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Tag: Coalition

  • Coalition backs technocrat for House of Reps

    Coalition backs technocrat for House of Reps

    A coalition of over 20 women societies and groups, under the aegis of the National Association of Isiala Ngwa Progressive Women, has endorsed Lady Blessing Nwokonneya for the Isiala Ngwa Federal Constituency seat in next year’s election.

    It made the call in a communiqué by its National President Chief Anastesia Ukomadu, and National Secretary Lady Adaku Erondu, issued at the end of its enlarged town hall meeting held in Omoba, the capital of Isiala Ngwa South council of Abia State.

    The coalition said the call on Lady Nwokonneya to run for the office was in consideration of her track record, commitment to the people’s welfare, wealth of experience and confidence in her capacity to offer a first class representation in the House of Representatives.

    Lady Nwokonneya is a financial management specialist and professional banker with many years of experience. She has also won several awards of excellence.

    The communiqué said: “Given her background, exposure, quality experience, rich network and commitment to the good of our people, Lady Nwokonneya will no doubt offer the people of Isiala Ngwa North and South Federal Constituency a quality and purposeful representation that has never been seen before.”

    The groups urged Lady Nwokonneya, a woman leader of Isiala Ngwa residents in Abuja and Lady of Knights of Mulumba, to stand up and be counted and urged stakeholders to support the candidature of Lady Nwokonneya to lift the constituency’s socio-economic life.

  • Coalition blasts Yobe Govt Over DAPCHI Girls

    Nigeria’s leading anti-terrorism campaigner, the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism, CATE, has condemned the recent comment by the Yobe State Government which blamed the recent abduction of School girls in Dapchi, Yobe State on the withdrawal of troops from the area.

    National President of the group, Comrade Gabriel Onoja in a press statement said it is disingenuous of the Yobe State Government to try to blame the same institution that rescued the state from the grip of terrorism at the slightest instance saying it amounts to ingratitude to try and play politics with an issue as important as security.

    The group said rather than acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the military in securing the state and even the Yobe Government House which at a time was overtaken by the insurgents, the Yobe State Government is trying to give the impression that it has no role to play on the provision of security and that whatever lapses that may have occurred falls squarely on the shoulders of the military.
    The group said this is most unkind to an institution which has lost hundreds of its men and officers and whose personnel have sacrificed their comfort and that of their family to secure the state.

    Onoja said it is on record that the military went into Yobe and other surrounding states and freed territories and local government hitherto captured by the insurgents and set many captives free and ensured that normalcyreturned to several other communities.

    He said the Yobe State Government and the civil authorities should have taken over from there to ensure security and enforcement of the law as there is no way the military can remain at a place continuously while its attention is needed in other areas that may be facing fresh threats.

    The group said if the state and local government authorities as well as the police and other security agencies had moved to the communities to ensure law and order as well focus on intelligence gathering, the incident at Dapchi would not have occurred.
    The group insisted that the successes of the Buhari’s administration on terrorism cannot easily be dwarfed by any individual or group of persons who may have sworn to make political capital from every situation irrespective of the pains and sorrows that may cause those involved.

    The Coalition said attempts by some politicians to blame the Nigerian Army for withdrawal of troops from the area
    is most unfortunate and an attempt by some blind elements to downplay the achievements of the militray despite glaring evidence.
    “Those working for their pay masters for Nigeria to fail have seen another fault line in the abduction of ladies girls from DAPCHI to blame the security agencies and lower the moral of troops. This we must consciously reject to prove our humanity to the world that our love song for the military in recent times was not an act of sycophancy but rather borne out of genuine hearts

    The group further warned that some stakeholders have jumped into conclusion even when no one has taken responsibly for this pure act of political sabotage to reduce the efforts of the administration.

    CATE said whilst it’s unwise to jump into conclusion that Yobe politicians might be behind the abduction of the girls, it warned that Nigerians have never trusted any politician from the north-east as far as Boko Haram is concerned as they have refused to take any reasonable step in the past to address the Boko Haram issue as an ideology and fallout of a failed political set-up in the Nigeria.

