MyGeneration:
I support, Yorubas and Hausa's and other Nigerians are Free to go for elective offices in the southeast as far as they are qualified and capable of delivering.

that is indeed the one Nigeria we are all wishing for.

http://www.trinitasnewspaper.com/2015/10/06/hausa-yoruba-communities-commend-senator-stella-oduah-over-condolence-visit-sallah-gifts..aspx

Hausa, Yoruba Communities Commend Senator Stella Oduah Over Condolence Visit, Sallah Gifts.

Author: By Ononye V. C.

Published on: Tuesday, October 06, 2015

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The Senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District and former Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah OON had more feathers added to her cap when Hausa and Yoruba Muslim Communities in Onitsha offered special Eid-el-kabir prayers for her and commended her for always seeking and providing for their welfare.

Senator Oduah took a surprise visit to the communities with a handful of her aides where she told the delighted Muslim congregants who were in celebration mood that she decided to come and celebrate with them and share the blessings of Eid-el-kabir with them as their representative in the senator. She used the opportunity to express her condolence to the Muslim community over the tragic death of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia and prayed that God will grant them a peaceful repose.

Senator Oduah called at the palace of the leader of the Hausa Community, Sarkin Hausawan Onitsha, Alhaji Iliyasu Yushau where she was received and presented with cola nuts.

While receiving the Sallah gifts of two giant rams, bags of rice and several cartons of indomie, Alhaji Iliyasu and the Assistant Chief Imam, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed blessed Princess Oduah for her generosity, pointing out that she has always identified with them in their time of need.

According to them, other politicians only come around when they needed their votes but that Senator had since been identifying with them in so may ways and pledged their continued support of her endevours.

The Kabiyesi and leader of the Yoruba Community, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Zubairu III, blessed the Senator and vowed that since the Princess did not forget his community after the elections, his community will not forget her whenever she calls upon them.

The Kabiyesi expressed gratitude to her for the gift of two giant rams, bags of rice, cartons of imdomie among others.

The visit attracted some members of the Anambra North Development Forum, a non political organization led by its director of socials and publicity, Mr. Nonso Ugboma, the director of Admin Mr. Nonso Igwe, Chief Benson Mgbike (director of protocol) the director of Religious affairs Pastor Vin Obi, Nnamdi Ezike among others.

TheArchangel:
Which traditional office are you talking about?. Garuba Haruna is the seriki of the Hausa community in Anambra. Research is now easy with Internet.

yes the do



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Obaship dispute rocks Yoruba community in FCT




November 10, 2015



Written by:


Jacob Segun Olatunji-Abuja
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The Obaship crisis rocking Yoruba Community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is showing no sign of abating. In fact, it got to a level that the traditional ruler of Yoruba in the territory, Oba (Dr) Olusegun Salau, warned those he accused of sowing seeds of discord among members of the community for selfish interests, to desist from such. He even threatened that henceforth, anybody caught in the act would be handed over to security agencies for appropriate sanction.
The major contention is over who the authentic Oba of Yoruba in Abuja is. Salau had insisted that he remained the only recognised Oba and advised the contenders to embrace peace in the interest of the Yoruba race.
Oba Salau recently summoned an emergency meeting with chiefs and elders of the Yoruba community at his Kado’s place in Life Camp to find solution to the crisis. He told them that the meeting was summoned to find a way of redeeming the image of the community which he noted had been badly damaged through incessant crises and indiscipline among residents.
The Oba expressed dissatisfaction that the main reasons for the formation of the community were yet to be fully realised many years after the community was formed. ”During this period, it has been one form of crisis, mistrust, bickering, blackmail and all these have largely affected our progress and image as a community in FCT,” he told them.
According to him, “going down memory lane, you will recall that the birth of Yoruba Community, FCT came into being following my installation as the Oba Yoruba of Abuja at an event which was widely publicised and which was attended by all prominent Yoruba sons and daughters residing in Abuja.”
Oba Salau, who highlighted most of the steps taken earlier to ensure peace within the community as well as in other ethnic groups within the FCT, including the emergence of Six Area Councils’ chairmen with the appointment of an Oba as the chairman to coordinate the activities of the Yorubas in each Area Council who should report back to him, said that it was unfortunate that some members went ahead and sabotaged the efforts for selfish reasons.
He told them: “It is time to put an end to all this nonsense. Our teeming brothers and sisters resident in the FCT are looking up to us for what will benefit them just as their neighbours are benefitting from their own tribal communities. In this new era of change, we cannot continue this way; it is unacceptable to me.”
Oba Salau insisted that there was no leadership problem in Yoruba community in the FCT and said: “I am the only person so chosen by the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa as the paramount traditional ruler and leader of Yoruba Community. I am quite aware of my enormous power
“The fact that I allowed everybody to operate freely does not mean I am weak. Henceforth, I have resolved to put an end to this disgrace and embarrassments. My actions to some extend are to bring sanity and honour to the Yoruba community, FCT where it will earn us greater peace and progress,” he stated.
Oba Salau, certainly, did not stop there as he announced the prohibition of proliferation of Obaship titles in the FCT, saying that the action was in line with the authority conferred on him by the Ona Abaji and chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in FCT, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa.
According to him, “Henceforth, there is only one Obaship title in the whole of FCT, which is my own: the Oba of Yoruba Abuja, while the rest will be known and addressed as Chief of Yoruba in the respective villages as my representatives in all the satellite towns and villages and they are expected to report back to me the activities of the Yorubas in the council areas
“Anybody or group of persons that move about parading themselves as leaders of Yoruba Community in Abuja, without my knowledge, for instance, the so-called Egbe Omo-Odua Yoruba in FCT, will henceforth be dealt with and treated as fraudsters.”

“Any Chief without my approval that moves around parading himself as Chief of Yoruba in any part of the FCT, for instance, those whose certificates as Yoruba leaders do not emanate from my office, will be dealt with and treated as fraudsters,” he added.

