I would like rely on some ancient words of a wise king who once said, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven”. Yes, there is a time to be quiet. There is a time to be loud; a time to be politically correct in the interest of peace. And there is a time to refrain from political correctness and speak truth to power in public interest. And this should include a time to tell our best friends the truth and nothing but the truth, especially the one to set them free from unnecessary fear. I am therefore fully persuaded that it is time to tell our friends, especially in the far North, some plain truth about Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria whose destiny all of us are gambling with at the moment.
For the record, I have more friends in the North. I have had some personal relationship with the North that spanned about three decades. My professional profile was remarkably shaped in December 1990 when the premier newspaper in Abuja owned by investors from the North appointed me Editor of their newspaper, TheAbuja Newsday. I once narrated part of the remarkable story of the first newspaper in the nation’s capital here. I had then noted that Alhaji Bukar Zarma, former editor of New Nigerian who hails from Borno state, set up the newspaper and appointed all the editors without consideration for religion and ethnicity. The Chairman of the Board of Directors was Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Wakilin Adamawa.
The title Editor, Nick Dazang, is a Christian from Plateau State. The News Editor was Jackson Ekwugum, a Christian from Delta State. The Chief Sub-Editor, Dennis Mordi hails from Delta State too. The Features Editor, Clement Wasah, is a Christian from the Federal Capital Territory. The Sports Editor then was Samuel (Samm) Audu, who hails from Zaria, Kaduna State. There were others. In December 1990, there was a cabinet shake-up and yours sincerely was appointed Editor from Lagos Bureau chieftaincy title.
My life as a journalist has since been significantly affected by my stint with the capital’s premier newspaper that the Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) regime closed down in the wake of June 12 election crisis in 1993! And this beat has taken me to every nook and cranny in the North since 1988.
This is just a modest way of saying that there is a sense in which I can claim that I am quite familiar with events and developments in the northern region. Most of my best friends and mentors are from the North. Some of the most remarkable sources and resources I have had in my professional life, are from there. What is more, I have done more journalistic legworks in the North and Abuja than any other parts of the country. So, there is also a sense in which I can claim that I am a friend of the North.
That exactly is the reason I have to devote this piece (of advice) to the power elite in the significant region, who will be in the eye of Nigeria’s political storm again sooner than later because the bells are beginning to toll already for 2019 elections. The northern elite are like their counterparts in any parts of the country: they don’t vote. They may not register as members of any political party. But they wield enormous powers in coordinating the poor masses to register and vote for candidates of their (elite’s) choice.
Power elite, as conceptualised by a sociologist C.Wright Mills in 1956, is used in loose sense here to depict the elite corps members in the North who continue to wield powers, who mobilise the wretched their strange politics has massively created.
All told, this is not a time for intellectual masturbation we always indulge in, especially in the media. It is indeed a time to see the elite ‘theory’, in this context, as explaining the power relationships in contemporary northern society. The ‘theory’ posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power and that this power (is not so) independent of a state’s democratic elections process.
According to Mills, the eponymous “power elite” are those that occupy the dominant positions, in the dominant institutions (military, economic and political) of a dominant country, and their decisions (or lack of decisions) have enormous consequences, not only for a country (such as U.S) population but, “the underlying populations of the world.”
We need to understand that the elites have intellectual, moral, and material superiority that is highly esteemed and influential in organized societies. In 2013, I had some useful discussion with Dr. Wale Babalakin on the role of the elite in a society and the implications of their docility. He promised to do an article on it for me as editor… He has been ‘too elitist’ to deliver on his promise, though he has been delivering other services as he built and is operating Nigeria’s best local airport, MMA2 through his purpose-driven B1-Courtney.
There is no debating the fact that most members of the Nigerian elite corps have been very greedy and complicit in the conspiracies and politicking that have kept the country under-developed. Most of the public intellectuals among them have been, above all things, desperately dishonest. They most often deny that they are part of the ruling class. They want to pose as part of those ruled. They don’t get interested in organising even non-governmental organizations to examine the problems of societies and build active citizenry. They don’t even register to vote. But when, according to my brother, Fela Durotoye, their complacency allows the unelectable, incompetent to be elected through the ignorant, uneducated poor, they step forward for spoils of office, notably appointments accepted from mediocrities in power.
