₦airaland Forum

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Mr. Osita Okechukwu, a member of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, tells IHUOMA CHIEDOZIE why the organisation should not endorse President Goodluck Jonathan

A motion for Jonathan’s endorsement as the Igbo candidate in the 2015 presidential election was scuttled at the Ime-Obi (leadership caucus) meeting of Ohanaeze Ndigbo on January 3. As one of those who kicked against the motion, why do you think Jonathan should not be endorsed?
Actually, it was on the 9th of November 2014 that they first mooted the idea to endorse President Jonathan. In that Ime-Obi, which is like a caucus meeting of the Ohanaeze, we said Ohanaeze was like a polygamous father with many children and many wives. A polygamous father has to consult more than a father that is married to only one wife. Ohanaeze is a father that is running many households: we have the Peoples Democratic Party, we have the All Progressives Congress, we have the United Progressive Party that even has an Igbo as the presidential candidate in Chief Chekwas Okorie; we have other political parties that also have Igbo people. We said it didn’t make any political sense, strategically, to endorse President Jonathan.

We had to insist on a counter motion. In the shouting match that ensued, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu’s motion could not be passed and it wasn’t even seconded. It will be stupid for the Igbo nation to endorse President Jonathan because as it stands today, nobody knows who will win. It is not like in 2011 when General Muhammadu Buhari was running with the Congress for Progressive Change which did not have much spread nationwide. Today, the APC now has broad movement and followership in all the nooks and crannies of the country, just like the PDP. So we said it didn’t make sense to support one party.

Is this why you want Ohanaeze to withdraw its support for Jonathan?
Again, there is the checklist of expectations by the Igbo, which President Jonathan, in the course of the campaign before the 2011 general elections, agreed to fulfill. We talked of revamping the Enugu coal, but six years down the line President Jonathan has not done so. They even promised the Enugu coal will be used for a coal-fired power plant to supply at least 1000 mega watts of electricity. That had not been done. We had expected that six years after Jonathan became President the power plant would have started; it could have helped the Igbo and other Nigerians. Even the international airport he claimed to have built cannot actually be called an international airport because the British Airways, Lufthansa, can’t come there. If there is a hub driven by coal, with the ancillary industries that will follow the production of coal, it will energise the place. He failed.

We talk of the second Niger Bridge. That is because President Jonathan, in February 2013, after visiting Imo State where he had received politicians who defected to the PDP, hopped into Onitsha to see the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe. Luckily for the Igbo people, the Obi went through his diary and remembered that Jonathan promised the Second Niger Bridge and queried him there. President Jonathan was on the defensive. We said, with all the unprecedented oil money, why did it not occur to the president to remember the second Niger Bridge earlier?

But some have commended Jonathan for favouring the South-East with political appointments.
Yes, he gave us secretary to the government of the federation; he gave us minister of finance, and other ministers but we are saying those ones are supposed to be constitutional matters —the constitution says if you become the president, you must appoint at least one minister from every state of the federation. The issue of doing us a favour does not arise and the fact that we have our son, Dr. Pius Anyim, as the SGF, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the minister of finance does not confer any advantage on us. We are not saying that the individual families have not been improved but we are not talking about families, we are talking about the generality of the Igbo race. We do not see any benefit from the Jonathan regime to warrant endorsement, and we felt it could be suicidal, given the fact that General Muhammadu Buhari and the APC were lurking in the wings, nobody could weigh who would win the presidential election. Why should we endorse one and leave the other? That was how we shut down the motion.

But an Ohanaeze chief has boasted that Ohanaeze will eventually endorse Jonathan.
Unless they do so by sitting in their houses and issuing a press statement. Ohanaeze’s constitution is very clear —even if the Ime-Obi had endorsed him, going by the constitution of Ohanaeze, it requires the ratification of the General Assembly that includes every Igbo person. It will require the General Assembly for endorsement.

What plans does Buhari have for the Igbos, has he reached out to Ohanaeze Ndigbo?
On the 7th of November, Buhari wrote to the Ohanaeze, saying he would like to have a discussion with us because he was consulting various groups and he felt the Ohanaeze was very important for him to consult. In the last paragraph of the letter, he said he would not claim to know everything that was of importance to the Igbo, that after the discussion, he would know what to say. Before the elections, he will have time to discuss with Ohanaeze.

http://www.punchng.com/politics/crossfire/itll-be-stupid-for-igbos-to-endorse-jonathan-okechukwu/

barcanista:
Jonathan failed the North, he failed the south, he failed the business community, he failed the religious community, he failed the intellectuals, he failed the children (chibok girls still missng), he failed the military (mutiny everywhere), he failed the diplomatic community, he failed the international community, he failed his duty as a husband, but he pleases the looting class and the Tompolos of this world.

but you're right

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Goldman Sachs Asset Management Former Chairman Jim O'Neill said, “If Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan doesn’t get re-elected, and its because of Nigerian people wanting something different and something better, I think the markets would be happy with that.”

