The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Inciting the people

    •Jimi Agbaje’s impolitic statement about Niger Delta and President Jonathan lacks the virtue of a statesman

    If Mr Jimi Agbaje, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has his way, the presidential candidate of his party, incumbent Dr Goodluck Jonathan, will be gifted a second term in office, irrespective of the will of the electorate in next month’s presidential election. This was the import of Mr Agbaje’s widely publicised argument at an event in London that the South-South zone could shut down the oil sector with negative implications for the economy if President Jonathan fails to win re-election.

    In his words on the occasion, “Now, in 2015, we are saying that the South-South has presented a candidate and we are talking about equity and some are saying he should not be given a second term. This is a very difficult thing. In argument, some have said ‘what will happen?’ Well, people will be upset and they have shown that they have the power to shut down the system. I am not saying it is justified but the reality is there. If the system is shut down, where are we as a country”?

    Agbaje’s brazen and immoral attempt to blackmail Nigerians into accepting President Jonathan’s election as a fait accompli is predicated on the country’s current heavy reliance on the Niger Delta’s oil resources as her dominant foreign exchange earner. This pharmacist who aspires to govern Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan and sophisticated state has thus descended to the level of uncouth ex- Niger Delta militants like Asari Dokubo and Government Tompolo, who have threatened the disintegration of Nigeria if their Ijaw kinsman is not re-elected.

    Despite his posturing over the years as a democratic activist with strong commitment to federalist principles, Agbaje’s contention in this instance eloquently testifies to a deficient appreciation of democratic culture, a complete lack of understanding of constitutional values and an embarrassing ignorance of the socio-political and economic dynamics of a federal polity like Nigeria.

    Nigeria’s extant constitution provides for a maximum of two terms of four years each for the country’s president. It does not exempt the incumbent President from seeking the endorsement of the electorate for a second term if he so desires. It is, therefore, difficult to understand the constitutional basis for Agbaje’s strange doctrine of what amounts to an automatic second term for Jonathan for sentimental, sectional considerations. Surely, no true democrat should ever contemplate such an anomaly. The only basis for an incumbent’s re-election is the expressed will of the electorate in free and fair elections.

    Obviously trying to mitigate the fierce criticisms attracted by his comments, Agbaje has rationalised his assertion by saying that he is concerned about the possible outbreak of violence if either General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  or President Jonathan does not win the February 14 election. Of course, he is only being clever by half. The clear intent of Agbaje’s shallow analysis is to either cow Nigerians into voting for Jonathan out of fear, or incite violence in the South-South if Jonathan loses. A genuine democrat would rather be concerned about free, fair and credible polls that reflect the popular will since it is only those that make peaceful electoral change impossible that make violent change inevitable.

    It is instructive that Agbaje also contends that President Jonathan has performed very well in office but his achievements have not been publicised well enough. Well, it is up to the likes of Agbaje and the PDP to effectively convince Nigerians as regards the achievements of the President rather than fanning the embers of fear and violence if the Nigerian electorate exercise their right not to re-elect him if they so choose.

  • Mary Slessor: 100 years after

    •Her humanity still beckons us today

    How time flies! So it is a hundred years since Mary Mitchell Slessor died. The good thing though is that her works continue to speak. This is the reason she is being celebrated by people in Cross River State, where she left very strong impact, thousands of kilometres away from her native Aberdeen, Scotland, where she was born on December 2, 1848.

    Mary, the great Scottish Amazon liberated old Calabar, brought Christianity and modernity as well as stopped the killing of twins, then thought to be devil-sent, in the area. Her mother’s strong Presbyterian background influenced her decision to become a teacher, even as she admired missionary work. The opportunity for the latter came when David Livingstone, a great explorer and missionary died, and Mary applied to the Foreign Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church in Edinburgh to embark on missionary journey to Africa. She set sail on August 5, 1876, and arrived her destination one month after. She worked first in the missions in Old Town and Creek Town (in the present Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State  and lived in the mission house), where many supernatural beliefs – witchcraft, and ritual sacrifice of twins – among others, were common.

