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Tag: President Goodluck Jonathan

  • Osun hails Fed Govt for water projects

    Osun hails Fed Govt for water projects

    Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has commended the Federal Government for its water projects in the state.

    The Governor praised President Goodluck  Jonathan when he paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe  in her office. He acknowledged the tremendous work the government is doing in providing water for the state.

    According to him, Ilesha town has been without pipe-borne water for over 50 years before the Federal Government came to the aid of the town by releasing funds to complete the town’s water dam.

    “I am quite impressed with what you have done in Osun State and I find it necessary to come here to express my profound gratitude to the Federal Government, especially in the construction of Ilesha water project,” he said.

    The governor disclosed that Ogun/ Osun River Basin projects in the state, which are 12 and the Ilesha dam are considered a great honour done to the state by President Goodluck Jonathan. He reminded the minister about the Ife dam, noting that its completion would be an honour to Yoruba race.

    He solicited the support of the Ministry in constructing the treatment plant, while the state government would reticulate and distribute the water to the people. He said though the state is expected to construct the treatment plant, the state does not have the funds required for the project.

    Speaking on irrigation, Aregbesola said the state needs irrigation for all season farming and pleaded for more Federal Government’s support. “Please don’t relent on your efforts in doing your best for Osun State,” he said.

    Responding, the Minister said the on-going projects of his ministry in Osun and other states are as a result of President Jonathan’s determination to complete abandoned projects across the country.

    Mrs. Ochekpe reiterated Federal Government’s desire for a stronger partnership with state governments for service to be delivered to the citizenry.

    According to her, the responsibility of the ministry is to provide fresh bulk water while the provision of a treatment plant and water reticulation.

    President Jonathan, she said, is committed to the agricultural transformation of the country through irrigation and water supply projects for food security.

    “Since it is obvious that rain-fed agriculture alone cannot guarantee food security to the nation, a lot is being done to support irrigation projects all over the country and Osun State will not be left out,” she added.

  • Asari Dokubo: We want independence

    Asari Dokubo: We want independence

    For about one hour last Tuesday, the founder of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force(NDPV), Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, spoke with Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Yusuf Alli and Correspondent, Faith Yahaya, on burning political issues – everything from ongoing infighting within the Peoples Democratic Party, President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 ambitions to the insurgency in the North East. Excerpts:

    What is your assessment of the Amnesty Programme?

    For me the way the amnesty programme is being managed, it has brought a lot of positive result. A lot of people have been trained; there has never been any adult scholarship programme in Nigeria that has trained as many people as the amnesty programme has done. A lot of people have been given a new lease of life; a lot of people have changed for the better.

    Are you satisfied with the programme so far?

    I think the name amnesty should be changed. It should be a collective programme for the people of the oil-bearing communities in Niger Delta. It is wrong for you to single out a group of people. These people when they started their agitation, according to them, they were not agitating for themselves, they were agitating on behalf of the people, so you cannot go on and give them a bribe (amnesty programme) in total exclusion of the people they claimed they were fighting for. And it is also wrong for them to accept the amnesty because they were delegates and they considered themselves as delegates, so they were on errand for the people. So, morally it is wrong. So, the programme should be given to the oil-bearing communities and not the whole of Niger Delta. It should be given to communities who have suffered deprivation, degradation of their environment and social dislocation.

    Are you suggesting expanding the scope of the amnesty?

    Yes, the amnesty programme, as presently constituted, is criminalised because first, you have to demoralise the people, criminalise the people to grant them a pardon, which is wrong. Then the people who accept amnesty have betrayed the people because when they started they said they were fighting on behalf of the people, so if you go and accept benefit and that benefit does not translate to the improvement of lives of those people, then you have betrayed the people.

    Is it in terms of benefit they have betrayed the people?

    Yes, it is in terms of benefit because if they take the amnesty, they go for training and they are paid N65,000 while the generality of the people who they claimed they were fighting for did not have such benefit.

    In spite of the programme, we still have prevalence of oil theft and people are now saying the amnesty is not succeeding. What is your take on this?

    That is why the amnesty is wrong, the amnesty is immoral. It is for 30,000 people as against the millions of people from the oil-bearing communities. Why were they singled out? Other people said, “Oh, so una dey give them bribe, oya now, make we see whether that bribe go work.” So the people own the oil, they own the land in which the oil comes from and if they single out other people and give them and leave others, then they will take from the pipeline because everything you are saying is in the pipeline.

    Are ex-militants behind oil theft?

    I don’t know who a militant is; I have never known them. I don’t know the meaning of militant and I have never known that word. I have never even checked it in the dictionary.

    What will you call those who have been agitating in the Niger Delta, including those in your group?

    Was Mandela called a militant? Was Kwame Nkrumah called a militant? If they did not call Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah and even Saro Wiwa a militant, why should I be called a militant? I am not a militant and I don’t know the meaning of militant.

    Are you a revolutionary?

    Yes, I am. Revolution means violent action towards change.

    Now, the amnesty programme has a timeframe…

    I don’t know. The question is not for me because I took the government of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to court challenging him under the constitution of Nigeria whether he had the power to grant amnesty…he did not have the power to. I took him to the Federal High Court in 2009.

    In spite of that they are still running the programme. Why are you still making an issue out of it?

    That is because Nigeria is a lawless country. The whims and caprices of individuals cannot now become law. Yar’Adua cannot be moving on the street of Abuja and then see me and say: ‘I have granted you amnesty because you are from the Niger Delta and you look like a militant.’

    I thought you were part of the deal

    I am shocked and it shows that you didn’t read my write up because if you did, you would have known that I took them to court. You would have known that I refused to be given pardon and I have not accepted pardon from anybody because I have not committed any crime and I am not a militant.

    Due to oil theft, multinational companies are trying to disinvest in the Niger Delta. Are you not concerned about this?

    Very good! They should leave, that is what we have been praying for. They should not just disinvest onshore, they should also disinvest offshore.

    Who will manage our oil considering that they have the technical knowledge?

    Who said we want them to manage any oil? Nobody said so. We don’t want our oil to be used, our environment to be degraded, our people to suffer from all sorts of diseases occasioned by oil production and exploitation. If they stop, good for us.

    How will Nigeria manage its oil sector or take over?

    What is my business? Why would Nigeria come and take over what is in Buguma, did I go to take over what is in Kano? Why should Buguma matter be different from Kano or Sokoto? Why would the governor of Adamawa talk about Buguma when I don’t have anything to do in Yola?

    These are natural resources that belong to the people of Buguma, how would you exploit them?

    Buguma people are not ready to exploit it now. When they are ready, we will, but for now we don’t want anything. If they are going, we will applaud them. There is no reason whatsoever for you to exploit my resources to come and develop Abuja. I support convocation of Sovereign National Conference which is the simple minimum demand we are making.

    What about true federalism?

    I don’t know anything about that because in dictionary, I have never seen any word like true federalism as illiterate as I am, but there is federalism. Nigerians cannot be creating words to the exclusion of the whole world. We know what federal system of government and unitary system of government are, there is nothing like true federalism. You are a federation and even if you are, the people must agree to be Nigerians and we have never sat down to agree. Nations are not built by one Lugard or when someone says from today, you people are Nigerians. That is what is wrong with Nigeria.

    But the argument of the government is that there can’t be two sovereignties?

    We have gone past that. The president said he is not averse to the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. The president of the Senate, David Mark, has come out and said national conference is necessary. So, we are getting nearer. Those of us who have been shouting on top of our voice are coming nearer and closer. Sovereign National Conference, I pray, will be convened in my lifetime. That is my ultimate dream. By that time, I will campaign among my people for what we want and what we want is independence. After the independence we will go our separate ways peacefully so that we will not be hearing about Boko Haram or MEND which will be a Niger Delta problem and from there, it will become an Ijaw problem. I cannot be carrying other people’s burden.

    Does that mean you don’t mind if the nation is dismembered?

    I am the first person who advocated it to the Supreme Court and that was why I was put on treason trial. My belief, aspiration or prayer is that Nigeria should be dismembered. This Nigeria, I don’t want it.

    What is really wrong with Nigeria having come such a long way?

    We didn’t come anywhere. Somebody cannot just say from today you are Nigerians. Why? What power does he have? Is he God? And he says he’s an English man. Do you know that anybody who calls himself a Nigerian is an inferior person? How can someone just look at you and call you a Nigerian and so you are?

