ijaw citizen: Mr. Kpomwen, pls tell them Jonathan is an Ijaw man and not a "Jew from the East"

Nobody has said Jonathan is not from Ogbia in Bayelsa, but what the chieftain is saying is that as one from Bayelsa state he is part of the eastern region- Jonathan himself had said so- and it will be so in post-oil Nigeria. If you do not properly demarcate it, most of the so-called SS remain east, not when 50 percent of Rivers is Igbo-speaking, and historically 50 percent of Ijaw were sired by Igbo mothers and therefore have Igbo blood flowing in them.

If you travel to the western world today and mention your place, it will be described as 'south east' of Nigeria. If you say it is the riverine side, they will further refer to it as Nigeria's delta.

Stop the externally induced panic response and face this grim reality.

5.00GP:


BUT YORUBA ARE NOT TARNISHING THE REPUTATION OF NIGERIA UNLIKE BABY FACTORY TRIBE.....

Does Nigeria have reputation to protect? A country that kills its citizens, fails to provide basic necessities, steal collective resources, discriminates openly, entrenches tribalism and mediocrity does not have a reputation.

Its unfortunate that the country has descended to 'everyone for his/herself and God for us all'; anything goes here. Its only football that restores some semblance of progressiveness here.

I used to respect this man for his innovativeness in business with those Benin and Abuja superstores with provision for London-type windowshopping, and being among the first to introduce e-recods and POS payment. But I was disappointed when he allowed his son to marry a T.A. Orji daughter.
What has he gone to PDP for if not chop chop?

Abia, if it is based on infrastructure, well planned roads, numeration, business and industrial clusters etc.

Aba
Umuahia
Ohafia
Abiriba
Arochukwu
Igbere

@OP 5. GEJ's administration has sidelined all two biggest voting blocs in the country aligning his region SS, with SE. The total votes of these two regions (15m) is 3 million less than the votes of the NW alone (18m).

Your permutation is based on faulty premises. You will be shocked at the votes from SS/SE when the chips are down. There has been changes in the demographics over the last few years. Btw the north has turned the country into an irreformable behemoth-not accepting credible census with state of origin and religion; not accepting merit in choice of candidates and appointees; and opposing a national conference.

2015: Only Igbo can stop Jonathan –Ezeife

January 5, 2014 • By Our Reporter
By OMONIYI SALAUDEEN

In terms of power politics, this year promises to be action packed. Already, the main  actors have been working some political permutations. How these will endure is what most sideline spectators will be looking forward to in the months ahead. It can only get more exciting as the nation inches towards the next general election.
In this interview, a former governor of the old Anambra State and prominent leader of thought in the East, Dr Chukwuemeka Pius Ezeife  gives an insight into what to expect in 2015  adding that the trend of Yoruba politics signals  danger.
Excerpts:

