The BIG Difference between Pro-Life & Pro-Birth that Many are Missing.

When a Poor Man Dies, No Comets are Seen.

The Political & Economic Implications of the COVID-19 on Developing Countries.

"...while developing countries, including Nigeria, have recorded relatively lesser cases so far, there is a tendency that they could be hit hard by the disease.

On the economic impact of the disease, Zakaria said owing to the drop in the demand for oil globally, the implications for countries like Nigeria could be “political turmoil, refugees, revolutions, crackdowns, maybe terrorism. All of these might happen on a scale we haven’t seen for decades...”.

Nigeria on Autopilot.

Right now, Nigeria is on "autopilot". The Chief of Staff who plays the role of the defacto president is in isolation, having tested positive for Corona virus. The president who actually is a window dressing, is Missing In Action. In the meantime, the Vice President is as good as a "glorified office boy" inside the Aso Rock Villa. Poor Nigerians!

The Constant Retrogression of Nigeria.

Nigeria's problem has nothing to do with the greed of politicians, corruption and all the stuff blamed for it. Look, there has always been corruption in Nigeria (maybe on a lower scale). Chinua Achebe's novel No Longer at Ease was published in 1960 and it dwelt on things that happened just before independence. The main issue in that novel was bribery and corruption. But it did not stop Nigeria from progressing at a time there was no crude oil.

There is corruption in many of the countries that are progressing speedily. The difference is that those countries genuinely fight corruption. Nigeria had a working system then until the end of First Republic, in spite of the corruption then and other negatives. Guys from the West praised Awo - who gave them free education, first TV, etc. The North praised Bello, who gave them groundnut pyramids, ABU, etc. We praised Zik and Okpala, who transformed education in the East and built factories. The Eastern Nigerian economy was one of the fastest growing in the world then, even without crude oil.

Why was that so? Because Nigeria had a system that encouraged innovation and growth. So no matter how much was stolen, the country continued to progress. What we have since the 70s is anti-progress. It is just a matter of time before everything crumbles. And that queer system encourages corruption, greed, ethnic tensions and backwardness. You cannot yoke people with opposing values together under a unitary system and expect any progress, no matter how you pray and hope. If you release Lagos, or Anambra, or Delta, or Ogun or Kano or Akwa Ibom etc to stand alone as a country, each of them will be far better Nigeria. It is not rocket science.

We should stop deceiving ourselves with this mindset that Nigeria is retrogressing because we have the worst politicians on earth. No. Nigeria is retrogressing because people with opposing values and visions were yoked together without laws that encourage competition, creativity, merit, justice and patriotism. Every month free money is shared to states, creating laziness and lack of accountability. That is why we need restructuring.

So if you like combine Kennedy with Churchill and Gandhi in one person and send to Nigeria, the genius will achieve nothing.

© Azuka OnwukaSeptember 10, 2019

Important Things to Know in a Future Battle for the Soul of Nigeria.

The Fulani have no powerful armies of their own. They have neither great numbers nor great physical strength. But they are masters of stealth, deception & manipulation.
They rely on peoples of other ethnic groups to achieve their goals both in the battlefields and in politics.
They used the Hausa talakawa to topple the kings of the old Hausa states and subsequently relegated and subjugated them under the Emirates.
They used Kakanfo Afonja to gain a foothold in Ilorin and subsequently killed him, took over the area and subjugated the Yoruba and other ethnic groups there.
They used the strife among the diverse peoples of what is now Adamawa to defeat local chiefs and install Modibbo Adama as Emir. Thereafter, they sidelined and ruled over the people.
They used the infantrymen of the Middle Belt, the generals of the South West & Mid West, and the purchased loyalty of the South South to defeat Biafra and subsequently relegated them to second class citizens of "One Nigeria."
More recently, they have used the political & media machinery of Bola Tinubu and the ACN to claw their way back to Aso Rock. You can see the way they have so far manipulated and rubbished VP Prof. Yemi Osibanjo who is the proxy of Bola Tinubu and ACN in Abuja. Ditto for Babatunde  Fashola, Chris Ngige, Rochas Okorocha, Umahi, Fayemi, Godswill Akpabio and Audu
Ogbe.
But there is good news. The Fulanis are not invincible. Wherever they meet a united and resolute force, they retreat and make peace. That's what happened when they met the armies of the old Oyo Empire in Osogbo and the Benin Empire in Afemai. They were similarly neutralized by the Kanuri and other peoples of the Bornu area who fought them to a standstill. Ditto with the Tivs, Idoma & Igala.
Today, they cannot succeed if the other interest groups in the country (North, West, East and South) join forces and resolutely put them in their place on all fronts - political, economic & military.
The Fulani must accept their place as just one of Nigeria's over 250 ethnic groups (not a super ethnic group) or be prepared to leave this union and space for good. We will no longer accept or tolerate their scheming and destabilising ways.
In doing this we must watch out for Judases & collaborators among us and deal with them decisively. That is, those who will go through the back door to receive favors and sabotage the collective effort.
They are already here with us. Some of them are "highly placed" serfs in the federal government who for a plate of porridge accept to be used as fronts for un-progressive and unpopular programs like RUGA or look the other way. Others are governors, traditional rulers and opinion leaders who likewise receive money or positions & sell out or keep silent.
We the people of Nigeria are duty bound to identify, shame, isolate and neutralize all such people, their families and business interests by any means necessary. This is a struggle for the soul of Nigeria and the fate of our children and generations unborn.
Finally, a warning to current & would-be Fulani collaborators: The fate of Afonja awaits you. A terrible and shameful end. An ignoble place in history forever. Mark these words.

The Ignorant and Myopic People are not Worth Fighting for.

