As agitations for the restructuring of the country gather momentum, a senator has thrown her weight behind the call, saying it is inevitable.
Sen. Stella Oduah (PDP-Anambra North) said no meaningful development could be achieved unless the current political structure was modified to also guarantee social justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians across the six geo-political zones.
“We cannot go further than we have gone without restructuring for obvious reasons.
“For us from the South-East in particular, you cannot spank a child and at the same time forbid the child from crying. It is an abnormality.
“The National Assembly has been discussing it that this nation was built on the platform of fairness, justice and equity.
“That is what our Constitution is all about and so if a group says they have concerns, those concerns must be addressed,” she said at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
Oduah had served under President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration until 2015 as Minister of Aviation.
NAN reports that Jonathan, in the wake of agitations for restructuring, had on March 17, 2014, inaugurated a National Conference which had 492 delegates.
Receiving the report from the Conference Chairman, retired Chief Justice Idris Kutigi, on Aug. 21, Jonathan’s government had promised that the outcome of the conference would be “utilized to settle the nation’s myriad of problems.”
“The deliberations of the conference will be utilized to settle the nation’s problems,” said Vice-President Namadi Sambo at a dinner for the delegates. The report was never implemented.
But Oduah said restructuring which the government at the time failed to carry out was the way forward.
“The issue is how you address the agitation to the extent that the expected yield which is fairness, justice and respect as opposed to disrespect is achieved.
“How to do that is through a dialogue; we must all bring to the table,’’ she said.
On the nature of restructuring required to bring an end to the rising agitations, the lawmaker suggested a holistic approach which would restructure political, economic and educational sectors as well as the security apparatus.
“The restructuring I am clamouring for is a holistic one to the extent that I am first a Nigerian and then the locality where I come from by accident of birth becomes secondary.
“The primary thing is that I am a Nigerian and I have to have a sense of belonging.
“The details of restructuring have to be discussed and it must be holistic because you cannot do partial restructuring for a better country.
“Women as a gender must be priority in the restructuring because women make up about 60 per cent of the country’s population.
“You can imagine the level of development the country will have if it actively involves 60 per cent of its strength in governance.
“The youth and their welfare must also be prioritized. So, it has to be very holistic,’’ she stressed.
According to Oduah, the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference were “robust enough” to set the platform for a holistic restructuring of the country.
Oduah, who said she had gone through the content of the report, noted that it touched on almost all the concerns of Nigerians from the different regions.
She senator added:“I believe that the delegates at the confab must have spent enormous amount of time, efforts and resources. So, we need to look at it and address the issues agitating our minds.’’
The former minister promised that the 8th Senate would play a major role in helping to restructure the economy and the country.
“The Senate, having requested for the report before proceeding on recess, will ensure that it is submitted while necessary action will be taken.”
No fewer than 2000 women in Benue State are currently protesting in Makurdi over alleged planned innovation of some Fulani herdsmen into part of the state.
It was gathered that the women’s protest was sequel to the perceived disaffection of the herdsmen over the beginning of the implementation of the anti-open grazing law which kicked off on Wednesday.
The women, some of who are stripped to their underpants, have marched into the Government House in Makurdi.
Governor Samuel Ortom and his wife, Eunice are currently addressing the protesters.
Victor Osita Ezenwa has always played major roles in the political arena of Anambra State. He served at different times as Chairman, Njikoka Local Government Council; State Chairman, Social Democratic Party {SDP}; and the Secretary to the Government in the administration of Gov. Chinwoke Mbadinuju {1999-2003}. He is presently the Director-General of Nwoye Campaign Organisation.
In this interview, Ezenwa describes the APC flag-bearer as a mobiliser of grassroots support, champion of the youths and a giant-killer who other candidates should be wary of.
With only days to the election in Anambra, what do you think the atmosphere will be like, especially as Indigenous People of Biafra {IPOB} continues say it won’t hold?
