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Tag: Patience Jonathan

  • Rivers…Between Riverine and Rivers Southeast

    Rivers…Between Riverine and Rivers Southeast

    As we approach the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, Rivers State is on the spot for a lot of reasons. One, it has enormous voting strength capable of tilting the balance in favour of any political party in Nigeria; two, it has a popular incumbent who understands the levels of power and grassroots mobilisation; three, it is a multi-ethnic society with different ethnic groups on collision course on whose turn it is to produce the governor; four, the state has enormous human financial resources; and five, the state has wider implications for the larger Nigeria.

    However, the governorship elections can be narrowed down to a two way battle between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The APC bench is sparse for good reasons though very formidable.  It is sparse because Governor Rotimi Amaechi has control of the party machinery.

    The PDP has a full house of persons considered to be light weights, most of who may have jumped into the race without thinking through it, something politicians calls battle of second eleven.  One unique thing about the PDP candidates, however, is that all are claiming to have been endorsed by President Goodluck Jonathan or the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

    Before Amaechi defected to the APC, Magnus Abe, a senator and Dakuku Peterside, a member of the House of Representatives, were considered clear favourites for the governorship ticket of the PDP.  The permutation is that their Senatorial District, Rivers Southeast is the only one yet to produce a governor.  When Amaechi moved, the duo moved with him leaving the field open for those considered second 11.  Abe and Peterside, tested grassroots mobilisers, were formidable foes to any opponent.  Abe’s greatest advantage is that he is a media personality and is blessed with the gift of articulation.  Peterside is considered humble, God-fearing, deft and a mobiliser.  He comes from the riverine part of the Rivers South east Senatorial District.  Riverine Ijaws have been at the fore front of agitation for governorship of Rivers State, the upland would by next year have had it for sixteen years at a stretch.

    So, if the pendulum of zoning goes to Southeast Senatorial District, the race for the APC ticket is between Dakuku and Abe. On the other, if it is decided that no upland person should give the APC ticket a shot, then the riverine takes the ticket and Dakuku is the clear favourite. He is the only major contender who is riverine and is also from the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District.

    For the PDP, it has two big hurdles to face: one is the ability to choose a candidate acceptable to most of the stakeholders from the crowd; and two, what to do with Nyesom Wike, who is Ikwerre like Amaechi.

    At the last count, PDP has about 18 aspirants.  Some of them are Alabo Paworiso Samuel Horsfall, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Nimi Walson-Jack, Reynolds Dagogo-Jack, Engr. Emma Princewill, Major Lancelot Ayanya, Prince Uche Secondus, Senator George Sekibo, Ateke Tom, Prince Tonye Princewill, Prof. Don Baridam, Senator Lee Maeba, Faafaa Dan Princewill, Hon. Ibinabo Michael West and Nyesom Wike amongst many others.

    Of the 18 aspirants, more than eleven are from the riverine part of the state considered the natural geo-political zone to produce the next governor. Two are Ogonis, another part of the upland though in Rivers Southeast Senatorial District agitating to produce governor in 2015.

    The real issue in PDP is who has the will of Jonathan.  It is clear to all that Wike is carrying the anointing of the First Lady.  The second real issue is the fact that Wike has a stranglehold of the party structure in Rivers State to the exclusion of all other aspirants.  There is no doubt that if things continue the way they are now, Wike can start celebrating his emergence as PDP standard bearer in 2015.  How the emergence of Wike will translate to votes in the general elections is a different issue. The APC needs to just pick the right candidate from the area that has not had it since 1999, the race is won and lost. It is sure the party to beat. PDP is only struggling.

     

    •Comrade Kiobel, a public commentator, writes from Port Harcourt

  • I cant deliver letter to Boko Haram leader- First lady

    Some children have written a letter to Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau demanding the release of over 200 secondary school girls abducted in Chibok, Borno State.

    The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan received the letter from the children while hosting them for this year’s children’s day celebration at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

    She told the children that she does not know where to find Shekau but will hand over the letter to National Security Adviser or the Chief of Defence Staff.