But specifically, let’s leave the national council of the Nigerian elite and speak eloquently to the ruling and the ruled elite in the North who are again perfecting strategy to return President Muhammadu Buhari to power in 2019. Most of us, especially their friends in the sphere of amateur political risk analysis need to tell them now that this 2019 is the last chance they have to redeem their image.
When it is time to insist on the turn of the North to fill quota, they insist so strategically that no one can stand in their way. This is being done within a very complex diversity we always fail to recognise as some sensitivity. One is not too sure of whether they (the elite) retain political risk analysts within their fold to tell them the implications of their actions within the (nation’s) polity. There have been so many contentious issues. But let’s examine some of the most critical ones that have formed some complex perception index in other parts of the country that political correctness has prevented from the mainstream media.
A counter elite corps is emerging in the country because most members believe in some inconvenient truth that the North has been unable to help itself out of its political cocoon. Another side of the uncomfortable degree of truth is that the far North is against even sustainable development in the region, no thanks to the elite that have failed and refused to develop quantitative and qualitative education in the area. Thus, there is a large pool of illiterate citizens, useful only for elections of who-ever they want in power. There was a recent credible publication to the effect that N15 billion worth of Almajiri integrated model schools built during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan had deteriorated. The model schools were built then to tackle the high rate of illiteracy in the northern region. But the project has failed according to an exclusive report by Daily Trust (November 27, 2017). This is part of the issues that under-develop the region while the rapacious elite quietly send their children to the best schools abroad.
Another inconvenient truth that makes this discussion timely is that the far north has so far failed to bring out its best for election to the highest office in the federation. Now the coast is clear and we can see that they(northern elite) are not interested in the development of the region, they are enthusiastic only about who can win election in 2019. This is intriguing. And so it is tragic to note that there are very educated, knowledgeable and organised members of the elite that the ruthless establishment would always like to destroy instead of supporting them for national leadership from the region. They always don’t encourage youth leadership development and succession arrangement. The corrupt elements in the region’s elite corps have failed to develop their best brains for national public offices.
Alas, a few competent ones, who have shown interest and have been tested, have sadly been demonised by a dangerous cabal within the ruling elite. They have failed to encourage their best including the Abubakar Umars, the Sanusi Lamido Sanusis, the Nuhu Ribadus. There have been more promising leaders that their cabals have always demonised instead of supporting (them) as their brand ambassadors in the federation.
Now, let’s agree that the north deserves a second term in 2019. But why should the candidate be General Buhari who was Petroleum Resources Minister 40 years ago and Head of State 34 years ago?
Therefore, the powerful elite in the north should note that the reason agitation for restructuring has become a recurrent issue is frustration with the way the current leadership has been wasteful and lethargic about national integration and development issues. What is worse, it is frustrating that the North cannot confront its frontline leaders and powers including president Buhari now: that they have to step aside. Apparently, President Buhari has some integrity and charisma that the north used in enticing us in 2015. But it is now clear that he is too frail and too old to run again. But the ‘tragedy of the present ambush is that nobody in the region has the courage to confront General Buhari about his frailty nurtured by failing health and old age. The ruling elite in the North are aware that the president is too old to run but they too need his name, his connection to the ignorant and poverty-ridden voters to remain in power. And the audacity of this grand deceit within the northern elite is that they don’t have electable people anymore in the region.
Yes, there may not be too many prominent candidates that can easily garner the Buhari’s 12 million votes but there are far more significant leaders in the region that can be supported to run Nigeria better than President Buhari. Clearly, the last two and half years have shown that President Buhari’s integrity has been massively overrated. Besides, he lacks dynamic capabilities to plan and develop a team for operational efficiency. And if the north would like the rest stakeholders to continue with one Nigeria, as the glimmer of hope of the black race, they should step into the rain and look at other stakeholders who are weeping (in the rain) so that their tears cannot be seen at the moment. Yes, tears in the rain that some people are already planning another four years for a man who at 75 now, is clearly too frail and too old to run Nigeria that is failing in his hand at the moment. We will (by His grace) continue these discussion points next week! I would like to wish all followers of Inside Stuff column a prosperous and fear-free 2018.
It is just normal for a leader of as wide as Nigeria is, to have those whose main job is to criticize him, especially, from the opposition corners.
