Nigeria assembly to vote on $5B fine vs. Shell

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LONDON–The Nigerian National Assembly will make a decision on whether to impose a $5 billion fine on Royal Dutch Shell SA’s Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, when it returns from its summer recess in September, Mohammed Zakari, Chairman of the Media and Public Affairs Committee for the Nigerian National Assembly, told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

Federal authorities last week recommended that Shell pay the hefty penalty for an incident on the offshore Bonga field last December that caused 40,000 barrels of crude to spill into the Gulf of Guinea.

The National Assembly will hear a report from the House Committee on the Environment when it returns from its annual recess in September and decide whether to approve the fine, Mr. Zakari said.

Shell was forced to halt production from the 200,000 barrel-a-day Bonga field in December after a leak occurred during a routine tanker loading operation. The result was one of Nigeria’s worst oil spills in more than a decade.

“The money will go to the development of the communities in those areas where the oil spill has caused environmental damage,” Mr. Zakari said, highlighting an emerging issue of contention as Shell maintains that the oil spilled from Bonga never reached the Nigerian coastline some 120 kilometers away.

Shell said none of the crude reached land and that much of the leaked oil dispersed naturally in the water or evaporated. Some crude did wash up along the Western Niger Delta coastline, which Shell cleaned up, despite expressing doubts that it originated from Bonga.

“[Shell] responded to this incident with professionalism and acted with the consent of the necessary authorities at all times to prevent an environmental impact,” a company spokesman said in a statement issued last Tuesday.

And Chike Onyejekwe, managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, said the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency’s own analysis “did not show any significant agreement between the fingerprint values from Bonga oil samples and those from [the spill impacted] communities.”

The company has said it will challenge any fine levied against it, a fight analysts said it would likely win.

“Shell will fight this fine to the bitter end,” said Marne Beukes, energy analyst for Africa at IHS Global Insight.

The large penalty comes at a time of heightened concern over the safety of offshore oil production, following BP PLC’s disastrous Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Shell is currently facing intense scrutiny from U.S. authorities and environmental groups as it prepares to drill for oil offshore Alaska.

The fine is particularly severe in comparison to other recent incidents. Based on Shell’s estimate of the 40,000 barrels of oil spilled in the Bonga leak, the fine equates to around $125,000 a barrel.

By comparison, BP could face a fine under the clean water act for the Deepwater Horizon spill of up to $1,100 a barrel if it isn’t found guilty of gross negligence, or $4,300 a barrel if gross negligence is proved.

The proposed fine also sends a clear message as Nigeria seeks to make major changes to clean up its oil industry and moves towards passing the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill that would establish a new regulatory framework for the oil business.

“I am not surprised at the mammoth fine and the government is definitely upping their game. Previous spills have seen offenders come of lightly, and with this steep fine the government is trying to send a clear message to the industry to either raise safety standards or face the consequences,” IHS Global Insight’s Ms. Beukes said.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: London Olympics and the Nigerian Spirit

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Read Time:4 Minute, 55 Second

