Asaba Massacres Committed By Nigerian Troops, Not Biafran Troops - Anioma Group

Press Release

The attention of the Proudly Anioma-Proudly Igbo Group of Nigeria, a friendship/family group of Anioma people and their eastern Igbo kith and kin has been drawn to a “Press Release” written by some deluded individuals claiming to speak on behalf of the entire Anioma people. To begin with, it is important to note that the said group “Ndi-Anioma” as they call themselves is not the umbrella body of the Anioma people at home and in the Diaspora. This responsibility lies with the Izu-Anioma organization head by Brig. Gen Alabi Isama (rtd), the Ajieh-Osa, Anagba and Ochiagha of Utagba land.

In the charter of Izu-Anioma, the Anioma people were not defined as an “ethnic group” but rather an umbrella body covering the people identified in the course of Nigerian nationhood as West-Niger Igbos, Western Igbos, then Midwest Igbos , Bendel Igbos and now its often called Delta Igbos. Anioma is a political identity covering the entire area and was coined by the venerable Chief Dennis Osadebay in the late 1970s. It is important as well to note that our leader, Gen. Isama has stated in several fora and without any bit of contradiction that Anioma people are Igbos.

We of the Proudly Anioma-Proudly Igbo organization concur with his assertions. Therefore any claim, a self-seeking one for that matter by a group of political wannabes parading themselves as “the umbrella body of Anioma people” should not be taken by the general public seriously. Their rant is not worth a pinch of salt. We are aware that those parading themselves as “umbrella body of all Anioma people” have their loyalties tied to a particular political party in Nigeria. With such interests, their unfounded claims should not be taken by the public seriously.

As stated by one of our leaders Col Achuzie, the Ikemba of Asaba, we believe that the issues leading to the end of Biafran war and the pacification which followed thereafter has not assuaged a good percentage of the Igbo people of Nigeria that they have been fully integrated in the country. Many of them still feel they have been treated as second-class citizens and there are empirical evidences to suggest that some of these claims have some taints of truth and reality in it. Among some of the issues include the slicing off of some Igbo communities out of core Igbo states and merger to other states. We can give examples:

1.      The area of Ndoki south covering the present Oyigbo (originally Obigbo) transferred from the old Aba division and lumped to Rivers State in 1976. Also, in the 1980s, three Ndoki villages namely Ohaobu, Mkpukpuaja and Ogbuagu villages carved from the then Imo State and lumped to Etim-Ekpo LGA of Akwa Ibom State. It is noteworthy to state that Oyigbo LGA apart from Oloibiri was the first place in Nigeria to produce oil and gas in commercial quantities (at Afam). Unlike Oloibiri which has dried-up since the 1980s, Afam and other Oyigbo oil-fields keep yielding vast quantities of petroleum.

2

*Achuzia 

   2. Egbema communities now in Rivers State. Egbema has 16 villages and out of these 16 villages , 3 namely Mgbede, Aggah and Okwuzi has the largest reserves of oil and gas in the community. This is apparently the reason they were lumped to Rivers while the other 13 villages were left in Imo State where they had to contend with more modest reserves of the commodity.

We Didn't Kill Pro-Biafran Activists - Police

PRESS RELEASE 

The attention of the Nigeria Police Force High Command has been drawn to several false posts on Facebook and other social media, accusing Police of shooting, maiming and even killing members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who have taken their protests to streets, markets and other public places in some eastern states of Nigeria, infringing on the rights and freedom of innocent citizens who were ordinarily going about their lawful businesses.

Despite provocation, the Police have maintained and managed the situation with high sense of responsibility and professionalism.

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Solomon E. Arase, fdc, NPM wishes to state that, the Nigeria Police Force is conscious of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association amongst others as enshrined in Chapter Four of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), and cannot afford to maim or kill citizens exercising these rights.

Noting that the Nigeria Police are duty-bound to enforce these rights, the IGP charged Police officers in State Commands to ensure that citizens embarking on rallies and other peaceful demonstrations are provided adequate security in line with the standard operational practice of the Force.

The Inspector-General of Police therefore called on all law abiding citizens to disregard the allegations by these groups, describing their allegations as false and calculated attempt to attract undue attention and sympathy. Even though the Nigeria Police Force appreciates the freedom and rights of citizens under the Constitution, the groups are strongly advised to respect the rights and freedom of others while exercising theirs.

