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Africans get tough with mineral-hungry China - UPI.com

http://m.upi.com/story/UPI-93801370633675/

Africans get tough with mineral-hungry China

Published: June 7, 2013 at 3:34 PM
ACCRA, Ghana, June 7 (UPI) --Ghanaian authorities have arrested 168 Chinese for illegal gold mining while Gabon plans to recover assets from a subsidiary of Chinese oil giant Sinopec amid a growing wave of resentment across Africa against Beijing's efforts to lock up vital resources.
In March, Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria's central bank governor, spoke out against Chinese exploitation of Africa and its vast resources and warned that Africa "is opening itself up to a new form of imperialism."
In a scathing commentary for The Financial Times, he cautioned: "China takes from us primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence of colonialism."
Trade between China and Africa was worth more than $200 billion in 2012, 20 times what it was in 2000 when Beijing initiated a policy of "accelerated engagement" with the continent for access to its oil and gas, copper, gold and many other mineral resources that China needs to sustain its economic power.
The actions by Ghana and Gabon are emblematic of the turnaround in the relationship that many African states are undergoing these days despite the extensive infrastructure projects Beijing had undertaken, using its vast cash resources.
China's new president, Xi Jinping, toured Africa in March, underlining the continent's strategic importance to Beijing in its relentless drive to acquire vital resources in return for massive investment.
He declared in Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, where he inaugurated the $10 billion Bagamoyo port project designed as a hub for trade between East Africa and Asia, that Beijing will make good on a 2012 pledge to provide $20 billion in loans in three years for African infrastructure development, agriculture and business.
Oil and coal accounted for half of China's imports from Africa in 2012, minerals and other raw materials made up most of the rest.
However, one of the main purposes of Xi's African tour, his first foreign trip as president, was to change the growing perception across Africa that China is just another imperial power exploiting the continent for its labor and resources.
But, the bottom line is resources, supply routes and maritime security -- in the Indian Ocean, and the chokepoint Malacca Strait through Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia -- were the central drivers of Xi's tour.
"China's economic growth, even if it is slowing, still consumes vast amounts of imported raw materials and energy," the U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor observed.
"Long gone are the days when China could be self-sufficient, and even its agriculture is reaching the limits of supplying food to its vast population.
"This presents a strategic dilemma for Beijing, which must keep China's economy active and growing in order to maintain social stability and to provide work, income and materials to China's citizens.
"The economic activity has made China ever more dependent on overseas-sourced raw materials as well as markets," Stratfor noted.
China has long boasted of its role as a supporter of African efforts to throw off Western colonialism. But now many Africans are starting to view China as just one more foreign exploiter.
Beijing, through the China Export-Import Bank, the financing arm of Chinese projects in Africa, is making huge investments in the oil, mining and construction sectors.
This concessional financing, combining loans and grants, has mainly targeted commercially driven projects in more than 40 countries in Africa, with Ethiopia, Angola, Sudan and Nigeria -- the last three key oil suppliers to Beijing -- being the key beneficiaries.
But anti-Chinese sentiment has been building for some time. In August 2012, striking Zambian coal miners killed a Chinese supervisor in a wage dispute.
The arrests in Ghana were the latest crackdown by authorities. Some 120 illegal Chinese miners -- there are 10,000 in the West African state -- were rounded up in March.
"Illegal mining in Ghana has assumed alarming proportions," the Ministry of Natural Resources said. "Foreign nationals, especially the Chinese, have made the problems a lot worse.
"They have access to huge funds which they've been using to bring in enormous numbers of excavators, which can destroy largeareas of forest in just one day."
Gabon's move against Sinopec, which comes as the country prepares to license offshore oil exploration, is part of its drive to wring better terms from foreign multinationals and clamp down onlarge-scale tax evasion, with China a primary target.

Rossikk: Why do you call it slavery? There's no slavery involved. It's oil for infrastructure, unlike oil for private Swiss accounts that was the norm BEFORE China, when the West was our No 1 'friend'.

Or will you drink your oil?

Meanwhile once your infrastructure is fixed, your companies can compete with others, including Chinese companies.

