The (in)famous Mbu Joseph Mbu seems to have woken up from the slumber that overtook him since he landed in Abuja, reincarnating the crudity with which he interacted with Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state. Mbu Joseph Mbu, if you haven’t heard about him, is a police officer and Rivers state police commissioner who had serious running battle with Amaechi, the civilian governor of the state. So much was the battle that Mbu was seen as running a parallel government in police uniform, taking instruction only from ‘Abuja’ as Amaechi was running his own government in civilian cap. Though unform and civilian normally should operate at different levels, Mbu was doing more politicking than Amaechi then. And before one could say ‘Rivers,’ Mbu found himself transferred to Abuja, the centre of political scheming. Perhaps, his boss or bosses had seen in him the ability to create controversies, navigate in them and damn the consequences. The first controversial official pronouncement he made since arriving in the federal capital was the declaration on Monday, of a ban on public protests in the federal capital territory against the abduction by Boko Haram, of 276 female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state. By such declaration, Mbu has simply made it known that he is back at his crudity, either by his own calculation or as a proxy. His ban on protests is a byproduct of the movement by the #BringBackOurGirls# led by Hadiza Bala Usman and a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili. In the last 44 days, they have pressed home the call on government to ensure safe and quick return of the Chibok schoolgirls. Mbu, in reaction to series of such protests said that he would not fold his arms and allow the protest degenerate into lawlessness. Lawlessness??? He claimed that his action is aimed at preventing those who want to perpetrate evil by hiding under the protests from do so, saying that he had information that some people were planning to mingle with the protesters to detonate bomb at the venue of the #BringBackOurGirls sit-out at the Unity Fountain so as to embarrass the government. “The trend,” Mbu said of the protest, “is now posing a serious security threat to those living around and citizens who drive through. As the FCT Police boss, I cannot fold my hands and watch this lawlessness” (Lawlessness???). “Information reaching us is that too soon dangerous elements will join the groups under the guise of protest and detonate explosive aimed at embarrassing the government.” It appears that Mbu has forgotten that Nigeria is in democracy, and operating a constitution that allows people free assembly and movement among others. It is becoming clear that our law enforcement agents are abdicating their constitutional responsibilities in a democratic set up and trying to tailor the society to suit their lazy disposition to enforcing law. Even in a dictatorial system, the police owe it a duty to look beyond the ordinary rumour (which Mbu now engages in) by providing effective security even in the worst of situation, and has no business restricting people from expressing their feelings the way they want to. Of course, the rumour and or hypothetical reasoning by Mbu that some bad elements might hide under the peaceful protests by the bringbackourgirls campaigners begs the issue and portray the police as a bunch of lazy men and women in uniform. Except their is more to the ban than people outside the system don’t know, Mbu is clearly bringing a strange elements into Nigeria’s kind of democracy. He may need to define the meaning of this new system of banning public protests under whatever guise, genuine or self-serving to those whose knowledge of democracy is different. Even though, the police High Command rose to disown Mbu hurriedly a day after (Tuesday), because of the negative international implications on Nigeria, fact remains that the police men and women are treating the constitutional matter with disdain while finding soft spot to sleep, away from their job. ‘Advisory Notice’ to the protesters, as the counter statement from the Force Headquarters’ Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Frank Mba described the new directive did not cancle Mbu’s outright ban of same. The Police would do well to go back to the drawing board on their proper roles in a case such as this. They ought to know that what they are expected to do is, among others, provide guidance, protection to and surveillance to participants at rallies, protests and similar other actions. Or are the police saying that they don’t have the capacity to carry out such simple civil duty?
