₦airaland Forum

I agree that Nwodo has been overreaching himself by messing with local Enugu state politics, but which party chairman didn't do same?
The picture now should be on the presidential elections.
GEJ should focus on that.

So, basically if I were GEJ I would save Nwodo (for a one good turn deserves another moment in the future), and whip Ekweremadu and crew in line. This is smart politics.
He should not sacrifice the love and loyalty of millions of Igbos to please ten thieving PDP elements in Enugu state.

The PDP primaries are over. He won! Time to exert his authority on the party.

He should save Nwodo. Simple.

[size=16pt]Jonathan, Nwodo in crucial talks[/size]

, As president summons South-east PDP govs
From MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA and Taiwo Amodu, Abuja
Tuesday, January 18, 2011

President Goodluck Jonathan held crucial talks with the embattled national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), John Nwodo yesterday morning in a bid to stem the brewing crisis of leadership in the party, less than 24 hours after Sunday’s call for Nwodo’s resignation by a section of the party leaders in the South-east.

Yesterday’s breakfast hour meeting which held at the Aso Rock Villa was said to have provided Nwodo an opportunity to present his own side of the story, particularly in respect of insinuations that he worked in the interest of former vice president Atiku Abubakar during the run up to the PDP primaries.

Daily Sun learnt that one outcome of the meeting of yesterday morning was Jonathan’s decision to host an enlarged meeting on the relevant parties in the crisis to be attended by himself, the vice president, Nwodo and some other unnamed party stalwarts. The meeting was scheduled to hold last night through to the early hours of today.

Jonathan was also slated to meet yesterday with the four PDP governors from the South-east along with the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, the people described as the brain behind the move to remove Nwodo from office.
It was not clear as at the time of filing this report whether the meeting with the governors and Ekweremadu would eventually be subsumed in the enlarged meeting, which Jonathan had ordered after his meeting with Nwodo
However, it was learnt that while at the State House on Monday morning, the PDP national chairman was able to put his case through to the Jonathan.

“There was nothing new except the old stories that have been making the rounds,” a source close to the meeting said, adding that Nwodo was insisting that there was no way he could have worked against the interest of Jonathan in the presidential primaries when the method that swung the momentum in his favour was basically his idea.

The call for Nwodo’s resignation made by the group which called itself South-east stakeholders of the PDP after a meeting in Enugu on Sunday came on the heels of a court injunction restraining Nwodo from parading himself as the national chairman of the party, just hours before last week’s presidential primaries.
Jonathan is said to be worried that the crisis if not arrested now might fester into a big sore that could jeopardize the chances of the party in the run up to the April presidential polls.

“The president is going to intervene in the next 24 hours. I can tell you that the crisis will take a definite direction in the next 24 hours,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which is slated for today, according to the source was to perfect the plot for the dislodgment of Nwodo. There were strong indications that the party’s NEC may ratify the vote-of-no-confidence passed on him by the South-east chapter of the party.
Reacting to the call for Nwodo’s resignation by a section of South-east PDP leaders, Senator Annie Okonkwo of Anambra Central described the action as “a needless de-marketing of the Igbo man’s viable political integrity.”

Okonkwo, who reacted through a statement from his Special Assistant, Media, Mr. Collins Steve Ugwu, cautioned that “as 2015 steadily approaches with enhanced opportunities for the South-east political stock, the shameful revelry in public which demean Igbo leaders at the slightest prompting, must give way to the efficacy of common sense and good faith in negotiation.”

The senator, who had earlier secured a High Court injunction restraining anyone from usurping the powers and privileges of the national chairman, queried, “how can one rationalize the orgy to undermine and ridicule the occupant of the highest office in PDP, given to the South-east at great expense, and popularly endorsed by us all in less than one year of service.

“I accept that intra and inter political disagreements are inevitable, especially at times like this but, we must persist and insist on the path of resolution through negotiation and compromise, not naked denigration.
“We cannot pretend to have quickly forgotten that the South-east PDP presented and vigorously defended Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo’s candidature as the best man for chairmanship on the basis of integrity, experience, and capacity. Now, a disenchanted section is calling for his resignation or expulsion, and happily dramatizing preferred allegiance to his immediate subordinate. How very sad and petty indeed?”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2011/jan/18/newsbreak-18-01-2011-001.htm

Posted by: Beaf

The execution of his removal is so clinical! Starting with the court action on the eve of the primaries, the man must have felt as dazed as someone worked over by a heavyweight boxing champ!

