The Nation Newspaper

Tag: endorsement

  • Helen Paul bags NCC endorsement

    Helen Paul bags NCC endorsement

    Nigerian comedienne, Helen Paul, has inked another endorsement deal as the new ‘Face of the Telecom Consumer’ by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

    According to reports, the comedienne signed the deal last Wednesday at the commission’s head office in Abuja.

    With her new endorsement, the actress joins Kannywood actor, Ali Nuhu, as the face of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer Campaign.

    A statement issued by the commission reads: “Following their appointments, Ali and Helen will now feature in handbills, flyers, banners, posters, TV appearances, radio jingles, as well as on memorabilia and other iconography materials designed by the Commission for its series of activities scheduled to sensitise and celebrate the telecom consumers as the most central stakeholders of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria.”

    Reports  also has it that the non-exclusive contract also flagged off the “Year of the Telecom Consumer” Campaign in Abuja, coinciding with the global celebration of World Consumer Rights Day.’

  • Dayo Amusa debunks endorsement tales

    Dayo Amusa debunks endorsement tales

    Contrary to rumours making rounds that Yoruba actress Dayo Amusa has signed a new endorsement deal, the actress/singer, has come out to clear the air on the topic. In a recent interview, she stated that it was only a promotional deal for Music cum Musical Video content distribution and not an endorsement deal as reported.

    “I’m always glad to have good people around me. A new deal was sealed and signed and thanks to you all for the messages and wishes. God bless you all!!! PS; it’s not an endorsement deal based on the news flying around. It’s just a promotional deal for Music/Musical Video content distribution,” she stated.

    The rising singer, whose music is said to be making waves in the industry, last Wednesday, signed a promotional deal with Techno Mobile to help promote her songs on their platform, Boom Player. The deal, according to findings, will ensure that her fans and followers have easy access in downloading both her audio and video songs.

    The actress’ new release, Alejo, is currently being aired on several radio stations.

  • LOLO1 GETS ENDORSEMENT AS BIRTHDAY GIFT

    OMOTUNDE Adebowale-David, known Lolo1 who was a year older on April 26, 2015, got a gift of the day with an endorsement with LAPO microfinance Bank; making her one of their new brand ambassadors;

    The OAP who could not hide her excitement posted, “Anywhere I look I see my Yahweh standing for me. Yes I signed an endorsement deal today, just because God is Jehova overdo I love the way you love me Lord am just greatful.”

    The multiple award winning On-Air- Personality on 95.1 Wazobia FM, TV Personality Wazobia TV, a lawyer by training, according to report is set for works and projects as she plan her events for this year [Oga Madam Live in London with LOLO1 – Season 3, Oga Madam Live on Stage with LOLO1 – Season 4, I-BOND with LOLO1 (Family Related Program] and also community projects with schools women  development and motivational seminars.

  • EU intensifies push for endorsement

    EU intensifies push for endorsement

    The last couple of months have been particularly busy for the EU. Following the barrage of opposition against the endorsement of the EPA deal, members of the economic bloc have stepped up their shuttle economic diplomacy in Nigeria with a view to addressing some of the issues and concerns raised by manufacturers over the agreement. For instance, in one of the numerous fora organised by the EU in Lagos, its Ambassador/Head of Delegation to Nigeria & ECOWAS, Ambassador Michel Arrion, maintained that the EU has no offensive economic agenda against Nigeria regarding the implementation of the EPA.

    Rather, the EU’s mission in Nigeria and West Africa, he said, was to ensure the advancement of the competitiveness of the sub-region’s economic segments. The envoy expressed regrets that most of the arguments against the EPA were wrong, and are based on emotions rather than facts.

    He explained that in pushing for EPA, investors from EU countries see Nigeria as investors’ haven and so have no hidden agenda whatsoever.

    “We have no offensive agenda in Nigeria because we believe that Nigeria and ECOWAS are very important places where European or other non-European businesses could invest because there is enough room for investment,” he said.

    Arrion, however, assured that by investing in Nigeria and other ECOWAS member states, the EU would not invade the West African market with products that could compete with local products in the region, pointing out that the EU has removed all its export subsidies to the West African market.

    At the fourth EU-Nigeria Business Forum (EUNBF) with “Unlocking opportunities for diversification” as its theme in Lagos, Mr. Arrion also said the EU was hoping to explore opportunities available in Nigeria to diversify exports, increase foreign exchange, and attract more FDIs.

