The Return of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

When President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Finance Minister and also named her the “Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME),” I was greatly surprised that several Nigerians appeared to share the president’s rather lofty expectations that she was coming with fresh, workable ideas to turn the country’s ailing economy around.

*Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's Minister of Finance
and Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME)

If it were in 2003 when most Nigerians who were encountering her for the first time were unduly tantalized by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s lavish stress on her impressive credentials as a brilliant World Bank expert who had accepted to make the “great sacrifice” of coming here to salvage our country’s economy, their naivety and misplaced enthusiasm could easily have been forgiven.  

But what would ever remain inconceivable is how any person or group of persons could stretch optimism far beyond its malleable limits to invest such high hopes in the capabilities of a person who had served as finance minister and head of the Economic Team in a regime under which unprecedented earnings from crude oil exports had translated to further deterioration of the economy and untold suffering among the populace.  

Rolling Strike Amendment-A Proposal To The Nigerian People

By Chinweizu

It is very good that labor and civil society organizations called this strike and that the Nigerian people have responded splendidly. However, at the end of a week, the need has arisen to change it to a rolling strike (i.e. strike for a few days, rest and go to work a few days and then resume the strike, and repeat indefinitely for as long as it takes for the Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, to obey the demonstrated will of the people).

Chinweizu

The FGN can win, and seems to count on winning, simply by hanging tough for a month; by which time hunger would have killed the strike. After all, how many people have stored enough food to last another week? How many can go another week without earning money or taking money from their bank? That is the Achilles heel of this strike. And if it is not eliminated this weekend, the strike will collapse and the anti-people system will triumph and survive. That is a hard fact of life we must accept, and adjust our tactics accordingly.

We must bear in mind that, as Prof. Tam David West, a former Petroleum Minister, and others have exposed on TV, this fuel subsidy thing is simply a racket to fleece the public, a kind of 419. And the FGN seems determined to keep emptying the pockets of the poor millions into the fat bank accounts of a few rich racketeers. If the people want to win, (and why not?) this indefinite strike has to be amended into a rolling strike so it can go on for as long as it takes to achieve the people’s victory.

I urge the strike leaders to take note. This strike should be made truly indefinite by amending it into a rolling strike so it can go on for even a year if the FGN remains hard hearted, anti-people and unreasonable.

The administration would do well to ponder the principle that a government which refuses to submit to the will of the people, its sovereign, is a rebel government and, by its own rebellion, legitimizes and invites upon itself the rebellion of the people.

Chinweizu

Lagos, Nigeria

12 January 2012

Chinua Achebe, 37 Other Nigerian Writers Speak On The State Of The Nation

We are troubled by the turn of events in Nigeria, and hereby call on President Goodluck Jonathan and the rest of the country’s political leadership to take immediate steps to tackle the state of lawlessness in certain parts of the nation and address the trepidation and rage that has reached dangerous levels within the Nigerian populace.

Chinua Achebe

Nigeria is witnessing a new escalation of sectarian violence, culminating in explosions that have killed or seriously wounded scores of people at churches and other centers of worship and local businesses.

As a people who lost two million citizens in a civil war, Nigerians must bring an urgent sense of history to the gloomy events. The country’s leadership should not view the incessant attacks as mere temporary misfortune with which the citizenry must learn to live; they are precursors to events that could destabilize the entire country.

We applaud President Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in certain local government areas in four states. However, we have seen little indication that the country’s security and law enforcement agents are up to the task of protecting the lives and property of citizens in all parts of Nigeria.



Okey Ndibe

Clearly, the sophistication and deadly impact of the terrorist attacks suggest an agenda to create widespread fear and, possibly, to foment anarchy or war. President Jonathan has no greater duty than to ensure that Nigerians are safe wherever they live or visit within the country. He should demonstrate his recognition of that solemn duty, in our view, by doing the following:

(a) Outline both short and long term plans to comprehensively address the scourge of terror,

(b) Appoint competent and committed officials to head the various security agencies, and

(c) Serve as an agent to heal the many divisions plaguing Nigeria, and persuade all well-meaning people to enlist in the fight against festering violence.



