MUST READ: When Corruption Fights Back

We regularly get the sense that corruption parades in mask, sleek as oil, hiding under the cover of darkness. Indeed, it does but not all the time. Sometimes, corruption feeds so fat it gets amazing confidence and breaks out of its mask, daring anyone to come confront it.
From my recent public service experience in Nigeria, this is exactly the picture I get with the pension fund administration. Buffeted by corruption, the pension fund administration had over time become a source of national shame and embarrassment. When finally it appeared that Nigerian government had mustered the strategy and liver to deal a fatal blow on this menace through the task force I headed, the unexpected happened.
In case you are not particularly familiar with what the task force was all about, let me make a brief review. Arising from the ugly situation at the pension administration sector, the President, Goodluck Jonathan directed the then Head of Service of the Federation to inaugurate the Pension Reform Task Force and appointed me to head the team. Our team reviewed the situation and decided to make a comprehensive review of process, structure, organogram and workflow in handling pension claims. As part of this restructuring we introduced the E-Pension Management System platform by which verification of claimants was through the smart card.
In no time, and through these processes, the veil of confusion and bottlenecks by which corruption gained ascendancy over the pension fund was removed and transparency, speed, service delivery set in. The Task Force, discovered that the pension nominal roll both at the Head of Service and Nigeria Police Force were unconscionably padded. The system we put in place identified and eliminated over 73,000 ghost/fake pensioners from the nominal roll.
This immediately translated into saving a whopping N4.2 billion of public fund each month from only one agency, the Office of the Head of Service. My team members and I were in high spirits. We were determined to make a difference and to prove to the world that Nigerians cherished a core social value system that abhorred corruption.
Pensioners would rather under the system we created be in the comfort of their homes and receive bank credit advisories on their monthly statutory entitlements. For most pensioners who had experienced the gross inhumanity of the previous order, it was for them like a dream. In two years of our running the system, several of the suspects that had been illegally feeding fat on the pension fund were unmasked by my led Team. Cash and properties valued at over N1.63 trillion were recovered and forfeited to the government. It was amid the public celebration of this seemingly uncommon feat by my team working with the two Anti-Graft Agencies, that the unexpected happened.
In what seemed to be a curious alliance between the pension fund thieving suspects and some legislators, the Senate Committee chairman on Establishment tried to access some of the recovered funds for his private use, and when he met a determined and uncompromising Teams, decided to accuse my team and I of pension fund diversion. The Committee then set off in what looked like dribble run, and effectively shut down the work of the task force. Chairman of that Senate Committee, Senator Aloysius Etuk, threw caution to the winds, made wild and unsubstantiated accusations against my person and fell short of publicly exonerating the thieves involved. It was for me curious and hardly believable that a legislator would unabashedly create such extensive cover and defence for proven criminals who had turned Nigeria into a laughing stock.
In a particularly disturbing incident, on a day Etuk’s Committee summoned me, I noted that while my team was being treated with utmost hostility, the same criminals from whom nearly N2 trillion in cash and properties had been recovered were being treated like Arabian Princes inside the Senator’s office. Thereafter, it struck me that corruption was truly fighting back, using the institutions of the State. Days afterward, the extent of how desperately these ignoble forces wanted to get rid of me dawned on me when repeated assassination attempts were made on my life. Perhaps to give me the full picture of the dread they wanted me to feel, the individuals that shot at my car were actually wearing uniforms similar to the Police uniform.
In essence, they were signalling to me the scope of their reach and control within the system. If this was not scary enough, what followed with the thieving suspects at the law courts were not only depressing but outrageous. The recent episode involving one John Yakubu Yusuf, a former assistant director convicted in case involving fraud of N32 billion and sentenced to two years in prison with an option to pay a fine of N250,000, is a case in point.
So, if as we occasionally muster the courage to confront corruption in Nigeria, and witness these kinds of setbacks or fight backs, what are Nigerians expected to do? On this particular instance, members of the public, the media and civil society showed outrage and demanded a sanction on the trial judge.
A sanction did come when the National Judicial Council suspended the judge. In essence, irrespective of the manner in which corruption and its agents threaten and roar to frighten and intimidate society, irrespective of the reach and scope of their tentacles into institutions of state, corruption can always be defeated when the media, civil society and members of the public show vigilance, able to rise like one man in a dedicated crusade to push back on the forays and aggressive incursions of the corrupt.
Sadly, we have not been able to reclaim our ground over the pension fund sector because when the forces of corruption roared against the pension task force, we seemed suddenly to lose our voice. They succeeded in grounding the task force, creating a lull that was targeted at pushing back the frontiers of our progress, moving the public attention out of their activities in order for them to fully reenergize for further rounds of damage to society. Essentially, if we must make a mark in the direction of a sustained fight against corruption, we must learn to not only be vigilant at all times but to also know when to rise up in defence of our territory. The Task team had advised Government during the 23rd October 2012 National Economic Team meeting which was chaired by the president of our intention to block more leakages in Government and estimated to recover about N3trillion in one year, but corruption started fighting us right at the meeting, thanks to the intervention of the president who advised that the Team be allowed to speak. The sad situation our pensioners are experiencing now is the result of our collective failure to see through the thin lines and our urge for blood at the site of a newspaper headline without understanding the diversionary tactics of corruption itself.
Maina, former of the federal government’s now dissolved Pension Reform Task Team, wrote from Abuja

