Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has said that things must change for the better in Nigeria after the March/April general elections in the country.
Cardinal Onaiyekan who was the former President of the Nigerian Christians’ umbrella body, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said in Abuja today: “there has to be change” in the country’s direction.
“I do not care who wins, but whoever wins, there has to be change, because people are not happy with what is happening; people are hungry, people are suffering.”
Cardinal Onaiyekan asked Nigerians to pray for peaceful elections.
Ex American Envoy, Richard Grenell has said electing Buhari as President of Nigeria will be a disaster for Africa because of Buhari’s sharia credentials according to him. The PDP press has been agog with this news since it came out on March 19. In their desperation to discredit Buhari, Jonathan and PDP will go to any depth to use even the lowliest of persons to attempt to achieve their objective. Who is Richard Grenell? According to Wikipedia, Richard Grenell (born September 18, 1966) is an American media commentator and former diplomat. He is the longest serving U.S. Spokesman at the United Nations and briefly served as national security spokesman for Mitt Romney in his 2012 campaign for president of the United States. HE BECAME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY SPOKESMAN FOR A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, after being hired by Mitt Romney. He resigned after pressure from social conservatives and gay liberals alike. The PDP that has accused Buhari of going abroad to say he will repeal the anti-gay law has now hired a gay consultant to attack Buhari. So Jonathan has set another record, HE IS THE FIRST NIGERIAN PRESIDENT TO HIRE A GAY CONSULTANT to promote his campaign. What a callously hypocritical leader! Richard Grenell lives in California with his partner of nine years, Matthew Lashey, a media and entertainment company executive. This gay man “married” to another man is the PDP consultant telling Nigerians not to vote Buhari because he is pro-sharia. It is a nauseous impudence that the utterly irresponsible Jonathan regime is forcing on Nigerians Besides, was it not these unconscionable Republicans that manufactured intelligence and falsely asserted that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)? Was it not the basis of the war on Iraq that unseated Saddam Hussein? Is the unseating of Saddam Hussein not the cause of the massive disequilibrium of Iraq and the Middle East that is now disrupting world peace? Is this not what has brought about the rise of the murderous ISIL? That a ruling party bought judicious media space for trumpeting the views of an amoral, and foreign interest is an attestation of the unworthiness of Jonathan for the votes of Nigerian people. For today alone, this profligate President spent about N250million in propagating this hogwash. Having hired a gay man, we await the lesbian adviser of President Jonathan! For all we care they can hire Lucifer to threaten fire and brimstone against Nigerians. We will still vote Buhari. PDP and Jonathan have lost this battle. Sai Buhari/Osinbajo.
A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Federal Government not to use members of the Armed Forces for election monitoring in the Saturday Presidential election and that of April 11.
The court which relied on a recent Court of Appeal ruling that barred the use of soldiers in the conduct of elections said that soldiers have no role in the conduct of elections in the country.
The court said that the use of in election monitoring is a violation of Section 217(2)(c) of the Constitution and Section 1 of the Armed Forces Act.
The appellate court had also relied on a judgment by a Federal High Court in Sokoto last January also barring the use of armed forces in the conduct of elections.
