2015: Only Igbo can stop Jonathan –Ezeife

January 5, 2014 • By Our Reporter
By OMONIYI SALAUDEEN

In terms of power politics, this year promises to be action packed. Already, the main  actors have been working some political permutations. How these will endure is what most sideline spectators will be looking forward to in the months ahead. It can only get more exciting as the nation inches towards the next general election.
In this interview, a former governor of the old Anambra State and prominent leader of thought in the East, Dr Chukwuemeka Pius Ezeife  gives an insight into what to expect in 2015  adding that the trend of Yoruba politics signals  danger.
Excerpts:

Traditionally, Southwest is known to be an exclusive enclave of  the progressives. But now that there is a kind of bridge building between the North and the South with the emergence of All progressives Congress (APC), how do you see the new trend of Yoruba politics?
I am very much familiar with Yoruba politics. But I think this is not Yoruba politics; it’s Tinubu politics and Tinubu is my friend. One would have celebrated the arrival or emergence of a two-party system, but  this marriage is not based on ideology like the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) and the predominant element in the marriage is religion.  Nigerians should be afraid of radicalizing Yoruba.  This is my fear and I am not alone. Ngige is the most popular politician in Anambra State, but see what happened to him. It is not him; it is the party to which he belongs and it has nothing to do with anti-Yoruba. CPC headed by Buhari, ACN headed by Yoruba formed a merger and its National Chairman is a Muslim, National Secretary is a Muslim, National Publicity Secretary is a muslim, virtually all national officers are muslims. Whether they revise it tomorrow or not, the indication is very clear. There is nothing to read on the wall; it is already written everywhere. They can amend it to get a two-party system but the way it started gives a gap. Although CPC calls itself Congress for Progressive Change; it is not a progressive party. At the end of 2011 presidential election, many people went to their untimely graves. That is not  progressive politics. Again, the foundation has been laid for further killings should anything happen in 2015. I like Junaid Muhammed , because he is blunt, but he already said that if Jonathan contests in 2015, blood will flow. We haven’t finished the mourning of 2011 and they are talking of further blood flowing in 2015. That is not progressive politics. That somebody from any other part of Nigeria cannot have as much right as a particular section of the country is not  progressive politics. The constitution is very clear on two terms- if you win, you win and if you lose, you lose. We have been together for so many years out of which 381/2 years,the north has been dominant. However, I am happy that some northerners are beginning to show some understanding. It is said in one of the national dailies that the North will be better off with a non northern president because a non northern president will not be feudalistic. The problem we are facing is not the fault of anybody; it is the fault of  the social system we inherited. Look at how Igbo are suffering from excessive individualism. One of our good points is achievement motivation. We go to the desert and convert it to where people live. But today, that achievement motivation has gone haywire , because the social value and ethics which condition achievement motivation are no longer there. So, we look for money anywhere we get it. That is why our people are being buried in the ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. That is why they are dying in the  Sahara Desert. If you hear that people are dying there, it is only us (Igbo) and a very few Edo people. No Yoruba man dies there. We must be ready to acknowledge our mistakes and move forward. We are in Kano sending our children to school and we see northerners moving around as Almajiri. It would have been our duty to take those children off the streets, take them to school and pay for them as we pay for our own children. The time has come for us to make friends with other Nigerians. It is time to invest our earnings in other societies. It is also time for us to make more investment at home rather than abroad. I am threatened by the potential of APC to do harm.  There was a time people interviewed me and I said it is a red light to Nigeria. Nobody replied because everybody knew that I said these things as I saw them.

So, you see APC as a red light to Nigeria?
That is what I said before. I said so because it is not based on ideology and you can see that it bends more on religion than ideology which everybody has seen, known and accepted. That is why the people of Anambra State dumped their most preferred man. I want a two-party system,because I was among the Permanent Secretaries who prepared Babandiga’s return to civil rule programme. We  proposed a two-party system; Babangida only announced it as if it were a military proposition. So, whereas I would have been celebrating the two-party system made possible by APC,  the fact that they lack ideology and have religious colouration make me have  some reservations. Overall, the prospects are bright and beautiful. Jonathan has shown to be the best President we ever had potentially.

Why potentially?
If he sticks to the ongoing national dialogue, he would have done the ultimate transformation of Nigeria into a country that works. If we go to the national conference and discuss peacefully and progressively, the 2015 election will become no case. Nigeria needs a change. We need to stop the monumental corruption going on. But the way we are organised into 36 states going to federal government to take national cake and coming back to  distribute at home cannot continue. We need to organise into a smaller number of states for economic development  and control purposes. If we reorganise and have about six geo-political zones as federating units or even double it and make it twelve and we make the police work according to zones and army national, while the zones tackle problems like power, water, ecology and transportation, there will be a great transformation of the system. By doing so, there will be competition. The time there used to be competition between the north and the South, Ahmadu Bello developed the north and  gave hope to people educationally. Okpara did the same thing in the East and the big one-Awolowo developed Southwest educationally. Zik wasn’t so much concerned about Igbo, he was purely a nationalist.  So, we can see good hope, we can see danger. If we maneuver well, we avoid danger and inherit good hope.

