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Tag: stone

  • I was once the rejected stone – Soul-E

    I was once the rejected stone – Soul-E

    Former soul singer now turned preacher Soul E, has laid the foundation for another church in Lesotho.

    He revealed that he is presently building a 1000 capacity building in the southern African country and said he did not question the instruction when ask to give up his singing career and spread the gospel.

    “The church we just got a new site,” the Lesotho-based preacher said.

    “So we are busy building a 1, 000-seater capacity; I will want Nigerians to know that the Soul E they criticised and called all kind of names, including fake prophet, God has announced him in another nation.”

    On his reason for putting up pictures, Soul-E said, “I am not doing this to correct anything. I am just doing this to let the world see that men can talk you down, but as long as God is with u The sky is your beginning.”

    As per his music career, Soul-E said, “I’m working on some albums but I don’t want that out now. I also have Soul E foundation we feed 500 kids every month.”

  • ‘For every goliath, there’s a stone’

    ‘For every goliath, there’s a stone’

    Protocols:

    I want to thank all of you for taking time off your very busy schedules to be part of this session; especially a few days to the elections, which by all accounts could be historic and critical for the soul of our dear country.

    Election is a referendum on the performance of the incumbent government and a decision whether to keep it in office or vote it out of office.

    As Progressive Governors who are committed to Good Governance, this year’s 1st Quarter Progressive Governance Session is designed to present our assessment of governance challenges in Nigeria today as well as our proposals on what needs to be done to move our country forward, post- May 29, 2015.

    The parameters of the referendum are defined by issues of national security, economic management, social issues and the like. So I will start by reviewing briefly the record of the current government and share with you what they say they have done.

    Let me start with the Economy, and share with you a text message that I received from a Nigerian film maker in Nollywood on the 14th of March 2015.

    This is what he said:-

    “I will like to bring to your attention that there is a reliable information that our film has been pirated to be released in Alaba on Monday. I also want to confirm to you that the criminals committing this act are known and can be handpicked. There was a meeting with NCC last week where to our surprise they invited the so called pirates for negotiations and discussion on the previous works that they pirated. I am devastated sir and not sure what to do. Am not sure what you can do in your capacity as the executive governor of the State but I believe your approach to resolving issues in Ladipo could bring a lasting solution. This new development will not only bring a big set back to my business and the industry at large but will discourage a dedicated filmmaker like myself from going all the way in the name of being a Nigeria. Please do something sir”.

    It must be clear to everyone that the greatest problem that people in the entertainment industry have is that their intellectual property rights are not being protected.

    This is a law enforcement issue, rather than a cash solution that the PDP and its government has continued to proffer.

    It is simple copyright law enforcement and the PDP simply does not get it.

    Roads:

    As far as roads are concerned, and they are critical to the economic development and prosperity of our people for the movement of people, goods and services, the record of performance offered by the Federal Government is that they have constructed 25,000 kilometers of road.

    How true that is, is to be measured by the complaints of PDP Governors themselves, who say Federal roads in their States have been neglected.

    How bogus this is, is the realization that the distance between Lagos and London is approximately 5,025 kilometers.

    Has the PDP Federal Government constructed roads that go the distance of Lagos to London 5 (Five) times?

    Is it possible to do this by a Government that has never had a capital budget of up to 40% in 6 (Six) years?

    Housing:

    As far as housing is concerned, please note that after being unable to account for $20 billion which is the equivalent of N3.3 Trillion at N165/$1.00 at the time the money was unaccounted for; after losing 400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand) barrels of oil per day for years, when oil was trading at $100 per barrel, meaning that we were losing $40,000,000.00 (Forty Million United States Dollars), the equivalent of N6,600,000,000.00 (Six Billion, Six Hundred Million Naira).

    Our country’s solution according to the PDP is to borrow $300 million from the World Bank in order to provide mortgage refinancing for all Nigerians.

    What this means, is that every Nigerian must first buy a house with a mortgage loan, and then apply for his share of the $300 million as a refinancing facility.

    That is the PDP model for housing.

    I know that in Ogun State, there is a better model that places emphasis on housing construction in order to create jobs.

    I can speak better about my State, where we are building public housing and allocating it to residents at a mortgage rate of 9.5% payable over 10 (Ten) years.

    I know that construction is going on in no less than 25 sites, and we have not borrowed one kobo to fund this initiative.

    It has been funded by tax payers’ money.

    Jobs:

    As far as employment is concerned, again their own service record is the place to look.

    They say that they have created 2 (Two) million jobs. On a straight line analysis, this would suggest at least over 50,000 (Fifty Thousand) jobs in each of the 36 (Thirty Six) States and Abuja.