The latest ruling says the Nigerian government should not deploy soldiers at polling units, a plan that had generated controversy between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), John Draman Mahama has said that the Saturday’s Presidential election in Nigeria means more to members of the regional body and other parts of the world than what Nigerians expected. Mahama who is also the President of Ghana, in a speech at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja said: “as you know, Nigeria is a very important member of ECOWAS. The largest economy; the largest nation in the ECOWAS region and so Nigeria’s safety and security is the safety of and security of the whole of ECOWAS region. So, I stand on behalf of all the Presidents of ECOWAS and wish that all Nigerians will come out and express their votes and their votes would count towards electing who becomes the next leader of this country.” Mahama said that he was in Nigeria in hid capacity as the Chairman of ECOWAS on election visit, saying “as you are aware, our sub- region this year, has five countries that are going through elections and ECOWAS has been involved in ensuring that this elections are held in peaceful and transparent environment. “And so, ECOWAS has undertaken in all these countries that are facing elections, long term electoral observer missions. These missions have been monitoring the electoral process in the lead up to the elections not just before the elections, but from a longer period. “We have received several monitoring reports and we are working together with the electoral commissions of the countries and the authorities of those countries “We have tried to ensure that obstacles to free and fair elections are removed to ensure that election are free and fair. People would accept the results of those elections. As chairman of the authorities of Heads of State of ECOWAS, I have extended my solidarity to the Nigerian people through my brother President Jonathan, to see that the whole of ECOWAS, not only ECOWAS, but the international community is in solidarity with Nigeria to have a very transparent election so that the democratic process in Nigeria will be better entrenched.” The Ghaninan President said that ECOWAS would continue to monitor the situation and would do everything possible to stand in solidarity with Nigerian people to ensure that this election pass on successfully and Nigerian continue in the role that it plays in the sub -regional bodies.
Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has given out the sum of N500 Million to 100 first class graduates of universities in various discipline for the year 2013, under the First Class Graduate Scholarship Scheme. This was even as governor Uduaghan challenged parents to ensure proper upbringing of their children. He emphasised that parents owe it as a duty to ensure that their children and wards are properly brought up in order to achieve a better family unit and better organized society. Speaking at the presentation of the scholarship awards in Asaba, the governor said that it is impossible for a cultist to bag a first class degree in the university. “Please let us build a better society by properly bringing up our children at the family level; generally, a child who is properly brought up is an asset to the society. No matter the position we attained, personal attention to our children is very important and what we call insecurity starts from the home.” According to him, the principle behind the scholarship scheme is that the IQ of the child who makes first class is very high and the society should not put an impediment to the child who have such IQ to proceed to have a doctoral degree, adding that this is the driving force behind the introduction of the scholarship scheme. “You have to be hard working; you have to be disciplined to be able to make a first class degree and to qualify for the scholarship as you know there is no cult member who makes first class because they do not have time to study. “Before today, we have given our scholarship to one hundred and thirty three graduates and today, we are giving scholarship to one hundred persons, and since each student is entitled to five million naira, we are giving out five hundred million naira today.” He appealed to the beneficiaries to be good ambassadors of the State and urged parents to always allow their children to choose what to study stressing. Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Miss Oke Diateke lauded government Uduaghan for sponsoring the programme, saying that it has challenged Deltans in the universities to strive for excellence, and first class degrees in particular.
Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, one of the towering figures of post-colonial Asian politics, died today even as President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria expressed shock ovdr the death.
Lee’s son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in a statement that he was “deeply grieved to announce the passing of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore.”
“Mr. Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital today at 3.18 am,” the statement said. He was 91.
The elder Lee, who dominated Singapore politics for more than half a century, had been in hospital since February 5 with severe pneumonia.
Two years before he died, he disclosed that he had signed a medical directive instructing doctors not to use any life-sustaining treatment if he could not be resuscitated.
Lee was prime minister from 1959, when colonial ruler Britain granted Singapore self-rule, to 1990. He led Singapore to independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia.
The widely revered patriarch’s death is likely to cast a pall over preparations for the city-state’s 50th anniversary of independence on August 9.
Prime Minister Lee also announced his father’s death on his Facebook page and was immediately flooded with messages of condolence.
On Lee’s watch, Singapore became a sea trade, air transport and financial hub as well as a high-tech industrial centre, prospering despite its compact size and lack of basic natural resources.
“I have to say his success is in taking advantage of Singapore’s natural assets, by which I particularly mean using its geography at the end of the Malay peninsula and on the end of the Malacca Strait,” said Michael Barr, an associate professor of international relations at Flinders University in Australia who wrote a book on Lee’s career.
On the diplomatic front, Lee’s counsel was often sought by Western leaders, particularly on China – which Lee identified early as a driver of world economic growth – as well as more volatile neighbours in Southeast Asia.
