The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has warned those who are wishing President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been on medical bacation in Lodon, to desist as they may die before him.
Pastor Bakare, who gave a hint that the President is recovering well from the sickness that has kept him out of office, said that no one knows who would die first.
“Between the man in the intensive care unit and the doctor treating him or wishing him dead, you don’t know who will die first.
“If God sent Isaiah back to go and tell Hezekiah that He was adding 15 years to his life, He is the only one who can do what He wills to do. Nobody should wish another person dead. We should just pray, because you would put Nigeria in disaster.”
The pastor, who was running mate to Buhari in the 2011 Presidential election, said that whenever leaders served with diminishing energy, a leadership vacuum would be created. [myad]
Against the background of the divisive ranting between the agitators for the Republic of Biafra and the Northern youths that asked the Igbos to leave their land, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has made it clear that the oneness of this country is not negotiable.
The Acting President, who apparently was responding to an open letter from the Northern youths advising him to allow the Igbos to form their Biafran Republic, said: “all of us have agreed that our nation must remain one.
“When we spoke yesterday with traditional rulers from the South-East; despite the issues that were raised here and there, I think that there is clarity as to that one thing, that our country ought to remain, must remain a united country.”
Osinbajo, who held an Iftar dinner for traditional rulers from the North at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, today, Monday, said that Nigeria requires the kind of maturity and leadership that the traditional rulers have displayed “and I want to thank you for that leadership and for that maturity.
“In particular, I want to thank the Sultan for always being there, for always being ready to offer advice and in many times to offer an alternative view to what might appear to be the popular view and I am extremely grateful to you for all of that support.
The Acting President recalled that a lot of blood has been shed on account of the unity of Nigeria and that the lives of those who have made the supreme sacrifice to this country, demands that Nigerians do everything on their part to keep the country together.
“And in any event, the greatest nations in the world are those nations who have the size as well as the human resources in particular to make the best of that size, and I think our nation has that and the mere fact that we have such a large nation and so well-endowed, in terms of human resources.
“I think that we are in the best position not only to be truly great but to ensure that all of our people benefit from the greatness of our country.
So, I want to thank you again for your kindness and for doing us this honour of attending this Iftar and for sharing the love of the season.
“I pray that the almighty God will bless you and keep your kingdoms safe and also extend your own lives so that you will rule your kingdoms for long and you will rule your kingdoms in good health.” [myad]
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen is obviously angry with some judges who are using technicalities to obstruct justice in the country, insisting that judges must not allow technicalities to stand in the way of justice in order to sustain public confidence in the judiciary.
Justice Onnoghen who spoke today, Monday, when he declared open the 2017 National Energy Workshop for Judges in Abuja, said that the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) would engender timely disposition of cases and encourage the judges to adopt it.
The CJN noted that the theme of the workshop: “Law and the Changing Face of Petroleum and Power Sectors in Nigeria,” is relevant in the light of the developments in the international energy market, adding that the workshop would enlighten the judges on global best practices in confronting the challenges that might arise in the power and petroleum sectors.
“Some of the notable challenges faced are in the areas of taxes, rebates, royalties, demand for corporate social responsibility and environmental disputes which require the courts to adjudicate.”
Justice Onnoghen, said however that conflicting judgments were a necessary part of the judiciary as they helped to strengthen the system.
“Conflicting decisions, unfortunately, are necessary because when you approach a court in Lagos, your facts are stated and the facts of that case are also different in a court in Port Harcourt.
“So, the judge takes a decision based on the facts before him and the law and that is why we have the Court of Appeal who will look at the law and decide.”
He expressed confidence that the workshop would aid the justices and judges in the adjudication and resolution of lingering disputes
In a keynote address, the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, called for measures to speed the “crawling” judicial process in the country.
Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, described the slow judicial process in the country as “nightmare for investors.”
“We need to evolve measures that will speed up the judicial decisions. We also need these decisions not to be too complicated for investors to easily understand,” he said.
The acting president expressed the need to align the decisions of various courts with some level of credibility to avoid complicated decisions from unnecessary “forum shopping.”
“We need to ensure sanctity of international arbitration and judges should be trained in petroleum and energy sectors so that they will be fully equipped to handle the emerging trends in the sector.”
