₦airaland Forum

I think the writer forget to add that:

He is an outspoken spoilt child
An arrogant politician that has no respect for others,

and a Thief a shame to the law profession,

Banks' Biggest Debtor Latest: EFCC Arrests Ololo, Atuche - Raids Their Homes

Lanre Adewole, Abuja - 17.10.2009

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Friday, arrested and detained the sacked Group Managing Director of Bank PHB, Mr. Francis Atuche and the highest individual debtor of non-performing loans in the country, sacked Managing Director of Falcon Securities, Mr. Peter Ololo.

Falcon Securities is a subsidiary of FinBank that handles its shares business. Ololo owes three troubled banks – Bank PHB, Afribank and Intercontinental Bank – a total of non-performing debts of N108.55 billion.

Commission’s spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrest. According to him, “They are in our custody; they are with us.” They are being detained in Lagos office of the commission as of press time.

It was also gathered that the homes of the duo in Lagos were searched by the commission’s operatives. The search, which was said to be on at the time of filing this report (5.50pm), was reportedly aimed at getting exhibits that could be used in the prosecution of the sacked bank chiefs.

The operatives were said to be on the trial along other sacked bank chiefs that were indicted for alleged insider abuse in the last stress exercise conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The chairman of the commission, on Thursday, stormed Lagos with 80 operatives for the arrest of the sacked management teams of three of the five banks that failed the recent CBN stress test and the recovery of over N1 trillion non-performing loans owed 10 troubled banks by top Nigerian businessmen, oil companies and stockbrokers.

The first five banks that failed the apex bank’s stress test included Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, FinBank, Afribank and Union Bank, while the last five are Bank PHB, Spring Bank, Unity Bank, Equitorial Trust Bank and Wema Bank.

Only Wema and Unity Banks’ management teams were spared. Waziri held a secret meeting with the operatives on Thursday before unleashing them on the debtors and the sacked bank chiefs.

The list of non-performing loans’ debtors released by CBN contained names like Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa, Gen. Buba Marwa; scion of the late M.K.O Abiola’s dynasty, Kola; the deported Vaswani brothers, billionaire businessmen, Femi Otedola and Aliko Dangote, Professor Pat Utomi, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, Chief Cletus Ibeto of Ibeto Cement, among others.

All the debtors to the five banks are said to owe a non-performing loans of N451.6 billion. Debtors to the five banks earlier bailed out by the apex bank reportedly owed N737.6 billion. The total non-performing loans owed the 10 troubled banks stood at N1.189.2 trillion.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said it had recovered N135 billion, leaving an outstanding of over N1 trillion. Fourteen sacked bank chiefs that are being prosecuted by the anti-corruption commission were members of the sacked management teams of the first five audited banks.

Other sacked bank bosses yet to be arrested are Mr. Charles Ojo of Spring Bank and Mr. Ike Oraekwuotu of Equitorial Trust Bank. The commission had earlier launched an investigation into the allegations contained against them in the audit report, with sources within the commission revealing that they had a case to answer.

The commission had delayed the commencement of the operation for the list of the debtors to be released by the apex bank. The list was eventually released last Wednesday by the apex bank. All the sacked bank chiefs had been put on security surveillance by the commission to forestall the possibility of escape.

what does that has to do with the poverty rate in nigeria or the stealing by those in Govt,

@ poster

pls why is that all topic most people bring into this forum always ve tribal lines why?

its ur fault if u did not get the money in the right way

Anambra 2010: Soludo offered us bribe – Aspirants
From JACOB EDI, Abuja
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Soludo
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Internal bickering that greeted the choice of former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) boss, Chukwuma Soludo, as the standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next year’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State took a turn for the worse on Wednesday with allegation that Soludo is offering N35 million to any of the 47 aspirants who rejected his nomination by the leadership of the party.

In a swift reaction, Soludo dismissed the allegation as spurious and ridiculous.

Chuma Nwafor, leading the 47 aspirants, who, on Monday, rejected Soludo as standard bearer of the party, said he also had information that some of the seven aspirants who reportedly pulled out of the earlier plan to reject Soludo must have been compromised, adding that even some, whose names were brandished by the group of seven, had their signatures forged.

Those present when Nwafor spoke yesterday are Hon. Basil Iwuoba, Chinyere Agagbo, Sir Valentine Ozigboh, Princess Kate Egwu, Engr. Ifeanyi Best Dim, Mrs Love Ijeoma Ibe, Mrs Victoria Nwankwu, Dr. Amanchukwu Ezike, Dr. Nkoli Imoh, Dr. Alex Obiogbolu and Dr. Carol Nwosu.
Nwafor alleged that the offer was meant for the aspirants to trade their positions but that they needed to look beyond the present because it concerned the future of Anambra State.

“The delegates we are talking about are Anambrarians and no other person. Let it be clear to everybody that we are not ready to change our stand. Our stand remains firm and our resolution and resolve are consistent with what we believe in and nothing will alter and change that. ,” Nwafor stated.
Nwafor also disclosed that the group had decided to expand the scope of opposition to include other stakeholders in the state.

Asked if he would still pursue the court option he said: “The way the leadership of the party is going, they leave us with no option but to take the extreme way out.”

“We have also decided that this group will not just be aspirants. We are enlarging this group. We have the former chairman, Chief Uchenna Emordi; he is part of us. We have the former chairman of the party, Chief I.V. Obi-Okoye who is also part of us. We also have former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Ozi Eguadu. Others are coming to join us. These are stakeholders in the party. They want to say that this is wrong and it is unacceptable to us and we will not condone it in any form or disguise. No matter how much people have advised him to offer to us, we are not for sale.

“We are the ‘Integrity Group’ and our mission is to correct the anomalies in our party. We are not for sale. As you aware, he has offered some of our people N35 million to sell their positions and also bring their people to him. We have told him point blank that it is not acceptable to us.

“I have given you the telephone numbers of Dr Emeka Eze and Dr Amachukwu Ezike who are members of this group because I don’t want anything to be done through proxy. They never, at anytime, said that their signatures were forged and that they are no longer part of the group. So, I have given you their numbers so that you can contact them directly and hear from them. We also have Dr Alex Obiogbolu.
“He didn’t sign the first one but he is here to indicate to you that he is part of the group. Please, what we are saying is that you should ignore this madness that they are blackmailing people in the papers, trying to show people in a different light. It also shows the character of the man in question.

“This is the same way that he fooled Nigerians and told us that the banking sector was sound and healthy. Only for Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to come and we found out that it was all lies. Today again, he is telling another lie that people had forged signatures. Please, how do you juxtapose such statement?” Nwafor noted.
But in his reaction, Soludo dismissed the allegation saying it is spurious and ridiculous insisting he never met Nwafor or any member of his group to negotiate.

“First and foremost, I never met with any aspirant or Chuma Nwafor. I have never met him except in the context of the meetings of the aspirants that were called. Since Friday last week, I have never met him. I have never seen him. That is absolute nonsense.

“To negotiate what? The nomination process has finished. What is it about? The reconciliation process is on but nothing about negotiation. Negotiation is that we first of all win an election. The basic point I want to say to you is that I think I find that a little bit funny, ridiculous and I’m just hearing that from you for the first time. I can’t even believe that he could say that because if he said so then he knows that he was obviously knowingly lying bare-facedly. Let him show where I called him. When you call somebody’s phone, it should show,” Soludo stated.

“Any plan to discuss with him as an aspirant?”
“May be he is saying that because according to him he feels may be I haven’t called him , I haven’t talked to him and so he has a chance to go and fabricate anything, but that is not the way things should be done. We a plan to reach everybody. If we haven’t reached him, we will certainly reach him at some point. But so far, I haven’t spoken to him and he knows that. If I have spoken with him, it should be on his phone and he should be able to show you.”

Soludo spoke at the headquarters of the PDP where he was presented to the leadership of the party by some other stake-holders in the state.
National Vice President, South East, Olisa Metu, announced that he had he set up a reconciliation committee to reconcile all the factions in the state with a view to winning the state.CID Maduabuam, a member of the House of Representatives submitted a resolution of all the law makers from Anambra state whom he said endorsed Soludo to the National chairman, Ogbulafor.
In his remarks, the PDP national chairman called for a closer collaboration among all the stake-holders.

CBN releases fresh debtors’ list
•221 customers of Spring Bank owe N95.60bn
•45 customers owe ETB N46.154bn
By ISAAC ANUMIHE, OMODELE ADIGUN,MADUKA NWEKE, KELECHI MGBOJI, TITUS NWOKOJI and LOUIS IBA
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Photo: Sun News Publishing
More Stories on This Section

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) on Wednesday released a fresh debtors’ list, revealing that customers owe the latest five banks, whose audit reports were recently released, about N400 billion.
Bank PHB tops the list of the debt-ridden banks with N170 billion non-performing loans.Its subsidiary, Spring Bank,follows with N95.5 billion loan.Equitorial Trust Bank(ETB) has N46 billion loan in its portfolio, while Unity Bank and Wema Bank are owed N36.5 billion and N36 billion respectively.

It would be recalled that three of the five bank chief executive officers were recently sacked.They are Mr Ike Oraekwuotu of ETB; Mr Francis Atuche of Bank PHB Plc and Mr Charles Ojo of Spring Bank Plc. They were replaced by CBN-appointed management.
Among notable Nigerians whose names or companies were listed are Alhaji Muhammed Buba Marwa, Nigeria’ s Ambassador to South Africa, whose defunct airline, Albarka Airline owes over N1 billion ; Mr Jimoh Ibrahim, N3.3 billion; Transcorp, N16.6 billion; Conoil,N19.86 billion; Dangote Industries Plc, N1.96 billion; Premium Seafoods Limited, N3.32 billon; Globe Motors, N3.03 billion; Baywood Limited owned by Chief Chris Ibe and Professor Pat Utomi, N2.74 billion among others.

A total of N95, 594,989,430.06 is the outstanding balance owed by 221 customers of Spring Bank as at September30, 2009.

Among the dignitaries that owe substantial amount include, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, a director of the Bank who owes a total of N9, 284,331,037.52 in three accounts. Fasawe, through Netlink Digital Television with Account No 1601001010341 owe N4, 821,168,438.27; Mofas Shipping Nig-A/C2, 1601001010688 owe N3, 053,633,054.57 and through Transvari Services limited with A/C No 1601001010387, N1, 409,529,544.68.

The chairman of the Bank, Kola Daisi also owes a total of N4, 121,200,911.36 through two accounts. He owes the bank through National Sports Lottery with A/C Nos 0721001006025 and 1441801000046. Chief Tony Anenih and Osahon Asemota through Mettle Energy and Gas limited owe N2, 065,661,421.09 with A/C No 0161601000897.

Chris Baywood Ibe and Prof Pat Utomi are owing N2, 743,349,386.22 through Baywood Continental limited with A/C No 0011001024030. Also Segun Osinuga, director of the bank owes N2, 556,930,297.06 through WATYEM-DKS Enterprises with A/C No 1511001000102.
In the case of ETB, the bad loans credited to 45 customers amounted to a whopping N46, 154, 945, 774. 89 as at June 30, 2009. Majority of the customers, all corporate bodies, gave legal mortgage, stock hypothecation, and assets debenture as collateral.

