₦airaland Forum

BY OLA AJAYI
IBADAN —ELDERS in Yorubaland under the aegis of Yoruba Unity Forum, YUF, have said the alleged marginalisation of the South West zone of the country in the distribution of topmost positions is an attempt to drive the zone out of the federation.
While speaking at a meeting at the Premier Hotel in Ibadan, yesterday, the forum comprising notable Yoruba men and women such as Mrs. Hannah Awolowo, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, Senator Bode Olajumoke, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, Senator Femi Okurounmu, Tokunbo Ajasin, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Biola Ogundokun, among others, frowned at the way President Goodluck Jonathan made appointments without considering the contribution of the Yorubas to his emergence as the president of the country.
Expatiating their claims, members alleged that in the control of the apex of political positions such as the President, Vice president, Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, Chief Justice of the Federation, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the acting President, Court of Appeal, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff to the President, National Security Adviser and Head of Service of the Federation, there was no Yoruba person amongthem.
The elders contended that “the absence of Yoruba in the above power apex has consequential adverse effect on the zone in respect of appointments and job security throughout the Federal Government.”
Other areas they claimed the zone had been marginalised included control of the principal economic and financial agencies, control of the security services, control of the bureaucracy, control of the information broadcasting agencies, control of election related agencies.
The group also alleged ethnic cleansing and other discriminatory acts against the Yoruba in the federal service.
They noted how Mrs. Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation in October 2012 sacked eight general managers of the Federal Airports Authority, FAA, including six Yorubas.
According to them, all attempts to meet the President and discuss the issue were fruitless as President Jonathan made several unfulfilled promises to address the issue, which he had not done till date.
Pointing out why President Jonathan should have placed the zone in the right position, they recalled that in the “dying daysof the Yar’Adua administration when he was incapacitated by illness and there was a lot of reluctance to make Jonathan Acting President, it was predominantly Yoruba activists who led the march on the National Assembly to force our lawmakers to pronounce Jonathan acting President”.

cooltone: Fake source, not existent. Am not among the people you can decieve with lies and fake propaganda. You fools cannot bring Rotimi Amechi down, from what I know about our constitution, he has the right to contest elections if he so wishes. But thats not even the case here, why did you guys post a photoshopped picture to nairaland. Thats desperation and nobody that is knowledgable will buy into it. Shame on you

As the 2015 presidential race begins to gather momentum, Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido and his Rivers State counterpart Rotimi Ameachi’s hopeful presidential ticket seems to be on the front: some branded vehicles appeared in Kaduna yesterday.
One of such branded vehicles with the pictures of Lamido and Amaechi was sighted at a car wash by Waff Road, an exclusive residential area in Kaduna. It attracted the attention of passers-by who were seen making some political comments on the development and the chances of the duo.
LEADERSHIP findings thereafter revealed that those spearheading the campaign team were in the state for a secret meeting in preparation for the 2015 presidential race.
It was also gathered that the meeting was to identify strong forces in the state that would commence underground work for the presidential hopeful ticket.
LEADERSHIP had exclusively reported last year that, ahead of political horse-trading over who becomes the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, indications emerged that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is backing Lamido and Amaechi for the coveted positions respectively.
A source close to Obasanjo also confided in LEADERSHIP that the former president is now drumming support for a power shift to the north.
Obasanjo has insisted severally that incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan must exit the position come 2015.
In recent times, there have been clamouring from various quarters for northern presidency come 2015, even though northern groups like the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in a recent interview granted by its national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, had said it was too early to talk about the 2015 presidential election.
Drumming support for Lamido’s candidature recently, the chairman, Kazaure local government area of Jigawa State, Dr Saleh Yahaya Taiki, described him a man of integrity who has proven beyond reasonable doubt his ability to discharge responsibilities very well.
LEADERSHIP’s effort to speak with the driver of one of the branded vehicles was unsuccessful as he declined comment on their mission in the state.

cooltone: Gullible Nigerians, was it not a photoshoped picture of Alamesiya that he dressed up like a woman to beat the british back to Nigeria and people bought into it. Thank God for better awareness now, at least people that have responded so far know that this is a joke and photoshop. Jonathan's nairaland crew should leave Amechi alone because they want to bring him down at all cost but they failed to realise that records on ground are far ahead of cheap press and internet publicity. Welldone Gov. Amechi

Super1759: So why is the car packed @ a mechanic?...don't believe this

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described incompetence, cluelessness and inconsistency as the hallmark of the Jonathan Administration, contrary to the futile attempt by presidential aide Doyin Okupe to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians through a pedestrian play on semantics.
In a statement issued in Abuja today by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also slammed Okupe for seeking to blame the opposition for the failure of the Jonathan Administration to make a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians,saying the likes of Okupe, rather than the opposition, have contributed in no small measure to the Administration’s low esteem in the eyes of Nigerians.
”There is no point rummaging through the dictionary to define incompetence, as Okupe has done in his rambling statement. All one needs to do to understand the meaning of incompetence is to look at the waffling Jonathan Administration.
”Touting President Goodluck Jonathan’s impressive academic qualifications is also very cheap, as they have not proven to be an asset in the way and manner the President has steered the affairs of his Administration, especially his articulation of his government’s policies and the projection of its ability. In any case, while a Doctorate Degree in any field is something to be celebrated, it is not a pre-requisite for being a good leader,” it said.
ACN said the incompetence and cluelessness of the Jonahan Administration have resulted in the country being bogged down bymonumental corruption, unprecedented level of insecurity, policy flip-flops, absence of governance and downright lies that have estranged the citizens and erased their trust in government.
”No Administration in our recent history has been more a hotbed of corruption than the Jonathan Administration, whether it is the fuel subsidy scam or the police pension scam, just to mention two.Even when a feeble attempt is made to prosecute those behind the scams, the majesty of the law is rubbished by incompetent prosecution that ensures that convicted persons get only a slap onthe wrist. Under the Jonathan Administration, the more money yousteal, the less punishment you receive!
”Profligacy has also been the order of the day. If this government is not building a 2.2 billion naira banquet hall, it is spending 4 billion naira on the office building of the African First Ladies PeaceMission. The funds being wasted on these white elephant projects would have been better spent on creating jobs for our youths, millions of whom are roaming the streets daily in search of what todo to make ends meet,” the party said.
On the road contracts awarded by the Jonathan Administration, it said the joke is on Okupe who, in saner climes, cannot be speaking for any government that is worth its salt.
”There is nothing new about awarding contracts for road rehabilitation. What the public expect from Okupe is how many of the roads have been completed or are nearing completion. The contracts for most of the roads which Okupe listed in his statementhave been awarded severally by previous PDP regimes, with nothing to show. Even Okupe has collected huge funds for road contracts that he later abandoned! How then can such contracts be celebrated, when all they do is put money in the pockets of party cronies? How can such a man like Okupe speak for any serious government, when he should have been dutifully prosecuted? Little wonder the citizens have no trust in the Jonathan Administration?” ACN queried.
The party said one area in which the Jonathan Administration’s incompetence is most glaring is the provision of security. While a security crisis of the scale perpetrated by Boko Haram may be unprecedented in our country, equally unfathomable is the government’s inability to rise to the occasion, to such an extent that even the President admits that his administration has been infiltrated by Boko Haram members! Of course, there is also unprecedented cases of kidnapping and armed robbery, all of which have overwhelmed the clueless government.
”Overall, a government that lies to its citizens by either saying it had been hailed for its anti-corruption effort by Transparency International when that is not the case, or giving an exaggerated amount of electricity that has been generated cannot get much respect from the people. A government that sends conflicting signals to foreign investors, in particular over whether or not the power contract awarded to Canadian firm Manitoba has been cancelled, cannot and should not be trusted.
”The Jonathan Administration should address the issue of trust, chase away those among its officials who lack credibility because of their past deeds and begin to take governance very seriously. Then, and only then, will it not have to worry about what label an imaginary opposition is putting on the government,” ACN said.

petrov 10: forget dat tin , were u sleeping wen notherners were playing d same politics in d army ?

Joeadamu86: Bushman,are talking about revolution, you want Nigerai to be like Syria, Egypt or Libya abi? what has become of these countries today after revolution is nothing but evil and violence, what we need is to work on our minds as Nigerians and support our leaders to take us to the promise land...

Dibiachukwu: By virtue of OBJ's office, he killed all the people in odi. Why is he still walking free, with a lot of ever teaming supporters like you.

She swung into action, carefully selected her sources and targets, got comments from them in Lagos, dropped those that were pro-power improvement and went to studio with the ones that best served her purpose.

