The United States of America has announced a total sum of $33 Billion investment in Africa under what it called Doing Business in Africa (DBIA) campaign. This was the decision taken at the conclusion of a three-day US-African Summit in Washington DC.
President Barak Obama said at the end of the Summit today that the US is offering an additional $7bn of financing through the Doing Business in Africa (DBIA) Campaign to the initial $14 billion which the US companies have pledged to invest in Africa in areas such as energy and infrastructure.
President Obama, who hosted a dinner for the over 40 African heads of states that participated in the Summit, said that the proposed investment is an effort to strengthen US ties with Africa as China increases its African investments.
The investment include the deals that were announced of $5bn partnership between private-equity firm Blackstone and Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest businessman, for energy infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as more investments in Mr Obama’s Power Africa initiative.
According to the White House, Power Africa received an additional $12bn in pledges towards its effort to develop energy supplies on Africa through a mix of investment and state involvement.
The World Bank announced a $5bn investment in Power Africa and General Electric said it had committed $2bn to help boost infrastructure and access to energy.
“We gave it to the Europeans first and to the Chinese later, but today it’s wide open for us,” said General Electric chief executive Jeff Immelt.
“Up to tens of thousands of American jobs are supported every time we expand trade with Africa”, said Mr Obama.
“As critical as all these investments are, the key to unlocking the next era of African growth is not going to be here in the US, it is going to be in Africa, ” he added. [myad]
Nigeria minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu has confirmed that a Nigerian female nurse had died of Ebola Virus Disease. The nurse was one of the medical officers that attended to a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who died few days on arrival in Lagos from his country a couple of weeks ago.
The minister did not disclose the name of the nurse, who is the first Nigerian to die of the deadly virus, even as Nigeria is now believed to have recorded seven confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease. The first one was the index case – the imported case from Liberia and the victim died.
According to the Minister the death of the nurse on 5th August, 2014, was the first known Nigerian case “and this was one of the nurses that attended to the Liberian. The other five cases are currently being treated at the isolation ward in Lagos. “The 24/7 emergency operations centre will be fully functional tomorrow. It will be headed by Dr Faisal Shuaibu as the incident manager. He will later today lead a six-man inter-agency team drawn from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Lagos to complete the setting up of the centre.
“They will be joined by the other personnel from Lagos state government and the federal hospitals in the Lagos area as well as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. “We are making arrangements to procure isolation tents to quicken the pace of providing isolation wards in all states of the federation and the federal capital territory.
“We are also setting up a special team to provide counselling and psychosocial support to patients, identified contacts and their families,” he said. The minister reassured Nigerians the government “was working hard to ensure the containment of the outbreak”.
The Ebola virus has claimed over 800 lives in West Africa, prompting the World Bank on Tuesday to mobilise $200 million in emergency funding to contain the disease. [myad]
Special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati has hit back at the USA TODAY, a newspaper in the United States of America that attacked the Nigerian leader on the issue of abducted Chibok Gilrs, as he attends Africa-America Summit. The newspaper, in its editorial today, Wednesday, insisted that President Jonathan needs to give more attention to the abducted female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state by members of Boko Haram since April 14, saying: “in the place of military, action is bargaining, and Nigerian leaders have sent ambiguous signals about who is negotiating and what’s on the table.” In a quick response, President Jonathan’s Chief spokesman, Abati said: “the rest may have moved on, as USA TODAY writes in its editorial, but I assure you that safely rescuing the abducted girls and returning them alive to their parents remains President Jonathan’s topmost priority.” Reproduced hereunder are the words of the two combatants: From USA TODAY EDITORIAL TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN
Nigerian girls deserve continued attention: Our view
When a vicious militant group kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls in April, much of the world was outraged. The Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls went viral, spawning broad concern from people around the globe — and smug derision from critics of digital advocacy.
Four months later, about 60 of the girls have managed to escape and the rest remain missing. The world has mostly moved on, distracted by such events as wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the shoot down of a Malaysian jetliner and the immigration crisis at the U.S. border.
But amid all the horrors that regularly compete for the world’s attention, this one shouldn’t be forgotten.
For one thing, the teenage captives are symbols of the importance of educating girls. They were all seized after returning to school in a dangerous area to take their final exams. Among them are future lawyers, doctors and teachers — women who could someday help lead their country.
