BY DAPO AKINREFON

THE October 1, 2013 decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to convene a national conference was greeted with mixed reactions from both his critics and admirers. While many saw the proposed conference as an opportunity to restructure the country, others maintain that the exercise would amount to a waste of resources and time. In the South-West geo-political zone, staunch followers of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo received the news differently. Some Awoists, as they are fondly called, commended what they described as the president’s bold step at restructuring the polity and putting the country on the right track. Interestingly, the pan-Yoruba socio-Political Organisation, Afenifere, has been in the forefront of those clamouring for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC).

Since the advent of the Fourth Republic and the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the pan-Yoruba group had agitated for true federalism and a proper restructuring of the country.
The group, under the leadership of late Pa Abraham Adesanya, was consistent on the agitation for the convening of a sovereign national conference. Now that the opportunity has come, Afenifere view opponents of the conference as enemies of the region. On the other hand, the All Progressives Congress, APC, gave the dialogue a damning verdict, alleging that President Jonathan has a hidden agenda. With the APC pointedly stating its stance on the conference, some staunch Awoists have lampooned the opposition party for declining to support the proposal. APC’s position on the dialogue was taken at a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party. It declared that the president had lost focus and the credibility required to organize that kind of conference.


Jonathan and Tinubu Meaningful national confab
The party’s spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed had said: “What we see today is that this government has lost focus, it has lost credibility, it has lost control of the economy, security, corruption has attained uncontrollable proportion and at this point in time, this government lacks the credibility to organise a real meaningful national conference. “In any event, we see this thing as nothing but a diversion and what are we talking about a national conference for when even the President himself has said that the outcome of that conference would be subjected to the approval of the National Assembly?”

Averring that in effect, the aim of the proposed exercise is a constitutional amendment rather than a national conference, the APC said it would not be a party to it, stressing that it is not an issue of boycotting. “I have put it clear to you: this is diversionary. If it is a clear, meaningful national dialogue, we will participate, but this isn’t. The President himself has said whatever is discussed there will be subjected to National Assembly. So, what you are having is constitutional amendment”, it stated. Given the stance of the APC, which also harbours some Awoists, the enlarged political family of the late sage appears divided now. To make the conference work, Vanguard gathered that the Presidency is partnering with those who have bought into the idea. Sources said Jonathan is ready to offer juicy appointments as well as patronages to those who throw their weight behind his initiative.

Perhaps, the outcome of the measure is the recent appointment of first grandchild of the late sage, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo as the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC. It was also gathered that prominent leaders and elders from the region have been invited to meet with President Jonathan where he is expected to assure them of his sincerity to organise a credible and meaningful conference.

Our grouse against Tinubu — Afenifere
On its part, the Afenifere has come out to defend its stance on why the conference should be supported by all and sundry just as it threw mud on the faces of opponents of the initiative. Afenifere’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, in a chat with Vanguard explained that its romance with the president was based on the need to ensure the South-West gets autonomy.

Odumakin said: “Afenifere produced Bola Tinubu. How can Afenifere be used against Bola Ahmed Tinubu when it was Afenifere that handed him the governorship ticket in 1999? The issue between Afenifere and Bola Tinubu is Tinubu turning coat against the national conference upon which Afenifere campaigned for election in 1999 before he became governor. “It was on the basis of the struggle of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which he (Tinubu) identified with that Afenifere passed a resolution, which was endorsed by all the state houses of assembly in all the Alliance for Democracy states and the governors.”

Reiterating Afenifere’s resolve not back down on its decision, Odumakin said: “Now that his policies are against plans to liberate our people and get autonomy, do such people want Afenifere to follow Tinubu and sell the future of our people for their own immediate political gain? In 2011, when Tinubu went to cut a deal with Jonathan, was it Afenifere’s business? Afenifere is not interested in their 2015, what Afenifere is interested in is 2014 is that we must re-negotiate this country in 2014 at the national conference which Jonathan has put on the table and on the basis of which we support and we have no apology for supporting the national conference to get autonomy for our people and to put Nigeria back on track. “So, anybody that says that Afenifere is being used against Tinubu needs to get checked. All we are asking for is autonomy for our people at the national conference and that is the basis for our relationship with Jonathan.”

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Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) engaged in a confrontation over alleged non-remittance of oil revenue between January 2012 and July 2013. At the centre of the row was a letter written to President Goodluck Jonathan by the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, which claimed that NNPC was yet to remit into the Federation Account, crude oil receipts amounting to $49.8 billion.

The amount represents 76 percent of total national oil receipts within the period in contention.
Although Sanusi has since admitted before the Senate Committee on Finance that the outstanding amount from the NNPC is $12 billion and not $49.8 billion as stated in his letter, the claim by the CBN that the NNPC is not up to date in its remittances to the national treasury remains significant. It, indeed, lends weight to widespread allegations that the oil agency has been shortchanging the country by under-remitting oil revenue to the treasury.

Sanusi’s letter has again brought to the front burner the issue of accountability and transparency in the operations of NNPC and its non-adherence to auditing requirements. The oil agency has, however, denied all the allegations in the CBN letter, which was leaked to the media. Refuting the allegations, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, stated that the CBN got it all wrong. He insisted that the corporation did not withhold crude oil receipts due to the Federation Account or any statutory remittance of proceeds from oil liftings, adding that all liftings were made according to statutory and production arrangements.

However, the resolution of this controversy with the reduction of the outstanding sum in what seems a handshake agreement between the CBN and the NNPC should not detract from the need for the agency to be more transparent on its remittances. This is more so as Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has also told the Senate Committee on Finance that the outstanding amount from NNPC that is yet to be reconciled is $10.8 billion. This revelation came at a joint press briefing also attended by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu.

It is unhealthy to have different organs of the government giving conflicting figures on the same matter. It is, therefore, good that the Senate committee has directed the CBN and all the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to conduct a comprehensive reconciliation and report back in writing separately as soon as the process is completed.It is important to have unanimity on the shortfalls in NNPC remittances to the Federation Account domiciled in the CBN. This will go a long way in increasing the confidence of Nigerians in the way oil revenue is handled in the country.

All things put together, the squabble between these two key government agencies, and the discrepancies on shortfalls in remittances, are unfortunate developments that could have been avoided if there was seamless cooperation between them and other agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Undoubtedly, the schism between CBN and NNPC has exposed faultlines that brought about these conflicting figures. As the banker to the Federal Government, it is the responsibility of CBN to alert the president and the nation to untoward happenings on revenue that ought to be paid into government coffers. But, in the performance of its statutory duty, CBN ought to be painstaking and diligent to avoid committing embarrassing factual errors, as Sanusi did, and had to admit and recant.

We urge all the parties involved in the ongoing reconciliation of the figures to do a comprehensive job and leave no room for error so that the outcome will be acceptable to all involved. It must be said that NNPC and its present leadership have not given the public much confidence in its transparency.
Its financial records are hardly ever satisfactory to the public, with constant allegations that the corporation is shortchanging the nation in spite of increases in international oil prices.
Moreover, many of the audit reports and committees set up in recent times to separate policy from operations and ensure transparency and accountability in the organisation have failed to yield the desired results, either due to non-implementation of their recommendations, or lack of sincerity of purpose by the Federal Government.

Nevertheless, it is important that we clean up the NNPC so that it can work the way it ought to. Sanitizing of the oil agency is a task government must carry out with sincerity of purpose that is devoid of sentiments.

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OBASANJO, JONATHAN AND THE FUTILITY OF POWER

THE mystery of life is unfathomable. It is endless and beyond comprehension. Man has tried several times, to dig into this mystery through logic, science and theology. Each time man makes a breakthrough, life’s mystery is further compounded. The wise ones amongst us accept this fact with humility and tend to do the best of their abilities, leaving the rest to a higher authority. Nelson Mandela accepted this fact, when he claimed with humility, that he was human and subject to human mistakes. In accepting this fact with humility, he became great. He handed over power to a younger Thambo Mbeki without any form of manipulation, leaving South Africa with a genuine structure of democracy, which has seen the further un-sitting of Mbeki.

Clearly, President Jonathan has shown from his performance, that he still has a long way to go. The weight of the position is telling heavily on him and he needs more skills to meander through the land mines laid out for him. Whether deliberately or inadvertently, he encouraged and deserves all the accusations levied against him by President Obasanjo and the likes – but, is it a coincidence that the five npdp governors defection, Sanusi’s letter, Tambuwal’s attack and Obasanjo’s ‘ epistle’, are all coming out, at the same time? Jonathan must clear this mess by addressing all the issues raised by the ex- President. Meanwhile, Nigerians must ponder and ask; who created the foundation, for this rot we are faced with? We forget too easily.

Flash back to Nigeria, during the period of 1999 to 2007. Obasanjo’s PDP was in power. Like Mandela, a lot was expected from Obasanjo, because he has seen it all – from grace to grass, to grace – The Yorubas, his own people, rejected him but the cabal, made up of retired generals and their civilian acolytes used their influence and power to put him in power.. Now the activities of Obasanjo, as civilian president, during the period 1999 to 2007, are already chronicled in history of Nigeria. A lot of good will squandered and missed opportunity to build an enduring structure for democracy. I read through the open letter Obasanjo addressed to President Jonathan and have found him, guilty of almost- if not all – of the allegations he has hung on Jonathan. Jonathan is only following in his footsteps.

Have we forgotten so soon how the party machinery was seized from Lar barely a month into Obasanjo’s government and Okadigbo, who was the party’s choice, dumped for old man Enwerem as senate president? Have we forgotten so soon, how many party chairmen the PDP produced under Obasanjo as president and party leader? Have we forgotten that Atiku’s fall out with Obasanjo was as a result of Obasanjo reneging on agreement not to re-contest election? Have we forgotten the security challenges, of the sharia states that have metamorphosed into the present Boko haram? We forget too easily in this country. Have we forgotten NNPC under Obasanjo and Gaius Obaseki? How is it different from NNPC today? Have we forgotten how PTDF money was used to buy cars for lady friends? Obasanjo held on to the petroleum ministry for eight years with all the perks and secrecy. What about Halliburton and Siemens? What about Coja and power, that was dispensed to family members and cronies? Have we forgotten the activities of Iyabo Obasanjo? Wonder - what happened to the case in court – It is endless.

Why should Obasanjo expect Jonathan to perform differently? He has sown the wind, he is now reaping the whirlwind. Jonathan is a product of Obasanjo, the only difference is that Jonathan does not have the character and ruthlessness, to deal with his political foes like Obasanjo – almost everyone that opposed him, never came back.

Definitely there has been a parting of ways between Jonathan and Obasanjo, that is why the pot is calling the kettle black. The new kids on the block have taken over control of the party and government; Obasanjo, had to fight back. Imagine, an Obasanjo, writing two letters to the President and not getting the courtesy of even an acknowledgement – reference Obasanjo’s open letter to Jonathan. This is a big lesson for all those in authority; power is transient, do not build institutions around yourself, it won’t last. Build enduring structures of transparency, good government and democracy. Obasanjo failed to set basic standards of ethics and integrity, we are seeing the result in Jonathan’s government. It is a good thing for Nigeria, it is a lesson for those in power and those looking forward to joining them.
Mr. Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.

TRENDING NOW: READ EDWIN CLERK'S LETTER TO OBASANJO
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/read-clarks-letter-obasanjo/#sthash.Bd3EDt5B.gbpl

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SENATE FINALLY BACKED OFF FROM THE SOCIAL MEDIA BILL.

As we come to the end of another glorious year. We wish to thank all Paffcomm fans, friends and well-wishers who read our boring posts, pray for us, wish us well and make inspiring contributions. We also thank those who disagree with us on several issues. We recognize that our views will sometimes clash with several interests because we deliberately do not write to strike a balance but to uphold positions we believe in. We accept that in the process some people would be vexed, would not just disagree with us, but would descend to calling us awful names. For all of you that disagree with us. We wish to assure you that we recognize your right of dissent. We will always defend your rights to do so and your liberty to call us those awful names such as “ paid journalist, poor journalist looking for Jonathan's recognition. APC hater, APC lover, PDP hater. PDP lover, APGA hater APGA lover, Tribalist, Confussionist and so on'' Incidentally, none of those had stuck on us by the year ending. We consider you as our worthy and honoured friends because we cannot all be in the same teacup, otherwise there will be no fun in this hobby and 2013 wouldn't have been exciting and eventful. In this season of love, we wish all Paffcomm fans around the world a prosperous new year. May God, keep us and continue to guide and guard us through this year.

As that have been said, we also want to thank the Nigerian people whom their condemnation of the Senate moves to silence Nigerian has forced the Senate to withdraw the proposed legislation against online publication sponsored by Senator Adegbenga Kaka, in company with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe. which stipulated a seven-year jail term or a fine of N5m, or both, for any user of social media who posts information that threatened the security of the country. This is a bill that would have silenced Nigerians and allow the criminals in the government to have a field day with our resources with impunity. Unfortunately, the criticisms that greeted the proposed Bill on electronic transactions from Paffcomm and other well-meaning Nigerians was overwhelming, forcing them to rescind their decision to pass the bill. To God, be the glory!

We also want to thank President Jonathan for the planned retirement of about 30 to 40 army generals which will commence soon and the reshuffle of his military. It shows that he listens to advise. You may recall that Paffcomm has warned the president several times to look closely into his military. Our warning is not that we are so much in love with the president's handling of Nigeria affairs, but we are warning the president to be conscious of the military to save our fragile democracy from being overturned by some of power drunk overzealous military officers both retired and serving, who wants to take over the government at all cost and take Nigeria back to the Abacha time.

Paffcomm is again issuing warning to the Nigeria national Lawmakers that the organization will rally Nigerians together to challenge them if they pass the bill that will allow them to have foreign bank accounts while in office. The president of the Paffcomm Mr. Kanayo Anene said that it has come to the knowledge of the organization that the Lawmakers In spite of the previous warning issued by Paffcomm the Lawmakers are still working to pass the bill that legitimize siphoning of Nigeria money outside the country. The president of Paffcomm said Nigerians have many pressing problems greater than foreign accounts. He advised the national assembly to discuss on the "Nigerians Demands" which the organization sent to the National Assembly and the president of Nigeria last year 2012.

You may recall that Paffcomm published an article on Uche Ekwunife, an article titled "THE GOD ALMIGHTY AND SLAVE MASTER UCHE EKWUNIFE PART 2." (http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2013/07/the-god-almighty-and-slave-master-uche-ekwunife-part-2.html.) Uche Ekwunife is representing Anocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia District. She is the chairman of Environment and member to other committees. In the article we said that Uche Ekwunife sponsored a bill to allow elected official to have foriegn bank account. Click link to see the bill(http://www.nassnig.org/nass2/legislation2.php?search=TO+PERMIT+PUBLIC+OFFICERS+TO+MAINTAIN+OR+OPERATE+A+BANK+ACCOUNT+IN+ANY+COUNTRY+OUTSIDE+NIGERIA&Submit=Search. The bill is as follows

THE BILL BY UCHEEKWUNIFE.
HB 184 A Bill FOR AN ACT TO ALTER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLiC OF NIGERIA, 1999 TO PERMIT PUBLiC OFFICERS TO MAINTAIN OR OPERATE A BANK ACCOUNT IN ANY COUNTRY
OUTSIDE NIGERIA; AND FOR RELATED MATTERS Sponsored by Hon. Uche Lilian Ekwunije...Year: 2012
BE IT ENACTED by the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as follows:
1. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (in this Bill referred to as "the Constitution " is aItered as set out in th is Act.
2. Part ) of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution on Code of Conduct for Public Officers is altered by deleting paragraph 3.
3. This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fifth Alteration) Bill, 20 II.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
This Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, in order to delete the provision in the Code of Conduct for public officers which forbids them from maintaining and operating a bank account in a bank outside Nigeria.

The Bill as we report now is about to be passed into LAW by Nigeria national assembly which will allow our elected officers to legally have a foreign account where our money will be siphoned. It's unfortunate that even with the law banning the elected officers from having a foreign account they are still finding ways to open accounts in different countries all over the world.It is clear that the legal backing the lawmakers are trying to put in place to siphon our wealth is certainly going to spell a doom for the country. Paffcomm call for all Nigerians to condemn the action and stand up against it.

While our Lawmakers are working hard day and night to pass Uche Ekwunife Bill that allows them to have foreign account to siphon our money. Ordinary Nigerians are languishing in poverty. In spite of the availability of tractors and other advanced farming technologies that can be employed to increase productivity, farmers in Nigerian still cultivate and harvest their crops with cutlasses and farming hoe, tools our forefathers used before they were colonized. Nigerians are still wallowing in hunger, disease, and poverty. A visit to rural parts of Nigeria shows that very little has changed economically since independence more than 50 years ago. Our lawmakers are pursuing foreign account in Nigeria where our children are hawking in the street because their parents cannot afford to pay levies and school fees even though oil money is coming in billions into Nigeria. Our children are dropping out of school every day because of economic hardship. Our graduates are roaming the streets because of lack of jobs and some of our graduates have been forced by joblessness to turn armed robbery, 419, kidnappers, Drug dealers, Bako haram, etc., while our lawmakers are buying properties around the world. Almost half of the luxury buildings, resorts and hotels in Dubai are owned by our politicians and the so-called leaders.

Here is the Bill Paffcomm sent to the President and National Assembly to pass into Law but until date nothing has been done about it.

NIGERIA DEMAND ON AGRICULTURE AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN FOOD PRODUCTION
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/11/nigeria-demand-on-agriculture-and-self-sufficiency-in-food-production.html
NIGERIANS DEMAND ON CONSTITUENCY DEVELOMENT PROJECT FUND
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/10/nigerians-demand-on-constituency-develoment-project-fund2.html
NIGERIANS DEMAND FROM THE GOVERNMENT ON CORRUPTION
NIGERIANS DEMAND FROM THE GOVERNMENT ON UNIVERSITY AND RESEARCH AND NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE
NIGERIANS DEMAND ON ETHNICITY AND TRIBALISM
http://www.paffcomm.com/nigerians-demand.html
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Nigeria Public Affair Commentators (Paffcomm) is a Nonprofit and nongovernmental organization committed to highlighting the ills in the society and protecting Nigerians against rights abuses; Nigeria Public Affair Commentators seeks to investigate and expose social anomalies and ensure prosecution of persons (politicians, in particular) who violated laid down statutes. Our aims include spurring up the interests of the Nigerians in matters of state craft, as it affects them, and by so doing, engineering an enlightened society that can stand up and say no to the enduring socio-political climate which has for long kept them in perpetual misery.

To read more of our articles, please go to Paffcomm blog post at http://www.paffcomm.com/blogs.html you will see more articles on other Anambra gubernatorial aspirants and many more articles on the state of the nation.

