New York — Unleashing a last-minute rule change that is certain to spark controversy, the National Football League has banned the use of helmets in the upcoming Super Bowl.
“The NFL wants Super Bowl XLVIII to be the safest championship game ever played,” said league commissioner Roger Goodell. “That means knocking out the current epidemic of concussions.”
The solution, according to the commissioner, can be found in the canyons of computer printouts that dominate his desk. “Our research shows that helmet-to-helmet contact is the leading cause of concussions by far. Lose the helmets and the problem disappears.”
The NFL Players Association at first responded to the change with a scathing press release that accused the league of exploiting football's violent characteristics.
“Nothing draws crowds like a bloodbath, and without helmets, that’s just what the game would be,” the release said. “We demand that the NFL revoke this proposed ban before someone is seriously injured.”
But a hastily called meeting between player reps and the Commissioner resulted in the Players Association shifting its position. The group issued a major revision to its initial press release declaring:
“Nothing draws crowds like a game that has removed the major barrier between the players and their fans. We applaud the NFL for creating this proposed ban in the interests of safety and more lucrative player endorsements.”
One unnamed player said it’s all about marketing. “In the promotion game, your face is your ace. You don’t want to be covering it up with a big helmet.”
Goodell noted that other changes to the game on the field would be explored “now that everyone is on board with the headgear issue.”
Among the proposals:
— change the shape of the ball to a perfect sphere, eliminating the hazardous points
— put the foot back in football by prohibiting players from touching the ball with their hands
— tear down the goalposts and replace them with goals, guarded by proper goalkeepers
— smooth out the herky-jerky flow of the game by keeping the ball rolling nonstop over two 45-minute periods
One reporter questioned if the proposals did anything to address the problem of violence in the sport. He was escorted into a small room where he was persuaded to pursue a different line of questioning.
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.
The battle for 2015 elections and 2016 governorship election in Edo State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is a great challenge for Governor Adams Oshiomhole just as it seems the governor has succeeded in grabbing the structure of the new party in the state with the constitution of an interim committee of the Edo APC which is expected to run the affairs of the party until substantive executive is elected sometime next year.
But the constitution of the interim committee, led by Chief Osaro Idah, has pitted the governor against some leaders of the party, including the former South-south Vice-Chairman of the former ACN, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Ize-Iyamu was the Secretary to the Edo State Government during the administration of Governor Lucky Igbinedion. He has not hidden his desire to run for the number one seat in the state at the end of Oshiomhole’s tenure.
Hence the pastor, who is from Orhiomnwon LGA, where Oshiomhole’s deputy, Dr Pius Odubu, also hails from, would want to have control of the structure of the new party in the state, particularly when he is faced with challenges from the camp of Odubu and the Edo Solidarity Movement (ESM), a political machinery led by the Political Adviser to the Governor, Charles Idahosa.
This movement, which seems to have political understanding with Edo in Safe Hands, another group led by the Commissioner for Works and former Chief of Staff to the governor, Barr.Osarodion Ogie, and the Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly, Philip Shuaibu, are die-hard supporters of Oshiomhole and are willing to unleash their political skills against any perceived enemy of the governor any time they are called upon.
However, after the constitution of the interim committee of the APC led by Idah, Ize-Iyamu saw it as a ploy to kick him out of the governorship race. The argument of those in his camp is that it would be difficult for him to get the governorship ticket of the party since key leaders of the interim committee are members of the Edo Solidarity Movement. It was said that the pastor, a tactician when it comes to political situations, walked out in that meeting where the APC interim leaders emerged after he disagreed with the choice of the governor.
The Vice Chairman of the APC in the South-south, Chief Tom Ikimi, was said to have seen reason with Ize-Iyamu but he became helpless when they failed to grab the structure of the party.
Frosty relationship Sunday Vanguard learnt that Oshiomhole’s camp is not too happy with Ikimi particularly after Mrs Evelyn Igbafe, an APC chieftain, used abusive words on him during a meeting at the Igueben chief’s residence. Oshiomhole’s camp allegedly believed that Igbafe’s action was masterminded by Ikimi whose relationship with the governor is now said to be frosty.
While Ize-Iyamu is angered with the current structure which he believes is in favour of Odubu, the deputy governor, who is regarded to be very loyal to his boss, has been calm because while Ize Iyamu is being hunted due to his role during the Igbinedion administration in the state, Odubu is receiving the endorsement of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom who has on several for a admonished the governor to hand over to his deputy for showing absolute loyalty in the past five years.
And luckily for Odubu, he has always fought his political battle with in the structure of his boss while Ize-Iyamu has his own political structure different from that of the governor. When Ize-Iyamu’s camp insisted that Odubu will not come back for second term, the governor’s structure, Edo in Safe Hands, came to his rescue and that settled the matter.
And on the issue of 2016 governorship election in the party, it was learnt that Oshiomhole is mindful of the challenges that may come with it, and therefore insisted that he must not be distracted from the infrastructural development being carried out in the state by his administration. He warned all those nursing governorship ambition under the APC that it was premature for them to commence electioneering activities, emphasising that the best way to completely annihilate the hopes of the PDP in the state is by providing basic amenities to voters.
While the governor is keeping the issue of who succeeds him close to his chest, he is scared not to be accused by the Benins who have given him immense support that he intends to hand over the state back to the Igbinedions who actually assisted him into power. That is the challenge Ize-Iyamu is facing and not as if he is not qualified to be governor.
Ize-Iyamu’s camp is said to be considering three options: First, to remain in the party and continue to fight and maybe things might change in future; two, to dump the party for Labour or PDP; three, to remain in the party and do a dirty job within if he is not given the ticket. The third option should worry Oshiomhole because Ize-Iyamu and former Governor Igbinedion applied it when they worked against their own party, the PDP, in 2007 and supported Oshiomhole’s ACN, just to teach the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, some lesson.
Their action eventually kicked out the PDP from Government House via an Appeal Court judgement. But if Ize-Iyamu decides to move to Labour or PDP, Captain Hosa Okunbor, a close friend of both President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Olusegun Mimiko, can always convince them to back the pastor. But they have to convince Anenih first to be able to give Ize-Iyamu the PDP ticket.
Though looking at Oshiomhole’s politics so far in Edo, he has become a political tactician that cannot be underrated. As a master negotiator, he is capable of taking the bull by the horn when the time comes. He may also decide to look elsewhere for a successor outside his deputy and Ize-Iyamu, depending on his political calculations. Luckily for him, he has succeeded in recruiting veterans under the umbrella of Edo Solidarity Movement to complement the efforts of the Edo in Safe Hands which appears to be the youth wing of the movement.
Again, Oshiomhole has a respected former governor, Chief Odigie Oyegun, who can play a stabilising role in the party. And if his feud with Ikimi continues, the governor will definitely rely on Oyegun to show leadership and, in his usual manner, checkmate Ikimi, Ize-Iyamu and Senator Ehigie Uzamere. Who it has been rumoured, may dump the APC for the PDP. The senator is perceived to have committed a political blunder when he decided to anoint an NDDC Commissioner without the consent of Oshiomhole.
It would be recalled that Oshiomhole embraced Uzamere and Senator Domingo Obende when they parted ways with Anenih in the PDP. That was during Uzamere’s first tenure as a senator. Then Uzamere fought against the attempt to stop Oshiomhole’s NDDC nominee, Don Omorodion, at the Senate by the Anenih forces and he won at the end and that gave the governor’s man the NDDC job. Oshiomhole was delighted and as a result backed Uzamere’s bid to return to the Senate for a second term in 2011.
At the end, Uzamere defeated Senator Daisy Danjuma of the PDP, making him the first senator from the area to get a second term. However, one year after the victory, Uzamere’s camp complained of being marginalized in terms of appointments and even choice of councillors and the local government chairman in his Ovia Local Government Council. Consequently, he decided to submit the name of one of his loyalists for the NDDC job when President Goodluck Jonathan gave him the nod.