Indeed, at a point, ex President Goodluck Jonathan was acclaimed as the most criticized President in the history of political development in the country. In fairness, Jonathan achieved much in many sectors, but his best seemed not to be enough for Nigerians.
Of course, because of his apparent inexperience at the level he found himself, the more experienced ones around him confused him.
With such position, Muhammadu Buhari was seen as an alternative to him. Because of his antecedence, Buhari was seen as being matured and experienced enough to take charge of the affairs of the nation from the executive marauders.
Whether such calculation on the part of the citizenry was correct and whether Buhari has been able to measure up to the expectations of the majority of Nigerians, is both a big issue to engage the attention of the critics and for them to point the way forward, against the backdrop of the next year’s election.
Indeed, like I said, it is not surprising that now, President Muhammadu Buhari, who came after Jonathan has been receiving some doses of criticisms.
Whatever such criticisms amount to, what the country needs now as the 2019 beckons, during which time a new set of leaders should be enthroned via election, is to begin to ask who should be an alternative to Buhari. In fact, the question should begin to fly as to whether anybody would have done better than what Buhari has been able to offer since coming to power in 2015, given the socio economic and security milieu under which he mounted the leadership.
The question really is, would there have been anyone that would have completely wiped out Boko Haram from the surface of Nigeria?
Would there have been anyone that would have run the economy, resulting, by now, in prosperity and better than what we now have? Would there have been anyone that would have confronted corruption the way we have been witnessing since 2015? Would there have been anyone that would have stabilized the nation’s currency against Dollar and other international currencies? Would there have been anyone that would have stopped fuel scarcity and the crisis it generated towards the end of last year?
Would there have been anyone that would have stopped the rate of unemployment from rising, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics? Would there have been anyone that would have successfully implemented Treasury Single Account (TSA) and many more? And above all, would there have been a Nigerian, either from within or without, that would have made majority of Nigerians more comfortable than they are today, in terms of welfare and social packages?
The honest advise is that since Buhari has been adjudged to have failed in all such areas, the critics should begin to offer some kind of alternative to him: the alternative that will address the country’s multi dimensional and complex challenges; the alternative that will, within a couple of months or years, make life generally comfortable, without complain anywhere.
As a matter of fact, as the nation approaches the campaign season leading to elections, critics are expected to be more productive and ‘projective’ in a way that electorate will be made aware of who is the best candidate other than Buhari they should be prepared to vote for in 2019.
The era of reeling in calling Buhari names, some of which are completely disrespectful and wreak of hatred, should be replaced with the era of presenting a better candidate for Nigerians to choose, in the next year’s election.
One expects that the critics or the analysts of the nation’s political games: those who claim to know how best to run the economy and other sectors, should begin to name names of leaders they strongly believe will deliver the country from all forms of socio-economic and lingering security entanglement.
I believe that it is not enough to sit on the armchair and churn out beautiful theories and condemn Present Buhari.
I dare say that sane Nigerians have had enough of such armchair exercise or the rolling out of theories from purely academic books.
Blame game is actually becoming too cheap and worn-out. [myad]
The Wase Fulani Consultative Forum on Western Education (WAFUCOFOWE) in the troubled Plateau State, has scheduled its maiden Cultural Day, known as Nyalde Pulaku, for Saturday, January 6, aimed, among others, at strengthening mutual coexistence with other ethnic groups in the area. A statement by the President of Wase Fulani Consultative Forum on Western Education, Comrade Musa Abdulkadir Muhammed said that the event would take place at the forecourt of the Palace of the Emir of Wase, Dr Muhammad Sambo Haruna. The statement said that the cultural festival, which is first of its kind, is also aimed at reviving Fulani’s rich cultural norms and values, and that it would as well be used to promote peace and unity among Fulani folks on one hand, and other ethnic groups in the area on the other. It said that Activities lined up for the festival include Fulani Cultural Display, Drama, Enlightenment Lecture and Launching of the Nyalde Pulaku Magazine, among others. [myad]
