The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 - Politics (4) - Nairaland
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Buhari's Questionable Deal With Qatar - Olusegun Adeniyi / Major Oil Importers And Fuel Subsidy Recipients(the Cabal) / In Losing Power, Goodluck Jonathan Finally Finds Himself-olusegun Adeniyi (2) (3) (4)
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| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by mbulela: 12:02pm On Jun 14, 2011 |
Disclaimer: Jarus is a man whose decision is not swayed unnecessarily by anyone else.His association with journalists of repute has been exaggerated and should not be treated as anything serious or injurious to Jarus' hard earned reputation.Thank you for your understanding and apologies to Jarus for any perceived slight. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by mbulela: 12:05pm On Jun 14, 2011 |
Jarus:there is nothing revealing in that. these things have been alluded to by men under the influence in beer parlours and pubs across the length and breadth of this country. men like yourself who are versed in the happenings of this country can't claim to be enlightened by such 'revelations'. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Kobojunkie: 12:12pm On Jun 14, 2011 |
Jarus:WOW . . . . WOW . . . what a spin!! lol I like the way you felt the need to add there that the VP was not a member of the "cabal" -- interesting! Not sure but do you have any supporting evidence of this to offer? lol Dora sure revealed she was not informed when it came to the condition of Yar adua at the time but she never did turn on him. I suggest you pick up a copy of that infamous memo of hers, and read it through with open eyes this time around. Her memo helped distract Nigerians long enough for them to ignore the calls, from well-meaning Nigerians, for yar adua's impeachment. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Jarus(m): 2:21pm On Jun 14, 2011 |
mbulela:   So NL critics-in-chief also have sense of humour mbulela:Maybe that's caused by my habit of dismissing of beer parlour commentators. I actually underestimated those guys. Now I know better(and that's teh revelation!). |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Jarus(m): 2:30pm On Jun 14, 2011 |
Kobojunkie:The whole game then was: The Cabal (who did not want power slip from their critically sick boss, to, constitutionally, his vice) Vs Rest of Nigeria(who wanted constitutional provision to take its course, and presidential powers transferred to VP) Now, how will the VP, who will be the beneficiary of the demand of the 'Rest of Nigeria' be part of teh group that wanted power remain with an ailing YRD? VP GEJ clearly wanted power transferred but was helpless an dgutless to come out(not to be seen as a betrayer, at least) and speak against the actions of the cabals who had overwhelmed him. That was why teh first action he took after being given presidential powers was to sack the cabals in teh cabinet. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Kobojunkie: 4:47pm On Jun 14, 2011 |
Jarus: OH PLEASE!!! Dora is the one who told you there was a Cabal . . . She created that phanthom for you all so she could pretend she switched sides. Jeezzz! It is funny you have her initially listed as one of the Cabal members but then you forgive her later on because, according to you, she switched sides. That NEVER happened. She claimed there was a cabal-- never named not even a single person -- but she went on to release a memo to essentially silence the calls on impeachment(she played the Nigerian populace like a tamborine on that one), and retain Yar adua as president till death, which was what was to happen in the first place. Jarus: OH PLEASE . . . stop playing me that ridiculous tune . . . not again with that. Who said the VP wanted Power transfered, and all that yarns? The same media fed us stories of how Yar adua was alive and kicking . . . why didn't you buy that part of the feed as well? I am not certain what happened behind doors but I know Jonathan was Chair on most all teh FEC meetings and he knew what was going on. He knew what should have taken place. How can the Chair of the FEC be powerless? That is absurd, considering we do not have any reports stating he PROTESTED or even SPOKE OUT AGAINST the situation. The Constitution is clear on what should have happened. Why didn't he chair the move to get Yar adua impeached? If he wanted Power, why was there no request from him suggesting the Constitution had to be upheld in that? Why instead was the constitution AMENDED to allow him continue as Acting President instead? Sure, he may have disagreed with some of the FEC members on issues but I don't think we can interpret that to mean that he wanted power but they refused him. This is the same man that was quoted to have suggested that Yar adua not be IMPEACHED, but be allowed to continue as President(Yes, this was recorded). Go read Dora's memo again . . . and read the Reports from the time. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Emperoh(m): 8:48am On Jun 16, 2011 |