Beyond the issue of the 200+ missing schools girls in the North-Eastern state of Borno, what is rarely talked about these days is the execution of innocent villagers in those areas bordering Cameroon. With Boko Haram making these raids a daily occurrence, killing 10, 20, 30, 40 or even 50 ordinary people in their places of worship, markets or on the highway, many cannot escape the sense of déjà vu. Human beings have become mere numbers. The Sunday Trust reported that 1,140 Nigerians were killed in May alone, and that thousands of Borno state indigenes are stranded at the boarder as Nigerians make desperate moves to escape into Cameroon. Why is the Nigerian government showing an unwillingness to take ownership or responsibility of what is happening there? What is our government doing to stop the country’s slide into medieval lawlessness? The screaming headline on Saturday May 31st edition of ThisDay sums up the point we are making:” Boko Haram’s relentless killings continue, kills First Class Emir.” Barely 24hours after the killing of the Emir, gunmen in 20 Hilux vehicles and motor-cycles attacked three border villages in Ngala local government area of Borno State, with that, killing 42 people. The day after, some say 18, others say 60 were killed in a bombing incident at another border town Mubi, this time in Adamawa state. As Adewale Kukpoluyi wrote in the Punch edition of March 5, 2014, “Why are they really fighting? Is it the government?… What does Boko Haram really want?” As for the government, which has overall responsibility for security in the federation, you sometimes wonder whether our current rulers have the will and capability to run the state. This daily massacre of innocent citizens, is not greeted by arrests, trials or retribution on the part of the outlaws. No, killings are greeted by empty condemnations released by Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity. Is it the United Nations that will come to defend the lives of citizens in Nigeria? On those occasions leaders of government are forced to give an account of the daily lives that are being lost, Nigerians are told to be thankful that it could have been worse. At a recent event, the President, Dr. Jonathan Goodluck delightfully told his audience to thank God that the nightmare of Sunday-Sunday Church bombings had been overcome( which is commendable). In his 7th “Media Chat” on May 5, the President pushed this point further, saying that a majority of states had been rid of the scourge of terrorism, and that they had been pushed to the North-East corner of the country, restricting them thereby to only three states in the atrocities that they commit. When she spoke at length on the economic and security questions facing the country on May 6, that is in the run-up to the World Economic Forum for Africa, WEFA, the Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala conveyed a same sense in line with the President’s argument. Trying to reassure the anxious and clearly apprehensive global community about the safety of WEFA delegates against the backdrop of the second Nyanya bombings, the on-going slaughter in the North-East as well as the kidnap of those girls, she launched an emotive line of defence by first describing the girls as “our daughters. It’s like my daughter is missing. Every single one of those girls is my daughter.” But the country, she argued must move on as did England in the face of the IRA attacks and went on and on. But the one that really got me sad was the pseudo-intellectual gymnastics by Oscar Nnamdi, the Director-General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange who, in another interview with CNN’s Richard Quest more or less ended up saying that Nigeria was two countries in one, one wracked by violence and the other an investors haven with a stock market offering the world’s best rewards. Inasmuch these things said, either by the President, the Finance Minister and the DG of the Stock Exchange are factually correct, helping to give assurances to many of the WEFA delegates who trooped in in their hundreds and thousands to attend the Summit, such remarks can be interpreted as being cynical and immoral. Perhaps unknowingly, they convey an impression that the region is not important and that he country is ready to move on irrespective of the situation or plight they are contending with. Such questions as are we not human beings? Are we not equal under the constitution? will definitely be agitating minds there. It is good news from Oscar that the aggregate foreign capital inflow into Nigeria continues its growth in spite of the terror campaign by Boko Haram, leading to increases in direct and portfolio investment. But for anyone to say that business and investments were located far away from where the trouble was taking place and that the rest of the country was functioning normally was the kind of drivel dominating discussions at beer parlours. This speech is definitely not smart on the part of any public official. Terrorism as persons more enlightened than myself have said is like the cancer cell. If it is not checked when it affects a part of the body, it affects all others. Given the type of thinking, it is not far-fetched to assume that this is the explanation for the lower government vigil in the crisis areas, a government seeming clearly more inclined or answerable to the more prosperous parts of the country. The sad side effect of this episode is that people in those regions, “that little corner of the country” to which terrorism has been cornered will themselves start asking the question whether their rulers care at all about their suffering. Does being poor and lacking in mineral resources mean that their part of the country can be left to the terrorists to do as they wished? Killing lives every day, pillaging resources and kidnapping their maidens who are forced to convert; forced into marriages and the new, terrifying ordeal of being sold into slavery? This then takes us back to the question: Do they care that it is the North (East)? Terrorism, everyone keeps saying is a global phenomenon. In the case of Nigeria, we know that the North-East is the most vulnerable; the most exposed. It is already proving very hard for the people of the areas affected to live with that. That is why they are emigrating to Cameroon even as they face closed borders. But the government leaders are definitely making it harder for them by implying that all is well with the country so long as you, in the North-East are those left to face the challenge.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said that conventional government universities are weak in discipline and high moral values. “universities owned by religious bodies have discipline and moral education. This is quite weak in terms of conventional universities owned by government. “These universities owned by religious bodies, we have seen high degree of discipline more on the academic staff. “You cannot be in the university here and you talk about sexual harassment; that will not exist here because there will be no space for it.” President who spoke on Tuesday at the ground breaking opening ceremony of the Eagle Heights University in Omadina community in Warri, Delta State, emphasized that since private universities, especially the ones owned by religious bodies also employ non conventional method in their curricula, including moral training, it is certain that there would be little or no irregularities and vices recorded by both the lecturers and students in such environments. The university was established by President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. The President said that his government is quite passionate about universities being built by the private sector investors, especially religious bodies as they uphold high standard of discipline. “Without the private sector coming in to assist, we cannot provide enough spaces for our children. That is why government is quite passionate about universities being built by the private sector, especially religious bodies because one advantage is that Earlier, the Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan had announced that over 150 billion naira has been sunk into road projects from Omadino to Gbaramatu and Escravos, adding that the Niger Delta Development Commission project is on expansion of roads in the area that is now referred to as the educational hub of the country. The governor who thanked President Jonathan for personally undertaking the ground breaking exercise, pledged to continue to partner with the private sector in educational development as the fall out in education is always unimaginable. The CAN President and the general overseer of the Word of Faith Bible Church and initiator of Eagle Heights University project, Ayo Oritsejafor had in his welcome address emphasized that the university is being built on three bold pillars. Oritsejafor listed the bold pillars to include leadership, entrepreneurship development and theology, saying that those pillars differentiate the university from other conventional institutions.
