The Supreme Court cannot at this stage admit the fresh evidence sought to be tendered by Atiku Abubakar in his appeal challenging the outcome of the February 25 poll, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has argued. He urged the highest court to reject the purported fresh evidence Atiku and his party claimed to have obtained from the Chiacago State University (CSU).
Tinubu contented that the Supreme Court could no longer assume trial jurisdiction in the case since the 180 days for the hearing of the election petition had since lapsed.
He added that not only is the new evidence strange to the proceedings having not been presented during the trial, but Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who were joint petitioners at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), did not challenge the poll outcome on the ground of forgery.
Also, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, noted that Atiku and the PDP never pleaded before the PEPC any document or deposition from the CSU in support of their fourth ground on Tinubu’s alleged non-qualification.
Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 26.72% in September 2023 amid soaring food prices and harsh economic realities occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy in May. The CPI, which measures the changes in the prices of goods and services, rose from 25.80% in August 2023 with an increase of 0.92% points.
“In September 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 26.72% relative to the August 2023 headline inflation rate which was 25.80%,” the report partly read.
“Looking at the movement, the September 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.92% points when compared to the August 2023 headline inflation rate.
“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.94% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022, which was 20.77%.”
Furthermore, the report said the food inflation rate in September 2023 was 30.64% on a year-on-year basis, which was 7.30% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2022 (23.34%).
“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, fruit, meat, vegetables and milk, cheese, and eggs.
On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in September 2023 was 2.45%, this was 1.41% lower compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (3.87%). The decline in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by a fall in the rate of increase in the average prices of potatoes, yam and other tubers, bread and cereals, fruits, and fish,” the report added.
Workers of the Nigerian Postal Service have shut down the head office of the service in Abuja, protesting against the appointment of Tola Odeyemi as its Chief Executive Officer/Post Master General, on Monday.
It was reported President Bola Tinubu last Wednesday fired the former Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Postal Service’s Sunday Adepoju.
The President made this known through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints new leadership across the communications, innovation, and digital economy sectors.’
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Kaduna State Command on Monday, said it has seized 398, 192kg of illicit drugs and arrested 69 suspects in the state. The state Commander NDLEA, Ibrahim Braji, disclosed that the seizures and arrests were made in September.
Braji added that 14 illicit drug joints in the state dismantled were in Rigasa, Gwantu, Yankifi, Nasarawa, Television, and Romi. Others were in Kanti Agah, Kabala Doki, Tudun Wada, Agwa, Tirkaniya, Kakuri, Unguwar Mu’azu and Gabari Zaria City.
He stated that the 398,192kg of drugs seized included Indian Hemp, Cocaine. Methamphetamine, Tramadol, and Psychotropic substances.
Crude oil concealed in three polythene bags, one locally made pistol, and 14 rounds of blank ammunition, with 7.62mm live bullets were also seized within the same period, he added.
Others were in Kanti Agah, Kabala Doki, Tudun Wada, Agwa, Tirkaniya, Kakuri, Unguwar Mu’azu and Gabari Zaria City.
Hopes for a brief ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow foreign passport holders to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in were dashed on Monday, with Israeli bombardments intensifying ahead of an expected ground invasion. Residents of Hamas-ruled Gaza said the overnight strikes were the heaviest yet in nine days of conflict. Many houses were flattened, and the death toll rose inexorably, they said.
Palestinian media reported that Israeli aircraft bombed areas around Gaza City’s Al-Quds hospital early on Monday and ambulances at the facility were unable to move due to the strikes.
Israel has urged Gazans to evacuate south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave, home to about 2.3 million people. Hamas has told people to ignore Israel’s message.
Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours, putting thousands of patients at risk, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said.
In Tel Al-Hawa in Gaza City, Israeli planes bombed a main road and damaged surrounding houses, forcing hundreds of residents to take shelter in the Red Crescent’s Al-Quds Hospital, residents said.
Israeli planes bombed three headquarters of the Civil Emergency and Ambulance Service in Gaza City, killing five people and paralyzing the rescue services in those areas, health officials said.
Diplomatic efforts have been underway to get aid into the enclave, which has endured unrelenting Israeli bombing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,300 people.
Israel has imposed a full blockade and is preparing a ground invasion to enter Gaza and destroy Hamas, which has continued to fire rockets at Israel since its brief cross-border assault. Israeli troops and tanks are already massed on the border.
Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. A further 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble.
As the humanitarian crisis deepened, with food, fuel and water running short, hundreds of tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing.
Earlier on Monday, Egyptian security sources had told Reuters that an agreement had been reached to open the crossing to allow aid into the enclave.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: “There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out.”
Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters that there was “no truth” to the reports about the opening of the crossing with Egypt or a temporary ceasefire.
Egypt has said the crossing remained open from the Egyptian side in recent days, but was rendered inoperable due to Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side.
The situation remained unclear at the Rafah crossing, the only one not controlled by Israel. Reuters journalists said a small crowd of people had gathered there waiting to enter Egypt.
The United States had told its citizens in Gaza to get close to the crossing so they can move out. The U.S. government estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600.
Washington is also seeking to secure the release of 155 hostages, including Americans, Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden stressed the urgent need to get humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in calls on Saturday with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the White House said.
Biden has also urged Israel to follow the rules of war in its response to the Hamas attacks.
“The overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’ appalling attacks and are suffering as a result of them,” he said.
Recently, Christian Aburime, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Charles Soludo, on the instructions of the Anambra State government house, unleashed a violent verbal attack on me in an attempt to shut me down from my lawful deposition regarding the mis-ruling APGA government of the day. While I find such an attack unpleasant, it calls for worry and questions about whether Professor Charles Soludo is truly a democrat or a dangerous pretender to democratic inclinations.
I have yet to be informed of my offense that violates the laws of the land, which would justify the Chief Press Secretary’s and the Anambra State Government House’s torrent of assaults, venom, and threats against my person.
In their press statement titled ‘Pathetic Ranting of Alien Uloka Chibuike Against Soludo Govt.’, CSP Aburime failed to hide his inferiority, mediocrity, and illiteracy but went into the gutters to expose further the failure called Charles Soludo.
In the press statement, I had expected Aburime, being the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Soludo, an office where information regarding the activities of the Governor is domiciled and made handy for naysayers, would, at least, educate me on my ignorance and feed the public with facts and evidence to differ from my claims of Charles Soludo being a failure. Aburime, instead, went berserk with vitriol and attacks, hence validating that Soludo has been more than a failure in the last 19 months.
For me, facts have always been obstinate things; no matter what our desires, preferences, or feelings may be, they are powerless to change the truth or the evidence.
Truly, I was unfair to Muhammadu Buhari when I likened him to Charles Soludo in my piece titled, “Everything Buhari Was in 2015, Soludo Is Working Hard To Become Worse”—such was an unfair representation of Muhammadu Buhari, as he too would frown over the bankruptcy and deficiency of Professor Charles Soludo in the last 19 months.
While reading the press statement of the Anambra State government to see the exploits of Charles Soludo in the last 19 months, which would be enough to counter the issues I raised in my analysis of Soludo’s 19 months in office, it was disappointing to find that even the aides of the Governor are empty and helpless, hence their resort to vitriol and personal attacks and an attempt to clog the opposition.
In his lengthy and vitriol-filled statement, Aburime failed miserably to mention Charles Soludo’s big and significant achievements or to reject charges that Soludo was running an organized family tree using state and taxpayer money, with his in-law as de facto governor.
Aburime claimed that Soludo had flagged off over 400 kilometers of roads but failed to list where these roads were being constructed and their progress reports.
In his attempt to sugarcoat his lies and deceit, he tagged me as an alien living in a different plant other than Anambra State, yet thousands of Anambra residents lament over failed roads daily and how it negatively impacts their businesses and activities. Perhaps only those who sycophant around Agu-Awka have information regarding the reported 400 kilometers of roads for which funds have also been made available, but nothing is seen across the state.
In the last 19 months, no road projects have been completed or commissioned by Charles Soludo’s administration.
On security, Aburime, in his usual comic claims, responded that Charles Soludo had phased out insecurity in eight local government areas of the state previously captured by UGM. Yet, in local government areas like Ihiala, Ekwusigo, Aguata, which is Soludo’s LG, Ogbaru, Oyi, Idemili, Awka North, and Ayamelum, most communities are seriously under siege and on ghost town. Only yesterday, October 15, 2023, a livestock farmer, Ginikachukwu Okeke Ezeakonobi, was reportedly gunned down by non-state actors at Ihiala. Such have remained the tales and woes of the residents and indigenes of Ihiala, who now live in constant fear and would resort to self-help for safety. The story is the same across Anambra State. The death tolls from insecurity in Anambra State are unimaginable, as it has become a daily occurrence, yet Charles Soludo collects Two Billion Naira monthly as security vault from the state coffers.
