The political revolution to fix our politics,our environment and our economy have quietly commenced in Anambra State being the light of the Nation. Many are still doubting the efficacy of people movement targeted towards effecting revolutionary change within our society but with Good Governance Ministry in partnership with revolutionary online media platform – BVI Channel 1 ,the rather impossible mission is gradually becoming possible. This is a silent revolution that does not require media hype as the good work will speak for itself.
Some few months ago , many of our followers across the globe did not believe in ballot revolution. To them ,our vote cannot count and people were deceive to believe that boycotting election was the best option . GGM was not discouraged by the people political ignorance and with the cankerworm ravishing the political space – money politics ,promoted and advanced by the visionless and corrupt political class. With determination ,our gospel of ideological politics was sustained through town hall meeting ,radio programs and social media messaging . GGM played a unique and unpopular type of Politics viz public interest driven politics as against personal interest. Politics determines everything but our people have failed to realize that our political ignorance is root cause of our societal problem ,hence the need for a political ministry that would drive a brand new political culture
It is no longer news that things have really fallen apart! Chinua Achebe wrote a long time ago ‘ Things Fall Apart’ but we did not pay attention. It is not about confronting the external enemies alone,it is also instituting the right culture that would encourage hardworking and discourage ‘ego mbute’ . People prefer the easy way out,cutting corners and unfortunately our society celebrates men with questionable characters.
However ,upon all odds ,Anambra State elected a great Reformer – Prof Chukwuma Soludo as the Governor -elect to build public institutions that would facilitate and guarantee Good Governance and public accountability .Public expectation is on the high side as people are dire need for equitable distribution of scarce resources and transformational Leadership.
The message of Good Governance Ministry is spreading like wildlife and cannot be quenched as our God is behind the divine mission. Nobody stops peoples project on rescue mission.
Kingsley Moghalu, politician and changemaker, ex-Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, university professor and former United Nations diplomat, will deliver a series of public lectures this week at the prestigious Oxford University, where he is currently the Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow at the university’s Oxford Martin School, a research institute focused on finding solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
The lectures will cover the subjects of politics, economics, and international relations and diplomacy, in which Moghalu has played global and national leadership roles in the past three decades.
On Wednesday November 24, Moghalu will speak at the Oxford Martin School on “The Political Economy of Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities for Reform”. According to an announcement by the Oxford Martin School on its website, Moghalu will “examine how the the West African country’s foundation as a British colony, and the contemporary challenges of nationhood and political order formation, the resource curse of oil, corruption, and the absence of a strong leadership culture have created incentives for Nigeria’s current dysfunction. He identifies not just seven critical challenges, but also offers seven paths to reform and a longer term resolution of the country’s political and economic challenges. The result, if his prescriptions happen, could be the delayed emergence of Africa’s first truly indigenous global power”.
The former presidential candidate in the 2019 elections and presidential aspirant for 2023 will also lecture on Thursday, November 25 at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, a post-graduate school of public policy that trains leaders in governments around the world. He will speak on the subject of “Emerging Markets in the World Economy: Comparative Advantages and Economic Complexities of Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa”. He will then address the Oxford Diplomatic Society the next day, Friday afternoon, in “A Conversation with the Oxford Diplomatic Society on International Relations in the 21st Century: New Problems, New Opportunities”.
The scheduled events, with options for both in-person or virtual participation, are expected to draw senior members of the Oxford University teaching faculty, students, visitors and members of the Oxford community from the United Kingdom and other countries including Nigeria. Moghalu is an Academic Visitor at Oxford for the university’s Michaelmas Term (October to December) 2021.
There was news report today that a group of Igbo grandees, billed as “Highly Respected Igbo Greats”, trundled out to Abuja to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, asking for an unconditional release of Mr Nnamdi Kanu, the incarcerated leader of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
The delegation included Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, a First Republic parliamentarian and Minister of Aviation, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Governor of Anambra State, Bishop Sunday Onuoha of the Methodist Church, and Chief Barrister Goddy Uwazurike, former President of Igbo socio-cultural group, Aka Ikenga. Buhari received them well and promised to consider their request (see report here: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-east/496261-igbo-leaders-meet-buhari-want-nnamdi-kanu-released.html).
