₦airaland Forum

Prince Buruji Kashamu, the PDP National Vice Chairman in the South-west, was accused of being a drug dealer by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his letter to President Goodluck Jonathan. Kashamu replies Obasanjo in this piece.
It is not for nothing that leaders rarely join the fray. This disposition is meant to preserve the majesty, respect and dignity of the exalted position that they occupy in the society. That is why when they do; people listen with a view to drawing useful lessons from such interventions. However, when you have a man who should be a father figure descend into the arena, clutching at every opportunity to play to the gallery, then it behoves all men of good will to stand up to such a person and expose him for who he really is. For, as Martin Luther King Jnr said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Following former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s diatribe against the person and office of President Goodluck Jonathan, including my humble self, I have been inundated with calls from family members, friends, business and political associates as to his real intentions. I will situate his vituperations presently.
In the 18-page letter dated 3rd December, 2013, Obasanjo called me a shameless criminal. Pray, why should I be ashamed when I am not a criminal or the one being looked for, and he knows! They have called all manner of names to silence and sabotage me so as to take over party structure in the South-west in order to work against the government. If Obasanjo could write this kind of letter against his own people, with a view to inciting Nigerians against the man he introduced to them, then it leaves much to be desired. The was the same man who said Jonathan was the only one fit for the job having been cleared by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He told Nigerians to vote him as President because of his unimpeachable character and integrity. It is unfair for him to round to insult the President. He used me to fight Gbenga Daniel and I spent over N3billion to fight his cause and took the PDP structure from Daniel and handed it over to him. He later brought his friend, a 77-year-old Gen. Adetunji Olurin, to be the governorship candidate. Now, he is casting aspersion on the person of the President and my humble self. Who should be ashamed among us? How many former Presidents and Heads of State would do this? He thinks he is disgracing his people but unknown to him, he is making himself a laughing stock in the eyes of the discerning. Pray, what is he looking for? Initially, he was given everything he wanted but he was still not pleased. Now that things have changed, he is grumbling.
Obasanjo-letter
Chief Obasanjo denied introducing me to the Presidency. But can he deny that we wined and dined together in the past? Can he deny knowledge of my closeness to his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, especially during the events leading to the 2011 general elections? Can he deny that he introduced me to some leaders of the PDP in the South-west, such as the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade; his Agric counterpart, Dr. Adesina Akinwunmi; and Engr. Segun Oni, among others, as his political son in whom he is well pleased? Can he deny that he did not introduce me to the former acting Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, and other officials of the PDP-led Federal Government during the events leading to the 2011 general elections, especially as it relates to Ogun State and my role in the whole scenario? Can he deny that he openly praised me to high heavens at various public fora and rallies, including during the reception I organised for the former Minister of Commerce and Industry, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye (JMK)? Why is it that it is now that he is calling me names and blaming the Presidency for condoning me? What offence have I committed? Is it because I refused to allow him to hijack the party structure so that he can use it to achieve his invidious motive against President Jonathan? Is it because he has now realised that he has lost the platform which made him relevant in the politics of Ogun State and the South-west? Isn’t there a sense in the assumption that the reason for this unwarranted attack is to portray the Jonathan administration in bad light and discredit its foot soldiers, particularly in the South-west?
Who am I?
I am not ashamed to say ex-President Obasanjo was my adopted political father and I was also his adopted political godson. I was one of his foot soldiers and partners. We planned and executed many things together. When it was convenient for him, I was his right hand. I teamed up with him against former Governor Gbenga Daniel; fought the latter to a standstill; took the party structure from him and handed it over to Chief Obasanjo. I worked with him (Chief Obasanjo) to produce the platform that his anointed candidate for the 2011 general elections in 2011, Gen. Tunji Olurin. It is common knowledge in Ogun State and the South-west that Obasanjo and I were inseparable until recently. So, if he now turns round to be calling me names, then it should be clear to all that it is all politics. The truth is that I have not committed any offence and nobody has ever requested for my extradition. If there is anything to the contrary, I challenge Obasanjo and his cronies to produce it or forever remain silent.
