A suspected drug dealer ran from the Police and buried himself in the mud after he was pulled o
Rockdale County Sheriffâs Office set up a perimeter, and two hours later, the convicted felon was found with his feet sticking out of a muddy drainage creek.
ver in a car full of cocaine and crystal meth.
The suspect, Joe Hobson Jr, was pulled over on Interstate 20 near Conyers, Georgia, USA, on Thursday on suspicion of drug trafficking â but fled shortly after the traffic stop.He had
buried himself there in an attempt to evade capture, only to become stuck.
Photos posted to Conyers Police Departmentâs Facebook page afterwards show a sheepish-looking Hobson staring up from the mire, with officials working to help him up from the mud pit.
He was also photographed being carried away on a stretcher to the hospital for medical attention.
He was charged with possession of 29 grams of cocaine, seven grams of methamphetamine, 12 ounces of weed and oxycodine, as well as liquid codeine.
Hobson was further charged with possession of two handguns â one of which was stolen â and had $4,000 cash on him at the time of his arrest.
Conyers Police wrote on Facebook: âThis convicted felon is now back behind bars following a rather unusual series of unfortunate events (for him) yesterday (Thursday March 1).
âRockdale Fire Rescue did a fantastic job safely extracting Hobson from an extremely dangerous predicament.
âHe was transported by National EMS to the hospital and confined to Rockdale County Jail before the night was over.
âThank you to all that supported the manhunt in the rain yesterday and we are thankful for the successful outcome.â
OURMUMUDONDO MOVEMENT DEMANDS UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER BOSS*
We are dismayed by the arrest and detention of the Abuja Bureau Chief of the Independent Newspaper, Anthony Ezimakor, by the Directorate of State Security (DSS).
1. Mr. Ezimakor was arrested on Wednesday February 28, 2018 when he reported to the DSS office to honour an invitation issued by the agency.
2. Since his arrest, the DSS has denied Mr. Ezimakor access to his lawyers and to critical medication used to manage his blood pressure. Mr. Ezimakor’s family has also been denied access to him.
3. His arrest and detention is in continuation of the clampdown on freedom of speech and free press by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in violation of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.
4. It is important to raise an alarm in a bid to halt the nation’s almost inexorable slide towards dictatorship and the horrible experiences suffered by Nigerian citizens between 1984 and 1985 when President Buhari held sway as military dictator.
5. We urge all Nigerians and indeed the international community to call on President Buhari to order the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Ezimakor.
6. The OurMumuDonDo Movement wishes to state emphatically that we shall not hesitate to mobilize Nigerians of good conscience to occupy the Headquarters of the DSS if Mr. Ezimakor is neither released nor granted access to his critical medication, his lawyer, and his family.
SIGNED:
Adebayo Raphael
FOR: OurMumuDonDo
Deji Adeyanju
FOR: Concerned Nigerians
Ariyo Dare Atoye
For: Coalition in Defence Of Nigerian Democracy
IGBO leaders, who were attacked by youths suspected to be members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB and other pro-Biafra agitation groups in a meeting in Enugu on Tuesday have reeled out gory tales of how they nearly lost their lives during the commotion.
Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought and former Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, Prof Elochukwu Amucheazi, said he nearly lost his life during fracas. A group of youths suspected to be members of IPOB and other pro âBiafra groups disrupted the event which was meant to honour some notable Igbo, including the first Republic President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi and late Chief Sam Mbakwe, among others. Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB however, issued a statement yesterday, denying involvement in the attack. Amucheazi told Vanguard on the telephone that, although his red cap, eye glasses and mobile telephone which were forcefully taken away from him were immediately returned, he was still in shock over the attack. He said: âI was there to see Prof Nwabueze, as I didnât even know about the awards or that anybody would be honoured. âBefore much was said, they started shouting and started throwing sachet (pure) water at me. They wanted to destroy my car. We were cautioning them to listen to the elders so that they would learn from them, but they refused to listen.
âHowever, some of the boys who didnât like what happened or the way I was treated, cautioned their colleagues; collected my red cap, eye glasses and my telephone and returned them to me.â FG must address South East grievances He, however, asked the Federal Government to address the myriad of grievances in the the country to reduce youth restiveness in the land. âThere is a lot of anger in the land. Majority of Nigerians are suffering and the government of the day has to address the issues involved. This idea of treating some people or the Igbo as a conquered people will not be allowed to go on forever.
âMy advice is that the government should address the grievances in the land. The idea of treating Igbo as a conquered people will not be allowed to go on forever. The fact that Nnamdi Kanu was subdued does not mean that another Nnamdi Kanu will not emerge again,â he added.
IPOB not applying right methodâ Maria Okwor
Also giving account of what happened, Deputy leader of the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, Chief Mrs Maria Okwor said that the young members of the Indigenous People of Biafra were not applying the appropriate method pursuant of their agitation for a separatist country. She said that IPOB and other Pro-Biafra groups should accept restructuring Nigeria for now, noting that if the country is restructured, it would be easier to realise the autonomous country as being agitated by the groups. Okwor who was reacting to the disruption of ECA meeting in Enugu on Tuesday observed that the Dr Dozie Ikedife-led Biafra agitation group was going about the quest legally and asked the younger agitators to take it easy. She however asked President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to voice of the angry Nigerians and devise a means of assuaging the monumental anger in the country.
âNobody is happy, we are all dissatisfied. Look at the security hierarchy, there is no Igbo there. They said they have defeated Boko Haram but they are still there. I sympathise with these youths and their lives no longer mean anything to them.
Incident was unfortunateâMbazulike Amaechi
Reacting to the incident, First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi yesterday described as unfortunate, the disruption of the event of the Igbo leaders in Enugu, advising those who had any reason to protest against any perceived injustice meted out to them to always adopt peaceful means in fighting their cause. âAfter my address, I was honoured before I left and there was no objection or murmur from the crowd. As I was going, I saw a lot of buses heading towards the venue. âOur people should not forget what Zik did for the country. With him as our leader, we confronted the colonial masters and chased them away and took over government. If not what we did, Nigeria would not have got her independence at the time she did,â he said.