Conoil Plc is the highest debtor to the bank with a total loan of N19.866 billion which is not supported by any collateral. Another bad loan ranking next to Conoil is credited to a certain BYSJ Project Account are to the tune of N5.972 billion.

Premium Sea Foods Limited and Globe Motors Limited are the third and fourth biggest debtors of the bank with N3.321 billion and N3.031 billion respectively. Dangote Industries Limited, Hotel Excel Limited, Formosa Bottling Company Limited, Michelle Nigeria Limited and Igbinedion University are all enmeshed in bad loans to the bank.

Dangote Industries is indebted to the tune of N1.968 billion, Hotel Excel N1.244 billion, Formosa Bottling Company N1.027 billion, Michelle Nigeria Limited N1.021 billion and Igbinedion University N841.987 million.

Similarly the total non-performing loan owed to Wema Bank amounted to a whopping N36.07 billion. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (TRANSCORP) has the highest non-performing loan of N16, 627,468,744.02, followed by Mrs. Josephine Oluwadamilola Kuteyi with a non-perfoming loan amounting to N8, 457,489,072.87. Others are Barr. Jimoh Ibrahim through his company, Global Fleet indebted to the tune of N3 billion, Odua Investment Limited with a total non-performing loan of over N3.7 billion.

iGBO iGBOS, wHERE THE TIN WAN STAY?, BIAFRA KO BIARA NI, NA U WAN DIVIDE AM ,

@ Post,

May be u Igbos will soon make an Igbanke man the president

Like MJ Like Akala

9 DAYS TO FIFA U-17 W/CUP: Financial crisis hits LOC - Owes contractors N2bn - Spends N400m on biscuits, brooms, drinks

Idowu Samuel, Abuja - 15.10.2009

THE Local Organising Committee for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria may have run into a financial hitch as the committee is currently contending with debts totalling N2 billion owed to contractors, Nigerian Tribune can report.

Already, the sum of N4.8 billion was said to have been spent on the purchase of materials said not to be of immediate necessity for the hosting of the competition, while the most pressing materials, including security and communication gadgets, are being given secondary attention.

The committee was alleged to have spent the N400 million earmarked for test-running the facilities put in place on the procurement of assorted biscuits, soft drinks and lorry loads of brooms.

According to an impeccable source, “the LOC is supposed to test-run the facilities put up for the U-17 World Cup. “It pains when (Jack) Warner said that we were not ready to host the world and even suggested that we should learn from Egypt. The man would not have slammed us, if those at the LOC had done what they ought to have done well.

“Imagine that the N400 million earmarked for the test-run has been spent to buy brooms, biscuits and soft drinks which they said would be used during the championship.”

However, while reacting to the allegations, the LOC General Manager (Media), Emeka Odikpo, confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that they bought biscuits and soft drinks, but denied that N400 million was spent on the items, though he refused to disclose the amount spent to buy the items.

The situation, coming less than two weeks to the kick off of the FIFA-organised soccer competition, according to findings, was due to the alleged mismanagement of funds approved by the Federal Government for the hosting of the competition.

This is coming amid a reported face-off between the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on contract awards in which the NFF is said to have been sidelined.

The development, according to investigations, got to a head this week with contractors handling various contracts resolving to stage a protest against the NSC and the LOC, to press for the payment of the money owed them.

Checks revealed that the contractors were angered when they were told not to expect full payment for the jobs they were handling until after the soccer competition, as the NSC was said to be rationing the available funds.

There was the allegation also that some Toyota Camry cars purchased to ease transportation during the competition were not brand new, even as some top officials of the NSC were accused of distributing the cars among themselves while leaving out those officially meant to put the cars to use.

Some vehicles said to have been hijacked by the commission’s officials include two buses, one Camry car, two Hilux pick up van, one Prado Jeep, one Range Rover and a Toyota Corolla car.

Those directly involved in awarding contracts were also accused of inflating the costs, as mention was made of the case of portakabin whose cost was jacked up from N1.2 million to N5 million.

It was reported also that auditors had been kept out of the contract deals, while none of them had been allowed to inspect any of the vehicles so far purchased.

The preparations for the soccer competition are said to have been affecting registered sponsors, including Globacom Telecommunications and Coca-Cola, given their noticeable reluctance towards the competition.

The sum of N400 million was reported to have been earmarked for re-grassing of 20 training pitches across the federation, even as the officials, according to inside sources, at a time, contemplated importing grown grasses from Spain.

The condition of the training pitches, most especially in Abuja, is nothing to write home about, according to investigations. There may be a last-minute recourse to the Julius Berger training pitches, in the event that the pitches do not meet the deadline.

What was considered as most worrying was that the media guide is being stalled on the grounds that FIFA had demanded the telephone numbers of the entire workforce and the subsets.

Moreover, the luxury buses that would be used by the visiting teams were yet to arrive and also the 78 vehicles said to be coming from FIFA, through its sponsors, few days to the arrival of contingents. Participating countries are expected in Nigeria from different countries beginning from next Monday.

APGA congress: Ojukwu congratulates Obi
Sylvanus Eze, Awka
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The national leader of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, on Tuesday, congratulated Governor Peter Obi on his nomination as the party’s standard-bearer for the Anambra State governorship election.



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Ojukwu, who was in Awka with his wife, Bianca, said that his presence was the expression of his support for Governor Obi and the party.

He said that APGA would continue to sustain its principle of massive development as enunciated by Governor Obi and that the people would in due course realise that APGA was present to set new political standards for the country.

Ojukwu said that the party’s peaceful congress was a reflection of the decency and integrity APGA was known for.

He said he was happy that Governor Obi was delivering dividends of democracy and promised to continue to support him.

The congress, which witnessed a large turnout of delegates and other party faithful from across the state, saw the emergence of Governor Peter Obi as the party’s standard-bearer in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.

Where is Emeka Etiaba

Aloy~Emeka:
Kano: Muhammad Abacha declares for PDP
By AbdulSalam Muhammad
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
KANO — Muhammad Abacha, the eldest son of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, yesterday, formally declared for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the swearing-in ceremony of the state executive council in Kano.




http://odili.net/news/source/2009/oct/14/302.html

Muhammad Abacha’s formal declaration for PDP in Kano came amidst speculations that the top echelons of the largest party in Africa have agreed to install him the next governor of the state.

Abacha, clad in a white gown, dotted with black spots with his traditional black cap to match, was heralded into the venue by hundreds of youths chanting pro-Abacha slogan.

The declaration by the young Abacha, yesterday, was a climax of long trek to revive the political image of the family whose head, General Sani Abacha died in June 1998 as Nigeria’s Head of State.

Muhammad Abacha had told journalists some months ago of his desire to join partisan politics to enable him contribute his quota to the political development of the country.

Events leading to the formal declaration by the scion of the Abacha family were products of a proactive strategy designed to clear the general impression held by many Nigeria about late Abacha.

Two former military rulers, General Muhammadu Buhari and General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida picked the gauntlet during the 10th years anniversary of their colleague and cleared him of any wrong doing while presiding over the affairs of the country in separate chats with journalists.

I just pity this country, all we know how to do best is to celebrate thieves and Barron,

Anambra: 23 aspirants protest Soludo’s choice
Headlines Oct 13, 2009

ABUJA — THE gale of protests that have trailed the nomination of Professor Chukwuma Soludo, as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2010 gubernatorial election in Anambra State is yet to subside as 23 aspirants from the party, yesterday, in Abuja rejected the choice just as 250 delegates from the state stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, demanding that the party primary be concluded.

While the aspirants who addressed newsmen at the Rock View Hotel, Abuja, threatened court action if the party failed to withdraw Soludo’s name, the protesters who arrived the PDP Secretariat from Anambra in a convoy of 23 vehicles around 8.30am claimed that Soludo was a product of an illegitimate process.
Anambra PDP Primary: Hon. Basii Imuoba (centre) addressing press conference on the rejection of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as Anambra PDP Candidate while Chief Mrs Caro Nwosu (left) and Hon. Chuma Nwofor (right) look on during press Conference by PDP Gubernatorial Aspirant in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan

Anambra PDP Primary: Hon. Basii Imuoba (centre) addressing press conference on the rejection of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as Anambra PDP Candidate while Chief Mrs Caro Nwosu (left) and Hon. Chuma Nwofor (right) look on during press Conference by PDP Gubernatorial Aspirant in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan

The aspirants who noted that they have toiled for the party since 1999, stressed that they will not fold their arms while a new member is imposed on them, alleging that Soludo’s running mate, Senator Emma Anosike, is not a member of the party on the ground that he only returned to the party last year.

Chuma Nwafo, who addressed journalists on behalf of the 23 aspirants who included Senators Annie Okonkwo and Nicholas Ukachukwu said “we call to express our disgust, dismay over the rumour that someone has be chosen as the candidate for the party.

To the best of our knowledge, we are not aware of any name that was submitted. We have an inconclusive primaries in the state, primaries must be conducted in Anambra and it must be free and fair. People have invested in Anambra State PDP since 1999, why just give it to someone who came yesterday?”

Speaking further, Nwofor said, “we were put on oath by the party in the forms we filled that we will abide by the constitution and complete the process. The ward congress was relatively successful and some of them who did not do well had to go to court through proxy.

The process of getting Soludo was wrong. We are prepared to go back to the field and continue, it is not a race for sale, but a race for votes, a race for the people of Anambra, a race for the peoples’s destiny”.

The aspirants who stressed that letters would go to President Umaru Yar’Adua, leader of the party, on the recent development in the state as well as their total rejection of the process, warned that they will go to court to seek redress if the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party fails to withdraw Soludo’s name.

But soon after the briefing, Professor Soludo made a surprise appearance and had a private meeting with the aspirants after which he spoke with journalists, where he described his choice as the party’s flagbearer as God’s design. According to him, “To God be the glory.

I believe God has destined that Anambra must sing a new song, to break away from the past, I have tried to reach out to my co-aspirants, one is honoured by the choice, evidently, the party has made a choice.

“Just to tell you that after the process, we are trying to build back what we have always been, a very strong united family in PDP, with a big umbrella and it will accommodate everyone. And I think it went very well, with some frankness, people had put in their time and effort”
Protesters storm Abuja

Yesterday’s protest which was led by PDP Legal Adviser in Anambra State, Chuks Okoye, saw the protesters chanting “who can battle with the Lord, we say nobody”, and carried placards with inscriptions, some of which read: “NWC, let’s have our democracy”, “Ogbulafor, leave Anambra PDP”, “Ogbulafor, respect internal democracy”, “We say no to imposition of candidates”, “No Primaries, no peace in Anambra PDP”, “Allow us to choose our candidate for 2010”, “This is rape on democracy” and “NWC purge yourselves”.
Anambra PDP candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo (middle) flanked by his running mate, Senator Emmanuel Anosike (left) and Hon. Chuma Nzeribe (right) at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

Anambra PDP candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo (middle) flanked by his running mate, Senator Emmanuel Anosike (left) and Hon. Chuma Nzeribe (right) at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

It took the intervention of the Police, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sunday Odunkoya before they left the gate.

Also yesterday, some delegates under the aegis, “concerned Constitutional Statutory Delegates from Anambra State for the Special Congress for the Gubernatorial Primary election, 2010” in a letter to the National Chairman of PDP, called on the party to conclude the process by holding a Special Congress (Electoral College) where a candidate for the party would be elected.