    I thought there is now equity in Nigeria since power has shifted to the South-South?

    If power has shifted to the South-South and one man or some people say if Jonathan wins the PDP primaries by default or by any other means, he will fail at the general election… and if he wins, they will make the country ungovernable and now they have fulfilled their words of making the country ungovernable. Kano and Jigawa states’ governors have clearly said if Goodluck gets PDP ticket, they are going to disgrace him at the general election – which they cannot. So they have continued in their drumming of crisis and war. They failed in 2011 and they are going to fail in 2015. So, why would you want to be part of a country where some people think they are born to rule?

    But I thought at a stage, you granted an interview and you had some grouses against the president and his re-election bid?

    You did not read my interview, if you had read my interview, you won’t say so. I can quote my words as printed by PUNCH Newspaper. If some people decide to say what they like, that is their business. This is what I said and thank God, book no dey lie. It was published in PUNCH on the 22nd of December 2012.

    I said: “First, there was no need for Jonathan, whatsoever, to disagree with Obasanjo. I don’t like Obasanjo, I don’t like his face, I hate him, but he was instrumental to bringing Jonathan to power. And the greedy people around Jonathan have not managed him well enough to prevent an open clash between him and Obasanjo. And if you check, all the people who supported Jonathan and fought to bring him to power have openly disagreed with him, what were the causes of these disagreements? These are the questions we want to put to the president. It is alarming because the South-South must have its uninterrupted eight years’ tenure which is constitutional, but with how things are going under Jonathan, we are afraid that we may not be able to have our eight years, because there will be no magic about it, if it is going to be one-man-one-vote.

    “Some people say Obasanjo is manipulating Jonathan, that is why Jonathan is disagreeing with him, and we ask: ‘what has Jonathan’s government achieved to show that it is a departure from other governments that have existed since 1956?’ For us, nothing has changed. It is still business as usual. So, what is the advice that Obasanjo gave to Jonathan that is so difficult for him to fulfill, that made him to decide to fall out with the former president? Obasanjo was instrumental to and manipulated the process that illegally removed Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as the governor of Bayelsa State and installed Jonathan as governor, then made him vice-president, fought for him to become acting president and also fought for him to become President of Nigeria. Apart from Obasanjo, there are so many people who supported Jonathan; some have been pushed out by those who were not there to give him any support, while some others are trapped and they cannot talk.

    “The problem is that the president is surrounded by very greedy people who do not want him to make any progress. I have known the president for more than 20 years, and I know he is very simple and humane, but he has allowed himself to be imprisoned by the people around him, and this is what we are saying that the situation must stop. After the election and before his swearing-in, I granted an interview where I said that if Jonathan failed to perform in six months, he would lose all the goodwill, and today as we can see, the president is losing all the goodwill. The social media was one of the avenues the president used to come to power, but today, anywhere you go on the social media, he is being called all sorts of names: clueless and other derogatory names. We cannot continue to take punches for the president when he has refused to wear his gloves. The president is removed from his own people, his people do not have access to him; so, people like us who have access to him become targets. When Joseph was sold into captivity in Egypt, from slavery to prison and from prison he became a prime minister, the first thing he did was to invite his family from Israel to Egypt to come and partake in his new-found glory.

    “There is something wrong somewhere, the people around the president have fenced him and put him in ‘Kirikiri Prison’ so that he cannot even see his direct family. I have complained to Ijaw elders, that I cannot keep quiet over things that I have seen, and they say I should wait. I am asking here, how long will we keep quiet? Our people now feel that we are at the riverside and yet use spittle to wash our face. People are dying on the East-West Road, Jonathan and (Godsday) Orubebe are doing nothing. Both of them will account for the deaths on the road. I continue to be an advocate of an eight-year presidency in the South-South and eight years in the South-East because the old Eastern Region was the most deprived region in this country if you consider the people that have ruled this country.” So, how was I against the president? People continue to quote me wrongly and say I am against Jonathan.

    Are you still standing by some of these observations?

    Yes! Go to the East-West road now, something massive is going on and it is almost completed. You can drive from Port Harcourt to Elele, from Warri to Ughelli, work is also ongoing. So, if I said something in December last year and after I said it, the Catholic Bishop said it also at the funeral of Azazi, Amaechi said it and different socio-cultural organisations including the Council of Warlords said it. They reechoed what I have said.

    Does it mean the president is responding?

    Yes, he is responding not only to the road but on a lot of vital issues.

    On what basis does Jonathan deserve a second term?

    He deserves a second term first. No apologies. He is an Ijaw man like me; he deserves it and no apologies whatsoever. Second, which is most important to any other person is: when the colonialist left, they left functional railways, but before Goodluck came to power the railways were dead. When the colonialists were leaving, they left functional agriculture but all of them died before Goodluck came to power. Today, agriculture is being revived. During Obasanjo’s eight years, you could not travel the Ore-Benin road; it was a death trap but today the road is open and people are travelling. Go to Oyo-Ilorin road, it has been expanded and people are travelling.

    Obasanjo awarded Abuja-Lokoja road at an unbelievable amount but construction did not go beyond two to three kilometres. Yar’ Adua came and he did not do anything. But now the road is near completion. Direct foreign investment has increased. So, if, from 1956 to 2010, they were not able to achieve anything and somebody in a space of three years has changed these things and has achieved so much, then if you add all of them together, they have not achieved as much as what Jonathan has achieved in three years.

    That means you are not disturbed by the activities of the G-7 PDP governors and the Baraje faction?

    They are political miscreants because there is no faction in the PDP. PDP is the PDP and there is only one PDP recognised by the law. What they are doing is illegal and against the law.

    But the same president is holding peace talks with them

    That is why we are angry with Jonathan. Why should the president hold meeting with them? The president should put them where they belong.

    Where do they belong?

    Where they belong is to be chased from the PDP and those of them that do not have immunity, the full weight of the law should be brought against them and they should be dealt with decisively.

    But the fear is that they can stop the president

    How? Did the president win in Kano, Sokoto, Niger, and Jigawa in 2011?

    But he won in Kwara?

    Yes, and he is going to win in Kwara, he will win in Niger now clearly and he will win more votes in Kano. He will win. Did Kwankwaso people not print his poster with Buhari in 2011? Did Kwankwaso support Goodluck? If it is Lamido, yes, we agree, but did the support translate into victory? So all this bragging is nothing. Did Amaechi bring any vote? I was the chieftain of ACN, all other parties scored zero. Goodluck scored 100% vote in my ward. There were agents for all the parties but in my ward, every party scored zero, they didn’t score one vote. Did Amaechi bring it or did he come near my ward? Amaechi cannot even win in his unit; he does not have the capacity to win election even in his unit.

    We are waiting and we pray to God to keep us alive till 2015, then you will come and see if Amaechi can win in his unit in 2015 and not to talk of his ward. In the last election, didn’t you hear what they did to a policeman in Amaechi’s town? How police officers were stripped naked by the people of his community. He is not able to control his community and he wants to rule Rivers State. Look at people they are training in Kano for martial art, if I do it in my school they will say I am training militia.

    You seem to have no fear about 2015, what is the secret?

    I don’t have any fear, except for what God will do and Goodluck will not be alive which we pray that God will not at this time that he has brought us to a reasonable level of development. Goodluck will not leave us mid-stream, he will take us to the shore because 2015 is a foregone conclusion. There is going to be political cemetery for many political heavy weights where we are going to inter them because Goodluck is going to demystify everybody. People should not be afraid. And for the men of God that said God sent them, people will know that God did not send them.

    How about this coalition of opposition coming together to form All Progressives Congress, you were once in their midst, what happened?

    I was, because we shared the same political belief, ideology and aspiration but if somebody leaves that platform to join people who are conservative and you want me to join them I cannot. I saw NPN as a young man before I joined UPN, and I became the youth leader of UPN in Degema community. I saw PDP before I joined AD, I saw PDP before I joined ACN. So, if you now merge the PDP elements with yourself and you want me to join, why would I join? That is not the political ideology I saw and joined.

    Would there really be war if Goodluck does not win in 2015?

    Goodluck’s winning is a foregone conclusion. He will never lose, Insha Allah. It is they who said if he wins, they will make the polity ungovernable. So it is they who will bring the war and we will reply them. For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. They said the baboons and the dogs will be soaked in the street. We will help them to soak the street with more blood. I have no apology for that as I said on Channels TV. As you prepare for war, you think say me I go sleep? No, me too dey prepare. Allah said in the Quran, ‘they plotted and we too are plotting, we are the best of plotters.’ So, if you plot to soak the blood of the dogs and baboons, should we fold our hands and expect them to come and kill us? No, it is not possible.

    Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo has been trying to assist the president by convening peace talks to meet with feuding members of the PDP, but some people are saying…

    Don’t say some people; I was the first person who came out to say that Obasanjo is the agent provocateur. I was the first person who said Obasanjo is the instigator. Atiku has also come out to say Obasanjo is the one; Atiku who is a co-conspirator. Obasanjo is an insatiable man.

    How?

    Let me tell you a secret, when Yar’Adua was there, I met with his then Chief Economic Adviser, Tanimu Yakubu. Please, write it the way I said it. He (Tanimu) came to meet me in my hotel room and said, the place Obasanjo put you, you will go back there. Tanimu is alive, if he fears God, he will not deny it. If Yar’Adua had continued, Obasanjo would have been in jail and he knows that. So whatever thing Obasanjo and Goodluck are doing together (like the friction), I don’t know. But I know that Obasanjo has not been fair to Goodluck. I have known Goodluck for over twenty years; I don’t know what Obasanjo tells Goodluck because Goodluck has not told me. When I said Goodluck had no business quarrelling with Obasanjo, one Yoruba retired military officer called me on phone and spoke with me for more than one hour. He said Obasanjo is a fox. He said he has known Obasanjo for as long as his adult life and he knows that Goodluck has not done anything against Obasanjo. He said Obasanjo’s life is about constant plotting and betrayal; that is what the general told me.

    When you came from the creek and met Obasanjo at the Villa, what was your impression of him?

    Was it not after I met with him and gave out about 3200 firearms and over 300 ammunition and bombs that he invited me to the police station and arrested me and threw me into prison? Is that a man to be trusted? He did not honour his own part of the agreement, he cannot honour because he believes in brute force and anyone who is dealing with him should also deal with him that way. Obasanjo has no business being free and moving freely for all that he stole. For the destruction of Odioma, Zaki Biam, he has no business walking free. I have been in court over Zaki Biam and Odioma. Our court system or judiciary is so bad and corrupt that any case they don’t want, they don’t listen to it.

    How should the president manage Obasanjo?

    I don’t know how he should manage Obasanjo but I believe that the president ought to take Obasanjo for what he is and subject him to the scrutiny of the law.

    But will that be fair to President Jonathan’s predecessor and mentor?

    If a mentor has turned an enemy, what would you do? You will allow him to continue to breed crisis that occasions loss of lives and properties?

    What is your opinion about the spate of violence in the north and even the recent incident in Kenya? How can we curtail terrorism in this country?

    It is a global problem. It is a clash of civilisation; Islamic civilisation and the Jewish-Western civilisation controlled by the Jewish Masonic order. Islam is the only other ideology that has refused to succumb to the Jewish Masonic order and for that, Muslims are being oppressed all over the world. America invades Muslim countries, they kill Muslims at will, promoting Jewish Masonic order, promoting Zionism. Strangers were brought from Europe and put on Arab land, they confiscated a cage and put Arab in an open prison and concentration camp. Arabs were not Hitler. If Hitler put Jews in concentration camp, is that why Arabs have to be put in concentration camp in Gaza where they cannot go out? Today in Libya, there is no peace and development, they destroyed Libya. In Egypt now, election was won by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Justice and Freedom Party, but they overthrew the government and killed thousands of people. America is talking about killing of people with gas but somebody came out openly to shoot people in the full glare of international television and nothing is done about it. They unleashed on Syria their dogs and thugs to perpetually keep the Muslim land unstable. Let America mind their business and the world will have peace.

    Is terrorism the solution considering the fact that Islam is a religion of peace?

    If they attack you, will you not attack back? Islam does not support a person to go to a shopping mall to go and kill people. That is cowardice. You cannot kill unarmed people but we should also know that when somebody is frustrated, he can do anything.

    Back home, how do we resolve the issue?

    Nigerian matters or crises? The people that should be arrested and brought in for questioning are the Kaitas and the Ciromas. They should be arrested because they are the people who promised mayhem in 2011 and the mayhem is taking place in their home. “He who rides on the back of a tiger, e go easy to end up for tiger belle.”

    Does that mean there is political undertone in all these crises in the north?

    Yes, they thought that they could control these elements; they didn’t know that there are some people you cannot control. They want to use them to exact confusion…that is what these political miscreants led by the so-called seven governors are doing. They want the president to say he will not contest for second term. It is the same Boko Haram demand which Dr. Ahmed Gumi said, once the president says he is not contesting, Boko Haram insurgency will end. So there is a connection with what the seven governors are demanding and Boko Haram. There is a connection because they encourage them.

    But the president is trying to reach out to them but they are not embracing it?

    That is what we are saying, the president is wrong. He should leave them alone, let them do their worst. Where they go pass impeach Jonathan now? There are certain things they cannot imagine not to talk of doing. The president should not bother himself about them. How many times did they try to impeach Obasanjo? Mark my word, Goodluck Jonathan will win. If he won with 6million votes before, he will win now with 10million.

    What do you make of the political tension in the country?

    Don’t allow a man who you think is a weak man to wake up; don’t force him to wake up. When a man is sleeping, don’t force him to wake up. When someone is sleeping and you keep tapping him, when he wakes up, he will become wild. Don’t wake a sleeping man because the claws of government, when he digs it inside their flesh, it will rip off their flesh. When you force a man to do what he does not want to do… In Nigeria, you can only compare Goodluck with ex-President Shehu Shagari. These people are easy going people and when you continue to criticise him, you are giving chance to those of us who are extra-extremist to be telling the president to behave like a president and then his name will change from ‘clueless’ which they have started and they have changed to ‘bully’ and from ‘bully’, he will be called ‘dictator.’ That is what will happen. As for governors Adams Oshiomole and Rotimi Amaechi they have calculated well; they are thinking of post-2015 politics. If Goodluck is president till 2019, Amaechi will be out of power from 2015 to 2019. Even if he goes to the Senate, he will not be anything but an ordinary floor member. But if Goodluck goes, he will either become the Vice President or the Senate President. All he (Amaechi) is thinking about is manipulation. For Oshiomole, he is from the South-South and he is in the political cooler because there will be no election in the next three years and maybe by then, he will lose political relevance and he does not want that to happen. It is not like the United States of America where if you are a democrat, you are a democrat. So they have calculated and it is their personal greed they are pursuing.

    Where did you get this inspiration to be a revolutionary?

    I grew up under my grandmother and my grandmother was the transition between the glorious past of our people. That was when our people were free. My grandmother was born on the 22nd of November 1900. Her grandfather was King Amakiri. He died and was buried on the 15th of November 1900. My grandmother lived in a world where she saw and owned slaves, she had people serving her but all that came to an end with the coming of Nigeria. When my mother had me unlike my other siblings, I was taken to my grandmother and she taught me the lessons that I still carry with me. She said, “Do everything to restore the glory of the past.”

    Was she the one who sent you to school?

    I attended primary one to four before my father came back from law school, but as at that time I had been given enough education by my grandmother and then I became close to radical political ideology from Iran and Libya. I visited the late Muammar Ghadaffi in Libya several times because he was my political mentor and he was one of the greatest men God has created on earth. He was the greatest lover of Africa. I have never met anybody who loves Africa as much as Ghadaffi. I got to know about this through my interaction with him. When you speak with someone, you will know his passion. I used to talk to him into the wee hours of the night and he hardly spoke English with anybody but I forced him to speak English with me. He understood English very well but he brought someone to translate and I persuaded him to speak with me in English. Ghadaffi used to see me as one of the hopes of Africa and he had connection and interaction with Nelson Mandela and all the genuine freedom fighters in Africa. My interaction with these people who love freedom has really influenced my life.

    Were you born into Islam?

    I became a Muslim on the 17th of September 1988 at Calabar. I was influenced by the Iranian Revolution and it was the greatest influence because I have always detested America. I have always detested the bullying and the double standard of America. So when the Iranian Revolution started, I started reading about Islam and I later became a Muslim.

    Is your being a revolutionary for personal gain because people say ex-militants are now moneybags?

