A Nollywood star, Omotola Jalade Ekehinde has made it clear that she will continue to encourage her four children to be whatever they desire to be in life as long as it is not something wrong and negative
The star, who recently unveiled her first son ‘Captain E‘ who is a 15 year old music producer said however that so far, none of the kids is interested in acting, though she would have wished that her daughter follows her footstep.
“But if any of my children picks interest in acting, I will support and equip him or her with whatever tools he or she needs to excel. Unfortunately none of them is interested now.”. Omotola’s marriage to Matthew Ekeinde is blessed with four children, Meraiah, Princess, M.J and Micheal Ekehinde. [myad]
Former Nigeria military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) and the incumbent democratically elected President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) appear to share some form of similarities on the nation’s political platform. They may not be exactly the same anyway. Recall that General Babangida, back in the dying days of his regime, was presented with a crucial choice of emerging and remaining the nation’s political hero forever and denying himself that trade mark also forever. Look at the scenario playing out now, in which President Jonathan is presently being confronted with similar choice; of taking a personal decision, as in Babangida’s case, to remain the nation’s hero forever or otherwise, also forever. And, in between General Babangida and Jonathan was the first black President of South Africa and incidentally, the butt of the colonial brigandage, late Sir Nelson Mandela, who had similar choice and decided on his own to go for that which would throw him up as a hero forever. He had ample opportunity, constitutionally, morally, rightly to contest election for second term in office: he even had the opportunity to plant himself as life President of the country he almost single-handedly wrenched from the colonialists, with his life hanging in the balance. But he did a term and quit, surprisingly, unAfrican. And, in the end, hero he became even in death! Coming back to General Babangida, here was a fine military officer who was thrusted with the burden of leading this nation, and he did it fairly well. There were mouthfuls of physical developments across the country to his credit. Here was a fine military President who laid down careful, step-by-step programme for transformation of the country into a civilian democratic rule. Here was a military President who presided over, before then, the freest, fairest and, indeed, the best civilian election ever to be conducted in the country. The thing he needed to do to earn the accolade of all Nigerians, of different political shades and opinions and become a hero forever would have been to hand over the government to who emerged winner of that election even if such winner would do only a day in office. That exactly was what his counterpart, General Olusegun Obasanjo did in 1979 and later came back to reap its fruit in abundance in 1999 (20 years later). But, General Babangida chose, with whatever excuses he had, to deny not only the nation and the supposed winner of that election, late Chief MKO Abiola the pleasure of peace and unity, also himself the joy of picking the ticket of hero. And the stigma had clung to him upto recently, when he realized that the nation really was not keen in welcoming him into leadership reckoning again. And now, President Jonathan, like it was noted earlier, is facing almost similar challenge, or is it a test? He came in as President by share providence and luck, first as acting President and then substantive one when President Umaru Musa Yar’adua died while in office in 2009. Jonathan completed two of the four year tenure of late Yar’adua. And in 2011, he won the Presidential election for himself for another four years, to terminate in 2015. Since coming in in 2009 for the first time and 2011, President Jonathan has taken every sector of the nation’s socio-economy in his own stride and made positive impact on the citizenry. Even his political adversaries would not be fair not to admit that he has taken the nation to the height in such areas as revival of railways, construction and rehabilitation of thousands of kilometres of roads across the country: marked improvement in other areas like in power sector, agricultural sector, education sector, economic stabilization, youth and women empowerment, employment generation and numerous others. As a matter of fact, it may not be an overstatement to say that he had achieved in all sectors of the socio-economic life of the nation within five years so far, that which some leaders could not achieve in 15 to 20 years. And of course, the lingering insecurity, represented by Boko Haram has not been the making of his government, even though it has become a clog in the wheel of the development. While on that, President Jonathan is being faced with both constitutional and moral challenges as the 2015 general election taxies to a takeoff, aside from the ethnic colouration that is looming at the background. Here is a man who came in as a humble leader eager to make his mark on the nation’s psyche and was sincere to note early that it was not how long but how well a leader moves to contribute to the nation’s development that matters. Surprisingly, President Jonathan, who is supposed to be well educated on the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria may just be preparing to declare his intention to run for the second term in office in 2015 not out of his personal conviction, but to satisfy some extraneous factors. Of course, there is nothing wrong in him contesting as even the chairman of the Board of Trustees of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih had recently declared for him, but the snag is this unclear issue as to whether the constitution envisages a situation where an occupant of the Presidency would spend a total of 10 years under