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Tag: Jonathan

  • Jonathan has abandoned Rivers State

    Jonathan has abandoned Rivers State

    Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, like most second term governors is on the last lap ahead handing over to a successor in 2015. That run-in promises to be turbulent and exihilirating given his political battles on several fronts. But despite the formidable nature of foes confronting him, he is confident that he can realise his policy and development targets in the time left, and, along with his colleagues, lead his party – the All Progressives Congresses (APC) to capture power at the centre and retain his power base in Rivers State. He spoke with Festus Eriye and Taiwo Ogundipe.

    During the recent Freedom House lecture, you said part of this money  the country generate should be given directly to the people.

    I didn’t say they should give anybody money directly. I said Nigerians don’t abhor corruption. I made that point based on the frustration I have gotten from Nigerians. And, therefore, I think what Nigerians are up to is basically that they feel that if you stay for like six months, like I have been governor for eight years, why should I be governor for eight years? If I have been governor for like six months and I take like maybe N1billion or N2billion and I go, when the next Nigerian comes in and he takes his own billion and goes and probably it will go round  all Nigerians, and I agree to that that we should domesticate and democratise corruption in such a way that everybody has an opportunity of being corrupt, so that when you do that, you have excess money chasing very little goods and then the economy will explode, then we realise that by the time you wake up everybody is poor, then we will stop corruption. Because those who are going to stop corruption are not state manly enough to stop corruption.

    Going into the election, we saw what experience you passed through in Ekiti State, how much do you fear  of the federal government using security forces, the military, police to unduly direct the election?

    What the PDP has done in Ekiti is to show you what they will do in other elections. I have said it and I will continue to say it that we don’t have a democracy, we have a diarchy. I said that at the Freedom House lecture: government of the civilians and the military where military officers issue government instructions and enforce them by the force of the gun. The military has no business stopping me on my way to Ekiti. I was there, a serving minister, Minister of State, drove pass where I was. I was there, the Minister for Police Affairs drove pass where I was. So, would you say the election in Ekiti State was free and fair?  The soldiers were escorting PDP members to distribute rice, wrappers (cloth) and money on the day of election. Was that free and fair? Nigerians must rise against another state of dictatorship in the name of diarchy because there is no difference between what Abacha did and what is currently being done. Your newspapers were impounded and you people didn’t do anything.

    We shouted.

    What is shouting? You should go beyond shouting to physical demonstration on the streets. Once you start protesting, they will know you will resist the militarisation of the country.

    Your aircraft was prevented from flying in Kano and a couple of other places, and you were stopped from going into Ekiti, it looks as if you were particularly targeted, do you feel humiliated by this?

    No. I was a student leader. There is nothing President Goodluck Jonathan is doing to me now that I didn’t suffer when I was a student leader.  That is not humiliation; I see that as dictatorship, what you can call autocracy. I should be asking you, what have you done? Because it is not about Amaechi, the struggle is not about me, what I am struggling for is not about me. I’ve told people, what else am I looking for from God other than long life. I was governor at age 42, I was speaker at age 34 and I was in government at age 26. What else am I looking for?

    You are likely to move higher.

    I don’t know about that. Let’s leave that in the hand of God.

    Your critics have been accusing you of non-performance because of some lapses in the provisions of certain infrastructure.

    What are the lapses?

    I read somewhere where you were reacting to criticisms that some projects awarded by the government have not been completed.

    I along with some journalists and foreigners (white men) have just come back from some trips of some of the projects the state government is executing. The white men were clapping – let me speak like the president, who said when he went to Kenya that the Kenyans were awed by the number of Nigerians who have aircraft. The visitors were wondering and clapping. I took them on the monorail for them to see that I have completed it; it is just that we want to complete the terminal. So, where are those critics? I tell the country that when I took over as governor that there were 1,300 primary schools in Rivers State and these primary schools were of six classroom blocks, built by the following groups: Rivers State Government, Local Government Councils, all the oil companies (Shell, Chevron, Total, Agip, etc). All of them put together including NGOs built only 1,300 primary schools of six classrooms blocks.

    During my eight years of governorship I have completed 500 primary schools. There are also about nearly 100 that are uncompleted. We are about furnishing 300 of them. And the furnishing is not cheap; to furnish one with ICT costs about N34million. When I took the white men there, they were shocked that there were schools in third world country that are like these – with computers, libraries, auditorium, music instruments in the auditorium,  sick bays, reception classes from where you go to primary one and all the classrooms have computers for the teachers to use to teach. I also took them to the secondary schools we have built. We were to build 23 but we didn’t have enough money to do that. We have been able to build only seven. I took them to one. In one of the classes we have virtual class where you study using instruments. The teacher does nothing rather than to punch those computers and you will hear somebody talking and identifying what he is teaching.

    By the time we went round – President John Kuffor was present – He asked me where did the vision come from? I told him the vision to build the secondary schools came from Achimota Secondary School. I told him I drove into Achimota one day and I saw the expanse of land and I said I will build a school that has the same kind of land. I borrowed the idea of the number of structures from my children’s school when they were in England. The people I took on the tour were shocked when they saw the projects.

    People are not saying I did not perform. All they are saying Amaechi is all about the first term as if my father killed me in my first term. This time I decided to take them to the only projects I have completed in my second term. And I could give him example, I said I completed 75 primary schools in my first term and in my second term I have done 400 and 25 to make it 500 and I am furnishing 300 of the schools. In which term would you say I’ve performed better?

    The difference basically is because my first term, you saw me on the streets jumping, shouting and running. I was pursuing criminals to secure the city. Now the city appears to be secured and I am no longer 42. I cannot jump any longer because one day I may fall. In my second term, I’ve improved power supply. I want the federal government to let the public know that the power we are enjoying here comes from the Rivers State government and they don’t pay us any money. We buy gas every month to supply the power and the federal government reduced the revenue for the past seven years I have been governor.  So, what are the critics saying?  Do you know what I call those critics? They are stomach infrastructure critics.

