₦airaland Forum

Is it only re-arrest? That ignorant boy will be shown hell when he is picked up.

Does he think any other can't just start issuing threats and messages of war and disunity?

Hmmmm. Omo Yiiiibos terrorizing us in Lagos.

All the gang members are igbos.

How can we protect our land from Biafran criminals?

Another Gambian drama loading...

In few days, he will make a u-turn and start wailing that INEC and military rigged the election.

Awon olori pele in trouble... biafra is dead and that guy, Kanu, will rot in jail.

Looks like only jail will make him stay out of politics.

Thief wants looting to continue...

badboywizzy:
If there is anybody we need for 2019, that person should be BEN MURRAY BRUCE.

He talks a lot but make a lot of sense with his common sense. He is more like the donald trump of Nigeria.

The same man that couldn't manage his company? He borrowed N11B and couldn't pay back.

Is this the man you want to put in Aso rock?

Buhari will rule till 2023... nothing can stop that. Looting must stop... The elites can't be feeding on national treasury and leaving the poor people poorer with no infrastructure, no power, etc.

Whoever wants to cry should cry... We are on the right path.

dotcomnamename:
Na those tweets from Jimoh Ibrahim pain this big mouth Fani kayode.

I love those Jimoh Ibrahim tweets die ! The tweets pain FFK wella

That empty loud mouth (FFK) deserved everything he got from Jimoh...

nwabobo:
And the Igbo woman Chioma becomes first lady. Aketi carry go

Chioma ke? He must marry another wife. How can an igbo lady be called first lady in Yoruba land? Lai lai.

Ipod yoots are no where to be found... Looks like they have resigned to fate.

Common guys, celebrate with us - don't give yourself high blood pressure.

Eastactivist:
Everybody following this ondo election will accept the fact that ondo election was not just mere election but a kinda study or political research where guests and political analyst are anxious to satisfy their curiosity about where the yorubas stand in today's politics.
Sorry if i would generalize but with my assurance i belive i now have that reservation to do so having got some answers that have longed remain uncertain, which one of them is that ondo is the heart of Yorubas(sw). Though I stand to be corrected
So I will go ahead to list what I have observed, other political analysts are also privileged to work on my observations as it suits them.

1) Tinubu is overhyped.
We've heard so many praises accorded to tinubu that one might mistake him to be a kind of political god or deity.

We hear words like:
Buhari should not play with tinubu else..., tinubu is a master planner, tinubu can sort his way out, tinubu is a powerful institution, tinubu is this and tinubu is that. Too much hype no hypo

Well, this ondo election has shamefully reduced tinubu to what he is, which is a mere rag that can be used and when he has outlived his usefulness can be done away with. This elelection has really proved this. Any objection is Still welcomed is just my humble observation


2) Sw and tinubu didn't vote out Gej or put buhari in office.

I want to ask my yoruba brothers this question, if tinubu was the one that put the president in office (2015) why then can't he put a common Governor in his region in office?
What happened?
Why? Even with your sophistication, the abuja cabal still have their way and stole your precious ondo the acclaimed centre for Yoruba unifaction?

this should send an early wake up call so you can wake up from this your day dreams you've been induced with.

Fact remains That a president is removed in office is really not BC of might of a certain ethnic group as earlier speculated but the might of the people , that's why I laugh when some gullible Yorubas felt they have the some right to decide who stays in government or leaves. Ondo election is just a desert expect more meals.

Meanwhile, Oke sorry for your loss is just happens that Yorubas can't go against their immediate masters choice

3) Sw statesmen are the more you look the less you see:
Where will I begin with this? At times I will be like who are the Yoruba's elder statesmen and I look and see gullible men and i wonder do Yoruba's really have elder statesmen. Quite abhoring...
Yoruba's who are your elderstatemen that there consensus are adhered to?
Cos right now, I see none
They are nowhere to be found.
Tinubu has been cut to size as no one will take him serious anymore as his political influence has expired... He should just retire from politics BC right now he is just like a mad man in the street with no political influence
Well, Yorubas are in for a shocker in 2019 BC they are just inconsequential right now. If oyegun and aso rock cabal can mess with Yoruba politics and get away with it has really exposed so much about them.
Why then should we care about who Yorubas will sire in 2019 when their decision has no influence even on themselves?