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By Chijama Ogbu

It is often surprising how Nigerians are easily taken in by spurious allegations. The reaction of many Nigerians to the allegation by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) kept away $49.8 billion of oil proceeds between January 2012 and this year underscores the gullibility of the Nigerian public. By Sanusi’s allegation, the NNPC paid only 24 per cent of oil proceeds into the Federation Account, and diverted or stole the remaining 76 per cent. It is preposterous for anyone to believe such a claim. To start with, we have to credit even thieves with some sense. Even the most daring or daftest of all leaders will not just corner more than two-third proportion of a national wealth and spirit it into hidden accounts. In which bank will you hide such humongous amount? To which country will you take it.

True, there is corruption in Nigeria, but no perceptible mind will fall for this kind of unsubstantiated claims. Interestingly, the CBN governor, a few days ago, admitted mistakes in his claims. He said, after several meetings with the minister of finance, the minister of petroleum resources, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC and acting Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), that the missing money is now $12 billion, not $50 billion as he alleged in his leaked letter to President Jonathan. The minister of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, has, in the meantime, countered the latest claim, saying no money is missing and that the ministries and parastatals involved would trace the remaining $12 billion to appropriate revenue/expenditure files. You can disagree with Okonjo-Iweala’s views, but you cannot impugn her integrity and expertise in financial matters.

Besides, the prompt reaction of the NNPC to the charge addressed the issue squarely. According to the corporation, the allegation is borne out of misunderstanding of the workings of the oil and gas industry and the modality for remitting crude oil sales revenue into the Federation Account. It even went further to correct the figures bandied by the CBN governor in his letter to the president. The NNPC said that the figure of 594.024 million barrels of crude oil given by the CBN as the total crude oil lifting for the period of January 2012 to July 2013 does not represent the correct picture of crude oil lifting. The correct figure it said is 618.55m barrels. This shows that the CBN understated the actual crude lifting by 4.13%.

By NNPC’s explanation, revenues from crude oil lifting are in various categories, namely: Equity Crude; Petroleum Profit Tax, Royalty, Third Party Financing and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC. According to the corporation, revenues from each of these categories are statutorily collected by different agencies of the government. The NNPC collects only one of the aforementioned categories, namely Equity Crude. Petroleum Profit Tax is collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Royalty goes to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); Third Party financing goes for Research, Development, Programme and Satellite fields Development, while NPDC goes to NPDC for upstream development. While NNPC pays proceeds from Equity Crude directly to the Federation Account with the CBN, the FIRS and DPR pay PPT and Royalty respectively into the some Federation Account. The sum total of these proceeds makes up the alleged unremitted revenues.

According to the state oil company, the 24% of total crude oil revenue receipts which the CBN governor acknowledged that NNPC remitted represents the proceeds from the equity lifting which NNPC is directly responsible for, while the alleged unremitted 76% was paid to the agencies that are statutorily empowered to receive them for onward remittance into the Federation Account. This explanation raises three critical questions. Since Sanusi and his team have been in charge at the CBN since 2009, how come he is not aware of this operational structure? This structure has been in place for years. Was there any variation in the way the NNPC remitted revenue accretion to the Federation Account in the period in question from what it used to be? What effort did CBN make to cross check with the NNPC before firing the memo to the President?

The right thing the apex bank’s governor should have done was to seek clarification from relevant sister agencies before rushing to write President Jonathan and then go ahead to leak it. In fact, the president ought not to have come into this at all. Back in 2002/ 2003, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAAC), headed then by Haman Tukur, alleged some underpayments by the NNPC under its former Group Managing Director, Mr. Jackson Gauis-Obaseki, and later under Funso Kupoloti, which generated media attention for months. But NNPC tried to explain itself. Although some gaps were established in their case ultimately, they were given the opportunity to explain themselves all outside the direct involvement of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo. The NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mr. Yakubu, in a response, had imputed political motive to the action of the CBN governor. And that appears to be the only rational explanation to the Sanusi shenanigan.

By writing this acerbic letter to Jonathan and allowing it to be leaked at the time he is facing political crisis, it appears that he just wanted to feed into the already raging fire and give political advantage to the president’s opponents. It is meant to further accentuate their wanton corruption going on under his watch. By his action, Sanusi makes himself a part of the well-orchestrated agenda to stop Jonathan from running for second term. Their strategy appears to be to continue to launch attacks from all corners until he is knocked out.With such huge allegation turning out to be false, Sanusi ought to resign in shame. The responsibility of such highly esteemed office as CBN governor is that the occupant ought to be thorough and diligent.In order climes, it is enough ground to resign or be fired.

Ogbu is a Lagos-based media practitioner.

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NIGERIA AT 100: DON'T TAKE OUR UNITY FOR GRANTED - ATIKU

By Emmanuel Aziken

On the occasion of the country’s centenary, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, called on Nigerians not to take the continued unity of the country for granted even as he cautioned against distractions that could impede the future prosperity of the nation. Atiku, in his centenary message to the country, urged Nigerians to look above the structural fragments that divide the nation, saying that the victims of the ineptitude leadership were neither divided by ethnicity, tribe nor religion.
He lamented that 40 years after the civil war, the country’s leaders could still be playing ethnic and religious games to gain power. He said: ”As we mark the centenary celebration of the amalgamation of the Lagos colony with the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British Colonial occupier forming one country, Nigerians need to pat each other on the back for we have truly come a long way. However, we must redouble our efforts towards building a stronger and more united Nigeria rather than concentrating energies on division or breakup.

”The recent clamour by some of Nigeria’s leaders for a renegotiation of the continued being of Nigeria are dishonest and an unnecessary distraction from the future that we can build. Such leaders need to concentrate their efforts on tackling the challenges ranging from lack of security to addressing poverty and unemployment through infrastructural investments. “The victims of structural ineptitude are not distinguished on the basis of their ethnicity, tribe, religion or region. It is also a truism that both the perpetrators and their victims are Nigerians, and secession will not fix these woes. Rather, if our leaders devoted more energy to dealing with these basic challenges facing the ordinary Nigerians, ethnic and religious differences would have sunk to the background as people are able to focus on opportunities available to them.”

PEOPLE'S COMMENTS ON OUR NEW "ANGEL" ATIKU

abide73

Since i was born till today i never tasted peace,love or unity in Nigeria.This sudden peace and unity from which market do Nigerians buy it ? Injustice cannot breed peace and unity.Only justice and equal right can yield sustained peace and unity.What we have in Nigeia today is it peace and unity?Its only through national discussion or conference Nigerians can find peace and unity if we really need it.Then decide the way forward,to be or not to be one .The time to pretend is over.Nigerians cannot live in false pretence forever.Marriage is not by force.If Nigerians had a shared future together, ,then they must discuss the terms. It happens in families too.The man or wife has the right to divorce if not satisfied but they must,first talk to find a way forward..People should forget their personal interest,the lives of innocent Nigerians are on the line here. Its too dangerous to live in false pretence.

gamma energy

It would be nice for all these present day apostles and champions of unity to tell us when they had their conversion, and, most especially, why. Diehard separatists suddenly made a 180 degrees in favour of one Nigeria, and even had to shed blood to achieve their aim. The same criminals have not done a thing to achieve real unity, and have not done a thing to develop the country. They have instead done everything possible to keep us divided and backward. Whenever they say that Nigeria's unity is not negotiable, they make fools of themselves. They thrive in this country because nobody, not even the press takes them to task on their sudden metamorphosis, and mostly, the contradiction between their so called pro One-Nigeria and their actaul anti One-Nigeria policies.
It is obvious that our size and diversity should be a huge advantage, and it would serve us well to remain a united country. In reality, however, these clowns are not the patriotic champions they claim to be. Their parochial agenda will not achieve one strong Nigeria. Their fake policies have outlived their usefulness. After 45 years of paralysis, it is time to replace their backward structure with a functional one. I will take Akitu and his fellow clowns seriously when they accept their blunder and articulate real unity agenda. Until that happens, they should hide their faces in shame for the mess the made of the system.

Smithken

Don’t take our unity for granted” Are are you saying, Mr. Atiku that from the bottom of your heart, Nigeria is united? With all these killings of innocent citizens, Igbos, Yorubas, Ijaws, Igaras, Tivs etc. in the North, you are convinced that we are united. “Atiku, you lamented that 40 years after the civil war, the country’s leaders could still be playing ethnic and religious games to gain power.” Turaki, which other ethnic or religious group is demanding that power should return to its base if not the North. “As we mark the amalgamation of the Lagos colony with the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British Colonial occupier forming one country, Nigerians need to pat each other on the back.” Atiku Abubakar, do you mean that the man you ordered Boko Haram to kill his entire family will come to pat you on your back? ”The recent clamour by some of Nigeria’s leaders for a renegotiation of the continued being of Nigeria are dishonest and an unnecessary distraction from the future that we can build. Atiku Abubakar, you come all the way from Adamawa to steal the oil under my feet and the feet of my kinsmen and women, and we beckoned on you that we have to talk and you call such request dishonest and an unnecessary distraction? Distracting who from what? “The victims of structural ineptitude are not distinguished on the basis of their ethnicity, tribe, religion or region and secession will not fix these woes. Atiku Abubakar, apart from the North that oppresses other regions under the structural ineptitude as you rightly mentioned above, which other regions are not victim of the said imbalance? Well I think I have to reserve further comments until we come out of the National Conference.

ODI ODI

Atiku, beneficiary of the lasting corruption in the contraption, crying out because he knows the time has come to fight for his loot and privilege. They keep exposing their warped and corrupt thought. Is Unity by Force? Don't people have the right to decide if they want to stay together or not? Why this unity by force propaganda? Unity of the exploiter and the exploited, the oppressed and the oppressor, Killer and the killed; Unity of Boko Haram and their victims; Unity of Criminal Northern Islamic Jihadist genocidist Oligarchs and their oppressed and daily massacred Christian neighbors; Unity of being violently sacked from certain areas people like Atiku claim is one's country or be killed. In fact the sacking comes with mass murdering. Unity in which the individual is safer in a foreign country. The contraption actually ended by the fraudulent document that created it, the next will be to put those arms you have smuggled across the northern borders to use and equally face its consequences.

MatthewsI

Politicians never cease to amaze me with their dexterity at maintaining split personality syndrome. They could sponsor issues that may engender disaffection and strife on one hand, while, on the other, be seen proffering solutions to those problems. In their mind playing games, they have sent lots of hapless citizens into untimely graves. Hear him: "...victims of the ineptitude leadership were neither divided by ethnicity, tribe nor religion." Ironically, these are the same issues - ethnicity, tribe and religion – applied as veritable tools by these same "inept leaders" in tearing the nation and the populaceapart. Remember, you cannot deal hard blow on a child and at same time expect him not to cry. There could be validity in some of these agitations. It is thus left for astute leaders, as opposed to the inept ones, to sift veracity from illusory. “A stitch in time,” they say, “saves nine.”

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/nigeria-100-dont-take-unity-granted-atiku/

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by Bayo Olupohunda

The 53 post-independence years of Nigeria's political history have witnessed a few catastrophic events that have threatened her very existence as a nation. But this country colonised by the British and forced together by Lord Lugard in his 1914 amalgamation which brought together two strange bedfellows under a marriage of convenience has always teetered on the edge of the precipice. Since the decade after independence in 1960 and many years after, the country has not had a moment of respite from elements in the union who have constantly threatened separation with devastating consequences. Since independence, Nigeria's stormy socio-political history has shown that perhaps it was a bad idea to have brought together disparate ethnic behemoths that have nothing in common. Little wonder that shortly after the British left, cracks that revealed the mistake of 1914 began to emerge. Even the action and utterances of political players from both sides of the divide have constantly reminded us that the union may not end a story book ''happy ever after'' fairytale. Nonetheless, Nigeria has survived 53 tragic years in a union sustained by the blood of citizens.

The struggle for political dominance among the major ethnic groups in the first decade of independence culminated in the civil war. That bloody era in Nigeria's chequered history was perhaps the greatest threat to the country's unity. But more tragedies were to follow. Most of the threats that revealed the farce of Lugard have been the result of the struggle for power among the major ethnic groups and their political elites. But it is not only politicians that have pushed the country to the brink. The military, which ruled Nigeria for most of its post-independence years, has also caused tensions through its violent obsession with power. The coup and counter-coups were the catalysts in this deadly power game. The coups and subsequent power play among the military elite created widespread mistrusts and suspicion among the nation's ethnic groups. For example, the dominance by Northern military officers was the reason why their Southern counterparts have complained of political dominance by the North in recent years.

The deep mistrust created by Northern dominance of political power during the military years led to the Gideon Orkar's bloody coup of 1990. The coup planned and executed by mostly minority officers almost put paid to the union. The coup sought to forcefully excise some parts of the North from the entire country. That coup heralded Niger Delta agitation for resource control which later turned violent many years after. The Orkar coup also revealed that the ghost of ethnic mistrust which nearly tore the country apart with the civil war had not been laid to rest after all. But the Ibrahim Babangida administration which was the target of the coup brutally suppressed it by executing many of its masterminds. However, the grievances were not addressed. Now the agitation for resource control which was at the heart of the violent coup is one of the reasons this union may soon hit the rock. Three years after the Orkar's coup, Babangida who had taken the country on a political merry go-round did the unimaginable. His annulment of the June 12 election won by the late business mogul, M.K.O. Abiola threw the country into turmoil. The violence and tension that followed threatened the country's unity. There were insinuations at the time that the North as represented by the military establishment wanted to perpetuate hegemony over the rest of the country. There were calls by Nigerians that the country should break up once and for all. Politicians also led the agitation for the country to split if the annulment was not reversed. Again, one could imagine a tragic replay of the events that led to the civil war. I personally witnessed Nigerians who pack their belongings and travel to their ethnic bases. Even when Babangida and his cabal pushed the country to the brink the country held on-albeit on a thin rope. The brutality and repression of the Abacha years and the scheming to make him a life president brought Nigeria to another political standstill. The country became a pariah nation. The cry to divide the nation grew louder. But still the country held on. Nigeria was saved from an imminent collapse by the sudden death of Gen. Sani Abacha. Several years after the military left, power struggle among the nation's major ethnic groups has heightened tensions in the country.

The 2011 presidential election that produced the incumbent President again brought Nigeria to the edge. Now, the race for 2015 has yet again opened up the possibility of a split. There are serious reasons to believe that President Goodluck Jonathan may be Nigeria's last president. Those so-called nationalists who have expressed optimism that this country may yet pull through another violence engendered by power struggle do not appreciate the extent of the dynamics of power play that is at the heart of Nigeria's political trajectory. Ethnic mistrust has been amplified over the years by the country's political elite. It may reach a crescendo in 2015. Now, the die seems to have been cast. And this is not even about the rivalry between the opposition parties. This is about one zone's quest to reclaim power by all means necessary. It is also about the struggle to control the nation's oil resources. Even if the split does not happen in 2015, the year may be the beginning of an end. It is not conspiracy theory that the US-National Intelligence Council had predicted Nigeria's split. The fears are real.

Now, President Jonathan is set to seek a re-election even though he has yet to publicly declare so. The North is enraged by this. That it has been out of power for this long is irritating enough for the zone's oligarchs. For them, it will be unthinkable that they may not have power in 2015 (or even beyond). Their agitation is already heating up the polity. Already, some of the zone's politicians have begun to sound the drumbeats of war. But in the Fourth Republic, other ethnic groups seem to have found a voice in collectively challenging the North's dominance of power since independence. That is why the minority groups of the Niger Delta has said Jonathan must continue beyond 2015. The Ijaw seem to have "wise-up" and cannot imagine the situation where another ethnic group will return to power and control ''their oil''. This will be a major divisive factor in 2015 and beyond.

Personally, I see the struggle for resource control as a factor in Nigeria's probable collapse. Beyond the power struggle that may make Jonathan Nigeria's last president, the incumbent seems to have lost control of the country. Many have accused his presidency of deliberately whipping up ethnic mistrust. Add this to Boko Haram, insecurity, massive corruption, and uncontrolled oil theft and the picture of an imminent crack becomes visible.

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By Chido Onumah

I have refrained from commenting on the pact between the All Progressives Alliance and the “new PDP” because, to some extent, I am involved. While the merger process of Nigeria’s main opposition parties – which led to the formation of the APC – lasted, I had reason to engage some of my comrades, colleagues and friends on whether the party was necessarily a progressive move in the quest to reclaim Nigeria. Even with all the misgivings and the seemingly lack of direction of the proposed party, some of us held out hope, partly because of the pedigree of certain individuals in the party and the fact that it afforded a broad-based platform and an opportunity for many Nigerians who were looking for a formidable pan-Nigerian opposition party.

At the risk of being dismissed as opportunists, some of us took the stance that the APC should be given the benefit of the doubt; that within the context of bourgeois democracy, the APC looked like a minimum agenda for change and therefore should be supported by all, including left and radical elements; that as a minimal strategy, genuine democrats and progressives could actually work in the APC to break the stranglehold of the Peoples Democratic Party on power and begin the urgent task of national reconstruction. I am not sure I hold the same view today. This piece is not a repudiation of my former position but a review that has become necessary in the light of the current reality. The general direction of the APC has not been that of a party that understands the mood of the people and the anger in the country against a profligate ruling class that has used party politics as a channel to loot the national treasury and impoverish Nigerians. That anger manifests each time the APC leaders cozy up to the same people Nigerians hold responsible for the current crisis.

It started with visits to former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, and a former head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, but it didn’t stop there. Of course, we know Babangida and what he stands for. I have been asking myself, since the “pilgrimage” began, the purpose and the end result. Regrettably, the leadership of the APC has failed to explain the rationale for this unholy alliance and the benefit, if any, to its bewildered rank and file. For me, the last straw was the image that made headlines during the week; the image of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, a man so violently consumed by self-interest, standing shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of the APC. Obasanjo needed that photo opportunity to save face after a scathing public rebuke by his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo. But for the APC, it was a new low for a party still struggling to make an impression on Nigerians. I believe every party worth its salt must have basic beliefs and values that it must uphold at all times.

It was bad enough that Nigerians expecting a change in the political landscape witnessed the APC leaders pandering to Obasanjo; the reasons adduced for the visit left a bad taste in people’s mouth. “You have come out of tribulation and held the highest position in this country. We are here because of your courage. Nobody can claim that he has information more than you,” Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the APC said of Obasanjo. “You have surmounted a number of crises. Nigeria is divided (now), more than before. To realise a stable Nigeria we want to encourage you to continue to speak the truth. We’re resolved and determined to rescue Nigeria. We want you as navigator.”
Tinubu noted that the visit was not necessarily to get Obasanjo to join the APC but “just to draw from the experience of an elder statesman.” What is Obasanjo’s experience? What readily come to mind are coups, a legacy of corruption, abuse of human rights, criminal impunity, undermining the rule of law and, of course, a dysfunctional family.

