These two quotes, in a sense, sum up the political blues emanating from South East Nigeria.
Nigeria is such a fascinating place and there is no other place in the country where you find such beguiling political nuances than in the South East, alot of which sprang to life just after the declaration of the results of the last general elections.
It was a chain reaction initiated by the loss of their preferred contestant, Goodluck Jonathan, and catalysed by their collective hatred for the person, tribe and religion of the victor, President Buhari, and those they perceive were associated with his victory namely Bola Ahmed Tinubu in particular, and the South West in general.
No sooner did he take the oath of office than they swarmed him with a torrent of unprintable insults and at best, criticisms, none of which came anywhere close to constructive. They jettisoned all courtesy typical of normal human engagements and delved right into a fray they created in a most sordid manner.
These folks who were having such a fantastic ride with President Jonathan for over five years and literally asked anyone who dared to grumble about being left out or shortchanged to "stick it up their assses" suddenly remembered they've been "marginalised" since the Big Bang!
They found an enthusiastic ally in a sly character called Fani Kayode and he has been doing such a plumb job making sure they fortify their hate for the aforementioned people, he himself a very bitter loser. Most surprisingly, this was the same man whose head they called for just a couple of years earlier for criticising their conduct in Nigerian politicospare.
It is this unbridled hate and anger some opportunistic layabout in London saw and took advantage of, exploiting it to the fullest. Alas, IPOB was born!
This brings me back to both my opening quotes.
Now, if not for reason of sheer hatred, how in God's gracious name did a people who pride themselves as some of the most educated and enlightened people in the continent allow a character that,
1. Has no known educational exploits,
2. Has no known literary exploits,
3. Has no leadership experience,
4. Has no known sustainable means of livelihood...
take on such gargantuan responsibility as secession?
Upon this premise, the second quote is MOST APPROPRIATE.
Nnamdi Kanu would have remained the unknown and insignificant spec in the universe he was had the "losers" not bore such morbid hatred for their supposed enemy.
Some people argue the president lit the torch of their anger by the "5%" comment. Pray tell, would this be the first time someone made such comment? Didn't Jonathan make similar comment when he was the President? The "igbos are the backbone of my administration" comment, remember that? How many people from the North or South West huffed and puffed about it despite its impropriety?
Now, someone tell me, exactly what advantage has IPOB conferred on the South East since the beginning of their belligerent campaign?
Have more projects gone to the South East?
Have more FDI gone to the region?
Have their governors become more alive to their responsibilities?
Have more appointments been given them?
Do Nigerians love them more?
IPOB has but one agenda alone, chip away at the progress Ndigbo have made over the years in every endeavor they've embarked on individually and collectively.
When I look at what these guys are doing to their brothers, i shudder in disbelief.
Take the small town of Makurdi for instance. The most popular "supermarkets", D. O. Brothers, Togos and Nobis, are owned by Igbos. They own the biggest shopping plazas, Ndupet, Merit, O. G. Winners, Tonimas, etc. They are the biggest wholesale distributors of beverages (OFICON). Etc.
I can only imagine what's going on in such big cities as Kanu, Kaduna, Lagos, Abuja, etc.
What strategy of relocation does IPOB have for these people.
You know what they say about "a man who's got nothing to lose"... A most dangerous man. With no known means of livelihood or investments anywhere, Nnamdi Kanu fits the bill for such a character.
Cornered, bruised and humiliated, they've decided inflammable propaganda is the best way to go. The outbreak of Monkey Pox and the military medical outreach presented them with the opportunity to take another pound of flesh out of "their people" (I put it this way because I believe Neither the president nor the soldiers lost a thing from the events of the last one week, rather, school children did).
But for this silly hoax, one would have thought these people who profess to be very educated and enlightened didn't know we have professional doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, etc, in the military!!
How sad.
How an enlightened people could believe a government intent on depopulating them would go about doing so under the full glare of the public using such overt means as injection beats me. More disturbing is the fact their leaders have chosen to keep mum over it.
Let it be known to all who care to listen, the Federal Government of Nigeria won't be blackmailed into treating any particular group of Nigerians "differently".
