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Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year Wishes 2013


New Year's Wishes

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist, your plumber and the I.R.S.
May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise.

May New Year's Eve find you seated around the table, together with your beloved family and cherished friends. May you find the food better, the environment quieter, the cost much cheaper, and the pleasure more fulfilling than anything else you might ordinarily do that night.
 
May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues.

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish dinner, may the commercials on TV not be louder than the program you have been watching, and may your check book and your budget balance - and include generous amounts for charity.
May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your child, your parent, your siblings; but not to your secretary, your nurse, your masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis instructor.

And may we live in a world at peace and with the awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss, and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat of our heart.

 

Mercy Johnson’s Baby Girl stirs web buzz

 


Mercy and her baby
Nigeria’s Mercy Johnson’s new baby girl delivered at about 1pm Nigerian time today in a private hospital in the United States of America, has stirred web interest, with Mercy’s colleagues and fans sending congratulatory messages to the actress on the social media.
National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Ibinabo Fiberesima, believes that God decided to console the industry with the baby. “We lost some key members this year, but see how God has rewarded us? I’m extremely happy about this.”
Mercy’s publicist, Samuel Olatunji of Bigsam Media said that the actress and her baby will take time to relax in America before coming back to Nigeria.
“Yes, she was delivered of a baby girl, and both of them are in a good condition. But they will relax for some weeks before returning to Nigeria,” he said.
The photo of the baby and her proud mum has been posted on Mercy Johnson’s online celebrity magazine, www.mercyjohnson.com. The site has over 68, 000 followers on Facebook. The post already attracted over 800 comments, few minutes after the arrival of the baby was announced.
Mercy, who has been in America for over a month now, got married to Prince Odianose Okogie in 2011 under controversial circumstances.

Nigerian Town Marks Third Year In Darkness

 

For the people of Epe, Lagos, western Nigeria, it is another New Year celebration in darkness as they have had to live without electricity for about three years now.Residents of the area, who spoke with P.M.NEWS recently, said they had resigned to fate, accusing the leaders of the area of doing nothing because many of them do not reside in the area.

“Where some of them create time to visit, they can afford to fuel their generators. This is the problem we have suffered now for the past three years,” Rotimi Animashaun, a resident of the area told P.M.NEWS.
The electricity problem in Epe is said to have existed for a long time.
When the state House of Assembly Committee on Local Government Administration and Chieftaincy Affairs first visited the area and its adjourning communities in March this year, some traditional rulers had complained severally practically begging that the government should come to their rescue.
They complained that they could not boast of any development while the residents now pass through “hell” to make a living.
When P.M. NEWS visited the area again recently, the situation was the same.
Many of the youths were seen idling away; the few who had since resorted to commercial motorcycling for feeding complained that they even hardly get enough passengers to meet their targets.
“We are only lucky that foodstuff are not as costly as they are inside Lagos; we would have been in hell now,” said Jimoh Akande, one of the commercial motorcycle riders, who spoke with our correspondent.
Akande said he had to leave his trade as an electrician to get a motorcycle on high-purchase lamenting that he had not been able to meet the target for the payment of the motorcycle.
“I decided to learn the trade after it became clear that I cannot continue with my education due to financial constraint.
“As it is now, you can see me relaxing on my bike. Where are the passengers to carry?
“Because there is no enough money in circulation here, many of the residents prefer to trek to their destinations; I am really tired,” he lamented.A dark room
Another resident who gave his name simply as Ayo, said he decided to go into fishing because he could not afford to continue with his business without electricity.
“I had a barbing salon and did it in such a way that people come to play electronic games at the salon. This earned me some money too.
“But that salon has been shut down for more that a year and six months now since I could not continue to fuel my generator endlessly.
“We have appealed to our politicians here. We have also complained to our representatives at the National Assembly, but it is either the issue is bigger than them or they just simply forget that they are from this area,” he emphasised.
A local restaurant owner, Madam Risikatu Akani, explained that it was very difficult to get cold drinks in the entire Epe.
“You can get food to buy, but for cold drinks, I don’t think you can get in this area. You just have to manage the one available except if you don’t really want to drink.
“What we do is to find a cool corner within our restaurants and place the drinks there. With that, at least, it won’t be hot.
“You see some of these boys running after politicians for money, it is not like they don’t have a trade, but they can’t work now as it is,” she said.
When P.M. NEWS met with the two lawmakers representing the two constituencies of Epe, they confirmed that the area had been in darkness for a long time and explained that they have made several efforts to get the electricity problem in the area resolved.
Abiodun Tobun, who represents Epe Constituency 1 at the House, said those who think they have not been making efforts to solve the problems actually do not understand that the issue of electricity is in the Exclusive List as provided by the constitution of the country.
“We must put it on record that power generation is purely in the exclusive list,” he said adding that he and his colleague, Olusegun Olulade, had made several complaints to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) “and we are working assiduously to make sure the people get light.
“The area where people leave their trade due to lack of power is not applicable to Epe alone. It is a general problem, but Epe is majorly affected in the sense that the light it was given could not stand the test of time.”
Explaining the history of the problem, Tobun said Epe and its environs had relied on electricity distributed from the Ikorodu sub-station.
“Epe was supposed to enjoy 33 megawatts, but because the light travels over a long distance and passes through several communities and the fact that the PHCN deliberately limited it to 17 megawatts, by the time it reaches Epe, it would drop to two megawatts.
“And at this stage, the sub-station we have in Epe would not be able to boost it. This has made Epe to be in darkness of over a long period of time,” he explained.
He said after several efforts to get the PHCN to resolve the issue, they were told that “to solve the electricity issue, they must have to get the provision from Abuja as they cannot go ahead in Lagos.”
He said, however, that the PHCN had received an instruction from Abuja and was doing its best.
Though he said the PHCN gave a deadline of November to get everything fixed and restore electricity, P.M. NEWS findings shows that Epe may still have to wait for several other months.
-Eromosele Ebhomele

New Year resolutions and your finances

Nimi Akinkugbe


A New Year brings with it a sense of renewal and the age-old tradition of New Year resolutions helps you to focus on making positive changes in various aspects of your life. Many people make New Year resolutions to exercise regularly and maintain a healthier lifestyle, to be more prayerful, to be a better mother, father, sister or friend and have already abandoned them before the end of January. One resolution that is often ignored is to focus on improving personal finances. Try to initiate a few of these financial New Year resolutions in 2013; limit yourself to say three or four that you think you can keep.
An annual review is necessary because finances are dynamic; needs and goals change, family situations change, jobs change, incomes increase, children are born, others are off to college. Do you have a clear picture of where you stand financially? Start by gathering and organising your paperwork: bank statements, investment certificates, insurance policies, title deeds, your will, and other financial documents.
To determine your net worth, list and add up all your assets, that is, what you own including cash, mutual funds, savings and investment accounts, valuable personal possessions and the value of your home and subtract your liabilities or what you owe, such as your mortgage, car loans and other debt.
If your debts exceed your assets, do not despair; that is the purpose of the exercise. You now need to see where you can make adjustments. Keeping track of your net worth is a good indicator of how effectively you are managing your money over time.
Have you set short, medium and long-term financial goals? Are they still appropriate for your current situation? Your short-term financial goals could include saving for a car, or a vacation whilst longer-term goals might be making a down payment on a new home in three years, or planning for retirement in 10 years. If you are planning a family or have very young children, you could start an education fund to cover school or university fees. Setting clear goals brings you closer to achieving them.
Getting out of debt is another key step to taking control of your finances. List all your debt, and prioritise by focusing on the most expensive debt with the highest interest rates first. Having your debt under control gives you more freedom to do other things. It will take some sacrifice, but it is worth the effort.
Create a budget. Once you know what you owe, a budget will help you deal with your debt systematically. Budgeting is one of the most important tools for financial security and to plan ahead could mean the difference between achieving financial freedom and experiencing financial failure. A good budget will help you to plan and monitor your expenses so you can identify where your money goes and where to cut back if necessary. If you don’t already have a budget, try to make one, and stick to it.
Improve your knowledge of money matters through books, magazines, newspapers, seminars, and by seeking professional advice. Whether your interest is in learning how to manage your money, how to get out of debt or how to plan for your children’s education, there is a plethora of information that will guide you and put you in control of your finances, bringing you closer to achieving your goals.
If you don’t already have an emergency fund, think seriously about building one. Try to have at least three to six months’ worth of living expenses in a safe, accessible, interest bearing money market account. If you are suddenly faced with unexpected job loss, major car repairs, or medical expenses, you will be better prepared to cope if you have this financial cushion to fall back on.
Saving is critical to financial success. Try to develop a strict habit of setting aside a minimum of 10 per cent of your income each month for savings or investment purposes. You will be surprised to discover that over time, even small amounts add up. Don’t wait until all your other commitments have been met; automate your savings by putting a direct debit in place so that you won’t be tempted to spend all your income.
Make it a priority in 2013 to invest for the future. Many stocks continue to sell at a discount to their true value. In spite of market volatility, continue to invest in the stock market if you have a long time frame, such as for your children’s education or for your retirement. However, do pay attention to your asset allocation and ensure that you are well diversified across the primary asset classes including cash, bonds, stocks and real estate.
Did you add to your retirement nest egg this past year? Every single year counts; Most of your retirement income will have to come from the money you set aside and invest today. If you haven’t done so already, open a retirement savings account and in addition, start to build an investment portfolio.
Have you made a will? I know it sounds like a morbid way to start the New Year, but do you have a will or a living trust? Putting your last wishes down in writing should be a top priority, particularly if you have dependants. Most parents have this on a ‘to do’ list but they often leave it on the back burner. Knowing your children will be cared and provided for should anything happen to you, will give you a huge sense of relief. If you already have a will, it is a good time to review and update it to make sure you have included any recently acquired assets or new beneficiaries.
Giving is a powerful and effective way to change people’s lives for the better whilst at the same time giving you financial freedom. Determine a cause or charity that you would like to be involved with and identify ways in which you can give back to the community.
Remember…it’s not all about money.
Just one last bit of advice: In all these money matters, do remember that the best and most fulfilling things in life have nothing to do with money. Remember to count your blessings, not just your money! May God grant you good health, happiness, wisdom, security and peace in abundance in the year 2013 and beyond. Happy NEW YEAR!

Ihiala natives to honour Ekwueme, Gov Obi today


Ihiala natives to honour Ekwueme, Gov Obi today

The people of Ihiala will on December 31 honour former vice president, Alex Ekwueme and Governor Peter Obi for their contributions to the development of the town. The honour will be the climax of the one-week celebration of the biennial Ihiala Day, according to the President General of the Ihiala Progressive Union (IPU), Mr Vin Ifeanyi Ezeaka, a lawyer and economist.
Ezeaka disclosed in a statement yesterday that Dr Ekwueme “played a critical role in the nomination of Mr Paulinus Amadike as a minister in the Second Republic and supported him every inch of the way in the discharge of his duties.” The late Amadike, “remained the only person to have been a member of the Federal Executive Council from Ihiala Local Government Area, which came into being in 1966 when Col Emeka Ojukwu was the military governor of the defunct Eastern Region, thus making it one of the largest and oldest local government areas in the country,” explained the IPU leader.
Ezeaka also observed that Dr Ekwueme, in 1982 chaired the Federal Executive Council meeting, which approved the award of a contract of a major road, which started at Okija in Ihiala Local Government Area and terminated at Omoku in Rivers State.

