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Tag: Patience Jonathan

  • Why Shettima’s wife shunned meeting with First Lady

    Why Shettima’s wife shunned meeting with First Lady

    The wife of the Governor of Borno State, Hajiya Nana Shettima, shunned a meeting with First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan in Abuja on Sunday because she thought there were plans to humiliate her.

    The meeting was convened by the First Lady to discuss the fate of the 276 girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok by Boko Haram insurgents.The clarification was made in a statement by the Press Secretary to the Borno Governor’s wife, Aisha Muhammad Hassan.

    The First Lady accused the governor’s wife of showing less concern over the abduction because she did not attend the Villa meeting on Saturday and Sunday.

    But the statement said contrary to the First Lady’s claim, the session was allegedly designed to humiliate the governor’s wife.

    The statement said: “The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, had a clear motive of humiliating Hajiya Nana Shettima, wife of Governor Kashim Shettima, at a scheduled meeting in the Villa and it was part of the reasons why the Governor’s wife sent a representative to the meeting and remained in Maiduguri to prepare for her planned trip to Chibok where she met with parents of the abducted girls in order to support them.

    “While Dame Patience painted a different picture. Mrs. Shettima had actually travelled to Abuja all the way from Maiduguri on 28th of April and on the evening of that day, she met the First Lady at the Villa and took two hours to brief her on the schoolgirls’ abduction as well as her (Mrs. Shettima’s) personal efforts and that of her husband, Governor Shettima, towards the freedom of the girls.

    “Some wives of service chiefs and National Women Leader of the PDP, Mrs. Kema Chikwe were present when the Governor’s wife met with the First Lady, noting that the First Lady appreciated the efforts of the Governor’s wife and was consoling her on noticing how depressed she was.

    “It was therefore shocking to the governor’s wife when she saw Dame Patience on the television accusing the governor of Borno as being responsible for the abduction.

    “It became clear to the governor’s wife that from the body language of the First Lady and some of her close associates at the Saturday meeting, there was high possibility that the First Lady’s demand for the Governor’s wife on Sunday was to humiliate her by accusing her husband to her face in the midst of participants at the meeting and she thought it was better she concentrated on her planned trip to Chibok on Monday morning.”

    The statement said the governor’s wife had met with the First Lady on April 28.

    It added:  “Before her meeting with Dame Patience on April 28, the governor’s wife had held a met with coalition of women groups that included stakeholders of Chibok,  officials of the National Council of Women Societies, wives of security chiefs in Borno State, the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Federation of Muslim Women of Nigeria, Association of Christian Widows, Association of Muslim Widows, the National Association of Women Journalists, selected female professionals that included university lecturers, political appointees and the principal of the attacked school after which a communiqué was issued as was reported by the media.

    “The communiqué was shown to Dame Patience by the governor’s wife which she also appreciated. In addition, she said, Mrs. Shettima had met virtually all the groups from Borno that the First Lady was meeting and that her representative was more than capable of representing her at the Villa meetings.

    “The governor’s wife had led women in Borno on one week fasting and, at the end, she hosted them again to review the situation while she was part of the procession at the Workers’ Day to call for the release of the schoolgirls.

    “The fact of the matter is that Hajiya Nana Shettima is right now in Chibok. She has met with parents of our daughters and sisters, the schoolgirls abducted to offer support to them.

    “Some of the parents have been discovered to have health challenges that will be immediately addressed. Mrs. Shettima left today (Monday) for Chibok after she was finally given a security clearance that was delayed since last week for operational reasons we can’t fault.

    “Mrs. Shettima is more concerned about the release of the schoolgirls who are daughters of Borno as well as providing crucial support to their parents who are having serious trauma that can affect their health and which require prompt attention.”

    The wife of the governor also said she refused to attend the meeting to avoid being rude to the First Lady.

    The statement said: “The governor’s wife has the highest respect for the First Lady,  and couldn’t have done anything to disrespect her.

    “The First Lady and her confidants can bear testimony to how respectful and obedient the Governor’s wife has been to her in the last three years and how she promptly attends to all events related to the First Lady, however inconvenient.

    “The governor’s wife regards the First Lady as a mother, given her age and position as mother of the nation.