Having ethnic leaders is not peculiar to igbos. yorubas have oba in Abuja, housas have saraki every where. let us learn to tolerate ourselfs

the link below confirms obas are in Abuja




http://tribuneonlineng.com/node/21843

playdude:
I came across a media shocker few weeks ago, maybe it was a shocker to me because I had an on-the-spot assessment or because I truly knew what happened as to what the media reported. I need to say that our media has lost focus entirely; the days of investigative journalism are almost forgotten. Journalists take stories and report hook, line and sinker without cross-checking facts. Facts are sacred and they must be sought out since they do not appear on the surface, you dig them out.
The shocker was “South East Leads Again in WASSCE Exams” and most ridiculously Abia state was leading the chart. I gasped for seconds when I saw the news but quickly recovered myself.
Brief History
I was posted to Abia state and reported to duty on the hills of Umunna Bende around Ohafia LG, camp opened on August 5, 2014, after the usual rigor, we were posted out to our PPAs. I was posted to a secondary school in Umuahia north; Umuahia north housed the state house, assembly complex and the capital itself, Umuahia north was supposed to be the best part of Abia. I resumed teaching after the Ebola break from the Federal Government was over. I was supposed to take Economics. Quickly for fact checkers, Umuahia north has schools like Ibeku High school, Government Gollege Umuahia, Holy Rosary Secondary school, Williams Memorial Secondary school, among others. I taught Economics in One of these schools. When I resumed and the Dean of studies saw my grade and school, he said I was going to take SS2 and SS3 Economics. I asked if there was no Economics teacher in the school. He smiled and said there is but I would take the two classes. When I met the supposed Economics teacher and we talked for a while I understood why the man smiled. He was better off as Home economics teacher.
Fast forward to teaching my students Economics, I saw exceptionally dumb students with pride in SS3, I had to routinely take the ones in SS2 some maths topics before I introduced some concepts in Economics to them. The same students had the highest credits in WASSCE with Mathematics and English. These was the same time that T.A Orji (Most Useless Governor apart from Fayose) was owing teachers salary for months and arrears for years, I was shocked because I saw the teachers come to school a times once or twice a week since they were being owed salaries, so they had to do other jobs, so who taught these students to such outstanding performance in WASSCE? How can teachers not be adequately trained and taken care of, and their students come out in flying colours. I am beginning to think if this is what obtains in Abia and they still come out tops, then the same exists in other South Eastern states. I was around when the NECO and WAEC exams were taken, I was surprised. From Principal to Vice principal to school gatemen; they were partners in exam malpractice. I saw bogus arrangement of exam malpractice I hadn’t seen before in my life. The students begged me to come on the day they had Economics but I declined. I asked a serious student about what obtained on that day, it was super malpractice. I was in school on days they offered subjects like Maths, English and Physics and I tell you it was horrendous. Those guys are shameless. It was pathetic. I saw the VP (Academics) giving expo to his daughters that were writing the exams. If I decide to write down the length and breadth of exam malpractice I saw on that day. I would bore you.
Whenever I teach the SS3 students and I ask a question, they would reply in Igbo until I shut them up and tell them to speak in English, and these are the same guys that had credits in English language. I dey laff.
They would gladly tell you that they can’t wait to get done with school and go into business (with the exception of a few who were serious, say 30 percent). They love cutting grasses that staying in classes, they would gladly jump out to play football matches when they are supposed to be in class. They lacked content, no functional laboratories, the libraries are non existent, the teachers more concerned with their business outside and holding staff meetings where they talk about farm lands allotted to them and how another teacher was stealing their crop. At a point I stopped attending the meetings. I had an encounter with a Professor at ABSU (Abia State University), which is the best University in Abia, this man can’t stand me if we were to meet at a paper presentation. You are supposed to meet Professors and see a repository of knowledge, an avalanche of information, but it was the opposite. In fact check out the ranking of ABSU in Nigeria’s University index. You will laff. When I visited MOUAU, it wasn’t different. The students were not better than my SS3 students. If South west should be worried, then South east is doomed. Education reflects, it shows, it is tenable in what you do and how you do what you do. How can you claim to always have the highest number of credits in the country when those credits translate to producing fake Aba shoes or a disjointed opinion of reality. I remember speaking to a lecturer at ABSU about why Buhari has my support before the elections took place, he said Buffon Goodluck Jonathan was the best man. I asked why and told him to state one thing that he has enjoyed from GEJ, after he bowed his head he said well although he hasn’t gained anything from GEJ but Buhari has an Islamist Agenda and he is not suitable for the job. Look at that line of thought. Shallow, myopic and that was the norm there I tell you. Sentiments, not Superior arguments. Most of my Corp mates were handling subjects as Physics, Maths, Chem, Biology because they virtually had no qualified teacher in this subjects and yet they had credits. I dey laff.
Education is supposed to be a means to an end, how can you tell us you won a match when the referee was your team coach, stop deceiving yourselves with high credits that do not transmit to University achievement. Anybody can cross check these facts; I challenge the media, WAEC (Nigeria) and concerned bodies on vetting these claims. I just had to do these to straighten the records. If I hadn’t served in Abia, I would have believed these lies too. Abia state and South east should do some home checking, deceit would only injure their generation in the long run.
I typed this quite fast, so some errors might be inherent. Pls ignore.
Cheers. Playdude.
Cc Lalasticlala
If a thread prepondered on falsehood ran its way to the frontpage, then I think one that exposes such falsehood should do better

What you have described above is a typical Nigeria public school situation. It is not region specific. Did you by anyway evaluate what obtains in private schools too?. I know that there is a correlation between individual self determination to succeed and final exam result. this relationship may not correlate with schooling environment, did you look at that angle too.

Also the narration is not backed up by data. What a reader will believe will depend on his pre conditioned view. the debate is still very open

Interesting

otijah:
your hatred 4 the igbos is becoming something else, even d hausas dnt even hate us the way the ekpas do, yet u can even boast of any great achievement from ur tribe in this country. We ar more harrdworking than u guys even in ur own land u ar our tenants, even in d Nigerian team without d igbos super eagles will b nowhere in fifa ranking
Well I dnt blame u, I blame the owner of NL who openly declared that his forum is based on tribalism

but he did not call al igbos silly and arrogant. he is referring to Oliseh.