Ok guys, The episode continues as promised. As for the back and forth arguments, we agree that every of our notions are subjective and down right to personal perceptions. We didn't know more than the media gave us(not in all cases though), most of our arguments were based on logical deductions and permutations as well. So, it is only the 'cabals' and those around it who knew exactly what went wrong. As for Dora and Segun, they were public office holders and will eternally attract condemnation regardless of which side they took. Who says doing it the way the public wants is better? All the same, doing what they did wasn't even better but what can one say. Let's read Part II and continue the argument. That's what makes Nairaland and life tick. Divergent and even downright controversial views!!! Given that the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua showed me much affection and trust, it was natural that I would feel for him at his most trying moments, especially during the crisis that followed his last trip to Saudi Arabia. At that critical period, there was no doubt in my mind that the correct thing to do was to send a letter of notification to the National Assembly so that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan could assume the presidency in acting capacity as specified by the Constitution. I did all I possibly could to make those who were in a position to influence such decision see reason but I failed. With this situation, towards the end of 2009, I began to weigh all my options. By then also, there were people calling on me to resign from government. I can categorise them into two: the first comprised my friends and well wishers who argued that I couldn’t possibly justify being spokesman to a president with whom Nigerians had lost contact. I agreed with the position of this group but nonetheless felt that it was better for me to wait for the arrival of the president before taking any such decision. I had my reason: At that point, I had nothing to lose by resigning since I had my exit plan already mapped out but the question I asked myself was: how would Yar’Adua feel whenever he recovered and he heard that I had jumped ship just because he was sick? He definitely didn’t deserve that from me. Incidentally, there was a second group that also wanted me to resign but was not thinking of my interest or for that matter that of the nation. By that period, there were already cold calculations towards the recently concluded 2011 general elections and different politicians were making their projections. Owing to the strategic position I held, there were those who felt that a public announcement of my resignation would weaken Yar’Adua’s hold on power and they wanted to use me to achieve that end. By going into public service, I was under no illusion that everybody would like the choices I would make but at every point in the course of my stewardship, I tried to stay true to the values I espoused as a commentator on public affairs. Did I make mistakes? Yes I did. But my decision at every point was based on the evaluation of the information I had and what I considered to be the best approach in the circumstance I found myself at the time. It is possible that others might react differently given the same situation but I made my choices and I take responsibility for them. Quite naturally, the illness of Yar’Adua and the power struggle it unwittingly fuelled led to all manner of speculations, the most ludicrous of which was the myth of a cabal that had hijacked power in Aso Rock and for which I was fronting. While I never placed much premium on the “cabal” theory, a conversation on the day Architect Namadi Sambo was sworn-in as VP put the issue in its real perspective. As Governor of Kaduna State, anytime Sambo came to the villa, he always visited my office after seeing his childhood friend, then State Chief of Protocol (SCOP), Ambassador Ghali Umar and with that we became quite close. So when he was nominated to the position of VP, I decided to visit him the moment it was confirmed by the National Assembly. I met him at his new Akinola Aguda official residence but as I made to leave, he requested that I witness his inauguration. I joined the vehicle of Mr Isaiah Balat, (erstwhile Minister of State for Works and Housing under President Olusegun Obasanjo) where there were other important personalities. On the way to the villa, Balat asked: “Segun, this Cabal thing, were you really a member?” Before I could respond, Mr. Nasir el-Rufai (the big masquerade behind the Save Nigeria Group which played a prominent role in the media and civil society campaign that eventually culminated in the National Assembly making Jonathan the acting president) interjected: “There was no cabal, we created the myth to neutralise Turai”(could this be true?. While Balat and other people in the vehicle appeared shocked, I was not. The former FCT Minister explained how the idea of ‘cabal’ came into being as well as his understanding of the role played by former First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua and the different people whose names were frequently mentioned as being members. El-Rufai was right only to the extent that the myth of a ‘cabal’ capturing power at a time Jonathan was effectively in charge was mere propaganda. The fact is that whatever may be her faults, Mrs Yar’Adua never interfered with government as being reported by a section of the media, she simply prevented people from seeing her husband. But the presence in the villa of a president Nigerians were not exactly sure as to whether he was dead or alive indeed engendered a situation in which the federal government had broken into several ‘cabals’ of vested interests all desperate either to retain their powers and privileges under a Yar’Adua they could not see; or to seize control under the presidency of Jonathan whose legendary ‘good luck’ (derived from his first name) some ministers made song and dance about within the Federal Executive Council. It was a terrible period for the nation. It was also a most difficult period for me. The account of the unfortunate health saga of President Yar’Adua, including how he was brought back to the country from Saudi Arabia under the cover of darkness, will be told but it is convenient for my critics to ignore the fact that between November 23, 2009 when he travelled to Saudi Arabia and his controversial return 93 days later, I spoke only five times. The first, to announce on the day he