Is Nigeria Really One Nation?

By Femi Fani-Kayode

I love this country with every fibre of my being.
For three generations before me, my forefathers, my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father, have made solid and notable contributions to the developmemt of this country in both the private and public sectors.

My great-grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adebiyi Kayode, studied theology at the great Fourah Bay College in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Durham University in the United Kingdom after which he returned to Nigeria.

He was ordained an Anglican priest, the first Nigerian to take Christianity to our hometown, Ile-Ife, and was the first to build and pastor the first Anglican Church in that ancient town.
My grandfather, Chief Victor Adedapo Kayode, studied law at Cambridge University and was called to the English bar after which he returned to Nigeria.

He played a key role in the development of education in the country, was deeply involved in the fight against the excesses of our British colonial masters, fought for the rights of the so-called “African natives” and “indigenous population” in the old Lagos Colony and was the third Nigerian to be appointed to the Judiciary after a brilliant and rewarding career as a criminal lawyer.

My father, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, QC, SAN, CON, was born in the United Kingdom, studied law at Cambridge University and was called to the English bar after which he returned to Nigeria.
Like his father, he also excelled as a lawyer and he set up the first and most successful indigenous Nigerian law firm of that time with Chief Rotimi Williams, QC, SAN, CON, and Chief Bode Thomas.

He went into politics, was deeply involved in the struggle for our independence from colonial rule and he successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence in Parliament and went on to become a Minister and Deputy Premier of the old Western Region of Nigeria.
I have fought military rule, been involved in the struggle for democracy and I have participated heavily in partisan politics, political commentary and political discourse in our country for the last 26 years.

I have had the rare honour and distinct privilege of serving her at the highest level of governance first as a presidential spokesman and then as a Federal Minister in two separate Ministries as far back as 10 years ago.

I have suffered persecution, self-imposed exile, illegal and unlawful incarceration and the most vicious forms of insults and misrepresentation for Nigeria over the years and I have also invested my time, resources and energy heavily in the political terrain and development in our country.

Yet, despite all these wonderful opportunities, the monumental sacrifices that my illustrious forefathers and I have made and our love for and commitment to Nigeria it is time to ask some hard questions. Those questions are as follows:

Is Nigeria really one nation or is she many nations forced to remain within an artificial, unworkable and unsustainable entity?
Are our people really “bound in freedom, peace and unity” as our National Anthem proudly proclaims or is that just a deceitful mirage and never-ending illusion?

Is our marriage and amalgamation borne out of consensus and a genuine desire to remain together or borne out of compulsion?
Can a nation prosper, excel or achieve its full potentials when its people are perpetually squabbling and struggling over the distribution of its meagre resources and when they have two distinct and irreconcilable world views?

Can it thrive when one group wishes to live and compete in the new, enlightened and modern free world whilst the other wishes to go back to the bondage of the dark ages?

Buhari, Stop This Charade Of War Against Corruption, Please!

By Okey Ndibe

President Muhammadu Buhari should admit, today, not tomorrow, that his so-called war against corruption is unserious, tiresome, illegitimate, hypocritical, and a waste of Nigerians’ time. Right away, he ought to end the charade that claims to be a war. And then he should seek the best help he can find to focus on Nigeria’s grave economic and political crises.

*Buhari 

Last week, the Nigerian Senate, citing the damning content of a security report, declined to confirm Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The senators would not divulge the details of the security report. However, the online publication, Premium Times, stated that it had obtained the report. According to the medium, the report accused Mr. Magu of fraternising with persons who are targets of corruption investigations; of flying first class on a trip to Saudi Arabia, despite a presidential directive that public officials must fly economy; of illicit possession of sensitive documents, and of living in a house whose rent was allegedly paid by a businessman who was in the EFCC’s radar.

In other words, the Department of State Security (which authored the report on Mr. Magu) accused the country’s anti-corruption czar of being an enabler of corruption, a man embedded with the virulently corrupt.

I don’t know whether any or all of these allegations are true. At the time of my writing, several days after the Senate’s refusal to confirm Mr. Magu, President Buhari had said zilch on the issue. That presidential silence symptomises a disease that afflicts the Buhari administration, a tendency to respond to the most everyday issue after maximal delay.

Juxtapose the presidential silence against the alacrity of Premium Times, and you begin to see how luckless Nigeria is in this Presidency. In revealing the content of the DSS report, the website also disclosed that its independent investigation exposed the falsity of the allegations against Mr. Magu.

After a dismal run with the Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan administrations, the governance of Nigeria is yet again, with Buhari, debilitated, marred by paralysis, inertia, and confusion. And if media reports are credible, there is a deep schism in the ranks of Mr. Buhari’s closest associates.