    “Rather than present herself for a clash in an event her husband, the governor was disparaged before her at the Sunday meeting, which could have prompted an emotional reaction, it was out of respect for the First Lady that the governor’s wife requested the assistance of the State’s Commissioner for Women Affairs as a representative to the meeting even when she had the option of ignoring the invitation and not sending any representative.

    “But the governor’s wife has so much respect for the First Lady and will, as a well-trained woman, wife, mother and daughter, always accord the First Lady all the courtesies she should have as wife of the President. But, in doing so, the Governor’s wife will expect that her husband’s status as a governor, elected by millions of Nigerians in Borno State, is recognised and respected in line with constitutional, moral and African values.

    “The governor’s wife recognises and respects the status of the First Lady and her influence but without also forgetting that it is God, not humans, that gives power to anyone  and  keeps anyone in power or out of it”.

  • Meddler-in-chief?

    Meddler-in-chief?

    Whoever advised Dame Patience Jonathan, wife of President Goodluck Jonathan to stage last week’s mock trial of the Borno State government couldn’t have meant well for her person and least for her husband’s presidency. For while Nigerians are by now familiar with the trade-mark impetuosity of the self-styled Mama Peace, not even her affective pretences on the fate of the missing 276 schoolgirls could mitigate the public relations disaster of last Friday’s sham parley. And that was merely setting the stage for the mother of all fiasco – Sunday’s botched meeting which ended on a tearful note for the convener.

    And what was the parley said to have drawn unnamed governors’ wives, women opinion leaders, and key women organisations to the seat of government coming 17 days after the unfortunate abduction of the girls meant to achieve?

    To rally Nigerian women to take on the Boko Haram? To buy time for the fumbling administration?

    I have in the last few days struggled to find the rationale for the Abuja parley and even more for the botched expanded parley which the governor’s wife was supposed to have featured but which eventually failed to hold on Sunday.

    Was it about joining forces with well-meaning organisations to find a way out of the national shame and embarrassment? Was it part of the making of a budding pressure group to prod the President to summon the will to do the needful to bring the girls safely to the comfort of their homes? Was it about bandying together to provide psychological support to the families visited by the unprecedented tragedy of the abduction?

    Nothing of the proceedings would however suggest anything along that line. Quite to the contrary, what came off was a mission steeped in hubris and mischief of a heinous kind, an image laundering mission – a strategic, well-timed motion to take the winds off the sail of the agitation demanding action from the federal government – the ultimate mark of Nigeria’s outsourced presidency.

    Indeed, media account of the meeting revealed a bare-faced chicanery packaged as part of efforts to find the missing girls. The session was vintage Mama Peace – blunt but unfair; present in good dose was the vintage obtrusiveness – a defining style but which is increasingly hard to associate with the good offices of a presidential spouse.

    Although the high point was the presentation by the Head of the National Office of WAEC, Charles Eguridu, it was clear that all was about Goodluck and Jonathan. That presentation, I must say, left little to imagination about what the Dame set out to accomplish – to hold the Borno State government as the chief culprit in the abduction saga. And here, it turns out that the evidence was no more than the serious concerns raised by the examination body in addition to the advisory on the state government to take the examination centre out of the crisis-prone area. Aside that, the testimonial from the WAEC boss added pretty little to what is already in the public domain about the missing girls.

    This leads to the pertinent question of what the game plan was. It seems to me that the strategy is take the wind out of the rage spreading across the land over the pathetic handling of the rescue efforts by the federal government while taking due care to deflect attention from the failure of the federal government to contain the insurgency. Heaping the blame on the Borno State government would in the circumstance be fair game.

    As for the parents of the 276 girls and the entire citizens looking up to the exalted institution of the Presidency to bring the girls home, they are to look elsewhere since according to the Dame, the Borno State government knows more than it has admitted on the story of the missing girls. Her charge: “By Sunday, we must have our children. If not, we will march to Borno and ask the governor to give us our children. We will march to the National Assembly to see the Senate President and will also march to see the president”. How about from Mama Peace – Mother of the Nation!

    She would however not end without a curious offer to lead Nigerian women on a march provided of course that the object of their march is on the office of the state governor! Again her resolve is unmistakeable: “Within three days, something will happen. We will get to the root of the matter. I don’t come out and go back empty. I have come out and something must happen. We will not fold our arms and see our children kidnapped, our husbands, sons, daughters also being killed. We should be more concerned. We will form a committee to call on the appropriate persons to come and answer questions…” Does anyone still wonder as to who is in charge?