The atmosphere so far has been conducive for electioneering. And, I believe that the atmosphere will also be conducive for voting on election day – Saturday, November18, 2017, irrespective of the threat by IPOB. This is because the citizens of Anambra State realise the importance of that election. They are determined to perform their civic responsibility. Besides, IPOB has slowed down its activities with the sudden disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu.
The emergence of Nwoye as the candidate of APC was seen by some analysts as an upset, considering that he ran against heavyweights, like Andy Ubah and George Moghalu. What were the secrets of his victory at the primaries?
Some people may have seen Tony Nwoye’s emergence as an upset, but some of us who have been with him know that he is a grassroots person, a mobiliser, humble, down to earth and indeed ordinary. He is usually not moved by the media hype his opponents enjoy. Let me put it this way: He is not very visible in terms of the media attention he enjoys. However, paradoxically, he does well in elections. I hope you will pardon me if I refer to him as a giant-killer.
What do you make of the document that circulated in the social media which was purported to be a pact between a generous billionaire in Anambra and your flag-bearer? How true is it that Dr. Nwoye is backed by a political god-father?
That document which is circulating in the social media falls squarely on its face. The billionaire that is being referred to is known by everybody. It is factually correct that he does not have strings attached to the favour, contributions, donations etc he offers to people. These include religious groups, politicians, cultural groups, and the down-trodden. It is difficult to come across such a personality.
What really are Nwoye’s selling points? Does he have what it takes to govern a state like Anambra?
He is eminently qualified to serve as the governor of Anambra State, having been elected President of NANS, State Chairman of the PDP, and a serving member of the House of Representatives. As you very well know, he is a medical doctor by training and what is more important, he is happily married. And talking about his selling points, for me, the campaign issues from the perspective of my candidate, Dr. Tony Nwoye, are mainly the quality of education and empowerment of the young school leavers. He believes that whatever anybody becomes in the future depends on the opportunity structure available to the person. Being a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students {NANS}, his soul is with the younger generation.
Against candidates like Gov. Obiano for APGA, Oseloka Obaze for PDP and Osita Chidoka for UPP, what are Dr. Tony Nwoye’s chances of winning the election?
Our chances of winning are very bright. Anybody, who neglects him, does so at his own peril. As stated above, he is a giant-killer in the true sense of the word.
Do you see church denomination {Catholic/Anglican} being a strong factor in the election as has been the case in the past?
Religious politics was very prevalent before, but it has diminished considerably; because nothing really lasts forever. The people are wiser now.
Do you agree that apart from the incumbency factor, it will be an uphill task beating APGA in the only state it holds sway, where the memory of Odumegwu-Ojukwu is still revered?
Nobody is dismissive of APGA or the incumbency factor. But keep in mind that even the revered Ikemba Odumegwu-Ojukwu, did lose some elections during his life-time. His memory should be left to continue to rest in peace, so that he would not start to spin in his grave. As a matter of fact, some of those who were great apostles of APGA, are now chieftains of PDP and other political parties. So, you can see that people are not very concerned on which side of the ideological spectrum that anybody belongs.
In a recorded video made available to BVI Channel 1,the former Executive Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC)-Dr Sam Amadi announced that he will use his ideas,energy and resources to support citizen action being spearheaded by OURMUMUDONDO under the Leadership of CharleyBoy.The full statement reads :
‘Historically,democracy has been founded primarily on an independent media and an engaging citizenship.If you do not have independent media reporting,giving fair reportage to both government and those who have issues against government,we cannot have a thriving democracy.So i want to salute the courage and the commitment of the Nigerian Press for supporting OURMUMUDONDO campaign.Any responsible Government will appreciate the good work OURMUMUDONDO has undertaken.This is the best support any government can secure with citizens who are informed,non-violently,peacefully and continue to monitor the activities of government at all levels.If there is no inquire by Citizen group on governance,even the best angels can become devil in Government .Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that is why you need citizen engagement ,to make sure that power is checkmated and controlled .