Traditionally, Southwest is known to be an exclusive enclave of  the progressives. But now that there is a kind of bridge building between the North and the South with the emergence of All progressives Congress (APC), how do you see the new trend of Yoruba politics?
I am very much familiar with Yoruba politics. But I think this is not Yoruba politics; it’s Tinubu politics and Tinubu is my friend. One would have celebrated the arrival or emergence of a two-party system, but  this marriage is not based on ideology like the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) and the predominant element in the marriage is religion.  Nigerians should be afraid of radicalizing Yoruba.  This is my fear and I am not alone. Ngige is the most popular politician in Anambra State, but see what happened to him. It is not him; it is the party to which he belongs and it has nothing to do with anti-Yoruba. CPC headed by Buhari, ACN headed by Yoruba formed a merger and its National Chairman is a Muslim, National Secretary is a Muslim, National Publicity Secretary is a muslim, virtually all national officers are muslims. Whether they revise it tomorrow or not, the indication is very clear. There is nothing to read on the wall; it is already written everywhere. They can amend it to get a two-party system but the way it started gives a gap. Although CPC calls itself Congress for Progressive Change; it is not a progressive party. At the end of 2011 presidential election, many people went to their untimely graves. That is not  progressive politics. Again, the foundation has been laid for further killings should anything happen in 2015. I like Junaid Muhammed , because he is blunt, but he already said that if Jonathan contests in 2015, blood will flow. We haven’t finished the mourning of 2011 and they are talking of further blood flowing in 2015. That is not progressive politics. That somebody from any other part of Nigeria cannot have as much right as a particular section of the country is not  progressive politics. The constitution is very clear on two terms- if you win, you win and if you lose, you lose. We have been together for so many years out of which 381/2 years,the north has been dominant. However, I am happy that some northerners are beginning to show some understanding. It is said in one of the national dailies that the North will be better off with a non northern president because a non northern president will not be feudalistic. The problem we are facing is not the fault of anybody; it is the fault of  the social system we inherited. Look at how Igbo are suffering from excessive individualism. One of our good points is achievement motivation. We go to the desert and convert it to where people live. But today, that achievement motivation has gone haywire , because the social value and ethics which condition achievement motivation are no longer there. So, we look for money anywhere we get it. That is why our people are being buried in the ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea. That is why they are dying in the  Sahara Desert. If you hear that people are dying there, it is only us (Igbo) and a very few Edo people. No Yoruba man dies there. We must be ready to acknowledge our mistakes and move forward. We are in Kano sending our children to school and we see northerners moving around as Almajiri. It would have been our duty to take those children off the streets, take them to school and pay for them as we pay for our own children. The time has come for us to make friends with other Nigerians. It is time to invest our earnings in other societies. It is also time for us to make more investment at home rather than abroad. I am threatened by the potential of APC to do harm.  There was a time people interviewed me and I said it is a red light to Nigeria. Nobody replied because everybody knew that I said these things as I saw them.

So, you see APC as a red light to Nigeria?
That is what I said before. I said so because it is not based on ideology and you can see that it bends more on religion than ideology which everybody has seen, known and accepted. That is why the people of Anambra State dumped their most preferred man. I want a two-party system,because I was among the Permanent Secretaries who prepared Babandiga’s return to civil rule programme. We  proposed a two-party system; Babangida only announced it as if it were a military proposition. So, whereas I would have been celebrating the two-party system made possible by APC,  the fact that they lack ideology and have religious colouration make me have  some reservations. Overall, the prospects are bright and beautiful. Jonathan has shown to be the best President we ever had potentially.

Why potentially?
If he sticks to the ongoing national dialogue, he would have done the ultimate transformation of Nigeria into a country that works. If we go to the national conference and discuss peacefully and progressively, the 2015 election will become no case. Nigeria needs a change. We need to stop the monumental corruption going on. But the way we are organised into 36 states going to federal government to take national cake and coming back to  distribute at home cannot continue. We need to organise into a smaller number of states for economic development  and control purposes. If we reorganise and have about six geo-political zones as federating units or even double it and make it twelve and we make the police work according to zones and army national, while the zones tackle problems like power, water, ecology and transportation, there will be a great transformation of the system. By doing so, there will be competition. The time there used to be competition between the north and the South, Ahmadu Bello developed the north and  gave hope to people educationally. Okpara did the same thing in the East and the big one-Awolowo developed Southwest educationally. Zik wasn’t so much concerned about Igbo, he was purely a nationalist.  So, we can see good hope, we can see danger. If we maneuver well, we avoid danger and inherit good hope.