The Nigeria Police High Command has disowned the commissioner of police in the Nigeria’s FCT, Mbu Joseph Mbu who announced the banning of any form of protests by Nigerians over the abduction, by Boko Horom, of female students of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state since April 14. Mbu announced the ban yesterday in Abuja, threatening that there was no going back, describing the protests as lawlessness.
But, in statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, CSP Frank Mba, the High Command said: “the Police High Command wishes to inform the general public that the Force has not issued any order banning peaceful assemblies anywhere in Nigeria.”
The Force PRO said that the command only issued what he called ‘advisory notice, enjoining citizens to apply caution in their rallies, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory and its environs.
The advisory notice has become necessary, he said, against the backdrop of current security challenges in the country, coupled with a recent intelligent report of a likely infiltration and hijack of otherwise innocuous and peaceful protests by some criminals having links with insurgents.
The police spokesman said however that the police high authorities, recognizing the constitutional and democratic rights of Nigerians to peaceful rallies, have called on the organizers of rallies to ensure they seek proper advice and guidance from the police before engaging in such exercise to avoid any unpleasant circumstances.
“The IGP calls on the general public to see the present position of the Force as a necessary sacrifice for the peace our nation needs, as security is a collective responsibility. Consequently, citizens are strongly advised to reconsider their positions on the issues of rallies and protests in FCT until the existing threats are appropriately neutralized and removed from our midst by relevant security agencies. “Meanwhile, the IGP reassures citizens of the commitment of the Force to the protection of lives and property and advancing the course of democracy in Nigeria,” Mba said. [myad]
Coach Stephen Keshi has announced the list of the 23 players to represent the country in the World Cup tournament scheduled to be held in Brazil in this month.
Keshi’s list did not spring any major surprise, but names like AFCON’s hero, Sunday Mba, CHAN”s MVP, Ejike Uzoenyi and Obinna Nsofor, Daniel Akpeyi, Nnamdi Oduamadi,Joel Obi and Nosa Igiebor were missing.
From the team list, only Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile and Osaze Odemwingie have played at the World Cup before, while 18 players will be debutants at the tournament, including midfield’s maestro, John Mikel Obi and goal poacher, Emmanuel Emenike.
Chelsea FC’s youngster, 20-year-old Kenneth Josiah Omeruo will be the youngest representative of the country at the mundial.
There are three goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and ten strikers.
Here is the list of the full Squad:
Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Chigozie Agbim
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has made it clear that he harboured no ill-will, hatred or enmity towards the former President Olusegun Obasanjo under whom he served as number two man, stressing that whatever misunderstanding that existed between them is now all over.
Atiku said in an audience with the leaders of the Northern Youth Leaders Forum who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja today: “I don’t harbour any grudge against my former boss. Yes, we had disagreements (when we were in office). These were mere disagreements. I harbour no hatred or enmity against him or anybody. I never had anything against him and I will never have.”
The group, which had already met the former President in Ota, at which event Obasanjo was also reported to have announced that he had forgiven his former vice president, was led by Comrade Eliot Afiyo.
Atiku made it clear that he has opponents in politics and not enemies, adding: “Politics is not war.”