Communication minister, Barrister Adebayo Shittu has dropped a hint of pressure being planned to be mounted on President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the 2019 election for his second term in office. Shittu, who visited the President today, Wednesday to brief him, among other things, on commissioning of the Southwest zonal office of the campaign organization of Buhari/Osinbajo dynamic support group on 20th of this month, said that he had been appointed national chairman of the board of trustees of the organisation. He said that the group has carefully put plans to ensure that he contest the election. “By the grace of God, we his ardent supporters, who appreciate his worth, on behalf of millions of Nigerians, would urge him to re-centest. I know he has not made up his mind but I can say that some of us can assist him in making up his mind so that Nigeria can continue to enjoy stability and progress in our land.” The minister recalled that since Buhari came into office, he had geared all his activities towards letting Nigerians know that they have a saviour, a rescuer; somebody who is committed to providing relief for Nigerians in all respects. “In the area of fighting corruption, insurgency whether in the Northeast or the Niger Delta; in the area of repairing the economy and providing jobs and providing social stability in the society, you will agree with me that he had done well. Today, but for Buhari, Boko Haram would have invaded even Lagos. “It goes without saying; I mean if you have a child who goes to primary school, does well, proceeds to secondary school does well, and you keep asking is he going to university? It goes with out saying.”[myad]
The Benue State chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Abba Yaro has called on the indegens of the state to rise up and defend their communities from attacks by Fulani herdsmen which he described as an invitation for civil War. He said that the massive killing of over 50 Benue people by the Fulani herdsmen is clear case of ethnic cleansing around the Benue Valley which must be stopped immediately. In a Statement in Abuja, the state APC boss emphasised the urgent need for all Benue Sons and daughters, irrespective of Party affiliation to rise in defense of Benue Communities. He called on the Chief of Army Staff, the Interior Minister, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Inspector General of Police to protect Benue communities or “we rise in self defence, which will amount to the second civil war. “if the Fulanis are not called to order by the relevant authorities to stop the ethnic cleansing, like the lawless Fulanis are doing, Benue people shall take laws into their hands in self defense. “This is above Party politics. It is human lives. How can you kill a pregnant woman and removed the unborn child yet slaughtered it? It is barbaric, unspeakable and generally unpalatable.” Abba Yaro said that the anti open grazing Law in Benue is not targeted at any section of the people but for the general security of Benue State, a measure against cattle rustling and a solution to herders/farmers clash. “The implementation is ongoing and we are in support of our governor, we are not deterred, the Anti Open Grazing Law has come to stay. “Nigerians should not see the killings as a Benue problem but National crisis, the absence of peace in Benue is an absence of peace in Nigeria. “We must treat it as a national ethnic cleansing by the Fulanis and collectively pressurize Mr President to put an end to it. If Boko Haram can be defeated, IPOB stopped, Fulani killings can be stopped.” [myad]
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the late Governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, as a fearless democrat whose immense contribution to Nigeria’s democratic struggles would be etched in brass. Reacting to the death of Kaita at 85, the former Vice President said Kaita, who was his political associate, was a man of remarkable virtues who inspired whoever interacted with him. According to Atiku, few Nigerian politicians have the courage to disagree with the people in power in order to sustain political patronage for survival. Atiku explained that the late Kaita was never afraid to speak his mind in pursuit of his principles, including his insistence that political parties must respect internal democracy in order to be credible. Atiku, who holds the traditional title of Waziri Adamawa said that the late Kaita had left an unblemished public service record because politicians of his generation were motivated by the passion for service. He recalled that his close association with the Kaita was a beneficial experience because he was a man of vast knowledge of politics and its intricacies. While extending his condolences to the government, family and the people of Katsina and Kaduna States, Atiku prayed to Allah to grant the deceased eternal rest in paradise.