The half-educated Aburime, whose response on behalf of the Anambra State government and vituperation against my person must have been provoked, not by logical thinking but by his disappointment in being a failure of various standards.
The unfortunate Aburime highlighted the employment of five thousand (5,000) teachers as the notable accomplishments of Charles Soludo in 19 months. Obviously, Aburime ignored or is ignorant that Charles Soludo sacked over fifteen thousand (15,000) teachers whom his predecessor employed under a PTA partnership across public schools in the state. These teachers, who are most qualified and had begun working as teachers, were sacked without pay and subjected to emotional torture. They served the state, and rather than get rewarded, Soludo chose to use them for cheap political points, only to revert to re-employing a mere 5,000, abandoning 10,000 others in despair. Not even Buhari or the worst of leaders could attempt such a low in our recent history.
Amongst other landmark projects and programs of the Charles Soludo administration are the distribution of palm seedlings and a pseudo-5,000 youths trained in the jamboree 1Youth 2Skill. Perhaps the above encapsulates the Dubai-Taiwan economy of Charles Soludo. It is shameful to allude to the least.
To be fair, skill acquisition has never been the challenge for the young people of Anambra State, given our age-long history of excellence and apprenticeship, but financial strength and startup kits to mitigate the biting economic reality in the country today. Rather than declare the loans and grants interventions offered so far to the victims of Charles Soludo nebulous and opaque 1Youth 2Skills, Aburime instead decimated Soludo as being short on ideas and not in tandem with today’s reality. Charles Soludo’s 19 months in office can only be described as a scam and a generational error.
In the 2021 campaign manifesto of Charles Soludo, he stated boldly and further affirmed during his swearing-in speech that his administration would create at least 100,000 jobs and over 1,000 millionaires annually. It was a promise and contract to the people of Anambra State who voted for him on the backdrop of these campaign promises. I had expected Christian Aburime to address this concern and give an update on the efforts of the government to deliver on these promises and contracts to the Anambra people, but he instead went offensive and preferred the use of gutter language to vilify my person for demanding accountability from a public servant who had repeatedly claimed that he applied for the job of governor and that the people of Anambra State employed him.
In the last 19 months, the unemployment and poverty statistics of Anambra State have surged, which is evident in the number of crimes and social vices recorded in the state.
Interestingly, Aburime thinks all of us are ignorant, both of himself and of his boss, Charles Soludo, with the claims of their free education from primary and junior secondary schools (JSS1–JSS3) in Anambra public schools. Their ignorance failed to capture that junior education is a basic right. It is compulsory in Nigeria under the UBEC and Related Matters Act 2004. Hence, the claims of declaring free education in junior secondary schools and primary schools do not even exist in the first instance, except in the imaginations of Charles Soludo alone.
It would have been fair if the overzealous Chief Press Secretary had informed Ndị Anambra why Charles Soludo had yet to claim Anambra’s UBEC grant since the state is among the few states yet to claim the over 3 billion naira UBEC grant.
In another jaundiced claim, the drowning Aburime stuttered that the Soludo administration has saved a whopping 600 million naira from diesel expenditure since opting for solar-powered street lights. While I would not want to argue about the 25,000 solar-powered streetlights, which again are mere claims, I would have expected Aburime to state what important and significant project the saved monthly 600 million naira has been channeled to take care of. Perhaps another confirmation by the Chief Press Secretary that Charles Soludo has a whopping eleven billion naira unaccounted for.
It’s sad and unfortunate for a professor of international acclaim who, in his beautifully written manifesto, made numerous promises and claims of hitting the ground running from the very first day and is yet to lay the foundation stones for notable landmark infrastructural projects, despite the state accounting for over two billion naira monthly in internally generated revenue. Soludo has saved a whopping eleven billion naira in diesel expenditure, according to the CPS, and receives a joint allocation and derivation percentage as an oil-producing state, all of which caps over 20 billion naira monthly from the Federation account in the last 19 months. Yet, there’s nothing to show for these funds.