    When I tell people I don’t have a house, they tell me to stop saying that, that it is I who don’t want a house. That is what my critics say.  They are not afraid, they have houses everywhere; they are not scared of the consequences because there is no anti- corruption policy. Nobody is pursuing anybody. The impunity with which the stealing is going on, small ministers are living in mansions they just built. From being ordinary chairmen of councils they now live in mansions. Nobody is asking.

    Most things government need to realise is that when you deny people the necessary infrastructure that will keep them alive, when they die you should be charged for manslaughter. If you are supposed to build the hospital that will keep people alive because they have handed their resources over you to build the hospital and you divert the resources into your pocket, when they die, and no one charges you of manslaughter, when God comes, He will charge you for manslaughter.

    Let’s talk about your party, APC. Are you satisfied with the outcome of the convention?

    Yes I am.

    We learnt that the governors in APC were rooting for your former colleague, an ex-governor.

    It is not true. We met, we agreed completely. That is why when I heard that somebody published that they interviewed me, I was surprised. l had left Abuja since 6am that day for UK, I didn’t even have a ticket. There was no prior ticket. I bought a ticket right there. It was an economy ticket then. They later  managed to take me to the business class.  I got to the UK that day. The next day in UK I was reading on the internet that somebody said he interviewed me.

    Some people believe that the victory of PDP in Ekiti State will create momentum for the party that will cut across especially  the South- West axis.

    Why not we wait? It’s about performance. A change is coming. For me, the election of 2015 will be a referendum on our president’s government. It is not going to be a referendum on my own because the campaign won’t be about Amaechi. Is Amechi running for presidency?

    He might be.

    Well if I’m running for presidency and I’m on a ticket as a presidential candidate,  I won’t say judge me by what I have done in the country, I will say judge me by what I have done in the state. And I will show you what I have done in virtually diverse areas, especially in the area of sports. Port Harcourt has one of the best stadia in the country. I took the visitors to the sport complex because I heard one of these critics say that my colleague and brother has built a better stadium and how cheap mine is. The entire sport complex is N33billion and it includes two Olympic size swimming pools and two diving pools, hockey pitch, basketball, handball, long tennis, squash courts, shooting range and indoor game. It is an athletic stadium. All of them put together cost us N34billion. They should compare us to the rest where we are hearing the costs of their sport infrastructures are much higher.

    One thing that seems to be driving corruption and impunity among government officials is the provision of immunity against prosecution in the constitution.

    Do ministers have immunity? You people target governors alone. Do ministers have immunity? How many ministers have been prosecuted?

    Port Harcourt has been branded the World Book Capital. You have invested much on literature and education in the state, what do you stand to benefit from this?

    Nothing but the literariness of the reading public. We need to encourage people to read. The problem we have here in the country is the fact that most people don’t want to acquire education for the purpose of knowledge. They acquire education for the purpose of seeking employment etc. We don’t think education is just to enhance their capacity for employment. We think you should also acquire education for knowledge. So, we are trying to open the public space for people to seek education for the sake of knowledge. We are building libraries and there will be libraries all over the state. In every local government headquarters there must be a library. Then in the city we are building reading rooms where there are books as well.

    We are going to build a major library that will belong to the state. But even at that, there is an NGO that is building privately, independent of government, the Port Harcourt Book Centre. There is a library, writers’ village and an event centre that will help fund the centre when they complete it. Everything there is about books.

    It seems your apparent love of books came out of your background as an English Literature or Language graduate and we can see that you have a very striking relationship with Prof. Wole Soyinka, could you please talk a little about your relationship with him?

    The Prof. is turning 80 in the next few weeks, the Rivers State government is trying to see how they can buy into it to see how we can convince him to give us a date to host him for his 80th but we have not gotten a date yet.

    What is the nature of your relationship with Prof, how did this friendship develop?

    A: I met Prof Soyinka when I was at the University but I met him through Yemi Ogunbiyi and we established a friendship.

    Do you accept the position that some people take that the APC seems to have lost the momentum it had at the time that five governors came from the PDP? You have the direction of defection has changed. People are moving towards the PDP. APC just lost an election in Ekiti State in its own very backyard, do you accept that going forward that the APC seems to be losing momentum?

    A: How can we be losing momentum? Don’t forget that the first thing you need to deal with in APC is a combination of regional parties. The only party was national was the new PDP that came in. Now with the new PDP coming, APC has taken the position of a national party. There is no where you will go now in the country that you don’t have APC

    If PDP could defeat CPC with 10million votes and CPC was just a regional party based in the North – and the PDP defeated General Buhari with just 10million votes, he didn’t have money, don’t forget. He may have CPC chapters in the south but it was non existence ….

    Are you saying General Buhari is running for presidency?

    I’m not saying General Buhari is running presidency or not. He has never told me whether he wants to run or not, but let us just use him as an example for the purpose of exemplifying what we are talking about. If he were to be a candidate now with APC in the South West, don’t forget that the PDP won everywhere apart from Osun State. So, who is losing now, PDP or APC?

    There was no APC in Rivers State. Instead what they do is to go pay people to go and destroy our billboards. Here, PDP scored 2.1milliom vote, no opposition, there was none. Other parties looked for people to field candidates for them. Now there is a strong APC presence, there are two senators from APC, there are eight members of the House of Representatives out of 13, there are 25 or 26 APC members in the House of Assembly.

    PDP has also defined APC very well by trying to make it look like it is a religious party, that it has favoured one religion. And the PDP has virtually tried to force down this question of a Muslim-Muslim ticket that they say APC is trying to push forward ….

    Why not wait until pick our presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate. Once we do that, you will know whether are Muslim-Muslim ticket. They were using the party structure to accuse us, now the party structure has changed into the hand of a Christian; they have pulled out of that. Wait until we get there.

