practices. I ask them to listen to the new Nigerian song of progress, courage, openness and determination as exemplified by our respectable and hard working Dora Akunyili. Please leave our hero alone.
There is no doubt that Yar’Adua’s illness has caused a crisis of no small magnitude in the Nigeria political landscape and in spite of the ingenuity and resilience of Nigerians who are determined not to go again through the mistakes of 1966/67 some mischievous individuals who are making profit out of this disorderly situation are determined to plunge the nation into the abyss again.
Right from when Yar’Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia for his treatment after he was said to have collapsed in his Aso Rock, all information about his illness have been coming in a drip, drip form as the whole medical management has been shrouded in secrecy. As we are aware or suspect, the medical situation of the president is not looking good but he and his closest associates still wish to hold on to power at all cost no matter what happens to the nation.
It is true anyone is allowed to fall ill; anybody who is ill is also allowed to seek remedy anywhere in the world for his ailment but what one is not allowed to do is to stop the clock of a nation’s progress, a nation of over 150 million people just that one individual has fallen ill. People must differentiate the subtle difference between the President and the Presidency. Nigerians must not allow any group no matter how highly placed to project the nation's Presidency in an unsavoury light.
You would expect that Yar’Adua’s closest friends and family to advice him to transmit power fully to his deputy gracefully so that he can have ample time to look after himself in the best medical setting anywhere in the world but they have chosen not to do that. Scared that power may be slipping from his grip the heartless cabal of his closest associates decided to bundle him down to Nigeria and nurse him in an ambulance with out access by anyone which obviously a disadvantage to Yar'Adua as a person but this close cabal determined to continue milking the nation do not care.
The situation obviously creates doubt in the minds of many Nigerians. The questions that come to mind include:
· Is Yar’Adua really in the country especially when one considers the secrecy with which he was brought in the small hours of the night?
· On the other hand is he dead that there is so much secrecy and security about preventing everyone including the mother, siblings and the acting President of the nation from seeing him?
· Are the innermost cabal that is obviously controlling the situation or trying to control the situation presently mindful of the feelings of 150 million Nigerians and his closest family including his mother who seem are being taken for an inglorious ride?
· Is the role of the military in particular the brigade of guard, the Chief of Army Staff, National Security Adviser who seems not to respect the views of the Nigerian people through the actions of the National Assembly of bestowing power on the Vice President to act as the Acting President of the nation in consonant with feelings of Nigerians?
· Is the role and pronouncements of the Personal Assistant to Yar’Adua who seems to be dishing out information from an unelected group of individual to the Nigerian people which seems to have compounded the present situation not counterproductive and heating the national politics unnecessarily?
· What is the role of Yar’Adua personal Physician in all of this? Has he been completely sidelined by the cabal controlling the situation presently? Should the nation not create the role of a Surgeon General as in the first Nigerian Republic who can be backed up constitutionally?
· What is holding the national assembly back from bestowing on Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan the full role the national president constitutionally by doing what is right for an incapacitated president?
Above are pertinent questions that need answering.
However some good has come of out of this ugly situation in the person of unfaltering Professor Dora Akunliyi who shows she has a conscience, believes in the truth of any situation and wishes to do what is right for our people by showing transparency in her dealings with fellow Nigerians. She has shown fearlessness and commitment to her post as information minister to sift the lies from half truth, and truth in her information management. Nigeria needs more of Dora Akunliyi to move the nation forward in a selfless and patriotic manner as she has done. Her actions, devotion to duty, from her days in NAFDAC to her present position has revealed her personality as a women with honour, conscience, transparent, incorruptible, God fearing and has a vision for a progressive Nigerian nation.
It is in crisis time that a leader is emerges and Nigeria has just been blessed with one with genuine followership across the nation and the Diaspora and her name is Professor Dora Akunliyi.
The other benefits of the Yar’Adua illness as I always like to see the good no matter the situation include the unity of purpose of the nation in seeking to stop Nigeria from drifting in a rudderless sea. Nigerians from all works of life have been involved in asking for direction from the national assemblies and elders of the nation. No one has been left out, from students union to market women to civil societies, NBA, and the coalition of political parties. So the ascendancy of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is not only an acts of God but the very strong desire of Nigerian people both from the north and south.
