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Igboblog:
2019 : I Weep For Abians By Wisdom Nwedene (Must Read)

Written by Wisdom Nwedene

Yesterday, pictures of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu branded Tanker distributing free kerosene to people at Umunkpeyi and other locations circulated the social media space.


Many people were seen struggling to get the free kerosene from the tanker.

I was shocked and wept bitterly when I saw the pictures because this is no longer the Abia State I know before.

From Ikpeazu's moves by sharing free kerosene and money to Abians few days to Governorship election, it is crystal clear that he is aware that he has failed the people who entrusted him with power.


I also heard that Ikpeazu said that the dark days are over for the civil servants in Abia State and donated 10 million naira to them.

My question to the civil servants is, will Ikpeazu 10 million naira solve the pains and problems you have been through in the last three and half years?


Let me quickly recall that in the last three and half years, almost all the civil servants in every sector protested over non payments of their salaries.

Let me do flashback, in 2018, the staff of Abia State owned University teaching hospital, Aba protested and cursed Ikpeazu over non-payment of their 9months salary.

The demonstration was staged Inside the premises of the hospital.

Also, in terms of infrastructure, Ikpeazu has not done well.

Let me also draw your mind to the Osisoma Flyover being constructed by Ikpeazu for over three years now.

Despite his promise that the flyover will be completed in January 2019, the truth is that the project has been abandoned.

When it comes to good road, hospital, empowering the farmers, Ikpeazu has not delivered also.

I don't know any reason a true Abia State born should want Ikpeazu to return to the Government House when he has failed to deliver half of the promises he made in 2015.

If you come to Ebonyi State, you will see what Umahi did in terms of infrastructure . He built many flyovers, good roads and empowered farmers. That's what I expected Ikpeazu to do.


Let me make it clear that I'm not from Abia State and didn't receive a dime to pen down this article but as a journalist, I know it is imperative to speak against evils, injustice, hunger, etc when I see them.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/8937404_img20190307110657_jpeg344d077aaa77a670a015cde12e0a35dd


www.nairaland.com/attachments/8937311_fbimg1551906880363_jpeg66c1be60232cccc1d7d86c7035261aed

Obasanjo gives workers a 'living wage'
1 MAY 2000

President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday announced a massive increase in the Nigerian minimum wage to bring levels into line with economic reality, after the level had remained unchanged since 1981.

The new monthly minimum wage will 5 500 naira (about R370) compared to the previous legal minimum of only 250 naira (about R17)

Public sectors workers will receive a monthly minimum of 7 500 naira as against their current minimum of 3 500 naira, which was updated more recently in September 1998.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/obasanjo-gives-workers-a-living-wage-36172

Senate approves N18,000 national minimum wage
FEBRUARY 23, 2011


Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/senate-approves-n18000-national-minimum-wage/

helinues:

naptu2:
In recent weeks there has been a campaign by some people who claim that President Olusegun Obasanjo was discriminatory in the appointment of heads of security and safety agencies during his tenure. They claim that he did not appoint people from certain geo-political zones, ethnic groups or religions to head security or safety agencies during his tenure.

See previous threads here

Why Attack Buhari, All IGP During Obasanjo Tenure Were All Yorubas

History Of Chief Of Army Staff Appointments From 1999 Till Date


Their claim that President Olusegun Obasanjo was discriminatory in the appointment of heads of security and safety agencies during his tenure is obviously false. I believe that those that are making these claims are trying to justify President Buhari's appointments. They usually select just one position and use that as an example (no president can appoint people from every state, zone, religion or ethnic group into just one position), but their claim that President Obasanjo was selective or discriminatory is false and this will be shown by the list below.

I compiled a list of the people that President Obasanjo appointed to head such agencies, but I later deleted the list because I believe that people should be appointed based on merit rather than their state of origin, ethnicity or religion. However, these people have continued to make these false claims, so it's necessary to set the record straight. Here is the list.


Chief of Defence Staff

Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi (Kogi State, Muslim).