In a matter of five days the 2012 Olympic Games will begin in London and will run for 17 days with over 10,000 athletes, including Nigerians, jostling for medals. For the first time, the country is presenting a lean contingent of 85 athletes, a departure from the past when the slogan seemed to be the more the merrier, where almost every sport was allowed to attend. For this year, the National Sports Commission, NSC, stressed that it wanted only sports where Nigeria has comparative advantage and thus emphasised that most team sports, except of course football, where the country has never really done well even on the African scene, will not be part of the world sports festival. Ironically, football, both men and women listed earlier for the Games, failed to pick tickets and the NSC thus settled for wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, athletics, canoeing (surprisingly) and taekwondo. Basketball was never in NSC’s agenda but the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF believed in its players, especially after the national male team stunned Africa last year in Mozambique to win the All Africa Games gold medal for the first time. At the African qualifiers, the team tagged D’Tigers missed the ticket which Tunisia won, against Angola surprisingly. So to Venezuela they went for another chance. Three tickets were on the card. No one, not even basketball buffs in the country, gave them any chance. One man who believed in them however, was debonair sports minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, NSC, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, who said, after the team lost their first match to host, Venezuela, that he was sure the team would qualify because they posses the Nigerian spirit. They picked their pieces from there and went ahead to down European giants, Lithuania and Greece, succumbed to Russia but overwhelmed Dominican Republic to pick the third ticket behind Lithuania and Russia. With Team Nigeria contingent selected from all the qualified sports set to begin the medal rush in London, Nigerians are expectant that they may not be mere participants but contenders for medals. But are they really prepared? Their preparation may not be the best in terms of duration but they definitely got quality training from the various training tours they embarked on. For the first time too, the Director General of the NSC, Chief Patrick Ekeji had a sports minister with whom he has a good working relationship and approves of his plans. With the 2012 national budget being delayed and money not forthcoming, the NSC sort for loan to prepare the athletes pending when funds would be made available to it. Surprisingly, instead of lauding the NSC, the House Committee on sports raised eyebrows, ostensibly after some disgruntled elements petitioned it. Malam Abdullahi stood behind the DG and defended the action of the NSC and preparation of the athletes went ahead unhindered and silently, locally first before they were sent abroad. The federations, notably athletics, weightlifting and wrestling are promising medals of any colour from their athletes. Olympic champion, Daniel Igali in particular, who has been involved in preparing the wrestlers for the Olympics, has said that wrestling would win medals but added that had their preparation been early enough, he would have been sure of a least a gold. President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, Chief Solomon Ogba is also banking on the female athletes to get one or two medals from the relays and long jump. Taekwondo is hoping that Chika Chukwumerije would hit form like in Beijing and improve on his bronze medal. And who says the lone canoeist will not surprise the world, same for the two weightlifters registered. The miracle workers in basketball should also not be written off. The Nigerian spirit which Malam Abdullahi talked about before the feat of the basketball team has always been exhibited by Nigerian athletes in past Games, be it Olympics, All Africa Games or even the FIFA World Cup. It was the same spirit that gave Chioma Ajunwa the country’s first individual Olympic gold medal in 1996, Mary Onyali (200m) and Falilat Ogunkoya (400m) their first individual medals, bronze each, in 1996, the women’s 4Ã-100 bronze in 1992 as well as the Aniefiok Udo-Obong anchored 4x400m silver at the Sydney Games in 2000 which was later upgraded to gold after the USA team were stripped of the gold when a member of their quartet tested positive to a banned drug. In a year when the NSC and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC are working harmoniously together for the good of the contingent, coupled by the fact that some good corporate bodies like Promasidor, First Bank and world acclaimed insurance company, IEI, are backing Nigeria’s campaign, there is a silver lining somewhere in the sky. To crown it all, Promasidor’s pledge of monetary award, N1,500,000, N1,000,000 and N500,000 for gold, silver and bronze medal winners, athletes’ morale would surely be boosted to give their all. Like in previous years when expectations are low from the citizens, Team Nigeria may surprise themselves and Nigerians in London. Heartland no threat to us — Crown Crown FC of Ogbomosho were at their best last Friday when they defeated Kwara United 3-2 at the Legacy Pitch, National Stadium to qualify for the quarter-final stage of the Federation Cup. They will now travel to Port Harcourt to confront Heartland tomorrow. Coach Oladuni Oyekale has said that playing against the defending champions of the competition was going to be tough but assured that his wards were ready to do their best to outshine their opponent in the game holding in Port Harcourt. “We are not afraid of Heartland. They are good but we are up to the challenge and my boys have promised to do their best. Though the time to prepare for the match is limited but we are ready for the challenge”, said Oyekale.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria: When Petroleum Is More of Evil Than Good

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Read Time:5 Minute, 51 Second

Some eight years ago, the University of Maiduguri found me worthy to serve as its 18th Convocation lecturer. The topic was “the place of Nigeria in the global village”. Initially, it didn’t strike me as a difficult subject because the question whether Nigeria should be ranked among the rich and developed nations or among the poor and underdeveloped entity should not be hard to answer. But then, several issues troubled my thought process. Nigeria is obviously not supposed to be counted among poor countries in view of her immense wealth.

After all, a former Head of state had reportedly said that the problem of Nigeria was not how to make money but how to spend our massive wealth. At the same time, it appears irrational to describe Nigeria as a rich country when its average citizen lives on less than one American dollar a day. The nation has neither an official airline nor any aircraft that can be described as new.

Our domestic aircrafts are occasionally unable to land in our airports due to bad weather but foreign airlines always land in the same airports and during the same period.

When a Nigerian aircraft crashes and it happens quite often, we are usually only able to send its black box to other countries for scientific analysis although the findings are never disclosed perhaps due to operational reasons.

None of our universities is rated among the best even in the poor continent of Africa. Our public power supply has remained epileptic since the British colonial masters left us in the dark more than half a century ago. Our top most leaders are the only ones that are assured of good health care in other countries.

We are a democracy that is yet to apply the same technology for voting that is currently in place worldwide hence an election day in Nigeria presents a war scenario with a standby army and police formations that take sides with the highest bidder.

After thinking of many other issues which made the list of our woes seem endless, I recalled the finding not too long ago by one amorphous body that Nigerians are a happy people. Oh yes, Nigeria is made up of a set of determined people who before the advent of this century, had planned to end our woes through a pragmatic programme known as Vision 2010 by which every Nigerian was to get all the good things of life. Indeed, we have since arranged to be among the 20 most developed nations of the world in year 2020.