    Because of her commitments to her beliefs and her duty, she was never found wanton where duty called or danger. Like some other early missionaries in Africa, she once suffered malaria attack, necessitating her return to Scotland for treatment. She took many daring risks, travelling sometimes by boats and canoes to dangerous enclaves for the purposes of evangelism and her campaign against twin murder superstition. To prove that twins were no evil, she picked up a twin abandoned for dead, took her home and brought her up as daughter. This was to mark a turning-point for the people engaged in the evil practice as many of them saw the matter as what it was: mere superstition and jettisoned it; it has been so till date.

    If on this score alone, Mary’s expedition to Nigeria was not in vain. But she did not stop at being an agent of social change; she was also involved in settlement of communal disputes among villagers, thus helping to save lives. She was instrumental in introducing education and encouraging trade in the area. Indeed, the history of Waddel Training Institution, Calabar, which has produced many great men and women cannot be complete without her illustrious contributions. She frequently campaigned against injustices against women and took in outcasts and unwanted children.

    A woman of the people that she was, Mary, while in Okoyong, stayed in a traditional house with the people and learned to speak the Efik language. She was nicknamed “Obongawan Okoyong” (Queen of Okoyong), which she is still being called till today. It was in recognition of her contributions to the society that she was made the vice consul in Okoyong in 1892; she was also awarded the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem for her philanthropy.  Mary died on January 13, 1915 and her body was transported to Duke Town (in present Calabar) where she had a colonial equivalent of State Burial.

    We join in commemorating the centenary of the departure of this great woman. It is however regretful that some of the ideals for which Mary sacrificed her all are being jettisoned today. Nowadays, we read stories of child bombers; children are no longer getting the quality education that they should have; healthcare is not a thing that can be taken for granted even for the child. People may have stopped killing twins, but it is still common to see children being accused of witchcraft in Calabar, and a few other places.

    We are happy that the Cross River State Government has made Mary’s house at Okoyong and her grave at Duke Town as heritage sites. But the best way to immortalise her is to see to it that all those things that she sacrificed for are completely eradicated. It is by so doing that her efforts would not be in vain.

  • Can PDP rise again in Edo?

    SIR: The Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State, once a strong political institution, has in the last seven years suffered a self-induced dwindling of fortunes both in terms of depleting membership and electoral defeats. The July 14, 2012 governorship election defeat in all the 18 local government council areas may well have signalled the death of the party in Edo State. The recent tantrums of its leadership amount, in the main, to nothing better than the cry of a helpless, hapless baby beaten by an elder.

    One factor which has torn things apart for the PDP in Edo State is the fortuitous emergence of Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole as governor of the state, having won the gubernatorial election of April 2007 on the platform of ACN, which mandate was hijacked by the PDP but eventually reclaimed in November 2008.  The woes of the PDP have since then multiplied beyond manageable proportions with the Oshiomhole administration transparently committed and systematic application of state resources to better the lives of the people of the state. Every where one goes in Edo State today, one is confronted with visible signs of transformation that is going on.

    In a short space of six years the Oshiomhole administration has done what two successive PDP governments could not do in the ten years they were in power in the state. Every aspect of governance has been affected positively. The administration has constructed, reconstructed and rehabilitated more than 50 inter and intra-city roads most of them complete with covered side drains, walkways and street lights; primary and secondary schools have been reconstructed and furnished; primary healthcare centres have been built and renovated and furnished; 100 new buses have been acquired and running; thousands of youths have been employed; Sam Ogbemudia Stadium has been renewed; the Kings Square is wearing a new look and has become a tourist delight; a new central hospital complex is being constructed; human capacity capital development is receiving priority attention;  several communities now have potable water; electricity has reached hitherto forgotten communities while erosion control in Benin City is also receiving great attention.