any circumstance, special or otherwise. For, that is what is going to happen if he contests in 2015 and wins; he would have spent 10 years at the end of his tenure in 2019 and become, in the history of democratic practice across the world, the first to so enjoy the unusual tenure. On the moral count, most Nigerians were not there when he was reported, by no other person than his political god-father or mentor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to have once said that he was going to do only one term in office, the claim which he and members of his government had vehemently denied, even with doses of personal insults on Obasanjo. And, on account of the heat generated by such claim and counter-claim, Chief Obasanjo had to suspend himself from PDP, promising to return to the party only when President Jonathan owns up to his promise (of doing one term). In this scenario, it is not doubtful that one of the two, either Obasanjo or Jonathan must be telling a lie. And the question is, what would Obasanjo derive from telling a lie against President Jonathan, and of course, why would President Jonathan be telling a lie against himself and even becoming so bitter with Obasanjo? In this political, constitutional and moral milieu therefore lies the hidden voice which is whispering to President Jonathan for him to decide. The loud voice shouting and commanding him from, mostly those of his ethnic nationality and those who are immediate beneficiaries of his Presidency that it is his constitutional right to go for second term may be right, but the ultimate decision, after weighing all the prons and cons, is actually his. After all, even if he spends 20 years as President, he will one day come down from the height and, of course, will certainly not be able to finish all the programmes and projects for Nigeria; he will certainly not be able to satisfy all Nigerians all the times of their lives at the end of it. So, the choice, again, is entirely his: to tell Nigerians that because of certain circumstance, he will sacrifice his second term ambition by not contesting the 2015 Presidential election or going ahead pursuing his inalienable right for a second term, which, if he wins, will take him for another four years. Which in the end, is a twinkle of an eye! [myad]
Before the beginning of this fourth Republic which has endured for more than two decades, majority of Nigerians regarded Nigerian soldiers with a great deal of respect. That was when the soldiers were confined to secluded areas and were rarely seen on the streets on good days. The respect people had for them was an admixture of admiration and fear. Ironically, that was even the period the military people were in leadership of the country, either as Heads of State or self-styled President. Indeed, even when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was President, from 1999 to 2007, except for the deployment of military to Odi and Zaki Biam, the soldiers were mostly confined to their barracks. The two cases were of course, isolated, even though, they really portrayed the danger involved in using soldiers for civilian population in peace time under any excuse. Funny enough, the current leadership at the helm of which is President Goodluck Jonathan, appears to have found the comfort in using soldiers for civilian society under the cover that looks so enticing. The military personnel are obviously now to be deployed to man and secure polling centres, on election days. The system has been tried, in fairness, successfully, in the governorship elections conducted in Anambra, Edo, Ekiti and the recent one in Osun state. There is no doubt that the presence of these soldiers, in one way or the other, ensured peaceful and orderly conduct of the elections in all such places. The successes achieved through such deployment of soldiers of course, have now emboldened the government of President Jonathan to begin to dream that the best had come in a way election should be conducted and supervised in the country. As a matter of fact, sound and successful as the use of military in election has so far been, and encouraging as it had turned out to be, has been this nudging fear of the accumulated negative implications of where it may be leading the nation. The dangerous signal on this matter came from the unusual quarter; the spokesperson of the Directorate Of Security Service (DSS), Marylin Orga, who confessed that unnamed politician (s) tried to bribe top officers of the security operatives in the recent Osun governorship election, for the purpose of turning the wishes of the electorate away from reality. In other words, it was meant to make them to rig the election in favour of the giver (s) of the bribe. Yes, the officers resisted such temptation, “because they are being well paid by government” according to Orga, but the gist here is that politicians are ever lurking around to find soft spot in the security system to bend the game. As a matter of fact, it is becoming clearer that the closer Nigeria gets to the 2015 general elections, the more it appears dangerous that desperate politicians would want to corrupt everybody that has anything to do with such elections, including of course, the soldiers. While on the issue of corruption and corrupt tendencies, a few soldiers are already caving in, as they openly, these days, asked for gratifications from “big people” that as much as have anything to do with them. Reports are rife that some young military personnel manning checking points around the federal capital territory, Abuja and other parts of the North have been in the habit of openly demanding “something to buy pure water” from motorists, the same way the Police would traditionally ask motorists “wetin you carry.” Yes, the idea of using soldiers particularly to man polling centres during elections has proved very portent and successful, especially from the point of view of the exigencies, but, the long effect of it may undermine the strength of the nation’s security system. In other