Boko Haram: Don’t commit suicide, VP Namadi Sambo tells Buhari

Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Thursday advised the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, against committing suicide by planning to personally lead the war against Boko Haram terrorists, if elected president.
Mr. Sambo gave the advice at the PDP Presidential Rally in Yola, Adamawa.
The vide president said his advice was against the backdrop of the advice given to Mr. Buhari by his presidential running mate to personally lead the war against Boko Haram if elected President in next month’s presidential election.
Mr. Sambo urged Mr. Buhari to ignore the advice from the APC vice presidential candidate, adding that any attempt by Mr. Buhari to lead such a war would amount to “suicide mission” in view of his age.
According to him, the APC should allow President Jonathan to continue to adopt ”a more scientific and modern” warfare in tackling the menace of the Boko Haram insurgency.
“I want to seize this opportunity to draw our attention to a publication, last week, credited to the vice-presidential candidate of the APC that their plan is to ask their presidential candidate, retired Maj-Gen. Buhari, to lead the war against Boko Haram.
“I want to ask you a question, a retired 73-year-old General – can he run? No!
“Okay, let’s assume that he can run; how many metres can he run before he falls? The training of a General that retired in 1985 is it the same training that can address a modern war? No!
“Now we are fighting war with drones, with new ideas that our President, a PhD holder, a scientist that is using (his knowledge) to address the security issues of this country.”
The vice-president urged the electorate to support President Goodluck Jonathan, saying Mr. Jonathan was the answer to the nation’s security challenge and the answer to its development.He described the paln as a suicidal proposal, asking “will he (Buhari) go with a suicidal proposal?”
Mr. Sambo reassured that the PDP-led administration would continue to do its best in addressing the nation’s security challenges across the country.
On the developmental efforts of administration, Mr. Sambo said that the President had earmarked funds for the completion of two hydro-power dams in Adamawa.
“I want to give you this good news that Mr President has approved the development and completion of Kiri Dam and Jada Dam.
“All these Dams will be provided with hydro-electricity power and an irrigation scheme, with which we are developing economic corridors in Adamawa state.
“In addition to that, in the transport sector, I have good news for you. Mr President has approved the dredging of River Benue. Very soon, we will have a river port and ships and boats from different parts of the world will be here in Yola.’’
Mr. Sambo then urged the electorate in the state to ensure that they obtain their PVCs to enable them to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan and all other PDP candidates in the Feb. 14 and 28 general elections.
In his remarks, a chieftain of the PDP and a former Minister, Jubril Aminu, said Adamawa people had resolved to vote for Jonathan/Sambo ticket as well as other PDP candidates in the state during the February elections.
(NAN)

COMMENT: The four-times African Footballer of the Year has looked out of sorts at the Afcon, unhappy with his team's tactics as his former boss openly touts a move to Inter

By Brian Oliver in Malabo

Eight minutes before the end of Cote d'Ivoire's 1-0 win against Cameroon on Wednesday Yaya Toure was taken off. It was the second time in three games that the supposed talisman of African football was replaced.

Yaya, who won the Confederation of African Football's Footballer of the Year award for a fourth straight year just before the Africa Cup of Nations started, has not looked happy in Equatorial Guinea. He mumbled his way through a press conference before Cote d'Ivoire's first game, a disappointing 1-1 draw with Guinea, and has not faced the press since, despite being captain.

He brushed past reporters after the Cameroon match saying only "there's no problem, there's no problem", before boarding the team bus. He had needed treatment after a firm challenge by Stephane Mbia but will be fit to face Algeria in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

He is clearly not enjoying his role as a deep-lying midfielder, while his former boss at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, is publicly discussing taking him to Inter.

The contrast with his elder brother, Kolo, could not be more noticeable. The Liverpool man has been a straight-backed, commanding presence who has clearly enjoyed his football. Kolo has been talkative, positive, confident and arguably the best defender of the tournament.

Yaya, on the other hand, has trudged off, shoulders slumped. He has worked hard, taken a few knocks, but has not yet controlled a game as he does for City.

On the day of the Cameroon game the Manchester Evening News carried the headline 'Man City need to plan future without Yaya Toure'.

In Italy, Il Giornale published an interview with Yaya's former manager, Robert Mancini, in which the Inter boss said: "He's one of the best players in the world, he can still have his say. He played for many teams, in many leagues like Belgium, Spain, Russia, England. He only lacks Italy, this may be a good chance for him. We're working on it. You know, there are some players who can change a team and Yaya is one of them. Next year we may try."

Perhaps the transfer talk is bugging him. City reportedly harbour a lingering resentment over his behaviour last season, and have identified the likes of Paul Pogba and Ross Barkley as potential replacements.

Perhaps he is distracted by thoughts of missing Chelsea vs Manchester City on Saturday. Maybe he is simply not satisfied with his form or his role.
Herve Renard, the Cote d'Ivoire coach, talked about Yaya's positioning ahead of the Cameroon match.

"Ivory Coast are not Manchester City," he said. "The potential of the player is not the same.

"Manchester City have so many top-level players to defend, to build play very well, and Yaya can play further forward, behind the front two. It's different for us. We do not have Fernandinho.

"We have to ask Yaya to do a different job, to play further back. But he is a professional, he will do as I ask. I explain what I want and he does it.

"Besides, he is very comfortable with this position, as he used to play there earlier in his career, especially at Barcelona."

There was more of the same after the win that took Cote d'Ivoire through. This time, in response to questions about Cote d'Ivoire's unadventurous performance, Renard said: "We are not Germany. We cannot attack all the time".

The statistics show just how restrained Yaya has been. In 258 minutes on the pitch he has had one shot at goal, and that was not on target.  His passing has not been great, either – 27 of 140 attempts have gone astray.

Renard demanded more from Yaya after an "average" opening game. He helped to create Max Gradel's equaliser against Mali in the second match, but Yaya was forced back again against Cameroon, as part of a successful defensive operation that denied the opposition a single attempt at goal. 

Meanwhile Kolo has been talking about how much he enjoys guiding the new young defenders through a game, speaking of the strong spirit and confidence of a team in transition after the World Cup.

Before the tournament, Yaya said: "I have been lucky enough to win many trophies during my career but the Cup of Nations has always been my goal as an African."

If he is going to win it this year, he needs to put his troubles behind him – whatever they are.

Source: Goal.com

Woman accuses Lebanese couple of torture

A woman, Mrs. Grace Okpara, has reported to the police that she was allegedly tortured by her bosses, who are Lebanon nationals.

Our correspondent gathered that Grace worked as a cleaner at a logistics company in Ibafo, Ogun State, where the Lebanese couple ─ Joseph and Hala Yasbek ─ were members of the management.

It was learnt that on Wednesday, January 14, Grace, who claimed she was dragged on the ground by her bosses during an argument, reported the matter at the Ibafo Police Division.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro, 37-year-old Grace who hails from Ishan, Edo State, said she was assaulted for alleged dereliction of duty.

She said, “I work as a cleaner at the Lebanese company, and I earn N20,000 as salary. The incident happened on January 14 at about 11.30am. We were three working as cleaners in the company.

“That day, Hala said I did not clean the premises very well, but as I tried to explain, she kicked me and I fell. Minutes later when the husband showed up, I reported Hala to him, but he also slapped me.