    There is no doubt that the average Edo man and woman has become proud once again that the state is working. This is why thousands of Edo people in other parties have decided to identify with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the All Progressives Congress party. Since visible signs of progress started to show in 2009, the ranks of other political parties, particularly the PDP, have continued to dwindle across the state. From Agenebode and Anegbette to Okada, from Ewohimi to Ososo and Igarra, from Uromi and Irrua to Ologbo and Benin City, members of the PDP have dumped the party for the progressive, people-friendly, visionary and development conscious APC in Edo State. Oshiomhole and the APC have shown to the satisfaction of Edo people what governance is all about: planning, mobilising and utilising state resources transparently for the uplift of the living standard of the majority of the people.

    The woeful failure of the PDP at the 2012 governorship and 2013 local government council elections must be seen as punishment for its misrule of the past. It represents a rejection of dictatorship by one man and god-fatherism.    The February elections will not only be a repeat of 2012, it will signal the death of many political careers in Edo State and the nation at large.

     

    • Comrade Nasamu Jacobson,

    Benin City.

  • Honoraria hoax

    Honoraria hoax

    •The Federal Government must set the right example

    ONE of the biggest problems with the Jonathan administration has been its inability to live up to the expectations that it demands of others. In the wake of the recent sharp decline in the international prices of crude oil and the subsequent contraction of projected revenues, a general call went out to the citizenry for a renewed bout of belt-tightening. However, a cursory look at the Federal Government’s proposed expenditure in the 2015 budget seems to show that it is not doing what it requires from others.

    In the proposals, the Office of the President plans to spend N456.98 million on honoraria and sitting allowances for 2015. This is in addition to the N348.34 million that the State House plans to spend on exactly the same items for the year. In 2014, State House spent N320.22 million on honoraria and sitting allowances, while nothing was budgeted for the Office of the President. What this means, in effect, is that an extra N485.10 million will be spent on honoraria and sitting allowances for 2015.

    Why has the Federal Government chosen to increase the budget for honoraria and sitting allowances in such a manner? If the Office of the President did not spend money on those items when the nation was more buoyant, why must it budget those items when it is not? How come a belt-tightening administration facing the most precipitous decline in revenues in decades does not feel that it is possible to substantially reduce the sums it pays its officials for essentially attending meetings and going on trips? How can it expect that other arms of government, as well as the larger population, will take its call for fiscal discipline seriously when it does not?

    While it is true that there have been reductions in the 2015 budget proposals for items such as local and international travel compared to that of 2014, the trend appears to be towards increases rather than reductions. The 2015 budget proposal for fuel and lubricants (N131.911 million), for example, exceeds that of last year (N122.86 million).

    There does not seem to be any attempt by the Federal Government to make substantial cuts to those parts of the budget that have to do with the comfort and convenience of its most senior members. It is a trend that is in line with government’s previous actions. In 2012, in the wake of widespread protests against the removal of alleged subsidies on petroleum products, President Goodluck Jonathan promised to reduce his official international travels and build refineries. These promises were not kept: the president’s travel itinerary was characterised by several delegation-heavy trips to several countries around the world, and no refineries have been built.

    When the government fails to live up to the fiscal discipline it is demanding of others, it weakens its capacity to effect meaningful change. Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, cannot expect that the various import surcharges that she has imposed on private jets, luxury yachts and cars, and wines and spirits will succeed if the administration that she is a part of finds it difficult to reduce its sitting allowances. Such hypocrisy is unlikely to go unnoticed by the other arms of government, especially the National Assembly, whose members are notorious for making sure that their budget fully meets their expectations.

    In all aspects of governance, those who occupy the highest rungs on the ladder are expected to lead by example, and this is especially true when it comes to belt-tightening measures. In some countries, such demonstrations of leadership would be seen in substantial pay cuts, reductions in ancillary staff, emoluments, allowances and travel expenses. Such measures amount to a recognition of the symbolic importance of walking the talk and making words suit actions.

     

  • Equal right

    Equal right

    •Who is afraid of financial autonomy for the judiciary?

    Strike by workers appears to be the only way to gain attention under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, and that is regrettable. Now the judicial workers have embarked on a strike, which may affect the smooth conduct of the 2015 elections, aside from other litigations before the courts. The grouse of the judicial workers is the refusal of the Federal Government to obey the judgment of a federal high court that interpreted the provisions of the constitution over the financial autonomy of the judiciary. In refusing to obey the judgment, the Federal Government is trumping the rule of law, contrary to the president’s claim in his campaigns.

