Tuesday, 23 January 2018

DISMOUNT FROM THE HORSE - OBASANJO TELLS BUHARI


Source:https://www.facebook.com/aniomaleadership/posts/1253820754762173

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday, in a blistering and excoriating 13-page statement has called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019.
Mr. Obasanjo, in a special press statement entitled, “The Wat Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement” said Mr Buhari has performed far below expectation and should honourably “dismount from the horse” to join the league of the country’s former leaders whose “experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country.”
Mr Obasanjo, a two-term president on the platform of People Democratic Party (PDP), said he feels disappointed by Mr Buhari, whom he supported during the 2015 election over then incumbent and candidate of his former party, Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr Obasanjo had written a condemnatory open letter in December 2013 titled “Before it is Too Late” where he highlighted the numerous failings of the Mr Jonathan administration.
Mr Obasanjo argued that his decision to go against Mr Jonathan, at the time was the right one as events in the last three years have since proved, was for the good of the nation and nothing personal.
“Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
“He has a role to play on the side line for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.”
Likening the state of the nation to lice-invested clothes, he said the country’s fingernails is stained with blood as it tries to kill the lice by pressing them in-between two fingernails. According to him, in other to make sure that our fingernails remains blood-free we must do what it takes rid our clothes of lice.
“The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today,” he wrote.
“With such lice of general and specific poor performance and crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of ‘blood’,” he added.
While thanking Mr Buhari for the effort of his administration in rolling back the Boko Haram insurgency and his fight against corruption, Mr Obasanjo said Mr Buhari has ultimately failed in other areas where he had thought he would be efficient.
The octogenarian, who bagged a PhD over the weekend, admitted he knew Mr Buhari was weak in handling the economy, he went ahead and voted for him because at the time “it was a matter of ‘any option but Jonathan’” and because he thought Mr Buhari would appoint qualified Nigerians to help out in that area.
He slammed Mr Buhari for turning a blind eye to corruption within his government saying it amounted to condonation and cover-up saying whoever is “going to justice must be with clean hands.”
He also berated Mr Buhari for allowing the clashes between herdsmen and farmers to go “sour” and messy saying the endorsement of the President by some governors to seek re-election barely 24 hours after 73 people who were killed by herdsmen in Benue State were given mass burial was “a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness.”
But Mr Obasanjo reserved his harshest words for what he described as Mr Buhari’s clannishness, lack of understanding of the dynamics of politics, and his tendencies to pass the buck of his government’s inadequacies to the immediate past administration.
“But there are three other areas where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him. One is nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of his government to the detriment of the nation. It would appear that national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest. What does one make of a case like that of Maina:
collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public?
“The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics. This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more pronounced. It also has effect on general national security.
“The third is passing the buck. For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past governments for it, is to say the least, not accepting one’s own responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing today. If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game.”
Buhari and the APC do not have the answer
Mr Obasanjo thus argued that neither Mr Buhari nor his party, the All Progressives Congress hold the solution to the country’s problems. He suggested that Mr Buhari was not healthy enough to withstand the rigour associated with running a country like Nigeria neither does his party capable of providing the answer needed to sail the country through its difficulties.
Mr Obasanjo said Buhari should step down at the end of his first term with honour and dignity and attend to his health and should not listen to the his “self-serving so-called adviserswho would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that without him, there would be no Nigeria say.”
“President Buhari needs a dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest, once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country. His place in history is already assured. Without impaired health and strain of age, running the affairs of Nigeria is a 25/7 affair, not 24/7.