Thus, to write off Nigeria as a poor country is probably inaccurate. Rather, a truer assessment of our nation is that, as in many things in which we are neither here nor there, Nigeria is both rich and poor. She is wealthy but poor hence she is a rich nation among the poorest countries in the world. Thus our economic status is like our politics which President Babangida rightly found as far back as 1989 to be ‘a little to the left and a little to the right of the centre’. In retrospect, I feel fulfilled that at the University of Maiduguri Convocation in 2004, I was unable to locate the exact place of Nigeria in the global village. Today, it is clearer to me that because wealth can sometimes be destructive, Nigeria is suffering from petroleum mentality- a mindset for squander mania which rationalizes big government, poor service delivery, greed, poverty and inequity.

Because Nigeria collects ample revenue from God-given petroleum resources to which it invests nothing, it sustains an exorbitant cost of governance with bloated bodies like a cabinet of 43 Ministers whereas a prudent nation would not go for more than half that figure; an unwieldy and inefficient bureaucracy where the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and that of the Head of Service have 12 Permanent Secretaries at 6 per office. So, what can petroleum not make us do?

Last week, the constitution of a new Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which strangely included one of our Benin brothers unusually excited some of us. Our joy had nothing to do with just his membership of any board because such things do not really impress our people. We are a liberal and accommodating tribe and although we account for more than half of the population and landmass of Edo State, the Governor does not come from among us.

We are also neither the Minister nor the ambassador; we are nothing but a sleeping giant and we care not; provided those in power can take care of us. Our joy therefore was that someone we know has moved into the board of the almighty NNPC- a body that is so lucrative that the take-home pay of its newly recruited staff competes favourably with that of a Senator.

Who does not like the NNPC when petroleum, its main product is not only indispensable, but instantly translates anyone who gets it into wealth?

During the last fuel subsidy protest, the people of Bayelsa did not join the rest of us not because their son is the President but because everyone was struggling to get a piece of a subsisting trade. According to media reports, the NNPC mega station opposite Asokoro Housing estate in Yenagoa, the state capital, only sells kerosene to their ‘registered’ customers who buy over 20 jerry cans of 20litres each at N2, 500.00 and resell at N3, 000.00 just by the side of the station’s gate

There are many other examples which confirm that in Nigeria, petroleum is our king. Its big operatives were originally described as an invincible cartel before the security agencies reportedly earmarked 6 of them as the main culprits. If as we hear, oil bunkers operate in the dead of night, that the Otedola/Lawan saga took place around the same time seems to fall in line.

In addition, the only reason why there has been so much debate on the case is because it concerns petroleum. If it was about another sector, the suspect would have been arrested at the point of the crime since the amount involved was supposedly marked money. Similarly, the giver would not have been given the opportunity to show the nation his camera shots of the entire episode.

The larger society would only have been hearing whatever both parties were saying in court and not at press conferences and another public hearing. But there is hardly anything that cannot happen with petroleum.

Only last Monday, the Presidency was forced to alert the nation about a fake version of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) when the real PIB was not ready. In view of the ingenuity in the petroleum sector, government had to introduce security marks in the real PIB which included the Coat of Arms of the nation as well as signing across each page that says the Petroleum Industry Bill for 2012.

Who says petroleum is only a blessing?

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigeria bomb blast kills 10-year-old boy

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A bomb blast in restive northern Nigeria killed a 10-year-old boy and wounded 10 others on Sunday, police said, in an area repeatedly targeted by a radical Islamist group.

The explosion went off at around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) in Bauchi city’s Tundunwadan Dan-iya area, a neighbourhood known for its cluster of bars and other entertainment spots.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists, responsible for scores of deadly attacks across the north, have previously struck social venues including those that serve alcohol, although no group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday blast.

“There was an explosion from an improvised explosive device concealed in a wheelbarrow which killed a ten-year-old boy and wounded ten other people,” said Mohammed Ladan, police commissioner of Bauchi state, where Bauchi city is the capital

“The wheelbarrow was abandoned by a man disguised as a grocery vendor at a beer garden in the area. No arrest has been made and it is still not clear who was responsible for the explosion,” he added.

The Islamists claimed a suicide blast at a church in Bauchi city on June 3 that killed at least 15 people.

The group also carried out a daring prison raid in the state in 2010 that freed scores of its alleged members.

Boko Haram has said it wants to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north, although its demands have varied widely as its insurgency has intensified in recent months.

The United States last month designated three of its presumed leaders as global terrorists and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has faced mounting criticism over what some say is his failure to stem the violence.

The radical group, responsible for more than 1,000 deaths since mid-2009, has also consistently carried out attacks on Sundays, although typically targeting Christians worshipping in church.

Boko Haram has also attacked the security services and other symbols of authority in Africa’s most populous nation.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Ike Omar Sandar Nwachukwu, Unfit to lead Nd’Igbo

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Read Time:22 Minute, 23 Second

Et Tu, Ike Omar Sandar Nwachukwu!

Ike Omar Sandar Nwachukwu, Unfit to lead Nd’Igbo

by

James Ekechukwu

 

“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular

way…you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing

temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.”