    The group therefore charged all Nigerians not to judge the war against Boko Haram with sentiments but clear reflection on the immediate past before 2015 and the current situation that has seen Boko Haram taking flight before our military.

  • Coalition for Nigeria: Obasanjo stole our idea

    Coalition for Nigeria: Obasanjo stole our idea

    A group, Coalition for Nigeria (CN), has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of adopting its name to launch his Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM).

    The proposed political movement by Chief Obasanjo  was launched in Abuja on Wednesday  with former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Donald Duke in attendance..

    The group warned Nigerians not to be into thinking they are dealing with the authentic members of the group.

    CN described the Obasanjo-led Coalition Movement as a group of failed politicians and those that do not anything to offer the country again.

    Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Mr. Sabo Odeh, the National Co-odinator, said the authentic Coalition for Nigeria has noble intentions centered around galvanizing Nigerians for nation building, with tenets that are long-term without pandering to unnecessary drama and media hype.

    He said: “Our coalition is not limited to creating a backdoor for retired and tired politicians to install puppets in government for the purpose of continuing to loot the treasury while ruling by impunity as had been experienced in the past.

    “The Coalition for Nigeria, having the best intentions of our dear nation at heart, is careful to go about effecting change in a way that does not jeopardise the stability and safety of Nigeria. There is nothing to be gained in burning our country in the name of seeking improvement; the reforms we all desire are achievable through persuasion, consensus building and collaboration without resorting to inflammatory acts and utterances as we have seen with some people.

    “Our coalition is made up of Nigerians that yearn for a better country with the firm belief that the dismantling of the infrastructure for corruption is a necessary first step that ensure that we can then build the country on a solid foundation that provides level playing field to all citizens.

    “The authentic Coalition for Nigeria will continue to pursue the noble objective of having credible persons to drive the Nigerian Project irrespective of differences pertaining to class, ethnicity, religious or political affiliation. “

  • Knocks for Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria

    Knocks for Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria

    Political stakeholders are reacting to the debut of the Coalition for Nigeria (CN) in Abuja. Not a few describe the take-off as unimpressive. GBADE OGUNWALE, LEKE SALAUDEEN, JOSEPH JIBUEZE, RAYMOND MORDI report.

    The Coalition for Nigeria (CN), a political movement proposed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his controversial “Special Press Statement” nine days ago, has been unveiled.

    It was launched in Abuja yesterday by the former president’s allies, including one-time Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke.

    In the statement, which many described as  a “letter bomb”, Obasanjo made scathing remarks about the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), concluding that neither the APC nor the PDP has what it takes to take Nigeria to the Promised Land.

    It has drawn criticisms. Those who feel that President Muhammadu Buhari has not delivered on his campaign promises lauded Obasanjo for speaking out. Others, who believe the administration is on track, chided Obasanjo for subjectivity.

    The launch is drawing flaks from stakeholders.

     

    Junai Muhammed: It’s a disappointing start

     

    Second Republic lawmaker Dr Junaid Muhammed expressed disappointment over the calibre of people that graced the launch of the CN.

    According to him, there was so much excitement when Chief Obasanjo announced the formation of a new national movement.

    The Kano-born politician observed that there was little preparation before the launch, which he said required Obasanjo’s physical presence.

    He said: “They could have deferred it till when he would be around; it would have been better if he was present because Obasanjo’s presence would have attracted many eminent people to be there. They have started  on a wrong footing but I am sure they will recover their steps.

    “The impression I had was that the third force was created by Obasanjo, which excited many people. I thought it was going to solve the problem of legitimacy in power by providing opportunities for the people in electing their leaders.”

    Muhammed urged Obasanjo not to repeat the mistake he made with the PDP “when he put the party in his pocket, and dictating the tunes. He cannot remain in Ota or Abeokuta and be dictating to the new party.”