In the first three months of Professor Charles Soludo’s tenure, he declared that he had met nothing in the state Treasury. Although that was a lie, further facts showed his predecessor left billions in the state coffers. Soludo yet proceeded to get approval for a One Hundred Billion Naira loan request that was approved by the state assembly with the intent that he would invest the loan in projects and programs for the economic growth of the state. 19 months later, the information surrounding the said loan cannot be truly verified. These funds do not capture the donations of well-meaning Anambra indigenes from Abuja Federal Capital Territory to Lagos State who were desirous for Soludo to succeed and hit the ground running. Unfortunately, there’s no atom of accountability for these funds, not in visible projects that the people of the state can feel, touch, or verify.
While hundreds of Anambra young creatives struggle daily for government assistance to effect their talents, ideas, and dreams, they are steadily denied. Aburime could not defend the allegations of the state ministry of culture and tourism releasing sixty million Naira to the governor’s daughter for her annual fashion squander, while thousands of homes today are without clean water, electricity, and other basic amenities.
What are the verifiable milestone initiatives and traces of Charles Soludo in Anambra State?
19 months later, we are yet to see the world-class hospital in Okpoko, as promised by Charles Soludo to be completed in his first 12 months. The demolitions in Okpoko by his administration in his first quarter in office are a mere muscle flex and not for development.
19 months later, Anambra State has yet to have an effective transport system, or our roads fixed, at least. Instead, the touts employed in various agencies of the government only extort and harass vulnerable motorists while scaring away investors and businesses.
19 months later, there’s no tangible FDI coming into the state, and the much-mouthed 4th Industrial Revolution and transition to an ICT economy are the defeated dreams of the Soludo administration.
We have waited patiently for a notice of local government council elections, which was among the critical pillars of Charles Soludo’s campaign promises. It’s been 19 months, and our wait seems in vain.
Professor Charles Soludo came with the promise of changing narratives and norms, but he appears lost and worse than others we have had in the past.
As citizens, we have a great deal of faith in our leaders to keep their word and diligently try to make our communities better. When those promises are broken, it is not only a betrayal of trust but also a lost chance to improve the lives of countless people who are yearning for change. Instead of attacking and dismissing dissidents, it would be best for Charles Soludo to show receipts for work done or Resign immediately.
Lastly, I will leave the panting Aburime with the words of Arthur Schopenhauer: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
I sincerely apologize for juxtaposing Charles Soludo with Muhammadu Buhari. Such remains an embarrassment to the latter, as the former is in a different league of failure.
Nature had already structured Nigeria, only awaiting the political will, genuine and honest patriotism, wisdom, and destruction of corruption to make the country work. Never ask for change merely for the sake of change, if you have no ideas that can create a modern civilized society, on sound objective and logical principles. The natural order had all along been there, albeit substantially destroyed by colonialism and afterwards its neocolonial domestic and external successors; but another trouble with Nigeria is the endless efforts to upset and totally destroy the natural order for ignoble, selfish and malign purposes. In fact, there has been no nation-building whatsoever in Nigeria since 1966; all we’ve been having is nation-wrecking, with regimes contesting with each other which would inflict more damage than the other. Building a country is not building a disaster, which Nigerian rulers are doing; in civilized world it is the creation of the conditions for the most optimal enhancement of the potentials of the individual and society and development of the political society.
In Organic Restructuring ,we enhance what is naturally available to achieve what is humanly possible, at the same time extending all possibilities. Accordingly:
IN THE SOUTH:
We should have the following Regions, based on contiguous geo-cultural/organic principles:
———————————–
1. EASTERN REGION –
all Igbo-speaking peoples.
