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Okorocha:Always want to be the ICE on the CAKE: Claiming he submitted Onu’s name for SGF:

Onu have gat the profile to be appointed the SGF.......

He was compensated for initiating the processes that gave birth to APC — Ogbonnaya Onu


I initiated processes that gave birth to APC — Ogbonnaya Onu

Read below what might seems to be FACT(s).

Story by John Alechenu July 27, 2014 :

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu

In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, a former governor of Abia State and ex-National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, speaks on the APC national convention, the Ekiti State governorship election and the party’s chances in the 2015 general elections

What is your take on the fallout of the recently-concluded national convention of the APC, especially concerning the complaints by some notable members like Chief Tom Ikimi?

The party did zoning and for a big party like the APC, there is no way you can conduct your convention without some problems. The important thing is that the party is determined to make sure the grievances of all those who are not happy as a result of the outcome of the convention are looked into and that solutions are found to make sure the APC remains a family, where all members will be happy.

Was this what led to the setting up of the Atiku Abubakar-led reconciliation committee?

Yes, there is a reconciliation committee. Though that committee is not going to look at all the problems, the party is determined to make sure all the problems are looked into and solutions are found.

What is your response to people who say the APC has started operating like the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, especially its preference for choosing candidates through consensus rather than allowing primaries?

The Constitution of the party is clear. It gives much prominence to internal democracy, which Nigerians saw when we elected our governorship candidates, starting from Anambra State. In our Constitution, the emphasis on internal democracy is such that even where you have consensus, the party will still have to vote Yes or No to make sure it is the true choice of the people.

I will also like to mention that there were three parties that you can call the legacy parties (Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change) which came together to form the APC; but there were groups from All Progressives Grand Alliance, Democratic People’s Party and we had the new PDP in addition to other groups that joined the party.

Ikimi had alleged in one of his letters, which was recently made public after the party’s national convention, that the APC was being run by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Do you agree?

It is difficult for any single individual to control the party. The party is a very big one; a national party for that matter. If you look at our Constitution, it makes provisions for important organs (to run its affairs): you have the Board of Trustees; there is also a national caucus in addition to our National Executive Committee. With all these organs operating, it is extremely difficult for any single individual or group of individuals to control the party. The APC is for all its members; it is not a Yoruba party, it is not an Igbo party, it is not a Hausa, Fulani party, it is a party for all Nigerians.

It is being said the APC will have a tough time in the South-East because of the actions of some of the party’s governors. Take for example, the deportation of south-easterners from Lagos by the Fashola-led administration. Don’t you see this affecting the party in 2015?

No. Mistakes can be made but they can also be corrected. I know that in the case of Lagos, if I remember correctly, when the Aka Ikenga (apex body of the Igbo) held one of its activities in Lagos, the governor of Lagos State (Babatunde Fashola) apologised for the action he took. And you can see that the Lagos State Government has not done anything like that again.

Don’t you see the sacking of civil servants, whose only offence was their state of origin, from the services of the Abia State Government as likely to have an adverse effect on efforts towards nation building?

I believe the governor of Abia State has had a rethink because he has recalled those that were asked to leave and I am happy about this last step he took.

Apart from being the national chairman of the defunct ANPP, what role did you play in the formation of the APC?

The formation of the APC was actually the first time parties that formed governments came together in a merger in the political history of Nigeria. It is an event that so many people played very important roles. So many, but with all humility, I will say I initiated the processes that finally led to the formation of APC. The idea of parties coming together in a merger had been on for some time but each time the process started, it would collapse. But this one, which I believe God used me to accomplish, succeeded. It’s a long story. May be I can summarise it: By 2004, which is about 10 years ago, the caucus of the ANPP in the National Assembly— all the senators, and members of the House of Representatives —invited me to speak on a very important topic: ‘Nigerians should not allow one party rule.’ At that time, members of the ruling party (the Peoples Democratic Party) were making predictions that the PDP will be in government for up to 60 years and nobody challenged them. I felt it was necessary to go and show Nigerians why that will not happen. In the process, I made it clear that the only way that would not happen was if all the opposition political parties came together to provide an effective alternative to promote competition in the political arena. This was in August 2004.

By December, the same year, the Lagos State House of Assembly invited me and I also made a very important speech that all the opposition political parties needed to come together to ensure that Nigeria had two dominant political parties.