For months, the media had reported that elements within Team Buhari were working to remove Mr. Magu from the EFCC, or else to scuttle his confirmation. Those reports suggested that the anti-Magu coalition was bent on sabotaging Mr. Magu’s investigation and prosecution of the corrupt, inept and often laughable as that process had become.

Obiano And The Dynamics Of Governance

By Chuks Iloegbunam  

Take this to the bank: in the run-up to next year’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State, Governor Willie Obiano is countless strides ahead of the most determined of his opponents. Many reasons account for this. Foremost is that he firmly has the advantage of incumbency on his side. But this needs spelling out. The incumbency factor at play here is not merely the occupation of the seat of power; it is that the Anambra State Governor has more than delivered. He has surpassed the records of his predecessors.

*Gov Willie Obiano 

Since empiricism is in accent, readers are called to take notice of the following facts. Governor Chris Ngige was in office for about three years when the courts gave him the matching orders. Governor Peter Obi was through with the third year of his first term when he published a magazine entitled Three Years of Solid Accomplishments. Whoever reads the publication and also reviews Dr. Ngige’s achievements, will come to an inevitable conclusion – if they compared them to the astounding performance of Governor Willie Obiano. 

Such a reviewer would acknowledge that, in terms of achievements, Governor Obiano stands head and shoulders above his predecessors. But, there is need for clarity here. Many politicians and soldiers have governed Anambra State since its creation 25 years ago. Some lasted a few months and got redeployed, or sacked by military putsch. But political stability of sorts became apparent from the inception of the Fourth Republic. Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju served a single, four-year term. Dr. Ngige’s tenure lasted three years.

Peter Obi spent eight years, minus the three months that the distinguished Dame Virgy Etiaba ably governed, following Mr. Obi’s unjust and ultimately reversed impeachment by legislative hirelings intoxicated by intrigue. Obiano is close to completing his third year. The trio of Ngige, Obi and Obiano has imbued Anambra with a legacy of performance to be proud of. It was Ngige who first demonstrated to Ndi Anambra that human beings drove on tarred roads instead of through ponds and potholes. Peter Obi continued the road construction legacy, topping it with the Odo Bridge in Awgbu, which, in 2010, was the longest bridge in Anambra State.

Bola Ige: Fifteen Years After

By Dan Amor

A calculated insult and the guilt preceded his death, stealing from the actual murder all its potential impact and drama. There never was a crime more dramatically rehearsed, and the tale only provides it could not have been otherwise. Yet there are no clues to be uncovered, no enigmas to be revealed; for this was a murder almost predicted like its predecessors. As a principled and astute politician, even though he agreed to serve in former President Olusegun Obasanjo's cabinet, Chief Bola Ige did not preach to Nigerians.

*Bola Ige 

But he provoked questions and left us in no doubt as to where he stood . He shared none of the current tastes for blurred conflicts, ambiguous characters and equivocal opinions. Nor was he disdainful of strong dramatic situations building up for firm climaxes. From the critic's point of view, the plot of Ige's senseless murder, in its high velocity treachery, summarizes modern Nigeria in one word: "shame".

In his epic novel, Shame (1983), Salman Rushdie, the Indian born controversial English writer, paints the picture of a disconcerting political hallucination in Pakistan, which he calls "Peccavistan" - existing fictionally as a slight angle to reality. The major thrust of the novel is that the shame or shamelessness of its characters returns to haunt them. Yet the recurrent theme is that there are things that cannot be said, things that can't be permitted to be true, in a tragic situation. To this end, fiction and politics ultimately become identical or rather analogous. That so banal and damaging an emotion could have been so manifestly created from within the Yoruba nation itself, is a ringing surprise to us keen observers of that macabre drama. But the truth or falsehood of the accusation or counter-accusation is not of the first importance.

The critical issue that must enlist our concern here is Nigeria's sick criminal justice system and the poverty of integrity of its police force. Fifteen years after the well-planned assassination of the Chief Law Officer of the world's largest black nation (Chief Bola Ige was a Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation when he was killed), his killers are still walking the streets of our cities without challenge. In this sense, Nigeria is back in mediaeval times. The Orwellian qualities and nightmarish implications of the investigations make one sick since the whole exercise is as absurd as it is puerile. Only in Nigeria that a patriotic, brilliant and hardworking lawyer who turned in a prime suspect to the police for prosecution, be arrested and arranged by the same police before a court of law just to engage our false sense of judgment. Did the police not declare Fryo wanted in connection with Ige's death? Only in Nigeria would a prime suspect in such a heinous crime be declared winner, released from detention and sworn in as Senator of the Federal Republic in an electoral contest he did not even campaign.

Buhari, Jonathan And Jammeh Of Gambia’s U-Turn

By Jude Ndukwe

Ever since former president Jonathan made that call to president Buhari congratulating him on his “victory” at the last presidential polls, and following the enormous goodwill that has attracted to him worldwide, it is fast becoming a norm in Africa for incumbents to easily accept defeat at the polls and congratulate the winner.