I refer them to the Interpol report which exonerated me of any wrong doing, both locally and internationally. It is dated 4th March, 2008. The Interpol in the six-page report, signed by ACP Haruna H. Mshelia for the Commissioner of Police (Interpol), particularly at Clause XI, says: “Contrary to the allegation, the suspect was not found to have engaged in fraudulent/clandestine activities as all records were checked both locally and internationally and all our probes were returned negative. The suspect was never declared wanted or convicted either in Nigeria or anywhere in the world.”
NDLEA
The NDLEA, in a counter-affidavit in one of the cases I filed in the courts to clear my name said, from their records, I have never been involved in any crime.
Again, in an 11-paragraph filed by the Office of AGF and dated 16th September, 2010, in the suit I filed against it at the Federal High Court, it stated:“No request for the extradition of the Applicant was made on the 20th day of July, 2010 or on any date to the Respondent or to any Federal Agency by the United States Government or any other country…The Respondent or any of its officers or any agency of the Federal Government has not received any request from any country for the extradition of the Applicant for any offence whatsoever.”
WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION
Obasanjo seizes every opportunity to pretend that he is opposed to corruption, whereas this same man used his office to railroad contractors into building an expansive presidential library and other edifices, including an imposing hilltop mansion for him while in office. We all know that most of the nouveau riche billionaires that his administration produced are neck-deep in one economic crime or the other, and for which some are facing trial.
OBASANJO & JONATHAN
The fact of history, which Obasanjo seeks to obfuscate with his latest attempt to distance himself from the present administration, is that he is the least qualified to accuse anyone of lacking in honour and integrity. When President Jonathan got into office, Chief Obasanjo was always going to Aso Rock to eat breakfast and take tea and coffee at the expense of the Yoruba nation. When he saw that President Jonathan is insisting on the rule of law and allowing the institutions of state to function without let or hindrance unlike what obtained in the past, he is now criticizing him.
Under him, Nigeria recorded many high profile political killings that could only be compared to the Abacha years. I recall that people like the then serving Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige; Chief Marshal Harry and Alfred Aminasaori Dikibo, among others, were killed under his watch.
He, more than any other Nigerian, had the most opportunity to turn the fortunes of Nigerian around, but he bungled it.
PARTY POLITICS & DEMOCRACY
This was a man under whose watch the majority had their say and the minority had their way. From Plateau to Ekiti, Anambra to Oyo, minority lawmakers impeached governors. He destabilised the National Assembly so much so that senators and members of the House of Representatives were always changing their leadership. He removed party officials at will and, some say, at gun point. He disqualifies people after winning party primaries. Under his watch, the country witnessed the highest number of election petitions and reversal of mandates, occasioned by his corruption of the electoral system and the political space. Pray, what democratic credentials qualify such a person to be sermonising on democracy and party politics?
2015 & SOUTH-WEST
In the South-west, we believe that the ACN has lost its identity as the traditional party of the zone by going into the merger with other less popular parties. Now, our people no longer see the All Progressive Congress (APC) as theirs. With the air of uncertainty about the leadership, sharing ratio and the vaulting ambition of some of its leading lights, our people see the PDP as the alternative.
In the South-west, we know ourselves. It is the irony of our democratic space that those who have never been able to deliver their polling booths since the beginning of the present democratic dispensation in 1999 are still parading themselves as the Alpha and Omega of Nigerian politics. Now, the good people of the Ogun State, in particular and the South-west, in general, have seen through their scheming and shibboleth, and are wiser for it. They would no longer allow anyone to lead them by the nose. They are irrevocably committed to uprooting the opposition from within and without.
BREAKFAST MEETING
Just as I was about rounding off this letter, I read newspaper reports that Obasanjo had breakfast with President Jonathan in Kenya, some 24 hours after his hypocritical letter went public. Although I know that our President was not fooled by the gesture, I recall how he ate pounded yam with former Senate President Chuba Okadigbo and erstwhile National Chairman of PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and still moved against them. The old man executes good and evil acts with equal ferocity. No one should be deceived. For, as it is said, “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”.
Perhaps the point should be made – and poignantly too – that the earlier Obasanjo purges himself of his messianic postures the better it would be for him and the nation at large. He is quick to recount his “exploits” while in office. But the truth is: the foundation of some of the challenges that we are grappling with today were laid during his years in office.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/questions-obasanjo-must-answer-kashamu/#sthash.Bq4goGUF.dpuf