The south west has always been an advocate of national conference, but the APC and its national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu said it’s  diversionary…
(Cuts in). You must understand one thing. The Yoruba man and the woman even in the village are more politically sagacious than the rest of Nigeria. The Yoruba has a national anthem for Oodua State. Whatever Tinubu is saying is not Yoruba and he doesn’t mean what he is saying. In fact, he has already changed and diverted his view to a good cause when he said that Jonathan was not being honest or serious by saying that whatever is the outcome of the conference would be sent to the National Assembly. Even me, once I heard that, I said you can keep your dialogue. There is no need going there to waste time because sending the recommendation to the National Assembly is like standing where you are. People want to be able to say for the first time in the history of Nigeria that we the people of Nigeria make and give onto ourselves this constitution. It is only possible to do so by going to a referendum. Nothing in it will affect the incumbent office holders. If on the other hand 2015 becomes invisible for peaceful election, people can make a statement and award two more years to the incumbent office bearers. And in return, they are precluded from any national office.
That was the proposal Ekweremadu made which elicited public outrage. Are you also suggesting the same proposal?
I said it before him, but he is in a big office now. I said it from an angle that works. What I am saying is that if 2015 is going peacefully well, the election that everybody is afraid of will be a mere routine. No problem. But if the conference is not making progress or is chaotic somehow and 2015 remains a dangerous something, it will be wise to let whoever is in power continue for two more years but barred from contesting future election.

If the conference holds, what do you think should be the agenda of the Igbo  to be presented at the dialogue?
Things are changing very fast.  Already, the Igbo, the Yoruba and the South-South have submitted one paper to the Senator Femi Okunrounmu-led committee. The Yorubas position is identical with Igbo and South-South position and much of the Middle Belt will buy it. Nigeria is changing. Those who said they were born to rule may find nobody to rule but themselves.

You said in your earlier position that the way Yoruba politics is heading signals danger for the country because of religious coloration….
(Cuts in). Yoruba is a model for religious tolerance. We want it to remain that way. But If CPC joins APC and begins to radicalize our people in the South, it will add to the problem of Nigeria instead of solving it. This is my fear.

Some people are already bragging that APGA has become the authentic party for the Igbo race. How less evil is a sectional party to a party that is tending towards religious ideology?
Igbo is Igbo anywhere; it is not about Christian or about Muslim. APGA could not have won that election, if Ngige did not join APC. PDP would have swept the votes. But you see, the rest of Nigeria will like to go and milk Anambra State during election. Every party goes to Anambra to milk. Suswan was sent to Anambra to go and settle a matter there; he   came back and called us names. Because we are the richest rural area in Africa according to the World Bank, Nigerians target our money, they rush in with all kinds of parties and squeeze money out of Anambra and go away. They have kept PDP scattered and divided so that the money will be flowing. PDP is the biggest party in Anambra State. APGA doesn’t control up to ¼ of the populace. That is where Andy Uba who declared trillion naira when he was going for the election is, that is where Ukachukwu is, that is where all the rich ones are. And I think that was what affected Ngige. He wasn’t rich enough on his own; he thought perhaps APC will bring money. Of course, they brought money, we chopped it.

How do you see the prospect of PDP dominance with the new development?
APC is not well founded,  so, it is not a threat to PDP.
But they are almost at equilibrium
As far as the House or National Assembly is concerned, they may be equal on the ground, they are not equals. When it comes to voting, you think APC will win in the West? We will see. ACN would have won in the West but with this fusion with CPC, let’s see how it plays. You in the west owe us a duty to explain what Junaid meant by saying that the west is pressing for northern presidency more than north. He said it is the west that is pressing for northern president against Jonathan. We want to know where Yoruba stands before we begin to isolate them.
What’s the prospect of Jonathan’s re-election bid in all of this?
Mission accomplished. If it is not Jonathan, it is an Igbo man.

If it is not Jonathan, are the Igbo prepared for the race since nobody has signified intention to  contest the presidency?
Since Jonathan is there, why should we come out to challenge him? Why should he not go for the second term? We support him going for the second term. But if anybody wants to stop him, it will be Igbo.
But some youths are already agitating for Igbo presidency….
No, it is Balarabe Musa that said it is time for Igbo if they can unite. No group in Nigeria has potential for unity than the Igbo. No group in Nigeria can remain out of central power for as long as Igbo have remained out of central power and still pretend to be united. For just eight years of Obasanjo’s regime, the North disintegrated. The North is in pieces. They know it.