But the move was punctured by a petition against the nominee from Oshiomhole and Anenih and that led to a stalemate. Since then, all has not been well between the governor and the two-time senator from Edo South senatorial district. Following what Oshiomhole’s camp now described as a political blunder committed by the senator, Oshiomhole, in a recent function at the home of his deputy, Odubu, apologized to the state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Matthew Urghoghide, whom the party denied the senatorial ticket in favour of Uzamere.
On that day, Oshiomhole told Urghoghide: “You warned me that Uzamere will disappoint me but I did not listen; today he has disappointed me, so I apologize publicly to you”.
Tested and trusted However, Sunday Vanguard learnt that Uzamere’s disagreement with the governor has forced the APC leadership in the state to reconsider their style of picking candidates, particularly ahead of the 2015 and 2016 elections. It was learnt that the party hierarchy may no longer be in a hurry to give tickets to new entrants, rather they would prefer to give to those who have been tested and trusted.
And while it is being rumoured that some of these leaders may dump the APC for the PDP, people like the former Minister of State for Works, Chief Chris Ogienwonyi, and three- time House of Representatives member, Barr.West Ehioge Idahosa, who were in the PDP, appear set to dump the party for the APC. The real action in the Edo APC will commences when registration of members commence early next year and that is when the political coast will be clearer.
But as it stands today, Oshiomhole is fully in control of the structure of the APC in the state and the undisputed leader of the party.
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.
As the political battle towards 2015 gathers momentum, a Lagos-based clergyman, Prophet Marcus Tibetan has revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan would not contest the 2015 general elections.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos while unfolding his predictions for 2014, Prophet Tibetan said that some powerful forces in the country would conspire to force Mr. Jonathan to drop his 2015 ambition just as he prophesied that the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, will win the elections.
Tibetan said, “PDP will win but not with Jonathan. PDP has no trouble within it. Jonathan will not contest. God told me that the generals have concluded on Jonathan.”
He also urged former the immediate past governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel to pray hard against political persecution that would lead to his being jailed for corrupt practices, just as he also asked another former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala to watch against paralysis being visited upon him.
The clergyman also advised Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to pray against premature death as the country approaches 2015, saying the forces that eliminated a former national vice-chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, Marshall Harry, might also do the same to him.
On the 2014 FIFA World Cup holding in Brazil, Tibetan predicted that the Super Eagles would reach the semi-finals, but prayed that nothing negative would happen to the national coach of the team, Mr Stephen Keshi, in the build up to the mundial.
“We are going to make a lot of achievements in sports. We will do well at the World Cup, if they [those in authority] should allow [Stephen] Keshi to perform his duty.
“But my prayer is that Keshi should not drop dead before that time. If nothing happens to him, we will reach the semi-finals”, he said
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.
An ostensibly private visit to Rivers State yesterday by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, sparked fresh tension over an alleged plot to impeach Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Deputy Governor Tele Ikuru.
Mrs.Jonathan, who is from the state, is scheduled to attend the wedding of one of her relations today in Port Harcourt.
Rumours of a planned session in the state House of Assembly by the six anti-Amaechi lawmakers had spread earlier in the day,but the complex remained locked by the police.
The police last night warned the warring state lawmakers to keep off the House after receiving the notice of appeal filed by the National Assembly against a High Court judgement declaring as unconstitutional the take-over of the functions of the Assembly by the federal legislators.
It was gathered that the First Lady met yesterday in Port Harcourt and her Okrika hometown with the anti-Amaechi legislators and politicians, including executive members of the PDP in the state.
Details of the discussion were not immediately known.
The calculation of the pro-impeachment group is to have the self-acclaimed Speaker of the House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, take over the affairs of the state once the plot succeeds with the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike,waiting in the wings to fly the PDP ticket in the governorship election that will follow.
The main entrance of the House of Assembly remained barricaded yesterday with Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), several police patrol vans and battle-ready policemen on stand-by.
23 of the 25 pro-Amaechi lawmakers are understood to have signed an undertaking with the police to be of good conduct once the Assembly is re-opened.
None of the six anti-Wike legislators has signed the document.
Bipi, in an interview, said that the Clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Sir Emmanuel Amewhule Ogele, did not notify his group of the signing of the undertaking with the police.
Bipi’s spokesman, Itobo Ofem, in a telephone interview at 3:21 pm yesterday, described the six anti-Amaechi lawmakers as law-abiding citizens who stood for justice.
Ofem also hinted that the rebel legislators were holding a crucial meeting, but declined to give details.
The Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, Udede Jim-Opiki, at 3:16 pm, through the telephone, insisted that his boss remained the authentic helmsman.
Jim-Opiki also expressed optimism that the 31 members of the Rivers House of Assembly would soon sit with Amachree presiding.
A state High Court, sitting in Ahoada, has restrained Bipi from parading himself as speaker.
The factional speaker, however, declared that he would not obey a “kangaroo” court order.
The state Police Command, in a statement last night, said the complex would remain shut until the Court of Appeal rules on the matter.
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.
Has the anointing received by Jim Iyke in Apostle T.B Joshua’s synagogue left him??
A serious report has emerged saying that the Nollywood actor was arrested on December 18, 2013 after he allegedly harassed another Nigerian in Accra, Ghana.
Jim Iyke is said to have been involved in a fight at the Crave Café at Adjiringanor, East legon in Accra with another Nigerian man.
The report says that Iyke traced a ‘stout-looking gentleman’ and ‘engaged the man in a heated argument over $10,000 (N1,600,000).
Eyewitness revealed that at a point it became very difficult for those around to separate the two as the argument turned into a nasty fight.
‘Jim Iyke wanted to get into his car to pull out something which was suspected to be a gun, but he was prevented by those at the café’, the reports says.
Jim Iyke is said to have been arrested moments later when the other man (who managed to free himself and flee the scene) returned with two policemen from the Legon Police Command – one in mufti and other in uniform.
Eyewitnesses also claim that Iyke returned to the café 20 minutes later because the ‘gentlemen’ had settled their differences.
The Legon Police Commander in a telephone conversation, with The Ghanaian Times said they were unable to arrest Jim Iyke or the other man as those who witnessed the fight at the scene were reluctant to give up information.
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.
Last week, Reuben Abati, presidential spokesman issued a full threat to those who are canvassing the impeachment of the president. He cautioned them against “treason.” Dr. Abati is wrong. You’d think that as former fire-eating newspaper columnist, the man who now speaks for the president would know the difference between the felony of treason and the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech. Speech is protected under the Nigerian bill of rights. It is one of those rights we fought for; why we chose democracy over tyranny. Those who are calling for the impeachment of the president cannot be accused of treason because they are expressing political thought and conscience.
It is one of the guarantees of democracy that the president can be constitutionally removed if he goes through the process in the National Assembly. Those who call for the removal of the president have a right to mobilize against this president in the National Assembly, and if their campaign gathers momentum, and the National Assembly impeaches the president, they would be within their rights.
They are however prevented from crossing two fundamental boundaries: they cannot deploy any means other than the constitutionally defined method for the removal of the president. In other words, they cannot remove the president by a violent means or by a secret plot leading to military takeover. They cannot deploy the use of coercive force in compelling any member of the National Assembly from taking an impeachment vote for instance.
The constitution outlines the process, and indeed legitimizes the impeachment of the president or any head of government if such head of the government – be it at the federal or the state levels – has been investigated by the senate, and by the proceedings of the two chambers of the Nigerian National Assembly. It is thus with utter disbelief that one reads Rueben Abati’s use of the threat of “treason” to dissuade those who seek the use of constitutional means to oust the president. The question is not whether the APC as a party can mobilize to impeach the president.