    Simply ask yourself, how many people you know, who got those jobs. Were they part of the jobs in which people died while stampeding for employment in the immigration service?

    Why is unemployment at 24% if this economy is working?

    What I know is that between only (Four) construction companies over 5,000 (Five Thousand) workers have been laid off in this first quarter of 2015 and in the last two weeks at least 2,400 (Two Thousand, Four Hundred) bank staff have been laid off.

    Security:

    It is easy to summarize the security situation.

    Thousands killed violently. Hundreds kidnapped routinely. 219 girls missing, citizens and even the Federal Government relying on alternative security, like ethnic militia to secure pipelines.

    While all these happens, year on year, amounts close to N1 Trillion have been budgeted and expended on defence and security; yet there are unanswered questions of availability of equipment, while a new set of billionaires masquerading as security experts have emerged.

    The answer of the PDP Federal Government and Mr. President himself is that General Buhari, who left office in 1985 did not equip the security forces.

    Clearly the PDP forget that Nigerians remember that they have been in office for 16 (Sixteen) years, and President Jonathan has to account for 6 (Six) of those years.

    They have killed Skekau, the supposed leader of the terrorist group at least 4 (Four) times.

    During one of those killings for which they claim success, they signed a ceasefire with him; from which he quickly played his part by attacking more Nigerians.

    After the 4th (Fourth) killing, there are now instructions to capture him.

    Lies:

    Ladies and gentlemen, there are two common denominators in the record of service of the PDP Federal Government.

    The first isFAILURE and the second is LIES.

    They have failed in their management of the economy and they have been untruthful about how bad the economy is.

    These numbers are important. They dimension the real difficulty Nigerians are dealing with.

    I expected that when the PDP Governors gathered in Lagos, on their poorly conceived mis-adventure, they would have spoken about these issues.

    Instead, they were seeking to stop the use of Card Readers which their Government approved.

    They forgot that they were the ones who approved the use of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC).

    They forgot that they postponed the elections because they said enough PVCs had not been issued.

    Now that PVCs have been issued, should we not verify and authenticate eligible voters with the Card Readers?

    We recognize the issues in the Nigerian State

    We keep a track on them

    We have made them the issues in the election as you will have heard from our Presidential candidate and his running mate

    No amount of Goodluck can help the PDP escape from these issues.

    Our candidates have kept the Nigerian electorate focused on the issues of jobs, security, and corruption

    Our opponents urge that they are moving forward.

    The question to ask is what their definition of forward is.

    Moving the rate of exchange of the Naira to the dollar from N120 to $1.00 to N198 to $1.00 is not the way forward

    Managing an economy where employers cannot keep people at work because of bad government policies is not the way forward

    Unemployment is not the way forward. Employment is the way.

    Inventory of imported raw materials trapped in the port is not the way forward to economic recovery.

    Fuel queues arising from Government failure to pay importers is not the way forward.

    Blaming the opposition for fuel shortage is not the way forward.

    The largest economy in Africa that cannot generate electricity is not the way forward.

    The avoidable loss of human lives, and the unresolved disappearance of 219 (Two Hundred and Nineteen) young girls is not the way forward.

    It is the opposite of development. It is the opposite of industrialization. It is the opposite of job creation.

    It is the way backwards.

    It is not the way to continue.

    Ladies and gentlemen, like Vision 2020, like the 7 Point Agenda, like the comparisons to Martin Luther Kings, Lee Kwan Yew, Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama, and the Transformation Agenda, all of which have been abandoned because they are not true, it is obvious that our opponents in Government, have lost their way.

    They are reading the Developmental Map of Nigeria upside down. So they do not know the way forward.

    The Nigeria ship of State is heading in the wrong way because the captain cannot navigate.

    This is the most importantreason why PDP and the President must be voted out of power.

    In 2011, President Jonathan made a total of 91 (Ninety One) electoral promises around power, security and the economy.

    Majority of them remain unfulfilled.

    Between then and now, he set up a total of 28 (Twenty Eight) Committees as his Government’s response to critical national issues such as NuhuRibadu fuel subsidy scandal committee, Steve Oronsaye harmonization of Government Agencies and Department Committee, Justice Alfa Belgore Committee on Abuja Parks and Zoo, Edem Duke’s Committee on Proliferation of Small Arms, Ibrahim Sambo Presidential Fact Finding Committee and PriceWaterHouse Coopers forensic audit of the missing oil receipts in the region of $20 billion.

    The President has either forgotten or refused to either make public the reports of these Committees, or implement them.