    According to section 81[3] of the 1999 constitution, the budget of the judiciary is a first line charge on the consolidated revenue of the country, and that provision has gained judicial imprimatur by the judgment of the federal high court. Of note, the Federal Government, which is a party in the suit, did not appeal the judgment. Of course it shouldn’t. So, while the constitution expressly provides for that autonomy, the federal authorities refused to obey the law, necessitating the approach to the court, which has reconfirmed the provision of the constitution.

    It was the refusal of the Federal Government to obey that provision of the constitution that prompted the former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chairman, Olisa Agbakoba SAN, to approach the court for its interpretation. To the utter amazement of Nigerians, the Federal Government went to court to canvass against the constitutional provision, but despite its best efforts, the court discountenanced her claims and gave a favourable judgment in favour of the constitution. That erudite judgment was deservedly hailed by all well-meaning Nigerians, and it was expected that the Federal Government would immediately retrace her steps and obey the court judgment.

    But instead, the government continues to ignore the judgment and the constitution. To press home their point and to force the Federal Government to obey the law, the judicial workers’ union decided to embark on a strike, which has paralysed the country’s judiciary. Strangely, despite the grinding effect of the strike on the country’s judicial process, the Jonathan administration has gone ahead with its political campaign, as if the matter is of a minor importance. Even more confounding is that in his campaign stops, President Jonathan falsely claims that obedience to the rule of law is one of his major achievements. This is strange.

    We enjoin the Jonathan administration to retrace her steps over this flagrant disobedience of our constitution, and disrespect of the courts. We wish to remind the administration that democracy is predicated on obedience to the rule of law. Indeed, without the rule of the law, democracy is jeopardised, and what we have is a rule of the jungle. Considering that we are in an election year, a functional judiciary is even more paramount, and the Jonathan administration should not take steps that could affect the nation’s transition to a new government. While the president is entitled to campaign for re-election, he should give priority to the survival of democracy which is the very platform on which the entire campaign is predicated.

    We urge the National Assembly to call the executive to order, if they would not be considered as accomplices in this lawless enterprise. We recall that the federal legislature had used its vantage position to force her own financial autonomy. Now, we ask her to use her powers appropriately in favour of the provision of the constitution and the concurrent judgment of the court.

  • Now the president stands tall…

    Now the president stands tall…

    SIR: A news item occurred in some newspapers of Monday, January 12. Unfortunately the import of the news may not immediately be appreciated by Nigerians. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Director General Arunma Oteh was refused a second term. The President was alleged to have stood his ground.

    Going back a little, one would remember the cat and mouse relationship between Oteh and her staff, Oteh and her management, between Oteh and the National Assembly. Also in the capital market and its environment, Ms. Oteh was not rated high in performance and in lifting  SEC and the capital market as a whole to any appreciable height.

    We remember the extraordinary way the exchange chief lived. Squandering over N800,000 on hotel accommodation in a day and N85,000.00 on a single meal, our technocrat must be living in a fairy land, not in Nigeria where millions manage to eke out their daily life with less than N100.

    With all the above negative attributes and reverses, can any Nigerian understand or appreciate while the Secretary to the Federal Government, Pius Ayim would recommend to the Minister of Finance that Ms. Oteh’s tenure be renewed? Some have called it tribal dealings, but what is important here are:

    For once, what many of us have been saying quietly is out of the bag, that the SGF in collaboration with some ministers are appropriating to their kith and kin (call it tribesmen and women), most of the perks and selected upper crusts of the public service of Nigeria. Today, more than half of these positions are occupied by a particular tribe in the country, while others pick up the crumbs.

    We thank our stars that our President finally rose to this modern colonization. On what basis did the duo of Ayim and Okonjo-Iweala recommend another tenure to an officer whose tenure witnessed a nose-dive in the capital market? We are happy that the President has opted out of the three musketeers. We pray he should continue to be Presidetn of all and not that of an enclave. He has scored a resounding success in the New Year.