General Alexander Ogomudia (Delta State, Christian)

General Martin-Luther Agwai (Kaduna State, Christian)


Chief of Army Staff

Lieutenant General Victor Malu (Benue State, Christian)

Lieutenant General Alexander Ogomudia (Delta State, Christian)

Lieutenant General Martin-Luther Agwai (Kaduna State, Christian)

Lieutenant General Andrew Owoeye Azazi (Bayelsa State, Christian)



Chief of Naval Staff

Vice Admiral Victor Ombu (Bayelsa State, Christian)

Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan (Kwara State, Christian)

Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye (Kwara State, Muslim)



Chief of Air Staff

Air Marshal Isaac Alfa (Kogi State, Muslim)

Air Marshal Jonah Wuyep (Plateau State, Christian)

Air Marshal Paul Dike (Delta State, Christian)



Inspector General of Police

Musiliu Smith (Lagos State, Muslim)

Tafa Balogun (Osun State, Muslim)

Sunday Ehindero (Ondo State, Christian)


Chief of Defence Intelligence

Vice Admiral Joseph Ajayi (Kogi State, Christian)

Major General Abdulmalik Halidu-Giwa (Niger State, Muslim)


Comptroller General of Customs

Jacob Gyang Buba (Plateau State, Christian)


Comptroller General of Immigration

Lady Uzoamaka Nwizu (Imo State, Christian)

Chukwurah Joseph Udeh (Delta State, Christian)


Comptroller General of Prisons

Abraham Akpe (Benue State, Christian)

Okwara Uche Kalu (Imo State, Christian) (he was acting CG for a year)

Olusola Adigun Ogundipe


National Security Adviser

Rtd Lieutenant General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (Zamfara State, Muslim)

Rtd Major General Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar (Kano State, Muslim)


Director General of the SSS

Rtd Colonel Kayode Are (Ekiti State, Muslim)


Director General of the NIA

Ambassador Uche O. Okeke (Anambra State, Christian)


Chairman NDLEA

Iliya Lokadang (Plateau State, Christian)
Bello Lafiaji (Katsina State, Muslim)
Ahmadu Giade (Bauchi State, Muslim)



Chairman EFCC

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (Adamawa State, Muslim)


Commandant General of the NSCDC

Dr Ade Abolurin (Ogun State, Christian)


Corps Marshall of the FRSC

Engr. Abba Kyari Wakilbe (Borno State, Muslim)
Major General Haladu Hananiya (Adamawa State, Christian)
Osita Chidoka (Anambra State, Christian)


Controller General of the Federal Fire Service

Fidelis Ogbogoh (Delta State, Christian)

SHOCKER: Atiku ‘saved Obasanjo from near bankruptcy’ before 1999

In the book, a copy of which was obtained by TheCable, the authors told of how Obasanjo beat late Alex Ekwueme to the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 1999 election.
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Atiku was reportedly asked to join a team to Ogun to inform Obasanjo that he was going to run for the highest office in the land.

According to the book, “when Atiku and Obasanjo discussed the call to serve as president, Obasanjo said he could not be president because he was a nearly bankrupt ex-convict. Atiku, through General [Aliyu] Gusau, paid money into Obasanjo’s account to begin his financial rehabilitation.

“Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar helped out by granting him an unconditional pardon. Atiku put everything he had at his disposal to support Obasanjo’s emergence as the PDP presidential candidate and, when he joined the ticket as the vice-presidential nominee, continued to make his assets available to Obasanjo and the campaign.

https://www.thecable.ng/shocker-atiku-saved-obasanjo-near-bankruptcy-emerged-president

kcmichael:
*N117Billion Fraud: Rivers PDP Governorship Candidate, Sim Fubara shun Ikwere Chiefs and Elders as EFCC Ambushes Him*.

As the 2023 general elections draw closer, consultations and discussions on political parties and her candidates are becoming the concerns to her electorates by the day, including our Chiefs and Elders, Religious Leaders and Ethnic groups. In Rivers State, every patriotic Rivers sons and daughters would wish that the next Governors be properly screened before giving her support . They also wish the elections should be peaceful, free from any violence and altogether fair. These are the the prayers on every lip gravitating towards peace and order in this political season. If politicians were to play by the rules and show some respect for the sanctity of human life, these anxieties about peaceful elections would have been unnecessary. Can our Candidates and incoming Governors be free from crimes, especially financial crimes? Can our politicians exercise firm control over their supporters? These are pertinent questions in the mind of every electorates.

It is obvious that some states like Rivers State may likely attract more than the normal attention of local and international observers. In the case of Rivers state, the signs are already very glaring, because of the antecedents of Mr. Siminialayi Fubara , the governorship flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rivers state has all eyes on him as the Campaign and elections approach. The entire Rivers People are standing amazed, asking and watching" Will only Wike and Sim defeat a whole Federal agency's (the EFCC) and can't the EFCC bring a wanted looter of our collective resources to book?
The thinking community in the state may be justified in their apprehension because of the style of the man who preferred and imposed a fugitive on the state. Sim Fubara is on EFCC watchlists and he is on the run. He is said to be hiding in the Rivers State Government House for the fears of EFCC.