The south west has always been an advocate of national conference, but the APC and its national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu said it’s  diversionary…
(Cuts in). You must understand one thing. The Yoruba man and the woman even in the village are more politically sagacious than the rest of Nigeria. The Yoruba has a national anthem for Oodua State. Whatever Tinubu is saying is not Yoruba and he doesn’t mean what he is saying. In fact, he has already changed and diverted his view to a good cause when he said that Jonathan was not being honest or serious by saying that whatever is the outcome of the conference would be sent to the National Assembly. Even me, once I heard that, I said you can keep your dialogue. There is no need going there to waste time because sending the recommendation to the National Assembly is like standing where you are. People want to be able to say for the first time in the history of Nigeria that we the people of Nigeria make and give onto ourselves this constitution. It is only possible to do so by going to a referendum. Nothing in it will affect the incumbent office holders. If on the other hand 2015 becomes invisible for peaceful election, people can make a statement and award two more years to the incumbent office bearers. And in return, they are precluded from any national office.
That was the proposal Ekweremadu made which elicited public outrage. Are you also suggesting the same proposal?
I said it before him, but he is in a big office now. I said it from an angle that works. What I am saying is that if 2015 is going peacefully well, the election that everybody is afraid of will be a mere routine. No problem. But if the conference is not making progress or is chaotic somehow and 2015 remains a dangerous something, it will be wise to let whoever is in power continue for two more years but barred from contesting future election.

If the conference holds, what do you think should be the agenda of the Igbo  to be presented at the dialogue?
Things are changing very fast.  Already, the Igbo, the Yoruba and the South-South have submitted one paper to the Senator Femi Okunrounmu-led committee. The Yorubas position is identical with Igbo and South-South position and much of the Middle Belt will buy it. Nigeria is changing. Those who said they were born to rule may find nobody to rule but themselves.

You said in your earlier position that the way Yoruba politics is heading signals danger for the country because of religious coloration….
(Cuts in). Yoruba is a model for religious tolerance. We want it to remain that way. But If CPC joins APC and begins to radicalize our people in the South, it will add to the problem of Nigeria instead of solving it. This is my fear.

Some people are already bragging that APGA has become the authentic party for the Igbo race. How less evil is a sectional party to a party that is tending towards religious ideology?
Igbo is Igbo anywhere; it is not about Christian or about Muslim. APGA could not have won that election, if Ngige did not join APC. PDP would have swept the votes. But you see, the rest of Nigeria will like to go and milk Anambra State during election. Every party goes to Anambra to milk. Suswan was sent to Anambra to go and settle a matter there; he   came back and called us names. Because we are the richest rural area in Africa according to the World Bank, Nigerians target our money, they rush in with all kinds of parties and squeeze money out of Anambra and go away. They have kept PDP scattered and divided so that the money will be flowing. PDP is the biggest party in Anambra State. APGA doesn’t control up to ¼ of the populace. That is where Andy Uba who declared trillion naira when he was going for the election is, that is where Ukachukwu is, that is where all the rich ones are. And I think that was what affected Ngige. He wasn’t rich enough on his own; he thought perhaps APC will bring money. Of course, they brought money, we chopped it.

How do you see the prospect of PDP dominance with the new development?
APC is not well founded,  so, it is not a threat to PDP.
But they are almost at equilibrium
As far as the House or National Assembly is concerned, they may be equal on the ground, they are not equals. When it comes to voting, you think APC will win in the West? We will see. ACN would have won in the West but with this fusion with CPC, let’s see how it plays. You in the west owe us a duty to explain what Junaid meant by saying that the west is pressing for northern presidency more than north. He said it is the west that is pressing for northern president against Jonathan. We want to know where Yoruba stands before we begin to isolate them.
What’s the prospect of Jonathan’s re-election bid in all of this?
Mission accomplished. If it is not Jonathan, it is an Igbo man.

If it is not Jonathan, are the Igbo prepared for the race since nobody has signified intention to  contest the presidency?
Since Jonathan is there, why should we come out to challenge him? Why should he not go for the second term? We support him going for the second term. But if anybody wants to stop him, it will be Igbo.
But some youths are already agitating for Igbo presidency….
No, it is Balarabe Musa that said it is time for Igbo if they can unite. No group in Nigeria has potential for unity than the Igbo. No group in Nigeria can remain out of central power for as long as Igbo have remained out of central power and still pretend to be united. For just eight years of Obasanjo’s regime, the North disintegrated. The North is in pieces. They know it.