The former Vice President expressed gratitude to the group for successfully brokering peace between him and Obasanjo, adding that this single effort had marked the leaders of the youth organisation as serious-minded people, who are fully prepared to take over the leadership of the country from the elders.
Speaking on the current security situation in the country, Atiku appealed to the Federal Government to take the challenge more seriously.
“If we can go to other countries to rid them of these kinds of problems, it shows that we have the capacity to put this one down immediately so that the suffering of the people can be reduced.” [myad]
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties has accused Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku of opening his mouth too wide by trying to stoke division along ethnic, religious and political lines in the country.
In a statement today by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the coalition said the minister must be prepared to accept responsibility for any crisis “resulting from his sustained campaign of divisive comments with hate speech.”
Ezugwu demanded that Maku should tender an apology to the nation for his comments, which he said CNPP considered to be against national interest.
According to him, the tempo of national discuss will only increase with the quest to address security challenges and the run up to the general elections, warning that Maku must not drag political parties into the crises presently bedeviling the country since it is now apparent that the country is battling a full-fledged insurgency, with no ethnic, religious or political sympathies in the selection of its targets.
The CNPP Secretary General was reacting to a comment credited to the Minister on a national television, saying that the minister has forgotten the fact that the situation in Nigeria now has gone beyond apportioning of blame or finger pointing.
“What political parties are talking about is the credibility or otherwise of voter registration and it is thus befuddling that such a crucial issue was reduced to ‘ruling versus opposition political parties’. Nigerians, irrespective of their backgrounds are emphatically asking for the release of the school girls abducted by insurgents in addition to judiciously deploying budgeted resources to end the on-going reign of terror.
“It is therefore a disservice for a sitting Minister of Information to constantly try to dismiss these genuine demands as the preserve of some political parties instead of urging the government to which he belong to act on them. It is worrisome that the Minister seems oblivious of the fact that foreign intelligence agencies would attach credence to comments coming from him being the nation’s image maker.
“These unguarded utterances would thus go on to affect how foreign countries make policies about Nigeria including economic and investment decisions. He should have been mindful of this and not label justified demands as having ethnic, religious or political schemes behind them.” [myad]
Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mbu Joseph Mbu has announced a ban on protests within Nigeria’s capital city agitating for the release of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state kidnapped on April 14 by members of the Boko Haram sect even as women made it clear that they would not permit the police to take the shines off the agitations. A press statement issued from the police said that the ban was necessitated by the need to stem danger through series of protests, rallies and demonstrations and counter demonstrations organized by groups and individuals over the abduction. The ban on the rallies followed series of attempt by the Nigerian government to create a fake group of protesters that shifted the blame of the missing girls from the government to the kidnappers, Boko Haram. “Please note that the Police has not banned all protests and rallies in Abuja. No. What was banned is the #BringBackOurGirls protest; and it was banned in order to forestall breakdown of law and order in Abuja.” However, former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, who is one of the leading figures in the campaign said no body would stop them from the course they are fighting for. She accused Mbu of a lack of sympathy for the abducted girls because his daughter was not involved, adding: “if Mbu’s daughter was one of 200 daughters of Nigeria held captive by terrorists and we came out to stand for their cause, would he do this?” Ezekwesili said on her Twitter page: “What Commissioner Mbu should do is reprimand their sponsored thugs who attacked us, women, at our peaceful gathering. “He can. He hired them. When their thugs attacked us while Mbu’s policemen stood aloof, we refused to engage with their gutter conduct. We figured this was their plot. “Predictably, Mbu has proven by his latest ill-advised statement of repression of citizens rights that he and his bosses hired those thugs.” She said that there was no basis for and no power of the CP to ban peaceful assembly of any group of persons in the city, as the #BringBackOurGirls# protesters had always maintained civility in the face of harassment by both the Nigerian Police and hired thugs. “The federal government would do well to send its officials who wish to roll back our Democracy by infringing on Citizens Rights to my #Democracy101 Class. “Our Abuja family of #BringBackOurGirls# diverse women, men and young people standing with our #ChibokGirls shall never abandon them. Never! “No matter how direly they want to take our focus off our #ChibokGirls, we shall not permit them that luxury.”
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Abdulwahed Omar has asked the National Assembly to probe the financial allocations to the military and the utilization of such allocations in the fight against Boko Haram and other sources of insecurity in the country.
In a statement today, Omar also called on President Goodluck Jonathan, as the Commander In Chief of the armed forces, to institute a full scale, transparent, thorough and unbiased investigation into the activities and challenges of Nigeria’s security forces, especially in the North East of the country.