When the Bolivian military finally got to find Che Guevara's hiding place. They got the information from a shepherd. Out of curiosity, they asked the shepherd: "Why denounce a man who is sacrificing himself for your freedom and well-being?"

The shepherd replied: "I denounce him because the crackling of his weapons always scares my animals in pasture."

When Mohamed Karim, the Egyptian who undertook to resist the assault on Alexandria by Napoleon, was arrested by the army and sentenced to death, Napoleon appealed to him and said:

"I have the trouble executing a man who has valiantly defended his country. I do not wish history to retain the image of me as a person who stifles the impetus of patriots that defend the integrity of their homeland. So, I promise you freedom if you pay ten thousand gold coins as financial compensation to my soldiers that the resistance killed."

Smiling, Mohamed Karim replied:

"I do not have the full amount requested on me  now. But the merchants of Alexandria for whom I fought are indebted to me by more than 100 thousand pieces of gold. They will pay this fine, for sure so that I will have my life saved."

Chained, Mohamed Karim was driven to the Alexandria market for a tour of the market in search of the sum on which his freedom would depend. But, to his great surprise and disappointment, no merchant cared about his fate. Worse, the merchants and the rest of the natives, accused him of being a troublemaker, destroyer of property, and undermining the economic vitality of the port city of Alexandria.

Napoleon, in view of this situation declared:

"I will concede that the sentence of capital punishment be executed...not because you killed my soldiers, but for having fought for cowardly people who cared more about their business than about their freedom and integrity."

Mohamed Rachid Rida, Syrian Arab reformator said: "To revolt on behalf of an ignorant people, is like to set yourself on fire in order to light the way for a blind man."

*Courtesy of Otunbzy*

Beware of the Quiet Man.

"Beware of the quiet man.

For while others speak,

he watches.

While others act,

he plans.

And when they finally rest...he strikes."

 - Anonymous. (Culled from the movie, "Vice").

Political Wonders in Nigeria.

The wife of Senator Bola Tinubu, the grand patriach of APC is in the 7th, 8th and 9th senate. Senator Abba Bukar Ibrahim's wife was in the  8th Assembly and now in the 9th, while the senator had earlier spent 8 years as governor of Yobe State. Former Gov. Theodore Orji was in the 8th Senate and also belongs to the the 9th, and his son is the newly-elected speaker of Abia State House of Assembly. The list is endless. 

A major responsibility of these few "special" Nigerian citizens is to ensure that privileges continue to be granted to selected families to entrench themselves in the nation's body politics.

As it is today, go to any critical sector of the economy, be it Central Bank, NNPC, LNG, Banks and other institutions that drive the economy, it is the children of the same parasitic political elites that are in the engine rooms of these "cash cow" institutions. In the meantime, children of the poor are employed as graduate drivers, marketers of bornvita & milo and sometimes made to dance like "captured monkeys" on major highways to promote those products. There is virtually no level-playing field for young people in the country. 

It's however baffling that many of these same oppressed educated masses are yet to understand that they have been  programmed to "live on crumbs" and die as second class citizens in their country.

That the hordes of political loyalists continue to insult themselves as mere tools or pawns in the chessboard of this game called Nigerian politics is mind-boggling.

That the poor and the oppressed Nigerians regularly come on Facebook and other social media to idolize, eulogise and practically worship the same people that have trampled on their humanity for so long, is the 9th wonder of the World.

Joke for the Weekend.

President Buhari of Nigeria met with the Queen of England in London and asked her...how do you run such an efficient government here? Are there any tips you can give to me? I want to help Nigeria.

QUEEN: The most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people.

Buhari: How do I know the people around me are really intelligent?

QUEEN: Oh, that's easy. Just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle. The Queen sent for Theresa May, the Prime Minister. Theresa May walked into the room,

MAY: Yes, your Majesty. You sent for me.

QUEEN: Answer this riddle. Theresa, your mother and father have a child, it is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"

MAY: Hmmm... that would be me.

QUEEN: Yes, very good.

When Buhari got back to Nigeria, he sent for Abba Kyari, his Chief of Staff.

Kyari walk in to Buhari's office.

Kyari : Sir you called me.

Buhari: Yes sit down and answer this; Your mother and your father have a child, it's not your brother and it's not your sister, who is it?

Kyari: I'm not sure, let me get back to you.

He asked all his staff in the office but none could give him an answer. Kyari then ran to Fashola.

Kyari asked:  Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or sister, who is it?"

FASHOLA: That's easy. It's me.

Kyari smiled and said, Thanks. Then he went back to speak with President Buhari.

Kyari: Sir, I have the answer to that riddle, It's Babatunde Raji Fashola...

Buhari got angry, and said to Kyari; No wonder Nigeria isn't moving forward, I am surrounded by dummies! The answer is... Theresa May! 

Basic Education on the Restructuring of Nigeria.

For those Nigerians still "geeked" by the term, Restructuring, here is an education by Chief Olu Falae: 

 

You know I am a leader in the South West and at the National convention, I was elected as the leader of the Yoruba delegation. So, I am central to the Yoruba position. The Yoruba position is my position and it is the same position I canvassed in my book, ‘The way forward for Nigeria’ which I launched since 2005 in Lagos. What we mean by restructuring is going back to the Independence Constitution which our leaders negotiated with the British between 1957 and 1959. It was on that basis that the three regions agreed to go to Independence as one united country. So, it was a negotiated constitution. 

This is because, if the three regions were not able to agree, there would not have been one united independent Nigeria. But because the three regions at that time negotiated and agreed to package a constitution, that is why they agreed to go to Independence together. When the military came in 1966 and threw away the constitution, they threw away the negotiated agreement among the three regions, which was the foundation of a united Nigeria.