The IGP, while calling on leadership of Ohanaeze to wade into these superfluous protests, to save the law-abiding and innocent citizens in the affected states from the hardship being melted out by the groups, reminded those embarking on violent protests/assemblies that such actions are criminalised by law, and anybody arrested will be treated as such under the appropriate legislations.

Ag. ACP Olabisi Kolawole

Force Public Relations Officer,

Force Headquarters,

Abuja.

Nigeria: Growing Impunity, Abuse Of Power, Violation Of Human Rights And Manipulation Of The Judiciary – PDP

Communiqué Issued At The End Of One-Day PDP National Conference Held at ThisDay Dome, Abuja On Thursday, November 12, 2015 

In keeping with Article 33 (5, 8) of the constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Working Committee (NWC), acting on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC) formally authorized the convening of a Special National Party Conference.

The Conference was held at the ThisDay Dome, Abuja on Thursday, 12th of November, 2015.

The Conference was attended by Party leaders and key stakeholders including, founding members of the Party, serving and former elected and appointed officers on the platform of the party at all levels as well as youth and women leaders across the country.

The objectives of the Conference include:
1. To take stock of the party’s performance at the 2015 Presidential and general elections.
2. To reflect on the future of the party with a view to providing better options for the Nigerian electorate.

The theme of the Conference was “PDP and the Sustenance of Democratic Ideals In Nigeria”

Key resource persons at the Conference include: 
1. Prof. ABC Nwosu
2. Amb. Mrs. Nkoyo Toyo
3. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki. SAN
4. Prof. Dakas J Dakas

OBSERVATIONS: 
The Conference observed as follows:
Whereas the PDP was established to:
1. Restore democracy and rule of law in Nigeria and usher in the Third Republic
2. Reaffirm that federalism bequeathed to us by the founding fathers of the country remains the only acceptable form of government in Nigeria.
3. Accelerate National development, protect the basic freedoms and fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens,

The Conference noted the selfless contributions of the Party in the struggle to enthrone democratic governance as well as strengthening the framework for sustainable democracy in the last 16 years.

It's So Dangerous To Be A Black American!

By Kyle Lydell Canty

Black people or people of African descent living in the United States should consider seeking asylum in other countries. That’s what I did. On 24 September, I applied for asylum in Canada. We were brought to America as slaves, and the country hasn’t changed its ways at all since then.

Throughout my life, police departments have harassed me and made me fear for my life – this is something many other people of color will have experienced too. 

If you’re black in the US you will always have to go through persecution and discrimination at some point in your life. Black Americans are killed in large numbers by the police, regularly denied the same education and access to housing as white Americans and face hurdles when trying to vote. All these forms of discrimination are racist – yet they continue nonetheless.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE 

I Was Raped 43,200 Times – Human Trafficking Survivor

*Karla Jacinto

By her own estimate, 43,200 is the number of times she was raped after falling into the hands of human traffickers.

She says up to 30 men a day, seven days a week, for the best part of four years -- 43,200.

Her story highlights the brutal realities of human trafficking in Mexico and the United States, an underworld that has destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of Mexican girls like Karla.

Human trafficking has become a trade so lucrative and prevalent, that it knows no borders and links towns in central Mexico with cities like Atlanta and New York.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE REPORT AND WATCH THE VIDEO

Buhari Govt Dramatizing Routine Procedures And Processes – PDP

Press Statement

...The campaigns are over. Nigerians therefore will no longer condone propaganda, lies and deceit but expect a responsible dissemination based on truth, honesty and openness”

*President Buhari and two of his ministers sworn in today 

The Peoples Democratic Party has charged the in-coming cabinet of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to quickly settle down, move fast and focus on the economy.

The party said that the present administration has so far played heavily on dramatizing routine procedures and processes, which was even glaring in the prolonged swearing-in ceremony of the ministers.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh said in statement on Wednesday that the much-expected assignment of portfolios to the ministers did not inspire confidence that there is indeed any change being introduced in the system.

The party said with the inauguration, the APC administration should fully resolve the issues on the actual position of the nation’s economy and the direction therein

“Whereas President Muhammadu Buhari had announced that the nation is bankrupt to the extent he cannot pay his ministers, his new Minister of Information had contradicted him directly by stating how the government is buoyant and ready to deploy $2.5 billion infrastructure fund, saved N1.4 trillion with another N2.5 trillion ready as special intervention fund, which goes to say that the country is not actually broke.

“These new ministers should note the challenge before them regarding the image of the country which the APC government has changed from being the ‘Heart of Africa’ and a country of ‘Good people, Great nation’ to that of ‘Corrupt people, Broke nation’.