Tess Onwueme

President Jonathan’s decision to remove fuel subsidies in the country at this time was ill-advised. Coming at the advent of the New Year, and barely a week after the gruesome Christmas Day attacks on worshippers, the policy has forced many Nigerian citizens to perceive his leadership as one that is both insensitive and possibly contemptuous of the mood of its people.

We stand with the Nigerian people who are protesting the removal of oil subsidy which has placed an unbearable economic weight on their lives. This action has clearly imposed an untenable and unfair burden on those segments of Nigerians who are already impoverished - subsisting on less than $2 a day. We call on President Jonathan to immediately change course. By reverting to the old prices of petroleum products, President Jonathan can work to diffuse tension in the country and exemplify the true servant leader who not only serves but also listens to his people. To insist on having his way, and to deploy state security and legal apparati to crush growing popular uprisings is to stamp on a highly valued tenet of democracy – the right to peaceful assembly – and to inadvertently promote greater violence in the country.



Isidore Okpewho

President Jonathan’s administration has made a persuasive case that a few highly connected Nigerians have corruptly profited from fuel subsidy. The government should swiftly bring to justice those corrupt profiteers as well as the bureaucrats who aid and abet their unconscionable parasitic activities and economic sabotage.

We acknowledge President Jonathan’s recent announcement of 25% cut in the basic salaries of political office holders.

But we believe that the move merely scratches the indefensible bloated salaries and allowances paid to Nigerian political officials. The president should also champion significant cuts in the huge cost of running the various tiers of government and the luxuries that have become the signature of those who ought to protect the commonwealth, serve the people, and not exploit them.



Besides, the culture of corruption and impunity in official quarters constitutes a grave threat to national security and to the country’s effort to establish a democratic culture and meaningful economic development.

Nigeria needs a return to relative calm to enable its people, and the Jonathan administration in particular, to focus on the task of combating the incubus of corruption, poverty and home-grown terrorism.

Signed by:
Chinua Achebe,  Okey Ndibe, Nduka Otiono, Helon Habila, Akin Adesokan, Pius Adesanmi, Tess Onwueme, Obiora Udechukwu, Yinka Tella,  Richard Ali, Chiji Akoma, Paul Ugor, Tolu Ogunlesi, Samantha Iwowo, Idowu Ohioze, Offiong Bassey, Chido Onumah, Bunmi Aborisade, Omolade Adunbi, Mahmud Obeamata, Mahmud Aminu, Nasr Kura, Gimba Kakanda, Obioma Nnaemeka, Sonala Olumhense, Ikhide Ikheola, Isidore Okpewho, E.C. Osondu, Ogaga Ifowodo, Mike Nwosu, Herbert Ekwe Ekwe, Chimalum Nwankwo, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Ebenezer Obadare, Ahmed Maiwada, Madina Shehu, Hussein Abdu, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani

               

George Ayittey: Cheetahs Vs. Hippos For Africa's Future

Ghanaian Economist, Professor George Ayittey, Unleashes A Torrent Of Controlled Anger Toward Corrupt Leaders in Africa --And Calls On The Cheetah Generation To Take Back The Continent.

Professor George Ayittey

-Watch Professor's Ayitey's Speech-

 

Chidi Achebe Receives The Martin Luther King Social Justice Award From Dartmouth College

Ivy-League University honors Dr. Achebe For His Ongoing Commitment To The Quest Of Bridging Health Care Disparities That Exist Amongst America’s Most Vulnerable And Underserved Populations.

On Friday, January 27, 2012, Harvard Street Health Center President and CEO Chidi Achebe MD, MPH, MBA will be awarded Dartmouth College’s 2012 Martin Luther King Social Justice Award.  

Dr. Chidi Achebe (DM Magazine)

Dr. Chidi Achebe will receive the Ongoing Commitment category of the Martin Luther King Social Justice Award by Dartmouth College in recognition of his ongoing commitment to the quest of bridging health care disparities that exist amongst America’s most vulnerable and underserved populations.

“I am absolutely delighted and deeply honored to have been selected to receive such a prestigious award.  I feel incredibly fortunate to have an opportunity to serve such wonderful patients on a daily basis and to be part of the family of servants who want to improve health care for all” Dr. Achebe said.

Dr. Achebe completed undergraduate studies in natural sciences, history and philosophy at Bard College; received an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, his MD at Dartmouth Medical School and an MBA degree at Yale University's School of Management.