In a letter signed by thirty six PDP Chairmen, and Vice Chairmen of the Local Government Councils in Anambra state, they also called for an unreserved apology to them because of the way they said the party treated them.

“It is with deep sense of patriotism and undiluted loyalty that we, the undersigned members of our great party, and indeed the constitutionally-approved statutory delegates for election of Anambra State gubernatorial candidate, wish to express our dismay and total rejection over the brazen move to subvert the process succinctly provided for by the constitution of our great party and the guideline governing the conduct of the gubernatorial primary election put in place for Anambra State primary election for 2010.

“As we express our rejection of the decision to hoist a candidate on us, we must not fail to recall the herculean processes and stages we have been made to pass through.

“We need to recall that the first hurdle which we were subjected to surmount was the unconstitutional punitive and un-receipted fee of Nl0,000 (Ten Thousand Naira) as delegate fee.

“Then, of course, we also wish to recall the agony and anguish we were meant to pass through at Awka, Anambra State when we came out to exercise our franchise at the Women Development Centre on Friday the 2nd day of October, 2009 for the scheduled primary before the process was truncated in the most unceremonious way.”
Senators divided

Meanwhile, Senators from Anambra are divided over Soludo’s choice.
While the caucus leader of the state delegation to the National Assembly, Senator Joy Emodi, has pledged to reluctantly back the party’s choice, Senator Okonkwo (PDP, Anambra Central) has pledged not to back what he described as an illegality.

The third State representative in the Senate, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah (PDP, Anambra South) could not be reached for his reaction. Senators Obiorah and Okonkwo were both aspirants for the gubernatorial office before the party’s decision which produced Prof. Soludo as the consensus candidate.

While expressing reservations about the process which produced Soludo, Senator Emodi expressed her determination, in the face of the challenges facing the party, to support Soludo and Senator Emma Anosike who was picked as the running mate.

She nevertheless appealed to party loyalists to put party interests above other personal considerations.

“The position in Anambra State was complicated but as a loyal party member, I have to support him and I think that Soludo will be capable to be Governor of Anambra State.

The only problem we had was bringing him out without any form of consultation at all,’’ Senator Emodi told Vanguard on telephone.

“I have been trying to calm them down and I am calling on all our members to support him so that we will be able to win our election in Anambra State. No matter how hard the thing may be, I have been telling them to try and eschew bitterness and support him.

I am calling on all PDP members and all Anambrarians to support him, he is qualified to be Governor of Anambra State,’’ Senator Emodi said.

Senator Okonkwo on his part said: “As far as I am concerned, I will not support any illegality, the decision is illegal, it was not the process that we started and that is why as a legislator, anything that is illegal I will not support it,’’ Senator Okonkwo told Vanguard yesterday on telephone.

N300bn TRANSPORTATION contractS:Senate report indicts Anenih, Okonjo-Iweala, Ciroma
Headlines Oct 12, 2009

ABUJA — THE Senate investigation into the alleged utilisation of more than N300 billion in the transportation sector during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has recommended the prosecution of thirteen former Ministers of that era for the alleged abuse of the due process mechanism of that administration.

The Senate report indicted seven former Ministers, five former Ministers of State and four permanent secretaries who served in the Obasanjo administration between 1999 and 2007. Besides, a serving Minister, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, was also indicted and recommended for prosecution for the alleged transfer of N1.2 billion into the private account of a toll company without due process and in breach of concession agreement.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Chief Tony Anenih

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Chief Tony Anenih

The former Ministers recommended for prosecution include the erstwhile chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Minister of Works, Chief Tony Anenih; erstwhile Finance Minister and Chairman of the Presidential re-election committee of the PDP, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Dr. Obafemi Anibaba and Chief Cornelius Adebayo.

The Ministers of State also indicted by the Senate report are Senator Isaiah Balat, Chief Garba Ali Madaki, Ambassador Aderemi Esan, Alhaji Shehu Saleh and Malam Yahaya Abdulkarim.

The four Permanent Secretaries indicted by the Senate panel include Dr. Godwin Odumah, Dr. Ramsey Mowoe, Alhaji Abubakar Umar and Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.

The Senate panel in its fourth recommendation demanded that Anenih, Madaki, Ogunlewe, Balat and the other former Ministers of Works, Ministers of State and permanent secretaries above “who awarded contracts without budgetary provision in the Appropriation Acts, Designs and Bills of Quantities, be prosecuted for violation of the ICPC Act and other extant laws.”

In its fifth recommendation, the committee deposed that:

“The Honourable Ministers of Finance and the Accountants-General of the Federation and other officials who authorised payments and released funds for the payments of contracts not appropriated by law and or released funds above provisions in the Appropriation Acts, be prosecuted for violation of extant laws. They are: Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, Kayode Naiyeju and Alhaji Mohammed Argungu.”

In its sixth recommendation, the committee stated thus:

“That the Director-General and other officials of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (now Bureau of Public Procurement) who issued certificates of award and payment for contracts not appropriated by law be prosecuted for violation of extant laws.

They are: Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwezili, Appolonia Okigbo, Prof. Kunle Ade Wahab, Tajudeen Oyawoye and Abimbola Ogunseitan.”

The Senate panel in its eighth recommendation indicting the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Allison-Madueke deposed thus:

“That the Honourable Minister of Transportation and the Permanent Secretary who approved and transferred the sum of one billion, two hundred and ten million, five hundred thousand Naira (N1,210,500,000) into private account of Digital Toll Gates Company Limited without due process certification and in violation of the terms of concession agreement be prosecuted and this amount be recovered from this private company.

“They are: Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Mrs. Amuna Ali.”
Besides, the committee in its 58 page main report recommended that Dr. Baba-Ahmed, a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works be prosecuted for “contract splitting and award of contract to non-existing companies.’’

The Senate report also recommended that officials of the Federal Ministry of Works in charge of toll collection be made to account for all the proceeds of the toll gates and its utilisation as at the time of its existence from 1999 upwards.

The Senate investigation was upon a motion moved on the Senate floor on April 29, 2008 by Senator Ayogu Eze demanding investigations into the utilisation of more than N300 billion of government funds in the transportation sector during the Obasanjo regime.

The ad-hoc investigative committee which was inaugurated on April 30, 2008 had Senator Heineken Lokpobiri as chairman and the following Senators as members, Patricia Akwashiki, Aloysius Etok, Ayogu Eze, Anthony Manzo, Umar Argungu, Sylvester Anyanwu, Felix Bajumo, Mohammed Jibril, Bala Mohammed, Ayodele Arise and Otaru Ohize.

All but one of the Senators signed the committee report which was submitted to the Senate last Thursday.

Incidentally, the exclusive report by Vanguard of Wednesday October 7, 2009 giving an indication of the indictment of PDP chieftains by the Senate investigations is now the subject of an enquiry by the Senate committee on Ethics. The Senate had upon a motion moved by Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange (PDP, Bayelsa East) demanded an investigation into the leakage of the report before Senate debate on the report.

Anambra is as controversial as Ekiti is

Senator quizzed over murder of hunchback - Recovered hunch deposited at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital
Tunde Oyekola, Osogbo
Wednesday, October 7, 2009

THE Police in Osogbo, Osun State, have quizzed a former member of the National Assembly, Senator Felix Kolawole Ogunwale, over the alleged murder of a 27-year-old hunchback, Taibat Oseni, allegedly done in Iragbiji, headquarters of Boripe Local Government Area of the state, on Tuesday, last week.


Senator Ogunwale, who was said to have been reporting at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Police headquarters in Osogbo since Monday, was said to be the owner of an abandoned building at Iragbiji, where Taibat was said to have been dragged by her assailants at about 10.30 p.m., on Tuesday night, before she was murdered.

The police said that they had arrested three suspects in connection with the incident while the hunch had been recovered from them. Those arrested, according to the police, were Asimiyu Kolapo, Mukaila Kolawole and Isaac Ayandokun, while another suspect identified as Mosudi Abisoye, also known as Compol, an OPC member at Iragbiji, was still at large.

The police said that they were yet to recover the corpse of Taibat but the hunch recovered from the suspects and a piece of flesh, suspected to be human flesh, had been deposited at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital for preservation and examination.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Clement Akinola, who confirmed that Senator Ogunwale had been invited in connection with the murder of the hunchback, stated that he (Ogunwale) was not directly connected with the murder.

He stated that the police invited Senator Ogunwale for questioning because the house, where the suspects allegedly murdered Taibat, belonged to him.

He said, “though the suspects have not linked Senator Ogunwale to the mysterious killing of Taibat Oseni, the 27-year-old hunchback, the suspects said that the crime was perpetrated in an abandoned house allegedly owned by Senator Ogunwale.”

He added that, “as at now, there is no evidence incriminating Senator Ogunwale about the murder.” However, Senator Ogunwale, who was seen at the police headquarters on Tuesday, told newsmen that he voluntarily reported himself to the police to clear his name, when he learnt that the murder was perpetrated in his abandoned house.

Senator Ogunwale was elected in 2003 on the ticket of the PDP and contested the governorship primaries of the party with the incumbent governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in the 2007 gubernatorial election. Senator Ogunwale, in May 2009, defected to the rival Action Congress (AC).

where is justice?

Tompolo to guard oil pipelines - Surrenders 40 bombs, 143 guns - FG to rebuild destroyed houses - Dokubo-Asari rejects amnesty - Ex-militants protest in Bayelsa

From Donald Ojogo, Sylvester Idowu, Okey Muogbo, Soji Ajibola and Rotimi Ige - 06.10.2009

CONTRARY to impressions given, facts emerged on Monday that the acceptance of the amnesty offer of the Federal Government by the ex-militant leader, Government Ekpomukpolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, was with three major conditions, just as the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has rejected the amnesty of the Federal Government.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that the government caved in to the demands by the former warlord to engage him and his lieutenants and their boys on contract to provide security for the oil pipelines, wells, as well as oil companies operating in the region.

The argument, according to Presidency sources, was that this would provide stable sources of legitimate income for them and also employment opportunities for some of their disengaged foot soldiers.

“The Federal Government agreed to his demand to be engaged on contract to provide security for the oil pipelines that criss cross the region and that he would use some of his boys for the job. He said this would serve as a strategy to engage some of his boys in legitimate work. I think the President saw reason on this and accepted the demand,” the source said.

The second condition, it was gathered, was that the Federal Government should rebuild his house destroyed during the recent raid by the operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) who were searching for some of their missing officers and soldiers allegedly killed by Tompolo boys on May 13, 2009.

Nigerian Tribune further learnt that the third condition that made Tompolo accept the amnesty was the issue of his security which was guaranteed by President Yar’Adua during last Saturday night’s meeting before he finally handed over his weapons the next day.

“He also raised the issue of his security which the President considered as a genuine condition. You know that Tompolo must have stepped on many toes, both within and outside, during his so-called struggle. He again saw the JTF as another threat for what he did against their men,” the source added.

The Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Timi Alaibe, refused to pick his call or respond to a text message on the issue. These are apart from some other reasons Nigerian Tribune gathered why Tompolo accepted the Federal Government’s amnesty.