The NLC boss, who was reacting to the murder, at the weekend, of Alhaji Idrisa Timta, the Emir of Gwoza said: “We are disturbed that despite huge resource allocations to security, security remains a serious challenge in Nigeria with the recent ambush and assassination of the Emir of Gwoza, Idrisa Timta who was in company of two other Emirs on their way to Gombe for the funeral rites of their late colleague, the Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Usman Shehu Abubakar who died earlier at a London hospital.”
Omar said that the murder of the Emir has exposed the soft underbelly of the security operations, adding that the entire subject is worrisome in view of the fact that the attacks are increasing even as the Minister of Finance recently announced that N130 billion has been spent on security, especially on the military, which is saddled with the responsibility of confronting the armed insurgency in the North East led by the Boko Haram elements.
“The ease and precision with which these attacks are carried out, despite numerous security check points and the number of security personnel deployed in the zone is worrisome and unjustifiable. If high profile traditional rulers could be attacked so casually just as villages and towns are being razed even in broad daylight, what would be the fate of ordinary citizens?”
He said that it is already a national embarrassment that the school children who were abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State more than six weeks ago are yet to be located and rescued even as multinational interest in the rescue operations increases.
“That these children are yet to be rescued and delivered unharmed to their parents questions the commitment and credibility of those saddled with the search and rescue operation and negatively impacts on our national image,” he said.
Omar expressed confidence that the security agencies can effectively route out the insurgents if well-equipped and motivated, as the same personnel have not only rendered a good account of themselves in foreign operations, but have also played a decisive role in ending conflicts in some countries.
“Although this war is slightly different, we are concerned that these same forces are finding it difficult to confront insurgency back home.
“We believe government and indeed, all Nigerians must take interest in what could be the obstacles to our collective resolve and commitment to the war on terror that has all but brought socio-economic activities in parts of the country to a halt.”
The NLC boss expressed the Congress’s deep condolences to the family of the Emir of Gwoza and thousands of other families including the families of those security operatives who are bereaved as a result of the costly war. [myad]
After 15 years of uninterrupted democracy, it is important to write this special open letter on how to rescue our nation from the hands of clueless leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party which if it is not checked, may lead to the collapse of this country in line with the predictions by United States of America, and other prophets of doom. The fact remains that Nigeria is currently at the cross road, confused and not knowing what tomorrow portends. This has been occasioned by the visionless and misguided leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre. Today, we have a government that cannot protect or guarantee our security as contained in our constitution. According to Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka: “This is a government which is not only in denial mentality, but in denial about certain obvious steps to take… It’s one of those rather child-like situations that if you shut your eyes, if you don’t exhibit the tactile evidence of the missing humanity here, that somehow the problem will go away.”
It is a government that has succeeded in making a mockery of us before the international community and African leaders, which major achievements is the transformation of Nigeria into darkness and digitalizing corruption to such a level where a whopping sum of $10 million can be said to have been unaccounted for. It is a government in which a minister spends a whopping sum of $10 million on hiring of planes for movements, both private and official, while Nigerians are wallowing in poverty. It is based on this unacceptable state and the fear of the future of our country that makes this letter imperative.
Apart from the above, I was motivated to alert the leadership of APC through this medium as I may not be privileged to attend the caucus or NEC meeting, where crucial issues affecting the future of the party shall be tabled and discussed. Besides, as a stakeholder in the project Nigeria and having played a great role as National Publicity Secretary of the nPDP, a major component of the present APC, I am stimulated not only by my patriotic consideration but encouraged by John F. Kennedy, one of the greatest presidents of America, who said: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
No doubt, in this crucial time of our history, PDP has messed up our country. The party has deviated from the democratic path it was founded on and has become a mockery of democratic principles. If some patriotic Nigerians do not rally around to ease out this party come 2015, then it will be an understatement to say that Nigeria is doomed and has no future under PDP after 2015. But God forbid!
I am also aware that it was because of the visionless leadership of PDP that brought up the amalgamation of other opposition political parties to form what is today known as the All Progressives Congress. As I commend and congratulate all the people and forces behind the formation of this great party, let me state that if Nigeria is not rescued from the maladministration of PDP come 2015, to some of us, all the efforts in forming APC would have become an exercise in futility.
