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Aondoakaa: A Scapegoat And A Hero
By Terver Atsar
11 February 2010


Aondoakaa: A Scapegoat and a Hero

The moment the infamous resolution making Goodluck Jonathan an Acting President was passed by the National Assembly, I advised the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa to head for the Courts to procure an interim injunction restraining Jonathan as parading himself as Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. My advice was predicated on his antecedents. Throughout his two and a half year tenure, he stood resolutely for the defence of the Nigerian Constitution even against a barrage of attacks from the forces that have esteemed lawlessness above order in the running of the Country. He fought the battle for the supremacy of the law gallantly up to the last minute and I had expected him to hold on to the very end of this drama but unfortunately he caved in.

It is quite understandable why he caved in. It probably downed on him that he who fights and retreats, lives to fight another day. He chose not to commit ‘hara-kiri’.

But if he accepted Jonathan as Acting President with the hope of retaining his seat in the Justice ministry, then the spirit of naivety must have possessed him at that moment. He most likely believed that Jonathan was a firm believer in the rule of law like his master. He misread Jonathan’s body language which cuts a picture of a colourless, loyal and un ambitious gentleman. He did not know that behind that cloak of humility lies a venomous viper that knows when to bare his fangs and strike to deliver the highest dose of poison.

In choosing to recognise Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President even when it was glaring that such designation has been conferred upon him illegally, Aondoakaa was only bargaining for a soft landing which he has gotten through the redeployment instead of an outright sack which was imminent.

Whenever the proverbial good luck wants to shine on Jonathan, a big head rolls in questionable circumstances, then he goes after the servants of the big head. When he was Deputy Governor, DSP Alamayiesiagha had to be illegally impeached for him to take over and now a parliamentary ‘coup’ has removed a sick President for him to take over. In Bayelsa, it is on records that when he became Governor, he sacked all the cabinet members that were perceived to be loyal to his former boss. Nothing would stop him from doing the same this time.

I had warned in a previous article that Jonathan was just like Abslom who waited patiently at the gate of the city to build up support from among Israel so that when he finally bared his treasonable fangs against his father David, there was a large crowd behind him. It is very obvious now that Jonathan has lived up to this portrait.

Aondoakaa and other so called Yar’Adua boys should beware; a sack letter is being drafted to be released once the acting President consolidates power. I advise Aondoakaa to resign honourably instead of waiting to be sacked.

Jonathan’s choice of a South-West AGF is a smart political move calculated to build trust from the South-West who have not hidden their disgust at the idea of having the AGF and CJN from the same LGA and their biased press who will now see him as a redeemer of their lost ‘birthright’. Their propaganda machinery is indispensable to give Jonathan the much needed credibility in the face of the glaring charade that made him President.

Aondoakaa was to them what Mordecai the Jew was to Mr.Haman Hamedatha the Agagite. His mere presence at the Kings court was a pain in Haman’s chest. It gave him sleepless nights. Why should a mere ‘Jew’ (pronounced Tiv) occupy such a key position which should be reserved for ‘nobles’ (pronounced Oduduwa)? Henceforth anything the new AGF does will be hailed by the south-west press and every judicial farce committed by him will either be excused or ignored.

It is this superiority mentality that made many of them question the legitimacy of the New CJN even when it was obvious to them that his swearing in by his predecessor was unquestionably constitutional. Interestingly these same people are hailing a clearly questionable resolution by the National Assembly to make Jonathan acting President. When I called Falana and Akeredolu ‘hypocrites’ in their personal war against Aondoakaa, some called me a ‘tribalist’, but I still repeat it here. If Falana and Akeredolu believe in section 145 of the constitution they pretend to respect they should head for the courts again to challenge the illegal enthronement of Goodluck Jonathan.

Aodoakaa’s redeployment is a two-pronged move calculated to pacify the South-West who have been crying over the existence of an imaginary ‘Tiv mafia’ that has taken over key positions which should be traditionally reserved for them. The new AGF is expected to behave like his other kinsman (Bayo Ojo) who when he held that position, did nothing to preserve the law, but rather constituted himself into a higher court than the Supreme Court in order to do the biddings of his master. Kayode would be expected to look the other way when the law is trampled upon so that Jonathan can operate like his godfather Obasanjo.