This constitution we are using was made by late Gen Sani Abacha and the military; and Abacha came from only one part of Nigeria, so he wrote a constitution that favored his own part of Nigeria. That is why I am saying, let us restructure and go back to what all of us agreed before. That is the meaning of restructuring. The regions used to be federating units, but in today’s Nigeria, they would now be called federal regions because states have been created in the regions. So in the West, you now have federation of Yoruba states which would belong to the Nigerian union at the center. So, it is not like the region of old with all the powers. No. It is now going to be a coordinator of the states in the zone. That is what we mean by restructuring. And the regions would have a considerable autonomy as they used to have. For example, for the younger people, they may not know that every region then had its own constitution.

 

There were four constitutions at independence –the Federal constitution, Western constitution, Eastern constitution and Northern constitution. That was how independent they were and every region had an ambassador in London. The ambassadors for the regions were called Agent General so that you do not confuse them with that of Nigeria then called High Commissioner. So, Nigeria had four ambassadors in London. The ambassador for Nigeria then called a High Commissioner was M.T Mbu. The ambassador for Eastern Nigeria then was Mr Jonah Chinyere Achara, Western Nigeria was Mr Omolodun and for Northern Nigeria, it was Alhaji Abdulmalik. There were four of them. That was the kind of arrangement we agreed to, but the military threw it away and gave us this over-centralised unitary constitution.  

 

So, the military did not only throw away the constitution but a political consensus negotiated and agreed by our leaders of the three regions in those days. When we say restructuring now, we are saying let us go back substantially to that constitution which gave considerable autonomy to the regions. For example, each region at that time collected its revenue and contributed the agreed proportion to the centre. But when the military came, they turned it round and took everything to the centre. That could not have been accepted by Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe or Obafemi Awolowo.

 

So, we said this is not acceptable any more; we must go back to the negotiated constitution which gave considerable autonomy to the regions, so that they can compete in a healthy manner. For example, Chief Obafemi Awolowo wanted to introduce free education in the West and other regions said they could not afford it, but he went ahead to introduce it in the Western region. He said he wanted to pay a minimum of five shillings a day, while others were paying two and three shillings. He went ahead and passed the law, making five shillings the minimum wage in Western Nigeria.

 

There was no problem with that. In Western Nigeria, the constitution provided for a House of Assembly and the House of Chiefs. In Eastern Nigeria, there was no House of Chiefs because they did not think they needed one. There was no problem with that and that is the kind of Nigeria we negotiated in London, but that is different from what we have today. So, we are saying let us go back to that arrangement which all of us agreed at independence and not what Abacha imposed on us, which is very partial, unfair and one-sided. That is the meaning of restructuring; it is to restructure unfairness and give semi-autonomy to the federating units.

 

Chief Olu Falae is a leading Yoruba leader and was Head of the Southwest Delegation to the Jonathan National Constitutional Conference.

Ifeoluwa Olawole and the Ait-Ghezala Graduate Fellowship

Ifeoluwa Olawole calls herself an ardent student of #AfricanPolitics. Originally from #Nigeria, Ifeoluwa is a current Ph.D. student at AU School of Public Affairs. She obtained the Ait-Ghezala Graduate Fellowship to carry a #research on the provision of goods and services in Nigeria.

Kudos to Prof. Todd Eisenstadt for mentoring Ifeoluwa and encouraging her to apply to the Ait-Ghezala Graduate #Research Fellowship.

The Urgent Need for the Political Restructuring of Nigeria.

In the electoral battle between Buhari and Atiku, there are various interest groups. In the core north, there is not much dilemma because both Atiku and Buhari are Fulani muslims. The only exception is in the choice to be made by the Christian north whose people have been consistently attacked and murdered because they dare practice a religion other than Islam.

In the south, there are people supporting Buhari because, to them, it's a sure way for Osibanjo (a Yoruba) to become president in 2023.  And there are those in support of Atiku so that Obi (an Igbo) can have a shot at the presidency in 2023. How myopic both ethnic groups are! Who gives them the guarantee that, come 2023, another Fulani will not emerge as a presidential candidate?

However, there are some of us, moreso in the south, who don't really care much about the current dispensation. Rather, our interest lays in the desire for the nation's restructuring. 

Now, let's assume that Buhari wins the 2019 election and a Yoruba becomes the President in 2023, what did 8 years of Obasanjo's tenure fetch the Yoruba land and its people? The people were still held back in terms of education and socio-economic growth.

And what has the four years of Osinbajo as a vice president  earned or contributed to the educational and the socio-economic growth of the Yoruba land? The man has merely been turned into a glorified office boy and disrespected at every opportunity.

As for the Igbo/south-south, what gains in terms of economic and educational growth accrued to them in all the years Jonathan was the vice president and president respectively?

While Buhari will never "upset the apple cart" to hurt the political and economic interests of his Fulani people, Atiku has, at least promised to allow the restructuring process to take place. In Nigeria, what does it really matter in future political calculations whether an ethnic group in the south produces the Nigerian president when the same people of the south will still be considered as second-class citizens as reflected in Buhari's lopsided appointments into sensitive positions?

Those of us in the southwest can still remember vividly the achievements of the then Western Region under the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo. One could imagine how frustrating it would have been for Chief Awolowo if the nation's structure then was as it is now. Definitely, he would not have been able to build the very first TV or International stadium in Africa. There would have been no Cocoa House (the then tallest in Africa). And, of course, the beneficiaries of the region's free education program would have been frustrated with lack of jobs, especially, at the federal level.

Such was the sad fate of Alhaji Jakande (the erstwhile governor of Lagos State) when he tried to build the first metro line in Nigeria. Who frustrated him? The Fulani hegemonic leaders (Shagari and Buhari). Yes, the same Buhari that is now commissioning imported second-hand trains in Lagos!

