The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, the Ohanaeze yesterday frowned at what it called the continued refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a South Easterner the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, even after the ruling party zoned it to the region.
In a statement signed by Ohanaeze President General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, the body said that the President has failed again to play the father figure which his office demands in presiding over a plural and divergent society as ours, adding that the President’s action has further denied the people of the region a strong place in the executive arm of the administration.
Nwodo expressed regret that the President by his action has failed to seize the opportunity of running an inclusive government and assuaging the feelings of Ndigbo by side tracking them again in the appointment of the SGF. “It also shows the President’s insensitivity to the over flogged issue of marginalization of Ndigbo by his administration. “We had thought that the recent meeting of South East leaders with the President at the Aso Rock Villa opened an avenue for a new relationship with the zone which appointing an SGF from the area would have helped to cement especially as the ruling party originally zoned the position to the region.
According to Chief Nwodo, the President’s remarks on the South East Ministers in his cabinet during the meeting could not have been a good reason to continue sidetracking them of a position zoned to them especially when such appointment would have helped to heal wounds and reconcile a disgruntled people.
Chief Nwodo said it’s saddening that the President who has had the enviable opportunity of working across the country in his military career and has been a huge player in the polity for almost two decades, cannot find somebody from the South East he can trust for the SGF position.
The Ohanaeze finally urged the President to open his mind and have a positive attitude about Ndigbo whose contributions to the socio economic and political development of the country is not in doubt.
Two Nigerian-born South African prisoners have been fingered in the killing of worshippers at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, on August 6.
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Garba Umar, disclosed this at a press conference on Wednesday in his office at Amawbia, in the Awka Local Government Area of the state.
He gave the names of the suspects as Prince Charles Obi, a.k.a. Gozila, and Dickson Nwodi, a.k.a. Afam.
Umar said Interpol had been involved to extradite the suspects.
He said other suspects in the killing who had been in police custody would be arraigned this week.
The CP’s statement read in part, “Two indigenes of Anambra State from Nnobi and Oba LGAs respectively, currently serving prison terms in South Africa for murder, have taken responsibility for the attack.
“They vowed that there will be more attacks if their financial demands, which were not disclosed, made of certain persons are not met.
“They mandated one Quintus Anayo (alias Obasanjo) based in South Africa to come to Ozubulu and inform the elders of the town of this threat.
“The two prisoners in South Africa are Prince Charles Obi (a.k.a. Gozila) and Dickson Nwodi (a.k.a. Afam).
“The command wishes to state categorically that we will ensure that all identified perpetrators are brought to book. On that strength, three of the suspects in custody are to be arraigned within this week on charges of conspiracy and murder with other suspects at large.
“The Interpol is already involved in the investigation and possible extradition of the suspects based in South Africa who claimed responsibility for the attack on the church.”
He assured the public that no one, directly or indirectly, involved in the killing would be left off the hook.
On the involvement of Aloysius Ikegwuonu, aka Bishop, in the saga, the CP said, “Bishop is just a victim. If they had seen him that day, they would have killed him.”
Remember Colonel Tony Nyiam (retd)? He is that Cross River State retired Army officer who came to the limelight when he and some other officers attempted to overthrow the former military president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida in a coup, on April 22, 1990.
He was a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) that packaged the National Conference, but resigned midway following his altercation with the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole during the committee’s public hearing in Benin, Edo State.
Nyiam recently engaged Saturday Sun’s TUNDE THOMAS on a number of issues and advised President Muhammadu Buhari to be more liberal in the selection and appointment of office holders that will assist him in the day-to-day running of affairs of the country. “It will not augur well for Nigeria if Buhari continues this way. Buhari is too sectional. He doesn’t hide it and his action if remained unchecked is capable of undermining the unity of Nigeria. He should see entire Nigeria as his constituency,” he declared. Nyiam also spoke on other national issues including restructuring, Orkar Coup of 1990 and a host of others.
Nigeria recently turned 57, what’s your take on the journey so far, can you say the aspirations and dreams of the founding fathers have been met?
Nothing to write home about Nigeria yet. We are still far away from the aspirations and the dreams of the founding fathers. We are yet to meet the aspirations of the founding fathers of Nigeria like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Ahmadu Bello who in fact were the only visionaries out of the other founding fathers. I deliberately mentioned these two leaders as the only visionaries because they were the ones that saw and thought ahead of their time.
The problem with Nigeria, which I have been talking about are so enormous. The major problem with Nigeria however is how to restore Nigeria to true practice of democracy, to address series of injustices in the system, and that was one of the reasons why myself and some other patriots took that pro-democracy action in 1990 to sanitise the system but which unfortunately some people continue to refer to as a military coup – that was when we attempted to sack General Ibrahim Babangida’s government in order to address injustices prevailing in the Nigerian system.
Unfortunately that action taken by late Gideon Orkar, myself and others failed, but our action opened the eyes of many Nigerians to oppression and injustice in our system. That our action in a way marked the beginning of agitation or the clamour for restructuring of Nigeria.
When I came back from exile after I was granted presidential pardon by General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s government, I went round to sample opinions of Nigerians as to whether situation of things have improved regarding the protest against these injustices, whether they have been or being addressed. But what I found out shocked me, I found that the situation was getting worse, and the oppression and injustice in our system was assuming alarming proportion.
What is the way out for Nigeria?