    But she thanked the children for the second letter addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    She said: “Let me thank the children that gave me letter to give Boko Haram. Well, I have received your letter, but I’m not the one to give it to Boko Haram because I don’t know Boko Haram and I have never seen Boko Haram. But I will give it to NSA or Chief of Defence Staff who will submit your letter accordingly.”

    On the second letter, she said: “To my children parliament, thank you for your letter. Thank you for your deliberation. I have received what you gave to me. I will make sure I pass it to the president because it is addressed to him and the other one is addressed to Boko Haram. That is why the two are different.”

    Warning Nigerians to desist from abusing the President, she urged them to commit themselves to developmental issues.

    On the need to learn good morals for positive human development, the First Lady told the children that respect for constituted authority was necessary if the country is to witness meaningful development.

    She said: “It is bad to abuse our country and the president because God has made him the head. The almighty God commands us to pray for our leaders. We therefore need to pray for the development of our country and the president.”

    Quoting from the holy scriptures, she said, “Remember that a child that abuses his father and mother is disobeying God’s commandment because the bible says in Exodus 20:12 that you should honour your father and mother so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God has given you”.

    “The holy Bible is not referring to only biological parents. Any one that is older than you even for a day must be respected. Let us therefore join hands and rebuild our country Nigeria”.

    On the current insecurity in the country, she also called on Nigerians, especially those carrying out protest on the abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno State, to focus on the terrorists rather than government for the release of the students.

    Continuing, she said: “This event provides a platform for mutual understanding and reflection of the situation of our children who have been kidnapped”.

    “It is the right of every child to go to school. It is only through education that you can be able to achieve your dreams and contribute meaningfully to your community and the nation. We desire peace in our community, in our nation. I want you all to be ambassadors of peace in your schools and practice good manners.

    “We have no other country than Nigeria. We therefore need to be patriotic and committed to our dear country. We should strengthen our covenant with our country as outlined in the National Pledge.

    “Let us therefore be united in fighting terrorism. We should encourage our soldiers who are in the frontline to rescue our beloved daughters,” she stated

  • Photo: Dame Jonathan in Okrika

    Photo: Dame Jonathan in Okrika

    The Bishop of St Peter’s Cathedral, Rt Rev Tubokosemie Abere welcoming First Lad, Patience Jonathan to the thanksgiving service by the Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs in Okirika, Rivers State on Sunday, May 18, 2014.
    The Bishop of St Peter’s Cathedral, Rt Rev Tubokosemie Abere welcoming First Lady, Patience Jonathan to the thanksgiving service by the Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs in Okirika, Rivers State on Sunday, May 18, 2014.
  • Africa’s first ladies applaud world leaders’ support

    Africa’s first ladies applaud world leaders’ support

    The African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) has lauded the support given by the world leaders and global institutions to Nigeria in the fight against insurgency.

    The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and the president of the mission, expressed the appreciation in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday.

    The statement said that Mrs. Jonathan noted the efforts of the international community at sending out a strong message; consistent with the objectives of the mission in promoting peace and stability.

    According to the statement, the support of the world leaders is cardinal to ensuring the safe return of the girls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, Borno State.

    It said Mrs. Jonathan noted that the entire world stood in solidarity with the government and the people of Nigeria against injustice and impunity.

    “The mission will always uphold the commonly accepted global values that promote justice, stability and peace in all nations,” it quoted her as saying.

    According to the statement, the first lady reaffirms the total commitment of the mission to bringing back the abducted girls safe. “We appeal to all political parties in Nigeria to rise above partisan interests and focus at this time on the national interest and the urgent task at hand to bring back our girls.

    “AFLPM calls on mothe rs and women across Africa to continue to pray that the ongoing efforts at rescuing the girls will be successful,” the statement quoted her as saying.

    It said Jonathan and the AFLPM empathised with the affected mothers and the families of victims of terrorism with a prayer that Nigeria would soon overcome the challenge of insecurity.

