The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President

  • Jonathan’s dialogue: protecting President’s interest

    Predictably, the Femi Okurounmu National Conference Committee has been moving round the country to seek the views of Nigerians on what they would want discussed when President Goodluck Jonathan’s proposed national dialogue comes on stream.

    Predictable because numerous other similar committees in the past had gone round the country to seek and collate public opinions on what the problem is with Nigeria and how to solve it with little or nothing near the solution being found. Nothing in the horizon suggests that the current exercise would be any different.

    In fact there is every likelihood that the Okurounmu committee might even be worse than its predecessors and be too eager to dance to the tune of the presidency; Jonathan’s presidency.

    Just like most of our past and even present leaders, President Goodluck Jonathan is deficient in integrity as not a few Nigerians have lost faith in his promises and words. Talk about saying one thing and doing another.

    Even his promise of making his proposed conference the “mother” of all such conferences in terms of covering vast areas of our national problems and proffering solutions to them has not dampened the cynicism of critics who believe nothing good can ever come out from this national dialogue. At best, they contend, it would be a rehash of the reports of similar committees in the past that had been gathering dust on the shelf somewhere in the presidency. That such reports are there in Abuja and we are still where we are today, talking of another conference suggest that we have either not learnt from our history or this type of conference is not the solution to our problems.

    The cynicism is not helped by the president’s decision to subject whatever became the report of the conference to scrutiny by the National Assembly, with implied powers to either accept, reject or even amend to suit whatever interest they represent.

    But by far the clearest indication yet that the report of the Okurounmu committee and that of the National Conference expected to follow soon could just be a rubber stamp of what the presidency wants was given in Benin, Edo State recently, when the Committee held a public forum to hear and collate the views of the South-south people on the up coming national dialogue.

    A member of the Committee, Colonel Tony Nyiam (of the Orkar coup fame, remember him?) verbally descended on Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole just because of the Comrade Governor’s belief that the conference is a waste of time and would not get us anywhere. His outburst was made more insulting as it came while Oshiomhole was making his personal views known at the forum. Nyiam would have none of this and not only did he shout the governor down, his action also invited some hoodlum who disrupted proceedings which was hurriedly called off by the organizers.

    The rest of the story I am sure you know, including the fact that the Committee Chairman not only reprimanded Nyiam but also apologized to the governor. But surprisingly, Nyiam found nothing wrong with his action and not only did he defend it but also explained that he did so in reaction to what he called insults being poured on President Jonathan and other Edo leaders by Governor Oshiomhole over the conference. He similarly justified his outburst because such ‘insults’ on the person and office of the president by Oshiomhole and others like him were getting too much.

    While Nyiam action (his outburst) is condemnable, I would rather leave that to the public to judge, the same way I would leave the public to make up their minds on Oshiomhole’s purported insult on the president. My concern here is the reasons given by Nyiam for his action. Could that be one of the secret directives (if any) given to the Committee by the president? Or rather one of the directives given to Nyiam to protect the interest of the president? How many of such directives were given to him or other members of the Committee? These we may never know now, but read my lips, if a member could say such things openly, then one could imagine what he would say or do behind closed doors when the Committee writes its report and recommendation to the president.

    How many of the Committee members hold this same or similar view about the person of President Jonathan as Nyiam? It is necessary for us to know to prepare our minds for whatever report they are going to come out with. If all or majority of them are similarly inclined then we should be prepared for a report written in the Villa, prepared by the President’s men and handed over to Okurounmu for representation to the Presidency as the views of the Nigerians the Committee met in the course of its jamboree round the country. By the way I wonder, when would they go to Damaturu or Maiduguri to hold the public forum on the conference for the North east zone? I am only being curious.

    But could the Committee be secretly working on a hidden agenda for the president but using the public forum as a decoy? What could this hidden agenda be? Some say it could be tenure elongation for the president or a third term in disguise; that the Committee is just shopping for relevant views to arrive at the answer/report already prepared by the presidency. More like what we call ‘wuruwuru to the answer’ here.

    But whatever it is, the Okurounmu committee has to be very careful and not tamper with the views of the majority in presenting its report because it’s credibility is already at stake, right from the beginning and now made worse by the unnecessary and unwarranted outburst of Nyiam on Oshiomhole.