    “The most obvious comparative advantage Nigeria has is agriculture. But this must evolve from exports of primary products to  add value,” he said, adding that the overall objective of the forum’s 2015 edition was to deepen understanding of the EPA can play in supporting the diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

    Also, the EPA, the envoy stated, will strengthen EU-Nigeria business relations through identification of opportunities of partnership and hopefully, address the bottlenecks related to the effective development of agric-business in Nigeria.

    The European Commissioner for Trade, Ms Cecelia Malmstrom, also said the EPA remains the pathway to diversification.

    “For an economy that’s trying to diversify, access to export markets means new companies in new sectors can think big right from the start,” she said, citing examples of diversification and development in Asian countries, which grew over the last decades by opening up to imports-not overnight, but gradually.

    Her words: “Today it’s almost impossible to make a product or deliver a service without some kind of international input. In Asia, the model often involved importing high-tech components in order to assembly them into finished products before re-exporting.”

    According to her, “imports help keep costs down,” adding that “besides, imports, like foreign investment, transmit ideas and innovation, which are essential for an economy that wants to break newground. The EPA that we have negotiated between the countries of West Africa and the EU is about bringing all of these benefits to Nigeria. Signing and implementing it is a clear win for companies, workers, consumers and government.”

    Ms. Malmstrom added that the EPA will provide duty-free and quota-free access to a market for Nigeria’s exports; not just any market, but EU’s single market of 500 million people, which is the world’s highest. She said the icing on the cake of the EPA was a €6.5 billion, about N1.4 trillion development funds for Nigeria and other West African countries to support infrastructure projects as well as capacity building in the private sector and civil society.

    She explained: “The fund will help companies here in Nigeria to meet international health, safety and environmental standards that are vital for access to world market. It will support the efforts of Customs authorities to streamline their procedures so that border crossings don’t hold back growth.”

    Despite dangling the proverbial carrot in the form of infrastructure projects support fund, it is doubtful if manufacturers are swayed.

    But, the critical question raised by Prof. Oyejide is: “If we say no to EPA, what are we going to do with ECOWAS CET? That is the dilemma, as the implementation of EPA and ECOWAS CET are supposed to go hand in hand and will mutually reinforce each other.

  • Church decries endorsement of same-sex marriage

    Last Friday’s ruling of the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court, legalising same-sex marriage has been described as “an attack on the church, Christianity and traditional values”.

    A statement from the leadership of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, signed by His Eminence, Senior Superintendent Gabriel F. Akinadewo (Omo Jesu II) and Senior Apostle Godfrey Dottie, described the action as unfortunate, “coming from a country which adopts ‘In God we Trust’ as its creed.

    “If individuals are involved in homosexuality, we didn’t expect the highest level of judiciary, the Supreme Court, to officially and legally okay such a satanic belief. It was even a surprise to us, as a church, that the highest level of executive, President Barack Obama, has also endorsed this luciferic belief that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman.

    “There are countless verses in the Bible to knock off this belief but Genesis 1:27 tells us that God created man and woman. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Adam or Eve and Eve. Genesis 1:31 tells us that everything God created was good.

    “It is unfortunate that many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, God’s and Christian values by pursuing policies that challenge God’s wisdom in creating man and woman to replenish the earth.”

    “It is true that man has freedom but man’s freedom is not absolute before God. By having faith in God and also believing in satan, the world is gradually slipping away into destruction.

    “Since The Netherlands legalised same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001, about 20 countries, including Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Britain, Brazil, New Zealand, Uruguay, France, Denmark and now the U.S., have joined the devilish train of man sleeping with man and woman sleeping with woman.

    “It is a terrible thing for anybody to live without God or, directly or indirectly, fight God through satanic words and action. We, as a church, are telling the world to beware of evil influences capable of incurring God’s wrath. We are telling other parts of the world: ‘stop this satanic action now’.

  • Jonathan, Buhari in struggle for Benin monarch’s endorsement

    Jonathan, Buhari in struggle for Benin monarch’s endorsement

    President Goodluck Jonathan and All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari are struggling for the endorsement of stakeholders in Edo State. With the recent endorsement of the former military Head of State by Benin palace chiefs, there are indications that the APC will have an upper hand at the general elections. OTABOR OSAGIE reports.