    The President resumed work only 6 weeks ago, because of elections.

    Nigeria needs a full time President not a part time one.

    General Muhammad Buhari will be a full time President, ready to work every day.

    A full time President will re-set and re-direct this Nation and set her back on the right path.

    That is the way forward.

    The second major reason is that after 16 (Sixteen) years of start and stop, policy changes and no verifiable results, this country will benefit from a fresh pair of hands, that will have another look at the problems that have defeated the PDP for 16 (Sixteen) years.

    We simply cannot continue on this road that has failed us, and expect different results.

    A vote for change is the first step in the expectation of different and better results.

    Instead of running on their record of service, the Party in power has chosen to become film makers, making one poorly scripted documentary after the other.

    The tragedy is that after one year of TV propaganda dating back to March 2014, their bird has refused to fly. There is nothing to sell. The good governance road show died on arrival. And the captain was initially honest in Lagos to admit failure.

    The PDP led Federal Government has no credible record to defendnor a roadmap to rectify the damage they have done to our body politic, our economy and all our institutions.

    It is perfectly understandable that when you have an indefensible record like theirs, you resort to despicable diversionary campaign, the like we have not seen before.

    We have demonstrated and must continue to demonstrate that there is a gulf of difference between the APC and the PDP, not only in our visions (if they have any) and in our policies, but that we are willing to engage with them in a transparent and accountable manner.

    Our party, the APC has presented a year 2015 Election Manifesto, while the only known Manifesto of the PDP is dated 1999.

    We are committed to reinventing governance in Nigeria in order to solve our socio-economic and political challenges.

    We were farsighted when we established the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), where these kinds of questions and issues have constantly been interrogated through effective research, knowledge sharing, consultations and policies, at our quarterly fora.

    So when the APC talks of change, what kind of change are we talking about?

    How do we plan to redefine the concepts of leadership and responsibility?

    The objective here is to demystify governance and restore ownership of the country to the Sovereign- the Citizens!

    It means that we must be accountable to the sovereign for our performance and how responsive we are to their wishes and demands.

    It means that the citizens will always retain the right to “hire and fire”.

    It means that we must embed the Rule of Law, political and civil liberties in our political culture. The culture of unbridled impunity must come to a grinding halt!

    APC does not believe that the Federal Executive Council should be reduced to a bazaar which merely awards contracts to leaders of ethnic militia posing as socio–cultural groups, to the detriment of constitutionally established institutions and in subversion of the procurement laws.

    Were these contracts advertised? Where was due process here?

    We are certain that this session will, in many ways, give more clarity and further insight into the kind of change APC represents.

    The other presentations will amplify many of the issues I have addressed so far. While not underestimating the enormity of the challenges that will face an APC led Federal Government.

    The APC is proud to have as its flag bearer, a patriot with the public stature and integrity of Gen. MuhammaduBuhari, who has unreservedly committed to this vision and mission as reflected in his Covenant with Nigerians and campaigns promises.

    It is not by accident that teeming millions of Nigerians are showing their support effusively for Gen. Buhari.

    What I have confirmed since the emergence of Gen. Buhari as our Presidential candidate, is that Nigerians still believe in the virtues of probity, selfless leadership and commitment to the greater good inspite of the 16 years offailed PDP government and leadership that they have been unfortunately saddled with.

    For many years I have heard complaints about PDP’s dismal management of our national life.

    Many Nigerians have expressed understandable frustration that PDP could not be defeated because there was no formidable opposition.

    Our leaders have heard these frustrations. They have organized rather than agonise.

    They have sacrificed their smaller parties and leadership role to deliver the first ever political merger in the history of Nigeria.

    They will all vote for the APC, but they cannot elect the APC into Government. That is the duty of the Nigerian electorate if we must experience change, and save our country.

    With the emergence of APC, PDP began to unravel.

    With the mismanagement of its top leadership it began to dismember, losing its most vital parts; and making history for all the wrong reasons.

    It is the first political party that I know that lost 5 (Five) Governors to the opposition without an election.

    It later lost the Speaker of Parliament, and eventually its former leader and Chairman Board of Trustees.

    The giant is tattering and about to fall.

    For every goliath, there is a stone.

    The APC is PDP’s stone and the people of Nigeria must rise like David to bring this plundering goliath down.

    The merger was historic. But it will be more historic if Nigerians elect that merger to office.

    The people of Nigeria will have taken power by doing so.

    Let me underscore once more that while the APC is ready, willing and able to take on the huge tasks of regenerating our country once more, APC is humbled by the enormity of the challenges it has to deal with in the next few years.