    When they say PDP is making waves, PDP is making no wave. They already have a presidential candidate, and they are running without APC running because APC is obeying the law and PDP is not obeying the law because the president has been campaigning. When we do start our campaign…look at the geopolitics, Lagos is not a PDP, it is heavily populated by voters, Kano is not PDP, Rivers is not PDP, and it has an APC governor. If we vote today, let us assume for the purpose of argument that everybody comes here and say no don’t vote against him, he is our brother -the president is not my brother, I am an Ikwerre man and the president is an Ijaw man.  So, the Ikwerre man will vote according to his conscience.

    The last election was the ‘Breath of Fresh Air’; he is our brother from the South-South. That our brother from the South-South has gone to this war, he has returned without any booty for me. Do I still identify with him? The president is a nice man. But look at the state of the Port Harcourt International Airport. It is horrible. It has been abandoned by the PDP government. The federal roads have also been abandoned. There must be something Rivers people have done against the president that he doesn’t like. If I were to be in PDP, these are the things I’m going to look at, that the president won South-South/South East 100 percent, 13 to 14 million votes. He also won South-West. Can you say now that even if the president uses soldiers, he would win South-West?

     

     

  • 2015: Stop dropping Jonathan’s, Mu’azu’s names, Ogun PDP tells Bankole

    2015: Stop dropping Jonathan’s, Mu’azu’s names, Ogun PDP tells Bankole

    Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the Forum of Local Government Chairmen in the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned aspirants and their backers against name-dropping.

    The forum spoke against the backdrop of the outbursts of Chief Alani Bankole, the father of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, who stormed a recent meeting of the forum where he boasted that President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of our great party, Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, asked his son to join the governorship race, adding that they had promised to give him an automatic ticket.

    In a statement issued yesterday and signed by the Chairman of the PDP in the Abeokuta South Local Government Area and Chairman of the forum, Hon. Kehinde Sofenwa, the group said, “The elder Bankole’s conduct is unbecoming of an elder and a democrat. We urge him and his son to follow the due process and not seek to usurp constituted authority.”

    The statement reads in part: “We recall that some months ago, they were going about to say that the President and the National Chairman had assured them that the authentic and legally constituted state exco of our party would be dissolved. But till date, nothing of such has happened. Rather, the party, under the leadership of our able Chairman, Engr. Adebayo Dayo, is waxing stronger.

    “Much as we shudder to think if it is the younger Bankole that is in the race or the father, we wish to state without mincing words that all these are unfounded. They have no basis in fact and in reality.

    “If anything, his comments showed clearly that he has not been in touch with the party in the state. Otherwise, he would have known that the party has been restructured from the ward, local government and state levels, such that its structures are in the firm control of the respective leaders and elders.

    “The days when one powerful man sits in the comfort of his bedroom to determine what happens elsewhere are gone for good. That was what was ably demonstrated with the primary election in Ekiti State.

    “On the purported assurances they claimed to have got from the President and National Chairman, our simple reaction is that we are not deceived. We do not need anyone to tell us that our amiable President and the cool-headed National Chairman are sticklers for due process and respecters of the rule of law.

    “They have shown time and again that they would never lend themselves to lawlessness and illegalities. Having seen the gains of a free and transparent primary, as exemplified in the Ekiti election, they cannot afford to reverse the gains. We wager that a thousand Bankoles cannot change that.

    “We advise the Bankoles to come down from their high horses of living in the past and face the reality on ground. This is even more so that his four years’ reign as Speaker had no positive bearing on the lives of the people of Ogun State. If they are intent on salvaging whatever is left of their political careers, they should join hands with other leaders, elders and members of the party and work for it. They should know that when they literally decided to play Nero while Rome burnt, some people stayed back and worked to keep the party together. The question is: if everybody had abandoned the party like they did, would there be a platform that they now seek to impose themselves on?

    “We recall with nostalgia his membership of the infamous cabal which frustrated the then Acting President Goodluck Jonathan from assuming office as the substantive President. We also recall that upon his losing his re-election bid (he could not win one local government area  which makes up his Abeokuta South Federal Constituency), he colluded with the opposition to deny the South West the Speakership of the House of Representatives that was zoned to it.

    At press time, Chief Bankole could not be reached for comment.

  • APC: Jonathan embarrassed Nigeria over Chibok girls

    APC: Jonathan embarrassed Nigeria over Chibok girls

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it was a compound embarrassment that it took 17-year-old Pakistani girl-child education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai, to visit and convince President Goodluck Jonathan to agree to a meeting with representatives of the parents of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.

    The party faulted the Presidency for blaming the opposition for the failure of Jonathan’s planned parley with the abducted girls’ parents.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC said: “President Jonathan, who has already embarrassed himself and the people of Nigeria by his inexplicable failure to visit Chibok since the girls were abducted over 90 days ago, has compounded the embarrassment and insulted Nigerians by waiting for Malala to goad him to meet with the girls’ parents, not in Chibok but in Abuja.”

    It said after the meeting failed, because the parents were not properly informed and invited, the Presidency blamed the opposition and patriotic Nigerians, who have been campaigning daily under the #BringBackOurGirls group.

    APC said: “Fortunately, and to the eternal discomfiture of the Presidency, the Chibok community has said the decision not to meet with President Jonathan in Abuja was theirs and theirs alone. The parents said they took that decision because their sole reason for coming to Abuja was to meet with Malala, and not the President, who did not invite them anyway.

    “With this explanation, one would have expected a Presidency that has regard for the truth to immediately retract its earlier panic statement, which it issued to save face, after what was nothing but a Public Relations (PR) gimmick, blew up in its face, and apologise to the opposition and the #BringBackOurGirls group that were unjustly pilloried by them.