I regret insulting Keshi — Osaze •Musa, Emenike in Portugal

Osaze

Estranged Super Eagles attacker Osaze Odemwingie has said he regrets his abusive Twitter comments. He claimed they were made because coach Stephen Keshi was not fair to him.
The West Bromwich striker had in the wake of the release of the Nigeria provisional team list for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations taken to his Twitter account and made disparaging comments against Keshi, the team captain and some Nigeria Football Federation officials. Past coaches, including Samson Siasia and Lars Lagerback, were not spared and continued days later with direct hits at ex-Nigeria international Victor Ikpeba.
However, the England-based forward said his mistakes were made in a fit of anger.
On Sunday, he described Chris Green whom he had abused also “as a good man.”
“I remember it was Green who settled my case with Siasia then, but I was too angry when he called me over this matter, and was impatient to listen to him,” he said in a comment published by Mtnfootball.com.
“My comment was not directed at him personally, but to those who made the decision, but I think I overreacted then.”
On his face-off with Keshi, he said, “I called the coach two or three times within that period, maybe two or three days before the list was made public and told him of my commitment to be part of the Nations Cup, and have told my (club) coach I will be going to the Nations Cup.
 “I told the coach I was ready to report to camp by January 3, even before other professionals start reporting to camp, if I were in his programme for the Nations Cup, and even told him to feel free to drop me, if I were not in his programme.
“I felt betrayed after that seeming heart-to-heart discussions with the coach few days to the release of the team list and he could not hint me I was not in his plan for the Nations Cup.
“I am human and open to errors by the way I may have taken the issue, and regret the whole controversy, and want to put all this behind me now and focus on my club career, while wishing the team the best of luck as a Nigerian.”
In Faro, Portugal, Russia-based Ahmed Musa and Emmanuel Emenike as well as Italy-based midfielder Ogenyi Onazi arrived at the Eagles camp on Sunday. Raheem Lawal, who now plays in the Turkish second division showed up just as the players prepared for a training session.
Keshi has said apart from Ikechukwu Uche, who has been given January 6, January 5 remains deadline for all players.

Buhari and Decree No.4,1984


Buhari and Decree No.4,1984

Life and Issues with Tunde Thompson

In his interview by Eric Osagie and Paulinus Aidoghie published in the Saturday Sun as a cover story on December 22, the former Head of State now chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, made some comments on Decree No. 4 of 1984 on which one can neither be indifferent nor silent. Although the earlier focus had been on the three drug pedlars executed by the government, the little that the general said about the decree conveyed a totally different impression about  the law, which warrants a response in the interest of historical accuracy and the truth.
After seemingly rejecting the idea that the decree was used by his government to gag the Press, Buhari suggested that the Press brought the “Nigerian factor” into the decree. In his own words: “….when people try to get job or contract and they couldn’t get it, they make a quick research and created a problem for people who refuse to do them the favour. What we did was that you must not embarrass those civil servants. If you have got evidence that somebody was corrupt, the courts were there.
Take the evidence to court, the court will not spare whoever it was. But you don’t just go and write articles that were embarrassing. Those who did it, the editors, the reporters, we jailed them….” Considering the fact that the decree was tested only once and involved only The Guardian newspaper and two of its editorial staff (Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson), what the general said in that interview amounted to fresh allegations, presented at the bar of public opinion this time around, and not what was tabled before the Decree 4 Tribunal chaired by Justice J.O. Ayinde.
One needs more illumination from the general on who it was that tried to get a job or contract from civil servants and was turned down, and later resorted to engaging in “a quick research” so as to create problems for them. The decree was applied only once, as earlier indicated, so how could Gen.
Buhari develop the idea that the accused newspaper  and its editorial representatives set out to create  problems  for some unknown and unspecified civil servants then? Obviously, the General is not the same young and swashbuckling officer he used to be and therefore may well have forgotten details of the trial under Decree No. 4 of 1984, which led to financial sanctions against The Guardian and incarceration after some months of detention for its two workers.
That his memory might have failed him during the interview, however, does not mean the readers and future researchers should be given the impression that The Guardian and its men who worked independently on some diplomatic affairs reports, ever sought any favour from any civil servant,   or tried to embarrass any of them in the way discussed during that interview. That is pure fiction, simple. Furthermore, there are some procedural and professional matters to which the General (“once a general, always a general,” not so?) did not direct his thoughts  during the interview.
If, in the course of his or her work, a journalist (reporter or correspondent),  comes about some information suggesting that a civil servant or any public officer had been “corrupt”, was it being suggested that the evidence should be taken to a court of law by the medium of mass communication concerned? Does the general still think the duty of the Press is to gather evidence for delivery to the law courts rather than publishing in the media (print or electronic)?
And how are we so sure, even if the suggestion of taking “the evidence to court” were to be considered, that “the court will not spare whoever it was” (that had been allegedly corrupt)? We live in an environment in which some well-connected public officers have, within the last decade, obtained ridiculous injunctions against prosecution for corrupt practices, even with all the weight of evidence marshaled by law-enforcement agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
We have thus all been told that such persons were and perhaps remain till today “untouchable”, as far as prosecution in any of our “temples of justice” is concerned.  Suddenly, we have been left in a situation where the law has become a “respecter of persons”, to such an extent that even probes conducted in legislative chambers have not been followed up with any appreciable results, either there or in the courts of law. There were even reports that a prominent politician had the rare distinction of having his matter bordering on corruption ruled as being beyond the competence of any court in the country.
It is just a pity that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s warning: “No condition is permanent”, is too easily forgotten by such people. It does appear that it is not politically expedient to subject some people to legal scrutiny, even if they went out of their ways to compete with the Central Bank in terms of the monies stashed away in private vaults. All one has been saying is that, contrary to what the general said, journalists are constitutionally empowered to investigate matters of national or public interest, and can go to town with their stories once the issues of libel, truth and fairness had been taken into account in writing and publishing them.
A precedent is the Joseph Tarka/Godwin Daboh and Daily Times corruption allegation between 1973 and 1974;it  is one example we should not forget here. When sure of its facts, the medium concerned should publish and the exposed officials or individuals can then go to court, not the other way round. In other words, those tried under Decree 4 in 1984 neither accused any public official of corruption nor attempted to embarrass government and any such thoughts are simply a latter-day rationalization of a regime’s peculiar political power management strategy. Put briefly, before assuming power after the December 31, 1983, coup d’etat, the media had reported that a N2.8billion oil money was missing and as Minister, Gen. Buhari could not have taken kindly to those reports. Secondly, the General may not have forgotten yet that Dele Giwa of Newswatch newsmagazine, once asked him what he thought about press freedom.
The answer he gave (not denied till today), was this: “Press Freedom? What’s that? I’ll step on it!”Decree No.4 was the first attempt to step on the Press and public opinion by the regime, but it back-fired. Thirdly, Decree No. 4 was not yet promulgated by the time this writer was detained under Decree No. 2, and it took almost two weeks before a world press conference on its promulgation was held. So, why lock up anybody when there was no law yet on the matter?Fourthly, the security organization had wanted to know who gave the information on the diplomatic stories published, as already detailed elsewhere.
They were not obliged with such information, which would have been done against the ethics of Journalism. These are some of the abiding and unforgettable evils of Decree No. 4 of 1984, which nobody can ignore or wish away. Repentance and attitudinal changes are now overdue, not justification of undemocratic actions at this time

OBJ/Jonathan: Is the romance over?

OBJ/Jonathan: Is the romance over?


It is no longer news that all is not well between the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo and his ‘political son’, President Goodluck Jonathan. Exactly where, when and how things went sour is still largely a matter of conjecture. On one hand, there are those who believe that the seeming face-off might not be unconnected with the 2015 power game. Jonathan is said to be interested in being re-elected in 2015, but Obasanjo is covertly opposed to it. On the other hand, some political pundits see the silent war as an attempt to checkmate Obasanjo’s overbearing influence on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nay Jonathan’s administration. Either way, the obvious fact is that things are rapidly falling apart, even though there have been several denials from official quarters. But for those who can read between the lines, what is coming from Obasanjo in recent times is far less than a kind of nodding approval you get from a father whose son is doing well.
The latest in the power game intrigues is his public comment on the state of insecurity in the nation, which suggests that the government has not been proactive or decisive enough in the handling of Boko Haram insurgency. Obasanjo had in a recent statement suggested that the same treatment meted out to Odi and Zaki Biam by the military during his tenure be applied in the northern part of the country in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency. He believes that the present Boko Haram insurgency and the pervading insecurity in the country could have been effectively tackled if decisive action had been taken by the Jonathan administration.
At the 40th anniversary of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s call to ministry at the Word of Life Bible Church, Obasanjo said, “They (Boko Haram) stated their grievances and I promised to relay them to the authorities in power, because that was the best I could do. I did report. But my fear at that time is still my fear till today. When you have a sore and fail to attend to it quickly, it festers and grows to become something else. Whichever way, you just have to attend to it. Don’t leave it unattended to. On two occasions, I had to attend to the problem I faced at that time. I sent soldiers to a place and 19 of them were killed. If I had allowed that to continue, I will not have authority to send security whether police, soldier and any force anywhere again. So, I had to nip it in the bud and that was the end of that particular problem.
The terrorists were either killed and those that were not killed fled their operational base in Odi. They were uprooted, weakened, demoralised and completely dispersed. That was the purpose of the whole exercise and that purpose was achieved,” Obasanjo boasted. Reticent as President Jonathan is, he could not contain Obasanjo’s affront. Accordingly, he gave it back to him in full measure during the monthly interactive media programme. Expressing his open disagreement with the former president’s postulation, he said, “The tragedy, which happened on November 20, 1999 led to the killing of many persons in the Bayelsa State community. After that invasion, the governor and I visited Odi. And we saw some dead people mainly old men and women and also children. None of those militants was killed. None was killed. So, bombarding Odi was to solve the problem but it never solved it. If the attack on Odi had solved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, the Yar’Adua government, in which I had the privilege of being the Vice President, wouldn’t have come up with the amnesty programme. So, that should tell you that the attack on Odi never solved the militancy problems. People will even tell you that rather it escalated it. It attracted international sympathy and we had lots of challenges after that attack on Odi.” This open disagreement is apparently the anti-climax of the crisis of confidence between these two political heavy weights.
Prior to this time, Obasanjo had on several occasions taken a swipe on the Jonathan administration for wasting the country’s foreign reserve, which he put at about $35 billion in 2007. In one of his comments at an international forum, he said, “We left what we call excess crude oil account of $35 billion. Within three years, the $35 billion disappeared. Whether the money disappeared or, like the governor said, it was shared, the fact remains that $35 billion disappeared from the foreign reserve I left behind in office. When we left that money, we thought we were leaving it for the rainy day. But my brother said the rain is not falling now. But the fact is that when the rain is falling, we will have nothing to cover our heads with because we have blown it off.
The Chinese do not think that way.” Again, on November 11, when he spoke in Dakar, Senegal, about the alarming rate of unemployment in the country, he did not mince words, saying that the country was sitting on a time bomb. He told his audience at an entrepreneurship programme organized by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the African Development Bank that when he became president, youth unemployment was put at 72 per cent, but that he reduced it to about 52 per cent. Now, it has ballooned to unmanageable proportion.” There is no gainsaying that the relationship between the two is already heading for a ruin. But the questions many political analysts are seeking an answer to are: Can Obasanjo stop Jonathan’s ambition for 2015? What will be the implications of this power game on Obasanjo’s political influence if he fails to stop Jonathan? Can the North also trust Obasanjo for any possible alliance towards the realization of their campaign for power shift? Can Jonathan call the bluff of his godfather and go unscathed?
Implication on Obasanjo’s influence
No doubt, Jonathan owns Obasanjo a debt of gratitude for being instrumental to what he is today. It was Obasanjo that propped him up from obscurity to political limelight. The former president was instrumental not only to his emergence as Vice President and later as president of Nigeria, but also as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. By guile and intrigue, it was Obasanjo that imposed the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua as the presidential candidate of the PDP and single-handedly chose Jonathan as his running mate. Similarly, at the height of the confusion and imbroglio that followed the ill-health of the late Yar’Adua, Obasanjo was one of the state actors that spoke in favour of Jonathan’s emergence as substantive president.
The rest is history! But as they say, you cannot be a kingmaker and continue to hang around the corridors of power; otherwise, you may be the first object of target. By his continued struggle to be relevant in the scheme of things, Obasanjo appears to have lost the steam. And he probably must have seen it coming when he resigned his position as the Chairman, BOT of the PDP. Even at that, the tide of politics has not been in his favour. Since the outcome of the 2011 general elections in which the PDP lost the states in the South West, unfolding developments have clearly shown that Obasanjo’s voice is no long respected. Apart from the perceived marginalization of the zone in the sharing of political office, peace has never returned to the PDP, his Yoruba political enclave. Just recently, the raging crisis within the PDP in his home state, Ogun, got to a crescendo when a rival faction announced the suspension of the executive of the group loyal to him. Thus, confronting a sitting president in the circumstance may not possibly augur well for his future political relevance. Already, one of the alleged complaints of the former president is the refusal of President Jonathan to seek his opinion on key national issues.
With the brewing crisis of confidence, the administration could capitalize on the situation to deal with whatever is left of the goodwill of the former president, knowing full well that he has a weak home support. Perhaps, this may be part of the reasons why he (Obasanjo) is looking for an alliance with the North. It is on this note that many people are very suspicious of his recent launch of multi-million naira mosque at his Presidential library Complex. They see it as a smoke screen for political maneuvering. During the fundraiser, governors, leaders of the National Assembly and political heavy weights mostly of northern extraction gathered to lay the foundation stone of a mosque at the library complex. Even his estranged deputy, Atiku Abubakar, was not left out of the event.
There and then, he donated N5 million towards the project. Other prominent figures in attendance included: Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aliyu Magatarkada Wamakko, his Kano State counterpart, Dr. Musa Rabiu Kwakwanso, Governor of Kebbi, Alhaji Saidu Dakingari and the Deputy Governor of Katsina State. More than N400 million was realized at the event. In a way, the fund-raiser provided the forum for Obasanjo to strategise for 2015. Already, there are speculations that he might have tipped Sule Lamido/Rotimi Amaechi for the PDP presidential and vice-presidential tickets in 2015. However, this insinuation has been dismissed by former president’s camp. The question still remains: How far can he go in this scheming? The answer lies in the womb of time.
Jonathan’s 2015 ambition
Although Jonathan has not openly declared his intention to take another shot at the presidency, some people are already flying the kite. If he is interested, it will certainly be difficult for any mortal to stop him. Apart from the power of incumbency, there are more than enough resources at his disposal to deploy and ensure that he gets the ticket. One major challenge he may have to grapple with, however, is the possibility of a strong northern candidate. Although that is not in sight for now, some prominent leaders of thought are already working on how to achieve a united front against the president’s ambition.
These are parts of the game plans that would shape the politics of the North in the years ahead. With Obasanjo as a willing ally, the battle may turn out to be tougher than expected. Besides, no politician has fought Obasanjo and got away with it. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who had fought the battle before can tell the story better. So also erstwhile Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Speaker Umar Ghali Na’abah, the late Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, former PDP National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, among others. But it is too early to predict who will be the winner or loser in this epic battle. Jonathan could turn out to be an exception. Time will tell!