“It cannot be denied that Lee Kuan Yew gave Singapore an international profile completely disproportionate to the country’s size,” said Singapore-based political analyst Derek da Cunha.
“It could be argued that Singapore would probably have been an international irrelevancy if not for Lee Kuan Yew.”
Lee stepped down in 1990 in favour of his deputy Goh Chok Tong, who in turn handed the reins to the former leader’s eldest child Lee Hsien Loong in 2004.
The People’s Action Party (PAP), which was co-founded by the elder Lee, has won every election since 1959 and currently holds 80 of the 87 seats in parliament.
Lee retired from advisory roles in government in 2011 after the PAP suffered its worst poll result since it came to power, getting only 60 percent of votes cast amid public anger over a large influx of immigrants, the rising cost of living, urban congestion and insufficient supply of public housing.
He rapidly began to look feeble after his wife of 63 years, Kwa Geok Choo, died in 2010, and has rarely appeared in public in the last two years.
In his last book ‘One Man’s View of the World’, published in 2013, Lee looked back at his remarkable career and concluded: “I am not given to making sense out of life – or coming up with some grand narrative on it – other than to measure it by what you think you want to do in life.
“As for me, I have done what I had wanted to, to the best of my ability. I am satisfied.”
In a condolence message President Jonathan commiserated with the government of Singapore on the death of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, assuring Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong and the people of Singapore that Nigeria stands in full solidarity with them as they mourn his legendary father who transformed Singapore from a small port city into a highly developed and prosperous centre of global enterprise.
“The President and people of Nigeria, for whom the globally acclaimed achievements of Singapore under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew have been a great source of inspiration over the years, join his compatriots and many admirers across the developing world in paying very well deserved tribute to the late Prime Minister who moved his country “from the third world to the first world” with immense wisdom, courage, resilience and perseverance.
“In doing so, the late Lee Kuan Yew set a magnificent and enduring example for present and future world leaders to follow and President Jonathan believes that the iconic leader’s accomplishments in the service of his nation will continue to inspire positive development across the world for many years to come.
“As they mourn the beloved architect of their nation’s rapid development and prosperity, the President urges the people of Singapore to take solace in the knowledge that Lee Kuan Yew will be remembered and honoured forever as a celebrated global citizen whose leadership style, writings, speeches and glorious example will eternally motivate leaders in government and private enterprise.”
The President prayed to God to grant Lee Kuan Yew’s soul eternal rest and comfort his family, people of Singapore and admirers in other countries of the world. [myad]
President-General of the Ikwerre Youth Movement and member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Azubuike Wanjoku, has described the political battle in Rivers State as a clash between Christianity and occultism.
Wanjoku said this at praise, prayer and worship conference organised by Ikwerre Youth Movement (IYM) and Ikwerre Women Forum (IWF) in honour of all the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside. The ceremony which held at IYM International Secretariat, Alimini, Isiokpo brought together, Ikwerre sons and daughters, including Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and friends of Ikwerre like Dr. Peterside.
Wanjoku who decried the intimidation and senseless killing of APC members in the state, said they are praising and worshipping God because He has promised freedom for APC.
“We are here because God is on our side. We will not vote for a man without religion. And we must inform the world that the battle in Rivers State is between Christianity and occult but we shall be vindicated because we are children of God.
“Many of you know that Nyesom Wike is my in-law but he is not fit to be a governor. He formed Grassroots Development Initiave, GDI which means Go and Destroy Ikwerre. We are praying here today because PDP has increased killings in Rivers State and we are asking God to liberate us from this power of darkness. And in Jesus name, we will overcome.
“In this battle, Peterside is on the side of God while Wike is on the side of the devil. Surely, God will win”.
Wanjoku described Wike as a traitor who has chosen to bring death and destruction to his own people instead of development and progress. He called on Ikwerre people to reject PDP and their candidates because like Wike, they represent darkness and death. He added that Christians cannot afford to mortgage their freedom of worship and association for anything, warning that everybody must be vigilant and vote for APC which is freedom.