IPOB apologises
It was also gathered that the leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB had apologised to the leaders of the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, over the disruption of their programme in Enugu. IPOB leaders made separate telephone calls to the convener of the ECA meeting where the issue of restructuring of the country was to be discussed, with the awards to prominent eastern leaders as highlight of the occasion. âThey felt bad that people like Prof Nwabueze, Maria Okwor and Ugochukwu- Uko, who had been giving them advice on how to go about their agitations in a peaceful manner were embarrassed.
Colonel Joe Achuzia would not have lived as long as he did if there was no World War and there was no Nigerian Civil War. Like Hannibal, like Napoleon Bonaparte, American George Patton, these species exist and enjoy the drama the anguish and the graveyard of the battlefields.
Peace times are offensive to their philosophies and even they are wounded and are admitted in the hospitals, the staccato rhymes of the machine guns, the drums of the bazookas, the Armageddon tremor and noise of the artillery would push these fighting leathernecks back to the trenches. The sound of war is their living call.
Looking to at my uncle, Ogbueshi na bo, Ikemba, Joe Achuzia now in total surrender, I realise at last that whatever the myth, one day the man that returned from the World War and fought to the last man in Biafra could also go to the Lord at the appointed date. I had promised my readers to wait on my conclusions on Alex Ekwueme. Then from nowhere came the thunderbolt, just at the time we are set to revise Achuziaâs Requiem Biafra: My First Foray into the Civil War memoires. This battlefield account was published by the Fourth Dimensions while I was still a student at University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
For all of you, including my respected Professors Nwala, Chidi Osuagwu, Dr. Obinna, Cambridge Nworge and numerous other inquirers, I want to say that am still in shock and so may not be ready to answer all your questions at this time. I will advise the Ohanaeze to quickly organise a burial committee and make sure that the âAir Raidâ is given a befitting funeral. Ohanaeze, because of the reality on the ground in Asaba, should go ahead and celebrate the Biafran war hero in Enugu, Onitsha and Owerri.
As a fully entitled Ogbueshi na bo, the Asaba Palace, by her tradition, would come up with their own celebrations of the life and times of the Ikemba of Asaba and the Ochiagha of Aboh.
As I say Goodbye to Hannibal, I go back to my files and publish in earnest admiration to this military generalissimo as my own tribute for all his inspiration despite his demons. His exclusives, while I was with the Satellite Newspapers, blossomed my career and set me up to more serious historical writings.
Below was Col. Achuzia giving his views on Major Onwuategwu, one of the glamorous January 15, 1966 boys, who, in Biafra, was the commander the S Brigade!: âThe tempo of that clash increased with the emergency of a mercurial militia officer who went on to establish himself as one of the greatest commanders of that war. Colonel Joe Achuzia, as the commander of the rag-tag but spirited soldiers left behind to stop the second Divisionâs blitz, wanted to prove something. In his book, Requiem Biafra, his total commitment to battle was shown as he was taking up defensive positions at St. Patrickâs College, Asaba in the face of federal advance in to the town Mr. Augustine Odiwe, a Port Harcourt engineer, had brought him a lorry load of cutlasses.
âHe told me that they had brought these to help arm the young men in the town were not in the army so that they could help defend the town. I was so touched by this incident that I vowed that regardless of the odds, I would fight and give the federal troops something to remember and if I failed to stop them I would engage them on any other ground and theatre of the war till the war ended. This promise I made to myself because the intensity of the mortaring and and artillery, which I experienced that evening in Asaba my hometown, convinced me that this was a total war and not a police actionâŚ.ââ
A Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has exposed alleged cabals and ills in President Muhammadu Buhariâs government.
The Northern elder statesman has also accused Buhari of being lopsided in appointments thereby placing his family members, Mamman Dauraâs relatives in ministerial positions and other appointments.
According to him, Mamman Daura is the president of cabals in Buhariâs administration
Mohammed in an interview with Guardian said, âIt is so unfortunate that Buhari and the cabals have found themselves in the same shoes as their predecessors and it will end in tragedy.
âI say so because those urging them to remain perpetually in power are not doing so because they like them. And even though Buhari has surrounded himself in a very nepotic way by ensuring that all the major appointments were given to his in-laws, nephews and cousins, but I can assure you that when the chips are down, he would be left to cry all by himself.
âWhen I started talking about the cabal over two years ago, many Nigerians, some of them with the best but naive intentions, thought there was no such thing as cabals. But there is a cabal. Because Buhari has been out of government for many years, he has not been able to update his knowledge in terms of development and events in and outside the country. And because of this and in my own estimation, we now have the least competent, the most isolated, most divisive and arrogant leader in the history of Nigeria. And in a country that is so complex and not so cohesive, this is clearly a disaster, which is where we are heading.
âRight now, nobody doubts that there is a cabal. The de facto president of the country from May 29, 2015 has been one joker called Mamman Daura, who was a one-time Managing Director of the defunct New Nigerian newspapers. He is the head of the cabal and the de-facto president, because there have been instances when the president would give an instruction, he would undermine the instruction and nothing would happen. There have been times policy decisions or appointments would be made and his lackeys â Abba Kyari, the presidentâs chief of staff, the former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal, who was appointed against all odds, but who remained there because he was in the cabalâs good books, will tamper with it. We all knew how he diverted donor monies belonging to international donor agencies, until they told Buhari in no uncertain terms that he had to be punished. But the others like Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari are sitting tight and taking decisions for you and me, as well as all Nigerians.
âNone of them was elected and though Kyari has a letter of appointment as chief of staff, Mamman Daura does not have a single letter indicating that he is whatever he is, but how he came about exercising such enormous powers is what nobody knows.