    For Colonel Nyiam, it is a big disappointment. Here was somebody that participated in the Major Okah led coup purportedly to rid Nigeria of ethnic and religious sentiments that have been militating against our wholehearted oneness as a nation and a people, now pandering towards that same ethnic sentiment to defend President Jonathan who hails from the same South south geo-political zone as the former Army officer. It is well known that Nyiam has a very soft spot for the president on account of this zonal kinship, nothing is wrong with that you may want to say. But to allow that to becloud his sense of reasoning and duty to the nation is highly unfortunate.

    If people abuse or insult the president in airing their views how is that his business and where is the offense there? If it is or was an offense to say uncomplimentary things about the president or any of our leaders then our jails would have been filled to the brim during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime. The former president was unarguably the most criticized and abused Nigerian leader in recent times, yet he took all on his chin. And where he felt so bad or annoyed he simply abused or insulted the other party in return and we all laughed over it. Criminalizing insults on the president (Jonathan) as Nyiam’s outburst is suggesting would make Obasanjo a saint or in retrospect looked a tolerant person. But we all know he wasn’t.

    Could Nyiam’s ethnic or regional sympathy for Jonathan account for his jettisoning of his earlier stoic support of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) as opposed to the ‘ordinary’ National Conference (oNC) that the president is proposing? If that was the case, it would only be disappointing to hear that, but he wouldn’t have done anything illegal. Everybody has the right to change his/her mind anytime. After all, the committee chairman, Dr Okurounmu was once a staunch advocate of SNC as the only solution to Nigeria’s problems. He, like Nyiam, has now been converted to evangelizing for oNC. Hmmmmm, time will tell.

    This is also a test for Okurounmu as a person and his committee. The signs of imminent failure are there already. The boycott of the regional forum to collate views in some regions by the A-list leaders in those areas has not only created a credibility problem for the committee’s report but also a window of opportunity for these leaders to lampoon Okurounmu and his group if the committee’s report fell short of public expectations or was tampered with by the president.

    It would do Okurounmu and his committee a lot of good if the President is advised to allow a referendum on the report of the oNC as against passing the report over to the National Assembly. This will put all those ‘enemies of progress’ to shame.

     

     

     

  • A President without balls

    A President without balls

    Permit me to begin this contribution by reproducing a portion of an essay that I wrote on 26 September 2011 which was titled ‘’On Goodluck Jonathan, David and Goliath’’. The essay reads as follows.

    ‘’A few days ago from the sacred pulpit of the hallowed chambers of the National Christian Centre in Abuja and in the prescence of the entire leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan proclaimed as follows- ‘’I am not David….I am not a general…..I am not a lion…..I will defeat the Goliaths in our land’’. These are deep and instructive words yet I do wonder whether Mr. President understands the spiritual and practical implications of what he is saying.

    If he says that he ‘’is not a David’’ how can he then possibly slay the ‘’Goliaths in the land?’’ If he says that he ‘’is not a general’’ how can he be an effective Commander-in-Chief who commands the respect and confidence of his army and his officers? If he says that he ‘’is not a lion’’ how can he overwhelm the animals in our jungle that seek to destroy and ravage our land? The lion is a noble and courageous animal that defends it’s pride and family and protects it’s own. That is why it is known as the ‘’king of the jungle’’ and that is why our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself is known as the ‘’Lion of the Tribe of Judah’’.

    Every king worth his salt must have the spirit of the lion and the warrior in him to a certain extent. It is a fundamental pre-qualification for good quality and inspirational leadership and that is what distinguishes the pretender and the usurper from a real king. May the spirit and weakness of Ahab not be our President’s portion even though his words seem to have ensnared him. History proves that weak kings and weak leaders always pull down and destroy great empires and strong kingdoms.

    If you have any doubt about that consider what happened to the Roman Empire under Nero, Claudius or Caligula. If you still have any doubts after that then read up on Russian history or watch an excellent old film called ‘’Nicholas and Alexander’’ about Tsar Nicholas the 1st, the last Tsar of Russia and how his strong-willed wife and his consistent display of weakness shamed and brought down imperial Russia, destroyed the 300 year old royal dynasty of the Romanovs, led directly to the First World War (which in turn led to the Second World War and then later the Cold War), caused the communist revolution, led to the Russian civil war, resulted in the murder of his whole family and ended in the establishment and creation of the most evil and godless empire that has ever ruled half of the world- the cold and all-powerful Soviet empire.