According to him, petroleum and the power sectors provide 80 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue and over 80 per cent of foreign direct investment. [myad]
Igbo groups have come up with the names of the Dame Patience Jonathan, wife of the former President Goodluck Jonathan and eleven other prominent Igbo political leaders for the Presidential election in 2019.
The groups said that more persons will pass through screening by the Igbo Presidency Project Committee, adding that they will align with the position of the Ohanaeze Youth Council Worldwide to begin an aggressive campaign for Igbo presidency.
In a statement, the groups said that funds will be mobilised across the world for their campaign for Igbo Presidency in 2019.
The shortlisted prominent Igbo politicians are:
Deputy Senate president, Chief Ike Ekweremadu
Former Anambra governor, Peter Obi
Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha
Former Abia Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu
immediate past first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan
Air Comodore Ebitu Ukiwe, (rtd.)
Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd.)
Oby Ezekwesili
Prof. Pat Utomi
Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu
Senator Anyim Pius Anyim
Senator Hope Uzodinma
The groups declared that the Igbo leaders who recently had a meeting with acting president, Yemi Osinbajo do not represent Ndigbo in any form but their personal interests.
The groups made their position known through a communiqué signed by Dr. Ugwu Francis, Deputy President General, WIYC, Comrade Francis Njoku and Glory Izuora, President and secretary, respectively of ISA, and Dr. Mrs. Nkem Nwuzor and Dr. Mrs. Helen Dike-Orji on behalf of the SWP.
The communiqué reads in part: “We are outraged over the recent self-serving visit of some Igbo leaders to the Aso Villa Abuja. While we respect their right as Nigerians to visit any place of their choice, we are against the use of such trips for the pursuant of personal glory and goals. “We observed with dismay that rather than present basic issues affecting the Igbo nation, they merely went there singing songs of ‘Nigeria unity.’
“It is a common knowledge that Ndigbo are grossly marginalised in every sphere of the nation, including the position of presidency.
“These cries of marginalisation have consistently fuelled Biafra agitation and the only way to end these agitations is to demonstrate, not just in words, but in practical terms that Ndigbo are part owners of the Nigeria project. “Consequently, we declare that those hosted by Osinbajo did not represent Ndigbo in any form but their personal interests.
The groups are the World Igbo Youth Congress (WIYC), the Igbo Students’ Association (ISA) and the South-East Women Professionals (SWP). [myad]
The government of Cross River State has threatened to apply the policy of no-work-no-pay on workers who go on strike as demanded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The two labour uninos are said to have concluded plans to embark on industrial action from Monday, June 19th over demands on several promises that have not been fulfilled by the Governor Ben Ayade-led government.
In a statement by the Special Adviser in the Governor’s office, Mark B. Obi, the government reminded the civil servants of labour law that says no work no pay and warned them to rescind their decision on the planned strike action.
“The organized Labour should carefully note that relevant section of the Nigeria Labour Acts which provides for No Work No Pay. The Cross River State government uses this medium to appeal to the organized labour in the interest of state development to shelve the
proposed industrial action and allow government the needed atmosphere to implement the agreement as reached.”
“All civil servants are pleased advised to take note and be at their respective duty post to discharge their function as required on Monday 19th June 2017.” [myad]
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has approved the special promotion of policemen who participated in the arrest of Lagos most wanted kidnapper, Duneme Onwuamadike otherwise known as Evans.
It was gathered that 35 operatives from the IRT, 11 from the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU) and one person from the IGP monitoring section, were involved in the elevation.
In a memo signed by the Commissioner of Police in charge of welfare, Posi Ajunwa, 29 sergeants were promoted to rank of Inspector, while three Corporals were promoted to the rank of Sergeant with effect from June 16, 2017.
Evans, who is believed to be the richest kidnaper in Nigeria was arrested in Lagos on Saturday June 10 by policemen while he prepared to travel out of the country by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), lead by ACP Abba Kyari. [myad]
A member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing Edu /Moro/Pategi Federal Constituency of Kwara, Aliyu Ahman Pategi, has been remanded in prison custody by a Lagos Magistrate’s Court sitting in Igbosere for standing surety and entered a bail bond of N650 million for former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ms. Jumoke Akinjide, who was detained on August 9, 2016 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged involvement in conspiracy and money laundering.
Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, told the court that since being released from detention on bail on 10 August 2016, Ms. Akinjide has refused to report to EFCC, which repeatedly demanded her from Aliyu Pategi.