So there's no slavery involved. It's a win-win situation.

Africans get tough with mineral-hungry China
Published: June 7, 2013 at 3:34 PM
ACCRA, Ghana, June 7 (UPI) --Ghanaian authorities have arrested 168 Chinese for illegal gold mining while Gabon plans to recover assets from a subsidiary of Chinese oil giant Sinopec amid a growing wave of resentment across Africa against Beijing's efforts to lock up vital resources.
In March, Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria's central bank governor, spoke out against Chinese exploitation of Africa and its vast resources and warned that Africa "is opening itself up to a new form of imperialism."
In a scathing commentary for The Financial Times, he cautioned: "China takes from us primary goods and sells us manufactured ones. This was also the essence of colonialism."
Trade between China and Africa was worth more than $200 billion in 2012, 20 times what it was in 2000 when Beijing initiated a policy of "accelerated engagement" with the continent for access to its oil and gas, copper, gold and many other mineral resources that China needs to sustain its economic power.
The actions by Ghana and Gabon are emblematic of the turnaround in the relationship that many African states are undergoing these days despite the extensive infrastructure projects Beijing had undertaken, using its vast cash resources.
China's new president, Xi Jinping, toured Africa in March, underlining the continent's strategic importance to Beijing in its relentless drive to acquire vital resources in return for massive investment.
He declared in Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, where he inaugurated the $10 billion Bagamoyo port project designed as a hub for trade between East Africa and Asia, that Beijing will make good on a 2012 pledge to provide $20 billion in loans in three years for African infrastructure development, agriculture and business.
Oil and coal accounted for half of China's imports from Africa in 2012, minerals and other raw materials made up most of the rest.
However, one of the main purposes of Xi's African tour, his first foreign trip as president, was to change the growing perception across Africa that China is just another imperial power exploiting the continent for its labor and resources.
But, the bottom line is resources, supply routes and maritime security -- in the Indian Ocean, and the chokepoint Malacca Strait through Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia -- were the central drivers of Xi's tour.
"China's economic growth, even if it is slowing, still consumes vast amounts of imported raw materials and energy," the U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor observed.
"Long gone are the days when China could be self-sufficient, and even its agriculture is reaching the limits of supplying food to its vast population.
"This presents a strategic dilemma for Beijing, which must keep China's economy active and growing in order to maintain social stability and to provide work, income and materials to China's citizens.
"The economic activity has made China ever more dependent on overseas-sourced raw materials as well as markets," Stratfor noted.
China has long boasted of its role as a supporter of African efforts to throw off Western colonialism. But now many Africans are starting to view China as just one more foreign exploiter.
Beijing, through the China Export-Import Bank, the financing arm of Chinese projects in Africa, is making huge investments in the oil, mining and construction sectors.
This concessional financing, combining loans and grants, has mainly targeted commercially driven projects in more than 40 countries in Africa, with Ethiopia, Angola, Sudan and Nigeria -- the last three key oil suppliers to Beijing -- being the key beneficiaries.
But anti-Chinese sentiment has been building for some time. In August 2012, striking Zambian coal miners killed a Chinese supervisor in a wage dispute.
The arrests in Ghana were the latest crackdown by authorities. Some 120 illegal Chinese miners -- there are 10,000 in the West African state -- were rounded up in March.
"Illegal mining in Ghana has assumed alarming proportions," the Ministry of Natural Resources said. "Foreign nationals, especially the Chinese, have made the problems a lot worse.
"They have access to huge funds which they've been using to bring in enormous numbers of excavators, which can destroy largeareas of forest in just one day."
Gabon's move against Sinopec, which comes as the country prepares to license offshore oil exploration, is part of its drive to wring better terms from foreign multinationals and clamp down onlarge-scale tax evasion, with China a primary target

chukjojo: druid06][font=Calibri][size=12pt]Amaechi just won my heart with his generous donation. Big ups to governor for his philanthropy which shows politicians are human afterall.


OJB, I hope you have a successful surgery with no complications and speedy recovery.