The composition of the cabal determined to hold the country down have been exposed. They are doing this not for the ill Yar’Adu as a person as Nigeria’s President but for their personal gains and personal greed to acquire more ill gotten wealth.
The Yar’Adua illness has exposed the very weak Nigerian Health system that needs urgent attention. What is lacking is not the manpower but appropriate infra structure and modern medical equipments to render a 21st century clinical service in at least a few centres in the country and obviate the need for these medical vacations and the huge expense of estacode that goes along with it.
It is also a good opportunity to entrench in the nation’s constitution that the federal government of Nigeria no longer funds treatment abroad for any of her citizens. This singular move will help the government to invest appropriately in the national health sector and bring it to international standard.
We hope that Professor Dora Akunyili who is the type of incorruptible leader Nigeria needs will put herself forward for elective position at the highest level in subsequent election and we hope Nigerians from all walks of life will emulate her outspokenness, forthrightness, commitment to Nigeria, her transparent attitude and courage.
Those who are moving negative motions in the national house of assembly against Dora Akunyili must be deaf and blind to the quiet revolution taking place across the nation. Nigerians want transparency, accountability and openness and an effective government and they are showing it. No more secrecy which facilitates corrupt practices. I ask them to listen to the new Nigerian song of progress, courage, openness and determination as exemplified by our respectable and hard working Dora Akunyili. Please leave our hero alone.
5 Keys to Better Health
enjoy this lively presentation, that will empower you to begin the journey to better health.
A starting place to begin your adventure in aging well…
at ANY Age.
* You will learn about emerging risk factors that contribute to cancer, diabetes, autism, and other common physical problems..
* Learn how to reverse the biochemical link between environmental pollution and disease.
* Learn how to rid your body of toxins
* Learn self-help strategies that are effective to significantly lower your health risks.
A starting place to begin your adventure in aging well…
at ANY Age.
* You will learn about emerging risk factors that contribute to cancer, diabetes, autism, and other common physical problems..
* Learn how to reverse the biochemical link between environmental pollution and disease.
* Learn how to rid your body of toxins
* Learn self-help strategies that are effective to significantly lower your health risks.
NO COUP THREAT IN NIGERIA-BANKOLE
Press Statement
The attention of the office of the Speaker, House of Representatives has been drawn to a lead frontage report with the title “Bankole Confirms Coup Threat” as reported in the “Nigerian Tribune “of March 3, 2010.
The news report, which was not attributed to Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House or any named member of the House purports to report the issues discussed in an executive (close door) session of the House to deliberate on the possibility of discussing the utterances of Pro. Dora Akunyili, the Minister of Information and a motion relating to the deployment of troops for the arrival of President Umaru Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia.
We state with all emphasis that at no point in the session did the Speaker confirm a “Coup Threat” or plot as speculatively reported in the lead story and we challenge the reporter to provide proof or name any member or members that confirmed a coup threat.
Rt. Hon. Bankole has been statemanly in the handling of issues relating to the political impasse in the country and would not join the bandwagon of those fanning embers of disunity, instability and discord to achieve their selfish political agenda.
Rt. Hon. Bankole with his military background believes in the often reiterated commitment of the military high command to professionalism and subjecting to civil authority in their roles and functions for peace, progress and unity of the country.
The Speaker has no knowledge, proof or evidence of a “ Coup Threat” or plot and anyone alleging such devilish threat to our nascent democracy should be bold to come out to assist relevant authorities in preventing such an occurrence. There is no truth in the story alleging that “Bankole confirms Coup Threat”. We have no record of such confirmation.
Signed:
Chief Kayode Odunaro JP
Special Adviser, Communications to
Hon. Speaker, House of Representatives
As I post this I am in a press conference jointly addressed By Chairman of the House Committee on Media Hon Eseme Eyibo, Hon Wole Oke, Chairman of House Committee on Defense and Hon. Usman Bature, Chairman of House Committee on Foriegn Affairs. they all denied that the issue of coup was ever discussed in the executive session and urge everybody to be cautious in reportage of such sensitive issues in the interest of our democracy.