For leading Nigeria to its present comatose state, one cannot be far from the truth if one says that President Goodluck Jonathan is a colossal failure in terms of his leadership of our nation. This view is shared by many Nigerians and some key actors of world politics. For example, Dr Peregrino Brimah, after the Jos bombings of Tuesday, May 20, 2014 which claimed more than 200 lives, according to latest counts, have pushed Nigeria to formally occupy the first position in the ranking of nations with the worst governments in history.
He went further to present other criteria which recently moved Nigeria up the list as follows: A recent World Bank report listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world. A report from the World Bank in April listed Nigeria among the five poorest countries in the world, with the largest number of people said to live on less than $1.25 a day. Others are India, China, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Jonathan instead of addressing the issue on poverty as raised, casually dismissed the report by saying: Nigeria is not a poor country. The rebasing of Nigeria’s economy, setting Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, while revealing the true economic position of Africa’s largest nation, simultaneously re-certified Nigeria as the nation in the top position for worst leadership in social welfare and opportunities for the people.
With 70 per cent of the nation living under a-dollar-a-day, economically factored, Nigeria has the poorest people of any nation in the world today. With the rebased economy rating, Nigeria has the most unparalleled HDI (Human Development Index) to revenue and economy ratio of all nations. Poorest people in the Nigeria case, is derived from or correlates with poorest leadership.
Is it not surprising that Nigeria, at the end of 2013, surpassed Mexico in kidnapping, recording the cruelest and second highest single abduction events in recent history? By the end of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, Nigeria surpassed Syria, Libya, Iraq and Central African Republic (CAR) in deadly acts of terrorism and sectarian violence. The Nyanya bombing was ranked the fifth worst bombing of its kind in world history, post 1970, by the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI). The Jos bombing, with over 200 reported dead in one attack, is second only to 9/11 and the disputed Syria chemical weapons attack.
In combined values, with about 80,000 people killed in four years of largely unchecked Boko Haram violence, and with over 4,000 killed in the first quarter of 2014 alone, Nigeria has fast outpaced other nations of the world in deadly terror. Nigeria’s leadership in December of 2013 secured the world’s top position in insecurity and failure to protect life and discourage terror. Current rankings put Nigeria’s leadership second only to Hitler, after surpassing Saddam Hussein, in the current century, in terms of deliberate internal wastage of life.
With Nigeria’s leadership admitting that they could not account for up to or more than $20 billion oil revenue earnings discovered missing in a single 18-month period examined; the nation’s finance minister admitting this to BBC and the official government engagement of Price Waterhouse, an international accounting firm, which further confirmed this financial mishap, Nigeria secured its position as the most haplessly and very unserious nation.
According to Mrs. Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, in separate events in New York City, she said the Nigerian government under President Goodluck Jonathan squandered its oil resources, and indirectly helps corruption to fester in the troubled country.
Her words: “They have squandered their oil wealth; they have allowed corruption to fester, and now they are losing control of parts of their (own) territory because they would not make hard choices.”
The former U.S. Secretary of State at the function organised by the International Crisis Group also emphasized that: “The Nigerian government has failed to confront the threat, or to address the underlying challenges. Most of all, the government of Nigeria needs to get serious about protecting all of its citizens, and ensuring that every child has the right and opportunity to go to school.”
And to Sarah Saawall, US Under Secretary of State, “Corruption prevents supplies as basic as bullets and transport vehicles from reaching the front lines of the struggle against Boko Haram.”
A new report on global life expectancy by the World Health Organisation has rated Nigeria low in its report titled: “World Health Statistics 2014” and published few days ago. Life expectancy for both men and women is less than 55 years in nine sub-Saharan African countries namely: Nigeria, Angola, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Sierra Leone.
The yearly report is the definitive source of information on the health of the world’s people. It contains data from 194 countries on a range of mortality, disease and health system indicators, including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from key diseases, health services and treatments, financial investment in health, as well as risk factors and behaviours that affect health.
General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria former President in his assessment of Jonathan’s performance in office posited: “I don’t believe he has performed to the expectations of many Nigerians, not just me.”
While US Senator John McCain in his view feels that we don’t even have a government in the right sense, adding; “We shouldn’t have waited for a practically non-existent government to give us the go ahead before mounting a humanitarian effort to rescue those girls.