    Now, let’s even accept that the state government is guilty as charged.  The overwhelming evidence however, is that the federal government under whose watch the girls were ferried away despite the blanket of emergency is by far more complicit. Today, there are even suggestions that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the individual on whose desk lands, the daily security briefings knows only a little more than the rest of us know. Or how else does one explain the establishment of a Presidential committee on the abducted girls in the midst of the crisis and coming after Nigerians opted to take to the streets?

    See where we have landed ourselves?

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • First Lady didn’t order anybody’s arrest – Aide

    The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Monday denied ordering the arrest of a leader of protesters that stormed the National Assembly last week over abduction of 234 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State, Naomi Murlah.
    A statement issued by the Media Assistant at the Office of the First Lady, Ayo Adewuyi, reads “Our attention has been drawn to media reports that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, ordered the arrest of a woman who attended the women stakeholders’ meeting discussing ways and best strategies to ensure the release of the abducted children of Government Girls secondary School, Chibok.
    “We wish to state without any iota of equivocation that the First Lady did not order the arrest of any woman or any one for that matter before, during and after the meeting.
    “It is instructive to note that the meeting ended after 3am on Monday morning and all those invited to the meeting including a handful of journalists who stayed throughout the lengthy meeting left the Presidential Villa thereafter.
    “The Naomi Murlah mentioned in one of the reports came to the meeting as part of Borno delegation. The women were alarmed when someone who knew her told the meeting that she was impersonating one of the mothers of the allegedly abducted children on the basis for which she attended the meeting.”
    “The women expressed their disappointment when she confirmed that she is not a biological mother to any of the abducted children.”
    “Naomi left the State House with other members of the delegation. If she was arrested as claimed, then enquiries about her arrest should therefore be directed to the security agencies. It is an unfounded rumour which the First Lady knows nothing about.”

  • Abduction: First Lady gives Borno Gov three-day ultimatum

    Abduction: First Lady gives Borno Gov three-day ultimatum

    •“Find them or …” she says

    •WAEC official claims state govt refused to relocate Chibok candidates to state capital

    The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is spoiling for a confrontation with the Borno State government over the 276 students of the Government Girls Secondary School,Chibok, abducted on April 15 by the Boko Haram sect.

    She has given the state authorities three days to find the girls, failing which she has vowed to march on Maiduguri with other women from across the country to protest the abduction.

    Dame Patience, at a meeting with state governors’ wives, women opinion leaders and leaders of key women organizations at a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja at the weekend slammed the state government for allegedly treating security of the girls with levity.

    Mrs. Jonathan came to the conclusion that the state government was at fault for the security lapses that enabled Boko Haram to strike after the Head of WAEC National Office, Mr. Charles Eguridu told the meeting that the Ministry of Education in the state refused to heed the council’s advice to move all WASCE candidates in the state to Maiduguri.

    Mr. Eguridu said a letter to this effect was sent to the State Ministry of Education in March and that the ministry replied that adequate security had been put in place for the candidates.

    A similar letter entitled ‘Security challenges and the conduct of the 2014 WASC, SSCE in Borno, Yobe and part of Adamawa states’, was written by the Federal Ministry of Education to the governors of Adamawa and Yobe states.

    The content of the letter which was read at the meeting goes thus: “His Excellency: In view of the current security challenges in the North east states of the country, the West African Examination Council has expressed concerns over the safety of their officers who will be deployed to supervise the conduct of the 2014 diet of the examination in your state.

    “In response to these concerns, I have directed that the candidates in the Federal Unity schools be assembled in the respective state capitals where they are to sit for the examination in safe location.

    “You are pleased enjoined to make contingency arrangements for candidates from public and private schools in your state to sit the examination in safe locations.

    “Details of your arrangements should be forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Education and the examination body for their information and necessary action. Please accept the assurances of my honest regard.”

    Mr. Eguridu said WAEC would have been blamed by everyone if it had failed to conduct the exam in area threatened by Boko Haram.

    He added: “So, at great risks, my officers went to Chibok and conducted the exams. After the unfortunate incident, where the students were said to have been abducted, our staff now got a response from the state that they were now ready to relocate the remaining students to another place called Uba.