A loss by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in general elections next month may be viewed “positively” by foreign investors and probably won’t rattle markets, according to Jim O’Neill, former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

While Jonathan, 57, has presided over the sale of the nation’s mismanaged power utilities to private investors, his economic policies in the last four years “could have been better,” O’Neill said in a Jan. 7 interview in the capital, Abuja. Firing central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi last year, who brought “a lot of credibility” to the government, sent out a negative signal, he said.

“If he doesn’t get re-elected, and it’s because of Nigerian people wanting something different and something better, I think the markets would be happy with that,” said O’Neill. “Foreign investors are pretty negative about Nigeria, so I don’t dismiss the possibility that if he lost people actually might react positively.”

O’Neill ranks Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, alongside Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey in his MINT group. The countries have four of the largest emerging-market populations outside the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, an acronym he coined at Goldman.

Jonathan, a southern Christian, faces former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, 72, a Muslim northerner and candidate of the opposition All Progressive Congress in the Feb. 14 vote. The ruling People’s Democratic Party, which has won every contest since army rule ended in 1999, faces its stiffest challenge against the APC, a merger of Nigeria’s biggest opposition parties. Africa’s most populous nation of more than 170 million people is split between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

Tough Stance
It isn’t clear what a Buhari victory would mean for investors because he hasn’t set out an economic policy, O’Neill said.

“People would be a bit worried,” said O’Neill, who is also a Bloomberg View columnist. “But it depends on what would happen with the institutional framework and policies.”

Buhari, characterized by supporters as having a tough stance against corruption, came to power in a 1983 army coup and ruled for 20 months before he was unseated by a rival military faction. Buhari lost the 2011 presidential vote to Jonathan and failed to win in 2007 and 2003 elections.

Buhari is now seeking to tap discontent with Jonathan’s inability to stem attacks by Boko Haram, an Islamist insurgent group that has killed 13,000 in the north since 2009, according to the government.

‘Structural Changes’
The status of Africa’s largest economy as a prime frontier-market investment destination has been dented by oil prices that have fallen 52 percent over the past year, rising insurgency attacks in the country’s northeast and increasing political tensions ahead of next month’s elections.

Jonathan also removed central bank Governor Sanusi in February last year after Sanusi alleged the state oil company hadn’t remitted about $20 billion in revenue to the government. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. denied the allegations. Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in May auditors would take three to four months to clarify what had happened to the unaccounted oil receipts that stood at $10.8 billion.

With crude accounting for about 70 percent of government funding and 95 percent of foreign exchange, lower prices have reduced revenue and increased pressure on the naira, which the central bank devalued in November. The naira has fallen 10 percent in the past three months, the second worst performer out of 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

The lower oil price “exposes the lack of needed structural changes, that hopefully would still come,” O’Neill said. “Nigeria, like any country, shouldn’t be so dependent on the commodity cycle.”

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-08/o-neill-says-jonathan-vote-loss-may-be-seen-as-nigeria-positive.html

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Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Ethiopia currently account for about 413 million people living below poverty line in Africa. This is about half of the continent’s population.

The disclosure was contained in the 2014 Africa Progress Panel Report (APPR), released during the week. The panel which has 10 board members is currently chaired by the former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan. Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is also on the board.

The report stated: "More than 413 million people still live below the poverty line. Just four countries: Nigeria, DRC, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, account for half of Africa’s poor."
While acknowledging that Africa remains one of the world’s fastest growing regions in the world, it said: "In the past decade and a half, the only global region to grow consistently faster than Sub-Saharan Africa has been developing Asia. Africa’s average incomes have risen by a third."

Oil, gas, and minerals, it added, have been driving much of this growth in countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Mozambique. But non-extractive sectors including agriculture have been key in countries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

However despite the impressive and robust population growth, too few people are benefitting from the continent’s natural resources, adding that inequality was on the upward growth.
The way out of the poverty menace, the report advised was for African governments to focus on agriculture to reduce poverty, a sector that supports two thirds of all African people. "Africa could feed itself but instead it imports food worth $35 billion per year." the Report explained.
APP said: "Food production in Sub-Saharan Africa is falling behind. It now exports less than Thailand."

However, it said Africa’s applied technology innovations showed African creativity when given the right opportunity.

"Developed by Africans for Africa and the world, this digital and mobile technology is accelerating Africa’s productivity growth.

Indeed Africa’s agricultural productivity could easily double within five years." It also added.
The Report further stated: "Urbanisation, hunger, and the heavy cost of food import bills mean that Africa must produce more food.

"Global population is set to grow from 7.2 billion to 9.6 billion by 2050. Urban populations will grow even faster. Global food demand is expected to double. This is an excellent commercial opportunity for African agriculture."