Although we call Nigeria a federal republic, but this is nothing but a mockery. In actual practice, we are still practicing unitary system of government which has enabled the status quo to remain, and which has continued to make the injustice and oppression of some Nigerians by fellow Nigerians to assume alarming proportions. That’s why I wrote the book “True Federalism or Awaiting Implosion”. If we fail to have true federalism, what will happen next is implosion. Nigeria is cracking already, and if we fail to do the needful now, it is a matter of time before the nation suffers implosion which may have terrible consequences.
All those things happening now, Boko Haram, IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu’s crisis, quit notice, herdsmen problem, these are some of the signs of a crack, and what happens next is implosion if we fail to do the needful now. We need to reform. Calls and agitations for restructuring should be taken seriously.
Those who are pretending not to know what restructuring means, let me define restructuring for them, it means an appeal for the restoration, or for the enthronement of timeless and universal principles of justice, truth, fairness, equality and the engendering of a sense of belonging in all the people and nations that make up Nigeria.
The issue of restructuring is an issue of correcting injustice in the land. Lack of fairness and inequality has resulted in people not having a sense of belonging in the nation. You may ask me, what are some of these injustices, and I will illustrate a few examples of these injustices.
The first injustice is using the constitution to legalise what I call federal government’s coveting the oil producing communities revenue.
Secondly the legalization of the illegitimate take-over of Lagos State generated Value Added Tax, VAT. VAT is supposed to be used for adding value to the lives of residents of communities where sales or business transactions were made. The way VAT being generated by Lagos State government is being shared with other parts of the country is very illegitimate. It may be legal, but it is illegitimate. It is unfair. It is also illegitimate for the federal government to take control of the seaports. Under true federalism, Lagos State government should be in control of its sea ports in Apapa and Tin Can Island and the state should be in control of revenue generation there. The same applies to other parts of the country like Calabar, Port Harcourt and other coastal areas. Thank God that Lagos State recently won the case at the Federal High Court over the control of Lagos State inland waterways.
The 1999 constitution, which we currently operate is seriously flawed. It serves the interests of only two geo-political zones in the country, the Northeast and the Northwest.
Are you saying that we are nowhere near a country that should be regarded as being federal?
Exactly, why is the federal system of governance that should be clearly simple, always made complex in Nigeria? The answer to the question is traceable to the fact that lack of truth often leads to the complications of the minds of the untruthful people. The aspect of falsehood of concern, here is one that has been caused, and sustained by hegemony or internal colonizers of the Nigerian majority.
Falsehood usually comes from a person, or group of people, having something to hide. An example of this are politicians from one, or two geopolitical regions of Nigeria, who are hiding the unfair advantages that their military kinsfolk had, through abuse of their offices. I describe them as unfair advantages because they have come from the shortchanging of the other four, Middle Belt and the Southern regions.
Why are we perpetuating the European colonial narrative, which derogatorily refers to African ethnic nations as primitive tribes? Why are the English or Scots or Welsh or Irish or Catalonians or Russians not categorized as tribes? If the United Kingdom can be made up of the four ethnic nations of the English, Scots, Welsh and Irish of Northern Ireland, why are we refusing to accept that Nigeria is also made up of ethnic nations like Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Boki etc.
Nigeria has been unfair to many citizens, and an example of unfairness is that whilst a child from the ‘born to rule’ people’s communities can gain entry, for instance into Unity Schools and federal institutions for less than 20 percent score compared to another child from the Middle Belt, or South, that needs to score at least 70 percent to gain the same entry. Such gross discrimination against the majority of the Nigerian children is most unacceptable.
There are the example of inequalities in the number of states per geopolitical region and even larger inequalities of number of local government areas (LGAs) per zone. It is unjust, and grossly unfair, that a less populated and less economically viable state like Kano State has over thrice the number of Lagos LGAs. The people of the Northwest have more LGAs than the Southeast and South-south put together.
Why have the people of Ijebu or Ibadan in the Southwest, or the Idoma or Tiv people in the North-central, or the Ogoja people in the South-south, not been given a state when those not as populated nor economically viable in the Northwest or Northeast have been made states? There is the old time complaint about the gross inequality of the Southeast having only five states compared to the Northwest’s seven states.
The impact of these inequalities is in the unfairness of Kano State taking more than thrice federal revenue than Lagos, which contributes over half of the nation’s VAT. Kano State also has more than three times representations than Lagos State in the National Assembly. There is also need for us to have a legitimate national constitution.
Are you saying that the current one we have, the 1999 constitution is not legitimate?
We need to have a liberal democracy oriented National Constitution and this can be legitimate only if it is subjected to referendum or a plebiscite approval by, at least, a simple majority of the country’s citizenry. Our approaches to nation building cannot continue to be at odds with the global best practice, which requires the draft of major constitutional amendments, not to mention of a new constitution to be directly voted for by the people.
What’s clear from the examination so far is the necessity for the Nigerian politicians, particularly the legislators, to discontinue their ignorance of the fact that their powers are limited to making the laws under an extant constitution. For when it comes to making people-oriented constitution, the process is driven directly by the people through a Constituent Assembly in which the majority of members have to be a combination of statesmen, members of civil societies, labour unions, women and youth associations, concerned clerics, etc. This is informed by the fact that politicians are obsessed with the immediate desire to win the next election, whilst statesmen and other patriots, or people of goodwill are more concerned with the present and future generations’ well being.
Except for Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Nigerian polity has been bereft of visionary leaders. As a consequence, we are, as a people, ignorant of strategic management. It’s, therefore, no wonder we are very poor in strategic planning, which is fundamental to nation building.