    “And as I speak, 189 candidates are continuing with the exam in Uba. We are trying to extrapolate from the 189, how many of these candidates are male candidates and how many are female. With that extrapolation, we are likely to be able to know the exact number of candidates who have been abducted by the insurgents.”

    The First Lady said that the Borno government should tell Nigerians the whereabouts of the girls within three days otherwise she would mobilise women groups and mothers on a protest to Maiduguri, the National Assembly and the Presidency.

    She said nothing short of finding the girls is unacceptable to her.

    She said: “By Sunday (today), we must have our children. If not, we will march to Borno and ask the governor to give us our children. We will march to the National Assembly to see the Senate President and will also march to see the president.

    “Within three days, something will happen. We will get to the root of the matter. I don’t come out and go back empty. I have come out and something must happen. We will not fold our hands and see our children kidnapped, our husbands, sons, daughters also being killed. We should be more concerned. We will form a committee to call on the appropriate persons to come and answer questions. They must answer us. If they say they will answer us, then they should go and bring our children.

    “The demonstration will take place at their doorsteps. When they don’t answer us, we can then approach our neighbours, the President, Senate President and others to help us. I have been dealing with this secretly but you have taken me to the market square. There is no more hiding.”

    She said that state governors who are the chief security officers of their states should be prepared to take the heat for any security breach in their domain.

    She recalled her husband’s tenure as Bayelsa State governor, saying: “During Obasanjo’s time, anytime an oyinbo was kidnapped in Bayelsa State, he would call the governor (Jonathan) at 2am and give him 24 hours to produce the kidnapped person.

    “We now know who to ask for our children. We don’t need to embark on demonstrations from state to state,” she said.

    The meeting is expected to resume today.

    More state officials have been summoned to come and give information on how to rescue the girls.

    Those summoned include the Borno State Commissioner of Police, the Commissioner for Education, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Chibok, the wife of the village head, the school principal and the school gateman.

    Also invited are at least two teachers from the school, the chairman and secretary of the school’s Parents Teachers Association, two house prefects, two parents of missing children, and two parents whose children have returned home.

    She set up   a committee to ensure that those she summoned attend the meeting.

    Heading the committee is the wife of the Borno State governor, who was absent at the meeting.

    Other members of the committee are the wives of the Senator and member of the House of Representatives from Chibok, wife of the Minister from Borno State and wife of the Chairman of the affected local government area as members.

    Also addressing the meeting, the Borno State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajia Inna Galadima, who represented the governor’s wife, Nana Shettima, said that the state government had so far collected photographs of 162 of the abducted girls.

    She said the 53 girls who fled from Boko Haram’s captivity are now being taken care of by the state government.

    Abduction: First Lady gives Borno Gov three-day ultimatum

  • Chibok: First lady gives ultimatum on rescue of girls

    Chibok: First lady gives ultimatum on rescue of girls

    The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has blamed of the abduction of 234 secondary school girls while writing exams in Chibok, Borno State on the state government.

    She made the accusation on Friday night during a meeting on the incident  with wives of state governors, women opinion leaders, leaders of key women organizations and relevant women stakeholders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The First lady said the state government should be held responsible for the missing girls after the Head of WAEC National Office, Mr. Charles Eguridu revealed at the meeting that the Ministry of Education in the state refused to move all WASCE candidates in the state to Maiduguri as demanded in a letter written in March by the Minister of Education to the Ministry.

    The state government reportedly replied that it had adequate security in school.

    Worried by the revelation, she gave the state government three-day ultimatum to not only tell Nigerians the whereabouts of the girls but ensure the release of the girls who were abducted on the 15th of April, 2014.

    If the girls are not found in the next three days, she threatened to lead women groups and mothers on protest march to Borno state, the National Assembly and to the President.

    According to her, she had been dealing with the issue secretly since the news of the abduction broke out but has now decided to come to the open.

    Failure on the mission, she said, is not acceptable to her.

    She said: “By Sunday, we must have our children. If not, we will march to Borno and ask the governor to give us our children. We will march to National Assembly to see the Senate President and will also match to see the President,”

    “Within three days, something will happen. We will get to the root of the matter. I don’t come out and go back empty. I have come out and something must happen.