As far as I am concerned loosing the Attorney General position is immaterial. Only a fool will think that Aondoakaa believed he was going to remain AGF forever. The important thing is that he made his mark. He has etched his name permanently in the history books of Nigeria as the first Attorney general to uphold the strict adherence to the laws of the land. He was a rare Attorney General who had total respect for the courts and their pronouncements. He refused to be intimidated or stampeded by public opinion or legal bullies. He proved his mettle beyond the faintest imagination of those who never gave him a chance on account of his origin. He demonstrated uncommon zeal and loyalty to the President to the very last minute when others put their tails between their legs and is just paying the price for it.

Aondoakaa is a hero who should be celebrated rather than despised.



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Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.

Robot

# 1 | 11.02.2010 22:20

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, Read the full article.






K_Station

# 2 | 12.02.2010 00:10

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Are you f-cking kidding me? You should be ashamed of yourself for this tribal gobbledygook of a write-up, this is a new low for you man! Are you talking about the same ex-AGF (oh, and I am so happy to call him ex-AGF) who single-handedly frustrated Nigeria’s cooperation with the UK police over Ibori & co.’s money laundering charges? The same man who worked hard to make sure erstwhile established corruption charges against Ibori, Kalu, and other corrupt officials by the EFCC were dismissed by the courts? The same minister of ‘justice’ who used the rule-of-law mantra to protect his corrupt masters, while ordinary Nigerians cannot find justice in their own country? And so on…

What an irony that you are asking Falana and Akeredolu to head to the courts and challenge what you called the ‘illegal’ enthronement of Jonathan. Well, your man Aondoakaa was the country’s chief legal officer while the President violated the Constitution for 3 months, what did he do? I bet his "uncommon zeal" and "loyalty to the President" supersedes his loyalty to Nigerians and The Constitution of Nigeria.

The only place Aondoakaa has etched his name permanently in the history books of Nigeria, is in the books of shame and dishonour.






JAGA-JAGA

# 3 | 12.02.2010 00:47

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=K_Station;430487>Are you f-cking kidding me? You should be ashamed of yourself for this tribal gobbledygook of a write-up, this is a new low for you man! Are you talking about the same ex-AGF (oh, and I am so happy to call him ex-AGF) who single-handedly frustrated Nigeria’s cooperation with the UK police over Ibori & co.’s money laundering charges? The same man who worked hard to make sure erstwhile established corruption charges against Ibori, Kalu, and other corrupt officials by the EFCC were dismissed by the courts? The same minister of ‘justice’ who used the rule-of-law mantra to protect his corrupt masters, while ordinary Nigerians cannot find justice in their own country? And so on…

What an irony that you are asking Falana and Akeredolu to head to the courts and challenge what you called the ‘illegal’ enthronement of Jonathan. Well, your man Aondoakaa was the country’s chief legal officer while the President violated the Constitution for 3 months, what did he do? I bet his "uncommon zeal" and "loyalty to the President" supersedes his loyalty to Nigerians and The Constitution of Nigeria.

The only place Aondoakaa has etched his name permanently in the history books of Nigeria, is in the books of shame and dishonour.

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K_Station,
Why are you wasting your precious time responding to this clown. He wants to wish away all the abominable things that Alias ANACONDA unleashed on Nigerians under the false pretense of 'RULE OF LAW'.
This man was an attorney general who took the oath of office to defend only the president instead of the constitution.

Ewu rule of law.






Lovenest

# 4 | 12.02.2010 01:00

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If all the Sevice chiefs were from the North, as it used to be before 1999, there would have been a coup. OBJ did a lot of reforms within the military before he left in 2007 by retiring all the potential coup plotters from that region, and then zoned the offices. The North surrendered OBJ in 1979 that he dared not hand over power to AWO. When the NPN became tired by 1983, the top echelon of the military, which was then in the hands of the North, struck - power sharing fomular devised by the North.

The stalemate which Yaradua created was meant to pave way for the Northern military to come back but unfortunately, OBJ planned ahead of them by making sure the Service Chiefs positions were zoned.