Nwodo had been formenting problems in all the state, because he was working tirelessly for Atiku. But he was very foolish to start fires in his own state, now he has been rejected by his own people. I think we might see the likes of Anyim taking over in the long run.

All these shuffling of PDP Chairmen from SE is an insult on Ndigbo if it is being orchestrated by GEJ. I really hope that this is a local Enugu state stuff which Ohanaeze should soon cage.
Ndigbo don't gain anything by being presented as fractious.
Characters like Ekweremadu is only after HIS OWN political fortunes and don't give a rat a55 about Ndigbo.

Ohanaeze and other PDP members are already voicing concerns, and all those concerns should be considered.

Nwodo should be left alone.

Some eediots are trying to ridicule the SE before the whole nation. If he was good enough to replace Ogbulafor, then he must be good now, I don't care his faults now. They should have thought about that before removing Ogbulafor.  

I campaigned vigorously against Ogbulafors ouster, and I will still campaign against Nwodo's ouster.
This is part of why I caution my people against unbridled republicanism.
It won't serve us well in Nigeria.  

Posted by: dem_people

Umunne m Ndigbo, a na'm ayo unu. Unu atakazina onwe unu n'ebea. Unu ekwena ka ndi-iro anyi, fu n'unu n'esokwu. Onye ayakwana nwanne ya n'ebea. Anyi ncha bukwa umunne ooooooooooooo!

Nwanne m, i n'ekwu eziokwu. Ihe wuterem nke ukwu bu ihe nwanne anyi kwuru maka ndiigbo na ndi ijo, nke n'abughi eziokwu ma ncha. Ya diba kene. 

O ga adi nno mma ma asi na umu igbo na eche echiche ofuma tupu ha ekwuo ihe nwere ka odi n'ebe a. Ha kwesiri iburu na obi na ntu na aghugho ndi ugwu na ndi Yoruba butere nghotahie n'etiti anyi na ndi agbata obi anyi na owuwa anyanwu naijiria.

Uzu n'amaghi akpu ogene, ya nee egbe anya n'odu. 

Udo diri umunne m.   

Apparently some people think that Nigeria is their sectional property, so they riot when they lose ordinary presidential primaries. Talk of mass arrogance and delusion.

Sai wan Naijeria!

Posted by: Akhenaten

Mehn some of you Igbo people. This thread is not even suppose to be about the Igbo, but some of you had to bring attention to us. One comment about Ijo fears of domination from a majority group, is enough to make some of you people act crazy.  Angry

Even to the point for people to say I am not Igbo which is preposterous.

This thread is about exploitation of the Niger Delta.

Then change the damn title!
While you are at it, add "How Igbo dominate the ND" to the title.

Frankly you piss me off.

Posted by: Tsiya

I think you are forgetting some important people in that region. Before the British, the Igbos are not in organise nations and therefore would have opened them to gradual domination by the larger and more organised groups. The Northern empires were gradually advancing towards the West and East___we might have been writing different stories today

Exactly my point. But don't forget that the East is HOMOGENEOUS "religionwise". If you want to fight any of the eastern tribes to eternity, try setting aside their "gods", then you would see. Also remember that the Jihadists were not as strong as the British. The british even kept fighting the eastern groups well into the 20th century.
So, yes a gradual assimilation with northern groups would have been possible. But you and I know that northerners were jihadists (rapid changers). They would have met stiff resistance because of that.

Posted by: Akhenaten

Rubbish. . . people have the nerve to question my Igboness. This is not even about the Igbo. Ekwensu rasikwa gi anya to anyone who questions my "Igboness" again.  Angry

The heart of the Niger Delta is in Delta and Bayelsa State. Look at a map if you do not believe me.

Anyway, I do not feel any of the majority groups understand the pain of a minority group. Always worrying about ourselves.

The Ijo have always feared Igbo domination even before Nigeria gained its independence. That is why they wanted a separate region for themselves, which was shot down by the British colonials who stated that they would be protected under the Constitution.

Minorities views are suppressed by majority groups. Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo there is no difference.

Just like you have the right to post any nonsense you want, we also have the right to question your Igboness.
I am yet to meet any Igbo who hold these views.  

Maybe your towns people have dominated the Ijos, not mine. So speak for yourself.