    Justifying the need for more parties in the country, Muhammed said there is room for one or two more political parties in the country and cautioned against ethnic-based parties.

    “I am convinced we should have more parties”, he stressed.

    According to him, the APC and the PDP are disasters. “There is no difference between them; they are two sides of a coin”, he said.

     

    Can Nigerians trust them?

     

    Afenifere scribe, Chief Seinde Arogbofa, raised many posers on the legitimacy and capacity of the new movement:

    “Who are they? Can Nigerians trust them? Can they deliver? Can they change things over night? Are they better than APC?

    Arogbofa noted that money plays a major factor in politics, saying: “Money factor can change things over night in Nigerian politics. People sell their votes at the last minute to the highest bidder.

    “The government of the day controls the national purse. They will have enough to take from the national coffer. Unless the new movement can match the ruling party in terms of funding the campaign, it seems dicey.

    “Unless the INEC gets a bill through the National Assembly on making sure the electoral process is rig-proof, our votes will not count. It will be good for us if we are more electronic in our electoral process.

     

    They’re exercising right of association

     

    Senior advocate Malam Yusuf Ali said the people have the right to come together to form association or political group.

    “So, members of the CN are exercising their right as enshrined in the constitution”, he said.

    Ali said the movement will remain an association of friends since it has not been registered as a political party by INEC.

    He said: “We don’t know what they stand for; they have not come out with a manifesto; it is difficult to make comment. It is a collection of individuals. It is when they make their programme known that we can assess them.”

     

    Not ruling party’s match

     

    Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Olawale Oshun,  agreed with Ali’s submission that Nigerians have the right to form association in a democratic setting.

    If they have the capacity to transform into a political party, nobody can deny them the right to form a party, he stated.

    Oshun, however, dismissed the third force as alternative to the APC as according to him, the movement has no backbone yet. He said Nigerians know who to follow and who to trust when it comes to decision making.

    He said: “How much support can they get before 2019? It takes time to form parties and be accepted by the people.

    “It is amazing when politicians change parties like underwear. If your party is not performing well to your expectation, you should find out and join hands in finding solutions. Changing parties is not solution.”

     

    Nigerians should look beyond CN

     

    The National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, said that those coming together to keep the autocratic political parties on their toes should be welcomed.

    Okorie said: “But whether members of the new group are new faces that would give Nigerians some renewed hope is another matter.

    “If this is the coalition that former President Obasanjo talked about, then he has just increased the number of reactionary political associations from two to three; a third force is yet to come.

    “I say this because, except for one or two of the personalities who are not politically inconsequential, the rest are disgruntled PDP members who are basically Obasanjo’s allies.  I don’t know where their political base is. If their political base is in any part of the country, it is yet to be established.

    “Most of the faces in the group are not rooted in those places where they come from. There is no political party in Nigeria today or anywhere in the world that can operate without a base.

    “You must have a strong home base before you can succeed in politics. The defunct ACN had a base; the defunct CPC had one and the defunct ANPP had one too. Even those who joined the APC from the PDP and APGA had their own bases.”

    The UPP chieftain urged Nigerians to look beyond the new group for a third force.

    He added: “If they intend to register as a new political party, I can tell them as an experienced political party administrator that it would take more than a year or two to sell whatever name they want to call themselves to the Nigerian public.

    So, the time is too short for a new political party to be registered and for it to register in the minds of Nigerians before the election.

    “If they adopt any of the existing parties or encourage a coalition of two or three of the existing parties whose manifestoes and basic principles point to the very things that Nigerians want, such as restructuring, self-determination, devolution of powers, resource control and so on and so forth, and they already have a social contract with the Nigerian people, then the new group can fuse into such parties and make impact.

    “But, if it is for them to make a public show in Abuja and say they are registering a new party, I can tell them from my own experience that they have failed on arrival, because they don’t constitute a third force; at least the type Nigerians are looking for.”