Maya Angelou once said "Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet." That held true then, it holds true now, and it will for centuries to come!
Just like Boko Haram, IPOB has succeeded in bullying into silence moderate and sensible Igbos, but just like my friend on facebook, Gozicon Munachi, it is time for these moderate elements to grow some balls, step up to the medium and salvage what is left of the political and moral patrimony of Ndigbo. Failure to do this would have very far reaching self inflicted negative consequences.
The FFKs of this world would hardly make any difference should things deteriorate any further even though they play very critical role in their escalation. Folks like him have the noose around their necks already, and would do whatever it takes to make sure that noose comes off, it doesn't matter how many lives they sacrifice in the process, just as long as it isn't their family members'.
Even the all knowing and "omnipotent" Ohamadike was nowhere to be found when shiit hit the fan. He still isn't!
This day, I extend a hand of friendship to my Igbo brothers. We may disagree on a whole lot of issues, but we could always do so with mutual respect and courtesy. I hardly agree with whatever folks like Truckpusher or Tonyebarcanista say, but we respect some unwritten rules of engagement. I believe we can at well do the same.
Let us make the most of the union while it lasts. The only people that stand to benefit from the chaos that might ensue from our constant bloodbaths are the elites. If you ask me, they represent our common adversaries irrespective of their tribe, political inclination and religion.
Thanks and have a productive week ahead.
I will not abuse you with the gory pictures of the mangled bodies of your Benue compatriots, you are the quintessential blundering and fumbling Black African,that has become a reproach to the known world! You should check yourself into a mental institution because it is apparent to any psychology student ,that your insistence on putting your shameless mouth in Igbo business is a mental escape from the shame of your emasculation by fulani herdsmen! Instead of taking your penile excision like the sissy you are.........you run down to Enugu from your agatu region to lament your woes.
Omenka be a man and go free the land of your ancestors.........come down from the laps of your girlfriend and GO FIGHT like the gallant men of the true ESN ....not the fake ones formed by people like you!
Omanambala: We are waiting for Simon Ekpa and his terrorist group to enter Anambra state again and try their nonsense. Their carcasses will litter our streets....ndi uchu ! Have you seen the pig he married as a wife. The slimy looking eidiot made a 500 pounder his wife!
As for Nnamdi Kanu, when he was soliciting for funds to buy weapons some ignorant Igbos were hailing him as Odogwu. Today, his ragtag security group he formed in the forest has turned my state into bloody ground. They don't even have the courage to attack Abuja the seat of power rather they are terrorizing innocent and poor people.
The biggest problem Ndi Igbo has is their fragile emotional state , boastfulness and ignorance.
what is this one drooling about! with such shallow minds no wonder Anambra has become a basket case! From a front runner we have become a lagard! Go and face administeration of the state an leave ESN alone!
Padipadi: Na them sweet pass. It's everlasting. Congratulations to her. To al unmarried men, may you marry beauty with brains & not just one dull tiktoker.
If you are yoruba.......do not come near her o! Next thing you will start abusing the same Igbo people that sold gala to bring her up!
Buhari was taking loans to support the naira. So was Goodluck.
Interms of economics, Goodluck was the worst.
Goodluck was borrowing when Crude oil, our main source of income was selling at $120\ barrel.
All the economics they practiced were unsustainable. For God's sake, we were borrowing to pay salary, borrowing to subsidize fuel?
Obi, the proposed messiah, doesn't even export. His main business is based on importing.
I know this economics pass your assimilation levels, but try to reason. This is now a market economy, what I would expect Tinubu to do, is to support the poorest.
Now, people will find cheaper alternative to imported goods, it's better to export now, than to import, it's our preference for imported goods that's killing the economy.
What would Obi even have done differently? Borrow more?
Oga leave that hemp weed you are smoking! Buhari economy has totally ruined our finances!
jmoore: All these meetings with no plans to send hitmen to Finland and take out that Ekperima will yield nothing.
Notice that the mumu above me did not mention Kanu that is unjustly held but talking of simon fighting to free him! Your marginalization has not started yet!