In as much as i pray for OJB speedy recovery, gov amaechi has not done enything impresive or worth of such praise that will soon explode his oval-shaped head. what of poor masses that are deying in same and similar cases in his state, or are they not human beings? abi they have one head while OJB has tow?
smtww for that coconut head gov.

By Al Jazeera
The Egyptian army has overthrown President Mohamed Morsi, announcing a roadmap for the country’s political future that will be implemented by a National Reconciliation Committee.
The head of Egypt's armed forces issued a declaration on Wednesday evening suspending the constitution and appointing the head of the constitutional court as interim head of state.
In a televised broadcast, flanked by military leaders, religious authorities and political figures, General Abdel
Fattah al-Sisieffectively declared the removal of elected Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
Sisi called for presidential and parliamentary elections, a panel to review the constitution and a national reconciliation committee that would include youth movements. He said the roadmap had been agreed by a range of political groups.

doctokwus: A govnor wakes up one day& doles out N16m& everybody is singing his praises bc of it,just because OJB's case was well publicised.What of d many in many hospitals in d same rivers state who cannot afford even 1 dialysis session,talkless of d cost of a kidney transplant.
Also what now happens to d earlier sums donated by other artistes& other nigerians dat was already in d millions?Every gud human wishes Ojb well,but we shudnt because of it condole recklessness just because somebody wants to win favor from any quarter

But you don’t start shouting before the man says this is where I am going. Supposing he says he doesn’t want to go? So, when he talks, if people are supporting, we shall come out to support him,” Mr. Jang said.

BAUCHI State governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, on Tuesday, made a U-turn on his earlier decision to withdraw his membership of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) as a result of the crisis that trailed the recent chairmanship election of theNigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), saying that he considered the appeals of Northern elders in order give fair representation to the region.
Speaking with journalists through the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Yusuf Musa Gumli, at Government House, Bauchi, Governor Yuguda stated that he initially took the decision to withdraw from the NSGFas a result of the injustice perpetrated during the last NGF election, in which the Rivers State governor, Honourable Rotimi Ameachi, was re-elected, as against the governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, who was earlier adopted by NSGF.
Yuguda added that he realised that there was no fair play within the forum when Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State conducted an open vote, which he said was not a fair deal.
“It is very disappointing that the political trend as it recently relates to the Northern States Governors’ Forum in its bid to elect a leader ended up in a tussle among the governors and it is a minus on their part.
“Before the election, the Northern States Governors’ Forum decided that Governors Shettima and Yuguda should step down in favour of Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, who happened to be the consensus candidate, but instead of sticking to the plan, thegovernor of Niger State, Aliyu Babangida compromised our position on the agreed candidate,” he said.
Noting that the unity of the Northern States Governors’ Forum was at stake, Governor Yuguda said that he felt he could no longer be part of the group, saying that this informed his earlier position to withdraw from the forum.
He stated that with the intervention of elders from the region, he decided to let go off his initial stance and was returning to the forum.
According to the Bauchi State helmsman, “I, however, decided to mend fences by letting go of the past and return back to the forum. Secondly, I have decided to heed the appeals from concerned elders in the North who want me to eschew sentiments and give fair representation to the North in the forum.
“As an obedient son, I have accepted their appeals and gone backto the forum. I have never taken sides with Jonah Jang, I was only working under the instruction of the NSGF so that Plateau State willbe the centre of the North,where there is fair representation,” he said.
Speaking on his ambition after leaving office in 2015 as Bauchi State governor, Yuguda averred that there was nothing wrong for him to aspire for the post of the President, Vice-President or even the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“There is nothing wrong for one to aspire for any position in the country so long as due process and legitimacy is followed,” he declared.
Meanwhile, the governor has dismissed allegations doing the round in the media that the Bauchi State government was instigating the crises in neighbouring Plateau State, submitting that it was wrong for the Plateau State government to hold Bauchi State responsible for itsfailure to address security challenges in itsstate.
He stated that Bauchi State had its own security challenges, which it never attributed to any state but was doing every thing within its limit tpo tackle them with a view to having a peaceful state and pursuing its developmental agenda.
“Bauchi State also faces its own insecurity problems and have never attributed blame to anybody. For instance, the state has been battling with the issue of Tafawa Balewa crisis for years and have step up to the challenge.
“If the state government is to make excuse for its failures, we will still be having crisis in the state and that why is until today, people can run to Bauchi State and find safety because the state accommodates everybody irrespective of tribe, ethnic and religion,” Governor Yuguda said.