“I fell ill after the incident and went to the hospital for treatment. I was treated at a private hospital in Ibafo. I was discharged on Thursday and then went to report to the police. The fee for my treatment was paid by the police at Ibafo.”

Grace’s husband, Uzoma, said they had also reported the matter to the National Human Rights Commission.

He said, “My wife has spent four years and two months at the company. She started with N15,000 and her salary grew to N20,000 over four years. The assault my wife suffered is part of the inhuman treatments by bosses at the company.

“We reported to the police and the NHRC so that they could look into this matter. My wife was assaulted at work. This is not proper.”

When our correspondent visited the company on Tuesday, the security personnel refused him access to speak with the management.

However, the Yasbeks, who have been invited by the police, said in their statement that the allegation of torture was not true.

The couple explained that it was Grace that attempted to beat Hala, while the husband, Joseph, tried to protect his wife during the scuffle.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident. He added that the police were making efforts on mediation.

He said, “The two Lebanese were invited, and we have asked them to come back with officials of the company. The Lebanese husband explained that it was the complainant who wanted to hit his wife, and he had to block her (Grace) by pushing her away.

“The fact is that the two parties had been having conflicts for some time.

“It is not a matter of assault alone. We are trying to mediate between them.

“But if the woman feels she had been so badly maltreated, the police can charge the matter to court.”

Source: Punch

Jonathan Speaks on His Meeting with US Secretary of State, John Kerry

It was a pleasure to welcome Secretary John Kerry to Nigeria. We had a candid and constructive discussion about a broad range of issues.

Nigeria is a vibrant democracy and the largest trading partner of the United States in Africa, with more than $18 billion in bilateral trade. Our countries and peoples share a mutual admiration for each other and a deep commitment to freedom, democracy, and human rights.

This is why we are together engaged in a struggle against a common enemy that promotes terror, fear, division, and violates human rights, most especially of women and girls, with complete impunity. Winning the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria and West Africa is absolutely essential to beat back the tide of religious extremism around the world.

Our security forces have been working tirelessly and courageously to achieve this goal. I reaffirmed for Secretary Kerry that Nigeria is strongly committed to building the multinational task force to fight Boko Haram in partnership with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin Republic under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. Indeed, I called publicly for such a regional approach at the African leaders summit in Paris in May 2014 and more recently in multilateral meetings.

We are pleased that the international community is now strongly united behind this initiative and agree that its success is critical. It is equally important that the multinational force receives the significant support that is required to address the threat through our global partners.

The United States, more than any other country in the world, has the most experience fighting armed insurgencies. And having suffered the devastating attacks of 9/11, its people also understand the insecurity and fear that is the reality for the vast majority of peaceful, tolerant Muslims and Christians in North Eastern Nigeria.

This is why I firmly believe that enhancing and expanding various channels of cooperation between our two countries, in the context of growing international coordination, are of the utmost importance. I discussed a number of ideas with Secretary Kerry to move such cooperation forward.

We are grateful to the United States for standing with Nigeria and its people in our fight against Boko Haram. I reaffirmed our strong commitment to working together with the United States to put an end to global terrorism and particularly Boko Haram. Nigeria will also work to deepen and consolidate our bilateral relationship with the United States.

I emphasized to Secretary Kerry that I am deeply committed to ensuring that our forthcoming election is free, fair, and credible. It is especially critical that all political parties abide by the Abuja Accord, which commits each to non-violence before, during, and after the election.

I made it absolutely clear that the May 29th handover date is sacrosanct. In addition, the Government will provide all resources that are required by the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that the election goes smoothly. I also emphasized that INEC is an independent body, which makes its own decisions without any interference from the Government.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR

President

Federal Republic of Nigeria

Jindal headlines all-day prayer rally in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal told Christian evangelicals gathered at an all-day prayer rally Saturday that the nation needs a "spiritual revival," as he continued to court religious conservatives for a possible presidential campaign.

The rally attracted thousands to the basketball arena on LSU's campus but drew controversy both because of the group hosting it, the American Family Association, and Jindal's well-advertised headlining appearance.

Holding his Bible, the two-term Republican governor opened the event by urging a revival to "begin right here, right here in our hearts." Later Saturday afternoon, he described his conversion to Christianity as a teenager.

While people sang, raised their hands in prayer and gave their personal testimonies inside the arena, hundreds more protested the event outside early in the day.

Jindal insisted the rally was a religious event, not a political one — even as participants prayed for religion to guide political decision-making.

"Today is about humbling ourselves before the Lord. Today we repent for our sins," he said. Later Jindal told attendees: "We can't just elect a candidate to fix our country ... We need a spiritual revival to fix our country."

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry headlined a similar prayer event in 2011 only days before launching his White House bid.

And the event comes as Jindal has held meetings with pastors in the key presidential campaign states of Iowa and New Hampshire and spoken at gatherings of faith leaders and conservative activists in several states, trying to gain traction among a crowded field of potential candidates in the hunt for the 2016 GOP nomination.

Several state lawmakers and local elected officials appeared on stage for the rally. State Sen. Jonathan Perry, R-Kaplan, prayed for "more born-again Christians" to be added to the Louisiana Legislature.

The governor's appearance at the prayer rally kept him from the Iowa Freedom Summit, a more prominent event with social conservatives that attracted several potential GOP presidential contenders.

Outside the prayer event, critics held a protest, saying the American Family Association, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group, promotes discrimination against people who are gay or of non-Christian faiths.

Protesters accused Jindal of using the rally for political gain.

"I just knew this wasn't what LSU stands for. These aren't LSU values, Louisiana values or American values," said Peter Jenkins, a 26-year-old graduate student and protest organizer.

Jindal hasn't commented directly on the views of the American Family Association, which has linked same-sex marriage and abortion to disasters such as tornadoes and Hurricane Katrina.

The governor was raised by Hindu parents but converted to Catholicism in high school. He has described himself as an "evangelical Catholic."

Saturday's prayer rally, however, wasn't embraced by local Catholic leaders.

Catholic leaders participated in an anti-abortion march on LSU's campus that featured a speech from Jindal. But when the marchers merged into the prayer rally, the Catholic organizations weren't following them, said Robert Tasman, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"The event was viewed more as an evangelical event with a political tone to it, and the bishops don't participate in such events," he said.