The opinion that follows below will probably sound insensitive coming from an Igbo man, but I think the Igbo grandees who went to plead with Buhari to release Kanu made a grievous mistake.
No doubt the Igbo grandees meant well. They probably felt they had to act, likely on behalf of a scandalized Igbo political elite facing increasing pressure from a radicalized Igbo rank and file. But, in my opinion, their plea to President Buhari is constitutionally illiterate; it is politically inastute; and it is an ill-considered move that will likely hobble IPOB’s long-term revolutionary strategy.
Buhari was right to have stated, as reported in response to the Igbo delegation, that its plea offends a fundamental tenet of the Nigerian constitution, which is *separation of powers*. This constitutional principle was first fully articulated by Baron de Montesquieu, one of the great political philosophers of the Enlightenment, in his seminal work, *_The Spirit of the Laws_*, published in 1748. The principle was invoked by Montesquieu as a major critique of feudal absolutism in France and elsewhere in Europe, and it greatly influenced the constitutional ideals of both the American and the French revolutions. It has since become a cornerstone of modern constitutional government.
In Nigeria, we have adopted and are deepening this constitutional principle as a revolutionary departure from the tripartite absolutisms of our history – first the feudal absolutism that flourished in several proto-Nigerian territories; then British imperialist absolutism; and finally, military absolutism.
The case against Nnamdi Kanu is now _sub judice_ and is yet to be dispositioned; therefore, it is unclear if Buhari actually has the power to intervene legally in the matter. Of course, the president has significant latitude under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution which deals with the exercise of prerogative of mercy. The provision imbues a Nigerian president with the power to “grant any person concerned with or convicted of any offence created by an Act of the National Assembly a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions.” I doubt if this power can be exercised prior to the disposition of a case, but maybe our constitutional lawyers can weigh in on the interpretation.
Aside from the constitutional issue, there is also the political implication, for the Igbos, of its leaders, or purported leaders, going to Abuja to plead on behalf of Kanu. What is the object of their plea: are they asking for “forgiveness” – which would sound like a suggestion or an admission that Kanu and his IPOB are doing something wrong?
If so, the question arises as to what they think IPOB is getting wrong: is it the charge of Igbo marginalization and persecution which IPOB has levied against the Nigerian state? Or is it the particular revolutionary tactics adopted by the group? What are the Igbo grandees pleading that Buhari should forgive, if the thesis of their plea is indeed forgiveness?
Even if the Igbo leaders did not mean to ask for “forgiveness”, it will certainly be imputed as such by Buhari and his regime. They will read the intervention as an apology; they will construe it as Igbo leaders begging for forgiveness, which will be rather unfortunate.
There are at least two grievous implications from such an imputation by the Buhari regime. One pertains to near-term Igbo political interests, and the other to IPOB’s long-term revolutionary project.
If the Buhari regime reads the intercession of the Igbo grandees as a plea for forgiveness, Buhari could (over)leverage his powers under section 175 of the Constitution to pardon Kanu, but he will exact a heavy political price from the Igbos for the concession. One, we can forget the idea of an Igbo president in 2023. The Nigerian state, or the dominant elite therein, already feels that conceding the presidency to the Igbos is a major concession, and even a risk. Buhari may be advised by his political strategists – and the wily president may accept the advice – to “free” Nnamdi Kanu as a substitute for conceding the presidency to the Igbos in the near term.
More than the presidency, Buhari and his anti-Igbo coterie could also leverage the “forgiveness” of Nnamdi Kanu to continue and even intensify federal disinvestment of Igboland.
Igboland has suffered from a systematic policy asphyxiation since the end of the Civil War, despite the ‘No Victor, No Vanquished’ nostrum enunciated after the war. We went from a hot, shooting war in 1967-70 to a cold war of policy neglect thereafter. This has resulted in relentless de-industrialization and infrastructure decay in Igbo territories.
The plea to pardon Nnamdi Kanu could become another chip to be used by the anti-Igbo forces in the Nigerian regime to further reduce federal investment in Igboland. A heavy price.
But it is not just the geopolitical implication for the Igbos that matters here. What would become of IPOB’s revolutionary strategy if its virulent leader were “pardoned”, with conditions, by the Nigerian state?
