Who Is Fueling The Igbo-Yoruba Feud?

By Chuks Iloegbunam

The feud between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnic groups is con­trived, just like the feud between the Igbo and the Ikwere. Whenever these feuds take centrestage, the impetus is invariably traceable to the divide-and-rule imperative, which inevitably profits the oligarchy of northern Nigeria. Every other explanation ad­duced in the explanation of the phenomenon can only be pe­ripheral. It is important to make this point from the outset, be­fore going about the business of explanations – for the benefit of those who may genuinely be ig­norant of a crucial factor in the continued inability to resolve some of the more critical of Ni­geria’s contradictions.

Femi Aribisala, one of the more perceptive of the motley coterie of columnists currently on the national stage, discussed the origins and manifestations of this feud in an incisive article entitled Time To End The Bad Blood Between The Yorubas And Ndigbo (Vanguard January 12, 2016). “What is the basis of all this hate?” Mr. Aribisala asks. “In the sixties, the Igbo were slaughtered in pogroms in the North. However, the principal exchange of hateful words today is not between Northerners and Easterners, but between East­erners and Westerners. Why are these two ethnic groups so much at loggerheads?”

The straightforward answer is that it serves the interest of the “core” North to keep the South permanently in mutually assured destructive contention on largely immaterial issues. It happened between the Igbo and the old Rivers State in the wake of the Nigerian civil war. It was suddenly and conveni­ently “discovered” that the Ik­werre were not and had never been Igbo. The people went into a flourish of re-spelling: Umuomasi became Rumuo­masi; Umukrushi became Ru­mukrushi; Umuola became Rumuola; Umueme became Rumueme. In truth, all these represent no more than dis­tinct dialectal spellings of Igbo root names typical to the areas around Port Harcourt. But the re-spelling exercise was used to manufacture an entirely new ethnic group.

The acclaimed writer, Pro­fessor (Captain) Elechi Amadi, who led the group that lent intellectual weight to this fad, went further to celebrate in fictional terms the political marriage between Rivers peo­ple and Northern Nigeria. Yet, he did not see fit to change his name to Relechi Ramadi. Of course, the contrived ethnic dissonance achieved its pur­pose. While the fight raged re­lentlessly on “Abandoned Prop­erties”, mostly mud houses over three decades old, the “core” North moved in and harvested the oil rewards. Their members became instant millionaires by being allocated shiploads of crude, which they sold off at the Rotterdam Spot Market. Fur­ther, they appropriated 99 per­cent of the oil blocs. Then they seized Professor Tam David- West, a Rivers man, “tried” him for causing the country “eco­nomic adversity” and handed him a tidy prison term.

But the picture is becoming clearer. Had the black gold been found in the “core” North, would the Rivers man have been allocated even one per­cent of the oil blocs? It was not the Igbo that killed Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro. It was not the Igbo that killed Ken Saro- Wiwa. It was not the Igbo that banished Delta nights with the interminable flare of gas. The Igbo was accused of desiring nothing but the expropriation of Delta oil and gas. But science since proved that the entire Igbo country sits on oil, and holds in its bowels the largest concentra­tion of gas on the Africa conti­nent. That is the way everything goes and turns round.

How Long Shall We Blame Jonathan?

By Michael John

Finally we have witnessed change in Nigeria. Not the kind of change we expected because Santa Claus is yet to join the ruling party. The change is that the “change cry” is over. It is now very quiet on the “Western front.” The reality that all is vanity, according to the wisdom of King Solomon in the Bible is beginning to settle in. There was no way we were going to have change when all the connecting roads came from the past and the men who were driving the change agenda were those who had fed fat from yesteryears.

            

*Jonathan and Buhari

But the human mind is quite deceitful. All you need to fool and deceive an idiot that man is descended from monkeys is to show him a picture of a particular state governor side by side with a monkey. He may not bother to think that simply because someone Aki looks like Pawpaw does not make them brothers. So many were led to think that soon Nigeria would become a paradise. Hmm! instead it is nearly paralyzed.