    That is what weakness, prevarication, inconsistency, cowardice, emotional slavery, inexplicable fear and the celebration of indecision can do. Worst still you don’t boast about such qualities because there is nothing to be proud of in them. Always remember, whether you are a king or a subject, that courage is the greatest of all the virtues. This is wisdom. Would someone please tell our President’’.

    Once again, please take note that the contribution that I have reproduced above was first written by me and published on 26th September 2011, almost two years ago to the day.

    With the killing of 62 children by Boko Haram in Damatru yesterday morning, the slaughter of 140 Nigerian troops by Boko Haram in Borno State last friday, the massacre of 41 school children in Borno State by Boko Haram two months ago, the mass murder of no less than 7000 thousand Nigerians by Boko Haram in the last three years and the raging war that is going on in the northern eastern part of our country between Boko Haram and our military today, those words and that counsel that was offered two years ago seem even more relevant today than it was even at that time.

    The carnage that we are witnessing in our country today has come as a direct result of the manifestation of weakness at the top. When a President tells the world that Boko Haram are his ‘’siblings’’ whom he ‘’cannot move against’’, as he did earlier this year, he is asking for trouble. When a President keeps offering Boko Haram amnesty even when they kept rejecting it and whilst they were murdering his people, as he has been doing for the last three years, he is asking for trouble. When a President installs and supports a party National Chairman who describes Boko Haram as ‘’freedom fighters’’, as he did earlier this year, he is asking for trouble.

    When a President announces to the world that he is ‘’not a lion or a David’’, as he did exactly two years ago, no-one should be surprised when his people are killed like flies before his very eyes. May God bring us a real leader that can save our nation and may He take away this one who feels no pain and has no empathy when Nigerian blood, nay even the blood of innocent children, is shed with impunity. Under the tenure of our ‘’lamb’’ President more innocent Nigerians have been slaughtered by terrorists than at any other time in the history of our country except during the Civil War.

    What a mess, what a record. I continue to ponder about one thing though- would the President have been so unperturbed and detached from the whole thing if the children that were killed in their school yesterday morning had been from his Niger Delta area or from the east. It appears to me that simply because those kids were northern muslims this President just ’’doesn’t give a damn’’. What a tragedy. Whether Christian or Muslim, northern or southern, these are only children and they are NIGERIAN children each of whom is entitled to the full protection of the Nigerian state. I have said it before and I shall say it again, Nigeria has become an abbatoir of human flesh and blood under the tenure of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and all those who support him should bury their heads in shame. The blood of all those innocent people is on his hands because he swore to an oath before God and the Nigerian people to protect them from such evil. Instead of getting on with his job and doing so, he has spent the last few days boasting to the world about ringing the bell in the New York Stock Exchange and receiving irrelevant, illusionary, self-serving and absurd commendations for absolutely nothing from President Barack Obama. May God deliver us.

    Permit me to end this contribution with a painful observation. I was thoroughly appalled about the fact that when our lamb President was asked about the latest round of killings during his live ’’Presidential Media Chat’’ programme on Sunday evening, he not only told a lie to the world by claiming that only ’’21 or 22 students were killed’’ at a time when the BBC and CNN had confirmed that at least 45 bodies had been found (more were to be discovered later) but he also failed to express his condolences to the families of those that had lost their loved ones. He made the same omission when he failed to commiserate with or express his condolences to the families of the 140 soldiers that were killed in Borno State last friday whilst fighting Boko Haram simply because they ran out of bullets during the course of the battle.

    By way of contrast, not only was he quick to offer his condolences to the government and people of Kenya for the terrible carnage that was inflicted on them by Al Shabab last friday when 68 people were killed (I guess that to him Nigerian blood is not as expensive or as important as foreign blood) but he was also quick to offer, the Kenyan government military assistance. If President Uhuru Kenyatta decides to accept his offer let us hope that our lamb President will give enough bullets to the soldiers that he will send. Our boys are deeply courageous fighters and they certainly deserve that much. They also deserve to have a Commander in Chief that inspires them, that watches their back and that gives them the very best. May the souls of all those that have been killed by Boko Haram in the last three years rest in peace and may the Lord take the leadership of this nation from the lamb and give it to a lion king.