The Ignorant state of Followership in Nigeria.

When it comes to political commentaries, most Nigerians will first scroll to the bottom of an article or essay to know the writer before making a decision either to read or discard the article. If the writer is suspected to support the opponents of their favorite politicians, such Nigerians will simply grimace, ignore the piece and condemn the writer. This is irrespective of the quality/merit or otherwise of the article. 

This is one of the biggest problems confronting our nation. Actually, the number one bane of our nation's political and economic development is poor followership! Sadly, those of us that are concerned for our nation's growth are fewer than those gullible and naïve people that follow individual politicians blindly like zombies. Yet, for our nation to achieve progress, we all need (at least, once in a while) to put aside our petty political affiliations and supports for mere individual politicians, to listen to other folks of different political persuasions and, especially those that care mostly for the nation's interest. To the ignorant followers of individual politicians, it's a crime for anyone to support someone else other than the politicians of their choice. That person will be labelled as a paid commentator. Conveniently, they choose to forget that there are some of us who just want any capable person to lift our nation up from its current state of economic doldrum. It's the nation that matters to us, not an individual, even if the individual is seen as a saint or a demigod.

The Ranka Dede Republic by Sonala Olumhense.

“…It did not take long before the Buhari administration, so openly and so warmly received by Nigerians when it came to power, began to show its true and frightful face. Soon enough, it became clear that his administration had a conception of government in which the governed were regarded as a hostile, adversary force, and in which government was virtually an end in itself…

 

“…Blackmailed into silence, Nigerians watched as the traditional foundations of the state were eroded. Ethnicity became a principle of state policy. The economy sputtered along. Educational policy was in shambles. Our hospitals became graveyards. And all along we were invited to believe, as an article of patriotic faith, that we lived in the best of all possible worlds.

 

“Ultimately, it was the arrogance of the Buhari administration that led to its downfall. For arrogance always leads to moral and political blindness. Blindness leads to isolation, and when any government is isolated from the governed, its end is always predictable…” - “The Arrogance of Power” – The Guardian Editorial of August, 1985.

 

Buhari, a 76-year old man who has served in various federal posts in the past 40 years, had justified every appointment profile by claiming that he appoints people he can trust. To begin with, that cannot be the truth given that on several occasions he has declared that he made those appointments on “merit,” not previously knowing the individuals involved. On what basis do you trust people you do not know to such an extent that the ensuing demographic overwhelmingly tilts towards your village?

 

The obvious and immediate interpretation of that claim, to the embarrassment of many northerners, is that southerners and non-Muslims are untrustworthy.

People that will not vote for Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

1. The Intellect that believes education is a very important background for a purposeful leader.

2. Victims of Fulani "herdsmen" attacks and, especially, the people of North Central Nigeria such as Benue, Southern Zaria, Plateau and Southern Kaduna whose major crime is because they dare to practice Christianity in a predominantly Muslim North.

3. Eleven million Nigerians that lost their jobs since Buhari came to power.

4. Twenty million young people he called lazy and useless youths while his own kids (all educated in U.K) are flaunting some ill-gotten wealth all over the place. His son even has a million-Naira bike with which he had an accident sometimes ago.

5. Shittes that are being victimized for practicing a different form of Islam.

6. The southeasterners and, especially, the victims of Operation Python Dance.

7. People that want Nigeria to grow irrespective of the ethnic background of the leadership. When former president Jonathan was messing up the country, the slogan of these progressive people was "Anyone but Jonathan." And now that Buhari is dragging our nation down socio-economically while pretending to fight corruption (only against his political enemies), the same progressives are saying, "Anyone but Buhari ".

8. All the APC members oppressed by Tinubu and Oshiomole especially in the southwestern states.

9. All the people affected by the current economic meltdown...especially those young graduates who have no rich, privileged parents to provide for them.

10. All the people who were deceived in 2015 by Buhari when he claimed to have a WAEC certificate and when he pretended to be poor.

11. Anyone that really cares about the development and growth of our nation.

Excerpts from “Things Fall Apart, But is the President Aware?” by Atedo Peterside

“…Curiously, the best descriptions of PMB’s failures come from his family, friends and loyalists. They are the ones who told us everything that we feared but were unsure about e.g. that he is not in charge, but is controlled by 2 or 3 men, or that his anti-corruption drive is jaundiced because he uses insecticides on his political enemies whilst applying deodorant on his own equally guilty associates and friends. By bastardising the anti-corruption drive, the heads of the security agencies did Buhari a great disservice. Party faithfuls who publicly invite the biggest rogues to come over to APC (and many obliged) in order to enjoy immunity poisoned the waters further and make us wonder if our President (supposedly high on integrity) is really aware of what is going on around him.

Meanwhile, the strongest arguments against Atiku were also those that were bandied around by some of his new friends who were his erstwhile political enemies. All of a sudden, they would have us forget everything bad that they told us before about Atiku.

To hold off the Atiku challenge, PMB needs substantial votes from sections of the country that he has indirectly and needlessly told he can never trust to head sensitive security posts. Meanwhile, at election time, the cabal/kitchen cabinet have taken a temporary back seat, whilst leaving the “untrusted” to lead from the front. The cabal are presumably waiting in the wings to take over and dominate proceedings once again if victory is achieved. If the baboons locked the monkeys out from the dinner table for long periods, when the monkeys were still required to lead the re-election campaign, it is unclear why the monkeys would be let back in after a second and final term is secured.PMB’s campaign has been beset with missteps and personal blunders. Even when interviewers chose to inexplicably handle him with kid’s gloves he managed to misunderstand basic questions and/or to commit one gaffe after another on the campaign trail, thereby portraying himself (to Undecided and swing voters) more like a patient in need of help/sympathy, than a political icon/strongman….”  