Why do Igbo always  support  other ethnic nationalities instead of making case for themselves?
We are making our case all the time. But we are also jealous. Jonathan is from the East.
From the East?
Yes, in the past, we didn’t have southwest, south-south. We had east and the north. If Jonathan comes out, why not support him?

Would you not have sacrificed Igbo’s chance by the time he finishes his second term?
If you add up eight-year civilian tenure of Obasanjo and his military regime with Jonathan’s two terms, you are still not in any way near 38 years the north has stayed in power. And they were there not even in the interest of the country or the interest of their people. That is the reason for Boko Haram.

You  alluded to widespread corruption in the system. How genuinely committed is this administration to its pronouncement on corruption?
To get rid of corruption, you have to create a policy of do as I do. But the president seems to think that corruption is too deeply rooted to combat it immediately. If we have a national dialogue and create meaningful governments that are near the people, people will challenge political leaders and  corruption may begin to reduce. Nobody is scoring the government high on anti-corruption war, not even its strongest supporters.
But I see Jonathan in the hands of God. Whether he knows what he is doing or not, God knows what he is doing. How many years have we been talking about national conference, about restructuring, about true federalism? Now, it is Jonathan who is doing it. If he does just that and goes off, he will be the most celebrated president we have ever had.

Source: The Sun Newspaper, Sunday 5.1.14

Rightly said, APC has no background, I don't see them winning PDP come 2015. GEJ is an Igbo man and as such we all is coming all out to give him our vote and support, let's say no to Born to rule attitude of North and SouthWest.

Mr. Kpomwen, pls tell them Jonathan is an Ijaw man and not a "Jew from the East"

ijaw citizen: Mr. Kpomwen, pls tell them Jonathan is an Ijaw man and not a "Jew from the East"

You don't even waste time in telling them your mind.

Let them rock, the jona-is-from-the-east thought for a while nah.

superstar1:

You don't even waste time in telling them your mind.

Let them rock, the jona-is-from-the-east thought for a while nah.

If I do that, it would be stamped & engraved in the consciousness of not just the Igbos but anti-JONATHAN Nairalanders who are fond of associating president Jonathan with Igbos just because he chose to be fair to ALL NIGERIANS in the distribution of his developement projects which for some reasons makes them mad & angry.

Can you imagine that people are still misquoting President Jonathan as saying "Igbos are the pillars of my administration", things that was actually said by two Igbo men said to be representing the president on different occassions in the SE in what can be describes as a petty show of demagoguy-how shallow can one reason?

ijaw citizen: If I do that, it would be stamped & engraved in the consciousness of not just the Igbos but anti-JONATHAN Nairalanders who are fond of associating president Jonathan with Igbos just because he chose to be fair to ALL NIGERIANS in the distribution of his developement projects which for some reasons makes them mad & angry.

Can you imagine that people are still misquoting President Jonathan as saying "Igbos are the pillars of my administration", things that was actually said by two Igbo men said to be representing the president on different occassions in the SE in what can be describes as a petty show of demagoguy-how shallow can one reason?

impostor wlcm bk posting asari rants surely makes u ijaw?

well enjoy ur second coming pls play nuetral
cleverly,alh harem and numerous monikers cannot continue

well u are onpoint on this topic

presher: impostor wlcm bk posting asari rants surely makes u ijaw?

well enjoy ur second coming pls play nuetral
cleverly,alh harem and numerous monikers cannot continue

well u are onpoint on this topic

This is a new year and you're supposed to be a year older or tending towards that. Increasing in age comes with the responsibility of being more responsible & growing in wisdom which you're obviously lacking.

Stop trolling me, get some new found wisdom which I intend to initiate in ur skull with this comment. Air your views & let me air mine. You can now stop being crude & start being responsible....1, 2 go!

ijaw citizen: This is a new year and you're supposed to be a year older or tending towards that. Increasing in age comes with the responsibility of being more responsible & growing in wisdom which you're obviously lacking.