    The Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa, seldom makes speeches whenever he welcomes visitors in his palace. His responses are usually brief. But, palace chiefs who understands his body language know what to say when they are asked to speak on behalf of the monarch.

    However, for the first time, the in-fighting among top Benin chiefs over whether Oba Erediauwa should support President Goodluck Jonathan re-election bid or back the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu buhari has been a source of worry to the people of Edo State.

    During the last governorship contest between Governor Adams Oshiomhole and General Charles Airhiavbere, the monarch did not openly endorse any candidate. But, speeches by palace chiefs suggested the monarch’s preference.

    To General Airhiavbere, Oba Erediauwa said: “I have been watching you on the television and I will continue to watch you on the television.” But, the royal father, who spoke through Chief David Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, during the campaign visit of Governor Oshiomhole, said: “Adams Oshiomhole is the Benin candidate. He is the one who wants Benin City to join other modern cities in the country. So, he is our candidate. Some people said the palace is playing politics. What is politics? The Oba himself is an embodiment of politics.

    “If you have a house and you are old and your children did not come to paint the house and somebody from outside came and painted it and decorate it for you, will you leave that person? Once again, we are voting for Adams Oshiomhole.

    “As the Odionwere of Bini Kingdom, and I am speaking on behalf of the Oba, you are going to win. The oracle has spoken. Anyone who disputes it or fights against the oracle, then, let him fight on. We will wait and see the result.” Governor Oshiomhole later won the election in a landslide.

    In 1991, when Lucky Igbinedion of the defjunct National Republican Convention (NRC) contested against Chief John Odigie-Oyegun of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), the support of Oba Erediauwa saw Oyegun to victory. Chief Gabrial Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin and father to Lucky, later dragged the Oba before the tribunal.

    During the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan on February 4 for royal blessing, the Benin monarch, in a letter read by the Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe, said the Benins would accept whoever God chooses to lead the country after the presidential elections

    He said: “God and our ancestors already know your (President Jonathan) aims. Whoever God has chosen is our choice.”

    There was controversy over royal support for candidates recently when Chief Edebiri, who doubles as Chairman of the Benin Forum, said at a press briefing that Benins would not support President Jonathan. The statement was seen by many as the voice of the Oba because the forum, which is the umbrella body of  body all Benins in Nigeria and the Diaspora, reports to the Oba and its is personally appointed by the Oba.

    Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin, is the Odionwere (head) of all witches and wizards in Benin Kingdom. He listed the sins of the President against the kingdom. He said President Jonathan sacked the Minister of State for Works, Chris Ogiemwonyi, an engineer, and gave it to his (Ogiemwonyi) ex-wife, Stella Oduah, who hails from Anambra State.

    Edebiri added: “What was for the Benins was taken to Anambra by the present administration. That is why the Benin people will not vote for the PDP. Besides robbing the Benin people of the ministerial appointment, the home of the former minister, Ogiemwonyi, was completely broken by the action of the Presidency.

    “Is that what they have done for the Benin people that will make us to vote PDP? Impossible. If they want to postpone elections 20 times, the people are here waiting for them. The consequences of what Jonathan has done will be very grievous for him and his party. You met a man who was appointed half minister by the previous administration. His people in Benin voted massively for you during the elections. You now want to compose a new executive, you dropped him and took his wife, who comes from across the Niger.

    “Consequently, his home became divided and irretrievably broken. Robbing Benin of their ministerial appointment, destroying their son’s home for the interest of some people in Abuja. And this time around, you are coming to campaign here that we should vote for you. It is not possible that we will vote for such people because the Benin nation has been sidelined with ignominy in the present arrangement.

    “Nothing that the Federal Government can come to point to in Edo state that this is what he has done in the last four years. We have a governor who is performing. We have a governor we all love because of his developmental strides. The same Federal Government is starving the state government of funds. They don’t want the government to perform any more for us. How do we vote for people like that? The die is cast, whether they like it or not, the defeat of the present Federal Government is imminent and irreversible”.

    The Esogban’s statement did not go down well with members of the opposition parties. Chief Patrick Eholor, the Enobore of Ute Kingdom and President of One Love Foundation, frowned at it. Chief Eholor said Chief Edebiri should desist from using his position as the Odionwere of Benin to speak on behalf of the Binis on political choices. But, the Esogban said the criticism was inconsequential.