Highly placed military sources, on Monday, told the Nigerian Tribune that Tompolo’s decision to accept the amnesty offer had more to do with the his wisdom to avoid a major war in the region than the Federal Government’s promise of developing the region after all.

“The young man accepted amnesty, because he knows the consequences his hardline position would have on the region; it has nothing to do with his belief in the promises of government,” the source said.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which regards Tompolo as its General Officer Commanding (GOC), had until Tompolo’s meeting with President Yar’Adua on Saturday, maintained its stance that the warlord was not disposed to the amnesty offer.

The Ijaw Youths Leadership Forum (IYLF), which is regarded as Tompolo’s think-tank, had only a few days to the meeting between Tompolo and the president in Abuja, vowed that the militant leader would never accept the president’s offer.

Another source in MEND hinted that the decision to meet with the president and embrace the amnesty offer was more of a personal decision by Tompolo after his private consultation with a few key commanders like Farah Dagogo and Bibopre Ajube (Shoot at Sight).

The duo were reported to have told him that their acceptance of the offer should be seen as a way of saving millions of lives in the event of a military-militants conflict. This is apart from discoveries that certain unnamed persons at the commencement of the amnesty, had collected several millions of naira on behalf of some commanders, claiming, they (commanders) needed funds to mobilise their fighters to disarm.

Tompolo submitted 143 assorted guns as well as 50 bombs in the following classification: GPMG (16), AK-47 (14) FN Rifles (71) G3 (24) RPG (6), BMG (5), RMG bombs (6), magazines (141), 30 boxes of ammo, AGL bombs (44) as well as several heaps of dynamites.

Until Tompolo’s meeting with President Yar’Adua on Saturday, heralding his decision to disarm, there was tension in the region as residents expressed fears over the uncompromising stance of MEND. This is even as the Joint Task Force (JTF) was poised for what a source called “a decisive onslaught” against unrepentant militants in the region at the expiration of the amnesty on Sunday.

Curiously, Tompolo refused to sign the amnesty denunciation form for repentant militants when he met with the President in Abuja. In place of the form, the militant leader signed a document he had prepared and brought from his Oporoza base on his own letterhead.

Although information on the contents of the document remained sketchy, it contained Tompolo’s own ‘proclamation’ for the acceptance of amnesty.
Said the military source:

“When people blame the JTF as the brains behind killings and destruction of communities in the region, we always laugh because they are ignorant of the workings of the military. We work by orders; no one disobeys orders. If you are ordered by your superior officer to kill even your mother you do it. So why do they blame us.

“The truth is that those who were telling Tompolo not to surrender were doing that because most of them were surviving on him; some of them were pretending to be links between him and government, telling him lies and making money in the process. So they did not want militancy to stop in the region; it was this class of guys that was giving him a false sense of security but he did not know that most of them were already preparing to flee the country because it would have been a full-scale, spare no militant war in the region.

“The JTF was prepared for this task, because we now have a better understanding of the situation than when they ambushed our men; that is just the truth because the nation cannot be held to ransom by a few boys in the name of a struggle, even though some of us from minority areas feel for the people of the region; and that is why I commend Tompolo for his wise decision. I know he knows the implications of risking the entire region to a war. That was why he accepted the offer it was not the promises of politicians at all,” he said.Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that the Federal Government was already considering the presentation of a post-amnesty budget to fast-track development in the region in the next six months.

Against this backdrop, Tompolo is expected to meet with key figures in the amnesty process to facilitate the speedy integration and rehabilitation of ex-militants who disarmed under him. Also to be part of the meeting, are, Ateke Tom and Farah Dagogo.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front and the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has rejected the amnesty granted by the Federal Government.

In an affidavit sworn to at the Federal High Court Registry Abuja, and served by his lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, and signed by 232 plaintiffs, who are members of Dokubo-Asari’s force, faulted the pardon granted by President Yar’Adua to the plaintiffs and other people, a proclamation widely published in national dailies on Thursday, June 26, 2009.

It stated that it was constitutionally wrong for a pardon to be granted to the affected persons without specification of any particular offence created by an Act of the National Assembly, which the person(s) is concerned with or has been convicted of, for which he is granting pardon.

The affidavit protested the violation of principles of fair hearing and stated that the act of pardon contravened the laws of constitution in unilaterally deciding that the person is concerned with an offence, refusing to state the section of the law the person has breached and unilaterally granting pardon to such a person.

It also questioned the power of the President in exercising his authority to grant pardon to a person under section 175 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without the person concerned with or convicted of the said offence, applying for pardon to the president.

All 232 plaintiffs argued that they had been wrongly accused and pardoned. They denied being militants, and vowed to continue as freedom fighters with self-determination in line with the United Nations Charter.

In a related development, ex-militants on Monday night took the people of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State by surprise as they embarked on another round of protest, disrupting the free flow of traffic.

The protest, the fourth in its series, came barely 24 hours after the deadline for submission of arms and ammunition by the various militant groups in the region.

The residents around Onopa area in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state were forced indoors as ex-militants took over the street. In order to prevent the situation from escalating into major crisis, security operatives were drafted into the area. At the time of filing this report, normalcy had returned to the affected areas.

The protest which lasted for some minutes, according to Nigerian Tribune findings, recorded no casualty as no weapon was used. A source revealed that the protesters were not militants as being made to believe but a group of boys that were trying to give investors bad impression about the state.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was at the State House, Abuja, on Monday to commend President Umaru Yar’Adua for the successful implementation of the first phase of the amnesty programme which is the surrender of the Niger Delta militants.

National chairman of the party, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, who led the delegation told reporters that the party would hold a rally in Abuja on Saturday to celebrate the surrender and acceptance of the amnesty by the militants.

He also dismissed continued threats from MEND that it would continue with the violence. Ogbulafor also declined to talk on the crisis that has aborted conduct of the party’s governorship primaries in Anambra State, saying that they did not come to the Presidential Villa to discuss the matter with Yar’Adua.

May God forgive una

Some powerful persons are obstructing Nigeria’s progress, says Olu Falae (2)
Interview Oct 4, 2009

*Only mega party can uproot them, he declares
*Reveals how AD governors sold out to Obasanjo
*Laments discord in Yoruba land

In this second and concluding part of the Olu Falae’s interview, the presidential candidate of an alliance of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and the All Peoples Party, APP, reflects on the 1999 Presidential election and concludes that he won. He said he had very good grounds to challenge Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Partyy, PDP.

Hear him: The Electoral Law says that no candidate should advertise for votes on election day and on election day, General Obasanjo advertised for votes in one major national newspaper. I took my telephone and called the then national chairman of INEC, late Justice Akpata, that on a certain page in a certain newspaper, there is an advert by General Obasanjo.

He said I should give him time to check on what I’d just told him, call me back. I called him back in about 15 minutes time he said yes, he had seen it and he told me that that was a legitimate ground for election petition. But when we got to the tribunal, the judges said there was no evidence that it was Obasanjo who placed the advert it must have been his agents; but whatever law binds you binds your agents too.

I was denied the ballot boxes which would have put the case beyond doubt because if the boxes were brought they would have been cancelled because there was no voting in Bayelsa, and when a ground on which his entire elections would have been cancelled was ignored by the tribunal, it meant that they had made up their minds on Obasanjo.

And so, when they gave their judgment, I decided that I would not go to the Supreme Court for two reasons. Those reasons? Read this interview, including his suggestion that some powerful people have held Nigeria hostage. But he was quick to explain that Mega Party being packaged is the answer. Excerpts:

By Jider Ajani DeputyEditor

AT some point it just happened that the Alliance for Democracy, AD/All Peoples Party, APP, alliance chose not to pursue its petition against the allegedly fraudulent election of Olusegun Obasanjo. This is 10 years after, can we know what happened?
At the tribunal, my lawyers asked for certain documents and information. For example, the ballot boxes used in Bayelsa State because there was no election in Bayelsa State and yet they went ahead to give Obasanjo three million votes and we were told it would cost 800 million to go and bring those ballot boxes

800 million what?
N800 million, that’s what I mean, to bring the ballot boxes from Bayelsa State and some other states where I requested the production of the ballot boxes and that was a way of denying me the proof with which I would have made my case. So, we were denied those ballot boxes. Two, the Electoral Law says that no candidate should advertise for votes on election day and on election day, General Obasanjo advertised for votes in one major national newspaper.

I took my telephone and called the then national chairman of INEC, late Justice Akpata, that on a certain page in a certain newspaper, there is an advert by General Obasanjo. He said I should give him time to check on what I’d just told him, call me back. I called him back in about 15 minutes time he said yes, he had seen it and he told me that that was a legitimate ground for election petition.

Akpata agreed with you
Yes he did. But when we got to the tribunal, the judges said there was no evidence that it was Obasanjo who placed the advert it must have been his agents; but whatever law binds you binds your agents too. I was denied the ballot boxes which would have put the case beyond doubt because if the boxes were brought they would have been canceled because there was no voting in Bayelsa, and when a ground on which his entire elections would have been cancelled was ignored by the tribunal, it meant that they had made up their minds on Obasanjo.

And so, when they gave their judgment, I decided that I would not go to the Supreme Court for two reasons. One, you can’t begin to adduce new arguments at the Supreme Court and I’d been denied physical and documentary proof for my case so, what would I go and do at the Supreme Court. Two, there was a very frenetic campaign going on that the military would refuse to go if we kept dragging the case in court and in fact the pressure got so bad that I had to leave Nigeria with my family and we had to stay in London.

In London, it got so bad that I was receiving half a dozen phone calls in 30 minutes and I was again forced to leave the flat which I rented; I had to go and stay with a friend outside London and we did not even allow our families to know where we were because if they knew, those trying to put pressure on us would still call them and my children would have told them where we were and for that reason we didn’t tell them.
Chief Olu Falae

Chief Olu Falae

So I decided that if the military was going to stay on, I should not be used as the excuse for the elongation of military rule because Nigerians would say that it was Olu Falae who caused it and they would also say that at least they are from the same Yoruba land why can’t he just forget it. They would say it was because of my ambition but that is not me.

I ran for the presidency because I wanted to help. So, because I did not want to go down in history as the man who prolonged military rule and along with other reasons, I decided not to pursue the case.

Let’s pick the issues one by one. The AD held so much hope not just for the Yoruba people but for the progressives too. What was the lure for somebody like you to be in the AD? Was it the preponderance of the Yoruba in the party? Or was there any greater ideal?
Really, the AD did not exist and I tried to join the party. We formed the AD. In the Afenifere and the other groups, along with Ambassador Jolly Tanko Yusuf, we came together to form AD. But before that happened, the consultations to which we belonged moved in the direction of APP and I was abroad for medical check up because of my detention. By the time I came back, I learnt we had dumped APP and formed AD and when I asked why, I was told that some Abacha politicians came to join that group and that the Afenifere component of the party moved away to form AD because we fought Abacha. Of course being who we were and who we are, we felt that the AD had a progressive agenda and the West had always been the base of progressive ideas in Nigeria but unfortunately, before we broke from APP, a lot of our natural allies had taken positions in APP so they were not available to join us in AD. For example, Bala Takaya, my friend, who was also in my campaign team, phoned my wife and asked where I belonged, my wife told him I was in the group that joined APP, so he went and joined APP and when our people were moving to form AD, nobody contacted him, so he said he would stay where he was.