For another, there’s evidence that the international uproar might have helped raise the cost of harming the girls too high even for Boko Haram, an extremist group that regularly kidnaps and kills in its quest to bring a brutal form of fundamentalist Islam to parts of Africa.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that U.S. surveillance flights spotted large groups of girls, suspected of being the captives, in remote parts of Nigeria. That dovetails with reports that Boko Haram — whose name means “Western education is forbidden” — is treating at least some of the kidnapped girls with unusual care.
Leaders of the group, after first warning that the girls would be sold into slavery, later offered to trade them for Boko Haram prisoners held by the Nigerian government. The world’s focus on the girls has made them both valuable pawns and risky victims.
The response of the Nigerian government, which has often seemed overmatched in its five-year struggle with Boko Haram, doesn’t inspire much confidence. President Goodluck Jonathan at first largely ignored the incident, then claimed activists invented it, and finally yielded to pressure to accept international assistance.
Jonathan, in Washington this week for a U.S.-Africa summit, says his government is making every effort to find the girls. But he offers no evidence, is dismissive of the foreign help and argues that divulging any details could compromise the mission.
Jonathan has said repeatedly that a military operation to free the girls would probably result in the deaths of many, all but ruling it out. In the place of military action is bargaining, and Nigerian leaders have sent ambiguous signals about who is negotiating and what’s on the table.
The challenge of fighting militants who casually sacrifice civilian lives in the name of religion isn’t confined to Nigeria. American forces have struggled inconclusively with extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan for more than a decade.
The world’s anger can sometimes seem a weak candle next to the flame of intolerance and murder, but in the case of the captive Nigerian schoolgirls, it’s important to keep it burning.
USA TODAY’s editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.
From Dr. Reuben Abati To USA TODAY:
President Goodluck Jonathan will not be stampeded into ordering any rescue attempt that may further endanger the girls.
The rest may have moved on, as USA TODAY writes in its editorial, but I assure you that safely rescuing the abducted girls and returning them alive to their parents remains President Jonathan’s topmost priority.of the world
The president met recently with parents of the girls and leaders of their community to give them a personal assurance that his government will continue to explore every possible option and deploy all available resources in the ongoing effort to bring the girls home.
As President Jonathan explained to the parents, the great challenge, which may have paradoxically created the erroneous notion of tardiness in the rescue effort, is to ensure that none of the girls lose their lives in any rescue operation.
President Jonathan’s commitment is not just to get the girls out, it is also to rout Boko Haram completely from Nigeria. But he is very mindful of the safety of the girls and will not be stampeded into ordering any rescue attempt that may further endanger the girls.
We ask those who continue to suggest that the Jonathan administration is not doing all it can to rescue the girls to understand that we are dealing with terrorist thugs who celebrate death and have no qualms about slaughtering helpless men, women and children.
Other than the parents and relatives of the girls, no one else is more determined to do something about their plight than the president, who continues to be the target of unfair criticism over his government’s handling of the affair.
We quite understand that part of the problem is that the media and the public would like to know more of what is being done. But we ask our people and the global community to show greater appreciation of the fact that saying too much could have very adverse consequences for the entire effort.
Reasonable people should understand the challenging nature of this effort, but we know that there are persons in Nigeria who wish to exploit the plight of the girls for political reasons. That is unfortunate.
Above all, President Jonathan is committed in the long term to a comprehensive program of expanding educational opportunities for all girls and, indeed, all young people in Nigeria.
Reuben Abati is a special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. [myad]
Dangote Industries and Blackstone have announced a commitment to jointly invest up to $5 billion (N825 billion) over the next five years in energy infrastructure projects across Sub-Saharan Africa with a particular emphasis on power, transmission and pipeline projects.
The investment is facilitated by Black Rhino, a portfolio company of Blackstone Energy Partners and affiliated funds managed by Blackstone, and Dangote Industries.
While Dangote Industries is the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa, and one of the largest in Africa, Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful record built on Blackstone’s industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams, based in the United States of America. Blackstone has invested approximately $7 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.
Dangote Industries’ commitment to investments in Nigeria and across the African continent has played a significant role in Africa’s recent economic success. Led by its Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Aliko Dangote, Dangote Industries’ businesses span manufacturing, logistics, commodities trading and real estate across 14 African countries.
