[size=14pt]Pushing Nigeria To The Brink: Northern Political Leaders Ask Jonathan To Resign[/size]
Posted: October 5, 2010 - 19:15

Press Statement By NORTHERN POLITICAL LEADERS FORUM

On Friday 1st October 2010 at about 11 a.m., the Federal Capital City of Abuja came under attack by people who identified themselves as members of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND). As Nigeria and Nigerians celebrated the nation's 50th Independence Anniversary, two powerful bombs were detonated within minutes of each other, few metres away from Eagle Square, venue of the celebration, killing innocent people in cold blood. Official government figures put the casualties at twelve people dead and seventeen injured. Unofficial accounts place the death toll at eighteen while over sixty people were said to be injured.

The attacks took place while the Heads of State and Government of several African and other countries were seated in Eagle Square to celebrate our 50th Independence Anniversary with us and while the attention of the whole world was upon us. It was clearly meant to embarrass the nation and its people and to give the rest of the world the false impression that Nigeria is on the verge of a violent political conflagration ahead of the general elections of 2011. It was also meant to intimidate the international community that Niger Delta criminal gangs have the capability to influence political outcomes beyond their traditional area of influence.

It is regrettable that these bombs were allowed to go off given that the nation's security organizations had admitted that they were forewarned by foreign intelligence organizations and by the bombers themselves. It is also unfortunate that the bombings followed recent changes in the leadership of the nation's first line of defense - the armed forces, the police force and State Security Service.

We in the Northern Political Leaders Forum condemn in the strongest possible terms this callous and barbaric act of cruelty and cowardice, perpetrated by a group of people steeped in the culture of terrorism and unbridled violence. We condemn all those who give them shelter or comfort under any guise and call on all law-abiding and peace loving Nigerians to raise their collective voice against this violent group, its method and motive. We call on the Federal Government and the nation's law enforcement agencies to pursue these common criminals masquerading as militants with all the resources at their disposal and bring each and every one of them to justice for the crime of murder and for taking arms against the State.

We seize this opportunity to offer our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this dastardly act and pray for the repose of the souls of their loved ones. We call on the Federal Government to pay compensation to the families of the victims for its failure to prevent this attack in spite of multiple warnings, including several from the perpetrators themselves. We pray for the quick recovery of the injured and call on the Federal Government to, in addition to settling their medical bills, offer them the services of expert counseling in order to assist them recover psychologically from this harrowing ordeal. May this kind of tragedy never be allowed to happen to this country again.

http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/pushing-nigeria-brink-northern-political-leaders-ask-jonathan-resign

We would like to state, for the umpteenth time, that President Goodluck Jonathan's desperation to be President again in 2011 can only take Nigeria back to the dark days of President Olusegun Obasanjo's Third Term with all its attendant instability and the wasting of innocent civilians’ lives. Now that the President has proven that he is incapable of leading the nation justly and fairly and that he is desperate enough to want to hang mass murder around the neck of unnamed Northerners to achieve his second term, we as citizens of this country have totally lost confidence in his leadership and hereby call on him to immediately resign. If he fails to do so by the end of the week, we call on the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against him with immediate effect. We state, without any equivocation that, as Northerners and as citizens of this country, we no longer feel safe and secure under his leadership.



Signed by:

Adamu Ciroma

Madakin Fika

This is serious o.

here's the answer to all the plans/schemes

http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os3912.html

When babangida was ruining Nigeria, they felt safe. When abacha turned himself to a god, they felt safe. When yar adua was dying&rule for more than 2yrs they felt safe. Just becos of bomb blast they arent safe. But are safe with Boko haram

F ck it. Gej

Let Him Resign Now!

While I totally disagree with this foolish request by this unserious cabal, I believe the president shot himself on the foot by his hasty exoneration of MEND and the conclusion that he knew who planned the bombings. He spoke as if he was expecting the explosions at the time they occurred. That's too bad coming from a leader, totally unintelligent and  extremely undiplomatic with a glaring lack of maturity.

Adonike:

Let Him Resign Now!