We know now, from the constant complaints of Nnamdi Kanu and his lawyers, that the guy is no Nelson Mandela who refused P. W. Botha’s offer in 1985 to release him from prison, subject to certain conditions. Rejecting the terms offered by the apartheid government for his release, Mandela had said to Botha:
I cannot sell my birthright, nor am I prepared to sell the birthright of the people to be free… I cannot and will not give any undertaking at a time when I and you, the people, are not free. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.
This was 1985. Mandela was 66 years old at the time and had been in prison for about 23 years. Yet, he refused an offer to be freed from prison if it would hobble the revolutionary goals of his party, the ANC, which was to overthrow the apartheid system under which South African Blacks labored.
But we are seeing now that our Nnamdi Kanu is no Mandela. Since his incarceration, his lawyers and associates have been howling about his suffering; he has used his IPOB to terrorize his own people, undermining Igbo economy, preventing school children from attending school, and generally imposing a reign of terror in Igboland.
Buhari and his gang will no doubt perceive that Kanu has little tolerance for the austerities of life under incarceration, this being the evident reason why he is sabotaging and terrorizing his own people and pressuring Igbo elites to plead for his release. So, it would stand to reason that Buhari will impose severe conditions against IPOB’s revolutionary quest in order to pardon Kanu.
Does anyone think that Buhari will pardon Kanu and yet give him free rein to continue his radical attack on the Nigerian state, or even to continue to press the Igbo case?
Not me!
So, whichever way one looks at it, this outing by the Igbo grandees, though well-meaning, is a major strategic error. It undermines not only IPOB’s revolutionary agenda but also the larger geopolitical interest of Igbo people.
It might be better for Kanu to go through the crucible of judicial trial and hopefully come out triumphant. That way, he and his IPOB will retain the moral right to continue their agitation, even if they have to amend their strategy.
And Igbo people will not have conceded anything in their demand for equal citizenship and equal opportunity in the firmament of Nigerian politics.
Truth kills all lies . Our people need solution . We have provoked the Masses to appreciate the ugly situation in Nigeria but the next stage is to provide solution. GGM and BVI Channel 1 are offering solution in practical terms.
Super structure controls the substructure. Our politicians have destroyed the superstructure. We need brand new Political class to organise the people . The job is not easy but must be done. Don’t wait until you become the Governor or elected person , start now no matter how small.
Though , a lot depends on our institutions to show directions. For instance , millions of our active human resources are being wasted because of certificate driven education system . Our system is designed to support and encourage consumption and has no room for creativity and production . That is why we cannot solve our very simple problems like poor road infrastructure, high cost of food , housing , healthcare,access to cheap loanable fund etc. Visionary Leadership can solve all these problems by assembling brand new Political class ready to serve and add value .
Ndubuisi Anaenugwu is the Deputy Leader of Good Governance Ministry (GGM)
WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT THE ISSUE OF THE ERROR IN FORM EC9 OF PROF CEE CEE SOLUDO.
Without Prejudice to those that believe that Ozigbo may still be sworn in as the Governor of Anambra State.
It is actually true that section 31(5) empowers anybody who has reasonable grounds to believe that information given by a candidate is false may file a suit at the Federal high Court challenging such declaration.
It is also true that by Section 31(6) that the Court shall disqualify such person if it finds that such information is false.
It is also true that Prof Charles Sóludo in form EC9 stated that that his contesting for Aguata 11 instead of Anambra State.
However,It is also true that the Supreme Court in AGI V PDP (2016)LPELR-42578(SC).
” To disqualify a candidate for falsification,the infraction must relate to the very point on which qualification depends.Thus where the alleged falsified document is not a qualifying factor under the Constitution of Nigeria it’s presentation cannot disqualify an otherwise qualified person”
According to section 177 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates qualifying factors to be a governor thus:
(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth
(b) hé has attained the age of thirty- five years
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party and
(d) he has been educated up to at least school Certificate level or it’s equivalent.
So stating Aguata II instead of Anambra State is not a a qualifying nor disqualify factor, hence nobody can be disqualified because of such.
The part of constitution which People are quoting actually deals with DELIBERATE ATTEMPTS TO DECEIVE/FORGERY and the said issue is an Error, not Forgery.
Therefore, Sóludo will not be disqualified as is being speculated.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), says all those who tried to cover up the shootings at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020, must be sanctioned for complicity.