The inimitable Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, captured the popular sentiment in his terse statement on the APC visit to Obasanjo when he noted, in reference to Obasanjo’s new role as the “navigator” of the APC rescue ship. “If Gen. Sani Abacha were alive today, would he also have been on the ship’s complement? As Captain, perhaps?” Soyinka asked, while warning that the country might be headed for a shipwreck. He advised “families to begin the stockpiling of life-belts for the guaranteed crash.” I think this is a warning we have to take seriously. Exactly two years ago, the same Tinubu had this to say about Obasanjo and his experience: “What integrity has Obasanjo in terms of his legacies for Nigeria to speak on elections? Apart from his aborted third term ambition, he brought about and left a legacy of electoral corruption in the country. What is Obasanjo talking about? He should go away and retire in shame politically. He should leave the political landscape of this country alone. He brought a whole salad of corruption, manipulation and failures.”

What a difference two years make! Nothing captures Obasanjo’s legacy better than the preceding paragraph. What will the former president bring to the APC? A mass following needed to defeat the PDP in 2015? While Obasanjo was lambasting President Jonathan in an 18-page open letter and explaining how he (Jonathan) was destroying the PDP, he was busy scheming – at least we learned that much from Iyabo Obasanjo’s letter – how his daughter will run for office on the platform of the APC. I know in war, as in politics, there are no eternal allies or perpetual enemies, but eternal and perpetual interests, to paraphrase Henry John Temple, (Lord Palmerston), mid-19th century British prime minister. However, I couldn’t help but squirm when I saw the picture of Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), a three-time presidential candidate, beside Obasanjo in the APC train; the same Obasanjo he had alleged violated the sanctity of the electoral process twice and denied him the Presidency.

The APC is better served spending time strengthening the party in terms of an ideology and building a mass base rather than consorting with the likes of Obasanjo and Babangida. Without this mass base, the party will implode in no time. But it appears that is asking too much of a party focused on short-term political gains. It is a lot easier to open the floodgate of defection for those who are disaffected within the PDP; and the defectors are coming like flies attracted to faeces. At the current rate, the “original” APC will soon be a minority in the new formation. Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with people defecting from one party to another. But that is if you are talking of parties with “character” so that, in the case of the APC, the “newcomers” will have to play second fiddle and fall in line with party principles and positions. I don’t want to sound sanctimonious or puritanical. A political party, we know, contains “the good, the bad and the ugly”. But when you have a party that claims to be progressive recruiting people who are not in the least interested in a genuine discussion about the interest of Nigerians and at the same time acting as if its survival depends on that recruitment then there is reason to be wary.

I know a few leaders of the APC who are not particularly thrilled by the visits to “yesterday’s men” and what appears to be an alliance of desperation between the APC and the “new PDP”. But clearly, they simply can’t resist the only thing that seems to bind them together – the removal from power of President Jonathan. Is the APC a “progressive” party as the name implies, even in the limited sense of the word or just an association of those opposed to, not necessarily the PDP, but Jonathan? The APC and the “new PDP” may well win in 2015. And after that what next? What will be the dominant tendency in the party? I am offended to think that I’ll sit down, if that opportunity will ever come, with Obasanjo, Babangida, Kawu Baraje, Bukola Saraki, Ali Modu Sheriff, Ahmed Sani Yerima, etc., to discuss the welfare of Nigerians. If the prospect of that doesn’t scare the APC faithful, then nothing else can!

Is the APC agenda about removing Jonathan or rescuing Nigeria? If it is the former, then a revolutionary third force or in the minimum a coalition of small but progressive and mass-oriented parties is the only alternative! The body language of the APC leadership is that this is our party, our business, and we can damn well do anything we want with it. If that is the case, then voters have little or no choice as we head into the election of 2015.

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By Mr. Akinola, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

NO language spoken by man compares, in universality, with body language. Not even Chinese (Mandarin) spoken by the largest number of humans on the surface of the earth, does. Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Swahili, Japanese, Bengali and Hindi sparring with Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – the so-called international auxiliary languages – are no match for body language in a game of universal versatility.

I had the rare privilege, as a 13-year-old many years ago, of witnessing the enormous message-registering power of body language in the humble apartment of a neighbourhood uncle with whom I shared mutual fondness. His “tear-rubber” wife had sauntered into the sitting room while I was savouring the excitement of humour with him. Within 20 seconds, she had recited the line “honey, I’m sure you know I love you” at least three times as she fidgeted in different directions of the room.

Then, without minding the little presence disturbing their romantic peace, radiant smile playing suggestively on her face, she lowered her captivating athletic frame onto his laps and delivered the bewitching line “e tie rerin” as she rubbed the glittering wedding ring on her index finger against his tingling nose.
Uncle and I understood what she recited in English because we both spoke the language. We also got the music she sang in Yoruba, which meant “you are not even smiling!” because we were both speakers. A non-speaker would have needed to be a sorcerer to decipher both. But without reaching for sorcery, Uncle deciphered from her body language that she was about to make a financial demand. So he seized the next available opportunity to sneak out of the house.

And why not? He was well aware madam’s friend who visited earlier had come to sell to her the idea of “aso ebi” uniform for a ladies’ club they had just formed. This was clearly a problem he did not create. Why then should he bear such burden especially with the cost masquerading treacherously on the periphery of two-thirds of his bloody civil servant salary? Unfortunately for him, he would still have to return home later: the day he slotted that wedding ring into her inviting finger, he signed up to confronting and solving problems he did not create.

Similarly, the privileged Nigerian who was later to become Uncle’s president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the day he willingly took oath of office after successfully seeking the people’s mandate, signed up to confronting challenges and solving problems he did not create. His Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, though, might need the services of a sorcerer, to realize and admit this. So much Abati’s body language suggested to the nation earlier in the year when the cry of the national and international communities heightened against the “kid glove” with which the war on the monster that is mightier than, and in fact is the promoter of Boko Haram, was being fought. The long and short of his defence then, in a newspaper interview, was that “the Jonathan administration did not create corruption in Nigeria.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, could not be credited (or debited) with creating the problem either. His body language, though, might suggest he was only hiding in, and test-running his much-speculated but yet-to-be-procured Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) when, recently, he fired a deadly missile at the President. He had carpeted Dr. Jonathan on this same issue of concern for which the heart of the international community bleeds for Nigeria. But it is widely believed in the country that the House which Tambuwal heads is as guilty as the Presidency on the war (or lack of it) against the canker which Malam Nuhu Ribadu would describe as Nigeria’s own terrorism.

Perhaps the hands of both institutions are tied because most of the charges built around the corruption monster, unlike in other climes, are “unknown to law” in Nigeria. But not so in China, for instance! Since taking charge of the reins of state early 2013, President Xi Jinping had described corruption as a threat to the Communist Party’s survival and vowed to go after powerful “tigers” in the land.

Within the last four months alone, at least two such “tigers” have been caged. Ousted politician Bo Xilai was jailed for life in September after he was found guilty of corruption, bribe taking and abuse of power. His appeal was rejected in October, barely a month later, and his life sentence upheld. Also in October, a state official, Ma Linxlang, was sacked for “extravagant waste” after he spent an estimated 1.6 million yuan (about 160,000 pounds – chicken change on Nigeria’s free-for-all corruption terrain) on a lavish three-day wedding for his son. Even from the Vatican, a senior German Church leader tagged the “bishop of bling” by the media was, in October, suspended over his alleged lavish spending. Apparently, in those climes and many such others around the globe, the charges, even if unknown to law, were known to man, and man, armed with the requisite political will, made them known to law.

This is a big national challenge to President Jonathan whose political and media aides, in doing their jobs, have successfully constituted themselves into the main software component powering his body language hardware. If the duties of a leader anywhere in the world were all about solving problems he created, there would be no need for his services in the first place. Nelson Mandela did not create the problem of Apartheid. He was celebrated in life and is also celebrated in death because, putting his life on the line, he comprehensively solved a monstrous humanity problem he did not create.

Tambuwal and his colleagues in the National Assembly would do the nation a world of good with greater sincerity, commitment and political will on their part in the prosecution of any meaningful war on corruption. But the buck, in the final analysis, stops at the desk of the Commander-In-Chief. Nigerians probably voted him into that position believing he would be the most motivated to go after the local “tigers” playing graft with the national resources being produced in his home region. His duty in the exalted position is to confront challenges and solve problems he did not create. That was, and is, his mandate.

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I have no desire to get into a family squabble as I can only imagine the anguish on all sides of Obasanjo's family to have their dirty laundry displayed in front of a whole nation. At first, I thought, as was immediately reported by some, that the letter did not come from Iyabo. I have now waited for almost a week since the letter surfaced to hear about a denial from Iyabo, but that has not happened. Some of the contents were also too intimate that only Iyabo or someone very close to her must have known those details. It is true that Iyabo (if indeed she wrote it) wrote out of a long-suffering frustration and perhaps an attempt to save her father from himself. But what truly got my attention was how the letter, though addressed to Olusegun Obasanjo, actually spoke to Nigerians at large, and to me as a Nigerian. Her indictment of Nigeria was so sincere and so blunt that one had to be in denial to brush such things aside, and it is on those indictments that I wish to concentrate.

She began this letter by invoking a 4th century Chinese idiom that says "The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart." Surely it must have taken quite a lot of moral torture for Iyabo to decide to challenge her father and to do it so publicly. Let us not forget that such things are still a cultural taboo in most Nigerian cultures, especially in the Yoruba culture where they both belong. While I commend Iyabo for her courage I must advise her that the heat of this may linger on for many years to come. Her silence will not make this go away, and I think she must fortify herself for future onslaught from Baba's cronies; those sycophants she talked about, just the way her brother Gbenga was vilified after revelations from his secret divorce proceedings were made public. You are obviously a very wise woman, and at such had limited yourself. As I recently saw on a tweet, knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing not to put tomato in a fruit salad. Since you were blunt to us, I should be blunt in my advice to you, and perhaps I should do so in your Yoruba language. "?m? toni' baba ohun ko ni sun, ohun na ok ni' foju ko run." (Pikin wey say him papa no go sleep, himself no go even touch sleep kpatakpata.)

In the first half of her letter Iyabo wrote, "…I don't blame you for the many atrocities you have been able to get away with, Nigerians were your enablers every step of the way. People ultimately get leaders that reflect them." Here she dwelt a lot on the high level of sycophancy that exists within the political class, as well as the public's lack of willingness to stand up and challenge many wools that have been repeatedly pulled over our collective eyes. Often when something goes blatantly wrong, most Nigerians simply shrug it off, as if we are collectively powerless to do anything about it. Our passiveness in the affairs of our country has enabled our political leaders to act with impunity. Who can blame them for acting as they do, if they are absolutely sure that Nigerians will not react beyond our quiet utterances. Our psychic has been so thoroughly damaged that the average Nigerian rarely expects anything other than the norm from our leaders. After two years of improvements by INEC, our political leaders have now found ways to circumvent and in the process reverse all those gains by INEC. What is even more troubling is that if you attempt to speak out, you are branded an enemy of progress. For failing to speak up, we are enabling, and in the process getting the leaders that reflect us as Iyabo rightly said.

Those who dare the authorities are often victimized for standing for truth. Again here she says, "This punishing the innocent is part of Nigeria's continuing sins against God." Iyabo went on to narrate her personal travails in the hands of the EFCC as a result of witch-hunt from the Yara'dua's administration against her father. Perhaps on this point I must apologize to you, for I was one of those Nigerians who felt happy to see some measure of justice coming back to Obasanjo's fold. But, of course, we did not know the whole story until now. As is often the case with such things, your prosecution made headlines, but your legal victory was largely ignored by the media. I would not have known how your case was expunged if I did not read your very personal letter to your father. Our papers did not bother to print that. But as much as I sympathize with Iyabo for what she termed as punishments because of her surname, it is also worth mentioning that she could not have become a senator in Nigeria without her surname. And while I'm inclined to believe her that she had not made out like a bandit, it is however impossible to complete a term in the senate and tell me that she had not benefitted from Nigeria's loot. It is just impossible under our arrangements. It is not an exaggeration; I have friends in the senate.

The most significant of Iyabo's indictment, one that I have noticed many times is this, "…Nigeria has descended into a hellish reality where capable people to "survive" and have their daily bread prostrate to imbeciles. Everybody trying to pull everybody else down with greed and selfishness---the only traits that gets you anywhere." I could not agree more with Iyabo on this observation. It is quite terrible that this happens with an alarming frequency. I just don't understand why very intelligent and well-educated people feel compelled to prostrate to these imbeciles just for the privilege of a contract or some other patronage. I have long devised a method of dealing with friends who are in political offices; if they don't recognize me and treat me as an equal, they can go to blazes as far as I'm concerned. This stand is non-negotiable, period. People have told me that many of our elites become sycophants because of hunger. I beg to disagree; they are sycophants because that is who they are to the core. Even in starvation I will still tell my friend the truth, and all my personal friends who have attained high offices can easily attest to this. It is therefore not surprising that I have lost many while they are in office, but who cares.

Iyabo's letter has given us a glimpse about who we really are as a society. She had apparently gone through this fire and decided to walk away from it. The same experience has kept millions of intelligent Nigerians away from coming home to help develop this country, but who could blame them. Iyabo has a Masters degree in epidemiology from UC Davies, and a PhD in the same course from Cornell University; I therefore have no doubt that she would be ok where ever she decides to practice her craft. She is now a senior Fellow at Harvard University. Well, I am a big fan of women with brains, so go girl! The essential question is whether Nigeria will be ok. From ongoing political squabbles I sincerely doubt it, but we are watching. Political infighting and vibrant opposition is on the surface good for Nigeria, but it is all the mago mago that goes behind closed doors that make us all losers in the process, and yes, we deserve what we get as long as we are content to sit back, watch and pretend that it has nothing to do with us.

Michael Nnebe is a former Wall Street Investment Banker and the Author of several novels, including; Every Dream Has A Price, Riverside Park, Blood Covenant, Gloomy Shadows, Passing wishes, Prime Suspect, and others.

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OUR SOURCE REVEALED THAT PDP AND JONATHAN MAY HAVE AGREED TO AMEND THEIR MISTAKE IN ANAMBRA ELECTION WHICH IS ONE OF THE REASONS FOR OBASANJO ATTACK ON THE PRESIDENT AND TURMIOL IN PDP PARTY. HOW LONG THE LEGAL BATTLE WILL GO IS YET UNKNOWN. REPORT REACHING US INDICATED THAT THE ACCLAIMED WINNER OF ANAMBRA GUBER ELECTION WILLIIE OBIANO MAY BE DISQUALIFILED FOR DOUBLE REGISTRATION. THERE IS INDICATION THAT THE GUBER ELECTION MIGHT BE CANCELLED FOLLOWING INEC INABILITY TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS ASKED BY THE COURT FOR INSPECTION BY APC PARTY. THE DOCUMENTS INCLUDING COMPLETE VOTERS REGISTER, COMPLETE LIST OF INEC STAFFS IN THE ANAMBRA GUBER ELECTION. REPORT REACHING US INDICATED THAT INEC DOES NOT HAVE STAFFS REGISTER. IT IS ALSO ABOUT TO BE PROVED THAT WILLIE OBIANO REALLY COMMITED DOUBLE REGISTRATION OFFENCE.

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the November 16 election in Anambra State, Mr. Tony Nwoye, has filed a petition at the election petition tribunal to challenge the election of Chief Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance. Nwoye, who disclosed this in Awka on Monday during an interactive session with some stakeholders of the party in the state, said he was challenging the election because it was fraudulent. According to him, the party heirarchies at the national, zonal and state levels are in support of the decision to challenge the election result, contrary to widely-held notion that PDP will not go to court over the governorship election.

Nwoye said the party would turn out victorious at the tribunal. He commended the party loyalists for supporting the PDP to come second in the election not minding the conspiracy and distractions as a result of which the party was only able to campaign for just two weeks before the election.

http://www.punchng.com/news/anambra-pdp-candidate-nwoye-heads-to-tribunal/

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APC LOOKS VERY CONFUSED

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday faulted the visit of All Progressives Congress, APC, leaders to former President Olusegun Obasanjo last Saturday warning that Nigeria was heading for a shipwreck with such political romance.

In his statement, titled: “Shipwreck Ahead”, Professor Soyinka cautioned that Nigeria would need rescue operations if the APC intends to court Obasanjo to serve as a navigator for the ship of the state.

According to Soyinka’s short statement, “an APC-led group, we understand, has been paying courtesy visits to former Heads of States. Would it be correct to state that their purpose is captured in the following Mission Statement? ‘Tinubu added that the APC had resolved to rescue Nigeria, appealing to Obasanjo to lead the mission. We’re resolved and determined to rescue Nigeria. We want you as navigator,’ he said.”

Soyinka, then added: “If this attribution is correct, may I urge you, as an urgent public service, to advise families to begin the stockpiling of life-belts for the guaranteed crash. Don’t forget to alert the coastguards—ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), AU (African Union), UNO (United Nations Organization) etc, to be on the alert for possible salvage operations. “If General Sani Abacha were alive today, would he also have been on the ship’s complement? As Captain perhaps?”Soyinka asked.

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As we travel home for the Christmas, lets remember to celebrate the Yuletide with our families. We are expected to spend time with our families: Mums and Dads and Wives and our kids. We should also have more time with our children at home and take them outing to see our relations and to celebrations. We should not be the type that goes out in the morning and come back in the night. We should always eat the food prepared by our parents or our wives no matter how OK we may be from the food we ate outside, instead make space for the home food when you are eating outside. We should not drink to intoxication. We must not fight or pick quarrels with people. Try to avoid quarreling with anybody, big or small. Pay condolence visit to your family members both rich and poor that lost their loved ones. It helps to heal their pains. Attend village and Family meetings because we learn a lot from the discussions held there. Do not fly your ego because you are rich or intimidate others with your wealth. Enjoy your wealth, but keep your ego low. Help your family members and old friends as much as you can.

As you visit the rich relations and rich friends of yours, also visit the poor relations and the poor friends of yours. Do not go a borrowing because of the Christmas. Welcome the poor the way you welcomed the rich in your home. If the poor ask you for a help that is not within your reach please do not shout on the person or remind the person the wrong he or she did to you in the past, but kindly and gently tell the person that you cannot afford to render the help at that moment. Let the person understand that you would have loved to help if you had the means. Be humble to people. Do not debate with anyone on who is richer. Drink, but do not drink your brain out. Say, "hello" to the poor and the rich. Respect your elders in the village. Drive when you are not drunk. Do not make donations that will hinder your business after the Christmas. Do not donate because others are donating. As you spend money in the village always remember your children's school fees and feeding and your house rent after the Christmas and the problems facing you. When any case come up in the Umunna or village meetings, please try to stand on the right side and try to defend the oppressed.