Following the killings of over 50 persons in Benue state, among them women and children, youths in the state as early today, Wedneaday, took over the streets of Makurdi to protest over what they called inactions of the Federal Government. Armed Fulani militia had invaded two Local Government Areas of the state; Logo and Guma on Sunday and Monday, killing over fifty persons. The herdsmen had killed, slaughtered, and maimed peasants farmers in the state since 2011. The protesting youths blocked the highway leading from Makurdi to Abuja on one side and on the other, blocked the road on the opposite side leading from Makurdi to Enugu. They had paraded corpses of some of the dead on the main road, chanting war songs and brandished posters calling President Buhari to action. Unconfirmed reports have it that soldiers have been drafted to the troubled spots even as Police confirmed the killing of seven members of the newly inaugurated Livestock Guards who are working in line with the enforcement of the Anti-Open Grazing Law in the state. They were killed during the attacks by the herdsmen between Sunday and Tuesday. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue Command, of the Nigeria Police, Moses Yamu said the herdsmen had also burnt up a marked Livestock Guard hilux van during the attacks. Meanwhile, an umbrella group of Fulani herdsmen, ‘Mobgal Kautal Hore Fulbe,’ has raised alarm over alleged silent killing of herdsmen and stealing of their cattle in Numan and Demsa local government areas in Adamawa State. The group in a meeting in Yola, said that over 4,000 herdsmen and their families were displaced by the crisis, following the burning down of their villages, along the banks of River Benue by Bachama militia. Speaking at the meeting, the North east vice chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Mafindi Umaru Danburam, said that over 500 cattle were now missing. Danburam, who accused federal government of bias in the crisis, accused the Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo of discrimination by only visiting Bachama villages affected during his visit to the state. “The Vice President did not visit Fulani villages which were attacked by the Bachamas, killing women and children but was quick to visit Bachama villages. “There has been cases of silent killings of members of Hausa-Fulani in the area, the latest is the abduction and killing of three Fulanis on transit and a traditional barber by Bachama vigilante group at Anguwar Green villages. “We want to call on governments as matter of urgency to ensure the disarmament of vigilante groups in Numan and Demsa areas and deploy more security to the vulnerable areas,” he said.
Many Nigerians have reacted to the prediction by the spiritual director off Adoration Ministry in Enugu, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka that President Muhammadu Buhari should not contest the 2019 Presidential election because he will be disgraced.
One of the responses, @julius wrote in a tweet: “Stop playing God!!! Almighty God is still using PMB! He is on God own assignment, he will carry it out to the last letter! So retrace your step prophet Mbaka. For your information God will not allow Corruption to kill our country Nigeria
At the same pulpit three years ago, Mbaka had prophesied that then President Goodluck Jonathan would be defeated in the 2015 election and also supported Buhari’s change.
Here are the comments on Twitter:
@kingmethods “Fr. Mbaka, how market? before 2015 general elections, you said Buhari is the only person that can save Nigeria. And now before 2019 general election you are saying….Buhari, contest and be disgraced. “Fr. Mbaka Face your church and leave IPOB and Nigerian politics alone!!! Religion and politics don’t go together
@ekanem “Political reverend, you are wolves in sheep’s clothing, you have no place in Christianity, you have made your stomach your god and have defrauded the gullible, the law of Karma will catch up with you soon
@dukemomoh “I wonder why this pastor normally use the situation on the ground that we are all aware of to predict what will happen every time we are witnessing a new year. They should stop disturbing us. Na mumu dem go fit deceive.
@elisha “Mbaka at it again. Mbaka why? Part Three(3). I thought this is your man or could this be a rejoinder to Jonathan’s.
@Moses “Fr. Politician Mbarka! You brought in Buhari!! you are sending him packing again!!
@Oparah “But you said he is the Messiah in 2015 Abi no be you again.
@Kanu “Stop politicking and face your ministry.
@Chinonye “Don’t take your words serious anymore ! you told us good luck was bad luck to us n Buhary was God sent, now another story ,please God is not an author of confusion
@Ogechime “Mbaka shut up!!! You put us in this mess in the first place.
@julius Stop playing God!!! Almighty God is still using PMB! He is on God own assignment, he will carry it out to the last letter! So retrace your step prophet Mbaka. For your information God will not allow Corruption to kill our country Nigeria
@edward “It’s unfortunate that most of our men of God in the Christiandom have abandoned their calling an concentrate on so-called prophecy to gain patronage and that is exactly Wat father mbaka is doing wit the greatest respect
@anang “Pure fake prophecy. I can tell you if the North want Buhari to be president and Buhari is willing to contest, it’s easy for him to win. It’s not rocker science to read or understand the permutations and narratives of political alignment in Nigeria. @Stanley “The battle of 2019 has started. It is only a fool that will encourage Buhari to context election again in Nigeria. A government that cannot successfully handle minor administrative issues of vetting list appointment.
@Felix Anybody can lose in any election, nothing is new about it. Again, can’t you focus on soul winning and leave politics for politicians?
@Suleyman He is not God. You’re just an ordinary human being using a guess work. His prophecy is based on guess work.