The attention of the office of the Speaker, House of Representatives has been drawn to a lead frontage report with the title “Bankole Confirms Coup Threat” as reported in the “Nigerian Tribune “of March 3, 2010.
The news report, which was not attributed to Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House or any named member of the House purports to report the issues discussed in an executive (close door) session of the House to deliberate on the possibility of discussing the utterances of Pro. Dora Akunyili, the Minister of Information and a motion relating to the deployment of troops for the arrival of President Umaru Yar’Adua from Saudi Arabia.
We state with all emphasis that at no point in the session did the Speaker confirm a “Coup Threat” or plot as speculatively reported in the lead story and we challenge the reporter to provide proof or name any member or members that confirmed a coup threat.
Rt. Hon. Bankole has been statemanly in the handling of issues relating to the political impasse in the country and would not join the bandwagon of those fanning embers of disunity, instability and discord to achieve their selfish political agenda.
Rt. Hon. Bankole with his military background believes in the often reiterated commitment of the military high command to professionalism and subjecting to civil authority in their roles and functions for peace, progress and unity of the country.
The Speaker has no knowledge, proof or evidence of a “ Coup Threat” or plot and anyone alleging such devilish threat to our nascent democracy should be bold to come out to assist relevant authorities in preventing such an occurrence. There is no truth in the story alleging that “Bankole confirms Coup Threat”. We have no record of such confirmation.
Signed:
Chief Kayode Odunaro JP
Special Adviser, Communications to
Hon. Speaker, House of Representatives
As I post this I am in a press conference jointly addressed By Chairman of the House Committee on Media Hon Eseme Eyibo, Hon Wole Oke, Chairman of House Committee on Defense and Hon. Usman Bature, Chairman of House Committee on Foriegn Affairs. they all denied that the issue of coup was ever discussed in the executive session and urge everybody to be cautious in reportage of such sensitive issues in the interest of our democracy.
Hatred of the Igbo - Bane of Southern Unity (1)
By Mike Ugoh
The unwritten agreement between the Yoruba and the Hausa Fulani as to how Nigeria should be ruled and administered has been working since after the civil war and has been taking a high toll on the Igbo, the third leg of the tripodial arrangement of the country.
The Igbo the largest ethnicity in the former eastern region and indeed Nigeria, along with other nationalities in the area, better known as eastern region in the past are supposed to have the greatest say in the country and accorded the greatest respect and honor because history, civilization and modernity appear to have met them where they are today. Forget all the insensible talks of the Igbo's and Israel. All things being equal Igbo ethnicity is supposed to be over 40 million. The tiny population of Israel probably left their Igbo kith and kin for where they are now in the Middle East of Europe and not the other way round. We know our demographic- arrangements and figures are purely for national interest. On the September 5, 2004, former Imo State governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, told Nigerians in an NTA programme that for every one square kilometre in Imo State, there are 600 people. This statistic is only for Imo State, there was no mention of ever thickly populated states like Enugu, Anambra and Abia. The Igbo took the last census figure allocated to them grudgingly, believing "that it is their respect for the crown that barred them from slapping the king."
The nations of the former Eastern Nigeria are one people with one custom, tradition and culture including religion, but who were separated by war. The civil war to all was an ill-wind which brought neither side any good. The treatment any of the different ethnicities and states are getting from the federal government of Nigeria is the same paltry thing compared to the other regions. Deport any member of this oriental group of nations from any part of the world to Calabar, Enugu, Port Harcourt etc, he will trace his home with ease.
Thank God, the Berlin Wall erected by Soviet Russia after World War II to separate the two German nations was removed 20 years ago, and so shall whatever separated the brother nations of the former Eastern Nigeria since after the 1967 -70 civil war someday be removed.