    “We will not fold our hands and see our children kidnapped our husbands, sons, daughters also being killed. We should be more concerned. We will form a committee to call on appropriate persons to come and answer questions. They must answer us. If they say they will answer us, then they should go and bring our children.

    “The demonstration will take place at their doorsteps. When they don’t answer us, we can then approach our neighbours, the President, Senate President and others to help us.”

    “I have been dealing with this secretly but you have taken me to the market square. There is no more hiding.” She declared

    Noting that state governors are the chief security officers of their states, she said that they must be ready to take the heat for any act of insecurity in their domain.

    Recalling when her husband was the Bayelsa State governor, she said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo could call her husband in the middle of the night over any news of kidnapping in the state.

    She said: “Governors are the security officers of their states. During Obasanjo’s time, anytime an oyinbo is kidnapped in Bayelsa state, he would call the governor (Jonathan) at 2am and give him 24 hours to produce the kidnapped person.”

    “We now know who to ask for our children. We don’t need to embark on demonstrations from state to state,” she said.

    The meeting at the First Lady Conference room, which was adjourned till 4pm on Saturday, also summoned some individuals the First Lady believed would assist in unraveling the circumstances leading to the girls’ abduction and their whereabouts.

    Those summoned include the Borno State Commissioner of Police, the state Commissioner for Education, the chairman of the local government, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Chibok, the wife of the village head, the school principal and the school gateman.

    Also invited are at least two teachers from the school, the chairman and secretary of the school’s Parents Teachers Association, two house parents, two parents of missing children, and two parents whose children had returned home.

    She also constituted a committee to ensure that those she summoned attend the Sunday meeting.

    According to her, the committee to be chaired by the wife of Borno State governor, who was absent at the meeting, has wife of the Senator and member of the House of Representatives from the affected constituency in the state, wife of the Minister from Borno State and wife of the Chairman of the affected local government area as members.

  • Boko Haram: End killings, Gowon urges Jonathan

    Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon has  called on President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to vigorously work at ending the mindless killings and mayhem across the country.

    The Islamic sect, Boko Haram and other terrorists groups have continued to kill innocent Nigerians in the north eastern part of the country.

    Gowon, while speaking at the National Youth Peace Concert held at the Eagle Squares, Abuja on Saturday  also challenged the terrorists to come out to defend their actions.

    He urged Nigerians to come to the aid of the government by providing useful information about the terrorists.

    The Concert was organized by the Office of the First Lady and office of the Special Adviser to the President on Youth and Students Matters.

    He said: “I call on the Federal Government, using the various security agencies to vigorously work at ending the orgy of mindless killings and mayhem across the country. But the people can also help by making sure that they give intelligence of information of where these people are coming from.”

    “Are they Nigerians that are doing these? If they are Nigerians, I challenge them to come out and defend their acts against their motherland.”

    Calling on African leaders to rise to the occasion and stop crisis in Africa, he said:  “May I also use this medium to call on our leaders , not only in Nigeria but across Africa, to exercise the critical responsibility of leadership and rise up to the challenge of providing solution to these problems through education,employment, youth development and empowerment.”

    “These actions will help to stem the tendency towards violent conflicts in some parts of the country.” He added

    Gowon, who was the special guest of honour at the event, also expressed sympathy to the families of the dead and wounded students in the recent terrorists attacks in the school in Yobe State as he condemned  other similar attacks.

    “You must reject acts of violence of any sort. But you must embrace and build trust and confidence among one another for the eternal good of your respective countries band your continent.” He told the youths at the occasion.

    The Nigeria’s First Lady and President of African First Ladies Peace Mission, Dame Patience Jonathan  called on youths in the country to shun being lured into election thuggery among other crimes as the 2015 general elections approaches.

    Urging Nigerians to forgive one another and work together, she charged the youths to be peace ambassadors in their homes, community, states and Nigeria and the continent as a whole.

    She said: “I want you to go out there to preach peace for me. Why are our brothers killing one another? Let us not allow outsiders to come and cause confusion for us. We need everyone to be alive to build a strong nation.”

    “I am really pained, I don’t know how to say enough is enough. I have prayed in my bedroom. I want God to hear and answer me. We are killing one another. Let God, Allah touch our hearts. Let us stop killing one another.”