    Eholor pointed out that Chief Edebiri has no moral right to speak for the Binis since the Binis are enlightened people who have the right to their freedom of political expression. He said: “This is a rat race. The Esogban must remain neutral and should not use the Benin Forum to conclude that the palace has taken a stand on who the Binis should vote for and he should desist from such utterances or we will resist him

    “The Binis has its proud culture, which must be separated from politics and, if we are to maintain our cultural heritage, the palace should not be dragged into politics. That is why we are worried about what he said.”

    A chieftain of the PDP and palace chief, who is lower in rank to the Esogban, Chief Amos Osunbor, the Eson of Benin, described the comments from the Benin Forum as “vexatious.”  He warned that such mis-formation portends an inherent danger to the Benins. “I wish to state categorically that Omo N’ Edo Uku Akpolopkolo, through our revered Crown Prince Ehenede, had already expressed his desire to have President Goodluck Jonathan serve a second term to enable him complete the transformation that he has already started.

    “Every Nigerian witnessed the epoch royal visit. I am therefore, wondering about the intention of Chief Edebiri because his latest comments amount to an affront on His Royal Majesty. No one, except the monarch, has right to speak for the Binis,” he said.

    President Jonathan has sent a powerful PDP delegation led by his campaign coordinator in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to woo the Chief Priest of Benin Kingdom, Chief Nosakhare Isekhure. Chief Isekhure was nominated as a delegate to the National Conference by President Jonathan. Isekhure, who reiterated the Oba’s support for the President’s re-election bid, promised to mobilise all southerners to vote for him.

    He said: “I have not seen a person who has dedicated himself to Nigeria like Jonathan. I am very confident that he has good agenda. Therefore, I will vote for Jonathan more than one hundred and ten times. Even though I am of the APC, I will not only vote for him, I will mobilise all the traditional institutions in Benin and elsewhere in the South and I believe he will win. The only candidate I know is Jonathan and I will vote for him. If heaven is going to fall, let it fall.

    “Those calling Benin people not to vote for Jonathan are just wasting their time because there is no such platform that can tell the people who they should vote for. During the 2011 presidential election, the Oba of Benin not only endorsed Jonathan, but was the one who set the impetus for the president to run and so, I do not think the monarch has change his stand on that.”

    The campaign team of President Jonathan also visited the Holy Arosa Cathedral, the traditional church of the Benins where the Oba is the General Overseer. At the church, Pastor Ize-Iyamu met with some palace chiefs led by Chief Sunny Omorogbe, the Osafuoba of Benin.

    However, the Benin Royal family in its reaction condemned the presence of Jonathan Campaign Organisation at the Holy Aruosa Cathedral and warned against its desecration. The Oba’s younger brother and Enogie of Obazuwa, Prince Edun Akenzua, hinted that some of the palace chiefs would be sanctioned by the appropriate authorities.

    “We will not allow the Holy Arousa to be desecreted. Invading the Holy Arousa Cathedral, as Pastor Ize-Iyamu-Iyamu’s team did, shows how desperate they are to capture the royal institution. It is even more so when the leader or the coordinator is a Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church. I wonder if he will do that in his church.”

    Prince Akenzua explained that it was against the rules of the palace for Chief Amos Osunbor to openly castigate the Esogban, since the Eson is lower in rank after the Esogban in the hierarchy of the palace Chiefs.

    He said: “The disturbing aspect of the whole episode is the indiscipline and disloyalty to the Benin cause and our revered institution. In order to comprehend the gravity and implication of Eson’s act, it is important to explain briefly the organogram of Benin chieftaincy.

    “Palace or royal chiefs belong mainly to three groups namely: Eghaevbo n’ore, Eghaevbo n’Ogbe and Ibiwe. Iyase is the head of Eghaevbo n’orhe. Esogban, Eson and Osuma belong to the same group and are in that order of seniority. That means Eson is next to Esogban in the hierarchy of that group.”

    “Both Esogban, Eson and Isekhure can exercise their freedom of speech, but that freedom of speech does not extend to a chief or member of the Royal Court to publicly and derisively criticize his colleague, more so a senior one. In the military or the uniformed forces, the erring person would be court marshalled”.