Specifically, Falana said the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN); as well as the managers of the toll gate, the Lekki Concession Company; should be sanctioned for trying to cover up the “crimes against humanity committed at the toll gate” during the EndSARS protests last year.
Following the shootings and the reported killings at the Lekki toll gate, the Lagos State Government had constituted the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters to, amongst other things, probe the Lekki incident.
On Monday, after about a year, the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel submitted its report to the Lagos State Government, noting that at least nine persons were confirmed dead at the Lekki toll plaza when soldiers stormed the tollgate to disperse EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020.
The 309-page report stated, “The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags and while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a massacre in context.”
It recommended that all army officers deployed in the Lekki tollgate should be made to face appropriate disciplinary action, stripped of their ranks and dismissed as they were not fit and proper to serve in any public or security service of the nation.
The United States, the United Nations, the United Kingdom and Amnesty International have since called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the panel’s report is handled transparently.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who received the report on Monday, constituted a Committee to bring forward a White Paper within the next two weeks to be considered by the Lagos State Executive Council.
The PUNCH reports that the panel’s report negates the consistent claim by the Federal Government of Nigeria that there was no “massacre” at the toll gate, a focal gathering point during last year’s nationwide demonstration against extrajudicial killings and police brutality by operatives of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had at various times maintained that the Lekki incident was a “massacre without bodies” and had threatened to sue Cable News Network and other international bodies that claimed otherwise.
Malami had also said those who attacked the youths at Lekki toll gate weren’t soldiers but wore military camouflages while the LCC had allegedly removed the closed-circuit television at the toll gate in a move that had been widely described as a cover-up.
Speaking on Thursday, Falana said those who released the Lekki panel report feared cover-up by the government, hence, they released the report to the public to know their findings.
He spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme monitored by The PUNCH.
Falana, who said the report is one of the best so far in the country, added that there is no room for a cover-up.
The human rights lawyer noted that Mohammed, Malami, the LCC and all those who tried to cover up the killings at Lekki must be sanctioned.
When asked whether the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), should speak on the report of the panel, Falana said, “No, not yet; the President made a broadcast last year in 2020 based on the information given to him. I’m sure you are aware that five times, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said nobody was killed. The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), said those who appeared in Lekki were not Nigerian soldiers but people just put on military uniforms to perpetrate atrocities.
“Even the military denied that (but) it was when the young people who are advanced in technology and who took photographs in the night when the soldiers were shooting, it was at that stage that the military said, ‘Yes, we were shooting, we only shot into the air’.
“And the panel found that even LAWMA (Lagos State Waste Management Authority) went there to do a clean-up in the night, in the early hours of 21st (of October 2020) so that there would be no trail but by the time the panel visited the scene of the incident they were still able to pick some expired bullets.”
The panel painstakingly analysed the evidence of every witness before arriving at the conclusion. So, it is difficult to cover up what happened on that day,” he added.
On what should happen to the federal officers who allegedly tried to cover up, the senior advocate said, “They are all going to be sanctioned. Anybody who attempted to cover up would be sanctioned, any of them including those who managed Lekki, the LCC, because they disabled their system in order to cover up.”
“Any regime in the world that says these are federal officers and we are not going to sanction them, if you don’t, these are materials for the ICC (International Criminal Court). Under the Rome Statute, the ICC will only intervene if a government is unwilling or unable to prosecute those who engaged in crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. If by the time the (Lagos State) government issues its White Paper, recommendations are made and these people are not prosecuted, that is not the end of the matter. No President can behave as in the ‘80s, that this is an internal affair.”
Governor Hope Uzodinma has expressed readiness to launch a new security outfit in Imo state on the 30 November.
The new security outfit will fuse local vigilante organisations and the Community Policing network, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba said.
Emelumba spoke to journalists after the Imo State Executive Council Meeting held at the Douglas House Owerri.
Imo Government has also approved the takeoff of 50 development centres across the State, in order to bring the Government closer to the people.
According to the Commissioner, the number of Development Centres will be increased from 44 to 50, stressing that Town Union Presidents will be members of Development Centres where the community falls into.
Emelumba explained that the involvement of Town Union Presidents is to bring the Government closer to the people.