When I came back he came to see me and explained that he was already leading the APP in his state of Adamawa and that it would be difficult for him to jump ship and it happened all over the country like that and that partially explains why the AD did not have that spread.

It actually started with G-34 which became PDP, we left that to form APP and again we left APP to form AD – those changes meant that a lot of people were left behind. But I also gathered that some people felt that if we stayed in PDP I might become too strong so the best thing to do was to make us move. At my book launch at the MUSON Centre in 2004, Chief Solomon Lar told the audience that I was the one what became the PDP wanted as its candidate because there was a consensus that I had widespread support and I had my integrity but that some of our leaders from the West came to tell them that I was no longer interested in running for the presidency.

olufalae5

Was this with or without your consent?
I was abroad. I did not tell that to anybody

Beyond the general, what plunged you into detention?
Because I was myself and if I believed in something, I pursue it. The NADECO group used to meet in Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu’s house but at some stage, the Federal Government threatened the livelihood of Admiral Kanu and so he announced that he might not be able to continue to host us and I immediately offered my house as the new venue.

But each time we were meeting in my house you could see the security boys parading my gate and I would invite them to come in. I was seen as one of those who openly and boldly provided leadership for NADECO and because I was then resident in Ondo State and Papa Ajasin who lived in Owo, just some minutes drive from my house, it was perceived that I was the one giving the old man support for his leadership of the group and all the papers he was supposed to have been putting out to the United Nations and the press.

Of course, they were not totally wrong because Papa would ask me to do one or two things and I believed in those things and Papa was my leader. So they felt by locking me up, they would weaken Papa. But I thank God I did not die in detention because if you recall, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was locked up at about the same time and they killed him but I thank God that they did not kill me because if they had killed me nothing would have happened. I was detained from January 9, 1997, to June 25, 1998, after Abacha died.

The AD is dead. What would you say are the factors to point at as being responsible for the sorry pass?
I am reluctant to answer that question or any pertaining to it because it would mean re-opening old wounds and we are now trying to build consensus and it would be counter productive for me to re-open those wounds but I can say in general terms that the resentment of those who won elections on the platform of AD, to recognize or accept any supervisory roles for Afenifere in the South West led to the fall of the party because the Afenifere had a committee headed by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi to assess the performance of each state in relation to the manifesto of the party, to assess who was performing well and who was not. There was resentment from the governors and they wondered why it should happen in the South West when there was no where else in Nigeria where such was happening – why should Afenifere come and mark our papers, they wondered. I think that was the genesis.

But what Afenifere wanted was to sustain that name and culture of performance because it was the Afenifere people voted for because you can not translate AD into Yoruba language and Afenifere wanted to be seen as delivering on promises made to the people so that in future we could continue to use that legacy. But those in power did not see it like that.

Other things came to compound the problem
And then, that started a process of separating those in power from those in the leadership of the party and by the time the election of 2003 was going to take place, the governors barely consulted the party and they went and made a deal with General Obasanjo although they said they consulted the leadership of the party.

Working directly
I was never consulted, I never heard of it and I would like to think that I am one of the leaders of Afenifere and AD and a leader in Nigeria. Nobody told me anything. I never heard about any deal. If I had heard, I would have begged them not to do such a deal that the Obasanjo they wanted to enter into a deal with had not been known to honour any deal because I had worked with him for four years: When he was a military head of state, I was a permanent secretary, in the economic department of the cabinet office, working directly, daily. I would have begged them not to do it. But because I was more or less the target of the deal, I was kept in the dark.

You were the target? How?
First, the deal was that they should give all the western votes to Obasanjo and he would allow them to come back for a second term. Now, they would not have been able to give all the votes to Obasanjo if I were a candidate for the same presidency, so, for me not to even dream of it, I must be kept in the dark, I must be kept in the cold, I must not know about it. Unfortunately for them, the deal went awry and bitterness came into it. I don’t want to go into the details but this is the genesis. But what happened is not new, each time some people are in power, they tend to forget and they start feeling that they are bigger than the party and they resent certain things. Look at the crisis of the Western Region, Akintola was in power, Awolowo was leader of opposition at the centre, so for Awolowo to supervise him on what to do right but it is not new. When you’re not in power you respect the leadership of the party but once you get to power, you feel you can do without him.

If you were a state governor between 1999 and 2003, would you have allowed one Afenifere to supervise your tenure. Please I want a sincere response?
Of course I would have invited them. I am a party man and I am a disciplined person. I would have invited them to come and see what I have done; I would have been faithful. Why should I resent it.

Obasanjo as president of Nigeria, how would you assess him?
I would rather not talk about Obasanjo. While he was there for eight years, I kept talking about his policies, the government and issues like that I never talked about his person.

But how would you detach his person from his style or governance? Some say the eight years were wasted while some insist that Obasanjo laid a solid foundation? Which areas would you consider needed better management than he did?
Let’s talk about time, which is a very scarce resource, you can not borrow time but you can borrow money. Do you know how many times Obasanjo went abroad chasing shadows? Gani documented over 400 and something trips. You wasted time on international frivolities. I’ll give you an example.

At a time when a strike action was imminent, he flew to Davos, in Switzerland to attend the Davos symposium. Now, in 1978, more than 20 years before Obasanjo became a civilian president, I went to Davos to represent Nigeria. He was then head of state, he asked his number two, Shehu Yar’Adua to go and Yar’Adua said he had no time that I should go with Tahir, the then managing director of Tate and Lyle – we were in Davos together at the height of winter, February 1978, the same economic forum. Now, more than 20 years later, Obasanjo as president felt that that forum was so important that he had to leave a nation in the throes of a general strike to go and attend that meeting in Switzerland.

That’s why I said he wasted a lot of time chasing shadows, a symposium I could attend on behalf of Nigeria 20 years ago. Why couldn’t a minister or vice president go. Why? He was just wasting time and money travelling all over the world, he didn’t have time to sit down and govern Nigeria.
*Falae

*Falae

He wasted resources. I’ll give an illustration. We had toll gates before he took over. He came back and said he wanted to change the management of the toll gates, he didn’t win in court and he attempted to frustrate the whole thing by destroying the toll gates. These things cost hundreds of millions naira to build. Who authorized him to destroy them, the National Assembly? Who? He didn’t own them. Then he spent millions to destroy them, double loss. The cost of the toll gates he destroyed and the money he used in destroying the toll gates would have provided jobs for 20,000 Nigerians. He just wasted national resources. He spent a lot of his time, manouvring and wasting opportunities. He called the three political parties for a constitutional review.

What became of it, nothing. Later, during his second term, he set up the national constitutional forum; what became of it, nothing. Huge sums of money just went down the drain on those two futile exercises which he knew would produce nothing.

During his regime, the roads in the South West were virtually impassable, similar to what obtained in many parts of Nigeria. On the eve of his departure, he was awarding contracts to link Abuja with Okenne and Lokoja, to build a railway line; he was there for eight years he didn’t do anything. So, all in all, his administration was a complete failure.

This is very sad because here was a man who had been head of state before; he had had the experience before. He had the exposure. The fact remains that he never promised Nigerians anything and so he could not be held down by anything. He and I were invited to the studio to debate; he didn’t show up at the studio for the debate. He avoided making any commitment to anybody.

On the issue of foreign trips, his supporters say he burnished Nigeria’s image and that the debt overhang was taken care off?
When I was in office as minister of finance, from January to August 1990, I was able to initiate debt buy-back with the French finance minister, I went on a foreign trip with Babangida and we met with French officials in the ministry of finance and we told them that we wanted to buy back our debt, that we had written documents denominated in the millions of dollars and we wanted to buy those papers back but they told us that it was not the policy of France to allow debt buy back. We told them that since theirs was a free enterprise, every commodity has a price. They agreed and we asked what is the value? An example is if we say we’ll pay $1 million in five years’ time but if we want to pay today can we pay $800,000, we’ll pay cash and after a lot of discussion they agreed that we could buy back 10 per cent of Nigeria’s debt owed to France, so that French business men who have businesses in Nigeria would pay $800,000 for a $1 million debt, get the papers, come to Nigeria and go to the Central Bank and say, ‘here, I have paid $800,000 for $1 million, give me back the money in naira and let me invest it in your country. That was one thing I did, the debt buy back to finance investment in Nigeria. I got back 10 per cent of the debt. All that Obasanjo did was to extend it across the board.

During the campaigns, I promised that I would extinguish Nigeria’s external debts in six months people never believed. They said I was a magician. I said I would buy back the debt from our creditors. If the debt was to the tune of $30 billion, we’ll pay you 75 per cent.

People wondered where we would get the about $22 billion cash to pay. I said it was easy, that in 1988, when I was secretary to the government of Nigeria, Nigeria sold 10 per cent of her equity in Shell BP for $1.2 billion. At that time Nigeria owned 50 per cent of the equity of Shell BP. Now, 20 years later, 10 per cent of the equity of any of the oil companies would be worth maybe $2 billion or $3 billion and that if you do that in about six to eight oil companies, we’ll raise the cash.

I said the oil companies don’t normally have the host countries as their partners we forced them to do so. If you say you want to sell the shares back to them, they’ll be more than happy and in any case each time they say they want to make cash calls of new joint ventures, we always delay and we were a nuisance to their operations, so they’ll be very glad to see us divest to them and the market for the shares we needed to sell is already there, waiting in the oil companies. I can do all that in three months.

When Obasanjo came, things had become better, oil prices had gone up so he didn’t need to sell equities at all. I was going to do the same thing under very tough conditions without our losing control of the oil companies, so what he did, as far as I was concerned was nothing really big, because I had blazed the trail. I was going to do it even without the huge resources he got later. All these are in my book, The Way Forward. I’m not belittling the effort; good he did it but I would have done it even without all the money he got. So, don’t let his apologists sway you like that. He had a lot of money, he just dipped his hands into our foreign reserves and paid them and that is what I call the difference between an ‘A’ and a ‘B+’

With these lofty ideas of yours, how come people like you don’t end up getting to the position where you can then influence things properly, as the man in charge? Is it that the people don’t relate to your ideas?
Well, that is the tragedy of the Nigerian nation. Again and again, those who are better placed to influence things have been frustrated because certain people feel that their personal interests will be threatened.

Who are these people? They do not constitute the majority?
Okay let me go back a little. In 1991, when the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation was being launched, Chief M K O Abiola who was the chief launcher said he would like to apologise to the followers and friends of Awolowo because he, Abiola, did a lot to prevent Chief Awolwo from becoming president of Nigeria. I learnt he also said in 1979 Awolowo won the presidential elections by a small margin of about 20,000, but that those who felt threatened that Awolowo would probe them did not want him, despite the fact that he was determined to change the lives of Nigerians. In 1999, I believe I won the elections but of course, there were those who felt more comfortable working with a military general than with a civilian.

But you had worked with the military?
That is the point. One of them once said that a sergeant was better than a graduate and that is how they think. The reason they gave it to Obasanjo was because they felt safer with him. Don’t forget that I was in public life all my life and my life is an open book and they know that I will never call white black or black white. They know I was not going to allow fraud and stealing and that may not be too good for their interest.