Stop trolling me, get some new found wisdom which I intend to initiate in ur skull with this comment. Air your views & let me air mine. You can now stop being crude & start being responsible....1, 2 go!

stop impersonating and i will stop trolling u lol

am sure like most kids who throw tribal rants on nairaland u are my junior in all department of life

well u did nothing wrong am at fault

happy new year and hope u are prepared becos am goin in full war with u if u dont change ur ways

my problem with ijaw citizen is that he knows little or nothing about ijaw or its eviron not even impersonating

presher: stop impersonating and i will stop trolling u lol

am sure like most kids who throw tribal rants on nairaland u are my junior in all department of life

well u did nothing wrong am at fault

happy new year and hope u are prepared becos am goin in full war with u if u dont change ur ways

At least you accept you're a fool for trolling me. I don't really have time for fools.

ijaw citizen: At least you accept you're a fool. I don't really have time for fools.

fool? what then will i call somebody impersonating a superior tribe due to inferiority complex? will we call him slowpoke

seun is slowpoke related to imbe cile

ijaw citizen: At least you accept you're a fool for trolling me. I don't really have time for fools.

am actually wrong to waste my time with a tad pole

Why are ibos all going mad over the political strategies of one man Tinubu, who happens to be Yoruba and not caring about what they would do? This is really a stup.id position of people like Exeife and his ibos! Tinubu and his Yoruba people have now successfully built 4 political parties now since the past 15 years (4th republic ALONE) and since then ibos have not built even one successful party! PDP was and is still controlled by powers of which ibo is not one of them! APGA is a dead party and only surviving on the bigotry of the ibos in voting, but a people who have turned building bridges, alliances and political behemoths into an art form or science are the ones Exeife is advising? What an irony? If you had all these "wise" advice, how come it has not benefitted any of the ibos, not even Ojukwu the best ibo man that ever lived, flew APGA flag in 2003 and got about 2 % of the total national vote? Can someone tell Exeife - physician, heal theyself? ibo heal thyself!

I am a Christian and I have not one atom of reservation about anyone who is a Muslim! The people who create problem in Nigeria are not exclusively muslims and an extremist is an extremist not because he is a muslim otherwise, ALL moslems will be terrorists! By the same token, if all christians were as perfect as some ibos like to boast of how 99% of ibos are christians, their land should be the biblical paradise on earth! Point is, can you people see the common humanity in you first before thinking of how you serve God or the version you believe in? By all means, I believe in God and Christ, nothing will change that but in as much as no one will force me to change, why should I force another person to change or act in a certain way because my beliefs are different??

Yorubas for generations have always been very religious people, even before Christianity and Islam! With a history spanning 500+ years of empire building with wars lasting scores of years at a time, it is very easy to see why they've seen it all - practically! We are comfortable with dealing with all humans from everywhere and this is not a myth, it is reality. If Tinubu and his lieutenants seek a broader political alliance or coalition, how is that a problem? When ACN swept most of the West and Edo State, people said well, ACN is a Western party, though Edo State is politically SS (yes I admit it was part of the Old West and they are close cousins of the Yorubas). Then, ibos did not see religion as something to cry about but oh, it is a Yoruba party! Well, every great thing starts small and a party will not be any different! Next, they sought alliance first time with ANPP, it was too close to the elections and it didn't workout very well, but then never giving up, they gave it a better shot now being more successful than they would have been even in 2007 and what are ibos saying now? The newly formed APC is now an a religious (Islamic) party, how does that make sense? The people working hard are not stopping you from forming your own party but you care more about their own work and effort? In the same APC, there are Muslim and Christian governors and leaders and APC did not choose their religious beliefs for them, why are ibos always playing in the gutter like pigs with these kind of thinking?

Nigeria is not doing well, you sit and complain about it all day but some people are doing something about it while you want to keep the status quo, is it better they fold their arms and do nothing as you are today? Next, ibos say APC are a party of no principles (I wonder how they know that, being as the party manifesto which will espouse their official position is not yet released), but pray, what is the principle of the PDP? Or, do you only ask about principle when you are on the losing side and your opponent is putting your party to flight in less than 1 year of registration? If the APC is a northern and western party, then the PDP is an ibo and ijaw party, so what you accuse others of doing, you started doing it before they were registered, is that not so? Whatever success PDP enjoyed in the past was not due to one iota of effort or brilliance of any ibo man or woman alive but down to the leadership at those times and they were either Westerners, Northerners, never ibo! The only single time an Ijaw man with mostly ibos have inherited a party they had no idea how it was built, they've crashed in less than 2 years! This is why the PDP is dead and dying more and more: the people who put themselves at the helm have no idea on how it was built, fed or oiled to be politically successful! Juxtapose that with the APC, you will see that the leadership of that party has built way too many political parties, all from nothing, do you see the list? AD, AC, ACN, ANPP, CPC, APC! And all those parties have been more successful than APGA has ever been! The only party that ibos ever had control of to a larger extent was the NCNC, again this party was built by a Yoruba man, Herbert Macaulay (its first president) and he handed it over to Azikiwe just before he passed on only for the party to be destroyed with tribalism!