If Feb. salary is not paid on 15th Feb. then they have to wait for 45 days till end of Feb to earn another income.

postpone the hardship some may say

Ebukaobi:
The children of hate will soon come here and try to cheapen the achievement of this great Nigerian woman

They are so intimidated by Yorubas . By the way, is it only Yorubas that are immigrants in the US? In the last 3 weeks, 4 Yorubas have got high profile positions.

God bless Yorubas

God bless Nigerians

Lalasticlala pls share this Biko

congratulations to this hardworking Nigerian from all of us at home, children of hate inclusive. one love

Question from an old woman who resides in Kastina to his son

Goodluck Jonathan is still president. Scratch that. Has he handed over power to Muhammadu Buhari? This is not amnesia but the synopsis of a text message (in Hausa) that has been going round among members of the Northern elite in the last one week.

It is from an elderly woman in Katsina still in shock that in the last 6 months of hardship, skyrocketing food prices, unpaid salaries, fuel queues and suicide attacks, the ordained “Moses” of “Change” from her home town has been in the saddle.

“Wata tsohuwa taji matsin rayuwa, kuma sai taji ance bom ya tashi acan da can, ga wahalar mai, Abinci ya na neman gagarar talaka, malamai na kukan ba albashi, don haka yaran ma sai dai suje makaranta suyi wa sa su dawo.

“Sai ta kirawo babban danta (Auwalu) tace, nasan baza kamin karya ba, Auwalu ka fadamin tsakaninka da Allah, Wai Jonathan ya ba Buhari mulkinna kuwa?”

The foregoing text message narrates the story of the old woman when she summoned her first son, Auwalu, and said “I know you would not lie to me, Auwalu, so answer me truthfully. Has Jonathan handed over the government to Buhari, or is he still holding on to it?”

For the old woman, the symptoms of the promised “change” are yet to be felt, hence her disappointment in finding out that Jonathan had handed over to Buhari in the last 6 months of unprecedented sufferings.

She crucified Jonathan for the litany of Nigeria’s problems and she embraced “change” as the best antidote, so now that Buhari come into power, the problem should have been nipped by now, 6 months into power isn’t it? She must have lost all sense of hope when Auwalu confirmed that Baba Buhari having come into power has lost touch with the masses. Hmm, it must be very painful for the old woman.

This reminds me of Professor Sheldon Wolin, the Harvard Professor, when he announced that elections can easily be an illusion after an era of change is ushered in. He said democracy can be what he termed “inverted totalitarianism” in which a powerful few or cabal lose touch with the masses and still use the concept of popular sovereignty to hold on to the reins of power.

The Naira is in free fall, manufacturers have downsized their labour force, leading to high levels unemployment, the CBN chief once warned we are on the cusp of recession and recent reports in the international media about the economy of our country are, to put it mildly, not flattering. Blame Buhari’s tacit economic direction. Suicide attacks have refused to plummet; we are all waiting for the Almighty December deadline too.

Fuel queues have refused to disappear and power supply has dipped. What happed to body language? Some say these problems were not created by this administration, but fail to remember that Buhari promised ‎to fix them once elected.

It is therefore not unreasonable to expect that he would act with a sense of urgency. The old woman has called for courage from Buhari to rise above his illusions to overcome the problem of the day.

Over to you, Baba Buhari.

http://www.post-nigeria.com/has-jonathan-really-handed-over-to-buhari-by-ahmad-sanni/

maajin007:
call your people to order.I pray no more life lost in this senseless agitation

I am not sure it is completely senseless. yes it may make less sense to you but it does make sense to the protesters. you have right to disagree with any body anyway but it is rude dismissing their views

tophumble:

Prof. Wole Soyinka's tribute to Sen. Asiwaju
Tinubu.
"I do not admire Tinubu because he is a saint. I
do not admire Tinubu because he is from the
south. I do not admire Tinubu because he is a
Yoruba. If I want saints, I will proceed to heaven
not on earth. Every human is fallible. I admire
Tinubu because; He saved Nigeria from the
danger of falling into "one party state". He has
nurtured many renowned National successors. He
listened to the voice of the masses to surrender
his personal ambition at the most critical
moment. He strategically terminated PDP 60
years life spam in 16 years. The robust critic and
critique we are enjoying today is because Tinubu
aligned himself to the masses to return the power
to them. Tinubu has the option of joining the PDP
elites to hold us hostage for another decade but
he gave his all to the masses to dethrone the
elites. Political juveniles believed that APC won
because of the votes from the North. No!!!, APC
victory was cemented the day PMB and Asiwaju
resolved to work together. Asiwaju and PMB
almost became a Nomadic by visiting every
human that can help midwife Nigeria
salvation. Those Nomadic Almajiri walk later
brought salvation to us. God willing, PMB is the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Anybody, any cabal, any Viju milk activist,
attempting to humiliate Asiwaju must have me to
contend with. An average PDP man is sad with
Asiwaju because he brought them to their knee. If
anyone thinks that bringing down Asiwaju is his
project, that mission will not only crash but it will
boomerang. Don't tell me he is overbearing, your
"underbearing" mentors were nowhere to be found
when this Country was lying critically at the
intensive care of the universe. Recall my first line,
Asiwaju is not a saint. Stop demonising what you
admire out of envy. Even your mentors admire
him.
He owns Lagos! I hear you! Ask your grand father
and parents how they acquired your so called
"family
land". Is it God that allocated it to them?
You are terrorizing your neighbours and village
with your kpof-kpof kobo yet you criticise a man
that is naturally addicted to technocrats
irrespective of their tribe or Religion.
Hmmmmm. I don talk am ooo, Asiwaju is not a
political office holder oooo. Please let him be. He
is evil, I agree, but we need more of him than a
your a saintly specie. Dear Asiwaju, the gentle
stride of a tiger is not a symbol of a
cowardice".... Prof Wole Soyinka.