    “Instead, the Presidency has persisted in its distortion of the truth, for which it has now become infamous, even as a new date has been agreed for the meeting. This is unfortunate, condemnable and irresponsible.

    “If indeed, as the Presidency claimed earlier, that the opposition was behind the refusal by the parents and escaped girls not to see the President, what has then happened to make them change their minds? Has the opposition now asked them to meet with the President?”

    The party told Nigerians that the reason Jonathan, whose wife bullied and harangued the girls’ parents that they were lying and that no girl was missing, agreed to meet with the parents was to use the meeting as a photo-op, after Malala pushed for it and the President’s United States-based image laundering firm acceded to it.

    APC added: “Mr. President, your frantic effort to meet with the Chibok parents now is too little too late, and no amount of photo-op will change that. If your handlers had been sincere, they would have told you that the best venue of the meeting is Chibok, not Abuja where your people tried, but failed, to waylay the parents who came for a meeting with Malala.

    “Mr. President, you have ceaselessly compared yourself to the great leaders of our time, including U.S President Barack Obama. But do you think Obama would have refused to visit the parents of these abducted schoolgirls, if the abduction had occurred in the U.S? Do you think Obama, as commander-in-chief, would have refused to visit his troops in the front line of the anti-terror fight, as you have done?

    “Do you think, Mr. President, that a band of rogue elements, like Boko Haram, would have restricted Obama’s movement within his own country, as they have done to you? No true and caring President will ever fail to visit the sites of disasters and offer solace to his compatriots.”

    The party reminded Jonathan that neither in Nigeria’s culture nor in any other cultures are those hit by tragedy invited to be offered solace.

    It added that the practice is to visit those to be offered solace “in situ”.

    APC reiterated its earlier call that the President should shake off his lethargy and bring the abducted schoolgirls home safely, instead of playing politics with the lives of over 200 human beings.

  • Jonathan pledges $3.5m to stop Ebola spread in West Africa

    Jonathan pledges $3.5m to stop Ebola spread in West Africa

    President Goodluck Jonathan has promised $3.5 million to support governments of West African countries ravaged by the dreaded Ebola virus.

    The move is to contain the spread of the virus.

    The Coordinating Minister for the Economy (CME) and Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spoke on the financial assistance yesterday in Abuja at the opening session of 34th meeting of the convergence Council of Ministers of Finance and Governors of Central banks of West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

    The minister said Jonathan, at a recent ECOWAS meeting in Accra, Ghana, “pledged $3.5 million to support the governments of the region to contain the spread of the Ebola virus”.

    The prevalence of the dreaded virus in some West African countries, especially Guinea, had forced the rescheduling of the meeting from Guinea to Nigeria. Okonjo-Iweala said the Federal Government was of the “belief and prayer that, given the collaborative efforts of the health authorities and the support of the zone’s political leaders, the Ebola outbreak, which led to the rescheduling of the meetings, will be contained and eliminated very soon”.

    The minister said Nigeria’s commitment to the realisation of the goal of a strong monetary and economic union was what swayed the country to host the meeting.

    She warned that Nigeria, as the largest economy in the sub-region, was likely to bear the brunt of any union or lunch that is not based on solid ground.

    Okonjo-Iweala cautioned ECOWAS member-states of the dire consequences of rushing to achieve economic integration.

    The minister advised them “to resist the stampede in the attempt to adhere to a set deadline capable of putting the economies on edge”.

    She said: “Our tax to GDP ratio has fallen below the WAMZ level. After the rebasing, our tax to GDP ratio which was about 20 per cent at the WAMZ level is now 12 per cent. We are already working in order to improve on this particular criterion.”

    Okonjo-Iweala stressed that January 1, 2015 deadline for ECOWAS currency union was not sacrosanct.

    The minister urged member-countries to be guided by the lessons from the European countries, which were hit by the Euro zone crisis.

    She said: “Look at the challenges (Euro zone) faced when some members were not quite ready but still went into the union, when it was apparent that not all of them were in a very solid platform. Consequently, you have seen that when the financial crises came, they were not able to withstand it. So, before you go in, it is very important to get some basic things right. This is because there is nobody chasing us.”

  • Jonathan to Bayelsa: diversify your economy

    Jonathan to Bayelsa: diversify your economy

    President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the Bayelsa State government to diversify its economy, instead of depending on oil and gas alone.

    The President, who was represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo spoke at the first Bayelsa State Investment Forum at the Banquet Hall, Yenagoa.

    The forum with the theme “Unlocking Bayelsa’s economic potential: Opportunities and Challenges”, attracted investors from Europe, Asia, Africa.

    Also in attendance were the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke; Chairman, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga and others.

    Jonathan said: “Bayelsa must diversify its economic base. It should not focus on oil wealth. It must pay attention to agriculture, coastal landscape for tourism, maritime industry and new housing estates.

    “The desire by the government for development will be supported by the Federal Government.”

    To realise the economic potential, he said there was a need for the people to place unity above partisanship.

    He insisted that peace was required to ensure the state’s development, adding that the Federal Government was determined to maintain peaceful co-existence in the country.

    “Bayelsa should place unity above partisanship and internal division in its planning and development,” he said.

    The President recommended agriculture as a sector waiting for development in the state.

    He said: “The government itself should place the business of agriculture and education on high priority; focus should also be given to infrastructure; these are the major keys for development.

    “I will also like to urge the government to redouble efforts in securing peace and security in Bayelsa and in the Niger Delta.”

    Governor Seriake Dickson said the state would promote investment in the state.

    He said the forum was organised to present the opportunities available to the world.

    “Bayelsa is a virgin bride waiting for a groom; our land and sea are very ripe for business.

    “I welcome all investors and I must assure you that we have a conducive environment for a growing economy.”

    The Chief Judge, Justice Kate Abiri, said quick dispensation of justice would provide an enabling environment for investment.

    She said: “Bayelsa will not allow any corrupt investors in the state. We will do all we can to allow justice and your business must be in line with the much desired economic growth of the state government.”