Yahya Jammeh, the outgoing president of Gambia, was on his way to making history as one of the very few African presidents who would follow the enviable example of Nigeria’s former president and Africa’s hero of democracy, Goodluck Jonathan, by conceding defeat as an incumbent to an opponent in a political contest.

However, with his sudden u-turn on that stand, Jammeh, it seems, is about to throw that tiny West African country into a needless and avoidable turmoil.

After having been commended by major political players and the media worldwide, what could have caused Yahya Jammeh to retrace his steps just less than a week after conceding defeat and hailed the process that saw his closest rival, Adama Barrow, an otherwise political neophyte, emerge as the president-elect of Gambia as “the most transparent election in the world”?

Jammeh had told Barrow while conceding defeat to him, “I’m the outgoing president; you are the incoming president”.

Also, in a telephone call to the president-elect, Jammeh was reported to have told Barrow, “I wish you all the best. The country will be in your hands in January. You are assured of my guidance. You have to work with me. You are the elected president of The Gambia. I have no ill will and I wish you all the best”.

He repeated the same thing in a televised statement when he said, “I take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Adama for his victory. It’s a clear victory. I wish him all the best and I wish all Gambians the best. As a true Muslim who believes in the almighty Allah I will never question Allah’s decision. You Gambians have decided”.

The Trouble With Fake NGOs

Lewis Obi

The oddities, even barbarities, of Nigeria’s daily life can sometimes be truly overwhelming.  Some of them occur so frequently that they compel Nigerians to think they are normal.  An example is the “big” protest in Abuja last week over the Shi’ite cleric Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.  He has been detained without charge for one year.  So you sigh in relief, and say, oh, some freedom-loving patriots want the old man tried or freed.  He has suffered like the Biblical Job.

On the contrary, the protest was for the exact opposite.  In the new era of ‘fake news’ I try to be choosy but I just could not resist trying to know why “thousands of Nigerians are currently protesting against the ruling of a court that incarcerated leader of the Shi’ite Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, be released unconditionally.”

The protesters were said to have taken over the Federal High Court Abuja and had arrived under the high-sounding banner “Coalition on Good Governance and Change Initiative (CGGCI).”  That automatically suggests a charitable non-governmental organization (NGO) devoted to issues of good government and positive change in society.  You would also imagine that a ‘coalition on good governance’ would be dead set against the detention of a Nigerian citizen for more than 48 hours without charge.  That’s what the Constitution demands.  A constitutional democracy ought to faithfully follow the rule of law and due process to realize good governance.  But the CGGCI was clearly against the rule of law and due process and was, indeed, advocating what amounted to tyranny.

The CGGCI protesters attacked Justice Gabriel Kolawole saying the judge seems oblivious of the “dangerous precedence (sic)” his ruling will have on “law enforcement, security, anti-terror fight, terrorism, and extremism and secessionist movements in Nigeria.”  Remember that the Department of State Security (DSS), which seems to be the grandfather of this coalition, (Esau’s hand and Jacob’s voice) once told the public that the Sheikh was being imprisoned for his own safety.  At trial the judge apparently asked for proof and got none.  This was why the judge made references to crimes “not known to law” of which the government was accusing the Sheikh by innuendo.

The chairman of the CGGCI is a man named Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi.  When Nigeria was a country, a comrade was considered a people person, a friend of the masses, a man who would understand basic things about the oppressed, and an NGO like CGGCI was expected to stand with you to fight for fundamental human rights.  Now we are in the Orwellian 1984.  So, it was Comrade Ogenyi’s view that by ordering the release of a man who has been incarcerated for 12 months without charge, “the judiciary has dealt a fresh blow to the future of Nigeria by legalizing terrorism while leaving the rest of the people at risk of losing our lives (sic).”

On The Gambia, Africa Is Late

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

It is far from convincing that Yahya Jammeh changed his mind over the Gambian presidential poll in protest against a flawed electoral process with unresolved posers over some alleged missing votes. Even if some votes were really not accounted for, it is clear by now that Jammeh is only looking for an excuse not to hand over to the winner of the presidential election. Since the reason for Jammeh’s rejection of the poll’s result he earlier accepted cannot pass muster, he has given room to an exploration of the various possibilities that could have influenced his decision. 

*Jammeh and Obama

How about considering the possibility that it was a single call from Robert Mugabe, that veteran of sit-tightism of African politics, that made Jammeh to change his mind ? For Jammeh’s easily giving up would make Mugabe to feel that he is losing members of his league of crass tyrants. Again, consider this: Mugabe might have strongly rebuked Jammeh for not coming to him to rejuvenate his strategies of remaining in power. For it is clear that Jammeh’s strategies are outdated and that was why he lost the election to opposition candidate Adama Barrow.