Well, there are indications that the EFCC has not relent on their search and arrest of Mr. Sim Fubara. Few days ago, Mr. Sim Fubara was ambushes by the EFCC on his way to interacts with the Chiefs and Elders Ikwerre Land. The visits was initiated by the Rivers PDP Gubernatorial Candidate, siminialayi Fubara and was a well publicized event for weeks, but he failed to attend his own event.
It gathered that during the weekend, Sunday 18/9/2022, Sim Fubara again, in course of avoiding arrest by the EFCC, absent himself from his consultations meeting organized with the Ikwere LGA'S PDP Chiefs and Elders. A situation that had angered and raised some concerns among the Chiefs and Elders from the ethnic group as they see it to be a deliberate attempt, unknowing to them that Mr. Sim had already gotten the noticed that he has already been ambushed by the EFCC.

A reliable source closed to one of the chief confirmed how disrespectful and angered they felt when they saw Prof. Ngozi Odu, his Deputy, come down alone. He also narrated how regrettable they felt of all his assurance to be present.
He also confirmed that they used almost two weeks to carried out major publicity's of the events both on print, electronic and traditional medium of communication, Invitation, billboards and banners as well as organizing cultural play as they were compelled to do so by the power that be.

I am sure some of them may not had been of the know or are pretending or doing eyes service to Governor's Wike. Mr. Sim Fubara coming was to interact with the said Chiefs and Elders. Little do they know that the EFCC will get the knowledge of it and ambush the entire areas for the arrest of the wanted PDP Governorship Candidate. And when he finally heard of it, he said "it seem this is a set up by some of these chiefs and Elders that they can not be trusted ". He reluctantly send his Deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu to represent him .
A situation that is said to be a total disrespectful to the chiefs and Elders, and the entire Ikwere land .

Recalled that on Tuesday June 7, 2022, some supporters of the Rivers State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Sim Fubara beat up officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on that Tuesday night when EFCC operatives attempted to arrest Mr. Fubara as the chartered plane carrying him and other PDP members landed at the Omagwa Airport in Rivers State from Abuja.
The operatives were beaten as they made to arrest the PDP flag bearer who had gone to Abuja to receive his certificate of return. It was unclear if the anti-graft agency officials suffered serious injuries. The EFCC had declared the PDP candidate wanted over a N117 billion alleged fraud. So the continue ambush on Mr. Sim Fubara by EFCC is a clear indication that he is a wanted Fugitive and can be arrested anytime .
If as just an Accountant General, he embezzled N117Billion, what will happen if he eventually becomes the Governor? And if Mr. Sim Fubara believes he is innocent, let him go and defend himself so he can be moving Freely to avoid disrespecting our respected Chiefs and Elders.

ddippset:
Says a man who hijacked the party and singlehandedly produced the last 4 National Chairmen of the party for his own selfishness.

Says a man who accepted nomination to be running mate to Fulani Atiku.
He knew it was injustice to give Atiku the ticket yet he lobbied to be the VP.


He knew the party had to go South for the 2023 election, yet he still put Secondus as National Chaiman just to hijack the party..
Only to push Secondus out because he wanted the ticket 2023.

This man remains the biggest problem of PDP.

He can only deceive and fool his minions, not reasonable people.

Nemere2020:
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Chief Olawale Edun has said the last time Nigeria’s economy looked stable was about a decade ago.

He made this statement during his maiden press conference as Minister of Finance where he outlined President Bola Tinubu’s vision, agenda and strategy for the economy.

He said, “I think as we all know, we are not where we should be. The economy is barely growing above the rate of population growth.

“But it was not always so, and I think in trying to look at the way forward, if we now have a situation of slow growth, double-digit inflation, weak/depreciating exchange rate, as well as security concerns that are resulting in an economy that is not growing and not taking Nigerians out of poverty.