Why do Igbo always  support  other ethnic nationalities instead of making case for themselves?
We are making our case all the time. But we are also jealous. Jonathan is from the East.
From the East?
Yes, in the past, we didn’t have southwest, south-south. We had east and the north. If Jonathan comes out, why not support him?

Would you not have sacrificed Igbo’s chance by the time he finishes his second term?
If you add up eight-year civilian tenure of Obasanjo and his military regime with Jonathan’s two terms, you are still not in any way near 38 years the north has stayed in power. And they were there not even in the interest of the country or the interest of their people. That is the reason for Boko Haram.

You  alluded to widespread corruption in the system. How genuinely committed is this administration to its pronouncement on corruption?
To get rid of corruption, you have to create a policy of do as I do. But the president seems to think that corruption is too deeply rooted to combat it immediately. If we have a national dialogue and create meaningful governments that are near the people, people will challenge political leaders and  corruption may begin to reduce. Nobody is scoring the government high on anti-corruption war, not even its strongest supporters.
But I see Jonathan in the hands of God. Whether he knows what he is doing or not, God knows what he is doing. How many years have we been talking about national conference, about restructuring, about true federalism? Now, it is Jonathan who is doing it. If he does just that and goes off, he will be the most celebrated president we have ever had.

Source: The Sun Newspaper, Sunday 5.1.14

The problem with this country is sentiments and ostrich-playing. Which region does not have its fair share of evil? In any case the more compact and organised Igbo have internal checks that always expose these ills unlike other diverse and disparate regions.

Three things must be understood why the trade persists:
1. The trade is booming because of the African aversion to childless marriages. These baby factory sprang up to fill the demand for babies in marriages.

2. Igbo are 99 per cent Christians who abhor polygamy where more eligible girls would have been married off to.

3. Like other progressive climes, early marriage is discouraged in Igbo society-girls are encouraged to go to school up to university level until they are atleast 23. Those who also begin to work without marriage find out that marriage becomes more difficult so when they eventually marry at the twilight of their biological clock, they resort to adoption.

4. Poverty and collapse of value system across Nigeria (teenage pregnancy is very rampant across Nigeria). This caused most of those pregnant teens, who have disobeyed the wise counsel of their parents, to find a hiding to deliver their out-of wedlock babies.

Please leave Igbos alone, we have suffered enough in Nigeria- thanks to the God of Ndigbo. Maybe this is a way of replacing our pogrom and civil war dead. Everything negative that is happening have been orchestrated and celebrated by outsiders- their policy makers, security agencies, and media. Asap!

ilugunboy: Are we Baifrans?

Apart from sheer mischief, you ought to know that territorial Biafra ceased to exist long ago. But spiritual Biafra? Yes, every Easterner is a Biafran because the name is from the bight off the Atlantic coasts of Bonny overlooking the region.

Toktee: You are a dullard i swear! Is akwa ibom frm the south west,also port harcort in the east?,read ur write up again.

Small mindedness is bad. No SS state in east uses different road except those in SE. Insinuating that PH indegenes and Akwa Ibomites jump ove SE while travelling home? Start building roads in the air then..

IGBO_1ST_SON: nnwane u av spoken well,btw how come he is bearing the title of edi abali(leopard)? Abi him relate to igbo?

According to what he told us, his grea-grandfather in the Amachree (Amakiri) house came from Abam-present Abia State to settle in Kalabari. Now if you know the history of Eastern region, Abam, Abiriba in Abia and Akpa(Yakurr) in Cross River were the foot soldiers and hunters of the Aro confederacy which supplied goods, later slaves to riverine houses in Old Kalabar 16th-19th century A.D. They moved a lot then.

obailala: A question I have always asked and I'm still waiting patiently for an answer, if Biafra is actualized today, how does it solve the issue of massive corruption and impunity which plagues the Nigerian society of today?? .. or are there no corrupt Nigeria officials who are of South-Eastern origin??... If Biafra is actualized today, is it not these same corrupt bunch that will still be leaders in Biafra??