4) Political loss
Yorubas really lost in this, not just the PDP. Buhari won ****

5) Ffk, fayose, mimiko are toothless PDP bull dogs.
All the dogs and baboons will this and that statement are just yabbish... Ffk too much talk no action.
Mimiko a PDP is too stupid that he has to use paying log of pension to safe face. PDP should be ashamed of this foolery
Infact PDP needs a total overhaul on this toothless dogs.
Fayose is not left out, too much complain no action.
They are also too selfish to the extent they knew they are at loss yet couldnt challenge the injustice melted on them to court for the election to be postponed. PDP really has no representative in SW they are just liabilities.

As it stands APC has no influential entity in sw and so is PDP. Too bad that aso rock gonna decide for them just like Edo over and over again

6) Lastly, you can add yours for me abeg, I no fit shout. I drop my pen Lmao

Sorry for any grammatical blunders abeg, was written as my spirit led

It looks like most of you don't really know the Yorubas and our political orientation.

Yorubas are looking for leaders who will bring the Yorubas together and work for the generality of the people of Yorubaland like Awolowo did.

Yorubas thought they could get that from Tinubu since OBJ lacks what Yorubas want in a leader.

This is the reason for the initial popularity of Tinubu in Yorubaland.

Unfortunately, Tinubu mistakenly saw himself as the Dean of political strategy in Yorubaland and that at anytime, he can deploy his mastery of Yoruba politics to have the upper hand in any election. He started seeing himself as a political king maker whose approval must be sought before anybody is presented for election in Yorubaland. He took this undeserved privilege too far by insisting APC flag bearers and political appointees from south west (federal and state) must be his loyalists for obvious reasons of course - greed and political ambition.

Yorubas saw this when Tinubu made his wife a senator, daughter in-law a federal rep, another in-law a state lawmaker, his daughter Iyaloja of Lagos, etc. Immediately after Osun election, all the people appointed into key offices were Lagos boys and all contracts (including uniform for schools) were awarded to companies from Lagos leaving the people of Osun state stranded. This was the cause of the first political war in Osun state - it was a fight between Osun people and the Lagos/Tinuba cabal. The people of Osun state won but not fully because Aregbe is eternally loyal to Tinubu.

The same thing Tinubu wanted to do in other Yoruba states - having his own people everywhere and being the one collecting tax for all the states.

It is for this reason that Yoruba people have decided not to accept anything that comes from Tinubu. ACN lost Ondo the first time because of Tinubu's involvement. The same thing Ekiti. Anything presented by Tinubu to the people of Yorubaland will be rejected.

Back to the 2015 general elections. If not for Buhari's involvement in the election and the trust people of south west have in him, APC/ACN would have lost most of south west states. Lagos election was an example. APC narrowly won the election - Buhari factor saved Tinubu from early retirement. Unfortunately, like every other politician, Tinubu wants everybody to believe that without him, Buhari would have lost in south west and that it would have tilted the final national tally against APC/PMB.

realglobe:
Tinubu down, next is the owner of Sahara Reporters. If Sahara Reporters all of a sudden begin to post anti-buhari articles don't take them seriously..

#IStandWithBuhari to completely decimate all afonjas who are just nothing but a nuisance in the political space.

Stop ranting man... Yorubas have not issue with PMB and the result of Ondo election is enough to prove that to you and other wailing wailers.

It is only ignorant flat.headed animals like you see PMB as the problem of a country that has been rapped and shamelessly looted by your mentors (GEJ, FFK, Dokpesi, Anineh, Dasuki, Metu, etc) consistently for 16 years. 16 years of oil boom and nothing to show for it and even no savings.