Participants include the president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and the chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, Governor Hope Uzodinma.
The terrorism is sponsored by most of the people in that meeting!
abuzz33: How will sitting at home change anything? You have no answer.
So keep sitting at home and growing poorer while SE governors continue packing FAAC money. See how stupid your ipob leaders are. You don't even make sense anymore but follow like sheep to instruction.
Go and read about civil disobedience ,mister man! It keeps the issues you are passionate about on the front burner! No one noticed that the APC led constitutional amendments committee led by fulani hawk and hit man ( Gov. El rufai), has unbundled some of the items on the exclusive list......It was largely due to the pressure mounted by IPOB in 2016/2017 that forced their hands! Today your lord and masters, the southeast governors are free to set up their own power transmission coys.......the problem is that YOU DO NOT FULLY GRASP THE ISSUES IN CONTENTION.........so buzz off my comments!
oneeast: Imo state is where ipob has its most members followed by ebonyi and abia. Owerri, Orlu aba are the strongholds of the ipob terrorists from there they are invading Anambra borders, that’s why you can’t find ipob activities in Anambra except those borders with imo state. Declaring a state of emergency in imo state more especially will reduce ipob terrorism in southeast
Whilst suffering the humiliation of slavery,jim crow laws and civil rights denial ....the African American people of color sat at home,carried out boycotts,rallied,marched and protested ........hundreds and thousands of black Americans were killed,maimed,jailed and lynched, today the civil rights they fought for are what JJC's like the japa crew from Nigeria enjoy daily in yankee, yet the dumb Africans have the effrontery to call African Americans ' lazy akatas', your colonizers that regard the Black /negro man as little removed from a blundering f@@l are not completely wrong..........in fact that delibitation of the mind and brain maybe genetic!
The regards i have for my people continue to degrade everyday.....no wonder the south east is such a mess, our people are unable to think clearly! IPOB is fighting to save the bums of you, ungrateful lot! You cannot protest marginalisation, you cannot go to court to seek remedy,you do not want an arms uprising yet you goons do not want to support ordinary sit at home! you cowards complain everyday of marginalisation in Nigeria.............okay support peter Obi kwanu! for where! Ndigbo can be so vexatious !
The problem I have with Simon Ekpa is his inability to keep to script........the sit at home is basically a protest against the illegal and extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu........simplicita!!! He has allowed too much Biafra propaganda to taint what is really a simple message! Even the appeal court has confirmed that Kanu has no case to answer..........setting up ESN was a worthy venture and preservation of life and limb is a fundamental human right..........even the Nigerian government has codified such rights in her domestic laws.........So what do Ndigbo want from this life sef! I tire o! There is bound to be a lot of discomfort with this struggle as well as false flag operations and betrayals but with patience and consistency we will triumph!
AlexBells: Although in several occasions, England and France works together, they are bitter rivals, as the American independence celebration took place few days back, I came across the post where America asked France for financial aid, france said they were broke but on hearing that the war was against England, they agreed with the speed of light.
I think Nigeria as a country has saved a lot of confrontation, perhaps Igbos and Yorubas have our own sovereignty, there could have been frequent wars between the two most successful West African Nationalities. England and France had fought over 40 wars over the past recorded times. With the rivalry between Igbos and Yorubas, I see the game becuase Yorubas supported Ijaws in Opobo and Bonny issue, the Igbos turned around and support Fulanis in Ilorin since the two tribes have decided to be mad, two can play the game but in truth both nationalities knows the absolute truths about the contested territories.
But wonderfully just like England and France, both Igbos and Yorubas have several common ground, in the second world war, both nations fought side by side and today in the Russian-Ukraine situation both Britain and France are together. I think the Igbos and Yorubas are also together vehemently opposed to Northern political subjugation maybe North is the Russia here.
We still have a lot in common but I'm still thankful that there has not been any actual war directly between the two Nations save for the civil war, we have not had any confrontation with the Yorubas, even the popular ideology of the war in Igboland was that the North was the enemy but now those are in the past but hopefully the rivalry don't escalate.