    “I am deeply pained and I wish you can help me today. The youths, you are my hope. I have called on my fellow women and yet help is still not coming, the men have tried and yet no help. So, I am calling on you the youth. I want you to be alive for me. I want Nigeria to be as it was before.”

    She went on: “No matter the religion we have,  we pray to one God. Allah us the same as God. Everything we do, God is seeing us. Let them cease from touching schools and killing students. I want you to be my ambassadors as you leave here. Carry my message along with you. From today, don’t call me First Lady Same Patience, call me ‘Mama Peace’.

    On forthcoming election, she said: “I am crying and begging you, don’t be used. Election is coming, they will come to you. Why are they not using their children? Their children are in schools abroad. They don’t have money to feed you, but they have money to buy grenades for you. Please don’t take it again. I want you to stay alive for me.”

    After releasing100 white doves  as symbol of peace in Nigeria and the continent at the occasion, she was presented with two awards for her role in promoting peace in the continent.

    Also speaking at the occasion, the Wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Amina Sambo called all Nigerians to continue to promote peace and love in order to overcome the various security challenges facing the nation.

    Stressing that the occasion was imperative because of the various security challenges facing the nation, she urged the youths not to allow themselves to be used to destroy the future of Nigeria by anybody, but channel their energies to positive uses.

    She also maintained that the fast eroding of Nigeria’s religious and cultural values call for serious concern by those who genuinely love the country.

    “Let us all promote love and peace in the nation. It is time to wage peace and not war. Let us all be peace advocates …to end the threat to peace in our nation.” She stated

    The First Lady of South Africa, Mrs. N. Zuma, who spoke on behalf of the African First Ladies Peace Mission maintained that no meaningful development can be achieved in any society except peace is first archived.

    She urged the youths in the continent to continue to stand for love and peace in order to end the crises across the continent.

    Among the dignitaries that graced the occasion include First Lady of Sudan and other Regional Vice Presidents of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, the Wife of the Senate President, Helen Mark, First Ladies from various states of the Federation.

    Various Christian and Muslim leaders in the country also spoke at the occasion preaching love and peace in the country.

    TuFace Idibia, Onyeka Onwenu, and artiste from Cote’dIvoire, Katara were among the artiste that performed at the occasion.

    The concert was attended by thousands of youths that stormed the city from various states of the Federation.

  • Photo: Dame Patience, FCT Minister and family

    Photo: Dame Patience, FCT Minister and family

    First Lady, Patience Jonathan ( fifth left) with FCT Minster Senator Bala Mohammed during a condolence visit to the Minister on Sunday
    First Lady, Patience Jonathan ( fifth left) with FCT Minster Senator Bala Mohammed during a condolence visit to the Minister on Sunday

    First Lady, Patience Jonathan( fifth left) with FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and his family during the first Lady’s condolence visit to the Minister on Sunday.

    Photo: State House
  • Photo: ‘Hale and hearty’ first lady Jonathan

    Photo: ‘Hale and hearty’ first lady Jonathan

    First Lady, Dame, Patience Goodluck Jonathan Sunday evening was at  the Life Camp, Abuja official residence of the Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to condole with him over the recent transition of his elder brother, Mallam Yusuf Mohammed Baba contrary to a report that she has fallen ill and flown abroad for urgent medical treatment.

    Nosike Ogbuenyi, Special Adviser, Media to the FCT Minister in a press release said the first lady looked ‘healthy  and resplendent’

     

    Dame Patience Jonathan
    Dame Patience Jonathan


     

  • Why Oghiadomhe had to go

    Why Oghiadomhe had to go

    Former Chief of Staff to the President Mike Oghiadomhe was forced out, following complaints by some governors, influential people and associates of the President who felt that he was becoming “too powerful”, it was learnt last night.

    The ex-Chief of Staff was said to have fallen out of favour with First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan who reportedly complained that he was “not guiding” the presidency well.

    An insider, who is knowledgeable about the power game at the Presidential Villa, described Oghiadomhe’s exit as the beginning of a “far-reaching shake-up in the Federal Executive Council”.

    The source said: “The ‘resignation’ of Oghiadomhe is just a tip of the iceberg; it is a pointer to many changes that will come. There will be a further shake-up by the President.