All the road networks in the region are bad and dilapidated etc. It is amazing how the other ethnic groups in the region turned against their bigger brothers, the Igbo, with whom they shared all God's natural endowments. The Ibo, Efik, Ibibio, Buguma, Ikwere, Abonema, Ijaw etc, seem to have been created where they are now and from where they have migrated to other parts of the world. Deport any member of these ethnic groups from any part court, caliber etc. he will trace his home with ease
Some other Nigerian nationalities like the Yoruba are found along the southern parts of some West African countries while the Hausa are in the northern part and beyond to north and central Africa. But the Igbos and their brothers cannot be found in any other part of the world only in the east region of Nigeria except they traveled out for education or business.
Most worrisome is the seemingly irreconcilable hatred level the Ijaw, the second biggest nation in the area have for the Igbo. To them, the Igbo race is better not allowed to exist, reason for this legendary hatred is not clear. The enormity is frightening. Ijaws, it will be recalled, have ever before the country Nigeria was born, been the sole landlords of the riverine areas, their creeks and ports. That was why they were very active in the slave trade. They lived more on water than the land. The Aro Chukwu slave traders and head hunters provided the ready markets for the Ijaw dealers, who in turn kidnapped and brought the captured Igbos to the white merchants, who were ever ready at the ports waiting.
According to the books, King Jaji of Opobo, a boy from Orlu in Imo State, was picked up by slave hunters when he was just 12 and taken to Aro Chukwu from where he found himself in Opubo, now Opobo. Most Ijaws have Igbo blood because a lot of them were descendants of Igbo slaves. Even now, it is hard to distinguish between an Igbo and Ijaw person except for language.
One expected that the harsh realities of history and anthropology as it affected the two nations should have impacted positively on their growth, development and relationship. But no, it impacted negatively instead.
Another mortal dislike of the Igbo in the Southern part of Nigeria is that by the Yoruba. This situation seems to predate history and has always gone from generation to generation. Southern unity is an illusion.
If the mutual distrust, hatred and suspicion between these two large ethnic groups are not cleared. No one can say exactly how or when it started. Some say it was as a result of Awo-Zik political face off. These two large human beings were great leaders and idols of their people; Zik for the Igbo while Awo was for the Yoruba. These giants were political contemporaries who lived and died suspecting each other mutually. Others say it was because Ojukwu, the then leader of Biafra disregarded and bye passed chief Awolowo in the Biafra saga, Ojukwu released Awo from prison in Enugu at the outset of the war and he later became Gowon's wartime Vice President and Federal Commissioner for Finance. No the whole thing predates all these. This spirit of hatred of the Igbo was exhibited by General and President Olusegun Obansanjo in any decisions or issues that concerned the Igbo, the two different times he ruled Nigerian. Be it politics, economy, commerce etc.
Obansanjo hated anything Igbo of the South Eastern Nigerian with passion. He hated the men but was making children for their women, a case of subduing a man and taking over his wife.
It is not easy to quantify in terms of naira and kobo the incalculable harm the; "Igbo must vanish syndrome", has done to the South in general and former eastern Nigeria in particular. Except for Chief Obasanjo, a uniformed prisoner who circumstantially was thrown up to rule Nigeria, what else has changed? Though a Southern and Yoruba, the life and soul of his administration which he said was not to fix Nigeria but to stabilize it, was in the north.
Truth of the matter was that Ken Saro Wiwa was hanged by the Abacha government because the south was not united; Odi was destroyed by Obansanjo administration capitalizing on the same reason weakness. Even the so called Niger Delta, the fate, situation and circumstances that threw up the militants or soldiers of equity in the Niger Delta of Eastern Nigeria was bellied in the same weakness. Association of Arewa or northern legislators, governors, local youths, traditional rulers etc. are all in place, steaming and functioning 100%. They have their representatives in the Niger delta area trying to find a lasting solution to the problem of neglect of the place, while there is no organized Southern pressure group to do the same. The formation of these northern pressure groups is not illegal. After all, it is paying off handsomely to them. They are getting for almost everything they want for the good of their people and area.
For now, not because the President in from the North, when they bark, the government at the centre cringes. If by 2011 and beyond the, insist any political party that has a northerner as its flag bearer, will get their votes, they will carry the day because they are not just organized but focused and democracy as we know it is a game of numbers. They are united using the name of their mentor and idol late Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, their leaders recently mobilized and raised billions of naira ostensibly for the health and development of their geopolitical area, but political watchers argue that their motive is to be in the ready to buy and takeover any federal government properly including banks that could be sold anytime. They see Nigeria as a project and are willing to acquire as much as they can from it to benefit their region and its people.