But the Pied Pipers of change are still on the swing and leading some to Wonderland. Lai Mohammed, a jolly good guy and a find gentleman when he is asleep, is still the drum major. He has the uncanny ability to come up with the kind of answers which make you forget the questions. He claims that the reason the All Progressives Congress may not pay unemployed youths the five thousand Naira per person they promised to pay, during the campaigns, on assumption of office was because Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did not have the presence of mind to include it in the budget at the beginning of the year. Hmmm! What this means is that APC did not know that this was not a budgetary provision when they made the promise. They believed that since the Biblical Jonathan was a prophet, this Jonathan was also a prophet and would have known what the future holds. He should have know that change was coming.

The latest fad now in the “change business” is to blame all our woes on Jonathan and his aides. What a beautiful El Dorado Nigeria would have been if it were not for Jonathan and his men. Lets attempt to sing the APC swansong to an old nursery tune “If you are happy and you know it clap your hands.”

Pro-Biafra Protests: The Hoffer Principle

By Tiko Emmanuel Okoye

Most Nigerians can hardly understand that Biafra is not just a location or geographic expression but a phenomenon as far Ndigbo are concerned. The declared intention of then military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, to reintegrate Ndigbo into the fabric of the Nigerian society at the end of the civil war with his 3R’s programme (Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction), ended up just being a mere pipe dream.

How could there be reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction when Ndigbo who fled to safety had their homes in Port Harcourt and its environs classified as ‘abandoned properties’ and seized without any monetary compensation and with active government support? When the government abruptly changed its currency just to impoverish Ndigbo with stacks of pre-war Nigerian currency? When returning Ndigbo were not reinstated in their previous positions even as the government ruled that they should be considered as having ‘resigned’ from their posts?

When every man was given a paltry twenty pounds irrespective of the money he/she had in the bank or the amount of pre-war Nigerian currency and Biafran currency they owned? When the Nigerian government hastily embarked on an indigenization policy even as erstwhile Igbo middle and upper classes were deliberately schemed out through impoverishment? When the entire Southeast lacked infrastructure and no single federal industry was in existence for decades?

When one considers the lot of Ndigbo more than 45 years after the civil war ended, one can readily concede that Nigeria is yet to become an equal-opportunity nation as far as we are concerned. The least number of states in the other five geopolitical zones is six – with the Northwest having as many as seven – but the Southeast has only five. The high opportunity cost of this deliberate attempt to suppress their political development can be seen in the disparity between the number of our elected representatives and that of other zones.

Gay Marriage: Where Desmond Tutu Got It Wrong

By Israel A. Ebije
Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu became an internally recognized activist in the 1980's for his strong opposing views against the oppressive era of apartheid in South Africa. Born in Klerksdorp [1], Transvaal [2], South Africa, he was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town.

The 84 years old activist has stood against so many injustices, has helped raise awareness for HIV/AIDS campaign, tuberculosis, poverty, racism xenophobia and many more endemic health and social practices. He is indeed a globally recognized role model in the class of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

*Desmond Tutu

Against the backdrop of his lofty background therefore, it came to many of his admirers as rude shock when the highly respected Anglican Archbishop attended his daughter Mpho Tutu and Marceline van Furth same-sex wedding in the Netherlands. His presence at that wedding indeed endorsed gay orientation, which measurably smears his chains of achievements as an archbishop and activist. Some say he is within his rights to be at the wedding and at the same time endorse the ceremony, others like me totally condemn his implied endorsement.

While I feel laden with burden venting my spleen against his decision to attend the same-sex wedding, it is necessary to confront wrong decisions no matter a person's social, religious profile. No matter the quantum of advocacy for same-sex relationships, it is still frowned at by a good number of humanity who believe it's largely against moral instructions of virtually every religious practice.

I may sound obnoxious, obsolete to persons inclined to same-sex relationships who think it's an attribute of modernity, but regardless of their descent on this matter, it is instructive to harp against the dastardly persuasion which is now encouraging other sexual vices. It is even more sickening for Tutu to raise the stakes considering the strides he has been able to accomplish as a religious and as an opinion leader who advocates on human interest issues that transcends beyond Africa.

The presence of Archbishop Tutu at that wedding may have helped in no small way to either confirm the decision of some youths or to direct them towards taking same sex preference stance. It is therefore instructive to intimate that as a role model, he has taken a position, which indeed will go a long way in fashioning the outlook of so many people on their views towards a pattern of sexual persuasion with all attendant health, psychological and social issues.