It can, and it has the backing of the constitution. Two things however are currently at play here: General Obasanjo’s letter on which the APC anchors its partisan grouse has laid a number of accusations on the doorsteps of the current president. The key and really more serious accusations include (a) that the president has authorized the training of a Black-Ops group of snipers to assassinate his political opponents leading on to the 2015 elections, and (b) that the President and the government he leads must account for the allegedly missing revenue from Nigerian oil sales.
These are weighty accusations deserving of investigation, and if indeed there is any truth to the allegation that the president is misusing his authority and power, it is incumbent on the National Assembly to impeach him. Reuben Abati therefore cannot threaten citizens of Nigeria exercising their rights with treason. He must understand the limits of presidential power. Although the constitution grants the president enormous and indeed wide-ranging powers, one of such powers is not the power to be court and jury. It is not up to the president or his spokesman to determine who has committed treason. The laws of the land are quite specific about the nature of judicial authority, and the role of the courts, and even the meaning of treasonable conduct. A coup plotter is involved in criminal conduct. A political campaigner seeking the use of the legitimate constitutional framework, including the petitioning of his representative in parliament to seek the constitutional removal of the president is within his rights. It is democracy at work. Under the democratic mandate, there are two ways to remove a president: through the ballot box or through the process of impeachment. A president that oversteps his power and misuses the power guaranteed by the constitution, or fails to uphold the constitution he swore to protect can be put through the impeachment process, and can in fact be impeached by the parliament of the land and the heavens will not fall as a result. A president who no longer enjoys the regard, trust or confidence of the people can be impeached by the National Assembly.
The impeachment clause however is not a frivolous clause. It cannot be misused. Which brings me to the question of the party calling for the impeachment of the president: they are yet to establish any grounds for which the president should be impeached. It is incumbent on Dr. Jonathan’s adversaries to provide clear proof that the president has misused his authority and that he no longer enjoys the confidence of a majority of Nigerians who elected him in the first place. Any moves against him might therefore backfire, and the blowback might lead to recall proceedings against those legislators who initiate the impeachment ploy.
To be clear, this statement is not a defence of the president, but it is important that Nigerians consider the following: the president of the federation is the executive authority of the land, he is not the final or absolute authority. The president for example cannot authorize the arrest of anybody, it is the duty of prosecutorial authority to do so. In other words, it is not the duty of the president to investigate and prosecute corruption.
It is the duty of those constitutionally empowered to investigate corruption in government and prosecute same based on hard evidence. The president can only be liable if he (a) interferes and shows unseemly disregard for established process in a bid to either protect himself or an associate under investigation (b) The president is directly or indirectly linked to misdemeanor, and (c) he directly authorizes, in disregard to process, the use of government resources to further his personal interest. But the president cannot bear the responsibility of a corrupt government alone. He can bear the responsibility of his executive mandate which is only one branch of the entire government.
The two other branches – the legislature and the Judiciary bear equal responsibility, and the president is not at the head of these branches. Did the president for example circumvent the law to establish a private army of snipers? That certainly should be investigated. But if the president authorized the Nigerian Army to establish a Sniper Squadron by the recommendation of the General Staff of the Army, does that amount to misuse of authority? No. It will amount to misuse of the power of the presidency if the president issues a direct order to his Army Chief to use such a force for his personal political goals. It is also the responsibility of the Chief of Army under such an illicit order not to carry it out, because clearly, each office is empowered by law to act within its own authority. Just because the president is Commander-in-chief, does not make him Chief of the Army. But has the president crossed those bounds? That is the question. The rule of law is clear: the president cannot be impeached on the mere whims of his adversaries. There must be grounds for his impeachment otherwise it’d amount to political caprice by the APC
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.
•We’re not wooing him, Tinubu explains mission to ex-president
The All Progressives Congress (APC) got a rare endorsement yesterday from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He hailed the party as being on course in enhancing democracy in the country.
He said, “As an opposition you are enhancing democracy, you are at home, you are welcome to being at home,” Chief Obasanjo told a high power delegation of the APC at a meeting at his Abeokuta residence, last night.
On the APC train were the party’s national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, former military leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, APC national leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) as well as the interim national publicity secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Senator Bukola Saraki, former Governor of Borno State, Alimodu Sheriff and Chief Bob Effiong.
However, Obasanjo advised his guests to play “politics without rancour, without bitterness, with decency, that has Nigeria at heart.”
He described himself as an ‘incurable optimist about Nigeria.’
“I am totally committed to Nigeria and nothing will divert me from that commitment,” he said.
He said he was honoured by the visit to “come and present your party and tell me the objectives. But let me start somewhere. I am a card carrying member of the PDP but the politics I play traverses Nigeria, Africa and world in that order. I am a democrat and one of the essential ingredients of democracy is opposition, a democracy that has no opposition built into it is not a democracy.
“In whichever party for whatever office that a person contested or aspired in Nigeria since 1999 such a person young or old man or woman can claim to be my political child and I can claim to be by virtue of political office I have held I can also claim to be political father.”
Chief Akande who led the visiting team said they were in Abeokuta to introduce APC, its leaders and governors among others to Obasanjo.
Akande also said the party was in support of the 18 – page open letter the former president recently wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan, adding that he (Obasanjo) acted in the best interest of the country.
Also speaking, Tinubu told their host: “You have come out of tribulation and held the highest position in this country. We are here because of your courage .Nobody can claim that he has information more than you. You have surmounted a number of crises.
“Nigeria is divided (now), more than before, to realise a stable Nigeria we want to encourage you to continue to speak the truth. We’re resolved and determined to rescue Nigeria, we want you as navigator.”
Governor Okorocha who spoke for the Progressives Governors said many of them passed through him politically and that the task to rescue Nigeria from its challenges is not only for the benefit of upcoming generations but also a task that must be accomplished.
The APC delegation started arriving Obasanjo’s mansion on Segun Osoba Hill – Top at about 5.23pm when a convoy of three jeeps carrying Chief Femi Fani – Kayode and former anti – graft Czar, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, came in.
They were followed at 5:50pm by a convoy of over a dozen vehicles including buses. In the convoy were most of the governors, Chief Akande and Asiwaju Tinubu.
General Mohammadu Buhari, followed six minutes later.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) drove in at 5.59 with ex-FCT minister, Mallam Nasir El – Rufai on the passenger seat with Governors Ajimobi and Amosun trailing them
The APC leaders had arrived Abeokuta at around noon and met with Governor Amosun, at the Government House, Isale – Igbein, Abeokuta, strategising before proceeding to see Chief Obasanjo who had earlier in the day flown to Akure to commiserate with the chiefs and people of the town on the recent passing away of the Deji of Akure, Oba Adeniyi Adesida.
Chief Obasanjo and the APC delegation emerged from their meeting at 7pm for a photo session with newsmen.
The meeting ended at about 8pm with Asiwaju Tinubu telling reporters that the APC visit was not to woo Obasanjo but one borne out of “patriotism, dedication and commitment to Nigeria.”
Tinubu said: “It is to be able to set Nigeria on the right path and for all men of goodwill to come together to rescue Nigeria. It is not a matter of wooing (him), an elder statesman.
“Yes, he is a very unique person in his own way based upon the experience of life, tribulations one way or the other, he saw power, tribulations and then back to power. If you want to grasp the life of this man from zero to grace, zero again and then to grace. And then you will see what you get in such a person.
“And you will need that wisdom not necessarily to join our partisan politics, but just to draw from the experience of an elder statesman.”
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.
Prince Tonye Princewill is a member of the PDP, a prominent player in the politics of Rivers State and a former Action Congress Governorship candidate in the 2007 general election. After what many termed as a short period of silence, the eloquent vibrant politician cum business magnate, who is a well-known respected voice not only on Rivers state politics, Niger Delta politics but also on burning national issues, spoke on his support for PDP, Mr Jonathan’s 2015 perceived ambition, national confab, among many other issues
Excerpt:
What is your take on the Governor’s move to APC and are you moving with him?