Oyedepo asked the court for an order directing Aliyu Pategi to show cause why the recognizance he entered into for Ms. Akinjide and the bail bond of N650million should not be forfeited. Counsel to Aliyu Pategi, Adenrele Adegborioye, informed the court that he had filed a motion for bail. Mr. Oyedepo, however, said he had just been served with the said motion for bail in the open court and would need time to adequately respond to it. As a result, Mr. Adegborioye made an oral application for bail, but the court said it preferred a formal bail application.
After listening to both parties, Magistrate Afolashade Botoku, rejected the oral application for Aliyu Pategi’s bail, which his counsel sought, citing his client’s personality as a current Federal House of Representatives member. Rotimi Oyedepo opposed the oral application, saying Mr. Pategi stood surety for Mrs. Akinjide and entered a bail bond of N650million being the sum of money she collected from former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke in March 2015.
The said sum was alleged to be gratification received by Mrs. Alison-Madueke from various oil marketers such as Northern Belt Oil and Gas company, Actus Integrated Investment Limited, Midwestern Oil and Gas company Limited and Adesanya Leno Olaitab. The money was said to have been kept in Fidelity Bank.
In a 16-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mr. Danladi Daniel, the EFCC said: “An intelligence report was received sometimes in 2016 that Oloye Jumoke Akinjide and others benefitted from the total sum of N650 million gratification received by Mrs. Alison-Madueke from various oil marketers such as Northern Belt Oil and Gas Company, Actus Integrated Investment Limited, Midwestern Oil and Gas Company Limited and Adesanya Leno Olaitan, which money was kept with Fidelity Bank.”
Danladi stated further that upon discovery of her involvement in the alleged crime, Mrs. Akinjide was invited to the EFCC office in Lagos on 9 August 2016 and wrote a statement after which Mr. Pategi entered a bail bond of N650million to be forfeited should Ms. Akinjide jump administrative bail.
The EFCC counsel said a 24-count charge bordering on money laundering and conspiracy was brought against her before Justice Ayo Emmanuel of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, in Suit No. FHC/IB/26C/2017. However, Ms. Akinjide refused to turn up in court after more than three proceedings despite the service of the charges on her, a situation that prompted the court to threaten to dismiss the charges if the prosecution fails to produce her at the next adjourned date.
Magistrate Botoku adjourned the case to 20 June for the hearing of the bail application. [myad]
Nigeria is in recession. Workers are unpaid. There is hunger in the land. Poverty is everywhere. It makes no economic sense to ignore these maladies and subsidise religious pilgrimages. I believe the reward of feeding hungry citizens is higher than that of subsiding the Hajj.
From Oxford Street to Shepherd’s Bush in London, Souk al Baddu to Khan al Atareen in Saudi Arabia, naira was conveniently spent in the 70s and early 80s, as it was a convertible international trading currency in many countries.
While the naira was hovering high over the dollar and riyals in the bygone years, the currency is hardly recognised today in Maradi or Agadez market in Niger Republic. Even within Nigeria, perhaps because of the level of worthlessness of our lower denominations, the N1 coin, N5 and N10 notes are slowly becoming endangered species.
There have been hues and cries since the announcement of this year’s Hajj package for 21 State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards, the Federal Capital Territory and the Armed Forces by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
While stakeholders explained that about 98 percent of Hajj services rendered by NAHCON in Saudi Arabia are determined in US dollars, those oblivious to the reality that exchange rate is everything to an unproductive economy like ours raised questions.
When we were lamenting the free fall of the naira sometime last year, some Nigerians had quickly began catcalling in a queer rhetorical turn: Da tashin bam gara tashin dala (the rise of the dollar is better than rise in bomb attacks). Isn’t a weak economy concomitant with the rise in vices and prices?
Intending pilgrims are rightly complaining as they have to augment their deposits to be able to go on Hajj. But why should Nigerian pilgrims pay more when pilgrims from other countries pay less?
Despite criticism upon criticism, explanation upon explanation, no one seemed able to explain this year’s increase in Hajj package better than the chairman of Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole. This stakeholder, who has been in the system for over 30 years, succinctly cited issues that led to this year’s increase in the Hajj travel package.