A Swot Analyses Of The New Electricity Tariff In Nigeria (1)

By Idowu Oyebanjo                  

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has finally succumbed to pressure from investors in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) to increase the tariff regime in the absence of steady power supply and at a time of economic downturn. Consumers, organised labour and affected stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction. As painful as this may appear, it is suffice to examine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats inherent in the increased tariff structure planned for the 1st of February 2016.

*President Buhari 

The Strengths

Government's Responsiveness And Support

In every regulated electricity business, the price of electricity as a commodity needs to be cost-reflective. This among other requirements means that price must cover the cost of efficient delivery of electricity through the value chain. Before now, the price or electricity tariff in Nigeria is one of the lowest in the world and one of the lowest in West Africa. Electricity as a commodity is produced worldwide following roughly the same process so cost should within reasonable limits be reflective and comparable. The usual dilemma in a regulated business is the requirement for government, by means of the regulator, to seek to be fair to all stakeholders especially consumers, while maintaining a fair profit margin for investors. This is generally a conflicting role. However, the government showed leadership in trying to accede to the plight of the investors by setting new guidelines that will enable increased availability of supply albeit with increase in tariffs to large consumers.

Most Nigerians are exempted from the increased tariffs

The increased tariff regime exempts consumers in the R1 and R2 categories who make up the largest number of residential consumers (albeit for six months only) whose consumption of electricity is strictly for non-commercial, but regular day-to-day home use. Most homes, and therefore the bulk of workers and citizens, are therefore unaffected for now. However, it must be stated that consumers who engage in commercial activities either in their residence or in a separate facility along with industrial consumers who consume a significant amount of electricity (high end users) have been directly targeted by the increased tariffs.

Is There Anything Like ‘Honest Politician’ In Nigeria?

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

If you are in Nigeria and you have not done this before, try and do it right away. Just open a Nigerian newspaper near you. Go through its pages to find out how many people were described in that particular edition as “credible” politicians or “honest and selfless” Nigerians. You would be shocked to see the number of people that recklessly allowed themselves to be associated with such superb qualities even when they are fully aware that by what most people know about their character and vile history, it might even be considered a generous compliment to dress them up in the very opposites of those terms.

*Leaders of Nigeria's two major political parties 

Indeed, these are some of the words and phrases that have been so callously and horribly subjected to the worst kinds of abuses in Nigeria with hardly anyone making any attempt to intervene. I won’t in the least, therefore, be surprised if I wake up tomorrow to hear that decent people in this country (or even outside the country) have begun to protest and resist any attempt to associate them with those terms any more.

In these parts, we appear to be such exceptional experts in the effective devaluation of all that ought to inspire awe and noble feelings. I can confidently predict that there are now some Nigerians who would, for instance, feel greatly insulted should their dogs be nominated for our country’s “National Honours.” Especially, since the Obasanjo regime, the “National Honours List” in this country has sadly distinguished itself by the ease with which people who ought to be in jail star prominently in it. 

And as you look at the haggard or even dilapidated and grossly impoverished nature of a country with a long list of “illustrious” and “honest” sons and daughters annually honoured for their “selfless” and “invaluable” services to their fatherland, you cannot help wondering how indeed their so-called “immense contributions to the growth and progress of the their country” were not able to leave some bit of positive impact on the same country and its people.   Why is a country with such a long and intimidating list of “patriotic achievers” and “nation builders” still one of the most backward in the world despite being endowed with enviably abundant natural resources? 

Dasukigate Has Brought Out The Best And The Worst Of Us

By Okey Ndibe

Nigerians are in the midst of a familiar feeding frenzy. On the menu, this time, former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Dasuki, a retired colonel of the Nigerian Army, took more than $2 billion, which was budgeted for the purchase of military weapons, and divvied it up among highly connected politicians.

*Ndibe 

It seems that every day the media unmask the names of more beneficiaries. And each revelation fuels the frenzy. Resourceful pundits have fashioned a verb out of Mr. Dasuki’s name. The phrase, to be Dasukied (also Dasukification), has come to represent a sudden windfall or diversion of funds to an illicit purpose.

Nigerians are riveted, as attentive to the unfolding drama as Americans were when, in 1998, then President Bill Clinton was accused of carrying on an affair in the White House with a young intern, Monica Lewinsky.