Clearly, as long as sit-tight despots like Mugabe still hold sway in Africa, they would remain as sources of inspiration to other leaders who are tempted to manipulate elections to remain in power. This is the overarching challenge that African leaders must resolve to stabilise democracy on the continent. This goes far beyond the fatuous approach being adopted by African leaders now to persuade Jammeh to step down. African states must ensure stable institutions that would make democracy to flourish. The notion that some leaders have done so well and therefore they need more time to solidify their achievements must be discouraged. It is when African leaders want to pervert their state constitutions and prolong their stay in power that they use their stooges to emote about the sovereignty of their countries and the unimpeachable need of the West not dictating to them how to run their own governments. Yet, it is the same countries with perverted democratic systems that are bogged down by sit-tight leaders that would run to the West to seek help for the development of their countries.

It was this notion of incumbent African leaders’ indispensability to the survival of their nations that once seduced former President Olusegun Obasanjo into seeking a third term in office. He deployed financial resources and people to amend the constitution to accommodate his whimsical ambition. He was distracted from real governance to improve the lot of the citizens. And he would have had his way but for a wary citizenry and patriotic lawmakers who rebuffed him despite allegedly taking his humongous bribes. It is this notion that has also made Paul Kagame to seek another term to remain in power in Rwanda after already spending two terms of 17 years in office. He claimed that the people have allowed him through a referendum to continue in power. With this so-called endorsement by the people, Kagame would now begin a third term of seven years from 2017. After this he is entitled to another two five-year terms to remain in power till 2034 or probably for life as he wishes.

Where Are We Headed, President Buhari?

By Rotimi Fadsan

The above question probably sounds very unfair and it’s probably in order to address what makes it so before going on any further. The first thing is that the question gives the impression we are under the control of a leader, a pilot or a driver of a vehicle who has lost his sense of direction.

 Such an impression, on the one hand, might imply that this leader as the driver, pilot or whatever else we may choose to call him, of our metaphoric vehicle is adrift and is aware of it. On the other hand, the impression created may be that the leader has no sense that he has lost direction. Neither impression nor its implication is flattering as it leads one to ask if the leader is asleep at the wheels or is simply lazy or shirking, which would be grossly irresponsible. 

I do not for a moment believe the conclusion that the impression painted above leads me to about how President Muhammadu Buhari is leading this country. Which is why I consider my opening question probably very unfair. While leadership is never an easy thing, it’s not at all difficult- in fact it’s very easy to be critical of those in leadership positions and to dismiss their effort with a wave of the hand. To do that without any appreciation of what they might be facing is both unfair and irresponsible. 

My belief is that President Buhari is not sleeping on the job but is working hard to bring about the change he promised before his election.  His intentions for Nigeria appear completely genuine and he is doing his best to realise them. What is, however, critical is how he goes about realising his goals. His strategy for moving Nigeria in the direction of political development and economic growth does not appear well thought through. He seems to and is surely attempting to do too many, not just too soon but all at the same time. 

What this results in is that he spreads himself too thinly across the different aspects of our national life demanding his attention with the further consequence that his government appears to lose direction. It is for this reason that Nigerians are increasingly questioning the competence of this government and demand to know its blueprint for development. It is why they are anxious to know where we are headed and if this government is indeed working at all. 

President Buhari as a person and his ministers might well be working far more for the good of the country and in more selfless manner than those they replaced. But the manner they’ve gone about their job might not be helping their cause or be doing justice to their effort. The question is not therefore whether the president or his ministers are working but how and at what they’ve been working. As for the President, one can see him as he goes on his numerous travels and imagine it can’t be for the fun of it.

 At his age and considering the toll such trips must be having on his body, he can’t be doing them for reasons of personal gain. Nor can it be for the purpose of amassing foreign exchange for the ‘extra duty’ of additional air or road mileage covered. This definitely can’t be his purpose. There must be something more fundamental, a greater motive for his air exertions than the merely pecuniary or sensuous. Even the trips appear to be wearing him down. He looks spent these days than he was when he took office. He simply can’t be going around for nothing. It is true that our leaders appear to be footloose once they get into office, creating the impression that they enjoy the trips abroad than staying back home to do the hard work of leadership.  

President Obasanjo was criticised for this. President Jonathan far less so. Only President Umar Yar’Adua escaped this type of criticism and, perhaps, for the obvious reason of ill health. There must therefore be something in the nature of their job that, for good or bad reasons, compel our leaders to embark on frequent trips abroad. But in order that these frequent trips to get support do not amount to nothing; in order for him not to appear to be out of his depth governing this country, President Buhari needs to concentrate his effort in one or two direction. So far he appears to be fighting corruption at the expense of everything else. His efforts in this regard have not come with the right kind of reward. They appear bogged down by court processes even when there is no doubt that most of those caught in the net of investigators have a lot to explain. But victory may not come too soon. 