• Atedo N A Peterside, is the Founder and President of Anap Foundation.

I'm Voting for Atiku and this is Why by Bayo Adeyinka.

We are not electing a pastor. We are electing a President. We are not seeking a messiah- we are seeking a man who understands the fundamentals of a modern society and has the requisite wherewithal to provide leadership to a nation. Nigerians are not looking for angels to vote for. We just want someone who will provide reasonable leadership, understand the basics of the economy, demonstrate a balanced understanding of the different geographies that make up Nigeria, be cosmopolitan in approach and be fair to all. Atiku ticks these boxes for me. In addition, out of ALL the candidates, he’s the only one talking about restructuring. 

I believe the greatest danger to Nigeria is Muhammadu Buhari. Never has the nation been so factionalized along tribal and religious lines like now. He has taken nepotism to unprecedented heights. His incompetence stares you so much in the face that you can’t ignore it.

He has pauperized the economy. He has demonstrated sufficient capacity in making bad things worse. His insensitivity is unmistakable. His lack of empathy is unpardonable. All men of goodwill who have the interest of this nation at heart must say enough is enough! I’m not sure this nation can survive another 4 years of Buhari.

I have had people ask: shouldn’t we look the way of younger elements such as Omoyele Sowore, Fela Durotoye, Kingsley Moghalu or Tope Fasua? I’m a pragmatic realist. I used to be a blue-eyed unrealistic optimist but no more. You don’t send a boy to do a man’s job. Sowore does not have the structure to become Nigeria’s President. Can he get people to man the over 120,000 polling units across Nigeria? How many governors will Moghalu’s party YPP produce? How many Reps and Senators? Who knows YPP in Akoko in Ondo State or Odeomu in Osun State? The best candidate so far in terms of ideas is Kingsley Moghalu but he can’t win because he doesn’t have the structures. I have had the opportunity to speak to a few of them to plead that they drop their ego and present just ONE candidate. I truly admire what they have done but courage is totally different from brawn just like strategy is different from energy.

How exactly will upstarts (and I don’t mean this derogatorily) upturn the applecart and cause a major disruption in the process when they can’t even harness the power of unity to cut down a behemoth?

We need to sit down and understand there is a way to hijack power from the establishment. It starts with being united.

We can also hijack by joining already established structures and work our way up. Or by taking a piece at a time. I suggested once to a member of Sowore’s campaign team that he should contest as Governor of Lagos State. His Take It Back campaign will reverberate across Lagos as many are already tired of Tinubu’s stranglehold. Sowore might not have enough resources to cover the entire nation but he has enough resources to cover Lagos. With his incredible energy, he would have covered the 20 Local Governments in Lagos many times over. He has enough street credibility to match MC Oluomo man for man. He will get activists to line behind him and give Tinubu a real fight- unlike Jimi Agbaje who has no fight left in him. You can’t crack palm kernel nuts without making crushing efforts. If he succeeds in taking over Lagos and he transforms the State in such an unprecedented manner in 4 years, he will be ready to negotiate for the whole country. Everyone will beg him to be President. Lagos is the most important State in Nigeria and anyone who has it has a strong bargaining power to chip.  

This is an example of a strategy road map I proffered. If you’re going into a battle, wisdom dictates that you must count the cost whether you have sufficient ammo to finish the battle. If you don’t, you’ll expose your lack of critical thinking- one reason I wasn’t impressed with Oby Ezekwesili. They all have not built sufficient structures to lead or govern a complex entity like Nigeria. Anyhow you want to look at it, rebuilding this nation is a marathon and not a dash. Either way, power is never served a la carte.

The reality on ground- and I do not deceive myself- is that it is either Buhari or Atiku that will win the election. No other party has been able to build structures and penetrate all the 774 Local Governments in the nation. Even illiterates know the broom and the umbrella. Nomads may not be able to operate a smart phone but they know PDP and APC. This is why I don’t think any Third Force will make any reasonable impact. If you can’t make a difference, why bother? The situation on ground is too dicey for experiments. Time is running out on this nation. And this is where I consider the thought of wasting one’s votes on a ‘Third Force’ as illogical and absurd. I have only ONE vote and I intend to make it count. Even the so-called Third Force parties or movements are now busy endorsing either Buhari or Atiku.

I want to address the issue of Atiku’s corruption. When Atiku was with APC, why didn’t they shout about his corruption then? Why did they praise him to highest heavens? Why did Buhari fly in Atiku’s private jet all over Nigeria? Why is he now corrupt when he decamped and left for PDP? Why hasn’t he been convicted if they truly had evidence against him? Why didn’t Lai Mohammed carry out his threat to get him arrested on Bank PHB issue when he travelled to the US?

Let me go deeper. Who are those surrounding Buhari? Is Atiku more corrupt than Tinubu? Or Amaechi is no longer corrupt? Or Fashola who dug two boreholes in Lagos at a cost of N139m as alleged by his own State not corrupt? Is one corruption greater than the other? I don’t want to go into the various scandals emanating from important figures in this administration. No one should pull the wool over our eyes- corruption is alive, well and probably stronger. Am I saying Atiku is not corrupt? No. But has he been convicted? Is he not innocent until he’s proven guilty? He has been out of office for years without immunity- even till now. So if Adams Oshiomole who has a petition against him in EFCC allegedly gathering dust can lead the President’s party, no one in that party should pontificate about the corruption of another. Get a conviction or get out.

