Tag Archives: Goodluck

Buhari plans to arrest Goodluck Jonathan – Tompolo

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Former Niger Delta militant, Government “Tompolo” Ekpemupolo has said that the Federal Government is planning to arrest former president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Tompolo said further, during an interview with Sahara Reporters, that the FG is trying to use him to get through to Jonathan

“I am just a victim of circumstances. I am just a perceived enemy of the government. The intention of the government was to arrest former President Goodluck Jonathan. But they feel that arresting Jonathan without arresting me may be difficult, that was the reason why they are after me,” he said.

Tompolo also denied being a sponsor of militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

“I have refuted the allegation. Even the government knows that I am not a sponsor of the Niger Delta Avengers. They are only looking for something to nail me,” He said.

Jonathan has also been accused of sponsoring NDA but the former president has since denied the reports.

Tompolo has been in hiding since he was accused of money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Tompolo’s Contract Remains Intact – New NIMASA Boss

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NIMASA has rubbished reports that the federal government has broken off its relationship with Tompolo’s company which is in charge of pipeline security in parts of the country.

Isichie Osangbi, Deputy Director of Public relations for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) denied receiving any directive from the presidency to discontinue payment to Global West Vessel Specialists Nigeria Limited (GWVSNL) for the provision of platforms for security of the nation’s waterways, which is owned by the ex-militant leader.

“NIMASA is a government agency and would always implement government policy or reform in the maritime sector and not to be seen doing the opposite. Also, as a government agency, NIMASA ought
to be in the know if there was any such directive or change in policy, since the alleged directive, according to those peddling the rumour, was meant for the agency to put an end to all payments to Global West Vessel.

“I tell you with due sense of responsibility that there is no such directive. If there is, nothing would have stopped NIMASA from informing members of the public or issuing statement to that effect,” he said.

“We are aware of our core mandate and we will do everything to enforce the federal government law as it affects the maritime sector. No rumor or falsehood will distract us,” he said.

The maritime security contract was approved by former President Goodluck Jonathan and awarded by NIMASA in 2011.

Prosecute Goodluck Jonathan And Patience- Bayelsa APC Chieftain

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A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Perekeme Kpodo has stated that former president, Goodluck Jonathan, his wife and their associates should be investigated and prosecuted for looting Nigeria’s resources.

Chief Kpodo, made the call at a news conference in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital on Wednesday, July 22, 2015.

In his statement he said:

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to order a detailed investigation into the acts of fraud and embezzlement by these defectors and their associates.”

“We support the moves by Buhari for the prosecution of former President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife, Patience Jonathan and his known associates for the looting and associated crimes committed against the state.”

Chief Kpodo also said that the APC would not become a dumping ground for desperate looters and thieves in need of protection from prosecution.

Jonathan’s Last-minute Appointments Tears Civil Service Apart

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THE crisis in the federal civil service appeared to have worsened with career civil servants protesting against the absorption of 530 aides and cronies of former President Goodluck Jonathan into the civil service in the last days of the past administration.

The new recruits into the service were also said to have been installed in high positions, from assistant directors upward. Already, six deputy directors in the federal civil service are in court to protest against the manner the last promotion examination to directors’ level was handled by the Federal Civil Service Commission.

The FCSC released the list of newly-promoted directors in October 2014.

The six aggrieved deputy directors – Dr. John Magbadelo, Mrs. Ada Ihechukwu Madubuike, Mrs.
Ganiat Ayodele, Mr. Olusegun Oginni, Mrs. Janet Ayorinde and Mr. Otajele Musa – filed an action at the National Industrial Court on March 26, 2015 to question the exercise.

Most senior civil servants are said to be unhappy with the FCSC, a situation which is said to have been made worse by the Jonathan recruits into the service.

Sources told The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday that between the time Jonathan lost the presidential election of April 11 and the May 29 handover date, 530 persons from different backgrounds had their appointments into the civil service regularised.

A director in one of the sensitive ministries told our correspondent that the FCSC, through ‘‘crafty schemes’’, brought into the civil service “numerous aides of the former President Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo and ministers.