The scandal Nigerians have christened Dasukigate has brought out the best and the worst of us. The usual pedestrian kind of disputation has taken root in social and print media. Some commentators have mistaken an indictment for a conviction. There’s a disturbing part of our psyche that yearns for the institution of mob justice. We forget those of us who advocate this mode, that it is a monster that, in the end, spares no one. Others—typically Mr. Dasuki’s supporters—have raised partisan hell, questioning the prosecution of Mr. Dasuki when government prosecutors have turned a blind eye to the alleged graft by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The North Prospers From The Bad Blood Between The Yorubas And Ndigbo

By Femi Aribisala

THE Yorubas and the Igbos, two of the most resourceful, engaging and outgoing ethnic groups in Nigeria, are becoming implacable enemies. Increasingly, they seem to hate one another with pure hatred. I never appreciated the extent of their animosity until the social media came of age in Nigeria. Now, hardly a day passes that you will not find Yorubas and Igbos exchanging hateful words on internet blogs.

The Nigerian civil war ended in 1970. Nevertheless, it continues to rage today on social media mostly by people who were not even alive during the civil war. In blog after blog, the Yorubas and the Igbos go out of their way to abuse one another for the most inconsequential of reasons. This hatred is becoming so deep-seated, it needs to be addressed before it gets completely out of hand. It is time to call a truce. A conscious effort needs to be made by opinion-leaders on both sides of the ethnic divide to put a stop to this nonsense.

Both the Yorubas and the Igbo stereotype one another. To the Igbo, the Yorubas are the “ngbati ngbati” “ofemmanu” who eat too much oil. They are masters of duplicity and deception; saying one thing while meaning another. To the Yorubas, the Igbo are clannish and money-minded. They are Shylock traders who specialise in selling counterfeit goods.

Buhari: An Incredibly Revelatory Media Chat

By Idowu Akinlotan

If eloquence or elocution was all that is needed to prove one’s bona fides or demonstrate competence, President Muhammadu Buhari would prove a woeful failure. In his maiden media chat last week, he struggled to communicate, and worse, even struggled to form his thoughts. He did not have problem with his tenses, nor if he did should that worry us. At least the country understood their president, and from his responses, the president in turn claimed and indeed appeared to understand his countrymen, especially how sometimes difficult they can be. It was his first media chat, and doubtless his coaches must have worked on him, schooling him on difficult and anticipated questions, and gently admonishing the ramrod straight retired army general to rein in his emotions, soften his taciturnity, and crack some jokes. His coaches will now need to do more, and if need be, ensure he can tell the difference between excise and exercise, for one has to do with customs and the other military drill.

*Buhari 

Overall, notwithstanding his problematic elocution, President Buhari came across as honest, down to earth, dependable, and someone Nigerians can trust with their money — absolutely. But to trust him with their lives, Nigerians will have to school him on the constitution afresh and extract promises of his fidelity to the laws of the land. For now, he sees both the constitution and the law as hindrances and handles them with the expedience of his military antecedents. Former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan spoke clearer and more fluently, and had better, wider and more complex grasp of issues; howbeit the former was imperious with his guttural voice and elocution, and the latter, with his clipped speech and tremulous voice, suffered from persecution complex.

This is President Buhari’s first chat. Despite his age, education and inflexible approach to issues, he is expected to improve considerably and in many ways. But in some other critical ways, Nigerians must not expect any improvement, because there won’t and can’t be any. The president rightly drew a parallel between his first coming as a military head of state, when he railroaded suspected thieves to jail and put the burden of proof on them, and his latest coming as an elected president, when the burden of proof lies with his government. Yet, he sounded plaintive, and could barely hide his irritation with the procedural handicaps the rule of law imposed on him. Worse, when asked why he seemed impervious to the bail granted some of his quarries, perhaps particularly former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), the president bristled at the question, one of the two times he nearly lost his composure during the chat, and drew attention to the severity of the allegations and evidence against the retired colonel. At that point, and for him, the issue was no longer the law. It surprisingly bothered him little that he could be accused, very reasonably it seems, of pursuing vendetta against the former NSA.

The Presidential Media Chat – A Review

By Gimba Kakanda

President Muhammadu Buhari's first interaction with the nation this Week highlighted the hope of a new Nigeria, as well as the potholes, speed bumps and roadblocks ahead. It's perhaps the most honest ever revelation by a Nigerian president, even as such blunt and frank positions may undermine the efforts and popularity of the government he heads.

President Buhari during the Presidential Media Chat 

(pix:Vanguard)

I'll leave the praises of Buhari's performance at the chat to his media handlers and their fire-spitting minions, and address a few issues not exactly impressive.