Oritsejafor tackles Senator Bukar Ibrahim


Oritsejafor tackles Senator Bukar Ibrahim

… Over comment on Boko Haram
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has said that the recent comment of Bukar Abba Ibrahim that the reason for the action of the Boko Haram sect is inequality, neglect and injustice, is overly reckless, irresponsible and insensitive.
In a statement made available in Abuja by the Special Assistant to the CAN President on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Kenny Ashaka, Oritsejafor also said it was naïve for Ibrahim to reason that if the Federal Government dialogued with Boko Haram, the sect would limit itself to concessions made when they had stated clearly that their aim was to do away with western education and enthrone the Islamic law of Sharia.
Oritsejafor advised Ibrahim not to panic into making recommendations that were shortsighted, saying as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he should not take counsel from only a section of a state or region. He added that he expected the former two-time governor of Yobe State, to help put the sect in strict subjection to the laws of the land, rather than treading the dangerous path of dialogue which had always been truncated by harsh conditions from the sect members.
“The President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, notes with concern, the statement credited to Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who was twice governor of Yobe State, that government must dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, while also insisting that the reason for the action of the sect is inequality, neglect and injustice. “Pastor Oritsejafor believes that the statement by the Senator that “we can find a way really to help dialogue with this group; after all, they are all Nigerians at least as far as we know…” is overly reckless, irresponsible and insensitive, just as it is a panacea for encouraging the increasingly violent and daring sect.
“In the first place, he says, it is naïve for Ibrahim to reason that if the Federal Government dialogues with Boko Haram, the sect would limit itself to concessions made when they have stated, clearly, that their aim is to do away with western education and enthrone the Islamic law of Sharia’ah. “The President of CAN advises Ibrahim not to panic into making recommendations that are short-sighted and that as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he should not take counsel from only a section of a state or region.
“He expects Ibrahim to help put the sect in strict subjection to the laws of the land, rather than treading the dangerous path of dialogue, which has always been truncated by harsh conditions from the sect members,” the statement read. Oritsejafor also said Ibrahim must bear a heavy responsibility for the spiraling violence of Boko Haram against Christians in Yobe State if he now speaks of inequality, neglect and injustice, which are direct consequences of the neglect of the people by those who govern them, himself a two-time governor of Yobe State inclusive.
“If today, the people are fighting biting poverty, inequality and injustice as Ibrahim would want us to believe, it is his likes that should be held responsible for being the sources of their poverty. “In that case, Boko Haram’s anger should have been directed at leaders like Senator Abba Bukar Ibrahim who have not allowed their members to take full advantages of the vast economic opportunities that exist in Northern Nigeria,” Oritsejafor submitted.

Shameful record: Nigeria now has 94% of world’s polio cases

Shameful record


• ‘How fresh cases frustrate efforts to eradicate virus’
From FRED ITUA, Abuja
It is certainly not a record that anyone would be proud of. In fact, this is one of those issues that might prompt some to jettison their love for the fatherland. At a time that the dreaded disease, poliomyelitis, has been eradicated in all but three countries of the world, the disease is flourishing in some parts of Nigeria. In fact, right now, Nigeria has 94 per cent of polio cases in the entire world.
The remaining six per cent is shared by Pakistan and Afghanistan. And efforts of the present Goodluck Jonathan administration to ensure the eradication of polio by end of 2015 might have suffered a major blow, as new cases are being recorded in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and in the Northern states.
Two new cases have been reported in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while no fewer than 116 new cases have recently been reported across 11 states in the Northern region.
This is even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently came up with a policy that Nigerians, travelling abroad must show evidence of polio immunisation before leaving the shores of the country. According to WHO, this move has been initiated to reiterate the seriousness the world body places on the importance of eradicating the deadly polio virus in the country. Dr. Rilwan Mohammed, Executive Secretary of FCT Primary Healthcare Board and Secretary of the FCT Special Taskforce on the Polio Immunisation and Eradication, said 95 per cent of those resisting vaccines for their children were Muslims and resided in Northern states. He said this was largely responsible for the spread of the virus and inability of government to eradicate it in the country.
The suspected new cases of the polio virus discovered recently in the FCT involves a 23-month-old male child, Francis Ananayas, who hails from Gida Fadawa in Kuje Area Council. According to the parents of the child, Francis had four doses of oral polio vaccine, but no proof or evidence of immunisation card was tendered to support their claim.
About a fortnight ago, a case of the virus was recorded in Jahi village, a community in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). Dr. Rilwan noted that a case of weakness of limbs in a child of two years and six months, Yusuf Haruna, was reported to the board.
He recalled that during investigation in the area, similar symptoms were noticed in another child, prompting the authorities to send faecal samples from the suspected cases to Ibadan for test. He added that to ensure that all children in the area, which comprised all villages in Gwarinpa ward, were captured and inoculated against the virus, the board had received about 50,000 doses of vaccine from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to be used for the two-day mop-up immunisation exercise in the area.
Blaming the new polio cases on migrants, who had moved to the nation’s capital in search of greener pastures, Dr. Rilwan said: “The last case recorded in Dobi was from a migrant farmer from Minna, in Niger State, and the one we just got now is also from people, who migrated from Katsina State, one of the states with high polio prevalence. This latest case brings the number of reported cases of polio in the country this year to 112; 94 cases of type 1 and 18 cases of type 3 polio viruses.”
While noting that the FCT has so far attained about 80 per cent coverage of polio immunisation, Rilwan added that the administration was working out a strategy to carry out immunisation of children under five years in markets and motor parks across the territory, to ensure that all children not captured in routine immunisation would be immunised. He also stated that the FCT administration would mobilise law enforcement agencies to arrest all those who reject immunisation in the FCT forthwith. Said he: “Nigeria today remains the only country in the continent with polio cases.
We must find a way to stop it. We are scared that these migrants might take this virus to the Southern states and we must find a way to eradicate it. At the moment, 94 per cent of polio cases are from Nigeria while the remaining six per cent comes from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Most of the people spreading this virus come from the northern states. Traditional rulers must come on board to help us fight this; traditional rulers must educate their people.” On the part of the Federal Government as part of sustained efforts to eradicate polio, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) recently initiated polio Immunisation Plus Days (IPDs) in eight high risk states and two neighbouring states, targeting 26 million children with Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV).
The states include Sokoto, Katsina, Yobe, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Borno, Jigawa and Nasarawa. New cases of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) reported in the past two weeks have however raised the question whether Nigeria will be able to eradicate the virus on or before 2015. In the new report, Katsina, Kaduna and Kano states recorded one case each of WPV type one while Taraba and Yobe states recorded one case each of the WPV type three, bringing the total number of WPV cases in 2012 to 118, according to the WHO.
With 213 new cases of polio recorded worldwide in 2012 and Nigeria, accounting for more than 50 per cent of that figure, experts are scared that the drive by the Federal Government to eradicate the virus by 2015 might hit a dead end. This scepticism is further heightened by the refusal of some families in the northern states to allow their children go through the immunisation process. With Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria (PAN) yet to eradicate the virus, chances are high that Nigeria might remain the only country in the world with the polio virus by 2015.