     

    Old faces under new name

     

    Second Republic politician, Tanko Yakassai, said most of the names in the new group were in one party or the other before now, but didn’t make any impact. Therefore, he said there was no reason Nigerians should expect them to make any impact.

    Besides, Yakassai said: “The time is too short for a new party to emerge and make the desired impact. If any group wants to form a political party, this should not be done six or seven months to pre-election stage, because this country is very large: 774 local governments and thousands of wards, each with a number of villages under it.

    “If you are going to form a new political party, you need at least a membership base that is more than two times the number of wards in the country.

    “The only way this can work is, if the new group should merge with a major opposition party like the PDP. If this happens, it would stand a chance of dislodging the ruling party.

    “Even if the APC and the PDP lose some of their big names to this new group, the development may not make much impact, because these big name politicians are actually paper weights in their domains, more so, if the APC and the PDP retains their supporters, then I don’t see any new force surpassing any of them.

    “A good number of them could not deliver their domains for their parties during the last general elections.”

     

    PDP ready for partnership

     

    The launch of the Coalition for Nigeria (CN) movement in Abuja yesterday notwithstanding, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it remains the only formidable opposition platform that cannot be pushed off the political radar.

    It, however, indicated readiness to engage the CN and team up with other opposition parties with a view to forming a common front against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 general elections.

    In a telephone interview, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, described the PDP as the only viable platform for positive alliance with the CN and other opposition parties in the land.

    According to him, no political party or coalition can be strong enough to push the PDP off the political radar in the years to come.

    Ologbondiyan said: “Our position is that whatever coalition that is coming on the political turf and whose interest is for the greater wellbeing of Nigerians should find it convenience to align and work with the PDP for the greater good of Nigeria.

    “The PDP, in a matter of weeks, will engage other parties in opposition, various communities, associations and other stakeholders in the Nigerian project, including the coalition for Nigeria.

    “Any coalition that is for the greater interest of Nigeria should be prepared to work with a party that had governed the country for 16 years and has structures in 9000 wards cut across the federation. That party is PDP.”

     

    Agbakoba’s NIM’ll join forces with CN

     

    The CN got an ally in the Olisa Agbakoba-led National Intervention Movement (NIM), which said it will join forces with the new movement.

    The NIM was initiated last November 29 by a group of 90 as a non-political organisation to “uplift Nigerians”.

    Asked last night if NIM intends to align with CN which was launched in Abuja yesterday, Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said “Yes”.

    He confirmed that the NIM would partner or merge with CN.

    Agbakoba had earlier told newsmen during a briefing on NIM that members were “committed to making a difference in our country”.

    The movement, he said, intended to grow by inspiring and supporting people to start small groups across the country.

    He said the NIM will accommodate anyone concerned about the failures of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

    “We want a functioning democracy where political office holders are accountable to the people, public institutions are strong and there is the rule of law,” he said.

    According to him, the APC and PDP lack ideologies, which he said was why Nigerians “are in a sorry situation.”

    “We live in a failed state, and unless we articulate the elements of this failure, we’ll continue to fail,” he said.

  • Okupe: only coalition can sack APC in 2019

    Accord Party National Leader Dr. Doyin Okupe has advised opposition parties to form a coalition to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 general election.

    Okupe, a former presidential spokesman, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as presently constituted, is weak to upstage APC from power.

    According to him, only a strong coalition of several parties will actualise the dream of upstaging APC from power.

    Okupe described Accord as a veritable third force blowing like a whirlwind across the Southwest and other parts of the country.

    The party leader expressed confidence that Accord will win next year’s governorship election in Ekiti State.

    Okupe spoke at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the capital, during the election and inauguration of the party’s state executive and the official adoption of Akogun Banjo Ojo as the party’s governorship candidate.

    At the event, 500 members of the PDP, APC and Labour Party defected to Accord and were received by the state Chairman, Chief Abiola Odeoba, and National Chairman, Mr. Lawan Nalado.

    Okupe said PDP and APC had disappointed Nigerians, adding that the best way to push them out is to embrace Accord.