Source: AP

Nigeria Security Adviser, Dasuki, wants February election postponed

President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has called for the February 2015 election to be postponed to allow more time for the distribution of voter cards, a call that has drawn a forceful rejection by the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC.
Mr. Dasuki made the call Thursday in London, UK. He said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, needs more time to ensure all qualified Nigerians receive cards for the vote.
The NSA said he told the chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, that a postponement within the three months allowed by the Electoral Act would be a good idea, Reuters news agency reported Thursday.
Mr. Dasuki, who was speaking at London think-tank Chatham House, said INEC had distributed 30 million cards in 2014, with another 30 million left.
He said while INEC had assured him the distribution would be completed for the February polls, he believed it would be more meaningful to allow more time for a successful election.
“It costs you nothing, it’s still within the law,” Mr. Dasuki said he had told the INEC chairman, Reuters reported.
The NSA said it was for INEC to decide.
The APC has rejected the proposal, saying Mr. Dasuki was merely speaking the mind of the Jonathan administration which the party said is on the verge of being defeated, and requires more time to prepare.
The party said under no circumstance must the elections be scuttled.
Read APC statement below:
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the call by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, for the postponement of next month’s general elections ostensibly to give INEC more time to distribute all Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), warning that under no circumstance must the elections be scuttled.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the call by Mr. Dasuki, has exposed the hitherto clandestine plot by the Jonathan Administration to push for the postponement of the polls, using all sorts of cheap tricks.
”Now that we have found the smoking gun, we are urging the international community, in particular, to urgently extract a commitment from President Goodluck Jonathan that the elections will hold as scheduled next month, and that he would respect the outcome, just as we have said,” it said.
APC said Mr. Dasuki was only seeking to buy time for the slugging Jonathan electioneering campaign to gather steam by hinging his postponement call on the delay in PVC distribution, adding: “They know for sure that if they don’t postpone the elections, there is no way they can win. They are just terrified.”
The party also called on Nigerians to reject in its entirety the ongoing orchestrated plot by the Jonathan Administration to postpone the elections, saying the constitutional crisis that will be triggered by such postponement is capable of undermining the nation’s democracy.
”After realizing it will be rejected by Nigerians who have borne the brunt of its mis-governance over the years, after realizing that its campaign of calumny against our presidential candidate has failed, the Jonathan Administration has now started to play its last card, which is the postponement of the election,” it said.
APC said the importance of elections cannot be over-emphasized, adding: “Election is the lifeblood of democracy, the mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates. It is the only way for the citizenry to renew and refresh the governing process so they can get the most benefits out of democracy. Therefore, anyone that tries to sabotage this mechanism is aiming a dagger straight to the heart of democracy.”
The party accused the Jonathan Administration of using all the tricks in the books to scuttle the forthcoming polls, including the plot to hide under the insurgency in the North-east, the needless controversy over the secondary school leaving certificate of our presidential candidate, the concocted report by the DSS alleging a plan to hack into INEC’s database and the fabricated report of Muhammadu Buhari’s ill-health.
”They tried to hide under terrorist attacks in the North-east and the fact that Nigeria is at war to shift the elections, this did not fly. They used the DSS to invade our Data Centre and then concoct the allegation that we are planning to hack into INEC’s Data Base, it did not fly as INEC said its Data Base cannot be hacked. They launched an aggressive campaign to convince Nigerians that our presidential candidate is not qualified to run because he has no secondary school
leaving certificate, but that also did not fly, as the certified results of his Cambridge examination have now been published for all to see.
”They went and procured a fake report showing our candidate is suffering from prostate cancer, hence he is not fit for the high office of President, but their antics were discovered when the health
institution that purportedly issued the report disowned it.
”Now they have launched their last set of jokers, which include hiring willing hands to make the television rounds saying there is no way the elections could hold next month, ostensibly because INEC is not ready, even when the electoral umpire has said it is ready to conduct the polls.
”There are also alleged plans to stage-manage some high profile cases of violence and arson, for which the opposition will be blamed and then its leaders arrested in droves, all in an effort to scuttle the polls. For those who find these hard to believe, we ask them to look at the sheer madness of a state governor placing a newspaper advert wishing our presidential candidate dead! The possible repercussions of this kind of provocative act are better imagined, had our party not been a peaceful party.
”In view of the above, we have decided to take our case to Nigerians and indeed the global community, so they can prevail on President Jonathan to allow the elections to hold as scheduled and to make a commitment to respect the outcome,” it said.
APC said never before has there been so much desperation on the part of any government to remain in office at all costs, even when it is clear for all to see that that government has run out of luck.
The party however called the attention of the President and his party hawks to a quote by the preeminent Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi, hoping they will learn a lesson or two from it:: “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a
time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

Premium Times

Time to Disgrace the Self-Appointed Godfather of the South-West, By Femi Aribisala

 There is a harrowing story told by Adekoya Boladale, which needs to be brought to the attention of Nigerians, especially the people of the South-West. In the middle of the night of 4th January, 1984, heavily armed men of the Strike Force of the Nigerian army invaded the Lagos home of Chief Olu Awotesu, the Minister of State for Agriculture. This military operation had one design, to put the minister under arrest.

However, Chief Awotesu was not at home, having gone to his home-town in Iperu, Ogun State. On meeting his absence, the soldiers descended on his family. His wife was dragged from the bedroom upstairs through the staircase to the ground floor, where she was kicked and beaten by the men in khaki. Her assailants laughed at her while she screamed and begged for mercy.

The children were not spared either. They were also slapped and tortured in the bid to determine the precise whereabouts of their father. This ordeal apparently went on for over three hours. When Chief Awotesu returned from Iperu to Lagos and learnt that he was now a wanted man, he drove straight to Dodan Barracks, then the seat of government in Nigeria, to give himself up.

He was not only arrested, he was detained without trial for nearly two years. It was while in detention that he learnt about the ordeal his family had been put through by men of the Special Forces. Chief Awotesu was only released in 1985, even though the government found no evidence of any crime against him.

South-West is not for sale

The man responsible for this injustice is Muhammadu Buhari. He is now running for president and wants our votes. Paradoxically, a number of the kinsmen of the late Chief Awotesu are now charged with selling his candidacy to us in the South-West; and yet Buhari himself has never found it necessary to apologise to us for the human rights violations his regime inflicted on us.

A unique opportunity was given to him by the institution of the Truth and Reconciliation panel under Justice Chukwudifu Oputa in 1999. However, Buhari showed his contempt for us by refusing to appear before the panel. Why then should people in the South-West give this same man their votes in 2015?