When I became the National Chairman of the (defunct) ANPP in the last quarter of 2010, I quickly contacted the ACN leadership. By then, the ACN was the only other party that controlled more than one state and they invited me to a meeting. The meeting was held at the Lagos Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. I went there and spoke to all the leaders, the governors, everybody. And I said, look, we should come together. It was from there that committees were formed. The ACN and the ANPP started meeting but you remember that was very close to elections. If you remember, by January parties held their conventions to nominate their Presidential candidates. As the ANPP was talking with the ACN, the ACN started talks with the CPC. The CPC/ACN talks collapsed. That was the one that the public knew so much about. The ANPP/ACN discussions, which the public didn’t know about, also collapsed but I didn’t give up. I and Chief Olu Falae of the Social Democratic Mega Party decided the four parties, the ACN, the CPC, ANPP and the SDMP, should come together to start discussing. The public didn’t know about this. We were able to harmonise our constitutions and manifestoes but we had difficulty in deciding who could be the acceptable flag-bearer. We were trying to use a window where Independent National Electoral Commission would allow you to make substitutions but it wasn’t possible, so it collapsed again. After the elections, General Muhammadu Buhari went to court; the candidate of the ANPP and the ACN didn’t go to court; so I waited. The Supreme Court gave its ruling in February 2012. I think about the 3rd of March, I now wrote a letter to the national chairmen of opposition political parties that were controlling at least one state. We started meeting; two of the chairmen couldn’t join for certain reasons but others kept talking. All we wanted to do was to build trust within us because you can only do business with someone you trust. Finally, we re-established our committees and the committees started meeting and that’s how APC was finally formed.

What do you think is responsible for the lack of commitment to ideology by Nigerian politicians?

I believe the problem exists because of our level of development. People ought to see politics from the point that politics is not just about winning elections. It is very important that politicians show character; that they show discipline. By this, they show they are principled; that they can be trusted; that if people don’t trust you, then it becomes difficult for you to influence them. I believe the problem of moving from one party to the other will not be on for too long. I believe so because people will recognise the importance of fidelity in the conduct of political affairs.

What is your view about the APC loss in the Ekiti State governorship election?

There are so many lessons to be learnt from that election. The level of intimidation and harassment was very disturbing to us. We shouldn’t fail to see the place of fear in politics. When there is fear, you find that there will be suppression of votes because if somebody feels that he or she is not secure, he or she may not come out to vote. Arrests and all other forms of intimidation and harassment were enough to suppress votes; to prevent people who would have voted even for (Governor Kayode) Fayemi to do so.
The ongoing national conference has elicited a lot of public comments, both for and against. What is your take on it?
I have always believed there is the need for us to continue to discuss in this country. This is a great nation with a lot of diversity. And we are still a young nation even though we just celebrated 100 years as a country. Hundred years in the life of a country is a small period. Some of us said no to the conference because we felt the timing was wrong. The key thing is not for us just to discuss these things and come up with suggestions as they have done but how to implement these suggestions. Take for example the additional state the conference said should be created for the South-East. Remember that in a similar conference, I think in 2005, the same recommendation was made. Has the state been created? No. The issue is that many things were not done properly for this conference. The members ought to have been elected; there should have been a law to establish the conference because this is a democracy. There should have been a provision in our budget before you start spending money on it. Enough time should have been given to them to discuss and also enough time for implementation so that these recommendations will not just end up on book shelves; because they can help our people only when there are policies that are implemented.

Do you subscribe to the school of thought that the way INEC is structured will make it difficult for credible polls to hold in 2015?

If INEC is to give the nation free and fair elections, the structure should not stop INEC from doing so. The important thing is for the political will to excel. If INEC is truly independent, then the funding should be in a way that will demonstrate true independence. Take the Ekiti election for example; it was not INEC that made a governor coming into Ekiti not to enter into Ekiti, violating the person’s rights. I was a victim myself. We came in using an aircraft, got up to Akure Airport, which you know doesn’t have landing facilities at night, and when we got there by 5: 00pm, we couldn’t take off. We had to travel all night to arrive there by 2:00 am. It was not INEC that stopped (Adams) Oshiomhole from taking off from Benin Airport. When supporters of Fayemi heard about all these, they could be frightened and refuse to come out (on election day). The environment for free and fair election must be in place for us to have credible elections.

I tell you, there is nothing as important as having a free and fair election in the country, because many of the problems we have had have been leadership problems. You need to elect leaders who owe their loyalty to the people; who know they are occupying positions of leadership as a result of the will of the people. If that is not done, then it becomes difficult for leaders to give their best or to put the interest of the nation first.

What is your take on the security situation in Nigeria at the moment and what do you think the long term solutions are?

The security situation is disturbing; it is worrisome; it should not be allowed to continue. The Federal Government must be held responsible because that is what our Constitution has said. In terms of long term solutions, quite a number of countries have had this level of problems: militancy, terrorism and they have been able to solve these problems. We have to look at the route they took and we must do the same for us to succeed. The most effective way is to ensure you work on your intelligence network so that you can monitor the militants and the terrorists. By monitoring them, you will know when they want to strike, you know where they want to strike and you will know who or what is their target. If you have these information, it will be easy for you to stop them before they strike. And if you stop them successfully over a long period of time, they will stop.