2. WESTERN REGION – all Yoruba-speaking peoples.
3. AkwaCross or SOUTHEAST REGION – combined Annang-Efik-Ibibio-Ogojas-speaking peoples.
4. SOUTHWEST REGION – combined Bini-Ijaw-Ishan-Isoko-Itsekiri-Urhobo-speaking peoples.
5. SOUTHCENTRAL REGION – combined Ogoni and Andoni-speaking peoples.
This is consistent with the principles of contiguity, reasonable size and viability, relative linguistic and other cultural homogeneity or association, maritime potentiality; creates the opportunity to preserve and further develop the various indigenous civilizations and worthy ways of life and, with the implied relative self-determination within Nigeria, minimizes the bitter and destabilizing struggles for central power and complaints of marginalization by various groups. Above all, it considerably solves the class question of the distribution of power between classes and factions of the elites, and the national question of relations between ethnic nationalities or groupings of same, especially issues of “majorities” oppressing or exploiting “minorities,” eliminates mutual suspicions and promotes national unity. Nigerians are not asking for an eight-year respite from suffering, whereby the corrupt and evil system is run more efficiently; they are asking for a definite end to evil, the cycles of man-made sufferings, and that means fundamental change.
IN THE NORTH:
Nature had also put the right situation in place, only requiring that honest statesmanship converts the geo-cultural organic order into positive political engineering. With dredging in mind, by meeting or overlapping the Rivers Niger or Benue that flow into the coast, all or most of the riparian North equally becomes maritime, same way as the South becomes both maritime and riparian, as follows:
———————————–
6. NORTHERN REGION – basically Hausa and Fulani, overlapping the River Niger around Jebba, Kainji, New Bussa.
7. NORTHEAST REGION – basically Kanuri and related groups, overlapping the River Benue at Yola or thereabouts.
8. NORTHWEST REGION – basically Baruba-Ebira-Gbagyi/Gwari-Nupe, athwart the River Niger.
9. NORTHCENTRAL REGION – basically all the groups under the old Jama’a Federation, Southern Kaduna, Plateau Highlands, and/or Kwararafa, from around the Katab, across the Birom, Angas, Jukun, down to the Chamba, etc., and on to the Niger.
10. MIDDLE BELT REGION – basically Bassa, Idoma, Igala, Tiv, etc., athwart the Niger and Benue Rivers.
Each Region shall have their own Constitution and decide on a capital city, together with provisions for possible mergers with any contiguous ones, based on either historical, civilizational, economies of scale, or other mutually agreed considerations.
CHANGE WITHOUT JUSTICE IS FUTILE
Nigerians must learn to cohabit on a just basis and there’s no better definition of justice than, simply, equality. To be a just and equal society for citizens, the bondage holding anyone in chains must be broken, and this constitutes the primary object of any change in today’s Nigeria:
– all vestiges of violent ancientisn and primitivism, above all the caliphate/emirate system, its hypothetical sharia and all the beheadings, amputations, blasphemies, stonings and burnings imposed on the poor Hausa, _almajiri_, “unbelievers,” and so on, should be disbanded and the centuries long suppressed Hausa and other indigenes allowed to choose their local officials.
– the military-security services must be reorganized to be a proper expression of the demographic character of the country in composition, deployment, all echelons of command and other indices.
The above could be summarized as true federalism, where the units own their resources, develop them, and pay agreed percentages to the federation account.
– no other vague and worthless proposition should enter as “national ethos” other than a modern democratic secular state of equal laws and equal applications nationwide based on civilized Common Law principles as among all serious peoples worldwide. For unity, ease of doing business, security, progress, everything fair, good and just, Nigeria must be governed under a single legal system, a single citizenship, a single code of conduct.
Stop asking for change if there is nothing in positive substance you are asking for. Nigerians have suffered enough and something fundamental, not patchwork has to happen; it has been so elsewhere, and the black man holed up in this space cannot continue to be slaves in perpetuity. Thanks greatly, compatriots.
– Obasi Igwe.
The leader of Ilana Omo Oodua, a self determination movement for Yoruba nation, Professor Banji Akintoye, on Saturday, declared that President Bola Tinubu is not instrumental to the recent release of the Yoruba nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, from protective custody in the Republic of Benin.
Igboho, who was released by the Benionise government, under the leadership of President Patrice Talon, last week Sunday, had acknowledged the support and solidarity of some notable Yoruba leaders during his travails in Cotonou, which spanned over two years.
However, while reacting to a viral video on social media, posted by an unidentified Igbo militant leader, who allegedly claimed that Tinubu should ensure the release of the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, just as he (Tinubu) facilitated Igboho’s freedom, Akintoye stated: “President Tinubu had no hands in Sunday Igboho’s freedom.”