My people are TRADERS. We may own properties in areas outside of Nnewi, it does not mean that we stole them. We actually work hard and BUY them.  

So back to sender!

Posted by: Dede1

Before the arrival of British, there were Igbo (Ebo) people and Jos (Ijo), the people who lived by the river sides.

Those are still Oyibo man's classifications.

Methinks that what would have happened if they did not interfere is a situation whereby we would be like the Yoruba, spanning many dialects of Igboid/Ijoid/ and any other Eastern "iods" groups, but with very weak "center".

You would have things like "ikwerres" "ngwas", "elemes","eches", okrikas", etc, all mutually intelligible to some extent, but no ONE tribe. We could have been less suspicious of one another because for an Nnewi man to trade with the white man, he would need the services of say an opobo man, instead of it being an Igboman needing the services of say an ogoni man or Ijo man, etc.
The wars we had before were between say Aros and ngwas, or aros and ibibios; not Igbos and ibibios.

The east was fine until oil showed up. 

Posted by: Ibime

@ Ezeagu,

You are forgetting that before Lord Lugard and British anthropologists classified us, there was no such thing as the "Igbo" nation.

You are right.
This partly explains why the Jaja of Opobo story was possible.
The entire region was evolving naturally, and who knows what tribe would have come out of that evolution.
I really believe that the British intrusion, hence classification and tribal based delineations destroyed this natural process.
A typical example of that fusion is the okrika people.

Quote from: Akhenaten on Today at 07:49:30 PM

We have to be honest with ourselves. In all honesty, Igbo domination is real in the economic sense. We know how to take over an economy without even thinking about it. Most of the time, we do not mean to, but it happens.

I weep for the Niger Delta more than any other region in Nigeria. This region has been exploited by everyone. The British were the first to exploit this region for Palm Oil. Then came the Nigerian Federal Gov't has been exploiting this region for its oil. I do not think Biafra would have been any better concerning this region either.

My heart goes out to the people of the Niger Delta. Especially to the Ijo. Their region has been destroyed and the people left destitute. I blame Nigeria as a whole for using this region.

I blame the political elite for leeching off this region and stealing the resources of these people without cleaning their environment.

Even my very own Igbo people, do not understand the plight of the Niger Deltans. We say, it serves the Ijo right for not supporting Biafra. That they deserve what they get, without realizing that we would have dominated this region in all of honesty if Biafra has succeeded.

Dude I don't know what you are smoking, but please speak for yourself (if you are Igbo )

The bolded words are balderdash and lack common sense.

So, a 17 year old Igbo boy, newly "settled" by his "oga" and hustling in say Yenagoa or PH, or Warri, is suddenly "dominating" the Niger deltans?
Show me how many Igbos own oil blocks and shares in oil companies more than ANY other Nigerian tribes.

I am yet to see any Igbo, that deep down his/her heart, does not feel the pains of the Niger deltans, after all there are Igbos there too. Therefore, to come here talking about Igbo insensitivity to Ijo plight is the most air headed thing I have ever heard.

You are lumping things together. The ND is suffering partly because Biafra failed.

There is no way you can convince any sane mind that Biafra would have not made any positive difference to the ND. The people who have controlled Nigeria's oil resources are FAR REMOVED geographically from the region; so how can you say that Igbo wouldn't have handled the situation better, when all our lives would be affected by the environmental destruction of Biafra's coastline?

My friend you are really smoking some strange hard drug. Get off it fast!  

Nna na wao for OBJ sef!

[size=16pt]INEC machine rejects Obasanjo’s fingerprints[/size]

From MOSHOOD ADEBAYO, Abeokuta
Monday, January 17, 2011

It was a frustrating moment for former president Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday as his attempt to register in the ongoing voters’ registration was thwarted by the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machine.

Obasanjo who arrived his Ward 11, Ita-Eko, Abeokuta, the state capital at about 11.53 a.m. in company with his wife, Bola had after several rejections of his fingers by the machine offered to come back for the exercise after an overseas trip.

However, the former president who had to wait patiently for about an hour succeeded in registering after an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Information Technology expert arrived the scene at around 12.45 p.m. and performed the registration.

Even with the presence of the INEC officials and the IT expert, the registration took about 20 minutes for the process to be completed, while the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Martins Okunfolami and other INEC officials made frantic efforts to register the former president.