Jonathan’s administration full of deceit – ACN

Jonathan’s administration full of deceit – ACN













The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Jonathan administration of engaging in governance by deceit, saying the administration has been overstating its achievements and making fake promises to Nigerians. In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also slammed the president’s Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, for making himself a purveyor of blatant lies and for having the temerity to denigrate the country’s opposition for daring to criticise a non-performing government.
It said only a government swimming in corruption and lacking self-respect and decency could pick as its spokesperson a man who had been shown to be an epitome of corruption by collecting funds for contracts that were not executed. ACN said the government’s claim, through Okupe, that it would generate 780,000 jobs in 2013 through the “Young Graduate Employment Scheme” and 5,000 jobs in each of the 36 states through SURE-P was the latest example of the administration’s lies.
“Our advice to the teeming young graduates who have no jobs is that they should not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by this promise. They should remember that this same administration promised to create 10,000 jobs in each of the 36 states through SURE-P in 2012. The year is over and all we have now are phantom jobs and more fake promises,’’ the party said.
It also urged Nigerians to ensure that their generators were in good working condition, as the government’s promise of stable electricity in 2013 was as unrealistic as it was deceitful. “The administration said it has generated an all-time high 4,500MW and will increase the number to 7,000MW in 2013. What a celebration of tokenism! In the first instance, the government should be ashamed to tell Nigerians it has been able to generate only 4,500MW from a huge expenditure of 16 billion dollars!
“Also, no one needs a rocket scientist to know that 4,500MW cannot ensure stable electricity supply in a country of 160 million people, when South Africa, with less than a third of Nigeria’s population, generates over 40,000MW! The party also faulted the administration’s claim that the bombings and killings in the North had decreased from January to December, calling it “fabricated cold comfort and a disservice to millions of our citizens who are daily being subjected to terror attacks, while President Jonathan, now a professional mourner, resorts to endless lamentation instead of decisive action.”
“Well, we are not surprised at the claim of reduced terror attacks by the Jonathan administration. After all, the same administration claimed that global anti-corruption body, Transparency International (TI) acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in fighting corruption, when nothing like that ever happened. “To set the record straight, 750 people have been killed in terror attacks in the North this year, a figure higher than about 570 who were killed in 2011 and not counting the latest killings in Borno and Adamawa states,’’ it said.
ACN advised the Jonathan administration to level up with Nigerians by admitting its failings and rolling up its sleeves, to reverse the “transmogrification” which the president’s transformation agenda had become, instead of relying on a hypocritical spokesman to peddle lies to citizens already reeling under the failure of an impotent government. Lagos, Dec. 30th 2012

Court asked to compel Jonathan to end subsidy


The ground appears to have been prepared for another New Year confrontation between President Goodluck Jonathan and civil rights activists with a stiff opposition by the latter to a suit asking Jonathan to remove totally the subsidy on fuel.
 A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party  in Anambra State, Chief Stanley Okeke, has  filed a suit in which he is asking a Federal High Court to compel the President to remove fuel subsidy.
 Okeke is also asking the court to compel Jonathan to return to the Federation Account “such money earlier appropriated and or approved for the payment of fuel subsidy.”
 The suit was filed on December 21.
 But the Save Nigeria Group said the suit was a grand plot to deceive Nigerians, while human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, vowed that civil society organisations would oppose Okeke and what the suit represents “vehemently”.
An elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, also described the suit as a “dubious diversion.” 
Okeke, in the suit in which he listed the defendants as Jonathan; the Minister of Petroleum, Diezeni Allison-Madueke; and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the subsidy fund was unjustifiable in the face of corruption in the system, perennial fuel shortage and long queues in the country.
 The only way to stop abuse of the fuel subsidy scheme is the removal of the policy by the Federal Government, according to the plaintiff in a 27-paragraph affidavit deposed in support of the suit.
 He is also asking the court for an order directing Okonjo-Iweala to stop further payment of fuel subsidy, submitting that the payments had been corrupt, illegal and unlawful.
 The PDP chief asked the court to determine the following questions:
 *Whether in view of the official corruption and abuse of office inherent in the fuel subsidy regime as evidenced by the in-going trial of certain individuals in the Federal High Court Lagos, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is validly competent to order the removal and or abolish the fuel subsidy scheme;
 *Whether consequent upon the perennial fuel shortages and the attendant long queues on our roads, it would be proper and lawful for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to completely remove and abolish the fuel subsidy regime;
 *Whether having regards to the near infrastructural collapse in our country, it would be proper to re-channel funds meant fuel subsidy scheme into the building of infrastructural facilities, and;
 *Whether the 2nd and 3rd defendants being appointees of the President by not ensuring a corrupt free subsidy regime has not failed in their principal duty to Nigerians.
 No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.
 Spokesman for the SNG, Yinka Odumakin, told The PUNCH on Sunday night that the suit was a gameplan to increase the prices of petroleum products in the New Year.
Odumakin said, “This is a nation of organised grand deception. President Goodluck Jonathan said there would not be fuel subsidy removal. What is happening is an orchestrated plan to increase fuel price.
“The action is like a case of the witch crying yesterday and the following day, the child is dead. Who will not know it is the witch that killed the baby?”
He said the SNG’s last protest was not about subsidy removal but the corruption in the system.
“The President should know that Nigerians are not idiots. We are waiting for them,” he said.
Falana told one of our correspondents on the telephone that, “We are going to oppose the suit vehemently and totally. We and other civil society organisations will join the suit to oppose the plaintiff and the interests being represented.
“The President has already declared in his Presidential chat that he was not going to remove subsidy on fuel. It is very clear that Nigerians are opposed to any further removal of subsidy on fuel.
“Nigerians cannot be punished for the fraud and the criminality of smugglers that have characterised the fuel subsidy regime.
“The cases being referred to by the plaintiff are still in court, nobody has been convicted so far.”
Braithwaite said, “The fuel subsidy itself is a swindle on the national treasury, by which trillions of naira and billions of dollars are stolen by those in government and their accomplices who are easily identifiable by the hapless masses.
“However, a lawsuit in the present corrupt environment of Nigeria is yet another dubious diversion to buy time for the cruel and oppressive governments in Nigeria.”
Braithwaite said Nigerians had a responsibility to hold ‘King Corruption’ accountable in the people’s own court and to recover the loot.
 Another human rights activist, Jiti Ogunye, said the suit could be an “arrangee case” that would not be opposed by the President and other agents of the Federal Government.
He said, “Is an order of mandamus, as a prerogative writ in administrative or constitutional law, or an order like that lies to compel the performance of a public duty? The answer is no. It is a policy issue that is not justiciable in court of law.
 “We hope that this is not an ‘arrangee case’ since the defendants – the President and other agents of the Federal Government – might not be willing to oppose the suit.
 “We also hope that the Nigerian Labour Congress and other civil society groups, who fought bitterly in January to oppose the removal of subsidy on fuel, are watching. We encourage them to join the suit as interested parties so that it will not be a cut-and-dry case between the plaintiff and the Federal Government.”

Saturday, December 29, 2012

+ Police detain woman for tearing maid’s private part with razor

A middle aged woman, simply identified as Uchenna is cooling her feet at the Onitsha Police Area Command for breaking her maid’s hand and tearing her private part with razor blade. Saturday Sun gathered that the woman allegedlly used a pestle to break her maid’ left hand and inflicted very deep cuts in her private part with a razor blade in the commercial city of Onitsha

The incident took place at Osuma Street where the victim, Chisom Nwafor is living with her mistress before she was attacked by the suspect. Narrating her ordeal, Chisom, a 10 year old girl from Enugu-Abo in Enugu State said her mistress returned to the house last Sunday morning and started beating her and used razor blade on her private parts. “I was changing her daughter’s dress because she urinated on it.

My madam entered and started shouting on top of her voice and she immediately rushed into the kitchen and collected pestle and hit me severally on my back and she hit me again and broke my left hand, I fell and she entered her room and took a razor blade, tore my pant and started tearing my private part after which she poured pepper inside my private part which was bleeding” she said. Speaking on the incident, the Onitsha Area Commander, Benjamin Wordu described the incident as highest level of inhumanity and said the suspect would pay for her actions.

Mr. Wordu warned parents to always give birth to children they can train instead of giving them out to such women he described as devil incarnates who maltreat vulnerable children under their care. Meanwhile, the suspect, Uchenna shouting from the police cell, denied using razor blade on the victim when this reporter visited the police station.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Ndigbo and the presidency

Ndigbo and the presidency















BY NWOBODO CHIDIEBERE “
A society that puts freedom before equality will get neither. A society that puts equality before freedom will get a high degree of both.”- Milton Friedma n2015 is still far from now, but it seems like an average Nigerian politician is not interested in what he would use the political office he is occupying to do for the Nigerian masses that elected him! Nigerian politicians think more of the next election; not the next generation!
President Goodluck Jonathan recently told members of his cabinet and aides not to get involved in politics of 2015 now to avoid being distracted from the transformational goal of his administration; which is to fulfill the electoral promises made to Nigerian during the electioneering campaign; but his body language has shown that 2015 power game has started in earnest! His victory during the 2011 general election was as a result of the massive and unreserved support given to him by Ndigbo both home and in Diaspora.
Ndigbo are still waiting expectantly to see the fulfillment of those promises made to them by President Goodluck Jonathan which included but not limited to: construction of second Niger Bridge; upgrading Enugu Airport to international status, dredging of River Niger, additional state to South-east geo-political zone. I was flabbergasted and puzzled when I heard the so-called Igbo leaders endorsing President Jonathan even when Mr. President is yet to declare his intentions to run for re-election in 2015! Before I proceed, I will like to ask Ndigbo some pertinent questions: are we going into political extinction in Nigeria?
When are we going to stop playing second fiddle in the affairs of this nation? Can Ndigbo continue to throw their support at someone even when he has not solicited for the support by not making his intentions on 2015 known yet at the detriment of their own ambition of having Nigerian president of Igbo extraction come 2015? When shall we Igbos stop being at the mercy of other people in this country? When shall Ndigbo stop approaching politics with the mindset of a beggar; instead of seeing themselves as major stakeholders in the power game of this entity called Nigeria?
What impression are we giving to our children and children unborn that; we are spectators; not players in political matrix of this nation? Are we indirectly telling other tribes that Ndigbo can be easily bought over by mere political appointments? Answers to these thought-provoking questions will go a long way in shaping the destiny and political future of Ndigbo. At the risk of being seen as a critic of Mr. president, I personally campaigned and voted for President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2011 general elections, because we the Igbo youths saw him as a symbol of change and breath of fresh air; which he used as one of his campaign slogans during the elections.
I am not against Ndigbo endorsing Goodluck Jonathan as our candidate come 2015, but it is not in the best interest of Ndigbo to endorse someone who has not declared to vie for re-election in 2015, it would portray Ndigbo as political neophytes who are at the verge of committing political suicide! Some of those parading themselves as Igbo leaders who go about endorsing someone prematurely are not doing so for the interest of Ndigbo in general; but to achieve their personal aggrandizement through political appointments and securing of juicy contracts from the Presidency!
The attention of Igbo youth has been drawn to the way Igbo political office holders are being disgraced out of office with no just cause, the recent forced resignation of Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji can attest to that! Martin Luther King Jnr said, “There is a time when silence becomes a betrayal”, there is a time when silence is not golden! The time has come for Igbo youths to stand up against the injustice being meted to Igbo political office holders by those who see Nigerian as animal farm owned by their fathers!
The former national Chairman of PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo was made to resign the way nearly Prof. Barth Nnaji did by those who see Igbos as third class citizens; not even second class citizens in this Lord Lugard’s forced marriage called Nigerian! Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo was made to live office after working tirelessly day and night to organize the most transparent, freest and fairest presidential primary ever held in the history of PDP! He stirred the ship of the party in one of the most turbulent period the party has ever witnessed when the issue zoning was ravaging PDP like wild fire!
He also tamed the roaring lion called zoning that nearing tore PDP apart and also gave Mr. President a soft landing that enabled him to contest and won the party’s ticket against PDP’s zoning arrangement when Dr. Nwodo made a historic statement that, “PDP retains zoning; but Jonathan is free to contest.” After all this effort, the only thing those who see Igbos as outcast used in paying him back was to ensure his exit as the chairman of the party! If the present chairman of the party is a little bit unlucky to have come from South-east, the arraignment of his son in the subsidy scam could have ensured his exit as the chairman of the party! If Doyin Okupe is an Igbo man, the alleged involvement of his company in a contract scam could have prompted the president to sack him; but he is still there as if nothing happened!
The present Minister of petroleum, under whose nose the highest scam in the history of Nigeria was committed is still there in the office as if she does not give a damn! The Board of NNPC was dissolved, but she was retained as the chairman of the present Board, what an irony! If it were Prof. Barth Nnaji, they will describe it as conflict of interest! This is marginalization to the highest order! Even in family, conflict of interest do occur sometimes between a man and his wife or father and son. Can a man divorce his wife because of a little conflict of interest? A company belonging to one of the ex-militant leaders was handed over the security of our maritime industry through a fictitious concessionary agreement backed by an executive fiat from Aso Rock, but on one raised an eye brow!
Please, I would like to know whether conflict of interest has a different dictionary meaning when an Igbo man is involved? The time has come for all Igbos in this forced union called Nigeria to stand up for their rights, because, all men were born equal in rights and dignity,” apologies to Martin Luther king jnr. 2015 represents a very critical period in the political life of Ndigbo, we can not give out our support to any person or group again until the injustice being done against Igbo race is reversed!
The conditions for Jonathan to regain the confidence and, possibly, the support of Ndigbo in particular, and Nigerians in general are: Immediate convocation of a sovereign national conference. Performing positively in office to fulfill his electoral promises, not just for us, the Igbos, but for every Nigerian. The appointment of an Igbo man as the Minister of FCT. Since the history of Nigeria, an Igbo man has never being appointed as the Minister of FCT! More than 60% of properties and businesses being owned and operated in Abuja are run by Igbos!
This prompted the former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to describe Abuja as the 6th State of Ndigbo; because higher dominance of the city. Igbos are highest tax payers in FCT, but Igbos have no say in the day-day running of Abuja! Majority of the houses being demolished in Abuja are owned by Ndigbo! A particular ethnic group has been dominating the affairs of FCT administration for several decades now! Ending corruption and fuel importation in Nigeria. Ending the Menace of Boko Haram, kidnapping and other vices in Nigeria.
The major concern of the South-east can be best addressed, positively and concretely, through a sovereign national conference; but not through recurring empty and unfulfilled promises. Unfortunately, Igbo leaders are only interested in routing for whoever awards them contracts or offer them political appointments. We do not have to be president in 2015 in order to solve our teething problems. We have cried of marginalization in the military.
Now, Ihejirika is the Chief of Army staff, yet our long standing problems remain as they ever have been since 1970. The sectional cry alone by the Igbo leaders is not the way to go. Igbos should work with the south-west and South-South to insist on getting to the bottom of this issue permanently through having in place. Equal number of states for all the 6 zones in the country (7 states per zone, for a total of 42). Zonal retention of 50% Derivation (Not 13%) Uni-camera National Assembly. The senate only (3 Senators from the each of the 42 states, for a total of 126).
Zonal House of Representatives and House of Traditional Rulers to make laws for each zone, thus establishing some zonal autonomy on defined specific issues that should be out of the Federal control, eg. Zonal (Regional)police (but not state police), zonal VAT and Taxation, Agriculture, Education, Health, Housing, Environment, Energy supply, Social welfare, etc. While the Federal Government would retain the Senate and takes care of issues like: Foreign Affairs, Military, Petroleum and Mineral resources, Customs and Exercise, Transport and Aviation, Commerce and Industry, Judiciary, Internal Affairs, etc. For certain reasons (that border on stability the Nigerian Senate), there should not yet be any zonal or Regional Executive Government.
The state Executive Governors and the state legislative would remain they are. A well established definition of citizenship of Nigerians and code of conduct enlisted in the Federal and Zonal constitutions, that must include Death penalty or life imprisonment for financial fraud. This political structure is what I personally and honestly believe would help stabilize Nigeria for now and give Ndigbo a sense of belonging in the affairs of this great nation, Nigeria! If we can have this structure up and running through a sovereign national conference before 2015, then President Jonathan can go for re-election then, Igbos will give him massive support more than the one we gave him in 2011 election. Chidiebere writes from Abuja.