The revelation that our security agencies have no intelligence on the whereabouts of the girls of Chibok is saddening, and perhaps even worse is the statement that the government has no credible means of establishing contact with the leadership of Boko Haram. What have the intelligence units of our various security agencies been up to all these months? This, to say the obvious, is reckless and not something any leader should say without feeling a sense of guilt or embarrassment. So, who have we been fighting all along? Ghosts? We've people like Ahmad Salkida and Barrister Aisha Wakkil around to serve as consultants in contacting this terrorist group and Nigeria still confesses to cluelessness.

The president's seeming disinterest in the Shiite-Army clash is only a leeway to an imaginable disaster. Despite claiming to have no conclusive report on the clash yet, he's already judged the clash and couldn't even mask his disgust at the activities of the sect. His reaction was more of old military elite losing his mind over the audacity of a gang of teenagers to dare confront members of the active military elite class.

The Shiites have already lost on moral grounds, and perhaps only need an unbiased foreign court, through interested human rights organizations, to file a case against the government of Nigeria for the unjustifiably brutal use of force to decimate their erring members. This court may interpret and exact the rule of engagements employed by the military and point out the moment their traffic offence degenerated into criminal offence, punishable by such horrible death.

Buhari’s 2016 Budget: A Consolidation Of Corruption

 By Remi Oyeyemi

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”  - Joseph Goebbels

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”   - Adolf Hitler 

*Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari promised CHANGE in the days and months leading to the last presidential elections. For a country in comatose, stagnated in misery and miasma, CHANGE was the sing song. At a point in the journey to the presidential elections, Buhari, to and for Nigeria, became much more than the promise of CHANGE. He became the CHANGE that the majority of Nigerians were seeking.

Thanks to the hitherto unprecedented propaganda in the history of Nigeria. It was a dexterous devilish manipulation of information that turned Muhammadu Buhari from the Satan that Nigerians have rejected at the polls for the previous 16 years into a Saint all of a sudden. He became the messiah. He became the savior. Hope rose to high heavens. Excitement was enormously generated. The enthusiasm was pervasive. It was all encompassing. Buhari was everybody’s man. Everyone was Buhari’s man. And woman!

The lies about Buhari were very big but were kept very simple in deference to the gospel according to Adolf Hitler. His party and handlers kept saying those lies repeatedly and consistently. Eventually, Nigerians believed the lies hook, line and sinker. In the face of historical facts to the contrary, Buhari became a man of integrity! Buhari became a man of competence! Buhari became incorruptible!

After sixteen years of trial, Buhari became the President of Nigeria. Contesting for an office for sixteen years consecutively would have meant an adequate preparation and deep grasp of the issues involved. The advantage of ruling the same country once before the second coming was also expected to be helpful. He was expected to know exactly what to do. Buhari was supposed to be the man with a plan; the man with the solution; the savior to salvage and save; the messiah to mesmerize, untie the shackles and set Nigeria free on the path to freedom and realization of its potentials.

Some of us believe that Buhari is and has always been incompetent. In addition to his incompetence, he is also corrupt as facts of history have attested to. Not just by his actions, but by his utterances that are well documented for and by History. But on this second coming, the day he began to deny himself and what he promised Nigerians during his campaign, it was crystal clear that he had no plans for Nigeria. It was clear he had no solutions. It was clear that he is more of the same. At that time, there was no new proof. But now he has provided a brand new proof to Nigerians and for the world to behold. And that proof is his Budget for the Year 2016!

Buhari Is Not God, We Will Not Worship Him – PDP

Press Statement

PDP Sympathises With Buhari, APC Leaders Over Inability To Take Criticisms

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sympathised with President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over their inability to accept, with equanimity, constructive criticisms of their administration.

In a statement on Saturday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said it was unfortunate that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably poured invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms.

“Unlike the APC that denigrated the office and person of former President Jonathan by wrongly depicting him as ‘clueless and incompetent’, the PDP remains the most decent, mature and constructive opposition party in our democracy and we have evidenced great respect for the person and exalted office of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“During the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, while in the saddle as interim Deputy National Secretary of the APC, in a post on his twitter page, described President Jonathan as ‘lazy, docile, incompetent, clueless, hopeless and useless leader.’ Other APC leaders made raining abuses on Jonathan a past time.