words, when, gradually the soldiers fall for the “Nigerian factor” as they are first and foremost Nigerians, the nation would go into the danger of a civilinised soldiers; not hard core soldiers trained to fight war and war only. And above all, the idea of using soldiers for elections and other civil operations is clearly an indictment on the nation’s police force and other security people trained specifically to take care of doing civil security duties. It has a way of spelling doom for Nigeria if we muddle up the security systems for the purpose of attaining some temporary success in one section of the societal challenges at the expense of long term working for an excellent system that would ensure success in general security operative systems within and without. In other words, if the government sends soldiers into the open Nigerian public and they are eventually roped into the corrupt system, they would have qualified to join the supposedly discredited police, and it would be bye bye to soldiering! The government should rethink then, about what comes first: a clean election for which special training can be given to selected police to handle, leaving the soldiers out of it entirely or going ahead with soldiers being fully involved and face the future consequences, of losing what real soldiering should be? [myad]
Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola has appealed to the doctors and nurses attending to patients of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba, Lagos to return to work after going on a strike, abandoning the patients. The action of the doctors and nurses was linked to reports of allegation of negligence levelled against them by relatives and associates of the dead nurse and other Ebola patients in the hospital. Relations and associates of the female doctor and other health workers who contracted the EVD from the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, had, at a media briefing on Thursday in Lagos, accused the federal and state governments of neglecting the patients. However, governor Fashiola quickly rose to the occasion to beg the striking health workers to get back to work, even as he described the reports as “disheartening.” The governor cautioned the media against sensationalising reports on the disease, adding that such reports could cause serious panic among people. “The report reaching me about two hours ago was that some of the health workers at the centre felt unappreciated and decided to stop work because of the media reports that they were not working effectively to save the lives of the victims. “We do not need that at the moment. While we sympathize with the victims, the health workers are doing their best to care for the victims. “My appeal to the people is that more health workers should sign up and what I was told by experts was that even if one is the best physician in the world, the person cannot enter the isolation ward. He or she has to be trained on how to kit up and how to get out of the centre and the training takes between five and seven days to achieve.” The governor acknowledged however thet said media has been forthcoming in helping the government to sensitise the public about the risk and the precaution on Ebola virus and the necessary development of the outbreak of the virus in the country, cautioning the practitioners to be circumspect about how they publish and publicise comments on the matter. “At the moment, I am only able to speak about this because I receive a daily briefing from our team and at the beginning of each day. And I act on what they tell me. “We sympathize with the victims who were affected by the virus, we understand the trauma the family members are going through. But when all of that is taking into account, it is not true that we are not taking care of the patients.” [myad]
Fellow Nigerians, what happened exactly one week ago Osun State was not as simple as it looked. Lest we take some things for granted as we love to do in our country, kindly permit me to do an elaborate post-mortem of that much anticipated gubernatorial election. It is no longer news that the incumbent, Governor, Rauf Aregbesola won. I never believed for any second that he was going to be defeated by his main challenger, Iyiola Omisore, for reasons I will explain shortly. The battle for Osun was fought on different fronts and at different levels. There was the personal angle to the war. Who was Aregbesola and who was Omisore? That is usually the first layer of the struggle for supremacy. That aspect is always enhanced by media hype and propaganda. This was palpable in the war of modern day Ekiti-Parapo which was won by Ayo Fayose. Fayose had succeeded in projecting himself as being more popular, streetwise and down-to-earth than the current Governor, Kayode Fayemi. I had warned those who cared to listen to watch how the Governor had failed to challenge Fayose’s popularity contest. That, for me, was a fatal mistake. Human beings tend to follow what Francis Bacon called Idols of the Market Place. The second mistake from Ekiti was simple and straight-forward. Theoretically, political parties would always attempt to rig elections in Nigeria because of the psychological fixation that the other party will rig. It then becomes the contest of the bigger-rigger. But a party can’t successfully rig where it is not overwhelmingly popular. This happened in 1983 when the NPN successfully took over power in Oyo State and sacked the supposedly popular government of the Cicero of Esa-Oke, Bola Ige, but could not get away with Akin Omoboriowo’s electoral victory over Adekunle Ajasin. This is an eloquent example of how elections are rigged and sustained through subtle connivance of unwary electorates. Omololu Olunloyo, an Ibadan man and Mathematical icon, had succeeded in projecting himself as matching Bola Ige intellect for intellect, popularity for popularity, thus erecting the optical illusion that Bola Ige was indeed defeatable. But Omoboriowo did not invest in such monumental