The ball is firmly in the court of Yorubas now! since they are uncomfortable with relative closeness and progress of Ndigbo in their space, let them pursue constitutional amendments so that Ndigbo can have control of security and devolve powers to the states as well! The rivalry go cool off fast! You cannot eat your cake and have it!
horsepower102: Geometric power is the only electric company in Nigeria that has license to Generate and Distribute Power.
They were granted this power before the electricity reform during GEJ administration.
They almost lost it but thanks to the hard fought battle by Barth Nnaji, an exception was made for them in court.
Jonathan was a complete misfit.......he allowed the illiterate former Julius berger truck driver Emeka offor to sabotage a license that OBJ gave Barth Nnaji.............well before EEDC got their license, it took another yoruba man Fashola to pry Aba power license from EEDC. Some times we Igbos are our biggest enemies.......see Peter obi flying and suffering alone,surrounded and supported by Yorubamen! If he ever gets to Aso Rock, Igbos will still cry of marginalisation..........ndi iberibe! But i still love my people sha cos we are still by and large ''A Good People''!!
AwokenVawulence: U will not see them here o but if it's aba geometric power plant explode thread go full
The ill will for Ndigbo in some sections of the country is off the charts........kudos to Edo people,very straight forward people, many Yorubas are very good too never mind the rivalry. Akwa ibomites dey try too but see ijaw and fulani..........na dis 2 ethnic nations we need to watch very carefully! Especially ijaw...........the abominable Jo-men are land pyrates ,oil terrorist ,conspirators and very cunning.......with a high propensity for violence!
Fejoku: I hope my fellow Ndigbo are seeing the level of the ethnic profiling that the Yorubas are doing. The earlier we realize that there is an active program of demonizing ethnic profiling a good number of Yorubas are doing on the international scene against us, the better for us. We must return such a favour so the whole world will know that there's no love among the ethnic groups in Nigeria which is actually the truth. Don't keep quiet anymore.
NB: This was used by an American who obviously got it from a Yoruba person. See the cartoon depiction (ugly looking and unserious) of Igbos . It's a subtle form of ethnic profiling.
Only daft and clueless Igbos castigate ESN and IPOB! make we maintain reserves nah! our adversaries are not sleeping!
paymentvoucher: Nigerians are in for a few surprises as President Bola Tinubu unveils his new cabinet in a few days. Both in composition, size and structure, the next federal executive council would far different from what we’ve always known.
A Lagos banker and politician, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru will likely emerge as the new finance minister when President Bola Tinubu unveils his cabinet in a few days. The president has only 20 days left out of the 60 allowed by the constitution for him to send his list of ministers to the senate.
Senator Abiru currently represents Lagos East senatorial district in the senate. Born March 25, 1964, he was also the group managing director & chief executive of Polaris Bank. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Lagos State University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). In addition, Senator Abiru had also attended several courses at Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School. He was executive director at First Bank (2013-2016) and commissioner of finance in Lagos state (2011-2013) under the Babatunde Fashola administration. He resigned as the bank CEO in 2020 to run for the senatorial seat.
Contrary to expectations, the new cabinet would be a large one, consisting of 42 ministers and 20 special advisers. But unlike in the past administrations, there will be no minister of state in the Tinubu government. Special advisers will contribute to discussions of FEC, unlike in the past when they were only silent participants.
Some large ministries would be broken into two and some into three to create enough portfolios for the cabinet members. Those to be split include works & housing; agriculture & rural development; humanitarian affairs, disaster management & social development; sports & youth; health; education; transport; finance, national planning & budget; petroleum and a few others.
Dele Alake, currently special adviser on special duties, communication & strategy will move up as minister of public communication, a new name for the information ministry. He will also double as the presidential spokesman and may continue to work out of the presidential villa or split his time between the villa and the ministry at Radio House. So far, Alake is one of the closest persons to the president and a very influential member of the administration. In a way, renaming the information ministry and combining it with the function of the presidential spokesperson is akin to what obtains in many advanced democracies where the press secretary is the only official responsible for the public communication of the government.