Buhari: A Dictator Will Always Be A Dictator – Fayose

Press Release 

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described the return to power of President Mohammadu Buhari as a misadventure for Nigerians, calling on the international community, especially organisations like the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) to focus their attention on human rights abuses and contempt for the rule of law in Nigeria in 2016.”

Governor Fayose, who said he was not disappointed by the President’s response during his media chat, to question on the disobedient of court orders by the Department of State Security (DSS), added that he had said it several times that once a dictator will always be a dictator and that those who helped him to power will end up in his goal of dictatorship.

In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said he was aware of plot to muzzle him and others considered as non-conformists because of their opinion and critical stance on the President and his government, adding that; “such plot will definitely be counterproductive.”

Nigerians Have Experienced Significant Hardships Over The Past Months - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari's New Year Message to Nigerians 

Welcome to the beginning of a New Year of the continuation of CHANGE in our beloved nation. I am aware that Nigerians have experienced a number of significant hardships over the past months. Living in the State House has not alienated me from your daily sufferings. I am aware of the lengthy queues at fuel stations and of the difficulties businesses have faced in acquiring foreign exchange.

These challenges are only temporary; we are working to make things better. When I presented myself to you as a presidential candidate and asked you to vote for me, I wanted to be a leader who keeps his promises. I wanted to be a leader who restores the people's hope in those elected to serve them. I wanted to be a leader who initiates positive and enduring CHANGE.

I am still totally committed to being that kind of leader. Unforeseen circumstances and other distractions notwithstanding, I shall still do my utmost best to keep every promise I made to Nigerians during my election campaign. In the past seven months since our inauguration on May 29, 2015, my administration has focused on laying the right foundation for the CHANGE you voted for during our historic presidential election. Nigerians will in due course begin to enjoy the fruits of all our ongoing work.

The effective and efficient implementation of our 2016 budget proposals will address many of the socio-economic issues that are of current concern to our people. One area in which Nigerians, especially those in the northeast, have already begun to experience major CHANGE is in the war on terror. I commend our Armed Forces for significantly curtailing the insurgency which has ravaged the northeast of Nigeria over the past few years.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of security. Our Armed Forces will maintain, consolidate and build on their successes in the war against Boko Haram and violent extremism. This government will not consider the matter concluded until the terrorists have been completely routed and normalcy restored to all parts of the country that have been adversely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Our crackdown on corruption will continue to be vigorously undertaken. I urge the courts to support our efforts and help in the recovery of stolen funds by speedily concluding trials and showing that impunity no longer has a place in our country.

There is much work to do in other areas as well and I have charged all my ministers and other appointees to ensure that Nigerians experience positive changes in their lives in 2016. We must reduce our country's reliance on oil. We must diversify our economy.

And we must do all we can to promote job creation. Our challenges are many but our determination to succeed is strong and unshaken. So too is our confidence in God. I wish you all a very

Happy New Year.

MUHAMMADU BUHARI

Buhari An Unrepentant Tyrant - PDP

Press Statement

“Media Chat Exposed Buhari’s Undemocratic Character”

…He Should Apologize for Labeling Nigerians ‘Difficult Lot’ - PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Muhammadu Buhari’s responses at the Wednesday Presidential Media Chat were not only embarrassing but also further exposed his undemocratic character as an unrepentant tyrant who has no regard for the rule of law and the self-worth of Nigerian citizens.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Thursday also said the President confirmed his partisanship in the much-vaunted war against corruption by openly absolving his ministers and party members of corrupt practices.

“Whilst we restate our respect for the person and office of the President, we note that President Buhari bared his true colours to the world as an unrepentant tyrant. Today, the world is no longer in doubt as to who is behind the prevailing recklessness, abuse of rights of citizens and outright flouting of judicial pronouncements by security agencies.

“A situation where the President openly pronounced persons facing trial guilty and sanctioned their continued incarceration despite being granted bail by the courts, presents a dangerous fascist practice obtainable only in totalitarian societies like Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Idi Amin’s Uganda and General Than Shwe’s Burma.

“This extremely shocking dictatorial tendency being brazenly exhibited by the President in total disdain for our laws and judicial institutions portends great danger for our democracy and constitutionally-guaranteed rights of the people, and should be resisted by the citizens before it festers.