Having laid this foundation, I make bold to ask: where has the much touted integrity of Buhari taken Nigeria? We are worse off than we were 4 years ago. Integrity without competence won’t take you anywhere. Buhari doesn’t have it. All the indices that make for a great nation are south ward. People leave this nation in droves daily because they can’t see a future. We need someone who can urgently pull back the chest from the fire. You face an enemy size for size. You don’t confront an enemy who has missiles with a machete. Atiku- warts and all- is the only one who can match Buhari. At least, this is clearly evident from his campaigns all over the nation. His combination with Peter Obi is like a bowl of amala with gbegiri and ewedu garnished with well-tendered goat meat. Both men understand how to run modern businesses. Both men have made a success of their individual careers and businesses.

Atiku is liberal, cosmopolitan, refined and knows how to spot talents. Peter Obi is a great manager of resources and outstanding technocrat who has been exceptional in leadership. Many years out of office, he is yet to be accused of a single case of corruption. We need leaders who will pull the nation back from the brink, heal our divides and restore hope. If there is one thing I know, Atiku will handle the economy better. He will have a much more colourful cabinet. He will not be nepotistic. He won’t lock up El Zak Zakky for months and refuse to release him in spite of court orders. He won’t look away and gloss over the murder of over 300 Shiites. He will heal the divides of this nation. That is not asking for too much.

If Atiku wins and does not perform to expectation within 4 years, we will kick him out too. We will keep changing our leaders until we get the one that is fit for role. This is my stance.

Atiku/Obi is the viable option. Any vote for any other candidate is either a waste or indirectly in support of the incumbent.

I am voting Atiku.

Dialogue With Nigeria by Akin Osuntokun.

While expressing a routine disappointment with his naked display of Northern/Muslim parochialism the other day, I was quickly cautioned by a supposed beneficiary of this identity category that Buhari has rendered those of them outside the Kano/Katsina/Kazaure loop the latest victims of his penchant for parochial discrimination. This was about two years ago. If we are not there yet and given his record, there is the distinct possibility that he is ultimately headed towards converting Nigeria into a Daura dominion writ large.

As it is well known, I have a chronic allergy to Buhari’s brand of toxic politics-predicated on tribalism, hypocrisy and primitive demagoguery. I have a fundamental and longstanding opposition to his assumption of the Nigerian Presidency. My opposition is rooted in the conviction that any political leader who rose to prominence on the wings of dividing the people of this country should never be rewarded with the Presidency of Nigeria. It is a contradiction in terms to propose that a politician sworn to pseudo jihadist vision of Nigeria should be entrusted with the role of fostering an enduring Pan-Nigeria consensus and unity. He is as undeserving and incapable of rising to the occasion as Donald Trump is incapable of uniting America. The dangerously divided state of Nigeria under Buhari’s watch is a reflection of the caution that you cannot give what you do not have. Unity and national harmony are not in Buhari’s DNA and his natural instincts tend towards fractional conquest and political subjugation.

Buhari, Nigeria's current president.

To the regret of many critical stakeholders who supported him to win the 2015 presidential election, the reasoned counsel that you cannot know Buhari more than what the man has shown of himself was discountenanced. They were blinkered by the non-strategic focus on the disappointment with the Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency. But, again, as the saying goes, to every disappointment, there is a blessing-and that there could be a hidden utility in the costly miscalculation, after all. Were he to be denied the presidency and remain untested Buhari would have gone down in the history of Nigeria as a martyr of messianic proportions and handily break the record of the contemplative status of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the best President Nigeria never had.

Yet if only the unwary had exercised greater caution and listen more carefully to the rhythm blowing in the air they would have detected the premonition of his romance with the dollarized rogue governor from the North, in the blind exoneration that ‘Abacha did not steal any money’. They would have made the inference of misplacement of belief in his capacity to secure Nigeria from the antecedence of being swept away like a forlorn obdurate child by the Ibrahim Babangida coup of 1985. The speculation that he was not in charge of the mandate entrusted to him by the Nigerian electorate was ultimately confirmed by his wife. This is also an echo from his past incumbency as military head of state where it was common knowledge that it was his deputy, Babatunde Idiagbon, who was the indispensable power behind the throne. It certainly was no coincidence that his removal from office was timed to coincide with the absence of Idiagbon in the country. 

Nigeria's founding fathers: from left, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

There is no doubt the chemistry of a godfather/godson relationship has bonded Buhari and El Rufai. Shortly after the Kaduna State governor drove a bulldozer to demolish the residence of a political foe in Kaduna he paid a visit to Buhari in Aso Rock Presidential Villa. Upon sighting him, the choleric president broke into a wide smile and approvingly hailed his protégé ‘the bulldozer governor’ or something to that effect. It is not exactly clear how the characteristic low scale intensity of the interminable violence that has bedeviled Kaduna escalated into genocidal proportions but the degeneration coincided with the assumption of office by both men in Abuja and Kaduna in 2015.

The fact that el-Rufai saw nothing wrong and was in fact spitefully gloating over the joint Muslim/Muslim governorship ticket in a state that is defined by religious dichotomy and conflict is an indication of a mental indisposition to seek a meaningful amelioration and healing of the fraught religious divisiveness that has predisposed the state to perennial violent upheaval. What is more chilling is the precise information provided on the guardian angel role of President Buhari in deliberately aiding and abetting the institutionalization of a formula he knows will encourage rather than discourage the deepening of the divisive volatility in the state. Is a winner takes all formula the best instrument of fostering the spirit of consensus, cooperation and harmony among contending pluralistic groups? Would the governor and president have similarly found nothing wrong in the orchestration of a joint Christian/Christian ticket? How does this decision promote confidence building among the warring communities? Take note that this was a decision taken in the thick of the rampaging genocidal bloodletting in the Middle Belt provoked by a similar fractious and callous identity politics.