We are often too reactionary in our responses to challenges, too focused on meeting immediate needs and, at times, at the expense of medium and long term needs. Just as I have earlier illustrated, our political leaders continue to ignore the rationale for suggesting to them that competent leaders, or the people should directly drive the process of National Constitution making.
Nigeria is much more than the ‘Nigerian state’, it is, indeed, a country of many ethnic-nations. As such, federalism, in the minimum, is an inevitable system of government for Nigeria as one of the pillars of the structural foundation of Nigeria’s nation building is fiscal federalism. The present tendency towards fiscal-centralism makes nonsense of the Nigerian political elite claim of running a federal system of government.
The way out for us is that; instead of the Federal Government (FG) mobilizing and allocating revenue from the different parts of the country, the federating units need to be allowed to keep at least 50 percent of wealth they crate and contribute no more than 50 percent to the FG.
What is your candid opinion on how IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu’s issue can be resolved?
Restructuring is the answer. Restructuring will address all these agitations here and there.
Ndigbo have suffered injustices over the years, and this is what Nnamdi Kanu has been trying to fight.
Again, like I said earlier, the Southeast geo-political zone has five states compared to geopolitical zones that have more states are having undue advantage over others because more states means more access to federal revenue. All these injustices eventually give rise to agitations.
It is even wrong for the military to have been drafted to the Southeast under the guise of any operation, be it Operation Python or whatever name. No one should allow the military to be used for sectional interests, President Muhammadu Buhari swore the oath to protect all Nigerians and I do hope that the military will be used in more honorable ways. The military should not be used to serve a self-interest. The military must always remain neutral no matter the temptation because history will judge them.
Restructuring is the answer to IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu’s agitations. One credit that must be given to Kanu is that sit at home order which Kanu gave that time which worked as millions of people in the Southeast obeyed him. The success of that sit at home order brought a new reawakening to the clamour for restructuring.
But I must also say again that at one point it became distracted from the original agenda he was pursuing. He suddenly became stubborn, he wasn’t listening to anybody again. He should have listened more especially to Igbo elders. But I think that in spite of his shortcomings one can’t discriminate the roles he has been playing resisting injustice against Igbo.
For the 1990 military coup attempt against General Babangida’s junta, your were saying it was not a coup …
Cuts in … Why did we take that pro-democracy action because, like I said earlier, to us it was not a coup. We decided to sack IBB’s government because we went through the evil plan being made to perpetuate IBB’s government in office for a long time.
Our action although didn’t succeed have laid the framework for some changes in the country. For example, new states were created. It was also that our action that made it possible for people like M.K.O Abiola to aspire to become President of Nigeria because prior to that period when we took action against IBB some people believe that they were the only ones born to rule Nigeria.
I give credit to General Abdulsalami Abubakar because he was in the Board of Enquiry set up to investigate the cause of the coup attempt. When Gen. Abubakar listened to some of our colleagues that were caught, that’s when he listened to their grievances.
He went back to Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and told him that those of us that planned that pro-democracy action have a point, that some of our complaints about injustices in Nigeria were real, and that they have to be addressed.
The same General Abdulsalami Abubakar today again has been working behind the scene to ensure that Nigeria remains one, he is building bridges and working underneath to ensure that clamour for restructuring and cries of marginalization are addressed to make peace reign in the land. Gen. Abubakar is a true patriot. A genuine leader – for the past few months he has been working underground moving round the country working for peace and unity of the country.
There is the report that you were very close to Gen. Babangida, and you are regarded as one of his boys, why did you join hands with Major Gideon Orkar and other officers to sack IBB from office?
Yes, I’m very close to IBB. IBB remains a senior friend. My problem with IBB was not personal – it was a statecraft problem. It was in protest against the injustices in the system and not a protest against IBB as a person. Some senior Army officers from the southern parts of the country were being treated with disdain and some of us from the South and Middle Belt were not happy about that. We believe that Middle Belt and Southern officers should be given some respect. Even recently we had cases of insubordination against southerners and examples are what took place at the Ministry of Health where the suspended Executive Secretary of NHIS behaved as if he was the boss over the minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, a southerner.
What about the recent face-off between Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu and Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru where Baru showed disdain to Ibe? Enough of these insubordinations. It should stop. President Muhammadu Buhari should be told in clear terms that his government is too sectional. It is the most sectional government in Nigeria’s history. All the people that Buhari trust are only from his part of the country. Why didn’t he trust people from other parts of the country? That’s sectional. By the action we are seeing, Buhari is too sectional. Enough of this sectionalism.
There are southerners he can trust, but I don’t know why he is finding it difficult to trust southerners. In a way, what Buhari is doing by showing open bias for the northeast and northwest geopolitical zones will create further divisions and hatred not only among Nigerians but also make some Nigerians to hate people from northwest and northeast geopolitical zones.
What I know is that it is Buhari that is creating this problem because I know a lot of good people that come from the northwest geopolitical zone, and some of these include the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, who is a patriot and a bridge-builder. The Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi Lamido, and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President are eminent citizens from the North who are against sectionalism. Buhari’s government is too sectional. Even Gen. Ibrahim Babangida is not sectional.
By Buhari being sectional, he is undermining the unity of Nigeria. Is it not a scandal that only 50 percent of the ministers are accessible to Buhari? Other former presidents are more accessible. For Buhari, it is only the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the Government, Chief of Army Staff and others from his catchment area that have access to him. There are some ministers that have to wait for months before they can see Buhari. This is very bad. It is very ridiculous that ministers have to book appointments with Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff before they can have audience with Buhari whereas others that are privileged don’t go through such ordeal. This is very embarrassing.