travelled that he was going on medicals; the second, four days later, to say that diagnosis revealed he had pericarditis (which I had a challenge pronouncing); the third, to say on January 10, 2010 from Angola (where I had gone to watch the Cup of Nations) that the president was not dead as a reaction to the rumour fuelled by a story in NEXT; the fourth, to announce on February 24, 2010 that he was back to the country (where then acting President Jonathan was addressed as VP: explanation will come another day) and the fifth, 24 hours later, to clarify that Jonathan remained acting president! It is usually the lot of people like me who had the privilege of reporting events and analyzing same to be exposed to cynicism whenever we cross the line but I remain indebted to the late Yar’Adua for giving me the opportunity to experience governance at the highest level in my country. The job that I did is basically media work, dealing with the same constituency and I have no doubt been enriched by the privilege of seeing both sides of the coin. The late Mr. Tony Snow, Spokesman for President George W. Bush (whom I met in the White House on his last day in office in the course of the International Visitors Program for which I was invited by the US State Department in July 2007) had written shortly after taking the job “for somebody like me who's been a pundit for many years, you become part of something that's very rare, ” By the end of 2009, however, it was glaring the health of the president had become an issue that would not go away. I therefore came to the inescapable conclusion that I had to leave government. But mindful of several factors, including ethnicity and religion, I resolved I would have to do it with tact. I recall that when I was appointed, there were some people from the Northern part of the country who felt that Yar’Adua had not made a wise political choice. The argument was that his predecessor, President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yorubaman and Christian, picked three kinsmen of his (and of the same faith) in succession and so by the same logic, Yar’Adua ought to have picked a Hausa Fulani Muslim. At a period ethnicity and religion had crept into the issue of his illness, I didn’t want to give those who criticized my appointment an opportunity to say “we warned him”. He didn’t deserve that from me. But I had my plan. Through the help of my friend, the Consul General of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Guo Kun, I had secured a very generous Chinese scholarship for a special one-year MPA programme at Beijing University that included going to China with my family. My plan therefore was that whenever the president came back, I would inform him that I had secured admission which would then mean I could disengage from government. That way, there would be no question of disloyalty as the reason for my resignation would be clear. But the circumstances of his arrival back to the country in late February did not make such discussion possible. So, I kept things to myself. Even though it was a very difficult period for me, I just could not abandon my boss at his hour of trial, especially when I knew the state he was in as one of the very few people granted access to see him. Incidentally, even his Katsina loyalists whose names were touted in the media as ‘cabal’ members never saw Yar’Adua from the time he was in Saudi Arabia to when he died at the villa but I did. I recall having a conference call with THISDAY Editors who told me to resign until I confirmed to them I had seen the president. I also explained my exit plan to them given my Beijing University admission. By a stroke of fortune, however, on April 14, 2010, a friend sent me an internet link to the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the largest international research center within Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Without bothering to examine the requirements, I simply applied and sent my resume to the program director, Dr. Kathleen Molony. Less than an hour later, I got a response from her. She wrote that application had closed two months earlier on February 25 and participants had been taken. She however added that given that she found my application quite compelling, she would discuss it with the selection board to see if they could make exceptions to accommodate me. That began an exchange of correspondences with Harvard University and on May 4, 2010, I finally got the offer of appointment. Choosing between Beijing and Harvard was not an easy decision given my desire for my children to speak Mandarin but they preferred going to US. By 5pm the next day I was with acting President Jonathan to show him the letter from Harvard and to submit my letter of resignation from government. He was evidently happy for me and I must have spent about 30 minutes with him as we reviewed the state of the nation. Less than four hours later, President Yar’Adua died. The Tightrope Sege, Just finished reading you online. Welcome back on the beat. I had read the bit published today in the introduction to your book, but it was fun reading it all over again. And "Simply Overwhelmed" is thoughtfully phrased. Note however, that your readers will be eager to see what note you will strike in the days ahead, and particularly, the government will be rather anxious to see whether you will support them or become their critic. The Verdict is at that moment in its public career when it may be faced with the challenge of "walking the tightrope". Wishing you all the best as you forge ahead. Last week Thursday, I received the foregoing mail from Dr Reuben Abati, who was in Portugal for the African Development Bank (ADB) annual conference as moderator of their seminar on Innovation Hubs and Growth in Africa. Abati is one