Nigeria: Implacable fire rips through Lagos market


Fire ripped through Jankara market in Lagos Island, Nigeria’s largest city Wednesday morning and wounded at least 30 people after a huge explosion rocked a building believed to be storing fireworks, officials said.
The blast and fire led to panic in the densely packed area of Lagos, a city of some 15 million people, with residents jumping from windows to flee and others salvaging goods from their shops in the market’s neighbourhood.
Fireworks continued to explode well after the fire began while smoke was heavy and the blaze intense, making it difficult for rescue workers and firefighters to approach the scene.
Some reports said the fire broke out when a small boy ignited a firecracker popularly known as ‘knockout,’ which hit some of the stocks of unsold fireworks in the building.
Within minutes of the explosion, the fire spread to a nearby building, sending hundreds of residents, traders and shoppers fleeing in the usually boisterous market area.
No fewer than eight multi-storey buildings and 10 cars were consumed as the raging fire spread, aided by the dry harmattan wind.
Huge crowds gathered in the area, including onlookers and those seeking to help, according to news agency reports.
Residents rushed to help firefighters as they neared the fire, bringing containers of water and helping carry hoses, but the volatile situation made it difficult.
“We have treated up to 30 people so far,” Red Cross worker Nicolas Adesile told AFP at the scene, adding there had not been any reports of deaths.
One man treated for a cut on his leg said he jumped from his building to escape.
“I had to jump from the first floor to save my life,” he said.
Officials were seeking to confirm further details on the incident, with the force of the explosion so strong that rumours even spread over whether there had been a plane crash.
The National Emergency Management Agency said fire was believed to have caused the explosion at a shop storing fireworks. The shop was severely damaged and crumbling.
“NEMA has mobilised response agencies and volunteers to an explosion in a building suspected to be loaded with (fireworks) in the Jankara area of Lagos,” agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib said in a statement.
“Search and rescue officers of NEMA (are) having hectic time to reach the place due to traffic and crowds,” he said.
Jankara, home to a large market, is located in the Lagos Island area, among the oldest and most densely packed neighbourhoods in the city.
Fireworks are popular in Nigeria during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Chime attended 17 events in five years – Investigation


Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime

A content analysis of newspapers reports of Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime’s programmes and activities since he became governor on May 29, 2007, on Tuesday showed that he had attended only 17 events out of a possible 111 physically.
Our correspondent and statisticians in Enugu State, who had shown concern for the governor’s failing health, especially since he had been on a hospital bed in India for more than three months, coded the data findings.
The data showed that commissioners in the state had always represented Chime on occasions, and Chime had always come “very late” to the few events he attended.
It is on record though, that the Enugu State governor attended every of his electioneering rallies and campaigns in 2007 and 2011.
He, however, collapsed in March 2011 during a campaign rally in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
“Before collapsing in Nsukka in 2011, he had relapsed twice in Enugu, in 2008 and in 2009,” said a protocol officer at the Enugu State Government House.”
The protocol officer, who sought protection of his identity, said, “Most people have always blamed the governor’s absence from events on other things. The true situation is that the medical team has to be very sure that the governor is medically sound before he goes out for an event.
“The medical team had been embarassed several times when the governor kept falling at events and the protocol, security and aides had to block him so that many people would not notice.”
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, despite reports in the media that the governor is recuperating in an India hospital after being transferred from a London Hospital, has continued to claim that all was well with Chime.
Ugwoke had refused to speak and would not reply any text message from our correspondent.
When the story of Chime’s ill health and absence from the state first broke in the October 14, 2012 edition of the Sunday PUNCH, Ugwoke had said, “Chime was enjoying his vacation, the first he has taken since he was sworn into office five years ago.
“Chime had actually presided over the State Executive Council meeting on September 18, 2012 where he announced to all the members that he was proceeding on his annual leave and constitutionally handed over the reins of power to his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, who is today the Acting Governor of the state.”
The commissioner had further pointed out that, “Chime also attended a meeting of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum in Abuja on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 and travelled out the next day on his vacation,” adding that, “all these facts are verifiable.”
He had added, “Having said all these, we want to reaffirm that the Government of His Excellency, Sullivan Chime, will continue to promote freedom of expression while also maintaining its cherished reputation of civility and accommodation of all shades of opinion, including constructive criticisms from the media and other quarters.”

Buhari bares it all (The SUN exclusive)


The SUN exclusive: Buhari bares  it all

•I won’t forget what IBB did to me, although I’ve forgiven him
•I’ve not forgiven Obasanjo
•My civil war experiences
•No regret shooting cocaine pushers
From ERIC OSAGIE and PAULINUS AIDOGHIE, Abuja
Ever since the Supreme Court ruled on the 2011 presidential election, former Head of State and candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari, has always refused to grant an elaborate interview on his experiences and feelings.
However, on the auspicious occasion of his 70th birthday, Buhari has finally spoken. In an exclusive interview with Saturday Sun, he talked about his growing up days, experiences in the Army, his emergence as head of state when he never participated in any coup, the 1966 coup and the counter-coup, the General Ibrahim Babangida coup that swept him out of office, the execution of cocaine traffickers, Decree 4 and the controversial ‘53 suitcases’ that allegedly came into the country during his government.
He also spoke about his relationship with General Babangida, who he said he had forgiven, although he would not forget what he did to him and his plan for the 2015 elections, among others.
Excerpts:
What kind of childhood did you have?
Well, from my father’s side, we are Fulanis. You know the Fulanis are really divided into two. There are nomads, the ones that if you drive from Maiduguri and many parts of the North you will find. They are even in parts of Delta now. And there are those who settled. They are cousins and the same people actually. From my mother’s side and on her father’s side, we are Kanuris from Kukawa.
Where’s Kukawa?
Kukawa is in Borno State. We are Kanuris. On her mother’s side, we are Hausas. So, you can see I am Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri combined (he laughs).  I am the 23rd child of my father.  Twenty-third  and the 13th on my mother side. There are only two of us remaining now; my sister and I. I went to school, primary school, in Daura and Kaduna, also a primary school, in Kachia. I also attended Kaduna Provincial  Secondary School, now Government College. I didn’t work for a day. I joined the military in 1962.
You mean as a boy soldier?
No, after school certificate. There was an officer cadet school from here in Kaduna, called Nigeria Military Training College then. In April 1962, I went to the United Kingdom (UK), Mons Officers Cadet School.
You mean the famous Mons Officers…?
Yes. And when I was commissioned, I came back and I was posted to 2nd Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta. That was my first posting. The battalion was in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I went there. When I came back from there, I was first in Lagos, as Transport Officer. That was where I was till the January coup. I was posted back to my battalion and we were posted to Kaduna here. And then, there was a counter coup, civil war, coup and counter-coup. We participated. I too was overthrown and detained for more than three years. And having had that major political setback when I was made a head of state and then, ended up in detention, I went out and eventually, I decided to join party politics, participated three times and lost as presidential candidate and I am still in and fighting.
You have never given up?
Even though I said at some stage that I wouldn’t present myself for candidature again, I said I remain in party politics as long as I have breath in me.
Your Excellency, why did you join the Army?
The interest was built while I was in secondary school. The emirs of Katsina, from Dikko, were known to be interested in the military. They always have members of the military or police in their family right from World War 11. One of the emirs of Kaduna-Dikko died in Burma. And of course, everybody in the country knows General Hassan, the son of the Emir of Katsina. He was grandson of Emir Dukko. So, when General Hassan was in Sandhurst, we were in secondary school in Kaduna. His father, the Emir of Katsina, Usman Nagogo, used to ask him to go and talk to the senior students who were in form four to six, to get them interested in the military. And we were told that he deliberately wanted a military cadet unit in Kaduna Secondary School. Then, it was limited to Federal Government Colleges or Government Colleges and we had a military cadet unit, which I joined.
That was the transition?
That was where the interest started.
Did your parents object to it?
No. Well, I didn’t know my father really.
Oh! How old were you when he died?
I think I was about three, four years? I couldn’t remember his face. The only thing I could recall about my father was the horse because it threw me down. We were on the horse with one of my half brothers going to water it and then, it tripped and I fell. It stepped on me. So, that is the only  impression I have of him.  That is the only thing I could recall.
What of your mother?
Oh! my mother died in 1988 when I was in detention.
Ok, I remember then the controversy of allowing you to go and see her buried. Did they eventually allow you?
No.
Then it was quite an issue …
Yeah, it became an issue; so I was immediately released after she was buried.
You didn’t see her buried?
No.
It was after you were released you then went to her grave and all that?
Exactly!
What kind of childhood did you then have?
Well, you know communities then were living communal life. Clearly, I could recall I reared cattle. We had cattle; we had sheep and then, there was good neighbourhood. Not many children had the opportunity to go to school, but I went to school. I left home at the age of 10 or 11 and went to school, like I said. And I was in the boarding school for nine years. In primary school and secondary school, I was in the boarding house and from there, I went straight into the Army.
So, you have always been on your own?
In those days,  there were not many schools and the teachers then were professionals. They were working teachers and were committed. And teachers then treated the children as if they were their own students. You were made to work and if you don’t, they never spared the cane really. So, I was lucky to be in the boarding school for my impressionable years, nine years. I was very lucky.
Did you play any pranks as a young person?
Oh, certainly!
What where the things you did?
(Laughs) I wouldn’t like to mention them.
Tell us some of them…
We used to raid the emir’s orchard for mangoes mainly. Of course, unfortunately we were caught and punished.
When people talk of Buhari today, they are looking at a disciplined man. Was it the boarding house that put you through that or the military?  Was the boarding house part of where you got your Spartan, disciplined life?
Both did. As I told you, the teachers then treated their students as if they were their own children. So, we got the best of attention from teachers. And as I told you, they never spared the cane. You were meant to do your homework; you were meant to do the sports and clean up the environment, the compound and the area of the school and so on. And from that type of life, I moved into the military, the military of that time.
Would you say going into the military was the best thing that ever happened to you?
I think so, because from primary to secondary school and in the military, it will continue, both the academic and the physical one. I think it was so tough, but then, once it was inbuilt, it has to be sustained because you don’t contemplate failure.
You just succeed? Does it mean failure was not an option?
No. It was not.
Was it also the Fulani training of perseverance? Because when you have reared cattle, for those who have been doing it, they said it toughens you…
It did.
The sun is there, the rain and you are there with your cattle…
The period was remarkable, in the sense that those who are brought up in the city have limited space. If you are in a confined school, you learn from the school and what you see immediately. But the nomad life exposes you to nature. You will never learn enough of plants, of trees, of insects and of animals. Everyday you are learning something.
You have seen them and everyday you are learning. You will never know all of them. So, it is so vast that it takes a lot of whatever you can think of. And then, the difference again in the environment. In the Savannah, in the Sahel, after harvest, you can always see as high as your eyes can go. And then, at night when there is moon, it is fantastic. So, I enjoyed those days and they made a lasting impression in me.