You were talking about your relationship with General Babangida before you digressed …
Cuts in … General Babangida has my ears, but the problem we want to address was bigger than IBB. For instance, what many Nigerians don’t know is that it wasn’t Babangida that annulled June 12 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by late Chief M.K.O Abiola. Babangida hadnothing against Abiola. Babangida though was in office as president, but he was not in power. It was not only Babangida that suffered similar fate, Gen. Yakubu Gowon was in office but not in power, it was Gen. Murtala Muhammed and Gen. Hassan Katsina that were in charge when Gowon was there. Gowon was a gentleman. Towards the end of Babangida’s years as leader of Nigeria, he was merely in office but not in power.
Real power was being exercised by young officers, Babangida did nothing about it, and he considered this an insubordination, hence our decision to strike against Babangida’s government.
If that our action had succeeded, we would have been in power for just 18 months, and within that period, we were determined to do certain things prominent among which was to conduct a credible census. All census that had been conducted in this country are fraudulent.
Where in the world have you seen the population of a densely populated coastal area being less than that of an arid desert area in the hinterland? It is only in Nigeria that you have such, and that’s one of the injustices we are talking about. How can somebody tell me that Kano State is more populated than Lagos State?
Secondly, if our action as Orkar men had succeeded, our aim was to organize a conference to restructure Nigeria. Then we would have conducted free and fair election to hand over to a new democratically elected government.
What went wrong that made Orkar’s coup to fail?
I wouldn’t say the coup failed. Although we didn’t succeed in toppling IBB’s government, but our action led to some actions being taken to address some of the injustices we pointed out as part of our grievances. If not for Orkar coup, some positions like Chief of Army Staff are reserved for some people from certain parts of the country, but our coup changed that. Officers like the present Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai would never have attained the position because he is from a minority ethnic group in the North. Same for Gen. Martin Agwai who also rose to become the Chief of Army Staff.
Any regret for staging that Orkar coup?
Regret for what? Never. Why should I regret for taking action against somebody that wanted to perpetuate military government. I have no regret for taking action aimed at sanitizing Nigeria.
Where were you that day, where were you in action?
I led the operation in Dodan Barracks the then seat of power where General Babangida lived. I was in charge of the operation while Major Gideon Orkar led the operation at Bonny Camp. However, I don’t want to be talking about the details of the coup, that is a story for another day. Nigeria is a blessed country, and we can attain greater height if we allow justice, fairness and equity.
Since the 1990 coup attempt, have you met with Gen. Babangida face to face?
We have met twice. Gen. Babangida is a gentleman and he knows that our action was not against his personality but against the system, which we considered to be rotten and unjust. We were soldiers, he was doing his own duty and I was also doing mine. Babangida and myself still remain as friends in spite of that coup. We exchange warm greetings whenever we meet.
Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, has hinted Nigeria lost more than $100 billion of national export revenues between 2015 to 2017 due to the crash in oil prices.
Awolowo who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at a roundtable and exhibition on export competency development programme, said, “the recent recession was due to a 30 to 40 billion dollars annual deficit in Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.
“Nigeria must replace these lost export revenues in order to sustain economic growth, stabilise the naira, sustain federal and state government income and boost employment,’’ he said.
He said the Council’s goal was to grow Nigeria’s non-oil export revenues from N1.5 trillion per annum to N5 trillion within three to four years and more than N10 trillion over the longer term.
The NEPC boss also stated the Council was collaborating with Centre for the Development of Imports (CBI) to stimulate Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in low and middle-income countries to gain access to the European market, adding that CBI Export Competency Development Programme (ECD) would also offer SMEs the capacity to add value to their products to attract higher margins and ability for their supplies to be more in line with European demand.
According to him, adding value to raw materials does not only create higher margins but also generate more income and jobs.
He said that the collaboration started in 2016 after identifying three sectors – cocoa, cashew and sesame – as those with immense potential in the European market.
Awolowo said that export outlook in 2017 showed some positive developments.
“In cashew for example, a lot of cashew plantations with jumbo varieties are springing up.
“From a raw cashew production of about 150,000 tonnes, 15,000 tonnes are processed in Nigeria which is just 10 per cent.
“From 2016 to 2017 a tonne of raw cashew nut is sold at a maximum of $1,800 while cashew kernels WW 320 is sold between nine dollars and 10 dollars per pound which is up to $22 per kilo,’’ he said.
Awolowo added that Nigeria is currently the third largest exporter of sesame after India and Sudan.
U.S Rapper, William Roberts II, a.k.a Rick Ross, Tuface, and Techno will perform at the Calabar Carnival scheduled for Dec. 26.
Ross featured in Psquare (now splitted) musical video titled: `Beautiful Onyinye.’
Mr Ikobi Ikobi, a Commissioner in the Cross River Carnival Commission in charge of media, disclosed this on Wednesday in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.
Ikobi said that the carnival, which has the theme, “Migration’’, had been designed to thrill fun seekers who would visit Calabar with life musical entertainment.
“For now, we have sealed a deal with Rick Ross; He is expected to be in Calabar on Dec. 26 to perform in the carnival.
“We are still talking with other international artistes that will also perform.
“We have contacted some artistes in Nigeria; the likes of Innocent Idibia popularly known as Tuface, with stage name Tekno, Inyanya and others.
“As we all know, the first dry run of the carnival was held on Oct. 22 and it was a success. I want to assure tourists coming into the city of Calabar that the 2017 carnival will be fantastic,’’ he said.
In a separate interview, Mrs Rosemary Archibong, the state Commissioner for Information, told NAN that the Calabar carnival was an annual robust event filled with diverse activities.