We have not seen the end of the political game of chess. The North would return to the drawing board to re-strategise. It is left for the South to do a lot of deep reflection and thinking.






Araba

# 5 | 12.02.2010 01:47

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Terver, wo (look) me I like you jare. And I am honest.When is the Benue State University or which other University is in Makurdi (of Beautiful Benue State) going to confer their Honorary Degrees on Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) for his great service.
Please don't mind my Yoruba people. All these jeun-jeun, chop-chop politicians. They will never listen. They are working so hard to reverse all the progress Nigeria has made since 1960. They will never understand Nigeria is not for them. Thank you for telling them. They are deaf and their leaders in the PDP from Otta will continue to lead them to the slaughter-house.

Good Job, Terver. Keep it up.






Ph3y

# 6 | 12.02.2010 04:36

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Aondoakaa was to them what Mordecai the Jew was to Mr.Haman Hamedatha the Agagite. His mere presence at the Kings court was a pain in Haman’s chest. It gave him sleepless nights. Why should a mere ‘Jew’ (pronounced Tiv) occupy such a key position which should be reserved for ‘nobles’ (pronounced Oduduwa)? Henceforth anything the new AGF does will be hailed by the south-west press and every judicial farce committed by him will either be excused or ignored.

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The quote above was used in wrong context, You should have likened ur brova Aandowarrever to Haman. He was an AGF who went about disgracing the nation even in foriegn countries. Remember his role in the Ibori saga, Was that heroic or scape goatish?

Name one major thing he did while in Office that we can commend him for, He was a disgrace to the noble law profession. In fact Jonathan still tried by retaining him on the cabinet, he should have sent him off to saudi to be gateman of UMYA's hospital ward.

When we finally decide to drop this ethnicity hood that has forced us to a stand still, then we will truly progress as a nation, But right now divided we stand.

On a parting note, your quote below is the funniest joke i have heard this year,


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The important thing is that he made his mark.:eek: He has etched his name permanently in the history books of Nigeria as the first Attorney general to uphold the strict adherence to the laws of the land. He was a rare Attorney General who had total respect for the courts and their pronouncements. He refused to be intimidated or stampeded by public opinion or legal bullies.:eek: He proved his mettle beyond the faintest imagination of those who never gave him a chance on account of his origin. He demonstrated uncommon zeal and loyalty to the President to the very last minute when others put their tails between their legs and is just paying the price for it.
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Enyi

# 7 | 12.02.2010 05:55

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The refrain sounds all too familiar. It is an aphorism that one man's meat is another man's poison. My opinion on the former AGF is diametrically opposed to yours. However, in due time history will be the judge. Your penchant to analyse events through ethnic lenses is rather interesting.

Jonathan’s choice of a South-West AGF is a smart political move calculated to build trust from the South-West who have not hidden their disgust at the idea of having the AGF and CJN from the same LGA

The post of AGF has traditionally been reserved for members of the legal profession. Can you furnish us with names of other members of the cabinet who are qualified for the post but were by-passed in order to please the SW?
Did the SW start their "campaign" against the former AGF before or after the new CJN assumed office? What did the SW do when husband and wife succeeded each other as Minister of Finance?
I recall that the SW also criticised the last AGF in OBJ government when he "transgressed". Was that AGF also from the same LGA as the CJN?
Incidentally, some of the most vociferous critics of OBJ were from the SW. Was OBJ from Benue?
The former AGF should have either been sacked or asked to resign long before now.






chimby

# 8 | 12.02.2010 06:54

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Nonsense? Guess that's the word that best describes this article. Utter Rubbish and in all sincerity, its not worth reading a second time.






Abatakan

# 9 | 12.02.2010 07:14

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=chimby;430527>Nonsense? Guess that's the word that best describes this article. Utter Rubbish and in all sincerity, its not worth reading a second time.

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Hear, hear.






segxie

# 10 | 12.02.2010 09:46

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This is the most useless article I've read in a decade.The author should be utterly ashamed of this tribal ranting.Tribalism is the cankerworm that is killing this country,to my opinion,we dont have any business being one country."Divided we stand"







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