donchris999: This judge aint gat shame. According to the constitution, the president appoints the security and military chiefs. Obasanjo did so, yar'adua did so, infact obasanjo retired all senior military men that had links with abacha in 1999 as the constitution stipulate and nobody coughed. Yar'adua brought in his own, now it is Gej and the whole nigeria wants to fall apart. All this aboki(bello) and yoruba(keyamo) people are enemies of progress. Just because boko haram is about to become history they are panicking . Rubbish! GEJ dont mind them, deal with boko haram ruthlessly, they can go and die. Senate my foot!

The minister of finance and the coordinating minister for the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has warned that economic activities may be shut down and the federal government unable to pay its workforce by September if government failed to resolve the lingering problems with the 2013 Appropriation Act.
President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded a bill amending the earlier 2013 budget of N4.987 trillion to the National Assembly four months ago, an action the lawmakers are not favourably disposed to. Rather, the National Assembly is asking the presidency, through correspondence that was communicated to the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office of the Federation sometime in June, to immediately commence work on the 2014 Appropriation Bill.
Speaking in a radio programme tagged “Political Platform” on Ray Power FM, Okonjo-Iweala stated that though the situation did not seem too bad, the country’s economic activities might ground to a halt asgovernment might fail to live up to its economic obligations to the people.
In the programme monitored in Lagos, the minister also denied speculations in some quarters that the country is broke, saying the country is rather witnessing financial cash flow that is not too serious.
She said, “We have been able to implement the budget to a state that we now discovered that there has to be some amendment; so Mr President sent the amendments to the National Assembly. I think we can continue for a little while longer; we need the amendment to pass because come September or October we may not be able to pay salaries.”
Stating that the executive arm of government was employing dialogue and consultation with the National Assembly on the issue, the minister added that N46billion would be utilised for payment of salaries.
According to her, the main issue relates to a differential in moneys used for some sundry other items aside from those spelt out in the Act which will have to be covered. “That means that in those categories that they were removed, we may not be able to achieve such goals.
“One important part of the amendment is the salary that was moved out of that category to other subheads, which has to be restored: we need to restore N36bn for salary that was carried out so that the country will not shut down,” she said.

Experts react
President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi in his reaction said “If the government does not have moneyto back up its commitment and policies enunciated in the budget, then there is going to be dislocation in the economy. The citizenry will be affected because government controls the economy. It is not only that, government contractors will also be affected as well ascivil servants who expect to earn their salaries. It will have a chain reaction affect government, its contractors, workers and even telecommunications subscribers who depend on government, they won’t have enough money to recharge their phones.
It is important that the issue is resolved so that the country can move forward,” Ajayi concluded.
On his part, Mr. Babatunde Omoju, maritime industry player, expert and analyst stated that the non-passageof the budget by National Assembly would impact more on the public sector since there is more private sector participation than public sector in maritime business in Nigeria. “Some of the government agencies and parastatal in the maritime industry such as the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) may be affected. However, the situation may have a secondary effect on the private sector participants in the area of gettingcontracts from these government agencies because they have no allocations to work with

By SaharaReporters, New York
SaharaReporters received a statement signed by Paul C. Nwabuikwu, a senior aide to Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in response to our recent report on the dire financial crisis in Nigeria.

Instead of addressing our factual reporting of the declining fortune of the Nigerian economy, the minister resorted to her accustomed pettiness and name-calling.
She recently exhibited the same trait when she got Yushau Shuiab, a spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), fired from his job after he wrote an article questioning her lopsided appointments and accusing her of abuse of office.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala comes across as intolerant of facts, blinded by an ambition to be hailed in foreign circles as the answer to Nigeria’s economic woes, and driven by an excessive opportunism that disdains stark reality. 