    ‘Deji Fasuan, MON, JP,

    Ado-Ekiti.

  • Bad start

    Bad start

    •The ambush of APC politicians on way to maiden rally presaged a primitive campaign season

    Democracy comes with freedom of speech and association, both of which are guaranteed and emphasised in the constitution. Unfortunately, some people are trampling on these rights with impunity. A recent example was the attack in Rivers State, in which at least one person was feared killed and many others seriously injured when armed youths shot at vehicles of supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Asari-Toru and Khana local government areas of the state who were going to the inaugural presidential campaign of General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

    By an interesting coincidence, the attacks were carried out at 5.30am, the same time the APC party faithful made their way to the Adokiye Amasiemeka Stadium, the venue of the campaign rally, in Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government. Although it was reported that nobody died in the attack by a gang of hired armed youth said to be working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the APC chairman, Mr. Doole Adoonan, in ward six of Khana LGA, said that seven people who sustained gunshot wounds have been hospitalised. An eyewitness accused a former militant leader, a member of PDP from Gokana LGA, of being behind the attacks.

    Nigerians should condemn this dastardly act which smacked of barbarism and uncivilised political behaviour. The attack of APC presidential maiden campaign rally was a bad start that presaged a scary atmosphere for present and future political campaigns. One may ask: why would a political campaign be disrupted and people shot simply on account of their journey to a political rally? Political party supporters who exhibit this kind of gangsterism at campaign rallies of opposing political parties should know that their activities would hurt the very party they are supporting, especially as all the political parties had agreed that no political campaign or rally should be distrupted under any guise.

    Although we are aware of the volatile political situation in Rivers State occasioned by the rift between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the former Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, who is anxious to become the next governor of the state, this should not necessarily degenerate to the chaos that was witnessed recently in the state. There is nothing wrong with having an ambition, except that it should be tempered with decorum. We do not have to shed blood simply because of an ambition; this point the political supporters should be made to understand. The attacks belied the president’s statement that blood-shedding should never occur for political purposes.

    Henceforth, the security agencies should take more than a passing interest in political activities like campaigns and rallies, especially in politically volatile states like Rivers State to avoid further bloodshed. Politicians should imbibe the culture and spirit of politics without bitterness. What is more, their supporters should play the game according to the rules. They should stop attacking political opponents. Those responsible for the attack in Rivers State should not only be fished out but prosecuted to serve as a deterrent against political gangsterism in Nigeria. This is imperative to avoid a situation where the aggrieved would want to take retaliatory measures that would not be in the interest of public peace and security in the state. This kind of barbarism that puts Nigeria in bad light in the international community as a nation populated by people of primitive mentality must stop.

    Politics is not a do-or-die affair; we expect politicians to be tolerant and take on one another on policies through public discourse. They should sell themselves to the electorate instead of trying to settle scores as if in the war fronts.

  • Subterfuge!

    Subterfuge!

    •Parents of 104 unity schools should resist the rip-ff of insurance scheme foisted on their wards

    Why should a belated insurance policy become an alibi for government’s inability to protect schools and students against insurrection from the Boko Haram Islamic sect? This was our inkling when the Federal Government reportedly hired NICON Insurance Plc to insure 125,000 secondary pupils in 104 Unity Schools across the country. Ade Adesokan, NICON Insurance Plc spokesperson, confirmed the deal: “The Students Welfare Insurance Scheme for Unity Schools is a product designed by NICON Insurance to provide much needed benefits under a combined personal accident and life cover for the pupils and their sponsors.”

    Also, in a purported circular informing parents and guardians of the new insurance premium fee and the contracted insurance company, an undisclosed principal of one of the schools attributed the new policy “…to the security challenges in the country’’ which compelled the Federal Ministry of Education to have ‘…employed the services of NICON Insurance Company to insure Federal Government College pupils … Each pupil is expected to pay N5, 000 yearly … This amount will be remitted into NICON Insurance’s account to be supplied later.”