The prayer session also featured goodwill messages and praises from Dame Judith Amaechi, wife of the governor; Hon. Vicky Nyeche, President, IWF; Chief Tony Okocha, Secretary-General, IYM and others. The speakers who described APC’s candidates as forthright and visionary, called on the Ikwerre and people of Rivers State to turn out en mass and vote massively for the APC on March 28 and April 11.
Responding on behalf of all the candidates, Peterside commended Ikwerre youths, men, women and professionals for supporting APC even in a season of persecution.
“I want to thank Ikwerre people for their exceptional love for us. Standing up for truth, I must say, is not always easy but we know the Ikwerre are courageous. You have once again confirmed my earlier endorsement by the Supreme Council of Ikwerre Traditional Rulers in Isiokpo.
“Again, let me use this medium to thank Ikwerre traditional rulers, Ogbako Ikwerre, Council of Ikwerre Professionals and Ikwerre in Diaspora. We will bring development and empowerment here. I will not disappoint you, I promise”.
Meanwhile, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has called on Nigerian students to take their destiny in their hands by demanding for capable and purposeful leadership.
Peterside made the plea at Onne, Eleme Local Government Area when members of National Association of Eleme Students paid him a solidarity visit during Ward 7 mega rally at State School.
APC candidate told the students that it is in their interest to demand answers from any incompetent, corrupt or visionless leadership, adding that failure to do so amounts to either complacency or conspiracy. He described the political struggle in Rivers State as essentially a battle for the youth and their future. He therefore called on them to vote for APC so as to secure that future.
“Let me remind you that you are the future of Eleme. The entire struggle we are engaged in today is because of you, so that you can get employment opportunities and live well after graduation. We also want you to have proper identity as an Eleme person so that you will walk with pride in Nigeria and in Rivers State. You are old enough to challenge oppression in your land, you are not too young to defend your fatherland. I want to see a renaissance and a new vision in Eleme.
Peterside thanked the students and his supporters in Ward 7 for the warm reception and their door-to-door campaign which is already yielding huge dividend in the area. He also commended party leaders for persevering even in the face of persecution. Goodwill messages also came from supporters, candidates and leaders like Oji Ngofa who spoke on the successes of the party so far.
Responding, Peterside expressed delight over APC’s popularity in every nook and cranny of Eleme.
“I must say that this rally can pass for a local government rally in the other party. Who again will vote for them? Eleme people, you will be appropriately rewarded. People can take everything from you but don’t allow them take your identity. If you allow them, your children will never forgive you.”
He pledged to work very hard to bring Onne to where it should be as a strategic town in Rivers State but pleaded with the people to use the coming election to liberate themselves. He said APC remains the only medium of that liberation, insisting that he is convinced God wants to use General Muhammadu Buhari to liberate Eleme and Nigeria. [myad]
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, said President Goodluck Jonathan by his misrule, is leaving a legacy of “destruction and disaster” in Nigeria.
Speaking at a book launch in Lagos on Wednesday, Fani-Kayode, in a speech titled ”A Date with Destiny,” said the administration of President Jonathan has plunged the country into financial recklessness, bloodbath (apart from during the civil war) and total misrule never before experienced in the country.
On the planned amnesty for the violent insurgent group, Boko Haram, the former minister said it is an “inglorious endeavour” and an “exercise in futility” that will “set a dangerous precedent.”
“4, 400 precious souls cut short and slaughtered like chicken by Boko Haram in the last two years. How can our government sleep well at night with all that innocent blood that has flowed whilst they are at the helm of affairs of our nation?” the former minister said.
“More innocent souls have been killed in the last 2 years by terrorists than at any other time in the history of Nigeria outside the civil war. How does President Jonathan and his”today’s men” feel about winning such a dubious and dishonourable title? Does he still regard Boko Haram as “his siblings” who he “cannot hurt”?
“Why did the President refuse to visit the good people of the northeast for so long despite the fact that hundreds of people are still being slaughtered there by Boko Haram every day?”