     

     

  • Bola Shagaya, Onyeka Onwenu defend First Lady

    Bola Shagaya, Onyeka Onwenu defend First Lady

    Millions of Nigerians may have expressed their disappointment at the wobbly English spoken by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, in respect of the abducted pupils of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, but not so for her coterie of friends led by billionaire businesswoman, Hajia Bola Shagaya.

    Bola Shagaya was said to have been enraged by the taunts that have since been directed at the First Lady on the social media and elsewhere, expressing shock and disappointment at the fact that the First Lady’s traducers would not see beyond an issue as ephemeral as lack of finesse in the First Lady’s spoken English. She believes the woman should rather be praised for the empathy she showed by weeping uncontrollably for the missing kids.

    A few days ago, Onyeka Onwenu, popular female musician who was recently appointed the Director-General of the National Centre for Women Development, was on a TV programme to defend Patience Jonathan and demonstrate her support for the First Lady. “I have never met anyone as down to earth as the First Lady… She has a wonderful heart… We ought to thank her,” she said.

  • FG has hidden agenda against North – Arewa

    The Pan Northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Thursday hit hard at the government handling of the Boko Haram insurgency and the abduction of the schoolgirls from Chibok, saying President Goodluck Jonathan’s response is a suggestion of a hidden agenda against the region.

    The northern umbrella body also lampooned the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, for conducting what it called a mock trial of government officials on national television and concluded that the entire episode was a hoax.

    In a statement entitled: “Insecurity and Government Ineptitude” and signed by the body’s Secretary General, Col. John Paul Ubah (rtd), the ACF expressed disappointment at the lack of seriousness on the part of the government in handling of the girls’ abduction and the entire insurgency.

    The ACF noted that the President displayed lack of urgency in the handling of the issue until Nigerians poured out to the streets to demand government action, adding that the first lady on her part has taken steps to disrupt efforts by concerned Nigerians to free the abducted girls by claiming that nobody was missing.

    The statement reads: “The Rapid Response Committee of the ACF met on Wednesday, the 14th of May, 2014 at the Forum’s Headquarters, Kaduna. The meeting reviewed the current state of insecurity in the country and resolved to issue the following press statement.

    “That the response of the Federal Government, particularly President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, to the abduction of over 200 students by Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno on the 14th of April, 2014, is disappointing.

    “The President approached the abduction with neither a sense of urgency nor seriousness until ordinary Nigerians poured out on to the streets demanding greater action. The first lady remained characteristically disruptive of all efforts by concerned Nigerians.

    “Her reaction to the street protests was to set up her own panel of inquiry to which she summoned federal and state government officials, including wives of Governors. She conducted a mock trial of the officials on live television and at the end of it, declared that no school girls were missing, suggesting that the entire story was some hoax constructed to embarrass her husband.

    “The approach of the President to the tragic abductions of the Chibok girls is not much different from his handling of the entire insurgency war that has engulfed the North, especially the North East region since 2009. Even the President’s most ardent supporters readily agree that his prosecution of the insurgency war has been hesitant, feeble and half-hearted.

    “The President hardly ever took action until he came under pressure to do so from people outside his government. The mounting pressure from local and international communities is now compelling him to talk of deploying more troops to confront the Boko Haram insurgents. His belated acceptance of help from foreign powers had come only after the abduction of over 200 young girls, stirring worldwide outrage.”

     

  • Omobaba croons in defence of the First Lady?

    Omobaba croons in defence of the First Lady?

    AMONG Nigerian youths, entertainment lovers and cyber community, meme and hash tags are common factors that dictate trends.

    Described as mimicry from person to person via the Internet, meme parodies the reality on ground and has sometimes been used as a tool for social change. A good example of one of such is the My Oga at the Top saga, which took the cyber world by storm last year.

    Mr. Obafaiye Shem, Commandant of Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, had appeared on Channels TV to clear the air on certain issues surrounding recruitment discrepancies in the force, a move which generated a lot of mockery, printed t-shirts and dance steps. A couple of artistes even parodied the My Oga at the Top mantra in their songs.