“If we think back to the last time when the economy was stable- when it was growing, when inflation was low, and the interest rate was affordable, that period was about a decade ago. Growth was about 6% in 2013 and 2014.”

https://nairametrics.com/2023/09/01/the-last-time-nigerias-economy-was-stable-was-about-a-decade-ago-wale-edun/

aieromon:
The Long Knives Are Out For Atiku by Reuben Abati
culled from GUARDIAN, September 2, 2005

The open confrontation between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Abubakar Atiku is the climax of a long drawn out game of suspicion and mutual distrust since the 2002 Presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party when a new group that had emerged and surrounded President Obasanjo began to sell the idea that Vice President Atiku was not good enough for a second term. The President himself had carried on with the campaign as if Atiku was no longer part of the ticket for the future. In response, Atiku's own supporters, obviously with the blessing of their boss, organized a massive, but underground media and intra-party attack against the President. This was the source of the recommendation of the Mandela option for President Obasanjo, the substance of which is that Obasanjo should be a single-term President and that he should hand over to his Deputy as Mandela did in the case of President Thabo Mbeki.

This campaign failed as Obasanjo was not interested in any Mandela option so called, and those within the PDP who wanted Atiku out of the way became so bold that they openly pushed the Atiku boys aside. Atiku needed to fight for his own future; if he was ditched as Vice President, his career would have been truncated. So, he fought back. He started making independent statements which often contradicted the President, at the time, he even openly criticized the government, forcing Obasanjo's spokespersons to issue a statement reassuring the public that the Presidency was "one". But in one instance the Vice President openly announced that he, Atiku made Obasanjo President by handing over to him, the PDM machinery which had been put in place by the late Musa Yar'Adua and which he, Atiku had led into the PDP.

The sub-text of this claim was that the President was after all not a politician until he was dragged into it after his return from prison, and to prove his newness in the game, he could not even win one state in 1999, or any majority votes in the South West which ought to be his political base. This political weakness and vulnerability were not just pushed in the President's face, the Atiku strategists made it clear that most of the Governors were on the Vice President's side, and that if it came to a show down, the President would lose the party's nomination, and Atiku would carry the flag for the PDP in 2003. Indeed, in the days leading to the 2002 PDP Convention, the Governors queued up behind Atiku. Obasanjo faced imminent disgrace. Whereas he was unpopular with the public, Atiku at the time was known as a generous man, with a listening ear, he even enjoyed better media coverage. The President literally had to go down on his knees to win the PDP nomination for 2002. There were reports about the President eating the humble pie and begging Governors and the Vice President to allow him lead the party in the then forthcoming elections. Atiku and the Governors hid their knives, Atiku was retained as running mate, and Obasanjo won the party's nomination.

This background is important to enable us appreciate the point that what is being played out between the President and the Vice President, now with a reversal of roles and political strength, draws attention to a basic law of power. It is dangerous in power-politics to give your enemy the advantage. It is even more dangerous to attempt to humiliate a man of power, in any circumstance whatsoever. In the game of power, whoever is with the advantage can be as deadly as the rattlesnake. When persons remark that the President does not have a forgiving spirit, it should be noted that in the game of power, there is no such thing as forgiveness. It is an ancient rule, tied to the ego of those involved in the game. The moment Vice President Atiku gave up the advantage in 2002, he should have known that he was literally a "dead man". Power is the strongest aphrodisiac invented by man; to rob a man of power, to threaten a man of power, for a subordinate to present his boss as a weakling is like a kiss of death. The issue at stake is not simply treachery/forgiveness; until one lives and the other dies symbolically if not literally, the game does not end.

I do not believe for example that there would be any reconciliation between both men. It is too late for that to happen. We must note that President Obasanjo started fighting Vice President Atiku and his supporters from the moment he regained his virility in 2002. He did not have a political base, of course this was the truth, so the first thing he did was to make sure that the PDP took nearly all the available elective positions in the South West in the 2003 elections, and the moment he achieved that, he had destroyed one of the basis for Atiku's political strength in 2002. The President was not in control of the party, so he started making moves to wrestle the PDP from the PDM, today, he has managed to install two Chairmen of the party and most of the principal officers, and in a recent show of muscle, he fired Audu Ogbeh whom he had installed as Chairman, and replaced him with Ahmadu Ali. Obasanjo's men are now so much in charge of the party that they can if they so wish, manipulate the party register, postpone the party convention and even change the party constitution!

Between 1999 and 2003, Atiku had been a prominent figure in the Obasanjo Presidency, so prominent that the Presidency was often referred to as the Obasanjo/Atiku Presidency. Before long, the Presidency dropped the Atiku tag. The President reduced his foreign travels, and whereas he gave many responsibilities to his Deputy during the first term, he has since 2003 reduced his work schedule, and treated him openly as a subordinate. On more than four occasions in the last two years, the President unilaterally fired members of the Vice President's media team: Garba Shehu, Adeolu Akande, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, and Chris Mammah; anyone who also appeared to be close or was reported to have been seen in the company of the Vice President was quietly declared a persona non grata. The effect was that the Presidency became divided between forces loyal to either the President or the Vice President. Whereas in the first term, both men had made efforts to reassure the public that they were on good terms, no such attempt was made any longer.