Alhaji Bankole said the rate of foreign exchange in relation to the naira is principally the major cause of this increase in prices. He also explained that airlift of Hajj pilgrims is done on a charter and not schedule basis. According to him, when an aircraft carries pilgrims from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia, it carries no single passenger on its return leg, i.e. when the airlift is completed, the aircrafts used are not allowed to remain in the kingdom, in which case they have to return empty and go back again empty to airlift pilgrims back home.
And again, on each trip, airlines have to pay $6,000 charges for flying over Chad and Sudan to Saudi Arabia.
While others wondered why pilgrims from countries like Pakistan pay less than Nigerian pilgrims for the Hajj trip, an official quipped that Pakistan enjoys some overfly waivers from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries. Again, why do international pilgrims pay less than the regular pilgrims? The explanation given sounds cogent to me: While the former spend 17 days, the latter spend 40 days and enjoy certain privileges.
Last year, when the exchange rate was officially N197 to $1, the pilgrims paid less, but government had to cough out N68 billion to subsidise the pilgrimage.
In this year’s budget, the exchange rate is pegged at N305 to $1. So when you multiply it by $4,805, which is the total cost per pilgrim, you will arrive about N1.5 million.
But what a lot of people are unaware of is that the federal government is, in a way, still subsidising this year’s hajj. A top government official told me last week that on each pilgrim, the Nigerian government will have to pay N302,4000 to make up for the prevailing dollar rate. If you multiply this amount by 75,000 pilgrims, you will arrive at over N22 billion.
Nigeria is in recession. Workers are unpaid. There is hunger in the land. Poverty is everywhere. It makes no economic sense to ignore these maladies and subsidise religious pilgrimages. I believe the reward of feeding hungry citizens is higher than that of subsiding the Hajj.
It baffles me how a government that cannot subsidise fuel, garri and rice for the common man will go about subsidising the Hajj pilgrimage for the rich; and it is even more baffling to see a person struggling to put food on the table supporting subsidy for the Hajj.
In his commentary on Quran 3:97, which says, “And, pilgrimage to the House is duty on mankind to Allah for those who can find a way there”, Bilal Philips wrote:
“Similar statements of the Prophet (peace be upon him) define ability as being sufficient provisions and transportation. Hence, a Muslim has to be economically able to make the trip. If he has to borrow the money to make the journey, Hajj is not compulsory on him…”
Jaafar, a public affairs analyst and media practitioner, writes from Abuja. [myad]
A former vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been a subject of all variants of deconstruction in the media. That is the way of politics in Nigeria as it is elsewhere in the world. Political rivalry is a common feature that feeds on the tendency to de-market and outwit one another. So, politics is not a turf for the lily-livered. To surmount pernicious rivalry in politics requires a great deal of wisdom.
Atiku has witnessed a surfeit of rivalry and treachery in government and has, so far, been able to survive the nation’s cloak-and-dagger politics. A robustly rugged and toughened politician, he has, even so, experienced both high and low times in the enduring game that, at once, easily launches a player to prominence and, at once, effortlessly plunges him into the dungeon.
His experience, as vice president to Olusegun Obasanjo, was a mixed-bag of the good, the bad and the ugly. At a point, he was the most powerful vice president Nigeria had ever produced, calling the shots and coordinating the political wing of the administration while Obasanjo concerned himself with global diplomatic shuttles to open up our pariah nation to the world for renewed bilateral relations.
Along the line, Atiku was insinuated into a political risk that turned awry. He was accused of a subtle plot to supplant his boss as president in 2003. The unconfirmed plot was to goad Obasanjo to embrace the Mandela option of a term in office. But Obasanjo was not ready for the nonsense. He was not only aiming at two terms in office but was also plotting a third term, which Atiku and other democratic forces worked against in 2006.
Rewind to 2002 at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary. Atiku, with the support of 20 PDP governors, was set to upset the applecart of Obasanjo’s re-election bid. But through bully tactics, brinkmanship and pleading, Obasanjo was able to clinch the ticket with a calculative Atiku on the ticket contrary to his (Obasanjo’s) original plan.
Although, the ticket won re-election, a wide gulf had been created between the first and second citizens. The next four years that ended in 2007 would remain indelible in the memories of the two leaders as well as in the annals of presidential politics in Nigeria.