  • Corruption: A President against the people

    SIR: President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent attempt to shift the blame of the cesspool of corruption that has characterised his administration and the public sector on ordinary Nigerians is a pure demonstration of his administration’s lack of will, focus and sincerity to tackle this menace. It also exposed the Peoples Democratic Party’s hypocritical approach towards the fight against official graft in the country.

    This ludicrous accusation by the country’s number one citizen came while making a presentation at the 54th annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Society. He told participants at the forum that Nigerians “reward corrupt practices” through their actions and conducts. According to him “I want a society where all of us will frown upon people who came up with what they are not supposed to have…”

    It is unbelievable that the president said this, given his administration’s record of dining and wining with persons of questionable character. It reminds one of the Holy Writ’s admonitions to remove the speck in one’s eyes before venturing o remove the log in another’s. We need to remind the president that he does not have the moral justification to so paint us black whereas his administration reeks with avarice.

    When the president took that infamous decision to grant the ex-corruption convict and his kinsman, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and other thieves, presidential pardon, despite the barrage of criticisms and public condemnation that trailed it, did it not occur to him that he was tactically endorsing this cancerous menace in the corridors of power? Was it not this same president who recently hosted the ex-convict Olabode George in Aso Rock for God-knows-what mission, that now turns back to accuse Nigerians of encouraging corruption by our conduct?

    If, perhaps the president has forgotten so soon that some of his cabinet members are seriously facing integrity question over their alleged involvement in corrupt practices in their various ministries and yet he has refused to bat an eyelid and still keeps them around him, we will remind him. Recall that it took the collective threat of the Senate before the former chairman of Pension Reform Task Force Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, accused of being involved in the N195 billion pension scam, was reluctantly relieved of his job by the same Presidency accusing Nigerians of supporting corruption by their actions and conducts.

    One also wonders if it was ordinary Nigerians that squandered the nation’s $67billion of foreign reserves and Excess Crude Account, as recently alleged by ex-Education Minister, Obiageli Ezekwesili, an allegation the presidency is yet to debunk.

    To further expose the president’s weakness and his regime’s non preparedness towards the fight against this hydra-headed monster, he also reportedly said at the event that he would not disclose the names of the individuals and private sectors that have been found wanting in this regard on the lame excuse that “ I will not want to be attacked”. This clearly shows that our president sees some individuals as more powerful than this country. Little wonder the anti-corruption outfits under his regime have been literally rendered toothless and ineffective.

    The president should leave the ordinary Nigerians who have become victims of his inept leadership alone. He should first deal with this malady among his officials before pointing accusing fingers to the Nigerian populace.

     

    • Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Lagos

  • Aggrieved governors agreed not to stop President, says Akpabio

    Aggrieved governors agreed not to stop President, says Akpabio

    Aggrieved governors agreed not to stop President, says Akpabio

    The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor’s Forum and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, said yesterday that the aggrieved governors had agreed to drop their demand seeking to stop President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.

    Seven aggrieved governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulafatah Ahmed (Kwara), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) – on August 31, broke away from the main party to form the “New PDP” under the chairmanship of Kawu Baraje.

    One of the demands of the aggrieved group is that Jonathan should drop his 2015 ambition.

    But, reviewing with State House reporters over the Sunday night meeting between President Jonathan and the aggrieved governors, Akpabio said the issue was dropped because ambition is a personal thing to an aspirant.

    He said: “That is why I said that the processes are on and, of course, on the issue of 2015, both sides agreed that it wasn’t an issue for discussion because every single person has a right to nurse ambition.”

    “Some of the governors may have ambition, like I have ambition to go to the Senate and you can’t discuss anything about another person’s ambition. You are the only person that can discuss your own ambition. Ambition is personal. So both parties agreed to that,” he added

    The other demands, including the removal of the party’s national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and a presidential order stopping the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC’s) alleged witch-hunting would soon be resolved, according to Akpabio.

    He said: “In all other issues, we have put in place methodologies of settling them and of course, it’s a process issue. Process is on. It was in the first place an internal issue of the PDP and so we are going to settle it internally and if you want to know how it is going to be settled, then you have to leave being a journalist to join the PDP family.”

    On the peace process, he said: “Well. What you heard is true. The PDP family is coming back together. We have started a process of total reconciliation and, of course, you know the house is very large , very robust and PDP is very entrenched and there is no way we can have internal wrangling without being able to resolve. So, clearly speaking, it was just a family disagreement and the processes are in place now to bring everybody on board and Nigerians are very happy.”