@Abubakar “When this man spoke against some actions of the Jonathan administration, people said he has been bought by the then opposition. Now that he speaks against some actions of the Buhari Administration, has he been bought by the present opposition? One cannot say what is what unless he sides with a particular inclination?
@kelechi “Fr Mbaka has his personal opinion. We should respect man of God but let him tell us why he supported PMB election…. there are more to it.
President Donald Trump of the United States of America has made it clear that he too, has a nuclear button that is much bigger and more powerful than the one North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un boasted of, saying: “and my Button works!”
Trump’s statement through tweet came a day after the North Korean leader boasted that he has a button ready to launch nuclear weapons installed in his desk.
Kim had on Monday, said, “the United States should know that the button for nuclear weapons is on my table,” according to a translation by the Associated Press.
The full Trump’s tweet read: “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
The exchange over nuclear buttons continues an ongoing war of words between the two leaders, as the world anxiously worries that the bombastic back-and-forth could quickly develop into military hostilities.
President Trump has repeatedly referred to Kim as “Rocket Man” and “Little Rocket Man.” He has also called Kim a “sick puppy,” a “madman,” and “short and fat.” Kim has called Trump a “mentally deranged dotard.”
The Trump administration has imposed harsher sanctions on North Korea and pressured China to do more to help rein in Kim’s regime, but so far no of those efforts have succeeded it ending North Korea’s continued efforts to become a nuclear power. [myad]
Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has been conferred with the traditional title of Nwanne Di Na Mba (A brother in another land) of Mmaku Kingdom, Enugu State.
Adesina received the chieftaincy title yesterday, Tuesday, during the first Grand Ofala festival of Igwe Cyprain Nevobasi, Igwe Omeluenyi 1 of Agunnese, Ezeani 111 of Nmaku Kingdom in Enugu.
Igwe Nevobasi said that Adesina deserved the title because of his passion for the unity of country and his commitment in serving President Muhammadu Buhari.
The ceremony was witnessed by the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, members of his cabinet, traditional rulers in the State and Oba Rufus Ogunwole, the Alagbara of Agba Kingdom from Osun State, Adesina’sown state in the Southwest.
Responding, Adesina thanked the Igwe for the honour, saying that he accepted the title because it is good for national cohesion, coming outside of his ethnic stock.
He made it clear that the title was completely “unsolicited.”
Adesina who had earlier visited the palace of the traditional ruler of Obuoffia Awkunanaw in Nkanu West LGA of Enugu State, Igwe Igwesi Obiorah Igwesi assured the community that under President Buhari’s watch Nigeria will witness unprecedented development and progress.
“A new foundation is being laid for our economy, social and political life and during the time of President Buhari things will change for the better in Nigeria and we will all experience and be blessed by it,” he said.
This was even as Igwesi said President Muhammadu Buhari deserved a second-term to consolidate his good works of development and prosperity for the country.
The traditional ruler commended President Buhari for restoring the country’s image in the international community, adding that the President had done exceedingly well in the fight against corruption as well as formulating policies and programmes aimed at boosting the economy of the nation.
“Those who have abused the opportunities of public office are now constantly on the run and some are vomiting what they took illegally.
“Send our appreciation to the President that in the international community the image of Nigeria is gradually being restored.
“Before now, we the Igbo’s were suspicious of President Buhari. But we have seen his programmes and we have no choice but to embrace him and urge other Nigerians to support him beyond 2019 if he intends to seek another term,” the traditional ruler said.
The Igwe said it was instructive that a neigbouring community in Enugu honoured Adesina with a chieftaincy title, describing the gesture as well deserved.
He said beyond being an accomplished and consummate media personnel, the Special Adviser has excelled in his duty of informing Nigerians on the President’s activities, programmes and policies.
The Igwe’s Ofala festival also marked his 14 years on the throne of his ancestors.
Agunnese Afam Mmaku is one of the three communities that make up Mmaku Kingdom in Awgu local government of Enugu State.
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The Wase Fulani Consultative Forum on Western Education (WAFUCOFOWE) in the troubled Plateau State, has scheduled its maiden Cultural Day, known as Nyalde Pulaku, for 
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the late Governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, as a fearless democrat whose immense contribution to Nigeria’s democratic struggles would be etched in brass.