We affirm that our recent report, like others in the past focusing on the Nigerian economy, was the product of painstaking investigation, undertaken to expose corruption, lies and deceit perpetrated by Nigerian officials to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians that a transformationwas taking place in their lives. This website speaks to numerous knowledgeable and reliable sources, in government and out, within Nigeria and abroad.
Their conclusion is that the so-called transformation trumpeted byMs. Okonjo-Iweala and other functionaries of the Goodluck Jonathan administration is phony. Using their insight into the policies and actions of the government, they insist that Nigerians are materially worse off today than at any time in the recent past as a result of economic mismanagement and large scale graft, thehallmarks of the Jonathan regime.

During Ms. Okonjo-Iweala first tour of duty as finance minister under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, she pursued an aggressive debt repayment agenda, handing over more than $12 billion of Nigeria’s scarce funds to repay debts of doubtful origin. To justify that scam against the Nigerian people, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala boasted that, with the debt payment accomplished, Nigeria was in a position to save $1 billionper year, pledging that the monies would be invested in developing infrastructure.
Nigerians now wonder: Where are the $1 billion annual savings Ms. Okonjo-Iweala promised Nigerians in 2006? Where are the roads? Where are the new hospitals? Where are the significant improvements in the state of maternity care she promised Nigerians in 2006?
In 2007, when Ms. Okonjo-Iweala was giving esoteric speeches about the economic magic she and her colleagues were achievingfor Nigerians, the exchange rate of the naira to the US dollar was 120 to one; today it is 160 naira to a dollar.
At a 2007 TED conference, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that Nigeria had 40 billion in foreign reserves. Today, with rising oil prices in the international market, she admits that Nigeria only has$48 billion in the reserve.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has stepped into the role of chief obfuscator on the economy, encouraged no doubt by her ability to get away for so long with deception on and misrepresentation of the true condition of the Nigerian economy. We, however, refuse to be impressed by her steady string of fictional claims about a supposedly vibrant Nigerian economy.
It ought to be recorded that Ms. Okonjo-Iweala oversaw an era of some of the most reckless acts of corruption and heists of the Nigerian commonwealth in her first four years as finance minister under Mr. Obasanjo’s hypocritical administration. Under her watch, Nigeria attained bogus economic progress where numbers,charts and fake stats were frequently displayed and deployed to fool the unwary and the gullible. 
 
Meanwhile, under Mr. Obasanjo’sand her noses, billions of dollars of public funds were stolen in the name of “investments” to upgrade Nigeria’s electric grid. She helped to dispense import waivers to dubious businessmen and churches, an exercise that cost Nigeria a fortune.
 
Since Ms. Okonjo-Iweala’s second coming as minister, complete with the bizarre title of “coordinating” minister she crafted for herself, Nigeria’s economic condition has worsened.

Tell, where is the evidence of economic growth and buoyancy when almost six states of the Nigerian federation have been paralyzed by Islamist insurgency? Where is the sign of economic vitality when half of Nigeria’s oil production is stolen by crude robbers, most of them elements close to President Jonathan? Which foreign investors arepouring money into a country where the electrical grid has nearlycollapsed and at a time when the few local industries are moving to countries like Ghana and Benin?
Does Ms. Okonjo-Iweala calculate that most of the “vulture capital” operations run by some of her former colleagues that are selling bonds to Nigeria at cut throat prices can be considered investors even when they are already pulling out their funds and ripping Nigeria apart?

Where else in the world would an economy grow at 6.5% and yet fail to provide jobs for more than half of its youths? How is the economy working when Nigerian soldiers participating in peacekeeping operations in neighboring countrieshave to beg locals for food? If the Nigerian economy is “sound,” how come workers are being owed salaries? Why have many pensioners not been paid their entitlements after retirement? What explains the fact that ministries and parastatals have lately not received their allocations? 