You were in the university system before joining politics. The sector is in crisis, what do you suggest should be done to solve the problem?

Education is so important that it is actually the key to national development, unity and integration. We need to do more in the area of education than we have done. There was a time our schools were ranked among the best, at least in the Commonwealth. It is not that way now and I believe there are so many things we should be looking at. First, we should work on our teachers, we should be able to attract and retain the best in teaching. We need to move in the direction of science and technology so that we can create entrepreneurs through our educational system.

Was there a time your party discussed the issue of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2015 general elections?

We’ve not discussed it. Whenever it will come up for discussion, the party will take into consideration the mood of the nation and the sensibilities of our fellow citizens. We cannot do anything that will make it difficult for our party to win elections.

What informed your decision to seek elective office in the first place considering the fact that you were into academics?

To seek elective office as governor from the academia was not easy; considering our background. I have always felt that Nigeria has a very unique role that God has destined for us to play in the lives of black people all over the world. The only way it can be done is by using political power effectively. Japan was not a developed country. Japan grew rapidly in terms of development and its prosperity benefited people around her. We want Nigeria to do that because today, if you want the face of hunger, it is the black face, if you want the face of illiteracy it is the black face; if you want the face of oppression, it is the black face. It shouldn’t be that way.

In 1998, you were named the flag bearer of the then All Peoples Party but you did not run in the election, which General Olusegun Obasanjo won. What really happened?

What happened was that I aspired to run for President under the platform of my party. Then, there were only three parties. Names of all those who wanted to run were given to a screening committee and mine was one of those that came up from that committee. The National Executive Committee of the party had to vote and I came first on the basis of which my name was announced to the world. Going by the Constitution of the party, it was only the national convention of the party that can nominate a presidential candidate. My name was taken to the national convention in Kaduna and it was ratified. There was provision for alliance between Alliance for Democracy and the APP and most people, including myself, had thought that because APP had nine states while the AD had six, the APP candidate would be the natural candidate from the alliance. What happened was that I was not consulted or informed, a committee was set up and a candidate was picked from the AD. Nobody even told me that a committee was going to meet. Also, if a decision was taken that the joint ticket should go to someone else, at least, courtesy demanded I should have been informed. None of these happened. The then National Chairman, the late Mahmoud Waziri, apologised to me publicly in a statement that everybody read. Also, the National Secretary, Dr. Oduma, did the same; that was what happened. I took all that because I felt it was very important for our country to proceed on the journey towards democracy and that the interest of the nation must come first.

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For those who care to know.........ENGR. DR. OGBONNAYA ONU (The New SGF)
Born on December 1,1951, in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Dr. Christopher Ogbonnaya Onu obtained grade one with distinction in his West African School Certificate examination at Izzi High School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. He also obtained distinctions in Physics and Chemistry at the Higher School Certificate examination at the College of Immaculate Conception, CIC, Enugu, graduating as the best overall student. By 1976, he graduated with First Class Honours degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Lagos. He later obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, UC Berkeley, California, USA, in 1980. He worked as a Research Staff and Consultant at the Engineering Research Center, Western Electric in New Jersey, USA. While in UC Berkeley, Dr. Onu was the President of the African Students Union; Member, Graduate Assembly of the University of California, Berkeley and President of the Nigerian Association of Northern California, Inc.
On return to Nigeria, he started lecturing as the pioneer Head, Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt, Acting Dean, Faculty of Engineering in 1985 and was also elected by Senate into the Governing Council of the University. In 1989, Dr. Onu served as a Directors of the Nigeria Cement Company, Nigercem, Nkalagu; Visitor of Abia State University, Uturu. He was the pioneer National President of the Raw Materials Society of Nigeria; Member, Pioneer Board of Governors of the Federal Government Raw Materials Research and Development Council.
In 1991, he was elected the first Governor of old Abia State. He commenced work on the establishment of a Technology Village and the introduction of computers into public schools. He was the first Chairman, Conference of Nigerian elected Governors. He was honoured with the Governor of the year (1992) award and also the Star Governor award. In 1999, he emerged the first Presidential Flagbearer of the then All Peoples Party, APP, now All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP. Presently, Dr. Onu is the National Chairman of ANPP. Dr. Onu has conducted research successfully into various Chemical Engineering. He has written many books and published journals. He is a member of the ancient and noble order of the Knights of St. John International, KSJ.
Dr. Onu is a COREN Registered Engineer, Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers and the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
SPECIALIZATIONS•Oil Refinery

We talking NIGERIA AND NIGERIAN you are talking GEJ AND PMB. You must be as stupid as ur comment. Learn not to just talk but impact knowledge.