Archibong said that the theme of the carnival was chosen by Gov. Ben Ayade, in recognition of the plight of Africans that are forced to migrate out of Africa in search of greener pasture, food and help.
“Most times, we see our people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and in the process, many lives are lost and this informed the choice of the theme.
“It is hoped that this carnival will bring back the thought of our leaders to good leadership in Africa.
“We will have different interpretations of the theme from five competing bands and it is going to be extremely entertaining, thought-provoking and mentally engaging.
“We are also going to have the cultural carnival, and I can assure tourists that the smart city of Calabar is set for the carnival,’’ she said.
The commissioner said that smart city wireless internet connection (wifi) had been added to the carnival with a view to connecting tourists to free internet use.
“It is going to be the celebration of the biggest street party in Africa.
“When tourists come in for the show, we don’t want them to start looking for where to buy data; all we want them to do is just to get their Wifi on and get connected to the world.
“This 2017 celebration is going to be a time of absolute ecstasy because we will also have the international carnival and more countries have registered to be in Calabar already.’’
Archibong assured tourists coming in for the annual event of adequate security, saying that the state government was working in collaboration with security agencies in the state to ensure a peaceful celebration.
Super Eagles’ duo of Victor Moses and William Troost-Ekong have been nominated alongside 28 others for the 2017 African Footballer of the Year Award .
Moses and Ekong who were instrumental to Nigeria’s qualification of the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup were among the 30 players shortlisted for Africa’s top individual honor.
Moses, who had a fantastic season last year with Chelsea, helping the London club to the EPL trophy, is among the favourites for the award alongside Liverpool’s duo of Saido Mane and Mohamed Salah.
Another Nigerian, Junior Ajayi who plies his professional trade with Al Ahly of Egypt was among the 30 names selected for the African player of the year based in Africa.
Portuguese outfit Porto supplied the most players with Algerian Yacine Brahimi, Malian Moussa Marega and Cameroonian Vincent Aboubakar listed.
Surprise 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winners Cameroon have three hopefuls – Aboubakar, Sevilla goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa and China-based winger Christian Bassogog on the list.
Reigning African Player of the year, Riyad Mahrez of Algeria is conspicuously missing in the 30-man list released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) yesterday.
Nigerian energy giants, AITEO, are the headline sponsors of next year’s edition that will see players, officials and administrators who distinguished themselves during the year under review being honoured.
The winner will be decided by votes from the Head Coaches/Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF, members of the CAF Technical and Development Committee and a panel of Media Experts.
The Awards Gala would be held on Thursday, 4 January 2018 in Accra, Ghana.
EMEKA EMEKESRI, SOLICITOR FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF BIAFRA, REPLIES PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
ON HIS STATEMENT AGAINST BIAFRA INDEPENDENCE STRUGGLE.
Your Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, for some days now, I did not consider it necessary to respond to a statement credited to you in the Sun Newspaper of 10 May 2016 where you were reported to have said that instead of allowing the Biafrans to go, it would be better for all the Nigerians to be drowned in the sea. I did not want to respond to you because I had thought that the Attorney-General of the Federation and all your lawyers defending Nigeria in the on-going case between Biafra and Nigeria at the Federal High Court Owerri in Suit No FHC/OW/CS/192/2013 would advise you to be careful in making some utterances which I believe, with due respect, to be careless statements from the President of a country. I am making this response because your statement is contemptuous of the proceedings in court and likely to prejudice my clients’ case. Let me reproduce the statements from the Sun Newspaper:
“President Muhammadu Buhari vowed, yesterday, in his home state of Katsina, to use all resources at his disposal to crush any agitation for the division of Nigeria. The president said the country fought a civil war which claimed over two million lives in order to be united. Buhari, who spoke at the palace of Emir of Katsina also urged Nigerians to be patient with his government as, according to him, the current hardship being experienced, may not be unconnected with efforts at laying a solid foundation for sustainable nation building. Buhari was in Katsina to attend the state’s economic and investment forum which he will officially declare open this morning. In a veiled reference to the current separatist agitation for Biafra being promoted by a group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Buhari warned it would be better for the entire country to commit mass suicide than to allow such campaign to succeed. He referred to the promoters of the agitation as “kids” who were not born during the civil war. According to Buhari, “today, Nigeria is a strong and united sovereign entity because some people laid down their lives for the country. At least two million people died during the civil war but, today, some people who were not born during the civil war are agitating for the division of the country. We will not let that happen. “For Nigeria to divide now, it is better for all of us to jump into the sea and get drowned.”
Mr President, with due respect, it appears that you have not informed Nigerians that the country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder from the legal arsenals of the Biafran lawyers battling with the Nigerian lawyers in the Federal High Court Owerri since 2012 on the issue of Self-determination of the Biafran nation. The Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation are the Defendants in the suit. The Defendants have changed their lawyers several times because the case is too hot for them. This is the case that terrifies the Nigerian Government as they know that it may end up in the International Court of Justice at The Hague where Cameroon defeated Nigeria and took away the Bakassi region.
The doctrine of indivisibility of Nigeria is not sacrosanct as the Bakassi region has been separated from Nigeria by judicial power! Why did the Nigerian Government not argue in the ICJ that the Nigerian Constitution said that no part of Nigeria could be removed from Nigeria? Of course, you ought to know the power of law. By law nations are created and by law nations are restructured or dissolved. It is not a child’s play. Mr President, you may assemble more lawyers to defend Nigeria in this case but I assure you that my clients will surely win the legal battle because it may not end in the Nigerian courts. We are preparing for The Hague.