“The scorn for the principle of separation of powers, especially the independence of the legislature, is further manifested in the declared craving to regulate the funding and running of the National Assembly, a matter constitutionally vested outside the jurisdiction of the executive. We are most uncomfortable about his attempt at trying to whip up public sentiments against an independent arm of government, especially the one vested with the constitutional power of appropriation.

“Following from the foregoing, therefore, it may be necessary to suspend the application of our Constitution and allow the President to operate as maximum ruler for four years after which the nation can return to a democracy.

Biafra Agitation And Antics Of Divide-And-Rule

         By Nwobodo Chidiebere

“I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”— Harriet Tubman

FOR weeks now, the issue of Biafra agitation has been at the front burner in the polity. The movement is being propelled by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) via peaceful protests ravaging the old Eastern region. The promoters of IPOB are led by the detained Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Agents of divide-and-rule have gone back to their age-long work of dividing the indigenous people of Biafra. Their major target is to Igbonize this present struggle of Biafra restoration using the instrumentality of the media to tag Biafra agitation Igbo “affair”. Majority of those divide-and-rule advocates are non-Biafrans, who ordinarily should not have any say in determining the future of old Eastern region.

Why is it that Hausa and Fulani which comprise major ethnic groups especially in Northern part of Nigeria are always referred to as Hausa/Fulani – as one indivisible people, instead of Hausa and Fulani? Why do we have South-South as a geo-political zone carved out of old Eastern region, but there is nothing like North-North in the Northern Nigeria? How did the creators of this South-South mantra invent this word that is not in line with known cardinal points as enshrined in the principles of geography? How come there is Niger-Delta in the South but nothing like North-Sahara in the North? Why is there one Northern Governors Forum in the North, but coming down Southern Nigeria; we have South-East, South-West and South-South Governors Forums; all in one Southern Nigeria? Why do we always hear about Northern Elders Forum and nineteen Northern states as one socio-political block and one North, but we hardly talk of Southern Elders Forum, seventeen Southern states or one South? Someone should put on his thinking cap by now.

Dasukigate: Open Letter To Femi Adesina, Presidential Spokesperson

By Yushau A. Shuaib

Dear Mr. Femi Adesina

Since I am a victim of association to one of the most vilified and scandalised Nigerians through media trial, this Open Letter is the best opportunity for me to put some issues in proper perspective following some of your public remarks about your old friend.

*Femi Adesina

As you are aware, I have been actively involved in cementing relationship between the media and security agencies in the recent past. Immediately after my premature retirement from the public service by the Jonathan administration, I was invited by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), under Col. Sambo Dasuki (retired), to help in changing the negative media narrative on Nigeria’s counter-terrorism campaigns. It was at a period when the Boko Haram was having the upper hand in the propaganda campaign of the war against Nigeria with a section of the foreign media castigating Nigerian troops as “cowardly” “undisciplined” and “ill-trained.”

Among other things, I have the responsibility of consulting for the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), then Chaired by Major General Chris Olukolade, which has membership from critical public institutions including the military, security, intelligence and response agencies. We also created and sustained web portals for providing accurate and timely information to the public.

I must commend Mr. Femi Adesina for playing greater roles on the success of our campaign because as the President of Nigerian Guild of Editors, you also encouraged Editors to support our activities through occasional self-censorship to manage negative terrorists’ propaganda.

Being one of the closest Editors to former National Security Adviser, you were always sincere and frank when you met and discussed with Dasuki. You never hid your hardened support for the candidacy of General Buhari of All Progressive Congress (APC). I remember your annoyance over security clampdown on the media and when you sought Dasuki’s intervention for compensation for media organisations over their loss rather than engaging in prolonged court cases. I was with you on that occasion in his office.

Addressing The Confusion In The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI)

By idowu oyebanjo

 There is no doubt that the challenges facing the electricity industry is huge even as all but the Transmission Network have become private concerns. There are fundamental changes now taking place which will define the general outlook of the Nigerian Power System in the future as the power grid becomes unbundled and privatised such that the traditionally integrated and centrally dispatched energy system becomes a largely distributed and more complex architecture.

It is fair to say that today's technical and regulatory governance framework is grossly inadequate to manage the seamless integration of the different stakeholders and functions within NESI which are largely under differing ownerships. This has the potential to lead to disaster and chaos in the future if not addressed now. One of the first things required to be done is to establish an independent expert group to ensure an holistic approach to the phased development of NESI as it is becoming more than obvious to the blind that a "whole System" approach is what is needed to address the challenges facing the industry.