You want to blame the woe of a country on a man who assumed office when oil (the only mainstay of economy) is selling at less than $40pb.

Yorubas are wiser than flatheaddds. Who else do you want to trust if not PMB? Tinubu, FFK, Metu, etc?

Good... They will be there till Monday - mosquitoes will bite the hell out of them.

Nigerian thieving educated elites, one by one you will all spend night in jail with hardened criminals whose lives you destroyed with your greed.

Pull out na...

Enemies of Nigeria will fight and expose themselves. This is just the beginning.

Thanks to Baba Buhari.

Atiku for what?

Some people dey craze sha...

freeborn76:
She attended a Polytechnic and worked with British Telecom, Goodman Jones, London Undeground Limited, London and Prism Consulting, Pricewater House Coopers and Chapel Hill Denham. Reno studied at Harvard, Stanford and Yale, yet he ended up as a spin-doctor for a barefaced thief who supervised the pilfering of our commonwealth. It is not by power, nor is it by might, it is of God who shows mercy...Reno, I expected you to know that, sebi dem say you be pastor?

Reno should be ashamed of himself if after attending all these great schools, the only job he could get was media aid to a thieving president. And since he left government, he has been jobless - Harvard graduate (wasted investment).

They don't commission farm plantations, factories, etc. All they keep commissioning is shopping plaza where imported goods are sold. Yeye people

NaijaMutant:
Including Dele momodu

Man, Dele has been wailing since he was not given any appointment. He is not a new wailer.

Security searchlight should be beamed in the direction of the likes of Atiku. People of unquenchable ambition like Atiku may be sponsoring boko, etc to discredit government

NaijaMutant:
Tinubu and Dele momodu are Igbos

You'll soon be a Igbo too it's a matter of time

You will be crowning your foolishness if you think Tinubu is fighting APC/Buhari because Nigeria economy is in recession or bad shape.

Tinubu is fighting for control and sharing of national cake. This has been the traditional and entrenched expectation of politicians like Tinubu. BUhari is not allowing this and the reason he is flexing muscle in SW. He will humbled very soon.

henryanna36:
EXTRACT FROM DELE MOMODU's ARTICLE TITLED 'THE SECOND COMING OF GOODLUCK JONATHAN'

I have been reading about the rising profile of our former President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and wish to state without equivocation that no one should rule him out of the 2019 presidential race. I first hinted this possibility about two months ago and wish to reiterate that Nigerians should prepare for the shock that awaits us. The story of Donald Trump should bring us back to our senses. Nothing is impossible. The second coming of Goodluck Jonathan may be so far-fetched or even belong in those categories of impossibilities but I wish to plead with our government and my fellow citizens not to rule it out. As one of those who made our modest and humble contributions to the coming of this Buhari government, I’m pleading with trepidation.

Jonathan’s popularity is rising not because of anything he has done to atone the sins that must have led to his waterloo but as a result of what our change government has failed or refused to do. The obsession of our government with going all out after Jonathan is the main reason the Otuoke man is beginning to smell like roses after the odoriferous position he landed himself last week. Only if our government had succeeded in maintaining the economy it met, Nigerians would have been ready to enter fire with Buhari. But there are just too many unresolved problems and challenges. The excuses that Jonathan and company left this peculiar mess behind has refused to fly. The groans might not be loud enough to reverberate all the way to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, as of now, but trust me it may become deafening, sooner than later. I do not care if men and women of power dismiss my submission with a wave of the hand but they should mark my word, there is a thickening conspiracy in the clouds. It would be a shame if we inadvertently play into the hands of those hovering and ready to pounce on Buhari.

I read about “persecution complex” long ago and I understand how it works. If you beat your own child so ruthlessly as if you want to kill him, the tilt of public opinion would always go against you. Many would wonder why you want to kill your own child. In our anger, let us pick our fights. There is too much tension in the land. I would be delighted if anyone could educate and convince me that Nigeria has gained much more than we’ve lost to this war of attrition. If we haven’t, we may need to retrace our steps urgently.