FUTURE is a mystery worth waiting for. PAST is a history worth learning from. PRESENT
is what I'm expecting from you this Christmas! May the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with warmth and love. Christmas is the time of giving and sharing. It is the time of loving and forgiving

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CALL FOR JONATHAN'S IMPEACHMENT PLOT TO OBORT NATIONAL CONFERENCE - AFENIFERE
BEN AGANDE,

The leadership of the Pan Yoruba Cultural Organisation, Afenifere yesterday accused those opposed to the proposed national conference of being behind the threat to impeach president Goodluck Jonathan.

The group stated this yesterday when it met with the president at the presidential Villa.

Leader of the group, Reuben Fasoranti who led a delegation of the group to the president warned the president to expect more resistance to the national conference in form of letter writings and calls for his impeachment.

According to Fasoranti,”forces that have benefitted from the imbalance and inequity of decades would not fold their arms and watch Nigeria restructured into an entity that works for all it’s component units. This is why all manners of “letters” were posted to you with “impeachment” calls. Expect more of that as the process moves on by those who want the National Dialogue aborted.

“Afenifere considers the National Conference as the soul of a new Nigeria and as such much more important than anything in the polity, 2015 election inclusive.

“That is why we are strongly advising that the conference be concluded early so that the 2015 elections can be conducted on the basis of the new constitution.

“Finally we urge you to be more vigilant and rest assured of Afenifere’s support in the days ahead for as long as you are committed to give Nigeria a proper National Conference which you re-emphasised when you received the report of the Advisory Committee two days ago.

“We believe the time has come for us to sit and find lasting solutions from the stakeholders across Nigeria to our challenges as against temporary reliefs that bring greater and long-lasting sorrows which some letter writers and their group have given us since 1966? he said.

Spokesman of the group, Yinka Odumakin who spoke with state house correspondents after the meeting with the president that “the national conference was very important to the group because we believe Nigeria today is at crossroad where we must not take the wrong turn.

” Since 1960 the country has taken a wrong turn at critical junction. But for the first time we have an opportunity to discuss Nigeria to take far-reaching decisions on how to move this country forward. And we have seen what is happening in the polity that because this fundamental change is about to take place in this country, the forces that have held this country by the jugular since 1956 they are congregating. All manner of letter are flying here and there, impeachment call here and there because they want to abort this national Conference.

“We have assured the president that for as long as he remains focus to give us a proper national conference, Aferenifere will always support him. And he has assured us that this conference is more important to him than any other thing in the country today. And we appreciate the way, the spirit and the level at which he is thinking, which put us on the same wave length.

” I want to emphasis that for as long as he stays focus on the national conference agenda, yoruba nation, Afenifere will support him, because we believe that this is the most important thing at this stage to serve Nigeria from disintegrating. Centrifugal forces are all over the place and we must make sure we make Nigeria in a way that works. That is what we have come to do and that is why we are here” he said.

Presidential Spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati told state house correspondents that the president told the delegation that he has no personal interest in the conference, adding that he will neither interfere in the proceedings of the delegation nor tamper with its outcome.

Those in the Afenifere delegation included the governor of Ondo state, dr Segun Mimiko, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, chief Olaniwun Ajayi, Iyiola Omisore and Supo Sonibaire among others.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/calls-jonathans-impeachment-plot-abort-national-conference-afenifere/

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CONTRARY TO PUNCH NEWSPAPER AND SOME YORUBA POLITICIANS AND ELDERS CLAIM THAT IYABO DID NOT WRITE THE LETTER TO OBANSANJO. YESTERDAY, IYABO COMFIRMED THAT SHE DID WROTE THE LETTER.

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Dapo Akinrefon, Peter Duru, & Bashir Adefaka

LAGOS — With echoes of the open letter to former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from his daughter, Iyabo, reverberating nationwide, the daughter yesterday gave reasons she gave up on her father ever changing. Senator Iyabo Obasanjo spoke against the background of mixed reactions from Yoruba elders and politicians on the import of the letter which she said was the last communication with her father. The former president himself was furious when approached by Vanguard, yesterday, as he hurled invectives at the newspaper. The exchange between Vanguard and the former president ran thus:

Vanguard: Sir, we tried reaching you all through yesterday, to no avail, over the letter written by your daughter, Iyabo, to you.

Chief Obasanjo: You are a bloody idiot, you have published the paper and you are now looking for me, you are an idiot, don’t call me again. When Iyabo finishes you in court…. (hangs up).

Senator Obasanjo nevertheless flayed the orchestrated attempt in the social media by a network of associates of her father to separate her from the letter. Aremo Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State, who was cited in the letter, confirmed the meeting between him and Iyabo in Massachusetts, United States but distanced himself from the plot allegedly cited by her father to empower her with the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC for the next round of elections.
Besides, Aremo Osoba, several prominent Yoruba elders spoke on the development among whom were Afenifere leader, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, Afenifere bigwig, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Hon. Femi Kehinde, a former member of the House of Representatives.

Senator Iyabo Obasanjo had written an open letter to her father accusing him of being a liar, manipulator, wife-basher and hypocrite who was desperate for a third term despite his denials to the contrary.

Details later…
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/gave-dad-iyabo-obasanjo/

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IYABO OBASANJO WRITES FATHER: Calls him liar, manipulator, hypocrite and "you don’t own Nigeria"

GOD WORKS IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY. JONATHAN'S GOD AT WORK. TO DESTROY A MAN START FROM WITHIN. CLEVER POLITICAL MANEUVERING FROM JONATHAN.
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

LAGOS — In what is turning out to be a season of open letters, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Iyabo, has ruled out further communication with her father till death, describing him as a liar, manipulator, two-faced hypocrite determined to foist on President Goodluck Jonathan what no one would contemplate with him as president. Senator Iyabo Obasanjo in a letter to her father accused him of having an egoistic craving for power and living a life where only men of low esteem and intellect thrive.

Olusegun Obasanjo and Iyabo Obasanjo

In the 11-page letter dated December 16, 2013 exclusively obtained by Vanguard, Iyabo accused her father of orchestrating a third term for himself as president, cruelty to family members, abandonment of children and grandchildren, and also, a legendary reputation of maltreatment of women. Iyabo who forswore further political engagements in Nigeria denied any political motive for her missive, and described Nigeria as a country where her father and his ilk have helped to create a situation where smart, capable people bend down to imbeciles to survive. She particularly noted her experience as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health when she led the committee on a retreat appropriated for in the budget only for her to be prosecuted for it. Iyabo, first child of the former president, started the letter titled, Open Letter to my Father with a 4th century Chinese proverb by Mencius which states: “The great man is he who does not lose his child’s heart.”

Her letter:

“It brings me no joy to have to write this but since you started this trend of open letters I thought I would follow suit since you don’t listen to anyone anyway. The only way to reach you may be to make the public aware of some things. As a child well brought up by my long-suffering mother in Yoruba tradition, I have been reluctant to tell the truth about you but as it seems you still continue to delude yourself about the kind of person you are and I think for posterity’s sake it is time to set the records straight.

“I will return to the issue of my long-suffering mother later in this letter.

“Like most Nigerians, I believe there are very enormous issues currently plaguing the country but I was surely surprised that you will be the one to publish such a treatise. I remember clearly as if it was yesterday the day I came over to Abuja from Abeokuta when I was Commissioner of Health in OgunState, specifically to ask you not to continue to pursue the third term issue.

“I had tried to bring it up when your sycophantic aides were present and they brushed my comments aside and as usual you listened to their self-serving counsel. For you to accuse someone else of what you so obviously practiced yourself tells of your narcissistic megalomaniac personality. Everyone around for even a few minutes knows that the only thing you respond to is praise and worship of you. People have learnt how to manipulate you by giving you what you crave. The only ones that can’t and will not stroke your ego are family members who you universally treat like shit (sic) apart from the few who have learned to manipulate you like others.

“Before I continue, Nigerians are people who see conspiracy and self-service in everything because I think they believe everyone is like them. This letter is not in support of President Jonathan or APC or any other group or person, but an outpouring from my soul to God. I don’t blame you for the many atrocities you have been able to get away with, Nigerians were your enablers every step of the way. People ultimately get leaders that reflect them.

“Getting back to the story, I made sure your aides were not around and brought up the issue, trying to deliver the presentation of the issue as I had practiced it in my head. I started with the fact that we copied the US constitution which has term limits of two terms for a President. As is your usual manner, you didn’t allow me to finish my thought process and listen to my point of view. Once I broached the subject you sat up and said that the US had no term limits in the past but that it had been introduced in the 1940s after the death of President Roosevelt, which is true.

I wanted to say to you: when you copy something you also copy the modifications based on the learning from the original; only a fool starts from scratch and does not base his decisions on the learning of others. In science, we use the modifications found by others long ago to the most recent, as the basis of new findings; not going back to discover and learn what others have learnt. Human knowledge and development and civilization will not have progressed if each new generation and society did not build on the knowledge of others before them.

The American constitution itself is based on several theories and philosophies of governance available in the 18th century. Democracy itself is a governance method started by the ancient Greeks. America’s founding fathers used it with modifications based on what hadn’t worked well for the ancient Greeks and on new theories since then.

“As usual in our conversations, I kept quiet because I know you well. You weren’t going to change your mind based on my intervention as you had already made up your mind on the persuasion of the minions working for you who were ripping the country blind. When I spoke to you, your outward attitude to the people of the country was that you were not interested in the third term and that it was others pushing it. Your statement to me that day proved to me that you were the brain behind the third term debacle. It is therefore outrageous that you accuse the current President of a similar two-facedness that you yourself used against the people of the country.

“I was on a plane trip between Abuja and Lagos around the time of the third term issue and I sat next to one of your sycophants on the plane. He told me: “Only Obasanjo can rule Nigeria”. I replied: “God has not created a country where only one person can rule. If only one person can rule Nigeria then the whole Nigeria project is not a viable one, as it will be a non-sustainable project”

“I don’t know how you came about Yar’Adua as the candidate for your party as it was not my priority or job. Unlike you, I focus on the issues I have been given responsibility over and not on the jobs of others. It was the day of the PDP Presidential Campaign in Abeokuta during the state-by-state tour of 2007 that Yar’Adua got sick and had to be flown abroad. The MKO Abiola Stadium was already filled with people by 9am when I drove by (and) we had told people based on the campaign schedule that the rally would start at noon.

At 11 am I headed for the stadium on foot; it was a short walk as there were so many cars already parked in and out. As I walked on with two other people, we saw crowds of people leaving the stadium. I recognized some of them as politicians and I asked them why people were leaving. They said the Presidential candidate had died. I was alarmed and shocked. I walked back home and received a call from a friend in Lagos who said the same and added that he had died in the plane carrying him abroad for treatment and that the plane was on its way to Katsina to bury him.

I called you, and told you the information and that the stadium was already half-empty. You told me to go to the stadium and tell the people on the podium to announce that the Presidential candidate had taken ill that morning but the rest of the team, including you and the Vice-Presidential candidate would arrive shortly. I did as I was told, but even the people on the podium at first didn’t make the announcement because they thought it was true that Yar’Adua had died. I had to take the microphone and make the announcement myself. It did little good. People kept trooping out of the stadium. Your team didn’t arrive until 4pm and by this time we had just a sprinkling of people left.

That evening after the disaster of a rally, you said you had insisted that the Presidential candidate fly to Germany for a check-up although you said he only had a cold. I asked why would anyone fly to Germany to treat a cold? And you said “I would rather die than have the man die at this time.” I thought of this profound statement as things later unfolded against me. Then I thought it a stupid statement but as usual I kept quiet, little did I know how your machinations for a person would be used against me. When Yar’Adua eventually died, you stayed alive, I would have expected you to jump into his grave.

I left Nigeria in 1989 right after youth service to study in the US and I visited in 1994 for a week and didn’t visit again until your inauguration in 1999. In between, you had been arrested by Abacha and jailed. We, your children, had no one who stood with us. Stella famously went around collecting money on your behalf but we had no one. We survived. I was the only one of the children working then as a post-doctoral fellow when I got the call from a friend informing me of your arrest.

A week before your arrest, you had called me from Denmark and I had told you that you should be careful that the government was very offended by some of your statements and actions and may be planning to arrest or kill you as was occurring to many at the time. The source of my information was my mother who, agitated, had called me, saying I should warn you as this was the rumour in the country. As usual you brushed aside my comments, shouting on the phone that they cannot try anything and you will do and say as you please. The consequence of your bravado is history.

We, your family, have borne the brunt of your direct cruelty and also suffered the consequences of your stupidity but got none of the benefits of your successes. Of course, anyone around you knows how little respect you have for your children.

You think our existence on earth is about you. By the way, how many are we? 19, 20, 21? Do you even know? In the last five years, how many of these children have you spoken to? How many grandchildren do you have and when did you last see each of them? As President you would listen to advice of people that never finished high school who would say anything to keep having access to you so as to make money over your children who loved you and genuinely wished you well.

“At your first inauguration in 1999, I and my brothers and sisters told you we were coming from the US. As is usual with you, you made no arrangements for our trip, instead our mom organized to meet each of us and provided accommodation. At the actual swearing-in at Eagle Square, the others decided to watch it on TV. Instead I went to the square and I was pushed and tossed by the crowd.

I managed to get in front of the crowd where I waved and shouted at you as you and General Abdulsalam Abubakar walked past to go back to the VIP seating area. I saw you mouth ‘my daughter’ to General Abdullahi who was the one who pulled me out of the crowd and gave me a seat. As I looked around I saw Stella and Stella’s family prominently seated but none of your children. I am sure General Abdullahi would remember this incident and I am eternally grateful to him.

Getting back to my mother, I still remember your beating her up continually when we were kids. What kids can forget that kind of violence against their mother? Your maltreatment of women is legendary. Many of your women have come out to denounce you in public but since your madness is also part of the madness of the society, it is the women that are usually ignored and mistreated. Of course, you are the great pretender, making people believe you have a good family life and a good relationship with your children but once in a while your pretence gets cracked.

When Gbenga gave a ride to help someone he didn’t know but saw was in need and the person betrayed his trust by tapping his candid response on the issues going on between you and your then vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, you had your aides go on air and denounce the boy before you even spoke to him to find out what happened. What kind of father does that? Your atrocities to some of my other siblings I will let them tell in their own due time or never if they choose.


Iyabo Obasanjo and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Some of the details of our life are public but the people choose to ignore it and pretended we enjoyed some largesse when you were President.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/iyabo-obasanjo-writes-father-calls-liar-manipulator-hypocrite/
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/iyabo-obasanjo-writes-father-says-dear-daddy-dont-nigeria/#

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PRESIDENT JONATHAN: Lies And Selfish Ambition Of Some Politicians Led To The “Wrongful Overthrow” Of The Shehu Shagari Administration In 1983.

APC, others attacking me because of 2015 –Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday hit back at his critics and opposition parties, accusing them of painting his administration “bad before the global community.”He therefore warned that he would not allow their selfish ambition for the 2015 general election to destroy the country. His warning is coming six days after an 18-page letter in which a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, made scathing remarks about his administration was made public. It also came less than 24 hours after the opposition All Progressives Congress called on the National Assembly to immediately commence impeachment proceeding against Jonathan for alleged gross misconduct.
Although he has yet to personally respond to Obasanjo’s letter and the APC’s call for his impeachment, the Peoples Democratic Movement and the Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday, said he needed to do so because the allegations levelled against him by the former President were weighty.

At a lecture and award ceremony in Abuja on Monday, Jonathan told his critics to be cautious in attacking his administration because it was the selfish ambition of some politicians that led to the “wrongful overthrow” of the Shehu Shagari administration in 1983. He was represented at the annual lecture, the third in a series by Nigerian Pilot Newspapers and Nigerian Newsworld, by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku.The President claimed that the criticisms against his administration were not constructive enough to challenge his development strides. Jonathan, who said he had developed a “thick skin against such criticisms”, however advised politicians to thread with caution as their actions could destabilise the democractic structures already in place in the country. He said, “There is a difference between ambition and reality. Go for your ambition, nobody is disturbing you because it is a free world. Go and compete, but don’t pull down this country called Nigeria because of your personal ambition. It is unacceptable.

“I think there is a difference between debates and insults. I reject insults and the fact that I am a public officer doesn’t give anybody the liberty to insult me. Most of the time you cannot detach the Office of the President and honour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “There are people who are honestly trying to put things down for this country to move on. I think we can see the difference between facts and fiction. “Let us not continue to behave as if we can pull down our own house; we as politicians and public servants should not behave as if we were picked on the streets. You don’t just go and pour acid on the faces of public officers.“When Shagari was overthrown in 1983, there was a lot of noise that the government was not doing anything and nothing was not said about Shagari’s regime. “Shagari was overthrown amidst lies….The greatest shame of this country is Ajaokuta Steel Complex. If Shagari was there, by 1986, he would have completed Ajaokuta.”

But Maku took a swipe at the media, stressing that on a daily basis, they were awash with highly fictional information. He said, “If you look through our media reports today, we see insults and abuses, every day. If somebody did not abuse Mr. President, it will look as if there is no journalism on that day. “We are talking about our country, our nation’s institutions and democracy; we are talking about setting standards for this democracy, standards of behaviour, standards of conduct and standards of principles of behaviour and every democracy must be parliamentary. We should not go personal, but we are going too personal.” Maku compared the media to a mirror, which when broken, gives a false image. He said, “We must not destroy the mirror and present the image as ugly. “The mirror is very important in conveying the good image of our people. We have completely ignored issues on the ground and we are embarking on personality debates. “The way we are sensationalising the development of this nation in public debates, is so annoying and it is not supposed to be so. I am a big time journalist. “But there is a difference between reporting events and articulating a position because the media are supposed to articulate public debates. When the media embark on abuse and insults, the people will be confused.”

He also stated that the liberty being enjoyed by Nigerians had been taken for granted simply because “the President believes in the rule of law.”
http://www.punchng.com/news/apc-others-attacking-me-because-of-2015-jonathan/

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Paffcomm president has called on President Jonathan to be joyful because he has won the major battle facing his government. The president of the organization Mr. Kanayo Uba Anene on "One-on-One" CHAT with Paffcomm press said that the National Confab and the threat to divide the country in 2014 by some regions, including Andy Uba failure to clinch the PDP ticket in the gubernatorial in Anambra state has pushed Obasanjo to misstep by sending such an unpalatable letter to the president. Mr. Anene said that Obasanjo and Babangida are very crafty and silent killers. For them to strike the president openly shows that they have lost the secret battle against Jonathan and thereby decided to seek public sentiment against the president. Unfortunately, they have lost the open battle too. The president of Paffcomm said that the savior of Jonathan is that he has been able to replace Obasanjo and IBB boys in the military with his own trusted boys otherwise, we would not have been discussing Obasanjo's letter. Mr. Anene said that the impeachment call by APC is a waste of time and should not bother Nigerians. He said before you call for impeachment you must first of all have the number. Presently, APC does not have the number to effect the impeachment in both houses of the national assembly.