In summary, Exeife and ibos, give your advice to yourself! Every part of Nigeria that will always look down on ibos from a political standpoint because you have no pedigree or class for leadership, politics, economics, development, long term vision, a stable hand at the helm of leadership, etc so your advise is seen easily as a trojan horse! ibos hate muslims, Yorubas accept Christians and Muslims and even those who believe in traditional religions and in fact those who choose not to believe in anything and so far, they are far more successful than you, so your advise is useless and pointless!

Well said Sloan.

Thumbs up.

The south west has always been an advocate of national conference, but the APC and its national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu said it’s diversionary…

The reason the party only appeals to CRIMINALS of the highest order!
What exactly does TINUBU STAND FOR?

A NEO-COLONIAL AWOIST at best!

ijaw citizen: Mr. Kpomwen, pls tell them Jonathan is an Ijaw man and not a "Jew from the East"

Nobody has said Jonathan is not from Ogbia in Bayelsa, but what the chieftain is saying is that as one from Bayelsa state he is part of the eastern region- Jonathan himself had said so- and it will be so in post-oil Nigeria. If you do not properly demarcate it, most of the so-called SS remain east, not when 50 percent of Rivers is Igbo-speaking, and historically 50 percent of Ijaw were sired by Igbo mothers and therefore have Igbo blood flowing in them.

If you travel to the western world today and mention your place, it will be described as 'south east' of Nigeria. If you say it is the riverine side, they will further refer to it as Nigeria's delta.

Stop the externally induced panic response and face this grim reality.

You sir, are living in a skewd reality which in essense is not reality.

Bayelsa is not in the East and never will be. Even at the division of Nigeria, nobody has the might to draft us to a "east". President Jonathan NEVER said he came from the "east"

Your assertion that 50% of Ijaw were birthed by Igbo mother makes me doubt your maturity & ur mental state/stability. So you just manufacture figures like you manufacture babies at Igboland's baby factories?

The Western world you're refering to knew the Niger Delta and traded with its city-states for centuries before an eastern Nigeria was created. So my friend, Niger Delta takes preemminence over ur most cherished east. You can not cow us under any form of magic or spell to be easterners, we know our identity, we know who we are.

You really sound childish when you declare that "most of SS REMAIN east" as if you have the power.

Why don't you go and tell the Israelis that they "REMAIN" Palestinians? Pls proceed to Ukraine, Georgia and others that they "REMAIN" USSR/Soviets.

Yeye dey smell.

ijaw citizen: You sir, are living in a skewd reality which in essense is not reality.

Bayelsa is not in the East and never will be. Even at the division of Nigeria, nobody has the might to draft us to a "east". President Jonathan NEVER said he came from the "east"

Your assertion that 50% of Ijaw were birthed by Igbo mother makes me doubt your maturity & ur mental state/stability. So you just manufacture figures like you manufacture babies at Igboland's baby factories?

The Western world you're refering to knew the Niger Delta and traded with its city-states for centuries before an eastern Nigeria was created. So my friend, Niger Delta takes preemminence over ur most cherished east. You can not cow us under any form of magic or spell to be easterners, we know our identity, we know who we are.

You really sound childish when you declare that "most of SS REMAIN east" as if you have the power.

Why don't you go and tell the Israelis that they "REMAIN" Palestinians? Pls proceed to Ukraine, Georgia and others that they "REMAIN" USSR/Soviets.

Yeye dey smell.

Mr alj-harem sharrap dia. I wonder for how long you would be on this site trying to destroy Jonathan an innocent man who decided to be true to himself and find his true base upon which to rest while projecting power.
I know you are not happy that he is president; please learn to tolerate him. You won't die in 8 years of Jonathan's presidency.

As for the bolded, YES the Israelis are Palenstinians by region, though in Israel no one is really called an "Israeli". You are called a JEW or Arab or other. Gerrit?
As for the Ukrainians, whether they like it or not, the Eastern side of Ukrain is RUSSIAN, just like the Northern part of SS is IGBO.
If "SS" forms a different nation, the IGBO would still be THERE. YOU CANNOT CHANGE THESE FACTS.

Jonathan is from "SS" of EASTERN NIGERIA, a region that is very very real.

Now "Go and DIE"!

Sloan: Why are ibos all going mad over the political strategies of one man Tinubu, who happens to be Yoruba and not caring about what they would do? This is really a stup.id position of people like Exeife and his ibos! Tinubu and his Yoruba people have now successfully built 4 political parties now since the past 15 years (4th republic ALONE) and since then ibos have not built even one successful party! PDP was and is still controlled by powers of which ibo is not one of them! APGA is a dead party and only surviving on the bigotry of the ibos in voting, but a people who have turned building bridges, alliances and political behemoths into an art form or science are the ones Exeife is advising? What an irony? If you had all these "wise" advice, how come it has not benefitted any of the ibos, not even Ojukwu the best ibo man that ever lived, flew APGA flag in 2003 and got about 2 % of the total national vote? Can someone tell Exeife - physician, heal theyself? ibo heal thyself!