Who do you want to take over?. David Mark?

warrior01:

here's the answer to all the plans/schemes

http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os3912.html

See the faces of the people that want to continue to lord things over the rest of the nation:

toba:

When babangida was ruining Nigeria, they felt safe. When abacha turned himself to a god, they felt safe. When yar adua was dying&rule for more than 2yrs they felt safe. Just becos of bomb blast they arent safe. But are safe with Boko haram

You still sound brain washed.Nairaland is a microcosm of Nigeria.As at 30th september almost 85% of Nairalanders had confidence in GEJ(myself inclusive) but when he lied about MEND not doing the bombing,we all got pissed off.Trying to use lies to frame up his opponents got me more pissed.The worst of all is that criminals like Ateke,Tompolo et al have been invited to Abuja and given recognition as MEND.Jonathan is giving a very heavy insult to the true and intellectual Niger Deltans.The one that will blow everything up is trying to use these criminals to fight MEND.

Abagworo:

You still sound brain washed.Nairaland is a microcosm of Nigeria.As at 30th september almost 85% of Nairalanders had confidence in GEJ(myself inclusive) but when he lied about MEND not doing the bombing,we all got pissed off.Trying to use lies to frame up his opponents got me more pissed.The worst of all is that criminals like Ateke,Tompolo et al have been invited to Abuja and given recognition as MEND.Jonathan is giving a very heavy insult to the true and intellectual Niger Deltans.The one that will blow everything up is trying to use these criminals to fight MEND.

No need to rant. @toba was merely highlighting the double standard that is so glaringly obvious with regards to certain sections of the country and leadership in Nigeria. When has Nigeria ever been "safe"? Was it when there was kidnapping, militancy, boko haram, regular religious clashes in the north? Are these all new? The people in Odi were they not Nigerians also? Did they feel safe when the Nigerian military was used against them? I will join @toba's call to who ever it applies to that we are spared the sanctimonious and hypocritical 'I was a GEJ supporter till he made us feel "unsafe"' trite and sing another tune. Impeachment indeed. How many Nigerian President's have been impeached in the history of the nation when you consider all the nonsense that has happened? The hypocrisy is indeed what is extremely irritating. The same posters that laud OBJ for his progress in the nation considering all he did are ready to crucify someone who has not been in office for up to a year while still holding OBJ (and in some instances even Yar Adua's) records of leadership as standards the nation should relish and aspire to.

toba:

When babangida was ruining Nigeria, they felt safe. When abacha turned himself to a god, they felt safe. When yar adua was dying&rule for more than 2yrs they felt safe. Just becos of bomb blast they arent safe. But are safe with Boko haram

Good point . Abagwura, there is no need arguing this point because it is straight, concise and true.

same people ,

They aint seen nothing yet.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/330084_adamu_ciroma_jpg0f5ea9f409fe433e4721f19b6c8c1318

Adamumu Ciroma sure looks scarier than Obasanjo.

They should sharrap. Nobody make them kingmaker. Their statement is highly condescending. They didn't say all this nonsense when Boko Haram was terrorising everyone.

He should apologize to Nigerians , resign immediately ,hand over to SAMBO  and Go on a self imposed exile.
He is not fit to be a Nigerian at all.

ferari90:

He should apologize to Nigerians , resign immediately ,hand over to SAMBO  and Go on a self imposed exile.
He is not fit to be a Nigerian at all.

Who is Sambo?

www.nairaland.com/attachments/330084_adamu_ciroma_jpg0f5ea9f409fe433e4721f19b6c8c1318

Ciroma looks like the Toxic Crusader

Ibime:

They should sharrap. Nobody make them kingmaker. Their statement is highly condescending. They didn't say all this nonsense when Boko Haram was terrorising everyone.

. .  but they dealt with Boko Haram and crushed them. Would you advocate for such heavy-handedness to be used against MEND? Let me see how biased you are  

Is Ciroma a Yorubaman?

Abagworo:

Is Ciroma a Yorubaman?

Original Hausa man and not all those fakey fakey IBB and Abacha.

Obiagu1:

. .  but they dealt with Boko Haram and crushed them. Would you advocate for such heavy-handedness to be used against MEND? Let me see how biased you are  

Why wasn't Yaradua impeached (even with his 2 years of non performance) when the Boko Haram wahala approached a climax last year? And all the religous clashes in the past two years, why wasn't Yar Adua impeached when they occured? When Yar Adua disappeared for how long, why didn't the same group call for impeachment?

Abagworo:

Is Ciroma a Yorubaman?

LOL

He who the gods wants to destroy will first be made mad!

While the Northern Elders may seem not to be making sense to many, GEJ's steps have been wrong all the way through this crises.