    “Some ministers, who have arrogated so much powers to themselves, will be asked to go. Also, a few ministers who have become a burden to the Jonathan administration will be dropped.

    “The President already has security reports on some ministers allegedly cutting corners and their days are numbered.”

    Although the source was not specific, it was learnt that some controversial women ministers will go.

    The source added: “The President will shock Nigerians with the coming changes.”

    The source gave further insight into why Oghiadomhe was told to resign.

    The source added: “As a matter of fact, Oghiadomhe had been battling to save his job since last September. Each time the President wanted to ask him to leave, he had a way of surviving.

    “But this time around, the President did not give either Vice-President Namadi Sambo or any of his aides a faint idea of what was in the offing.”

    Asked to be specific, the source said: “There had been complaints from some governors, statesmen, political leaders, friends, and associates of the President that Oghiadomhe was becoming too powerful for comfort.

    “They believed that the former Chief of Staff had reached his peak and he was no longer giving quality advice to the President on vital issues.

    “I think those who should have timely access to the President have not been able to do so. This led to occasional policy flip-flop.

    “These aggrieved people have also had cause to fault the quality of advice from Oghiadomhe on the removal of some government officials. There was a time he appeared before the President with documents downloaded from the Internet to oppose the reappointment of a chief executive of a government agency.

    “In the presence of a former minister and a Special Adviser, the President was angry that there was no due diligence.”

    Also, it was gathered that alleged slow process in attending to issues might have led to Oghiadomhe’s exit.

    “I think the Presidency was not too pleased that the Office of the Chief of Staff was dabbling in issues which either the Secretary to the Government of the Federation or a minister could handle.

    “For instance, there was a time some heads of some departments and agencies were asked to submit their financial details to the Office of the Chief of Staff. This type of directive was a distraction for the Chief of Staff.

    “There were many state matters which were brought under the purview of the Office of the Chief of Staff, which ought not to be. For instance, when the Presidency-National Assembly face-off was pronounced, Senators and members of the House of Representatives were invited for consultations by the Chief of Staff. Ordinarily, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters should have handled the challenge.

    “At a point, the ex- Chief of Staff got involved in local politics in Edo State, causing a strain in his relationship with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih.

    “The bitterness within the PDP against Oghiadomhe reached a point that his name was omitted on the list of the state delegates to the recent Special National Convention of the party. Being a powerful Chief of Staff, Oghiadomhe managed his way at the National Secretariat of the party to vote at the convention. But his name was not in the list of delegates produced and distributed at the convention.

    Another source also claimed that the First Lady had been uncomfortable with the retention of Oghiadomhe as Chief of Staff.

    The source said: “In spite of the fact that they have been family friends over the years, the First Lady felt Oghiadomhe was not ‘guiding’ the Presidency well. She felt he could be put in another position in government.

    “I think the First Family needed a breather and Oghiadomhe had to go.”

    A third source traced Oghiadomhe’s resignation to “the calibre of experienced people” coming into the cabinet who might not want to work with him as a Chief of Staff.

    The source said: “You should not expect cabinet members like Gen. Aliyu Gusau to defer to the former Chief of Staff. There are other people who will want to assist this government that cannot work or receive directive from Oghiadomhe.

    “Some people also prefer the Chief of Staff moving to the North to create some balance and present the President as a National Leader.

    “This is why in his resignation letter, the ex-Chief of Staff talked about political exigencies.”

    It was also learnt that as far back as 2011, the President received a report from a team of assessors he put up, that the former Chief of Staff should be changed. But he decided to give Ogiadomhe the benefit of the doubt until yesterday.

    As at press time, it was not immediately clear who will take over from Oghiadomhe although the owner of DAAR Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi was last year short-listed.

    Dokpesi’s dream might, however, be cut short if the President concedes the slot to the North.

  • As Ogunsakin takes over Rivers Police Command

    As Ogunsakin takes over Rivers Police Command

    Though the clamour for his removal as Commissioner of Police in Rivers State was very high and had even assumed an international dimension, not a few were taken by surprise when the Police Service Commission last Thursday acted out of character by redeploying Mbu Joseph Mbu to the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, thus ending one of the darkest moments in the history of the Nigeria Police.