~~Aristotle (384 BC -322 BC)

Like most of my generation, I was peeved to read that ex BiafraNigerian General, Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu has lately been parading himself as a BiafraNigerian Presidential candidate for the “Igbo quota”. A sense of disgust and deep revulsion was triggered in me by this development in which Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu, a man who scandalously aided the genocidal Nigerian army in decimating his father’s people could have the nerve to announce himself as the Igbo champion. In as much as it is too early to determine how many “brown envelopes” have changed hands, it is, however, not in doubt that the branding process of Omar Sanda’s “sexy Igboness” is in full swing.

The general himself is taking full charge of the Sexy Igboness media blitz. I suspect he must have driven many sensible people beyond the erotic barrier when he blurted without provocation in his very first interview since announcing his presidential aspiration: “I want to place on record that I am proud of my roots as an Igbo man..,” (Vanguard 22/07/02) . Nwachukwu’s outburst was unprovoked for the simple reason that his interviewer NEVER asked his opinion and emotional attitude towards his Igboness.   Nwachukwu has since picked up the refrain of the post war “Obasanjo hates the Igbo” song. Obasanjo is anti-Igbo because he prosecuted a genocidal war against the Igbo and has carried on putting the Igbo down at every turn.  In the same vein, Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu is anti-Igbo because he fought a genocidal war against the Igbo and I’ll soon show that his post-war conduct has aided the hausa-fulani containment agenda for the Igbo. That is the simple and ageless Aristotle logic at the very beginning of this write-up.  Nwachukwu does not cease to be anti Igbo just because he said he is proud to be born by his father.

Every homo sapien has the filial right Nwachukwu has expressed in his out-burst. But the question Nwachukwu and his band of incoherent supporters should be grappling with is the one so aptly advanced by Kalu Ezera, a PDP chieftain in Abia State published in ThisDay 23/05/2002: “on whose side was Nwachukwu during the war” and even after?”  Regardless of the fact that Chief Ezera was pandering to the incumbent, Obasanjo, his rhetorical question chips at the very crux of the Nwachukwu discourse viz.; his conduct during and after the war. 

 


DURING THE WAR:

 

Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu fought alongside the heartless beast called Murtala Mohammed, one of the arrow heads of the premeditated pre-war massacre of Army officers of Igbo descent.  Murtala’s command was also responsible for the Asaba genocide where every soul that pissed against the wall was put to the sword.   Yes, Omar Sanda Nwachukwu was right there when unarmed Igbo men were gathered in village squares and shot.   Rev. Chukwuma who testified at the Oputa panel only survived to tell the story because falling corpses shielded his young body from the fiery bullets of the genocidal Nigerian mob.  In Emma Okocha’s “blood on the Niger”, we read that Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu an erstwhile Journalist dismissed this monumentally tragic event with a wave of the hand as in his own words:,  “they were too busy exploring ways of entering Onitsha and could not have come into contact with civilians”.    Yakubu Gowon has since apologised for the Asaba massacre which the author Fredrick Forsyth in his Biafran story agrees was enough ground to prosecute those soldiers for Genocide.    Ike Omar Sanda would have the world believe the Atrocities (apologies to Wole Soyinka: “The man died”) committed against the Igbo never happened.  Listen to the very inspiring music that drove Omar Sanda “the explorer” as wafted from the Radio Nigeria Kaduna and Lagos in those dark days:

 

“Let us go and crush them.

We will pillage their property,

Ravish their womenfolk,

Murder their menfolk

And complete the

Pogrom of 1966″.


It is possible that since the song was in Hausa, some Igbo without a good grasp of Hausa language wrongly translated “explore” in Hausa to “murder” in English language.
  Give me a break!  

 

Before the handful of Igbo jobbers and Hausa –fulani working for Nwachukwu accuse me of calling Murtala a wild beast, let me make it clear that I have only used a description which had been used by his friends.  It is a matter of public record that his erstwhile compatriot B.S Dimka is on record as having told a presenter at Radio Nigeria Lagos that he (Dimka) had just killed a wild beast(Murtala) that escaped from the barracks and was causing a lot of trouble to the peoples of BiafraNigeria.  There you have it, Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu walked and worked with a wild beast during the war.     Other commentators on BiafraNigeria issue are agreed that tyrant Murtala’s temperament was consistent with manifestations of chemical imbalance.  The guy was a psychopath and one might make some funny deductions on the Nwachukwu link from the maxim; “show me who you go out with and I could tell the sort of person you are”.   I have nothing but pity for all the areas of BiafraNigeria Nwachukwu claims to have marital ties with.  In the Guardian of July 28 2002, he gave a list of about ten different parts of BiafraNigeria where his brothers, sisters and nieces are married, not forgetting that his wife counts for two like his.  If the inhabitants of any of those places are tempted to think there is a gain that will accrue from their marital ties with Omar Sanda, they should take a good look at the ruins of Igbo land

 

It is a shame that Sigmund Freud did not live through the Biafran war, he would have given us the psychoanalytical insight into the mind of a man who would gang up with his mum’s kinsmen to wipe out his Dad’s kinsmen.  I suspect that this state of mind betrays a personality disorder worse than Oedipus Rex complex, which fuels a boy to do his dad in so as to have his mum.   I am only a humble engineer, not a psychologist, but, even the underground grammarian of New Jersey United States, agrees with my logika reversus in the caution that a man need not go mad for the simple reason that there is a war:

 

“And what a strange thing war is, too, most hideous of all human enterprises.
A mad monster, in whose service, however, a man need not go mad.”