The short answer is No. Moving to APC is a mistake for him which has become inevitable. So I call it the inevitable mistake. The Governor boxed himself into that position almost deliberately and so if it looks like beer, smells like beer and taste like beer, then let us all acknowledge that it is what it is. He chose the path he is walking. Talk of him being forced to take it is for those who don’t know any better. Mr President loved Amaechi but Amaechi put that love aside to perform his first love which was Chairman of the Governor’s forum and his performance of it undoubtedly brought them into conflict. He naively thought that it wouldn’t. Many of us advised him against it but he said, “The President is the Commander in Chief, I am just a Chairman, there will be no conflictâ€. Now we can see how wrong he was. The President may have made peace with Amaechi but the President’s men and women wouldn’t especially, considering the media approach he (Amaechi) employed. The insults were too much and it only made a bad situation worse. People who have tried to kill the President have made peace with him so why not Amaechi. The answer comes from the lack of a sufficient desire for peace.
Very few people have the authority to talk on this matter like small me. I understood the internal working of Amaechi’s mind on this issue, I am very familiar with the President’s personal view on this matter, I have worked with the heads of the current APC family (Tinubu and Buhari) at close quarters and I understand the pulse of both teams very well. So when I, who understands this in and out, say Amaechi was wrong, I know what I am saying and when I who has been there before say, “don’t go”, I know also what I am saying. Asking me to go there is like asking me to return to secondary school after leaving University many years later. A big mistake. It is the Governor’s supporters I feel sorry for. He has been Speaker for eight years and will be leaving as Governor after eight years, so he can’t complain. But thanks to his decision, his “inevitable mistake”, many councillors, LGA chairmen and other political office holders will have their political prospects cut short. It is them I pity. They are the real victims, alongside Rivers people. Amaechi will be fine.
People are wondering where you stand. Is it with PDP or PDM?
They shouldn’t. I am in PDP. I have been there since 2010 and I am staying there. Many of them wonder because I speak for the people first before the party. Unlike most politicians, for me my state comes first. I will not blindly follow a party that does not have the interest of my state at heart. So if my views are seen as anti-PDP, it is only in the spirit of correcting the one you love whenever they deviate. After all when Amaechi and I were working together I publicly criticised him. My loyalty has always been to the people. If Amaechi or PDP do not walk the path of my people, I will not hesitate to remind them. Having said this, PDP is still the best of the rest, the only party with a national interest and people who you can go to war with. I would rather go to war with Wike than with some of these two faced politicians. With him and his faults, you know where you stand with him. I can deal with that. Same applies to Jonathan. If he can’t do something, he will not say he can. He may be slow to decide but when he does, that is it. He keeps his word. That has not been my experience with many of them.
If I take you through the new APC arrangement, the story is different. Since political parties have refused to have a unique ideology of their own, despite some of us coming close to insulting them on the subject, you are better of pitching your tent with a team going somewhere and with your people’s interests at heart. I make bold to say that, for me in Rivers, that team is PDP. With respect to PDM, it is a party close to my heart and many good people uncomfortable with the aggressive style of politics played in PDP have sought refuge there. They are organised, respecters of internal democracy and a roof for those, who can’t see the difference between APC and PDP but want to get involved in party politics to make a difference. My dream is for PDP to make them allies. It will not be easy but it is possible. They have a bright future, if not now – in 2019.
My committment to the youths has made me keep one eye on PDM and its progress. I believe the youth can use it to take control of their future. Their website pdm.ng is proof that they are the first political party in Nigeria to effect online registration. At the rate they are going with manual registration kicking off next week, they are set to become a serious force in Nigerian politics. Their pedigree guarantees it. I tell people that my heart is with PDM but my head and my legs are firmly in PDP. PDM will make change tomorrow, PDP can make change today. They should work together.
How is your relationship with Amaechi now?
It is no longer what it used to be but that is also inevitable. I have supported him at my own expense and it was no longer wise to continue to do so. Each man to a box they say. Most of the negativity I get today was because I decided to support Amaechi’s government in 2007. Some accuse me of doing it for money, others accuse me of lacking the fighting spirit, some go as far as calling me a sell-out. All that because I decided after fighting a good fight that I should allow what I saw as a divine decision to stand. I sold all I had to fight the 2007 election but after I supported Amaechi, I had to leave the state to survive because I was not a government pickin who survived off government leading up to 2007 so why should I be lazy and become one now? Amaechi knows this. I did some work but it was not at all commensurate with my input and even though I finished it after one year, it took them over two years later to pay me. But I never complained. Amaechi was a good man and I know he appreciated me.
Amaechi was like aradite anyway so empowering me was not his first, second or third interest. I noticed this and went about my business. Many say I was involved in Silverbird, the 1000 bed hospital, waste management and many other things but the truth is not what it seems and one day it will all come out. In 2011, I engineered over 1/2 a billion Naira of contribution to Amaechi’s campaign. Majority of the contributors came with money from outside Rivers state. Did Tonye Princewill see one contract worth that much? No. Yet I still stood by him. Because I was there for the state’s interest, not my pocket. That support I gave Amaechi cost me politically but I didn’t look back. I gave it. In the end God will judge us.
My people supported him tooth and nail but yet they were not acknowledged. I asked and asked, they were promised and promised but even after he told them in public and on National TV that he likes to keep his word as an example to his children, he didn’t. Still I supported him. He removed our commissioners in his cabinet, still I supported him, he promised other appointments and failed, still I supported him, because I was not there for me. If I was interested in me, I would have done things differently, had a deal with Omehia and collected 1.5 billion from him. All this I did because I believed Amaechi came from God. I never knew him before October 2007, yet I was more useful to him than people who grew up with him in politics. Many of my supporters felt that my refusal to fall out with him signified I was eating fat and content. This was not the case.
I saw my support as a stabilising force. The Riverine were agitating for a Governor after eight years of an Odili upland regime. People like me deciding to stand by Amaechi gave him credibility and soothed the Riverine / Upland divide that has dogged our state for so long. One day I sincerely hope that Amaechi looks at my role and realises that he lost a friend given to him by God. It might be too late for us, but let him not do this to others. Eventually it catches up with us. The same man he called corrupt aka Mr Consumables and not wanting to do politics with is now the interim Chairman of APC in my state, the same man he called an irritant and refused his calls is now his spokesman and the list goes on. He deliberately poached members of my team without the courtesy of my consent and did it only when he needed them. But I am not bitter. They are good men and deserve recognition. I am glad for the role I played in their lives. Good luck to them. I only wish he had recognised them sooner.
Can you still be Governor in 2015 now?
Why not? I am free of all encumberances. I have stood in Amaechi’s shadow for too long and now I am once again my own man, free to talk for me and free to speak for my people without worrying about relationships and allegiances. Even though I was still quite blunt, I was a lot more measured than I would like and a lot less critical than would have pleased me. Now I can talk about what is still wrong, what is not right and what needs doing without suspicions about me wanting to be Governor. Many people say I won in 2007, 2015 will be an opportunity to find out how popular I really am. I have never held a political office before, yet I have touched more people than some Governors and I have not campaigned for a day since 2007. That is the grace of God and I pray for it every day.
Rivers state will experience what it has never seen before. That I promise you. It will take an Obama to stop what we are coming with and I can’t see a Kenyan coming to win Rivers state, can you? No. Unless the One from above says “Don’t.” I will do. And I will not look back for anyone. 2015 is all the way or nothing. The past is the past. We all make mistakes. That is why pencils have erasers. All I can ask is for people to have a forgiving spirit. As for Amaechi’s support, I told him on the 6th of January 2012 about 2015 and I saw it in his eyes that he wouldn’t support me but I still supported him. Now all this happens, through no fault of mine. Can you see? God decides not man. It is amazing that the same beneficiaries of this philosophy still want to play God. I guess it is only human nature to think a Governor will install a Governor. I heard Amaechi said Tonye Princewill will never be Governor. I hope it is not true. But I will ask him. I have never abused him or insulted him. In fact I have even prayed for him. But I will not fight our President and I will not go for Senate in 2015. This I will not do. We have agreed to disagree. I hope agreeably.