Soyinka use of words are is sophisticated than the one above.
could that be part of change?

searching4l0ve:
INSTEAD OF THE IGBOS TO DEMAND GOOD LEADERSHIP AND JOB CREATIONS FROM THEIR GOVERNORS LIKE EL-RUFAI IS DOING UP NORTH, THEY ARE SHOUTING BIAFRA AS IF MONEY AND GOOD LEADERSHIP WILL GROW ON TREES IN THEIR YEYE BIAFRA LAND. SOME PEOPLE HAVE EYES THEY CANT SEE. THEY JUST ALLOWED NNAMDI KANU TO MISLEAD THEM AND SET THEIR PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION BACKWARDS BY ANOTHER 100 YEARS. I PITY THE IGBOS INDEED

IGBOPHOBIA

good to read of new places in town.

Export1:


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sylarsquins:
Am from the East and trust me, the East is a mess.

you are in a mess not south east.

is this change real?

where is the car and how do we see it

Adenugay:
[img]http://www..com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Jonathan-handing-over-a-very-bad-economy-to-us-%E2%80%93-Osinbajo2-300x257.jpg[/img]

Jonathan handing over a very bad economy to us – Osinbajo

The Vice President-elect, Prof. Yomi Osinbajo, has said the Muhammadu Buhari-led government will inherit the worst economy ever in the history of Nigeria from Goodluck Jonathan.

Also, a former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has advised Buhari to take advantage of the country’s current level of public support for him to take hard decisions and reposition things fast.

Osinbajo and Blair spoke at the opening of a two-day Policy Dialogue on the Implementation of the Agenda for Change, which began in Abuja on Wednesday.

Osinbajo put the nation’s local and international debt profile under Jonathan at US$60bn with a 2015 debt-serving bill of N953.6bn, representing 21 per cent of the entire 2015 budget.

He noted that an estimated 110 million out of the nation’s over 170 million population, were living in extreme poverty while the largest chunk of the benefits of the nation’s wealth was going into the pockets of a small percentage of the population.

According to him, the nation’s dwindling oil revenues has made it difficult for 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states to pay salaries.

He said, “We are concerned that our economy is currently in perhaps its worst moment in history. Local and international debts stand at US$ 60bn.

“Our debt servicing bill for 2015 is N953.6bn, 21 per cent of our budget. On account of severely dwindled resources, over two-thirds of the states in Nigeria owe salaries.

“Federal institutions are not in much better shape. Today, the nation borrows to fund recurrent expenditure.”

Osinbajo said the manifesto of the APC "offers a vision of shared prosperity and socio-economic inclusion for all Nigerians that leaves no one behind in the pursuit of a prosperous and fulfilling life."

Read more>>> http://www.justyouchat.com/jonathan-handing-over-a-very-bad-economy-to-us-osinbajo/

yes
the economy was bad a long time ago
our reserves, earnings, exchange rates, spending pattern were all public knowledge
we knew we are funding war against insurgency and oil price is low
Jonathan did not promise to feed school children free
he did not promise N5000 a month to the elderly and jobless
remember you articulated how to fund these at Benin and other forums you addressed.

proceed to execute your plans.
promise made is a debt.

charityexplicit:
Do you remember this plant ?

AKIRIGBA

Lagos belongs to yorubas.
ignore anybody who calls it no mans land.
refuse to hear it

peace to all

zendy:


95% of all Yorubas have never been to Igboland. If it were not for NYSC,that number would have been higher. conversely, most Igbos would have visited at least one Yoruba state before the age of 25.

It is all choice. No issues if you choose not to travel to Igbo land.
that does not mean that the place is bad

phiszo:
i'm presently serving in enugu. what the op said is 100% true. i really don't get why some igbo peeps here are still denying this.

Is any body in Enugu telling you to leave the city. Are you being harrassed because you are not Ibo. can you share your experience.

PentiumPro:

Explore a place the indigene are running away from? You people are just irritatingly becoming over defensive

Indigines are not running away from those places. they moved to areas they feel thier skills and trade might do better Indigines return several times in a year to this places. they are lovely places to be. if you have skills and trade that will do better in those areas please do take them there.

PentiumPro:

God forbid when Calabar and Uyo are bubbling
Those you mentioned are the 2%

Who then is to blame if you choose not to explore. Can you now encourage those that left thier fears behind to explore another mans land

PentiumPro:


Why do we have 100% indigenous Ibos in virtually all the Ngawa-land except sprinkle of non indigenes in Aba?
Why is orlu and Nnewi virtually Ibos
Why is Abakaliki and the surrounding villages a no go area for non Ibos?
Why is udi and Uga 100% indigenous Ibos?
Nobody is going to allow you to derail the thread.

These places are there for you to explore. Feel free to go and habit them. Do not be afraid. No evil will befall you. I can assure you that you will prosper. Non indigins do stay there. the fellow that did plumbing job for me in one of the areas you mentioned is from Ondo State. His elder brother stayed back after NYSC and now owns a bakery. they are all married with children and are happy. believe me is not bad staying in this areas

Mayems:
this is obviously wrong. Those who were referred to should be given an apology. I'm a proud Yoruba, but sincerely i'm not proud of those awful statements. 1love Naija.

You are very blessed for seing what is wrong and calling it out.
yourbas have every reason to be proud.

TheCable: Many people believe Buhari has the nerve to fight corruption more than you. Doesn’t that bother you?

Jonathan: You don’t fight corruption with nerve. You fight it with the instruments of law. You fight it by building and strengthening institutions. Go to advanced countries. Go to the countries that rank very high on Transparency International’s corruption perception index. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, name them… They don’t use nerve to fight corruption. It is not the president or prime minister that fights corruption in those countries. It is the system. That is why even the prime minister can be removed and tried for corruption. In Nigeria, some people want strong men as presidents who will fight corruption as they wish, as they want and as they please. You cannot sustain that. You cannot even guarantee that there will be no abuse. When they arrest somebody and put them in handcuff on national television, we all rejoice. But how long will that last? What problem does it solve? Has it ever solved any problem?