The President of Paffcomm Mr. Anene said that Bako Haram was first applied by the north to test the Jonathan's government and pull down his administration, but to their surprise, the plan failed and the Bako Haram turned against the creators. Furthermore, Obasanjo used Fani Kayode to create a cold war between the Igbos and the Yorubas to destabilize Jonathan's government. During the deportation saga Fani Kayode exploited it to execute the Obasanjo agenda, but unfortunately failed. He failed in that Fashola, on realizing the plans of Obasanjo and Fani Kayode. Fashola immediately apologized to the Igbos, an apology that angered Fani Kayode and Obasanjo and also helped destroy their plans. Then, Obasanjo crafted another plan by backing APC and renegade members of PDP, which resulted the creation of a faction within the PDP party. Though, the problem facing Obasanjo in the new PDP is Atiku unforgiving spirit. Atiku has sworn to avenge what Obasanjo did to him. The Anambra election that was characterized by tribal sentiment and hate words almost helped their plans to materialize, but for the quick intervention and condemnation by "well meaning" Igbos and Paffcomm in particular, the hate words used during the campaign was brought to an end.

According to Mr. Anene he said that Jonathan can now make the confab a reality if he is really serious about holding the conference for Nigerians to sit together and discuss their deference and find a solution to the teaming problems facing the country. Mr. Anene also said that Obasanjo and Babangida cannot do anything to Jonathan, he said that Nigerians should not be afraid because OBJ and IBB no longer have the power and control of the military as many people are thinking. He said Jonathan should now start a campaign for his second tenure as the road is clear if he wishes to run in 2015. Mr. Anene said that Obasanjo made a great mistake to write such a letter, and that by that letter, he has destroyed every plan to stop jonathan and also destroyed Jonathan's arrangement with the north to hand power over to them in 2015. According to the Paffcomm president, he said that the letter is a sign of weakness on the part of Obasanjo and a call for Jonathan to prepare for his second tenure. He said the letter will win sympathy for Jonathan instead of the damage Obasanjo envisaged.

The president of Paffcomm also advised President Jonathan to endeavor to put the economy on the right track and create employment and eradicate corruption in his government. Mr. Anene said, Obasanjo public sentiment is not enough to stop Jonathan 2015 or the Confab. The only thing that can stop Jonathan is a military coup which Obasanjo and Babangida for now do not have the connection or the means. Any coup carried out at this present time is bound to fail.

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(Re-enacting of Aguiyi Ironsi episode. Jonathan beware. Paffcomm warned him before.)

Some of the aides of the President, headed by his Chief of Staff, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe, met at the Presidential Villa with Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar; and the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh. The other aides in attendance at the meeting which took place in Sambo's office were the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak; the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe; the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Umar Sani. Sambo, Maku and Umar later left others to attend a scheduled meeting inside one of the conference halls in the vice-president's office while others moved to Oghiadomhe's office to continue their consultation. A source privy to the meeting told one of our correspondents that they discussed how best the Presidency would respond to Obasanjo's letter. It was gathered that the meeting by the presidential aide was approved by Jonathan, who, according to our source, was rattled by the publication of the letter by the media. They also discussed the way to handle the backlash arising from the letter and how to reach out to those that Obasanjo sent copies of the letter to. The former President had copied two former Heads of State, Generals Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida. He also copied former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme and a former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

One of the decisions reached at the meeting was that "a high-powered" delegation be sent to Abubakar, Babangida, Ekwueme and Danjuma to explain Jonathan's angle to the issues raised by Obasanjo. It was gathered that the team would leave for Minna, Niger State "soon," to meet with Abubakar and Babangida. Our source said there were reports that Babangida was also planning to write his own letter to the President, asking him to forget his second term ambition. The source said, "The two meetings are aimed at dousing tension created by Obasanjo's letter. "We will meet those he copied in his letter and explain our points to them before deciding on the next line of action. We know the security and political implications of the letter. So, we don't have to leave anything to chance." The source added that the President might personally reply Obasanjo in writing. He said, "Chief Obasanjo has said that the President refused to reply his earlier letters. He will get his reply this time round. When the President said he would personally respond to the charges, he did not mean that he would address a press conference for instance. What he will do is to write the former President." When asked if the President's letter would be made public, he replied, "When we reach that bridge, we will cross it. For now, the response is still being compiled." Shortly after the meeting, Sambo also met behind closed doors with the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih. At the end of the meeting, Anenih, who refused to speak with journalists, also had discussions with the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

Mixed reactions have however continued to trail the letter in which Obasanjo lashed out at Jonathan for acts capable of destroying the country. Those who reacted on Thursday were a Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, the All Progressives Congress, the Northern Elders Forum, the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, the Ijaw Youth Council and the United Action for Democracy. While Abubakar called on the two former Heads of State, Ekwueme and Danjuma to speak up now on the letter, the APC, CNPAPB A, the NEF and the UAD cautioned the Jonathan administration against treating issues raised by the ex-President with levity. But the IYC chided Obasanjo, claiming that his anti-Jonathan posture was capable of putting the nation on the precipice.

Although Abubakar said he was not competent to speak on the letter, he however insisted that it was expedient for Nigerian leaders to intervene and reduce the tension created by Obasanjo's weighty allegations. In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja, the ex-vice-president said like every other Nigerian, he felt the allegations were too disturbing to be treated with apathy by any political stakeholder. He said at a moment of national anxiety or uncertainty, leaders across the country should rise to the occasion and reassure their citizens about the future. Abubakar said, "Our priorities for Nigeria are forging lasting solutions to our chronic unemployment, providing safety and security for all, and vastly improving our failing education systems. President Jonathan's government has consistently failed to address these critical concerns. "That said, it is on record that I have firmly fought for a democracy where the voters choose their future leaders, not political party bosses.
"If the incumbent President insists on continuing to destroy his own party with vindictive internal wars and thinks his record of rising youth unemployment, never-ending violence, corruption and scandals is worthy of another term, then he is welcome to run. We are confident Nigerians will exercise their democratic right to choose new leadership in 2015." He agreed that the President was free to run his government without interference, but said sometimes even sitting Presidents needed outside constructive interventions to move their countries forward.

PAFFCOMM UPDATE ON THE WARNING TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN AND NDIGBO IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2013/09/paffcomm-update-on-the-warning-to-president-jonathan-and-ndigbo-in-northern-nigeria.html

PAFFCOMM MILITARY ANALYST WARNS PRESIDENT JONATHAN TO BE WARY OF THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM AND NDIGBO IN THE NORTH TO STAY ALERT
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2013/09/paffcomm-military-analyst-warns-president-jonathan-to-be-wary-of-the-people-around-him-and-ndigbo-in-the-north-to-stay-alert.html

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The aftermath of Anambra state gubernatorial election lingers on. President Jonathan has now remembered that Ekwueme was a former vice-president of the country and an elder statesman in Nigeria and founding member of PDP party. A powerful delegate was sent to him from Aso Rock to explain their own side of the story (Obasanjo's letter). The truth of the matter is that many PDP members and elders are not happy with the president for the part he played in Anambra election. A part many see as sabotage to the party. Some members said if not for the unity of country that the president action in Anambra state calls for his impeachment. Many of the president action is presently tearing the party apart and trying to render the party irrelevant in the country. As PDP is going dawn, APC is growing stronger and laughing at PDP and the president's management of the PDP party affairs and economy of the country. The accord PDP reached with APGA in the Anambra state was without the consent of most of the PDP founding fathers including the former Vice-President Ekwueme, Obasonjo and many others. It was a big insult on the founding fathers and the real elders of ndigbo for not seeking their consent before the accord to rig the election in favour of APGA party was reached. It was revealed that they would have stopped planned rigging had they been aware of it.

One had expected that Jonathan will go to the sycophant advisers he has in Anambra state for help, but this time he decided to go to real elders of ndigbo to seek their support and way out of his timidity and mediocrity in Nigeria politics. The information received by Paffcomm indicated that Anambra state gubernatorial election was among the bone of contention and that the saga may lead to the cancelletion of the election either by INEC or through the court for a free and fair election to be held in the state. The idea of the cancellation of the Anambra poll we understand is also supported by PDP stalwarts across the country. Ndigbo leaders also have urged Igbos to be outspoken and henceforth counter any negative speech or write-up against ndigbo. In carrying out the order a Constitutional lawyer, Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN) said Wednesday that the north fear of losing its political dominance as well as sections of the country that makes up the present northern region was responsible for the opposition of the north to the proposed national conference and restructuring.

He, however, stated that for the country to continue to survive, there was need for all Nigerians to support the national conference so as to find ways of renegotiating and restructuring Nigeria for the common good of her people. Nwabueze said: "There are forces working against the conference but I want to say that this is not strange. The north does not want the conference because they want to protect their interest which is political domination and they also don't want to lose any part of their own. They are very angry that they will be overthrown by the conference; they feel that the conference will end their dominance in politics. But let me say that it is in the interest of the country that the conference holds. We have to renegotiate and restructure the country to enable it survive".

Addressing reporters in Enugu, Nwabueze also insisted that it was unacceptable for President Goodluck Jonathan to nominate delegates to the proposed national conference, stressing that the right to do so rest squarely with the ethnic nationalities participating in the exercise. "That is not our own idea of national conference. It should be a conference of ethnic nationalities and the ethnic nationalities should elect their delegates to the conference. They will go there and sit and discuss. It involves intellectual work and does not involve moving from one place to another. "It will also require younger person just as I stated earlier to chair the conference. It is not a job of someone at 83 and in bad health condition. In one of my articles published in the newspapers, I said nobody should ever ask me to chair the conference, because it is a job that requires somebody who is acceptable both in the north and south.

I am not acceptable in the north and it will be careless of anybody to appoint me to head the committee. If it happens, I will reject it right away. The person should be someone with emotional stability, because it is going to be stormy conference and requires a capable chairman with physical energy and emotional ability who may be able to steer the meeting to a successful end", he added.
Nwabueze, who heads the "Igbo leaders of Thought", a group working out Igbo position for the conference, said he would serve in the exercise should he be elected by Ndigbo, adding that he declined to serve in the Presidential advisory committee, following his age and ill-health. "If eventually our people -Ndigbo said I should be part of it, I will oblige, so long as it does not involve me touring the country.

Stressing that Igbo position would soon be known, he said that the memorandum submitted by Ohanaeze Ndigbo to the Presidential Advisory Committee created the gap on how the Igbo interest could be protected in Nigeria and said that such gap would be filled by the committee.

According to Mr. Eke, he said. "Jonathan is paying the price of his timidity, mediocrity and inability to rule by example and weld the long knife when he needs to secure and consolidate his position. He is ruling by faith, forgetting that prophets who do not bear arms come to ruin. He does not seem to realise that in politics, one has to be a fox to spot a trap and a Lion to frighten a wolf. When one is in politics, one must know how and when to move against those who are determined to stop you from doing what you believe is best for the people, no matter who they are. Jonathan lacks the courage to use the enormous power he has as Nigerian president to make Nigeria better and those who he has been trying not to offend, have now turned against him. If Jonathan does not act swiftly and assert his powers and authority, and dispel the allegation that he is deep into corruption, he will realise when it is too late, that no one can achieve greatness with power, when he is afraid to exercise power to preserve his mandate, fight corruption and injustice, and ensure justice as fairness. I fear that Jonathan may end up as a lesson on how not to exercise power."

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"With the Obasanjo letter to President Jonathan, I hope now it is becoming clearer to the people that President Jonathan will not run for reelection in 2015. It is crystal clear that Jonathan cannot fight Obasanjo, Atiku, Babangida, Buhari, the Afanifere and Arewa group when they stand together against him. South South and South East alone cannot re elect Jonathan in 2015. Therefore, our question remains under which party ticket would ndigbo run? Paffcomm warned Jonathan to watch the people around him especially Obasanjo and Co, but he did not listen to us Jonathan neglected the King makers in Igbo land like EKWUEME, ANYAOKU, NWOBODO, SOLUDO, AKUNYILI, EZEKWESILI, etc., and went for Igbo sycophants as his advisers, resulting in his present predicaments. Has NDIGBO LOST AGAIN?" ...... Paffcomm

Watch out, nobody has endorsed or deny more presidencies than Obasanjo in the history of Nigeria. All you have to think about are those he crowned like Ebele, Shagari, Yar'Adua and the one he had supported as Deputy: Murtala Mohammed. On the other hand are those he denied presidency like Awolowo, Abiola, Falae, Babangida, Ekwueme, Atiku and Buhari. Apart from himself, it was only Yoruba he could not crown.

Going forward, Obasanjo can make or deny any Nigerian the presidency as long as that person is not a Yoruba. He built his reputation as a non-tribalized Nigerian that can stand up to his own people and other Nigerians love him each time for it. After hatched job, they praised him to high heavens. People build reputation differently and Obasanjo established his against his people that never voted for him. Love or hate him.

Recently, the Ijaw chieftaincies have made it clear that with or without Obasanjo, Ebele is untouchable. They need to think again. Most of them forgot that they came to power was not by votes in their population but by kidnapping their babies, old folks including an attempt on Ebele, intimidation, threat against their people and contribution of environmental disaster to their own region. The malaise has infected the whole Country. They gained sympathy for their just cause from most Nigerians and around the world.

This was how they got Obasanjo's backing, compare to others' patronizing lip service. In terms of population they are far behind other ethnic groups that have not tasted power in Nigeria but their region contributes most of the income earned from oil resources. It is also unfair that oil resources were the only one hijacked by the Federal Government when groundnuts pyramids, cocoa, and coal from others were not. Fair is fair.

The other side of the coin is that those hard working, educated Niger Deltans with perseverance in the South-south lost out on power that unfortunately fell into the hands of thugs, militants and vagabonds that are now admired as successful millionaires and billionaires. The real pioneer of freedom fighters in the Niger Delta have been blown aside and replaced by those that cannot even spell their names.

Sure, Niger Delta is a strong constituency but those well informed men of Niger Delta have been marginalized. Young men and women that went to school and played by the rules watch as school dropouts become “heroes”. Some people said President Ebele is confused, others said he has no clue and he is going out of his way to make more enemies for himself while making friends with those that want him to fail.

Consequences of that misfortune are the drunken-sailors that have forgotten their misery and spend money like no man's business. Nigerians are asking if anything has changed since Ebele a well educated man with PhD, took over. There was so much hope and goodwill to pacify and compensate Niger Delta. Nigeria has not gotten any better, many claimed that it has gotten worse. Boko Haram wants to be compensated too.

President Ebele can fight Obasanjo, his Adimu cousin, all he wants but not on security and safety, the most potent ammunition his distractors hold against him. His backers claimed Babangida made OBJ President and he told crowners they should consider all their investment on him lost. But they must realize Babangida had nothing on OBJ and actually saved IBB's life after Murtala was assassinated. Babangida allowed Dimka to escape as he was a suspected member of the coup. Danjuma wanted him fired, fired!

If this is the record President Ebele wants to take into election in 2015, his advisers and chieftaincies must be on cloud nine. Sometimes we all get overconfident based on substantive record we can demonstrate to the people. President Ebele has little to show and has reinvigorated some old hands looking forward to the presidency. Unless we get a dramatic change, Ebele will get the least votes if he contests for the next election.

Of course his difficulties have been blamed on Obasanjo that endorsed him as presidential material just as that of Yar'Adua and Shagari before him was put on OBJ. But those that criticize him more than OBJ do everything to make sure he does not succeed. They have put every obstacle before him and even ready to burn the Country down and blame him. The more they despise him, the more he tries to appease those.

And who does Ebele go after? Obasanjo, that criticized every president. There is a subtle message here that most people do not grasp. Odi and Zaki Biam were the low points in Obasanjo presidency because of violation of human rights by soldiers. But OBJ and his cohorts defended an action that had to be done to prevent Nigeria from turning to the mess we have today with Boko Haram. When OBJ gave shoot on sight order against OPC in Lagos, other Nigerians supported him. Which Lagosain did not look like OPC in Lagos?

In other words, President Ebele has put focus on himself for his inability to deal with Boko Haram and the perpetrators of Boko Haram enjoy his fight with Obasanjo on Odi. Also note that of all the heads of state, only Obasanjo dared into the lion's den of Boko Haram to try and negotiate peace. One of his negotiators paid with his life. So when Gowon took side with Ebele, he was ridiculed. One of former heads of state that did nothing about Boko Haram than criticizing the one that ventured into the lion's den.

We must not forget that the only head of state that stood up to corruption with EFCC at its zenith was OBJ though his bankrupt ass stole too to compensate for past opportunity he missed. He was also the only one that fired all the “militricians” from the Army and got away with it. Somehow, he survived Abacha. As he did for Ebele, he had the guts to appoint those that have been neglected since the Civil War to powerful positions.

We need not compare agbalumo with oranges. The only people that Obasanjo cannot help are his people. He can crown and deny others. OBJ dey laugh O! Atiku dey laugh.

Paffcomm
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by Dapo

Fortune has played its part in the life of Goodluck Jonathan by investing him as the President of the most populous country in Africa. Overwhelmed by his dramatic emergence as one of the most powerful individuals in the world, Jonathan, a once-shoeless little boy from the village of Otuoke in Bayelsa State, is flummoxed by the enormous power at his disposal. Of all the reasonable and positive things one can do with power, Jonathan’s convenient choice was to wield power with benevolent violations, camouflaged despotism, hypocritical simplicity and stuck-up humility.
Jonathan’s lust and desperation for power, ossified by a siege mentality that is induced by background complex, is responsible for his unseemingly approach to political orthodoxies. The Jonathan Presidency is fast losing its moral direction because of its many contentious engagements with disparate entities of the polity.

The only one the Presidency is not fighting is itself. With the audacious and brazen looting going on in Jonathan’s administration, why should the citizenry who are the victims of the misery created by the extraordinary corruption in government, not protest or be at war with Jonathan and his team? Sampler of corruption catechisms of the administration is reproduced for emotive reflections.
The House of Representatives is already probing the NNPC for improper remittances. For instance, it was alleged that the value for crude oil sales from January to August 2013 stood at $20.7bn but the NNPC only remitted $7billion to the federation account. Now, the Jonathan ‘rats’ had swallowed $13.9bn that could be utilized for the good of the people and the country. Don’t even bother to do the naira conversion, it could be outrageous.