    He said that there was no specific conditions for the reconciliation as the issues involved differ from state to state.

    He said: “The disagreement differs from state to state. So, it wasn’t as if there was a major issue with all PDP governors. There were few states that had difficulties. Some states complained about may be thier delegates were not allowed entry to Eagle Square; some complained about party positions and some had court issues. But these are all things that we cannot allow to affect the fabric of the party and, of course, by implication the fabric of the nation because the PDP is Nigeria.”

    “We have been in power for the past 14 years and Nigerians have confidence that this is the only truly national party that expresses true aspirations of all and sundry and, of course, it is also the only party that is not owned by any individual. It’s a party that belongs to all Nigerians. Even the market woman in Sokoto claims ownership of the PDP and, of course, the same thing with the trader in Akwa Ibom state. The same thing with somebody in the Southwest and the same thing in Southeast. So, the PDP is Nigeria and so anything that affects the PDP will affect the entire country.”

  • Mr President, allow us to resume

    Mr President, allow us to resume

    It is no news that our education system is in a shambles, the effect of which is wasting Nigeria’s efforts to attain socio-economic prosperity. It has been said that about 37 per cent of children of school age get primary education which is not qualitative.

    In Nigeria, education is overseen by the Federal Ministry of Education, which formulates policies and passes across to the states’ education ministries, which implement policies in the state and local government. Whether the education is qualitative and affordable do not concern the Federal Government.

    This is the state of education today, which is far from what is obtainable in other climes. This explains why the elite do not believe in the nation’s educational output, sending their wards overseas to study while they continue to siphon funds for public education.

    With smaller countries showing examples of how to run public education system, it is befuddling to see Nigeria’s budget for education. Over the years, education has got less than 12 per cent of the budget, against the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) stipulated benchmark.

    As a pupil in primary school, I remember that we used to sit on the floor while a table will be shared by three to four teachers, yet, we paid development fee. I continue to ponder over what the government used the revenue generated to develop. One of our teachers once said: “This is the price you pay for being privileged to be among the few attending primary school.” So, even such a low-standard of formal education in Nigeria is a privilege?

    Majority of our secondary schools are a shadow of themselves. One cannot find even a conical flask in the laboratory. It is no news that after spending six years in secondary school, the so-called graduates pass out without being able to identify a litmus paper, not to talk of product of a chemical reaction that takes place when a red litmus paper is dipped into an acid or a blue litmus paper is dipped into an alkaline solution. This is because there is no laboratory to experiment on what is taught by the half-baked and ill-motivated teachers.

    The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) seems not to have a choice because candidates sitting for the papers now write alternative to practical in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Agricultural Science. How would they do practical without a laboratory? It can only happen in Nigeria!

    After years of what seems to be a hell in the education sector, students, parents, teachers and lecturers thought they had seen the light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel, with the emergence of the present administration. Hope was high that someone from the academia would bring the needed change to the decaying education system.

    But it is all fraud. A lie. Then, the chorus of Breath of fresh air, a song, came to mind. I thought that having a leader from the manger – a leader not born with a silver spoon – who trekked miles to attend classes “without shoes” would bring the desired change.

    But under Dr Goodluck Jonathan, lecturers are not having it so good. Even the system has not improved. Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), I guess, a few years back, may have thought having a president, who was a lecturer and knew too well that public institutions are under-funded, was like having a Messiah coming to deliver us.

    But, today, that breath of fresh air stinks! Its stench is choking and if nothing is done about it, it will start claiming lives.

    How could our president forget so soon where he came from? Why does he want to cut off others’ legs so that they won’t have what to wear their own shoes with now that he has several pairs of shoes to wear? How could he have forgotten, so soon, the decaying education system he was battling as a lecturer and a member of ASUU? How could he forget, so soon, the condition of education he left behind for riches of the Aso Rock?

    The dilapidated buildings that serve as lecture theatres, antiquated libraries, empty laboratories, bad public address system and rickety seats and even the cramp called lecturers’ offices, all of these our president has forgotten. Is it that our nation’s seat of leadership has the power of making people forget things so easily?

    Today ASUU and their counterpart in polytechnics cry out in one voice for the “breath of fresh air” in the education system but the Federal Government has turned deaf ear to their cry. Our hope for promising tomorrow as future leaders is gradually turning into a nightmare and fantasies.