El-Rufai: Accessory After The Fact Of Murder

By Yinka Odumakin

An accessory before the fact is one whose will contributes  to the felony committed  and he must be too  far away to render assistance, or he becomes a principal in the second degree. An accessory is criminally responsible for all the probable consequences of the act committed. An accessory after the fact is one who, knowing a felony has been committed, aids the felon in his effort to escape punishment. 

 

*El-Rufai

It is essential that the accessory after the fact should have notice that the person whom he assists has committed a felony, and the felony must have been fully completed. Also that the assistance  given is  to prevent the apprehension, trial or punishment  of the felon. This introductory definition is necessary in appreciating the confessions by the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai that he knows the murderers who have been killing the minority Christians in Southern Kaduna and has been making monetary compensations to them instead of bringing them to justice.

The  Vanguard edition of December 3,2016 quoted the governor as telling newsmen the unimaginable: 

“For southern Kaduna, we didn’t understand what was going on and we decided to set up a committee under Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) to find out what was going on there. What was established was that the root of the problem has a history starting from the 2011 post-election violence. Fulani herdsmen from across Africa bring their cattle down towards Middle Belt  and Southern Nigeria. The moment the rains starts around March, April, they start moving them up to go back to their various communities and countries. 

“Unfortunately, it was when they were moving up with their cattle across Southern Kaduna that the elections of 2011 took place and the crisis trapped some of them.

“Some of them were from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal. Fulanis are in 14 African countries and they traverse this country with the cattle. 

“So many of these people were killed, cattle lost and they organised themselves and came back to revenge. 

“So a lot of what was happening in Southern Kaduna was actually from outside Nigeria. We got a hint that the late Governor Patrick Yakowa got this information and he sent someone to go round some of these Fulani communities, but of course after he died, the whole thing stopped. That is what we inherited. But the Agwai committee established that. 

“We took certain steps. We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger republic and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging them to stop killing. 

“In most of the communities, once that appeal was made to them, they said they have forgiven. There are one or two that asked for monetary compensation. They said they have forgiven the death of human beings, but want compensation for cattle. We said no problem, and we paid some. As recently as two weeks ago, the team went to Niger Republic to attend one Fulani gathering that they hold every year with a message from me.” 

Soyinka And The Shredding Of His Green Card

By Charles Onunaiju
“Our common sense is totally lost. I am embarrassed sometimes that I occupy the same nation space with some people… what is the right of any Nigerian to challenge me on my decision? Barbarians have taken over, the country using the anonymity of the internet”.
– Prof. Wole Soyinka

*Soyinka

But didn’t an erudite professor, renowned scholar, iconic playwright and social critic, who publicly threatened to destroy his document, however way it was over the outcome of a distant periodic election he did not even vote in and for which his interest is at best marginal, brutally assault common sense, that the rest of us should be embarrassed to share the same nation space with him?

Since Professor Wole Soyinka interjected prior to the anger-driven US presidential election with a threat to shred his own green card in the event of an election victory of the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, he has set off a frenzy of activities on the social media. That such a towering figure as Soyinka who is familiar with real theatre could set off such theatrics as he did with a threat to tear his green card over an election outcome and expect nothing less that the frenzy that trailed it, is very strange indeed. He did not utter philosophy for which he should expect measured and rational response. In my part of the country, we say that when you bring home an ant infested wood, you have only invited lizards to feast. 

It is only natural and a matter of common sense that Nigerians are entitled to know how the distinguished professor has fared in his public threat to shred his card, after Donald Trump, the Republican candidate secured the requisite electoral college votes(more than 270) to win the U.S Presidential election. The anger and name calling that the professor has deployed to intimidate his interlocutors does not answer the question of his categorical statement to shred his green card in the event of Trump’s win.

If the professor had been led to believe the establishment media and polls projections of a victory for the Democratic Party candidate, Hillary Clinton, into the volatile gamble, there is actually no big deal in a humble climbdown. Afterall, the assorted community of media and poll watchers, who predicted that Trump would be dumped in electoral humiliation, have since moved on, inventing fresh reasons for their dull binoculars that did not see more accurately the election permutations.

Trump’s meteoric rise and consequent stunning victory is not so much about him but represents a considerably prevailing social sentiment in the US, to which he masterfully aggregated and articulated. The American traditional political elite or the Washington establishment has projected power in a way, in which the country has over-reached itself and also, the brutal effects of the financialization of capitalism has taken huge toll on the working people, even as the traditional safety net has imploded. 