One of the stories I read about you when you were in Dodan Barracks was that you once felt scandalized and, therefore, barred a visitor from coming into the place because of the model of Mercedes Benz car he brought….
(Cuts in) I can’t recollect that particular instance but I had issues then and one was that in the midst of the poverty and pain, people should conduct themselves with some decorum because out there people were suffering. The point had to be made and I was well known to the establishment and they knew and they know that whatever I do is not based on sentiments but fairness. They know that I have zero tolerance for fraud.

There are those who see the undeserved privileges they have are their right and to do justice would mean taking away those rights and they do not want that to happen. That’s why people like me may not get there. They felt more comfortable with Obasanjo because they thought they would be able to manipulate him but, of course, they did not succeed

There was this retired army general who told some people that he supported Olu Falae and they asked him why. He said it was because he could come to me and engage me in a debate about what is right and wrong but that he could never do that with an Obasanjo; I can’t tell Obasanjo that what he is doing is not right he will not listen. But for Falae, I can walk to him and engage him and if I can convince him, he would change his mind.

My problem with the Yoruba nation is that the elders are not accorded the respect they deserve again, especially the former civilian governors who have bonded on another platform. This makes it difficult for the Yoruba nation to have a leader and work as one?
I would agree with you that today we do not have a consensus leadership and as you pointed out, it would have been nice if the former AD governors are working together with the Yoruba leadership as exemplified by the Ayo Adebanjos or Olanihun Ajayis but that is not there.

This is not because of lack of trying to bring all together. Since 2001, when the crisis started until when it finally blew up and you had two factions of AD, under Papa Adesanya, we started the peace moves in which I participated to no avail. Later, we brought in Justice Kayode Esho and Archbishop Ladigbolu, Professor Bolanle Awe. On two occasions, we were there 15 minutes before the scheduled time, the former governors never showed up.

We tried and tried it never worked. But we have not given up and recently, we involved Mama HID Awolowo and we tried direct means but we have not succeeded yet but we are still trying and we have been persistent and insistent so that we can have a united leadership because whenever there is no peace in Yoruba land the rest of Nigeria knows.

At the occasion of the 70th birthday of Chief Lam Adesina, Balarabe Musa, who was the chairman of the occasion made the remark that because we in the west were not together to provide leadership for the progressives of Nigeria, the nation is in confusion, that we as the natural leaders of the progressives that even if not for our own sake but for the sake of the Nigerian nation, we should come together and provide leadership and direction. Chief Awolowo is still trying.

Your MSM group?
Recently, I led the Mega Summit Movement, MSM, to the constitution review exercise at the National Assembly to make a presentation on electoral reforms and General Buhari and our other leaders were there. We entered the hall and I saw Ayo Opadokun who was speaking for CODER (Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms), an organization formed by Bola Tinubu to more or less rival what we started doing at the MSM. And deep down within me was this urge that we should bond. When he finished and I wanted to make our presentation, the first sentence I uttered was that ‘Ayo Opadokun’s presentation on behalf of CODER, we in MSM support it and we endorse it because it is part and parcel of what we, too, were doing.

Well, after the presentations, they made contact with us and they were very happy that we openly endorsed their position and I have just said this so that you will appreciate how well we have been trying and working to ensure that we come together – we won’t lose anything but the other side has refused to reciprocate. But we would not give up.We have to come together to rescue this country not for our sake but for our children’s sake because for me, at 70, I have no plans to contest any election at all. I do not have to continue to be in partisan politics because it does not allow me to have time for my family, it has not given me time to write more books because I’m here today, tomorrow I’m in Abuja. At our meeting I have been mandated to go round the country to meet political leaders to forge one united entity and in other words, I would have to be practically on the road for the next one month.

Three months before CODER was launched, MSM decided to mark electoral reform on May 29. We were in Abuja at the Hilton Hotel to launch our campaign for electoral reforms so why go and duplicate it?
Okay, since they demonstrated manifest disdain and resentment, must the MSM people or even the Yoruba leadership that is the one you belong to, must you carry these people along? In politics, the more the merrier, nobody has it all, money, oratory.

In the perception of the people of Nigeria, there is no unity in Yoruba land. Each time there is unity in the west, it goes round. The moment we come together, we move together and get our dues. Ones you are in disarray, why should they bother about you.

Some people look at the MSM thing and just wave it aside as unworkable because of the peculiarities of the Nigerian polity?
Why?

That your likes and General Buhari should translate the integrity into political dividends that can win votes?
I thrashed Obasanjo in Ogun State, his local government and even in front of his house. Buhari defeated Yar’Adua and it has been established by the court, four to three ruling.

So, the two of us you have mentioned have political capital and we can win votes. The electorate is not a fool. What you see is the violence and blatant falsification of results because some people will take your money and vote their conscience. Nigerians are no fools. If we can get just 10 per cent of the money of PDP to get our message across, the people will support us

What are the challenges you’re encountering now?
We’re already encountering the challenges because you can not build a thing like this mega party movement and not require money. Again, it’s not easy to bring about 50 political parties together because some people would say I want to remain chairman of my small party and in that MSM I would have no position. Others may feel the little grant from INEC would not come again. We’re not hoping to get everybody but just a critical mass that is credible so that we can present them to Nigerians.
Everybody will not think the same way. People have asked how are we going to raise the money.

let us pray!

thank God,

wetin u wan make we do about am?

Obi of Onitsha survives kidnap attempt
National News Oct 3, 2009

AWKA—The official residence of the OBI of Onitsha and Chairman of the Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers, Igwe Alfred Achebe was  on Thursday night the venue of a fierce gun duel between unspecified number of gunmen and policemen.

At the end of the shoot out two of the gunmen lay dead. The gunmen had swooped on the Obi’s residence located in the GRA part of the town for what observers said was either a kidnap or an assassination attempt.

Two of the dead were said to be some of the gun men while the third, a woman said to have been felled by stray bullet. She was said to be a beans cake baker in the vicinity.

Achebe who will be celeberating his 8th Ofala festival in the ancient town of Onitsha on Monday, was said to have narrowly  escaped the trap of the gunmen  following the quick intervention of the police.

The gunmen who were said to have operated in a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and a Mercedes salon car, drove into his residence at about 8 . 00 pm and tried to force themselves into the house when the men of Special Anti Robbery Squad, (SARS) attached to the Onitsha Area command dislodged them.

According  to an eye witness, the gunmen engaged the police in a shoot out before they were eventually overpowered by the Police.

The  Onitsha Police Area Commander, Mr. John Nwele who confirmed the incident, added that the police recovered the two vehicles used by the gunmen.  Some arms and ammunitions, including a rocket launcher with war-head, five AK 45 rifles, 53 loaded live magazines, 14 expended magazines, one giraffe grenade and one bag containing clothes.

Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka said the gunmen started their operation at Neni in Aniocha LGA and drove to Onitsha for the operation.

“Actually there was an attempt by some hoodlums to abduct the  monarch on Thursday evening, but it was foiled by policemen within Onitsha who gave a hot chase and gunned down two of them,” Chukwuemeka said.

See http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/10/03/obi-of-onitsha-survives-kidnap-attempt/

Wetin The Man Do Them?

Tompolo, 3,000 other militants surrender today
Headlines Oct 3, 2009

JUST 24 hours to tomorrow’s amnesty deadline, the most powerful militant leader in Nigeria and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of militants in the Niger-Delta, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo is expected to publicly accept amnesty with over 3,000 militants under his command and also handover at least 500 weapons to the Federal Government today (Saturday, October 3).

The Joint Task Force (JTF) on the Niger-Delta (JTF) was understood to be keyed up about the development, as it sees Tompolo as one of the greatest obstacles to the peace process in the region, but, the Commander, Major-General Sarkin Yarkin-Bello could not be immediately reached for comments.

Tompolo

Saturday Vanguard gathered on good authority that the last of the titans, Tompolo has, however, decided that the ceremony, which will take place in one of the creek communities in Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State would be devoid of pageantry and the Minister of Defence, Major-General Godwin Abbe (rtd), who is also the chairman of the Presidential Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament of Militants, according to accessible information, will lead the Federal Government delegation to receive the armaments.

The news that Tompolo will surrender today was first broken to Saturday Vanguard at about 7.00 am yesterday by one of his foot soldiers before a dependable “commander” in his camp later confirmed the information.

The foot soldier asserted, “Oga (Tompolo) is going to surrender tomorrow (today), they have sent message to us all the boys to bring back the arms in our possession, we are looking at about 500 apart from the ones the soldiers confiscated during the Cordon and Search operation”.

“All the boys are going about to bring out the guns they are holding from where they hide them because we have got orders now to return the arms back to the GOC”, he added.

Baring any odd, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan who traveled out of the country for the Governors’ Global Climate Summit in the United States of America , but, had been talking to Tompolo on phone to surrender latest tomorrow was expected to have flown in to Nigeria , last night, for today’s epochal event.

Saturday Vanguard learnt that the minor misunderstanding between Major_General Abbe and Tompolo over the temperament of the former during their first meeting at Oporoza has since been ironed out, as the Minister had spoken to Tompolo after then.
Besides Major-General Abbe and Governor Uduaghan, who may send a representative if he failed to make it today, the Special Adviser to the President on the Niger-Delta, Mr. Timi Alaibe is also said to be one of the key facilitators of today’s affair. The coordinator of the Sub-Committee on Disarmament, Air-Vice Marshal Lucky Ararile is expected to move the arms that will be turned in by Tompolo and his men away for safekeeping.

Spokesman of the traditional ruler of Gbaramatu kingdom and member of the Delta Waterways Security Committee (DWSC), Chief Dennis Otuaro confirmed to Saturday Vanguard that His Royal Majesty, Pere Godwin Bebenimibo practically prevailed on Tompolo, who is one of his subjects to accept amnesty and surrender his arms to the government.

The chat between Saturday Vanguard and Tompolo’s lieutenant yesterday went thus:

I got a call before this meeting with you earlier today that your boss, Tompolo will formally accept amnesty and surrender arms tomorrow (today)?

Who told you?

One of the boys just called to tell me but is it true?

Well, there is something like that for tomorrow that is why I was asked to meet and brief you

So, where is the ceremony going to take place, here in Warri or Abuja, Ateke Tom went to Abuja on October 1 to surrender to President Umaru Yar’Adua?

Tompolo doesn’t want something like a jamboree; it is going to be a simple and quiet event

Is he attaching any condition because I know he was talking about extension of the October 4 deadline for a proper homework to be done?

All he is doing is in good fate for the people of Niger-Delta but some people were misunderstanding him and he does not want an erroneous impression to be created.

I will come to that later, but, what I can tell you is that Tompolo wants the Federal Government to demilitarize the Niger-Delta.

He does not believe the military has any role to play in the oil and gas sector and he strongly thinks that anything security in the creek communities should be left to the host communities to handle.

You see, what the soldiers do behind the scene in the oil communities is terrible, those who posted them there and stay in Yenagoa, Warri and Abuja do not know what is going on.

For instance, few days ago, there was a shooting incidence where soldiers, who have been occupying Camp 5 since they attacked and took over the place in May, just started shooting indiscriminately at the direction of the village, causing panic everywhere.

Their leader there claimed he got information that some people wanted to attack them, but, the authorities found out it was true, I think they invited the person that gave the order to shoot to discipline him, the point I am making that these soldiers are overzealous in the way they do things and leaving them around will cause more problem.