Can someone please tell Nairalanders why the asset wasn't decleared publicly after promising to do .. Another scam adminstration abi? ......

Lailai........ I trust my fellow Ekitie to DECAMP.......

Just imagine how stupid you are @kayboy..

I pity him with what he has choose to start with.... The lord isbur power oooo.

I'm sure he has a very good answer to this allegation. The man is definitely smarter than preaching anti-corruption in public when he has huge skeletons in his closet.

I wouldn't be surprised if Akpabio hasn't released a kobo for the project.
I LOVE IT, WHEN PEOPLE THINK LIKE THEIR BRAIN FUNCTION WELL................I EXCEPT SOMEONE TO MEANTION IT BEFORE NOW AND YOU DID........ I OWE YOU MY BROTHER....

Dear Host of the Pix: there is no prove to tell the pix is the Emir of Kano........... Post with prove

Am a party to it: Nothing wrong with it.....

It is never possible.... the guy should go for the DNA of the child.
AA+AS=SS, I no gree foul paly smelling joor.
The lady must have been mating with another AS.

See link below
http://genotype-information..com/

What's the problem with this OBA? does he have a legal adviser who have a better understanding of Nigerian constitution of the Immigration Act 1990 - Nigeria Law and Business In Nigeria Immigration - Nigeria Law .
The free movement of persons is a fundamental right guaranteed to citizens by the Treaties.

This is a scam......... fellow nailander

FRM PF just seeing what i long saw.......... God help 9ja.

@Emodeee: What's the name of the person you're talking about ?

I felt so because i describe myself and act as a Leo! with dual personality! Actually, It’s multiple! I study the game of power to develop the ability to understand everybody around me and judge by my own reasoning, & by this, i don’t joke with what are not meant to be joked with. I only respect & honor, those who deserved to be honored. I can be anybody, anyday, anytime, anyhow, anywhere. For this i have always been scared if i will ever find one who will love me for myself. Thanks God she accepted me with my dual self.

We met at CNSSL Contact Centre Limited a Telecommunications service provider to Mobile Telecommunication Network MTN Nigeria. where we both work as Customer Care Representative. The first time I noticed her, I walked past her with a friend and said "I admire this lady but she no go gree for me", we both smiled at that statement but never exchanged a word, not even our names. A few months later I gave her a call after getting her number from a colleague and the calls continued although always once in a while. These calls got us a bit closer and then I started asking if she was in a meaningful/healthy relationship cos I wants to be with her bla...bla...bla...
She didn't take me serious though becoz she didn't see persistent enough to her and she also had her reservations about office relationships.
She came in for a night shift one day and I walked up to her and said 'I've been trying to get you off my mind but it's not working, I tried other ladies, but it's you I want. I seemed very sincere to her on that faithful day and so she decided to hear me out. We had a long talk that night and fixed a date for the next day..... The rest they say is history!
BR// OlawunmiOlasunkanmi

Could this statement be true; so because 6000 thousand Nigerian may losses their Jobs our fellow black brothers and sisters should be killed.. How I wish I can lay hold on this heartless being
..

i know this will be the end result of his support for GMB.......
I just pray we head towards a gr8ta 9ja ooO

@Mr Niceguy...... Please read through the result sheets again and see JK governor-general of Lasgidi..

Olasunkanmi Omoniyi 00000004050 pla help check

They threatened to make Jonathan's government ungorvenable and they succeeded with boko haram.
Bro relax the film is still on GEJ till 2019 i know that for sure....

Why are so.e people taking the role of INEC.
? LET US ALL WAIT TO HEAR RESULTS FROM JEGA.....

casting Vote untill the last person does, is not a wise one................ meaning casting will be on in some states till like 2am which might be risky....................... Na niga we dey ooOOO........ wake up NIGA

Good development!

what is good about it.................. you be JJC ni? wake please..

Info: FAAN shortlisted have been UPDATED. From those of here at the customs training centre ikeja we please to inform nairalanders that at the moment we are okay by the organisation and believing it won't be scam ooO. I promise to keep the house update.. One love all.

Keeping GEJ in power is a task that must be accomplished.

Dear Applicant,
Your resume request application has be observed and processed, and you have been stated for listing and recruitment, contact the human resource manager Mr.James Adebowale on 08099706716 for form purchase info and interview details.

Be noted that job vacancy is only stated in Abuja,Lagos,PH and applicant from outer state will be asked to relocate to present for job opportunity. Any form of indiscipline is not tolerated as management will not be held responsible for disapproval of application due to inability to change residence to the states listed above an agreement will be signed in your application form when purchased for licensed authority.

Signed:management
Nigerian Chevron Oil And Gas Company.

I got the samething too, but after trying it, it shows me that my application was ready submitted

Hey! Lets not give final verdict until proper investigation is done.