The BBC reported on Friday how Jonathan caused a stir in Sokoto State during his visit to the state to pay his respects to Ibrahim Dasuki, the late former Sultan of Sokoto. According to the report, Jonathan was received by a large crowd of admirers, some holding banners bearing the words “Come Back Baba Jonathan”. The same voices that chanted “Sai Baba” and “Jonathan Must Go” are now fiddling with the tunes of the possibility of a Jonathan to stage a comeback. Here lies the irony of political triumph and the paradox of high expectations.

The euphoria and momentum that saw the exit of Jonathan and the emergence of the Buhari change administration has since begun to wane following the inability of the new government to hit the ground running with the tenacity of a government in a hurry!

There are many who believe that the poor management of the ensuing economic recession didn’t help matters. Suddenly, Nigerians who had high hopes and voted massively for change are now caught in a limbo between confusion and uncertainty. As it stands today, the average Nigerian is confronted with the reality of an economic recession they never planned for; a situation they did not experience under the Jonathan administration and under previous governments.

Many of President Buhari’s supporters are worried that the humongous goodwill that engineered the Buhari change mantra is now being frittered away at the speed of light. The unfolding plot has now thrown up former President Jonathan as a new protagonist in Nigeria’s theatre of the absurd. For many of us who are ardent students of history, we have since learnt that nothing is impossible in the game called politics. Will history repeat itself again? Time is pregnant with answers!

cc; Lalasticlala,mynd44

Source: http://www.trezzyhelm.com/2016/11/extract-from-dele-momodus-article.html

Who are the people calling for GEJ's return? Igbos? Yeye people - the same people that could not return him to power 2015.

Buhari is on tract... Things may be hard but what option do we have? To go back to looting of the little that now comes from oil?

We know there is no free money again - people now have to work for every penny they earn. No stolen money to lavish on girl friends, properties in London and Dubai. And by extension, no free money for looters errant boys, their families and friends. All beneficiaries of looting are in trouble.

Anyway, despite recession and paucity of fund , we could see infrastructure projects going on everywhere from north to south - the projects abandoned by GEJ for looting.

This is two days running that we are enjoying power supply in my area.

Gradually, Nigeria will begin to work while professional looters and all those who benefit from corruption will continue to wail.

Yeye - I really pity tinubu.

Does he think he can SW if he contests for presidency? Who will vote for Tinubu in SW?

mbhs139:
You know, I just marveled at the people deifying GEJ, particularly those that are saying he should remain silent and not speak on the arms deal scandal. Like I stated earlier, this Arms Deal issue alone is enough to rubbish whatever he may lay claim to as his achievements as a former president of this nation. He should just clear the air once and for all. Perhaps I'm too hasty.

Leave them alone. When efcc picks him up, he will talk.

All those charade awards are orchestrated to dress him in a toga of good leader ahead of arrest by Nigerian authority.