    Once more, let me re-affirm the commitment of the PGF to continue to provide the platform where our party, governors and other stakeholders will continually engage, reflect on critical issues and challenges, and more importantly proffer implementable policy options to address these challenges- indeed more than a talk shop!

    It is now my privilege to invite you to listen to the presentation of our leader, Gen. MuhammaduBuhari and the other panel presentations on”Sustaining Development in Times of Dwindling Resources”, to be followed by an interactive session among the participants.

    God bless us all as we work to protect our democracy.

  • Who wants to stone Dickson?

    Who wants to stone Dickson?

    bayelsa State was once described by Governor Seriake Dickson as the headquarters of rumour in Nigeria. To counter what he viewed as the ugly consequences of rumour-mongering , Dickson set up the Bayelsa State Information Management Committee. But despite the activities of the committee, a disturbing rumour has refused to depart the political scene – the stoning of the governor.

    It has become an open secret that there is a plot to stone the governor at the forthcoming Presidential rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Yenagoa. Though it sounded unbelievable, persons said to be behind the plot were alleged to have constituted “a stoning committee” made up of angry youths to work out the modalities.

    The Government House is not taking the matter lying low. In fact, members of Dickson’s team are aware that stoning is a possibility that cannot be wished away. They are  doing everything possible to stop unleashing such public opprobrium on the countryman governor. They were amusingly said to have also established an “anti-stoning committee” to counter any stoning eventuality.

    Indeed, people have every reason to take the matter seriously. Stoning the highest public personage in Bayelsa is not new. It was an ugly condemnable precedent that entered the political space of the state in 2011. Former Governor  Timipre Sylva got huge dose of the ill-treatment that year when Jonathan came for a similar rally in Yenagoa.

    In the presence of Jonathan and other PDP bigwigs, youths believed to have been hired turned stones, sachet water and  other objects within their reach into missiles and hurled them at Sylva while he stood on a podium to address the gathering. They treated their governor with ignominy and washed their dirty linen in a public event that was beamed live on national television. It was a worrisome development that rattled and hunted the governor and his cabinet.

    In fact, beyond the stoning, the taciturn posture of the President worried everybody. President Jonathan said nothing to condemn the public embarrassment visited on Sylva. He kept sealed lips and saw nothing wrong with the stone revolution.

    Eventually, when he spoke, his statement which gave approval to stoning as a sign of public rejection startled everybody. His remarks came about one year after Sylva’s public harassment, during the final governorship rally of PDP that ushered in Dickson. The President did not just support stoning, he promised to partake in it if Dickson failed and the people decided to give him the Sylva treatment.

    He proudly alluded to the stoning and claimed that the former governor’s style of leadership and poor performance compelled the people of the state to hurl missiles at him (Sylva) during one of his presidential visits.

    He turned to Dickson and said: “You have brought people from Abuja to Yenagoa today. The only thing I want to tell you in the presence of Bayelsa State is that I was here in this place some months ago and Bayelsans stoned the governor. You must work hard to make sure that Bayelsans don’t stone you. The day I come here and Bayelsans stone you, I will follow and stone you.”

    The President’s outburst and public endorsement of stoning surprised everybody. Maybe he must regretted the endorsement recently after similar treatment was meted  him in some northern states during his ongoing campaign to retain his office.

    But everybody who remembered his stoning approval is worried and that is why the Dickson’s team is said to be preparing for such possibility at rally. Though nobody knows the anti-stoning strategy being adopted, some said the governor was making a plan to install cameras all over the Samson Siasia Sports Complex where the rally is scheduled to hold. This, they argue, will help the security agencies fish out the agents of stoning if it eventually happens.

    In fact, the anticipation of such ill treatment became rife recently after the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB) raised it as a poser in their press release which reportedly barred the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan from accompanying her husband to the event.

    Condemning the silence of the President over the excesses of his wife in the state, the group queried: “Is President Goodluck Jonathan using this as a ploy to join Bayelsa youths to stone Governor Dickson as promised by the President during his presidential campaign in 2011 and subsequently to oust Dickson’s administration since he could hardly rebuke his wife in several of her political atrocities?”

    Furthermore, the cold shoulder the governor has been receiving from the Presidency is a suspect. Recently trending on Facebook is an unconfirmed report of an alleged rude treatment the governor received at Aso Rock Villa from security operatives attached to the President.

    The governor has been battling the overtures of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), a campaign group of Jonathan which has practically hijacked the activities of PDP in the state. TAN is believed to be working for Mrs. Jonathan to undermine Dickson.