hypnotisation and mesmerisation of the people as a prelude towards preparing the people of Ondo State for the forceful takeover that the NPN had envisaged for most of the difficult and unfriendly states needed for the grandiloquent coronation and canonisation of President Shehu Shagari. Fayose had learnt this lesson in grandstanding and was able to reduce Fayemi into a pitiable pulp. Had Fayemi challenged Fayose’s farcical apotheosis, perhaps the results would have been different. But once the hunter transfigured into the hunted, it became obvious that Fayose was going to win fairly or crookedly because a fait accompli had been adequately prepared for the outcome of the election to be believable. If you doubt my theory, please, crosscheck the areas that returned incredible voter turnout and stupendous voting in the Osun election. They were mainly from Ife Local Governments. PDP would have loved to replicate and return such humongous votes all over the State but couldn’t because they had foolishly lost most of their warlords and protectors like Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Isiaka Adeleke. Fayemi did not have such formidable supporters in Ekiti. This Ekiti scenario was cleverly avoided and nipped in the bud by Aregbesola’s strategists. They refused to be cowed or intimidated by the blistering PDP machinery and militarisation or, more appropriately, blitzkrieg. Those claiming that the unprecedented security presence in Osun was to make the election free and fair missed the point, or just chose to be clever by half. The whole idea was to establish a regime of scaremongering and if possible discourage many voters from even coming out to fulfil their civic responsibility. It is very easy for electoral manipulators to utilise the cards of disgruntled voters who refuse to vote to perpetrate their nefarious activities. This coupled with the fact that the bloated voter register is a mirage, in any event, makes rigging a delight for electoral cheats. Anyone who watched the PDP Grand Rally in Osogbo and listened to the speeches of their leaders would have come to the same conclusion with me that they desperately wanted Osun in their kitty, not because they loved Omisore but for future purposes. PDP was merely laying the grass for the electoral Olympics which would be staged in 2015 and must be won by their team. There was no indication whatsoever that PDP was going to be benevolent towards APC. Let me expand this further and better. The 2015 Presidential election promises to be a battle-royale. And the main stage for this rumble in the jungle is likely to be the South West region of Nigeria. This makes it absolutely necessary for PDP to capture these States ahead and prepare the grounds for a major offensive. Their job would not be too difficult if they can secure Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, and others as at when due. Ondo and Ekiti have become friendly States and Osun would have made things even better by being the icing on the cake. PDP victory in Osun would have opened up APC for demystification and ostensibly subjected it to obvious ridicule. Had APC lost Osun, believe me, the game would have been over by now. The complete annihilation of Yorubaland would have been promptly achieved in one fell swoop. But God saved APC by the whiskers and gave them a second life. The smartest thing APC did was to take on the PDP so fearlessly. They were able to reassure the people of Osun that they were ready to fight with everything if PDP ever attempted to rig them out and the people trusted them. If they had shown any sign of weakness and inner fears, PDP would have smashed them into smithereens and run away with cheap victory like they did in Ekiti where the stunned Governor who was hit by thunderbolt had to hurriedly concede defeat. The people of Osun went out boldly on Election Day to vote and seriously guard their mandate. They were not ready to tolerate any hanky-panky. The message was very clear in the way they turned the election into a celebration of the achievements of their Governor. Social media played a key role as well. The people were able to establish contact with every part and monitor the peaceful way Osun people went about the business of the day. Even the security guys tacitly supported the people contrary to whatever they were brought in to achieve in the first instance. It must be noted with every emphasis that Aregbesola’s candidacy was very formidable and not a fluke. One mistake that PDP continues to make is its preference for brawn over brains. But it must be reminded that no leader has ever succeeded in enslaving Nigerians and no one has been able to subdue the people of South West through the use of coercion. The people are too sophisticated to be dragged on a leash by any leader no matter how popular and wealthy. This is the reason their leadership changes constantly and rapidly because of their impatience with aspiring slave-drivers. APC itself has so much to learn from Yoruba history. This victory is an indication that the party still has a fair chance of winning at the Federal level if they can resist the rascality being credited to some of their leaders. I doubt if anyone tells them the home truth about the reason many of their admirers are afraid to join the party. This must be reiterated at this stage if for nothing but for posterity. If APC fails it would be as a result of the vaunting ambitions of its own leaders who keep coming up with all manner of selfish permutations in order to gain the upper hand in the power equation. It is such a tragedy that so much time is being wasted in coming together to present a common front that can convincingly confront the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 elections. I will enumerate some of the major hurdles ahead of APC. The first is that many keen watchers of its affairs and conduct still see it as a private and family business of Bola Tinubu. There is no question that this man has been the biggest single investor