The recommended steering group to address the mechanisms for whole-system integration should be made up of a panel of technical experts from the Transmission and Distribution Network companies, consultants, academia, NERC, BPE, NBET, IPPs, Nigerian Gas Company, NNPC, NEMSA, MAN, data and ICT companies, the Nigerian Electricity Consumers' forum, SON and so on who have practical experience of electricity supply business. The aim of the expert group is to assist in the building of an integrated perspective for the planning and operation of the future electricity network, ensuring not only technical performance but also the opportunities for jobs and exports (technical and materials), identifying issues, defining the questions to be answered, clarifying the parties accountable, obtaining synergies and highlighting areas of relevance to national policy-making.

For most complex systems (which electrical power system is one), there is often a gap between those who specify what the whole system is required to achieve and the plethora of contractors, design authorities, operators, and other technical specialists who provide the hardware, software and other technical skills to construct and run the many sub-systems that together form the whole. It must be mentioned heretofore that neither the transition electricity market nor the free electricity market alone will be able to shape the structure, supply chain and system architecture for the provision of goods and services within the NESI. Hence, it has to be stated that this expert group will provide the co-ordination and the glue between established parties and new entrants, including generators, network users and operators, to facilitate the technical operation and the market mechanisms in a multi-party complex system like the NESI.

The new architecture required to meet the challenges of the NESI would need to develop a "Power System Framework" to address whole-system issues plaguing the NESI and this can only be provided by what we will term a "System Architect". The system architect gives a purposeful direction in the immediate and future development of the power network infrastructure based on defined codes, standards, and processes that enable seamless movement of information and operational instructions. The system architect thus takes responsibility for the correct functioning of the architecture of the whole system.

The pertinent question therefore is "Who or what is the System Architect?"

*NERC Chair, Sam Amadi 

The system architect is a separately defined entity that would take a whole-system and long-term responsibility for developing and agreeing the framework of architectures, standards, protocols, and guidelines needed to ensure seamless technical integration of the sub-systems of the industry players and parties, enabling a seamless response to the challenges arising from policy imperatives as they emerge over the coming decades. This single entity will be responsible for the management of the complexity of the evolving power system architecture in the public interest on behalf of government. Solutions for system integration challenges should be developed in consultation with key industry stakeholders while considering whole-system cost-benefit across the supply chain. The system architect would also have advisory role in providing assurance that the whole system can meet the policy-driven technical challenges of the next two decades. The role would involve developing functional specifications, policies, interfaces and best practices, overseeing system integration, interpretation of the direction of established policies by government to enable the organisations responsible for implementation and operation to do so in a coherent manner. Acting as a risk manager, the system architect will provide early warning of emerging risks to system stability and advise on the feasibility and timescales for the implementation of policies. To this end, the system architect is limited in function to technical matters that will make the Nigerian Power System function effectively to meet government's policy objectives while accommodating the requirements of the markets. Of course there will be times when effective technical integration requires attention to commercial and regulatory frameworks, and in such times, the system architect would be expected to identify these and work with government and other parties to resolve them.

The system architect in general will operate as an integration model that combines the existing segmented functions into a single function with the overall responsibility and ultimate accountability to the Minister of Power. For example, the architect can extend the scope of two key existing entities- the Grid code and Distribution code panels whose scope at the minute is limited to operational and technical matters rather than the integration of technical, operational and commercial aspects across the whole system. To succeed, the panels must be constituted to address structural and technical constraints jeopardising the successful development of the NESI with a clear focus spanning the whole system - generation, transmission, distribution, consumer, and related information flows.

NERC too should ensure the integrity of the underlying systems engineering while keeping its focus on commercial and economic levels. The activities of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) and Nigerian Electricity Consumers Advocacy Network (NECAN) forum need to be strengthened to realise the objectives of the power system. It is believed that the integration and management of data and ICT will present further challenges despite the goodwill or commitment of stakeholders and expertise of individuals involved if there is no adequate legal personality or party that will be accountable for ensuring the functionality of the increasingly complex system. Overall, there is a highly fragmented institutional landscape today that maintains and develop the codes which govern the operation of different aspects of the system, but none of which takes a whole-system view. This needs to be addressed urgently.