“Furthermore, we counsel the ministers, especially those who will be the face of the government, to note that the campaigns are over. Nigerians therefore will no longer condone propaganda, lies and deceit but expect a responsible dissemination based on truth, honesty and openness”.

Signed:

Chief Olisa Metuh 

National Publicity Secretary

November 11, 2015

Count Me Out Of 2019 Presidential Contest - Babangida

Excerpts from a press statement issued on Tuesday, November 10, 2015, by former military head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida 

I have heard whispers from different political arenas that one of the rationales for the rebranding of PDP was to prepare me for future elections in 2019. How ridiculous! God’s willing; by 2019 I will be 78 years old. If I called it quits in 2011, why would PDP contemplate fielding a 78 years old man in a presidential election in a country that parades very vibrant men and women of lesser age?

I have no intention whatsoever to run for any office again in Nigeria. I will consistently pray to Almighty Allah to grant me good health and sound mind to watch my dearest beloved country grow from strength to strength during my lifetime and beyond…

I wish to make some clarifications concerning the invitation extended to me on the scheduled PDP Rebranding Conference slated for Thursday, 12 November, 2015, aimed at repositioning the party after its poor outing at the last elections. While I welcome the invitation to the event as a mark of respect as one of the founding fathers, I want to be excused on the grounds that I have long bid bye to partisan politics.

Four years ago at an elaborate event at the Transcorp Hilton Hotels Abuja, I announced my retirement from partisan politics after my failed attempt to contest for President and having attained the gracious age of 70, in a society where life expectancy stands at a ridiculous 47 years. In appreciating what Allah has done for me in life, seeing me through many challenges, stabilizing me during periods of tribulations, and safeguarding me through the thick and thin of political risks, I did state at that event that Journalists would not push me around again.

The President of Northern Nigeria?

By Abiodun Ladepo

Hurray! It is September and Nigerians from the South can now expect to be called upon to serve their country as members of President Buhari’s cabinet. No, they are not going to be the National Security Adviser. They are not going to be Accountant-General of the Federation. They are not going to head DSS, EFCC or INEC. They are not going to head the Nigerian Ports Authority or the Nigerian Maritime Administration, Safety and Security Agency (NIMASA). They are not going to head Customs or Immigrations.

Listen; there is quite a long list of serious positions they are not going to have because those positions have gone to the North. In the infinite wisdom of President Muhammadu Buhari, after having searched the length and breadth of Nigeria looking for competent people who are also not tainted by the stain of corruption, these positions will only go to the North where there is an abundance of incorruptible and competent Nigerians.

Nigeria: Listen Up Mr. President…

Michael Oluwagbemi II

It is almost six months, half a year, since your administration assumed the mantle of office and we’ve waited in bated breath for change that we were promised, and have watched as change have died deaths by many strokes of accommodations.

*Buhari 

 First we got platitudes of how bad it was and how short a period you had to understand your new job (discounting the fact that you badly wanted it for twelve years, and held the same job before); then we got feedback that you were looking for angels or that your body language did the magic that woke moribund refineries, convinced crazed kleptomaniacs to return looted funds and perhaps even rejuvenated national industries! Then it was the ministerial wait. But alas, the latest pronouncement from you that we’re broke is becoming quite to say the least unbecoming.

Sir, as an undying Buharist even before it became fashionable (and I still think you’re miles better than the incompetent and clueless ruler that we jettisoned for your person by miles), we expect and still expect better from a General, a strategist and above all- a leader.

Leadership is first and foremost an inspiration game. You cannot go to the three and half moribund refineries to engineer them back to life; your honorable person cannot possibly get fitted into yellow suits as one thief of yore did and inspect or facilitate the completion of Lagos-Ibadan, Benin-Ore, Coastal Roads or the realization of high speed rail connecting Lagos to Ibadan & Abuja, Second Niger Bridge or Fourth Mainland Bridge. What your Excellency can do is to inspire Nigerians to rise above the current morass of mono-economy, develop an attitude of revolutionaries and kick poverty in the butt!

Taraba: PDP Is Paying The Price Of Impunity - APC

Press Statement

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said Saturday's judgement of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal is the clearest indication yet that the PDP has started harvesting what it sowed in its years of impunity and recklessness, hence it should blame itself for whatever tragedy has now befallen it...

*Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the PDP has always been a party of anything goes, hence it is a matter of time for the party to come to grief, first by tumbling from the pinnacle of power and now by losing, incrementally, whatever remains of its crumbled empire.