What are the remarkable things you can think of during your military trainings?
Initially, from here in Kaduna, at the end of your training, the height of the field exercise was then conducted in two places. Here in southern Kaduna and somewhere in Kachia area. There was a thick belt in that forest. You go for field firing and so on. And then you go to Jos for map reading and endurance. That was why mathematics at that level, the secondary school level, geometry and algebra, were absolutely necessary. It had always been,  because to be a competent officer, you may be deployed to be in charge of artillery;  physics, where you help find your position. Wherever you are from, you work it on the ground in degrees and so on. You have to do some mathematics.
We were in Jos. Again, I was made a leader of a small unit. We were given a map, a compass and you dare not cheat. If you are found out, you are taken 10 miles back. So, you have to go across the country. You find your way from the map; you go to certain points and on those points, mostly hills, you climb them and you will get a box. The weather there is cold. You put your own coat and you cover it over the hills and at the end of the exercise, part of your scorecards, are those marks you won or you lost. We arrived with one compass, which led us to a certain bushy hill.
In Jos?
Yes, in Jos. And it was night, dark and it was raining lightly and definitely, our compass led us to that hill, which means there was a point there. And there were five of us: myself, one Sierra Leonean or Ghanaian, one from Sokoto, and one other. I think the other person is Katsina Alu, the former Chief Justice.
You mean he was in the military?
He was. He did the training but he was never commissioned.  He went to university and did Law. I went up to the hill. I picked the box. I copied the code, and I said if I were forced to join the Army, I would have left the following day because that place, a viper or a snake or something or hyena or lion could have finished me. But I said if I run away the following day, people would say well we knew you couldn’t make it, we knew you would be lazy. But because I voluntarily joined the Army, I said I have to be there. That is one point. The second one was when I was in training in the UK. I came there and we were drilled so much and at night again, we were on an exercise. We were putting our formation. In anyway position was created, and they fired at us. We went down automatically that day and by the time the commander asked us to move, I fell asleep. It must be few seconds, not up to a minute. That was how exhausted I was.
Was it really the cold or what?
It was cold. It was 1962. It was cold and it was rainy again just like in Plateau. Just between the time we went down and to move and climb the mountain, I fell asleep. So, those two moments, I would never forget them.
Who were your classmates in the military and in the officers’ training in the UK?
Well, the late Gen. Yar’Adua. I was together with him throughout the nine years primary, secondary school and in the military.
So, you have always been colleagues…?
We were together from childhood.
Ok, that is interesting. Who else?
Well, not the ones that are here. In the military, most of them did not reach the position I reached; myself, and Yar’Adua. They couldn’t make it.
Why did you choose the infantry and not the other arms? What was the attraction?
Maybe it was the training of the cadet unit in secondary school. I found the infantry much more challenging and when we were doing the training, the Federal Government decided that we were going to have the Air Force. So, I was invited. A team came from the Ministry of Defence to interview cadets that wanted to be  fighter pilots in the Air Force. I was the first to be called in our group. I appeared before them and they told me that those who could pass the interview would be recommended to go to the Air Force training either in the UK, some went to Ethiopia or United States or Germany. So, they asked me whether I wanted to be a fighter pilot and I said no. They asked why, and I said I wasn’t interested. We were given three choices. Number one, maybe you went to infantry; number two, you went to reconnaissance then before they became armour and later, maybe artillery. So, all my three choices, I could recall vividly, I put infantry, infantry. So, they said why? I said because I liked infantry. And they asked if I wouldn’t like to be a fighter pilot. I said no, I didn’t want to join them. They said why. I said I hadn’t done physics. Normally, I did some mathematics but to be a fighter pilot, you must do some physics. They said no, that it was no problem, that I could have an additional one academic year. So, since I had some  mathematics background, it was just one year purely to do physics and I would reach the grade required to be a pilot. I said no, I didn’t want it. They again asked why. I told them I chose infantry. The reason is: when I am fighting and I was shot at, if I was not hit, I can go down, turn back and take off by foot. They laughed and sent me out. So, I remained infantry officer.
Where were you during the coups and counter-coups? And what rank were you in the military then?
I was in Lagos, in the barracks, as transport officer. I was only a second lieutenant.
That was during the January 15, 1966 coup?
Yes, January 15, 1966.
The coup met you in Lagos?
Yes. I think that was my saddest day in the military because I happened to know some of the senior officers that were killed. In the transport company, after the 2nd Battalion and we came back, I was posted to Lagos to be a transport officer and in my platoon, we had staff cars and Landrovers. So, I knew the Army officers, from Ironsi, Maimalari, because I detailed vehicles for them every working day. So, I knew senior officers.
So, you were in contact with them?
I was in contact with them somehow because I was in charge of transportation.
Where were you that night of January 15 coup?
I was in Lagos.
Can you recall the circumstance, how you got to know?
The way I got to know was, my routine then was as early as about six in the morning, I used to drive to the garage to make sure that all vehicles for officers,  from the General Officer Commanding (GOC), who was then General Ironsi, were roadworthy and the drivers would drive off. And then, I would go back to the Officers Mess in Yaba, where I would wash, have my breakfast and come back to the office. And around the railway crossing in Yaba, coming out from the barracks, we saw a wounded soldier. I stopped because I was in a Landrover. I picked him and asked what happened. He said he was in the late Maimalari’s house and they were having a party the previous night and the place was attacked. So, I took the soldier to the military hospital in Yaba and I asked after the commander. Maimalari, I think, was commander of 2 Brigade in Apapa. He was the 2 Brigade Commander. They said he was shot and killed.
Then, you didn’t know it was a coup?
Well, that became a coup. That was the time I really learnt it was a coup.
And then there was a counter-coup of July?
Yes, July.
Where were you at this time also?
I was in Lagos again. I was still in Lagos then at Apapa at 2 Brigade Transport Company.
And then, there was ethnic colouration and all that. And at a point, they asked some of you to go back to the North. Am I correct?
Yes, because I was posted back then to the battalion. That was in Abeokuta. It was first to Ikeja Cantonment, but after the counter-coup, we were taken to Lagos by train, the whole battalion.
Did you play any role in the counter-coup?
No! Not that I will tell you.
You know at 70, you are reminiscing. You are saying it the way it is, you don’t give a damn anymore…
Well, there was a coup. That is all I can tell you. I was a unit commander and certainly, there was a breakdown of law and order. So, I was posted to a combatant unit, although 2 Brigade Transport Company was a combatant unit. You know there were administrative and combatant units and the service unit, like health, education. Even transport, there are administrative ones, but there are combatant ones also.
The question I asked was, did you play any specific role?
No. I was too junior to play any specific role. I was just a lieutenant then. In 1966, January, I was a Second Lieutenant, but I was promoted, I think, around April, May, or June to Lieutenant.
And what were your impressions of that period?
You see, senior military officers had been killed and politicians, like Sardauna, Akintola, Okotie Eboh. They were killed. And then in the military, Maimalari, Yakubu Pam, Legima, Shodeinde, and Ademolegun; so really, it had a tribal tinge.
The first one?
Yes. And then, there was a counter.
One mistake gave birth to another one?
Certainly, certainly.
And then long years of military came?
Oh yes.
From 1967-75, it was Gowon. At that point in time, where were you?
When Gowon came into power, I wonder whether I would recall where I was. It was July 1967 that Gowon came in. That was when I was in Lagos. I was again in Lagos, then in the transport company.
Then he took over?
Yeah, Gowon took over or Gowon was installed.
Well, more like you…
(Laughs) Yes.
And then in 1967?
Civil war.
So, you have to give me that part because there are some books I have read, that featured your name. So, what were your experiences during the civil war?
Well, I told you that we were parked into the rail to Kaduna from Ikeja, 2nd Infantry Battalion and when states were created by General Gowon, police action was ordered; we were moved to the border in the East. We were not in Nsukka, but in Ogoja. We started from Ogoja.
And you took active part?
Yeah. Well, I was a junior officer.
Who was your GOC then?
My GOC was the late General Shuwa.
How did you feel during that period of the civil war? Did you think that when the first coup started,  that civil war would just come?
No. I never felt so and I never hoped for it. Literally, you are trained to fight a war but you are not trained to fight a war within your own country. We would rather have enemies from outside your country to defend your country, but not to fight among yourselves.
Some of those officers you were fighting were your comrades…
They were.
You knew some of them.
Some of them were even my course mates. We were facing each other, like when we were in Awka sector. The person facing me was called Bob Akonobi. We were mates here.
Robert Akonobi?
Robert Akonobi.
Who later became a governor?
Yes. He was my course mate here in Kaduna.
And there you were…
Facing each other.
It was really crazy.
It was. It was unfortunate, but it is part of our national development.
And the way we are going, you think it is a possibility again?
I don’t think so. No, I don’t think so.
After Gowon, Murtala came.
Yes.
By the time you were no longer a small officer…
No. I was just, I think, a colonel? Was it a lieutenant colonel or major? I think I was a lieutenant colonel.
But during the Obasanjo administration, you had become a minister, as it were.
No. I first became a governor when Murtala came, in North-East.
This same North East that is giving problem now.
Yes. I was there and there were six states then: Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba.
And they were all under your control or command?
North East went up to Chad; anyway, they are on the same latitude with Lagos. The bottom before you start going on the Plateau, Mambilla Plateau, if you look here on the map, the same latitude was in Lagos and then, up to Chad. That was the extent of the whole North East.
Now, some of them can’t govern even one state…
They are now six states.
I know, but you governed six states and now, some of them have problems with one state…
Yes.
What were the challenges you faced governing the North East as a military governor?
Actually, at that time, because of competent civil service… I was a military man but once you get to the rank of a lieutenant-colonel, after major, you are being taught some management courses. It needs a few weeks for somebody who has gone through the military management training, you have junior staff college, senior staff college; by that time, you will have enough experience for most administrative jobs because you must have had enough of the combat ones. I think I didn’t have much problem. And then, the competent civil servants. Civil servants then were very professional.
And not political as we have them now?
No. They were really professionals and they can disagree with you on record, on issues.
They were not afraid to make recommendations to the military governor or administrator?
No, they were never. People like the late Liman Ciroma, Waziri Fika, who was eventually Secretary to the Government of Babangida. And the late Abubakar Umar, who was Secretary to the Government of Bauchi State; and the late Moguno. They were real professionals, committed technocrats.
So, you didn’t really have much challenges?
No, not much challenges.
There was no insecurity then, like we have in the North East today?
No, the police then, with their Criminal Investigation Department (CID), were very, very competent. They interacted closely with the people. So, criminals in the locality were easily identified and put under severe surveillance. And really, there was relative peace in the country.
What were your major achievements in the North East as governor?
I think the way the state was divided into three; if you remember, it became Borno, Bauchi and Gongola. So, the way we divided the assets, including the civil service and so on, I think it was one of our achievements because it was so peaceful then. We had a committee on civil service.
And eventually you became minister of petroleum under Obasanjo?
Yes.
That was the only ministry you held under Obasanjo?
Yes.
During your time as petroleum minister, what were you doing differently that they are not doing now that has made the  sector totally rotten?
Well, I was lucky again. When I was made a minister, I met an experienced man, a person of great personal integrity,  the late Sunday Awoniyi.  He was the permanent secretary then before the Supreme Military Council approved the merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and  made Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Sunday Awoniyi was then the permanent secretary of the ministry. That was when I was sworn in eventually, I think in 1977, it became NNPC when the ministry and the NNOC were merged. He retired from the civil service. Another competent technocrat, Morinho, he became the Director of Petroleum Resources and he had a very competent team of Nigerian engineers, petroleum engineers and chemical engineers. And as minister of petroleum, I signed the contract for Warri Refinery, for Kaduna Refinery, for more than 20 depots all over the country, for laying of pipelines, more than 3200 kilometers and I couldn’t recall Nigeria borrowing a kobo for those projects. And then, by the time I became head of state, because I went to War College in the United States before the military handed over to the Second Republic and came back in 1980 and then, there was coup at the end of 1983. And that time, you can verify from Professor Tam David-West who was Minister of Petroleum Resources. We were exporting 100,000 barrels per day of refined products.
Exporting from the country?
Yes, refined one.
Refined one, not the raw one they are taking to import to…?
No.
100, 000 barrels?
Yes. Because we had four refineries then.
They have all collapsed…
Well, that is the efficiency of the subsequent governments!
You achieved so much success and all that. But there was an issue that became quite contentious: N2.8billion. They said N2.8billion oil money was missing.
It couldn’t have been missing. The governor of the Central Bank then, the late Clement Isong, said it was ridiculous, that N2.8billion couldn’t be missing because he said even the king of Saudi Arabia, couldn’t issue a cheque of N2.8billion. When you have paid your money for petroleum, they are normally put in the country’s external account and no bank will release that amount of money at a go because it was deposited. And then, at that time, Nigeria was exporting about 1.82 million barrels a day. And the cost of barrel a day was about $18. You work out N2.8billion. How could N2.8billion be missing and we still have money to run the country? So, it was just a political…
How did that issue come about? What happened and how did you feel during that period?
No, no. Shagari did the only honourable thing. He ordered a judicial enquiry and put a serving Justice of the Supreme Court, the late Justice Irikefe, to carry out investigation.  And their terms of reference were put there. They said anybody who had an idea of missing N2.8billion, let him come and tell Justice Irikefe. Nobody had any evidence. It was just rubbish. Well, later, Tai Solarin and Professor Awojobi were confronted and Fela, the late Fela, to go and prove their case.  They had no evidence,  most of them took the newspaper  cuttings of their allegations to the tribunal.
As evidence?
As their evidence…Cuttings of newspapers publications where they said N2.8billion was missing. That was their evidence. That was what they took to the Irikefe panel.
And Fela sang about it! Fela was your friend.
He couldn’t have been, because of what Obasanjo regime did to him. Because we were part of Obasanjo regime.