    When the first lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan took it upon herself to address a stakeholders’ meeting over the circumstances surrounding the abduction of about 276 female students of Government Secondary school, Chibok, Borno State last Sunday, little did she know that her utterances would create so much heat within and outside the country.

    Today, the mantra on the streets is: There is God o (pronounced for emphasis by some as dia ris God o). As she broke down in tears, the debate on the genuineness or otherwise of her emotion has been on all over the country, even as some have continued to throw scorn on her not well- articulated English.

    However, in the face of all the distractions, comedian and singer, Fagade Oluwafemi Ademola, aka Omobaba No. 1, has risen to the defence of the First Lady, whom he prefers to address as Mama Peace.

    “Mr. bomber, you dey bombi bombi bomb everywhere o. Remember nobody lives forever. This life na turn by turn, make you hear o. Every day for the thief/ one day for the owner. You sabi kill/ shey you sabi reach Bin Laden o. Every day for the thief/ one day for the owner. Your mama go cry as you make Mama Peace cry o,” he sang.

    The song calls on the leaders to get up from their seats as we are in danger. “Your best is not enough, people dey para. Order your soldiers go Sambisa. My country people, we shall rise and rise again, even if we stumble. Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba indivisible united we stand, divided we fall,” he croons.

    While many regard it as a national embarrassment, others believe that the emotions displayed by the First Lady were borne strictly out of motherly concern for the safety of the school girls. However, the argument put forward by the former is: why wait for over two weeks before directing her attention to the saga?

  • DSP Alamieyeseigha buries dad

    DSP Alamieyeseigha buries dad

    Penultimate Sunday, former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, had his deceased father committed to mother earth. The event saw the oil-rich town of Amassoma lit up in celebration as the former governor led family members, friends, political and business associates to pay their last respects to his nonagenarian father, Chief Salo Memein Alamieyeseigha.

    The carnival-like celebration of life started on Thursday, April 24 and rolled on till Sunday, April 27, 2014. President Goodluck Jonathan led his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, his wife, Dr (Mrs) Racheal Dickson and many other A-list guests to the event.

    The late Chief Salo Memein Alamieyeseigha incidentally died on his birthday, March 16, 2014 at the age of 93. He was survived by two wives, 25 children and 115 grandchildren.

    The late Alamieyeseigha was reported to have been confined to his sick bed for a long time before he gave up the ghost. His son and erstwhile governor, popularly called DSP, was said to have done all he could to see that his beloved father remained alive.

  • Falana to FG: Stop trivializing Chibok abduction

    Falana to FG: Stop trivializing Chibok abduction

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    Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has advised the Federal Government to stop trivializing the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in the interest of public morality and sensibility.

    In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday, Falana remarked that the manner in which President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, are carrying on about the Chibok abduction leaves much to be desired.

    The activist noted that last Saturday, President Jonathan announced the setting up of a 26-member committee to probe the abduction of the school girls.

    He also noted that few hours after, the First Lady was reportedly said to have set up a parallel panel of inquiry on the same matter.

    He pointed out that while the panel set up by the President could be regarded as a ministerial panel, that of his wife has no constitutional backing or any known law.

    He suggested that the panel set up by the first lady be disbanded immediately.

    Falana recalled that because most members of the First Lady’s Panel are based in Borno State, she summoned them to appear in Abuja over the weekend.

    “Officials of the West African Examination Council were also ordered to report in Abuja by the wife of the President.

    “In a well televised drama, some of the panel members who responded to the summons were interrogated.

    “Frustrated by the refusal of the wife of the Governor of Borno State to turn up at the mock trial, the First Lady broke down in tears as the “grandmother” of the abducted girls.

    “To the utter embarrassment of the Nigerian people, the First Lady has since declared that no child is missing!

    “In spite of the inauguration of the Presidential Committee to investigate the abduction of the over 200 girls in Chibok and the publication of the names of about 185 of the missing girls by the Christian Association of Nigeria, some political leaders have insisted that no child has been abducted,” he noted.