He also wants the government to give license to qualified members of the host communities to be engaged in the oil business to give them a sense of belonging while Ijaws should be political space in the country.

We want more Ijaw states and local governments since the wealth of the country, which is derived from our areas is shared based on local governments, states and other indices.

Above all, he wants the government to have a concrete post_amnesty plan for the people they are making to lay down their arms.

You cannot tell them to go and form cooperative society of say 10 persons in one group, after which you will give a group N1 million and tell them to start something with it, what will somebody do with N100,000 capital, the government should make adequate plan.

Tompolo asked for extension of time to enable him contact his boys that are scattered in the creeks with arms, has he been able to do that before deciding to hand over?

Well, some people were creating a wrong impression that he was asking for extension of the deadline in order to buy time and acquire more arms to fight the government. But that is not his intention at all.

You see, this is a man that is already rich but he is concerned about the sufferings and deprivations of his people.

He wanted a thorough job to be done because it will be bad for the government if after setting a time to the amnesty programme, the thing fails because some people who ought to accept amnesty and surrender arms did not do so because certain things, which ought to be done correctly were not done.

Now, that they seem to be in so much hurry and people are pressurizing him to surrender, he has reached out to those he was able to reach, and will, therefore, surrender the weapons he has at least to let them know that he is not against amnesty and also prove those who are painting him as a Devil wrong.

I learnt he is going to submit up to 500 weapons?

Let us not speculate on the number yet until he surrenders. He is not a dishonest person. Remember the JTF told the whole world that they invaded Camp 5 and other satellite branches and confiscated all their weapons, which the militants abandoned.

They also told you people (press) that they ransacked our armories all that. If Tompolo was not a straightforward person, he would accept amnesty and leave his arms, claiming he has no arms to surrender since the JTF said they have seized our arms, but, he is desirous to help the government to mop up all the arms in the possession of his men and he only asked for extension of time for a thorough job to be done but since they don’t want to extend the time and want him to surrender whatever he has, he is going to do that.

But is it not true that he and others were planning a counter attack under the auspices of MEND after the deadline?

That is the misinformation and misrepresentation I am talking about. Some people are deliberately misconstruing him and dishing out such information and it’s because he wants to prove them wrong that he has decided to surrender.

He does not want anybody to launch attack on his people under the pretext that he refused to surrender. So the government should take it the way they see it thereafter.

Temple Chima Ubochi Friday, September 4, 2009
ubochit@yahoo.com
Bonn, Germany

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Nigeria’s 49th Independence Anniversary: Celebrating what’s not there

They don’t care about us (Michael Jackson)
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder. (George Washington)
The brave man inattentive to his duty, is worth little more to his country, than the coward who deserts her in the hour of danger. (Andrew Jackson)
You know, by the time you become the leader of a country, someone else makes all the decisions. … You may find you can get away with virtual presidents, virtual prime ministers, virtual everything. (Bill Clinton)
The people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people. God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard it and defend it. (Daniel Webster)


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ever had an entity so much, but, achieved so little. All the countries which started the “race” with Nigeria (at the same time or a little before or after), have all left Nigeria way behind biting the dust. There is nothing to celebrate about here.

Notwithstanding that the Brits who created Nigeria got it all wrong because of their exploitative/selfish tendencies, we, Nigerians have failed abysmally to correct their mistake, rather, some of us still dwell on blaming them (the Brits) 49 years after. It makes no sense at all.

The man who moved the motion for Nigeria's Independence in 1953, Chief Anthony Enahoro, once admitted to the mistakes of his generation and the founding fathers of Nigeria, by not ensuring that the country was constituted along ethnic nationalities. He said then that “Nigeria as it is today is not a nation. We did not think that just because the British created it this way, we were all bound by it. We thought that even if there was going to be a Nigeria, the component units should be the ethnic groups”. Enahoro felt the dream of those who fought for the country’s independence had not been realised, stating that Nigeria has become a nation of English people and that we conduct our business and daily lives in a foreign language which would not have been the case if federalism had been adopted. In other words, Enahoro blamed the nation’s woes on the mistake made by its founding fathers who decided to leave the country as a contraption created by the British colonial regime. True to that, this writer thinks Nigeria could have been effective if the units that make up Nigeria are the ethnic units. It could have been effective if the internal administration and the business are of/for the people, and not the business of somebody sitting in Abuja. An example is that this writer does not think that only a hand full of people should had taken the decision on a place that would be the federal capital of Nigeria. The decision ought to have been taken by all the people of Nigeria through plebiscite.

No matter the mistakes made, Nigeria had lost what it had during the colonial days and the First Republic, and this could be attributed to the failure of successive past leaders. At 49, Nigeria or whatever one calls it, had nothing to celebrate and may continue in that direction if the same set of people who had been leading still occupied the position of authority. Balarabe Musa once said that “Throughout the history of this country, particularly since the First Republic, the country had been controlled by a socio-economic system which is centred on self interest and produced a political leadership that owed the system”.

What’s there to celebrate about when democracy, the global hope for good governance, has become a nightmare to the nation? The nation is unable to reap significant democratic gains because its multi-party system is in disarray. Security and the welfare of the people, which the Constitution says shall be the main purpose of government, have been elusive. The Niger Delta crisis has become the nation’s albatross. Killings and kidnapping of foreigners and citizens are a daily occurrence. The economy, which is oil-dependent, is in a chaotic situation as the Niger Delta crisis has caused oil production to fall drastically. The Yar’Adua’s administration had not shown any sign that it was serious about confronting the challenges facing the country, especially in the power sector. Is it not a mockery to waste our time celebrating a failure?

Nothing works in Nigeria and despite all the opportunities, the country has continued to remain a nation of misplaced priorities and dashed hopes. Yar’Adua and his band are only massaging issues rather than deal with them frontally. YarÁdua still fails to improve on a faulty electoral system that brought him to power, despite the acknowledgement to that effect recently and as far away as New York. A country that cannot review its constitution without outside help is not worth to be called independent. We just learnt that the UN and Ghana's electoral chief may partner Nigeria on constitution review. That Nigeria’s efforts to review its 1999-constitution may receive the support of the United Nations (UN) and the head of Ghana's electoral body, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. Shouldn’t we be covering our face in shame rather than celebrating what’s not there.

What are we celebrating when Yar'Adua has "northernised" all the key positions in government, and marginalised Southerners in the picks for plum jobs? Nothing!

What calls for celebration with the level of corruption, poverty, unemployment and crime as well as insecurity in the country? How can we celebrate when the political office holders had failed to prove their capacity to tackle the problems and make life more meaningful for the people? Who is fooling who in the name of celebrating our independence, when the government fails to focus on the policies and programmes that would put the nation on the path of development? There is a deficit of visionary objectives relating to some of the serious challenges of governance, especially in the areas of industry, employment and poverty alleviation, infrastructure, social services, election-management and democratic leadership, so there isn’t any need to celebrate. YarÁdua has defaulted over his assurance to ASUU about the implementation of all agreements the body reached with government. This default is the root of the now incessant industrial conflict in the universities. The universities and higher institutions of learning are closed for more than two months; all the president could do is to outsource the role of government negotiator to Adam Oshiomhole while he jetted out to Saudi Arabia to commission a well built and sustained university, what an irony.

Since assumption of office, Yar’Adua has been on hijra to Saudi Arabia on three occasions and these exclude the hajj he also went there to perform. No wonder Wole Soyinka said that "the man (Yar'Adua) is on permanent sabbatical". "… A permanent sabbatical from critical national duty,” Yar’Adua went to commission a university, and mysteriously some 90 public universities are shut down in his own country. Most of the states in Nigeria are battling with primary school teachers’ strike. At 49 years we do not have a University in the top 1000 Universities listing, none of our public schools can be certified as first class. And most of the politicians today are products of these schools which they have allowed to decay.

With the obsession to win elections at all cost, thanks to the PDP, in collusion with Maurice Iwu’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and using all foul means to win every available poll and celebrating the so-called emasculation of the opposition, we have nothing that calls for cheers. The PDP has taken a bold step towards the emergence of a one-party state, which is the dream of its old and new leaders and they want us to go celebrating with them. Let them count us out! Alhaji Lai of AC once said, that the PDP has begun to realise that it is much easier for it to rig elections than to positively impact on the lives of the citizens, hence the ruling party and its leaders have become objects of derision by the same people they claim to govern.

Since indications are that this administration has forgotten its seven-point agenda, we have to recall them here: Tackling the general insecurity of life and property; tackling the nationwide shortage of energy and power; alleviating mass poverty by wealth and employment creation; providing qualitative, functional and affordable education for the people; improving mass transportation; improving food security and agricultural production and initiating a general land reform. So before they put the “champagne on ice”, let Yar’Adua and his band fulfil their promise to Nigeria. Nigeria is dying and needs urgent revival, before the celebration could be real, it is time to get the best hands across Nigeria to salvage the situation; it’s no time for irredentist and obscene sectional politics.

The indexes are deplorable that it would have been better to waive every celebration of independence anniversary until Nigeria is halted from its full speed backward. The corruption rate can beat rocket ascension. Poverty is deepening in the midst of an unprecedented boom in crude oil receipts and sales, until the crisis in the Niger Delta slowed things down a bit; the prices of food items have gone beyond the reach of the people that those on minimum wage have to log two months salaries to buy a bag of rice; the much touted “rule of law” mantra is daily proving to be a ruse as it has served mainly the interest of those of patrons of corruption. In two years of Yar'Adua, we have had the third person in the saddle of EFCC all in an attempt to pacify corrupt people who brought the regime to power. Those charged with mind-boggling financial crimes now stroll in and out of the Villa with interview sessions to offer opinions on the way forward after sessions with Mr. President. They even acknowledged that they love they way Nigeria is being run. Who can blame them? Yar’Adua mortgaged his conscience and government to a world class thief who have seen the in and out of British prisons before, and out of no where, rose to prominent position in Nigeria. Yar’Adua is now a hostage as such that he is being overruled from all angles by James Ibori and Michael Aondakaa, the most corrupt attorney general and minister of Justice ever. Yar’Adua promised to re-shuffle his cabinet before his Saudi Arabian trip and to sack Aondakaa as the AGF because of his overt romance with corrupt people, all in the effort to pervert justice. He then came back only to be cowed by Ibori and Aondakaa, and now he has jettisoned the idea (cabinet re-shuffle) to please the duo. It’s very shameful, that a President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with all the instruments of coercion and paraphernalia of office at his disposal, is being turned into a puppet by two lowlifes, one needs to see how the duo forced the president to take the posture of a dog that tucked its tail between its leg when thrashed. Is such a country with Yar’Adua as president that is calling for independence celebration? They are not serious yet. Nigerians should know that this government had never and would never serve our interests.

How can Nigerians be happy to celebrate in the absence of electricity? Isn’t it accurate that when Nigerians are not in darkness, individual power generators are polluting the environment with noise and deadly fumes? Who can deny that power supply, which is the engine that drives development, is at an all-time low? Until recently, power supply had worsened to an abysmal level. President Yar’Adua’s target of 6,000MW by 2009 and 10,000MW by 2011, is threatened and may not be achieved. We all know that the erratic supply of electricity has hobbled the real sector, worsened unemployment rate and increased the rate of crime in the country. We would not fail to note that while campaigning in 2007, President Yar'Adua promised to declare emergency in power and energy sector within 100 days, two years after and still counting, that remains a cacophony and the nation has only enjoyed more darkness, adulterated fuel and hundreds of deaths in pipeline explosions. And they want us to celebrate 49 years as an independent country.