~~ The Underground Grammarian

 

Let me quickly add on a very joyous note, that I have NOT come across any member of the new generation of Igbo who will not rather die than take up arms against his own blood.    I have written this because a shameless commentator would have the whole world believe that Omar Sanda’s hands were tied and that he towed the path of honour.  Nonsense!

 

What Ike Omar Sanda did during the war of genocide against the Igbo is Nso ala (abomination).  In ala Igbo the sanctity of human life is upheld so much so that a man who kills his brother by accident is banished from the clan for a season.   Therefore, a man must be plagued by acute identity crises to claim to be proud of his Igbo heritage and participate in the gruesome murder of his fellow Igbo.   A man who has no respect for virtuous Igbo norms and ethos should have no business championing Igbo causes.  It is very unfortunate that the handful of Igbo jobbers currently overseeing the NwachukwuIgboness project have failed woefully to grasp the enormity of Nwachukwu’s abominable conduct.  One of them is on record as alleging that the Igbo are being vindictive by referring to Nwachukwu’s war activities.  Nothing could be more wrong.  The Biafran war defined Igbo and BiafraNigeria and all the key participants in the war.  Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu chose to fight against Biafra, i.e., kill his fellow Igbo and we can easily enumerate the benefits he derived from doing so. 

 

If at the twilight of his existence in this transient plane he has suddenly realised the need to be “rooted,” the onus of repentance, penitence, public confession, acknowledgement and renunciation of his evil deeds is on him.   Then and only then should the Igbo talk about forgiveness and reconciliation.     When the reconciliation process has been accomplished, may I humbly suggest that Mr Nwachukwu retire to Ovim where he will be taught Igbo norms and Ethos. 

 

Mr. Ezera was right on the money when he stated that Nwachukwu’s allegiance during the war mattered if he is to be considered a champion of Igbo causes.  In Igbo there is a saying that:  “okuko anaghi echefu onye fere ya odu n’udu mmiri”.   Or as Emma Okocha of Ohaneze put it in English:  “If we knew that he fought on the other side, it’s a major negative on the backs of whomever that will come to seek an Igbo vote. Knowing that at the crucial time that Igbo needed sympathy and solidarity he went to the other side”(see BNW magazine; face2face with Emma okocha).  I rest my case.

 

 

AFTER THE WAR:

 

The first major post war glimpse the Igbo had of Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu was when the jihadistic despot called Muhammadu Buhari dispatched him to Owerri to signal the end of the Mbakwe era.  He was introduced as Brigadier Ike O S Nwachukwu and it didn’t take long before the older Igbo told the younger generation what “O S” stood for.  Even the toddlers in ala Igbo knew that the ultimate conqueror and feudal lord was in town.

 

Nwachukwu immediately consigned the more than twenty VERY IMPORTANT industrial projects the Mbakwe regime had invested heavily on to the trash can.  He was not concerned that the teeming population of Igbo youth stood to be gainfully employed in those industries, some of which were at advanced stages of completion.  Some on-lookers thought Nwachukwu’s actions was for very personal reasons, and since as they say, there are no smoke without fire, some of us decided to look closely.  We found that Mbakwe was NOT in the good books of the hausa-fulani oligarchy for the aggressive and assiduous manner with which he set about rebuilding the post war ala Igbo.  They were particularly peeved that Mbakwe had changed the name of the Specialist hospital in Umuahia which some soldier had named after the dead genocidal tyrant Murtala Ramat Mohammed back to the post war name: Queen Elizabeth Specialist hospital!   I challenge my readers to tell me of any record where Nwachukwu has said any kind word on Dee Sam Mbakwe and his remarkable feat in governance in the space of four years.

 

Nwachukwu brought with him an air of repressive and depressive despondency and the gloom was so thick you could touch it!  How he taxed the Igbo!  He imposed a so-called “survival levy” on ALL Imonites.  Men and women, boys and girls, from Primary Schools through to the tertiary institutions.  Having called time on all the laudable industries his civilian predecessor had initiated, Brigadier Nwachukwu decided to move the ImoStateUniversity from the multi campuses in the five senatorial Zones to a virgin site in Uturu.  He turned a blind eye to the Environmental Impact Assessment report from the site recommendation panel and said it must be at Uturu and completed within months.  Today people go to Uturu the University town for two reasons: To see the university and/or the gully erosion.  Some day it is hoped some smart Igbo among Nwachukwu’s handful of supporters will name the place: Omar Sanda’s grand Kenyon!   As one commentator in one of the free yahoo forum rightly said, maybe we should be thankful that Nwachukwu did not scrap the idea of ImoUniversity all together.