    I don’t know what ex-militants are, so when you are talking with me, you should know the word to use. I am 50 years old and I come from a background of kings who ruled their country until 1899 when Britain cajoled them to sign their protectorates to become Nigeria. So if I had come from United Arab Emirate, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, and I am a prince, what will I be called? Are you saying that I should not fight to restore that sovereignty? I am an Amakri, I don’t know where I get money from. So the Otedolas, the Adenugas, the Dangotes are entitled to have wealth from the resources from my place but I don’t have the right to make money. The very purpose of my struggle is to free my people and restore the totality of what belongs to us. We want our sovereignty and wealth, so those who are from poverty stricken places, those who ordinarily would have been slaves should keep on wallowing in their poverty and slavery. There is no reason for Mike Adenuga to have money while the son of Saro-Wiwa does not have. It is immoral and unjust.

    They sign pieces of paper and give them oil blocks just like that to go and take resources from another man’s backyard because it is Nigeria. Some of them have never been to the places where they have these oil blocks and their accounts are fatter daily to the shock and sweat of other people.

    Are you saying there is nothing wrong with ex-militants getting pipeline or maritime protection contracts?

    Who should be given the contract? If Tompolo is not given contract, who should be given? If they are giving any Niger Delta contract, who is more qualified to have it?

    Is it not the job of the NNPC?

    Is it not the job of NNPC to explore oil, why should Dangote and Otedola be given an oil blocks? Is it not the job of NNPC to explore oil? Tompolo is a citizen of Nigeria and is expected to have equal access to wealth that is exploited from his back yard. The pipeline contract that I was given has been terminated since July 2012. Am I dead now? I am alive and I am still going to be alive. They don’t understand me, if they do, they won’t say what they are saying. Obasanjo gave me endless opportunities to become so many things and I rejected them. People have become rich overnight because of this amnesty and if I was after money, I would have embraced it. Is the north not demanding for amnesty to collect free money? How many can do what I did? When you accept pardon, it shows that you committed a crime. Who was more popular than myself in the Niger Delta? If they are claiming amnesty, I should be the first to claim it. The day Tompolo came to handover, Yar’Adua said one person is still remaining, but I refused because I am not a militant. So, money is not the issue because I was born to be rich.

     

  • The one man, one term brouhaha

    The one man, one term brouhaha

    A ‘shot of power’ is too little to intoxicate. Two or more will do

    It is fast becoming obvious that the wrangling in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is nowhere near solution, going by the recent declaration in the United States by President Goodluck Jonathan that he never signed any pact to the effect that he would not go for a second term. This is at the heart of the PDP crisis, with his opponents, even in the party saying he should not run because of the alleged pact.. Jonathan had, during a media chat last year, declared that he was yet to decide whether or not to contest in 2015. He said his decision on the subject would be made public next year because making a definite pronouncement on the subject then would distract his administration from delivering on its campaign promises. But, is this what is on ground?

    Be that as it may, neither the President nor those who claimed he signed a one-term pact has rested since the Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, made the allegation early this year. ”I recall that that some of us said given the circumstances of the death of President Yar’Adua, and given the PDP zoning arrangement, it was expected that the North was to produce the President for a given number of years. I recall that at that discussion, it was agreed that Jonathan would serve only one term of four years and we all signed the agreement. Even when Jonathan went to Kampala, in Uganda, he also said he was going to serve a single term …” Aliyu made the revelation during a live broadcast of Guest of the Week, on Kaduna-based FM radio station, Liberty Radio (91.7).

    But one of the things that usually baffle me in this kind of situation is the way the aides of those concerned speak authoritatively as if they were party to the actions in question. Some of President Jonathan’s aides have denied categorically that the president never signed any one term pact with anybody. Unfortunately, not all of them who are now defending him, and vehemently so, as if they were there when the purported agreement was signed or not signed, are competent to speak on the matter. For instance, his spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, has no ‘locus standi’ in it. As at the time in question, Abati was not yet in government. I guess that was when he still saw the ruling PDP as Papa Deceive Pikin. Today, (since he cannot beat them he has joined them) it is either papa is no longer deceiving pikin or he has joined the party so that they can deceive pikin together.

    The same applies to the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, who has also insisted that there was no time President Jonathan entered into a single-term pact. “Rather than insisting on an agreement that does not exist – since anybody can contest for the highest office in the land, those who are so interested should declare their interest and contest”, he was once quoted to have said. I know these people have a job to do, but I would be comfortable if they had said the President said he never did this or that, instead of speaking authoritatively on a matter they were least competent to speak on. I started pitying people doing such jobs since the time former Governor James Ibori’s corruption saga began and his press secretary denied that his boss was not a thief. We now know better.

    However, the fact is, constitutionally speaking, the President as well as governors are entitled to a second term, provided that is the wish of Nigerians or the citizens of their states; that is to say if they give the incumbents their nod in the election. Therefore, if anything would stand between President Jonathan and his second term ambition; that should not be any group of governors but the collective wish of Nigerians.

    The matter is even made worse by the report that, in the characteristic Nigerian manner, the document that the President allegedly signed with the 23 PDP governors on the pact is now missing. In Nigeria, anything can be missing, without anybody being called to account for it. We were told the other day that the Okigbo report on the $12billion Gulf oil windfall feared to have been squandered by the Babangida regime was missing. That is Nigeria for you. But if the governors would leave such a vital document in the custody of a south south governor (the president’s geo-political zone), and they do not have any other copy, that is their cup of tea. It shows how naïve they were. I only hope this is another dummy they have sold to the Presidency because there is one saving grace that they still have; if they make the document public at any time and convince Nigerians about its authenticity, then, they can compound the President’s problems by claiming that he is unreliable. And who wants an unreliable President? But the G7 Governors should not make their intra-party affair a cause of mayhem in the country.

    If they truly have fallen out of the PDP, they should not behave like the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP that can neither throw the G7 Governors and their supporters away, nor fully accede to their terms for ceasefire. In other words, when Tukur and Co. were told to eat something, they say it is bone, and when told to throw it away, they still claim there is some meat in it. The G7 Governors should be resolute about their plan. Like most other concerned Nigerians, they also have a right to say the President has not done well and therefore cannot be reelected. But this is not by threatening fire and brimstone; otherwise, they would be meeting the President’s forces on the turf that the latter are familiar with; brawn where brain will do.

    My argument is that the governors know what to do legitimately if they want to stop the President from running for second term: they should team up with people with similar objective (that I am sure are in the legion, and still counting) and bring the strategy and tactics as well as the ingenuity the ruling party had been using to ‘win’ elections to the alliance. That is the only way to pull the rug off the feet of the PDP.

    But if anybody thinks the battle to wrest Nigeria from the ruling party will be easy, that person is mistaken. Nigeria’s presidency is, to many Nigerian politicians, like the kingdom of God which suffereth violence and only the violent taketh it by force. This has nothing to do with whether the aspirant had no shoes as a child or whether he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The fact is that there is so much power in the Presidency just as there is so much money in it. So, how can anyone be talking about one man, one term, when there is so much at stake? Even Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who had been military head of state before he became president did not want to leave after serving the constitutionally approved two terms. The man simply played the deaf when some people asked him to adopt the ‘Mandela option’. Nigerians denied him a third shot at the office that he craved, the same way they denied General Ibrahim Babangida a chance to return to the seat of power to retrieve whatever it was that he forgot there.

    Tell me, if there is nothing in the place, why would most of the people that have ever got there, including our revered General Yakubu Gowon, be shifting handover dates over the flimsiest of excuses? When even those who are not from the part of the country where President Jonathan hails from were not satisfied with just a ‘shot of power’; (like the Eb..ra man, they always wanted more tomflers (tumblers)), how can we expect the president who comes from a place where they drink like fish to be? A shot? No. Only two or more will do, Baba ta ni’se wu? (Who is at home with poverty?) Agreement my foot! One term! One term!

  • Governor hides Jonathan’s one term pact document

    Governor hides Jonathan’s one term pact document

    Opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan’s yet unannounced bid for another term may have lost a vital weapon of their case.

    The one term agreement document the President allegedly signed with the 23 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors is missing.

    It was learnt that the agreement was kept with a Southsouth governor, who is now claiming ignorance of where it is kept.

    Some governors, especially the aggrieved PDP G-7 governors, have urged the President to stick to the one term pact he allegedly signed in 2011. Dr. Jonathan denies he ever agreed to do just one term.

    Leading the agitation for compliance with one term agreement is Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu.

    At the peace talks on PDP crisis in the Presidential Villa, the President pointedly accused Aliyu of stoking the fire ravaging the party.