    Reacting to the development, the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Mr. Udens Eradiri, denounced the rumour that the governor could be a victim of stoning. He said:  “The President will be here on February 6th and we are already hearing rumours that some people will stone some people. Any iota of satchet water or stone will crumble Mr. President chances and Ijaw people must note that that day is supposed to be a day of celebration, dancing. Everybody must come out to support our own.

    “You saw what they did  for Buhari in Kano and you will see what they will do when he goes back home for his final campaign. That is what we must show. Let us forget our differences and come out. The TAN people should note that we know all those meetings that they are holding.

    “If they are actually working for the a President, everybody will be on the same vessel. I am a non-partisan person and I stand in the middle. If any of them go wrong I will always tell them. As IYC President at the end of the day, they will pit youths against themselves. When they will sit down as politicians to drink champagne, the enmity of the youths will continue. My duty is to ensure that these youths are not used as pawns in a chess game.”

    Eradiri further regretted the Cold War involving TAN, the First Lady and Dickson. “We can’t pretend about it. There is a Cold War going on. There is the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria. (TAN) that is made up of the loyalists of the former governor of the state who were not in good terms with the President. They have never been happy with the President.

    “And so their conduct is actually creating so much problems for the President’s reelection. I wonder who set that thing up knowing fully well that these are the people who are not on the side of the governor and they are not also on the side of the President. Now, their principal is in the opposition abusing the President and challenging the President and you now mop up these same people into a TAN in order for them to deliver the President. No. They won’t do that.

    “So, there is no sincerity of purpose. I have made it clear before and I am still saying it.TAN in Bayelsa is purposely put together to create conflict for the President and also to cause commotion in the state so that there cannot be that synergy. I support the proscription of TAN in Bayelsa in as much as I do not support the way it was put together”, he said.

    He also partly blamed the political crisis in Bayelsa on the President. He said: “I think that the President is not doing enough. The President who head or tail is the one that will lose or gain should have had his own machinery of ensuring that his house is intact. I blame the President for it and that is why we are warning that our political capital is about to be squandered by their actions and inactions. I condemn what they are doing. It is not called for.

    “But if you look at it there is no governor that will accept what TAN is doing and what other aides of the President is doing in Bayelsa. It is the aides of the President who say that they are working for the President that put up this TAN knowing fully well that the people there are the people who don’t want to see the President.

    “It, therefore,  means that the people working around the President that set up this TAN in Bayelsa are the people against the President and the bulk stops on the table of Mr. President. To sit down and allow these things to snowball into what it is gradually getting to now affecting 100 per cent vote from Bayelsa for the President. And you know when we don’t have 100 per cent from Bayelsa it begins to send a negative signal to the opposition and other parts of the country.”

    But TAN has since denied undermining the governor. It said the group would work with the governor to ensure the re-election of the President.

    Undoubtedly as everybody waits to see how the home rally of the President will turn out, the crack team of the governor is working round the clock to gather intelligence on the possibility that Dickson may be stoned.

  • Who casts the first stone?

    Who casts the first stone?

    On the 27th of August, the widely read syndicated columnist, Mallam Mohammed Haruna, published an article on the public exchange of emails by two of Nigeria’s eminent intellectuals, Professor G.G Darah and Professor ChinweizuIbekwe (simply known more popularly as simply Chinweizu). The subject of their exchange was the then on-going Jonathan National Conference and the structure of the Nigerian federation. The tone and tenor of the exchange between the two men was particularly frightening bitterness against the far north and their advocacy for the polarisation of the country along North-South ethno-regional and religious fault lines.

    Chinweizu in particular urged Darah, who was a delegate at the conference, to help work towards a new alliance between the Christian South and Middle belt against the far north which he referred to rather derisively as ‘Shariya-land’. In his uncompromisingly incendiary words as quoted by Haruna “The main point is that we can’t afford to prolong our agony under Caliphate Colonialism. Our liberation requires that they leave Nigeria earlier and the sooner the better. If they are allowed to remain on any terms, even by return to 1960 federalism or Aburi, we’ll still have them polluting our polity”.

    If the iconoclastic and polyvalent Chinweizu – Africanist, teacher, author, journalist and devastating polemicist – has his way, he unrepentantly advocates the excision of the far north from Nigeria as attempted by the misguided Major Gideon Orkar-led coupists in 1992. Going by his logic, the north is the problem of Nigeria. Remove the north from the country’s geographical space and all the problems of Nigeria will presumably vanish.