    The service record of CP Mbu as head of the police in Rivers State was less than enviable. It is no use recalling some of them again as virtually all adult literate Nigerians that have kept themselves abreast of situations in the country in the last couple of years would have heard and formed their opinion about this police officer.

    Specially head hunted from Oyo State Police command by Mrs Patience Jonathan and recruited into her forces in her battle against Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Mbu became so bad and terrible in his performance in Rivers that no state governor was willing to tolerate him or ready to receive him when he was to be removed from his post in Port Harcourt last year following strings of questionable actions, orders and utterances.

    It was rumoured that he was to be posted to Imo State Police Command but the governor there would have none of that. He was also rumoured to be heading to the Port Police Command as CP, just to give him a soft landing, but his god mother intervened and he remained in Port Harcourt to cause more atrocities.

    But I think his masters started getting fed up with him and his god mother with that shooting at the Port Harcourt rally of the Save Rivers Movement, when rubber bullets were shot into the crowd by his men hitting and injuring a serving senator of the Federal republic in the process. The national and international condemnation of the Federal Government that followed put the presidency in bad light and probably convinced The Villa that CP Mbu was becoming a liability, even if he is their ‘good boy’.

    When Mbu followed this up by folding his arms while thugs and criminals disrupted another SRM rally at Bori in Ogoni land, while the rival Grassroots Democratic Initiative, a pro Jonathan group being sponsored by the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike was having a field day and enjoying police protection, not a few were convinced that Mbu was carrying his Masters’ assignment too far and his days were numbered. The Inspector General of Police who was rumoured not to be pleased with Mbu because he did not take orders from him any longer had to act publicly by ordering the CP to provide police cover for another SRM rally planned for Bori which Governor Amaechi had publicly vowed to lead, daring Mbu and his police to come and shoot him.

    With the tide suddenly turning against him, Mbu made a last ditch effort to warm his way back into the heart of the IGP when in a most indecorous manner, he took out a full page advert in newspapers praising his bosses at Police Headquarters. Most people believed that was the last throw of the dice by the CP that probably made up the mind of his ‘ogas’ at the top to remove him, but then they still had to contend with his god mother at the top. I am sure the decision by the opposition to block the passage of the 2014 budget, especially the allocation to the Police in the appropriation bill must have been the last straw that broke Mbu’s back in Abuja; he had to leave Port Harcourt and urgently too. The rest as they say is history.

    It was not my intention to revisit the Mbu matter again on this page having written several times on it in the past, but I can’t resist letting some people out there who have been abusing and even cursing this columnist and my colleagues who have had cause to disagree with CP Mbu’s style that we have nothing personal against this police officer or the Nigeria Police in general other than our desire to have a strong institution (police) that would enforce the law even handedly without fear or favour. And this is the challenge before the new Rivers State police boss Tunde Ogunsakin.

    Mbu may have meant well initially when he started but he missed it the moment he allowed himself to be sucked in to the politics of Rivers State. Now he is a toxic officer that nobody wants to touch. What a pity?

    With CP Ogunsakin in the saddle, he would do well to learn from the mistakes of his controversial predecessor and avoid the proverbial banana peel. Rivers State is complex in the sense that forces trying to control its resources and future are very powerful and determined. Nyesom Wike, pretending to be fighting the cause of President Jonathan is merely using the name of the president and exploiting the man’s desperation to return to office for a second term, to further his own interest in the governorship of the state next year.

    Madam Patience Jonathan, the First Lady is also interested in producing the next governor of Rivers State, preferably from among her Okrika kinsmen, as security against life after her husband’s presidency.

    Expectedly, Governor Rotimi Amaechi should be interested in producing his successor.

    These three groups will play a major role in the politics of the state between now and elections next year and they would use all the tricks in their armoury to gain the upper hand. Throw in President Jonathan and his eyeing of the two million plus votes from Rivers in the next presidential election into the equation and you have a tough situation on your hand in Rivers State between now and the general elections in 2015.

    This is the situation CP Ogunsakin is inheriting in Rivers State today and his task is not made easier by the fact that he is taking over a command already polarized by a partisan officer who had just been redeployed. All he needs to do is to be professional as possible in the discharge of his duties and he will need all his professional trainings and experience garnered over the years as an officer to achieve this. It is a good thing that he had served as a Divisional Police Officer (I think) in Rivers State before, so it will not be a totally new terrain to him.