In a statement, the leader of Ilana Omo Oodua contended that “this is imperative in order to correct the wrong impression in some quarters that President Bola Tinubu facilitated the freedom of Chief Sunday Adeyemo in Cotonou last week Sunday.
The statement was signed by the spokesperson for Akintoye, Mr Gani Alagbala.
According to the statement, “this is in response to the viral video of an Igbo militant leader, proclaiming that Nigeria President, Bola Tinubu should release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, just has he (President) has released Chief Sunday Igboho
“Although we will not fault our Igbo brothers, nor criticise them for seeking the freedom for the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu in any way.
“However, we must set the record straight. The Nigerian authorities and administration under the presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has got no hands in the release and total freedom of our front liner, Chief Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Igboho
“We give the credit to the Almighty God, then the efforts of our leadership in this Yoruba nation struggle supported by well-meaning friends at home and abroad. This had been a tedious and tasking process, but we give glory to God that granted us success in Sunday’s freedom at last.
“We strongly deny the involvement of any politician or officials of the Nigerian government in all these processes, for simply there was none. Our appreciation again goes to the Republic of Benin government for not denying us justice at last , despite some political pressures.
“And we wish our Igbo brother Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a quicker release from the Nigeria incarceration,” the statement concluded. (Tribune)
Following the recent defection of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra South) from YPP to the APC, and the attendant boast by the APC that they have conquered the South Eastern part of Nigeria (Biafraland), the Biafra De Facto Customary Government, BDFCG, has stated that luring the Senator to the ruling party makes no difference, as according to the group, Ubah “and his fellow businessmen in politics, driven by personal interests, cannot determine the direction the Biafran masses will take”.
In a press statement signed by the Spokesperson, Prosper Odinga, the group also described the boast as misleading, insisting that “Southeast, Eastern region in Nigeria or Biafra remains an indelible political challenge.
BDFCG however said that no politician from Biafran extraction is genuinely representing the ideology of Biafra – standing for freedom, good governance, equity, fairness and justice, all being the consolidated political legacy forseen by the founding fathers of Biafra, as well as that of Nigeria.
The group however said it is not expecting gold from APC or anyone, but merely demanding equality before the law, good governance, economic and political freedom, true federalism, a merit-driven system, among other principles.
The statement reads:
SOUTHEAST, EASTERN REGION IN NIGERIA OR BIAFRA REMAINS AN INDELIBLE POLITICAL CHALLENGE: BDFCG Warns South Eastern Political Jobbers, Led by Senator Akpabio.
The attention of the Biafra De Facto Customary Government has been drawn to news reports in which the All Progressives Congress (APC) boasted that they have conquered the South Eastern part of Nigeria (Biafraland) with the defection of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP)
BDFCG sees such statement as misleading the general public, and thus, this statement is issued to set the record straight.
Abuja’s political buccaneers should note that no politician from Biafran extraction is genuinely representing the ideology of Biafra, which stands for freedom, good governance, equity, fairness, and justice. No politician from Biafraland has been able to mobilize the Biafran masses to pursue and implement the Biafra ideology while still in Nigeria. A consolidated political legacy forseen by the founding fathers of Biafra as well as that of Nigeria. Sunday Igboho of Oduduwa is right in his struggle as well as Arewa with its long time opportunistic strategy anchored on religion has right also.
Unfortunately Nnamdi Kanu IPOB messed up a golden opportunity to reaffirm Biafra legacy. BDFCG is quite cognizant of all these forces working against the establishment of a free ,fair and just society .
Contemporary Abuja politicians have been sponsoring fictitious Biafra groups merely to control the emotions and psychology of Biafra people. This could be seen in the reasons why various agitating groups have always advised Biafrans not to participate in the electoral process and any other activities that would give legitimacy to the noble quest for self determination for Biafra people living in Nigeria.
These Abuja politicians have deceived the people of Biafra for decades, and the day of reckoning is fast approaching. The Biafra De Facto Customary Government wants to clarify that Biafrans have not been participating in the electoral process due to decades of brainwashing. This is why Prof. Chukwuma Soludo became the Governor of Anambra State with just 112,000 votes out of more than 4,000,000 eligible voters in Anambra State alone. BDFCG has come to mobilize millions of Biafrans to be part of the electoral process in pursuit of the Biafra ideology. Those who are masquerading under the noble course of Biafra self determination agenda to commit all forms of criminality must be called to law and order as BDFCG is for rule of law.