    “I have even said it myself that. after the Benins voted the President in 2011,when Oshiomhole said we should support him, the man has not done anything for our people. And when the Esogban spoke, he did not say he was speaking on behalf of the Benin Forum which I am a member, he said he was speaking his mind. And let us not forget that as chairman of the forum, he protects the interest of the Binis and not that of a few, so if he says Benins will not vote for Jonathan because he has not done anything for the Benins what is wrong with that comment. Personally I have not seen anything that Jonathan has done for us as a people and if there is anything let them come and show me”.

    The Benin Royal Family was however, shocked when a sponsored advertorial by the PDP on the television showed last year’s visit of Benin Crown Prince Eheneden Erediauwa to President Jonathan at the behest of his father. A replay of the interview granted journalists by the Crown Prince was perhaps to hoodwink people that the Benin Monarch endorsed President Jonathan.

    Crown Prince Erediauwa warned the PDP to desist from politicising his visit to garner votes, ahead of the general election. He urged the public to discountenance the use of his pictures, images, audio and video to campaign for votes.

    The Benin Prince noted that his visit to the Presidential villa as directed by his father, Oba Erediuawa, was to douse negative comments that the Oba does not support the government of President Jonathan. He maintained that the palace has not endorsed the President for a second term.

    A statement by Royal Palace Chiefs last week and read by the traditional Prime Minister of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe, the Iyase of Benin, reiterated that the Benin monarch has not endorsed any candidate for the March 28 election.

    Chief Igbe, whose son, the Speaker of the House of assembly is an APC candidate for the House of Representatives election, said the media should stop the partisan advert showing the Crown Prince’s visit to President Jonathan.

    He said the palace seriously consider the continuous use of the video to boost support for a particular party as image-tarnishing of the palace.

    Also, the Southsouth sentiment is collapsing. Apart from Ijaw, other ethnic groups are accusing the President of being clannish. Can the President still get bloc vote from the Southsouth? March 28 will tell.

  • Group defends CAN on Ishaku’s endorsement

    Group defends CAN on Ishaku’s endorsement

    The Taraba Voters Watch (TVW) yesterday defended the Christian Association of Nigeria’s (CAN’s) endorsement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard-bearer, Darius Dickson Ishaku, for the governorship election.

    The Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, David Sabo Kente, at a news conference condemned the endorsement of Ishaku by CAN, berating the religious body for playing partisan politics.

    But the Taraba Voters Watch said: “CAN as an independent association did no wrong in endorsing the candidature of Ishaku, who is their choice.”

  • ‘Afenifere’s endorsement of Jonathan won’t stand’

    In this piece, a group – Concerned Yoruba – rejects the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid by a faction of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere. Spokesmen for the group Felix Adenaike, Adetowo Aderemi,   Tokunbo Ajasin and Kayode Oyediran counsel their kinsmen from the Southwest to vote wisely during the elections. 

    On Thursday, 26th February, 2015 a group of persons described in the media as “eminent leaders of thought in Yoruba land” met in lbadan at what they called the second post-national conference summit. It was convened by the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who was the convener of the first “summit” in Akure a week earlier. Advertisements of both events in the dailies had indicated that attendance was strictly by invitation, and subsequent reports showed great overlap in the list of those who attended both events.

    Dr. Mimiko is reported to have described the lbadan “summit” as” – a pan-Yoruba forum with all political tendencies in attendance”. That claim is clearly false because several groups in Yoruba land have since issued disclaimers as we do now. Moreover it is common knowledge that the All Progressive Congress (APC) – for which we are neither representatives nor spokespersons did not participate in the meetings. Having regard to the fact that the APC currently administers four of the six states in Yoruba land, the description of the meetings as” summit” is very presumptuous, misleading and delusional.

    The lbadan “summit” is reported to have declared that every Yoruba son and daughter should vote for President Goodluck Jonathan” in the ire lightened self-interest”. In earlier statements some of the participant s had urged the Yoruba to support Jonathan in order to avoid” making a big mistake and digging their own graves”. The Chairman of the “summit” and leader of a faction of the Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said the decision to support President Jonathan was taken to ensure that the report of the 2014 National Conference was implemented, and because Jonathan was committed to the restructuring of the country through the implementation of the confab’s report. Chief Olu Falae, Chairman of the Yoruba delegation at the confab, said: “Throughout the conference, Jonathan did not try to teleguide us. He said he will implement the report of the conference in the first year of his second term of office”. The Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Olajumoke Akinjide said President Jonathan had already started implementing the report of the confab by setting- up an inter- ministerial committee of which she was a member representing the Southwest Region.