The Nigerian Government knows that the ongoing suit between Biafra and Nigeria was authorised by the Supreme Council of Elders of Indigenous People of Biafra, some of whose members are older than Mr President Muhammadu Buhari and senior to him in the Army. The Nigerian Government and the hierarchy of the DSS Police know the leaders of Indigenous People of Biafra because at the commencement of the suit in 2012, we duly served all the Nigerian Authorities with the Legal Notices including the documents from the Court showing the Elders of Biafraland who are the leaders of Indigenous People of Biafra.
I am surprised at your statement to the Press that the promoters of the Biafran agitation for self-determination were “kids” who were not born during the war! Mr President, you have insulted the Elders of my clients who signed the Legal Instrument in the Federal High Court authorising Bilie Human Rights Initiative to file the action on behalf of Indigenous People of Biafra against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney-General of the Federation. Our Elders require an apology from you for referring to them as “kids” promoting the Biafran agitation. Just as we respect you as the President of Nigeria, we also expect you to respect our Elders who are the custodians of the Customary Government of Indigenous People of Biafra.
The Biafran Liberation Struggle is not under the control of the Biafra Elders being led by the Supreme Council of Elders of Indigenous People of Biafra who have adopted the legal and diplomatic method of self-determination. ,
Mr President, your statement that instead of allowing Nigeria to divide it would be better for all Nigerians to drown in the sea and commit mass suicide is very serious with very serious legal and social implications. You are directly or indirectly telling the Judge to dismiss the case of my clients so that Biafra cannot be free from Nigeria. I believe that you were not joking when you made that statement. You really meant it. You wouldn’t mind drowning all the Nigerians in the sea instead of allowing the Biafrans to go.
However, I think, with due respect, that you made that statement in ignorance of what the Nigerian law says about the peoples’ inalienable right to self-determination. I do not blame you because you are not a lawyer by training. You are a soldier turned into a politician. I rather blame your lawyers who should have advised you before you made those provocative statements.
Nevertheless, I want to allay your fears about the break-up of Nigeria. We have no intention to destroy Nigeria. We respect Nigeria and the Nigerian Government. Our intention is to set Biafra free from Nigeria by the rule of law and not to destroy Nigeria just as Eritrea was set free from Ethiopia without destroying Ethiopia; just as South Sudan was set free from Sudan without destroying Sudan; just as Bangladesh and Pakistan were set free from India without destroying India. Mr President, it must not be by war. I do not really blame you and other people who think in error that self-determination must always be achieved through war and violence. There are three methods of achieving independence, namely: the military method, the political method and the judicial method. Scotland is using the political process of referendum because the British law has not provided for the right of self-determination as a legal right by an Act of Parliament but the Biafrans are using the judicial process because the Nigerian law has provided for the right of self-determination by an Act of Parliament.
Under the Nigerian law, the right to self-determination was created as a legal right by an Act of the National Assembly unlike in Britain. I do not want to bother you with the issues of law here. Whether by political process or judicial process, the exercise of the right to self-determination must not always be through war. Mr President, the next court hearing is on the 2nd June 2016 at the Federal High Court Owerri and we are expecting you and your lawyers in Court.
Your Excellency, my clients want to go and rebuild their own nation of Biafra so that the owners of Nigeria will enjoy their country very well without further disturbances from the Biafrans. Mr President, please mark my word: “As long as you hold my clients in Nigeria against their will, there will be no peace for Nigeria. I assert firmly that Biafra shall be free either within Nigeria or outside Nigeria and nobody shall be drowned in the sea as you have threatened”. My clients are yearning for freedom and they must be free. It is either freedom within Nigeria or freedom outside Nigeria. Please refer to the 8 issues for determination in Court and the 8 prayers we have made in Court. I assert with authority on this question of self-determination that Justice shall prevail in the end and the heavens shall not fall. Lest I forget: I have heard a rumour that when somebody makes a constructive criticism against your views, or holds an opinion contrary to yours, you would unleash the DSS policemen against the person like attack dogs. Is it true, Mr President? Please, I advise you to be properly guided with wisdom and understanding in your utterances and actions.
Emeka Emekesri, Esq.
Solicitor for Indigenous People of Biafra
Suit No FHC/OW/CS/192/2013
Federal High Court Owerri
The OurMumuDonDo Movement, convened by Charly boy, otherwise known as ‘’the area father’’ has condemned the detachment of soldiers to the home of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement released by the OurMumuDonDo team, it has said the federal government should be more concerned on safeguarding lives and properties instead of destroying it.
The statement was signed by Charles Oputa, Convener OurMumuDonDo Movement, Adeyanju Deji, Convener, Concerned Nigerians, and Adebayo Raphael, Publicity Secretary OurMumuDonDo Movement.
The movement also said the people of Abia State deserved better than the undue panic in the city.
‘’The good people of Abia State deserve better than the undue panic under which they have been placed since the invasion which has completely restricted them from going about their daily activities freely like they used to,’’ he said.
Reacting to the destruction of laptops and other valuables at the NUJ Aba Road, it said ”as much as we are aware that the Federal Government is concerned about curbing divisive messages and inordinate agitations within the country.”
The movement however urged the Federal Government to be committed in dousing tension and promoting peace and unity rather than steam up flames of enmity in the country, saying it should be more concerned on safeguarding the lives and properties of all Nigerians in any part of the country.