If the economy is sparkling, why areNigerian roads so bad? Why were they not fixed in the years Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has been practicing her economic wizardry? Which economy can survive the greed of a President Jonathan and his inner circle?
Today, Mr. Jonathan has pardoned corrupt former governors and other officials that Ms. Okonjo-Iweala condemned in 2007; the pardoned men now sit across the table from the president and his cabinet to further destroy Nigeria.

Which economy can survive such full-throttle promotion of corruption?

The questions for Ms. Okonjo-Iweala are many, but we are content to ask her to provide to the public a profile of the last four years of Nigeria’s so-called foreign reserves? If Nigeria has $48 billion in such reserves and it is a sign that our economy is buoyant, why does Nigeria have to borrow, even if interest-free loans?

Why does the minister designate the foreign reserve in US dollars but the so-called “Excess Crude” account in naira? And if the excess crude account was N5 billion, what was it when Ms. Okonjo-Iweala became finance minister?
 
We are surprised that it took Ms. Okonjo-Iweala several years to understand that Saharareporters is “activist media,” a tag we wear as a badge of honor.
Our mode of reporting scrutinizes official versions of events; we question the actions and policies of government officials; we have developed an ever-growing network of sources who avail us of theinnermost secrets and deals of those in power because they trust us to report fearlessly and to protect their identity; we believe in speaking truth to power; and we always crosscheck statements made by sources before publishing accounts. We continue to demand openness and transparency in the conduct of governmental affairs; and we demand that Nigerians be allowed to feel the impact of any so-called economic growth, not in carefully manipulated press statements, bar charts and economic ratings and projections, but in the manner it impacts positively on their daily lives.
Ms. Okonjo-Iweala may lash out all she wants and choose to operate as an economic hit-woman, but we are not fazed. We will continue to beam a searchlight on her handling of the economy, including calling attention to her hypocritical role in empowering acartel in the fuel import business, a cartel whose depredations shecriticizes in the media when it suits her agenda.


Full Text Of Mrs. Okonjo Iweala's Response to SaharaReporters Report on the Nigerian economy: ECONOMY: THE LIES OF SAHARAREPORTERS


We have received several enquiries about a story titled “Nigerian Government broke; targets pension savings” posted on the website of Saharareporters.

The story, like many other recent articles by Saharareporters purporting to be exclusive stories on various aspects of the Nigerian economy, is a complete fabrication.


As Nigerians know, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan recently presented its mid-term report which is a forthright account of the achievements as well as challenges facing the economy.

The country has $48 billion in reserves, including N5 billion in the Excess Crude Account to help shore up the economy. So the idea that the country is broke is alarmist.

It is true that the country is experiencing some revenue shortfalls that everyone knows about due to oil theft for which the President is taking some serious measures.


Also, contrary to the claim in the story that the country has borrowed from local and international banks to finance recurrent spending, the Jonathan administration has in fact reversed the tendency of borrowing to finance recurrent as was the practice in the past.

Also untrue is the claim that the country has been downgraded by international ratings agencies. In fact the truth is the exact opposite; ratings agencies and international investors have consistently stated, through various platforms, that the Nigerian economy is a well-managed one with good prospects in the medium and long term.


Regarding the country’s debt situation, the overall picture is positive as the Coordinating Minister showed clearly in her recent well publicized statement. The multi-dimensional strategy adoptedby the Jonathan administration is leading to positive outcomes.

The level of borrowing has been brought down, bonds are being paid off through a sinking fund and the country is not taking the kind of high interest loans that led to the debt burden which existed before the historic Paris Club debt deal. The Borrowing Plan which was approved by State Governors and the National Assembly is focused on financing power transmission projects, inter and intra city rail projects, dams and other key infrastructure.


The notion that the Jonathan government is “eyeing” the N3.4 trillion pension funds to finance deficits underscores the desperation of this “activist” medium and its sponsors. It is a total invention. In fact, the government is currently engaged in strengthening institutions and critical processes in the sector to enhance security and stability of the funds.


With this latest outing, Saharareporters has reinforced its well-earned reputation as a discredited purveyor of falsehood.