You cannot beat them. They are a step ahead, know what they want and are going for it. History will not forgive the great people of the Yoruba land if for petty primordial oddities, the enter their cocoons and allow the goat to deliver on the tether, same things about the Ibos they are a great people with a lot of recorded politicians, traders academics and intellectuals. These two ethnicities who hold the ace as to what next Nigeria, should get across the Niger and talk to each other. They should ask themselves what and what did we do to or against each other. What does the Igbo man have against the Yoruba man and vice versa. If at this precipitous time of events and politics in and around the country in general and the region in particular, you do nothing, say nothing, in the end when things go against your expectations, do not complain.
The unwritten agreement between the Yoruba and the Hausa Fulani as to how Nigeria should be ruled and administered has been working since after the civil war and has been taking a high toll on the Igbo, the third leg of the tripodial arrangement of the country.
The Igbo the largest ethnicity in the former eastern region and indeed Nigeria, along with other nationalities in the area, better known as eastern region in the past are supposed to have the greatest say in the country and accorded the greatest respect and honor because history, civilization and modernity appear to have met them where they are today. Forget all the insensible talks of the Igbo's and Israel. All things being equal Igbo ethnicity is supposed to be over 40 million. The tiny population of Israel probably left their Igbo kith and kin for where they are now in the Middle East of Europe and not the other way round. We know our demographic- arrangements and figures are purely for national interest. On the September 5, 2004, former Imo State governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, told Nigerians in an NTA programme that for every one square kilometre in Imo State, there are 600 people. This statistic is only for Imo State, there was no mention of ever thickly populated states like Enugu, Anambra and Abia. The Igbo took the last census figure allocated to them grudgingly, believing "that it is their respect for the crown that barred them from slapping the king."
The nations of the former Eastern Nigeria are one people with one custom, tradition and culture including religion, but who were separated by war. The civil war to all was an ill-wind which brought neither side any good. The treatment any of the different ethnicities and states are getting from the federal government of Nigeria is the same paltry thing compared to the other regions. Deport any member of this oriental group of nations from any part of the world to Calabar, Enugu, Port Harcourt etc, he will trace his home with ease.
Thank God, the Berlin Wall erected by Soviet Russia after World War II to separate the two German nations was removed 20 years ago, and so shall whatever separated the brother nations of the former Eastern Nigeria since after the 1967 -70 civil war someday be removed.
All the road networks in the region are bad and dilapidated etc. It is amazing how the other ethnic groups in the region turned against their bigger brothers, the Igbo, with whom they shared all God's natural endowments. The Ibo, Efik, Ibibio, Buguma, Ikwere, Abonema, Ijaw etc, seem to have been created where they are now and from where they have migrated to other parts of the world. Deport any member of these ethnic groups from any part court, caliber etc. he will trace his home with ease
Some other Nigerian nationalities like the Yoruba are found along the southern parts of some West African countries while the Hausa are in the northern part and beyond to north and central Africa. But the Igbos and their brothers cannot be found in any other part of the world only in the east region of Nigeria except they traveled out for education or business.
Most worrisome is the seemingly irreconcilable hatred level the Ijaw, the second biggest nation in the area have for the Igbo. To them, the Igbo race is better not allowed to exist, reason for this legendary hatred is not clear. The enormity is frightening. Ijaws, it will be recalled, have ever before the country Nigeria was born, been the sole landlords of the riverine areas, their creeks and ports. That was why they were very active in the slave trade. They lived more on water than the land. The Aro Chukwu slave traders and head hunters provided the ready markets for the Ijaw dealers, who in turn kidnapped and brought the captured Igbos to the white merchants, who were ever ready at the ports waiting.
According to the books, King Jaji of Opobo, a boy from Orlu in Imo State, was picked up by slave hunters when he was just 12 and taken to Aro Chukwu from where he found himself in Opubo, now Opobo. Most Ijaws have Igbo blood because a lot of them were descendants of Igbo slaves. Even now, it is hard to distinguish between an Igbo and Ijaw person except for language.