âThere are ministers who have been appointed not because they have any qualifications but because they are related to Buhari. The Aviation minister, Hadi Seriki is his elder sisterâs son. Amina Zakari, who works in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) representing the seven states of the northwest zone was appointed even before Buhari came into power through mago mago. It is left to the former president Goodluck Jonathan to tell us how she became national commissioner in INEC. Then there is the minister of Interior, Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd.) who was born and bred in Zaria. Somehow, and in a typical arrogant and abuse of power, he was turned into a Kano man and given a ministerial appointment, which constitutionally should have been given to a person who grew up in Kano State. Yet, Kano is the only political base Buhari has.
âThere are several others. The State House chief of protocol is a son-in-law to Mamman Daura, who is President Buhariâs nephew. Ordinarily, the position should have been given to a senior ambassador. The presidentâs chief personal security officer is Mamman Dauraâs younger brother. Another State personal security officer is another relation of theirs. The ADC to the president is a son-in-law to them. Do you know that the S.A to Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the S.A to the junior minister of petroleum resources are Mamman Daura and Buhariâs daughters respectively?
âThis is an update of what I started saying two years ago. They now have their sons, daughters, sons-in-laws and nephews as beneficiaries of the appointments made so far. Now, among the people in the cabal, but very powerful and not known is someone called Tunde, originally called Sabiu Yusuf. He is the son of Mamman Dauraâs immediate younger sister. He is, today, P.A to the President, even though he has never worked for one day in his life. But a P.A job is normally the work of a full-blown director or a permanent secretary. That boy only got married last year and as I speak to you now, he is one of the billionaires in Nigeria today. Nobody of his age has the kind of money that boy has. So, can that be justified?
âIf they are going to treat this country as if it was conquered by them and or by their families, you can imagine what the picture would look like, if Buhari were to be given a second term and how they are going to use our resources and how they are going to abuse power.
âMamman Dauraâs daughter, who is married to one of the Dantatas, is the S.A to the CBN governor. Then Buhariâs sisterâs son is also an S.A to Kachikwu, the junior minister of petroleum resources. The chief personal security officer to the president, DCP Abdulkarim Dauda is Mamman Dauraâs younger brother. The chief security officer (CSO) Col Bashir Abubakar is also married into the family. The State chief of protocol, Lawal Kazaure, who has not reached the rank of an ambassador, is also married to Mamman Dauraâs eldest daughter. I mentioned earlier that the P.A to the President, Sabiu Yusuf Tunde, who is in his 20âs, is one of the wealthiest 20-year-olds in Nigeria. He is also the son of Mamman Dauraâs immediate younger sister. She herself is a niece to Buhari. And that is how the country is being governed.
âThe national commissioner at INEC is Buhariâs niece. In addition, her husband, who used to be a manager in UBA, died. Now when an opportunity arose, they went and picked the late husbandâs younger brother and made him Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He is Brig Gen Zakari from Kazaure in Jigawa State.
Mohammed further speaking on clamour for Buhariâs re-election in 2019 said he was not surprised.
âPersonally, I am not surprised that there is clamour for President Muhammadu Buhari to continue and contest in the 2019 poll. Anyone involved in this countryâs politics knows that there is absolutely nothing new there.
âEvery president weâve had in this country, every heads of government, as well as heads of state have been told they were special persons, that nobody else can govern the country, and as such they should continue, as such without them, the country couldnât move on. I am not surprised it is happening to Buhari and I am not surprised he is putting his personal ambition over and above the countryâs interest.
The bubble blew two days ago and we all came out to take orders and assume various command roles. It was then that it was announced that the General has reshuffled responsibilities having decided to change guard & roles now as an ancestor.
What a triumphant change of guard? I was ‘corrupted’ too early concerning the Biafran history by my father. Apart from the main Hero of the struggle- Dim Gen Ojukwu whom he regarded as a comet, two other names that stuck to my memory at the age of six were Gen Achuzia & the young Onwuatuegwu. You can appreciate how I felt when I was invited to a meeting at the Igbozurume unity centre by October 2012 to meet the man who had become a meteor & an enigma of a sort to the Biafran people. He sat on the chair and was introduced as Col Achuzia.
I had attended the meeting with my kindred spirit Evang. Joseph Agbo who lost his emotion when he almost injured the General as he embraced him amidst tear of joy & shouting. The Gen was calm & appreciative of our encomiums. Consequently he called us to his office upstairs for a relationship that would blossom up till now. We swiftly booked an appointment for his country home ASaba.
Ever since, it has become a voyage. It was this meeting that saw to the usage of Igbozurume unity hall for the colloquium and the formation of ADF. It was this same meeting that birthed my joining the train of the attendees of the court case that was filed at Owerre seeking for Biafra independence. From that period till now, I have cause to write volume on the Air Raid. For this reason, I will mention about three. First I have never seen a loyal friend as him. He had told me how he met Gen Ojukwu at Kings college Lagos & how Ojukwu’s relocation to London forced him to go to London also. On one occasion when I told him that he should no longer be addressed as a colonel, he agreed only on the condition that Dim Ojukwu will be addressed as a Field Marshal as he would never share the same rank with his commander that he would always address as Emeka. He described Dim Ojukwu’s passage as a change of guard. He equally told me that it was ‘Emeka’s’ influence that made him to take the Olinzele title of Ikemba.
Second, it was Gen Achuzia who assured me that Biafra was never defeated in the war, hence the no victor, no vanquished end of the war. I then asked him about his role & involvement in the war as a field officer & His alleged invincibility. He told me that the genocide meted to Asaba people on October 12, 1967 apart from his relationship with Dim Ojukwu and the killing of the omu Asaba at the time were all the sources of motivation for his exploits.