My own understanding of the anti-graft war is different. I believe that you must first prevent corruption through administrative and legal reforms. We have succeeded in the fertilizer subsidy regime. We have also succeeded in the payroll system. We almost succeeded in the petroleum sector through deregulation but we unfortunately had to reverse the decision as a result of politics. When you make it impossible or difficult for people to steal, you are fighting corruption in a sustainable manner. The second sustainable strategy is to empower anti-graft agencies. EFCC and ICPC have been doing their work without any interference from me. They are charging people to court and they are getting convictions and recovering stolen funds. These things are in the news every day. Read the papers. That does not require presidential nerve. It is about institutions doing their jobs, the same way NAFDAC and FRSC do their jobs everyday without taking any instructions from Aso Rock.

You see, under our laws, the best a president can do is sack his appointee or employee and then the EFCC or ICPC will take them to court. There is nothing any Nigerian president can do beyond that. The rest is left to the court. I cannot jail anybody. Our laws do not allow the president to jail anybody. The best Buhari can do is sack people and send them to court. We have gone through the era of the strongman president. It did not solve any problem. For those who think corruption is fought with “nerves”, I hope they know what they are praying for.

TheCable: Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, the chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), recently said you have marginalised the north since you came to power…

Jonathan: Since he is leading the Arewa Consultative Forum, I think Alhaji Coomassie needs to consult more with the people he leads. He should consult with the beneficiaries of girl schools, almajiri schools, the drivers plying the newly dualised roads in the north, the passengers using the trains, the farmers, and so on. Nigeria is my constituency and I have to be fair to all, if not I would not have peace of mind. When people were calling themselves northern consensus candidate some years ago, I called myself the Nigerian consensus candidate. Most Nigerians are tired of sectional leaders. They want to see Nigeria as their constituency because they have no other country to call their own. The progress of Nigeria is progress for all. I have not marginalised any part of Nigeria and God forbid that I do that. My conscience is very clear on that.

TheCable: You have been described by your critics as the most divisive leader Nigeria has ever had. What is your response to that?

Jonathan: One of my friends told me a Yoruba proverb recently. He said something like: if a farmer sees a thief in his farm and does not immediately raise the alarm, it is the thief himself that will start shouting “Ole!” It is people who have been playing religious and sectional politics all their lives that are now turning round to accuse me of playing sectional politics. It is very simple to verify. Look at the pattern of my appointments, distribution of projects and my close friends. They are from all over Nigeria. I have been fair to every group in Nigeria. But this is a story to be told another day. I have never discriminated against people from other denominations or religions. I fast with my Muslim brothers and sisters during Ramadan. I have never openly or secretly incited one section of Nigeria against the other.

TheCable: There are fears that there could be violence after the election. Asari Dokubo is threatening hell and you are expected to call him to order but you have not. Why?

Jonathan: We will not allow violence anywhere in the country. That I can assure you. We are better prepared to prevent and contain violence than we were in 2011. You will notice that since 2011, there has not been any post-election violence. As for Dokubo’s statements, he does not speak for me. But that does not mean he should not be called to order. I’m sure the security agencies are monitoring the situation. All these threats are unhelpful. That is how some politicians were saying they would make Nigeria ungovernable if their candidate did not win in 2011. We must jointly condemn these threats of violence no matter who is making them. Nobody is bigger than Nigeria.

TheCable: We need to talk about the Chibok Schoolgirls. You were globally adjudged to have failed to act on time. What went wrong?

Jonathan: A lot went wrong. It is a traumatic experience that comes to mind every day. I just pray some people will be man enough to come out and admit their ignoble roles one day. Rather than support the government at such a trying moment, they capitalised on it to score cheap political points because of the 2015 elections.

TheCable: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said if the government had responded by launching a rescue mission immediately, the girls would have been back home. Do you agree with that?

Jonathan: Let’s say the soldiers went after the kidnappers immediately. Remember the terrorists were with guns and probably with bombs. The girls had become human shields. If the soldiers had gone after them and the girls were killed by the terrorists, what would have been the public reaction? The military would have been accused of incompetence and genocide. The opposition will call for the resignation of the president. You can always be wise after the event. Look, we were misled from the beginning on the safety of the girls. We were also misled that they had escaped from their captors. But we reacted immediately we realised what was going on. We reacted. We didn’t fold our arms. But when an issue has been politicised and people are hoping to win elections by riding on the misfortune of these girls, it is a difficult task for us to convince Nigerians that we did what we could reasonably do.

TheCable: At some stage, you seemed to believe the opposition was behind Boko Haram and that probably did not make you deal with them appropriately. Am I right?

Jonathan: Not me. I have said consistently from the beginning that they are terrorists. I challenge anybody to produce any evidence where I said opposition was behind Boko Haram.

TheCable: Your relationship with Modu Sheriff, who has been accused of being a Boko Haram sponsor, has also worried many Nigerians who think you should not be seen in company with him. What is your reaction to that?

Jonathan: Again, we are talking about hypocrisy. Modu was a founding member of APC. He was in the board of trustees. He was a financier of APC. Nobody in APC accused him of being Boko Haram. The moment he crossed over to PDP, he became Boko Haram. All hell was let loose. This should make it clear to you that they are all playing politics.

TheCable: Many will argue then that the opposition is better organised that the ruling party. Is that the case?

Jonathan: They certainly started their campaign for 2015 well ahead of us, as early as 2011. They wanted to make insecurity and corruption the issues in the 2015 election and they started their mischief very, very early. They started by failing to cooperate with me on the war against Boko Haram. They opposed every move I made. They started demanding that soldiers be withdrawn from Borno. Thank God I did not succumb to the blackmail. Borno would no longer be part of Nigeria by now. Maiduguri would probably have been the capital city of Boko Haram’s caliphate. Thank God we remained resolute in the face of blackmail and media campaign. They opposed the declaration of state of emergency. They opposed the ban on Boko Haram. They started circulating rumours that I was against Muslims. They accused us of genocide. Go and read the newspapers from 2011 till date. They did everything to worsen the Boko Haram problem. They knew where they were going.