What is your view on Atiku and Jonathan? Who will you support for President?
I will support the President for a continued four year term in office. Let me make that absolutely clear. As much as Atiku in my mind is a brilliant politician and a great Presidential material, I am afraid that his route to the Presidency is unclear to even a nuclear strategist like myself. He can’t get the PDP ticket and the APC ticket is not aimed in his direction either (thanks to the G7). He can’t keep jumping just to get a ticket, so I believe he should stay in PDP. Who knows, if he stays there anything can happen tomorrow. 2019 is there and his chances are still quite good. Jonathan can acknowledge his support, Nigerians can or maybe just maybe he wasn’t destined to be President. I don’t know. What I do know is I am not going to APC, Atiku should not allow himself to be used by those G7 Governors. I have no reason to do what would amount to impeaching the President by denying him a second term. What is his crime? Granted he has not done fantastic in many areas but I am not fooled by the finger pointing especially because of the grubby fingers that are doing that pointing.
They are no better, they have a selfish agenda and do not mean well for my country either. I’d rather have four more years of this certainty than eight more years of their own version of it. Politics should be about compromise. Honour amongst thieves. Help Jonathan to go again for the sake of the country and help him rule. He needs all the help he can get because many good people are fooled into abandoning him so the bad people around him are gaining relevance. The President is a good man. I’ve seen many acknowledge this. They complain about the people around him. So why not come around him too? If you are kept at a distance, maybe it is because of your actions and your body language. Open it up to dialogue and compromise. Do what Mandela would have done. Talk to your oppressors, dine with your enemies and seek a way forward knowing that the interest of the nation come first. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Jonathan didn’t get there by his might, so maybe God has a reason. Let us think about it. Everything I have said here, I have told Atiku in private. Without divulging his response, let me say that he acknowledged that Jonathan is the only President that has not attempted to destroy his business. All other succesive Presidents have. Does that not tell you something? Nigerians have heard the phrase, “It’s the thought that counts but let them remove “the” and use “It’s thought that counts.” We need to start thinking.
I rest my case. That is the kind of man you are dealing with. A GEJ/Atiku alliance would so gladden my heart. It would be a dream come true for my nation. If Mandela and de Klerk could work together, why not them? The answer is leadership and these elders God gave us. Ego and ambition cannot come before us the people. My comfort is that God knows best. Only one person can occupy that seat at any one time. For now it is Jonathan. I advised Amaechi not to support him in 2011, Amaechi ignored my advice. Now he wants me to help him clean up the mess? I won’t do it. You lie in the bed you made. Jonathan may not support me for Governor but I will support him for President especially seeing the forces that have mounted against him because it is right. I try not to put my interest first. It helps me sleep better at night.
With PDP in such disarray, how can they win the Presidency in 2015?
Because what you see as disarray is really just a cleansing. Those that leave were never meant to be there. Granted PDP has a structural problem highlighted by this recent drama but now PDP is free to address it without distractions. PDP is a formidable machine. I know. I have come up against it before and so I pity those who start to read its obituary. They underestimate it and underestimate Jonathan. I did that in 2011, but I will not be repeating that mistake. Listen. PDP Governors controlled the party until Jonathan came along. Obasanjo and Yar Adua had tried to rebalance the control but they failed.
We have a string of memorials for PDP Chairmen who fell at the hands of the Governors but GEJ changed all that. How? You can trace it to the Governors forum election. A masterpiece in political slight of hand. Now you see it. Now you don’t. While all of us were complaining that 19 is more than 16 and quite rightly so, the forum died and Governors were suspended by the same party they controlled. People should go and study what is happening in Nigerian politics today and they will see that acting foolish is the new wisdom because Nigeria is full of wise people. Busy analysing the problem so much that a silent listener who actually focuses instead on solutions can make progress where other so called smarter ones have failed.
In the end the majority know that APC is no better than PDP and if they sense that PDP and Jonathan are ready to listen, they will give them another chance. If President Jonathan wants to come back in 2015, he has a lot of work to do. But he can do it. Some of us will help him do it. There are many young Nigerians that see the 419 in our politics. How can APC absorb the same PDP governors they were abusing last month and hand over the party in their states to them as if people were not there before. And they say they are different? Is that democracy? Is Nyako change? The original APC members in Rivers state are about to defect en masse to PDP and PDM in sheer disbelief. Tell me who is in disarray.
Is the level of corruption in Nigeria today not an indictment on Jonathan?
It is an indictment on all of us especially him. Yes. But Nigerians need to move beyond complaining to actually doing. We complained about Obasanjo assigning National assets to himself and what happened? Jonathan’s hasn’t done that. Did corruption end? Did it go underground? So why do we keep doing the same thing and expect different results?
Complaining about GEJ is not the solution. He has done a couple of things that suggest he can do more. The PDP Chairman’s son has been remanded in custody. Haba! That was never possible in Obasanjo’s PDP. But it has happened. Tambuwal complained the other day that Jonathan’s body language encourages corruption; Amaechi complained that trillions are missing and Dino Melaye set up an anti-corruption NGO. Who are we kidding? Can we please stop the drama? The political class are all knee-deep in corruption so forgive me if I don’t fall for that particular game. They want Jonathan out and somebody else in. So they can control the key to the CBN vault. Sorry. Now we know. If good people surround Jonathan, bad people involved in corruption will be expendable. Now you ask him to chuck out the few who stood by him and he feels exposed. Let us understand them even if we don’t agree. Obama said of Mandela that he “sought to understand where his opponents were coming from.” We should learn from Mandela.
Nigerians should be wise. The truth is bitter. There are no saints in the political space anymore; just serial sinners. Let us find the ones who accept they need help and see if we can save them. Jonathan needs help. He has only four more years. He is a much better option than a full eight years of these other ones. The damage political drama does our nation is beyond belief. In the end, they all settle and resume casual affairs, while the people remain casualties. Never again. I don’t see 2015 as change; I see it as a preparation for change. I see that change in 2019.
Where do you see the state of the nation come 2015?
I see it stabilising. The critical year for me like I said is 2019when Jonathan is on his way out. If the North do not support him now, they will lose the President’s support in 2019 and that may tilt things in favour of the South East politics. That would isolate the North and drive their political prospects deeper underground. Knowing the history of our country, that will open up many ugly possibilities. Containing that situation in 2019 is my concern not 2015. If the President does what he needs to do, 2015 will pass peacefully and there is nothing to suggest he won’t.
Mandela pulled South Africa from the brink, what can be done for Nigeria?
Nigeria can move forward in leaps and bounds if they are given the right leadership. Mandela was a fighter and a defender of democracy but he was willing to speak with even his oppressors to move his country forward. This is what is lacking here in Nigeria. Selflessness. If we can get a few of them to hold on to this philosophy, the future will be bright. Politicians have to learn to keep their words and be open about their deals behind closed doors so we can see who keeps their side of the bargain and who does not. Mandela and the ANC negotiated in open with de Klerk and his team. The interest of the country need not be a secret. We don’t all have to be the President or have one from our region to progress. Let God’s will survive. This brings me to the issue of a national conference. We need one and we need it now. Dialogue is the key to all our challenges and we have many of them. Those afraid of dialogue need not be unless they are happy with the status quo. The status quo cannot continue.
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.
Slim Burna tweeted the above yesterday following his latest hit "Oh Na Na Na" impressive performance on the Rhythm 93.7 TGIF chart. The song was originally recorded in September but was later released on October 1 to commemorate Nigeria's National Day Anniversary and has generated generally positive to mixed reviews from music critics and fans alike. Its lyrics are centered on a Nigerian girl he lusts after, whose beauty and movements he felt, were comparable to those of an Indian and a Brazilian girl.