 

Retrenchments and forced unplanned early retirements were the order of the day.  I recall an occasion when Omar Sanda gathered a section of civil servants at the so called multi-purpose hall in Owerri and ordered those who had served for more than twenty-five years to stand on their feet.  The frail ageing Igbo obeyed the red beret army Brigadier and after a very brief lecture what became of their job status is anybody’s guess.

 

Innocent Nwigwe was the golden voiced senior news anchor of the BNTA channel 6 Aba who lost his job for writing/saying something the feudal conqueror did not agree with.  Today Nwigwe is a pastor in a new generation church in Aba.   I am not entirely surprised that some Igbo are rooting for Omar Sanda Nwachukwu today; for, even in those gloomy days some traditional rulers awarded him Chieftancy titles.  Who knows if those “trado” rulers who use titles as a begging tool are related to the individuals who are today giving awusa-fulani men awards for “exemplary leadership” after the wastage their leadership has visited on BiafraNigeria. 

 

Nothing is new under the sun.  Omar Sanda Nwachukwu thought Imo airport was a luxury project in 1984 and nearly twenty years later a Kema Chikwe thinks upgrading Enugu airport to a proper international status is an elitist project.   There is nothing wrong with Nwachukwu’s perception; then, he is entitled to his opinion of who the Igbo are and what they deserve.  However, it is wrong for Nwachukwu to claim in his Vanguard interview of 22/08/02 that “we built ImoAirport.”  That is a blatant lie. 

 

Alison Amaechina Madueke, then a navy captain, and Nwachukwu’s successor at the Owerri Government house initiated the Imo airport project.   Madueke himself an Igbo Biafran, did not see an airport as being beyond the enlightened people of Imo while being available for the largely uneducated and less travelled peoples of Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto etc.,  etc.

 

As the military governor of ImoState, Omar Sanda Nwachukwu continued with his disdain for Igbo life already well noted during the war.  He gave Imo people his kind of sadistic recreation, which was the sporty killing of hapless young Igbo male convicted by his judicial Bakassi, headed by a guy called Oyiudo.   The routine public shootings at the open field along Egbu Road in owerri drew jam-packing crowds.  You could hear the screams, shrieks and cheers from a long distance as the armed and uniformed BiafraNigerian soldiers (usually between four to six in number) took aim and fired at the unarmed emaciated frame tied to a long oil barrel filled with sand.  Omar Sanda being the genius he is, decided to encourage the development of his barbaric sport in the rural areas.

 

Yes, young Igbo male were to be executed at the village squares in their local government of origin once Oyiudo and Omar Sanda were agreed on their hurried bakassi style death sentence.    The innocent parents and relations of the condemned man were charged with digging the grave for their son before his execution.  Suffice it to say that it was a very traumatic experience for the Igbo who were old enough to know what transpired during the war where some Igbo were made to dig their own grave before they were shot.  Omar Sanda Nwachukwu violated and abused the Igbo’s sanctity for human life and he displayed a disregard for Igbo traditions, cultures and festivals.   Transport minister Ojo Maduekwe will bear me witness on this one.  The occasion of the New Yam Festival and “Igba – ekpe” in Maduekwe’s village in 1984 was the moment Omar Sanda Nwachukwu chose to publicly execute a son of Asaga, Ohafia.  The ill-fated young man was called Awa Idika Awa a.k.a “enyi-ebi”.  His pensioner father Mr. Idika Awa who had served the BiafraNigerian government faithfully for about thirty years was commanded to go and dig a grave for his healthy son.  Tufiakwa!

 

It is doubtful any Ohafia will ever forget that on the day their young men paint their bodies with Nzu (white chalk) signifying a peaceful celebration a man called Omar Sanda Nwachukwu decided to inject a crimson hue to their land-scape. The day the reassuring and nostalgic sound of the ikoro was drowned by the bullet of the agents of a man who has no regard for Igbo norms and ethos. It was a day celebration and jubilation was turned to mourning at the whim of a feudal lord who is “very proud of his Igbo heritage”.   Mr Idika Awa lived just long enough to conclude his son’s funeral.  Today, an Igbo has described Omar Sanda Nwachukwu as refined and cultured.  If this is how a refined person acts, then may I suggest that Jack the Ripper, the infamous serial killer of Yorkshire, is a cuddly bloke.  

 

Furthermore, if we must accept that Omar Sanda Nwachukwu is cultured, then we will have to ask which culture?  Methinks 7th century Arabian feudal jihadistic bloodletting culture.  Read my lips, Nwachukwu’s post-war conduct should not inspire confidence in any true Igbo.  It was a happy day in ImoState when Omar Sanda Nwachukwu shifted his bulky frame to Lagos.