    He said: “It took a coalition in 1998 to send away the military. The coalition crystallised into the PDP, won election and held it for 16 years.

    “It took a coalition of forces again in 2015 to wrest power from the PDP. That is what Nigerians should do in 2019.”

    On the 2018 Ekiti governorship poll, Okupe said: “Ekiti residents have tasted the APC and PDP and they knew they have disappointed badly. So, the time has come now to try another party, which is Accord, in 2018.”

     

  • Dangote Foundation, GBCHealth to build coalition on health

    Dangote Foundation, GBCHealth to build coalition on health

    The Dangote Foundation and GBCHealth joined forces to forge a new model of partnership, the African Business Coalition on Health (GBCHealth) in Africa.

    Dangote Foundation Chairman Aliko Dangote shared plans to build an African Business Coalition on Health (ABCHealth) during the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. Dangote was co-host of the forum, which held alongside the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

    According to him, the African-led coalition of companies and philanthropists will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of Africans, both within the workplace and within the broader communities. The partnership, Dangote stated, will develop and deploy impactful health programmes in Africa, deepen knowledge, build evidence for future investment and strengthen co-ordination among African philanthropists, business leaders, companies and local business networks.

    The coalition is building on the leadership, reputation and convening power of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and the experience, reputation and global reach of GBCHealth. Critical issues that will be the focus of the partnership ranges from nutrition to malaria, with priorities identified and agreed by local leadership.

    Through his Foundation, Dangote has made an unprecedented grant and seed contribution to GBCHealth of $ 1.5 million over three years, as a call to action and a signal to the African business community of the importance of working together and investing in health.

    ”The time is ripe for the private sector to proactively demonstrate its value in partnering to lead a new era in development,” Dangote said, adding that the coalition could provide much needed guidance to ensure activities and investments are driving results in areas where the private sector can have real impact. Besides, it will focus on holistic and integrated solutions that cross borders. “We look forward to working with other business leaders as partners in development to drive this impact,” Dangote said.

    Co-chair of GBCHealth’s Board of Directors Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said the coalition brings together two heavyweights in the health and development arena. ”Together we have an opportunity to demonstrate how investing in health and creating healthier populations can help business maximise shareholder value, accelerate economic growth and make entry into new markets more feasible,” he said. The coalition will have five primary objectives in its first three years.

    They include incubating partnerships on priority health programmes to enhance and accelerate results; working directly with companies to optimise workplace and community health programmes; advocating for policies and initiatives that drive system-level changes. It will also create a hub of data and insights specific to Africa and African business; and curate leadership events to convene and drive action around common health issues across sectors.

    The programme will kick-off in Nigeria and roll out in business regions in Africa and beyond over the next three years. The continent currently has 400 companies with revenue of more than $1 billion yearly, and these companies are growing faster, and are more profitable in general, than their global peers.

    Coupled with these fast-moving regional leaders, small and growing businesses create 80 per cent of the continent’s employment and are stoking the engines of growth. Against this backdrop, according to Dangote, there’s a new cadre of responsible business leaders and philanthropists, who understand the value and promise of sustainable large-scale investments in African countries, and are poised to make an even bigger impact on the continent’s people and economies.

    Dangote Foundation CEO Zouera Youssoufou said: “GBCHealth has a strong track record of bringing diverse groups together to improve the health wellbeing of communities. We look forward to collaborating to build an African business community united as a force for healthier and more inclusive development.”

  • Coalition calls for credible poll in Plateau

    As Plateau State prepares for local government elections, a coalition of civil society organisations has called for free and fair polls.

    The coalition said the sensitization was aimed at ensuring free, fair and credible elections.

    Council elections in the state is often marred with violence, especially in Jos North local government. The last council election held in 2008 led to bloodshed, resulting in destruction of lives and property.

    The Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP), Actionaid, UKaid and Media Action said they have the objective of ensuring peace during the polls.