And then as if intent on reminding Nigerians and the international community of a Nigerian potential to relapse into the international pariah status fostered by the Sani Abacha military dictatorship era, el-Rufai launched a seemingly mindless attack on the international community. The million naira question is what does he know that we don’t? Was this what President Olusegun Obasanjo was warning us about? Are these people preparing for a free and credible elections or large scale brigandage? Was the siege on the National Assembly a while ago an isolated incident and a sole lunatic overreach of a rogue security chief? Is there no sequential logic tying this development to the orchestrated subversion of the judiciary via the subterfuge of scapegoating a light fingered Chief Justice? Why all this desperation and impotent rage? Haven’t Obasanjo and Jonathan proven that there is life after power?

And just when you think it cannot get any worse, Buhari springs a new trick on you. Given to stretching and breaching the delicate thread that ties Nigeria together he is always to be found in the laboratory experimenting with fissiparous tendencies. He was neither the Sultan nor the Grand Khadi yet it was him who became the chief missioner for renewed Sharia agitation once he spotted the negative potential to rally the Muslim North against the Obasanjo government and the rest of Nigeria- “I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country”. As we were made to believe, he was neither the founder nor leader of Boko Haram, yet he was the one nominated as the group’s representative in an abortive mediation proposal. The backdrop to the recognition was his divisive and inciting demonization of his predecessor’s military engagement with the terrorist group ‘as tantamount to injustice against the North’.

Now our president has become the first Nigerian leader to invite leaders of another country for political mobilization against his fellow nationals. “Tomorrow, it will be officials from Togo or Benin or even Equatorial Guinea dictating to us. Indeed, international intelligence agencies recently confirmed heightened influx of tons of persons into Nigeria from Niger. Everyday thousands are entering Kano, Katsina and Jigawa axis. What is going on?” laments a concerned Nigerian.

What a way to reciprocate the statesmanship of his predecessor who rose to the occasion in 2015 in a rare African display of enlightenment and adult comportment. Were the potential winner of the election not a personality who shares the same ethno-regional identity with the incumbent only God knows the extent to which Buhari would have exploited the attendant cleavages to drive Nigeria to the precipice.

The Message Nigerians Must Deliver to Buhari Next Week by Dele Momodu.

Momodu (left) and Buhari

Fellow Nigerians, please, permit me to make some quick clarifications in this season of general bickering and mutual distrust and spiteful hatred. One. I do not work for any campaign organisation. I’m supporting the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, same way I voluntarily supported Major General Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. I do so because there is no viable or electable alternative among the fringe candidates. I believe it is within my fundamental right of association and freedom of speech to support whosoever I wish. Similarly, I respect the rights of others to support any candidate of their choice and see no reason why anyone should get angry and jittery over mine.

 

Two. I did not choose Atiku for pecuniary or any other gain. I have not been paid by him or anybody acting on his behalf. I would not sell myself where the future of my country, Nigeria, is concerned. As I write, I’m already on my way to Oxford University to resume and engage in academic ventures for the next six months. I’m gainfully employed and happy and content to manage my modest income, so I’m not desperate for government appointment or patronage, as the social media trolls try to suggest about opposition figures. But I cannot watch my country disintegrate or watch an incompetent government drown our dear beloved country in an ocean of bigotry, backwardness, bitterness and bestiality. I owe it to myself, and fellow compatriots, to stand for truth, and nothing but the truth, as one of those it has pleased God to give some visibility and voice globally. What shall it profit a man who keeps silent in the face of unbridled tyranny and abysmal cluelessness. If I wished, I could have supported PDP in the 2015 elections. Every comfort was assured and guaranteed. But I chose to support a supposed poor man we believed would be a Mandela figure that would rescue us from the scourge of PDP. Little did I imagine we were in the process of inviting a worse pestilence on our nation.

 

Three. I bear no grudge or personal animosity against Buhari. I love him the way I love mankind and respect the office he occupies which I once attempted to enter when I contested in 2011. I believe President Muhammadu Buhari has not reciprocated the massive goodwill bestowed on him in 2015 and that he has treated us with great contempt and disdain. He has also not properly utilised his professional, competent and capable Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Had he done so, maybe we would now be saying something else. This is not to cause any disaffection within their ranks, but every discerning Nigerian knows that this quintessential gentleman is the reason that there is any real noteworthy success for this administration. Otherwise, Buhari has embarrassed his supporters, endlessly, with his reckless, insensitive and uninformed decisions. What many of those supporting him in public today say behind him is unbelievable and unspeakable. I have friends who confess to private threats of business and physical annihilation and are thus forced to endorse a man they know can never take Nigeria to anywhere meaningful, even if given four terms.

  

Four. I have tried strenuously to be fair to Buhari and wrote copiously to advise him, from time to time, as I promised him when we met in his office, one on one, in 2015. I gave up hope, after some time, when I saw the direction he was headed and noticed the irredeemable obstinacy in his DNA. Four years ago, many of us were very excited about the hope this great General offered to our nation. Perhaps, we overrated his capabilities. It has become clear that we wittingly dressed him in borrowed robes and we were all hypnotised and brainwashed, somehow. Today, our eyes have cleared from that giddiness and I’m ready to add my voice to those of others who genuinely believe, Buhari must go. I do this with every sense of responsibility to God and to my country. I will give my reasons shortly.

 

I have had to apologise in the last couple of months to those who feel very aggrieved that a self-confessed democrat like me could ever support a blatant dictator like Buhari. You can never imagine the gale of verbal attacks I suffered and endured for what I considered my innocuous support. The last one that really hit me was in Ghana recently. I ran into the respected Legal luminary, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, at the lounge in Kotoka International Airport. There were two ladies seated with him, one of who I believe is his wife. I greeted them but the other lady snubbed me, and said, “Dele, I will never greet you.” I looked blank and wondered if we’ve ever met, and how I might have offended her. Madam soon threw a sucker punch. “Dele, you are one of those who brought that disaster called Buhari on us…” and she went into her tirade. I tried to explain that I’m indeed very sorry and it was not my fault that I fell for the charms and scam of APC. The woman was practically inconsolable.