  • Malala and Jonathan

    Malala and Jonathan

    •It took the presence of Malala for the president to want to meet with the Chibok families

    Malala Yousafzai is a teenager, and it took her presence to wake a presidency of grownups from its isolation to a simple truth. She is the girl that survived a shooting for insisting on the education of the girl child in her home in Pakistan, and she has become a towering emblem of hope and courage for the high ideals of women liberation without the tincture of vainglorious vanity or cant.

    She arrived Nigeria to enlist her credentials in support of the campaign to free the Chibok girls, who were whisked away in a brutal night from the serene air of school to a pious captivity. In the process she met with some of the girls who managed to escape their ordeal. In spite of their fortuitous peace, the presidency has shunned any opportunity to host them and their parents in the country’s hallowed house.

    This has earned him a slew of criticisms, growing especially from his attitude since the girls were abducted. The presidency, in words spoken and unspoken, had tried to cast doubts in the minds of Nigerians that the girls were actually missing. A political motive was imputed and some members of the administration that undermined the veracity of the story were never checked for insensitivity. This attitude was emphasized by the abrupt about-face by the presidency on a promised trip to Chibok to visit the melancholy community as a show of symbolic support and succour for the people.

    This led to the emergence of the #Bringbackthegirls movement. The Jonathan administration tarred the group with a partisan brush, and simplified an essentially emotional matter into the brickbat of political gamesmanship.

    It was in that context that Malala visited Nigeria, and her coming also signposts the frustration of the international community over the impotence and naivety of the Jonathan administration to decide on any concrete steps to free these girls. But her coming suddenly woke up the Jonathan administration to the prudence of meeting with the families of the girls as well as the free ones. Was the move of the presidency a photo opportunity, or a cynical attempt to win a redeeming attention from the outside world that has grown impotent and weary of its distance from the agonies of the families involved?

    That was the thinking of those women and girls who decided to pooh-pooh the president’s move as opportunistic and cynically self-serving. But how come the president who had the girls with us all these days did not know it had to meet with them until a teenager from another land spoke about their plight. Yet, the president with some of his aides enjoyed the limelight of a photo-op with the famous heroine of human and girls’ rights. “Out of the mouths of babes and infants, thou has ordained strength…” said the Bible.

    We find it quite objectionable that rather than admit its moral wrong, the presidency passed the buck and blamed the Bringbackthegirls movement for the action of the Chibok citizens. Hear the words of Doyin Okupe, the president’s spokesman: “It is obvious that the Bringbackthegirls (campaigners) are interested in showmanship, not genuinely concerned about the plight of the children and their parents.”

    That does not address the essential fact that the president and his associates have, from the beginning, perceived any expression of distaste over the fate of the girls as an act of ambushing the government. It is a bunker mentality and an expression of failure of imagination and surrender to witch-hunting.  The presidency has also implied on a number of occasions that the Bringbackthegirls movement is the brainchild of the opposition and therefore has created for itself a cosy morality of believing that the narrative of the abducted girls has moved from a genuine search to a victimizing of the federal government. That only happens in a government run without a high and noble principle.

  • Danjuma to Jonathan: lead us as C-in-C to Sambisa

    Danjuma to Jonathan: lead us as C-in-C to Sambisa

    Chairman of the Victims Support Fund Committee, General Theophilus Danjuma has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to lead the onslaught to the Sambisa forest where the Boko Haram insurgents are said to be operating from.
    Danjuma who spoke on Wednesday during the inauguration of the Committee in Abuja by President Jonathan said the war against terror was taking too long to win and must be won urgently by the Federal Government.
    “One thing we will not do is to go to Sambisa forest. The commander-in-chief will lead and we will follow the commander-in-chief. But seriously, this war must be brought to an end. We must win this war immediately. It is taking too long.
    “I called it civil war when it began; people say it is insurgency. The insurgents appear to be having an upper hand at this very moment. They pick and choose where to strike. They are even holding positions and displacing us. We must win this war Mr. President; we must do so immediately,” Danjuma said.
    While inaugurating the Committee, President Jonathan admitted that his administration owes Nigerians victory over Boko Haram.
    Stressing that evil will never prevail over good, Dr. Jonathan said no effort would be spared by his government to bring the individuals responsible for crimes against humanity to justice.
    But he called for the support of all Nigerians for the security agencies in the war against terror.
    He said: “We owe Nigerians nothing but victory over terror. The life of every Nigerian is precious and we will continue to work round the clock to put an end to this insurgency.”
    “I call on all Nigerians to stand together in support of our security agencies against terrorism. They are working night and day under difficult circumstances. It is unfortunate that when our security personnel prevent 1000 attacks, it is the one attack that succeeds that makes headline news and tends to portray our security agencies as not doing enough. It is part of the realities we have to deal with.”
    “The menace of terrorism has emerged as one of the most complex and challenging problems confronting governments in different parts of the world. Terrorists aim to cause social dislocation, spread fear and panic among the populace and disrupt government activities. But they never win. They have not won in the Middle East, in the USA, in China, in Columbia, in Italy, in the United Kingdom, in Kenya, etc. And they will not win in Nigeria. And, with the support of all Nigerians, we would ensure they do not win in Nigeria. Good must prevail over evil.”
    The President spoke about how it began “on December 25, 2009, when a 23-year-old Nigerian attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, on his way from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, United States”.
    “Although his plan failed and the lives of 289 passengers were saved, it was one incident that finally confirmed that a few Nigerians had finally embraced terrorism as a way of life. Now we could no longer deny that terror has arrived our country with its ugly claws deployed!”
    He added: “The year 2009 appears to be a tragic turning point. Boko Haram, an assemblage of heartless individuals, took it upon itself to bring evil upon our country. They have in their mission, turned women to widows and reduced children to orphans.
    “They have killed and maimed and struck fear into law-abiding citizens. They have destroyed villages, attacked property and terminated people’s livelihoods without a care in the world. They have engaged our security agencies in a meaningless warfare that has wasted unimaginable human and material resources.”
    “The reality today is that, we are confronted with individuals whose minds have been so twisted and tutored to believe they are doing God a service.”
    “For those who take pleasure in seeing innocent human beings in pains, to see limbs being shattered and blood flowing in all direction after terror attacks, we say, you shall have no hiding place. Nigerians will expose you. The people of conscience around the world have rejected you.”
    Jonathan praised the countries backing Nigeria to fight the insurgency and this country’s neighbours for their co-operation.
    He said: “This has given us more fillip and we are confident that the days of Boko Haram are numbered. It is now just a matter of time. Our war against terrorism is gathering momentum. When you read about bombing incidents in the mass media, they may come across to those not directly affected as mere statistics. As the old proverb says, when you carry another man’s coffin, it looks like an ordinary log of wood.”
    “But to us, fathers and mothers, and the families of the victims, they are not just numbers. They are human beings – sons and daughters, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and indeed, fathers and mothers! They are Nigerians!! They are individuals with dreams and aspirations, noble Nigerians who love their country.”
    According to him, the Victims Support Fund Committee will help to mobilise collective efforts and resources in support of the victims.
    He urged Nigerians and non-Nigerians, individuals and cooperate bodies, to give generously to the Fund.
    The committee is to
    •identify sources and ways of raising sustainable funding to support victims of terror activities;
    •develop appropriate strategies for the fund raising;
    •ascertain the persons, communities, facilities and economic assets affected by terror activities;
    •assess and determine the appropriate support required in each case;
    •manage, disburse and/or administer support to the victims as appropriate;
    •address related challenges as may be appropriate; and
    •advise the Government on other matter(s) necessary or incidental to support victims of terror activities.
    Giving the vote of thanks, National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki, assured the committee that the Federal Government would win the war against terror.
    He said: “Sir, you gave me a very difficult task after Gen. Danjuma’s statement. The only thing I will do is thank them for agreeing to serve and assure them that we will win the war.”
    “But there are some very hard choices that would have to be made. We have to been more concern about the lives of a few versus the condition of a few million. The decision has to be made soon. This is not the first time we have been challenged by very senior Nigerians about the need to end this.