    Many were admitted into universities for four-year courses but given the incessant strike, they are spending eight years in school because government would not provide quality education.

    Rather than building more schools and fund the existing ones, our government prefers spending public money to build more prisons and rehabilitation centers. Why won’t the youths indulge in crime when school gates are closed and our lecturers stay at home?

    What will it take the Federal Government to implement the agreement with ASUU and make us go back to school? We are not asking for the national cake but please, let us go back to school to shape out future and give ourselves best legacy a stolen fund cannot buy.

     

    Princess-Ann, 100-Level Theatre and Media Studies, UNICAL

     

  • Journalist elected Rotary Club president

    A journalist and public affairs analyst, Otunba Yomi Olomofe, has been elected the 11th President of Rotary Club of Ajara in Badagry, Lagos.

    His investiture will hold tomorrow at the Hunwaji Apartments and Event Centre, Badagry. The Board of Directors will also be inducted and a fund raiser held for the club’s community projects for 2013/2014.

    Olomofe was chairman and public relations officer of the club for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Rotary Years. He was also the club’s secretary for the same period. He actively served in numerous committees at club level including club administration, club service project, district governor’s visit and new generations’ committees.

    He was also a member of the District 9110 2013 embrace peace conference committee, the district’s books project committee as well as the district’s multi-club committee.

    The club’s director of public relations, Rotarian Patrick Ntadi, said the club was poised to execute service projects in at least four of the six core areas of the Rotary focus.

    The club, he said, would furnish the L.A primary School in Akarakumo Village, Topo Badagry with teachers’ tables and chairs; renovate the head teacher’s office, provide a 15KVA generator for the use of the Maternity Ward at the Ajara Primary Health Centre, adding that sanitary, food and beverages would be donated to orphanages in the town and the Republic of Benin.

    Rotarian David Victor Dimka, the Customs Area Comptroller, FOU Zone C will chair the investiture, while Chief Oluwole Taiwo, Chairman/CEO Summit Hotels and Suites will be special guest of honour/chief launcher.

    Dr M.I. Alawode, Deputy Director-General, Nigeria French Language Village, will deliver the keynote paper.

  • Igbo president to wait, says Iwuanyanwu

    Igbo president to wait, says Iwuanyanwu

    Against the backdrop of renewed agitation for a president of Igbo extraction in 2015, a frontline politician from the Southeast geo-political zone, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has urged Nigerians to give President Goodluck Jonathan a second term.

    Iwuanayanwu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said it is necessary to allow the president to complete eight years as agreed in the PDP’s zoning plan.

    Iwuanyanwu spoke yesterday when the Hausa community in the Southeast zone led by Alhaji Adamu Sokoto visited him in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

    The Champion publisher described Jonathan as the President from the Eastern Nigeria who should be allowed to rule for eight years.

    He said: “This is the first time someone from Eastern Nigeria is President, let him complete eight years and after that, power can shift to wherever and if 2015 is not properly handled, it will be tragic for the country”.

    He hinted that the country has so well integrated to the extent that it will be difficult to brea kup. “It is in the interest of every tribe that Nigeria remains the same because if we break up, there will be severe injuries.

    “Just as people from the Southeast of the country have made remarkable contributions to the development of the country, the Hausa have contributed immeasurably to trade and commerce in the Southeast. Besides, the people have intermarried and it will not be possible to break the country along ethnic lines”, he said.

    He added that the Boko Haram insurgency has nothing to do with Hausa or Fulani but should be seen as Nigeria’s common enemy which must be condemned by all Nigerians.

    On the crisis rocking the ruling party, the one-time presidential aspirant said it is not unusual. “It is common with big parties which will make the party stronger, the crisis will soon be over and those who have left will all come back.

    “I have confidence in the PDP; I have faith in the country,” he said, adding “if not that we have strong leadership in Jonathan, what happened would have broken Nigeria.”

    The Hausa community pledged their continued support for the PDP and the Federal Government, adding that they will continue to work for the success of the party, irrespective of any part of the country they may be.

  • ‘Southeast should produce president in 2015’

    The Southeast geo-political zone should produce the president in 2015, the leader of the ‘Nidigbo in Diaspora’, Geoffrey Nzeadibe, has said.