[myad]
Following the killings of over 50 persons in Benue state, among them women and children, youths in the state as early today, Wedneaday, took over the streets of Makurdi to protest over what they called inactions of the Federal Government.
2019: Because Buhari Is Too Old To Run, By Martins Oloja
I would like rely on some ancient words of a wise king who once said, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven”. Yes, there is a time to be quiet. There is a time to be loud; a time to be politically correct in the interest of peace. And there is a time to refrain from political correctness and speak truth to power in public interest. And this should include a time to tell our best friends the truth and nothing but the truth, especially the one to set them free from unnecessary fear. I am therefore fully persuaded that it is time to tell our friends, especially in the far North, some plain truth about Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria whose destiny all of us are gambling with at the moment.
For the record, I have more friends in the North. I have had some personal relationship with the North that spanned about three decades. My professional profile was remarkably shaped in December 1990 when the premier newspaper in Abuja owned by investors from the North appointed me Editor of their newspaper, The Abuja Newsday. I once narrated part of the remarkable story of the first newspaper in the nation’s capital here. I had then noted that Alhaji Bukar Zarma, former editor of New Nigerian who hails from Borno state, set up the newspaper and appointed all the editors without consideration for religion and ethnicity. The Chairman of the Board of Directors was Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Wakilin Adamawa.
The title Editor, Nick Dazang, is a Christian from Plateau State. The News Editor was Jackson Ekwugum, a Christian from Delta State. The Chief Sub-Editor, Dennis Mordi hails from Delta State too. The Features Editor, Clement Wasah, is a Christian from the Federal Capital Territory. The Sports Editor then was Samuel (Samm) Audu, who hails from Zaria, Kaduna State. There were others. In December 1990, there was a cabinet shake-up and yours sincerely was appointed Editor from Lagos Bureau chieftaincy title.
My life as a journalist has since been significantly affected by my stint with the capital’s premier newspaper that the Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) regime closed down in the wake of June 12 election crisis in 1993! And this beat has taken me to every nook and cranny in the North since 1988.
This is just a modest way of saying that there is a sense in which I can claim that I am quite familiar with events and developments in the northern region. Most of my best friends and mentors are from the North. Some of the most remarkable sources and resources I have had in my professional life, are from there. What is more, I have done more journalistic legworks in the North and Abuja than any other parts of the country. So, there is also a sense in which I can claim that I am a friend of the North.
That exactly is the reason I have to devote this piece (of advice) to the power elite in the significant region, who will be in the eye of Nigeria’s political storm again sooner than later because the bells are beginning to toll already for 2019 elections. The northern elite are like their counterparts in any parts of the country: they don’t vote. They may not register as members of any political party. But they wield enormous powers in coordinating the poor masses to register and vote for candidates of their (elite’s) choice.
Power elite, as conceptualised by a sociologist C.Wright Mills in 1956, is used in loose sense here to depict the elite corps members in the North who continue to wield powers, who mobilise the wretched their strange politics has massively created.
All told, this is not a time for intellectual masturbation we always indulge in, especially in the media. It is indeed a time to see the elite ‘theory’, in this context, as explaining the power relationships in contemporary northern society. The ‘theory’ posits that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, holds the most power and that this power (is not so) independent of a state’s democratic elections process.
According to Mills, the eponymous “power elite” are those that occupy the dominant positions, in the dominant institutions (military, economic and political) of a dominant country, and their decisions (or lack of decisions) have enormous consequences, not only for a country (such as U.S) population but, “the underlying populations of the world.”
We need to understand that the elites have intellectual, moral, and material superiority that is highly esteemed and influential in organized societies. In 2013, I had some useful discussion with Dr. Wale Babalakin on the role of the elite in a society and the implications of their docility. He promised to do an article on it for me as editor… He has been ‘too elitist’ to deliver on his promise, though he has been delivering other services as he built and is operating Nigeria’s best local airport, MMA2 through his purpose-driven B1-Courtney.
There is no debating the fact that most members of the Nigerian elite corps have been very greedy and complicit in the conspiracies and politicking that have kept the country under-developed. Most of the public intellectuals among them have been, above all things, desperately dishonest. They most often deny that they are part of the ruling class. They want to pose as part of those ruled. They don’t get interested in organising even non-governmental organizations to examine the problems of societies and build active citizenry. They don’t even register to vote. But when, according to my brother, Fela Durotoye, their complacency allows the unelectable, incompetent to be elected through the ignorant, uneducated poor, they step forward for spoils of office, notably appointments accepted from mediocrities in power.