    Professor Darah, the former Marxist and foremost theorist of oral African literature, apparently supports this position. No wonder the Urhobo-born professor is an ardent supporter of hisIjaw Niger –Delta kinsman, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, quest for a second term in office, notwithstanding the widespread perception of the administration’s lack lustre performance in diverse sectors. When some of our best brains can indulge in this kind of highly reductionist, overly ethno-centric and substantially misleading analyses of Nigerian politics, then what can we expect from those who do not endowed with their level of reasoning and rigorous intellection?

    In a certain way, Professors Chinweizu and Darah symbolise the new found political amity between the South-East and South-South. The South-East is one of the strongest support bases of President Jonathan today. Yet the relationship between the dominant political elites of the two geo-political zones is an unequal one. There was a time when the late eminent political scientist, Professor Billy Dudley, analysed Nigerian politics in terms of game-analytic permutations among three dominant power blocs – the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa-Fulani power blocs. The truth, however, is that the hegemonic Igbo political elite no more constitutes a coherent or effective power bloc in Nigerian politics. It has strangely opted to play junior partner to a new, emergent Ijaw power-bloc.

    The Igbo political class appears to have reached a strategic impasse. With the staunch support of leading Igbo politicians for Dr Jonathan’s second term, the once popular and emotive idea of a possible Igbo President is clearly in abeyance for the foreseeable future. Yes, many distinguished sons and daughters of Igbo land hold key strategic positions in the Jonathan presidency. But given the limited vision and competence demonstrated by the administration so far, this is unlikely to translate meaningfully into the radical transformation of the region or the revolutionary liberation of the unrivalled technological potentials of the Igbo people. Yet, most members of the Igbo political elite do not see the strategic sense of having a substantial presence in both major parties – the PDP and APC in order to more maximally take advantage of whatever opportunities may be thrown up for the political advancement of the region.

    However, like Chinweizu and Darah, many Nigerian intellectuals and other members of the political elite tend to create the impression that their respective ethnic groups or geo-political zones constitute some kind of super or superior groups, which would have made far more progress but for the constricting effects of a deformed Nigerian political structure. But then nobody is born a Nigerian. We are all first and foremost members of our respective ethnic groups before we are members of the more ‘artificial’ Nigerian house in which we are all accommodated. If the Nigerian house is in perilous danger of falling (apologies to Karl Meir), it is a collective responsibility of the country’s multi-dimensional elite that cut across all ethno-regional and cultural groups.

    I do not subscribe to the simplistic and misleading notion of amonolithic ethno-regional elite that is in dominant control of political power at any time just because one of its members occupies the apex of political authority. It is utterly delusional, for instance, to assume that there is any significant re-configuration of Nigeria’s power matrix in favour of the Ijaw or Niger Delta simply because an Ijaw man is president. The more things seem to change the more they actually remain the same. It was also this kind of reasoning which made the Yoruba political class across party lines to flock behind a non-performing President OlusegunObasanjo in 2003 with ultimately nothing to show for it.

    Power domination is a far more complex phenomenon to track. To discover its concrete content may involve a rigorous and scientific investigation of the actual ethno-regional composition of the various factions of the elite including the political elite, bureaucratic and professional elite, business and commercial elite among others. It may in fact be the case that actual and meaningful power is wielded by less visible but strategically placed operatives who are not in the public glare.

    Can any faction of Nigeria’s multi-dimensional elite summon the moral right to cast the first stone, lay the blame for our national perils at the feet of others and proclaim its innocence? I do not think so. For instance, northern leaders such as Dr Junaid Mohammed, Professor AngoAbdullahi or AlhajiAdamuCiroma sound offensive and haughty when they assert the right of the north to produce the president after Jonathan because of the 1999 zoning arrangement that was truncated by President UmaruYar’Adua’s unanticipated demise.

    But they cannot easily or persuasively discount the argument that the north has produced the country’s apex political leadership – civil and military – for the better part of Nigeria’s post-independence history and cannot dodge part responsibility for her present pitiable plight. Thus, rather than claim a right to the presidency, the north should be more subtle, humble and emphasise the positive values of its candidates.

    On its part, the Igbo political class still understandably smart from the tragic experience of the civil war particularly the genocide that precipitated the conflagration. They no doubt suffered a great historic injustice. But any sober analysis will situate the genocide in the north within the context of the ethnically skewed composition of the arrowheads of the January 1966 coup, the no less suspicious pattern in the killing of military and civilian leaders during the coup and the perceived ethno-regional predilections of theAguiyiIronsi regime.