    Neither those for Jonathan nor those against him have the one term agreement paper, The Nation has learnt.

    It was learnt that when the agreement was signed, most of the governors were not eager to have a copy.

    But the paper was allegedly given to a Southsouth governor to keep as a reminder to Jonathan that his zone was in custody of the pact.

    It was gathered that since the row over another term broke out, the governor has refused to release the paper.

    The governor denies being in custody of the paper.

    The said governor is fully behind the second term project with confidence since the pact is in his care.

    A top source said: “No doubt, there was an agreement but it was not circulated to all the then 23 PDP governors. But a copy was kept with a Southsouth governor for strategic reasons.

    “When the issue came up recently among some PDP governors, no one could produce a copy.

    “I think the Presidency was aware of where the pact was kept and that is why it has been confidently denying any pact.”

    Responding to a question, the source added: “If the pact cannot be produced and the court does not allow the New PDP to exist, the Kawu Baraje faction of PDP may either team up with the All Progressives Congress or Accord Party as the last option.

    “But the G-7 governors and New PDP may form a coalition with the APC to ease out Jonathan in 2015.

    “People of like minds are already putting heads together on how to effect change in 2015.”

    A Northern governor confirmed last night that the “agreement is with a Southsouth governor”.

    The Niger State governor had on Liberty Radio in Kaduna early this year alleged that Jonathan entered into a one-term pact with PDP governors

    He said: “I recall that at the time he was going to declare for the 2011 election, all the PDP governors were brought together to ensure that we were all in the same frame of mind.

    “And I recall that some of us said given the circumstances of the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua and given the PDP zoning arrangement, it was expected that the North was to produce the President for a given number of years.

    “I recall that at that discussion, it was agreed that Jonathan would serve only one term of four years and we all signed the agreement. Even when Jonathan went to Kampala, in Uganda, he also said he was going to serve a single term. “I think we are all gentlemen enough; so when the time comes, we will all come together and see what is the right thing to do.”

    The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, had insisted that there was no time Jonathan entered into a single-term pact.

    He said, “Rather than insisting on an agreement that does not exist – since anybody can contest for the highest office in the land, those who are so interested should declare their interest and contest.”

  • Jonathan submits 2014-2016 MTEF, FSP to Senate

    Jonathan submits 2014-2016 MTEF, FSP to Senate

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday submitted the 2014-2016 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the Senate for consideration and approval.

    The MTEF/FSP was read by Senate President, David Mark.

    Jonathan in the letter to the Senate noted that the submission of the MTEF and FSP was in line with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

    He added that the development towards the preparation of the 2014 budget culminated in the 2014-2016 MTEF and FSP.

    Jonathan said: “Prepared against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty, the 2014-2016 MTEF and FSP reflect the reality of our circumstance; and we will ensure that planned spending is set at prudent and sustainable levels consistent with Government’s overall medium-term developmental objectives.”

    He lauded the Senate for the enduring partnership between the legislative and executive arms of government “in our collective efforts to transform the economy of our dear country.”

  • The king’s goats

    The king’s goats

    President Jonathan on Wednesday sacked nine ministers. Good news? Bad news? Mixed bag? 

    King’s goat. That was an expression I heard, probably for the first time when I was a student of Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode, in present day Ogun State, sometimes in the early ‘70s. Then, one of our students, Lekan Fenuyi, a table tennis star of global acclaim did the school proud in one of his outings and the principal declared him a ‘King’s goat’. The implication was that the young Lekan was to, henceforth; enjoy certain privileges that should accrue only to ‘kings’ goats’. King’s goats are untouchables. Many of us wished we could be like him. That has ever since been my idea of what should qualify anyone for that appellation.

    But, as it is with many things Nigerian, especially these days when we no longer have standards, we have turned many things upside down. Even when we lack the capacity to manufacture things, we specifically ask the manufacturers to produce less potent ones for fellow Nigerians. It is almost in this cynical context that I use the concept ‘king’s goat’ to refer to the sack of nine ministers by President Goodluck Jonathan on September 11. The ministers are  Prof.  Ruqayyatu Rufai (Education);   Okon Ewa-Bassey (Science and Techology);  Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs);   Hadiza Mailafia (Environment);  Shamsudeen Usman, (National Planning); and  Ama  Pepple (Housing, Lands and Urban Development). The Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada, and her counterparts in the Agriculture Ministry, Alhaji Bukar Tijani and Power,  Zainab Kuchi, were also affected.

    There is no questioning whether the president has the right to re-jig or change his cabinet whenever he so chooses. Indeed, just as business enterprises or other bodies, presidents also rejuvenate their cabinets when the ministers are not pulling their weight or some of the aides have soiled their hands, or their actions or utterances are no longer in tandem with those of the government they are serving. The idea is to inject fresh blood into the system and make the impact of government felt better. On this score therefore, one would welcome the president’s decision to give the nine ministers the boot. Unfortunately, there is nothing to suggest that this was the main reason the ministers were sacked, notwithstanding the Presidency’s reasons as to why the nine had to go . Nigerians should therefore not celebrate too soon because they were the least in the calculations of the ministers’ sack.

    No doubt, some of the ministers deserve the boot; but the irony is that there are even some ministers that have been retained who ought to have been fired a long time ago. I am not sure many Nigerians are going to lose sleep because Prof Rufa’i, for instance, has been relieved of her appointment, considering the way and manner she handled the education sector, particularly the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Again, one might argue that all she did was to articulate the government’s position on the ASUU demands; the lesson in it is that her successor as well as other ministers ought to know how to be their own in dealing with matters such as this. I do not believe whatever Prof Rufa’i did as minister, including her position on the ASUU strike, was her personal decision.

    The import of what I am saying is that if she did not agree with the government’s position, she had a right to quit, citing irreconcilable differences, or even simply quitting without giving any reasons. But here, people don’t quit; they rather wait until they are sacked. Prof Rufa’i has been sacked now and may become the fall guy in the crisis. Meanwhile, she has, according to some report, indicated she would return to her job as Professor of Curriculum Studies at the Bayero University, Kano. Will she now join the strike by her (former) kith and kin, ASUU? I cannot wait to see how she would fare in her new position and whether she would get a heroine’s welcome from ASUU.

    Quite ironically again, as she is leaving, her minister-of-state, Nyesom Wike, the one that has been spearheading the crisis in Rivers State on behalf of the powers-that-be has been promoted. Wike is now to oversee the education ministry. Could that be the reward for his ‘meritorious service’ in Rivers State, because it cannot be a reward for his stellar performance in the ministry? Even Labaran Maku, the information minister, is now to oversee the defence portfolio. President Jonathan apparently has been pleased with the way the two have carried out their respective assignments. Pity Nigerians who had hitherto thought that Wike has not delivered when they did not know the brief he got from his principal. Now that his principal has promoted him, it should be clear to all that the man has done so well in the eye of he that sent him, which is the most important thing.

    It is for the same reason that we should not wonder far as to why super ministers like Diezani Alison-Madueke (petroleum), Stella Oduah (aviation), and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a woman many Nigerians know more as an apostle of the West rather than their minister of finance, are still waxing strong in the government despite public perceptions of them.

    What this tells us is that Nigerians are least in the calculation concerning the ministers’ exit. The reasons are clear; yes, some may have to do with corruption, but I have a feeling many of those sacked got the boot because of the ongoing crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). President Jonathan is easily predictable. Without saying it, he acts as if vengeance is his and he would almost always revenge, never mind his seemingly harmless looks. Like former President Obasanjo, he appears poised to take his pound of flesh from those behind his travails. Just on Thursday, Governor Rotimi Amaechi ‘heard’ from him again, when he was stopped from passing through a particular route to the Government House in Port Harcourt. I am sure someone from the Presidency would soon issue a release to the effect that the president knew nothing about this!

    But, wait a minute! Could there be something that the generals in the PDP are seeing that the president is not seeing? When army generals, including those who received bullets with their chests and those who received them on their buttocks begin to scamper in search of solutions to a particular problem, particularly one that they are very much involved in, couldn’t it be that there is something that they know that the rest of us do not know? As I have always argued, it is only those who know what wicked things people do with spittle that quickly rub their feet on theirs whenever they spit. Are our generals being guided by that great teacher: experience? That could be food for thought!