He said the government has proved it does not “give a damn” to the suffering of the people and the loss of lives by not visiting the troubled region until politicians from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) did; and the president’s lukewarm and delayed response to the recent massacre of 185 people in Baga.
“He did not visit the place until the APC governors took the initiative, did the right thing, went there boldly and paved the way? It was only after that initiative was taken by the opposition that our President woke up from his deep slumber, remembered that he was the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces and saw fit to go to the north-east. Why did he take so long before doing so?”
“Does the fact that it took our Government two days to even acknowledge that the Baga massacres ever took place and that when they finally did all they said was that they would ”investigate it” not seem rather insensitive? This was after the Sec. Gen. of the U.N. and numerous other world leaders had not only condemned the massacre but had also expressed their condolences to our President, to the Nigerian people and to those that lost their loved ones. Yet to the best of my knowledge not one word of condolence or regret was offered by our President or our Government. Since when have we degenerated to such a point that when our people are killed in such a brazen manner and in such large numbers we don’t even seem to ”give a damn?” Since when have we become a nation of sociopaths that have no feeling and that do not value human life?”
Fani-Kayode said the Jonathan administration has refused to tackle corruption and therefore has plunged the economy into deeper mire by its wanton display of financial impudence.
“When will our President and his ”today’s men” answer David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom’s question and tell him what they did with the 100 billion USD that they made from oil sales in the last two years?
“When will they answer Obi Ezekwesili’s question about how they squandered 67 billion USD of our foreign reserves?
“When will they answer the question that Nasir El Rufai asked sometime back about how they spent over 350 billion naira on security vote in one year alone?
“When will they answer the many questions that Pat Utomi and many other distinguished and courageous leaders and ”yesterday’s men” have raised about the trillions of naira that have been supposedly spent on oil subsidy payments in the last two years?
“When will they implement the findings and recommendations of the Nuhu Ribadu report on the thievery that has gone on in the oil sector?
“When will they cultivate the guts and find the courage to respond to a call for a public debate to defend their abysmal record?
“When will these ”today’s men” stop being so reckless with our money?
“Why would our ”today’s man” FCT Minister budget 5 billion for the ”rehabilitation of prostitutes in the Abuja”?
“Why would he budget 7.5 billion naira for a new ”FCT city gate”?
“Why would he budget 4 billion naira for some kind of building or centre for the First Lady? Why would the Federal Government of ”todays men” budget 1 billion naira for food in the Villa? Are these the priorities of ”today’s men?
“And all this when Nigeria is back in foreign debt to the tune of 9 billion USD and is still borrowing, when local debt has hit almost 50 billion USD, when 40 per cent of Nigerians are unemployed, when graduate unemployment has hit 80 per cent, when 40 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to good food and are described by the U.N.D.P as being ”hungry” and when 70 per cent of Nigerians are living below the poverty line? Is this the vision of ”today’s men?” [myad]
A former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, yesterday said the Goodluck Jonathan administration is a “dismal failure”.
In an interview in Lagos, the former minister said he was appalled that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at its “family dinner” in Abuja, awarded itself a pass mark.
He said the ruling party had lost touch with reality, adding that it was not unexpected of it to award itself a pass mark.
Fani-Kayode said: “I watched the dinner the PDP held and I was appalled by the fact that they gave themselves a pass mark. They were clapping and saying President Jonathan should continue.
“Look, Czar Nicholas of Russia, a night before the Russian Revolution, clapped for himself. This thing happens all the time. Hitler, a night before the Russian knocked on the bunker and he had to kill himself, also clapped for himself. Don’t expect the ruling party, which has lost touch with reality and has become delusioned to score itself in an equitable and fair way. If it is out of 100, they will score themselves 110 over 100.”
The former minister challenged the government to tell Nigerians what it has done to improve on what happened up till May 29, 2007.
He accused the Jonathan administration of allowing every sector to degenerate.