    Professor Billy Dudley, who was teaching at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria at the time noted in his definitive study of political instability in Nigeria, that “Outside the university, the practice of Ibo men holding up Northerners to ridicule had become a common enough experience. Pictures of Nzeogu with one foot over the corpse of the slain premier of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, symbolic of the ascendancy of the East and the Ibo, were to be found on sale in the markets of the north”. That was one of the indiscretions of the Igbos resident in the north that created so much resentment from their hosts in the region.

    And those Yoruba elite who cite the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by Chief MKO Abiola as a historic injustice are right. But a more nuanced reading of history shows that the annulment of the June 12 polls came after the earlier cancellation of the SDP and NRC primaries. The late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua had won a clear cut victory in the SDP while UmaruShinkafi and AdamuCiroma were headed for a run off in the SDP. The cancellation of the primaries and subsequent banning of the leading aspirants received enthusiastic support in the south and the wily Babangida had thus undertaken a successful dress rehearsal for the future annulment aimed at self-perpetuation in office.

    The point is that mistakes have always been made on all sides in the evolution of our political history and this reality should spur the various ethno-regional factions of our political class to discard self-righteousness and adopt a more accommodative spirit in the quest for political power.

  • Kuwaiti club, a stepping stone — Shehu Abdullahi

    Qadsia Sports Club new signing Shehu Abdullahi has told AfricanFootball.com that the Kuwaiti club will be a very good point for him to start his career outside Nigeria.

    “This is a good club for me start my career abroad. I am aiming high with the club as I want to help them win all the trophies available, especially the Asian Champions League and the league” Shehu told AfricanFootball.com.

    He also expressed delight with the warm welcome he has received in Kuwait.

    “I am very much happy with what I see here, the fans like me and have showed it, the officials and everybody here loves me.I am proud to be here” he said.

    The Kano Pillars ace will travel to Dubai with the team for an Asian Champions League game scheduled for Thursday.

  • Pro-Chancellor lays centre’s foundation stone

    Pro-Chancellor lays centre’s foundation stone

    The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, University of Calabar (UNICAL) Governing Council, Dr Rowland Ehigiamusoe, has laid the foundation stone for the permanent office of the Centre for Educational Services (CES).

    Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Ehigiamusoe praised the management of the centre for the initiative of proposing and undertaking the construction of an ultra modern lecture and office block building.

    Ehigiamuse particularly praised the Director of the centre, Prof Bassey Bassey, who he described as a super intelligent and upright man, adding that the director had over the years displayed uncommon qualities to the admiration of the school authorities.

    He appreciated Prof Bassey for making the members of the Council, whose tenure would expire soon the opportunity to witness the foundation of the building, which he said was a fruit of their labour.

    Dr Ehigiamusoe was optimistic that the contractor handling the project would display expertise, which it used to construct the new Senate Chambers and hoped the edifice would be completed on time.

    The Pro-chancellor showered encomiums on the Director of Physical Planning, Mr Eyo Itam, for “his knack for high level professionalism in guiding the Council in matters of projects”.

    The Pro-Chancellor was accompanied to the site by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof James Epoke and other principal officers of the institution.

     

  • Protesters stone senator, PDP leaders in Delta

    Senator James Manager, representing Delta South, and other members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were pelted with stones at the weekend in Ekiugbo-Iyede community, Isoko North Local Government.

    The delegation, which includes Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Ovourzorie Macaulay; member representing Isoko in the House of Representatives Leo Ogor; Isoko representative on the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) board Joe Ogeh and Tim Owhefere, visited the town “to thank the people for voting the PDP in past elections”.

    The visit kicked off from Ozoro to Ellu, Ofagbe, Okpe-Isoko, Otor-Iyede, where the dignitaries were received by thousands of dancing youths, women and party faithful.

    But in Ekuigbo-Iyede, the PDP leaders were heckled and came under a hail of stones, pebbles and chants of ijii, ijii, ijii (thieves, thieves, thieves) by the protesters.

    The protesters also carried placards, with inscriptions such as “PDP Leaders, You are disappointment; “Failious (sic)” and “Stop deceiving us”.

    One of the aggrieved protesters, who identified himself as Ejiro, said: “We are angry because these same politicians have spent many years in government, yet our lot has failed to improve.

    “Every year they come to dole pittance to us when they know election is near.

    “Ogor, for instance, has been in Abuja for nearly 16 years and yet no development.

    “Tim Owhefere (representing Isoko North) is also in his second term, yet no state or federal presence here.

    “Today, they came and gave us N500,000 to say thank you; how long is that going to last us?” he asked.

    The police were called in when the protesters started throwing pure water sachets and sticks at the politicians.

    The security operatives opened fire in the market square to disperse the protesters.