“Mr. Jonathan, who leads a corrupt government that has little credibility, initially played down the group’s threat and claimed security forces were in control. It wasn’t until Sunday, more than two weeks after the kidnappings, that he called a meeting of government officials” – New York Times. The Economist, writing under the Editorial ‘A Clueless Government described the PDP Government in Nigeria, ‘perhaps the worst aspect of the Nigerian Government’s handling of the abduction is its seeming indifference to the plight of the girls’ families. It took more than two weeks before Mr. Jonathan addressed the matter in public. His government’s sluggish response and its failure even to clarify how many girls had been abducted provoked protests in several cities across Nigeria – itself an usual event We should be asking ourselves: Is this the type of PDP that Nigerians voted for during the general elections of 2011? Of course, not! Nigeria is certainly more divided under this administration than ever and only divine intervention can enable us survive the visionless and clueless leadership that now pervades our nation. These are some of the reasons why the leadership of APC should move fast to rescue our nation from the sordid state it is at the moment. I am so saddened over the mess President Jonathan has made of our country, because I could recall warning Nigerians that Jonathan was not prepared for the office he was being pushed to occupy, after messing up the zoning formula of PDP entrenched for the sanctity and peace of the nation. But nobody took me serious. I am warning again, that if PDP under President Jonathan is not stopped by 2015, Chief Uzor Kalu would have become a true prophet. After all, he once said: “Jonathan might be the last Nigerian President. Jonathan might be the Gorbachev of Nigeria. And that is the truth, so we better wake up. Political class, business class, military, civilians must now stand up to work for our internal security.
We are suffering from pains of our people; we are suffering from pains of the Nigerian system. This is not about which part of the country you come from, it is about Nigeria.”Chief Tom Ikimi, one of the major pillars of the party, in his open letter to the national chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande titled, “My fears for APC, by Ikimi” of May 9, 2014 expresses the fears of some key actors of the party.
He wrote: “I have taken a few days rest, but my intention of proceeding to an extended holiday seem to be disturbed by the overwhelming unfavourable reports I have received from across the country on the present status of our party. I have spoken to party members and leaders across the country and the feeling is unanimous regarding the downward trend of things. The latest problems arise from the congresses where in the South-South region; there are fundamental problems in Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Edo. I have been informed of similar problems in most other states across the country. Parallel excos have emerged in Ogun State! “I am compelled to express strong reservations on the present state of affairs in our party, and my heart bleeds when I look back at the efforts and personal sacrifice many of us made to bring this national platform to fruition.”I believe some of the issues raised by Chief Ikimi in his letter should be addressed as we should not be seen repeating some of the evils that scared us away from PDP.if we still have audacious strategists in the party, I will suggest that we in APC should heed to the wise counsel of elder statesman Alh. Balarabe Musa, who had earlier advised that “the North should forget the ambition of insisting on the presidency in 2015, rather a credible President for the country should be allowed to emerge from the South-South in 2015 to replace Jonathan.”
I fully persuade our leaders to carefully study this proposal from Musa and make the contest for the APC Presidential ticket an open one that anybody from any section of the country can bid to take. If we make the presidential primary free, fair and transparent, whoever emerges no matter where he or she is from should be allowed to go with the full support of the entire party. This is the only way I believe we can achieve the APC’s aim of rescuing Nigeria from the evil grip of the PDP before this great nation is ran aground. The most important thing that should be at the back of every progressive Nigerian’s mind is how to free Nigerians from the shame that PDP has brought to us all. And, if we miss this opportunity, only God will determine the fate of our nation. In this regard, let us be guided by the foremost African, Nelson Mandela’s words: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
And the counsel of management philosopher, Peter Drucker: “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”
This is if truly we want to bail this country from the mess of PDP. Knowing that some people will start to ask questions on my pedigree in penning down this letter, let me state that apart from the facts enumerated above of the need of this letter, my past acts in the struggle for a better and greater Nigeria position me for this letter. I was the national director of the dreaded Turaki Vanguard that fought to stand still the infamous third term agenda and some anti-democratic elements during the second term tenure of President Obasanjo.
I was in charge of the public relations unit of the outfit. Apart from being the immediate past national publicity secretary of “new Peoples Democratic Party” (nPDP), I initiated and headed the Igbo Crusaders Political Outfit and South-East-South-South Amalgamated Political Movement (SESSAM), which I used to promote and propagate the ideals and visions of the founding fathers of PDP in the North-East of Nigeria, though sadly the party has been hijacked by elements that never knew the ideals and principles why PDP was formed in the first place.
With this clarification, the point that I have been in the centre of the struggle for a better Nigeria is not in doubt, prompting this letter. So it will be sad should anybody dare suggest that I was either influenced or motivated in writing this letter for any other consideration, if not for patriotic reasons.