After the death of the Omu, he had to perform the traditional rites of becoming invincible by invoking the ‘gods’ of Asaba to guide his revenge of the pogrom of Asaba people. The gods answered him. The third thing that I want to remember him for was what transpired during the preparation of the Igbozurume report for the Okoronmu panel. The Igbozurume had wanted to write its own paper and the Gen came to the unity centre. The preparation of the paper took more time than required such that we were all awake until 3 am & he was making his inputs.
He could not take his bath & was there the following day until the presentation of the report at Villa Toscana hotel Enugu. I had entreated him to go home especially as he was not feeling so well but he calmly told be that he would rather die on duty than going home for people to stop us from presenting the report which would have been so without his presence. What a patriot! I recall on one of the visits when I had gone to his Asaba residence with Bishop Dr Obi Onubuogu to discuss certain issues on behalf of ADF, Onubuogu being one of Gen Ojukwu’s ADCs, they relished the good old history of the war.
This change of guard is a fulfilled one. You can see how Biafrans all over the world are celebrating your triumphant transformation. You will continue to live in our hearts.
May you find befitting helpers in the great beyond. Enyi ooo, Enyi anaa 3rice.
Chetakwamu Gen Ojukwu, Effiong, Onwuatuegwu, Achuzia etc
Below is the letter addressed to Senator Abaribe from ADF
IGBO POSITION ON THE CURRENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN NIGERIA
1. Let me first thank you for inviting me to the recent meeting you organized in Lagos on
the subject of Igbo Position on the Current Political Developments in Nigeria.
2. I am happy you accepted the suggestion I made that the meeting should observe one
minute silence in memory of the millions of Umuigbo who have lost their lives since
1914 in the turbulent existence of Ndigbo in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I made this
suggestion to underscore the solemnity of the current discourse of the future of Ndigbo
and the future of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Having said all these, please permit me to make the following observations on the
exercise you are presiding over:
3. When you began your opening address, you made reference to âNdigboâ, who you
otherwise referred to as âNdi South-Eastâ. In my comment, I did point out, my dear
Senator, that âSouth-Eastâ is only a part of Alaigbo. Alaigbo extends to Anioma,
Ikwerre (and Port Harcourt) in Rivers State. Some are also aware that there are Igbospeaking
peoples in Benue State.
4. The Igbo Position and Igbo National Interests
At this stage of the struggle for survival of Umuigbo and others, we should be speaking
of Alaigbo as a whole, making every effort to re-unite Alaigbo and enhance our national
integration, identity and consciousness.
As a result of the intensity of the national struggle, it is strongly dawning on most people
that the main source of the instability of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the fact that
autonomous nationalities were artificially lumped together into a Federal Republic
without any regard to their separateness and their wishes.
All through the history of Nigeria, two things have clearly demonstrated again and
again, the reality that we are separate nations. Please disregard the archaic European
anthropological appellation of âtribeâ to Africa nations. Those two things are the
following â
i. The greatest heroes in the Nigerian history are leaders of the Ethnic
Nationalities â and these include: â
ďˇ Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, the leader and hero of the Fulani
Nation.
ďˇ Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader and hero of the Yoruba Nation,
ďˇ Alhaji Aminu Kano, the leader and hero of the Hausa Nation
ďˇ Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader and hero of the Igbo Nation.
ďˇ Mr. Joseph Tarka, leader and hero of the Tiv Nation,
ďˇ Isaac Boro, the leader and hero of the Ijaw Nation,
ďˇ Ken Saro-Wiwa, the hero of the Ijaw Nation, etc. etc.
The case of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Sir Tafawa Balewa, were somehow different.
Both of them sincerely worked under the illusion that Federalism can override Ethnic
Nationalism in the conduct of the affairs of a multi-national Federation.
ii. In a multi-National Society such as Nigeria, politics is ultimately struggle,
not among individuals, but among the nationalities that make up the multinational
society. It is not even a struggle among political parties in the final
analysis. âTribalismâ or âEthnic Nationalityâ are European anthropological
concepts used to refer to nations in Africa and other non-European societies,
while âNationâ instead of âtribeâ or âethnic nationalityâ is applied to similar
European societies. Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Tiv, Ijaw etc, are nations
like English, Scotland, French, Germany, Russia, etc.
In other words, the Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, etc., are separate nations
with distinct languages, cultures, interests, loyalties, etc.
All through colonial d post-colonial history of Nigeria, the Fulani nation have sustained
their dominance over the rest, not only because of the privileged position the British
carved out for them in the affairs of the Nigerian Republic, but because their feudal
order have remained a major bulwark in their politics. They have systematically
exploited cultural and religious factors, and even family order in sustaining their preeminence
within the whole political and economic equation in Nigeria. The North is
virtually under the ruler-ship and domination of one Fulani family.
The Yoruba Nation has gone very far in sustaining and putting their solid national
consciousness to immense political advantage, next to the Fulani. They have used to
maximum effect the spirit of their progenitor Oduduwa and the spirit of their next in the
order of their national pantheon, Awolowo, into great use in the political struggle in
Nigeria. Today, when you talk of Yoruba or summon a gathering of Yoruba, those in
Kwara and Kogi anxiously and proudly identify.
As for Ndigbo, I know that the major assault of the enemy after the loss of Biafra was
the weapon of dismembering the common identity of Ndigbo. Almost three thousand
men and youth in Asaba were massacred because they were Umuigbo â the relations of
Nzeogwu and Ojukwu.
In this era of Rebuilding and Development of Alaigbo, our success and survival will
depend on achieving a high level of Igbo National INTEGRATION &
CONSCIOUSNESS. That should be our priority today, taking a cue from the Fulani and
the Yoruba.
Dear Senator, it was in the light of the forgoing that I asked why your Committee did not
think it wise to schedule Asaba and Port Harcourt for purposes of consulting our kitsand-kin
in those States. I ask again WHERE IS ANIOMA, WHERE IS IKWERRE AND
WHERE ARE OTHERS WHO BELONG TO OUR RACE in the Nigerian Federation?