In order to deal with an “over-ambitious” Atiku, Obasanjo unleashed the might of his office against him. He sidelined the Waziri Adamawa and deliberately took steps to whittle down his influence. His fixation was to portray Atiku as corrupt so that the electorate would be at great pains to cast their votes for him in any election.
Atiku put up a rare resistance. He sustained his political machinery with which he charted a trajectory out of the PDP into the Action Congress (AC) and still retained his position as vice president via a legal battle up to the Supreme Court. He put his life on the line by engaging in bare-knuckle fight against a ruthless incumbent president with the full complement of state machinery.
Atiku remains politically relevant despite conspiratorial alliances. The last time he jostled for the APC presidential ticket, he was the real issue. He was poised to sweep to victory in the primary, but it took a combination of forces in the party to stop his emergence. Typical of him, he has refused to surrender. He has kept his eyes on the ball of the presidency in 2019.
With seemingly limitless capacity to oil his political machinery, the strategist and tactician consistently exudes an electrifying aura that sustains political followership across the country, a testimony to his cosmopolitan deportment. Indeed, despite all manner of negative deconstruction to which he has been insidiously subjected, Atiku remains a veritable issue ahead of 2019 presidential election.
He recently upped his ante when he advocated restructuring of the nation. One of his lines of argument was that the nation must find creative ways to make financially unviable states to be viable in a changed federal system sans federal allocations. He further argued that more powers and resources must devolve from the federal government, and that federal allocations, as a source of sustenance of states, must be de-emphasised.
His contention is that the federal government in our current federal structure possesses too much power and resources, a development which constricts the federating units and incapacitates them from providing social services to the populace. He had suggested, for instance, that health, agriculture, sports and education should not be part of the preoccupation of the federal government.
Atiku’s position on restructuring has placed him poles ahead of other politicians seeking the high office of president in 2019. On that score, he is a beautiful bride to the Yoruba, Igbo, and minorities in the south-south and north central zones who crave restructuring to correct the nation’s structural imbalances and the lopsidedness in power configuration as well as to ensure the practice of true fiscal federalism.
This is the agitation that runs through a vast section of the polity. Atiku has wisely, strategically and tactically positioned himself in the frontline. For being a perceptive politician, Atiku deserves a reconstruction of his essential persona, which he has been able to distinguish from the morass of corruption into which Obasanjo tried to pigeonhole him.
Whereas, Nigerians are wise enough to know who the grandmasters of corruption are. The blame for public finance mismanagement and other maladministration is placed at the doorstep of the president who, by virtue of constitutional powers vested in him in our clime, is next to God. Looking back, I chuckle at the attempt by Obasanjo to demonise Atiku. True, Atiku is ambitious. It is the nature of politicians to be so disposed.
I consider even the charge of disloyalty against him laughable. Rather than compromise to allow the evil of third term to thrive, he chose to be loyal to the Constitution of Nigeria. History will not forget his contribution, at that intersection, to the triumph of constitutional democracy in the country.
He plans to put his political relevance to test in the courtyard of the Nigerian electorate. He has been involved in a series of quiet consultations with critical stakeholders across the country. Unlike some presidential aspirants who are provincial leaders, Atiku’s approach, this time round, appears to be issues-based and ventilatory. He has, understandably, started shooting from the hip.
I have noticed attempts in the media to put Atiku down on the issue of restructuring. Those attempts have come too late to detract from the political capital he has garnered from his advocacy. His commitment to restructuring Nigeria is salutary to his ambition. I understand that he may also be committing himself to a four-year term in office after which he will guide presidential power to the southeast. This proposition should be, somewhat, attractive.
In reconstructing Atiku within the context of his promised restructuring of Nigeria, if voted into power (on whichever platform), I surmise that the best and the last chance for him to be president is 2019. He must throw his hat in the ring, anyhow.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu, has condemned the meeting between the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo and some Igbo leaders of thought at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, describing such leaders as political jobbers.
In a statement today, Thursday, the leadership of IPOB said that those who attended the peace meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo have no mandate to speak for the people of the South East
The statement which was signed by the spokesman, the IPOB accused the Acting President of allegedly using “scarce” resources that could have been channelled for useful purposes to host Igbo leaders, adding that the said meeting was an “insult to the sensibilities of Biafrans all over the world.”