Speaking at the 18th Nigerian Economic Summit last year December, the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that some oil marketers fraudulently collected N232b from the Federal Government as fuel subsidy. Since last year, there has been no single conviction. Those who paid fraudulently and those who collected fraudulently are walking freely around town mocking the rest of us for our unprofitable piety. The Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, threw another bombshell when he declared at the second annual retreat of the state chief executives that took place in Sokoto on November 16, this year that the EFCC should investigate how $5b got missing from the Excess Crude Account. According to him, the ECA stood at $9 billion last January only to shrink to $4 billion by November 2013.

The Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah was accused of spending N255 million on just two cars. Her case has been moving from one panel to the other yet no action has been taken against her. She still goes to her office as if nothing had happened.

For the greater part of his administration’s tenure to date, Jonathan has been engaged in serious battle with the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. Though the President has not been involved in any direct physical confrontation with Amaechi, there is no doubt that he is doing so by proxy. The Inspector General of Police, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, the State Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu and the Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, who are the field soldiers in the Jonathan-Amaechi conflict, have been doing so at Jonathan’s behest.
Before Jonathan kicked out Timipre Sylva and invested Seriake Dickson as the governor of Bayelsa State, there was cordial relationship and peace in that part of the Niger Delta, and particularly between Bayelsa and Rivers State. But one morning, after Dickson “mounted the throne”, the people of Rivers State woke up to discover that Soku, a territory that belonged to the Kalabari Kingdom in Rivers State, had been ceded to Bayelsa by the National Boundary Commission.

Soku is the place where the Rivers people have some of their oil wells. By that cession, the oil wells of Rivers now belong to Bayelsa. When the Rivers people protested, the Federal government promised to look into it. The agreement was to keep the money accruing from the wells in an escrow account while waiting for the resolution of the territorial dispute. But astonishingly, the federal government, through some of its agencies, released Rivers State’s N17 billion in the escrow account to Bayelsa. State. Besides, for the month of October, 2013, Rivers State’s N19 billion monthly allocation from the Federation account was slashed by N5 billion. The President did all these and nobody is questioning him and challenging his arbitrariness.

Having tinkered with the harmony between the Bayelsa and Rivers people, the President took the war to his own party – PDP. Consequent upon the unacceptable actions and attitude of the Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, a faction tagged New Peoples Democratic Party, (nPDP) emerged within the party with the G7 boosting its membership. The faction, headed by Alhaji Kawu Baraje, comprised the governors of Rivers (Amaechi), Kwara (Abdulfatah Ahmed), Kano (Kwankwaso), Sokoto (Wamakko), Adamawa (Nyako),Niger (Aliyu) and Jigawa (Lamido).
Exhibiting its political immaturity and intolerance, the Jonathan administration’s immediate reaction was to seal off the faction’s office, to issue demolition notices to the houses of its supporters, to revoke contracts already given to some of its members, to remove all the ministers loyal to members of the faction and to threaten the members of the faction with expulsion from the party.
The President met with the G7 on two or three occasions but because there was no sincerity and commitment to the reconciliation, the meetings ended in stalemate until the faction and five of the G7 merged with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to strengthen the opposition against Jonathan’s administration.

Now to ASUU. University lecturers had been on strike since July 1, 2013. Series of meetings had been held and it looked as if the dispute was about to be resolved when the President met with ASUU national officers for almost 13 hours. But unexpectedly, ASUU came back with 3 conditions that the Federal Government must meet. Arrogantly, the government rejected the conditions and the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education Nyesom Wike, issued an ultimatum to all striking lecturers. Amplifying Wike’s position, the President expressed his disappointment and short of asking ASUU to prepare for war, vowed not to shift grounds except on the deadline which clashed with the burial ceremonies of Prof. Festus Iyayi of the University of Benin. Here again, the President fumbled. It is all about strategy, wisdom and approach.

Before ASUU, there was the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). The governors’ forum was a platform for all the state governors to exchange ideas, discuss issues of mutual interest, relate together as one irrespective of party and political differences, strategize on how to approach the federal government on issues of common interest and explore the possibilities of socio-political interaction among themselves as different from integration. The President was not comfortable with Amaechi’s leadership of the NGF. Therefore, when their plan to remove Amaechi failed, Jonathan and Jang decided to paralyse the activities and operations of the NGF.

The state governors too have their own problems with the President. Their monthly revenue allocations are now regularly tampered with without explanations. Some of them lose as much as N3 billion, N4 billion, N5 billion every month and this has been affecting their capital projects and even their recurrent expenditure. Some of them cannot even meet their financial commitments to banks and contractors. Is it that the President does not understand the meaning of federalism or it is a ploy by him to force the governors to kowtow?

The Jonathan Presidency is encumbered by so many red herrings and fictional adversaries scripted by corridor parasites to exploit their principal’s obsession with maximum power. A government haunted by obstacle-siege is susceptible to political opportunism and manipulative tendencies. This is why Jonathan sees war where there is none. Every opposition is fantazied as a dangerous enemy that should be paralyzed and neutralized.

The understanding we have of leadership in Africa is purblind and shallow. Our leaders attach importance to how long they stay in office thinking that this is all that matters in history. Yet, we have seen leaders like Mahatma Ghandi, George Washington and Nelson Mandela whose sojourn in power was very short but have been treated well by history because of the quality leadership they exemplified. Some leaders never even had any encounter with political power yet they emerged favourites of history because of the ideas they propagated, the ideology they promoted and the principle they stood for. Martin Luther King (Jnr.) falls into this category. But people like Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Idi Amin of Uganda and Muamar Ghadaffi of Libya, ruled for decades only for history to record them as symbols of evil. Of what value to Jonathan is long tenure in power that history will justly present as a template for reprobate governance? The Jonathan Presidency is a precedent for all that is abominable in leadership.

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by Eliot Uko

Goodluck Jonathan does not have the right connection with Igbo people. The governors are responsible and guilty of this. Jonathan is not in touch with Igbo people and he should know this. In leadership, there is what it is called direct relationship with the people you are leading. Jonathan doesn’t have that with Ndi-Igbo. Ndi-Igbo love Jonathan but he is guilty of not establishing a relationship with Ndi-Igbo. He would establish relationship with Ndi-Igbo if he does thing that appease the heart of Ndi-Igbo, if he does things that will win the heart of Ndi-Igbo, but he is yet to do that. Unemployment in the south-east it is the highest, bad roads in the south-east are the worst in the country, violent crimes, kidnapping, armed robbery highest here in the south-east. Hunger, poverty is highest in the zone no direct link with the government. Jonathan has an opportunity to win over the hearts and minds of Ndi-Igbo but he has not done that because the governors employed what we call Chimaroke-Orji Uzo Kalu format which was perfected during Obasanjor era. They commanded the local government, rent buses and brought all the rural women to Okpara Square. The president would come, they would give those women T-shirts and gave them one-one thousand to grace the president and off he (president) went after the event. They employed it because it works. That is difference from leaving in the hearts of people.

Awolowo lives in the heart of Yorubas, they love him he had the charisma; Zik did even Ojukwu did and Okpara did. Those were leaders in Igbo land who had charisma. The reason the governors employ that simply is because it works but not the best for Jonathan. He should endeavour to appease the hearts of the people. Enugu International Airport should have taken off before now; 2nd Niger Bridge should have been completed. All of these projects are work ongoing. They are deliberately delaying it to use it for 2nd term election bid, that is not good for Ndi-Igbo who give him love and he has not replicated the love Igbos have given to him. They spent tones of money remodelling Kano airport more than they spent in Enugu, Jonathan didn’t attend the day it was re-opened, they spent 20 times more money in only Lagos airport than Enugu. Jonathan didn’t attend when it was re-opened but small thing they did and painted like warehouse, Jonathan did not only arrive amidst glamour to use it make political statement, but they also gathered entire Igbo people, the school children like orphanage for Jonathan. That is Ndi-Igbo, he should please treat us with more respect.

Ohanenze

On Ohanenze, I don’t want to talk about Ohaneze. Let’s live Ohaneze out of it, but those struggling for leadership in Ohaneze only see it as a vehicle to get political relevance, political influence and to make money. They are not battling for Ohaneze leadership because they love Ndi-Igbo, because they want to fight for Ndi-Igbo or because they want to lay down their lives for the wellbeing of the Ndi-Igbo. No, no, no, they are struggling to lead Ohaneze so that they will be the one to endorse Mr. President or make something out of endorsing Mr. President and Igbo masses. This is why Ohaneze is not the Ohaneze that Ndi-Igbo needs. Ndi-Igbo needs a strong umbrella body, it is important but the way they are struggling for it now is out of it.

Paffcomm
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The world’s corruption monitor, Transparency International, in its recently released 2014 report, classified Nigeria as the 144th most corrupt nation among the 177 countries studied. In 2012, Nigeria was ranked as the 124th most corrupt nation among the less than 170 countries examined. The anti-corruption crusader named Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia as the world’s most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand were given clean bills of health with little or no corruption blemish.

The report gave Nigeria as an example of countries where oil resources were available to only a few elite. It is an irony that the country’s oil wealth that is supposed to catalyze its development has become a main channel of corruption. Over the years, trillions of naira that the country earned from petroleum products largely ended up in private pockets to the utter detriment of the majority of the people. Each succeeding year, administration after administration, the scandal of corruption gets deeper in the country with no redemption in sight.

The situation has become so bad that no government official or agency knows what the country actually earns from oil exploration and production. All the citizens get to hear are contradictory official statements on the income from the sector. Meanwhile, it is no secret that a lot of government functionaries and their cronies are feeding fat on the national wealth. This is apart from illegal bunkering that has taken a life of its own since the advent of the present administration.

This poor corruption ranking should serve as a clarion call to all Nigerians and the three tiers of government to buckle up in the fight against graft. This is not a time for rebuttals or lampooning of Transparency International. The move from 124th to the 144th position on this index shows clearly that the country is not confronting the corruption monster as it should. If it were not so, there ought to have been significant improvement in Nigeria’s rating.

The battle against corruption is one that all Nigerians must be involved in. It should not be left to government officials alone, as the menace cuts across all strata of the society. Churches, mosques, schools, clubs, not-for-profit organisations, professional bodies, the civil service, organised private sector and the general public must join hands in combating the ogre.

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies must sit up. The impression that has been created by this ranking is that the country is losing the battle against corruption. We would have expected that with all the interventions from both national and international anti-corruption agencies, the problem would have declined by now. It does not make sense to have this menace flourishing and undermining development in the country. The only way the continuing degeneracy can be explained is that, collectively, we are not getting our acts together. Nigerians must gird their loins if this fight against corruption must be won. Otherwise, we are likely to descend further in next year’s ranking.

Nigeria should not be lagging behind in every human development indicator. We must strive to exit the club of notorious nations and do all we can to become a continental reference point. We must harness our natural and human resources to uplift the country. Nigeria cannot be so blessed and yet the majority of its citizens will be living in abject poverty while a clique squanders the riches of the country through institutionalized corruption.

The time has come for us to ask questions on how the nation’s oil wealth is being managed. Docility cannot correct the flaws. All those who are responsible for management of oil revenue must be made accountable. We must strive to make living above board an integral aspect of public life. This is the only way to get out of this cul-de-sac.

The government needs to tighten the noose on perpetrators of illegal oil bunkering and other economic saboteurs. Severe sanctions should be meted out to public officials who compromise their offices for personal gains. The time has come, too, for Nigerians to start looking at the broader picture of corruption. It is an all-encompassing phenomenon that touches all aspects of human existence; hence, the need for concerted efforts and jettisoning of the current cavalier approach to corruption fighting. The perception of Nigeria as a sleazy nation must change.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/editorial/nigerias-worsening-corruption-ranking/

Please take time to go through some of our articles on corruption in Nigeria

Where Are The Billions Of Dollars Aid, Loans, Grants, and Revenue From Oil, Gas
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/where-are-the-billions-of-dollars-aid-loans-grants-and-revenue-from-oil-gas.html
Too Much Corruption and Poverty in Nigeria
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/too-much-corruption-and-poverty-in-nigeria.html
Nigerian Leaders are Saboteurs of development
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/nigerian-leaders-are-saboteurs-of-development.html
Nigeria Politics: A Story of Failed Leadership
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/nigeria-politics-a-story-of-failed-leadership.html
Why is corruption prevalent in Nigeria?
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/why-is-corruption-in-nigeria.html
The real threat to the stability of Nigeria
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/unemployment-poverty-and-inequality-a-threat-to-the-stability-of-nigeria1.html
Government and politicians must stop underdeveloping Nigeria
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/government-and-politicians-must-stop-underdeveloping-nigeria.html
Nigeria Corruption and the coming Armageddon
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/nigeria-corruption-and-the-coming-armageddon1.html
Corruption and Development
http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2012/06/corruption-and-development.html

Paffcomm
www.paffcomm.com

2015: ATIKU'S POSTERS FLOOD ABUJA

THE GAME IS SET. ATIKU IS ALREADY PREPARING TO RUN FOR THE PRESIDENCY IN 2015 UNDER PDP. WHO WOULD APC PARTY PRODUCE TO RUN AGAINST ATIKU? UNDER WHCH PARTY WOULD NDIGBO RUN OR ARE THEY (NDIGBO) STILL WAITING AND ADOPTING AND STEPPING DOWN FOR GOODLUCK JONATHAN? HERE, THE REAL POLITICS BEGINS.

By Henry Umoru

ABUJA- AHEAD of 2015 Presidential election, posters of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday Sunday appeared on the streets of the nation’s capital city, Abuja.

The glossy posters were seen on walls of major overhead and pedestrian bridges as well as walls by the road sides especially along the Umaru Yar’Adua way, the road leading to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport road, Abuja.

Though there were no parties attached to the posters, but they were sponsored by the Turaki Network of Change, (TNC) with inscription, “inspired by Change, Turaki Network for Change, TNC Atiku Abubakar GCON ( Turaki Adamawa) Bigger Challenges Greater Opportunities.”

Atiku who has not formally declared interest to run for the 2015 Presidential election against President Goodluck Jonathan, is presently a member of the iNational Executive Committee, NEC of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

It will be recalled that in August 31 at the Special National Convention of PDP, Atiku and six northern governors stormed out of Eagle square, venue of the convention to later address Journalists at the Yar’Adua Centre where the defunct new PDP with Alhaji Abubakar Baraje as Chairman, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as Secretary and Sam Sam Jaja as Deputy National Chairman.

Also recently, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC registered a group, Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM as a political party. The group was formed by Atiku, chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT of PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, Alhaji Shaibu Oyedokun, Mrs Titi Ajanaku, among others not as a party, but a pressure group. Following the registration of PDM as a political party, the former Vice President however threw his weight behind it, but never showed himself as a member.

It will also be recalled that in December, 2006, Atiku Abubakar emerged as the Presidential candidate of Action congress, AC.

He also vied for the presidential ticket of PDP in 2011, but he was defeated by President Goodluck Jonathan at Eagle Square. Out of total votes cast of 3542 according to the returning officer, Professor Tunde Adeniran, Jonathan scored 2736 representing 78% of the total votes while Atiku Abubakar polled 805 votes and the present Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, Mrs Sarah Jubril scored only one vote.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/2015-atikus-posters-flood-abuja/

Paffcomm
www.paffcomm.com

Ojukwu was never the founder of APGA party. Chiefs Chris Okoye, Chekwas Okorie, Onwuka Ukwa, Maxi Okwu were the founders of APGA. Chief Ojukwu was then a member ANPP now APC the Buhari party. Ojukwu also endorsed Buhari as the presidential candidate of ANPP and held a lot of meeting with him at his Enugu home. Ojukwu later decamped to join APGA. It was said that Ojukwu decamp to APGA was a plan between Ojukwu and Buhari to frustrate Obasanjo in the east. Even though Ojukwu was APGA flag bearer yet he campaigned for Buhari. On the 12 April 2003, the APGA won 1.4% of popular votes and 2 of 360 seats in the House of Representatives of Nigeria and no seats in the Senate. Its candidate at the presidential elections of 19 April 2003, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu won 3.3% of the vote. Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi from All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to APGA no doubt raised the bar and the eventual victory of Governor Peter Obi. In gubernatorial elections of April 2011, Chief Rochas Okorocha (APGA), was elected governor of Imo state, by polling 15% more votes than incumbent governor Ikedi Ohakim (PDP) making the party present in two states with Anambra state as the party's first presence.

BUHARI/OJUKWU PACT

One would recall the condition in the pact between Buhari and Ojukwu that was well enunciated by the Chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie. Chief Chekwas confirmed the meeting between Buhari and Ojukwu on April 17, 2003 at Enugu to formalize the understanding of merely working together when they became the candidates of their respective parties into a written pact between Buhari and Ojukwu. Chief Okorie announced the ingredient of the written pact between Buhari-ANPP and Ojukwu-APGA as follows:

We (ANPP/APGA) met and agreed that in the event of
a run off, the weaker party in the result
will support the stronger one.
For more, See This Day on line, April 18, 2003.

During Ojukwu protracted illness. Governor Obi, abandoned his troops and the quintessential raison de'tre for establishing APGA. Events proved that he viewed APGA as a mere vehicle to achieve his personal ambition. Records had it that he never fully funded the party in Anambra State nor bought even a bus for APGA in any of the four South-East states under the hegemony of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In fact, it is on record as well that all efforts made by APGA leadership for Governor Obi to appreciate the imperative of territorial ambition espoused by the great Ezeigbo Gburugburu fell on deaf ears. He even refused to pay adequate attention to Anambra South Senatorial bye-election in Ikemba's district and hence lost an election which pundits had awarded to APGA before the 2007 election. One is at a loss to locate the passionate followership a factionalized APGA has which Mr Anarado cuddles. Otherwise, is there any reason why Governor Obi couldn't organize one local government council election eight years in office?

It can be said that Governor Obi's casual and non-committal attitude to APGA affairs more than any other factor led to the exit of the founders of APGA party Chiefs Chris Okoye, Chekwas Okorie and others, In February 2013 APGA party merged with the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the Congress for Progressive Change to form the All Progressives Congress

After the merger Senator Annie Okonkwo, Senator Okonkwo told the Vanguard that the new mega party was the only party that would lead to the realization of Igbo presidency. According to him the ruling PDP would most likely pick President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential flag bearer in 2015, pointing out that with a candidate of Igbo extraction contesting on the banner of APC, there was the likelihood that the party would win. On the allegation that the APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh was not part of the merger talks, Okonkwo said: “When all the governors of the opposition parties met including Governor Obi. Owelle Rochas Okorocha who is the leader of the party said that the party participated fully and endorsed the merger. I came here on behalf of the leadership of the party to represent APGA, so anybody saying something contrary is on his own,” he said.