The opposition also cooked up corruption allegations against me. Their mischief worked with some unsuspecting Nigerians. Only God knows how much they say is missing now. I have lost count. Every day they will say $48 billion is missing, N500 billion is missing, $1 billion is missing. Some will say N20 trillion has been stolen. It does not make sense any more. Recently, an APC governor said $30 billion is missing from excess crude account. By the time you calculate all that they say is missing, we must be richer than China and US combined! All kinds of wicked lies. Nothing but mischief because they want to win elections. They started scandalising anyone perceived to be close to me, including men of God. I never knew politics could be this dirty. By nature, I don’t play dirty. I try to be fair. Unfortunately, people fail to recognise God in their scheming and calculations. No matter what they throw at me, if God says I will not fall, I will remain standing. To answer your question more directly, yes the opposition is better organised in playing mischievous and dirty politics but they will fail.


“But I believe that come Saturday, the majority of Nigerian voters will choose me as the best candidate to lead the nation forward”
TheCable: Can we now talk about the minister of petroleum resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke?

Jonathan: Why not?

TheCable: The opinion of many of your critics is that you should have fired her long ago because of all the scandals surrounding her.

Jonathan: I will tell you something. Any society where the leader acts based on rumours and conjecture, that is a society that is doomed. Mrs. Alison-Madueke has not been convicted or indicted of any wrong doing. I have 42 ministers and 18 advisers. If I act only on rumour, I would have fired all of them. There is hardly anyone of them that somebody has not come to say something bad about. Until allegations are proven, I don’t act. I will not shed any innocent blood to please my critics.

TheCable: There was a statement credited to an aide of Dr Doyin Okupe that if you lose, you would rather hand over to the military than hand over to Buhari. Is that your position or will you concede defeat if you lose?

Jonathan: We have passed the stage of military take-over. We are in a democracy. I have always congratulated governorship candidates when they win, even when they defeat candidates of my own party. I will congratulate whoever wins. I am not known for violence. I will never incite people to start spilling blood because of an election. It is not worth it. My ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. You see, it is God that made me president. If God says I will be re-elected, there is nothing anybody can do to stop me. All the plots against me will fail. All the lies will crumble. All the hate messages will amount to nothing. God put me here and if he says it is time to go, he knows best. If he says I will do a second term, no amount of lies can unseat me.

TheCable: Why was it difficult for you to come out to dissociate yourself from the divisive and hate mongering advert by Ayo Fayose which was done as a campaign for you?

Jonathan: I saw the advert like any other person and I don’t think anybody should hold me responsible for an advert run by someone else. All our official adverts are run by our campaign organisation. I don’t have power over what others decide to do. However, I smell double standards again. Why are you journalists not asking Buhari to come out and condemn all the personal insults being hurled at me by his supporters in the newspapers and social media? Do you believe Jonathan should be guilty in everything under the sun while his opponent is a saint in everything? I don’t think so.

TheCable: There have been several versions of what transpired in the meeting between you and Obasanjo at Ota where two clerics were reportedly present. Can you share with us what truly happened… and why is it difficult for Obasanjo to reconcile with you?

Jonathan: I have nothing but respect for Baba. It was a private conversation and I will keep it private. If he decides to make it public, that will be his decision and not mine. On the issue of reconciliation… Baba is not my age mate. He is Baba to me. I cannot be talking about reconciliation as if we are age mates who quarrelled. I have no problem with him but he has been making his views about me known publicly. If you know Baba very well, he does not hide his feelings. He likes to make his feelings known publicly. It was the same thing he did with President (Shehu) Shagari, Gen. (Ibrahim) Babangida, President Yar’Adua. It is nothing personal. He just has a passion for Nigeria and you cannot deny him his opinion, even if you don’t agree with his positions on issues. I would prefer he speaks to me directly and privately like former heads of state do, but he has his own style.

TheCable: In his well-publicised article, Soludo said you like outsourcing your responsibilities as president, in apparent reference to the idea of coordinating minister for the economy. What is your response to this and who truly is in charge of the economy, you or Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala?

Jonathan: As president, I head a team. I appoint team members and apportion responsibilities to each person. We hold meetings. They brief me. They get my approval. Now, this is how government is run all over the world. You don’t say Obama is not in charge of American economy because he has economic advisers. Or you say David Cameron is not in charge of UK economy because he has appointees in charge of various economic departments.

TheCable: Why should you get a second term?

Jonathan: Nigerians need to join me in moving Nigeria forward, not backward. We cannot go back to the old ways. We are on a project to transform Nigeria. We have laboured very hard, day and night, to get to this stage. Today we have the biggest economy in Africa and things can only get better. Nigeria is a preferred destination for foreign investments because of our investor-friendly policies. We are implementing an industrial revolution plan that will help to catapult us on the global development index. We have embarked on massive infrastructural development, covering power, rail, roads, water and so on. We’ve embarked on institutional reforms to be able to fight corruption and deliver credible elections. We are certainly on the right path. This is not the time to change leadership. This is the time to consolidate and progress to the next level.

After being privileged to be President of Nigeria for four years, I understand very well where the shoe pinches and where the roads are rough. I have taken action to redress the failures in the system for a smoother journey to the next level. We are very close to cruising now. Bringing in a new driver at this point can lead to a reversal.

President Goodluck Jonathan speaks to TheCable on his chances in the March 28 presidential poll and why he thinks the opposition is overrated. Interview by Kayode Ogunbunmi, Editor-at-Large


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TheCable: Are you in good shape for the presidential poll given the fact that APC has gathered momentum in the last two months?

Jonathan: You should remember the Ekiti governorship election last year. Before the election, many people were saying APC would win by a landslide. But we in the PDP were busy mobilising the grassroots, going from village to village, from town to town. The result shocked everybody, apart from us at the PDP. I am not underrating APC, but I think they are grossly overrated. We shall meet on the field. That is where we will test our true strengths. We are fully ready. You will soon see.

TheCable: General Muhammadu Buhari’s popularity is growing, especially in the south. Isn’t this a big threat?

Jonathan: Let us work with the facts on the ground. PDP currently controls 21 states of the federation. APC has only 14. Of APC’s 14, you and I know that Imo and Rivers are only APC in the sense that their governors defected. The people know where their interests are better served. Also, when it comes to presidential election, Edo is PDP. So essentially, of the 14 APC-controlled states, only 11 can be described as APC. Of course, I know that not all the PDP-controlled states usually vote PDP in presidential elections, so you have to concede that one or two PDP states will vote APC in the presidential election. At the end of the day, you are still looking at 23 or 24 pro-PDP states, including Anambra which is controlled by APGA…

TheCable: Sorry to cut in, Mr. President, but we are also talking about figures, not just number of states. APC states like Kano and Lagos have voters in excess of 9 million.