Inviting MEND members to Abuja is a stupid mistake, just as it was plain dumb of the presidency to come out openly to defend MEND when the investigation into the bombing had barely started.

GEJ's continued response to everyone who come up with counter information is also another series of blunder. He claimed to know those behind the bombings but is yet to give names apart from those names picked from FaceBook.

Another blunder is the arrest and release of Dokpesi and the ludicrous text messages brandished on NTA news. Why pick a suspect with such damning evidence for an act of terrorism only for you to release him after a few hours?

It's unfortunate that such a drama is fast unfolding in my beloved country and it's also unfortunate that all the dumb mistakes GEJ has made and keeps making in only benefiting the same opponents he seemingly set out to implicate.

While I may not like these Northern Elders as such, there is an element of truth in their resolution: GEJ is too naive for the position he's occupying.

Sky Blue:

Why wasn't Yaradua impeached (even with his 2 years of non performance) when the Boko Haram wahala approached a climax last year? And all the religous clashes in the past two years, why wasn't Yar Adua impeached when they occured? When Yar Adua disappeared for how long, why didn't the same group call for impeachment?

I asked a question about using similar force on MEND and you sidestepped it. It would be interesting to hear your opinion.

9ijaMan:

He who the gods wants to destroy will first be made mad!

While the Northern Elders may seem not to be making sense to many, GEJ's steps have been wrong all the way through this crises.

Inviting MEND members to Abuja is a silly mistake, just as it was plain dumb of the presidency to come out openly to defend MEND when the investigation into the bombing had barely started.

GEJ's continued response to everyone who come up with counter information is also another series of blunder. He claimed to know those behind the bombings but is yet to give names apart from those names picked from FaceBook.

Another blunder is the arrest and release of Dokpesi and the ludicrous text messages brandished on NTA news. Why pick a suspect with such damning evidence for an act of terrorism only for you to release him after a few hours?

It's unfortunate that such a drama is fast unfolding in my beloved country and it's also unfortunate that all the dumb mistakes GEJ has made and keeps making in only benefiting the same opponents he seemingly set out to implicate.

While I may not like these Northern Elders as such, there is an element of truth in their resolution: GEJ is too naive for the position he's occupying.

I won't stop you from making the argument in bold, I only ask for at least some pretence in consistency with our condemnation. Who started this 'engaging with the militants' as a solution to the Niger Delta crisis? Is this the first time MEND has been invited to Abuja? You mean to tell me Yar Adua had no talks with MEND last year before the amnesty programme? Yet in that instance there was no condemnation and his act was even deemed to be one characteristic of good leadership? WOW.

Obiagu1:

I asked a question about using similar force on MEND and you sidestepped it. It would be interesting to hear your opinion.

Dude what sidestep? Why are you trying so hard to seem naive or are you just being purposefully mischievous? Do you think MEND are still here because the Nigerian forces have been going easy on them or because the army can't seem to take them out? Are you for real? So what happened in Odi, what was that, was that child's play? Do you really no what goes on in the delta with regards to the Nigerian military?

Sky Blue:

Dude what sidestep? Why are you trying so hard to seem naive or are you just being purposefully mischievous? Do you think MEND are still here because the Nigerian forces have been going easy on them or because the army can't seem to take them out? Are you for real? So what happened in Odi, what was that, was that child's play? Do you really no what goes on in the delta with regards to the Nigerian military?

Listen, it’s because MEND still garner international sympathy that’s why the Nigerian government is still soft on them. Let them kill more civilians and be branded a terrorist group and let’s see what happens then.
Odi is a typical example of what you get from Nigerian forces, you know that.

Obiagu1:

Listen, it’s because MEND still garner international sympathy that’s why the Nigerian government is still soft on them. Let them kill more civilians and be branded a terrorist group and let’s see what happens then.
Odi is a typical example of what you get from Nigerian forces, you know that.

If you really believe what you wrote to be true then why ask such and irrelevant and condescending question (in the spirit of pretending that the Nigerian government would treat people who interrupt its oil addiction with kids gloves)?

Sky Blue:

If you really believe what you wrote to be true then why ask such and irrelevant and condescending question (in the spirit of pretending that the Nigerian government would treat people who interrupt its oil addiction with kids gloves)?

I asked to hear your biased opinion. Bias is typical of you folks.

Obiagu1:

I asked to hear your biased opinion. Bias is typical of you folks.

LOOOL. Why am I not surprised? I won't even bother with you any more. Have a nice day