Before his eventual registration, when the first DDC machine failed, the INEC team, led by the REC changed its scanner and used two different ones which also disappointed them. Fielding questions from journalists, Obasanjo cautioned Nigerians against castigating INEC over the shaky start of the exercise. According to him, it was normal for a new programme such as the DDC technology-driven voters’ registration to experience challenges at initial stage even though he stated that it was too late to call for extension of deadline for the exercise.

“Whenever you are starting a new programme like this, it’s likely to have hitches until everybody masters it. Today is the second day. I believe that by the middle of this week, both the people who are carrying out the registration, the technicians, the INEC at the highest level will be able to make this work smoothly.

“So, I don’t believe that we should now start to castigate and to condemn. If, of course, by the middle of the week it’s not working as it should be, we will all see and then those who designed it would have to advise us how we can go about it. But for now, I believe let’s regard this as the hiccup of a new process.” “Let us not prejudge them, let’s give them time to think and rethink if rethinking is necessary,” Obasanjo said.

“Nigerians, be patient and let us all be determined to get ourselves registered. I have said I’m travelling tonight to Cuba, when I return; I will come and sit down here until I am registered. And as I said jocularly, if it is blood that is not running in my vein, I will go for blood transfusion to make sure that I can be registered,” he added.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/jan/17/national-17-01-2011-001.htm

I have to say that for the first time in long time, Igbo are under the direction of politically savvy governors and Ohanaeze.
The support they are giving to GEJ is total, complete and resolute.
And I support them.
Igbo are not as weak politically as some folks might think.

it is still not enough to say igbos did it themselves.bottomline is that those northern governors or western governors or delegates are looking out for themselves and not  igbo presidency 2015.they could care less about that because they are very likely not going to contest in that election.nothing on earth is going to make them care less about their ambition than a supposed easier igbo presidecncy 2015.i can understand if you are not happy about the outcome but blaming it igbo governors seems wishy washy for me because those other guys interests are not our interests.

like they say politics is all about interets.was the igbo rallying for a northern candidate protect the interest of a sitting northern governor that wants to run again and knows he has the backing of the incumbent president?

The bolded captures the gist of my argument. Getting the support of a sitting president is the key. I cannot overemphasize this point.

Once GEJ is done, be it in 2015 or 2019, he has an enormous power in influencing who will succeed him. Shikena.
The northern governors then will still need his support even then, unless someone changes that, which I don't see happening soon.

Posted by: Obiagu1

If Igbo governors had not supported GEJ and rally for support of a northern candidate from northern governors, it would have changed a lot. But the scenerio was few governors in their forum opposing GEj which did not carry enough weight.

Didn't Yoruba governors, SS governors and even northerners support him? How did that mean death nail on their aspiration to the presidency one day?
You are not making sense. GEJ is from SS.
If Igbo want it, we should go for it.

Posted by: fstranger1

Especially why [b]the North [/b]would never allow you get near Asorock!

Which North? May the true North please stand up! lmao.
Isn't it the same "North" that did everything to stop Jonathan? They ended up voting for him more than Yoruba and Igbo sef! hehehe!
ol boy, snap out of your delusion.

Posted by: Obiagu1

That was money politics, paying off a few delegates. How many are they? A few thousand of them. It's a different ball game in the general election not to talk of including the Igbo stigma in the equation. Mehn, we should be real.

Let's wait and see, but I know the end result. Nigeria is really a very interesting place.
I'm beginning to love that country for the first time!  

For this to happen, it means that the North has been thoroughly and utterly defeated, as far as political relevance goes. Can GEJ accomplish this by 2015 or 2019? I dunno. But if he does, then he will easily be the most powerful president and leader Nigeria has ever had.

All these all very possible. Mind you that the north is just beginning to undergo series of political metamorphosis.
At the end of it, it might end up being like the south where everyone makes up his own mind.
Jonathan happens to be an instrument that God is using to shape a new Nigeria. Just watch.

PDP constitution didn't explicitly state that it must be north and south, it just about zoning and in your mind you think that the North will sit idly by and watch the south produce the presidency for 16 consecutive yrs? I wonder how people reason.

If anyone told you that the north would vote the way it did two days ago, and even have Jonathan defeat Atiku in places like Katsina, Niger, Adamawa and Jigawa states, would you have believed?  

What you don't see it that the north is no longer the same one you fear.
Open your eyes bro.  

Posted by: afam4eva

The problem with Igbos is that we never fight for anything. We need to rally around to get the support of other Nigerians if we're serious about presiding over the affairs of this nation.