It said the PDP was only trifling by attributing the judgement to a supposed manipulation from the Presidency.

''President Muhammadu Buhari as well as his party, the APC, are strong believers in the rule of law, as against the rule of impunity, hence will never manipulate the judiciary for whatever reason.

''The PDP is clearly aware of this, but has chosen to blame everyone but itself for the fate that has befallen it. The PDP should have known that it will pay for its years of impunity and recklessness. For this party, the chicken has now come home to roost,'' APC said.

Taraba: Another Evidence Of Executive Interference In The Judiciary

Press Statement

Taraba; Conclusive Evidence Of Judicial Double Standard Against The PDP

Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Saturday’s judgment of the Taraba state gubernatorial election tribunal in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan is another evidence of executive interference in the judiciary.

The party said the reason given by the tribunal for arriving at the bizarre decision is intriguing and further exposes the contradictions and double standards inherent in most tribunal rulings against PDP interests recently.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said in a statement on Saturday that the Taraba state tribunal ruling again brings to the fore the organized plan by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC Federal Government to deploy all unorthodox means to decimate the opposition.

“It is rather curious and a great conflict of irony that the Taraba tribunal sitting in Abuja on security grounds faulted the conduct of PDP primaries shifted to the same Abuja on security reasons”, the party stressed.

Biafra: Buhari And APC Should Be Held Accountable For The Escalation Of Agitations - PDP

Press Statement 
Biafria: PDP Cautions Buhari, APC Of The Danger Ahead…Seeks Immediate Dialogue With S/East Representatives and Leaders

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it is deeply concerned about the unfolding political events and developments in the South East and South South of Nigeria.

The PDP also stated that it is not comfortable with the methods being applied by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government in handling of restive youths in the South South and South East geo-political zones, who are agitating under the Biafra movement, and urged the President to personally intervene as the matter affects the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

The party said it is concerned that the Federal Government and its agencies have failed to approach the situation with the inclusiveness and seriousness it deserves, but have instead been resorting to the use of security forces.

PDP National Youth Leader, Hon. Abdullahi MaiBasira said in a statement on Saturday that President Buhari and his party should be held to account for the escalation of the agitation, which threatens the unity and national security interests of Nigeria as an indivisible entity.

The PDP also urged the ruling party to ensure and guarantee an inclusive administration that will promote harmony among all sections of the country.

The party further notes the seemingly lack of any clear-cut policy direction that concerns the development, mainstreaming and inclusion of young people in the country by the Federal Government, a worrisome issue that brings to question APC’s campaign promise to generate and give 3 million jobs annually to Nigerian Youths.

Nigeria: APC Rode On Monumental Lies To Power

Press Statement 

N5,000 Stipend: APC Senators Acting Party Script’ – PDP……Says APC’s Hidden Ideology Is Lying

Metuh, PDP's spokesman 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says Wednesday’s rejection by APC senators of the N5,000 monthly stipend, which they promised Nigerians during the electioneering, underscores the monumental hypocrisy of their party in getting to power by means of deceit and false promises to Nigerians.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh in a statement on Thursday said that the development is a clear confirmation of the fact that the APC is a party of hypocrites, who never had the intentions of honouring any of their campaign promises.

“The PDP declares that it is absolutely obvious to all that the APC came to power riding on monumental lies and deceit in making promises they had no intentions to keep. All they wanted was to get into power and they achieved this with their lying tongues.

“Indeed, the unanimity displayed by the APC senators in rejecting the promised N5, 000 monthly welfare package, especially coming after their party and the Presidency had made futile efforts to distance themselves from it, further stresses the duplicitous spirit of the APC and its reprehensible insensitivity to the feelings and aspirations of Nigerians, especially the unsuspecting youths, women and the indigent, who they shamelessly swindled with false promises.

Is APC Ready for Leadership?

By Olusegun Adeniyi

To be sure, we are all aware that there was no way President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) would have been able to wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) without poaching from members of the then ruling party. But now that the APC is in government at the centre, it is not too much to expect that the party would begin to forge its own distinct identity. From the way things stand, however, no such thing is going on. If anything, the PDP is gradually but steadily imposing itself on the polity, essentially because nature abhors a vacuum. There is nowhere that has become more apparent than in the National Assembly.