    Thus, in his sixth year in office as President, Jonathan set-up a national conference, but more than six months after receiving the report of the confab, the only action he has taken on its implementation is to establish an inter – ministerial committee – to do exactly what? He gave Falae and others an assurance that he would implement the report in the first year of his second term – even though the elections are yet to be held and he has not publicly made implementation of the confab report a campaign issue. Clearly, this is selling the Yoruba a dummy (won nfi obo lo Yoruba). It is curious and disappointing that participants at the “summit” have eagerly bought the dummy. We are confident that the vast majority of the Yoruba will not agree to be taken for a ride. The position of the summiteers on this matter is made more curious by Chief Falae’s statement at the meeting that, in 2007, he personally raised N20 million to support Buhari’s Presidential campaign because of Buhari’s promise to convoke a national conference if elected. As it happened,  Gen Buhari did not win that election, but it is instructive that his manifest of or the 2015 election includes a commitment to restructuring of the country and other important issues which are said to feature in the report of the 2014 confab. There is no such commitment in the PDP manifest to. It is obvious that, whereas over the years Buhari has maintained his position on this matter, those who claim to be “consistent and principled” have withdrawn the strong support they gave him in 2007, and have deserted him for a new bride. What could be responsible for this apparent abandonment of a bird in hand in order to chase after two in the forest?

    There can be no doubt that restructuring is very important and desirable for the stability and survival of the country as one entity. However there are many other extant problems which are and have been militating against the welfare and development of Nigeria. Prominent among them are widespread endemic and pervasive corruption (which includes, but is not limited to stealing), a culture of impunity, and the debasement of the institutions that undergird the nation (including the police, judiciary, armed forces and so forth). These problems have worsened steadily during this Fourth Republic, particularly under the current administration. Our socio-cultural values have been steadily assaulted and, as it were, thrown out of the window. The best interests of the Yoruba-indeed of all Nigerians – dictate that the rot should be arrested and reversed before it is too late, and the country degenerates in to a banana republic governed by war-lords. This is the imperative change being sought.

  • Fallacy of Jonathan’s Southwest endorsement

    Fallacy of Jonathan’s Southwest endorsement

    The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has joined a section of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, in drumming support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the futility of the campaign in a region that has a reputation for rejecting inept leadership and its implications for the elections.

    The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has joined the train of President Goodluck Jonathan’s promoters in the Southwest, when it endorsed his re-election bid recently. Previously, the council had maintained a neutral position, saying the presidency.

    But, members of the group led by Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo paid a surprise visit to President Jonathan at State House, Marina, Lagos, apparently to express its support for his second term bid. During the visit, members of the delegation commended the president for offering good leadership to the country. Besides, Gen. Adebayo-led a powerful delegation to the post-National Conference Summit organised by the leaders of the Afenifere and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Premier Hotel, Ibadan.

    Analysts have described the sudden volte-face of YCE as ridiculous, saying it has seriously undermined its integrity. They reasoned that YCE is supposed to be apolitical adding that aligning itself with a political party will make it lose its dignity.

    Afenifere and YCE hinged their decision to support the President on their desire to see the recommendation of last year’s National Conference implemented by the man who convened the conference. But, the Deputy Leader of Afenifere, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, was not swayed by that reasoning. He asked whether it is only Jonathan has the exclusive ability to implement the report.

    Fasanmi said: “Those who endorsed President Jonathan based their decision among other reasons on his commitment to implement the outcome of the National Conference. However, the outcome of the conference will require a constitutional amendment. Hence, it is the national and states assembly that have the power to incorporate the conference resolutions into the constitution. So, the President has minimal not pivotal role to play in this matter.”

    Former Senate Minority Leader Olorunnimbe Mamora, aligned himself with Fasanmi’s position that the President does not have the exclusive right of implementing the recommendations of the conference. “The implementation cannot be done outside the National Assembly. The report is a public document that can be implemented by whoever wins the presidential election. The issue of true federalism, devolution of power and fiscal federalism recommended by the National Conference are contained in the All Progressives Congress (APC) manifesto. I can assure you that if Buhari is elected, he will ensure that the report is implemented.