One expected that the harsh realities of history and anthropology as it affected the two nations should have impacted positively on their growth, development and relationship. But no, it impacted negatively instead.
Another mortal dislike of the Igbo in the Southern part of Nigeria is that by the Yoruba. This situation seems to predate history and has always gone from generation to generation. Southern unity is an illusion.
If the mutual distrust, hatred and suspicion between these two large ethnic groups are not cleared. No one can say exactly how or when it started. Some say it was as a result of Awo-Zik political face off. These two large human beings were great leaders and idols of their people; Zik for the Igbo while Awo was for the Yoruba. These giants were political contemporaries who lived and died suspecting each other mutually. Others say it was because Ojukwu, the then leader of Biafra disregarded and bye passed chief Awolowo in the Biafra saga, Ojukwu released Awo from prison in Enugu at the outset of the war and he later became Gowon's wartime Vice President and Federal Commissioner for Finance. No the whole thing predates all these. This spirit of hatred of the Igbo was exhibited by General and President Olusegun Obansanjo in any decisions or issues that concerned the Igbo, the two different times he ruled Nigerian. Be it politics, economy, commerce etc.
Obansanjo hated anything Igbo of the South Eastern Nigerian with passion. He hated the men but was making children for their women, a case of subduing a man and taking over his wife.
It is not easy to quantify in terms of naira and kobo the incalculable harm the; "Igbo must vanish syndrome", has done to the South in general and former eastern Nigeria in particular. Except for Chief Obasanjo, a uniformed prisoner who circumstantially was thrown up to rule Nigeria, what else has changed? Though a Southern and Yoruba, the life and soul of his administration which he said was not to fix Nigeria but to stabilize it, was in the north.
Truth of the matter was that Ken Saro Wiwa was hanged by the Abacha government because the south was not united; Odi was destroyed by Obansanjo administration capitalizing on the same reason weakness. Even the so called Niger Delta, the fate, situation and circumstances that threw up the militants or soldiers of equity in the Niger Delta of Eastern Nigeria was bellied in the same weakness. Association of Arewa or northern legislators, governors, local youths, traditional rulers etc. are all in place, steaming and functioning 100%. They have their representatives in the Niger delta area trying to find a lasting solution to the problem of neglect of the place, while there is no organized Southern pressure group to do the same. The formation of these northern pressure groups is not illegal. After all, it is paying off handsomely to them. They are getting for almost everything they want for the good of their people and area.
For now, not because the President in from the North, when they bark, the government at the centre cringes. If by 2011 and beyond the, insist any political party that has a northerner as its flag bearer, will get their votes, they will carry the day because they are not just organized but focused and democracy as we know it is a game of numbers. They are united using the name of their mentor and idol late Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, their leaders recently mobilized and raised billions of naira ostensibly for the health and development of their geopolitical area, but political watchers argue that their motive is to be in the ready to buy and takeover any federal government properly including banks that could be sold anytime. They see Nigeria as a project and are willing to acquire as much as they can from it to benefit their region and its people.
You cannot beat them. They are a step ahead, know what they want and are going for it. History will not forgive the great people of the Yoruba land if for petty primordial oddities, the enter their cocoons and allow the goat to deliver on the tether, same things about the Ibos they are a great people with a lot of recorded politicians, traders academics and intellectuals. These two ethnicities who hold the ace as to what next Nigeria, should get across the Niger and talk to each other. They should ask themselves what and what did we do to or against each other. What does the Igbo man have against the Yoruba man and vice versa. If at this precipitous time of events and politics in and around the country in general and the region in particular, you do nothing, say nothing, in the end when things go against your expectations, do not complain.
FOUR THINGS AFRICA MUST DO WITH URGENCY
1. DOCUMENT THE CONTINENT’S DAILY GOINGS ON . WRITE AFRICA’S HISTORY AND DISSEMINATE THE TEXTS TO ALL AFRICA ’S SCHOOLS FOR THIS GENERATION’S UPLIFTMENT AND PRIDE IN THE CONTINENT.