The fault is not Buhari’s. The fault is that of the traitors now charged with white-washing his image. These people are obviously contemptuous of their Yoruba kith and kin. They have told Buhari that all he needs is a bit of cosmetic surgery. He should change from wearing an agbada to wearing a suit. He should choose a Christian Yoruba pastor as his running mate, and even attend a thanksgiving service in Lagos where he pretends to sing Christian praise songs. He should then mouth a few inane words about “change” and “anti-corruption” and all will be forgotten.

Somebody is being fooled but it is not the Yorubas. It does not matter how many curious onlookers are paid to come to Buhari’s campaign rallies in the South-West; the Yorubas will ultimately not succumb to this hogwash. Buhari has been rejected in the South-West three times. He will be rejected yet again. Out of over 4.7 million votes cast in the six states of the South West in 2011, Buhari could only get 321,609. That is less than 7 percent. Nevertheless, some Yoruba bigwigs in the APC have gone ahead to strike a deal with Buhari on the grounds that they will deliver the South West to him in the coming election. It is not going to happen.

Charlatans

In the first place, who made these charlatans spokesmen for the South-West? Who mortgaged South-West Yoruba interests to the political ambitions of Bola Tinubu and his henchmen? As a matter of fact, the 2015 presidential election provides a unique opportunity for the people of the South-West to break off the political shackles of Bola Tinubu by rejecting his new-found ally of Muhammadu Buhari. If for no other reason than the refusal of the Yorubas to be sold into slavery, Buhari must be rejected outright in the South-West and the APC must be kicked out of Lagos State.

With all the noise currently being made about Buhari’s candidacy, one important point is often overlooked: Buhari is not even well-liked by his own people. A lot is made of the 12 million votes he obtained from the North in 2011, conveniently forgetting that Goodluck Jonathan also obtained a sizeable 8 million votes from the same North. Indeed, in 2011, Goodluck Jonathan won 428,392 votes in Buhari’s home-state of Katsina; to Buhari’s 1,163,919. That means Jonathan won 37% of the votes in Buhari’s backyard. Compare that to the situation in Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa. Jonathan won 584,811 votes; while Buhari obtained a miserable 691 votes. That gives Buhari a measly 0.11% of Jonathan’s votes.

It is also instructive that in the primary election for the APC presidential candidate, Northern delagates did not vote for Buhari. Instead, they gave their votes to Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and former vice-president Atiku Abubakar. Delegates from Buhari’s North-West voted for Kwankwaso, while those from the North-East voted for Atiku. Buhari’s delegate votes came primarily from the South-West, as well as from the South-East and the South-South. However, in 2011, out of over 38 million votes cast in the entire country, Buhari could only obtain 391,933 from the entire South-West, South-East and the South-South put together; that is 1.03% of the votes.

In short, Buhari was imposed on the North as the APC presidential candidate by delegates controlled by Tinubu. It was out of gratitude for this that Buhari gave Tinubu the sole responsibility for choosing his vice-presidential running-mate. Tinubu’s first instinct, of course, was to reserve the vice-presidency for himself. But the political pressures against a Muslim/Muslim APC ticket, led him to concede it to his political surrogate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Buhari’s crimes

It is contemptuous of Tinubu and his Yoruba acolytes in APC to presume that they can deliver the South-West to Buhari in the 2015 presidential election, in spite of Buhari’s antecedents. Of all the people they could form an alliance with, Buhari is by far the least acceptable to the Yorubas. In over 30 years of being a fixture of Nigerian politics, Buhari has been decidedly and unapologetically anti-Yorubas and anti-South-West. It is a matter of public record that Buhari has never done anything for us. On the contrary; he has done so many things against us.

When he assumed power in 1984, he established a 16 member Supreme Military Council (SMC) to rule the country. In spite of the fact that the Yorubas are the largest ethnic group in the country; larger according to every statistical index than the Hausas and the Fulanis; Buhari could only find room for one solitary token Yoruba man: Brigadier Ola Oni. Buhari’s SMC had 11 Northerners to 5 Southerners.

Buhari locked up South-West politicians like Bisi Onabanjo and Michael Ajasin even though no case was found against them. Even after they were discharged and acquitted by the kangaroo courts he set up, he still kept them locked up and refused to release them. He pressured a judge to jail Fela Anikulapo Kuti for failing to declare foreign –exchange he had legitimately procured for the up-keep of his band on a foreign trip, while allowing the Emir of Gwandu to smuggle back into the country 53 suitcases during the currency-change exercise.

He did not just brutalise Chief Awotesu and his family. He did the same to Tai Solarin, who was denied medication for his asthmatic condition while in Buhari’s gulag; Ayo Oyewumi, who became blind in Buhari’s detention; and Busari Adelakun, who died of chronic ulcer, complications developed in Buhari’s jail. Buhari even seized Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s passport for no just cause, and thereby denied the old man visits to his doctors at Mayo Clinic, Rochester Minnesota, USA during the years when he ruled Nigeria.

He frustrated Lagos’ attempt to build a metro-rail system and, as PTF chairman, he discriminated blatantly against the South-West. It is pathetic that, rather than insist he should apologise for these and other infractions, the Yoruba politicians that have decided to pitch their tent with Buhari are now trying to pull the wool over our eyes by trying to give him a cosmetic political makeover. It is just not going to wash.

Tinubu’s agenda

The question needs to be asked: what is in it for Bola Tinubu and his henchmen? Don’t buy the hype. While Muhammadu Buhari and the APC lieutenants are busy making suitable noises about fighting corruption at the federal level, the godfather of Lagos State is busy trying to replicate at the federal level structures similar to the ones he has used to milk Lagos State dry.

Running for the PDP ticket for governor of Lagos State, Musiliu Obanikoro noted that the cost of governance in Lagos State has gone up astronomically: “because every business transaction must factor the emperor of Bourdillon into it. That has become a burden on our families. Lagos belongs to all of us, we are going to put an end to an era where Lagos belongs to one man.”

This godfather has yet to occupy a federal position, yet his holdings are in the tens of billions because he has the finances of Lagos State in his pocket. He is now gunning to replicate this at the federal level by proclaiming himself the presidential kingmaker. To do this, he intends to enslave the Yorubas to a North-West cabal that insists it is its divine right to rule Nigeria.