“I challenge them to tell us what they have done to improve on what happened up till 2007. Every single sector has degenerated and the facts and figures are there. We now have 80 per cent graduate unemployment; 70 per cent of Nigerians living below the poverty line. In power generation, we were hitting 4,500 megawatts (MW) per day in 2007. Today, we are lower than that.
“In terms of foreign reserves, in 2007, we had $47 billion. Today, I think we have $45 billion. It has not progressed, despite all the crude oil sales. The Excess Crude Account, in 2007, was $24 billion; today, we have $7 billion. If we talk of foreign debts, a very important thing, in 2007, we had zero per cent foreign debts; today, we are back to $9 billion and still borrowing..
“So, what are they celebrating? Five years later, we have gone backwards; we have not progressed. First of all, look at your foundation. Have you built on it? The answer is no. They have a foundation, a legacy which was a pretty good one.
“Whether you like (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo or not, if you look at his performance, it was excellent. The record speaks for itself. What did they do with it? Did they build on it? No! Everything has degenerated since then. I cannot be impressed with that and so we need a change. Let’s have new people in government,” Fani-Kayode said.
The politician, who recently dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC), described his former party as a “sinking ship.”
Posted by: Augustine Avwode in News June 6, 2013. [myad]
Nigeria’s uncanny romance with ethnic militias got an official boost recently when two distinctly dodgy groups, with notorious antecedents of constant brushes with the law, emerged as the chief campaigners for both the sacking of the Independent National Electoral Commission boss, Attahiru Jega, and the reelection of President Goodluck Jonathan. As expected, due to their violent antecedents, both the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and the Oodua Peoples Congress reportedly disturbed public peace in Awka, Anambra State and Lagos State respectively as they took to the streets to drive home their points.
What was striking about the incidents was the conduct of both groups during their demonstrations. While, in Awka, reports had it that MASSOB’s protest march was relatively peaceful in that people were not harassed, the same could not be said of the conduct of the OPC members in Lagos. They were armed and aggressive towards passers-by, mostly workers trying to beat the usual early morning rush to be at their duty posts. Clad mostly in T-shirts with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party inscriptions and President Goodluck Jonathan’s pictures on them, the Lagos protesters, who were interspersed with some Nollywood actors, also wielded weapons, namely guns, knives, machetes, cutlasses and broken bottles.
Although no record of death or injury that usually goes with such outings was recorded, it is however surprising that state security agents, who are often quick to disperse groups, even when the peaceful intent of their gathering is well known, did not so much as raise a finger against an armed group that constituted a public threat to peace. Rather, they gave the protesters armed protection, as they rolled out about 100 buses and held up traffic for hours on end.
A lot seems to point to the ominous nature of this unholy alliance between the President and groups such as the OPC and MASSOB. Barely two years ago, Jonathan had, in a mid-term report to mark the 2013 Democracy Day, told Nigerians, “The nation faces three fundamental security challenges posed by extremist groups like Boko Haram in the North, the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra in the South-East, and the Oodua Peoples Congress in the South-West.”
Notably, about a week after the groups marched in solidarity with the President, he has not come out to dissociate himself from them, which is not surprising as the rowdy demonstrators came in buses marked with his campaign banners. Perhaps, Nigerians should now believe that they have turned a new leaf and are no longer the same people he likened to Boko Haram just 22 months ago.
What happened in Awka and Lagos should not come as a complete surprise to those who are familiar with the run-up to elections in this country. During such periods, unscrupulous politicians hire and prop up groups, who are used to fight their battles for them. In many cases, such groups are armed with sophisticated weapons and are unleashed on election days to snatch ballot boxes and chase away voters. Little wonder that the two groups had listed, among their numerous grouses against Jega, the proposed employment of card readers during the upcoming elections.
With the new development, it will be difficult to dismiss reports that some of these militant groups had been pencilled in for multi-billion naira security contract awards by the Federal Government, probably to buy them over. In a recent report, the founder of the OPC, Frederick Fasehun, had confirmed that his company was among those being considered for the contracts. It could therefore mean that the outings are perhaps meant to potentially repay the compliment.