Editorial
O UR hypocritical senators showed their anger at N4 billion allocated to the construction of an office for the First Lady in the 2013 budget. We should applaud their concerns about probity. Should we?
Everyone knows the First Ladyfs office is one of the illegalities of our times. Were the Federal Capital Territory officials, who wanted the expenditure unaware that budgets were allocated to bodies laws recognised? Did the Senate express any anger at the FCT officials, who made this illegal entry in its budget? Was it enough to rant about the illegality?
Anyone who knows the Senate would wonder why the sudden display of efforts at saving public funds. What the Senate considered scandalous was the sum, N4 billion, not the act, the fact that some people tried to foist the illegality.
It may, perhaps, not be out of place if the Senate allocates funds to the project, a personal enterprise of the Presidentfs wife. Since its argument was that the FCT proposal was too much, it might allocate N2 billion. It must be spelt out that the issue is the illegality of the allocation, not how much was allocated.
FCTfs infrastructure is decaying. Neighbouring villages do not have basic amenities, yet all that FCT officials are thinkingabout is illegal appropriation of N4 billion, more money than the Federal Government allocated to each of its brand new universities as take-off fund. A very unproductive FCT also indulges in bogus projects like a N7.5 billion city gate.
The Senate saw no scandal in the proposed city gate. It expressed no anger and would have no qualms passing it. What has Abuja lost in the years that it did not have a city gate of the type it administrators now want? No senator sees the impact N7.5 billion can make on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. How would a city gate improve lives in Abuja? Who would it benefit except its contract-minded promoters? What would be the return on the investment?
Why would the Senate encourage the circle of wastes written all over Abuja? It would most likely borrow the money that would be wasted on the gate. A few years hence, budgets of similar figures would be required to renovate the gate, or to construct a more befitting gate for a city decaying in a manner that was never associated with it.
Suggestions that FCTfs budget should be approved are the type of insult that makes Nigerians wonder if their legislators are in the same Nigeria, where diseases, hunger, insecurity, unemployment are ravaging the people.
Abuja does not need a city gate just as people should stop scandalising the First Lady

ypzilanti: Christiane Amanpour:

https://www.facebook.com/amanpourabc

Na wah. Just went to her facebook site and Nigerians were bashing GEJ left and right. Wow! No wonder she was dismissive of GEJ at some point during the interview.

Omojuo: Perhaps you are not aware that the southern leaders were instrumental to the introduction and success of the amnesty programme and the cease fire that preceeded it. These are men that have demostrated commitment to peaceful resolution of crisis, men that have vowed to protect nigeria. What have their counterparts in the north done other than verbal condemnation of attacks, while lending secret supports. You appear to be the mumu, idokojimmy was factual

Idokojimmy: Now that a northern has identified the root cause of the wahala, what has Arewa forum done to address same?

@donchris33
So nigerians were not wise during obasnjo's regime? They werent wise during yaradua'ss regime. Oh ii see then nigerians were using their wisdom to engage in yahoo yahoo, looting like obasanjo loooted 16billion dollars for elctricity.
Nigerians are now wise

PRO-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) has alerted thenation to the danger in the failure of government to urgently utilise historic commemoration of Nigeria’s centenary to sustain and re-engineer the Nigerian union, as the amalgamation foisted on the country by the British authorities in 1914 expires legally next year.
Addressing the nation on Sunday, in Lagos, through its spokesperson and advocacy coordinator, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, PRONACO carpeted the Federal Government’s centenary programme expected to kick-off in Abuja, on Sunday, for lacking depth and substance for the reality and needs of the country.
Okunniyi lamented government’s “lousy commemorative plan” to celebrate what he tagged false national unity and non-existent well-being of the Nigerian people at a very critical and trying moment in the nation’s life, when Nigerians were dying in their hundreds on a daily basis due to violent ethno-religious reactions to corrupt leadership and exploitative structure of the country. ”
He said instead of the organisers of the ‘centenary jamboree’ thinking of how to enrich themselves from the nation’s scarce resources, government should rather facilitate a solemn process of renegotiation by a constituent assembly, to effectively fashion national consensus and collective ownership of the renaissance ofa united and stable Nigeria beyond 2014.
The veteran political activist warned that it would be dangerous and unimaginative for the sitting government to embark on a spree of personal enrichment and wild celebration of falsehood and self-delusion like the days of the Biblical Noah, only to be suddenly confronted by the reality of the expiration of Nigeria’s amalgamation and sudden struggle for secession.
“The implication of the present wrong footing on Nigeria’s centenary by the sitting government will mean that the basis of Nigerian union and its subsisting Federal Government at the centre, will become legally void and any of the original federating components of Nigeria will be morally leveraged to opt out of the foisted amalgamation by colonial Britain to last for 100 years.
All that will be necessary for the component parts of Nigeria to legitimately secede from the union will be to formally approach the United Nations for official recognition. In the same manner, the sovereignty of Nigeria will automatically become questionableand vulnerable to external aggression by the expiration of the terms of the Nigerian union in 2014 if the various constituent areas, comprising Nigeria are not allowed to re-engineer and own a new political agreement on the unity and continuity of Nigeria asone country,” PRONACO counselled.
Okunniyi, however, cautioned that the only way to sustain Nigeria’s unity and stability beyond 2014, given the dawning reality of expiration of Nigeria’s union, as well as the ongoing internal and external aggression against the Nigerian state, was for government to urgently jettison its planned ‘centenary jamboree’ and rally Nigerians into a more impactful political negotiation to rebirth the continued existence of Nigeria as one country by the constituent assembly of Nigeria.

@taharqa
Of course, the 'Transparency issues ..which has made some progress' cos of some probes in the Oil industry and the 'new regulations' that the discoveries from such probes have spurned- ALMOST ALL are been/being done by GEJ's Govt.