In addition to restructuring the government, the president has also been busy trying to sift his preferred nominees from a long list of interested party officials, some of whom were recommended by party bigwigs in different states. Former Ekiti governor Kayode Fayemi is being considered as the new foreign affairs minister. It is a portfolio he’s always craved even in the Buhari administration in which he served as minister of mines and steel. But he lost out to Geoffrey Onyema, who came highly recommended by the late chief of staff to the President. Both Onyeama and the late Abba Kyari were childhood friends, dating back to their school days in the UK.
Bayo Onanuga, who also worked hard for the president’s election, is also being considered for a job in the government. Onanuga was one of the spokesmen of the Tinubu campaign, but Nigerians will readily remember him by the inflammatory statements and ethnically insensitive outburst that he made in the immediate aftermath of the elections in Lagos. A versatile journalist, he was the managing director of NAN in the early days of the Buhari administration. “Although Bayo embarrassed himself and the president with his incendiary outbursts, he may not be left behind,” a political leader from Oyo state told me in the course of researching this article.
Festus Keyamo, SAN, has been fighting tooth and nail to be the new minister of justice & attorney-general. He wanted that position badly in the Buhari government, but he stood no chance against the all-powerful Abubakar Malami, another SAN. At his senate confirmation hearing in July 2019, Keyamo told the lawmakers that his priority would be to decentralise the supreme court into six, one for each geopolitical zone. It is not clear if Keyamo would be lucky this time.
Another new face to look out for in the Tinubu cabinet is Tunji Bello, a veteran journalist of impressive track record, who is also a longtime associate of the president’s. Like Dele Alake, Bello was also editor of the National Concord, the defunct newspaper owned by the late MKO Abiola. Bello later served as a commissioner under Tinubu and Fashola, and SSG under Ambode and returned as a commissioner under Sanwo-Olu. He has been in the government of Lagos state since May 1999. His wife was appointed the VC of Lagos State University in 2021. Don’t mess with some Lagosians!
What will also surprise many Nigerians would be the emergence of some very senior politicians, who had held almost all leadership positions in the past, in the cabinet. Two former governors of Kano, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso and Abdullai Umar Ganduje, are fighting hard to join the cabinet. The former was the presidential candidate of NNPP in the February elections. He was minister of internal affairs (now interior) in the first term of President Obasanjo. Of course, former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is also interested in returning as a minister. He served President Jonathan as minister of state, education. Nigerians usually scoff at the “recycling” of old politicians into government. But their experience could also be useful. “These people are not looking for a job in that sense of the word. They just cannot shake off the urge to be in public office all the time, for whatever reasons,” a senior government official told me last night.
I have also been told that the president may rationalise some agencies and parastatals to achieve optimum functionality. For instance, three important revenue earners – FIRS, NIMASA and Customs – could be consolidated under one big group to be headed by the special adviser on revenue, Zacchaeus Adedeji. “This is essentially to block leakages and tighten fiscal control,” one of the highbrow members of the administrations said this morning.
Journalists will be pleased with the preponderance of their colleagues in the new administration: Alake, Bello, Onanuga and Tunde Rahman. Rahman is a former editor of Thisday newspaper who has served Bola Tinubu as a media staff for a long time. He has since assumed duties as the president’s principal private secretary. Certainly, a good journalist can fit into any role. But in which other administration have journalists been this plenty, and how will this help the profession?
Remember my article a few weeks ago on the appointment of Wale Edun as the special adviser on monetary matters? I had argued that the rather unusual designation could be a pointer to his eventual elevation as the new CBN Governor. I have nothing more to add.