Is there any mechanism or process for consulting millions of Umuigbo – our brothers and
sisters – in the diaspora? We know there are several organizations of Umuigbo in the
diaspora; are we not consulting them?
5. Elders not being carried along in the crucial search for the Future of Ndigbo at this
critical time:
Dear Senator, I expressed great surprise that none of the Igbo Elders were being carried along in
this crucial exercise. Such a meeting was holding in Lagos but Admiral Ndubusi Kanu was not
there; Ebitu Ukiwe, Chief Pascal Dozie, Capt. Emmanuel Ihanacho, Dr Emma Eleazu, Prof Anya O.
Anya, Admiral Allison Madueke, Amb Anyaoku, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, as well as several other
key Igbo leaders, including many in business and politics, were not there. And you are talking of
having come to Lagos to consult Umuigbo on the Future of Alaigbo in Nigeria!!!
The same thing happened when you came to Abuja, The meeting was held in a private home and
many people did not know about it.
5. No working Document or even a Template for the Crucial Consultation:
The most curious observation on the exercise being conducted by your Committee is that there is no
Report or Working Document produced by the Committee set up by the Ohanaeze leadership under
the chairmanship of Prof. Chigozie Ogbu. In announcing the commencement of your assignment
you state and I quote:
âI was appointed as Chairman of the Agenda/Programme (Restructuring) sub-committee of
Ohaneze with a specific mandate to produce a draft of Igbo position on restructuring.
(Note the emphasis on RESTRUCTURING)
You went further to explain:
âIn carrying out this assignment we reasoned that to start the discussions there should be a
starting point. On advice from eminent people like Amb George Obiozor, we decided that
the Igbo Position at the 2014 Political Conference should form the basis of our interaction
with our people in Abuja, Lagos and EnuguâŚSo the draft is nothing but Ndigbo position at
the 2014 National Conference which of course could be jettisoned if we do wishâ.
Dear Senator, according to you, your mandate is
i. to conduct consultation on Restructuring, period.
ii. That the Igbo Position at the 2014 Political Conference should form the basis of
your Committeeâs interaction with our people in Abuja, Lagos and Enugu.
Dear Senator, you must have observed that majority of the people who have commented on your
exercise have expressed so much embarrassment that the Ogbu-led Committee was unable to
produce any report or working document, and the document given to you as a basis for consultation
is the badly âbadly flawedâ document, to use Senator Chris Anyanwuâs phrase in qualifying the
Igbo Position submitted to the 2014 Jonathanâs National Conference.
The document is out of tune with the realities of today. Does it mean that Ndigbo are incapable of
producing a draft document for our broad discussion on our future at this time? The Yoruba, the
South-South and the Middle Belt with whom we are in consultation had position which they
presented to the Jonathan Conference and none of them is basing their current stand on such
documents.
. .
In summary on this point, it is our stand that since the draft is nothing but Ndigbo position at
the 2014 National Conference, and is indeed out of tune in the light of the challenges of the
moment, it should be jettisoned.
6. Mandate of the Committee is Restructuring or Nothing:
Your Committee was set up and given a specific mandate to produce a draft of Igbo Position
on Restructuring. From this, it is obvious that the mandate of your Committee is to dwell on
Restructuring, no more no less. Given this mandate of your Committee and the entire
exercise being conducted by Ohanaeze leadership, there appears to be a Script on which the
present Ohanaeze leadership is acting. It is a script authored not in the interest of Ndigbo at
this critical exercise.
7. The Memorandum On the Future of Ndigbo submitted to Chief Nnia Nwodo, the
President of Ohaneze Ndigbo requesting to present it to Ime-Obi Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
On January 10, 2018, the Alaigbo Development Foundation(ADF) forwarded to you a
Memorandum on the Future of Alaigbo in the Fedral Republic of Nigeria , and I quote the covering note.
âDear President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ike Ukehe,
Greetings
When we (ADF Team) visited you last time, I did inform you that the Alaigbo
Development Foundation (ADF) was working on a document that would address
the current debate on the future of Alaigbo and the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
with particular reference to the issues of Restructuring, Nigeria and Biafra.
I forward to you copy of what may be regarded as the First Edition of the
Memorandum and request you to summon a meeting of Ime-Obi Ohanaeze for
ADF leadership to present and defend the position as articulated in the
document.
We refer to this version of the Memo. as First Edition because the views
expressed at Ime-Obi will be taken into account in the final edition of the
document.
At the moment we are making the document available to other pan-Igbo
organizations and other compatriots and collating their views which shall be
taken into consideration in the final edition.
This exercise is our modest contribution in the current debate and search for a
safe and honorable future for our beleaguered Alaigbo and her citizens.
The main text is accompanied by an Outline.
Prof. Uzodinma Nwala
ADF Presidentâ
Chief Nwodo did nether acknowledge this letter and the attached Memorandum nor invite ADF to
Ime-Obi as requested. The Ogbu-led Committee has never made reference to the document. Here
there is goodwill and candor, ADF should have been invited by the Committee. In all the
deliberation of the Abaribe Committee no reference has been made to the ADF Memo. I do not
want to dwell much on this experience.
But I would like to end comment on it with an anecdote
In those days (I believe in the sixties), the Local Government Compound of Okpula Ngwa
had one of the best and most attractive Local Government Buildings in Eastern Nigeria. The Ngwa
people were so proud of it and expressed this in a popular proverb.
âTa onye ngafere Okpuala Ngwa leghi anya nazu, la olu ndaraya ahuâ
Anyone who passes the premises of the Okpula Ngwa Local Government and does not look
back just to once more appreciate its beauty, then that person must have a problem with his
neck.
Such cavalier treatment given to a document many Umuigbo have eulogized as a great visionary
document agbaghi aka.
Dear Senator, given the fact that both the Constitutional and Structural foundations of THE
Republic has collapsed, what is indeed required today at this crucial moment are -:
i. A RENEGOTIATION of the basis for the continued existence of the Nigerian
Federation and
ii. A Clear Vision of the Future of Ndigbo within or outside the Nigerian Federal
Republic.