    On the directive that the Yoruba should vote for Jonathan in the re-scheduled March 28 presidential election, Afenifere chieftain Senator Biyi Durojaiye said it is illogical. He said, he could not understand the criteria or the rationale for the endorsement of Jonathan by both the Afenifere and the YCE, which directed the Yorubas to cast their votes for him.

    He said: “I cannot understand the basis for endorsing an administration that had been criticised by the Afenifere leaders for marginalising the Southwest. What has changed now that they want the Yorubas to overlook? Is it because Jonathan has engaged some Yoruba elements to castigate former President Olusegun Obasanjo?

    “I am amazed that some Yoruba leaders are asking our people to support a government that lacks good morals, that has the tenacity to hold on to power at all costs, that changes the rule of the game at its convenience, that plots to remove the chief electoral umpire.”

    Fasanmi said it was too late for Jonathan to be making promises of appointing a Yoruba person into a high position after his re-election. “Despite the fact that Jonathan won five states in the Southwest in 2011 with 2.7 million votes, the people from this zone play minimal role in his administration. Even when he appointed Southwesterners into his cabinet, they were not assigned strategic portfolios,” he added

    The Second Republic senator regretted that his colleagues, including Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi and Chief Ayo Adebanjo spearheaded the endorsement without sparing a thought of the future. He said the Awoists calling on the Southwest to vote for President Jonathan have mocked their antecedent and rich history of struggle for a better Nigeria.

    He challenged the Afenifere leaders to list the achievements of President Jonathan in the Southwest that could warrant their endorsement of his candidature. He said the Jonathan administration has marginalised the region in the distribution of appointments and amenities, wondering why the Afenifere chieftains are rooting for his re-election.

    President of Yoruba Consultative Group (YCG), Chief Ayo Adegoke, advised President Jonathan not to be deceived by the political jobbers, who have been assuring him that they would win Southwest votes for him. He said President Jonathan should not expect bulk vote from the southwest in 2015. According to him, what happened in 2011 will not play out this time around.

    Adegoke stated: “Jonathan got sympathy votes in the Southwest in 2011 not because of the PDP, but because he came from the minority group that had never ruled this country. The same Jonathan has squandered that opportunity and relegated the Southwest to the background in the scheme of things. When he was not allowed to take over the leadership of the country at the time the late President Umaru Yar’Adua travelled abroad for medical treatment, it was the people of Southwest that fought for him.

    “Despite the goodwill the people of Southwest accorded him in 2011, what did they benefit from his government? Instead most Yoruba holding senior positions in civil service lost their jobs. Jonathan should not be misled by the self-serving groups like the Afenifere and the YCE that the Yoruba would vote for him. The so-called leaders lack electoral value; some of them cannot win in their wards.”

    Adegoke described the Southwest as the traditional home of the progressives. I don’t see a situation whereby the Yoruba would for any reason this time around abandon the APC, which was co-founded by their leaders and other like minds across the country. He said the politics of the Southwest is based on principle and peoples interest. It is not possible for the people of this region to vote for the PDP, given the performances of the APC governors in the zone, he added.

    A PDP chieftain confided in our correspondent that it will be herculean for the party to score the required 25 per cent in Southwest states during the presidential election in the Southwest let alone winning the states. He agreed that the Jonathan administration marginalised the region, in spite of the goodwill of the people towards him during the 2011 presidential election.

    He said: “I share the view that we do not deserve Yoruba support this time around. The people of the Southwest voted massively for Jonathan in 2011. It is a general cake that has to be shared among those who contributed to its baking.

    “We went to Abuja on this issue. All the PDP governors and leaders were there to confront President Jonathan. He promised to rectify the anomaly after 2015 elections. Apart from ministerial appointment, which is constitutional, what have we gained from Jonathan’s administration so far? We have nothing to show for the massive support he got from Southwest in 2011.”

    A lawyer, Tolu Afolabi, said the self-appointed leaders of the Yoruba should know their limitations. He said: “Nobody appointed either the Afenifere or the Yoruba Council of Elders to speak on behalf of the Yoruba race. The Yoruba know what is good for them. They can decide for themselves. Those promising Jonathan Southwest votes are on their own.”

    Afolabi noted that the leadership of the Afenifere and the YCE have betrayed the Yoruba race by endorsing an administration that marginalised their region in terms of appointments and infra-structural development. “At a time when the people of Southwest like other progressives across the country are yearning for a change they are asking us to vote for a government that has failed,” he said.