He also completed his residency in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX.

For a brief period, Dr. Chidi Achebe served as Medical Director of the Whittier Street Health Center; he then served as Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, Medical Director of Harvard Street Health Center before his appointment as the President and CEO of the Harvard Street Health Center.

After several years of work at various Boston health centers, Dr. Achebe now sees "the struggle against inequalities in health and health care for all vulnerable, underserved Americans, as the next stage of the Civil Rights movement;" and has dedicated his life's work to helping to solve the conundrum of health care inequity in America's health care system.

Dr. Achebe Attending To A Patient

(DM Magazine)

Dr. Achebe makes church calls, and speaks at youth summits, conventions, conferences, schools, barber shops - focal gathering areas where he can reach underserved patients - reminding the community of the value of health, preventive care, and the quality of service readily available at Harvard Street.

While expanding his unique implementation of “medicine without borders,” Achebe works as a passionate advocate for the global community through his writings that call attention to worldwide health concerns such as the HIV/AIDs pandemic and Prostate Cancer.

His efforts have earned him a featured TV appearance on Basic Black; profile in the Boston Globe and AOL Black Voices, an interview on WUMB-FM's Commonwealth Journal (interviewed by the legendary Barbara Neely); and feature length articles in several international periodicals, journals, and newspapers.

Through his years of work, Dr. Achebe has become a leader in the battle for healthcare equality and serves on several boards and committees where he continues his passion to be at the vanguard of the quest to bridge disparities that exist in the health care system.

2011 Achebe Colloquium On Africa: Schedule Of Activities

 Schedule

All Panels Will Take Place In The Martinos Auditorium Of The Perry And Marty Granoff Center For The Creative Arts...

Participants Subject To Change

Saturday, December 3, 2011

8:30 am – 9:00 am
Welcome
Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University

Opening Address
Emeka Anyaoku, Chief, Former Secretary General of British Commonwealth

9:00 am – 10:15 am
The Arab Spring: Challenges to Democratization and Nation Building
·         MODERATOR: Peter M. Lewis, Associate Professor and Director of Africana Studies Program, Johns Hopkins University
·         Daniel Serwer, The Center for Transatlantic Relations, American Consortium on European Union Studies, EU Center of Excellence, Johns Hopkins University
·         Abdelwahab El-Affendi, Coordinator, Democracy and Islam Programme Centre for the Study of Democracy; University of Westminster
·         Chibli Mallat, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; Visiting Professor of Islamic Legal Studies, Harvard Law School
·         Richard Joseph, John Evans Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University
·         Ali Mazrui, Director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, Binghamton University




 10:30 am – 11:45am
Arab Spring 2011: Prognosticators Roundtable

·         MODERATOR: Darren Kew, Associate Professor, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance; Executive Director of the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development, University of Massachusetts

·         Emmad Shahin, Henry R. Luce Associate Professor of Religion, University of Notre Dame

·         Lina Khatib, Program Manager for the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy, Stanford University

·         Tarek Masoud, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University

·         Stuart Krusell, Associate Director, Office of External Relations, MIT

12:45pm – 1:15 pm

Keynote Address

Ali Suleiman Aujali, Libyan Ambassador to the United States

1:30 pm–3:00 pm

Darfur: Towards Sustainable Peace

·         MODERATOR: Lina M. Fruzzetti, Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence and Professor of Anthropology, Brown University

·         Alex de Waal, Program Director, HIV/AIDS and Social Transformation, Social Science Research Council

·         Ali B. Dinar, Associate Director, The African Studies Program, University of Pennsylvania

·         Eddie Thomas, Fellow, The Rift Valley Institute

·         Christa Capozzola, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID

·         Ryan Spencer Reed, Photographer

  

3:15 pm – 4:45 pm

Southern Sudan: Obstacles Facing the World’s Newest Nation

·         MODERATOR: Roger Middleton, Chatham House

·         Thomas Kwasi Tieku, Director, African Studies, University of Toronto

·         Lant Pritchett, Professor of Economic Development, Harvard University

·         Jehanne Henry, Senior Researcher for Sudan and South Sudan, Human Rights Watch

·         Rebecca Hamilton, Journalist and Author, Pulitzer Center

·         Eric Reeves, Smith College

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Keynote Address

John Schram, Former Canadian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Sudan; High Commissioner to Ghana and Sierra Leone; Distinguished Senior Fellow, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Senior Fellow, Centre for International Relations, Queen’s University

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Literature and the Spoken Word

* This event will take place in the George Houston Bass Performing Arts Space in Churchill House located at

155 Angell Street

·         MODERATOR: Raphael d’Abdon

·         Twin Poets

·         Titillate Sonuga

·         Offiong Bassey  

Presiding: Nduka Otiono, Postdoctoral Fellow, Africana Studies, Brown University

Sunday, December 4, 2011

8:30 am – 9:00 am

Welcome

Corey D. B. Walker, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Africana Studies, Brown University

Opening Address

Chinua Achebe, David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of Africana Studies, Brown University

9:00 am – 10:15 am

China and the United States in Africa: Cooperation or Confrontation?

·      MODERATOR: Olakunle George, Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies, Brown University

·      Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution, Harvard University; President, World Peace Foundation 

·      Walter Carrington, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria

·      James J. Hentz, Head of Department and Professor of International Studies & Political Science, Virginia Military Institute

·      Scott D. Taylor, Director of African Studies, Georgetown University

·      Omer Ismail, Senior Policy Advisor, The Enough! Project

·      Deborah Brautigam, School of International Service, American University

10:30 am – 11:45 am 

China’s Presence in Africa: Collaboration or Colonialism?

·         MODERATOR: Tijan Sallah, Senior Economist, The World Bank

·         Richard Dowden, Director, Royal African Society of London

·         Matt Wells, Researcher, Human Rights Watch

·         Muna B. Ndulo, Professor of Law, Director of Institute for African Development, Cornell University

·         Brent Huffman, Assistant Professor, Medill School of Journalism Northwestern University

·         Tony Gambino, Consultant and Former Mission Director, USAID Congo

·         Xiaohon He, Professor of International Business, Quinnipiac University

                   

12:30 pm – 1:15 pm

Keynote Address

David Shinn, Former United States Ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm 

Zimbabwe: Prospects for a Stable Democracy or Dictatorship?

·      MODERATOR: Corey D. B. Walker, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Africana Studies, Brown University

·      Alex Vines, Research Director, Royal Institute of International Affairs; Chair of Africa Program, Chatham House

·      Blair Rutherford, Director of the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University  

·      John Campbell, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Senior Fellow for African Policy Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

·      Robert Rotberg, Director, Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution, Harvard University; President, World Peace Foundation 

·      Chitsaka Chipaziwa, Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the United Nations

·      C. E. Onukaogu, Resident Commissioner, The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Anambra State, Nigeria

·      Vivian Nkechinyere Enomoh, The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Anambra State, Nigeria

3:15 pm – 5:15 pm

Literature: The Spoken Word

MODERATOR: Alastair Niven, Principal, Cumberland Lodge

Chinua Achebe

Sonia Sanchez

Jayne Cortez

Yusef Komunyakaa

Obiora Udechukwu

 Bassey Ikpi

-------------------------

RELATED TOPIC 

2011 Achebe Colloquium To Explore Arab Spring, Zimbabwean And Darfur Crises

National Honours Controversy: Chinua Achebe's Reaction...

On November 16, 2011, Professor Chinua Achebe, author of the classic, Things Fall Apart, and Africa's best known writer turned 81.

Chinua Achebe

While his family, readers and admirers across the globe rejoiced with him on that day and thanked God for his life, Dr. Chidi Achebe,  the President/CEO of Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, Dorchester, MA, and son of the literary icon, was asked what Professor Achebe's reaction was to the hullabaloo from the Nigerian Presidency surrounding his rejection of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) – Nigeria's Third Highest National Honour—offered to him by the Goodluck Jonathan's Administration.

His Reply:

"Today is Prof's 81st birthday, the family and well wishers around the globe are giving thanksgiving to GOD almighty!

The last I saw, Professor Achebe was digging into a delicious piece of cake.

What reaction? I will honestly tell you that Professor Achebe does not know who Reuben Abati is; has not read his reaction nor does he care to do so.