Please note that within this period of APGA merger Governor Obi never made any statement except Chief Umeh, who was against the merger. The merger could no longer go ahead in Anambra state as Governor Obi later withdrew after he has succeeded in drawing the attention of the president whom he had longed so much to be close with for power as Umeh was threatening him from every angle. Finally, the president invited Obi to Abuja from where they became friends that made governor Obi to turn against APC party. Therefore, with all this happening is Governor Obi really sincere with APGA and Ndigbo or just for his selfish interest.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/02/merger-latest-apc-oppositions-mega-party-emerges/

Paffcomm
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Now that the gubernatorial election in Anambra state is come and gone. The winner also declared. PDP party in disarray. APC in court to find justice. APGA watching to know what the court will decide. INEC apportioning blame of their failure to conduct free and fair election to whoever they wish. Hopes and wishes of many dashed out due to heavy rigging. Painfully, the PDP party many had hoped to win the election and place ndigbo as a serious contender for the presidential seat lost due to the questionable agreement reached between PDP and APGA. An agreement the flag bearer of PDP, Tony Nwoye was unaware when it was reached. A friend said that this is the first in the history of Nigeria if not in the world as whole, a political party rigged out their own candidate. "I call it the eight wonders of the world". In Nigeria politics any can happen. However, now that the election is over. It is time for us to take stocks and reflect on the aftermath of the election, our gains and our losses and the Igbo situation in general. During our overview of all the intrigue that took place in Anambra gubernatorial election, we discovered that there is no real gain, but a heavy loss to ndigbo. It is a big loss as regard to ndigbo target and aspiration to clinch the presidential seat of the country.

The question now is what is the fate of the Igbo presidency? The presidency seems to have eluded ndigbo once again. It is unfortunate, very unfortunate that the president deceived us into believing that he will run in 2015 hence our support for him, but every sign and information reaching us, indicate that the president may not really run in 2015 due to the pressures from the north and the west. In one of our articles, we pointed out that the president has finally yielded to the north and west pressures on him to hand the government back to the north hence his agreement with Peter Obi and the PDP support for APGA. An agreement fashioned to destroy APC and the long standing good relationship between Igbo and Yoruba. Solely, to deny ndigbo the opportunity to run for the presidency under any of the two national political party in country PDP and APC.

Had PDP won the Anambra gubernatorial race ndigbo would have had a chance to argue that it is our turn to head the country. The annoying thing is that Peter Obi knew very well that APGA taken over Anambra state means ndigbo had lost the presidential ambition. APGA win in Anambra state was used by the north as a trap to tempt ndigbo into foregoing their ambition for the presidential seat. Unfortunately Peter fell into the trap because of his selfish interest. Obi consciously or unconsciously sabotaged ndigbo presidential ambition. Painfully as we are yet to digest the loss of the Igbo presidential bid under PDP party due to Obi's selfish ambition by trading Igbo presidency for APGA win in Anambra state, the Chairman of the Igbo World Assembly, Dr. Anthony Anakwenze and President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Gary Igariwey at Crystal Palace Hotel, Enugu during the 2013 convention hurriedly told the president that ndigbo will not run for the presidency in 2015. Also, Governor Peter Obi reacting to the victory of APGA candidate, Willy Obiano in the Anambra governorship election said APGA would adopt President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate.

Thanks to Chief Chekwas Okorie, who was also honored by IWA for his long service to Igbo land, disagreed with the position of the group that the Igbo would wait if Jonathan decides to run again in 2015. According to Chief Chekwas Okorie he said, “I disagree with IWA that the Igbo will go to sleep and wait for Jonathan to finish before an Igbo man will take over. “I agree that the president has the right to contest again, I’m not the one to stop him, but we need to sit down to discuss this, the Igbo will contest the presidency in 2015,” Okorie insisted. More so, even with Chief Chekwas Okorie pronouncement that ndigbo will run in 2015. My question remains, under which party would ndigbo run? PDP is out of our reach because they lost in Anambra state. APC is regarded as Bako Haram Terrorist and Hausa Yoruba party. APGA is only popular in Anambra state and can never be voted for in the other region, especially now that hate words characterized APGA campaign in the Anambra gubernatorial election.

Many of us have said that ndigbo for now is not interested in the presidency until after national conference. What makes us think the national conference will hold? And, what makes us think that the agreement reached in the conference will be put into action in this country? What makes us think that ndigbo will not be ganged up against in the national conference? What makes us think that our representatives will not sabotage us as usual? Our investigation revealed that the national conference is simply a gimmick the president introduced to scare the north and the west into allowing him to contest his second tenure. Unfortunately, the scare tactics did work rather it created division in PDP party and helped raise APC into a mega party and also contributed to the lost of the Middle belt to APC thereby leaving Jonathan with only just southeast and south south. With all this the president had no option other than to yield to the pressure. The remaining two region southeast and south south cannot make him the presidents. As it stands now the north will rule for eight years after which the west will take their turn. When will it be the turn of ndigbo to rule Nigeria? Ndigbo has lost again. Cheated out of the presidency race again. Those who argue that Igbo presidency is not important to us ndigbo should, first of all, understand our status in this country. The presidency is very important to us.

The presidency will give us a sense of belonging. The presidency will make us equal to other major ethnic groups in this country and give us equal stake and opportunities like others. It will remove our second-class status. It will remove the Biafran defeat during the war. It will remove ndigbo and our Igbo leaders state of mental defeat because the mental defeat is worse than the defeat during the Biafran war. The mental defeat in our leaders created disunity in Igboland, The mental defeat created greed and selfishness amongst ndigbo and our leaders. The mental defeat created sabotage and inferiority complex among our leaders. The mental defeat created fears that our leaders cannot stand for our right in this country. The mental defeat made some of our governors and leaders including Governor Peter not to condemn the BAKO HARAM killing of ndigbo in the north because of their business interest and to protect their political relevance in the country. The mental defeat made us beggars and inferior to other major ethnic groups in the country. The mental defeat made us have the highest number of unemployed in this country. The mental defeat made us have the highest number of Nigerians in foreign prison all over the world because ndigbo are refused employment and opportunities in their own country Nigeria.

Why are ndigbo the least in federal service in the country? The answer is because job acquisition is all about whom you know. Without such contacts, your search will take you well into your retirement age. Have you not witnessed instances where no vacancy has been advertised boldly, but some potential job seekers are engaged? Again, vacancies in most organizations are concealed awaiting the graduation of a certain ethnic group's women or men. If you doubt this, check the security services, the financial institutions, the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies. They look similar to the nuclear family or village roll call list or ethnic group forums in the north and west of Nigeria. Nigeria federal jobs are held down by the north and the west for their kith and kin as well as their ethnic men and women and cronies. Ndigbo has no one to hold down jobs for them because ndigbo are not in the power and has never been in the power to create that chance for us.

The mental defeat made us a region where there is the least federal presence because our leaders do not have the courage to ask for fear of being isolated by the cabals for political appointment and contracts. The mental defeat allows other tribes to dictate and chose leaders for us. It is worthy to note that whoever other tribes want to make a leader in our region is first appointed to ministerial job and use the person at a later time to dictate to ndigbo. The mental defeat that cheated us out from the presidential seat in 1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2015 while 2019 is unattainable because the northern elected president to be in 2015 will be going for his second tenure in 2019. The dream of realizing Biafra is unattainable. Many of us believe it is achievable. Of course, it is achievable if Igbo leaders can unite and join hands to fight for it. As it stands now, our apex umbrella group, Ohaneze is uninterested in Biafra agitation. It is also on record that more than 65% of ndigbo does not want Biafra. Our leaders are contented with being in Nigeria. Some are contented in Nigeria because of their investment and properties and political appointment and political positions while others are afraid that the agitation may result to another war.

Therefore, from the look of things, the dream of Igbo presidency is not feasible because we have traded it for APGA. Biafra is not realizable because the people that will make it happen are uninterested. Even Paffcomm criticism of ills in the society and the Biafran groups campaign in the social network media is about to be attacked by the government if the social media Bill is passed. Truly, the election has come and gone, but the damage lingers. What then can ndigbo do?

Paffcomm
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http://www.paffcomm.com/1/post/2013/12/anambra-election-truly-the-election-has-come-and-gone-but-the-damage-lingers.html

WE HOPE THAT WITH THIS ESSAY YOU HAVE LEARN ONE OR TWO THINGS THAT OUR IGBO TRADITION IS NOT REALLY A MONSTER TRADITION AS WE ARE MEANT TO BELIEVE BY SOME CHRISTIAN TEACHERS. LET US NOT BE MORE CHRISTIAN OR MORE CATHOLIC THAN THE POPES WHO COMMENDED AFRICAN TRADITIONS AND CULTURES AND WANTS IT TO BE INCULCATED INTO THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. IN SUMMERY WE SHALL DESIST FROM CASTIGATING AND CONDEMNING OUR TRADITION. WE SHOULD ALSO BE CAREFUL NOT TO ALLOW SOME OF OUR CHRISTIAN TEACHERS PIT US AGAINST OUR NATIVE TRADITIONS AND CULTURES. BE WISE!

The additional motivating force behind the missionary enterprise, as appears in these papal documents, was therefore that the "barbarous peoples", by being evangelised would reap the benefits of "Christian Civilisation". Benedict XV, for instance, speaks of "countries where the catholic faith has been preached for several centuries, nations who have fully seen the light of the gospel (and) have reached such a degree of civilisation as to posses men distinguished in every department of secular knowledge..."(42) Attending to a high degree of civilisation was apparently the same as "seeing the light of the gospel". And in this the missionary Bishop, Joseph Blomjous, is in perfect agreement:

This was because the Europeans at that time saw their own culture and their own religion in so bright a light that anything else seemed like night in comparison. This explains why the missionaries of old did not acknowledge African culture as they should have done, nor did they build their message upon it.(43)

As pointed out earlier on, we find here amply portrayed the paradoxical tension between, on the one hand, the positive theoretical affirmation of, and respect for local culture, so well pronounced in church statements, and, on the other, the negative practical application in the missionary situation, particularly in Africa. On the level of official Church pronouncements, the Catholic Church has always manifested her great solicitude for a genuine regard for, and respect of the ways of life of the people in the missions. This attitude is quite in line with the early tradition of the Church to assume into Christianity whatever was good in the ways of life of a good people and gradually to eradicate what was not compatible with it. Unfortunately, says Raymond Hickey, this "attitude was not always accepted by those in the field".(44) In the case of Africa, Bishop Blomjous explains why:

The missionaries of old were not unintelligent fools without any foresight who wanted to destroy ruthlessly all the cultural values and customs of the Africans. On the contrary, many of them had an extraordinary good appreciation of the realities of life and serious attempts were made to bring about a mutual penetration and cross-fertilisation between Christianity and the African heritage. In spite of this, however, when it came to concrete questions of adaptation, the majority of missionaries had a negative attitude. Why was this? It was perhaps precisely because they were too much aware of the realities of life. The Africa of that time was perhaps not quite as idyllic as the ethnologists and Africa of today describe it. One has only to think of the slavery among the African tribes, of the poisonings, of the misuse of power by sorcerers, of the abuse of polygamy and child-marriage and of the cruelties practised against people of other tribes. The missionaries became simply disillusioned and alarmed. They compared all this with the relationships in the families in which they had grown up and they began to condemn what they saw in Africa.(45)

Bishop Blomjous blames this on the ethnocenticism of human weakness: "Is it not a general human weakness to regard one's own people as the best? Wasn't there, and isn't there still, even in Africa, a tribal selfishness which judges disapprovingly of other tribes?"(46)

But the issue definitely goes much deeper than a simple freak in human nature, even if the charge of ethnocentricism is subsequently correct. The Church's Evangelization, as has already been pointed out, often took on the dimension of cultural domination. Having carried with it the same ethnocentric attitude that was so typical of the 19th century European imperialist expansion, it had found its justification in a faith in a universal superior culture. The papal documents considered above have lent credence to the classicist mentality which greatly determined the Church's attitude toward Africans and their religions. It is an attitude characterised by the presuppositions of what David Westerlund calls "a theology of discontinuity".(47) This involved a total disruption or break to "a higher culture and a better way of life under the inspiration of the Christian religion".(48)

What we find at play here is both the classicist monocultural outlook, and the predominantly underdeveloped pre-Vatican 11 theology of salvation in which missionaries were trained. In addition to official Church directives were the strict instructions of the founders of Congregations to missionaries to learn local languages, respect local customs, study and diligently record them. It was, for instance, the conviction of Cardinal Lavigerie, Founder of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers), that "(these) could be of very great interest, even for theology"(49). In the case of Africa, it is thanks to the missionaries that the African oral languages were developed into written languages, and the recordings of local customs by the missionaries have become sources for the historical and cultural study of these peoples. This they did long before the field-work anthropologists took interest in research among African peoples.

This, notwithstanding, missionaries who were to implement official Church directives in practice never involved themselves in any real dialogue particularly with African religious culture. The early missionary endeavour represented, as it were, a meeting of two outlooks - two world views - which not only remained mutually closed to one another but were, in fact, mutually opposed to each other. Alyward Shorter is quite right when he says that Christianity's "first contact with Africa tended to be uncompromising, intolerant - even violent" (50). It is a tragedy, he says, that the "early missionary endeavour in Africa never produced a confrontation or a meeting of meanings between African religious thought, systems and the thinking of 19th century European Christianity" (51), but a violent confrontation in which, to be Christian the African religious past had to cede to the civilising influence that Christianity presented itself to be. Shorter blames the inability of missionaries to promote an integration between the Christian message and local cultures, that is, to practice Inculturation, on the "contemporary classicists theology" in which the missionaries themselves were trained. In his view:

Missionaries were equipped to study languages and respect cultures. They were exhorted to do so by their founders, but they were hindered from real dialogue by their theology; not merely by an under-developed theology of contemporary classicist theology itself....Before long they became experts in the social institutions and practices of the people they served, but the theology they imbibed during their training prevented them from making any positive use of their newly acquired knowledge. It is as if they were newly studying non-Christian cultures only to condemn them, or at least to bypass them.(52)

For the most part, the monocultural outlook which obtained largely between the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council, and which underlay the contemporary classicist theology hindered any integration between Christianity and African traditional culture, so that "even when ethnographic researches of Christian missionaries revealed the new riches of African religious thought to the world, the Church was resigned to condemning the very object of her interest". and even when the papal call was clear that "the herald of the gospel and message of Christ is an apostle...his office does not demand that he transplant European civilisation and culture, and no other, to foreign soil, there to take root and propagate itself".(53)

Vatican 11 And The New Perspectives

It certainly is in this regard that Vatican 11 is a watershed in its theological openness to, and appreciation of the religious traditions and religious values of non-Christian peoples. By contrast, the great solicitude of the pre-Vatican 11 Church for the respect of local culture and native customs, positive as it was, (even if theory and practice often remained in disparity), nonetheless stopped short of according any legitimate to other religious traditions besides Christianity. The prevailing theological and cultural climate had no room for overtures of this kind. In carrying the issue to unprecedented levels, Vatican 11 read well the signs of the times, and ceasing upon the Kairos, the "right moment", opened wide the windows, allowing in fresh air to invigorate a new atmosphere of greater understanding and closer Cupertino and dialogue between Christian and non-Christian peoples and their religions in the search for, and response to "that truth which enlightens all men" (cf. NA 2).

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CHURCH AND AFRICAN TRADITION PART 4

Pope Benedict XV, in his Pontificate, had approved an extensive missionary policy for the preaching of the gospel. His encyclical letter, Maximum Illud, of November 30th, 1919, is considered "The Magna Carta of modern Catholic Missiology", as subsequent missionary documents of Popes have taken inspiration from it. But the expansive missionary policy of Benedict XV was however motivated by what Raymond Hickey considers "his pessimistic appraisal of the ultimate fate of non-Christian peoples". "A much more rigid interpretation of the axiom extra ecclesiam nulla salus was commonly taken at this time", (24)he says. Thus, Benedict XV, in Maximum Illud, speaks pessimistically of "the numberless heathen who are still sitting in the shadows of death. According to recent statistics their number accounts to a thousand million..."(25) He laments the "sad fate of this multitude of souls", to whom has to be extended the "benefits of divine redemption".(26) Addressing the bishops, "in whose hands are placed the salvation of the world", he speaks of a divine task...to light the torch of those sitting in the shadows of death, and open the gate of heaven to those who rush to their destruction".(27) And again, addressing religious superiors, and heads of religious congregations devoted to the missions, he requests that missionaries, after having "successfully accomplished their task and converted some nations from unhallowed superstition to Christian faith and have founded there a church with sufficient prospects, they should transfer them, as Christ's forlorn hope, to some other nation to snatch it from Satan's grasp..."(28) It is a sacred obligation for the faithful to support the mission among the "infidels", for no one stands in greater need of "our brotherly assistance than the gentile races which, in ignorance of God, are enslaved to blind and unbridled instincts and live under the awful servitude of the evil one".(29)

Pius XI's Rerum Ecclesiae makes similar statements: the apostolic preachers make "smooth the way to salvation for heathen nations", (30) that is, those still "deprived of the Christian religion",(31) and are "white for harvest"(32). It is his God-given duty that "as long as divine providence shall continue us in life, this duty of our apostolic office shall keep us always solicitous because after pondering on the fact that the pagans still number almost a billion, we have no peace in our spirit...".(33) There is no charity, he says, so great as "having them withdrawn from the darkness of superstition and instructed in the true faith of Christ".(34) He recommends that a prayer be said every day by Christians that the "divine mercy may descend upon so many unhappy beings and upon such populous pagan nations".(35) Thus, the missionary, ambassador of Christ, was to "bravely face all hardships and difficulties, as long as he can snatch a soul from the mouth of hell".