Eurofighter: My brother before you hyper-ventilate and work yourself into undue cardiac arrest from wild speculations, why don't you simply talk directly to Frisky Larr on Twitter where matured people chat these days. As far as I remember, he even told us something about his journalistic contacts with Nigerian politicians last week. Only chat as a mature person and politely too and I am very sure Mr. Larr will answer your questions.

Auf Wiedersehen!

no need

lygn19: That's what am saying keep silent open ur teeth with the ppl but allow the soak any dog or baboon in blood, so dat history won't say-
The 2015 civil war started as a result of power struggle btw the north and the southsouth, which after the southsouth lost the election they went to a war with Nigeria.
Won't u like it the other way around?

Fair point. We will never start any war in the SS, after Goodluck wins in 2015, they can do their worst.

POPE II: whatever dude , stop quoting me okay?

You are a mental case, who is quoting you.

POPE II: I didn't know I was dealing with a brainless person. Smh

If you are an example of a person with a brain, then this country is in big time trouble.

POPE II: stop twisting my comments fool, I keep saying a war is unnecessary and that Ijaw shouldn't start one , are you mad or drunk?

Your demented brain is making you run your stewpid mouth. Go look for a yoruba to exchange insults with, they know how to reply ediots like you.

lygn19: Barcanista is from Okrika.
I guess he doesn't want to experience some things he taught happens only in the movies...lol(no offence).

I am suprised at your truce with barcansita, the number one Ibo hater on this forum, then again this a faceless forum. Everybody can be what they want.

lygn19: One reason I am saying all dz is, if Ijaws declare war it wud affect we Igbo's too, an average hausa only thinks that its only Igbo and yoruba that's in the south, so if Asari is not yoruba he's definitely Igbo according to them, even some northerners are calling GEJ an Igbo man, den imagine war.
Asari maintain o.

Nobody in SS is calling for war, but 2015 already points in that direction. Pretending otherwise will be very fatal.

barcanista: That FOOL isn't Ijaw, he's a jobless nitwit moving from thread to thread quoting comments to reply thrash. He's the male version of freeglobe.

Just read his post history and figure out

Ijaw_Citizen Aka Alj_harem answer your name

POPE II: insults are never justified, my friend if you want to insult Igbo go ahead, we are used to that, ordinary people who couldn't compete with us before the war are now pouring insults on Igbo smh .

Anyway I'm actually caring/worrying about you ,so stop being ungrateful, this fake bravado won't lead you anywhere Ijaw will b wiped off , so my friend stop beating the war drum you are not up to the ball game. Thank u

You never hear me insult anybody on this forum. But, you seems to want to wipe the people of SS out, what did we do to you.

barcanista: That FOOL isn't Ijaw, he's a jobless nitwit moving from thread to thread quoting comments to reply thrash. He's the male version of freeglobe.

Just read his post history and figure out

You piece of shit impostoring yorubaman too much of a coward to answer his name. Go and die.

lygn19: War cannot save u, just PRAY.
Promotion doesn't come from the north,the east,the south, or the west, it comes from God.
Ryt now some ppl re eyeing ur houses,businesses and companies at Lagos, Abuja and d rest, waiting for u to declare even if its a 2months war let them declare ur properties abandoned properties, no give them chance o.

I don't understand your comment.

POPE II: them don't know Hausa plenty in Niger, manpower is very important Ijaw can't fight any war they should stop senseless and empty chest beating. They are going to b wiped off and the remaining Ijaws will b orphans who won't know anything about their history. Their region is already backward, so there's nothing to destroy there , the NA will send them back to prehistory.

When I read comments like this, then, I understand the insults the Yorubas pour on you people on this forum. Keep waiting for the day, we will be wiped out. Too sad it will not happen. Shame on you.

wirinet: There is no amphibious brigade or anything in Warri. It is the 81st division in lagos and the 82nd division headquartered in Enugu that are the amphibious divisions of the nigerian army. There is the 2 Brigade at Port Harcourt and 3 Brigade at Calabar under the 82 division. As i said the amphibious divisions had never been deployed during the nigerdelta conflict,what we had were a few personal deployed under the JTF.
A guerilla warfare would of course the difficult for the military to handle, because the main weapon for guerilla warfare is intelligence, which the Nigerian armed forces is very short of. But the ijaws will not be able to sustain a guerilla war for long, because it would lack moral and ideological justification. for guerilla war to be sustained there has to be a powerful ideology of which the fighters are prepared to die for. In this conflict the fighters are more interested in power and money, so the use of bribe money would be a powerful weapon as had been done before.