This conclusion is inevitable in the light of all that have been stated above.
8. Our Internal Political Weakness and The Failure of Igbo Office holders
Senator, Chris Ngige made the point which a good number of people keep rehearsing,
namely, that Ndigbo are to blame for their predicament in Nigeria. He like others blame
ourselves and argue that we are our own nemesis. He cited the fact that we have held the
offices of the Vice President, Senate President, Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Key Ministerial positions (Finance, Defense, External Affairs, etc,) and yet we
are shouting marginalization. Well said but,
To understand the political environment under which Ndigbo held such positions, take a
look at the office of the Senate President which about five Igbo Senators held like a musical
chair. For a given period, they were being shuffled like childrenâs game.
The truth is that the power equation in Nigeria has always been controlled and manipulated
by the forces of the prevailing hegemony and their agents. This is why many have insisted
that an Igbo President under the given circumstances will be an exercise in frustration,
except for the tiny minority of those that may hanker and succeed in getting appointed to
one political position or another, or given one contract or the other. The Igbo nation will
continue to remain a nation in captivity.
The same goes for the blame we heap on our elected Governors, especially on their political
weakness and inability to take firm positions in defense of their people. The truth is that
these brothers are operating in a most oppressive political environment. They have to go to
one Emir or one Fulani political heavy weight to get their due allocation to run their State;
they depend on a Fulani controlled-INEC for their election victory; they have to depend on
the Northern-controlled Judiciary for the validation of their election victory; they have to
depend on the Fulani-controlled Police, NSS, DSS, to enforce security in their states; they
canât even protect their youth who are harassed by all manner of repressive state apparatus
nor can they defend their people when they are butchered by the AK-47-wielding Fulani
terrorists.
So, their political leaders are powerless to defend them when they are in trouble. The only
thing they have around them are toothless internet warriors who operate in various
platforms, many of who are sponsored by the slave-masters.
Fayose is operating in a different political environment from the Igbo Governor. Governor
Ortom was in the same political vulnerability like his Igbo counterparts the other day. He
was always in pains, watching helplessly as his blood relations were butchered like animals.
But as soon as his people ringed themselves around him, not as internet warriors, but
standing solidly firm, leaders, students, women and youth, Governor Ortom became first a
patriot, then a radical and today he is a revolutionary standing firm on those measures which
have now begun to wedge the reckless onslaught again at his people. Now, he has become
another Fayose.
We can produce our own Fayose our Otom in Alaigbo once some of our office-holders with
conscience find that they have the people standing by them as a powerful pillar on which
they can lean on in ties of political travail. But the greatest guarantee of all these is a
renegotiation for a radically new political order, without masters and slaves, a political order
standing on the altar of self-determination, freedom and self-reliance.
The Memorandum of the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) on the Future of Alaigbo
and the Future of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a visionary document. It is addressed to
the Igbo nation and it is also addressed to other nationalities in Nigeria some of who are now
astir and provoked by the ferocity of the forces of hegemony that have divided and
manipulated them in the past.
Let us ask the question, why did the Ohanaeze President ignore the ADF Memorandum?
Senator Abaribe did not even mention it even though he got a copy during the Handshake
event in Enugu and I sent a soft copy before the Lagos meeting. The ADF Secretary also
distributed over four dozen copies in the course of the Lagos meeting and personally handed
a copy to Senator Abaribe.
Then consider the authorship of the document. If anyone could ignore such a document
under such circumstances in meeting summoned to discourse the Igbo position, then it is
tragic.
Once more the ADF position is a Visionary Document for today and for tomorrow. It is
addressed to our people and their neighbors facing the same existential threat like them.
Finally on the Igbo Position.
We in the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) wish to reiterate what we stated in an
earlier letter to Senator Abaribe and copied the Ohanaeze President, Chief Nwodo, and I
quite:
8
8
âThe solution to the present political quagmire in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is beyond
Constitutional Amendment, It is beyond the powers of the National Assembly or the
Executive. It requires a Political Conference in which the various nationalities will
determine those who represent them in such a political conference. The outcome of their
deliberations will be subject to a National Referendumâ.
Our advice, therefore, dear Senator, is for you and your team to ask various organized
groups of Umuigbo to present their thoughts as working papers which can be discussed and
out of which an Igbo Position can be distilled. The Elders and Statesmen in Alaigbo cannot
be ignored is such an exercise. If there is spirit of candor and genuine commitment to the
cause of our people, the ADF document is an adequate Working Document we can review
for the purpose.
The Challenge in Nigeria today is how to redefine the relationship among the various
NATIONS that make it up as a Federation, This cannot be done within the confines of the
existing highly flawed 1999 Constitution.
Thanks.
Twenty-one senators currently receiving pensions from government as ex-governors and deputy governors.
The current senators who once served as governors are Bukola Saraki of Kwara, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Kabiru Gaya of Kano, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Theodore Orji of Abia, Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa, Sam Egwu of Ebonyi, Shaaba Lafiagi of Kwara, Joshua Dariye of Plateau Jonah Jang of Plateau, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto, Ahmed Sani Yarima of Zamfara, Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Bukar Abba Ibrahim of Yobe, Adamu Aliero of Kebbi, George Akume of Benue.
The former deputy governors in the Senate are Ms Biodun Olujimi of Ekiti and Enyinaya Harcourt Abaribe of Abia. Danladi Abubakar Sani served as the acting governor of Taraba state.
Many former governors are also in Buhari’s Cabinet as Ministers. This includes: Ngige, Fayemi, Amaechi and Fashola (SAN).).
In Akwa Ibom State, the law provides that ex governors and deputy governors receive pension equivalent to the salaries of the incumbent. The package also includes a new official car and a utility vehicle every four years; one personal aide; a cook, chauffeurs and security guards for the governor at a sum not exceeding N5 million per month and N2.5 million for his deputy governor.