     

  • APC: First Lady’s intervention distracting, counter-productive

    APC: First Lady’s intervention distracting, counter-productive

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has decried the melodramatic intervention of First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan in the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State.

    The party described Mrs Jonathan’s action as distracting, counter-productive and calibrated to scapegoat others with the sole intention of exculpating her husband rather than finding the girls.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC said: “Make no mistake about it, there is nothing wrong in the First Lady, as a woman and the mother of the nation, playing a role in resolving the unfortunate abduction of the girls. But that role must be within the realms of social activism, not in policy making or conduct of state affairs.”

    The party warned that melodrama, highlighted by the shedding of made-for-television crocodile tears, cannot and would not bring the girls back safely to their parents.

    “What will bring them back is a purposeful and sustained effort by the Federal Government, which has hitherto been tentative and lethargic. Therefore, enough of the distracting, absurd and overbearing show that the First Lady has put up in the past few days,” APC said.

    The party advised the First Lady to stop grandstanding and get real by leading a protest of other first ladies from the 36 states from the Eagle Square to Aso Rock to pressure her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, on whose laps falls the responsibility of leading the nation to find the girls, to act fast.

    It also urged the First Lady to stop apportioning blames at this time so that all efforts can be geared towards finding the girls.

    “Our dear First Lady needs to be told clearly that her husband, the President, is the nation’s Chief Security Officer. Our dear First Lady needs to be informed that because Borno State, where the unfortunate abduction took place, is under a state of emergency, her husband, the President, has automatically assumed all security powers there. It is, therefore, wrong for our dear First Lady to be threatening to march on Borno to ask the governor to produce the girls. That march should be on Aso Rock instead,” APC said.

    The party wondered where the First Lady derived the powers to summon elected and appointed officials to Aso Rock to answer her queries over the missing girls.

    It noted that by doing so, “she is usurping the President’s constitutional role, making him to look weak and ineffective in conducting the affairs of state and also making Nigeria the butt of jokes in the international community”.

    APC said: “The First Lady has summoned the Borno State Police Commissioner; the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for Chibok; the Borno State Commissioner for Education, the relevant local government chairman, the school principal and the school gatekeeper, among others. Where did she derive the authority or power to issue such summons? Does she know the implication of forcing security officials to divulge, on public television, sensitive information that could even hamper the search for the girls? How can a police commissioner, who is not accountable to the governor of a state, be subject to the First Lady? Where in the Constitution, or any law for that matter, is the role and powers of the First Lady delineated or articulated?”

    The party said if the First Lady would not heed the advice to stop summoning public officials to her executive chambers, then the officials should stop honouring such illegal and unconstitutional summons.

    It also took the First Lady to task over her comments that anytime she comes out, like a masquerade, something happens.

    APC wondered why she did not deem it necessary to have come out in the first few days of the girls’ abduction so that “something would have happened”.

    “Apparently, the First Lady believed, as she revealed on public television and as it has been insinuated in certain quarters, that the girls’ abduction was a ruse aimed at embarrassing her husband, hence neither she nor her husband took the whole tragedy seriously. That explained their delay in acting.

    “Now that the Boko Haram terrorists have claimed responsibility for the abduction and even threatened to sell the girls, the nation hopes that the First Lady and her husband now believe this is no ‘politics’,” it said.

    Also, the APC has condemned the clamour for the release of the names and pictures of the girls by those who are apparently doubting their abduction, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Women Leader Kema Chikwe.

    The party noted that while publishing the names and pictures of the girls would not facilitate their rescue, it would succeed in stigmatising them for life when eventually they are found and returned home safely.

    “These girls, who are mostly within the age-range of 16-18, are children, and deserve to be protected. Any attempt to publish their names and pictures, as being demanded in certain quarters, will stigmatise them for life, against the backdrop of the sex slavery conditions which many fear they may have been subjected to. Therefore, let us spare them any more trauma than they may have been subjected to already,” APC said.