in what has become APC today but he must be extremely careful not to waste the uncommon goodwill he has garnered as dividend for his gallant effort. How he tries to wash himself clean of allegations of handpicking candidates at local and national levels would help in shaping people’s impression, perception and decision about him and the party. This was part of what caused the misfortune of the party in Ondo and Ekiti. It takes a lot of sacrifice for a great man not to exhibit his prowess but it can only be counter-productive if care is not taken at the end of the day. It would be to his eternal credit if the party is allowed to grow into an octopus rather than a one-fingered party. The party should be worried about possible and sudden disintegration after all that has been done and achieved so far. The second hurdle is how to contain the combustive ambition of some of its members. I believe, it needs to form a shadow kitchen cabinet of its key members urgently before most of them are poached away by PDP. The party has practically lost key allies in Borno, Edo, Ogun, Adamawa, Kano, Sokoto and other places. This emigration must be stopped before it turns into a mass exodus. It should never take 20 years to prepare for madness, a lot of time has been wasted already. For every day it dilly dallies, the PDP resurgence gets stronger. The APC should look for the most credible Nigerians from all over the world and walks of life to bring together as a powerful team to strategise for the forthcoming elections and then form the cabinet after winning those elections. The third is how to connect speedily to the largest army of angry youths in Africa who have lost all hope in their country. APC would gain so much if they can offer genuine optimism and rekindle the fire of patriotism in them. What I see at the moment is the over reliance on hard-core politicians who may not be able to match PDP in the game of numbers. There is no way APC would defeat PDP without galvanising the overwhelming support of non-traditional and first time voters. The fourth and probably most vital is how to balance our ethnic colouration and volatile religious sensibilities. APC is going to have an uphill task picking the number one and number two candidates for the Presidential election. This needs not be so if the Party simply realises that what Nigerians want is that somebody for once puts merit into the forefront of the choice of leaders without sacrificing equity and justice. Unfortunately, I’ve already uncovered so much confusion from them about who to pick, where to pick, the religion, the gender, and so on. If the truth must be told, only PDP can gain from this unnecessary commotion. The more I listen to the argument of some of these APC members, the more I pray for these guys not to voluntarily throw their best chances into the Atlantic Ocean. What saddens me is that some of their permutations are based on selfish personal interests and do not take the larger interests of the Party or indeed Nigeria and Nigerians into consideration. Sometimes, I wonder if PDP has bewitched Nigerians and especially the opposition leaders. By now, there should be no argument whatsoever about sacking the party permanently for gross infractions and selecting the best candidates to achieve this objective. The disorderliness and seeming lack of focus of the opposition may ultimately keep the PDP in power in a manner even more serious than we can ever contemplate. It is a sad reality we must grudgingly accept when tomorrow comes. [myad]
Nigeria’s minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has dismissed as a lie, the claim by the Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Senator Abdul Ningi, that her ministry is withholding funds meant for SURE-P, thereby stalling projects. She said that contrary to claims that N500 billion was missing from the programme, no such amount of money was missing.
The Senate Ad-hoc Committee had earlier said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) was unable to account for N500 billion accruing to the programme.
She made it clear that the Ministry of Finance does not withhold funds belonging to SURE-P.
“We wish to categorically state that the Ministry of Finance does not withhold funds belonging to SURE-P. As soon as the SURE-P committee certifies any project for payment, money is released promptly through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”
In a statement by the minister’s media adviser, Constance C. Ikokwu, the minister said that facts of the matter are as follows: N268.37 billion was appropriated for SURE-P in the 2014 Budget for various projects and programmes.
“A Committee under the Chairmanship of Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) set up by the President, reviews the implementation of various projects/programmes and makes recommendation for payment. Whatever is recommended is promptly paid directly into the accounts of contractors rather than through Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS), within 5-7 working days.
“This process was put in place to fast-track payment to contractors operating different programmes under SURE-P. It is after the committee has visited and certified that the job is satisfactorily done that payment is made. The Ministry of Finance has absolutely nothing to do with the certification process and does not delay payments.
“The public should also know that as of August 2014, N113 billion has been expended on various SURE-P projects and programmes, with a balance of N80 billion available. It is therefore, not true that programmes are being hampered due to lack of funds. The track record shows that all claims that have been certified receive prompt payment.
“It is disappointing that Senator Ningi has continued to peddle wrong information in spite of repeatedly being presented with the facts. The Ministry of Finance hereby reiterates its preparedness to work with the Senator to achieve the stated objectives of SURE-P for the benefit of the public.