Let wait and see how he will escape jail term despite the rubbish award

Ekun Oko yib0

LET BIAFRANS GO –DR JUNAID MOHAMMED
…Says they need Nigeria more than Nigeria needs them
Dr Junaid Mohammed, convener of the Coali¬tion of Northern Politi¬cians, Academics, Profession¬als and Businessmen, has called on Nigerians to allow Igbos to go, if they want to, saying that they need Nige¬ria more than Nigeria needs them.
Speaking in an explosive interview with Sunday Sun, the Kano-based Russian-trained medical doctor turned politician, who described the Igbos as persons who could not be trusted with power and certain key positions in the country, however, said: “…I insist they should be heard and be allowed to secede, provided they are peaceful.” Excerpts:
Looking at the dimension the agitation for the sovereign State of Biafra has taken, should Nigerians and Nigeria allow the Igbos go or not?
Yes.
My understanding is that in every society, people will have to be per¬suaded, to see the benefit of living together. But where that fails, I think people should be allowed to go their separate ways in peace. Now, this question should have been answered earlier, before the independence or even immediately after the Igbo coup of 1966.
Directly, through their own ac¬tions, they organised a tribal coup in which political, business and even traditional leaders of other tribes, other than their own tribe were eliminated, leaving their own leaders intact. That shows who they are. However, I am one of those who believe that Nigeria is a very impor¬tant project not only for Nigerians, but to the entire black race. So it will be a disaster if black people cannot live together in peace. There was a consensus within the generality of Nigerians that Nigeria has to be saved, Nigeria has to be preserved and in doing so you have to use minimum violence. It has to be used through persuasion for those people who don’t understand the essence of our being together.
Now, unfortunately since 1970 when the war ended, and up till date, it has become a pattern of many Nigerians to want to agitate and use the agitation to threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria as a whole and people are saying, ‘look, anybody that thinks they can stay on their own, let them go. Let everyone go in separate ways.’ So, anybody who thinks Nigeria owes its corporate existence to them, should simply go.
Do you see the Boko Haram insurgency too, in the same light?
You mean those miscreants? Their idea that you can create an Islamic state within the Nigerian state is simply stupid. If they have had any form of education, they would have understood that. The only solution in the case of Boko Haram is to simply decimate them, they can be subdued and perhaps, remove the useless propaganda, especially among the girls and young men they have been recruiting as conveyors of terrorist bombs and what have you.
Now the country should from henceforth after demolishing Boko Haram terrorism, fight poverty and see that the country has meaningful development. Most of the Boko Ha¬ram terrorists are illiterate in terms of education; illiterate in terms of Islamic education. They have tried so far to articulate a political agenda, what is it exactly they want, you don’t want. But even before Boko Haram, the miscreants in the South- South had done so too, though they have not quite succeeded but at least they were able to extract through blackmail and through violence certain political concessions from the Jonathan administration. The Jonathan presidency was simply a concession to blackmail.
Next to the Boko Haram is the South-east terrorists, who have been on but very soon they are going to be demolished, like it is being done to Boko Haram.
Why are you referring to the South-East agitators as terrorists?
Now, tell me what they are, if they are not terrorists? What is the differ¬ence between what they are doing and what Boko Haram terrorists did or are still doing? As far as I am concerned, they are one and same thing.
But what do you make of the Igbos agenda?
The Igbos are simply coming with new agenda, they want certain posi¬tions, they want certain ministries, which if not given to them they are saying there will be violence, there will be Biafra again, there will be this or that. And the agitation was not in form of dialogue, instead they have used violence and they have decided who is a friend and who is enemy.
They believe that all those who are not Igbos are enemies and all those who don’t belong to their Christianity denomination also are enemies and they have even gone to the extent, which of course, the Boko Haram started, bombing places of worship, they attacked a mosque in Port Harcourt and I think they did that in Aba and lately, they have gone to cause chaos in Onitsha which is a very unfortunate situation. So you can see the dimension this has taken. There we are.
So should the Igbos go?
Now I don’t believe I’m quali¬fied to make a pronouncement on whether the Igbos should go or to be allowed to go or not. The generality of Nigerians must decide that. But I want to give the benefit of my own experience. One, as a result of change in government, they have the belief they must have Secretary to the Government of the Federa¬tion, SGF, they must be given some key ministries and they have also decided that in 2019 an Igbo man must be president.
Do you think that is fea¬sible?