But specifically, let’s leave the national council of the Nigerian elite and speak eloquently to the ruling and the ruled elite in the North who are again perfecting strategy to return President Muhammadu Buhari to power in 2019. Most of us, especially their friends in the sphere of amateur political risk analysis need to tell them now that this 2019 is the last chance they have to redeem their image.
When it is time to insist on the turn of the North to fill quota, they insist so strategically that no one can stand in their way. This is being done within a very complex diversity we always fail to recognise as some sensitivity. One is not too sure of whether they (the elite) retain political risk analysts within their fold to tell them the implications of their actions within the (nation’s) polity. There have been so many contentious issues. But let’s examine some of the most critical ones that have formed some complex perception index in other parts of the country that political correctness has prevented from the mainstream media.
A counter elite corps is emerging in the country because most members believe in some inconvenient truth that the North has been unable to help itself out of its political cocoon. Another side of the uncomfortable degree of truth is that the far North is against even sustainable development in the region, no thanks to the elite that have failed and refused to develop quantitative and qualitative education in the area. Thus, there is a large pool of illiterate citizens, useful only for elections of who-ever they want in power. There was a recent credible publication to the effect that N15 billion worth of Almajiri integrated model schools built during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan had deteriorated. The model schools were built then to tackle the high rate of illiteracy in the northern region. But the project has failed according to an exclusive report by Daily Trust (November 27, 2017). This is part of the issues that under-develop the region while the rapacious elite quietly send their children to the best schools abroad.
Another inconvenient truth that makes this discussion timely is that the far north has so far failed to bring out its best for election to the highest office in the federation. Now the coast is clear and we can see that they(northern elite) are not interested in the development of the region, they are enthusiastic only about who can win election in 2019. This is intriguing. And so it is tragic to note that there are very educated, knowledgeable and organised members of the elite that the ruthless establishment would always like to destroy instead of supporting them for national leadership from the region. They always don’t encourage youth leadership development and succession arrangement. The corrupt elements in the region’s elite corps have failed to develop their best brains for national public offices.
Alas, a few competent ones, who have shown interest and have been tested, have sadly been demonised by a dangerous cabal within the ruling elite. They have failed to encourage their best including the Abubakar Umars, the Sanusi Lamido Sanusis, the Nuhu Ribadus. There have been more promising leaders that their cabals have always demonised instead of supporting (them) as their brand ambassadors in the federation.
Now, let’s agree that the north deserves a second term in 2019. But why should the candidate be General Buhari who was Petroleum Resources Minister 40 years ago and Head of State 34 years ago?
Therefore, the powerful elite in the north should note that the reason agitation for restructuring has become a recurrent issue is frustration with the way the current leadership has been wasteful and lethargic about national integration and development issues. What is worse, it is frustrating that the North cannot confront its frontline leaders and powers including president Buhari now: that they have to step aside. Apparently, President Buhari has some integrity and charisma that the north used in enticing us in 2015. But it is now clear that he is too frail and too old to run again. But the ‘tragedy of the present ambush is that nobody in the region has the courage to confront General Buhari about his frailty nurtured by failing health and old age. The ruling elite in the North are aware that the president is too old to run but they too need his name, his connection to the ignorant and poverty-ridden voters to remain in power. And the audacity of this grand deceit within the northern elite is that they don’t have electable people anymore in the region.
Yes, there may not be too many prominent candidates that can easily garner the Buhari’s 12 million votes but there are far more significant leaders in the region that can be supported to run Nigeria better than President Buhari. Clearly, the last two and half years have shown that President Buhari’s integrity has been massively overrated. Besides, he lacks dynamic capabilities to plan and develop a team for operational efficiency. And if the north would like the rest stakeholders to continue with one Nigeria, as the glimmer of hope of the black race, they should step into the rain and look at other stakeholders who are weeping (in the rain) so that their tears cannot be seen at the moment. Yes, tears in the rain that some people are already planning another four years for a man who at 75 now, is clearly too frail and too old to run Nigeria that is failing in his hand at the moment. We will (by His grace) continue these discussion points next week! I would like to wish all followers of Inside Stuff column a prosperous and fear-free 2018.