    The Program Manager of CAPP, Nelson Amanze said: “The coalition has began to engage various segments of stakeholders in the state in a town hall meeting to sensitize them on how to make the proposed election peaceful and credible.

    According to Amanze, “We have held town hall meetings of stakeholders in all the local government headquarters across the state. And we have commenced another awareness seminar for various stakeholders like security agencies, electoral officials, religious leaders, youths, community leaders, journalists, politicians and political parties and other relevant stakeholders.

    “All we are trying to achieve as a coalition is to make sure everyone that has a role to play in the election should do so in the most descent and professional manner to guarantee a credible electoral processes in the state”

    A representative of the Commissioner of Police, Akomolede Babayemi Daniel, applauded the coalition for taking up the responsibility to sensitise stakeholders. The police commissioner said: In the hierarchy of stakeholders in any election, the police is counted first because of the need to safeguard lives and properties of citisens during election.

  • Coalition warns Fayose, Ayenimo against alleged service extension

    Coalition warns Fayose, Ayenimo against alleged service extension

    A civil society coalition, Integrity Leadership Group, has warned Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose and a retired Chief Magistrate, Idowu Ayenimo, against an alleged plot to extend Ayenimo’s service.

    It alleged that the governor wants to manipulate Ayenimo’s records to enable him stay longer and continue sitting on the panel probing former Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    In a statement yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, by its State Coordinator, Lekan Oyediran, the group said reports on the alleged service elongation plot for Ayenimo was worrisome because of Fayemi’s suit challenging Ayenimo’s suitability to sit on the panel.

    The group noted that what qualified Ayenimo for the job was his headship of the Magistrates’ Court.

    It said the panel member must vacate the panel after retiring from service.

    The group said: “Chief Magistrate Idowu Ayenimo must vacate the panel, after retiring from the service two weeks ago, because what qualified his membership is the office he was holding at the time of his appointment.

    “Any plot to doctor Ayenimo’s records of service to enable him continue to sit on the panel is illegal and criminal; it will only confirm Fayemi’s allegation that he is Governor Fayose’s mole to nail the former governor, as he alleged in his lawsuit challenging the suitability of Ayemino to be on the panel over alleged partisanship.”

    It warned the State Judicial Service Commission against assisting the governor to achieve his alleged aim of implicating Fayemi in the panel’s report.

    The group urged the Chief Judge, Mr Justice Ayodeji Daramola, to maintain his good records by resisting any pressure to act against the law and civil service rules.

     

  • Clark derides coalition, says it doesn’t exist

    Clark derides coalition, says it doesn’t exist

    Ijaw national leader and convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, has dismissed the groups who gave the October 1, 2017 quit notice to Yoruba and northerners resident in the South-South as nonexistent.

    In a telephone chat with the Nation in Warri yesterday, Chief Clark who said all Nigerians had the freedom to live in any part of the country, as Nigeria is just one country, said those who gave the ultimatum had nobody’s mandate and had no such authority to give such quit notice to anyone.

    The elder statesman said he was one of the very first Nigerians to condemn the Arewa youths who issued an ultimatum to Indigbo earlier, adding that there was no way he could have permitted such action to take place in his own region. While he vehemently cautioned those behind the quit notice to desist and withdraw the ultimatum, Chief Clark advised the Yoruba and northerners resident in the Niger Delta to continue to live peacefully in the region.

    “I’ve already made a statement on that issue when Afenifere contacted me. Somebody represented me and I made a statement. As far as I’m concerned, Nigeria is our country, therefore anybody who is a Nigerian is free to live in any part of Nigeria. We even allow non-Nigerians to live in Nigeria, to do businesses of their choice.

    “Therefore, if we have one country, we cannot prevent anybody from living in any part of the country. I’ve already advised those who made that statement to withdraw it, besides they have no authority from anybody; no elder not even PANDEF.”