All over the world ,Citizen action groups like OURMUMUDONDO depend on contribution from the citizens.Democracy or Party System cannot be sustained by depending on moneybags.We must have Citizens committed to contribute to sustain citizen actions.I want to advise all of us to be financially responsible towards funding a citizen action being spearheaded by OURMUMUDONDO to effectiviely checkmate oppressors,political jobbers and bad governance whether at the local government,state and federal levels.The only way to sustain citizen action is that citizen own those actions by Citizen Funding.OURMUMUDONDO should not be about Charleyboy and friends,it should be about all of us.So we must support OURMUMUDONDO and its partners to sustain Citizen actions.
Accountability is based on the demand and supply of Citizen action.If Citizens are not asking for accountability,those in power will not supply accountability.However,the government of the day should encourage the Citizen action being led by OURMUMUDONDO for effective monitoring of government projects as well as fighting corruption’ The statement concluded.
BVI Channel 1 has it in good authority that OURMUMUDONDO daily Sit-Out on #BuhariActOrQuit will be coming to a close today with a procession to the office of the Minister of Justice- Abubakar Malami.
Cattle dealers in Benue say their business is on the verge of collapse because of the anti-open grazing law, which comes into effect on Wednesday.
Some officials of the Cattle Dealers Association of Nigeria made the claim, while speaking with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi on Wednesday.
They said that the law failed to differentiate between herdsmen and cattle dealers, adding that action had consequently affected the business of cattle dealers.
Alhaji Mustapha Aliyu, the chief of the main cattle market in Makurdi, said that cattle dealers in the market had lost over 10 cattle, excluding the calves.
“The cattle have no water to drink, no food for them. The situation is particularly harrowing for the pregnant ones that are about to deliver. Most of the dead ones are the pregnant cows who couldn’t cope with the situation,’’ he said.
He said that the cattle were going through tough times, adding that if nothing was done to salvage the situation on time, the cattle would all perish.
Aliyu alleged that a member of his association was arrested in the Gbajimba neighbourhood for flouting the law, adding that he was later released after paying some fine.
He said that 10 other cattle locations in the state were sealed by members of vigilante groups and moaned that hoodlums had taken undue advantage of the law to extort money from herdsmen and cattle dealers.
He noted that the vast lands allocated to the cattle dealers during the administration of ex-Gov. George Akume were encroached upon, adding that the lands had shrunk from 113 hectares to only 12 hectares.
Another official, Suleiman Ahmad, said that top government officials had brought their cattle to the market for rearing at one time or the other.
He said that some of the officials were even members of the Gov. Samuel Ortom’s administration.
Ahmad wondered why the government failed to consider the interests of cattle dealers when the law was being conceived, saying that cattle dealers were not herdsmen but businessmen who had contributed a lot to the growth of the state’s economy.
He said that the market had a population of about 5,000 cattle, with over 200 cattle owners.
Ahmad said that the law would destroy all the cattle and make the cattle owners to lose their livelihood.
He recalled that the cattle market was established by the Federal Government during the tenure of the Akume-administration between 1999 and 2007.
Another member of the association, Yusuf Mohammed, said that the cost of keeping cattle in a ranch might be too excessive for those involved in the cattle trade.
He said that the government’s decision to include trade cattle in the open range cattle grazing prohibition law was aimed at destroying the business of cattle dealers.
However, Mr George Ibese, the Commandant of the Vigilante Group in Benue, denied the claims that some cattle markets were closed, saying that the vigilantes only went to the markets to explain the law to the dealers.
He also denied the allegation that a cattle dealer was arrested and ordered to pay a fine.
He, however, conceded that three herdsmen from Shendam, who were passing through the state, were arrested by the vigilantes and handed over the police.
Ibese said that the herdsmen were later escorted out of Gbajimba to Daudu on the outskirts of the state, prior to their return to their base in Shendam.
When contacted, retired Col. Edwin Jando, the Chairman of Benue Anti Grazing Committee, said that he was not aware of any infringement of the law.
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.