There is one other incident that has also been in the public domain: that Shagari gave you an order and you disobeyed your commander-in-chief. What happened then?
Which order was that?
That he gave you an instruction not to go to war against Chad or something like that?
Well, that was when I became GOC. When I came back from War College, I was in Lagos. Then, 4 Infantry Division was in Lagos, in Ikeja. I was in War College when I was posted there before General Obasanjo’s government handed over to Shagari. So, when I came, after about four months or so, I was posted to Ibadan, to command 2 Infantry Division. And after that, I was posted to Jos to command 3rd Armoured Division. It was when I was there as the GOC that the Chadians attacked some of our troops in some of the islands and killed five of them, took some military hardware and some of our soldiers. Then, I went into Army headquarters and told them then, the Chief of Army Staff then, General Wushishi, why they shouldn’t just allow a country, our neighbour to move into our territory, where we had stationed, to kill our people. So, I moved into Maiduguri, former Tactical Headquarters, and I got them out of the country. Something dramatic happened: I didn’t know I had gone beyond Chad and somehow, Shagari, in the United States, was sent pictures that I was with my troops and had gone beyond Chad, beyond Lake Chad. So, I was given direct order by the president to pull out and I did.
Oh, you did?
I did. I couldn’t have disobeyed the president. So, I handed over the division to Colonel Ogukwe, who was my course mate but was my…
He was in National Population Commission (NPC)?
I think so. Colonel Ogukwe. Yeah, he must have been. I handed over the tactical headquarters to him.
So, you never went against presidential directive?
I couldn’t have. He was the Commander-in-Chief. But maybe it was too slow for them,  for me to withdraw, but you don’t disengage so quickly.
But after that, Shagari was overthrown?
Yes.
Now, they said you were invited to head the government after the coup?
Yes.
As the most senior officer?
Yes.
What really happened because it was not a Buhari coup?
No.
Could we say you never plotted a coup throughout your military career?
No. I didn’t plot a coup.
You were not a coup plotter?
No.
You were invited?
Yes.
Where were you when you were invited?
I was in Jos. They sent a jet to me flown by one of General Gowon’s younger brothers. He was a pilot. He told me that those who conducted the coup had invited me for discussion.
You went to Lagos?
I went to Lagos. I was flown to Lagos. Yes. And they said ok, those who were in charge of the coup had said that I would be the head of state. And I was.
When you made that statement that ‘this generation of Nigerians has no country other than Nigeria,’ for me it was like a JFK statement asking Americans to think of what they  could do for America. Twenty months after, your same colleagues who invited you sacked you. What happened?
They changed their minds.
They changed their minds? So, what happened in between that, because part of what they said when they took over power was that you had become “too rigid, too uncompromising and arrogated knowledge of problems and solutions to yourself and your late deputy, Idiagbon. What really happened?
Well, I think you better identify those who did that and interview them so that they can tell you what happened. From my own point of view, I was the chairman of the three councils, which, by change of the constitution, were in charge of the country. They were the Supreme Military Council, the Executive Council and the National Council of State. I was the chairman of all. Maybe when you interview those who were part of the coup, they will tell you my rigidity and whether I worked outside those organs: the Supreme Military Council, the Council of State and the Council of Ministers.
Before I come to that, there was also this issue of Decree 4, alleged drug peddlers who your regime ordered shot.  Looking back now, do you think you made mistake in those areas?
You see, maybe my rigidity could be traced to our insistence on the laws we made. But we decided that the laws must be obeyed.
But they said it was retroactive.
Yes, they said so. But I think it should be in the archive; we said  that whoever brought in drugs and made Nigeria a transit point committed an offence. These drugs, We We (Indian hemp), is planted here, but the hard drug, cocaine, most Nigerians don’t know what cocaine is. They just made Nigeria a transit point and these people did it just to make money. You can have a certain people who grow Ashisha or We We and so on because it is indigenous. Maybe some people are even alleging that those who want to come for operation, brought the seed and started to grow it in Nigeria. But cocaine, it is alien to our people. So, those who used Nigeria as a transit, they just did it to make money. And this drug is so potent that it destroys people, especially intelligent people. So, the Supreme Military Council did a memo. Of course, I took the memo to the Supreme Military Council and made recommendation and the Supreme Military Council agreed.
There was no dissenting voice?
There was no dissenting in the sense that majority agreed that this thing, this cocaine, this hard drug was earning Nigeria so much bad name in the international community because Nigeria was not producing it, but Nigerians that wanted to make money didn’t mind destroying Nigerians and other youths in other countries just to make money. So, we didn’t need them. We didn’t need them.
But there were pleas by eminent Nigerians not to kill the three men involved in the trafficking?
Pleas, pleas; those that they destroyed did they listen to their pleas for them not to make hard drug available to destroy their children and their communities?
So, it is not something you look back now at 70 and say it was an error?
No, it was not an error. It was deliberate. I didn’t do it as an head of state by fiat. We followed our proper system and took it. If I was sure that the Supreme Military Council then, the majority of them decided that we shouldn’t have done so, we could have reduced it to long sentencing. But people who did that, they wanted money to build fantastic houses, maybe to have houses in Europe and invest. Now, when they found out that if they do it, they will get shot, then they will not live to enjoy at the expense of a lot of people that became mental and became harmful and detrimental to the society and so on, then they will think twice.
Decree 4 was what you used to gag the press?
Decree 4. You people (press), you brought in Nigeria factor into it. When people try to get job or contract and they couldn’t get it, they make a quick research and created a problem for people who refuse to do them the favour. What we did was that you must not embarrass those civil servants.  If you have got evidence that somebody was corrupt, the courts were there. Take the evidence to court; the court will not spare whoever it was. But you don’t just go and write articles that were embarrassing.
But don’t you think you went too far?
What do you mean by going too far?
But you went to the extreme that public officers could do no wrong, as if they were saints. You called the decree ‘Protection of Public Officers Against False Accusation,’ and clamped down on the media.  
Those who did it, the editors, the reporters, we jailed them. But we never closed a whole institution, as others did. We investigated and prosecuted according to the laws, because shutting a newspaper, it is an institution and we lose thousands of jobs. But we found out who made that false report, who was the editor, who okayed it and then, we jailed them.
No regret?
No regret, because we did it according to the laws we made.  We neither closed a whole institution and caused job losses.
Then, you left power, 20 months after…
No. I was sent packing from power.
Ok, you didn’t leave on your own volition?
No.
That is a good one. For Nigerians, they remember War Against Indiscipline you brought. What was the philosophy behind it?
Well, I think we realised that the main problem of Nigeria, then and now, was indiscipline and corruption. When I say we, I mean the Supreme Military Council. Those two, are Nigeria’s Achilles heels. And I believe the Nigeria elite knew it then and they know it now.  So, we started to discipline them. People must realise their level in the society and accept it. If you go and read hard and get a PhD, certainly you will get the best of life than somebody who hasn’t been to school at all or who has been a drop-out. And then, in the public, people must behave responsibly. If you go to bus stops, it is step-by-step or turn-by-turn,  and not to force your way. If you go to bank, you find out if people were there before you. Why can’t you go behind them?
Or you come early and be number one.
Exactly! I think that was accepted. And up till now, I think it is the only thing that survived out of our administration, the queue culture. People accepted it with calmness. And in Lagos, they wouldn’t like to associate themselves with the military, so they call it KAI. That is right. Kick Against Indiscipline. But it is still the same thing. It is the same. The only difference is that one was brought by the military and this one is through democratic system.
When you were eased out of power and you had time to reflect for three years, what did you then see that was wrong?
We gave them the opportunity in the three councils I told you. Those rules are supposed to be in the Nigerian archives, except somebody destroyed them, destroyed the evidence. Otherwise, what did we do wrong to warrant being sacked? For example, when we overthrew the Second Republic, we had what we called the SIP, the Special Investigation Panel that comprised the police, the National Security Organisation (NSO) then and the intelligence community of the military. We did nothing by impulse or ad hoc. We went through the system.
And then, you handed down long jail terms, some 100 years. That was something else.  Why did you do that?
They would never see the daylight again to commit another crime against humanity.
Would you say your detention period made you a new person?
I think I have always been the same person. When I came out, I was amazed, amazed in the sense that people in my immediate constituency didn’t seem to bother about the major setback I had. They were still coming to me, expecting me to help them in a way. Not in terms of material help, because they knew that I didn’t operate any money house or any petroleum bloc or any filling station…
How can you say a whole oil minister like you didn’t have any oil licence?
No. Not one, and not any for any blood relation or anybody close to me. Really, somehow, people in my community felt that I can still help them. But with that setback, I was wondering how. So, the only way for me, I think, was to join  partisan politics so that I can have a platform to speak about the opinion of my constituency, immediate constituency. But the thing that convinced me more than the pressure from immediate locality was the change in 1991, the collapse of the Soviet Union. I have said this so often that an empire in the 20th century, collapsed and a lot of people ran back home, leaving strategic installations behind, like missile sites, nuclear formation and so on. And now, there are about 18 to 19 or 20 republics. It was then that I believed,  personally, in my own assessment, that multi-party democratic system was and is still superior to despotism.
That was your turning point?
That was the turning point. But there is a big caveat: elections must be free and fair! And that is what we need. Elections must be free and fair, otherwise, the whole thing will be something else.
During your tenure, one case kept coming up: the 53 suitcases. You had ordered the border shut and your Aide de Camp (ADC), Major Jokolo, was alleged to have escorted 53 suitcases into the country. What happened? Why were you selective?