    Without doubt, the question as to whether the ministers’ sack should not have been all-encompassing, given that the entire government itself appears colourless, is not misplaced. But, since the president has both the yam and the knife, he decides who to call to ‘come and chop’. Those who have not yet known those who may contest the presidential race in 2015 by now will forever remain in their blissful ignorance. What we may not know, for now, perhaps, are those who may not.

    But some things are already crystal clear: One, ‘We, the people’ are clearly out of the calculations. Second, the era of ‘super perm secs’ may be over but we are now in the era of ‘super ministers’ or ministers with nine lives, if you like, so super that whatever they do cannot be with blemish. The king’s goats!

  • Humpty Dumpty falls at last

    Humpty Dumpty falls at last

    ‘New PDP’: Old things have passed away? I’m afraid, not necessarily 

    Wikipedia defines an umbrella as “a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight”. So, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chose an umbrella as its symbol, the expectation is that come rain, come shine, Nigerians will be covered. And, with the emergence of the party as the ruling party in 1999, there were great expectations of an all-round protection from the party. Unfortunately, what Nigerians have been reaping is a bundle of disappointments. The optimism that greeted the return to civil rule on May 29, 1999 has given way to general discontentment. Things have been that bad; and there is no doubt that it can only get worse if Nigeria is left in the hands of the PDP beyond the expiration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s term in 2015.

    That was why Nigerians leapt for joy when on August 31, the party broke into two. It was an implosion foretold. On that day at its special convention in Abuja, some prominent members of the party pulled out of the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP to form what they called ‘New PDP.’

    Alhaji Abubakar Kawo Baraje, a former acting national chairman of the party is now the national chairman of the ‘new PDP’.  Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former national secretary of the party was named as its national secretary and Dr Sam Sam Jaja as deputy national chairman.

    Other leaders of the ‘New PDP’ are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governors Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto). Others are Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara). Before the break-up, many of the members had been complaining about Alhaji Tukur’s leadership style, but President Goodluck Jonathan seemed not ready to do away with him. It was therefore imminent that a division was inevitable.If, therefore, there was any surprise about the party, it was that it could trudge this long before collapsing.

    For 14 years, there is nothing the PDP can point at as its achievement. It met Nigerians in darkness; it has not taken them out of it. All we hear is about the Federal Executive Council awarding contracts for this or that project; Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of such massive award of projects. Early last week, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, cried aloud about the worsening unemployment situation in the country.

    If President Jonathan did not know before August 31 that his presidency was standing on shifting sand, and if he is yet to acknowledge that fact even now, then he must be naïve indeed. It was clear that the way he is running his presidency; it is only a matter of time for the party to implode. His handling of the Rivers State crisis, where even ‘Oga madam’ wanted to drive a democratically elected governor out of town, was a thing that could only have been any other ‘politics’ in the queer ‘family’ called the PDP.

    I may be wrong; but something tells me that the break-up became inevitable partly because those behind it have read the handwriting on the wall and have seen that more Nigerians are disenchanted with the party. The implication is that there would be less pork to share after 2015; so, why not jump ship before it is too late? Unfortunately, Alhaji Tukur, with whom the president appeared to have covenanted not to separate, has not been helping matters. He appears not to understand the gravity of what has hit the party under his chairmanship. He is still threatening the arrow-heads of the ‘new PDP’, a thing which tells me that he is in no way about shedding his village headmaster toga.

    Yes, I am opposed to zoning; but no top shot of the PDP can say the same thing because they all know (if they want to be honest with themselves) that zoning is very much alive in their party. But former President Olusegun Obasanjo unilaterally ‘killed’ zoning just to satisfy one ambition: install Jonathan as president. The PDP had engaged in such dishonesties in the past without being bothered, in so far as it was convenient for the party. To the ruling party, everything is ‘politics’. Or, to use their catchphrase, it is a ‘family affair’. So much water had passed under this bridge of ‘family affair’ that the party, and by extension, many Nigerians, no longer know the difference between good and bad.

    Even when one of the party’s elders, former President Obasanjo went to the homes of the party’s top shots and ate pounded yam and egusi soup, or when he danced with them today only to get them removed from office the next day, we all see it as ‘politics’ because our psyche has been so conditioned.

    All these actions worsen the plight of a people who only about 14 years ago were freed from the jackboots. The many lessons that they were supposed to have learnt from the transition to civil rule were never learnt; as a matter of fact, they were never taught because the ruling party that is supposed to teach those lessons itself lacked the capacity. The party cannot give what it does not have.

    But only the enemies of Nigeria would weep for the PDP. What has happened is that the party has merely paid itself back in its own coin. It was a question of what goes around, comes around. The party led the way to balkanisation of some other structures by creating parallel ones. We have the PDP Governors Forum which it encouraged to spite the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and reduce the influence of its chairman, Gov Amaechi. When this did not achieve the desired result, the party (presidency and all) infiltrated the NGF and attempted to break its ranks by sponsoring Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State to run against Amaechi for the NGF chair. In spite of the federal might, Amaechi defeated Jang by 19 votes to 16. It was obvious the Jonah faction characteristically slept off during the election, as it eventually claimed to have won after waking up from its deep slumber. It is instructive to remind Nigerians that the Presidency gave the loser a winner’s welcome!

    Honestly, I do not know how far the party’s elders can go now, when things appear to have been damaged irredeemably. If the elders had cautioned Alhaji Tukur before and he did not listen, then, they should leave him and his boss to their fate because that is what you do to a child that is behaving like a dog that wants to get lost. But if the elders kept quiet all through, either because of the spoils they are getting from the government or for whatever reason, then, we have to question their kind of elders.

    The point however is, even if the breakaway faction reunites with the old tomorrow, it can never be the same again. The camaraderie is gone with the winds because, as we say in Yorubaland, two people can no longer be friends after taking themselves to court. What has happened in and to the PDP is worse than people going to court. An umbrella is supposed to provide cover for people in rain or sunshine. This is a big irony with the PDP because the umbrella, its symbol, has exposed Nigerians to everything that it is supposed to protect them against. This is the disconnect between dreams and deeds; the tragedy of the big-for-nothing ‘largest party in Africa’. But nothing I have said here should be misconstrued as a celebration of the ‘new PDP’, as old things may not yet have passed away. However, the way the opposition parties react to this great fall will determine, to a large extent, how much of the spoils from the PDP crash they will get in the coming elections.

  • $1.6b for power transmission facilities coming

    $1.6b for power transmission facilities coming

    • ‘Nigerians to feel impact of power sector privatisation soon’

    About $1.6 billion has been designated for the expansion of power transmission facilities in the country, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has said.

    Nebo disclosed that the fund is made up of loans expected from the World Bank, African Development Bank, Euro Bond Issue and the Chinese Exim Bank.

    The Minister, who spoke at the State House yesterday after the meeting of the Presidential Action Committee on Power (PACP), chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan, said the forum addressed issues bordering on expanding the transmission network, so as to ensure that there is adequate willing capacity to all the power generating plants for the benefit of Nigerians.

    He said: “The Government is adequately prepared, everybody is excited at what has just happened, that we had such a significant compliance of all the proffered bidders who bought the GENCOS and the DISCOS as you can very well tell, most of them have paid up and most people thought it was never going to happen,” adding that what was considered impossible has become a reality and that Nigeria is gong from a public sector dominated power sector to a private sector driven power sector.

    “We believe that this is very good for the country, we are celebrating that, the entire nation is agog with it, the International Community is amazed that this miracle could happen in Nigeria and we are so happy that everybody sees that it was a fragile situation because no country in Africa has taken the quantum leap to do the entire generation and distribution company utilities like that in one fell swoop.”

    Nebo said the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) briefed the PACP on the things to be done to ensure that all the power generated would be available and also to point out the funding gaps, assuring that the government was prepared to address the issues raised.

    He said the governent is satisfied that there was significant compliance of all the proffered bidders who bought the power generating and distribution companies, adding that most of the preferred bidders have paid up.

    “We believe that this is very good for the country, we are celebrating that, the entire nation is agog with it, the International Community is amazed that this miracle could happen in Nigeria,” he said, adding that no county in Africa has taken the quantum leap to do the entire generation and distribution company utilities like that in one fell swoop.

    He said even though the country has recorded substantial stability in the provision of power, there are still challenges, especially in vandalism of power delivery infrastructure

    He assured that with the progress recorded so far in the privatisation of the power sector, there is great expectation that it would record more success than the telecoms companies.

    Meanwhile, Jonathan has assuered that with the sale of Nigeria’s power generation and distribution companies, Nigerians will soon begin to enjoy the positive benefits of the privatisation of the sector.