The statement reads: “we the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the supreme leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wish to place on record our unequivocal condemnation of the wholesomely senseless and futile gathering of a few compromised political jobbers from core Igbo states of Biafraland in Abuja yesterday.
“This meeting we understand, was convened at the instigation of the Nigerian Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo following the political fallout from the hugely successful IPOB sit at home order of 30th of May 2017.
“With one or two exceptions and with the greatest respect to the attendees to this Nigeria sponsored gathering in Abuja, the so-called South East delegation is in no way representative of the views of the leadership of IPOB worldwide, neither can they claim with any degree of sincerity to be speaking for the masses.
“Therefore all Professor Osinbajo has succeeded in achieving with this meeting is to waste scarce resources that could have been channelled towards more useful purposes. None of those that attended this meeting with Osinbajo gave the order for people to sit at home on May 30th. So we are at a loss to understand the justification for their invitation to the meeting to discuss something they know nothing about.
“IPOB viewed the meeting with certain Igbo politicians who are sympathetic to APC as an insult to the sensibilities of Biafrans all over the world, especially the memory of the dead and injured.
The group affirmed the stance of its leader that any discussion with the Nigerian government must include a date for referendum or such discussion is an “exercise in futility.”
The statement added, “Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has made it abundantly clear that any discussion or dialogue with Nigerian government that doesn’t include an agreement on a referendum date to determine the issue of Biafra once and for all time, is an exercise in futility.
“In this regard, we wish to inform the government of Nigeria that the gathering and deliberations they thought they had yesterday is a complete waste of time and will continue to be until the Federal Government does the needful.
“We note and respect the presence of Chief Nnia Nwodo the Ohaneze Leader and two others at that very meeting, however the rest are nothing to write home about. We do not think that presiding over the distribution of monthly allocation from Abuja qualifies any political office holder to discuss issues pertaining to IPOB and Biafra restoration when the leadership can be directly contacted.
“Since August 2015 that Nigerian Government and her security operatives, especially the Army, Navy, DSS and Police, have been killing and abducting innocent and peaceful IPOB members, none of the governors that attended this meeting in Abuja rose to condemn the brutal and barbaric repression of IPOB peaceful agitation for an independent homeland for Biafrans.
“None of them offered any comment in condemnation of the well documented atrocities despite the existence of overwhelming evidence to substantiate the facts alluded to in the widely received Amnesty Report on the senseless slaughter of IPOB members.
“How can such persons now go to Abuja to discuss issues bothering on the activities of IPOB when they know nothing about the modus operandi of the organisation. Only IPOB can and will discuss issues pertaining to her activities, not compromised politicians.
“From time, we firmly resolved that nobody among the governors or politicians can set an agenda for IPOB except our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The sooner Nigerian Government understands this, the better. Therefore, any meeting without the consent of our leader or those nominated by him in a representative capacity, is a complete waste and unacceptable to IPOB.” [myad]
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Reconstructing Atiku Abubakar, By Sufuyan Ojeifo
A former vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been a subject of all variants of deconstruction in the media. That is the way of politics in Nigeria as it is elsewhere in the world. Political rivalry is a common feature that feeds on the tendency to de-market and outwit one another. So, politics is not a turf for the lily-livered. To surmount pernicious rivalry in politics requires a great deal of wisdom.
Atiku has witnessed a surfeit of rivalry and treachery in government and has, so far, been able to survive the nation’s cloak-and-dagger politics. A robustly rugged and toughened politician, he has, even so, experienced both high and low times in the enduring game that, at once, easily launches a player to prominence and, at once, effortlessly plunges him into the dungeon.
His experience, as vice president to Olusegun Obasanjo, was a mixed-bag of the good, the bad and the ugly. At a point, he was the most powerful vice president Nigeria had ever produced, calling the shots and coordinating the political wing of the administration while Obasanjo concerned himself with global diplomatic shuttles to open up our pariah nation to the world for renewed bilateral relations.
Along the line, Atiku was insinuated into a political risk that turned awry. He was accused of a subtle plot to supplant his boss as president in 2003. The unconfirmed plot was to goad Obasanjo to embrace the Mandela option of a term in office. But Obasanjo was not ready for the nonsense. He was not only aiming at two terms in office but was also plotting a third term, which Atiku and other democratic forces worked against in 2006.