In Rivers, the law provides 100 percent of annual basic salaries for the ex-governor and deputy, one residential house for the former governor âanywhere of his choice in Nigeriaâ; one residential house anywhere in Rivers for the deputy, three cars for the ex-governor every four years and two cars for the deputy every four years.
It is alledged that in Lagos, a former governor will get two houses, one in Lagos and another in Abuja, estimated at N500 million in Lagos and N700 million in Abuja. He also receives six new cars to be replaced every three years; a furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual salary to be paid every two years, and a N30 million pension annually for life.
This is the reality for all the 21 ex govenors and deputy governors who are currently serving as senators. This same is also true of ex governors who are now serving as Ministers.
NOW I ASK:
How many years did these guys serve their states as governors and deputy governors? Is it more than 8years? Is that a reason to be entitled to pensions for life? Even if they are entitled to pension for life, must it be so outrageous?
As if that is not enough: HOW on earth can any public servant with conscience collect salaries and allowances as a senator or minister, and still have the audacity to claim pensions equivalent to the salaries of a serving governor in Nigeria?
IT ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE……
Once you are elected a senator or appointed a minister, you must forfeit any pension accruing to you from government at any level until you vacate office. This should also apply to senators collecting military pensions like former Senate President David Mark.
Yet these senators are in the Senate that is inviting the current finance minister to discuss the recession of Nigeria’s economy. A senator pockets approximately 30 million naira monthly as salary and allowances. Our “honourables” are not interested to make laws that could restructure our country into economically autonomous federating States/Regions to save the country from sectional agitations that is threatening to destroy Nigeria. The sad and hopeless situation is that the rest of Nigerians are busy arguing based on party, ethnic and affiliations while these enemies of state continue to rape us.
Do you know that it costs tax payers 290m Naira yearly to maintain each member of our National Assembly in a country where nothing works & 80% of population earn below 300 Naira a day ? A working day earning of a senator is more than a yearly income of a doctor; it’s more than the salary of 42 Army generals or 48 professors or 70 commissioners of police or more than twice the pay of the US President or 9 times the salary of US congressmen.
It’s high time the country had a referendum on those outrageous salaries of Senators, House of Representative members and other political office holders.
*If you are seriously against the looting of our commonwealth in Nigeria, in the name of democracy, you can let this piece go viral by sharing it with as many of your contacts and groups too!*
Pope Obumneme Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope, is one of the regular faces in the wave making NTA sitcom, Professor Johnbull, where he plays the professorâs son.
Tall, intelligent and good-looking, the father of two made his debut in Secret Adventure, a movie directed by Tchidi Chikere in 2007. The University of Nigeria Accounting graduate, who is married to his soul mate, Jennifer Awele, in this chat speaks on his acting career, family and the many evils of Nollywood.
Could you tell us a bit about your background?
I am Junior Pope Odowondo. I hail from Ukehe, Nsukka, Enugu State. I was born into a family of 10, five boys and three girls. I am the sixth child of the family of Chief Luke Odonwodo. My mother has been living in America for sometime now with my siblings.
What was your growing up like?Â
I was born on May 7, 1984 in Bamenda, Cameroun. I attended both primary and secondary schools in Cameroun before relocating to Nigeria. My father taught me how to be a hustler while my mother trained me to be a gentleman. However, growing up in Cameroun was fun; I grew up in a loveable family where my older siblings supported our parents. My father is a disciplinarian. During my university days, I did some terrible things but my fatherâs words of advice kept me focused; it restricted me from not going against the law despite the pressure of youthful exuberance.
How did your foray into acting begin?
After my graduation, I started my acting career in Enugu. I must appreciate my inspiring director, Tchidi Chikere, for believing in my ability. He gave me the platform to actualise my dream by casting me for my first lead role in Deeper Than Faces, a mind-blowing movie that brought me into the limelight.
Having studied Accounting, do you regret not practicing what you studied in school?
No! I donât have any regret because I loved calculation as a child and also had flare for acting. So, I feel fulfilled accomplishing both in life. However, my certificate and experiences in Accounting have helped me succeed as an actor and in life generally. And Iâm happy to have achieved my destiny because my desire while growing up was to put my name in the world book not just Nollywood. I thank God for all His mercies and grace; it could only be by His grace that my dreams are coming to reality.
You rapped in one of Tchidi Chikereâs songs; do you have any plan of going into music?
Music is part of entertainment. If I have a good platform and there is an opportunity of veering into music, I will, because itâs part of my job.
How did you meet your wife?Â
I met my wife on Facebook. We started chatting on Facebook; she started by appreciating my works and we gradually became friends. Itâs written that âmen are moved by what they see and women are moved by what they hearâ so, I saw this angel and immediately I told God that this lady is mine. Thereafter, we started dating. Luckily, she lives in Asaba, Delta State. Honestly, with the kind of life in Nollywood, you wouldnât want to marry, thinking you still have time for worldly enjoyment. I always tell people that devil is the king of Nollywood, because of the atrocities being committed in the industry. It is in Nollywood you see high level of homosexuality and lesbianism. There is no kind of evil that you wouldnât see in the industry. But I thank God we eventually got married and have lived happily together.Â
How long have you been married now?
We got married on July 26, 2014. We have been enjoying a blissful union, blessed with two lovely sons, and we hope to continually celebrate many more happy years in marriage.Â
You play Professor Johnbullâs son in the popular NTA sitcom, Professor Johnbull, could you tell us more about your involvement in the production?
Itâs a wonderful experience featuring in the sitcom produced by Globacom. I thank God for being part of the lead characters in Professor Johnbull and itâs a good development for my career, because it helps to break barriers and open more doors for me, as well as add to my worth as a celebrated actor. I must appreciate my good-natured director, Tchidi Chikere, for his benevolence and contributions towards my career, and I also appreciate Globacom for this opportunity. However, I enjoy playing in the sitcom because itâs educative, inspiring and captivating. In fact, the sitcom challenges me as an actor, it exposes me to the lifestyle of Nigerians, and most importantly, to the lessons on how to improve our lives as citizens and make Nigeria a greater nation for everyone.