In most democracies across the world (whether parliamentary or presidential) once a political party becomes the majority in the legislature (even if by just a single vote), its members would assume the chairmanship of standing committees. The essence of that is not only to compensate for victory but indeed to also push the agenda of the new ruling party. But in Nigeria, legislative committees are seen as booties to be shared by the presiding officers with the “more juicy” ones reserved for friends and allies regardless of their competences or lack thereof. It is within that context that one can understand the recent composition of the standing committees in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

*Buhari and Saraki

It must be pointed out that the “political hybrid” in the National Assembly did not start with this administration since minority parties have always been given some committees to chair. But it has never been this pronounced though I will blame it on the way the new ruling party mishandled both the election of presiding officers and its eventual fall-outs. In the present circumstance, since APC members are not united by any shared ideals, it is easy to see why, in the House of Representatives, virtually all the committees that are important for reforms of certain areas of our national life have been handed to the opposition PDP members by the Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, who is evidently more interested in shoring up his support base, in the absence of any coherent policy direction by his party.

Mr. President, Nigeria Is Broke, So What Are You Going To Do About It?

By Desmond Afolayan

The Presidency in its rejoinder to a recent statement by the PDP upbraided its spokesman Mr. Olisa Metuh for “unjustly denigrating the President who continues to strive with all his might to alleviate and reverse the harm done to the nation by PDP misrule and corruption.”

*President Buhari

The Presidency further made several diversionary ad hominem attacks on the person of Mr. Metuh and the PDP, failing to address a very serious issue raised by the main opposition party in the country. The Presidency needs to be reminded that in a healthy multi-party democracy, the opposition party takes on a crucial role of holding the ruling party and the current administration to account for every action or inaction that can hurt the country, and ultimately help to articulate the frustrations of those who bear the brunt of bad governance. The PDP, warts and all, has a role to play in our democratisation journey, while the Buhari administration as the legitimate bearers of the mandate of the Nigerian people also have their role to play.

In this case, the PDP has chosen the very apt concept of De-Marketing to pass across a message. A dispassionate consideration leads any true patriot to agree that it does appear the President’s media handlers truly have a challenge in helping their principal play his role as the Chief Marketing Officer of Nigeria effectively, inadvertently de-marketing Nigeria instead. The global economic space is a very hostile environment not given to sentiments, where visionary governments take every opportunity to sell their countries’ competitive advantage while downplaying the challenges and unsavoury aspects about them.

President Buhari needs to be advised to rest his vapid rhetoric about all of Nigeria’s woes being caused by his predecessor and the PDP – Nigerians and the rest of the world know that already. He needs to be guided on how to sell Nigeria; he needs to tell us what we don’t know. He should restrict discussions about our flaws to his strategy sessions with his team back home. When he is in the field as a marketer with definite performance targets, he is to convincingly sell Nigeria by highlighting our strengths that make us such a viable country to invest in.

Buhari: Time Hit The Ground Running!

By Idris Usman

It is high time President Muhammadu Buhari hit the ground running. It is now five months since he was sworn in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and this is enough time for any leader to make a clear policy statement and demonstrate to the citizens the mission and direction of his government.

But it appears it will take President Buhari four years to finish his ‘Songs of Lamentation.’ By which time, his tenure will have ended, and Nigerians, the worse for it. He is gradually perfecting the art of lamenting about the state of the economy and also painting a picture of hopelessness before Nigerians. He is the leader, hence, he should find solutions to Nigeria’s problems; at least, that is why Nigerians voted him into power.

Change is not about finding new things to complain about, but rather turning things around by bringing fresh ideas on how to revamp the economy and not sticking to archaic ideas mostly tied to crude oil sales and allowing the international crude oil buyers determine the fate of an average Nigerian. Mr. President should know that the Nigeria of today is not the Nigeria of yesterday, as the world has evolved and moved on, and Nigeria can’t be an exception.

Mr. President has to come up with new innovations. Leadership is not about complaining frequently that things are not working, leadership is more of giving the people hope that a nation of their dream is possible and realisable. He needs to consistent both in speech and in deed. Mr. President should bear in mind that Nigerians did not vote him to give excuses, but to bring about change and give positive results.

It’s about time the President and his team began to think outside the box with a view to proffering solutions and not continually lament about the issues on ground. Nigerians are aware of the challenges facing the nation, but what they want to hear from the President is what can be done to take us out of the current situation we have found ourselves. Our mission as a country now should be forward looking, with clear focus on where we ought to be and a roadmap to our destination.

*Usman is the Director-General of Centre for Public Integrity and Accountability. This article first appeared in Leadership.