  • APC: Jonathan has begun war against opposition

    APC: Jonathan has begun war against opposition

    Five more governors on sack list, says party

    PDP dismisses claim

    The battle line was drawn yesterday between the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

    APC Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun accused President Goodluck Jonathan of declaring war against the opposition with state-sponsored impeachment proceedings.

    He said the impeachment of Admiral Murtala Nyako as the governor of Adamawa State was “unacceptable”.

    He alleged that members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly were induced with $300,000 as part-payment to impeach Nyako.

    He said a N500 million offer had been dangled before Nasarawa State lawmakers to remove Governor Tanko Al-Makura and N75million per lawmaker to sack Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    Odigie-Oyegun alleged that Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were out to remove APC governors in Borno, Nasarawa, Edo, Osun and Rivers states.

    He said the President, who had become “obsessed” with his re-election aspiration in 2015, was ready to destroy the country.

    Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke at a crowded press conference in Abuja, said the APC will resist any moves by the President to return Nigeria to the “dark days”.

    He said: “Events in Nigeria in the past few weeks point to a return to the dark old days of state dictatorship, lawlessness, impunity and repression.

    “Our freedoms are being emasculated, our economy being run to the ground, and our only hope of bringing about change – our democratic expression – is being smothered before our very eyes all because President Goodluck Jonathan is so obsessed with re-election in 2015 at all cost that he is destroying not just all our key institutions but indeed the entire country.”

    The APC National Chairman said the party was being pushed to the wall and would fight back.

    He added: “At this critical juncture of our history and despite our desire for restraint and mature engagement with President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), it is evident that inaction is no longer an option and we must resist.

    “Indeed keeping quiet in the face of the ceaseless and unrelenting reckless violations of all known laws of the land and the Constitution will amount to complicity in the lawlessness and impunity that has become the norm under President Goodluck Jonathan. We know it has been the dream of the ruling PDP to rule for 60 unbroken years, not minding if Nigeria becomes a desert land in the process.

    “Their evil machination has manifested in Ekiti. It manifested yesterday in Adamawa. They have carried it to Nasarawa, and they have Edo, Osun and Rivers in their sight.

    “In the states mentioned, all of them opposition strongholds, President Jonathan and his party have abused national institutions, resorted to a crude use of force and engaged in unprecedented financial inducements to achieve their objectives.

    “All these anti-democratic tactics come under the umbrella of power with impunity!”

    Odigie-Oyegun said: “But there is a bigger problem. President Jonathan is obsessed with his re-election in 2015, and he does not mind if Nigeria is destroyed in the process.

    “He does not care whether every institution of state, be it the military, the courts, INEC or any other one, is destroyed. All that matters now is his re-election.

    “This explains why he has embarked on this war against the opposition, this war against all of Nigeria.

    “Having bastardised the army, the police, the courts, aviation and the electoral commission, he has now moved to the next level: Impeachment. Every impeachment or threat of it in recent times has the imprint of President Jonathan.

    “As we speak, the Governor of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako, has been impeached at the instance of the President and his party. They have moved to Nasarawa, their next stop, while Rivers, Edo and Borno, all APC states, are not being spared the destabilisation that precedes their new-found weapon.”

    He attributed Nyako’s impeachment to the ex-governor’s defection to the APC.

    He said the President was guilty of allegations of extra-budgetary expenditure with which Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State is being threatened with impeachment.

    He added: “What was Nyako impeached for? Offences he allegedly committed five years ago. Those offences were not impeachable when he was in the PDP. But the moment he decamped to the APC, they became impeachable.