 


The next time we saw Nwachukwu in Lagos was as the head of IBB’s bakassi tribunal when he handed down death sentences to Gideon Orkar and other progressive Southern and middle belt soldiers. Their sin was plotting to check the well documented excesses of the Hausa-Fulani in BiafraNigeria. I still remember the events of April 22 1990 as if it were yesterday. Orkar and friends had come so close that IBB’s aide de campe (ADC) was shot dead and the BiafraNigerian radio was captured and forced to air Orkar’s speeches. Students were already pouring out in the streets to herald the end of an evil era. But their joy was short-lived as the oligarchy had bounced back and by late that Sunday afternoon it was obvious to all that Orkar’s ship had grounded! The intriguing aspect of the whole saga is that it was old Hassan Katsina that summoned and accompanied the army GOC in Kaduna and the state Governor to the Radio station in Kaduna. It was from Kaduna radio that the first announcement was made that IBB was “alive and well”. The second announcement was from one General Iwueze in Calabar.


Iwueze was another Igbo who participated in the massacre of the Igbo, and Katsina was one of the arrow heads of the pre-meditated pre war massacre of Igbo/Eastern officers. You can check up more on Katsina at Biafraland.com under genocide papers. Katsina is Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu’s first cousin and he was the one that put Nwachukwu and Buhari in the army and steered their military careers right to the top. Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu was programmed from his youth to see himself as Hausa-Fulani. He has never been known to express any “conflict of interest” in the execution of the Hausa-Fulani agenda even when it means killing Igbo or other Southerners. His present introduction as a presidential candidate is part of the suave strategy of a waning oligarchy to re-invent itself.


THE IGBO AND THE PRESIDENCY:

 

In the midst of the present Omar Sanda Nwachukwu brouhaha, some genuine and concerned Igbo have spoken on where the Igbo presidency project is headed.  I refer to the masterpiece by Professor Ben Nwabueze as published in “This Day” of 26/07/02.  Professor Nwabueze writing under the caption “Igbo have right to Presidency”, advanced one of the major reason for the Igbo quest as the effect the continuos side-lining of the Igbo in BiafraNigeria will have on the psyche of the Igbo youth.  Continuing, Nwabueze made the following profound statement:

 

“…there is no going back on it,
whatever the prospects for success or failure may be.
If it succeeds, fine but if it fails, we will nonetheless
have forced our demand upon the attention of the
nation and the international community. “

Professor Ben Nwabueze “Igbo Have a Right to Presidency” in This Day July 26, 2002. 

In one swoop Nwabueze brought much clarity, focus and vision to the Igbo quest.     By alluding that the Igbo youth have a stake on the background, ethnic or otherwise of the BiafraNigerian President designate, Nwabueze has vindicated our stand that Omar Sanda Nwachukwu is the worst possible example for the Igbo youth with leadership aspiration.  An Igbo support for Nwachukwu will communicate to the Igbo youth that the path to the leadership of BiafraNigeria lies in taking up arms against your own blood.  No self-respecting nation inculcates such values in her youth and the Igbo should not be an exception.  On the other hand, the Igbo youth should be taught to appreciate the sacrifices of any Igbo person whether such a person rose to prominence in BiafraNigeria or not.  The young Igbo should be taught Igbo values; the sanctity of human/Igbo lives and the need for courage, fortitude and steadfastness for which the Igbo have come to be known.  It is time the Igbo youth are re-educated on the courage of our men and women in the face of danger.  Rather than waste useful bandwidth in free yahoo e-groups on Omar Sanda, we should be telling the Igbo youth about the heroism of Emeka Ojukwu, Philip Effiong, Alex madiebo, Ochiagha Oko Ebitu Ukiwe, Ndubisi Kanu, Alison Madueke, Chudi Sokei, Onwuatuegwu etc who rose up to be counted when it mattered most.  Like brave Horatius, those noble Igbo knew that:

 

“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.

And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his Gods,

~~Lays of ancient Rome. Horatius, xxvii.by Lord Macaulay(1800-1859)

 

If as Nwabueze has said the Igbo are not bothered about the prospects of failure and success then I see absolutely no need for the servile posturing of those who want to foist a Hausa Fulani candidate on BiafraNigeria simply because he happens to have an Igbo name.    What the bunch of jobbers currently supporting this madness do not know is that Omar Sanda Nwachukwu is more than likely to fight “on the other side” should his quest for presidency precipitate a war in BiafraNigeria which may well happen.  The Igbo should continue to insist on the presidency and on the use of authentic voter’s Identity card.   If BiafraNigeria will go over the edge (long over due) by people insisting on ID card for voting, then so be it!   Anybody who thinks they can win and rule BiafraNigeria without the Igbo is a fool.  It has NEVER happened except of course we decide to treat the civil war as an election, which will please Omar Sanda and his backers since it would diminish the premeditated massacre visited on our unsuspecting people.    Professor Nwabueze did well in mentioning the international community.  The world has evolved a great deal since 1967, and it is doubtful that 40 million Igbo could be ignored or denied anything, Biafra included should we press for it.