The 2014 Report urged African governments to invest more in their agricultural sectors, which directly affects two thirds of Africa’s population. It however stressed that Zambia, Liberia, and Mozambique show that time, effort, and money can produce impressive agricultural growth, adding that growing the sectors can drive national growth.

"Illegal logging costs the continent an estimated $17 billion every year, while, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing costs West Africa alone a conservatively estimated $1.3 billion every year.

"Foreign boats are not just taking fish, they are stealing food, jobs, and income”, APPR asserted.
Africa has been losing an estimated 5.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) an equivalent of $50 billion, to illicit financial flows, which is more than the continent spends on health.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-3-others-account-for-half-of-africa-s-poor-says-report/198796/

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President Jonathan had said at a PDP rally in Lagos Thursday that MEND tried to assassinate him on two separate occasions, pointing out that the leader of the organisation, Henry Okah, now serving a jail term in South Africa, was paid to assassinate him in 2010.

This was even as an ex-militant general, Godsday Smith, alias Bouninawei (the god of the forest), yesterday, in Warri, Delta State, said there was no way ex-agitators in the Niger- Delta region would abandon President Goodluck Jonathan for General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), just as he maintained that Jonathan’s indictment of ex-militants on plot to kill him was hasty and uncalled for, adding that there was no time ex-militants conspired against his government.
Smith asked Jonathan to be bold enough to confront the North which was planning his downfall using the Boko Haram insurgents.

However, MEND’s Spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said, “We challenge President Jonathan to come out and reveal to the nation the names of the persons he claimed paid Mr Henry Okah to assassinate him.
Goodluck Jonathan should also explain why these persons, as he obviously knows who they are, were not arrested, tried and convicted.”

In an electronic mail by Gbomo, MEND said it was untrue that it planned to kill Mr President.
“MEND views the President, Goodluck Jonathan’s recent campaign rally speech as the most outrageous and ridiculous speech by any President, where he openly accused Mr Henry Okah of being paid to assassinate him.”

“Mr President, the MEND says thank you for vindicating every word in our recent statement of endorsement of General Muhammadu Buhari and for also solidifying your status.”
“The MEND would like to state clearly that our endorsement of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential candidate, has absolutely nothing to do with Mr Henry Okah.

“Nigerians may recall that prior to the bomb blast of October 1, 2010; the MEND issued a warning of an impending attack on Eagle Square, Abuja , where we also advised the public to stay clear of any parked vehicles to avert any casualties.
These warnings were ignored by the Nigerian security agencies, hence the unfortunate and regrettable casualties
“If as Goodluck Jonathan claimed, that he was a target of an assassination attempt, why did we issue a prior warning?

Where in this world would an assassin warn their targets in advance of an attempt on their lives?
This allegation by Goodluck Jonathan, further confirms our earlier assertion of how he takes Nigerians as stupid as he seems to have forgotten how he openly came out to absolve MEND of any involvement in the attack.
“Rather than address his administration’s failures, he chose to descend so low by using a very cheap bare faced (method) to get sympathy. Is this the kind of President the country wants to be stuck with for another four years of misery?

“On the National Dialogue report, Goodluck Jonathan has finally resorted to cheap blackmail [/b]by urging the nation to vote for him as a condition to implementing the report. What a blatant insult!

Despite all the billions of Naira spent on that jamboree?
[b]“At this point, the MEND urges the nation to use the power of their votes in securing this great country from the claws of Jonathan’s corrupt and inept government and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.”

Also in his reaction to Jonathan’s allegation, an ex-militant general, Godsday Smith, said there was no way ex-agitators in the Niger-Delta region would abandon President Goodluck Jonathan for General Buhari, just as he stressed that there was no time ex-militants conspired against his government.

He told Saturday Vanguard on phone in Warri that the controversial endor-sement of All Progre-ssives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, by the non-operational Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, was a manipulation by the party.

Though, he rebutted the claim by President Goodluck Jonathan that MEND plotted to kill him he stated, “Jonathan is our son, there is no way ex-agitators of Niger Delta will support Buhari against their son, President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.”

His words: “The APC manipulated the purported online statement with the name of MEND to boost their dying camp and I want to say that such treachery should stop forthwith.

“There was no time MEND issued any press statement against President Ebele Jonathan, the purported online statement was manipulated by APC and I use this medium to urge the general public and their numerous supporters to disregard such as unfounded.”
He stressed that ex-militants and the entire Niger Delta region had confidence in Jonathan and had passed a vote of confidence on him.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/01/mend-to-jonathan-your-assassination-story-not-true/

I'd rather lose my certificates than be the living husband of widower.

I'd rather lose my certificates than have a debate with ghosts and Koko Master for President of Nigeria.

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