Quite apart from the fact that the godfather himself is deluded in thinking that Buhari will be a docile Fashola replica as president; or in assuming that those clamoring for power in the North will have any consideration for him once they use him as a ladder to get to power; he is equally deluded in thinking the Yorubas are fools who will readily mortgage their future in order to install Bola Tinubu as the godfather of Nigeria.

About Femi Aribisala
FEMI ARIBISALA is a scholar and international affairs expert. He is currently an iconoclastic church pastor in Lagos. He is also a syndicated essayist for a handful publications in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Army of Psychopaths

By TOLU OGUNLESI
JANUARY 20, 2015
LAGOS, Nigeria — Here in Nigeria’s commercial hub, it is tempting to regard Boko Haram, the Islamist terrorist group that for more than five years has waged war in the country’s far northeast, as a distant tragedy. We are, of course, aware of the fallout: the thousands of deaths, the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, the destroyed infrastructure — schools, churches, mosques, homes, police stations — that will take years, and millions of dollars, to rebuild. But in southern Nigeria, it is easy to feel removed from the crisis.

The reality, though, is that the insurgency’s impact ripples out across the country. A visit last year to a popular fabric market in Abeokuta, a city about 60 miles north of Lagos, brought this home to me.

I was there to interview the merchants about their work. When we talked about the challenges they faced, I expected the usual: electricity, taxation, access to credit. So I was surprised when one woman mentioned Boko Haram. A number of her customers lived in northern Nigeria and had stopped placing orders since the insurgency began.

The trade links between north and south are even more apparent in agriculture. Much of Nigeria’s food comes from the troubled region. Potiskum, a city that the jihadist militants have attacked on several occasions in recent years, killing dozens, is one of the largest cattle markets in West Africa. Chibok, the village from which hundreds of girls were abducted last April, is a village of farmers, growing grain that goes to market across the country.

I spoke with the father of one of the missing girls last year, a few months after the abductions. Like many farmers in the area, he was too scared to go out in the fields to plant anything, and the season was almost over. Not only would he be unable to feed his remaining family, but there would also be nothing to sell.

For Nigerians, the economy is an ever-present concern: The country often seems at the mercy of cyclical oil prices, currency devaluations and budget deficits. But Boko Haram’s campaign of terror has emerged as the single most important issue facing Nigeria.

What is unfamiliar and hard to adjust to is the sort of threat to the nation that Boko Haram represents. Nigeria is no stranger to instability: Our history is rife with communal clashes and civil unrest, with casualty figures unimaginable in America. In the late 1960s, the country was torn apart by a civil war over the secession of the Biafra region that resulted in the deaths of more than a million people.

But no crisis in recent history has matched that created by the insurgency in the north. The cumulative death toll now exceeds 11,000. Boko Haram’s stated aim is to create an Islamic caliphate, but it shows little impulse toward establishing its legitimacy as an alternative government. The reports of a massacre this month in Baga, and satellite images of wholesale destruction in nearby Doro Gowon, affirm the fact that Nigeria is facing an army of psychopaths masquerading as Islamic proselytizers — and the only reasonable response should be military force.

Instead, the government keeps stumbling from one disaster to another, leaving most of us mystified about why the insurgency has been so horribly mishandled. After the Chibok girls were kidnapped, it took President Goodluck Jonathan three weeks to address the nation, and months went by before he met with their families.

The international community, too, has grown impatient. The United States government has refused to sell arms to Nigeria, not trusting either the competence or human rights record of the military. When a Nigerian plane, laden with $9.3 million in cash, was detained in South Africa last September, the government was forced to admit that it was trying to purchase weapons on the black market. Soon after, a triumphant declaration of a cease-fire with Boko Haram turned out to be a hoax; senior government officials had been hoodwinked.

The fiascos continue. The Baga massacre was greeted with silence from the president, while the military played down the number of casualties. Instead, Mr. Jonathan condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris, and we were treated to media photos of the wedding of the president’s niece, which took place on the weekend the news about Baga broke.

With about a month to go until the general election, such missteps have come to define Mr. Jonathan’s government. The opposition has accused him of corruption, pointing to the country’s ballooning (but seemingly ineffective) security budget.

At an election rally in southwestern Nigeria earlier this month, I heard an opposition politician tell the crowd that the only way to ensure the safety of their children was to vote for Muhammadu Buhari. General Buhari, a 72-year-old retired army officer who ruled Nigeria 30 years ago, is the best placed to win of the candidates challenging Mr. Jonathan.

His All Progressives Congress party promotes an ambitious program to create jobs, tackle corruption, provide free education and health care, and invest in infrastructure, but its plans have been short on detail. Yet, for many, the desire for change is stronger than the doubts about a civilian Buhari presidency.

In his campaigning, Mr. Jonathan vigorously rebuts the idea that he has underperformed or is too tolerant of corruption. But he has mostly avoided mentioning Boko Haram. Perhaps he has realized that by now his cache of platitudes — “Terrorism is a global problem,” “Nigeria is not alone in dealing with it,” “Nigeria will triumph” — sound hollow in a stump speech.

Nigerians need to take the decisive action that their president has failed to offer. My hope is that on Valentine’s Day, when the election takes place, Nigerians will remember the missing girls of Chibok, and the dead residents of Baga and the refugees of the north, and vote out a man who has demonstrated, beyond doubt, that he cannot inspire confidence as a commander in chief.

Tolu Ogunlesi is a journalist, poet and photographer, and the author of, most recently, the novella “Conquest and Conviviality.”

Source: nytimes.com

Sani Abacha didn't die of Apple - Al Mustapha Reveals

“When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.” Contrary to insinuations, speculations and sad rumours initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State started previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha) I had noticed the change in the countenance of the late Commander-in-Chief and informed the Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Col. Abdallah, accordingly. He, however, advised that we keep a close watch on the Head of State.
Later in the evening of 8th June, 1998, around 6p.m; his doctor came around, administered an injection to stabilize him. He was advised to have a short rest. Happily, enough, by 9p.m; the Head of State was bouncing and receiving visitors until much later when General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, came calling. He was fond of the Head of State. They were very good friends.