Are you crazy is there no amphibious brigade with, barracks on NPA expressway, the road to Warri refinery

lygn19: Even if they like let them be 50million, nor region in dz Nigeria can fight the north alone, lemme just tell u sth, Nigeria no end for the border of kano, geographically it ends in kano area but dats not where it ends it still extends pass Niger, chad and d rest, kano state governor is almost as powerful as a president in Niger republic, if war start today, even without UN/or any super power's support, if other regions decide to look the other way, the se and the sw wud be overflowing with refugees by the time Asari see's war.
Don't fear d man that wud hold d knife and be shouting I wud kill u, fear the man that wud hide d knife yet won't shout but will kill u.

This comment says a lot. But again, nobody in the SS is counting on your help.

lygn19: Ijaws, don't go into any war, u ppl re not Igbo's o, its only when a majority tribe fights dat u can term it "WAR"...
Instead allow doz ppl that re saying the blood and d baboons wud be soaked in blood to start the war, so that they wud be d one's to be termed "REBELS".
Asari dokubo shud go and read abt ataka boro, his own war of secession did not even reach 5months, I ve told u ppl that there is a difference btw southsouth and Nigerdelta/ijaw.
U ppl re just assuming that if Nigeria breaks the whole southsouth wud form a country or if there is war the entire southsouth wud form an army, once u hear dat 1batallion has hit Edo state, even fellow Ijaws wud deny der Ijaw origin( that's d day u wud know that Okrika is different from kalabari, that's d day u wud know that warri is a d name of a tribe and warri Ijaw is different from rivers Ijaw).
Even if u eva plan a war, stay away from any truce, agreement, or meeting with a yoruba man / leader, I don't have to tell u what wud happen if u do.

I have said before, nobody is lining up machine guns side by side with the Nigerian army. The only war that will happen in the Nigerdelta is a guerrilla war.

lygn19: Altwirless am beginning to suspect u o.

suspect me of what

ba7man: @atlwireless. Oga free the Ijaw, they say they're not fighting, what's tickling your balls with that??

Or if they start fighting, will you stick out your neck for them?? The same mistake made with Biafra will only be repeated, people will apologize and life will move on leaving the Niger Delta behind in development.

Its only people that haven't experienced wars that clamour for it #Word of wisdom#.

Have you heard of napalm bombings, cluster bombs and the use of satelite imagery to track thermal activities?? Nigeria will simply appeal to a western Nation with interest in the oil to provide satelite data in exchange for stakes in the region.

Either way, the war will be fought on Ijaw soil which is bad enough for them.

A truely wise person will consider the odds before embarking on somthing like this.

The war that hits ijawland also hits urhoboland and almost everybody in the SS. If you think, it is an ijaw war, then you are very naive.

onomeasike: If the amphibious fails, trust me, food blockade will not fail.The ijaws have no food and no man at war will live on kaikai

Food blockade to a people with how many kilometers of open sea access You need to worry about starvation in the rest of Nigeria. Can you even stand, the press coverage. There will be enough food and arms supply.

wirinet: I am encouraged by few ijaw brothers i this thread who are matured enough to understand the implications of provoking the nigerian armed forces into a full scale conflict. The Ijaws cannot withstand a full assault of the nigerian armed forces. why the Ijaws got away with militancy in the past was because people - both locally and internationally, sympathized with the ijaws, because of environmental fabrication of the environment and oppression by the nigerian state. So a bloody response would have been frown upon. The struggle then was not for power but for better living condition of the ordinary ijaws and besides the struggle was then led by intellectuals who were able to employ propaganda to good effect. The struggle now is only for jonathan to retain power and is being led by thugs and militants. The ijaws have lost both local and international sympathy and so any misbehaviour now would be met with unequal force by the nigerian military.

If the Ijaws are crazy enough to declare secession or war, Odi would look like childsplay, the NIierian army, navy and airforce will descend on every Ijaw village and hamlet. And they can shout genocide and Geneva convention all they want, no body will listen.

I laugh when Ijaws says the nigerian army cannot fight them in the creeks? are they aware that the nigerian army has an amphibious brigade trained specifically for that king of warfare and they have not been deployed yet, all the federal government has been using is a JTF, so as not to be accused of using excessive force.

I must admit nigeria is at loss on how to handle guerrilla warfare and that is why they are messing up with boko haram.They have very poor intelligence capability and so are unable to tactically and delicately fish out boko haram targets. If the conflict were to be between a tribe or section against the military, they would flatten any structure standing and kill anything breathing.