Could you tell us about your fatherhood experiences?
Fatherhood is a wonderful experience. I thank God for blessing me with children. As a father, you donât think like a child or bachelor but as a responsible man. You have to do everything within your reach to make your children better persons in the society. Though, fatherhood also has its challenges, sometimes I ask how people like my parents reared over eight children. I always celebrate them whenever I look at those challenges. I also celebrate the woman in my life for making my family peaceful and fun.
How do you relax?
When Iâm not working, I hang out with my family. I take them to recreational centers, and sometimes we party together.
What would be your advice to the up and coming actors?
I will advise them to get the basic training before venturing into acting. Though, you may not necessarily study Theatre Arts, you need to be knowledgeable in your roles interpretations. Also, you need basic education to be able to speak fluent English. And for the young ones in the profession, you must remain focused, determined, courageous and hard working to get to the peak of the career.(the sun)
We saw several girls crying for help as four Tata trucks conveying them out of Dapchi sped offâ With these words, a man resident in nearby village of Gumsa, narrated the abduction of some students of Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi in Bursari Local Government Area of Yobe State on Monday.
The villager said that, as the abductors passed by, they took him and some other residents in one of their trucks so that they could show them a shorter route out of the area. After showing them the road out of the village, according to him, the invaders released him and the other villagers and sped off. About 111 were reported to have been unaccounted for after the dusk attack on the Yobe community. The state Police Commissioner, Abdulmaliki Sumonu, about 48 hours after the incident (Wednesday), confirmed that 111 schoolgirls remained unaccounted for. He said, â815 out of the 926 students were physically seen in the school as of Tuesday. There are reports that more girls have returned to the school after the headcount.â The commissioner said security forces had traced the insurgents to location where they were reported to have been seen. Reports said the insurgents invaded Dapchi at about 5.30 pm and headed to the Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi and took the girls without confrontation.
Inuwa Mohammed, who claimed his 16- year- old daughter, Falmata , was among the girls missing, said he was â devastated by this twist of eventsâ and that his wife fainted on hearing the news and was in hospitalâ. â I woke up with the strong hope of meeting my daughter and my wife had been making preparations for a warm welcome, only for us to receive this shattering news that all along the story has been a rumour ,â he added . Residents said the insurgents, dressed in military fatigues and turbans arrived unchallenged, firing weapons and shouting âAllahu Akbar â(God is greatest ). Safai Maimagani , a herbal medicine vendor, said the insurgents headed towards the school on the edge of the sleepy farming community. â Not long afterwards they returned ,â he said. âI heard cries of girls from their trucksâ Muhammad Kabo, a tea seller, gave a similar account: â They were here for less than an hour. We heard girls wailing in their trucks and it was clear that they had abducted some girls from the school. â A security guard with the school, who gave his name as Baa, said the invaders tried to stop the girls from fleeing and tricked them into believing they had come to rescue them. â Some of the girls believed them and climbed into the trucks but many others just kept running,â he added . Hadiza Makinta, one of the students who escaped unhurt said, âshe was fasting on that very day of the incidentâ and thanked God for sparing her life while she ran to the bush for safety. Dapchi is 100 kilometers north of Damaturu, the state capital, and remained one of major towns that had not recorded an attack from Boko Haram since the terrr group started terrorising the North-East in 2009 until that Monday.
Chaos Confusion had trailed the attack with Yobe State Government initially saying the military was able to rescue some of the girls. It later turned out that the statement was false. Governor Ibrahim Geidamâs statement that the rescue story was false came about 24 hours after the state government, in a statement by the Director of Information, Abdullahi Bego, said the girls had been rescued by the military. Bego had said in the statement: âYobe State Government hereby informs the public that the girls at Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) whose school was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists last Monday have been rescued by gallant officers and men of the Nigerian Army from the terrorists who abducted them. âThe rescued girls are now in the custody of the Nigerian Army. âWe will provide more details about their number and condition in due course. âHis Excellency Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, who is very grateful for the gallantry and hard work of the officers and men of the Nigerian Army involved in the operation, is monitoring the situation closely and will make a statement in due courseâ Gaidan, who visited Dapchi on Thursday,described the rescue statement as misleading and apologised to the community folks. The information sparked angry reaction from s who attacked the governorâs convoy as he left the venue of a meeting he held with the community on the school invasion.
The protest however did not gather momentum because attention shifted to the school where the abduction took place and to which the governor headed to await the arrival of the delegation sent by President Muhammadu Buhari.to assess the situation. Three ministers â Lai Mohammed (Information), Mansur Dan Ali (Defence) and Khadija Bukar Abba, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs â later arrived in two helicopters. They met with Gaidan. Appealing to family members of the captives to exercise patience with government, Lai Mohammed told journalists present that the freedom of the girls would remain a priority. He said the actual number of the missing schoolgirls would be known when parents come forward with information on the whereabouts of their wards.
We canât confirm rescue story â DHQ The Defence Headquarters also dismissed the rescue story. âWe cannot confirm the statement by Yobe State that some of the girls have been rescued,â Defence spokesperson, Brigadier-General John Agim, said. Agim said he could not give further details about the militaryâs intervention in the matter. Senate condemns attack, resurgence of Boko Haram Meanwhile, the Senate, on Thursday, , in very strong terms, condemned the resurgence of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, following the Dapchi incident. The upper chambre of the National Assembly, in a resolution, asked the Federal Government to recover the girls to avoid a repeat of the Chibok girlsâ experience. It also said it was unfortunate and disheartening that Boko Haram was back to the geo-political zone in a way that contradicts the Federal Governmentâs claim that the insurgents had been decimated or defeated.