Paul C. Nwabuikwu
Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister

IT is leadership that defines a nation. Essentially, it builds or destroys a nation. General Charles de Gaulle relevantly stated that“nothing great can be done without great (leaders)”.
In other words, national greatness can only result from great leadership, and corollary, national decline is an inescapable consequence of despicable leadership. And Thomas Carlyle madea similar point, “the history of nations is but the biographies of …leaders.” So, the history of the Igbo nation is an anthology of thebiographies of Igbo leaders.
The earlier Igbo power elite were exceptionally gifted and far-sighted. They adroitly managed the problems and prospects ofthe Igbo nation. The then dazzling Igbo successes in all facets of the Nigerian society were testaments to their superb leadership. The subsequent drop in the quality of Igbo leadership, following the 1966 coup, inevitably resulted in the decline of the Igbo nation. Of these post-1966 coup Igbo leaders, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu did the most extensive and profound damage to the Igbo nation.
Among other things, he brought a new paradigm to Igbo leadership. He taught Igbo leaders that it is okay to lead your people into trouble, and then, abandon them and run away, which is perfidy. And that a leader can justifiably be poised to cash in on power and glory, if the “toil, sweat, tears and blood” of his people yields victory but also be positioned to cut and run, if they end up in defeat, which is opportunism. His examples sowed the seeds fora culture of perfidy and opportunism within the ranks of the Igbo leader.
Man is a fleshy lump that will finally be consigned under six feet of earth where it inevitably crumbles to dust. Unless attended by purpose, life is an empty shell. It is purpose (which is naturally associated with duty) that makes life meaningful. A German adagesays that “the greatest glory is in doing your duty”. And the ultimate duty is in the service of humanity. There can be no commitment to serve humanity without the willingness to sacrificeself interests, comfort and ambitions to the common good. I have always been enthralled by acts of selflessness where the individual gives it all, including his life, for the betterment of others. The obsession to cling on to life is all normal. But to lay it down for a cause, if necessary, is most glorious.
As I think of sacrifice, I remember a French lieutenant, during the First World War, who commanded a company of soldiers ordered to attack a German redoubt. As they ran towards the German position, they came under heavy German machine gun fire. At a point, he ordered his men to take cover. Still standing, and giving orders to them, he was struck by machine gun fire. He fell, and his men panicked, “the lieutenant is dead”, “the lieutenant is dead”. He raised his head and managed to raise himself to his knees, andevidently, with his last breathe, screamed, “Yes, the lieutenant is dead, but hold firm! Advance!” He fell and died.
And, as I reflect on selflessness, I remember Martin Luther King Jr. He was a 26 year old pastor when the course of his life was redirected by the needs of his people. He employed his elaborate erudition and his abilities to write with power and speak with passion to lead his people out of the fetters of racism. He knew that his death was certain in that struggle to emancipate Black Americans from the shackles of racial injustice. In his last speech, he talked about, “Like anybody, I would like to live a long time, longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will…And He has allowed me to go up to the mountain, and I have looked over and I have seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land”. The next day, he laid in the pool of his own blood; his thirty eight year old life squelched out by an assassin’s bullet.
The valedictory statements of the two men conveyed the same attitude. The lieutenant’s exhortation to his men, “hold firm, advance” and King’s “I may not get there with you but … we as a people will get to the Promise Land” reveal a willing to selflessly fight for a cause, even with the certainty that they were not to partake in the magnificent outcomes of the struggle. Is that attitude not in stark contrast with the mindset of the generality of the present day Igbo leaders?
Most Igbo leaders are selfish; they seek personal gains and immediate gratifications. They acknowledge and respect no other interest but theirs. They expect their “leadership” positions to yield them immediate benefits: prestige, wealth, titles, glory, etc. And the thought that to lead their people demands personal sacrifices is alien and inconceivable to them. As such, craven toadies and relentless opportunists parade themselves as Igbo leaders. We need to winnow these men; sorting out the few that are answering an inner urge to serve humanity.

Yours GEJ,:
first to comment. Na me o!! Happy sunday and may spain win.