It will be difficult for Igbos to be satisfied because I don’t believe they have even begun to conceptualize what it means to submit themselves. If they continue like this, I don’t see how we can have an Igbo leader within next 20 years, which means that what we are shying away from confronting now is something we have to confront somewhere down the line. If we don’t confront this agi¬tation now, we will certainly at some point have to confront it, so that if they insist they don’t want to be with us, fine, and then we will move on.
I think some of the people who write in the newspapers about the agitation are ignorant of Nigeria’s history because virtually everyone is supporting what they have been doing or saying what they are de¬manding is right and forgetting about the fact that we are in a democracy. They have refused to pay attention to all the histories and have continued to make a lot of noise about the past government, which is six months behind us.
What history are you talking about, the civil war or the Jonathan administration?
Well, there is a trace of history that shows why they are being denied position of SGF. I am sure you know the history of the last government, which is just six months behind us. They have always misbehaved each time they are given certain positions.
In the history of Nigeria, there have been only two Igbo Army Chief of Staff. One was General Aguiyi Ironsi who was implicated in a tribal coup against other ethnic groups and he was also involved in refusing to try those who involved in criminal act of tribal coup in 1966. On the whole, he was the least quali¬fied but was considered by the late Tafawa Balewa for political consid¬eration and balancing. And we knew how he behaved. Incompetence and lack of education contributed greatly to the tragedy, which threw the coun¬try into the civil war.
And then we had a man called General Ihejirika. Ihejirika is the one we will remember vividly because he was the one that came and intro¬duced or reintroduced tribalism in recruitment, training and promotion in the Nigerian Army. Secondly, he was the most corrupt Army chief we have had in the history of this country. And people don’t want to remember all that. Given these two examples, people are very careful about giving Igbos any position of leadership.
Again, there is the issue of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which they insist, they must have, even though they knew, the PDP they voted for believes in zoning or rotation mantra, which is that when somebody from one region finishes, another person from the other region will come over. The gentleman called Anyim Pius Anyim was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Within the office of the Secretary to the Government, which is called OSGF, there are about 17 very important parastatals and I will give example. The Na¬tional Population Commission, The National Boundary Commission, Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission are under that office. The office of Permanent Secretary in charge of ecological matters is also warehoused there. I could go on and on like that.
Now, when Anyim was the SGF, he established a system whereby each time there was a vacancy in any of those places, he made sure that an Igbo man occupies it. I will give you example of National Population Commission. Makama was the last chairman of the commission who came from Plateau. After he left, for whatever reason, somebody called Festus Odimegwu was appointed. Festus was reckless in his language, irresponsible in the way he treated other people including his own fellow Igbo men. You know he is from Imo State. His case was such that Goodluck Jonathan himself who came from minority had to desert him.
Another Igbo man was appointed by Anyim and I can give you several other examples. Anyim also made sure that key directors in all the 17 parastatals were Igbo at the expense of other ethnic groups. Showing an open nepotism in what they do is their stock in trade. So people then say, ‘look we are not going to have these Igbo people as leaders because their nepotism is absolutely unbe¬lievable. Once you give them certain key positions. They believe they have arrived and step on other peo¬ple’s rights and responsibilities and Nigerians are not going to accept it.’ So this is what I thought would be a balance answer to the question you have asked, even though Nigerians generally don’t like being told about history. But history is very important in analyzing and understanding some of the issues we are confront¬ing today.
Now looking at the scenario, some Nigerians have also ar¬gued, though not openly that if the Yorubas in the South-west could be compensated in1999 following series of agitations, why not the Igbos. That probably was why they started early. I don’t know if you understand and share this sentiment?
I can understand where the sentiment is coming from. But I also believed that they have been very uncharitable to the Yorubas, just as they have been very unkind to them. One, by the time the former Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha died, the agitation in the South-west was defeated and I recall vividly what the late Bola Ige told me personally together with the late Bala Usman, and he had also made it public that by the time Abacha died, the entire South-west, Abiola and June 12 must have been crushed.