    He spoke at a closed door meeting with a delegation of the Anioma Peoples’ Congress led by the Asagba of Asaba, Prof. Chike Edozien at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Jonathan, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, confirmed that all successful bidders for the power generation and distribution companies had completed the payments required for the sales process.

  • From the Villa

    IT was clear back in May that the president was really determined to halt the rampage of Boko Haram, the nation’s deadliest enemy yet.

    After many innocent souls were, again, sent to their early graves despite the Amnesty committee put in place three weeks earlier to dialogue with the deadly sects, President Goodluck Jonathan cut short his trip to South Africa on May 9 and shelved outright his scheduled state visit to Namibia.

    Jonathan went further by ordering the movement of more troops to the North and declared a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states on May 14.

    Over three months since the declaration, it has been claimed that great achievements have been recorded even though there were allegations of human rights abuses in some quarters.

    Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Obada had reeled out the achievements to include halting the threat to Nigeria’s unity and protecting its territorial integrity, dislodging the terrorists, recovering arms and ammunition, mobilising the civil populace for input to intelligence gathering, and generation of international understanding and appreciation of Nigeria’s peculiar security situations.

    To consolidate on its achievements and continue the fight against terrorists in the three troubled states, the Jonathan’s administration decided to create a new army division, BOYONA, headed by a Major-General, to take over from the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) on August 19.

    The Nigerian Airforce Strike Group based in Yola, Adamawa State, is also being boosted with more fighter, patrol aircraft and helicopter gunships under the Tactical Air Command to provide air cover over the Northeast.

    But before the JTF handed over to the new division, it claimed that the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau was likely killed from gunshots wounds sustained during an attack.

    For Nigerians to be happy and be able to sleep with their two eyes closed, especially those leaving in that region, it will go a long way if they can really get evidence to show that the leaders and members of the deadly sects have either been arrested or killed in battle.

    Collaboration with the neighboring countries should now be fully exploited to arrest members of the sect who have fled to those countries.

    To put a final stop to the terrorists’ activities in the country, the issue should also go beyond hunting down the terrorists’ leaders, members and their sponsors.

    The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and other relevant government agencies should take concrete steps, irrespective of the ECOWAS protocol on free movements, to firm up the Nigerian border.

    Terrorists, criminals and illegal arms and ammunition should not be allowed to find their way into the country, under whatsoever guise.

  • Northern leaders missed their mark on Boko Haram -Ex-Anambra Governor Mbadinuju

    Northern leaders missed their mark on Boko Haram -Ex-Anambra Governor Mbadinuju

    Former Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chiwonke Mbadinuju, has expressed serious concern over the worrisome state of insecurity in the country. In this interview with INNOCENT DURU, he speaks on the attitude of Northern leaders to Boko Haram and bares his mind on other burning national issues. Excerpts:

     

    When President Goodluck Jonathan declared state of emergency in three northern states, the menace of Boko Haram died down for some time but later came up again after the President felt the country was winning the war against terrorism.

    What in your opinion is actually the problem?

    One hardly finds the President of a country who says it is easy job ruling his people.

    President Jonathan may not be an exception, more so when he is not only saddled with problems of infrastructure, security and welfare and so many other needs then from nowhere he was suddenly confronted with the war of insurgency of a most vicious type as was never seen in Nigeria.

    I believe Nigerians never bargained for what we are witnessing today in the form of a war of attrition imposed on us by Boko Haram insurgents without warning, and even took unawares our well trained army, navy, air force, police and other security agencies.

    President Jonathan came into office from one crisis to another: from acting president to

    a “doctrine of necessity” to become President.

    I don’t know if Jonathan has in fact enjoyed the office of the President since his ascendancy.

    But he can take solace in the saying that ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’.

    Having seen Nigeria gradually being overrun by insurgent Boko Haram and quickly took control of three states of Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa, Nigerians immediately knew that the game was up and that we must be able tomatch the invaders one on one and out run and out class them, at least so we thought. It easily became an internecine warfare and none could predict when and how the end would come. Nigerians were dying in their hundreds in churches, mosques; army and police headquarters not exempted. The die was cast.

    Jonathan must have decided to take the bull by the horn and without further equivocation, he quickly declared state of emergency in the three states mentioned above.

    Thereafter, there was a sigh of relief, Nigerians greeted Jonathan for the masterpiece steps he took as many foreign countries began sending him congratulatory messages while many thought the worst would soon be over. It was not.

    The Northern Elders were bewildered and consistently called for amnesty. The President hesitated a bit but obliged them their request and immediately set up a committee headed by the Hon. Minister for Special Duties, Turaki, (SAN). Everyone thought that the solution had finally come but the euphoria was short-lived.

    Not much came out of this. But even wives and children and relations of Boko Haram were released from detention in the hope that this would assuage the feelings of parties on both sides, still killings continued. The JTF did the best any trained security group could do to achieve good and lasting result, but with not much result in terms of the objectives of

    government.

    Even when the ‘Civilian JTF’ volunteered their services to complament the efforts of JTF, hundreds of the young people were massacred in the war front and in cold blood. It was a good gesture and good effort but not the type government had in mind for a lasting solution. That dream died faster than it was conceived.

    In the final analys, is no one could sincerely blame Jonathan or his government for having not done enough. Even America, both at home and in the middle-East, Britain in Northern Ireland, Turkey, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and other countries fought insurgents but failed even till today. This nevertheless is a passing stage all over the world. Nigeria did not deserve anything like this, more so whentrue Nigerians were never insurgents. Our problems were rather imported from abroad and they were meant to destabilise our country. The beginning of the solution to this big problem is to first of all trust our President and his administration that they are doing their best under the circumstance, knowing that this is a wide-world phenomenon. Do you think the problem is being fuelled by anything the northern elite and leaders ought to have done but have left undone?

    It is good you mentioned Northern elite and leaders in respect of the problem of Boko Haram in Nigeria, particularly in the North East of the country. Why I seem to like the Northern elite and leaders is mainly because they seem to know their destination and how best to get there. They are not like men who are in a hurry but choose a longer route. They often try to hit the nail on the head.

    But the only time they seem to have missed the mark is on the issue of this Boko Haram.

    The gravine had it that some people actually encouraged Boko Haram in their bid to stop

    President Jonathan’s second term bid.

    Some of the Northern leaders have opposed almost every move Jonathan has made to carry out his programme of tranformation.

    Thus, when President Jonathan declared state of emergency in the three North Eastern states, even foreign nations commended him but the Northern leaders rebuffed it and opposed him. The Northern leaders furthermore called for amnesty for Boko Haram as was done for the South-South militants. But surprisingly when President Jonathan bent backwards to appease them and granted Boko Haram the amnesty, they were the same people that turned round and rejected amnesty; even a faction of Boko Haram turned round and rejected amnesty, saying it was the government that needed it. This cat and mouse game did not show seriousness on the part of some of the Northern leaders.

    It is this prevarication that delayed the full implementation of government’s programme for full eradication of the hideous Boko Haram sect. As it is now, only few people will believe that it is not the Northern leaders that are in a way fuelling the activities of the sect.

    I recently read President Jonathan’s statement in the press that the Boko Haram is giving Nigeria bad name. So the question is, when will this be over? But for me, and majority of the good people in this country, I say that it shall surely be well with us. Indeed we will wait and see the magic wand the Northern leaders will use in driving out Boko Haram from Nigeria when it is the turn of the North to rule Nigeria.

    What is your take on the Nigerian Governors’ Forum crisis? Why has it degenerated to the point it is now?

    Indeed, the ‘Nigerian Governors’ Forum’ (NGF) is a good thing and a good concept for Nigeria’s political and economic development as the governors activities complement those of the National Assembly (NASS), as well as the policies of the President. But as we know, absolute power corrupts absolutely, which is the sad aspect of the NGF today. In fact, I was in the first set of governors that started the NGF in 1999 smoothly without the hiccups we have noticed recently.

    Still, we don’t throw away the baby with the bath water. If the present governors know ‘from where they had fallen, they should repent and do the first works’ as in the Book of Revelations 2:5.

    In governance, the co-operation of the three arms of government is absolutely necessary. No one arm can govern alone under our constitution: not the Executive, neither the Legislature nor the Judiciary. The wheel of the nation’s administration cannot run smoothly without the three in motion. It seems, therefore, that while the Legislature has constitutional oversight function over the Executive, the Governors Forum does not have such function or powers.