Sometimes the proponents of Biafra make it look like creating a new nation state would automatically solve all our problems; but me thinks it would even lead to greater confusion within the region

You are very wrong. I do not think we need Biafra to actualise ourselves but it was a neccessity based on the events of the 60s. That said, if you think an autonomous/independent South east will be like Nigeria you miss it a lot. That enclave will be so well ran like Singapore or Japan because its modest landmass and ingenious population. The document: 'Ahiara Declaration' should answer your question about corrupt officials because that remains the basis for the constitution. The initial upheavals the south east will have will be around accountability and trying to weed out elements of the present corruptive Nigerian order. Overall Biafra could be well ran and quicker route to realising potentials..

Mynd_44: So we are back to the usual ethno-religious politics right?

Okay, I stay in the south west, Lagos in particular and I ask why I should vote GEJ in 2015. I am here right now wondering what the hype about GEJ is all about and you say he is developing ALL parts of the country.

What has he done that I can see and point to that he did and lets start from there. I keep saying that politics is not about what you say but what you can point to. When was the last time the FG commissioned a major project in the SW that affects me? When did any policy made by the FG affect me positively apart from the institionalization of corruption?

You keep saying Igbos should vote GEJ butt you forget that the SE and SS alone can't make him president.

The current apathy towards GEJ is a performance thing and not tribal but people would not listen cos we love to view things through our own myopia.

The current kick cluelessness out of Aso Rock by 2015 is not an anti-GEJ campaign, it is one that means we dont want a clueless leader. If between now and 2015, GEJ proves himself a worthy president, he gets my vote and that of a lot of people. That is what politics is about.

If I were an adviser of the president, I would advise that he focus on building projects in the regions where support for him is dwindling as that would increase his popularity but the current divide and rule thing will be his waterloo.

You are dead wrong. GEJ will win with the usual support base of SS, SE, MB. He never won in NE and NW but got indifferent treatment in SW. Even the 1.7 million votes from Lagos were mainly Igbo and minority votes. So relax, if GEJ won't win we will use plan b, Restructure Nigeria permanently.lol!

"South East are our blood and geographical brothers.."


Mmhhh.. Certainly we can't deny our identity. Amaechi is only being petty and myopic.
Btw though he attends Aro festivals wearing traditional georges pretending to be Aro Ikwerre, we doubt he is anywhere around this east- most probably, from the slums across the river. Eh kwa Mr Rotimi?

Anyway continue to cry in opposition while Abia, Imo and Bayelsa get the oil wells and federal roads.lmao!

One_Naira:

What Makes Him An "Efulefu"?
See Your Mouth Running Like Tap Water. Mscheww

Do you mind him? Instead Ndigbo to be happy that finally they will produce a gov in a state they are dominant numerically, academically, culturally etc, some want to misbehave. Prof. Patrick Onyedinachi Utomi let's go..

GEJ is not 'one of the best', he is the best President ever produced by Nigeria. We will miss such a humble, humane achiever by the time he leaves office... Though not anytime soon.

GEJ is not one of the best, he is the best President ever produced by Nigeria. We will miss such a humble, humane achiever by the time he leaves office... Though not anytime soon.

Good post. He made it pungent that if the Ijaw cannot rule Nigeria, then they will form their own country and rule themselves in the universal principle of self determination. Same for the Igbos. So I wonder why some persons keep arguing whether Igbo will ever rule Nigeria. What do the Igbo need such fraudulent contraption for? Let every nation form their own entities and alliances, be no slave to none!

Edi Abali you've spoken well.

This nonsense thread should be closed immediately. Asap.