There was nothing like 53 suitcases. What happened was that there was my chief of protocol; he is now late. He had three wives, and I think about 12 children. He was in Saudi Arabia as Nigeria Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He was in Libya before, as ambassador and later, he was posted to Saudi Arabia. And then, I appointed him as my chief of protocol and he was coming back. Three wives, about 12 children. And then, by some coincidence, the late Emir of Gwandu, the father of Jokolo, who was my ADC then, was coming back with the same flight. And somehow, some mischievous fellows, everything, including the handbag of maybe, their small daughters, were counted as suitcases. Atiku then was the Commandant of Murtala Muhammed Airport as customs officer. And that day, we were playing squash. Jokolo my ADC and I. At some point, I said to him, ‘Mustapha, is your father not coming back today again?’ He said, ‘yes, sir, he is coming.’  I said, ‘what are you doing here? Why can’t you go and meet your father?’ He said yes, sir. He went to wash and meet his father. I am telling you there was no 53 bags of suitcases. It was a bloody lie. It was a bloody mischief.
So, not that he was detailed?
No, he was not detailed. He was not even about to go. I was the one who made him to go and meet his father. He was a respected emir, in fact, if not the most respected emir in the North then. He was learned, he had fantastic credibility and personal integrity. And this man was just coming on posting with his wives and children and they counted every imaginable thing, they said 53 suitcases.
Was that why Atiku was retired?
I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t think I retired Atiku. I can’t recall because I had nothing against anybody.
But the argument was that the border was ordered shut. So, how did those people then come in?
They came by air. We didn’t stop aircraft coming in. They came by air, from Jedda to Lagos. They didn’t drive through Chad to Maiduguri and… People just say 53 suitcases when all borders had been ordered shut because that is how you can sell your papers.
Then you came into politics and every election you are there. Would you still do politics at 70 years, elective politics, offering yourself for election?
This is what I told the audience that came to listen to my address before we started the campaign for the 2011 elections. But my party and supporters were sending representatives. Up till today, they haven’t stopped. But what I told them was that we are in the process now of reorganising the party and perhaps, come into an alignment with other parties. Whatever the parties decide, whether my party or the new party that align and we are hoping to develop; if they give me the ticket or recommend me, I will consider it. That is the position we are now.
Until you get to that stage you can give a definite answer?
Until we get to that stage, there is no clear answer now. Let’s wait and see.
Is it that you don’t like money? Anytime somebody sees you, they say General Buhari is so austere. What gave you that kind of lifestyle? Nobody is associating you with millions. My reporter here was pointing to one mansion of a former governor who just ruled for eight years. So, how did you develop this frugal lifestyle? Is it that you don’t like good life? How do you unwind? Well, some of us have heard that you used to smoke. Do you still smoke? What are those things you have given up?
I used to smoke, but of course, I abandoned it I think in 1977.
Oh really? Before you became head of state?
Yes, I stopped smoking.
Have you ever taken alcohol?
No.
Never?
Never.
Even as a young man and all that?
No, no. Even in the military tradition, how they break you in, I said well, the military did not stop anybody practising his religion. My religion said no alcohol and no alcohol. So, that was respected. I was never forced to take alcohol and I have never voluntarily taken it because I want to remain alert all the time. There is a tendency that when you drink, you would want to have a bottle more, or a glass more and do something stupid.
As a young man, very handsome because I saw some of your old pictures, did you have women flocking around you? And women like soldiers, people who have power…
I also thought women ought to have taken more interest in me but I don’t know why they didn’t. I must have something they didn’t like. I assure you of that. I didn’t drink, I smoked, I had girlfriends; it was true.
How many did you have?
I hope you won’t publish this because my wife will read the interview. So, you will be very kind to me if you don’t publish that (general laughter).
You joined the army and there was coup and counter-coup and civil war. You still had time to unwind?
You can create it but we had too much eventful time, professional career. It was too eventful. There were too many things happening almost at the same time. If I could recall, the 30 months civil war that we had, I was just having two weeks after every six months to come back home just to see my old mother and some of my relatives because I refused to get married till after the war.
Was it deliberate?
It was deliberate.
Why? I thought that would have been the reason to get married.
No, no. Some of our colleagues, like late Vatsa, like Babangida, they were more adventurous than myself. They took a weekend and had a quick marriage and went back to the front. I thought I would be putting the poor girl or the poor woman under a lot of stress. So, I said if I survived the war, I would get married, but if I didn’t survive, no woman should cry for me other than my relatives.
Some of your General-colleagues became stupendously rich. Today, they have means. I am not a lawyer taking inventory of your assets or preparing your will, but tell me what property do you have now at 70? I am sure you have a house in Abuja, you have one in Lagos.  You have one in Daura and you have one here (Kaduna). So, if I count your property, maybe five. Am I right or wrong?
You are right but am not going to read or declare with you. My assets were on record, I told some of your colleagues when they came. When Murtala/Obasanjo regime came, they made sure that certain grades of public officers must declare their assets when they assumed that office and they must declare when they were leaving. So, when I was sworn in as governor of North East, I declared my assets.
What did you declare?
I declared surprisingly, even the number of  my cows then. Even if they were supposed to be producing every year, but I declared them the time I was there. And when I was leaving governorship, I became petroleum minister. When I was leaving to go to War College, I declared my assets. I could recall General Jemibewon then, was the Adjutant-General of the Army. He rang me and said he was sending me asset declaration form, that I must fill it, sign it before I left for the United States. And I did. General Jemibewon is still alive. And when I became head of state eventually, I declared my assets again. So, all of us; when I say that, I mean Obasanjo downwards, those who are alive who were governors, ministers, head of states, they had declared assets. So, if you people are serious and interested about political officers becoming multi-billionaires, you can find out from Murtala downwards. And those of us who were not very good in making money you should pity us.
Is it that you don’t like money?
Everybody likes money but I am not very good at making money. Let me put it that way. I borrowed from the banks to build the house in Daura and the one in Abuja that you mentioned and the one in Kano. The bank then was Barclays, now Union Bank. Kaduna State or North Central then housing scheme and the Federal Mortgage Bank for the house I am in and AIB, which was, I think, terminated by Central Bank. So, when you go through the records, you find out that the houses I built, I borrowed from there.
You are a respected former head of state. What is your relationship with others, Obasanjo, your former boss and at a point, your political opponent, General Babangida, the man who took over from you and then, Shagari…
You are very nice. He took over from me and I took over from Shagari. You are very nice.
I want to be polite.
You are very nice. Ok, carry on.
What is your relationship with them. I see some parts of patching up here and there, but when a man is 70, you say it the way it is. What is your relationship with all these people I have mentioned now, deep down?
I think the worst thing anybody can do to oneself is to have either hatred or grudge on daily basis. One thing will happen and you better forget.
Have you forgiven Babangida now? You once said you felt betrayed over the coup against your government?
I did. Publicly, I did.
You have?
I have and some of your papers published it. I said as a Muslim, I have forgiven him.
But during that period it happened, you must have been really angry?
Of course, I was angry because I can’t recall what I had done for him to mobilise the military to overthrow me and detain me for more than three years. Yeah, it is natural for me to be upset.
Were you going to retire him before your overthrow, as has been alleged? This is an opportunity to lay it  because we have heard those speculations that you were going to retire him and he moved against you quickly.
Something like that happened but not him. I moved to retire his Director of Military Intelligence.
Akilu?
General Aliyu, not Akilu.
Aliyu?
Aliyu Gusau.
You were going to retire him?
Yes. I took a paper to Army Council. Babangida was there…
As the Chief of Army Staff.
Yes. Idiagbon was there, Bali was there as Minister of Defence, and I was there as the head of state and commander-in-chief. And reasons for him to be removed was in that memo. Go and find out from him or from Babangida. They are both alive.
Not against Babangida per se?
No.
But if you touched Gusau, his intelligence chief, invariably, you were going to inch towards the Chief of Army Staff, Babangida. Eventually, he might have been touched.
I didn’t know but at that point, it was Aliyu Gusau.
You were inching closer?
Yes, we were inching closer. You could say that.
But you have forgiven him for all that happened.
I have forgiven him. I said it and it was printed by some of your colleagues. But I didn’t say it will be forgotten. It cannot be forgotten. If I say I forget about it, I will be lying. But I have forgiven him,  just as I expect Shagari to forgive me as the one who succeeded him.
But Shagari said you detained him and then…
I too, was detained (general laughter).
Ok, what of Obasanjo? What kind of relationship do you have?
Obasanjo; he mobilized Nigerian voters against me.
But you have forgiven him?
No, I haven’t forgiven him (laughter).
Finally now, finally, finally, finally…
I don’t know when your final will come to a real final.
No, this is the end now. If the end comes,  how do you want Nigerians to remember you,  if you have the chance to write your epitaph?
I want Nigerians to be fair to me. Like this case of 53, 55 suitcases, like the case of N2.8billion. I want Nigerians to be fair and to be fair, all these documents are in the Nigerian archives. As I said, I didn’t do anything important outside the three organs of government: the Supreme Military Council, Council of States and Council of Ministers. On serious issues, Nigerians should do some research. That is why I always make emphasis on investigative journalism. If you want to be fair and impartial, I am sure you can have the capacity, both intellectual and resource to make an in-depth investigation.
Nigerians should be fair to you?
They should be fair to me.
 Your daughter just passed on?
She would have been 40 before she died.
Oh, when life was just beginning.
Yes.
What was the circumstance? Some said she was a sickler; she had sickle cell anemia.
She was a sickler and she had complication when she was delivered by Caesarian.
And that remains a very sad incident for you.
Yes.
Thank you, General.
You are always welcome.