They stayed and chatted together till about 3.35a.m. A friend of the house was with me in my office and as he was bidding me farewell, he came back to inform me that the FCT Minister, General Useni was out of the Head of State’s Guest House within the Villa. I then decided to inform the ADC and other security boys that I would be on my way home to prepare for the early morning event at the International Conference Centre.
At about 5a.m; the security guards ran to my quarters to inform me that the Head of State was very unstable. At first, I thought it was a coup attempt. Immediately, I prepared myself fully for any eventuality.

As an intelligence officer and the Chief Security Officer to the Head of State for that matter, I devised a means of diverting the attention of the security boys from my escape route by asking my wife to continue chatting with them at the door – she was in the house while the boys were outside. From there, I got to the Guest House of the Head of State before them.

When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.” I again knocked at the stool beside the bed and shouted in the same manner, yet he did not respond. I then realized there was a serious danger. I immediately called the Head of State’s personal physician, Dr. Wali, who arrived the place under eight minutes from his house.

He immediately gave Oga – General Abacha – two doses of injection, one at the heart and another close to his neck. This did not work apparently as the Head of State had turned very cold. He then told me that the Head of State was dead and nothing could be done after all.
I there and then asked the personal physician to remain with the dead body while I dashed home to be fully prepared for the problems that might arise from the incident. As soon as I informed my wife, she collapsed and burst into tears. I secured my house and then ran back.
At that point, the Aide-de-Camp had been contacted by me and we decided that great caution must be taken in handling the grave situation.
Again, I must reiterate that the issue of my Boss dying on top of women was a great lie just as the insinuation that General Sani Abacha ate and died of poisoned apples was equally a wicked lie. My question is: did Chief M.K.O Abiola die of poisoned apples or did he die on top of women? As I had stated at the Oputa Panel, their deaths were organized. Pure and simple!
It was at this point that I used our special communication gadgets to diplomatically invite the Service Chiefs, Military Governors and some few elements purportedly to a meeting with the Head of State by 9a.m. at the Council Chamber. That completed, I also decided to talk to some former leaders of the nation to inform them that General Sani Abacha would like to meet them by 9a.m.

Situation became charged however, when one of the Service Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, who pretended to be with us, suggested he be made the new Head of State after we had quietly informed him of the death of General Sani Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access to Chief Abiola. We smelt a rat and other heads of security agencies, on hearing this, advised I move Chief Abiola to a safer destination. I managed to do this in spite of the fact that I had been terribly overwhelmed with the crisis at hand.

But then, when some junior officers over-heard the suggestion of one of the Service Chiefs earlier mentioned, it was suggested to me that we should finish all the members of the Provisional Ruling Council and give the general public an excuse that there was a meeting of the PRC during which a shoot-out occurred between some members of the Provisional Ruling Council and the Body Guards to the Head of State
When I sensed that we would be contending with far more delicate issues than the one on ground, I talked to Generals Buba Marwa and Ibrahim Sabo who both promptly advised us – the junior officers – against any bloodshed. They advised we contact General Ibrahim Babangida (former Military President) who equally advised against any bloodshed but that we should support the most senior officer in the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) to be the new Head of State.

Since the words of our elders are words of wisdom, we agreed to support General Jeremiah Useni. Along the line, General Bamaiyi lampooned me saying, “Can’t you put two and two together to be four? Has it not occurred to you that General Useni who was the last man with the Head of State might have poisoned him, knowing full well that he was the most senior officer in the PRC?”
Naturally, I became furious with General Useni since General Abacha’s family had earlier on complained severally about the closeness of the two Generals; at that, a decision was taken to storm General Useni’s house with almost a battalion of soldiers to effect his arrest. Again, some heads of security units and agencies, including my wife, advised against the move.
The next most senior person and officer in government was General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was then the Chief of Defence Staff. We rejected the other Service Chief, who, we believed, was too ambitious and destructive. We settled for General Abubakar and about six of us called him inside a room in the Head of State’s residence to break the news of the death of General Abacha to him.

As a General with vast experience, Abdulsalami Abubakar, humbly requested to see and pray for the soul of General Abacha which we allowed. Do we consider this a mistake? Because right there, he – Abubakar – went and sat on the seat of the late Head of State. Again, I was very furious. Like I said at the Oputa Panel, if caution was not applied, I would have gunned him down.

The revolution the boys were yearning for would have started right there. The assumption that we could not have succeeded in the revolution was a blatant lie. We were in full control of the State House and the Brigade of Guards. We had loyal troops in Keffi and in some other areas surrounding the seat of government – Abuja. But I allowed peace to reign because we believed it would create further crises in the country.

We followed the advice of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and the wise counsel of some loyal senior officers and jointly agreed that General Abdulsalami Abubakar be installed Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces immediately after the burial of General Sani Abacha in Kano. It is an irony of history that the same Service Chief who wanted to be Head of State through bloodshed, later instigated the new members of the Provisional Ruling Council against us and branded us killers, termites and all sorts of hopeless names. They planned, arranged our arrest, intimidation and subsequent jungle trial in 1998 and 1999. These, of course, led to our terrible condition in several prisons and places of confinement.

Source: Africa Telegram

Secret Service: Shots fired outside Bidens' Delaware home

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service says multiple gunshots were fired from a vehicle near the Delaware home of Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday night.
The vice president and his wife were not at home at the time.

The Secret Service says the shots were fired at around 8:25 p.m. on a public road outside the secure perimeter near the home in Greenville, Delaware.

The shots were heard by Secret Service personnel. They say the vehicle drove past the home at a high rate of speed and fled the scene.

The incident is under investigation.

Biden's office says the vice president and his wife, Jill Biden, were later briefed on the incident.

Yahoo.com

Jimi Agbaje, PDP Governorship Candidate In Lagos, Floors Ambode, others At Debate

By Simon Ateba/Lagos‎
Jimi Agbaje, the influential, charismatic, intelligent ‎and respected candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in Lagos State, has floored Akinwunmi Ambode, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, and others at a debate‎ to know who can better lead the state, those who monitored it say.
“By miles, Mr. Agbaje was the star of the debate,” said ‎one of Nigeria’s most in‎fluential online newspapers, Premium Times, whose team monitored the debate live in Lagos.‎
“He literally took other contestants to the cleaners with the masterful delivery, use of statistics and data from government and other international organisations,” the newspaper said.
Agbaje’s responses at the debate were so compelling that the audience was almost left speechless, the newspaper said.‎
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Despite huge resources, Nigeria lacks capacity to deal with Boko Haram – UK

The United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire has said that despite the huge resources available to Nigeria, the country lacks the capacity to deal with terror group, Boko Haram. Swire spoke while addressing the British Parliament on what UK had done over the growing insurgency in the Northeast.