How can we get the support of other Nigerians when we have self defeatists Igbos running around saying that we gave our chance to GEJ , who happens to come from a zone that have NEVER produced a Nigerian president before?
Why must it be a zone sum game for these Igbo self defeatists?

It doesn't make sense.

Obiagu1

Yes. At least we have a ground to rally for support in 2015 but now we have not single point to base our argument on why the presidency should be ours in 2015, none!

Says who?
Have you read the PDP constitution? Who told you that Atiku would have handed over to Igbo?

Frankly I don't follow your logic.

As for the country's unity being threatened by a perceived continuation of civil war, that is not MY opinion.
It is the opinion of the same northerners you are supporting. So go ask them.

You can't eat your cake and still have it. We gave 2015 away to GEJ, so we should stick with him. Anybody that tells you that GEJ will no contest in 2015 is just being ignorant. OBJ even wanted to amend the constitution to run for the 3rd time not to take of GEJ trying to complete is 2nd term which is his right and constitutionally permitted. Who's going to stop him?   You?

Frankly I think you are wrong about your basic point here. Igbo are in SE and GEJ is from SS. Rotation of presidency, if zoning is what is scaring you, should be based on equity and fairness and national unity (read geopolitical zones) per the PDP constitution.
It is not based on North/South. That is clear.
Notice that I don't say 2015. I say "whenever GEJ leaves office".
I wouldn't be defeating Igbo case if I were you.  

Posted by: fstranger1

Like i said already, Atiku stepped on so many toes as VP.

And the North hasnt forgiven him for his transgressions.

Look, dont get carried away with GEJ winning the primaries. OBJ is the unseen hand in all of this. No OBJ, no GEJ.

Well, no GEJ no OBJ either! hehehe! 
It is called symbiosis.

You think a president Buhari will spare OBJ? Dey dia de dream! 

eku_bear

Err . . .  Huh This is what you are banking on for an Igbo presidency? Not concrete strategies to bring in other groups, but fluffy stuff like this?  Undecided When did Nigerian politics become an episode of Oprah or Dr Phil?

No, you haven't thought of my points well.
Which would a Nigerian consider first in all sanity and fairness? A possible LIFE PRESIDENCY for Obasanjo, or Igbo presidency that will end the civil war?   C'mon!
Unless Nigerians truly want the country divided, the answer is clear. Mind you that those that will make this decision are not pedestrians like fstranger. They are leaders who want the country to stay one.  

@jason123

I hope you don't also believe that Igbo have no presidential material.
For the records I believe that Igbo have more presidential materials than any other zone in Nigeria. SE may even have more materials than the whole north.
So, folks should focus on facts and not try to allow their prejudice sway their judgment.

Quote from: fstranger1 on Today at 11:39:53 PM

Igbos are Nigerians, but not Nigerians enough. They still need to do more to convince the rest of the country that they can be trusted with power. It is not just the North that is wary of Ndigbo, the SS and SW are apprehensive as well.

Ironically, the bolded words are Igbos biggest weapon in the contest for Nigeria's presidency after Jonathan.
Jonathan still holds the four aces though.

Igbo will make that case after this year's election.

As for concerns from southerners, I would like to cross that bridge when we get there. My immediate focus is the north.

Posted by: eku_bear

@Onlytruth: If the powers of the president are unlimited, why no 3rd term for OBJ?

Firstly, because it is unconstitutional. He needed the constitution amended first and that is a no -no.

Secondly, he was too unpopular after second term. Almost all Nigerians wanted him gone!

Thirdly, Igbo presidency is one that all Nigerians know within their hearts that it is the right thing. So, it is an easier sell.

Posted by: afam4eva

But what makes you guys think GEJ will support an Igbo presidency.

It all depends on Ndigbo.
If we make our case strongly to him (and I believe Ohanaeze started already), he will do it. The job is easier with him on the saddle because he can go to the north and make the case himself.
Believe me, it is very easy. All the north needs is to make sure that the Igbo candidate believes in ONE NIGERIA.
Shikena.

Also, I think that the process will be smoother and easier in the future. No one will present a dunce as Igbo candidate of course. We will present our best.
After that, we start making the case that we have not produced a Nigerian president and start making the necessary connections throughout Nigeria. You better believe that even the north will see our point.

They don't want a disintegrated Nigeria.