Number two, they don’t want to admit that it was not the Yorubas who made Obasanjo the president. It was non-Yoruba elements in Nigeria who made him president. He lost his own local government in Ota where he comes from. It was other Nigerians who said ‘look, whatever is happening; we want Yoruba man to be president. ‘So, it was the rest of Nigeria, that took a man who was condemned and was in jail, take him out of jail, gave comprehensive package and later formed the party called PDP and made Obasanjo president of Nigeria. If Obasanjo had had any tribal support, he would not have been the president of this country. And even though after he had been president, he was caught up in this tribal thing, he would have been overthrown. There were two ways about it. That was open to some of us who are old enough to know what was happening, who knew the camp, who knew the area, and Obasanjo himself understood what the implications were.
Now in the course of Obasanjo’s Presidency, Segun Osoba and some others decided to say ‘okay they were now going to treat him like our own, that he is no more a prodigal son and make him part of them.’ That led to sweep of South-West States by Obasanjo’s party except Lagos. I recalled that Tinubu, in his capacity as governor of Lagos State, was the only person that refused to be part of Yoruba alliance for change meant for everybody.
Luckily for him, Lagos has become big in terms of commercial activities, in terms of what have you. Now, many of the governors came back to join his party (ACN). He also financed and sponsored some boys who became governors. Fayactivities, in terms of what have you. emi and Aregbesola are the products of this struggle. So, these are the problems the Igbos did not want to understand. But look at APGA; they say it is Igbo party, how many Igbos are there? ¬
The East-Central State was formed with less population and land mass compared to the old Kano State. They have benefited more than Kano. Kano State has now only two states; main Kano and the state carved out of Kano called Jigawa. But they have five states. When you look at the demography of Igboland, you can see that they have no land and whatever land they have is not fertile. They are very enterprising, no doubt, and that is why they are exceptional traders.
Now in the words of the late Chief Dennis Osadebe, the first premier of Mid-Western region (now Edo and Delta), he said, ‘the civil war was a tragic mistake because, according to him, the Igbo need Nigeria and will still need Nigeria because they have nothing in terms of endowment to break away from Nigeria. On the other hand, he said they depend on Nigeria for everything they have.’ If you go to our neighbour¬ing countries, like Chad, Cameroon and Niger, you will be surprised at the magnitude of Igbo presence there, which ordinarily would not have been possible if not because of Nigeria. Without Nigeria, they will not be acceptable there.
What will be your call to Nigeria’s President on how to handle the current agita¬tion?
As far as I am concerned, the President of Nigeria is the presi¬dent of everybody including the Igbos. But Buhari as president will have to make some strategic deci¬sions. One, he should listen to all Nigerians’ grievances because they have their right to be heard and they should be heard. If, however, they are trying to continue to be unreasonable, I will ask Buhari to simply switch. But in politics, you do not get tired of engagement. If somebody wants you to talk, you talk to the person. But their political inclination of trying to blackmail him for whatever reason would simply not work. I will nev¬er advise him to concede to their blackmail. So, if they continue to be unreasonable, in this case insist¬ing on getting some key positions or telling Buhari how to run the government, then he needs to take the right step by confronting them, especially when they are trying to threaten the country or trying to threaten other people in the country because other Nigerians have to be protected.
And if they continue with what they are doing, they should know there would be repercussion because for everyone Kano man who lives in far Igbo State, there have been 100,000 Igbo people living among us. We should know that we don’t owe them anything. They tried it in 1966, 1967, when they returned home en mass. If it is business, Kano people are also businessmen. We can run Kano well without them. But I insist they should be heard and be allowed to secede, provided they are peaceful.
On a final note sir, how would you assess the Buhari administration so far?
I have not had a discussion with him but from what we hear, it is really hearsay, I believe that it is not too late to have a rethink on some announced policies and some of the portfolio appointments that have been made because I hope they don’t become a challenge to us.
However, I am fully in support of his fight against corruption. And I believe also he has been much retrained in what I see in the media. It is good for democracy to have a vibrant media. I believe he’s doing very well. Thirdly, I also believe that his refusal to give certain positions to some people, who demanded for such positions, is a welcome development because only the best is good enough for us. But if in the process of rethinking anybody found wanting should be thrown out and move on because I don’t believe that this set of people in the cabinet will be there for the next four years. It is not going to be realistic. If the coun¬try is willing to listen to him and give him time so that he moves the country forward, I believe he will succeed.
-Sun