I am a Christian and I have not one atom of reservation about anyone who is a Muslim! The people who create problem in Nigeria are not exclusively muslims and an extremist is an extremist not because he is a muslim otherwise, ALL moslems will be terrorists! By the same token, if all christians were as perfect as some ibos like to boast of how 99% of ibos are christians, their land should be the biblical paradise on earth! Point is, can you people see the common humanity in you first before thinking of how you serve God or the version you believe in? By all means, I believe in God and Christ, nothing will change that but in as much as no one will force me to change, why should I force another person to change or act in a certain way because my beliefs are different??

Yorubas for generations have always been very religious people, even before Christianity and Islam! With a history spanning 500+ years of empire building with wars lasting scores of years at a time, it is very easy to see why they've seen it all - practically! We are comfortable with dealing with all humans from everywhere and this is not a myth, it is reality. If Tinubu and his lieutenants seek a broader political alliance or coalition, how is that a problem? When ACN swept most of the West and Edo State, people said well, ACN is a Western party, though Edo State is politically SS (yes I admit it was part of the Old West and they are close cousins of the Yorubas). Then, ibos did not see religion as something to cry about but oh, it is a Yoruba party! Well, every great thing starts small and a party will not be any different! Next, they sought alliance first time with ANPP, it was too close to the elections and it didn't workout very well, but then never giving up, they gave it a better shot now being more successful than they would have been even in 2007 and what are ibos saying now? The newly formed APC is now an a religious (Islamic) party, how does that make sense? The people working hard are not stopping you from forming your own party but you care more about their own work and effort? In the same APC, there are Muslim and Christian governors and leaders and APC did not choose their religious beliefs for them, why are ibos always playing in the gutter like pigs with these kind of thinking?

Nigeria is not doing well, you sit and complain about it all day but some people are doing something about it while you want to keep the status quo, is it better they fold their arms and do nothing as you are today? Next, ibos say APC are a party of no principles (I wonder how they know that, being as the party manifesto which will espouse their official position is not yet released), but pray, what is the principle of the PDP? Or, do you only ask about principle when you are on the losing side and your opponent is putting your party to flight in less than 1 year of registration? If the APC is a northern and western party, then the PDP is an ibo and ijaw party, so what you accuse others of doing, you started doing it before they were registered, is that not so? Whatever success PDP enjoyed in the past was not due to one iota of effort or brilliance of any ibo man or woman alive but down to the leadership at those times and they were either Westerners, Northerners, never ibo! The only single time an Ijaw man with mostly ibos have inherited a party they had no idea how it was built, they've crashed in less than 2 years! This is why the PDP is dead and dying more and more: the people who put themselves at the helm have no idea on how it was built, fed or oiled to be politically successful! Juxtapose that with the APC, you will see that the leadership of that party has built way too many political parties, all from nothing, do you see the list? AD, AC, ACN, ANPP, CPC, APC! And all those parties have been more successful than APGA has ever been! The only party that ibos ever had control of to a larger extent was the NCNC, again this party was built by a Yoruba man, Herbert Macaulay (its first president) and he handed it over to Azikiwe just before he passed on only for the party to be destroyed with tribalism!

In summary, Exeife and ibos, give your advice to yourself! Every part of Nigeria that will always look down on ibos from a political standpoint because you have no pedigree or class for leadership, politics, economics, development, long term vision, a stable hand at the helm of leadership, etc so your advise is seen easily as a trojan horse! ibos hate muslims, Yorubas accept Christians and Muslims and even those who believe in traditional religions and in fact those who choose not to believe in anything and so far, they are far more successful than you, so your advise is useless and pointless!

Is a betrayal of petty and biased lenses. To say that PDP- an idea conceived by Dr Alex Ekwueme-led G-34, which was hijacked and bastardised by a vendetta-chasing, freed prisoner Obasanjo was founded by yoruba and hausa is, in the least, disengenious.

Its now revised that the Yoruba that were actively involved in anti-state activities over Abiola's mandate with NADECO, OPC and AD fully in the opposition, which caused the round and totally rejection of Obj in the 1999 election, are today founders of PDP- in the gospel according to sloan.

So Igbo cannot run a party? When Ogbulafor pointed out the zoning principle to Nigerians in the Igbo principle of justice- you watched him removed and mocked him since he is Igbo ditto Nwodo, now you turn back to whine that Igbo are voting for sentiments after they pitched their tent in PDP- and for strategic reasons retaining APGA. And which of the party's was run successfully by Tinubu except grabbing power via the law court using taxes from oil Coys headquartered in Lagos, instead of the ND where the operations, to settle?