The fact remains that should APC loose out in the 2015 general election, but God forbid, the true colour of President Goodluck Jonathan will be revealed to Nigerians and none of us may survive the heat. The ball is now in your court to do that which is necessary to rescue Nigeria from the imminent doom that awaits her, should we fail in this mission. Let me, therefore, conclude this letter by asking you all to listen to what the most outstanding African, both dead and living, Nelson Mandela, said about our present predicament: “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Regards and remain blessed.
•Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze was the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New PDP. 0803819916. [myad]
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President Goodluck Jonathan has said that conventional government universities are weak in discipline and high moral values. “universities owned by religious bodies have discipline and moral education. This is quite weak in terms of conventional universities owned by government.
Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mbu Joseph Mbu has announced a ban on protests within Nigeria’s capital city agitating for the release of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state kidnapped on April 14 by members of the Boko Haram sect even as women made it clear that they would not permit the police to take the shines off the agitations.
Illitrate FCT Police Commissioner And The Nigeria Police By Firdausi Ahuoyiza
Mbu Joseph Mbu, if you haven’t heard about him, is a police officer and Rivers state police commissioner who had serious running battle with Amaechi, the civilian governor of the state. So much was the battle that Mbu was seen as running a parallel government in police uniform, taking instruction only from ‘Abuja’ as Amaechi was running his own government in civilian cap. Though unform and civilian normally should operate at different levels, Mbu was doing more politicking than Amaechi then.
And before one could say ‘Rivers,’ Mbu found himself transferred to Abuja, the centre of political scheming. Perhaps, his boss or bosses had seen in him the ability to create controversies, navigate in them and damn the consequences.
The first controversial official pronouncement he made since arriving in the federal capital was the declaration on Monday, of a ban on public protests in the federal capital territory against the abduction by Boko Haram, of 276 female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state. By such declaration, Mbu has simply made it known that he is back at his crudity, either by his own calculation or as a proxy.
His ban on protests is a byproduct of the movement by the #BringBackOurGirls# led by Hadiza Bala Usman and a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili.
In the last 44 days, they have pressed home the call on government to ensure safe and quick return of the Chibok schoolgirls.
Mbu, in reaction to series of such protests said that he would not fold his arms and allow the protest degenerate into lawlessness. Lawlessness???
He claimed that his action is aimed at preventing those who want to perpetrate evil by hiding under the protests from do so, saying that he had information that some people were planning to mingle with the protesters to detonate bomb at the venue of the #BringBackOurGirls sit-out at the Unity Fountain so as to embarrass the government.
“The trend,” Mbu said of the protest, “is now posing a serious security threat to those living around and citizens who drive through. As the FCT Police boss, I cannot fold my hands and watch this lawlessness” (Lawlessness???).
“Information reaching us is that too soon dangerous elements will join the groups under the guise of protest and detonate explosive aimed at embarrassing the government.”
It appears that Mbu has forgotten that Nigeria is in democracy, and operating a constitution that allows people free assembly and movement among others.
It is becoming clear that our law enforcement agents are abdicating their constitutional responsibilities in a democratic set up and trying to tailor the society to suit their lazy disposition to enforcing law.
Even in a dictatorial system, the police owe it a duty to look beyond the ordinary rumour (which Mbu now engages in) by providing effective security even in the worst of situation, and has no business restricting people from expressing their feelings the way they want to.
Of course, the rumour and or hypothetical reasoning by Mbu that some bad elements might hide under the peaceful protests by the bringbackourgirls campaigners begs the issue and portray the police as a bunch of lazy men and women in uniform.
Except their is more to the ban than people outside the system don’t know, Mbu is clearly bringing a strange elements into Nigeria’s kind of democracy.
He may need to define the meaning of this new system of banning public protests under whatever guise, genuine or self-serving to those whose knowledge of democracy is different.
Even though, the police High Command rose to disown Mbu hurriedly a day after (Tuesday), because of the negative international implications on Nigeria, fact remains that the police men and women are treating the constitutional matter with disdain while finding soft spot to sleep, away from their job.
‘Advisory Notice’ to the protesters, as the counter statement from the Force Headquarters’ Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Frank Mba described the new directive did not cancle Mbu’s outright ban of same.
The Police would do well to go back to the drawing board on their proper roles in a case such as this. They ought to know that what they are expected to do is, among others, provide guidance, protection to and surveillance to participants at rallies, protests and similar other actions.
Or are the police saying that they don’t have the capacity to carry out such simple civil duty?
[myad]