2. PERFORM AN INVENTORY OF AFRICA ’S HUMAN, CULTURAL, MINERAL, ENERGY, AGRICULTURAL AND MARINE RESOURCES. USE THIS INVENTORY TO DEVELOP 100% AFRICAN OWN :- MINING, ENGINEERING, AGRICULTURAL AND MARINE CORPORATIONS. COMPANIES DEDICATED TO AFRICA , COMPANIES THAT PLOUGH THEIR EXCESS FUNDS BACK INTO AFRICAN GOODS, SERVICES AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH RESEARCH FACILITIES.
3. PROTECT AFRICA ’S RESOURCES THROUGH AFRICAN OWNERSHIP OF INDUSTRIES, MINERAL DEPOSITS, PLANTS AND ANIMALS, ITS PEOPLE’S CULTURES AND ITS PEOPLES LANGUAGES. THESE CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY DEVELOPING STRONG LOCAL PRIDE AND FAITH IN AFRICA ’S FUTURE. THIS WILL ENCOURAGE CENTRAL BANKS TO STORE AFRICA'S PRECIOUS RESOURCES( GOLD, SILVER, DIAMONDS, PLATINUM, TANZANITE, EMERALDS) LOCALLY AND NOT SHIP THESE OUT TO INDIA, EUROPE, CHINA WHO ARE NOW THE LARGEST STOREHOUSES OF THESE MINERALS.
4. DEFEND AFRICA AGAINST INVADERS; FOREIGN INVESTORS WHOSE INTEREST IS NOT AFRICA’S, FALSE IMMIGRANTS(WHOSE ONLY INTEREST IS TO TAKE OUT OF AFRICA), DRUG TRAFFICKERS, MONEY LAUNDERERS, SLAVERS OF AFRICA ’S CHILDREN. FOR THIS AFRICA REQUIRES A STRONG LOCALIZED MILITARY WHERE AFRICA HAS ITS OWN DEFENSE INDUSTRIES DEDICATED TO MAKING A STRONG BUT GENTLE AFRICA .
2. PERFORM AN INVENTORY OF AFRICA ’S HUMAN, CULTURAL, MINERAL, ENERGY, AGRICULTURAL AND MARINE RESOURCES. USE THIS INVENTORY TO DEVELOP 100% AFRICAN OWN :- MINING, ENGINEERING, AGRICULTURAL AND MARINE CORPORATIONS. COMPANIES DEDICATED TO AFRICA , COMPANIES THAT PLOUGH THEIR EXCESS FUNDS BACK INTO AFRICAN GOODS, SERVICES AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH RESEARCH FACILITIES.
3. PROTECT AFRICA ’S RESOURCES THROUGH AFRICAN OWNERSHIP OF INDUSTRIES, MINERAL DEPOSITS, PLANTS AND ANIMALS, ITS PEOPLE’S CULTURES AND ITS PEOPLES LANGUAGES. THESE CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY DEVELOPING STRONG LOCAL PRIDE AND FAITH IN AFRICA ’S FUTURE. THIS WILL ENCOURAGE CENTRAL BANKS TO STORE AFRICA'S PRECIOUS RESOURCES( GOLD, SILVER, DIAMONDS, PLATINUM, TANZANITE, EMERALDS) LOCALLY AND NOT SHIP THESE OUT TO INDIA, EUROPE, CHINA WHO ARE NOW THE LARGEST STOREHOUSES OF THESE MINERALS.
4. DEFEND AFRICA AGAINST INVADERS; FOREIGN INVESTORS WHOSE INTEREST IS NOT AFRICA’S, FALSE IMMIGRANTS(WHOSE ONLY INTEREST IS TO TAKE OUT OF AFRICA), DRUG TRAFFICKERS, MONEY LAUNDERERS, SLAVERS OF AFRICA ’S CHILDREN. FOR THIS AFRICA REQUIRES A STRONG LOCALIZED MILITARY WHERE AFRICA HAS ITS OWN DEFENSE INDUSTRIES DEDICATED TO MAKING A STRONG BUT GENTLE AFRICA .
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