Jonathan: I’m still coming to that. In 2011, taking that as a baseline for comparison, I scored 22.4 million votes. Buhari had 12.2 million votes. That is a difference in excess of 10 million. I do not suppose that you believe I have lost 6 million votes to Gen. Buhari already, or that Gen. Buhari has gained 11 million more supporters. Suggesting I will lose a whole 6 or 7 million votes to Gen. Buhari would be an exaggeration. Let us even add the votes of ACN which scored 2 million in 2011. Since CPC, ANPP and ACN have merged into APC, let us say APC had 14 million votes in 2011. I still defeated all of them with over 8 million votes. Don’t forget that Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, the ANPP candidate then, and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the ACN candidate in 2011, are now in the PDP.

TheCable: We at TheCable are projecting a larger voter turnout this time around…

Jonathan: And you think only one party will benefit from a larger turnout? I will disagree with you on that.

TheCable: We agree that both of you will benefit, but we project that south-west will decide who the president will be. And APC is the dominant party in the south-west.

Jonathan: Again, I will not say so. Ekiti and Ondo are already controlled by PDP. I don’t see APC winning Oyo and Ogun. And from the last governorship election in Osun, you could see that the gap between PDP and APC was very narrow, judging from the figures. Other factors will still be at play and the best you can say for now is that Osun is a tossed-up state, as Americans call it. The real battleground is Lagos, and if you have been following events closely, the PDP is reborn in Lagos. Wait and see how Lagosians will vote.


Ogunbunmi and President Jonathan
TheCable: The choice of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the running mate to Buhari is seen as a masterstroke. Analysts foresee him delivering the south-west votes. And as a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, this may neutralise the extremist tag on Buhari and bring in the votes of members of the church. Do you agree?

Jonathan: There is no doubting the fact that Osinbajo has good qualifications. But, like Gen. Buhari, he has never won an election before. He has never even been a candidate. So APC has a pairing that cannot be described as a winning team. That said, you cannot call Osinbajo a political heavyweight in the south-west. The Yoruba are more sophisticated than that. In 2011, two of my opponents fielded their running mates from the south-west. Still, the south-west decided to vote for me. That tells you a lot about the voters in the south-west. They cannot be hoodwinked.

TheCable: But Osinbajo is a pastor in the Redeemed Church…

Jonathan: Yes. But the presidential candidate of APC is Gen. Buhari not Osinbajo. And I think we should leave church out of this before it becomes another talking point again.

TheCable: Buhari’s supporters are very confident that he will win. Are you not really worried about this?

Jonathan: I don’t think Nigerians will make the mistake of voting for Buhari. Gen. Buhari, with due respect, is not the right option for Nigeria at this time. It is a gamble that is not worth taking. I may not be perfect as nobody is perfect. But I believe that come Saturday, the majority of Nigerian voters will choose me as the best candidate to lead the nation forward.

TheCable: For many Nigerians, Boko Haram is an election issue. Don’t you see this impacting on support for your re-election?

Jonathan: We are not sleeping when it comes to Boko Haram. But we must be fair and accept that we are dealing with problems we never encountered before, problems that we were not prepared for as a nation. Nobody would have predicted this carnage five years ago. We can all be wise after the event, we can say whatever we like now, but who can sincerely say they projected that Boko Haram would become like the Taliban in 2009 when the uprising started in Maiduguri? I hear people say we did not give Boko Haram the attention they deserved, that we left things too late. That is not correct. To combat terror, you have to be systematic with your approach. It is not a conventional warfare. New laws are required to cover your operations because we never had to deal with terror before. There is also a different kind of training and personnel required. Operations have to change from conventional to non-conventional. You cannot use the equipment of 1984. Even when you buy new equipment, you need to train your soldiers on how to use it. You can’t do that in one day. Intelligence gathering has to be firmed up using the latest technology. This will not happen in one day. Your security architecture has to be completely different. This is what we have been working on and we are making good progress. We are getting better every day. We need to encourage our soldiers who are risking their lives every day. They are human beings like us. They have parents, wives, sisters, children, brothers. It is not fair at all to disparage them. It is also not fair to encourage mutiny. You don’t encourage more soldiers to run away from the warfront. It is not helpful. We are confronting Boko Haram with all the resources available to us. We need the cooperation of all Nigerians. When people begin to politicise the war against terror because they want to win elections, it undermines our efforts.

TheCable: You used to dominate the social media. What went wrong?

Jonathan: I think we are doing very well on the social media, but we are focusing our energy more on grassroots mobilisation. Most Nigerian voters do not participate in social media discussions. The majority of Nigerian voters are not even on Twitter or Facebook. So we have to get our priorities right. I have about 1.7m Facebook followers but there are over 68 million registered voters in Nigeria. I am not even sure most of my social media followers are registered to vote. We are doing door-to-door mobilisation around the towns and villages. Experience has shown that the bulk of voting comes from those areas. For every voter on Twitter, you probably have 100 voters who are not on Twitter. But when you read tweets and re-tweets, you may get a very wrong view of the reality on the ground. We have a very good strategy to woo voters. Our opponents have a good strategy to abuse us on Twitter. Let’s see how far that will take them on March 28. Obviously, it is not those who make the loudest noise that win the votes. Sometimes, making so much noise is a strategy to divert attention from your impending failure. When you lose, you now attribute it to rigging. APC is very good in that area. It is a strategy they have used in the past.


“I think we are doing very well on the social media, but we are focusing our energy more on grassroots mobilisation”
TheCable: What’s your reaction to those who say they will not vote for you because they believe you have not done well so far?

Jonathan: On the issue of performance, I only wish to be judged on where Nigeria was when I took over and where we are now. Those who are fair-minded will agree that we have made tremendous progress in so many areas. For instance, the over 6 million farmers who are now getting fertilizers and seeds directly and enjoying improved livelihoods won’t tell you I have not done well. They are saying they have never had it this good. Fertilizer corruption is gone forever. We’ve introduced dry season farming. Their harvests have increased exponentially. We’ve improved water resources across the country, north and south. These are the things that affect ordinary lives.