of the three persons who read the first draft of my coming book on the Yar’Adua Years even though the aspect published last week – an account of how I joined government – has been removed from the draft. I, however, understand his concerns about the ‘tightrope’ I would have to work given that I can claim to be an ‘indigene’ of the Jonathan administration. While I will remain fair and balanced on the issues I will deal with, the temperament of this column will change for two reasons. One, there is a Yoruba adage which says that to whom you can whisper, there is no need to shout. Two, participation in government has broadened my horizon. The good side to it is that I have also acquired the leverage to provide better insight into issues on this page so the character of the column will remain essentially the same. That I promise. Having now concluded with how I joined government and how I left, my book will supply the details of what happened in-between. The adjournment of this ‘court’ is hereby lifted. The Verdict is back! |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by mbulela: 9:32am On Jun 16, 2011 |
I read this article out of respect to the OP. If you could disregard my earlier mentioned disdain for a moment, i still find nothing inspiring or revealing in the article.It seems to be the same old rambling. So he has resurrected the column and will resume dishing out advice that he himself could not take when he had the opportunity? The hypocrisy is mind boggling and his guts leave me speechless. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by mbulela: 9:50am On Jun 16, 2011 |
Emperoh:i am constantly getting worried at the eccentricity of El-Rufai. An incredibly intelligent man,according to those who know him well but in recent times his eccentricity makes me question his mental state. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by DisGuy: 10:08am On Jun 16, 2011 |
I had my reason: At that point, I had nothing to lose by resigning since I had my exit plan already mapped out but the question I asked myself was: how would Yar’Adua feel whenever he recovered and he heard that I had jumped ship just because he was sick? He definitely didn’t deserve that from me. Incidentally, there was a second group that also wanted me to resign but was not thinking of my interest or for that matter that of the nation. By that period, there were already cold calculations towards the recently concluded 2011 general elections and different politicians were making their projections. Owing to the strategic position I held, there were those who felt that a public announcement of my resignation would weaken Yar’Adua’s hold on power and they wanted to use me to achieve that end. Still held the view there's no point demonising him! he did his job and the issue of him addressing johnie as acting or VP, he is not the senate or the constitution and he couldn't call someone that has not taken oath president |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by DisGuy: 10:10am On Jun 16, 2011 |
mbulela: He's a rascal, he plays the media very well and to be honest the mental state of anyone serving Nigeria will be be questionable |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by MRC: 10:52am On Jun 16, 2011 |
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| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by mbulela: 4:11pm On Jun 16, 2011 |
I am still trying to get my head around the guts of Segun Adeniyi. Nigerians need not be unnecessarily distracted by the need for him to justify his participation in the greatest act of criminal breach of our constitution since the introduction of coup plots by ambitious and misguided soldiers of fortune in the country. What transpired during the last days of that administration is only comparable to an attempted coup plot, all participants including Segun deserve to be arrested and tried for treason. Instead he tells us tales that make no difference. This is a man who was the presidential spokesman while lies,rumours and conspiracies were the order of the day.What did he do? Probably nothing,because he was loyal to Yar'Adua and not the country. Segun,how about that Yar'Adua speech on BBC? How about those strolls he took with his kids and grandchildren in Aso Rock? Who signed that budget? These are issues that need clarification. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Kobojunkie: 4:24pm On Jun 16, 2011 |
I doubt this man even understood the magnitude of what happened. According to him, he thinks that all happened 2009/2010 because Yar adua was sick . . . not even because the President ABANDONED HIS POST without ensuring the VP was at least still running things, well until his return. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Nobody: 6:25pm On Jun 16, 2011 |
mbulela: |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by Nobody: 7:31pm On Jun 16, 2011 |
Is there anything else this guy is doing other than trying to re-invent himself? He should bury his head in shame. Nigerians will remember how he tried to lie to Nigerians that Yar'adua was back from Saudi and well and that the VP will revert back to VP from Acting President. It is either he is a blatant liar or a naive fool used in the heat of the crisis; either way he is no good to Nigerians. he should go and rest. |
| Re: The Verdict By Olusegun Adeniyi Is Back: Days Of The Cabal 1 by DisGuy: 11:00am On Jun 17, 2011 |
mbulela: Tried for treason because he didnt reply to rumours and lies or because he gave out false information? It's almost as if some people are expecting him -A spokesman- to take charge, Order invincible Yaradua to resign, declare Jonathan the President, and arrest all the Northern 'cabal' ?? What power does he really have |
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