The director, who asked not to be named, said, “These new recruits are placed on very high grades as assistant directors, deputy directors, and directors.

It was gathered from a reliable source that their appointments were made through a “regularisation window’’, which the FCSC backdated to December, 2014.

“Through regularisation, fresh graduate appointees were placed on Grade Level 12 instead of Grade Level 08, while some others were upgraded to very high levels in defiance of extant rules. We now have letters of regularisation flying around the ministries.

“No fewer than 530 people are being regularised into the service from different backgrounds, including unscheduled private enterprises. These atrocities are responsible for the depletion of vacancies, which ought to be utilised for the promotion of deserving serving officers in the federal civil service.”

Another aggrieved director in one of the parastatals under the Presidency said that the FCSC had, in the last six years, been under serious pressure by ranking politicians, who insisted on giving jobs in the civil service as rewards to their cronies.

The director cited the case of one political appointee, who was allegedly moved from Grade Level 09 to Grade level 16, and subsequently moved three months after to the post of director on Salary Grade Level 17.

He said this was just one of the many recent irregularities perpetrated by the FCSC, “while the chairman of the FCSC, Deaconess Joan Ayo, keeps saying that lack of vacancy was responsible for the non-promotion of most deputy directors who passed last year’s promotion examination.”

“Just anybody with the right connection or big purse can be promoted or transferred to the post of a director in the civil service today. These transfers are being done in violation of the extant public service rules, which the FCSC published and circulated to all government offices,” the official alleged.

Many of the directors, who spoke to our correspondent on the alleged rot in the civil service, called for the review of both the promotion exercise and “illegal” recruitment into the high cadre in the government offices.

But the FCSC has denied the allegation, saying it never recruited illegally into the civil service.

The Assistant Director of Press, FCSC, Dr. Joel Oruche, said the allegations of illegal recruitment for political reasons were all lies.

Oruche said, “At no time did the commission employ aides of former President, Vice President, ministers or any key political figure in the Jonathan’s government, either as a parting gift or in compliance with a directive from the above-mentioned political figures.

“The FCSC, in the discharge of its mandate, has put in place, internal checks and balances in the process of appointments and promotion. This guarantees transparent process that checkmates activities and antics of fraudsters, who are in the business of issuing fake appointment letters.

“For the avoidance of doubts, FCSC begins appointments only when the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation has forwarded vacancies to it. These declared vacancies are shared among the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. Appointments into the vacant positions are processed by honourable commissioners representing respective states.

“After processing the appointments by commissioners, all appointment letters are checked and signed by the director in charge of recruitment and appointment while the Office of the Permanent Secretary puts the commission’s seal on the letters.”

However, the Secretary-General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Mr. Alade Lawal, confirmed that there had been rampant cases of illegal recruitment into the civil service.

Lawal said the FCSC had bastardised the recruitment process into the service on the spurious ground that it was acting on directive from the Presidency to grant waiver to some states.

He said, “But the commission cannot hide under a Presidential waiver to recruit incompetent and unqualified persons into the federal public service and impose them as seniors on those with higher qualifications, experience and competence. We have never had it so bad.

“One of the negative results of this ill-advised policy is that directors, who have served the country meritoriously for decades, cannot rise to the peak of their careers as all manner of persons are recruited into the service to take over top positions, including that of permanent secretaries and general managers.”

The ASCSN secretary lamented that graduates with eight years post-qualification experience were being drafted into the public service on grade level 16 or 17 because they have connections with top politicians.

“These illegal recruits are then made permanent secretaries after about two or three years. This is very unfortunate as it demoralises dedicated officers who no longer see any future in the service. The ASCSN has engaged the FCSC on the vexed issue and all indications point to the fact that the recruitments were deliberately made,” Lawal stated.

He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to ensure that the FCSC abide by the public service rules, establishments circulars, scheme of service, and its guidelines on appointment, promotion and discipline in respect of recruitment into the public service.

“If urgent step is not taken to reverse this trend of illegal recruitment into the public service, the system may collapse and the government will not be able to effect the type of change it wants in the polity since the public service is the engine room that oils the wheels of government.”

Amaechi Predicted Buhari’s Victory 2 Years Ago – APC Chieftain

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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has said that the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi predicted the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari, at the just concluded general election two years ago.

He said if not for the emergence of Buhari as President, former President Goodluck Jonathan and his loyalists would have arrested and jailed Amaechi for championing the defeat of his own brother from the Niger Delta region.

Eze, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the former governor foresaw the emergence of Buhari as President before he made history as the first Nigerian to defeat a sitting President in an election.

He said, “When it comes to believing in the abilities of President Buhari, I am yet to see anyone who can rival Amaechi.

His love for Buhari and strong belief in his ability to take Nigeria out of the woods is like an obsession.

“I can still vividly remember how Amaechi predicted Buhari’s emergence as President during the early days of APC and long before the issue of who would fly the party’s flag came up.

When on 9th September, 2013, my appointment as the National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) was announced to Nigerians the only brief I received was the 30 minutes encounter I had with Governor Amaechi.

“During that encounter he kept repeating that whenever General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) accepted to fly the flag of the mega opposition.

Political party in the country, the unseating of President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP would become a reality.

“I was deeply impressed by his strong belief in General Buhari. It was based on this that I went boldly into the field and with the cooperation of the G7 Governors and other leaders of the New PDP; we were able to dismantle what was the famous and largest political party in Africa (PDP).”

Eze, who is also the senior special assistant on Media to the chairman of APC in Rivers State, stated that Amaechi pursued Buhari’s emergence as APC presidential candidate with evangelical zeal after New PDP joined APC.

The APC chieftain said, “This obsession explains why Amaechi did all within his powers to ensure that Buhari emerged as the flag bearer of APC during the Lagos Convention and, as the Director General of the Buhari Campaign Organization, worked even harder to ensure the ouster of former President Goodluck Jonathan during the March 28, 2015 presidential election.”

The former national publicity secretary of the defunct New PDP commended Buhari for his vision for a greater Nigeria as espoused in his Inaugural Address and his early steps since he assumed office last Friday, May 29, 2015.

He said, “Nigerians should be patient and pray for Buhari’s success. He is the best man for the job but he cannot do it alone, hence the need for all of us to give him the necessary support to deliver the dividends of democracy.”

Jonathan, Sambo, Others To Get N3.24bn Severance Pay

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Sambo and Jonathan

Sambo and Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-president Namadi Sambo, non-returning federal lawmakers, ministers and   presidential aides will collect N3.24bn as severance allowances, investigation byThe PUNCH has shown.

The severance allowances   are contained in the Remuneration Package   put together by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

According to the package, Jonathan, who will hand over to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29, is entitled to 300 per cent of his annual basic salary.

The President’s annual basic salary is put at N3, 514,705 and therefore his severance allowance will be N10, 544,115 after May 29.

The severance allowance is without prejudice to his other constitutional entitlements as a former head of government.

Similarly, Vice-President Sambo, who leaves office the same day as Jonathan, is also entitled to 300 per cent of his annual basic salary put at N3, 031,572.50. This means that his severance allowance after May 29 is N9, 094,717.50.

For having held the office of vice- president, Sambo also has some constitutional entitlements and perks.

About 76 senators are not returning to the National Assembly either because they did not stand for election or because they lost their bids to return. They are however entitled to N462,019,200 at the expiration of their tenure on June 5.

Like Jonathan and Sambo, they are entitled to 300 per cent of their annual basic salaries as severance allowances. This amounts to N6, 079,200 per senator.

In the House of Representatives, about 290 members are not returning to the 8th National Assembly to be proclaimed into existence by Buhari on June 5.

Each of the members is entitled to N5, 955,637.50 as severance allowance. This means that the 290 members   will be paid N1, 727,134,875.

The ministers, on the other hand, will be collecting a total of N253, 967,212.5. There are 42 ministers in Jonathan’s cabinet. Thirty one of them are senior ministers and 11 are ministers of state.

Each of the senior ministers is entitled to N6, 079,200 severance allowance while each of the ministers of state   will receive N5, 872,740.

This means that collectively, the senior ministers will get N188, 455,200 at the expiration of their tenure on May 29 while collectively, the ministers of state will be collecting N65, 512,012.5 .

The aides to the President comprising special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants   will   get   N775, 207,125.

There are 23 of them who work with the president as special advisers. Apart from this number, however, there are several others estimated at 110 who work with the vice-president, the First Lady(Patience Jonathan) and special advisers that are designated either as senior special assistants or special assistants to the President.

This means that there are about 133 aides to the president and each of them is entitled to 300 per cent of their annual basic salary which amounts to N5, 828,625.

The Nigerian democracy has been identified as one of the costliest in the world as a result of a large number of political office holders.

Some experts, for instance, think that a cabinet made up of 42 ministers is too large. However, constitutionally, each of the 36 states   is expected to be represented in the Federal Executive Council.

Bicameralism is another source of worry for many observers who believe that Nigeria can do with one chamber of the National Assembly. Some Nigerians have called for part-time legislature as a means of saving cost.

However, the worry of many Nigerians is not what the lawmakers earn monthly but what accrues to them through self-appropriation and   constituency projects.

Two activist   lawyers – Jiti Ogunye and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa – faulted the basis for earmarking such an amount of money for such purposes in the face of the economic challenges the country is grappling with.

While Adegboruwa argued that the political office holders were not entitled to any severance allowance given what they earned as salaries and benefits while in office, Ogunye called for a drastic cut in the allowances.

Adegboruwa said that since the political office holders had   been paid what could sustain them and their families for the rest of their lives, they   were   no longer entitled to severance allowance.

He said, “I believe that given the monumental and outrageous salaries, benefits and allowances that are being paid to the outgoing members of this executive, the legislators especially the House of Representatives, senators and ministers, I believe they should save Nigerians from the luxury of any outrageous allowance.

“This incoming government needs a lot of resources to fulfil its campaign promises. Our incoming government is likely to remain stagnant for now. Nigeria cannot afford the luxury in the name of severance allowance. Our people are suffering. They should have mercy on Nigeria. What they have taken is enough to sustain them and their families for the rest of their lives.”

Ogunye said, “While the RMAFAC could have its own scale, guidelines and parameters for determining those political office holders who qualify for these severance benefits and the quantum each of them and all of them should recieve, we cannot but point out that this amount, in the circumstances of our dire economic situation, is outrageous.

“It is carrying the culture of profligacy and corruption in the conduct of our public affairs too far. At this point of economic recession and dwindling oil revenue, RMFAC ought to be chiefly concerned with revenue mobilisation to cater for the shortfall in the funding of the yet to be passed 2015 Appropriation bill.

“We suggest a drastic cut in the amount. Political office holders do not necessarily serve Nigeria more and better than school teachers, lecturers, judges, health workers et cetra, who take home modest gratituities and pensions after 35 years of service.”

The Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere,   Yinka Odumakin, said, “It is   unjust   and morally reprehensible for these officials who mostly have fleeced the public till with veracious rapacity to legislate crazy retirement benefits.

“It is nothing but robbing the public for people who lived off the state for four or eight years to want to become permanent liability on the system.

“This is a country where civil servants who served the country for 35 years are queuing to death for pensions that mostly remain unpaid. There are no serious countries in the world where public officials earn what ours take not to talk of the sickening retirement benefits they ask for.”

Source – Punch ng

Patience Jonathan’s Behavior Seriously Irritates PDP Chairman

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Amid the reports that the PDP chairman may be moonlighting for the opposition, speculations are rife as to the reason for this, if there is truth in this suspicion. An associate of the chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, while speaking confidentially to The Cable, said that the PDP chairman is ‘angry’ at the way the President’s wife has been attacking the North in her campaign speeches.

In fact, Mu’azu is not pleased at all with Patience Jonathan’s ‘disrespectful remarks’against Buhari (whom, it will be recalled, she called ‘braindead.’)

Meanwhile, a source in the Buhari camp further told The Cable that “there has been ‘indirect contact’ from Mu’azu whom he said is under “tremendous pressure” from his family back home not to throw his body on the line for Goodluck Jonathan.

Furthermore, the source added, ‘political currents in Bauchi’ have made Mu’azu more inclined to having General Buhari as the next president as against Jonathan.

GEJ Disowns Ex- Militants

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President Jonathan, reacting to threat by some ex-leaders of Niger Delta militants, including Tompolo and Dokubo-Asari, that there would be war if Jonathan is not re-elected to serve his second term, he  said he will vacate seat if he looses the election.

 Speaking through the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, Jonathan said it was reprehensible for people to threaten the country with violence if their candidates lose in the forthcoming election.

He said he has not left anybody in doubt as to his preparedness to conduct a free, fair, credible and transparent election.

Jonathan’s Ph.D Versus Buhari’s “semi-illiteracy” (1) By Dele Sobowale

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“An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher [PHD holder]. A society which scorns excellence in plumbing, because it is humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy, because it is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.” John Gardener, US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

I was living and studying, in the USA, in the late 1960s when Gardener rendered this piece of good advice to graduating students at Harvard University. His aim was to warn the students not to think that their degrees made them superior to others who might not have university education but who were contributing greatly to society.

I also worked at Polaroid Corporation, founded by Dr(Honorary) Edwin Land, the university drop-out who started the revolution in photography by inventing the first instant camera – which all professors of Physics said could not be done. Dr Land eventually employed nothing less than 345 Ph.D holders in various departments of Polaroid Corporation. Some of those who came in with B.Sc received doctorate degrees based on experience and research they conducted at Polaroid.

This is important because Professor Wale Oladipo, National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party had been wasting everybody’s time comparing Jonathan, a Ph.D holder with Buhari – who he described as a semi-illiterate. Oladipo, naturally, failed to define semi-illiteracy in his bid to score cheap political points. That is standard practice for Nigerian professors once they enter the murky waters of politics – they invariably fail the minimum test of scholarship which calls for the definition of terms used in their presentations.

But, let me now take Oladipo up on his own terms by acknowledging that Jonathan holds a doctorate in Zoology. To begin with few, if any applicants for admission to university apply for Botany or Zoology. Their first preferences are often Medicine or Pharmacy. It is when their cut-off marks fall below the requirements for those two highly exalted professions that they are offered Zoology or Botany as a condition for admission to university. It would be interesting to know if Jonathan, ab initio, opted for Zoology or was shunted into that course.

More to the point, my questions are: what had he done with it? In what way had the Nigerian society benefited from his work as a Zoologist? How many papers had he got published in reputable academic journals of Zoology? In what ways had he advanced knowledge in Zoology? Those are the minimum requirements for excellence in academic work and not just the mere possession of a degree – which is a personal thing. There are millions of people all over the world with doctorate degrees who do nothing with them; they are just contented to hold the certificates. Meanwhile, there are technicians who have invented millions of useful equipment, household items, medical and diagnostic materials without the benefit of doctorate degrees. Professor Oladipo will surely agree with me, if he is not too far gone for redemption, that a Bill Gates or Edwin Land, both without Ph.Ds, had benefited the world far more than a million Jonathans and Oladipos who have nothing comparative to their credit but their certificates.

CONTINUITY – FROM THOSE WHO MADE YOUR CHRISTMAS MISERABLE

“Continuity” Jonathan’s adverts lining Abuja Airport.

Nigerians had the worst Christmas since I was born. There was no money. Even Federal Government staff were not paid. There was even black out for several hours on the 25th. Lean pickings at dinning tables and thread-bare clothes rounded up the dreary occasion.

Still PDP wants continuity. Among other horrors and atrocities implied in that request, consider these — continuity of bleak Yuletides; continuity of excuses for not generating more than 4000MW of electricity in 16 years; continuity of frequent ASUU strikes; continuity of mass failure in WASC and, now, Law School; continuity of Ministers purchasing bullet-proof cars and spending billions chartering jets; continuity of Ministry of Interior and other services collecting money from young job applicants and killing some of them and nobody got punished for it; continuity of pensioners dying on queues; continuity of missing Chibok Girls and kidnapped women; continuity of 400,000 barrels of crude stolen everyday in the Niger Delta; continuity of an unelected woman going about disrupting the lives of people everywhere she goes; continuity of NNPC not accounting fully for revenue generated; continuity of depleting External Reserves; continuity of depleted Excess Crude Oil….Need I continue?

In short CONTINUITY at your own peril. You will have a choice in February – to decide if that is what you want.

POWER SECTOR VERSUS NIGERIANS: WAR DECLARED.

“A man [or group] cannot be too careful in its choice of enemies.”

Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

I spent the whole of last year persuading people in my community that Power Distributors were slow in providing metres because they didn’t have the funds. I pleaded they be given more time. After that stupid N500m donation, I will lead the attack on DISCOS from now on.

THANKS FOR STAYING WITH US IN 2014.

I received more Yuletide greetings than I could possibly acknowledge one by one. As usual, I thank everyone – those who agreed, and especially, those who disagreed with me, even Aribisala, on anything written last year. Have a pleasant 2015. Those who disagree and live, live to disagree another day. We shall all live. Amen.

Credit: www.vanguardngr.com

You Either Vote Goodluck Or Bad Luck- Doyin Okupe

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The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, has said that the choice for the 2015 presidential election is crystal clear, noting that, it is either Nigerians vote good luck or back luck.

Okupe while speaking at an event organised to unveil the candidate of President Goodluck Jonathan held at Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, said,” There are two candidates for next year’s election, it is between Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari. The choice in this election is crystal clear, it is either good luck or bad luck.” We are not there yet but we will get there very soon.”

“People say I am a Goodluck Jonathan fanatic and it is true. I stand for and work for what I believe. I have worked for two presidents and I speak because I believe in what I say. I do not wish to denigrate anybody. This Goodluck Jonathan is the very best that we have seen.

“There is no offense to compare ourselves with Goodluck Jonathan. The man Goodluck Jonathan bears a lot of burden, he keeps quiet, he is focused and does not talk anyhow so that Nigeria will remain one. There are members of the opposition that are deaf. It is not by coincidence that every good thing is happening in Nigeria,” he said.

Credit: pmnewsnigeria.com

On Apostle of Peace, Goodluck Jonathan’s Peace Visit To Burkina Faso? By Frank Ijege

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After 27 years of being under his tight fist leadership, the people of Burfina Faso came out in large number to denounce and resist attempts by former president Blaise Compaore to elongate his tenure as president of one of the poorest country in Africa. This resistance by the people has brought an end to 27 years of mis -rule and bad governance and a clear message to everybody that true power reside in the people, if only they will exercise it.
With the fate that befell Blaise Compaore, who is practically a fugitive today, one expects that other sit-tight governments in Africa will be on the alert. The likes of Paul Biya, Idriss Deby, Yoweri Museveni, Jose Eduardo Santos, Todore Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Robert Mugabe and a host of others who have been in power for donkey years, would be jittery now. Burkina Faso seem to have initiated a revolution in West Africa, the kind that swept through North Africa few years ago, which saw the death of several protracted government like Hosni Murbarak of Egypt and Ben Ali of Tunisia. One hopes that other countries will follow suit, restoring the dignity of their battered constitutions, by ensuring that spirit and letter of these constitutions are followed without the frequent abuse they are subjected to.

 Suffice it to state that these revolution is not restricted to elongated governments alone. The people have also risen against governments that were perceived to be going against the interest of the generality of the people. An instance, is Mohammed Morsi of Egypt, who became president after the ouster of Mubarak. When they people discovered his was pursuing an agenda different from the aim of the revolution, they hit the street and he was sent packing. Therefore president or leader is safe, they people can decide to wield their ultimate power.

Nigeria as a country is not immune to a revolution. We tried it during the Occupy Nigeria protest. That protest would have laid a good foundation for a revolution that is to come, but the betray of some people thwarted that move. However, all hope is not lost. The way President Goodluck Jonathan has been handling the affairs of country, a revolution is closer than we think. When the revolution comes, all those who have plunged this country to the pit of underdevlopment, will be made to pay for the sins. Nobody will be spared.

In recent time, the onslaught by boko haram has been growing in leaps and bound. Fierce attacks and capture of town and cities, has been the order of the day. The recent one is the capture and subsequent renaming of Mubi; the capture of Vimtim, the home town of Alex Badeh, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff and so many other towns which fallen to the terrorists. Pictures of people escaping from the new islamic caliphate are everywhere. My friend spent days in the bush before he found he days out of Mubi. Boko Haram now has close to ten local governments under its control, and it is not relenting in its quest to capture more. Recent attacks in Yobe, Gombe and the Kotun Karfe prison in Kogi State, where it freed its members is a pointer to this fact.
The situation is the country is grave and one that calls for drastic measure by the Commander-in-Chief. Sadly, this Commander in Chief is known for abdicating on his primary responsibility to the people. For instance, when the Chibok girls were kidnapped, he didn’t believe they were actually kidnapped. The agitation by the international community woke him from his slumber. True to his nature, Mr. President has traveled to Burkina Faso as an apostle of peace, to broker peace while his country lies in ruin. At a time when Nigeria faces the greatest threat to its existence, one expects the president to be always at home busying himself on ways to find solutions and not globe trotting all in the name of brokering peace. Can you give what you don’t have? What if while trying to broker peace in Burkina Faso, boko haram overruns the whole of Nigeria?

Although I am not surprised with the president’s peace journey to Burkina Faso, because for Jonathan, it has been one blunder after another. I am however astonished and terrified by the passivity of Nigerians. When shall we as a people rise up in unity and demand accountability from those who masquerade as our leaders? We shall we give them the option to either secure our lives or resign honourably? When will Nigerians hit the streets and demand a change in their destiny and the destiny of the country. We cannot continue like this.

At the moment, the primary concern of President Goodluck Jonathan is redeeming his image abroad; that is why he is on a peace mission in Burkina Faso. We must as a people realise that Jonathan is not Nigeria. His personal successes will not translate into a Nigerian success. Nigerians must reclaim the image of Nigeria in the comity of nations. This passivity will not take us anywhere. I pray the revolution comes in my life time.
God bless Nigeria
Frank Ijege
frankijege@yahoo.com
@foijege

Articles on www.omojuwa.com are solely authors opinion

Like Super Eagles, Like Goodluck Jonathan By Ayodele Daniel

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Few days ago, Nigeria played against Uruguay in the on-going Confederations Cup taking place in Brazil. Although the Super Eagles fell 1-2 to the Uruguayans, a random sample of opinions especially from my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter suggests the Coach Stephen Keshi tutored lads did not disappoint. How so?

I did not watch the match. Matter of fact, I’ve stopped watching any game involving the senior national team for a very long time now. Maybe, who knows, I might yet again gather the courage to watch them play just as I salute the millions of Nigerians who have not lost faith in the Super Eagles.

But how did the same Nigerians who once labelled their favourite national team the ‘Super Ducks’, ‘Super Chickens’, etc. suddenly find them ‘Super Eagles’ once more? Did they just hate the coaches, players or were they just too blind to see the ‘achievements’ of the boys on the field of play? Were Nigerians sponsored to hate their own national team? Or did the opposition turn Nigerians against them just to spite the government of the day?

Here lies the true motive of why I’d to put hand to keyboard to type out my thoughts on the Nigerian situation.

The President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration is undoubtedly the most criticized and if I must add, the most misunderstood and mistrusted in Nigerian history. But was it like this from the beginning; the relationship between Nigerians and their President whom they massively voted for in the hope of enjoying a ‘breath of fresh air’? At what point did the relationship turn sour? When did it become one where the head became disconnected from the rest of the body and vice-versa?

I can’t simply place a time-line to it but I make bold to say that the day the present administration began to see every other voice of dissent to its much touted ‘Transformation Agenda’ as the ‘ramblings’ of a ‘disgruntled few’ or an outburst by the ‘collective children of anger,’ that is when it began to isolate itself from the realities on ground.

From my little understanding, contrary to what some might think, Nigerians are a very grateful people but with very short memory. Let me cite an example that touches on almost everyone.

When the Federal Government seemed to have improved (no matter how small) electricity generation and distribution (and don’t pretend like it wasn’t noticeable) in most parts of the country, Nigerians were excited and some even began to see some flicker of hope in the present administration but somewhere along the line (I think with the exit of Prof. Barth Nnaji) the modest effort was frittered and it seemed we descended to a worse state. Did Nigerians continue with their praise-singing? Did you?

We appreciate the little efforts even when we deserve more but why can’t the present administration see some genuineness in some of the criticisms it receives almost on a daily the same way it readily accepts the accolades?

The current dispensation has come to accept only praises but discards knocks, no matter how genuine. In fact, it has come to descend heavily on critics and only just recently set an examination for itself and scored itself ‘A’ in all areas. Who does that?

Obviously, our politicians still haven’t imbibed the spirit of sportsmanship in all their dealings with Nigerians. They are the players; we are the fans. But we are not their supporters’ club.

I digress. No matter how bad the Super Eagles are having it on the field of play, the main job of the Nigeria Supporters Club is to keep cheering them on from the beginning of the blast of the referee’s whistle to the end. The sounds of the trumpets, drums, roars, songs will not ebb. That’s because it is their job. It’s the reason why they registered to join the supporters’ club; to sink or swim with the Eagles. But the fans at home, even some in the stadium don’t agree. Their loyalty is fickle. The Super Eagles have on several occasions been jeered by their home fans for a poor display. Did that make them bad fans? No! It’s just a wake-up call.

When the majority of Nigerians who seemed to be in love with Mr. Jonathan and his style of leadership at first suddenly turned cold and scathing of his policies, his style and person, it did not mean that their hearts were poisoned towards him. It only meant he wasn’t living up to their expectations.

A sensible and God-fearing leader would have retraced his steps and find a way to cement his relationship with the people who stood by him and gave him their mandate, but what did President Jonathan do? He isolated himself the more from the people by surrounding himself with bootlickers and persons of questionable characters whose only interests remain their pockets. And as if that wasn’t enough, the President destroyed whatever remained of that relationship/goodwill by not giving a damn!

Had the Super Eagles not given a damn, carried on as if all was well when it wasn’t, they wouldn’t have found themselves in the good books of majority of Nigerians who now stay up late to watch them play and pray for their victory. That’s the Nigerian spirit; one that recognizes success from a mile off and embraces it while distancing itself from failure immediately it begins to surface.

The present administration will do well to go back to the drawing board as they’ve always done but to the Nigerian people, they must ask their forgiveness for taking them for granted. Yes, they think us fools! We’re the only ones who cannot see the ‘giant’ strides being made in every sector of the economy. In fact, some even say the present administration has exceeded its promise to Nigerians and I ask, in what way?

The present administration must sit-up and set mind to task. They’ve relaxed for too long basking in the infamy of failure and quoting fanciful figures and reports that seem taken from another world not the one we live in where unemployment, poverty, insecurity, corruption, disunity and other evils have probably being the highest of all time.

It won’t be easy, Nigerians will remain sceptical, but I daresay that when the present administration truly begins to make the welfare of the generality of Nigerians its focal point and stop engaging in self-glorification, it will once more begin to enjoy the support of all and sundry in ways unimaginable.

The Super Eagles are a testament to that part of the Nigerian spirit that wipes the slate clean to begin a fresh start.

I am @ayoadaniel on Twitter