The transporters who are now plying good interstate roads will tell you they are happy. For example, the Benin-Ore road that used to be front page story in newspapers for almost a decade because of its poor state is now brand new. We have built or rehabilitated over 25,000 kilometres of roads since we came in. The federal government has 35,000 kilometres of roads and only 4,500 were motorable when I came in. That is a fact. Judge me on that. Millions of passengers who are now using the revived rail transport system will tell you they are happy. Five million passengers now use the train every year, compared to less than one million a few years back. I would like to be judged on that.

Foreign investors have made Nigeria their preferred destination as attested to by local and international agencies. In the oil and gas sector, our local content policy has produced a new generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs who are proudly flying our flag all over the world. That is a fact. That is progress. Judge me on that basis. We’ve built schools for Almajiris and the girl-child. These are the vulnerable in the society who were neglected but are now receiving good education suited to their needs. We’ve established and equipped more universities to provide for the future of our youths whose population continues to expand but there is insufficient capacity to give them university education.

We’ve upgraded equipment at tertiary institutions and continue to retrain lecturers and teachers. No government has funded education better than us. Our hospitals are better equipped as we continue to upgrade them and improve the service conditions of doctors and nurses. They are performing surgeries they never did before. Our immunisation coverage is unprecedented. Guinea worm infections are nil today. We are gradually getting over the polio epidemic. Go to the airports across the country and see the changes that are taking place in terms of safety and physical development.

I can go on. The real voters, the real Nigerians who will go to the polling units, are happy with what we have achieved in our first term in office. Millions of ordinary Nigerians are not deceived by the propaganda of partisan critics. I do not say that we have solved all the problems. That would be a lie. But the Nigeria of today is better than the Nigeria that I inherited in 2011. The facts are there. Our critics should judge us on the basis on what we met on ground in 2011 and how far we have moved on from there. Is the agricultural sector worse? No, it is better than we met it. Is the education sector worse? It is better than we met it. The aviation sector is better than we met it. The oil and gas sector is better than we met it. The industrial sector is better than we met it. We’re now exporters of cement and we will soon start to export cars. The rail sector is much better. The road network is bigger and better. Inland waterways are expanded. In fact, our economy is now the biggest in Africa. Therefore, let our critics judge us on the basis of facts not lies.

TheCable: But the power sector remains a big challenge. Why are we still unable to attain uninterrupted power supply?

Jonathan: I like to ask people: was it that there was 24-hour electricity and Jonathan came and switched it off and damaged the equipment? The answer is no. Power is an age-old problem in Nigeria and we have to understand that. When I became president, we started the power sector reform all over again. If you remember, one of the first duties I performed as president was to launch the Power Roadmap. It was like starting all over again because of various legal, structural and administrative issues. Power projects had stalled. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) was in a legal tango as a result of the removal of its management. We had issues with gas supply as gas pipelines to power plants were yet to be laid. We also had issues with gas pricing because gas producers would rather export and make more money than sell locally at a regulated price. There were so many serious issues to resolve. You cannot decree power into being. You have to take it step by step with commitment. If anybody tells Nigerians otherwise, they are lying.

The approach we have taken now is the best available to us. We have gone private. The process has reached a stage that can only go forward. The power situation is tricky in that until the last dot is connected, we will not see results. There is generation, then transmission and distribution. Until everything is sorted out, we will not see the kind of results we desire. If you build a house and you are yet to paint it or fix the doors and windows, you can move in and start to live there and complete the work gradually. But at least you have a roof over your head. However, for electricity, until you connect all the dots, you can’t get results. Until the power generated is transmitted and distributed to the final consumer, you cannot have steady electricity. That is a fact. But we are moving in the right direction today. I am confident that this will be one of the biggest achievements of this administration.


“I only wish to be judged on where Nigeria was when I took over and where we are now”
TheCable: The issue of $20 billion NNPC affair is still hanging though, and your handling of corruption cases. What do you have to say on that?

Jonathan: I would have been surprised if you didn’t ask that question. Have you picked a figure now? The accuser said $49.8 billion was missing. He then reduced the figure to $12 billion. Now people are talking about $20 billion missing. Is that the final figure they have arrived at? Why are people not saying $49 billion again? Ordinarily, the inconsistency in the figures should have put a big question mark on the entire allegation itself and questioned its reliability, but because some people have decided to crucify me, they will hang on to any lie. If the former CBN governor himself comes out today and apologises that he got his facts wrong, that no money is missing, these same people will dismiss him. They will say he has been bribed or he was cajoled to retract his statement. That is the way some Nigerians have decided to live their lives and there is nothing I can do about it. I have said it before: no money is missing. No money has been stolen. The PwC audit has laid all that to rest. It is impossible to steal $20 billion. There is no proof anywhere that money is missing. The senate has investigated it. The report is there for all to see. No money is missing. From the way the whole drama has played out, you can see that the so-called scandal was a political gimmick. Look at the sequence of events and all the political associates of the accuser and your reasonable conclusion will be that it was a scandal cooked up to smear this government. We are open to investigation. I will not be president forever.

You also spoke about corruption. I am doing everything within my capacity to fight it. We have removed ministers, we have sacked top government officials, we have put suspects on trial. But I can only accuse you of corruption. The moment the case is charged to court, what more can I do? I cannot be prosecutor and judge. It is not allowed. Many people have been arrested and charged to court. They go and employ clever lawyers who play the system to pervert justice. To now turn around and blame Jonathan will be disingenuous. Nevertheless, corruption is what all of us who are leaders and followers must resolve to fight. We need a re-orientation. We need to revive our ancient values. Then we need to make our system, our institutions work. There is no short-cut to eradicating corruption.


http://www.thecable.ng/exclusive-interview-will-soon-see-apc-grossly-overrated-says-jonathan

This post brought to fore characters of the key actors in this drama

the choice is clear

KIDNAPER OR FORGIVER

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