    “The political setting that made people to vote for Jonathan in 2011, irrespective of party affiliation, has changed. The political leadership of the Southwest at that time interacted with their colleagues in government to give him solid votes, but that situation does not exist today. Jonathan and his foot soldiers should face the reality that the Southwest is a no-go area.

    “The new political leadership in the Southwest represented by the APC has been consistent with the principle of protecting the general interest of the Yoruba, which Chief Obafemi Awolowo stood for all his life. That principle made him more popular in death. Awo is revered because of his landmark achievements in education, health, agriculture and rural development that stood him out among his peers. The so called Awoists should retrace their steps and stop ridiculing themselves.

    On the claim by the Afenifere that they are supporting Jonathan because he is from the South, the lawyer said the group has betrayed Awo’s philosophy and his political approach. Afolabi said:  “Awolowo never discriminated against the North in expanding his political empire. “Awo’s  Action Group (AG) went into alliance with the United Middle Belt Congress led by the late J.S. Tarka and the Borno Youth Movement in the First Republic. The political horizon of the late sage widened in the Second Republic when he signed a pact with the Concerned Citizens of the North led by the late Major  General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua in 1983. That explains why Awo was able to pick a Fulani man, Alhaji Muhammadu Kura, as running mate. The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) performed better in the presidential election in the North in 1983 compared to 1979.

    “It will be wrong of the Afenifere leaders to describe the coming together of the mainstream politicians of Yoruba extraction and their counterparts from the North as a sellout. Awo started it and he even predicted that the progressives of the North and the South would come together one day to rescue the country.”

       

  • A needless endorsement

    A needless endorsement

    SIR: I read the news of the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for second term by Afenifere and other social cultural groups in Yorubaland with mixed feelings. Mixed feelings because the groups, including the two factions of OPC had the rights to endorse whosoever they like for president, but the endorsement is contrary to the position of all major socio-cultural groups and even individual’s positions that President Jonathan administration marginalized the south-west region in his appointments and patronages. As a matter of fact, I was privileged to attend a meeting of the Yoruba Unity Forum at the Ikenne-Remo residence of the late sage about three years ago; the major discussion that day was marginalization of the Yoruba by President Jonathan-led federal government. I could remember that a communiqué was produced and a petition was equally written and a delegate sent to President Jonathan. It was heart-warming that President Jonathan made some redress with the appointment of Brigadier Gen. Jones Oladeinde Arogbofa as the Chief of Staff. However, issue of marginalization in terms of developmental projects has not been fairly addressed. Save the rehabilitation of Lagos/Ibadan expressway, which was a Pan-Nigerian Highway, establishment of a university in Oye and a polytechnic in Ondo State respectively, I have not seen any physical development embarked upon by the federal government in the South-west which could have compelled the sudden change of position. In actual fact, what I believe led to the sudden change in the disposition of Afenifere, OPC, et al, to the administration’s marginalization of the South-west was the appointment of many stalwarts of these organizations to the recently held constitutional conference. As a matter of fact, the disposition of many members of the confab during the last year Yoruba Unity Forum’s meeting at Ikenne confirmed this. And if this is so, it amounts to betrayal of trust. This is because for many years, Yoruba depended on Afenifere for direction on critical national questions. Indeed, I have read several interviews by the leaders of the groups, who based the support for President Jonathan on the pretext that the recommendations of the National Conference would be implemented if he wins the next election. This position too, is superficial. This is because, if President Jonathan wins, he would still need the majority votes in the National Assembly for the recommendations to sail through. Even, the Afenifere’s recommendations which the group wants implemented are parochial. This is because it is not meant to serve the interest of Yorubaland, but those who drafted the recommendations. If not, the opinion of all Yoruba people would have been sought on this before going to the conference, but this was not so.

    President Jonathan needs the endorsement of nobody in Yorubaland. What he needs is performance. Yoruba are the most politically sophisticated people in Nigeria. Majority of Yorubas are independent-minded and could read between the lines. Late Obafemi Awolowo became idol because of his performance as premier of the region, sincerity of purpose and for meeting the yearnings and aspirations of his people in and out of government. If a party is dominant in Yorubaland, it is only doing the biddings of the people. Once it derails, it is rejected.

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso