₦airaland Forum

Blood of Buhari!!!

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THE 15th graduation ceremony for the 2015/2016 outgoing students of the Lagoon Schools, Lekki, was held recently in Lagos.

Parents, guardians, guests and well-wishers were present to celebrate with the students as awards were given to the Top 5 graduating students as well as the Top 5 since SS1.

A friend school, Kaplan International College, expressing their long-standing relationship with Lagoon and its commitment to encourage excellence in academics, presented certificates of achievement and laptops to the Best Graduating Student in English, Oluchibuchi Njere, who also happened to be the  Overall Best Graduating Student and the Best Graduating Student in Mathematics/Further Mathematics, Toluwanimi Makinwa.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/oluchibuchi-njere-wins-lagoon-schools-overall-best-graduating-student/

Yorubas are the worst thing to happen to this country Nigeria. Their hypocrites stink!

Marginalisation: Yoruba Leaders To Storm Aso Rock Again

INIEDO2:
The pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has for the second time sought audience with President Goodluck Jonathan to protest the “political marginalisation of the South-West.”

The Yoruba leaders, who had earlier visited Jonathan on the same issue, said they were not happy that the President had not taken any action to rectify the “anomaly” in the nation’s political structure, which they had complained about.

A leader of Afenifere, Senator Femi Okunrunmu, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the group had already made request for the second visit, and were waiting for the President’s response.

He said, “We (Yoruba leaders) had met with Jonathan to complain about the marginalisation of Yoruba, but he has not done anything about it. So, we have decided to pay him another visit. We have already made our intention known to the Presidency. We are now waiting for the President to give us an appointment.

“We have the details of the situation which we intend to present to the President. It is as if the South-West has been excised from the country. If you look at all the top political positions and appointments in the country, it is not hard to see that South-West has been marginalised in this administration.

“Check from number one, which is the President, to number 15, you won’t find a Yoruba person there. Look at the people controlling the economy, the finance minister, the Central Bank governor, no Yoruba person is there. The first lawyers in this country were Yoruba. Today, Yoruba are marginalised in the judiciary. In the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives: Yoruba people are not in leadership position. It is bad. It’s as if Yoruba are not wanted.”

Similarly, another prominent Yoruba leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo told our correspondent that Jonathan had been very unfair to the South-West even in the repair of federal roads in the country.

He noted that while the roads in the North, the South-East and the South-South were being repaired with funds from government coffers, the federal roads in the South-West were given out to concessionaires who would collect toll from users. He cited the Lagos-Ibadan expressway concession as an example.

“That means that while others would be enjoying roads built with money from our national treasury, we, in the South-West, will have to pay for the repairs of the federal roads in our region. That is unfair. Why are there not roads under concession in the North, South-East and South-South? Yoruba people have been marginalised,” he said.

http://www.punchng.com/news/marginalisation-yoruba-leaders-to-storm-aso-rock-again/

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari sacked service chiefs inherited from the former President Goodluck Jonathan ad­ministration last Monday, and replaced them with new ones. The new appointees, who are coming on board in acting capac­ity until they are confirmed by the Senate are: Major-Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olon­ishakin, Chief of Defence (Staff); Major- Gen. Tukur Y. Buratai, Chief of Army Staff and Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, Chief of Naval Staff. Others are Air- Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Monday Riku Morgan, Chief of Defence Intelligence and Maj.- Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.) as National Security Adviser.


The appointments, which are expected to rev up the war against terrorism and possibly reform the military, have been received with mixed feelings by Nigeri­ans, especially the Igbo nation, which is not represented in the appointments.


While the appointment of service chiefs is well within the rights of the president, the absence of any officer of Igbo extraction among the appointees is generating consternation in Igbo land. Although the president alluded to the fact that the appointments are based on merit, this exclusion of the Igbo indicates that they are not representative of the ethnic composition of Nigeria. In the appointments and others made by the president since he assumed office on May 29, there is a glaring distancing of the Igbo ethnic group, either from the South-East or South-South.

This unsalutory development will not augur well for an administration that was voted in on its mantra of change. The ex­clusion of the South East in the president’s appointments, so far, is also contrary to Section 14 (3) of the Nigerian Constitu­tion, which provides that “the composi­tion of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote na­tional unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sec­tional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”

The composition of the new service chiefs cannot be said to reflect adherence to federal character, as stipulated in the Constitution. The poor representation of the Igbo at the upper echelons of the Nigerian military has, for decades, sign­posted their continuing marginalisation in many areas of national life.

Since the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, very few Igbo citizens have been appointed as service chiefs in the country. Vice Admiral Alison- Madueke briefly held the position of Chief of Naval Staff, while Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika also only served as Chief of Army Staff in Good­luck Jonathan’s government for a short period before he was relieved of the ap­pointment. Mr. Ogbonnaya Onovo was ap­pointed Inspector General of Police for a brief period during Umaru Yar’Adua re­gime, while Ambassador Thomas Aguiyi- Ironsi was the Minister of Defence for a short time during the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Aside these tokens, the Igbo have not really been taken into the mainstream of Nigerian military in terms of appoint­ments since the end of the civil war. Po­litically, the South East appears to have been emasculated to the extent that no­body from the area has been considered capable of being trusted with the leader­ship of any of the arms of the military for a reasonable period.

This tends to suggest that Igbo are not considered worthy of being entrusted with military power, or trusted by Nige­ria’s leaders, past and present. But, we know that this is not the case with Presi­dent Buhari. He is a well known lover of the Igbo ethnic group and the absence of the Igbo in the recent appointments is more likely to be an oversight on the part of his administration, and should be cor­rected in his future appointments.

Naturally, all major appointments ought to take cognizance of our ethnic diversity and ensure some measure of balance and sensitivity in ethnic representation. We say this considering the fact that the Igbo is one of the major ethnic groups in the country like the Hausa and the Yoruba. Short-changing the ethnic group in these appointments does not bode well for Ni­geria’s unity.

With these appointments, there is no doubt that most Igbo will rightly feel that the tribe has not been forgiven for tak­ing part in the Nigerian-Biafran war, over four decades after the end of hostilities. The earlier gains made through the ap­pointment of Madueke, Onovo and Ihe­jirika now seem to have been reversed. The continued distancing of the Igbo in the nation’s top security composition is not only symptomatic of marginalisation, it may be interpreted as an unconsciona­ble orchestrated alienation.

The exclusion of this major ethnic na­tionality from the national power equa­tion will not augur well for a government that has equity and fairness to all parts of the country as part of its mantra.

This inexcusable oversight should be corrected in subsequent appointments by the president. As a friend of the Igbos and somebody that has had a good relation­ship with notable Igbo leaders, we believe that it is not too late to make amends in future appointments.

All the same, we congratulate the new service chiefs and urge them to discharge their duties with utmost dedication. No, doubt, the war on terrorism is still on course and the results so far show that there is still much to be done. With the appointment of the new Chief of Defence Intelligence, there is no doubt that the war on terrorism will naturally assume a new dimension, with more verve and im­petus. Those involved in the war against the insurgents must of necessity up their game on intelligence, which to a large ex­tent has not been sufficiently deployed.


http://sunnewsonline.com/new/service-chiefs-the-igbo-and-case-for-fairness-equity/

God will punish Obama

‘Refusal to Approve N15.37bn Loans Behind Oshiomhole’s Tirade Against Okonjo-Iweala’

• Edo Govt: It’s a weak attempt to whip up sentiments

Davidson Iriekpen in Lagos and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja   

The recent spate of allegations against the immediate past Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, by the Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole may not be unconnected to the refusal by the former to grant loan requests by the governor to pursue financial obligations, which the then minister considered inimical to the interest of Edo State, it has been revealed.


Documents unearthed by THISDAY from sources in the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that the Edo State governor had in a letter dated December 9, 2014 requested a “No Objection” for facilities totalling N15.37 billion, which were turned down by DMO and the minister.


A breakdown of the loans showed that the Edo State Government asked for a "No Objection" for a N13.2 billion term loan from Ecobank Plc to enable the state government meet its payment obligations to contractors; a N1.03 billion term loan from Fidelity Bank Plc to meet the Edo government’s State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB) 50 per cent counterpart funding obligations; and yet another N1.14 billion term loan from Ecobank Plc to meet the state’s 50 per cent counterpart funding obligations to SUBEB.


However, investigations revealed that all the loan requests were turned down by the Ministry of Finance under Okonjo-Iweala following the assessment and guidance provided by DMO, which observed that the loans would be inappropriate and ran contrary to the existing guidelines.


The former minister felt strongly that approving the requests could put Edo State in a very difficult position.
The first reason for her decision to decline the request, according to a source in DMO, was that it was wrong for the state government to obtain a commercial loan and repay same via a World Bank disbursement, which Edo State was expecting.


She had through the DMO communicated her reservations that using a concessional World Bank facility with a 25-year tenor and a five-year grace period at 1.25 per interest rate to pay for a commercial bank loan of 23 months tenor and 18 per cent interest rate was not only irregular but was not economically sustainable.


“In fact, World Bank rules abhor the use of the institution’s facilities to offset commercial loans,” the DMO had said in another letter in response to the Edo State Government. 


However, Okonjo-Iweala, investigations further revealed, did not just reject the loan applications but actually offered some other solutions, including borrowing a smaller amount through a N5 billion bond with a lower interest rate than a bank loan. But Oshiomhole rejected this option.


THISDAY learnt that Edo State was not the only state whose loan applications were not approved by the former minister. Several other states also had their applications rejected based on the results of the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) carried out by the DMO.
In some cases, the applications were not in line with extant rules and procedures.


Sources told THISDAY that Oshiomhole’s sudden repeated attacks against Okonjo-Iweala were indicative of the fact that he took the minister’s rejection of the application very personally, as he desperately needed the funds before the 2015 elections.


THISDAY investigations also showed that he was displeased with the publication of what the states as well as the federal government got from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) between 2011 and 2014 because it put the information into the hands of Edo citizens to whom he had been crying that he did not have enough money because the government at the centre was denying the state its due from the ECA.


The governor opened his floodgate of attacks against Okonjo-Iweala shortly after the general election when he asked the former minister to explain the whereabouts of $30 billion.


Shortly after, he came up with another allegation of $20 billion, $10 billion, N720 billion and $2.1 billion, which he claimed were missing from the ECA and other sources.


On Monday, he levelled another allegation, accusing the former minister of using $1 billion from the ECA to fund the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan, an allegation which Okonjo-Iweala vigorously denied and described the governor’s allegation as a symptom of “numerical diarrhoea”.


However, when confronted with the documents in THISDAY’s possession, the Edo governor’s media aide, Kassim Afegbua, dismissed the reference to the loans requested by the governor.


He described it as a weak attempt to whip up sentiments with the intent of masking the real issue which was the illegality perpetrated by Okonjo-Iweala “who was dipping her hand in collusion with the president into the ECA and spending money against the provision of our laws which make it mandatory for the National Economic Council (NEC) to approve withdrawals from the ECA”.


He said: “Oshiomhole has not been making reckless accusations. Why are the minister and her co-travellers begging the issue? Are they saying Okonjo-Iweala’s dipping her hands into the ECA is acceptable under our laws?


“Are they saying that the former minister is at liberty to take money from the ECA to pay subsidy claims without the required approvals? Does she have the right to take money from the ECA running into several billions?
“Oshiomhole is not raising dust over nothing; the funds in the ECA is owned by the federal government to the tune of 52 per cent, while the states and the local governments own the balance 48 per cent.


“Under our laws, the president can’t spend the federal government's funds without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).”
He maintained that Okonjo-Iweala had changed her position on this issue up to four times, indicating that she must have something to hide.


According to him, “This is simple logic, since you have been publishing the disbursement of the funds to the various state governments from the ECA, what stops you from also publishing the accruals into the same account?


“She needs to tell us the law that allows you to spend the funds in the ECA without permission. She initially said FAAC gave the approvals and FAAC said they did not and the she changed her position and said it was the president who gave the permission, but is the president permitted to do that? The answer is no.


“Instead of addressing these important issues and addressing these violations her spokesperson is feigning ignorance and begging the issue.”


Kassim added that states were compelled to ask for loans for legitimate projects because the right allocations that should have accrued to them were being “stolen by Okonjo-Iweala and her cohorts”.


“They mismanaged the economy and plundered our collective patrimony with reckless abandon. She was indeed the coordinating minister of economic fraud and financial malfeasance,” he stated.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/-refusal-to-approve-n15-37bn-loans-behind-oshiomhole-s-tirade-against-okonjo-iweala-/214648/

Wayo wayo government

Health workers in Rivers State on Tuesday agreed to resumed work after one year of industrial action due to unpaid salaries and other entitlements by the state government.

The strike action impacted negatively on the state as most people, who could not afford to pay bills in private hospitals were abandoned to their fate.

The industrial action which has led to the death of several persons started when former Governor Chibuike Amaechi was in office but he failed to take serious steps in addressing the challenges of the workers, which include inability to refurbishment some obsolete office equipment, shortage of drugs among others.


Governor Nyesom Wike, a month after he assumed office, however, mandated his deputy, Dr. (Mrs.) Ipalibo Banigo, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and the State Primary Health Management Board to liaise with the striking health workers on the resolution of the logjam.

After a series of meetings with the State government, an agreement was reached and the health workers, who were satisfied with the intervention of the government, decided to return to work.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/rivers-health-workers-resume-work-after-one-year-strike/

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop what it described as the trend of propaganda the All Progressives Congress (APC) has deployed to create an impression that the government has done so much within a short period of time.

In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, made it clear that Nigerians expected Buhari to hit the ground running, urging him to quickly settle down to handle the country’s teething economic problems for which he was elected.

The statement reads in part:
“The PDP as a responsible political party made a promise to President Muhammadu Buhari that it would not get involved in detracting him from delivering good governance to the Nigerian people. This has informed our restrained position on a number of issues that ordinarily we would have commented on. However, because of the overzealousness of your spokespersons and some members of your party, the APC, in dramatizing some imaginary achievements of your administration in a space of one month, there is need to put the records straight.


“We need to bring to your notice certain indices that if not properly corrected are capable of derailing the smooth running of your administration. It is incontrovertible that instead of focusing on the promises you made to Nigerians and on policy thrusts that will move our economy forward, the ruling party has been made to be very high on propaganda, deceitful engagement and cosmetic governance.

“We believe you should extricate yourself from these agents of propaganda who continue to believe that Nigerians would be swayed by these cosmetic interventions instead of real business of government.

“As the leader of the most populous black nation in the world, we believe you should not allow your Presidency to be pushed into the gimmicks of playing to the gallery and attempting to use the dramatization of promissory notes and pledges by foreign interests, false premature claims of victory against insurgency, dramatization of salary cut and rejection of official cars, all to gain cheap popularity and create an impression that the government is on course when, in the actual fact, the new administration has not been able to locate a bearing since its inauguration in May.”

On the cut effected on the President’s salary, the PDP said: “While we appreciate the symbolic gesture by Mr. President in ‘cutting’ his N14 million annual basic salary by 50 percent, it should be noted that Nigerians would not be wavered by the N7million annual donation and rejection of official cars, and forget their expectations for the implementation of his long list of campaign promises for which he was sselected into office.

“The Presidency should know that these orchestration, no matter how populist they may seem, do not in any way address the burning issues of employment, worsening security situation, decline in the economy, avoidable inactivity in government businesses, and continued apparent slide of the naira which has dipped from under N200 to the dollar in May to an all time low of N238 under the APC administration, among others.

“Moreover, Nigerians cannot be overwhelmed by the gestures, especially given that they are pretty aware that the salary is a mere drop in the ocean of personal allowances and privileges that come to the president. They cannot therefore be deluded by impressions aimed to make government appear to be on course when it has only been a case of all motion, no movement, spiced with unnecessary excuses.

Nigerians, going by feelers, have not been thrilled by such orchestrations as other leaders who at one time or the other adopted similar stance did not dither or become laidback, but hit the ground running with governance. What the citizens want is a government that is

urgent in living up to its billings and campaign promises. Instead of allowing his government to be taken over by needless showmanship, Mr. President must realize that the people would not judge him by such measures but by the extent to which he addressed critical issues of governance for which he was voted into power.”

PDP called on Buhari to brace up to the challenges facing the country, saying: “The issue is about the President facing the challenges of governance and assembling his team of experts and capable hands to manage the economy, which has been on the decline since he assumed office. It is also about allowing the different arms of government, especially the National Assembly, to work smoothly and encourage conducive democratic environment where the rule of law, personal freedom and security of lives and property are guaranteed.

“Perhaps, we may need to draw Mr. President’s attention to the growing concern that under his watch, democratic institutions are no longer free. While activities of the National Assembly have been disrupted, the nation’s electoral body has lost its independence due to the appointment of an Acting Chairman who is publicly known to have very strong relationship with your good self and key members of your party.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/pdp-cautions-buhari-apc-against-cosmetic-governance-propaganda/

APC is a useless party

With this new appointment chibok scam will be over very soon

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Dear Chinua Achebe, Week after week, the cover of The New York Times looks like a tattered mosaic, covered with photos of us, the American people protesting and crying out for injustice with red and black marked signs reading “Mike Brown: America is racist,” and “Trayvon Martin: Stand up for racial justice.”

Mr. Achebe, please hear me, African colonization is over, but racism has yet to end. In all honesty, your book, Things Fall Apart, was something that I had on my dusty shelf for the past five years. It was brand new, and you could smell that new book scent, even five years after it was bought.

“It’s an amazing classic,” my mother used to say. Yet I never bothered to pick it up; instead I played video games on my iPod. I had been ignorant: the same kind of ignorance the Commissioner had to the Igbo people’s culture.   I was finally forced to read Things Fall Apart in an African History class.


It was just another book, just another classic. I went in thinking that I would skim some chapters, underline some random sentences, and then put the book back on the shelf.

I mean, it was just another required school reading assignment. I was wrong. I began to comprehend the horrors of the ignorance of the European colonizers.

The entire culture of the Igbo people was beginning to “fall apart,” yet the Europeans did not care about their culture and continued colonizing. Great relief struck me in the final chapter when I realized that colonization was over. Today, this kind of horrific ignorance did not happen.

That’s where I was wrong yet again.   Colonization may have ended, but racism has yet to end. Even at school, we see boys and girls like Okonkwo, brave and powerful, who are bullied by others because of his or her skin colour.

When looking for jobs, we see men and women of colour be put down and disrespected like the six tribe leaders who were led in and abused by the Commissioner and his men.

Today, we see injustice everywhere, like when the white men completely ignored the Igbo culture and took over the tribe. Mr. Achebe, today’s racism not only encompasses African- Americans, it has enveloped the Asian, Hispanic and other cultures as well. I can recall a time when boys who I thought were my friends made fun of my eyes and the colour of my skin.

They yelled that I studied too much and that I shouldn’t be playing basketball or sports at all. But like the Igbo people, I didn’t stand up for myself. I stood back in fear that they would hurt more. Mr. Achebe, should I have acted like Okonkwo? Should I have fought back, displaying manliness? Would they have received the message?   Mr. Achebe, is this what we need? Do coloured men and women need to stand up with violence like Okonkwo? What is it that we need to end racism?

Today, I saw pictures about cars being burnt down and buildings torn by protestors in the Furguson area, demanding justice. I immediately realized that this was what Okonkwo would do.

An urgent reaction would have been instigated against the whites and things may have stayed together, instead of falling apart. The culture may have stayed stable. But is this what we need, Mr. Achebe? Slowly, things may be falling apart right before our eyes, my eyes. And I am just standing here like the scared Igbo people.

I am standing here noticing injustice, but not acting against it. I am standing here watching racism gradually evolve into acceptance. Okonkwo would not have acted like I.

Okonkwo would have fought back. But is that the best method? Mr. Achebe, when things are falling apart, how should you act?   Sincerely,   Joonho Jo   •This letter was winner of the national writing award for New Hampshire, U.S. ‘Letters About Literature,’ a reading, writing programme of the Centre for the Book in the Library of (U.S.) Congress; New Hampshire State Library. And the winner, Joonho Jo, a 10th grader at Philips Exeter Academy, wrote the N.H. Level III (Grades 9-12) winning letter to Chinua Achebe.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/to-achebe-a-plea-from-america/

Thank God i was not among 15million deranged who voted for Baba go slow

15 million deranged Nigeria who voted for Buhari have put us into trouble

Am angry

Is Amaechi not corrupt?

omenka:
How come people that are bragging and yearning to go to war with an entire army are scared of just 40 suspects?? In the other thread about protesters, some man even held up a sign that read "we don't want to die".

How ironic.

Bastard from Osun

This people are so backward

That is how downfall start.

Look at what 15million deranged Nigerians have put us into with their vote in the name of voting change. This government is confuse.
If na like this change 'gbakwa oku'

Buhari no get sense, if he does he wouldn't have made his first 9 appointment from north

Buhari no get sense, if he does he wouldn't have made his first eleven appointment from north

As an outstanding Professor of Agronomy, how will you assess the government’s plans to uplift agricul­ture as an alternative to oil revenue?

Let me start by saying that agriculture is not an alternative. Agriculture is the main sustainable means of the Nigerian economy; oil is just a complementary or supplementary to agriculture. Even now, 45 per cent of the GDP of this country is contributed by agriculture, and all other sectors industry, commerce, etc. share the remaining 55 per cent.

Agriculture also is the major employer of labour, accounting for about 60 to 65 per cent of the country’s foreign earn­ings. It also provides food security for the country. Agriculture should be re­viewed to play a major role as a foreign exchange earner.

Before the discovery of oil boom in 1970s, agriculture contributed up 80 per cent of the foreign exchange earning of this country while oil and commence took the remaining.

Agriculture was relegated at the plan­ning stage of government at the federal, state and local government levels, think­ing that oil has come to replace agricul­ture. Oil can only remain as complemen­tary and as component of the nation’s resources to solidify our economy. The earlier we uphold agriculture, the better for Nigeria. The new government is right in its thinking of addressing agricultural revival. We hope it is going to do so. All the advantages are there, all the elements that will make this possible are there and it is up to the government to plan and ex­ecute or implement it.

We should be able to review agricul­ture in such a way that will not only se­cure our food security in the country but also serve as foreign exchange earner. It will also form part of our industrial de­velopment in which without agricultural raw materials our industrialisation pro­gramme will suffer a setback. That is what our forefathers did. Our textile in­dustries were established, just as cotton mills and groundnut were established. So, we have all the resource it takes for us to have well diversified industrial de­velopment in this country.

Most countries around the world, particularly United States of America’s power industries was largely based on agricultural materials. Well, the biggest challenge, facing agriculture in Nigeria today is low productivity. If I may ex­plain this briefly, to give one illustration, while you can get 12 tonnes of maize per hectare of land in US today, our farmers in Nigeria are getting one tonne per hect­are because of the low technology.

Buhari government appears to be facing crises of coordination. How do you see the prospect of the govern­ment vis-a-vis the power tussle in the National Assembly and high expecta­tions by Nigerians?


You are absolutely correct that Nige­rian have voted for change and have high expectations of this new government. There is no doubt about it. Therefore, everything must be put in place by this government with the leaders that are in charge of the government to ensure that the aspirations and expectations of Ni­gerians are realised as soon as possible because, anything short of that is a clear and demonstrated effort of failure.

Nigerians are very understanding. If you have a problem, they know, if you are doing your best, they know, if you are hiding things from them, they also know. So, I think it is correct that there are high expectations from people. That is the more reason this government should not be allowed to be distracted by petty quarrels either within the ex­ecutive or within the legislative arms of government as we are already seeing now. The sooner they put a stop to these squabbles, the better for them.

I will strongly advise that they must do everything possible to avoid dirty politics. I don’t see why with the kind of voting pattern we have seen in the country, we should be seeing these kinds of things at the National Assembly. It is totally uncalled for and it begins to show sign that we are not out of the woods. It only shows that we are moving out from one forest and jumping into another.

What is your take on the call by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, whose leaders re­cently visited President Buhari and sought for an inclusion of Igbo in his government?

I take Ohanaeze Ndigbo as a socio-cultural or political organisation that speaks for the Igbo, that seeks to pro­tect the interest of the Igbo in the Nige­rian federation. So, it is very clear what they are in that context. Northern Elders Forum is not different from Ohanaeze. Northern Elders Forums wants to speak for Nigeria where possible and speaks and ensures that northern Nigeria is not in any circumstance marginalised in terms of its interest, whether this interest is political, social or economic.

So, I think if Ohanaeze is worried about being marginalised, as such they must have thought that the North would retaliate because there were deliberate actions under the Jonathan administra­tion aimed at marginalising the North in appointments and opportunities in projects and virtually in everything you can think of. Now, Ohanaeze are wor­ried that, perhaps, they will be paid back in their coins, but we (Northern Elders Forum) have always said that we are looking for leadership of someone from Northern extraction, not because we wanted to marginalise or cheat any per­son in Nigeria. As you know, the north­ern leadership of the country, from and before independence of Nigeria, has al­ways been fair to everyone. They deny themselves and give to others. This atti­tude was started from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. A lot of concessions were given to Niger Delta because of oil up till re­cently. Niger Delta is getting not less than 13 per cent from derivation funds.

There is Ministry of Niger Delta but there is no ministry for the arid zones. There was OMPADEC and NDDC, etc. In fact, one state in Niger Delta is get­ting ten times of what a state is getting in the North. You see, it is good that Buhari said he would be fair to all Nigerians. That is what northern leadership is all about – equity and justice. But what we are not going to accept is to see that the North is unfairly treated.

 
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/grave-mistake-jonathan-made-in-war-against-boko-haram-prof-ango-abdullahi/

Professor Ango Abdullahi, Secretary, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), has de­scribed the bickering in the governing All Progressives Congress, APC., par­ticularly the battle of wit at the National Assembly, as unnecessary distraction for the government. He said Nigerians’ expectation from the Muhammadu Bu­hari government was so high that the APC and the APC needed not dissipate energy on inanities.

Prof. Abdullahi, former Vice Chan­cellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, former special adviser on food secu­rity to President Olusegun Obasanjo and member, Board of Trustees, BoT, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, also tasked Buhari on the country’s secu­rity situation, even as he advocated the need for government to revive the abandoned dredging of River Niger and also revisit the exploration of pe­troleum in the North.

Excerpts:

How do you see the approach of Buhari’s government towards tackling the security situation of the country, especially the Boko Haram insurgency?

I must take you back a little bit and say that from the platform of the North­ern Elders Forum, we have submitted a comprehensive document to the former president, Jonathan Goodluck, in May, 2012. We looked at the various issues that were challenging the country at that particular point in time. Boko Ha­ram was the major national issue and we made several recommendations from the security aspect, political aspect, socio-economic aspect, etc.

It was very comprehensive and we went personally to present it to the then president. Our team was led by Dan Masanin Kano, Alhaji Yusufu Maitama Sule. Jonathan’s government was not taking the correct approach with regard to tackling the issue of Boko Haram, particularly to bring it to an end. There were indications that Boko Haram in­surgency was being used as a political tool towards, perhaps, a pre-determined goal for winning election for Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. We specifically said that the approach was wrong. But we reminded the government at that time that yes, when the government was fac­ing militancy in the Niger Delta, it was quite violent, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in good faith decided, in addition to the stick approach, also employed the current approach, mean­ing that for government to understand the genesis and causes of militancy, there must be some dialogue between government and the militants and which has socio-economic and political dimen­sions.

From this dialogue, a position was fixed whereby the militants laid down their arms in return, and some conces­sions were made to them, including is­sues of employment, security and so on. So, we reminded the then president in 2012, that why shouldn’t he look at the possibility of dialogue? I must say here that this was the basis of which a dia­logue was started. We also said at that time that while force was desirable in certain situation, it cannot be used in a way that rather than people coming to help, people will move back away from the effort of the government, meaning that if you are fighting an enemy you don’t tell him no. You must use cred­ible intelligence and this credible intel­ligence can only come about through the cooperation of the people, particularly people from within the areas where this insurgency is taking place.

The Joint Task Force (JTF) was there as an occupation force rather than a force that would create confidence in the peo­ple for their proper protection. To JTF, it appears that every person from Borno or outside was an enemy or potential Boko Haram. At the slightest excuse, one could be killed according to report we read from Amnesty International. We told Jonathan’s government that this was the best way to deal with the situation. He started the dialogue but we were aware that he was put under pres­sure by some extremists, who believed that the government of Nigeria should not discuss with Islamists because they were trying to Islamise the country and, therefore, he should not engage them in any form of discussions. So, we un­derstand from where that pressure came and the president succumbed to their pressure and abandoned the dialogue, and in its stead, he came up with a state of emergency.

So, we saw enormous violence with impunity being meted out to ordinary people in the name of tackling Boko Ha­ram. Again, sometimes, we read in the newspapers, where some political com­mentators said Boko Haram was created by northerners because they lost power and they wanted to make the country un­governable, etc. Of course, this could not stand to reason because the insurgency did not exclude the Muslims. Mosques were attacked. Muslims had been killed in large numbers. I could not see a mili­tancy that wanted to Islamise Nigeria but engaged in killing Muslims. So, you could also argue that if the North didn’t want Jonathan to win elections, he could not because the North has the voting power to deny him victory in any elec­tion.

But these commentators failed to see all these. But they continued to use it as a weapon towards 2015 election. Fi­nally, of course, they lost. Buhari is now in charge as president. Obviously, from his post-campaign speeches, he had said that he would deal with Boko Haram and put an end to it. The question to ask is whether his approach is the basis of his confidence or whether it is a tactics or both. It appears to me that it is both, because he has directed that the military command structure against insurgency be relocated to Maiduguri. That is a tac­tical approach. And there is also a socio-political approach, particularly bringing our neighbouring countries – Cameron, Chad and Niger Republic – to really ad­dress the problem seriously by Joint Task Force to keep the common boundaries safe and ensure that the insurgents are followed wherever they are.