Military’s Resurgence In Our Democracy

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

IN what could pass as the most poetic expression of democracy, the renowned political scientist Professor John Keane made the following opening statement in his widely acclaimed book The Life and Death of Democracy, thus: “History is often said to be a catalogue of human sorrows, an unending story of bootlicking, a slaughterhouse of crimes. It is not always so.”

Dr Keane said democracy was born of resistance to tyranny, just as he reasoned that Greeks’ claimed invention at first caused no great stir but that few spotted its novelty.

The above commentary from one of the global political thinkers which at first sounded like the little book of lamentations could be compared to the inglorious roles played by the Nigerian Military and policy in the just ended Rivers State rerun parliamentary polls.
The disturbing partisanship of the Nigerian armed forces is reminiscent of the 40 years that the Nigerian military took over power and ruled Nigeria in the most lawless form in such a way that the Constitution was in suspension not until overwhelming public pressures forced the military back to their barracks in 1999. The resurgence of the military in the political firmament of Nigeria is deeply troubling.  This development ugly as it is must be arrested immediately because the long term damage it would inflict in the credibility and integrity of the Nigerian military as an institution.

When President Muhammadu Buhari came on board last year, he made the Chief of Army staff Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai to constitute a board of inquiry which investigated alleged partisanship of the military in some past elections and over three dozen military officers trained with billions of public fund were prematurely retired as a result even though many of these indicted officers are in courts challenging their sack. But to now witness a worst case scenario of the same military behaving like dogs that eat their vomits with the open and brazen partisanship as seen in the Rivers State rerun election is indeed traumatising.

Rivers State also the nation’s hot bed of inter-party rivalries between the nation’s two main political parties known as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

The rerun legislative re-run elections in Rivers State were occasioned by the legal cancellation of last year’s election in which the People’s Democratic Party swept virtually all of the parliamentary seats both within Rivers State House of Assembly and the Senate and House of Representatives seats to represent the State of Rivers at the National Assembly. The party at the center saw the annulment as an opportunity of a life to gain entry into Rivers State.
From evidence available on the social media and even from eye witnesses, the roles played by the military and police to sabotage, undermine and scuttle the will of the Rivers State electorate are despicable.

Python Dance, David Dance And What Have You!

By Fred Doc Nwaozor  

The last time I checked, Imo and South-East at large was dominated by operation this and that. Initially, it was only ‘Operation Python Dance’ until ‘Operation David Dance’ followed suit. The former – a military exercise – which is targeted at wiping out all forms of social ills lingering in the region including armed robbery, kidnapping, abduction, herdsmen/farmers clashes, and violent secessionist movements, was recently launched by the Nigerian Army (NA).

In various quarters, the residents of the affected area – particularly members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – have strongly kicked against the military exercise, saying that it was not for the good interest of the entire people of the Igbo nation. To this end, the IPOB equally launched a parallel exercise code-named Operation David Dance. According to them, the ‘David’ signifies the one in the Holy Bible who defeated Goliath in a battlefield with a mere stone. It suffices to say: they were trying to insinuate that the military exercise represents ‘Goliath.’

As some groups within the South-East zone have continued to condemn the new military operation, which is meant to last between November 27 and December 27, 2016, the Army has explained extensively that the exercise did not mean any harm except to criminals, hence, would be in the overall interest of the good people of the area contrary to the views making the rounds. In a press statement released by the Deputy Director of the Army Public Relations – 82 Division Enugu – Colonel Sagir Musa, the initiative reportedly aimed towards achieving a hitch-free yuletide in the entire South-East would help the people of the region in the areas of healthcare and security, among others.

Col. Musa, however, categorically stated that the exercise wasn’t peculiar to the South-East. According to him, having painstakingly examined the myriad of security challenges across the country, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai directed the setting up of the conduct of both Command Post and Field Training exercises, as a way of enhancing troops preparedness toward combating the spectrum of the contemporary challenges. In view of this directive, the Army Headquarters instructed the immediate commencement of the request in different regions across the federation.

 He further highlighted those operations Ex Shirin Harbi, Ex Harbin Kunama, Ex Crocodile Smile, and Ex Python Dance were instituted for the North-East, North-West, Niger Delta, and South-East regions, respectively, in regard to their individual security plights. The information personnel equally disclosed that an elaborate Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) would be maintained throughout the exercise. Thus, he urged the people of the South-East to support rather than despise it, since it means well for them.

The Case For Pro-Biafra Agitators

By Onyorah Chiduluemije  

It is no longer news that ever since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed the mantle of leadership of Nigeria on May 29, 2015, one of his key focuses so far has been the incessant, premeditated and wanton killing of unarmed members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). More often, if the killing was not based on the falsehood that the IPOB members were the first to attack members of the Nigerian armed forces and as such had to be killed in return, it would be predicated on the spurious grounds that the hapless and unsuspecting victims of Buhari’s totalitarian and fascist government were obstructing the free flow of traffic and thus needed to be dealt with(which for the military entailed killing them) in order to clear the way for motorists and other road users.