The two internationally acclaimed companies have agreed to jointly incorporate, own and operate a management company that will be responsible for the development and management of projects identified and agreed upon, across the sub-Saharan Africa. [myad]
Ordinarily, someone like Femi Fani Kayode shouldn’t draw me out of essay writing/blogging retirement but since no one else is willing to gag our village mad man, I have offered to. Who is Femi Fani Kayode? Why does he believe so much in himself? What makes this guy tick? Why does he feel the need to contribute to social and political commentary like a man with the attention lifespan of a wall gecko? Why does he always feel the need to be a voice on vital issues on national security? These are the questions that I get asked every time I discuss Femi’s latest garbage with anyone. He is so painful to watch. Someone who’s parents paid so much to get the best of education and life only for him to turn out to be a village drunk/mad man. A village drunk is everyone’s source of entertainment. He is the man that is funny to watch on display. He is who, when everyone claps in excitement because of his insanity, he thinks it is actually an approval from his “fans.” He fancies himself a leader. Those who follow him only do for the humor. He is a confused man. this is an effort in futility. Where do I even start to analyze the man that is Femi Fani-Kayode? As President Olusegun Obasanjo’s spokesman, Minister of Culture and later, Minister of Aviation, he reeked and still reeks of failure in public service, mismanagement of funds kept in his trust, mal-administration and brazen abuse of office. Until a few weeks back, Femi Fani Kayode was being investigated by the EFCC in connection with the alleged misappropriation of N19.5billion (N19,500,000,000) before the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration wrote off his sins as part of the transformation agenda of the president which has also helped transform and sanitize the likes of DSP Alamieyesiegha, Peter Odili, Olabode George, Ayo Fayose, Iyiola Omisore, Adebayo Alao Akala and, most recently, Tafa Balogun (former Inspector General of Police) and Ali Momodu Sherrif ( former governor of Borno state and rumored Boko Haram biggest sponsor). Political prostitution is not new in Nigeria, but for the Fani-Kayodes, it is a rite of passage. Femi’s father, Remi Fani-Kayode, was a member of the House of Representatives until he lost the Ife Federal Constituency to an independent candidate, Michael Omisade, a close associate of Chief Awolowo, all of them Action Group members. Remi Fani-Kayode had pleaded with Awolowo to prevail on Chief Omisade not to contest as an independent against him. Awolowo’s reaction was that the electorate should be allowed to decide. Eventually he was defeated by Omisade in one of the shocking results in the 1959 federal elections. Remi Fani-Kayode, (Femi’s father) resigned from Action Group and joined NCNC, the platform on which he contested the 1961 elections to the Western House of Assembly. He won and became an opposition leader. A year later, the crisis in Action Group led to declaration of emergency in the Western Region for six months. In January 1963, opposition leader, Remi Fani-Kayode, led his party members into a coalition administration with Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, as premier, with his new party, the United Peoples Party. Within weeks, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode and all NCNC members (except a lone star, Chief Richard Akinyemi) crossed the carpet, betrayed NCNC and joined forces for a new party, Nigerian National Democratic Party, NNDP. Morally, Femi Fani Kayode is as morally bankrupt as Cleopatra of Egypt, as one who isn’t a moralist or anything. Femi surpasses the line drawn for public officers in terms of morality. Allegations from him being a drug addict who went into a rehab home in Ghana not so long ago to using his security detail to brutalize the boyfriend(s) of his numerous women might not be far from the reasons why he is almost always erratic. Femi Fani-Kayode is a disease. With every sentence emanating from his lips embedded in pure human waste. Femi is also the definition of a small man. A pictorial definition of men who younger men should never grow up to be like. Everything that Femi Fani-Kayode has done and will do has been done by someone in the past. People like Femi end up in history as people who came, saw and became ‘A’ Class dogs for other people. In the dustbin of history. I must also use this medium to apologize for the strong words that may have offended the loyal readers of this column and to ask for the continuous prayers of our readers for the president to remember Fani-Kayode and bless him with an appointment soon. [myad]
Before the advent of modern bureaucracies, European States operated a spoils system, by which every administration brings its civil servants from top to bottom. When their term of office is over, the civil servants all leave office with the government that brought them.
Max Webber, who many consider as the father of bureaucracy, the modern system of government administration blamed the spoils system for its lack of continuity and waste. Since then, bureaucracy had been the order of the day all over the world. The only exception is perhaps when you are dealing with Nigeria’s security services, especially the police force.