“I only appeal to brother Buhari to consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age. I continue to wish him robust health to enjoy his retirement from active public service. President Buhari does not necessarily need to heed my advice. But whether or not he heeds it, Nigeria needs to move on and move forward,” he said.
“I have had occasion in the past to say that the two main political parties – APC and PDP – were wobbling. I must reiterate that nothing has happened to convince me otherwise. If anything, I am reinforced in my conviction. The recent show of PDP must give grave and great concern to lovers of Nigeria.
“To claim, as has been credited to the chief kingmaker of PDP, that for procuring the Supreme Court judgement for his faction of the Party, he must dictate the tune all the way and this is indeed fraught with danger.
“If neither APC nor PDP is a worthy horse to ride to lead Nigeria at this crucial and critical time, what then do we do? Remember Farooq Kperogi, an Associate Professor at the Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States, calls it “a cruel Hobson’s choice; it’s like a choice between six and half a dozen, between evil and evil. Any selection or deflection would be a distinction without a difference.” We cannot just sit down lamenting and wringing our hands desperately and hopelessly.
Coalition of Nigerians
Having ruled out the PDP and the ruling APC of possessing the panacea to the malaise that ails the country, Mr Obasanjo therefore called for a movement he termed Coalition of Nigeria, which he offered to be a part of, to wrest power from the present ruling class and lead the country into the path of rebirth.
“We can collectively save ourselves from the position we find ourselves. It will not come through self-pity, fruitless complaint or protest but through constructive and positive engagement and collective action for the good of our nation and ourselves and our children and their children. We need moral re-armament and engaging togetherness of people of like-mind and goodwill to come solidly together to lift Nigeria up. This is no time for trading blames or embarking on futile argument and neither should we accept untenable excuses for non-performance.
“Let us accept that the present administration has done what it can do to the limit of its ability, aptitude and understanding. Let the administration and its political party platform agree with the rest of us that what they have done and what they are capable of doing is not good enough for us. They have given as best as they have and as best as they can give. Nigeria deserves and urgently needs better than what they have given or what we know they are capable of giving. To ask them to give more will be unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four years if not destroy it beyond the possibility of an early recovery and substantial growth.
“The development and modernization of our country and society must be anchored and sustained on dynamic Nigerian culture, enduring values and an enchanting Nigerian dream. We must have abiding faith in our country and its role and place within the comity of nations. Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck. All hands of men and women of goodwill must be on deck. We need all hands to move our country forward.
“We need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a Movement at this juncture needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong. That Movement must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. Coalition to salvage and redeem our country. You can count me with such a Movement. Last time, we asked, prayed and worked for change and God granted our request. This time, we must ask, pray and work for change with unity, security and progress. And God will again grant us. Of course, nothing should stop such a Movement from satisfying conditions for fielding candidates for elections. But if at any stage the Movement wishes to metamorphose into candidate-sponsoring Movement for elections, I will bow out of the Movement because I will continue to maintain my non-partisan position. Coalition for Nigeria must have its headquarters in Abuja.
“This Coalition for Nigeria will be a Movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward. It must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youth and our women. It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress. It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair. Our country must not be oblivious to concomitant danger around, outside and ahead. Coalition for Nigeria must be a Movement to break new ground in building a united country, a socially-cohesive and moderately prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active part in global division of labour and international decision-making.
“The Movement must work out the path of development and the trajectory of development in speed, quality and equality in the short- medium- and long-term for Nigeria on the basis of sustainability, stability, predictability, credibility, security, cooperation and prosperity with diminishing inequality. What is called for is love, commitment and interest in our country, not in self, friends and kinship alone but particularly love, compassion and interest in the poor, underprivileged and downtrodden. It is our human duty and responsibility so to do. Failure to do this will amount to a sin against God and a crime against humanity.”
http://frankofili.net/…/dis