    The frontline Ijaw leader further said: “The South-South, I mean PANDEF, has been having meetings with the Yoruba, the Indigbo and the people of the Middle-Belt in Lagos and Abuja, therefore we cannot say we don’t want the Yoruba or northerners.

    “I was one of the first people to condemn the quit notice by the Arewa youths, why will I allow such a thing in my territory. Nobody knows those boys. They are just arrogating the powers they don’t have to themselves, and they can’t. Some groups have done that before, we advised them and they backed down.

    “The point I’m making is that all groups, including northerners, are welcome in the Niger Delta and that those people who made those threats have no authority from anybody, they don’t even exist and wherever they are, we advise them in their own interest to withdraw their statement, if the do exist at all. But whether they do or not, they have no authority from anybody.

    “We, the people in the Niger Delta, the elders, the women and the youths, welcome the Yoruba and northerners. Nobody knows those names in the newspapers. Let them come out to meet us, make their statement. They don’t exist”, Chief Clark insisted.

  • AGF and coalition of northern youths

    Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), clearly had an unpleasant job last Tuesday to defend the federal government’s refusal to arrest leaders of the coalition of northern youths who gave the Igbo in the North a quit notice on June 6. The notice was thought to be unprecedented, hateful and a dangerous incitement to anarchy. In his response when he addressed a number of issues concerning his ministry’s operations, Mr. Malami averred that it was not expedient to arrest the youths despite their objectionable reaction to the agitations in the Southeast. According to him, “Government considered the security implications on the issue. Let me state that government is alive to its responsibility and whoever is found wanting will be prosecuted. This administration is determined to provide good governance and promote justice, peace and fairness.” By not arresting the youth leaders who issued the June Kaduna Declaration, Mr. Malami was suggesting that doing so had negative security implications, or that as a matter of fact the youths had not yet been found wanting. However, it was clear last Tuesday when the AGF addressed the press in Abuja that he was neither able to convince even himself nor his audience.

    A few days before then, on August 25, the AGF issued a press statement indicating that his office had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking for the revocation of the April 25 bail granted the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The statement clearly suggested that Mr. Kanu had violated the terms of his bail in the following ways: “That the offence for which he is standing trial does not entitle him to bail; that among other conditions for the bail of the 1st defendant is that he should not be seen in a crowd exceeding 10 people; that he should not grant any interviews, hold or attend any rallies; that he should file in court medical updates of his health status every month; that rather than observing all of the conditions listed above, the 1st defendant in flagrant disobedience to the court order flouted all conditions of the bail.” It is indisputable that Mr. Kanu violated his bail terms.

    But a day before the AGF applied to the courts for the revocation of Mr. Kanu’s bail, the same northern youths whom Mr. Malami egregiously defended against arrest imperiously issued seven pre-conditions for the rescindment of the June 6 quit notice. Among the seven conditions, all of which appeared to counter or dilute President Muhammadu Buhari’s affirmation of the right of every Nigerian to live in any part of Nigeria unmolested, was the one that predicated their magnanimous rescindment on the arrest and detention of Mr. Kanu for violating his bail terms and for his continuing incendiary remarks. Few people would fail to notice that the northern youths and Mr. Malami seemed in fact to be on the same page. Their actions followed the earlier statement by the Internal Affairs minister, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, that the courts might revoke Mr. Kanu’s bail to curb his excesses.

    Worse, President Buhari’s terse and threatening broadcast of August 21, which probably partly inspired the rescindment of the northern youths’ quit notice, also appeared to be in sync with the general feelings in the North that Mr. Kanu should be locked up after the revocation of his bail. The unanimity of opinion across many parts of the North, however, complicates the IPOB-northern quit notice brouhaha. Mr. Kanu doubtless violated his bail terms, having organised or attended rallies, continued to make inflammatory statements, and neglected to file his medical updates before the court that granted him bail. But whether re-arresting him will help resolve the dangerous and inflammable matter at hand is a different thing altogether, especially in view of Mr. Malami’s argument that security implications were considered in the federal government’s reluctance to arrest leaders of the northern youths.