Besides the pessimism, in the papal documents it is also noticed a marked tendency to contrast a civilised and a superior Christian or Western culture, from where the missionaries came, with the "backward" and inferior cultures of non Western peoples to be evangelised. Evangelization itself had taken on the added dimension of cultural advancement and the civilisation of the so-called uncivilised peoples. Africans, no doubt, fell into this category. Hence the papal documents generally identify as "backward" those people who are as yet unopened to European civilisation. Mission therefore among African peoples, besides "snatching souls", and liberating the multitude of "unhappy beings" from "unbridled instincts" and "dark superstitions", had the added dimension of civilising the accursed descendants of Ham.(37) The very nature of mission was thought to be determined by this additional exigency of imparting "the light of the gospel and the benefits of Christian culture and civilisation to the peoples sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death".(38)

Hence we find the frequent use of such ethnocentric terms as "savages", "uncivilised", "barbarous peoples", alongside the more religious ones such as "heathens", "infidels", "pagans", and "pagan nations" in the two papal pronouncements, that is, and Benedict XV's Maximum Illud, and Pius XI's Rerum Ecclesiae. These encyclicals incidentally coincided with the hey-days of the intense European imperialist activity in Africa. They therefore reinforce the cultural dimension of Western Christian expansion with its tendency to look down on, or downgrade all non-western cultures as backward. "Pagan territories" were identified as those "vast territories which are still unopened to Christian civilisation...the immense number...still deprived of the fruits of redemption".(39) To be civilised was to be Christians. and vice versa. Pius XI exhorts bishops in Christian countries not to put any obstacles in the way of young men, ecclesiastic students or priests who wished to offer their lives in the service of "the heathens particularly those who are still savages and barbarians".(40)

Even when, concerning the equality among European and native missionaries, Pius XI stresses that "he errs grievously who considers such natives as of an inferior race, and of obtuse intelligence", he nonetheless concedes: "But if you find extreme slowness of mind in the case of men who live in the very heart of barbarous regions, this is due to the conditions of their lives, for, since the exigencies of their lives are limited, they are not compelled to make great use of their intelligence..."(41) It was common of the period to readily stigmatise Africans with intellectual morbidness.
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Pius XII himself, in his first encyclical letter, Summi Pontificatus, demonstrates his own positive approach to local culture. Outlining the principle of adaptation which, according to him, must pervade the entire activity of the Church in mission countries, the Pope considers it right for all nations to preserve and develop their cultural patrimony. He based his doctrine on the unity of the human race, and the equality of all men. It was thus the duty of the Church to assume such cultural patrimony into the new churches. As he says:

The Church of Christ...cannot and does not think of depreciating or disdaining the peculiar characteristics which each people, with jealous and understandable pride, cherishes and retains as a precious heritage. (Therefore) all that, in such usages and customs, is not inseparably bound up with religious errors will always be the object of sympathetic consideration, and whenever possible, will be preserved and developed...(19)

And in the address to the Directors of Pontifical Mission Works in 1944, he again emphasises that:

The specific character, the traditions, the customs of each nation must be preserved intact, so long as they are not in contradiction with the divine law. The missionary is an apostle of Jesus Christ. His task is not to propagate European civilisation in mission lands. Rather, it is his function so to train and guide other peoples, some of whom glory in their ancient and refined civilisation, as to prepare them for the willing and hearty acceptance of the principles of Christian life and behaviour. (20)

It is in his encyclical Evangelii Praecones that his thought on the need to promote the local culture as a principle of missionary acculturation is most explicitly expressed. Quoting extensively from his two earlier documents, the Summi Pontificatus and the Address to the Directors of Pontifical Mission Works, Pius XII lays down, as a matter of principle, the church's attitude toward local culture in her missionary activity:

Another end remains to be achieved, and we desire that all should fully understand it. The Church from the beginning down to our time has always followed this wise practice: let not the Gospel, in being introduced into any new land, destroy or extinguish whatever its people posses that is naturally good, just or beautiful. For the church, when she calls people to a higher culture and a better way of life under the inspiration of the Christian religion, does not act like one who recklessly cuts down and uproots a thriving forest. No, she grafts a good scion upon the wild stock that it may bear a crop of more delicious fruit.(21)

Pius XII based himself on a fairly optimistic assessment of human nature, which "has in itself something that is naturally Christian... (thus) the Catholic Church", he says "has neither scorned nor rejected the pagan philosophies".(22) In this, Pius XII, to some extent, anticipated the teaching of Vatican 11 in declaring that: "Whatever there is in the native customs that is not inseparably bound up with superstition and error will always be received kindly consideration, and, when possible, will be preserved intact". (23)

This statement of Pius XII however underscores, also, the predominantly pre-Vatican attitude towards traditional religion, particularly in the African context. Unfortunately, traditional religion, as is well known, was collectively and negatively branded as "superstition", and was considered erroneous. It never therefore received kindly consideration, neither was it thought worthy of preservation. Unfortunately, also, it was not only traditional religion that was negatively appraised, the ultimate fate of non-Christian peoples themselves was pessimistically viewed.

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A Break With The Past

What we have done so far is to present those documents of the Church which have made a direct and an explicit pronouncement on African Traditional Religion. These statements, as we have pointed out, are few and also very recent, as they date back to the Second Vatican Council, the Church had a generally negative attitude towards non-Christian peoples and their religions. Until the Second Vatican Council, non-Christian religions, for theological reasons, were hardly ever the subject of positive appraisal by the Church; if there was a reference to non-Christian religions, it was either to contrast them with Christianity, the only true religion, because it is revealed, or to condemn them.

On the other hand it has to be admitted that the Church has, in many magisterial pronouncements, both before and after Vatican 11, made some fine statements on the respect for the cultures particularly of people in mission lands. Magisterial directives are also abundant on the comportment of missionaries, for the most part, these documents speak generally of respect for culture and do not usually make explicit mention of religion, but as an indispensable component of culture regard for religion is sometimes implied. This is particularly the case in the Vatican 11 and Post-Vatican 11 documents. Besides, the documents form a necessary background to understanding the place of Africans and their religious traditions in these documents of the Church. We shall make a brief presentation of them, dividing them into two categories, namely, Vatican11 and post-Vatican 11 documents, and pre-Vatican 11 documents respectively. Following our methodology, we shall highlight first some Vatican 11 and post-Vatican 11 documents on culture, and then the pre-Vatican 11 ones.

Just before the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XX111, in Princeps Pastorum of 28th November, 1959, directs that missiology be instituted in the curriculum of local seminaries in mission lands. One of the aims of this instruction was, in the words of the Pope, to sharpen "the students' minds, so as to enable them to form a true estimate of the cultural traditions of their own homelands, especially in matters of philosophy and theology, and to discern the special points of contact which exist between these systems and the Christian religion".(15) This directive was in line with the teaching of earlier Popes, such as Benedict XV, Pius X1 and Pius X11; but it more perfectly forms a bridge between these earlier teachings and that of the Second Vatican Council.

In Lumen Gentium 13, and Ad Gentes 22, the Second Vatican Council, in appreciating the customs and ways of life of each people, insist on the need for the missionary effort to assimilate these into the patrimony of the Church. In Evangelii Nuntiandi 20 Paul V1 makes mandatory the incorporation of human cultures into the building up of the kingdom of God as a necessary requisite of Evangelization in today's world. And John Paul 11 in such documents as Catechesi Tradendae 53, Redemptoris Missio 52-54, and Ecclesia in Africa 42-43, makes dialogue with cultures as an essential component of Evangelization and gospel proclamation.

Several pre-Vatican II papal documents, particularly those on the missions, contain fine expressions of the Church's appraisal of local culture. These documents however exhibit the following characteristics. First, they manifest an overt disparity between the theoretical affirmation in the mission field. Second, the theoretical affirmation of cultures of peoples did not include an affirmation of their traditional religious traditions; in fact the documents pessimistically portray the ultimate fate of the so-called "heathen peoples". And third, with regards to Africa, in practice both African culture and traditional religion were largely negated. Coupled with this was an apparent downgrading of the African personality itself.

Already in the 7th century, Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), in a letter to Abbot Mellitus,(16) the missionary companion of St. Augustine of Canterbury, indicated what principles were to be observed in their missionary apostolate among the English. The letter explicitly requested Augustine not to "destroy the temples of the gods, but rather the idols within those temples". The temples themselves were to be purified with holy water, and have altars and relics of saints placed in them, thus converting them, as the letter says, "from the worship of demons to the service of the true God".

The psychology here is quite sound. In the words of Gregory the Great, the people "seeing that their places of worship are not destroyed... will banish error from their hearts and come to places familiar and dear to them in acknowledgement and worship of the true God". This way, the Pope envisaged a continuity and newness between the ancient religion of the English people and their new faith. In the thinking of Gregory the Great, the English people, being allowed to retain their places of worship, more readily would accept the mystery of Christ celebrated in them.

In 1659, the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, gave the following instruction to Vicars Apostolic of foreign missions:

Do not in any way attempt, and do not on any pretext persuade these people to change their rites, habits and customs, unless they are openly opposed to religion and good morals. For what could be more absurd than to bring France, Spain, Italy or any other European country to China? (17)

Clearly, the Sacred Congregation was anxious for the respect of the local traditions and customary practices of the people in the missions. The problem, however, is that theory and practice did not always tally in the application of official church directives. A case in point was the question of the so-called Chinese rites concerning the veneration of the ancestors. These were to ironically and effectively challenge the Sacred Congregation's very principles of cultural tolerance. In the case of these rites of ancestral veneration, the Italian Jesuit priest and missionary to China, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) had authorised the cult of Confucius and other rites to the dead as non-superstitious and hence compatible with Christian faith and morals. But the polemics that ensued after his death among missionaries led to the final condemnation of these rites by Pope Benedict XIV in his decree Ex Quo Singulari in 1742. These rites were however to be re-approved by Pius XI in 1939. In his Instructio Circa Quasdam Caeremoniae Super Ritibus Sinensibus, did not only reinstate the traditional Chinese funeral rites and the cult of the familial dead, but abrogated the censures imposed against them by Benedict XIV.(18) This noteworthy event on the part of Pius XII, put an end to the long drawn out controversy over the Chinese and Japanese rites of veneration of the ancestors and other rites linked with patriotic festivities which had, for three centuries, occasioned bitter quarrels between missionaries and the people of the area.

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It is worthy to note that in the eastern part of Nigeria, the churches have had a lot of conflicts with the natives traditional religion and culture of the people. Therefore, we have decided to publish this article to put to rest those conflicts and to foster better understanding amongst us in the worship of God.

The positive recognition of religious pluralism is a distinctive mark of the post-Vatican 11 Catholic Church. And African traditional religious experience and expression, having emerged from the limbo of negation and skepticism to eventual recognition, is gradually taking its rightful place among the religions of the world, and is considered the legitimate expression of a genuine religious experience of African peoples in their encounter with the divine. The following presentation examines those official pronouncements of the Catholic Church which have a bearing on African Traditional Religion. By official Church documents, we intend papal or conciliar documents, and documents of Sacred Roman Congregations; these, more than other magisterial pronouncements, represent formal Church directives of universal application.

The method followed is basically expository. The documents are largely left to speak for themselves, without too much hermeneutics. We are, no doubt, aware that deep theological, cultural and socio-political undercurrents, at the basis of each document, have tremendously influenced the general attitude of the Church in regard to non-Christian peoples and their religions. A detailed treatment of these, useful as it certainly would be, would however necessitate a much longer presentation which is beyond the scope of the present exercise.(1) Only brief references to these have therefore been made to enable us better situate within context a particular document.

The first thing to remark, as far as the topic under discussion is concerned, is that there is general scarcity of references to African Traditional Religion (ATR) in official Church pronouncements. Very few documents of the Church mention African Traditional Religion as such. Secondly, those Church documents which do mention ATR directly are quite recent; they are of post-Vatican 11 era. The scarcity of and the lateness of reference to ATR in church documents is indicative of a situation where African Traditional Religion hardly ever was a subject of direct magisterial concern.

Pope Paul VI And African Traditional Religion

The very first magisterial document to make mention of the religious traditions of African peoples, and in a positive light for that matter, is Africae Terrarum of Pope Paul V1, issued on October 29, 1967. In this document Paul V1 made the following unprecedented statement:

Many customs and rites, once considered to be strange are seen today, in the light of ethnological science, as integral parts of various social systems, worthy of study and commanding respect. In this regard, we think it profitable to dwell on some general ideas which typify ancient African religious cultures because we think their moral and religious values deserving of attentive consideration.(2)

Paul V1's optimistic view of African religious tradition in Africae Terrarum, (the encyclical he devotes entirely to Africa), is based on his positive recognition of the worth of ethnological science in broadening the horizons of knowledge on African peoples. Consequently, Paul V1 corrects, in a formal way, the hitherto misrepresentation of African Traditional Religion as "animism". As he says, "here we have more than the so-called 'animistic' concept, in the sense given to this term in the history of religions at the end of the last century".(3)

In the Pope's view, African traditional religious expression constitutes rather "a spiritual view of life...which considers all living beings and visible nature itself as linked with the world of the invisible and spirit".(4) And central to this, continues the Pope, is the "spiritual view of life, (this) spiritual concept is the most important element...the idea of God as the first or ultimate cause of all things. This concept, perceived rather than analysed, lived rather than reflected on, is expressed in very different ways from culture to culture, but the fact remains that the presence of God permeates African life as the presence of a higher being, personal and mysterious".(5) Consequently Paul V1 calls for an exchange of meaning between Christianity and African religious tradition.

The great significance of Paul V1's appraisal resides in the fact that it is the first time that such an official recognition by a Christian Church has ever been made of a typically African religious tradition, and this is quite unprecedented. Such a recognition that African peoples do have a religious expression that is properly and uniquely African, is much in the spirit of the changed climate of the Second Vatican Council 11 with its theological openness towards non-Christian peoples in general, and non- Christian religions in particular.

By his pronouncement Paul V1 went a great step forward in making explicit and solemn what the Council itself seemed to have refrained from pronouncing on. The Second Vatican Council, in spite of its positive appraisal of other religions besides Christianity, did not make any explicit statement on African traditional religious culture. It would seem that due to inadequate studies on ATR at the time of the Council, it was not considered opportune to say anything on the religion. Instead, the Council limited itself to making explicit comment only on the traditionally so-called five great religions of the world. The following received a special mention: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism. For the others, the Council made a generic statement: "Other religions which are found throughout the world, attempt in their own ways to calm the hearts of men by outlining a program of life covering doctrine, moral precepts and sacred rites, thus the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions".(6)

In any case, even if African Traditional Religion was not the subject of direct and explicit mention by the Council, there was a general open attitude towards non- Christian religions. This recognition in itself was a significant turning point in the Church's general attitude towards non- Christian peoples and their religions. As the writer Paul Knitter has remarked, "for the first time in the history of official Church statements the religions of the world are singled out and praised for the way they have answered those profound mysteries of the human condition".(7) Undoubtedly, Vatican 11's "Declaration on the Church's Relationship to Non- Christians" (Nostra Aetate), backed up by a secretariat that handles questions of dialogue and ecumenical relations with non-Christian peoples has forever marked the Council out of other religions.

Paul V1's recognition of the reality of the African religious heritage was therefore not only in the spirit of the Second Vatican , but it indicated radically changed times. And as if to give a concrete demonstration of his positive appraisal of African culture and religion, Paul V1, on African soil (the first ever by a Roman Pontiff), challenged African Christians to "have an African Christianity" based on African "human values and characteristic forms of culture..."(

John Paul 11 And African Traditional Religion

If a Pope has ever involved himself so personally and deeply in the African reality, it is John Paul 11. He has been loud in the praise of African cultural and religious heritage. The numerous pastoral visits John Paul has made to Africa provided him with unique opportunities to impress upon his African hearers the high regard and respect the church has for the African traditional cultural heritage, and how this should be brought into service of the gospel, and for the enrichment of the universal church.(9)

But it is in his most recent Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa, that a clear pronouncement on African Traditional Religion is made. "Africans", says John Paul 11, "have a profound religious sense, a sense of the sacred, of the existence of God the creator and of a spiritual world. The reality of sin in its individual and social forms is very much present in the consciousness of these peoples, as is also the need for rites of purification and expiation.(10) The Pope therefore calls for dialogue with African Traditional Religion:

"With regard to African Traditional Religion, a serene and prudent dialogue will be able, on the one hand, to protect Catholics from negative influences which condition the way of life of many of them and, on the other, to foster the assimilation of positive values such as belief in a Supreme Being who is Eternal, Creator, Provident and Just Judge, values which are readily harmonised with the content of the faith"(11)

Pontifical Council For Inter-Religious Dialogue And African Traditional Religion

In 1988, the secretariat for Non-Christians, as it was then called, (incidentally headed by an African, the Nigerian born Cardinal Francis Arinze), as part of its solicitude for African Traditional Religion, addressed a letter to the Bishops of Africa and Madagascar, urging them to give a serious pastoral attention to African traditional religion incorrectly called "animism", the letter says.(12) The letter re-echoes the position of the Church with regard to other religions in the world:

The Church respects the religions and the cultures of peoples, and wishes that in her contact with them, to preserve all that is noble, true and good in their religion and their cultures.

The letter envisages a fruitful dialogical encounter between Christianity and African Traditional Religion, with promises of a mutual enrichment for both:

In the measure where traditional religion will be better understood by the messengers of the gospel, Christianity will also be presented to Africans in a more appropriate fashion. A study of traditional religion will identify the underlying felt needs of Africans, and clarify the manner in which Christianity can respond to them. This way, the Church will be at home in Africa, and Africans will feel more and more at home in the Church.

The letter thus recommends dialogue with traditional religion to take place at two levels, first, "with the people who adhere to traditional religion and who do not yet desire to become Christians". With such persons, "dialogue has to be understand in the ordinary sense of encounter, of mutual understanding, of respect and a mutual search of the will of God". Second, with those who desire to become Christians, and with Christians converted from traditional religion, the dialogue has to be understood in a wider sense of a pastoral approach to traditional religion, in view to present the Gospel of our Savour Jesus Christ in an appropriate manner, so that the Church takes deeper roots on African soil."

As part of the pastoral attention to traditional religion the letter calls for appropriate research centres to be established for research purposes into traditional religion, to discern the "principal tenets of its beliefs: particularly God the Creator, the place of the spirits of the ancestors, the fundamental rites in this religion, sacrifice, priesthood, prayer, marriage, the human soul, life after death, religion and the moral life". The letter strongly recommends that ATR be part of the curriculum and study programmes of seminaries and religious houses of formation.

This letter of the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue is the first (sic) (13) of its kind to come from very high ecclesiastical circles, a Vatican central office, to pronounce directly and elaborately on the need for the Church, particularly in Africa and Madagascar, to take ATR seriously, to give it urgent pastoral attention, to study it, and to enter into dialogue with it. Undoubtedly, too, it gave birth and greater impetus to efforts already contemplated or initiated in research work on ATR by theological faculties and ecclesiastical institutes of higher learning such as at Kinshasa, Nairobi, Abidjan and Port Harcourt, as well as the teaching of ATR in major Seminaries. The letter is a main inspiration for the various dialogue commissions on the diocesan, provincial, national, inter-regional and inter-national levels.

The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue has since its establishment religiously promoted dialogue with traditional religions, with ATR receiving great attention because of the relatively large area of its influence. For instance, at the November 1995 plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, ATR received some attention. The idea of holiness in African Traditional religion was examined, as well as the motivations within traditional religions (with focus on ATR) for dialogue with Christianity.(14) The same Pontifical Council organised recently in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a colloquium on the theme "The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Encounter with Traditional Religions". This was from July 29th to August 3rd, 1996. African Traditional Religion received prominent attention at this Colloquium as theologians, including several Bishops mostly from French speaking West Africa, reflected attentively on traditional religions and their place in God's plan of salvation. Recommendations made at the Colloquium include the intensification of dialogue with traditional religion, teaching traditional religion in seminaries and religious houses of formation, and promoting research into traditional religion in ecclesiastical institutes of higher learning.

TO BE CONTINUED
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