    An arithmetical breakdown shows that at N5, 000 premium per pupil, NICON will be raking in N625m from the schools’ 125,000 students’ population. This current policy does not go without the usual insurance minutiae that turn rigmarole immediately an accident occurs. For instance, it provides that in case of accidental death of a pupil, the sponsor named in the policy will be entitled to N500, 000; if a pupil accidentally sustains permanent disability, he/she will be entitled to N500, 000 as compensation; while for accidental medical expenses, a pupil will be entitled to N50, 000 for medical treatment. If a pupil is involved in accidental death, the company will pay N50, 000 for burial expenses.

    We would not be swayed by these niceties because it is common knowledge that Boko Haram insurgents attack mainly public schools and the government has the responsibility of providing adequate security against breach of public peace and safety in any parts of the country, including the schools. If the government has therefore failed woefully in the discharge of this primary constitutional responsibility, especially in the affected institutions, why should the buck be passed on to parents that are still struggling to meet the other needs of their wards? We recollect that the Boko Haram insurgents have unleashed inhuman attacks on schools with several students abducted and others killed because of its professed aversion for Western education. At the apogee of its barbarity, over 200 girls were abducted in a day from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014. Till date, the girls could not be located despite global indignation against the act and even the Safe School Initiative of government with huge N1.6b funding back-up, among others. Yet, schools are still being wantonly attacked by the insurgents.

    We have reservations about the motive behind this insurance policy since NICON Insurance, once owned by the Federal Government, was in a jiffy sold in 2006 to Jimoh Ibrahim, a chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). Could this be another usual PDP ‘family affair’? Was there transparency in the bidding process? We demand full disclosure of the other insurance companies that contested for the contract.

    It is a good thing that the students’ parents have reportedly protested against the insurance policy. We encourage them to take legal action and resist the imposition. This shows they are not agreeable to something that in the first place should be voluntary. This insurance policy which is a confirmation of government’s inability to protect schools and the children is a complete rip-off and should be stopped forthwith.

  • Rallying to save Nigeria

    Rallying to save Nigeria

    SIR: While Nigeria has recently captured international headlines for its battle against the murderous terrorist group Boko Haram, the most immediate threats to the country’s stability are not bullets from the Islamist militants but ballots  – Washington Post Editorial.

    As political fault lines  converge vis-à-vis February 14 presidential election, prediction of disaster and greater turmoil to come is the order of the day. Can Nigeria survive is the question everyone is asking or will the elections herald Nigeria’s Nunc Dimittis?

    Nigeria’s survival will this time depend on the patriotic and nationalistic sentiments of her political elites. The election will weigh them on the scale of political correctness and spirit of sportsmanship. The former will test their ability to play by the rule whereas the later will test their willingness to accept result and concede defeat. Whatever the case, disposition of political maturity is what will save Nigeria.

    February presidential election will share many things in common with the 1964 presidential election. The election which was hotly contested saw to the formation of two grand alliances (NNA – Nigerian National Alliance and UPGA – United Progressive Grand Alliance) by the existing parties in Nigeria.

    The drumbeat to the election and its electioneering campaign which was characterized by political calumny  ‘black painting’ and tendencies for massive regularities is similar to what we are seeing today. And God forbid, if some measures are not taken, the aftermath might be graver than that of 1964. Or should I remind that the post election violence that followed the election was one of the immediate causes of the military incursion in Nigerian politics and the subsequent civil war?

    Prof Bolaji Akinyemi’s open letter to the two major presidential candidates in the election is of great relevance in this process. In order to arrest the looming danger, Prof. Akinyemi suggested the meeting of the two presidential candidates which will see to the signing of undertaking that will commit them to civil and peaceful campaigns devoid of threats by preaching the imperative of peaceful elections, taming party supporters , and preventing violent protest. He suggested the appointment of council of wise men – which he selected – that will facilitate the pre-election meeting with the candidates, preparation of memorandum of undertaking as well as assist in managing the post-election conflicts.