    “The entire ‘impeachment’ of Governor Nyako is so fraught with irregularities, bias, judicial contradictions and in violation of every procedural and constitutional provision that it is the worst manifestation of impunity.

    “We intend to mount an immediate and rigorous challenge to this gross injustice to the party and people of Adamawa State.

    “What is Governor Al-Makura of Nasarawa being threatened with impeachment for? Allegations of extra-budgetary expenditure, the same offence that President Jonathan has committed many times.

    “In fact, on only on the 10th of July 2014, the Senate passed a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to cover the over expenditure in the sum of N90.693 billion (US$585 million) for PMS subsidy 2012 and the sum of N685.910 billion (US$4.430 billion) for Kerosene (DPK) subsidy expended without appropriation by the National Assembly in 2012 and 2013!”

    A livid Odigie-Oyegun gave insights into mass bribery of lawmakers in Adamawa and Nasarawa states to impeach their governors.

    He said: “In Adamawa, each member of the State House of Assembly was allegedly given US $300,000 as part payment to impeach Governor Nyako; some N500 million has allegedly been moved to Nasarawa to induce the state’s lawmakers to impeach Governor Al-Makura, and in Edo, each lawmaker has allegedly been offered N75million to impeach Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    “Now, who is guiltier of gross misconduct than a President who is frittering away our commonwealth to induce perfidious legislators to impeach state governors? Who is guiltier of gross misconduct than a President who deploys troops to harass, intimidate and arrest the opposition during an election?

    “Who deserves to be impeached for gross misconduct more than a President who uses national institutions against the opposition, and shuts airports arbitrarily?

    “President Jonathan’s desperation knows no bounds, and he is willing to set a record of presiding over the greatest number of impeachments under his tenure.

    “Before Nyako’s impeachment on Tuesday, a total of five impeachments have been carried out in all of the 15 years of the Fourth Republic. But between now and 2015, President Jonathan is championing five impeachments, in Adamawa, Nasarawa, Edo, Rivers and Borno.”

    Odigie-Oyegun expressed concern that the military had been compromised to do the President’s biddings.

    He said: “In doing so, he is subverting hitherto respected national institutions. The Army has been so compromised that it can no longer be trusted by anyone to be neutral. The army has been so abused that it now carries out police duties.

    “Soldiers were deployed to guard the residence of the Chief Judge of Adamawa while the impeachment proceedings were on. Soldiers were deployed to guard each member of the impeachment panel. Soldiers were also deployed to guard the venue where the panel sat.

    “In Ekiti, soldiers were deployed to hunt down the opposition and prevent them from moving around freely, in contravention of the nation’s constitution.

    “In Osun, soldiers are again to be deployed to shut down the state and go after the opposition.

    “By using the military for election duties, President Jonathan is clearly disobeying a court order as the Court of Appeal had ruled as far back as 2005 that the involvement of the military in the conduct of elections is an aberration and, therefore, unconstitutional. Indeed in the words of Salami, JCA on page 176 in the case of Yusuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 NWLR (Pt. 956 96@174-5)

    “It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for after 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianise the polity and thereby ensure survival and sustenance of democracy.”

    “The Akure airport was suddenly slammed shut just to punish opposition leaders who had converged on Ekiti for Governor Kayode Fayemi’s campaign rally. They had to travel all night by road to Lagos.

    “In Borno, under the guise of ensuring security, the Maiduguri Airport has been closed for several weeks; hence the Borno Governor and the people of the state, including the pilgrims heading for lesser Hajj, have been forced to travel by road to Kano to board their flights.

    “However, the reason for shutting the airport has suddenly vanished as the private plane bearing former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff was allowed to land at the airport on Monday, the same day the governor had to travel by road to Kano to see his brother who was involved in an accident on the same road.

    “Obviously, President Jonathan is fast turning Nigeria into George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where some animals are more equal than the others.

    “Welcome to Nigeria of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, where the only people who are deemed to be true Nigerians are those under the umbrella of the PDP, where the only people worth protecting are PDP members!”

    The APC National Chairman reminded President Jonathan and the PDP that political greed had always derailed the nation’s democracy.

    He called on all friends of Nigeria to prevail on President Jonathan to apply the brakes in his “obsessive” quest for power.

    Oyegun said: “We have raised the alarm several times that President Jonathan’s obsession with his re-election is a clear and present danger to our democracy.

    “Today, we say this President’s obsession with re-election is threatening the very existence of our nation.

    “Never in the history of our dear nation has any President waged war on the country the way this President is doing. Never in the history of our country has any President desecrated national institutions like this President is doing to the very institutions that sustain democracy.

    “Never in the history of our country have our people been so divided along ethnic, religious, political and social lines, with poverty rising astronomically in the backdrop of a claimed rapid growth in the nation’s GDP.

    “We warn that excessive political greed will always have its consequences. Any student of Nigeria’s contemporary history will realise what acts of impunity and desperation to win elections at all cost did to the country in 1965, 1983 and 1993, just to mention but a few.

    “We call on all friends of Nigeria to prevail on President Jonathan to apply the brakes in his obsessive quest for power, because every action has consequences.

    “It is time for those who can still get the ears of this President to remind him that his ambition is not worth the destruction of a whole country. All those who can must act now before it is too late!”

    The briefing was attended by party bigwigs, including Deputy National Chairman Shuaib Lawal; National Secretary Mai Mala Buni, one-time Minister and former National Chairman of PDP Chief Audu Ogbeh; a  former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Mallam Nasir el-Rufai; Senator Bukola Saraki; Minority Leader in the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila; ex-Deputy Governor of Bauchi State Alhaji Mohammed  Garba Gadi, National Vice-Chairman (North-East) B. D. Lawal;  National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed; National Organising Secretary Senator Osita Izunaso; National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties(CNPP) Osita Okechukwu; anti-corruption crusader Dino Melaye and other members of the party’s National Executive Committee.