Meanwhile, in all of these killings of peaceful protesters, the Buhari-led government is yet to come out with a single video record showing members of the Nigerian armed forces being attacked by the pro-Biafra agitators. But thus far, the reverse has always been the case in the aftermath of every peaceful protest duly organised by pro-Biafra agitators in Nigeria, all in pursuit of their legitimate demand for a sovereign state of Biafra. And besides the fact that thousands of members of this separatist group have been mowed down in their prime for merely thronging the streets of Nigeria in demand for self-determination as adequately guaranteed by international laws and practices, the Amnesty International (AI) recently had to lend its strong voice in total condemnation of the Nigerian government’s persistent and cruel clampdown and massacre of these unarmed and peaceful protesters.

According to this highly esteemed international body, no less than 150 unarmed civilians belonging to the separatist group were brutally murdered in cold blood using torture, live bullets and other lethal weapons. And further to its graphic report titled, “Bullets Were Raining Everywhere” the AI findings clearly showed that the assertion that the peaceful protesters were the first to attack members of the Nigerian armed forces was neither here nor there. Strangely, as if the killing was not provoking enough, the same soldiers and other security killer forces had to even go the extra mile of invading churches at Onitsha and its environs in Anambra State, Nigeria.

As it stands now, the Christian people of Eastern Nigeria – comprising the Igbo and folks of the Niger Delta region – are obviously not at war with the Nigerian state, unlike the case in the Northern part of Nigeria where the terrorist Boko Haram sect is increasingly having a field day and upper hand in the raging war in the region. Yet, the states within the South Eastern enclave are at the moment more militarised than the region which breeds and harbours terrorists in Nigeria. 

Mr. President, Pythons Do Not Dance!

By Obi Nwakanma

 In a badly worded press release announced last week, the Nigerian Army declared what it called “Operation Python Dance,” aimed, the Army says, at anticipating and curtailing violence in the South East through the Christmas period. The language of that press statement signed by Colonel Sagir Musa was only slightly better than the extremely poor and bombastic English of an earlier statement by the Army’s Public Relations Office signed by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, Army Director of Public Affairs, that challenged Amnesty International’s damning report about the Nigerian Army’s extrajudicial killings of unarmed Biafran activists and protesters. 

 

*President Buhari with Military Service Chiefs

The Army’s response and denial of Amnesty’s report was not only incompetent, in that it lied about the Biafrans, but it also seemed not to take into account that in this age of ubiquitous eyes, including the Eyes in the sky recording and capturing everything, the evidence of the killing of the Biafran protesters exist; the faces of the soldiers who took part in these killings exist, recorded and digitally preserved in real time, and are now public record. Did President Buhari order the killing of these unarmed Biafrans? This is a question that is now slowly gathering momentum internationally, and it is not going to go away. 

Colonel Usman’s statement claimed: “The evidence of MASSOB/IPOB violent secessionist agitations is widely known across the national and international domains. Their modus operandi has continued to relish violence that threatens national security. Indeed, between August 2015 and August 2016, the groups’ violent protests have manifested unimaginable atrocities to unhinge the reign of peace, security and stability in several parts of the South East Nigeria. A number of persons from the settler communities that hailed from other parts of the country were selected for attack, killed and burnt. Such reign of hate, terror and ethno-religious controversies that portend grave consequences for national security have been averted severally through the responsiveness of the Nigerian Army and members of the security agencies.”

Aside from the ineloquent bombast of this statement, I beg to note that MASSOB and IPOB are not known internationally as violent groups, and have consistently maintained their non-violent philosophy and methods, and have never armed themselves, unless Colonel Usman suggests that singing and praying and “signifying” constitute lethal ammunition. The Nigerian National Assembly which should investigate the uses or misuses of Nigeria’s National Security apparatus, and keep the use or misuse of executive power within bounds, have maintained a very stony silence on this matter even with the international release of this damning video of soldiers killing unarmed Igbo civilians whose only crime is public gathering to campaign for self-determination. 

Killer-Herdsmen, Igbo Timid Govs And The Fayose Solution

By Tony Nwankwo
Not long ago, the peaceful, self-subsistence farming community of Ndi Okereke Abam, Arochukwu LGA, Abia State, was attacked by the now notorious, AK-47 rifle wielding, bow and arrow bearing marauders masquerading as Hausa/Fulani herdsmen.  By the time they were through with the unarmed, government abandoned community, seven persons, all from Ndi Okereke Abam, were down, fatally injured. 