According to the official Rhythm 93.7 PHC twitter, "Oh Na Na Na" entered the chart in the last week of November at number ten and climbed to number two the next week. It spent another week at that position before eventually dropping out of the chart completely.
The TGIF Charts is aired every Friday during a show called 'Afternoon Drive' hosted by radio personality Azubuike Wokocha.
A few weeks ago, the singer performed the song for the first time publicly at Carniriv's Pre Concert which was held at Port Harcourt's Liberation Stadium.
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.
SENATOR AMEH EBUTE, CON (FORMER SENATE PRESIDENT) 31/32 MANGAL PLAZA, AREA 11, GARKI, ABUJA 08090880656 18thDecember, 2013
RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
Preamble As discerning Nigerians who found the so-called “before it is too late” letter from Chief Olusegun Obasanjoto President Goodluck E. Jonathan, GCFR, ill-conceived, we decided to deconstruct the content to see if it meets the minimum demands of altruistic advice, given the writer’s pedigree as a former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an elder statesman. In doing this we were not unaware of the several public commentaries and reactions from a cross section of Nigerians, some of which posit that Nigerians should ignore the messenger and take the lessons from the message giving the critical weight of the issues raised. Much as this position may appear germane, it needs to be understood that whereas it is possible to separate the messenger from the message, it is nevertheless impossible to comprehend the meaning of a message without reference to the motive or intention of the messenger.
The veracity and/or reliability of the message in the context of the motive could only be drawn if the messenger is altruistic in his motive.
Since Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s one time military Head of State and former President, claims to be speaking from the rostrum of high moral rectitude because of his “overt” love for Nigeria, it is only apposite that in deconstructing the contents of the letter, without prejudice to the pleas of several public commentators, we glean the moral integrity and character qualifications of the messenger as a test of the reliability and value of the message.
This is because whether we like it or not Chief Obasanjo’s vituperations have not only over-heated the polity but brought the nation to anaemic convulsion.
Chief OlusegunObasanjo’s ill-conceived letter no doubt is an open assault on the seat of power in Nigeria. For a former President who has unimpeded access to the President to nakedly dance this danse macabre in public on grounds that former letters written by him had not been replied only affirms what Theodore Roosevelt describes as the dangers of lack of morals when he said “to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society”. Whether former President Obasanjo, has now become a menace to the Nigerian political landscape or otherwise would be better judged by discerning minds. But to us, he has merely epitomized the prescriptions of Noel Coward: “the higher the building the lower the morals”.
Further as Thomas S. Monson would remind us, “the surest test of an individual’s integrity is his refusal to do or say anything that would damage his self-respect”. Hence, in developed democracies, former Presidents hardly ever comment publicly on the policies and actions of their successors, evidently in deference to self-respect. They seek and utilize latent channels to communicate and offer their advice. And if we take to heart what Mark Twain said about character, “a man’s character may be learned from the adjectives he habitually uses in conversation,” then given Chief Obasanjo’s deleterious history of publicly criticizing heads of government in office that ended in ominous consequences, Nigerians should be circumspect and be resolved in one accord to defend our hard-won democracy.
As an obsessed letter writer, Chief Obasanjo may unwittingly view his tirades against sitting governments as building a legacy to be celebrated when he departs; he does not see the effects of debasement, deformation, destruction, disunity, hatred and defamation in his actions. Selfless leaders with character build peace, build harmony, build unity and build love. However, it appears our erstwhile President has lost it all. Like what Billy Graham said, “When character is lost, all is lost”.
Leadership in its broad spectrum is fraught with complex challenges, and nations that are progressively built always find patriotic leaders come around to contribute positively to governance and not indulge in self-adulation. Let us now evaluate the three (3) year old administration of President Goodluck Jonathan vis-a-vis Chief Obasanjo’s cumulative eleven years in office in the context of the five (5) prerequisite capacities of a President of the Federal Republic which Chief Obasanjo identifies, to wit: Leadership of the ruling party; Headship of the Federal Government; Commander-in-Chief of the Military; Chief Security Officer of the Nation; and Political Leader of the country. a. Leadership of the Ruling Party: It is ridiculous that Chief Obasanjo, a self-acclaimed democrat, should accuse President Goodluck Jonathan as the one responsible for the lingering crisis in PDP, which pre-dated his emergence as the leader of the party. President Jonathan’s alleged crime is his refusal to publicly denounce those craving his return in 2015. Chief Obasanjo further accused President Jonathan of clandestinely dictating the actions of the party Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
These unsubstantiated claims posit a curious but intriguing parallel and calls for self-examination on the part of the Owu Chief.
When in 2002, before INEC officially signaled political activitiesfor the 2003 elections, posters and propaganda materials adorned all nooks and crannies of Nigeria for Chief Obasanjo’s re-election, how many of such people did he publicly denounce? Even when it became open knowledge in 2005 that Chief Obasanjo surreptitiously attempted to use his cronies to insert in the output of the National Political Reform Conference a clause to elongate his tenure for a third term, since he thought it was only he who had the single inalienable right to rule Nigeria for life, did hereunder any public denial?
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has no moral credentials to accuse President Jonathan of responsibility for the travails of the PDP. These crises, as earlier noted, predate the incumbent leader of the party. Perhaps to refresh Chief Obasanjo’s memory, let him be reminded that Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu’s recourse to forming his own political party (PPA) to provide a platform for his nominee to contest the 2007 elections was a direct outcome of Chief Obasanjo’s arm-twisting military style to force him out of the PDP. The party eventually lost Abia State. Even as a presidential candidate, Chief Obasanjo reportedly lost his own ward and a number of South-West states in the 1999 elections. As the “emperor” of the Nigerian state, his back-handed defiance of democratic electoral process brought victories to PDP in some South-West states which could not endure. We eventually saw the so-called PDP victories upturned through the judicial process because, when he was the leader of the party, Chief Obasanjo could not secure defensible victories.
No period in the history of our fledgling democracy has witnessed a higher turnover of PDP National Chairmen than the eight year tenure of Chief Obasanjo as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. First, soon after the late Chief Solomon Lar steered the PDP to victory in the 1999 Presidential election, Chief Obasanjo booted him out of office.
And of course the well-respected frontline contributions of the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi to the electoral fortunes of Chief Obasanjo had deservingly positioned him to succeed Chief Solomon Lar, yet our maverick democrat not only frustrated the elder statesman out of the chairmanship of the party but also ensured his untimely retirement from politics. Even Chief Barnabas Gemade, whom Chief Obasanjo backed to thwart Chief Awoniyi, was soon to be replaced as Chairman by Chief Audu Ogbeh, a very outspoken, purposeful and visionary leader, who craves for a peaceful and progressive Nigeria.
Chief Ogbeh was reportedly forced to resign as Chairman after having lunch with President Obasanjo. His offence was that he assumed the gauntlet to advise President Obasanjo to investigate the security challenges in Anambra state that threatened the life of Governor Ngige at the time. Interestingly, all these chairmen were elected for definite tenure as prescribed by the PDP constitution.
As Chief Obasanjo bestrode the PDP like an intimidating colossus, electoral decency was jettisoned, internal democracy trampled upon and good conscience buried as he dealt ruthlessly with all perceived enemies regardless of democratic culture and ethos. The following casualties of his high-handed leadership are dead and living testimonies: late Sen. Chuba Okadigbo; Sen. Ayim Pius Ayim; Gov. Peter Odili whom he used, milked and dumped;
Gov. Joshua Dariye; Gov. Orji UzorKalu; Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; Gov. Gbenga Daniel; Dep. Gov. Mukhtar Shagari; Gov. Attahiru Bafarawa; Gov. D. S. P. Alamieyeseigha; etc.