CATTLE COLONIES, ANOTHER AVENUE FOR FURTHER BLOODBATH BY THE FULANI HERDSMEN. - by SHABA Mafu.




In the midst of the enduring violence occasioned by the Fulani herdsmen obviously suffering from megalomania, and the consequent Committee set up and chaired by the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the federal government is considering the establishment of cattle colonies across Nigeria. This singular move has beaten my imagination hollow. Questions that had become a nightmare have engulfed my heart and have refused to diffuse away even when I am wide awake. Can this move of the federal government be considered as official wickedness or thoughtlessness and an unsolicited concern for these societal deviants?
Cattle-rearing is a private business in Nigeria. Why is the government so particular in its attempt to create cattle colonies to murderers whose delight is to mercilessly extinguish life from fellow citizens with abandon? How much tax do these abnormal nomads pay into the government coffers? What value do they add, in terms of national economic development, than to deplete the enviable and indispensable human resources of the Nigerian nation? How many empowerment programmes has the government been pursuing with these kind of vigour, for those in genuine quest for a productive and clean business enterprises devoid of human bloodshed?
The Committee set up is not only to appease these Fulani vampires, but it is best described as  window-dressing approach to deal with a burning national issue. No one has heard  of how many of these Fulani marauders have been arrested, not even as the Inspector-General of Police has shifted his abode to the theatre of violence, and given two weeks by the Nigerian Senate to arrest the perpetrators of the violence. I think that the first step that would have assuaged the anger and pains of the families of victims and the entire country is to apprehend and prosecute the murderers, so as to also seek justice for the dead. It is not setting up of committees first, (though that may be a way of looking for long term approach to end the crisis), but this appears to show the government’s complicity in the entire drama of this carnage. The government should also stop the myriad of promises that the herdsmen’s carnage will soon end.  It is not a festival with an end-date. This carnage must end and end now!; the impunity must stopped and the murderers If convicted punished according to the law of the land. Enough of kids’ gloves on these devils called the herdsmen! Former President Jonathan had once said that his political ambition does not worth the blood of any human being. He stood by his word...that is integrity! But contemporarily, it appears that the lives of gaunt cows are worth more than the blood of 75 humans.
Whenever the government claims to distribute fertilizers to farmers in those days, no government official monitors to ensure the effective distribution of such products with such suspicious zeal as deployed in this herdsmen case. Once the project is announced, it is left entirely in the hands of political villains. The government does not intervene with the interest and vigour it is showing to the herdsmen who are of same parentage with the boko harams. If the government is fighting the boko harams with all the ability it can muster, why are they now petting the issue of these unrepentant murderers and marauders? The N100 Billion purported to have been released by the immediate past government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,  in the bid to resolve the carnage of the herdsmen and the farmers; where has the money sunk into? No one has been able to account for it till now. The National Parliament stands aloof on this.  
Now, the government is contemplating cattle colonies. I ask, will the government eat up their conscience to cut a piece of land, for instance, from same Benue State itself and cede it to the Fulani herdsmen for grazing of their cattle? Or will the government use the burial ground of the 75 murdered people on a New Year day, in Benue State as part of the colonies perhaps when the place has grown enough grasses for the cows’ consumption?  No reasonable State will cede any part of its land to these roaming book harams as Cattle colonies.
The implication of establishing Cattle colonies is that when these marauders settle in such a place, they reproduce in binary numbers and in quick succession for the purpose of dominating and overwhelming their hosts in population. Very soon, the entire place will be dominated and infested with these herdsmen and their children. To further compound the problems, these are damned and irredeemable illiterates who lack the societal orientation of cohabiting with normal human beings in a sane society. They will soon expand the boundaries of their so-called cattle delineated colonies, thereby creating boundary disputes resulting in another protracted bloodbath. No Southern State and middle belt part of the country should abide by the antics of the federal government. There are enough grasses in the Sambisa forest. Let the so-called herdsmen be restricted there if the government so loves them. There is enough vast land in the North where these Fulani herdsmen could establish their cattle-rearing business. No numbers of cows equals a single human life.
The government can at best establish Cattle Ranches for them in their states of origin, just like the example President Muhammadu Buhari has shown when he visited his cattle farm in his hometown in Daura, Katsina State. The President’s cattle were not moving from place to place with their herdsmen attacking and killing their hosts. They simply stayed put in their ranches and looking well fed and comfortable. The Ranches have reduced the risks of attacks from wild animals and other threats of both the animals and their keepers in the course of moving from one place to the other. There will be longevity to both the animals and their keepers, adding to a greater economic value. Let all the herdsmen (if they are truly one) return to their States, erect ranches, take care of their cattle and then reach out to other parts of the country for the purpose of marketing their products. The government must invent more sophisticated ways of rearing cattle in our contemporary world, instead of staying glued to archaic and anarchic methods of traditional cattle rearing. It is through this way that we can have an enduring peace and lasting solution in the country on this issue.

Friday, 19 January 2018

2019: DUKE, EZEKWESILI, AGBAKOBA, UTOMI IN NEW ALLIANCE TO BATTLE APC, PDP.

Source: http://dailypost.ng/2018/01/18/2019-duke-ezekwesili-agbakoba-utomi-new-alliance-battle-apc-pdp/#.WmIrNwrV5l4.facebook
Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), which has former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, Tafawa Balewa, and Prof. Pat Utomi, as members, has vowed to rescue Nigeria in 2019.
The group said it would be providing an alternative to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Former Education minister, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili is also a member of the group, including former Information minister, Frank Nweke Jnr, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd), Ayo Obe, Rabiu Ishyaku Rabiu, former presidential adviser, Akin Osuntokun.
A statement from the NIM secretariat in Abuja, yesterday, described the group as a pro-democracy movement and pressure group of like-minded Nigerians who are committed to changing the political order, which has failed to fashion a Nigeria that works for all.
“NIM is concerned that the political elite, since independence, and particularly, since the exit of the military from visible power in 1999, has proved that it is ill-equipped and unprepared for the challenge of transforming our nation from its under-developed status to one that is prosperous and can create a veritable environment for the realisation of its citizens’ potentials and well-being.
“It is clear that the political elite, as currently represented by the two dominant political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC), among others, have failed Nigerians, for lack of clear Ideology and principle on how to run the country.
“Concerned that left to their schemes and antics, this class of entrenched leaders will lead Nigeria into a state of indescribable human misery, characterised by death, hunger, disease, illiteracy and manipulation.
“Therefore, the NIM, being unable to continue to stand aloof, has decided to create a third political force, a platform to mobilise all citizens of goodwill and conscience towards engendering a new political system and culture in Nigeria, capable of bringing about the desired opportunities for all to actualise their dreams and potentialities; a nation where no man or group is oppressed.”
The statement noted that to drive NIM’s vision are: Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (Co-Chair); Dr. Jhalil Tafawa Balewa (Co-Chair); Professor Pat Utomi (Deputy Chair); Rabiu Ishyaku Rabiu (Deputy Chair); Comrade Isah Aremu (Deputy Chair) and Chief Akin Osuntokun (Deputy Chair).
Other officers include Hajia Aisha Aliyu (Women Leader), Mr Dayo Israel (Youth Leader), Dr Osagie Obayuwana (Legal Adviser), Hajia Shetu Alfa Ibrahim (Treasurer), Mallam Naseer Kura (Publicity Secretary), Col. Abubakar Umar Dangiwa (Ex -Officio), Dr Oby Ezekwesili (Ex -Officio) and Mrs Ayo Obe (Ex-Officio), Sir Olawale Okunniyi (National Secretary/Director General).
Chairmen of standing committees are: Mr Donald Duke (Finance Committee); Prof Jibrin Ibrahim (Ideology Commission); Comrade Najeem Usman (Political Commission); Mallam Tanko Yinusa (Mobilisation); Mr Wale Ajani (Students & Youth); Mr Taiwo Akinola (Diaspora Commission); Mr Tony Uranta (Strategy & Engagement) and Mallam Shittu Kabir (Contact/Logistics).
Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), which has former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charle
DAILYPOST.NG

Monday, 15 January 2018

THE DEFINITION OF TERRORISM BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT by SHABA Mafu



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As far as the federal government of Nigeria is concerned, terrorism means when an individual or a group threatens to secede from the country. It does not matter whether the potential secessionists have the capacity or not to do that. Even if they are armed with woods and brooms or merely expressing themselves by drumming round the town, the government will brand them as terrorists and they will stage dances like the PYTHON DANCE or would smile at them with the teeth of the crocodile: CROCODILE SMILE.
We are not undermining the mindless killings of the vampires like the boko harams. No! Those are from a different kingdom entirely. But why is it that even if half of a state is wiped out by murderers and marauders, no one terms them as terrorists. Do you know why? Because they did not say they want to leave Nigeria. They can stay in Nigeria and allowed to kill their fellow countrymen. Then someone can only appeal to the victims and their families to kindly “accommodate their fellow countrymen”.
Whether the federal government declares the Fulani herdsmen as terrorists or not, they are known to be terrorists by their activities. There is no difference between the Fulani herdsmen and the boko haram! They are people who have no single value for human lives! They are all terrorists!
If IPOB that have not killed their fellow countrymen as did the Fulani herdsmen, but because they merely said they were leaving Nigeria, they were branded as terrorists and Python went to dance twice in the South-east; what more can we say of the evil men that cut down the lives of over 75 Nigerians on the wake of A NEW YEAR DAY? What is more of terrorism than this?
For the Fulani herdsmen, the Python has suddenly gone lame and the crocodile have become mere toothless poodles.

Sunday, 14 January 2018

'I MISS SCHOOL TO FETCH CLEAN WATER'

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-42567158

The foothills of the Gurue mountainsImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Mario Macilau was 23 in 2007 when he swapped his mother's mobile phone for a Nikon camera. Photography wasn't new to him, however, as he had been taking pictures of daily life in his home town in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, since he was 14 years old.
His subjects ranged from the street children who squat in Maputo's empty buildings to workers in the country's cement industry. Now, he has turned his camera to the subject of water.
These pictures, taken towards the end of 2017, were taken in collaboration with WaterAid for the Untapped appeal which runs until the end of January. Over the next three years Macilau will record the monumental changes brought by the introduction of clean water and toilets to communities in the Cuamba district of Mozambique.
Three boys smile for the camera.Image copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
An elderly man's feet on the hard earthImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Josefina carries water home from the Rio Naranja in a bucket.Image copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Josefina (above) and Eudicia, both 12 years old, have to miss school up to four times a week in order to collect water.
They walk to the Rio Naranja, a stream running off the Muassi river, which is the main source of water for inhabitants of Muassi village.
The stream is stagnant and the water the girls collect is milky in colour, says Macilau.
According to WaterAid, globally about one in nine children does not have clean water close to home, and one in three does not have a decent toilet.
Every day, almost 800 children under the age of five die from diarrheal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation.
The Rio Nanjana with its stagnant waterImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Josefina and Eudicia climb a hill with buckets balanced on their heads.Image copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
A bucket in the river Lurio after the rains.Image copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
During the rainy season, the River Lurio becomes unusable as a source of drinking water because the surrounding dirt and excrement gets washed into it.
In M'mele village, a mud-brick house was destroyed by heavy rainfall and flooding three years ago.
And the village leader says people are moving away due to problems with the water supply.
A mud brick house destroyed by heavy rainfall and floodingImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
An elderly farmer stands in his field, overlaid onto an image of a puddle of murky waterImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Image captionMacilau's image of an elderly farmer has been overlaid on to another picture of a puddle of murky water
Angelina with her daughter Irene in Sosina MaselImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Image captionAngelina with her daughter Irene in Sosina Masel
Elisa Piassone and Zaida walk along the road between M'mele and KimarImage copyrightWATERAID/ MARIO MACILAU
Image captionElisa Piassone and Zaida walk along the road between M'mele and Kimar as they deliver a bundle of maize flour
All images copyright WaterAid and Mario Macilau.