‘’It is also important to note that though recanted, the October 1ultimatum issued by some misguided northern youths to the Igbos in the north remains weighty in the minds of many and the atmosphere is hypersensitive to any mishap that could foment such interethnic melee.
‘’Finally, we appeal to the Federal Government to be more circumspect and solution-focused in handling sensitive matters as secessionist agitations within the country,’’ it added
…Opts for out-of-court settlement of case before ECOWAS Court
Determined to quell rising agitation by secessionist groups, the Federal Government, yesterday, agreed to release N88 billion for the compensation of victims of the Nigeria/Biafra civil war, as well as for completion of demining and destruction of abandoned explosives within the South-East, South-South and North Central regions of the country. Federal Government, in terms of agreement it endorsed before the ECOWAS Court in Abuja yesterday, said while it would pay N50 billion compensation to “true victims” of the civil war that occured between 1967 and 1970, a total sum of N38 billion will be paid to contractors for total and complete demining and destruction of abandoned bombs and landmines within the regions.
The decision followed a suit marked ECW/CCJ/APP/06/12, which was filed before the ECOWAS Court on May 2, 2012, by one Vincent Agu and 19 others against FG and five others. Federal Government opted for an out-of-court settlement of the matter after four years negotiation period. According to the agreement document which the ECOWAS court adopted as its consent judgment, two firms, RSB Holdings Nigeria Limited and Deminers Concept Nigeria Limited, were said to have been contracted in 2009 to carry out demining exercise in the war affected areas. Federal Government told the court that after an exercise that was conducted by medical experts that were employed by the two contractors to screen and identify true victims of the war, “All the parties to this suit acknowledge that 685 persons were selected and classified as survivors while 493 of them were confirmed as victims of either landmines or other dangerous military ordinance including locally fabricated weapons, hence entitled to compensation including their families and communities. “Whereas the parties also acknowledged that a total of over 17, 000 bombs were recovered and destroyed by the 4th and 5th Respondents (the contractors), while a total of 1, 317 are still in the stockpile located at the Mine Action Center, Owerri, Imo State, a large quantity of live bombs still litter the Applicant’s communities.” States listed to benefit from the deal are Anambra, Rivers, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Cross River, Abia, Enugu and Benue. The plaintiffs had in the suit they filed for themselves and as representatives of victims of the Nigerian civil war, including all the 493 victims pre-enumerated by the Ministry of Defence, demanded N100m as compensatory and general damages.
According to the terms of agreement sighted by our Reporter, while the N50bn compensation would be paid into United Bank for Africa, UBA, account No. 1018230076 which was nominated by counsel to the victims, Chief Noel Agwuocha Chukwukadibia & Co, the other N38bn woud be paid into Deminers Concept Nig. Ltd UBA account No. 1016296801, belonging to the contractors. Federal Government however maintained that the Terms of Settlement shall operate as full and final settlement of all claims arising from alleged violation of rights of victims of the Biafran war “in any other suits, action or matter however so called that may arise from this subject matter.” The Government said it agreed to release the funds, being conscious of unexploded bombs and other remnants of war that littered some parts of the South-East, South-South and North Central regions and the inherent dangers posed thereof. It said that it reviewed and took “full cognizance of the dire situation and unmitigated threat posed to the Applicants and their communities by aging bombs and other post war lethal materials left under the elements in public places like schools, churches, courts, farmlands and market places”, adding that it was agreed that the contractors, “having satisfactorily performed the 1st phase of the project be mobilised back to site to complete the final phase of the ongoing demining process.” Part of the 11 points resolution the ECOWAS court adopted as its judgment on Monday included: “That a Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV, comprising of all the necessary stakeholders shall be created for the implementation of the activities to ensure transparency and accountability. “That the Federal Republic of Nigeria undertakes to set up in the South-East, the National Mine Action Center in Owerri Imo State of Nigeria. “That every landmine, unexploded ordinance and explosive remnants of war discovered in the course of the jobs should be completely detroyed. “That the Federal Republic of Nigeria undertakes to rebiuld and or rehabilitate all public/private buildings already identified in the enumerated exercise by the war or used either as military facility or refugee camp during the war as contained in schedule 2 of this Terms of Settlement. “That the Federal Republic of Nigeria undertakes to construct one block of ten (10) classrooms for 50 communities presently barred from using their school facilities because of the presence of bombs and other post war relics; construction of court houses, churches and worship centers where explosive ordnance were found by the 4th and 5th Respondents. “That parties herein urge the honourable court to adopt as the consent judgment this Terms of Settlement in full and final settlement of this case. “That the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall implement the judgment order(s) of this honourable court to wit, payment of the agreed sum as contained in paragraph 16 and 18 above, within a reasonable time not exceeding 45 days from the day of this judgment”. Falana, Egbeyinka, signed on FG’s behalf Lagos-based human rights activist, Chief Femi Falana, SAN, and Mr. Shola Egbeyinka, signed the agreement on behalf of the federal government and it was documented as consent judgement by head of the ECOWAS Court panel, Justice Chijioke Nwoke.
It’s an interim stop-gap to placate Ndigbo – Ebonyi Igbo leader Reacting to the development, an Igbo leader in Ebonyi State, Chief Abia Onyike yesterday described the move by President Muhammadu Buhari to pay N88 billion to the victims of Biafra as an interim stop-gap to placate Ndigbo in the country. He said:”I welcome the gesture as an interim stop-gap measure to placate Ndigbo. It will go a long way to assuage the painful horrors of the Igbo genocide. “However, nothing can replace the self-determination or independence of the Igbo nation as a distinct and autonomous mega ethnic nationality in Africa. Buhari has worked hard to extinguish Biafra and he will fail, the same way Gowon and Murtala Muhammed failed.” Gowon responsible for Nigeria woes since 1967 — Biafra Zionists In another development, proactive pro-Biafra group, the Biafra Zionist Federation, BZF, has lashed out on ex-military dictator and former Head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), calling him a coward and accusing him of lying. Gowon had recently granted an interview to a national newspaper where he accused late Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu of thwarting the 1967 Aburi accord which brought about the 3 years civil war.