Our disciplined services including the customs and immigration operate is silos, blissfully unaware of modern systems of administration. They are so wasteful of well-trained, experienced and cherished human resources you begin to think that that is possibly why a barefooted set of bandits has stolen more than 300 girls and nobody can get them back for nearly three months.
I am frightened by the large number of well-trained officers the country continues to lose through premature retirements in the police, army, navy, airforce, Customs and immigration. A former Chief of Army Staff, General Ihejirika once mooted the idea of having the retirement age of service personnel raised to 70 years and I liked what he said.
They just announced the appointment of a new Inspector-General of Police in the person of Sulaiman Abba, before now, an Assistant Inspector-General, AIG and the press is awash with reports that all serving Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, DIGs and an unspecified number of AIGs will be retired. For what reason? For the fact that they joined the police ahead of the new IG.
“All officers that were ahead of the new IGP has (sic) been forcefully retired,” a source at the Louis Edet House, Police Headquarters, was quoted as saying by the online newspapers “Greenbarge Reporters.” A source at the Police Service Commission listed the victims of this career extermination exercise as being DIGs Peter Gana, Michael Zuokumor, Dauda Sulaiman Fakai, Philemon Leha, Emmanuel Udorji, Marvel Akpoyibo, Abdulrahman A. Kano, Atiku Kafur.
The sources quoted by the newspaper went on to add that “the likes of Solomon Arase, AIG in charge of Intelligence Bureau and Dan Azumi Doma, AIG Force Secretary… might be affected, as they were strong contenders for the post of IGP. Their retirement may become necessary to avert any form of personality clash…”
Notwithstanding the exciting news of the appointment of a new IGP, we must be the only one in the world where the crème of the top echelon of the police is kicked out nearly every two years. Before IG Abubakar who just left, the one he succeeded, Ringim was also fired along with six DIGs.
Ringim’s six DIGs expelled at the point of his departure were Ivy Uche Okoronkwo, Azubuike Udoh, Sardauna Abubakar, Audu Abubakar, Saleh Abubakar and Muhammadu Yusuf.
I know that all these DIGs and the AIGs who are being expelled were not a bunch of rotten apples. They were well trained at home and abroad, some of it by the United Nations. They had impeccable careers that warranted their promotion to the top. They were not rogues in the system. They were not operating a gang within the police, out to ruin the other good officers. Based on their sheer number alone, nothing can be more cruel, wasteful and destructive. If anyone is a keen observer, the only conclusion to draw from these expulsions is that there is no culture of public and social service in the so called disciplined organization. It is either out of the sadistic nature of people who delight in seeing heads roll or out of a deliberate plot to create fear and uncertainty as necessary ingredients for entrenched corruption. It is important however that our leaders be more human in the way they treat fellow human beings. It is wrong that they behave like high school bullies who only pick on the weakest and the most defenseless.
It is equally important that we get our priorities right. Experience is necessary to execute any work. If you take away Ogbonna Onovo who featured as IGP in a freak-like incident for about only a year, no serving Deputy Inspector-General, DIG ever made it to the all-important post in the last 20-25 years. I don’t know what they have against the deputies, that each time there is an opening to name a new IG, they always chose them from the third-ranking post of AIGs. With that, all DIG are expelled. These past IGs who served in the period mentioned above are Aliyu Atta, Ibrahim Coomassie, Musliu Smith, Mustapha Adebayo Balogun, Sunday Ehindero, Mike Mbama Okiro, Hafiz Rimgim, Mohammed Abubakar and now Sulaiman Abba – all AIGs. So what is the DIG post for? An unfortunate and jinxed post? They have made it a burial ground for brilliant careers and I think this is wrong. Perhaps it is time to revise the process through which the IGPs and the heads of military and quasi-military institutions are chosen. It is important that there is federal character. This has the noble goal of promoting inclusiveness. But this must be taken together with a merit-based system. Nigeria is rapidly growing and its institutions are evolving. At this stage of our development, the country needs its finest minds in the security and public services.