APC should be reminded that Senator Ifeanyi Ubah YPP and his fellow businessmen in politics, driven by personal interests, cannot determine the direction the Biafran masses will take. We are not asking anybody for too much! We are not expecting gold from APC or anyone. We are merely demanding equality before the law, good governance, economic and political freedom, true federalism, a merit-driven system, among other principles—not political patronage or appointment. Biafra people have been surviving and will continue to survive in a free, fair, and just system, which the APC government has been working against. Therefore, luring Senator Ifeanyi Ubah from YPP cannot make any difference unless APC starts today to review policies and constitution of the failing State of Nigeria.
There are certain allegations you should not associate the President of any country with. And if ever such allegations exist, there will be a ready and credible explanation given. Allegations of certificate forgery are top on the list. If one understands the problem well enough, the main concern is not that President Tinubu was alleged to have forged his own certificate. Rather, the problem that concerns many like me is that there was no credible explanation given by the President and his supporters. Indeed, everything the President and his supporters have done has tended to strengthen the allegations. In fact, I did not take the allegations seriously until the President’s lawyers filed papers trying to stop the release of his academic record. That was the smoking gun for me. It was an admission by conduct that those lawyers knew that their client’s academic record would be different from what he had put out.
From a lawyer’s position, there was no need to resist the request for release of records. In the client’s best interest, there was no need to resist. In fact, I actually thought that the resistance was a calculated move to generate more interest in the President’s honesty as would be reflected in the records to be released. The shocker was when they pressed harder in their resistance and claimed that releasing the records would place the President in mortal danger. At that moment, no one had any doubt that Nigerians had been taken for a ride.
The problem is not about Tinubu as a person. Most human beings have one dark thing or another in their past. Be it Peter Obi, be it Atiku; every man has a shaded thing he would like to keep from the public. The problem is how such thing may affect Nigeria as a country. I know a few nasty things Obi did, which will hurt him if they come to light. In fact, anyone who can locate my posts in January 2013 will find some. I know a few things (more things) Atiku did that Nigerians are not yet aware of. But we are dealing with certificate forgery and why it has a special negative impact on Nigeria because one of the greatest threats to Nigeria is the problem of credibility deficit. That is; people do not trust documents presented by a Nigerian.
The main purpose of certificates is to attest to facts. Only your family members were present when you were born. Only few people knew as a fact that you attended certain schools and obtained certain level of education. Only a few people know about your qualifications. The only way to bring these facts to be accepted by the public is through the certification process. That is what certificates do. That is why it is crucial for any government to ensure that the certification process works – that the facts attested to by a certificate are true and that the certificate was issued by the legitimate authority.
To be a proper state (country) and play your role as a responsible member of the international legal system and world order, you must be able to ensure that the certification process in your country is credible and reliable. Nigerians suffer many difficulties outside the country and even within the country as a result of the fact that the world does not trust Nigeria’s certification process. In international relations and immigration, foreign countries do not trust documents presented by Nigerians. In international commerce, foreign banks and foreign businessmen do not give credit to Nigerians because they do not trust documents they present. As I have mentioned a few times, the whole EFCC of Nigeria forged court order to justify my detention. The Nigerian police forge court judgments to detain people. I have a case now where the EFCC backdated documents filed in court. I singled out the EFCC because it is supposed to be an agency of government that prevents fraud. It is not supposed to be involved in fraud. The cost of credibility deficit on Nigerians runs into trillions of dollars. For every Nigerian business person within or outside Nigeria, the cost of doing business is quadrupled because of credibility deficit. You cannot take at face value any document tendered by a Nigerian.
One may wonder why things became like that. Over the years, Nigerians see government authority as evil to be resisted by collective deception. Nigerians have built a culture of official dishonesty in their effort to resist authority. Anything that is official, including certificates, are not expected to be true. I believe this grew from the people’s mistrust of colonial authorities. They rightly saw colonial authorities as exploitative. As part of their resistance to authority, they used deception as a means. You don’t want to pay tax to colonial authority, you lie about your income and assets. You don’t want to work as free labor for colonial authority, you lie about your age. You issue false birth and death certificates. What happened over time was that these techniques and habits continued even after independence. Today, it is estimated that more than half of Nigerian citizens 30 years and above lied about their date of birth. They have the ability to state any date that favors their immediate needs. So, even a Nigerian like myself will not trust a document from Nigeria. If I were to be an immigration officer in the United States, I will place Nigerians on a special line for special x-rayed inspection before I let them in. Not that I hate Nigerians, but that I know the truth about their country and I know that the. Governments of Nigeria are aiding in the massive deception and dishonesty.