Professor Achebe loves his native country Nigeria; he did what he has done all his life -  told the truth as he sees it. Many will accept it, some will not, and that is the way it is."

President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President

 Namadi Sambo

Professor Achebe whose works have been translated into many major languages of the world is the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rohde Island, USA. 

RELATED ARTICLES

Again, Chinua Achebe Rejects Nigerian National Honour 
 

Chairman of Nigeria's Anti-Graft Body (EFCC), Farida Waziri, Sacked

... Ibrahim Lamorde Appointed Acting Chairman

The Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, has been relieved of her appointment.

Mrs. Farida Waziri, Former EFCC Chair

A statement issued this morning and signed by Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to President Goodluck Jonathan, states that the President has approved the appointment of Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde as the Acting Chairman/Chief Executive of the anti graft body. 

Ibrahim Lamorde, The New Chairman

The statement gave no reasons for the removal of Mrs. Waziri who was appointed EFCC Chairman by Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 18, 2008 and confirmed by the Senate on May 27, 2008.

Mr. Lamorde whose appointment takes immediate effect is an officer of the Nigeria Police, and was, until this appointment the Director of Operations of the EFCC. He was also Ag. Chairman of the EFCC before Mrs. Waziri assumed duty at the Commission.

Again, Chinua Achebe Rejects Nigerian National Honour

...President Jonathan Regrets Writer's Decision... Foremost Nigerian writer and author of the classic, Things Fall Apart, Professor Chinua Achebe, has turned down the National Honour awarded him by President Goodluck Jonathan. Achebe who was nominated for Nigeria's third highest Honour -- The Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) would have been one of the 364 Nigerians to be conferred with various Honours on Monday, November 14, 2011.  Chinua Achebe In statement, Achebe who had rejected the same award given to him by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, declared:  "The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me. I must therefore regretfully decline the offer again." Achebe who will be 81 on November 16 is David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.  In a swift reaction on Sunday, November 13, President Jonathan regretted Achebe's decision to excuse himself from the Honour.   "Coming as it does, against the background of the widely acclaimed electoral reforms undertaken by the Jonathan Administration, the claim by Prof. Achebe clearly flies in the face of the reality of Nigeria’s current political situation,"  a statement from the Presidency said. "Politically," the statement continued,  "Nigeria cannot be said to be where it was in 2004 as the Jonathan Administration has embarked on extensive electoral reforms to institute a regime of electoral integrity that all Nigerians can be proud of, believing that governance will be greatly enhanced in the country if the will of the people prevails at elections. While President Jonathan acknowledges that there are still challenges in the path of Nigeria’s attainment of its full potentials as a nation, he believes that his Administration is moving the country in the right direction and therefore deserves the support, encouragement and cooperation of all citizen." President Goodluck Jonathan and VP Namadi Sambo During The Inauguration Party In Abuja  Concluding, the Presidency stated that despite his rejection of the award, "Prof. Achebe remains, in President Jonathan’s consideration, a national icon, a Nigerian of high attainments, indeed one of the greatest living Africans of our time." While rejecting the National Honour in 2004, Achebe in a letter to President Obasanjo had stated: “I write this letter with a very heavy heart. For some time now I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom.  I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency. “Forty three years ago, at the first anniversary of Nigeria's independence I was given the first Nigerian National Trophy for Literature. In 1979, I received two further honors – the Nigerian National Order of Merit and the Order of the Federal Republic – and in 1999 the first National Creativity Award. “I accepted all these honors fully aware that Nigeria was not perfect; but I had a strong belief that we would outgrow our shortcomings under leaders committed to uniting our diverse peoples.  Nigeria's condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for silence. I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept the high honor awarded me in the 2004 Honors List”. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo   A public affairs analyst observed in Lagos today that Nigerian National Honours appear to have been grievously debased and do not seem to represent any more those sterling ideals like distinction in character, industry  and exceptional accomplishment which they were original meant to celebrate, and so a man of impeccable honour like Achebe is perfectly justified to seek to disassociate himself from them. He wondered why Nigeria should be giving out National Honours at a time corruption is so rife in the country, insecurity of lives of property so pronounced, and quality of life badly devalued. "Such a preoccupation does not portray us as serious people before the outside world," he declared.