And when the Vice President began to behave as if he would love to succeed his boss in 2007, President Obasanjo not only put a stop to his campaigns, he also let the word out that although he does not know who his successor would be, he already knows those who will never succeed him! Those in the know in Abuja immediately stretched the message: Obasanjo has no plans to hand over to Atiku! Added to this was a widespread whispering campaign about the Vice President's integrity. Even the government-owned television station, the NTA which used to feature Atiku regularly, stopped promoting him. During the first term, Atiku had nominated many of his loyalists for political appointment, President Obasanjo has since removed many of them, in government and the party hierarchy, from office. Indeed, about two months ago (The Guardian, Friday, June 17), when the South African Vice President Jacob Zuma was booted out of office, I had remarked sarcastically that President Obasanjo may be tempted to also give Vice President Atiku, the Zuma treatment. Today, some pro-Obasanjo PDP leaders have advised that Atiku should resign or face impeachment.

If Atiku thought that he was fighting for his political life in 2002, he was perhaps mistaken, now is the real battle. He has smoked out the enemy and he is now surrounded with long knives. He will either have to fight his way out of the ambush, or die on his feet. His opponent President Obasanjo is a war General who is used to drawing blood without batting an eyelid, and after eliminating in the last six years so many prominent figures: Okadigbo, Audu Ogbeh, the Alliance for Democracy, Tafa Balogun... Atiku would be for him just another target. But I suspect that there would be wounds and casualties on both sides of the battle.

https://www.segundawodu.com/abati2.htm

aieromon:
According to sources available to us that time, Obasanjo said he will do a single term but after that, he decided to go for second term. I was physically present at Rivers state Governor’s Lodge when the heat became too much and Obasanjo in the presence of all of us knelt down in front of Atiku begging him to allow him do a second term. I think that was how Atiku missed the opportunity by agreeing to Obasanjo’s plea. His thought was that at least, if Obasanjo completes his second term, he will hand over to him but you all know the story of Third Term Agenda and that was how they fell apart. Atiku had the best opportunity to become president in 2003 and lost it. He had the support of PDP governors then.

https://independent.ng/atiku-lost-opportunity-become-president-2003-idahosa/

oaktvnigeria:
19 Dec 2020

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration to speed up the prosecution of terrorists and bandits in the country to send a strong message to them.

Abubakar stated this while reacting to the recent attack on the convoy of Emir of Kaura Namoda, Sanusi Muhammad in Zamfara state.

Atiku said the killing of innocent people on a daily basis is embarrassing and should be contained before the outlaws get total control of our lives.

Eight people, including three police officers, were killed when the gunmen attacked the emir’s convoy on his way back from Abuja on Thursday.

The former vice-president described the insecurity as “worrisome”, saying the federal government’s response should be tougher.

“Condemnation of attacks is not enough to reassure citizens who are constantly living in fear,” he said in a statement.

“The government should speed up the prosecution of terrorists and bandits in order to send a strong message to these outlaws that there are consequences for the willful taking of life.

“The frequency and ease with which the bandits are killing innocent people almost on a daily basis is embarrassing and should be halted lest outlaws are allowed to rule over affairs.

“Atiku commiserates with the families of all those who may have lost a dear one, Emir Muhammad Asha, the Kaura Namoda Emirate Council and the government and people of Zamfara State over the tragedy.”

See more: https:///2Qw2lWC
Get more update: https:///3jxBV0j

https://dailytrust.com/speed-up-prosecution-of-terrorists-bandits-now-atiku-tells-buhari/

blamingthedevil:
VIDEO: Suspected kidnappers arrested in Ogun forest are Kachalla Anayo Simeon, Kachalla Chukwuma Barthlomew, Kachalla Chibueze Ogah and Kachalla Ifeanyi Benjamin... 😲😳🔥

VIDEO: Suspected kidnappers arrested in Ogun forest are Kachalla Anayo Simeon, Kachalla Chukwuma Barthlomew, Kachalla Chibueze Ogah and Kachalla Ifeanyi Benjamin... 😲😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/olHLATjzjj

— A. Ayofe (@abdullahayofel) June 1, 2026