It will be better to determine careers by effectiveness of officers than by how long or worse, a spoils system. Officers in the police should be subject to written examinations, followed with an interview to assess their abilities to raise policing. They should be tested on their analytical and problem-solving skills and anyone found lacking should have their jobs taken from them. A DIG who has acquired great skills through training and experience in say, fighting terrorism and is doing well on the job shouldn’t be expelled simply on account of a lower-ranking officer being made head of the police. Doing that deprives the nation of an officer the service and the country need. We all know that the appointment of an IG or army chief is more political than anything. There is no need pretending that it is not, even if the reason we do so is to save careers and retain well-trained and skilled service personnel. Enough of this wastage of acutely needed human resources.
New Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano
Anambra state governor, Willie Obiano has caused the demolition of a church said to belong to Pastor Ifeanyi Nwaezeagu who is the General Overseer of Unchangeable God Ministries, Awkuzu. The other two buildings were located at Dusogu and Ifite villages, both in Awkuzu. The church is alleged to be used as hideout for kidnappers, even as police in the state accused the pastor of being the brain behind some of the kidnapping in recent time, including the kidnap of a priest.
The Governor also revoked the certificates of occupancy of four buildings, which include the demolished church and two other buildings said to belong to
Leading the demolition exercise were the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. Olafimihan Adeoye; Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Chief Chikaodi Anara; Officer in Charge of SARS in Anambra State, Mr. James Nwafor; and the state Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka.
According to DCP Adeoye, Pastor Nwaezeagu had generated millions of naira from his kidnap dealings and was involved in the kidnap of many wealthy Anambra men, including a priest.
He declared Ifeanyi Nwaezeagu a fake pastor who was engaging in kidnapping unnoticed until he was caught in 2013.
“His confessional statements led to the unraveling of his gang before Governor Obiano revoked his C of O, leading to demolition of his church and buildings,” DCP Adeoye said.
He added: “One of his houses was marked Ozo Igbo Ndu (Igbo Life Saver) suspected to be his shrine, while the church was marked ‘Unchangeable God’, with some Bible quotations marked on it.” [myad]
An American 2 star General has been killed and another 15 people wounded at a training Center in Kabul in Afghanistan by an attacker wearing Afghan security uniform. Reports said that among the wounded included an unnamed German Brigadier General,adding that the attack happened at Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul.
According to statement by Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, the shooter was described as a “Terrorist” who was also shot dead at the scene by Afghan security forces.
The American general, whose identity was not immediately released by the Pentagon, was believed to be the most senior U.S. military official killed in action in Afghanistan since the war there began in 2001.
“I want the national chairman (of the Peoples Democratic Party) to go home with a word from the father that come 2015, Jonathan will run for presidency for the second term.” These were the words of the chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), Chief Tony Anenih.
Chief Anenih said this while addressing party faithful at the maiden zonal tour of the south-south by the new PDP chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, on Tuesday in Calabar, Cross River.
He said that the party is becoming stronger in the south-south, adding that “if we continue like this, the load in 2015 will be lighter than the load in 2011.″
The BOT chairman said that the party had worked hard for next weekend’s governorship election in Osun and that it is sure of clinching victory in the election.
“We are working and we are sure that we will win Osun, come Saturday,” he said.
Mu’azu said the party would ensure that internal democracy prevailed in its choice of candidates for various elective positions in 2015.
He said that the party would not entertain any short-cut or favouritism in selecting the candidates, even as he advised members and supporters to shun rumour mongering and falsehood because of their implications on party success and stability.
“The opposition has seen that we are winning in all fronts and they are ready to destroy us. Therefore, let us be careful as we are in a very trying time.”
Governor Ibrahim Dankwanbo of Gombe State, said that the north-east PDP is in full support of Jonathan’s administration, adding: “I want to assure the people of south-south that we in the north-east are in solidarity with you and the president. I want to assure you that we, the PDP governors in the north-east, will work to ensure that President Jonathan returns as president in 2015.” [myad]
The new Inspector General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba has made it clear that he will devote considerable energy to changing the attitude of the rank and file of the Nigeria Police. According to him, various measures would be taken to change the way Police officers relate with each other and the way they relate with the people they serve. The IGP spoke on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy visit on the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed in his office in Abuja. Abba stressed the need for the police to have a change of attitude, adding: “when we do that, we will see new Police that are mindful of values – values of hard work, loyalty and ethics.” The Inspector-General expressed confidence that by the time he concludes his attitudinal reform of the Police, the men and officers would be more ethical and committed to duty. The police boss extended a hand of fellowship to the FCT Administration through increased partnership between it and the Police. Wlecoming the IGP, the FCT minister hoped that the he will strive to raise a new and better Nigerian Police Force, describing his appointment as a good choice. Senator Bala congratulated Abba, saying that he had no doubt that the he would take the Police to higher heights. He said that the new IGP is an experienced officer who rose through the ranks via dedication and loyalty, to the pinnacle of his profession. myad]
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The Anatomy Of Femi Fani-Kayode, By Olusegun Dada
Ordinarily, someone like Femi Fani Kayode shouldn’t draw me out of essay writing/blogging retirement but since no one else is willing to gag our village mad man, I have offered to.