    The governors in their forum tend to keep penetrating into the activities of the Executive, tending to pry deeper and deeper beyond constitutional limits. Where this happens, the Executive is bound to kick and to complain, leading to frictions as each branch continues to guard its powers jealously. An example is the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). The fund is an innovation that would benefit all Nigerians, but the governors politicised it. I often use the analogy of the children who were hungry and their father wanted the whole yam in the house cooked so that children would feed well for that day. But their mother objected and proceeded to cook only some and kept the rest for the rainy day. The mother here taught a good lesson that we should not consume all we have, and all at the same time.

    Let us immediately look at the face-off between the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the First Lady,Dame Patience, and the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, on the one hand and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, on the other hand? What do you think is amiss?

    It is, in fact, revolting to me and to all rightthinking persons to lump together President Jonathan, his wife, and a Minister of State (Education) and squared them up with Governor Amaechi of Rivers State. We must learn in this country to give honour to whom it is due. We as people must learn to respect our leaders and not use foul language against them. If we are not able to respect our President and leaders in this country, then we should not expect foreigners to respect them, or even respect Nigeria for that matter.

    Finally, if I were Governor Amaechi, I will not wait for the Presidency to approach me for settlement of any rift. Rather I will seek audience to see the President and apologise and ask him what I would do to restore the former good relationship. What I am saying is not theory. It happened to me as governor when our great party leader ‘single-handedly’ stopped me from my second-term bid. Not only that, I was blackmailed and wrongly accused of a crime I never committed and the same party leader believed the accusation against me by my opponents; I was nearly killed for a crime I knew nothing about.

    But after I was set free, I took time to visit Baba twice in his hill-top mansion, Abeokuta Ogun State, and slept in his room the two days I visited him and was well received with sumptuous meals. Furthermore, my said leader also allowed me to give ‘words of exhortation’ to worshipers in his Chapel at Abeokuta. At the end, he told the congregation that the problem was from my people and that he had forgiven me over all that was done to me. Everyone in the chapel rejoiced.

    A friend I told of this encounter asked: Who should forgive whom? Should it be my leader who wronged me or me who was wronged?

    We laughed over it, as I told him that I could not be greater than my leader and master.

    That was how we reconciled. Things like that should be examples in similar situations. At least, I am alive today, healthy and still being politically relevant. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

    The PDP has been enmeshed in series of crises in recent times. Why is the house divided against itself?

    For PDP, the house has not quite divided.

    Don’t forget that PDP has built and maintained a very large empire for all and sundry to take shelter under the umbrella. When it is said that PDP is the biggest party in Africa, it makes sense. The bigger the party the bigger the trouble. But the PDP’s trouble does not affect winning in election. The party knows how to close ranks when the chips and down.

    The PDP house may have divided but not against itself as your question seems to suggest.

    As for the party and its electoral gain, I say that the taste of the pudding shall be in the eating.

    Even from the so-called ‘noise’ emanating from the camp of the Nigerian Governors

    Forum (NGF), it should not worry anyone.

    The ‘noise’ represents activities like in a factory, if there is no noise as you approach a factory, it means there is no production going on, and the factory is dormant. But if there is noise, it shows factory is at work and producing.

    In fact, for a factory, the louder the noise the better for it and so it is with the NGF.

    Noise- making is not always a bad thing.

    From all we are seeing, the polity appears to have been heated up ahead of the 2015 elections, what does this portend for the country and our democracy?

    They are the politicians that try to over-heat the polity by their actions and utterances. If politicians play according to rules of the game, it will be seen that politics can be an interesting game, but shifting the goal post in the middle of a match is nothing but stealing.

    When once politicians discard the rule of law, equity and due process and begin to carry ballot boxes and writing results and heaping cash at the door steps of voters to entice them, it means the voters have deviated from the norms of democracy. The 2015 elections may be different, even if better than the earlier 2011 election adjudged to be the fairest as was promised by President Jonathan himself.

    However, we hope is not lost.

    Some sections of the North have demanded for the return of the presidency to the region in 2015. Do you share their sentiment?

    You talk of the presidency ‘returning’ to the North when the South East has indeed not tasted the office at all. I am not saying the North won’t take their turn but it will be at a due time. I believe in one thing at a time. Let Jonathan complete his second tenure first; then the South-South will know they have taken their due share. The next issue will be between the North that has had three civilian heads of state and several military heads of state, and the South-East which has not tasted the office for the first time. Between the North and South-East, where will equity and fairness lie?

    Will equity be in favour of those who have produced the President and several Heads of State, or will equity be in favour of the South-East that has not had even one President?

    There is no need assuming that immediately the South-South finishes, it will rotate to the North. To such an assumption, Zebrudaya would say emphatically, ‘Fa-fa-fa-fa-foul o’!

    When the time comes to decide, all the six zones shall come together and discuss the merits and demerits of which zone shall get the slot. Let it not be said that it is a forgone conclusion that the rotation will go to the North.

    Suppose it goes to South-East? So what? Do you think the choice of Dr. Umaru Dikko as the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the PDP is a welcome idea?

    Umaru Dikko is one of the best politicians and administrators produced by this country and nurtured by former President Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the Second Republic. I worked as and Assistant to the then Vice-President, Dr. Alex I. Ekwueme in Shagari’s Administration and I had occasions to interact with Umaru Dikko who was the Minister of Transport and who ably handled the distribution of rice and other scarce commodities made available through his office to all the needy in all parts of the country.

    For the PDP to appoint Dikko to head the disciplinary committee and for him to accept to chair the committee is a plus for the party. I only pray that his health is good enough to handle the tedious assignment.

    I know Dikko to be fair-minded and dedicated to whatever assignment was given to him, he discharged them creditably. So he is indeed a ‘fit and proper’ person to do the job and do it well without fear or favour.

    Recently, Senator Arthur Nzeribe said the South East has nothing to show for the support it gave to President Jonathan. Do you feel the same way?

    My good friend, the distinguished Senator Arthur Nzeribe is an enigma. Even out of government, he is still quite in touch with everything happening around him. Like Zik of Africa, Arthur maintains a library of files of ‘who is who’ in many spheres of endeavour. If you mention a person, or bring up a topic, Arthur will give you a rundown of the person or of the event and its chronology. At a time his health was somehow, but now he is rejuvenated. One can understand when I described him as an enigma.Recently, he gave an interview in which he advised the Igbo to forget the 2015 presidential election. Arthur says his mind not minding whose ox is gored. A debate between Arthur and my other good friend, Orji Uzor Kalu, also another enigma, will be interesting.

    A debate of these two accomplished politicians on the plight of Igbo and how they can come into the main stream of Nigerian politics will be in order. But Orji Uzor Kalu believes that Igbo deserves to be given the chance in 2015, while Arthur felt that Igbo deserve the presidency but not in 2015. The debate shall go on as it has been every four years. One of these days, it must be the time of the Igbo to take their turn, and when that time comes, no human being can stop the move.

    As for whether President Jonathan deserves further support by the Igbo and whether he has done enough for the South East to vote for him again in 2015, that will be a matter for further debate. But for me, it is fate that brought Jonathan in as President of this country. When he was Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State, little did he know that he would be governor, and from being governor, he became Vice-President, and then Acting President; and finally President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whoever assisted him to succeed must have been used of God, and should not boast.

    Would it be in the interest of the region to support him again if he wants to go for a second term and what would that mean for the chances of the region to have one of his own to occupy the nation’s number one seat?

    Actually, President Jonathan has not declared that he would run for second term, though he kept saying that he will reveal his plans in the year 2014. So, we need to respect his decision and wait; 2014 is just around the corner and he will tell Nigerians why he wants second term, whether it is by the constitution or by virtue of his accomplishments in office in the first term of four years. The time is at hand. He already presented his mid-term accomplishments. To me, it will not be fair for the Igbo to abandon Jonathan if he decides to run for second term, but we’ll wait and see what happens or develops.

    What is your take on the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State?

    There are major political parties competing for the office of Governor of Anambra State.

    APGA is the present ruling party. It is followed by the PDP, the Labour, and APC (not in a particular order). As a PDP stalwart, I will do all I can to make sure the PDP candidate wins back Anambra State, which I first ‘captured in 1999, and it got lost through political intrigues and inordinate ambition. This is the much I can say now, but I sincerely believe that the bones shall rise again. It is well.