“We are sure that Nigerians want to see programmes/projects that follow due process and are executed in a transparent manner. The records are there to prove that indeed this is the case.
The Ministry of Finance strongly supports SURE-P for prudent utilisation of its funds as promised by government and we are against any profligate use of these resources.” [myad]
Nigeria’s Acting Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, today, received in audience, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Poco at the Police Headquarters, Abuja.
Two time governor of Borno state, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has attributed the continued thriving of the deadly Boko Haram to the open borders of the state and the fact that it has the biggest land mass bordering Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Borno, he added, is not like the Republic of Benin with only one entrance into Nigeria. The former governor who spoke to state House correspondents shortly after a private visit to President Goodluck Jonatha at the Presidential Villa today, made it clear that one can enter the state from 20 different points. “Therefore, you need a perfect understanding of the terrain. You need every knowledge that any politician has, particularly any politician that operated in Borno state.” He said that he is not a security man or personnel but that whatever he can do as a civilian, using his position as the chief executive of the state for eight years, he would continue to do it. “What I have seen during my tenure I will contribute to the security agencies through whom I got those information. “What you have to understand is that this country is a big country and Borno state is a difficult state from any other state in Nigeria.” On why he had come to see the President said that just like every Nigerian has the right to see the President, he too exercised such right and was in the Villa to see the President o a personnel ground. “I did not come to discuss PDP with Mr. President. That is not what brought me. Yes, there is this issue that I might join the PDP but that was not the discussion that brought me to the President. “You see, Nigeria is a very interesting country and people like us, who the nation has done everything for, either as individuals or collectively. By the Grace of God, in Borno state, I have been made Governor twice which is the maximum any one can get in terms of the limits imposed by the Constitution. I was elected into the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria thrice. This means that in every aspect of life, I am one of the stakeholders in Nigeria because if by the help of God, the people of Nigeria had placed me in that position at every time, my interest now should be on how to move the nation forward. Our interest should be on what makes that nation move forward. My decisions will be guided by the interest of the nation first. My thinking of moving to the PDP is also in the interest of the nation. We believe that every time, as a leader who lead people, you should advise them on the right course of action. [myad]
Special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati has alerted all media organizations in the country and persons on his mailing list to disregard the press release purportedly issued by him earlier today titled: PRESIDENT JONATHAN REVEALS LOCATION OF CHIBOK GIRLS AND EXPOSES BOKO HARAM MASTERMINDS. Dr. Abati in a statement today made it clear that no such press release was written or circulated by him. “It is clearly the work of fraudsters who have hacked into my email account in an odious attempt to mislead the public at the expense of the credibility of the Jonathan Administration. He condemned what he called “this criminal resort to political dirty tricks which seeks to cynically play on national concern and emotions about the Boko Haram insurgency and fate of the abducted Chibok girls. “Aspects of the fraudulent press release, such as its incoherence and invitation to click on a link, would have alerted discerning persons who are conversant with the style and format of my press statements to the possibility of skulduggery. “I find it necessary, however, to issue this disclaimer for the benefit of the unwary.” [myad]
“Until recently, we all used to think that our national development was inhibited by the fact that we never had a university graduate as leader of any national government in an executive capacity. We now have two graduates, a zoologist and an architect, at the helm of our national affairs, and I think majority of Nigerians will tell you today that their lives are worse off today than they were four years ago.”
Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashiola made these observations in a lecture entitled, ‘The Challenge of Democratic Governance,’ which he delivered yesterday in Abuja at the birthday lecture of former Bayelsa Governor, Timipre Sylvia.
The governor said that the situation now has made it clear to everyone that there is more to leadership than having university degrees.
He insisted that the Jonathan administration has practically failed Nigerians in the areas of security and other sensitive national issues such as the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls and the alleged missing money from the federation account.
According to him, the event has been followed by other round of lies, adding that the abduction of the girls has been enmeshed in lies. “They have also lied about the economy.”
Governor Fashola declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) states are performing better than states governed by the PDP, even as he called on Nigerians to ensure that the PDP is voted out in the 2015 general polls. [myad]
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Lessons From Osun State Governorship Election, By Dele Momodu
Fellow Nigerians, what happened exactly one week ago Osun State was not as simple as it looked. Lest we take some things for granted as we love to do in our country, kindly permit me to do an elaborate post-mortem of that much anticipated gubernatorial election. It is no longer news that the incumbent, Governor, Rauf Aregbesola won. I never believed for any second that he was going to be defeated by his main challenger, Iyiola Omisore, for reasons I will explain shortly.