Therefore if upholding the rule of law and the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party is basis for accusation of the Presidency masterminding the PDP crisis, we are not convinced that President Jonathan has conducted himself in an unpresidential manner to attract these unwarranted innuendoes in any way.
It bespeaks a deep-sounding hollowness for Chief Obasanjo to make allusion to the fact that the crisis in the PDP is premised on whether President Jonathan should exercise his constitutional prerogative to contest elections in 2015. He is clearly on a protectionist mission, to create sufficient disaffection within the PDP to facilitate the emergence of his preferred candidates.
Nobody is against the aspirations of anybody to any elective office. Indeed, that is the beauty of democracy, where people freely chose to contest and are voted for. But why must an elder statesman embark upon such an unprovoked voyage of denigrating the person occupying the most exalted office in the land simply to make a point for his preferred candidates to take over? It must be unequivocally stated that neither Chief Olusegun Obasanjo nor his cohorts can determine the will of God; nobody can play God in the affairs of men, and in the affairs of our country.
Chief Obasanjo after being a military leader for 3 years, tried shamelessly to mastermind the extension of his constitutional two terms tenure as President to a third one (that is, after being head of government for 11 years, he wanted additional 4 years) until Nigerians cried foul. That he now attempts to stop President Jonathan from contesting for another constitutional term of four years, shows sheer wickedness and mischief. If Chief Obasanjo’s grand-design and deception to hoodwink Nigerians to endorse his phantom third term could not “spill the blood of Nigerians”, the call for the exercise of President Jonathan’s legitimate right to contest for a constitutionally guaranteed second term, if he accepts it, will not spill blood in this country. Or is Chief Obasanjo alluding to a grand plan by some elements in the country to cause mayhem should President Jonathan contest the 2015 elections? We find these comments very disturbing especially in the light of repeated public threats by one Junaid Mohammed. Chief Obsanjo not only knows the position of the law for making very reckless comments but also has experienced first-hand the consequences of such inflammatory comments to incite the populace.
We make bold to say here that President Jonathan has handled the affairs of the PDP and the nation with far greater inclusiveness and tolerance of dissent than Chief Obasanjo ever did. This broad minded and accommodating disposition of President Jonathan is further extended to even the ever-critical and often virulent opposition.
b. Headship of the Federal Government It is perfidious for Chief Obasanjo to set the National Assembly against President Jonathan in discussing corruption. Let it be stated from the onset that we do not endorse corrupt practices in any form; in fact it is our position that President Jonathan should deal decisively with all proven corruption cases regardless of whose ox is gored. However, it is common knowledge that corruption attained monumental heights under the regime of Chief Obasanjo as President. Chief Obasanjo presided over the proceeds of Nigeria’s oil and gas for six years, without transparent accounting as the de facto Minister of Petroleum Resources. To perfect his plan, he appointed his kinsman and protégé Engr. Kupolokun who had retired, to serve as the Group Managing Director of NNPC. Nigeria’s oil and gas revenue was helplessly at the discretion of the duo. Where was accountability and transparency? It will be recalled that the CNPP petitioned the EFCC to investigate Chief Obasanjo as President for an estimated unaccounted sum of $133 billion in oil revenue from 2000 to 2006, the period he was the de facto Minister of Petroleum Resources. We are inclined to think that part of the reasons for Chief Obasanjo’s double-standard romance with President Jonathan is the latter’s audacity to reopen up investigations, earlier ordered by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua into the Haliburton bribery scandal. If Chief Obasanjo’s former Personal Assistant, Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju, could be interrogated over allegations of millions of dollars bribery scam, it is more like the hand of Jacob and the voice of Esau. So where does Chief Obasanjo derive the moral qualification to accuse another government of corruption? When a sitting President influences major business tycoons who do business with government to launch and build a multi-million naira library in his village in his name, what does that amount to? When a sitting President, Chief Obasanjo, suddenly becomes a shareholder in Trans National Corporation of Nigeria Plc, a diversified conglomerate, owners of Transcorp Hilton and several oil and gas assets, what does that amount to? It should be in the normal course of business for a President. What accounted for the sudden transformation of the Ota farm, which had become the habitat for reptiles and weeds before Chief Obasanjo became Presidentin 1999? Or are Nigerians quick to forget the missing N2.8 billion under the watch of Gen. Obasanjo when Gen. Buhari was the Federal Commissioner of Petroleum Resources?
While Nigerians accuse the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida of institutionalizing corruption, it is common knowledge that Chief Obasanjo planted the seed of corruption and elevated it to unimaginable heights. On the claims by Chief Obasanjo that the economic performance indices are dangerously sliding, that is nothing more than a self-serving statement. Even the International Monetary Fund adjudged the Nigerian economy to be performing relatively better, with a GDP at 6.75%, the highest growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. And we are convinced that the Jonathan administration is doing everything to make the observed economic growth all-inclusive in the light of the policies and strategies being initiated to tackle the problem of unemployment and poverty eradication.
Nigerians of good conscience can all attest to the relative improvement and stability of electricity supply; the recent unbundling of PHCN and licensing of electricity distribution companies will no doubt enhance electricity supply to consumer I in the coming months and this will invariably positively impact both the manufacturing and small-medium scale businesses. Also, the resuscitation of collapsed infrastructure in the Aviation sector by the Jonathan administration has been a source of pride to Nigerians. The hitherto moribund rail transport system for which Chief Obasanjo pumped so much billions has been successfully revived. Nigerians now travel from Lagos to Kano by train.
God, in his divine grace, blessed Chief Obasanjo with incomparable opportunities of leadership to drive the fortunes of our country to enviable heights but the evident result is that the progress of the nation is impeded as he left only relics of collapsed infrastructure, monumental corruption, debased national psyche and a disillusioned polity. The myriad of problems and challenges bequeathed by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo have made the work of nation building inexorably difficult for his successors.
The Jonathan administration is not only way ahead of the Obasanjo one in terms of recorded and visible achievements measured against the funds deployed but also has had positive impact on the lives of the citizenry. c. Commander-in-Chief of the Military To all discerning public observers, there is no argument that President Goodluck Jonathan has employed the adroit strategies and demonstrated statesmanship in the handling of critical national challenges, deserving of a democratically elected President. Because he knows his primary responsibility to the people is protection of their lives and property, President Jonathan’s style has not only assisted in sustaining our fragile unity as a country but has made him no less a Commander-in-Chief.
Given the destructive tendencies that characterized Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s rule as President during which period human rights abuses and defiance of the rule of law were the norm,we are at a loss to unravel the import of Chief Obasanjo’s assertions in this respect. As stated earlier, Chief Obasanjo’s impulsive decisions culminated in the destruction of communities, killing and maiming of innocent lives by the Nigerian military at the least provocation.
That was the case of the sleepy town of Odi in Bayelsa State, which was completely destroyed because of the activities of a few miscreants that led to the death of some Police officers. So too was the case of Odioma town also in Bayelsa state. Today, the Federal Government is to pay N37.6 billion in compensation to the people of Odi, as ordered by the Federal High Court, for that tactless act of a President. Similarly, Chief Obasanjo deployed heavy military arsenals to trouble spots in Benue state and destroyed, maimed and killed innocent people in Zaki Biam town, and other towns in Katsina-Ala LGA and Logo LGA. Whereas the military deployed by Chief Obasanjo never went after any of the suspected criminals but to kill innocent citizens, President Jonathan’s humane characteristic ensured that no innocent citizen was deliberately affected by the activities of the military. The purpose being to curb the Boko Haram insurgents, Nigerians are relieved that about 500 insurgents are to be arraigned. A remarkable difference in strategy and tact!
Nigerians are also not in a hurry to forget how the apparatus of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was deployed in the name of fighting corruption to hound perceived political opponents. The selective approach in the fight against corruption made a mockery of the entire anti-corruption exercise as loyalists were shielded and enemies persecuted.