But it is also pertinent to cast our minds back to the recent security challenges the nation has been facing, which have been traced, in the main, to the inadvertent creation of violent groups by politicians for the purpose of winning elections. Once the elections are over, such groups suddenly lose their relevance, and are cast into the society to fend for themselves. People who are armed and had been used to being spoon-fed, suddenly have to look after themselves. It is only natural that they fall back on their arms for survival.
The result is the proliferation of violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping and gang wars by groups seeking, in a mafia-like manner, to control areas for the purpose of extorting so-called protection fees. It has also been alleged that both the militancy in the Niger Delta and Boko Haram in the North-East of the country came about through this same means.
From the experience of trying to end militancy in the Niger Delta and Boko Haram in the North, it is clear that such outfits, once created, are usually difficult to eliminate. Under the threat of militants, Nigeria’s oil production quota of over two million barrels per day dropped to about 1.3 million bpd, as the militants sabotaged oil facilities and engaged the Nigerian military in a seemingly unending war of attrition. It was only an initiative of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to grant the militants lavish cash awards, veiled as amnesty, that ended the insurgency and the bleeding of the economy.
In the case of the Boko Haram terrorists, it has become obvious that the Nigerian Army alone can no longer successfully dislodge the group, after six years of full-blown war has proved abortive in doing so. The country has only been able to make noted progress after going into alliances with her neighbours in Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic.
If, without official funding, the two groups, the OPC and MASSOB, were deemed to be security threats, what could become of them when empowered with contracts can only be imagined. It is therefore important to sound a note of warning about that dangerous alliance. For now, people can only see the beginning; nobody knows how it will end.
This is Punch Editorial for March 23, 2015. [myad]
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Jonathan’s Trumpeting Of Perfidy! By Rotimi Fashakin
Ex American Envoy, Richard Grenell has said electing Buhari as President of Nigeria will be a disaster for Africa because of Buhari’s sharia credentials according to him.
The PDP press has been agog with this news since it came out on March 19.
In their desperation to discredit Buhari, Jonathan and PDP will go to any depth to use even the lowliest of persons to attempt to achieve their objective.
Who is Richard Grenell? According to Wikipedia, Richard Grenell (born September 18, 1966) is an American media commentator and former diplomat. He is the longest serving U.S. Spokesman at the United Nations and briefly served as national security spokesman for Mitt Romney in his 2012 campaign for president of the United States. HE BECAME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY SPOKESMAN FOR A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, after being hired by Mitt Romney. He resigned after pressure from social conservatives and gay liberals alike.
The PDP that has accused Buhari of going abroad to say he will repeal the anti-gay law has now hired a gay consultant to attack Buhari. So Jonathan has set another record, HE IS THE FIRST NIGERIAN PRESIDENT TO HIRE A GAY CONSULTANT to promote his campaign. What a callously hypocritical leader!
Richard Grenell lives in California with his partner of nine years, Matthew Lashey, a media and entertainment company executive. This gay man “married” to another man is the PDP consultant telling Nigerians not to vote Buhari because he is pro-sharia. It is a nauseous impudence that the utterly irresponsible Jonathan regime is forcing on Nigerians
Besides, was it not these unconscionable Republicans that manufactured intelligence and falsely asserted that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)? Was it not the basis of the war on Iraq that unseated Saddam Hussein? Is the unseating of Saddam Hussein not the cause of the massive disequilibrium of Iraq and the Middle East that is now disrupting world peace? Is this not what has brought about the rise of the murderous ISIL?
That a ruling party bought judicious media space for trumpeting the views of an amoral, and foreign interest is an attestation of the unworthiness of Jonathan for the votes of Nigerian people. For today alone, this profligate President spent about N250million in propagating this hogwash.
Having hired a gay man, we await the lesbian adviser of President Jonathan! For all we care they can hire Lucifer to threaten fire and brimstone against Nigerians. We will still vote Buhari. PDP and Jonathan have lost this battle.
Sai Buhari/Osinbajo.