They are still recuperating in hospitals in the area. According to a report, the affected community and other Ovukwu people plan to protest the invasion and wanton destruction of their farmlands by these herdsmen.  The herdsmen come into the heartland of the Igbo, they lead their cattle into farmlands, here it was the rice farm, they stand akimbo and watch their cattle feast on harvested rice seeds arranged for evacuation.  In some instances, they feed off the rice farm and other farmlands, wasting the crops, the only means of livelihood of the people. In some others, they attack, maim and kill people, rape the women. 

When they are done, they sing their song of triumph and celebrate their victory over their victims as they lead their cattle to yet another community for the same purpose. This is the practice of the Hausa/Fulani herdsmen since they started bearing arms and terrorising local communities. According to the report, the member representing Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Mr. Uko Nkole, visited the community, paid the medical bills of the injured and appealed for peaceful co-existence.  From the state capital, Umuahia, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said government has land for grazing for cattle, “but because we are Nigerians, the government would allow some level of understanding to prevail”. 

And the leader of this invading army, masquerading as herdsmen, Chairman, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders, Hassan Buba, is sad about the incident and promised it will not happen again. So, the herdsmen should go home and sin no more. Meanwhile, Governor Ikpeazu, cannot point anywhere in Nigeria, where peace has prevailed between people and Hausa/Fulani herdsmen because an agreement was reached. You cannot get a binding agreement when  one party is politically authorised to carry automatic weapons and ready to use them, while the other can’t.  It is the same stand that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, adopted when herdsmen invaded a community in his State and massacred  the people. 

Africa Truly Rising

By Tony Ademiluyi

After the return of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu from England in 1957 after a 13-year sojourn for his educational pursuits, his wealthy and influential father wanted him to put his education to good use by joining the family business. He had other ideas as he had a brief stint in the colonial service and then headed to the army then known as the Queen’s Regiment.

A livid Sir Louis Odumegwu-Ojukwu tried to ‘talk some sense’ into the young man and enlisted the support of the then Governor-General, James Robertson to ‘bail him out.’ The British colonial administrator told Emeka point-blank that if he thought what happened in Egypt in 1952 when Colonel Abdel Nasser came to power through a coup could ever happen in Nigeria, he was mistaken. That statement turned out to be prophetic as it marked the pattern of Africa’s governance for the next three decades.

Military rule became the preferred mode of administration for many African nations. Pan Africanism which was largely spearheaded by Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah hurriedly gave way to the spread of cult-like cold-blooded dictators.

The continent bred the likes of Mobutu Sese Seko, Idi Amin, Sani Abacha, Gnassingbe Eyadema and so on whose brutality and visionless leadership saw to the perpetual under-development of the world’s second largest continent.

No form of dissent especially from the impoverished intelligentsia and media was tolerated and the large wave of emigration especially for economic reasons started as a result of the incursion by the men in uniform.

Corruption was another sinister legacy that military rule in Africa bequeathed which is still haunting the continent till date. The practice of salting away billions of dollars from here to the developed economies especially in Europe had its roots during the military rule. Mobuto Sese Seko was allegedly far richer than his Country, Zaire which he ruled with an iron fist for over three decades. Dictators like Ibrahim Babaginda, Idi Amin, Omar Bongo, Teodoro Mbasogo, Jean Bedel Bokassa amassed obscene wealth appropriated from the commonwealth of their countries and so drove their people to destitution that they longed for a return of their erstwhile colonial masters.

Rivers Rerun And INEC’s Impartiality

By Robert Obioha

IT is good and desirable that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will tomorrow conduct the remaining Federal and State legislative elections in Rivers State. Nigerians and indeed the people of Rivers State will heave a sigh of relief that at last this election will be concluded. Its conclusion will mean that they will be fully represented in the National and State Assembly.

It will also mean that Rivers State will have a say in decisions of the highest law-making organs in the country. For this exercise to be violence-free, fair and credible, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has deployed 20,000 police personnel, 3 helicopters and 20 gunboats. It is hoped that with this massive deployment of policemen, the issue of insecurity and electoral violence should not arise.

The electoral agency has deployed about 10,294 staff to ensure a seamless exercise and conclusion of the rereun elections in Rivers State. Therefore, there is no doubt that all is now set for tomorrow’s exercise, expected to conclude the poll which began last year. For months, the people of Rivers State had been denied representation in the National and State Assembly.

Now that INEC is set to complete the exercise and give them full representation in the National and State Assembly, all hands must be on deck to ensure that it is successful this time around. All the grandstanding by certain political actors concerning the exercise is unnecessary. Politicians and their supporters should be part of the effort to make the exercise succeed.

They should refrain from incendiary comments capable of stoking violence in the state. All the security agents must maintain absolute political neutrality in the elections. Their job is to provide adequate security in the state before, during and after the polls. They should not aid any party to rig the election or to gain any political advantage.