The battle for Osun was fought on different fronts and at different levels. There was the personal angle to the war.
Who was Aregbesola and who was Omisore?
That is usually the first layer of the struggle for supremacy. That aspect is always enhanced by media hype and propaganda. This was palpable in the war of modern day Ekiti-Parapo which was won by Ayo Fayose. Fayose had succeeded in projecting himself as being more popular, streetwise and down-to-earth than the current Governor, Kayode Fayemi. I had warned those who cared to listen to watch how the Governor had failed to challenge Fayose’s popularity contest. That, for me, was a fatal mistake. Human beings tend to follow what Francis Bacon called Idols of the Market Place.
The second mistake from Ekiti was simple and straight-forward. Theoretically, political parties would always attempt to rig elections in Nigeria because of the psychological fixation that the other party will rig. It then becomes the contest of the bigger-rigger. But a party can’t successfully rig where it is not overwhelmingly popular. This happened in 1983 when the NPN successfully took over power in Oyo State and sacked the supposedly popular government of the Cicero of Esa-Oke, Bola Ige, but could not get away with Akin Omoboriowo’s electoral victory over Adekunle Ajasin. This is an eloquent example of how elections are rigged and sustained through subtle connivance of unwary electorates. Omololu Olunloyo, an Ibadan man and Mathematical icon, had succeeded in projecting himself as matching Bola Ige intellect for intellect, popularity for popularity, thus erecting the optical illusion that Bola Ige was indeed defeatable.
But Omoboriowo did not invest in such monumental hypnotisation and mesmerisation of the people as a prelude towards preparing the people of Ondo State for the forceful takeover that the NPN had envisaged for most of the difficult and unfriendly states needed for the grandiloquent coronation and canonisation of President Shehu Shagari. Fayose had learnt this lesson in grandstanding and was able to reduce Fayemi into a pitiable pulp. Had Fayemi challenged Fayose’s farcical apotheosis, perhaps the results would have been different. But once the hunter transfigured into the hunted, it became obvious that Fayose was going to win fairly or crookedly because a fait accompli had been adequately prepared for the outcome of the election to be believable. If you doubt my theory, please, crosscheck the areas that returned incredible voter turnout and stupendous voting in the Osun election. They were mainly from Ife Local Governments. PDP would have loved to replicate and return such humongous votes all over the State but couldn’t because they had foolishly lost most of their warlords and protectors like Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Isiaka Adeleke. Fayemi did not have such formidable supporters in Ekiti.
This Ekiti scenario was cleverly avoided and nipped in the bud by Aregbesola’s strategists. They refused to be cowed or intimidated by the blistering PDP machinery and militarisation or, more appropriately, blitzkrieg. Those claiming that the unprecedented security presence in Osun was to make the election free and fair missed the point, or just chose to be clever by half. The whole idea was to establish a regime of scaremongering and if possible discourage many voters from even coming out to fulfil their civic responsibility. It is very easy for electoral manipulators to utilise the cards of disgruntled voters who refuse to vote to perpetrate their nefarious activities. This coupled with the fact that the bloated voter register is a mirage, in any event, makes rigging a delight for electoral cheats. Anyone who watched the PDP Grand Rally in Osogbo and listened to the speeches of their leaders would have come to the same conclusion with me that they desperately wanted Osun in their kitty, not because they loved Omisore but for future purposes. PDP was merely laying the grass for the electoral Olympics which would be staged in 2015 and must be won by their team. There was no indication whatsoever that PDP was going to be benevolent towards APC. Let me expand this further and better.
The 2015 Presidential election promises to be a battle-royale. And the main stage for this rumble in the jungle is likely to be the South West region of Nigeria. This makes it absolutely necessary for PDP to capture these States ahead and prepare the grounds for a major offensive. Their job would not be too difficult if they can secure Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, and others as at when due. Ondo and Ekiti have become friendly States and Osun would have made things even better by being the icing on the cake. PDP victory in Osun would have opened up APC for demystification and ostensibly subjected it to obvious ridicule. Had APC lost Osun, believe me, the game would have been over by now. The complete annihilation of Yorubaland would have been promptly achieved in one fell swoop. But God saved APC by the whiskers and gave them a second life.