You forget that the Igbo is just too big for a single Yoruba to coarse into any unprofitable alliance- to be enslaved. Please bury your sentiments and let the SE and SS to remain in PDP until their son completes his term(s)- after all the ethnic bandwagon card has always been played by Yoruba and Hausa in the name of 'political sophistication' while Igbo are mocked when different individuals express the right to aspire to an office- not anymore .

We know that before long Afenifere will call the bluff of Tinubu and settle for a decentralised Nigeria supporting GEJ to see off his term in a weak centre. Before then Tinubu will run to GEJ for an understanding to retain his five states-Ondo is LP/PDP- and allow the people make their choice in the presidential election. I can assure it won't be to a gambari- certainly not now even though some wants to serve on!

ijaw citizen: You sir, are living in a skewd reality which in essense is not reality.

Bayelsa is not in the East and never will be. Even at the division of Nigeria, nobody has the might to draft us to a "east". President Jonathan NEVER said he came from the "east"

Your assertion that 50% of Ijaw were birthed by Igbo mother makes me doubt your maturity & ur mental state/stability. So you just manufacture figures like you manufacture babies at Igboland's baby factories?

The Western world you're refering to knew the Niger Delta and traded with its city-states for centuries before an eastern Nigeria was created. So my friend, Niger Delta takes preemminence over ur most cherished east. You can not cow us under any form of magic or spell to be easterners, we know our identity, we know who we are.

You really sound childish when you declare that "most of SS REMAIN east" as if you have the power.

Why don't you go and tell the Israelis that they "REMAIN" Palestinians? Pls proceed to Ukraine, Georgia and others that they "REMAIN" USSR/Soviets.

Yeye dey smell.

I would not like to join issue in the attack and mudslinging you posted here, but read this post to the end and see what Jonathan said about the eastern region:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/09/jonathan-ibb-atiku-woo-ndigbo-in-usa/

And its unfortunate you will deny the maternity of some of these 'Ijaw' so unfortunate- this is a fact that we have been told and seen consistently. Even first lady Dame Patience has her family house in Afougiri Umuahia.

Fake IJAW citizen no dey tire

Kponkwem:



[s]Is a betrayal of petty and biased lenses. To say that PDP- an idea conceived by Dr Alex Ekwueme-led G-34, which was hijacked and bastardised by a vendetta-chasing, freed prisoner Obasanjo was founded by yoruba and hausa is, in the least, disengenious.

Its now revised that the Yoruba that were actively involved in anti-state activities over Abiola's mandate with NADECO, OPC and AD fully in the opposition, which caused the round and totally rejection of Obj in the 1999 election, are today founders of PDP- in the gospel according to sloan.

So Igbo cannot run a party? When Ogbulafor pointed out the zoning principle to Nigerians in the Igbo principle of justice- you watched him removed and mocked him since he is Igbo ditto Nwodo, now you turn back to whine that Igbo are voting for sentiments after they pitched their tent in PDP- and for strategic reasons retaining APGA. And which of the party's was run successfully by Tinubu except grabbing power via the law court using taxes from oil Coys headquartered in Lagos, instead of the ND where the operations, to settle?

You forget that the Igbo is just too big for a single Yoruba to coarse into any unprofitable alliance- to be enslaved. Please bury your sentiments and let the SE and SS to remain in PDP until their son completes his term(s)- after all the ethnic bandwagon card has always been played by Yoruba and Hausa in the name of 'political sophistication' while Igbo are mocked when different individuals express the right to aspire to an office- not anymore .

We know that before long Afenifere will call the bluff of Tinubu and settle for a decentralised Nigeria supporting GEJ to see off his term in a weak centre. Before then Tinubu will run to GEJ for an understanding to retain his five states-Ondo is LP/PDP- and allow the people make their choice in the presidential election. I can assure it won't be to a gambari- certainly not now even though some wants to serve on![/s]

Crap!!

Onlytruth:

Mr alj-harem sharrap dia. I wonder for how long you would be on this site trying to destroy Jonathan an innocent man who decided to be true to himself and find his true base upon which to rest while projecting power.
I know you are not happy that he is president; please learn to tolerate him. You won't die in 8 years of Jonathan's presidency.

Dear Mr. Onlylies, It is you and ur Igbo folks who are destroying President Jonathan's presidency by portraying him as Pro-Igbo and selling the same to the anti-Jonathan elements in the North & SW just to further poison their minds against him.

As president of Nigeria, Dr. Jonathan choose to be fair to all sections of the country thru his developmental projects, I'm happy at the level of jubilation & appreciation from the SE but online ragworms like you are using in against the president by portraying him as a sectional leader, a false idea the opposition & anti-Jonathan elements are willing and ready to buy any time.