 

I have encountered many people like her. A guy almost went physical with me on a flight to London, grumbling aloud about how some of Buhari’s ignorant decisions have messed up Nigeria, his business and family. All I could do was plead for understanding. Unfortunately, Buhari himself is totally oblivious to the way Nigerians feel or just couldn’t be bothered or is probably insulated from objective criticism by selfish advisers. The tragedy of it all is his Messianic complex. He and his cronies behave as if Nigerians owe them a load of gratitude for favours received. Such hocus-pocus and inanity.

 

I have no iota of doubt left in me that President Muhammadu Buhari has performed well below expectations and that he should be voted out, peacefully, on February 16, 2019. The message should be clear henceforth that there is no automatic second term for incompetence, irresponsibility, irreverence and impunity. It is a miracle that Nigeria has not exploded into a civil war with the manner Buhari has treated some parts as second-class citizens with no right to complain. Let me now give reasons why we cannot afford to donate a second term to Buhari when he has clearly not earned it.

 

One. At 76, and with a failing health, Buhari should go into permanent retirement at the expiration of his tenure on May 29, 2019. No man can cheat nature and Buhari isn’t an exception.

 

Two. Buhari has not been in charge or on top of government and governance since he assumed office on May 29, 2015. Some cronies, otherwise known and addressed as ‘the cabal’, have been ruling without being elected. This can only get worse if Buhari is awarded a second term through our collective stupidity.

 

Three. The human rights record of Buhari has never been anything to praise or applaud at any time. Nothing has changed since he was kicked out of power by President Ibrahim Babangida in 1985. He has refused to adhere to the rule of law and has continued to trample on the rights of Nigerian citizens despite several court orders. What makes matters worse is that he behaves like Constantin Demiris, a character in Sidney Sheldon’s Memories of Midnight, who never forgets a favour and never forgives an injury. He has kept his presumed enemies in prison, indefinitely and compensated a few of his benefactors with appointments. Buhari does not hold the Constitution of Nigeria dear to heart and as such behaves with maximum use of force. His goons have been harassing the Legislature and the Judiciary on the pretext that they are fighting corruption, but they deliberately target those they consider inimical to their hold on power. They have invaded homes of Judges in the middle of the night, breaking down doors, and swarmed on the National Assembly with thugs and later with hooded and gun-totting secret agents in broad daylight. He has suspended the Chief Justice of Nigeria when he has neither the authority nor the power to do so. Buhari and those who support this brigandage and total assault on recognised and reverent principles of law and established constitutional institutions choose to forget that the worst kind of corruption is the abuse of power itself.  When it is for ulterior and base motives, as is now obviously the case, it becomes a menace that all well-meaning and true democrats must resist with all their might. There can be no excuse or justification. Otherwise we may as well embrace not just dictatorship, but anarchy.

 

Four. Buhari has been a divisive leader who appears not to believe in the unity of Nigeria. Under his government, Nigeria and Nigerians have been more divided. The lop-sidedness of his security appointments have been dangerously fixated on people of the same ethnic group and religious persuasion, and he does it with nonchalance and condescension. If you like, jump into the Atlantic Ocean, our President won’t blink an eye. He claims, with a straight face that he makes appointments on merit, but we’ve not seen the reflection and positive effects of this merit on the war against corruption, terrorists and insurgents.

 

Five. Buhari’s economic blueprint has been more involved in his stereotypical tightening up the noose on the economy, scaring investors away with ill-thought economic policies and reversal of contractual obligations without negotiations with parties involved, instead of opening up the economy.  This has all happened because of his obsession with so-called corruption. Yet, under his watch, not much has been achieved because of his desperation to hold on to power. This has forced him to compromise, capitulate and led him to bring the biggest and possibly most corrupt chieftains of other parties closer to him. He turns the proverbial blind eye to the infamous activities of these nefarious characters because they are perceived as being able to achieve his unbridled ambition for a second term. He had lost elections on three previous occasions and only won when he got the so-called bad guys to help him attain power. Right now, he is heavily relying on them again to bail him out of imminent defeat next week. And this is the man who falsely claims to espouse anti-corruption credentials and touts himself as a man of integrity.

 

Six. Buhari has failed spectacularly on all his major campaign promises. Nigeria is far worse than he met it. I will be the first to congratulate the government on its achievements in the rail sector and also the success with the militant problem in the Niger Delta. Other than that, he could not even stabilise what he inherited talk less of improving on it. His government has been struggling to control the free-fall of the Naira against the Dollar. He has not been able to cancel and eliminate fuel subsidies which he once described as a big scam and on which the corruption fight has been largely hinged. In fact, payments have more than doubled and the NNPC now holds a monopoly on importation of petroleum products with attendant risk of corruption in high places. We are none the wiser about security spending by him. This was the second plank on which the anti-corruption war was predicated. Loans have ballooned astronomically, yet infrastructure development remains outlandishly backward. We only get to read about monumental achievements on paper.

 

Seven. The last but not the least in my view is the perpetual and puerile blame game. Four years after getting power from PDP, Buhari has not stopped blaming his predecessors, forgetting that this was precisely the reason PDP was sacked from power. Buhari won those elections not on his own accord, but because the general populace had become totally disenchanted with PDP, it’s profligacy, looting and mendacity. Sadly, It seems we have come full circle. Since Buhari has shown the inability to perform the magic he promised, it is time to send him back home, with the sure message that whosoever comes next will suffer the same fate. It is a democratic template we must put in place now and forever. Otherwise, we must accept whatever fate befalls our dear country.

 

The world is watching.