And so who has indeed deferred to the sacrosanct role of the military in the best interest of the nation, a Chief Obasanjo who recklessly deployed military might to kill innocent Nigerian souls or a President Jonathan who deploys tact in dealing with restive spots to minimize collateral damage, even in the light of a far more sophisticated, hitherto unknown security outfit, the Boko Haram group? Interestingly, when Chief Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Plateau state, he gave no respect to the preservation of the democratic institutions. In contrast, when the Boko Haram inspired insurgency in some parts of the north unabatedly threatened the peace and stability of the country, President Jonathan went on a wide range of consultations with all stakeholders before declaring a state of emergency. Hence today, all democratic institutions in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, the frontline states where President Jonathan declared a state of emergency have remained functional. A true democratic practitioner!
d. Chief Security Officer of the Nation It is pathetic that Chief Obasanjo’s sense of history could be so easily demented. Without extending the searchlight to other trouble spots, we wish to recall the ineptitude and abysmal failure of Chief Obasanjo’s strategies in managing the militancy in the Niger Delta area. Even when the activities of militants brought the economy to knee-jam and oil production plummeted from 2.5 million barrels a day to 700,000 barrels a day, his barking bull strategies brought no solution to the crisis. It took the sagacious strides of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua/Jonathan, working with critical stakeholders, to make peace without spilling blood and today Nigeria is the better for it, with greater capacity to meet government obligations because of enhanced revenue profile from increased foreign receipts. So where is Chief Obasanjo’s pedigree in managing crises?
Another gory absurdity is Chief Obasanjo’s allegation that President Jonathan is training snipers where Abacha trained his killer squad and that there are about 1000 high profile politicians on a watch list. For an allegation as weighty as this we are sure Chief Obasanjo knows the import of the law for such blatant insinuation that qualifies for libel. Chief Obasanjo should know, if he does not already, that the onus of proof lies on him. We demand that the relevant security agencies like NSA, Directorate of State Security (DSS), Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Nigeria Police, should immediately take decisive appropriate action to investigate this very sensitive national security issue and make their findings public. The security services must carry out this investigation with dispatch because we suspect that there is a grand plan to assassinate some high profile Nigerians, in the context of this very dangerous allegation, to intimidate and coerce President Jonathan to abdicate his right to contest in 2015. To us it merely shows that our aging Owu Chief certainly deserves more rest at Ota to avoid going beserk.
However, Nigerians will continue to hold Chief Obasanjo accountable for the several high profile unexplained killings for which no culprits have been unearthed years after. Notable among the list of those assassinated without conclusive investigations under Chief Obasanjo’s watch were Chief Bola Ige, Obasanjo’s first Minister of Power and later Minister of Justice and Attorney General; Chief Marshall Harry; a former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party; Chief Aminasoari K. Dikibo, also a former National Vice Chairman of the PDP; Chief Funsho Williams, a former PDP governorship aspirant of Lagos state; ChimereIkoku and a number of other unexplained deaths.
In contrast to Chief Obasanjo’s alarmist averments the most dreadful security challenge today remains the Boko Haram sect which, in itself, devolved from Chief Obasanjo’s dereliction of his constitutional duty to guarantee the secularity of the Nigerian state. And of course we need to be mindful of Chief Obasanjo and his ilk whose appetite for uprisings and revolutions akin to the Arab Spring seems to be growing proportionately daily. Chief Obasanjo should be reminded that if Nigerians were to agitate for a revolution, and particularly the Ghanian type, Obasanjo and his likes would not be spared the wrath of Nigerians.
e. Political Leader of the Country No President of Nigeria under our democratic dispensation has been more Nigerian in disposition and conduct than Dr. Goodluck E. Jonathan. It is unfortunate that Chief Obasanjo could degenerate to fan the embers of ethnicity in such an insidious and reckless manner. For a man who claims to be a detribalized Nigerian to infer that no other minority in this country could be entrusted with the leadership of the country, because of his myopic assessment and conclusion that President Jonathan has not performed to satisfy his whims, evinces clearly a chronic obsession of hate. But we must remind Chief Obasanjo that Nigeria is not an enterprise of an oligarchy and that the days of hegemonic rule are gone. Chief Obasanjo should extricate himself from the garb of narrow mindedness and pettiness and be broad in his perceptive values. Nigeria belongs to all, majorities and minorities alike.
On the fight against corruption, we observe that the agencies tasked to deal with corruption must be given a free hand to work. If the EFCC is hamstrung to perform its assignments creditably then we shall be concerned. Today neither the EFCC nor ICPC is pressured and tele-guided to pursue perceived enemies. The reported concern, raised by the Central Bank Governor, over unremitted accruals of about $49.8 billion is being reconciled by a joint team of NNPC, FIRS, DPR and CBN. Chief Obasanjo should have shown a more statesmanlike conduct and decorum before dancing to the public gallery. As it has now been revealed, with the false alarmist, CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanisu publicly apologizing, the joint reconciliation exercise has confirmed that only $10.8 billion is yet to be reconciled even as the exercise is still on going. Clearly, the initial claim was a false alarm orchestrated to incite the general public against President Jonathan, and Chief Obasanjo also demeaned himself to join the foray of dubious whistle blowers.
Till date no Nigerian, excepting Chief Obasanjo, has seen a presidential reception organized in honour of Major Al Mustapha. Whereas Chief Obasanjo thinks that every sitting President obstructs the course of justice as was his own mercurial practice, President Jonathan has continued to show maximum resistance to interfere with the judicial process. It is only in the imagination of Chief Obasanjo that the Presidency celebrated Major Al Mustapha’s release. This is understandable since he must loathe Al-Mustapha for his incarceration by Abacha for life imprisonment.
What Does Chief Obasanjo Want? In all these posturing of sainthood and angelic patriotism, what does Chief Olusegun Obasanjo aim to achieve? We state that Chief Obasanjo’s letter is at best self-serving and holds no grain of patriotism and national interest. Through this blatant charade of promoting falsehood, innuendoes and untruths, Chief Obasanjo attempts to raise a mob action against President Jonathan, a crafty follow-up to the rebellion he used the G 7 governors he planted in the states to stir up crisis in the PDP in order to stop Jonathan in 2015. Since he considers time to be running out he needed to commence the campaigns for his anointed protégés. For Chief Obasanjo’s project to succeed, President Jonathan must be destroyed first, in the court of public opinion.
Nigeria is not a fiefdom in the stranglehold of Chief Obasanjo. If he chooses to squander his privileged opportunities to offer leadership to this country, and to think he can rule Nigeria like his private estate from everywhere, he has failed. Must Chief Obasanjo continue to breath hard on President Jonathan because he claimed he made him President? Even so, that is not a stand- alone act because Chief Obasanjo himself was a beneficiary of God using Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma and Gen. Abdulsalami to make him President in 1999. Even his emergence as Head of State in 1976 was the sacrifice of Gen. Danjuma and others. These people never publicly dictated to him how to govern Nigeria. Most importantly, they never did anything to bring him into public odium despite the numerous problems his administration created for the polity.
While we know that politics is a game of numbers, we would also hastily add that no one person can make a President; it is the people of Nigeria that can decide who should become their President, as God wills. If Nigerians think President Jonathan has delivered on his electoral mandate, they can freely entrust him with another mandate and that cannot be subject to the whims of any Chief Obasanjo. We therefore urge President Jonathan to remain focused, undeterred and committed to delivering on his transformation agenda.
Chief Obasanjo having succeeded in persuading his cronies to stir unending controversy within the ranks of the PDP, and indeed the nation is certainly on a mission to destroy the party, truncate our hard won democracy and plunge the nation to cataclysm for his personal gain. We therefore call on the leadership of party to take decisive action against him as nobody is greater than the party. Chief Obasanjo to all intents has demonstrated more anti-party activities than any one else in the history of PDP
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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