I think his approach is correct using both military and political. These should be so. In addition, there must be con­tact and dialogue with various insurgent groups, because we don’t believe that Boko Haram insurgency is one uniform group with different chapters. Buhari’s approach is likely to make a difference and obviously international communi­ties that saw Jonathan playing politics with the issue of Boko Haram withdraw their support. Certainly, we are seeing a change of mind now. Recently, there was a pledge by Canada, USA, UK, France,
European countries to assist Buhari in the fight.

There have been comments regard­ing dredging of River Niger, which Jonathan administration abandoned in 2010; what is the stand of North­ern Elders Forum on this?

Perhaps, it will be premature for me as person to, on behalf of the North­ern Elders Forum, discuss objectively what Buhari should or should not do with regard to dredging of River Niger. There is no question in any one’s mind that these rivers are international water­ways, and they do not belong to Nigeria alone. They belong to all countries that are entering into the ocean and make an extension of the ocean. Therefore, tech­nically, realistically or economically, it will make a lot of economic sense for the River Niger to be dredged as far as pos­sible within Nigerian territory or even beyond with stream tributaries of River Benue to Cameroon up to Niger.

It certainly would make freight of goods much easier and cheaper. Of course, to have a River Niger dredged is much of economic significance to the North in particular, so that ocean link could go to Makurdi to Bussa and Yawari. It was based on politics that Jon­athan terminated that project in favour of South-south. The idea, as usual, was to make the northern Nigeria dependent in terms of access to the sea and shipping.

Obviously, if you have a ship coming to Bussa or Lokojo, you can have ships to any part of the world from there. So, for us, we expect that any aspect that will improve the economy of Nigeria should be of great concern and I have no doubt that in a few weeks or month, when Mr. President has put his team in place, who­ever is assigned to take charge of the transport ministry will take this matter seriously.

Now, as the project is abandoned po­litically, the project should be re-started economically. Because of the politics, the Jonathan administration felt that this part of the country should be put at the disadvantage. But the new government should look at it because of its economic significance to Nigeria. This dredging should proceed fast and quick, so that a lot of things will open for Nigeria.


What is your position on the issue of oil exploration in the North?

I have always said it in the last 50 years that the North has petroleum po­tentials, and in subsequent years, it is clear that oil is in part of the North- Benue trough and Chad Basin. There is oil in Niger Republic in commercial quantity from the side of Katsina. Two things have contributed or negated our effort in fully exploiting the potential of oil in the North; there is carelessness on the part o f the northern leaders’ thinking that this is one country, therefore, explo­ration is cheaper and easier for on-shore and off-shore in the deep ocean and two, the oil companies also indicated that it is cheaper for them to exploit oil from on-shore-off-shore and they were allowed to do so purely for commercial reason.

But if government too had insisted that they do another way – inland, perhaps this would have worked. However, we hope that given our experience in the last 40 to 50 years, where the North was only blackmailed, intimidated and threatened that we didn’t even know the country’s oil bases and we must always succumb to this blackmail in terms of political re­lationship, the governors and the Federal Government should have responsibility to ensure that the resources of this coun­try are harnessed; not only oil but other minerals as well.

In the North, we have tonnes of pre­cious stones and minerals, ranging from gold and diamonds in large quantities, so we expect any government that likes the development of this country to really open all the potentials that exist in the different parts and make sure that these potentials are exploited and resources are harnessed for the betterment of Ni­geria. It is not a contentious matter that there is oil in Northern Nigeria, especial­ly in our boarder areas.

Op how did prostitutes become your problem?

Nigeria is in shambles with a terrorist as president

DropShot:
If he is found guilty, he will be dealt with according to our laws and NOTHING will happen after that.

PDP, even with enormous power, threatened more than this and we all witnessed how things played out.

Buhari may use his hand to bury himself and u knw the effect

When did forging become a sin in Nigeria? This
question is for Buhari to answer. Buhari is fast digging his own grave, that is the reward for voting an illiterate into power

Buhari is a failure

We are in deed big scary poo

Amaechi will regret betraying his brother