    He said power shift to the region would give its people a sense of belonging. But, the group’s leader was not categorical on the choice of the party to be endorsed by the Igbo abroad.

    Nzeadile condemned the recent deportation of some destitute of Igbo origin to Onitsha by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

    Recalling that the quest for an Igbo Presidency started in 1999 when former Vice President Alex Ekwueme vied for the position, he said the project is feasible in 2015, if there is commitment.

    Nzeadile said in a statement that Igbo would not support a presidential candidate, who cannot provide the dividends of democracy for the race.

    He added: “If the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) refuses to support Ndi-Igbo and its agitation, we will have no other choice than to jettison the party. The world needs to understand that Ndigbo, which is predominantly Christian, is treated like second-class citizens.

    “In Nigeria, they are treated with ignominy by every government in Nigeria. Fashola has no justifiable reason to send any Nigerian away from Lagos State.

    “Fifty years after independence, no Igbo person has been president. Where is the equality, if Ndigbo cannot be President, as guaranteed by the constitution?”

     

  • President didn’t ask for breakfast session with me, says IBB

    President didn’t ask for breakfast session with me, says IBB

    Ex-President Ibrahim Babangida yesterday said there was no time President Goodluck Jonathan requested for a breakfast session with him in Minna as part of the concluding Ramadan festival.

    He said there was no strain in the relationship between him and the President.

    Gen. Babangida, who made the clarification in a statement made available to reporters by his office in Abuja, said he would be more than willing to have unconditional breakfast meeting or any other meeting for that matter with the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

    The statement said: “The attention of General Ibrahim Babangida, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has been drawn to a newspaper publication stating that the former President turned down a breakfast invitation from His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. To state the obvious, the said report is utterly false.

    “Former President Ibrahim Babangida, in his usual humility respects the person and office of the President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR.

    “There was no time that the President requested for a breakfast meeting with General IBB, let alone turned down by the former President.

    “In fact, former President Babangida had visited President Goodluck Jonathan more than twice since his assumption of office, meetings which afforded the two leaders the opportunity to brainstorm on the challenges confronting the country.

    “It is, therefore, very unfair to the persons of former President Ibrahim Babangida and President Goodluck Jonathan to be portrayed as if there was bad blood between them.

    “Having served this country before and knowing the enormity of the challenges of governance, General Ibrahim Babangida will be more than willing to have unconditional breakfast meeting or any other meeting for that matter with the President.

    “ While General IBB will be looking forward to any of such invitation now and in the near future, it is important and appropriate on the part of the media to always cross-check their facts correctly before going around town with sensational headlines at the detriment of bona fide citizens of Nigeria, especially that of the President.

    “As a trained officer of the Nigeria military, the former President is equipped with discipline and patriotism to constituted authorities at different levels of government. “Given this orientation therefore, General IBB will honour an invitation from his Ward Councillor without equivocation, let alone an invitation from the number one citizen of Nigeria.

    “If there was any reason to refuse any invitation, General IBB will, in his humble manner, formally inform his host or guest the reason why. The publication under reference therefore is utterly out of place and a concocted one aimed at putting the two elder statesmen in bad light.

    “We hope the media will take correction and reflect these views accordingly and with similar prominence.”

  • Ex-NUJ president, DAAR Communications mourn Journalists’ death

    Daar Communica-tions Plc, former Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) President Ndagene Akwu and the National Association of Judicial Correspondents (NAJUC), Lagos branch, have commiserated with the NUJ over the death of three journalists who were involved in an auto accident at the Osu axis of Ilesa, Osun State.

    Daar, in a statement by its Group Managing Director Tony Akiotu, on behalf of the management, said the media can remember the late journalists by continuing to hold onto the principles and ideals that they laboured and died for, including honesty of purpose and professionalism.

    The organisation also sympathised with those who sustained injuries in the accident, praying that Allah would heal them.

    “The incident is rather regrettable indeed most shocking. It is a colossal loss to the Nigerian media in particular and the nation in general.

    “May this ugly incident never ever occur again in the annals of our most treasured profession and in the history of our dear nation,” Daar said.

    Akwu described the loss as irreparable, praying that God should strengthen the family.

    He said: “That they were returning from a mission of ensuring better conditions of service for Nigerian journalists, particularly the business of safety insurance to assuage the inherent hazards in our day to day jobs makes their death and suffering in this dimension most saddening.”