    It was this lacuna that January 6 Washington Post editorial tried to fill. ‘To minimize the risk of post-election violence – the editorial observed -, the Nigerian government must first do more to support its electoral commission’, there have been serious doubts about its readiness to organize the registration and voting process. Less than six weeks ahead of elections, the federal government has yet to approve the commission’s budget. Millions of permanent voting cards have not yet been distributed’.

    In all these submissions, it was pastor Tunde Bakare ‘s prediction that drove me mad. Pastor Bakare, after giving the biblical analogy of Nigeria’s objective condition proposed shifting of the election and establishment of interim government among other things  as possible means of averting the Euroclydon. Shifting of the election is what APC will never accept not to  talk of PDP . And establishment of interim government will even over heat the polity the more.

    Survival of Nigeria lies in organizing free, fair and credible election. So emphasis ought to be on how INEC will conduct the election.

    As we head to February 14 and with Baga still under the control of Boko Haram, I urge the federal government to consider the hand writing on the wall. If we don’t change the music, our dance macabre will land us into destruction.

     

    • Asikason Jonathan,

    Lapai, Niger State.

  • Mbaka’s sermon and Jonathan’s warriors

    SIR:Following the prophetic warning by Rev. Fr. Ejike Camillus Mbaka forewarning Nigerians that continuity in governance by Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will bring hardship to Nigerians, an army of Jonathan’s critics of Mbaka has sprouted out fearlessly attacking him.

    Fr. Mbaka’s prophecy in sermon which warned Nigerians that Jonathan cannot lead Nigeria as things stand right now, is a welcome development. Dr. Jonathan and his army of Mbaka’s critics appeared to have been plagued by Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness as they have refused to take a lesson from King David’s open admission of his misdeeds and request for forgiveness following his lust for another man’s wife.

    According to the Bible, King David, the anointed king in course of his reign as king of Israel looked through his palace and saw a beautiful woman taking her bath, and desired to have her. On inquiry, he discovered that the woman was Uriah’s wife. Rather than control his emotion, he decided to have Uriah killed in the battle ground for it was forbidden to take another’s wife.

    Following King David’s evil deed, God sent his prophet, called Nathan who went to David and cursed him that sword would never depart from his house and that he would raise up evil against him. When Nathan told King David the message from God, rather than behave like Jonathan and his army of Mbaka critics, he admitted his evil, repented and asked for forgiveness. Nathan there and then reversed some of the curses and left some others and they came to pass.

    Jonathan and his army are taking lessons from inglorious conduct of Ahab and Jezebel who sought to kill Prophet Elijah and Prophet Micaiah for fore-warning them of the pending doom. Jonathan should also note that when Ahab’s wife, Jezebel sought to kill Elijah, he, Elijah ran to Beer-Sheba and rested under a broom tree; which in Nigeria today, symbolizes APC.

    If questions may be asked, which evil have Nigerians not suffered under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan? Is it ceaseless slaughtering of men, women and innocent children in the North with Jonathan not caring; the abduction and bombing of Nigerians with Jonathan having no remedy?

    Is it countless loss of lives and goods of hardworking people of South-east on federal roads, the loss of lives of 19 job-seeking Nigerians with nobody punished? What of the extortion of N1,000 from about 700,000 Nigerian jobless youths with no job in sight and no refund made? Is it increase in fuel price from N65 pegged by late Yar’Adua to N97 under the promise of Eldorado which turned out to be deceit?

    Is it lack of electricity at home, office and everywhere? Is it the lack of care to victims of abducted girls in Chibok when the same man postponed his campaign when he lost his sister? Which one will I mention and leave the other?

    What is it that Rev. Father Mbaka said that the likes of Buruji Kashamu and one self-acclaimed national president of Ohaneze Youth Council should berate Father Mbaka in The Nation of January 5 and January 8 that is not the truth and known to Nigerians?

    I know that Father Mbaka talked about Pastors selling their prophetic gifts because of porridge; however, I think, there are Nigerians who may want to turn to Jonathan’s porridge in so far as they continue to eat the crumbs from the masters table.

     

    • Victor C. Nwaugo,

    Aba, Abia State