     

  • Why Jonathan shouldn’t contest in 2015, by Igbokwe

    Why Jonathan shouldn’t contest in 2015, by Igbokwe

    Pro-democracy activist Comrade Joe Igbokwe yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to jettison his re-election bid because it is not in the nation’s interest.

    He said the harassment of the opposition, the Boko Haram insurgency and impeachment of opposition governors underscored the President’s desperation to retain power.

    The activist said these are among incidents that put democracy under threat.

    Igbokwe, who addressed reporters in Lagos, stressed that if the quest for power was anchored on good performance, Dr. Jonathan is unfit for a second term because his handling of national affairs had been tragic and disastrous.

    The activist urged the President to respect the zoning in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that Jonathan’s plan to rule for 10 years may break up the country.

    The President has not declared his ambition for a re-election, but individuals and partisan groups have endorsed him for a second term and are urging him to publicly declare his interest.

    Igbokwe said: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, from the South ruled Nigeria for eight years. It was also expected that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, from the North, would rule for eight years, all other things being equal. But he died after two years in office. President Jonathan, Yar’Adua’s erstwhile vice-president from the South, took over the mantle of leadership. It was expected that he would complete the first term of Yar’Adua’s tenure and step aside for the North to complete their eight years.

    “Against protests from the North, Jonathan sought another term and got elected. By 2015, he would have ruled for six years. Seeking another term of four years will endanger our polity and create ethnic and religious tension, as we are witnessing now. We are in a democracy and, if we are still one country, there is need for equity and justice. Jonathan’s ambition to rule Nigeria for 10 years may break Nigeria.”

    The activist criticised the Federal Government for waging war against the All Progressives Congress (APC) in its desperation to make the PDP retain power.

    He said the Presidency and the PDP have an agenda to decimate the opposition through crude means, citing the power plays in Ekiti, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Rivers and Edo states.

    Igbokwe regretted that the PDP-led Federal Government is concentrating much effort on the emasculation of the opposition, instead of fostering good governance in the last 15 years.

    He alleged that there was a curious media censorship and an affront on freedom of association, movement and expression by the Federal Government.

  • Jonathan plotting life presidency, says Kwankwaso

    Jonathan plotting life presidency, says Kwankwaso

    Kano State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has said the convocation of the National Conference by President Goodluck Jonathan was designed to perpetuate the President in power.

    Kwankwaso addressed reporters in his office at the Government House.

    The governor accused Jonathan of smuggling a new constitution into the conference and using divide-and-rule tactics to balkanise interest groups to make himself a life President.

    He stressed that if Jonathan’s agenda scaled through, he would get another eight-year mandate in 2015, in the bid to perpetrate himself in power and achieve his life ambition.

    Kwankwaso said: “These people are desperate. They want to continue by all means. That is the idea of divide-and-rule. They want to rule forever. I think he (Jonathan) wants to be a life President.”

    The governor expressed misgiving about most of the issued so far debated at the National Conference.

    He said: “You have seen recently that he (Jonathan) took a bill to the National Assembly, wanting the National Assembly to approve a six-year one term. The implication is that he wanted to lift himself. He got two years after the death of (Umaru Musa) Yar’Adua. Now, he is spending four years. And he wants another six years of one term, making 12 years, at least, for now. That seems not to be working. Now, we are hearing that they smuggled a new Constitution through the Conference.

    “The arithmetic of the handlers there is saying that they want to throw away the six years, have a new Constitution and, by 2015, start another eight years. This is because we have seen it during the first term of the governors of Yobe, Taraba, Ogun, Kogi. These were friends who were governors during the aborted Third Republic and people took them to court so that they regained their first term. The courts said: ‘No, no, no, this is a new Constitution.’ Now, there is a new Constitution on the ground to start another eight years by 2015.”

    Kwankwaso said Nigeria needs a change, adding that the nation would continue to pray for the President to sail the ship to safe shores in 2015.

    The governor also prayed that there would be no crisis that would degenerate into a religious war.

    Kwankwaso maintained that he had always opposed the National Conference because it was a waste of resources.

    The governor said Nigeria needs an equitable distribution of its vast resources to its impoverished people.

    He noted that the Conference would be harmful to the country because it was designed to extend the President’s tenure from the proposed single term to eight years by 2015.

    Kwankwaso said if the new constitution is endorsed, it would empower Jonathan to extend his tenure.

    The governor said Jonathan’s reason for convoking the National Conference was to transform into a life President.

    He said the President had concentrated his prosecutions on the All Progressives Congress (APC) with the aim to destabilise it to achieve his ambition of becoming a life President.

    Kwankwaso decried the constant interference “from above”, particularly in Rivers, Adamawa and, lately, in Kano.

    The governor recalled how the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced its candidate as the Emir of Kano without waiting for the announcement of the approved Emir, Alhaji Mohammad Sanusi, who was among those shortlisted.

    He said Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako was not as bad as he was being portrayed.

    According to him, the ruling party is always jittery about APC and will blame the party’s leadership for anything.

    Kwankwaso said he supported state police, a position he earlier opposed when his Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, was calling for same.

    The governor urged Nigerians to be their brother’s keeper, adding that they should help their compatriots instead of debating resource control and derivation.

    He said: “I do not see anything wrong in the revenue sharing formula of the country, rather than agitating for an upward review from 13 per cent to 18 per cent, which is the contentious issue tearing the house apart.”

    On Boko Haram activities in the Northeast, Kwankwaso was worried that Jonathan had failed to assert himself as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to halt killings and destruction of property.

    The governor suggested that the President should either negotiate with the sect or use force to stop the incessant killings.

    He said: “This stoppage should either be by negotiation of by the use of force on any of them. I tell you that most of the confusion is coming from Mr President’s handlers, the people around him, just to cause more problems.”