The smartest thing APC did was to take on the PDP so fearlessly. They were able to reassure the people of Osun that they were ready to fight with everything if PDP ever attempted to rig them out and the people trusted them. If they had shown any sign of weakness and inner fears, PDP would have smashed them into smithereens and run away with cheap victory like they did in Ekiti where the stunned Governor who was hit by thunderbolt had to hurriedly concede defeat. The people of Osun went out boldly on Election Day to vote and seriously guard their mandate. They were not ready to tolerate any hanky-panky. The message was very clear in the way they turned the election into a celebration of the achievements of their Governor. Social media played a key role as well. The people were able to establish contact with every part and monitor the peaceful way Osun people went about the business of the day. Even the security guys tacitly supported the people contrary to whatever they were brought in to achieve in the first instance.
It must be noted with every emphasis that Aregbesola’s candidacy was very formidable and not a fluke. One mistake that PDP continues to make is its preference for brawn over brains. But it must be reminded that no leader has ever succeeded in enslaving Nigerians and no one has been able to subdue the people of South West through the use of coercion. The people are too sophisticated to be dragged on a leash by any leader no matter how popular and wealthy. This is the reason their leadership changes constantly and rapidly because of their impatience with aspiring slave-drivers.
APC itself has so much to learn from Yoruba history. This victory is an indication that the party still has a fair chance of winning at the Federal level if they can resist the rascality being credited to some of their leaders. I doubt if anyone tells them the home truth about the reason many of their admirers are afraid to join the party. This must be reiterated at this stage if for nothing but for posterity. If APC fails it would be as a result of the vaunting ambitions of its own leaders who keep coming up with all manner of selfish permutations in order to gain the upper hand in the power equation. It is such a tragedy that so much time is being wasted in coming together to present a common front that can convincingly confront the candidacy of Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 elections.
I will enumerate some of the major hurdles ahead of APC. The first is that many keen watchers of its affairs and conduct still see it as a private and family business of Bola Tinubu. There is no question that this man has been the biggest single investor in what has become APC today but he must be extremely careful not to waste the uncommon goodwill he has garnered as dividend for his gallant effort. How he tries to wash himself clean of allegations of handpicking candidates at local and national levels would help in shaping people’s impression, perception and decision about him and the party. This was part of what caused the misfortune of the party in Ondo and Ekiti. It takes a lot of sacrifice for a great man not to exhibit his prowess but it can only be counter-productive if care is not taken at the end of the day. It would be to his eternal credit if the party is allowed to grow into an octopus rather than a one-fingered party. The party should be worried about possible and sudden disintegration after all that has been done and achieved so far.
The second hurdle is how to contain the combustive ambition of some of its members. I believe, it needs to form a shadow kitchen cabinet of its key members urgently before most of them are poached away by PDP. The party has practically lost key allies in Borno, Edo, Ogun, Adamawa, Kano, Sokoto and other places. This emigration must be stopped before it turns into a mass exodus. It should never take 20 years to prepare for madness, a lot of time has been wasted already. For every day it dilly dallies, the PDP resurgence gets stronger.
The APC should look for the most credible Nigerians from all over the world and walks of life to bring together as a powerful team to strategise for the forthcoming elections and then form the cabinet after winning those elections.
The third is how to connect speedily to the largest army of angry youths in Africa who have lost all hope in their country. APC would gain so much if they can offer genuine optimism and rekindle the fire of patriotism in them. What I see at the moment is the over reliance on hard-core politicians who may not be able to match PDP in the game of numbers. There is no way APC would defeat PDP without galvanising the overwhelming support of non-traditional and first time voters.
The fourth and probably most vital is how to balance our ethnic colouration and volatile religious sensibilities. APC is going to have an uphill task picking the number one and number two candidates for the Presidential election. This needs not be so if the Party simply realises that what Nigerians want is that somebody for once puts merit into the forefront of the choice of leaders without sacrificing equity and justice. Unfortunately, I’ve already uncovered so much confusion from them about who to pick, where to pick, the religion, the gender, and so on. If the truth must be told, only PDP can gain from this unnecessary commotion.
The more I listen to the argument of some of these APC members, the more I pray for these guys not to voluntarily throw their best chances into the Atlantic Ocean. What saddens me is that some of their permutations are based on selfish personal interests and do not take the larger interests of the Party or indeed Nigeria and Nigerians into consideration. Sometimes, I wonder if PDP has bewitched Nigerians and especially the opposition leaders. By now, there should be no argument whatsoever about sacking the party permanently for gross infractions and selecting the best candidates to achieve this objective. The disorderliness and seeming lack of focus of the opposition may ultimately keep the PDP in power in a manner even more serious than we can ever contemplate.
It is a sad reality we must grudgingly accept when tomorrow comes. [myad]