Rewind to 2002 at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary. Atiku, with the support of 20 PDP governors, was set to upset the applecart of Obasanjo’s re-election bid. But through bully tactics, brinkmanship and pleading, Obasanjo was able to clinch the ticket with a calculative Atiku on the ticket contrary to his (Obasanjo’s) original plan.
Although, the ticket won re-election, a wide gulf had been created between the first and second citizens. The next four years that ended in 2007 would remain indelible in the memories of the two leaders as well as in the annals of presidential politics in Nigeria.
In order to deal with an “over-ambitious” Atiku, Obasanjo unleashed the might of his office against him. He sidelined the Waziri Adamawa and deliberately took steps to whittle down his influence. His fixation was to portray Atiku as corrupt so that the electorate would be at great pains to cast their votes for him in any election.
Atiku put up a rare resistance. He sustained his political machinery with which he charted a trajectory out of the PDP into the Action Congress (AC) and still retained his position as vice president via a legal battle up to the Supreme Court. He put his life on the line by engaging in bare-knuckle fight against a ruthless incumbent president with the full complement of state machinery.
Atiku remains politically relevant despite conspiratorial alliances. The last time he jostled for the APC presidential ticket, he was the real issue. He was poised to sweep to victory in the primary, but it took a combination of forces in the party to stop his emergence. Typical of him, he has refused to surrender. He has kept his eyes on the ball of the presidency in 2019.
With seemingly limitless capacity to oil his political machinery, the strategist and tactician consistently exudes an electrifying aura that sustains political followership across the country, a testimony to his cosmopolitan deportment. Indeed, despite all manner of negative deconstruction to which he has been insidiously subjected, Atiku remains a veritable issue ahead of 2019 presidential election.
He recently upped his ante when he advocated restructuring of the nation. One of his lines of argument was that the nation must find creative ways to make financially unviable states to be viable in a changed federal system sans federal allocations. He further argued that more powers and resources must devolve from the federal government, and that federal allocations, as a source of sustenance of states, must be de-emphasised.
His contention is that the federal government in our current federal structure possesses too much power and resources, a development which constricts the federating units and incapacitates them from providing social services to the populace. He had suggested, for instance, that health, agriculture, sports and education should not be part of the preoccupation of the federal government.
Atiku’s position on restructuring has placed him poles ahead of other politicians seeking the high office of president in 2019. On that score, he is a beautiful bride to the Yoruba, Igbo, and minorities in the south-south and north central zones who crave restructuring to correct the nation’s structural imbalances and the lopsidedness in power configuration as well as to ensure the practice of true fiscal federalism.
This is the agitation that runs through a vast section of the polity. Atiku has wisely, strategically and tactically positioned himself in the frontline. For being a perceptive politician, Atiku deserves a reconstruction of his essential persona, which he has been able to distinguish from the morass of corruption into which Obasanjo tried to pigeonhole him.
Whereas, Nigerians are wise enough to know who the grandmasters of corruption are. The blame for public finance mismanagement and other maladministration is placed at the doorstep of the president who, by virtue of constitutional powers vested in him in our clime, is next to God. Looking back, I chuckle at the attempt by Obasanjo to demonise Atiku. True, Atiku is ambitious. It is the nature of politicians to be so disposed.
I consider even the charge of disloyalty against him laughable. Rather than compromise to allow the evil of third term to thrive, he chose to be loyal to the Constitution of Nigeria. History will not forget his contribution, at that intersection, to the triumph of constitutional democracy in the country.
He plans to put his political relevance to test in the courtyard of the Nigerian electorate. He has been involved in a series of quiet consultations with critical stakeholders across the country. Unlike some presidential aspirants who are provincial leaders, Atiku’s approach, this time round, appears to be issues-based and ventilatory. He has, understandably, started shooting from the hip.
I have noticed attempts in the media to put Atiku down on the issue of restructuring. Those attempts have come too late to detract from the political capital he has garnered from his advocacy. His commitment to restructuring Nigeria is salutary to his ambition. I understand that he may also be committing himself to a four-year term in office after which he will guide presidential power to the southeast. This proposition should be, somewhat, attractive.
In reconstructing Atiku within the context of his promised restructuring of Nigeria, if voted into power (on whichever platform), I surmise that the best and the last chance for him to be president is 2019. He must throw his hat in the ring, anyhow.
* Mr Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com. [myad]