Who is Femi Fani Kayode? Why does he believe so much in himself? What makes this guy tick?
Why does he feel the need to contribute to social and political commentary like a man with the attention lifespan of a wall gecko?
Why does he always feel the need to be a voice on vital issues on national security?
These are the questions that I get asked every time I discuss Femi’s latest garbage with anyone. He is so painful to watch. Someone who’s parents paid so much to get the best of education and life only for him to turn out to be a village drunk/mad man.
A village drunk is everyone’s source of entertainment. He is the man that is funny to watch on display. He is who, when everyone claps in excitement because of his insanity, he thinks it is actually an approval from his “fans.” He fancies himself a leader. Those who follow him only do for the humor. He is a confused man.
this is an effort in futility. Where do I even start to analyze the man that is Femi Fani-Kayode? As President Olusegun Obasanjo’s spokesman, Minister of Culture and later, Minister of Aviation, he reeked and still reeks of failure in public service, mismanagement of funds kept in his trust, mal-administration and brazen abuse of office.
Until a few weeks back, Femi Fani Kayode was being investigated by the EFCC in connection with the alleged misappropriation of N19.5billion (N19,500,000,000) before the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration wrote off his sins as part of the transformation agenda of the president which has also helped transform and sanitize the likes of DSP Alamieyesiegha, Peter Odili, Olabode George, Ayo Fayose, Iyiola Omisore, Adebayo Alao Akala and, most recently, Tafa Balogun (former Inspector General of Police) and Ali Momodu Sherrif ( former governor of Borno state and rumored Boko Haram biggest sponsor).
Political prostitution is not new in Nigeria, but for the Fani-Kayodes, it is a rite of passage. Femi’s father, Remi Fani-Kayode, was a member of the House of Representatives until he lost the Ife Federal Constituency to an independent candidate, Michael Omisade, a close associate of Chief Awolowo, all of them Action Group members. Remi Fani-Kayode had pleaded with Awolowo to prevail on Chief Omisade not to contest as an independent against him. Awolowo’s reaction was that the electorate should be allowed to decide.
Eventually he was defeated by Omisade in one of the shocking results in the 1959 federal elections. Remi Fani-Kayode, (Femi’s father) resigned from Action Group and joined NCNC, the platform on which he contested the 1961 elections to the Western House of Assembly. He won and became an opposition leader.
A year later, the crisis in Action Group led to declaration of emergency in the Western Region for six months. In January 1963, opposition leader, Remi Fani-Kayode, led his party members into a coalition administration with Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, as premier, with his new party, the United Peoples Party. Within weeks, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode and all NCNC members (except a lone star, Chief Richard Akinyemi) crossed the carpet, betrayed NCNC and joined forces for a new party, Nigerian National Democratic Party, NNDP.
Morally, Femi Fani Kayode is as morally bankrupt as Cleopatra of Egypt, as one who isn’t a moralist or anything. Femi surpasses the line drawn for public officers in terms of morality. Allegations from him being a drug addict who went into a rehab home in Ghana not so long ago to using his security detail to brutalize the boyfriend(s) of his numerous women might not be far from the reasons why he is almost always erratic.
Femi Fani-Kayode is a disease. With every sentence emanating from his lips embedded in pure human waste. Femi is also the definition of a small man. A pictorial definition of men who younger men should never grow up to be like. Everything that Femi Fani-Kayode has done and will do has been done by someone in the past.
People like Femi end up in history as people who came, saw and became ‘A’ Class dogs for other people. In the dustbin of history. I must also use this medium to apologize for the strong words that may have offended the loyal readers of this column and to ask for the continuous prayers of our readers for the president to remember Fani-Kayode and bless him with an appointment soon. [myad]