By SaharaReporters, New York
A few days after bodyguards of Mr. Jonathan prevented Rivers State governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi from shaking hands with him at a presidential dinner last week in Abuja. Amaechi met President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the Port Harcourt International airport today and both embraced each other in the presence of a faction of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) led by a junior minister of Education, Nyeson Wike at the airport.
Mr. Jonathan was on his way to Abuja from Bayelsa state where he commissioned a hospital and visited the federal university at his Otueke village.
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Barely 72 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan’s security aides blocked the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, from exchanging pleasantries with the President during a dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the duo met at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Saturday and embraced.
Shortly before departing Port Harcourt for Abuja after inaugurating a hospital in his hometown in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the embattled Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum walked up to the president who shook his hands before both men embraced.
Although none of them made any public comments, they exchanged pleasantries briefly before the President eventually boarded his flight and departed for Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, told THE PUNCH that Amaechi was at the airport to see the President off in line with established protocol, pointing out that there was nothing unusual about it despite their seeming political differences.
According to Mr. Abati, protocol required that when the President is in any state, the governor or his deputy should be on standby to receive him on arrival and see him off when he is departing, addingthat since the President was passing through Port Harcourt to Bayelsa State or back, it was expected that Amaechi or his deputy should receive or see him off.
On whether the development was an indication that the face-off between the President and the governor was over, the presidential spokesman denied the existence of any rift between them.
“Governor Amaechi was at the airport to see the President off. There is nothing unusual about that. It is the duty of a state governor to receive and see the President off when he visits a state.In the event that the governor is not available, the deputy governor carries out the task. This is part of protocol.
“In this case, anytime the President is visiting Bayelsa State, he passes through Port Harcourt and the governor receives or sees him off. There is no rift between the President and the governor in the first place,” Mr. Abati said

From my little understanding, I know that an iyaloja is most times a career trader who in most cases is illiterate, but commands respect and authority within the circles of traders and market women generally.

BY CALEB AYANSINA
ABUJA – The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Tuesday, called for the arrest of the former Head of State and Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, (CPC), General (rtd) Muhammadu Buhari, following his frequent provocative statements.
The President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, in a statement signed by his Media Assistant, Kenny Ashaka, and made available to Vanguard in Abuja, said that Buhari, having in various occasions justified the action of the sect…, therefore, he stands a big security threat to the country’s corporate existence.
Oritsejafor maintained that it was so unfortunate that when every Nigerian was praying for successful military onslaught on the insurgence, Buhari rather than sharing the same feeling with well-meaning Nigerians was busy indulging in careless statements, without regards for victims of the sect’s violence who were mostly Christians.
The statement read, “The retired General was widely reported by several national newspaper Correspondents, whomonitored the Liberty Radio programme “Guest of the week”,to have questioned the “special treatment” given to the Niger-Delta militants by the Federal Government while the Boko Haram members were being killed and their houses destroyed by government.
“They (the Niger-Delta militants) were trained in some skills and were given employment, but the ones in the north were being killed and their houses were being demolished. They are different issues. What brought this? It is injustice”, the former Head of State was quoted to have said.
“I cannot wish away the outburst of harshly critical statements, especially as some of them are directly related tothe defense of the Boko Haram sect whose members have continued to kill, maim Christians and burn Churches. I feel the pain inflicted on Christians living in the north is too deep for us in CAN to ignore any unsavoury statement that tend to portray innocent Christians who have been killed by the sect members as the aggressors.
“It is shocking that at a time well-meaning Nigerians are praying for the success of our soldiers, Buhari, rather than reflect the mood of the nation in his statements and conducts is indulging in careless statements without regards for victimsof the sect’s violence who are mostly Christians.

one of the greatest falsehood in Islam in Nigeria is the census. Common sense shows clearly that the muslims in Nigeria are not nearly as many as the Christians. In Borno State the the percentage of muslims is less than 40. A study of most areas of Borno show that the Christians are the majority. unfortunately the political power lies in the hands of the muslim minority, a fact we must work hard to change.
I once saw a report about my community stating that my community had a 30% muslim population, in a place where there is not a single mosque.