In the absence of security, who wants to celebrate? The nation’s security system is weak. The life of the average citizen is worth practically so little, as indicated by the alarming level of insecurity in the country. Some of the elite now build helipads and move around in helicopters in cities like Port Harcourt, Onitsha to avoid being kidnapped. Have the police any clue about the murderers of Bayo Ohu of Guardian Newspapers, who was gruesomely assassinated recently by a team of gunmen in his residence in Lagos? Weeks, months and years would pass until we all would forget and the killers would not be brought to book. No one has solved all the mysterious murdering which happened years back and they want us to celebrate their failure. The crime rate in the country is galloping at full throttle; the Police that is supposed to provide security for the people are themselves victims of killings by armed robbers/kidnappers, who also terrorise banks, kill or kidnap innocent citizens daily. How can we celebrate when those who would go to the local government, state or national parades, as the case may be, are not sure of coming back alive or as “free” people, without being molested by armed robbers or kidnappers? It’s no longer the case of the south-east or south-south, armed robbery and kidnapping have spread and all parts of the country feel the brunt now. The Secretary to the Kaduna State Government was kidnapped; Governor Suswam of Benue State is crying that they want to kidnap him. In such situation, what do we celebrate about? May be, as a country of armed robbers, kidnappers, pen robbers, looters, killers, ritualists, occults etc, those ugly virtues are worth celebrating.

Calling for celebration shows that the rulers have no shame. Ms. Waziri was right to call for the psychiatric evaluation of Nigerian politicians and aspirants. More to that, she (Waziri) should undergo the evaluation also, so for us to know why despite the mountain of evidence at her disposal, she is still to prosecute any ex-governor to a conclusion, rather she is aiding and abetting the criminals! Also in need of psychological/psychiatric evaluation are all lawyers, magistrates, judges etc who are aiding the criminals in prolonging cases in courts or helping the treasury looters and armed robbers to go scout free by perverting justice. With such brazing manipulation of crime fighting mechanism, the federal government has therefore failed to seize the opportunity to further improve on its anti-corruption war and start good governance on a faster pace.

With such a condensed illiteracy in Nigeria, are we not ashamed to celebrate? Education, which is the backbone of development, is in a shambles. A report submitted to the UN says primary school enrolment in Nigeria, between 2004 and 2006, among female children slipped from 80 per cent to 60.4 per cent; secondary school enrolment slid from 83.4 per cent to 46 per cent, while enrolment for boys at the primary level dropped from 80 per cent to 64 per cent. The nation’s tertiary institutions are also grossly under-funded while the graduates are said to be “unemployable”. For a nation that has made a slogan of striving to become one of the world's 20 most developed economies by year 2020, the appalling state of education mocks that otherwise laudable ambition and they want to celebrate their failure.

A nation that has no data is celebrating. There is absolute absence of data to plan with; the country does not know its real population as what the Population Commission churns out is cooked up figures which have nothing to do with the reality on the ground. Before thinking about celebrating any independence anniversary, due process, in the real sense of it, should be revived in all government establishments; the books of all government departments should be annually audited as constitutionally required; the Freedom of Information Bill should be passed, the Constitution should be reviewed and the nation should return to true federalism.

With our borders porous, who wants to celebrate? The borders are porous and have become free inlets for the illegal importation of arms and ammunition and religious fanatics. Who knows how many potential Boko Harams are infiltrating now through the porous borders from Chad, Niger, Sudan etc and would soon mix up with local populations in the border areas and start claiming to be Nigerians with holy-than-thou attitude?

With such wasteful spending of our resources by the politicians, who cares about independence anniversary? The foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, in their report titled, “The Failed States Index 2008”, lists Nigeria as the 18th most unstable country in the world, a position it shares with war-ravaged Lebanon. Somalia is getting even more stable than Nigeria and all predictions point to the break up of Nigeria, if care is not taken, and the president and his government fail to address the problems which can impinge on Nigeria’s continuous existence and might expunge it from the map.

All over the country, with the scandalous exception of Abuja, infrastructure under the care of federal, state and local governments, is in utter decay and they want us to celebrate for them (ruling class). Don’t they see the extremely poor road network they care not about, is our roads not cratered as if bombed out in a prolonged war. Despite the fact that our roads remain hellish, the federal and state governments perpetually engage on whether it’s a federal or a state road while people die on these roads, and they want us to celebrate now to their own joy only. Virtually, the entire infrastructure has gone from bad to worse. There are no roads anywhere as most state governors now charter planes for domestic trips. Not too long ago, we lost 46 soldiers in one road accident, a daily figure of casualties that is doubtful for any well-equipped army at the war front in recent times. Ironically these soldiers survived in Darfur only to be claimed by the undeclared war going on at home. The other 27 soldiers, who survived in their peace keeping missions abroad, came home to be short-changed of their allowances. When they protested, they were court-marshalled and sentenced to life imprisonment that was recently commuted to 7 years in jail. But, still that is not acceptable to Nigerians; those soldiers should be freed immediately, and at worst, dismissed from the force. We cannot celebrate while those gallant soldiers remain behind bars for asking for what’s rightly theirs. With injustice pervading the land, there isn’t anything to celebrate about.

With our health sector as deplorable as our hospitals, including the teaching hospitals, which are mere “consulting clinics”, they (rulers) can safe their celebration. The 2008 USAID report says, “With approximately 2.5 per cent of the world population, Nigeria has more than 10 per cent of all under-five and maternal deaths – more than one million newborn, infant, and child deaths and more than 50,000 maternal deaths every year.” Health care is atrocious, and leaders who should see to its efficacy frequently seek the escapist option of flying abroad for their own Medicare needs. Health facilities have entered a state of comatose that it is only those who have no other choice, go to the hospitals now and still, they are saying the country has earned a celebration as a failed one at 49. No fewer than 20 people, majority of them children aged between one and 10 years, have been confirmed dead while over 400 were admitted to hospitals, as a result of the outbreak of cholera in Jigawa State. At least 76 persons have been confirmed dead from a suspected outbreak of an epidemic of cholera in about seven local government councils of Adamawa state. All these are happening in this 21st century Nigeria and they want all of us to go celebrating a fake independence.

Malnutrition, according to a recent study by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is ravaging Nigeria with Kebbi, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Gombe and Kano states identified as the worse hit. About 1.3 million children have died of the scourge, and Nigeria calls itself a country worth celebrating.

The war against the Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV), the germ that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), just suffered a major setback with the report that Nigeria now records 370,000 new infections annually. There is the decay in the country's health care system at the state levels due to the lukewarm attitude of state governors in implementing health care schemes or issues in their areas. Also, shortage of personnel, poor pay and incentives to medical professionals, poor career prospects, lack of basic equipment and infrastructure, lack of training and re-training of personnel and constitutional bottle-necks, are some of the bane of Nigeria’s health care system . Members of the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) will soon begin a nationwide strike, if the Federal Government fails to circularise and implement the agreement it reached with the body recently on Medical Salary Scale (MSS). These are some of the mess in the sector.

On each of his visits to Saudi Arabia or Germany, Yar’Adua has been treated and attended to by some of the best the medical field has to offer, but, why can’t he build such in Nigeria?

What’s there to celebrate when the political leaders do not care that the price of domestic cooking fuel, kerosene, has risen, forcing many housewives to resort to the use of firewood. A gallon (5-litre) of kerosene is selling for N700 (N140 a litre) in some areas in Lagos right now. The scarcity of the product has led to retailers increasing the price of the commodity from the official N70 a litre. Does the government care that the hike in the cost of the commodity is linked to the major oil marketers whom, had stopped importation of the product, and that the refineries in the country were no longer producing the commodity because of internal problems. Can people celebrate with empty stomach?

Our president visited Saudi Arabia (instead of going to the UN) and was welcomed only by a governor, instead of, by the king of Saudi Arabia who invited him. This writer wonders if Yar’Adua knows that his absence at the UN is sad because it’s one of the many reasons that Nigeria and Nigerians are not been taken serious. We wonder if Yar’Adua recalls early in the year when he complained that it was unfortunate that the world did not reckon with Nigeria during the G-20 summit in London. Now he needed no invitation, but, he refused to attend. Here was an opportunity to try and remedy the serious image problems of Nigeria by confronting other world leaders face to face, but, he missed it all and Nigerians are not amused about it.

Yar’Adua decided to send the minister for foreign affairs to the UN and the minister had to fly into the US from Brazil where he had gone for negotiations on how the nation can achieve the 6,000MW power generation by December, despite the fact that he has no knowledge in that field. But the worse was that at the same time, the de facto president, Turai Yar’Adua, was in Vienna negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Nigerians, please tell me in what capacity was the woman negotiating about nuclear power for peaceful use on behalf of Nigeria? Is there something ugly we would not experience in Nigeria? This woman has no knowledge about atomic energy, what the hell was she doing at IAEA in Vienna, Austria? No wonder that at 49 years and with an imaginary population of 150milliion, Nigeria is still struggling to generate a mere 6,000 MGW. There is no part of Nigeria that has a one-hour uninterrupted power supply for a seven-day week.

Nigeria at 49 years has some of the best brains in various fields but we have not been able to harness their potentials. That’s why today, many Nigerians are rotting away abroad, we see Nigerians with PhD degree certificate driving Taxi in US and England, those with first and second degrees carrying and distributing packets in US and Europe, and many still cleaning toilets or doing security job (black Eagle) with a law degree in Europe and America. What the ruling class is interested in, is for many Nigerians to leave rather than stay at home and oppose the strangulating grips they have on our commonwealth. Many Nigerians are dying or being killed in foreign lands because nobody cares. The House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Matters just vowed to confront the Chinese government over the planned cremation of the bodies of 30 Nigerians who died under questionable circumstances in China. The Committee also condemned the inhuman treatment given to Nigerian immigrants in Libya as 150 Nigerians were deported from the North African country on allegations that they entered Libya without official travel documents and settled there as illegal aliens. What are the duties of our missions and consulates in these countries if they cannot protect Nigerians? Our people are dying like flies at home and abroad with no one caring, and still they want us to celebrate a fake independence.

Even Nigeria that was a soccer power house has started to fumble. We cannot even qualify for the world cup, the feat of the Super Eagles of yesteryears are no longer attainable now by the present ones, and our always-winning Flying Eagles have lost their aura of invincibility also. What can we celebrate here?

The solution to all these rubbish would come one day. Although Nigerians are docile to a fault, but, we‘ve a lot of morning stars still slumbering, one day those morning stars would arise, and when they rise, they would never wane no more. Then and only then, thing would change and would never be the same again, and then there would be the reason to celebrate Nigeria’s real independence and freedom. For now, there’s nothing to celebrate about, but, failure.

Happy Independence anniversary to all those who believe in the entity called Nigeria (as it is now).

THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!

Reference:

Prince Charles Dickson
The Punch Newspapers
The Guardian Newspapers