Jonathan did not became president by Igbo votes alone, but by the votes of ALL NIGERIANS, some in the North even defied the threat of death by Islamist to vote for Jonathan, so the Igbo claim of being the PILLAR OF JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION is really petty & shameful of a people who simply found REDEMPTION from my Ijaw people they do looked upon with disdain not long ago.

For the records, you guys are harming the presidency of my Ijaw brother by ur uncouthed statements which has since become characteristic of Igbos.

Onlytruth: As for the bolded, YES the Israelis are Palenstinians by region, though in Israel no one is really called an "Israeli". You are called a JEW or Arab or other. Gerrit?

I'm surprised you call yourselves Jews of Africa and not Palestinians of Africa. LOL..!

Listen you ignorant man! Palestine is not a region but the name of a people & culture. No sane human being would refer to Jews/Israelis as Palestinians, the Jewish Israel state asserted their separate identity from an Arab Palestine by RECLAIMING their lands and declaring an independent Israeli state in a war against the Arabs fought in the '40s. Today, PALESTINIANS are still clamouring for global recognition of their Arab state. You're simply too ignorant to know this because of ur shallow-mindedness.

Onlytruth: As for the Ukrainians, whether they like it or not, the Eastern side of Ukrain is RUSSIAN, just like the Northern part of SS is IGBO.
If "SS" forms a different nation, the IGBO would still be THERE. YOU CANNOT CHANGE THESE FACTS.

Eastern side of Ukraine is Russia?!!!! Your foolishness knows no bound!

Nobody cares about your made-in-Igboland foolishness, it doesn't extend beyond Igbo land on us, else it'd surely be quenched by the blink of an eye by my Ijaw people- we'd surely burst that over-inflatted ego.

That being said, South South as a geopolitical zone has NEVER been the line of separation should a different Nation be formed so don't even imagine it for a second that some Igbos are gonna be in the same nation with the Ijaw man. The SS is just a political creation as far as Nigeria is concerned and the boundaries of its states are just imaginary, the real lines are the ethnic lines which would be the true line of separation.

I truely hopes the SNC drafts all Igbos into the SE zone and put this Igbo attachement on SS to an end once & for all. We Niger Deltans know ourselves and though they may be Igbos in SS, there are no Igbos in the Niger Delta.

Onlytruth: Jonathan is from "SS" of EASTERN NIGERIA, a region that is very very real.

Now "Go and DIE"! [/quote] The SS of eastern region ends at Ikwerre. Stop making enemies for your self, we Ijaws simply don't have time to be enemies with Igbos. You can not define our identity, we know who we are.

Onlytruth:

Mr alj-harem sharrap dia. I wonder for how long you would be on this site trying to destroy Jonathan an innocent man who decided to be true to himself and find his true base upon which to rest while projecting power.
I know you are not happy that he is president; please learn to tolerate him. You won't die in 8 years of Jonathan's presidency.

As for the bolded, YES the Israelis are Palenstinians by region, though in Israel no one is really called an "Israeli". You are called a JEW or Arab or other. Gerrit?
As for the Ukrainians, whether they like it or not, the Eastern side of Ukrain is RUSSIAN, just like the Northern part of SS is IGBO.
If "SS" forms a different nation, the IGBO would still be THERE. YOU CANNOT CHANGE THESE FACTS.

Jonathan is from "SS" of EASTERN NIGERIA, a region that is very very real.

Now "Go and DIE"!

Jonathan is not an innocent man.

We are not from the East(Ijaws). Just concentrate how you will realised your Biafra country and stop carrying Ijaw and other South-south people along.

I love Nigeria and hate Biafra.

Ok. Jona is from East abi? Cool. That means that it is the turn of the West or North after him. I love this! Ndigbo clap for ya self You guys are real geniuses I swear.

kel4soft:

Jonathan is not an innocent man.

We are not from the East(Ijaws). Just concentrate how you will realised your Biafra country and stop carrying Ijaw and other South-south people along.

I love Nigeria and hate Biafra.

Mr. Kel4soft, my "Minabo" from Opobo. I guess you mean to say Jonathan is not a PERFECT man?

Story

ijaw citizen: Mr. Kel4soft, my "Minabo" from Opobo. I guess you mean to say Jonathan is not a PERFECT man?

Yep.

kel4soft:

Jonathan is not an innocent man.

We are not from the East(Ijaws). Just concentrate how you will realised your Biafra country and stop carrying Ijaw and other South-south people along.

I love Nigeria and hate Biafra.

U SUCK AT IMPERSONATING THE OTHER DAY U ARE IKWERRE