He said he is not a SS traitor that he will only support a president who will develop the region. He said the state lost Soku oil well to Bayelsa and 41 oil wells to Abia. He also said he was made to undetake federal roads from Ph-Owerri ending at the boundary while FG executed from Owerri; that he was made to do the state boundary road to Abia while fg awarded the contract for the Abia end all the way from Enugu. Therefore he will call the masses in the state to vote out the president.

AIT announced only ABSU made it compulsory from year 2. And its for all its students irrespective of tribe.

Good for them. In Nigeria, power translates to wealth, while in advanced democracies, power means service. Lol!

It seems the posters are high on something the way they are sounding. I won't touch obj with the longest pole. That man is a devil-incarnate, one of the reasons why Nigeria is where it is!

Aigbofa:

Ibos are a minority in Nigeria. Their constant nagging at Yoruba is to create a false impression of rivalry where there's actually none.
When a proper census is done, I won't be surprised if you are actually behind Ijaw in population.

Yes Igbo are minority in Nigeria where ethnicity and religion does not count in census. And we thought we bombed them all during the civil war and religious attacks.

Let our disappointment not be confirmed that there are more Igbo clusters all over the ECOWAS and sub Saharan states. We can ask Musiwa for satellite images of their locations though.lol!

Why Jonathan sees Igbo as pillars of his government

A lot of people- including former President Obasanjo has criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for publicly declaring severally that the votes he received that counted for his 25 percent from Northern states particularly Kano, Borno, Adamawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto and Plateau were contributed by teeming millions of Igbo residents in these areas beside other minority indegenes.

A cursory peep at that statement, may appear divisive and uncalculating on the part of Mr President in the potentially ethno-religious conondrum of our country. But a deeper reflection on that statement shows a sincere man who speaks to the world. I think Mr President's comments in this regard is a direct message to the international community-not to Nigerians.

In essence, the message is deeply rooted in the mind of a grossly threatened President, whose administration is buffeted on all sides by political shenanigans, religious violence and terrorism. He is grateful that behind this cesspit of onslaught echoes, as it were, some restrained, but solid voice of optimism and encouragement from a significant bloc.

The President is reminding the international community that the Igbos- whose homeland was faced with the sufferings of civil war and economic blockade and stagnation, has re-emerged as a strong force for not only economic and political stability of Nigeria but social justice and harmony. That himself- a minority could get such priceless support from Ndigbo- even at great economic and human losses in parts of the country outside the Eastern region- shatters that long-held minority fear, myth and theory of 'majority domination conspiracy'.

Above all the President has alerted the world that the Igbo believe in justice akin to their symbolic philosophy of 'ofo na ogu' and 'live and let live' (Egbe bere Ugo bere, nke is ibe ya ebela, nku kwapu ya.) This has gone a long way in correcting some impressions.

The moral of this is a good conduct is commendable and who is deserving of commendation-like the Igbo- should be commended. By the time the Hause and Yoruba realise that Nigeria belongs to all of us, we will make progress. Those who are bandying war against the completion of Jonathan's legal tenure (s) should realise that it is for the oil from his region that the rest of the country fought to preserve the country as one, and it is the money from this resource that salaries of thousands of people across 35 states are being paid and all the infrastructure are being built.

Let us bury our frustrations and differences and support the present government. Power will still rotate to our region- if the time comes would we expect to be run down as we are confusing and doing this one?

Therefore let us use our various social media platforms to speak good of our incumbent President and others. This is the time to give Mr President the support to transform all aspects of our society and force a change of his rethoric to "All Nigerians-Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Idoma, Fulani, Igala, Tiv, Kanuri etc- Are The Pillars of My Government."

Power is turn by turn please- all Nigerians, we are one and it should be 'One Love'. Mmanu akara di uto onye ratu ibe ya a ratu; onye o bula enwe anuri.

Only for u to betray a sitting President?