    But, Macaulay attributed the incident to money, saying: “Is there any society that if I throw N100, 000 up there wouldn’t be crisis?”

    Ogor, who is believed to be the object of the anger, said: “There is bound to be some disagreement in all situations of this nature; you can’t run away from the reality of that.

    “When you have 100 percent acceptability, you know there’s something wrong.

    “But as good leaders saddled with the responsibility of moving Isoko forward, we would hear some of those voices and be able to meet them at their points of need.

    “Because politics is all about resource sharing, probably they are not satisfied with the level of distribution of resources.”

  • What do you do with a rolling love stone?

    WHEN it came to ladies, Debo liked them slim and trendy. But when he met Matilda, he changed his definition of a chic gal because she was on the round side. Her face was very attractive and each time he looked at her, he was convinced that this was the gal. They got talking and he really liked her but there was a snag. Matilda only had a school leaving certificate and he decided to sponsor her to study in the university.

    He invested everything to get her admitted and paid almost all the bills because she was an orphan. Everything went well but when she got into her final year, somebody stole her heart. “She met this other guy and before I knew it she told me it was over. She told me that what she felt for me was brotherly love and she just could not marry me. I was devastated.”

    Frantically, Debo made a number moves to get her friends to remember the good old days, his emotional investments as well as his genuine love for her. “Only God knows what the gentleman did to her. She just did not look back again. Then suddenly, she changed her room on campus and I just could not trace her at a point. It took me a while to get back the pieces again.

    Then I met another gal, this time around she was the slim type and I realised that Matilda was a mistake after all. She came back eight months after begging for forgiveness, the Casanova she fell for had finally thrown her out of his heart. He was also on her trail; around it was not to conquer her love or affection but to avenge the assault done to his emotion and pocket.

    Like Debo, Tony feels so bad about the gal he invested his heart in. She dashed all his emotional hopes. He subsequently hardened his heart towards every other babe that came his way.

    “Women, I don’t think I want to waste any precious energy towards them. Once bitten, twice shy. They just cannot be trusted. They prefer men who deal with them and make them cry. If you are too soft, then they are likely to take you for granted”, he once told a pal.

    They had dated for about a year and it was something everyone described then as a sizzling romance. They actually inspired a number of other couples and everyone thought that the romance was actually made in heaven.

    Along the line, Tony lost his job and things began to fall apart. A few friends he ‘banked’ on to support him turned their back on him and he handled the situation as one of those things. But the most painful thing he did not bargain for was his dear Remi. He had invested so much in her life and it was an opportunity for her to reciprocate all his kind gestures. Unfortunately, she showed him a different personality and it was a great disappointment for him. “The first two months after I lost my job I was able to manage somehow. But by the third month things got really bad and I asked her to give me some money which I would return later.

    To my utmost surprise, she started avoiding me like a plague. I went to her house at different times and I was told that she was not at home. On each of those occasions, I heard her voice inside the house and I felt very disappointed and humiliated. How can a girl who promised to love me treat me this way? Can I still continue to love her after what she has done for me?

    It was a very rough period in his life and she abandoned him and moved on. Three years down the line, this Romeo was back on his feet financially and his emotions had stabilised. A lady who understood the secret of giving and taking in relationship had stolen his heart and they were ready to sign the dotted lines together. It was at this point that the prodigal lover made a u-turn, realised her mistakes and wanted to claim this abandoned ‘mandate’.

    Now the song on her lips has changed. Was he ready to accept her and take her back into his life. Who was he going to drop now, his original love or this new found love? Well,the emotional ball is in his court. Our dear friend has repented. If only he could read her mind, the only lyrics it would be churning out are, ‘Please come back to me’. But on a second thought, love is not for those who do not know how to make up their mind about what they want. Well, why did she allow him to wander away if she loved and admired him this much? Why was she playing to the gallery when it was obvious that this guy is good enough to be Mr. Right?

    Well, the truth is that we all make mistakes. Sometimes deliberately or just because we fail to take a deeper look at the object (s) of our affection. Most times, we keep chasing shadows and allow what we would have cherished to slip away.

    Anyway now that she has come to this realisation, she can still plead for forgiveness. After all, to err is divine and a loving heart should not find it so difficult to forgive. Real love should be humble and flexible. If it is so rigid, then it was never love in the first place.

    Restitution? No way! That would not solve the emotional problems that she had created. She had all the opportunity to show that she cared but she did not make use of the opportunities that he provided.

    At that point, there were too many suitors and she got so carried away. Now, that she has suddenly discovered that he was the best thing that ever happened to her, he just wasn’t available again. It was damn too late.