The only person wey enter my eye there is Tunji Bello............that guy cleaned up Lagos under Fashola, Bello should be made minister of FCT, Abuja needs cleaning up! Fulanis should rest for now! Let us see what Bello can do with Abuja!
eldoradoxx: While the country is busy talking abou IPOB miscreants who use cane to flog people and chase them into their houses, engage in other criminal activities to enforce their phantom sit-at- home order to protest the illegal detention of their leader, some more deadly armed criminals who have asserted the right to first class treatment by security agencies and the entire Nigerian government are committing genocide in the Middle Belt, yet nobody talks about them. I come in peace, neither IPOB supporter nor Fulani herdsmen haters. I am just wondering why more murderous criminals are more privileged than the lesser criminals.
you are simple minded...like most African people! Have you heard of false flag operations!?
paramakina202: Nobody is forcing you to form political party neither did anyone mandated you fools to defend us from so called enemies.Umu ewu! We have experts all over the world who can handle our security challenges not miscreants and criminals like you. How does sit at home relate with defense of Igboland?
abuzz33: If you want to protest you go on a march. If ipob marched for nnamdi kanu every Monday that will make sense not sitting at home and grow poorer while the rest of Nigeria continues doing business and making money.
The fact that they are forcing people to follow their stupidity ridicules the igbo as people of low IQ. Sheep like not exercising thinking faculty.
Nobody should entertain their nonsense in the name of fighting for Biafra. I am glad ifeanyi ubah warned Simon ekpa. He should take steps to get the Finnish government to prosecute him for incitement of violence.
Oga stop talking trash....it is this kind of tunnel vision that has turned southeast into a trash heap! What have the governors done since 1999 to uplift the standard of living in Alaigbo , Absolutely Nothing!!! This whole palaver in the east is to determine where true power should rest. Should power continue to be wielded by a few corrupt and visionless politicians or should it go back to the people! The Igbo political elite is the most corrupt and useless in the country bar none!
See what soludo has turned a wobbling Anambra under ''Obiano da drunk'' into! Roads are being swallowed by erosion under his watch, streets are unswept and the whole environment looks like a cattle market! We must hold the south east to account for the trillions they have collected..........if one day sit at home is going disrupt their impunity ,,,SO BE IT ! enuff abeg
gidgiddy: It is most unfortunate that Ifeanyi Ubah has chosen to join the likes of Governor Uzodimma, Governor Soludo and Governor Mba to Embarrass himself over sit home
These three Governors vowed to end sit at home, brought out security force, urged people to go out
People ignored all three Governors and kept sitting at home every Monday to this day
Now Senator Ifeanyi Ubah has repeated this failed method by invading his own home town with AVG(Anambra Vigilante Group) in a pointless propaganda move. Ifeanyi Uba went to his own home town, Nnewi, with all the vigilante he could find, and met empty streets
Not one person came out to cheer Ifeanyi Uba in his own hometown, they sat at home. What an embarrassment
Ifeanyi Uba knows what has to be done to end sit at home, he knows he should tell the government to obey court judgment and release Nnamdi Kanu
Rather than do that, he chooses to do what Governors have done and failed? Nawah for Ifeanyi Ubah
Ifeanyi Uba's hands are not clean, the man can sell his heart for money........ the scoundrel was deported from Congo for illegal exploitation of mines, he duped coscharis and is owing billions to banks and Amscon, how the freeminal entered senate is beyond me!
Whois: I passed that route 5years ago from nysc camp in awgu going to visit a friend in Michael Okpara University, umudike. I counted more than 12 check points. I have never seen so many military check points close to one another anywhere else in Nigeria
The irony is that it is the same road that clerics,doctors and women are kidnapped by fulani herdsmen all the time.b4 ESN cleared dem and of course government reacted by sabotaging ESN from within!
duro4chang: They turned their own land to a slaughter slab.
no omelette without cracking dem eggs...........for progress every nation has to go through some kind of revolution for senses to be reset! If we get it right it is possible that true power may return to the masses after now in Alaigbo!
tensazangetsu20: Honestly Nigerians are very bad people. Sometimes we need to look inward. It's not that they hate us everytime but why always Nigerians. In west Africa, only the Nigerian passport can't travel to Singapore visa free.
while not supporting crime nor criminals ,it is important that we get our economy to work for our youth! Politicians should moderate their lavish lifestyles to show better examples !
Politics › Re: Ominous Blues From The East Of Nigeria by ebufa: 11:27pm On Jul 12, 2023