    Unfortunately for the government, the argument has shifted away from the appropriateness or otherwise of Mr. Kanu’s defiance of his bail terms to the reluctance, if not criminal connivance, of the government to arrest or censure the northern youths. In the process, a lot of issues have become so complicated that the government is unable to draw a line between moral and political rectitude on the one hand and deliberate and provocative malfeasance on the other hand. The northern youths claimed their actions, hate speech and the unacknowledged hate song that went viral a few weeks ago were a product of the provocation and actions of Mr. Kanu’s IPOB. But neither the pro-Biafra provocation, which has met with vicious government response, including the president’s fierce anger, nor the northern youths’ reaction, which has so far met with deliberate and orchestrated pussyfooting, was lawful. Both should have attracted equal law enforcement and governmental sternness on the grounds that while the provocation was unlawful and malfeasant, the reaction also amounted to unlawful self-help. Instead, the federal government and the security agencies gave the impression that lawlessness had colour and mitigations.

    It is puzzling that Mr. Malami dared to suggest that the federal government’s refusal to arrest the northern youths followed a sensible and cautious consideration of the security implications. What is even worse is that the AGF did not feel any obligation to explain in detail what those security concerns were, nor to defend them as factors militating against the government’s stern action. But by going ahead to assert cynically that the government was alive to its responsibility, when that responsibility seemed to be targeted in one direction, Mr. Malami did not convince anyone, let alone himself, that the government had any such ‘life’, nor even dispassion, nor yet impartiality. With the exception of the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who at first ordered the arrest of the northern youths but soon inexplicably kept his peace, and the police who also at first gave the impression that they sought out the youths to arrest them, little was heard from anyone else. Indeed, all that was heard were condemnations targeted at both IPOB and the northern youths. Even the Department of State Service (DSS), according to reports, invited the youths once, spoke with them and let them go.

    Why it is difficult for the federal government to recognise Mr. Kanu’s obstreperous and trenchant advocacy of the Biafra cause and the equally tendentious and acrimonious northern youths’ reaction as evidence of the dire condition of the country’s unity, is hard to say. These actions and reactions, much of it almost neatly divided along North-South lines, are a testament to the decay afflicting the polity and an indication that little or nothing is being done to salvage the problem. The country is fraying at the edges, and this fraying is compounded by incompetent and prejudiced public officials who lack the knowledge and dispassion to weld a country together out of its many seething and fractious parts.

    From the presidency to the relevant ministries, and on to the various law enforcement and security agencies, nothing expert or rational by way of public policies is being done to repair the country’s broken hedges. Contrary to what the presidency says about the country’s unity being settled or non-negotiable, the IPOB crisis and the northern youths’ quit notice, and various other forms of hate speech and hate songs on social media and traditional media, suggest quite clearly that fresh thinking is required to manage the dangerous decline to anarchy. Strong-arm tactics, as appealing as they may look, especially in the short run, do nothing but obfuscate the contentious issues tearing the country apart. The country is not only clearly not united, and nothing extraordinary and informed is being done about it, until the right mix of policies are designed and public officials from the North and South can eschew ethnic and religious prejudices, the situation may worsen considerably until it explodes.

    Mr. Malami had no rational and acceptable explanation for the inexcusable reason given by the government not to arrest the northern youths who issued the Igbo a quit notice in June. He compounds that oversight by applying to the courts for the revocation of Mr. Kanu’s bail. Had he and the government he serves been fair-minded enough to deal firmly and expeditiously with the purveyors of quit notice, the move against the IPOB leader would have been explicable and defensible. More, it would have shown everyone that the government understands the need to keep an open mind in dealing with cantankerous groups threatening the peace and unity of the country. And if by chance the government were to also correctly situate those threats where they belonged, and go further to appreciate the factors that undergird and propel those threats, Nigerians would have assumed that sooner or later a political formula and existential fulcrum would be found upon which the unity and stability of Nigeria could rest without being imperilled.