 

It will be disastrous for the Igbo to send a Hausa-fulani stooge.  The real Hausa- Fulani and the Yoruba KNOW that there is a limit to which they can push the Igbo without a fight back.  An Igbo efulefu on the other hand, will be assumed to have come from us while he takes the liberty to violate and pillage all that we hold sacred.  Nwabueze has uttered the rallying cry for Igbo to stand up and be proud of who they are.  It was not the beggarly cry of a people begging for the leadership of a fallen state.  I read recently that Madiebo, the amiable commander of the Biafran army, told the WIC attendees that it is wrong to think the “snake” has just entered akrika.  Madiebo told them to look back to the Biafran war when in his own words the snake they now claim to see came and has stayed till date.  Madiebo should know.    He was fully involved before and during the war.  If the Hausa-Fulani do not want a true Igbo, then they do not want the Igbo.  It is as simple as that, and only inferiority complex will push a dynamic group like the Igbo to hand away the initiative of picking the right Igbo for the Igbo.

 

Finally, if I sustained a gunshot wound in the line of duty during the Biafran war and I lay bleeding, I’m sure I’d be praying to be found by my own people.  Now, I will be quite excited if a big “Igbo” brother whose nametag says “Nwachukwu” crawls over me.  But, when he gropes my neck with his left hand and raises his bayonet for a killing stab, I don’t know how I would feel.  Maybe, I’d have time to mutter: “Et tu, Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu!”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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TB JOSHUA HITS UK HEADLINES FOR BOXING PROPHECY

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Read Time:3 Minute, 46 Second

Controversial Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua has hit the pages of newspapers again – this time in the United Kingdom – after rising boxing star King Davidson revealed that he had prophesied his victory in a recent world title bout in Southampton, UK.


Nigerian cum Australian boxer King Davidson revealed to UK Newspaper, ‘The Daily Echo’ that Prophet T.B. Joshua was the inspiration behind his WBO International light middleweight victory on Saturday 30th June against Ghanaian fighter Joseph Lamptey, and had predicted in the early stages of his career that he would become a world champion.

 

According to the report titled ‘Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua Predicted King Davidson’s WBO World Title Win’, “Joshua has backed Davidson, both financially and spiritually, and called the Southampton-based fighter moments before he entered the ring to defeat Joseph Lamptey and win the WBO title.”


Davidson said: “He called me five minutes before my fight and said, ‘Be very careful of your opponent; he will try and hit you in the stomach.’ He then asked me what I would do if someone tries to fight like that. I told him ‘to put up a good guard and keep out of reach.’ He then said ‘You’ve got the key, now just do it. I know you will win.’ It inspired me to go out and win. I want to thank him so much for following me throughout my career; everything he has said about me has come to pass.”


It took Davidson less than 15 minutes to gain the title, after knocking out Lamptey in the final stages of the second round. Davidson, who is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and tipped as a real contender for the WBO world title, said that Joshua, whose activities are followed by millions across Africa on Emmanuel TV, had actually prophesied his ascent to world recognition in boxing. “He said to me I would become a world champion. He told me from the start that this is written in the heavens and no one can change this destiny other than me if I take the wrong path in life.”


According to online sources, before Davidson’s encounter with Joshua, his career was experiencing major setbacks. After being scheduled to fight, he would sustain an injury that would force him to withdraw. These recurrent injuries prompted his promoters to write him off, casting a great pall of doubt on his career. However, after watching Joshua on Emmanuel TV and visiting The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in Nigeria to receive prayer, his career began to turn around.

 

His victory over Ghanaian Lamptey has guaranteed Davidson will rise to the top 15 in the world WBO rankings, putting him on course to eventually challenge for the full version of the world title, which is currently held by Zaurbek Baysangurov. He has now won 15 of his 16 professional fights, nine of them being won by a knock out. According to the article, Davidson is also preparing a return to his native Nigeria to stage a fight. “He is adamant he would like to make one defence in Nigeria, in front of T.B. Joshua, and then hopes to quickly follow that up with another big fight back in Southampton.”


Davidson’s revelation is not the first from a sportsman testifying to Joshua’s prophetic insight. Ghanaian football coach Sellas Tetteh publicly said that Joshua had given him prophetic direction during the Black Satellites remarkable victory at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He is also said to be behind the rise to stardom of Sani Emmanuel, the MVP of the FIFA U-17 World Cup and altar boy in The SCOAN, who is currently playing for SS Lazio in Italy. Joshua also prophesied, against all odds, the remarkable victory of Zambia in the African Cup Of Nations in 2012, specifying Didier Drogba’s shocking penalty miss in the final.

 

T.B. Joshua has become a household name in many African countries due to the immense popularity of his Christian television station, Emmanuel TV. Numerous African politicians and personalities have visited his church in Lagos, including Malawian President Joyce Banda, Ghana’s John Atta Mills and Zimbabwe’s Morgan Tsvangarai.

 

SOURCE: The Daily Echo –http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/9797718.Nigerian_prophet_predicted_King_s_world_title_win/?ref=nt

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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