The point I am making is that the tendency to resort to lying as a form of resistance was caused by lack of trust in government. People did not trust colonial government. The post-independence government was both corrupt and repressive. So, nothing changed to increase trust and confidence in governance. Deception remained a potent weapon of resistance against corrupt and repressive governments. However, the cost of using dishonesty as means of resistance to bad governance is simply too high otherwise. The hope of change in the near future is not realistic. It is in that context that one must view the allegations of certification forgery by a Nigerian president as a serious national calamity.
To see how credibility deficit has harmed Nigeria and Nigerians internationally, consider the attached summary stating how European immigration authorities view Nigerians applying for visas. It reflects a total lack of trust in Nigerian documents. Any hope that Tinubu’s administration would help Nigeria is dashed when the President himself is embroiled in such high publicity certificate forgery scandal. The fact that the President could not easily dismiss the allegations is so terrible for Nigeria and Nigerians. That is why it matters so much.
There are certain allegations you should not associate the President of any country with. And if ever such allegations exist, there will be a ready and credible explanation given. Allegations of certificate forgery are top on the list. If one understands the problem well enough, the main concern is not that President Tinubu was alleged to have forged his own certificate. Rather, the problem that concerns many like me is that there was no credible explanation given by the President and his supporters. Indeed, everything the President and his supporters have done has tended to strengthen the allegations. In fact, I did not take the allegations seriously until the President’s lawyers filed papers trying to stop the release of his academic record. That was the smoking gun for me. It was an admission by conduct that those lawyers knew that their client’s academic record would be different from what he had put out.
From a lawyer’s position, there was no need to resist the request for release of records. In the client’s best interest, there was no need to resist. In fact, I actually thought that the resistance was a calculated move to generate more interest in the President’s honesty as would be reflected in the records to be released. The shocker was when they pressed harder in their resistance and claimed that releasing the records would place the President in mortal danger. At that moment, no one had any doubt that Nigerians had been taken for a ride.
The problem is not about Tinubu as a person. Most human beings have one dark thing or another in their past. Be it Peter Obi, be it Atiku; every man has a shaded thing he would like to keep from the public. The problem is how such thing may affect Nigeria as a country. I know a few nasty things Obi did, which will hurt him if they come to light. In fact, anyone who can locate my posts in January 2013 will find some. I know a few things (more things) Atiku did that Nigerians are not yet aware of. But we are dealing with certificate forgery and why it has a special negative impact on Nigeria because one of the greatest threats to Nigeria is the problem of credibility deficit. That is; people do not trust documents presented by a Nigerian.
The main purpose of certificates is to attest to facts. Only your family members were present when you were born. Only few people knew as a fact that you attended certain schools and obtained certain level of education. Only a few people know about your qualifications. The only way to bring these facts to be accepted by the public is through the certification process. That is what certificates do. That is why it is crucial for any government to ensure that the certification process works – that the facts attested to by a certificate are true and that the certificate was issued by the legitimate authority.
To be a proper state (country) and play your role as a responsible member of the international legal system and world order, you must be able to ensure that the certification process in your country is credible and reliable. Nigerians suffer many difficulties outside the country and even within the country as a result of the fact that the world does not trust Nigeria’s certification process. In international relations and immigration, foreign countries do not trust documents presented by Nigerians. In international commerce, foreign banks and foreign businessmen do not give credit to Nigerians because they do not trust documents they present. As I have mentioned a few times, the whole EFCC of Nigeria forged court order to justify my detention. The Nigerian police forge court judgments to detain people. I have a case now where the EFCC backdated documents filed in court. I singled out the EFCC because it is supposed to be an agency of government that prevents fraud. It is not supposed to be involved in fraud. The cost of credibility deficit on Nigerians runs into trillions of dollars. For every Nigerian business person within or outside Nigeria, the cost of doing business is quadrupled because of credibility deficit. You cannot take at face value any document tendered by a Nigerian.