There is an amphibious brigade in Warri, how effective were they in the Warri/ Nigerdelta crises. Who is the Nigeria air forces bombing from the sky? or you mean the the cities of Warri, portharcourt, Yenagoa, Patani, Brutu, bomadi, Bonny, Nembe, Brass, Warri southwest, KoKo, etc. Is the Nigerian air force prepared to destroy all the oil installations themselves from the sky?. Nigeria cannot win a guerrilla war in SS and that's the only kind of war that will be fought. How you people living in other parts of Nigeria share your misery of no light, no fuel, and no money to run your government is another story.

Balkan: Beafra fought a war against Nigeria, Ijaws and world powers and it lasted for 3yrs. We are watching carefully. When the chips are down, you will understand that you are just on your own. Keep banking on the Ikwerres. If truly you are from Ijaw, we are watching while the whole drama unfolds. Remember the history of adaka boro.

Don't waste your time with Ijaw_Citizen aka Alj_Harem.

Segeggs: but if a WAR should ensue then expect them to straff women and kids, anything to make the ijaws surrender or face extinction- remember biafra.

You will have enough time to prove yourself in battle. Just get your nukes ready.

All their doors are closed, all that is left is nothing but noise. Live with it, Jonah will remain till 2019

Afam4eva: I think Jonathan is ready to face humiliation. I think he likes being humiliated.

How was he humiliated

Abagworo: The writing on the wall is too clear. There will be a change of regime soon. My fear is that it might not be through the ballot box.

The words of a coward ride on.

Segeggs: liar! Yaradua never sent any airforce.

mr igbo man, Keeping hedging ijaw people on till they start complaining that a new awolowo is starving them.

Too dumb to even know the simple truth.It says alot about a person beating his chest about strafing. Your Nigerian air force bombed towns in the creek for months between 2007-2008. That is public knowledge.

talktimi: someone is trying to bring peace between the children of his late friend and you're talking nonsense. Didnt you read where the late Saraki's wife asked him to mediate ? APC ko PDP ni

He will quickly tell you he is an Opobo man. They keep their best Venom for the SS people.

barcanista: I've done that brother.




God bless you

yeye dey smell.

Segeggs: we are talking about fighter jets straffing the creeks...you are busy hyping the it. You better dont let igbos decieve you people into a senseless war cos i bet you that they will fold their hands and watch just like you guys did even abandoning them during the biafra war, forget about the cunning talks of SS/SE Merger talk from them- they just want your oyel.

Yes, militants will go about bombing federal properties but what do you think nig army would be doing? Sleeping? They'll ensure they wipe out every ijaw citizen, young and old. After the war, federal properties will ressurect again but what about the dead ijaws?

What will your fighter jets be strafing? open water, or the towns in SS Yaradua send the air force for months they were bombing. Ask the army how effective all that strafing turned out.

publisher: [size=14pt]FYI

1. Punch Newspaper (formerly national and balanced) - APC/Opposition
2. Leadership Newspaper - CPC/APC/Northern interests.
3. Guardian Newspapers - BALANCED
4. Thisday Newspaper - BALANCED
5. Premium Times - APC/Northern interests.
6. Daily Trust - Northern interests
7. Sahara reporters: APC / Tinubu interests.
8. Tribune - surprisingly BALANCED
9. Sun Newspaper - Neither here nor there,pure tabloid,interests in screaming headlines only.
10. Daily Times - BALANCED
11. Vanguard Newpaper (formerly national and balanced) - APC / OPPOSITION
12. TVC - Hard core APC/Tinubu interests.
13. Channels TV - BALANCED
14. Silverbird News - BALANCED
15. NTA - PURE PDP
16. Business day - positively BALANCED
17. AIT - BALANCED
[/size]

DO YOU AGREE?

Vanguard has become a letdown in the last couple of months. Only God knows why.

bloggernaija: Meanwhile, the southwest have just bullied him out of 1.2 billion dollars for lekki seaport.
We will bully him for OKFTZ NLG too.
After all, na our money.
The 8 billion naira in taxes,duties and fees generated out of the Lagos -Ibadan -OGUN industrial axis alone only means that

WE ARE WORTH IT.

BY THE WAY, THE OTUOKE FISHERMAN IS BUILDING A PORT IN BAYELSA(SMART MAN indeed) ,WHILE OUR ENTERPRISING BROTHERS ARE ASKING FOR A BRIDGE THEY CAN GET OFF THE GROUND THEMSELVES.

Typical from the parasites of Nigeria

kel4soft: I can't believe I still have an Ijaw brother with this mindset. I just followed you. Please follow me back.

wayo no good.