But the BZF, yesterday, described Gowon’s statements as lies and an act of cowardice to have waited for 8 years after Ojukwu’s demise to make such preposterous claims. The group wondered why Gowon did not come out to speak when Ojukwu was alive and why he suddenly fell ill after returning from Aburi, Ghana, as he claimed in the interview. Leader of BZF, Mr. Onwuka Nsiegbe in a statement he released in Enugu, yesterday said it was shameful for Gowon to engage in such a “high calibre twisting of history even at his old age.” While chiding Gowon for going to Aburi unprepared, Onwuka said, “he is a coward and a British stooge. “Why is he coming now to tell us what happened during the civil war; why didn’t he make these declarations when Ojukwu was alive; why did he wait until 8 years of Ojukwu’s demise to say Ojukwu lied; why now?” He challenged Gowon to produce what he claimed to be the true Aburi Accord for the world to see if he was sincere that Ojukwu gave the accord a different interpretation.
Onwuka said, “Gowon is to be blamed for the crisis in Nigeria from 1967 till date; he caused the whole crisis. He could not control the killing of the Easterners as the then head of State. The Aburi Accord would have sorted out all Nigeria’s problems. “The Biafrans came up with a model; a Swiss confederation model; the East, led by Ojukwu went prepared; Gowon went there empty; he came up with nothing. “Now, having agreed and signed the accord, it was expected that Gowon would come back and make an announcement but he refused to make the announcement; what happened? “The British government reached out to him and warned him not to implement the Aburi Accord; he was never sick. He was afraid that the Igbos would control the oil. “There was pressure on Ojukwu to tell the people what was agreed in Aburi. Gowon reneged on the Aburi Accord on the advice of British government. “If he were sick, what of his vice, what of his foreign minister, what of his information minister? So, he deliberately went incommunicado. That was the genesis of the crisis.” Onwuka added that “in further defiance to the Aburi Accord, this same Gowon created 12 states; the British government advised him to create 12 states instead of implementing the Aburi Accord. The East rejected it and that was the beginning of the full-blown crisis. “Ojukwu never envisaged secession; the Eastern region never envisaged secession; it was Gowon’s refusal to implement the Aburi Accord and his subsequent creation of 12 states that caused all these problems which are still lingering till date. “Ojukwu’s only mistake was not accepting the offer from Russia. It was a diplomatic blunder; a diplomatic deficiency; failure to understand international politics. “Gowon is the cause of the civil war; he is the cause of all the problems facing Nigeria today. He brought this up now in order to weaken Biafra agitation; he is doing this to destabilize what we are doing about Biafra’s independence.” without knowing that he succeeded then because of international support from the United Kingdom. Biafra had none.” “Ojukwu’s only mistake was not accepting offer from Russia. It was a diplomatic blunder; a diplomatic deficiency; failure to understand international politics. That is why we are saying that only the United States can help us get Biafra. “He is already paying for his sins. Look at herdsmen massacring his people in Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba, Kwara and the rest. These are the people he used to fight the Igbos. It same on both Danjuma and Gowon.”
N88bn compensation to victims of Biafra war: Anambra, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Cross River, Abia, Enugu and Benue to benefit
On May 30, 1967, General Emeka Ojukwu declared Nigeria’s southeastern Biafra region an independent state, sparking what would become a bloody civil war that claimed more than one million lives. Fifty years on, many veterans from both sides of the conflict have taken their stories to the grave, but FRANCE 24 managed to meet with some who shared their memories of bravery, desertion and near-death experiences.
The first shots of the Biafra war were exchanged in Obudu, a provincial town in southeast Nigeria. Today, Obudu is a sleepy tropical backwater that harbours few signs of a brutal civil war. But in most families, there is someone who remembers how the war divided the town, which back then straddled the border between Nigeria and Biafra.
At the beginning of the conflict, the people of Obudu supported the Biafrans out of geographical convenience. But by the end of the war, after seeing upwards of a million civilians die of starvation, many young men from the town deserted the Biafran army to become informers for the Nigerian military, helping them to ultimately win the war.
The interests of foreign powers played out during the war, with Britain arming the Nigerians. The French and Russians sold guns and ammunition to the Biafrans, while the Swedish aristocrat and aviator Carl Gustaf von Rosen helped establish the Biafran Air Force. Tanks and unexploded ordnance still litter the countryside of southeastern Nigeria. Over 300 people have been killed by landmines since the guns fell silent 50 years ago.
The Biafrans manufactured landmines, rockets and hand grenades, contributing to one of the most sophisticated indigenous weapons programmes in Africa’s history. But instead of harnessing that ingenuity for industrial development like Germany and Japan did, the Nigerian authorities let that knowledge go to waste.
Above all, Biafra will be remembered not for the Biafrans’ military ingenuity nor for the Nigerians’ military might — but for the humanitarian fallout. Millions of people around the world watched the horrors of enforced starvation play out on their television screens. These were the first images of malnourished African children that people had ever seen. The notion of international humanitarian aid as we now know it was born out of the deaths of one million Biafrans.