He said, “We have been stepping up to the crisis. We have approximately £250 million per year expended in Nigeria with other additional packages. With the wealth within Nigeria, they should have the capacity to handle these problems, but the reality is that they don’t. “That is why a lot of UK support programme is in building up these capacities, which they need through direct tactical training for Nigerian forces.

I agree they should have it; but currently, I do not agree they do. “UK aids goes to other organisations within Nigeria. Yes, we should continue to help, but like I said, you have to justify it. Aid is contentious issues. “We hope on giving aids government to government. But also, when we look at a country like Nigeria with its huge division of wealth between the North and the South, we think there is a role and in the British interest, to help build capacity and strengthen institutions within the country so that the nation can handle its issues itself; that we will continue to do whether the cameras are on us or off us.”

Despite huge resources, Nigeria lacks capacity to deal with Boko Haram – The United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire has said that despite the huge resources available to Nigeria, the country lacks the capacity to deal with terror group, Boko Haram.

Swire spoke while addressing the British Parliament on what UK had done over the growing insurgency in the Northeast. He said, “We have been stepping up to the crisis. We have approximately £250 million per year expended in Nigeria with other additional packages. With the wealth within Nigeria, they should have the capacity to handle these problems, but the reality is that they don’t. “That is why a lot of UK support programme is in building up these capacities, which they need through direct tactical training for Nigerian forces. I agree they should have it; but currently, I do not agree they do. “UK aids goes to other organisations within Nigeria. Yes, we should continue to help, but like I said, you have to justify it. Aid is contentious issues. “We hope on giving aids government to government. But also, when we look at a country like Nigeria with its huge division of wealth between the North and the South, we think there is a role and in the British interest, to help build capacity and strengthen institutions within the country so that the nation can handle its issues itself; that we will continue to do whether the cameras are on us or off us.” Swire also reiterated that UK troops would not be coming to fight Boko Haram in the Northeast even if Nigeria would foot the bills, because of “grave human rights issues in the police and armed forces.” He said, “We would have liked to see a more robust attitude from the army and the military to what is going on in the Northeast, but it is a very complicated and extraordinarily difficult to actually find out what is going on. “We have heard some stories about people changing sides and equipment being ceased.

But it is absolutely certain that the Nigerian Army needs better training to combat the absolutely and incredibly violent terrorist organisation as Boko Haram. But this cannot be done overnight. “There are issues about equipment going on and about money not reaching the right places, but all these allegations I find untrue, unfortunately. That is why we have training teams in Nigeria and we are trying to build institutional capacity by building a better military. “There should be a regional solution. Some of these countries are on the borders with Nigeria and are affected already. Also, you cannot offer help if the country you are offering it to does not want it. We have to hear more from the Nigerian government as to how the international community can assist, particularly locally.”

Source: www.today.ng

Humanity Against The Narcissists Of Death By Wole Soyinka

Our predicament is universal, and this is what we have stressed from the very beginning. The nature of religious zeal that would routinely maim, kill, or enslave the object of its proselytizing  – that sometime euphemism for brainwashing – rather than let it thrive and contribute to  humanity from within his or her limitations and uncertainties, from within its questions or skepticism, a mental cast that equates the mere absence of exhibitionist ardour or rigid conformism with impiety and apostasy, punishable by death or mutilation, is no different, in effect, from the tyrannical temper of the political dictator of any age.

Both can only grasp the substance of their being through an inverse reflection of themselves, that is, in the complete and evident submission of their citizens, their flock, their human charge, in every aspect of their lives, without questions, without the concession of a possible alternative order of social being to whatever ideology or religious absolutes that they choose to peddle. Total submission, laced with adulation, remains the driving goal of the authoritarian temper - never mind that it is covered in mufti, khaki or clerical regalia. The objective remains – Power over others! And if ever there was an unholy marriage entered into to plague human existence, it is the obscene wedlock of the theocratic and secular mandates of power. Its issue has always been guaranteed as enslavement, misery, death and destruction. It is this that represents the greatest threat to human freedom, and its creative will. This is the proposition that acutely confronts the African continent today, following upon centuries of enslavement, colonialism, and the mutated versions of both in her dealings with the rest of the world. No wonder then, that we feel compelled to ask ourselves: what were our people’s struggles for liberation about? True Liberation? Or re-enslavement?

Algeria has gone off the radar in recent times, but I must continue to stress this, especially on the continent: we would do well to keep our mind on that nation, not so long freed – and not even completely as yet – from a malady that is currently consuming other parts of our continent and the world.  In our own interest, for the survival of our humanistic values, we could do worse than keep that nation in our minds as a crucial cautionary template, so that we can begin to grasp the enormity of Boko Haram, al Shabab, al Queda and other active carriers of the same spore of human deformity. It is only at our peril that we forget that we have been here before, and elsewhere, that there is nothing new about the extremes to which the power urge can exert itself. For those who perhaps were not born during that prolonged internal struggle for a people’s total liberation – and I am not speaking of the brutal struggle against French settler colonialism – or who were miraculously shielded from its vicious and prolonged intensity, or whose education has stopped short of the chilling testimonies of its survivors, I recommend a sobering and thoroughly authenticated compilation by Professor Karima Bennoune with the title – Your Fatwa does not Apply Here.  All that is necessary is that we immerse ourselves in the tragedy of that nation to enable us to grasp the ruthless enterprise of terminal censors, the shadowy killers, the obsessed enemies of creativity, crippled minds whose notion of a divine mission is the eradication of all knowledge, and truncation of the reaches of the imagination.  Then we would cease to be surprised by the fate that nearly overcame, and still threatens our neighbour Mali, that ancient warehouse of Africa’s intellectual heritage whose capital, Timbuktu, became a household name even in the racially jaundiced histories of European scholars.

Perhaps it is time that we constructed Walls of Remembrance, on which we shall inscribe the ever lengthening roll-call of victims of this ongoing resurgence, and their place names, in order to give flesh and blood to statistical losses sustained to blind doctrine, victims young and old, extinguished before the full bloom of their creative powers. We are speaking of musicians, cineastes, writers, journalists, intellectuals, even the consumers of their products, condemned for daring to taste the forbidden fruit of knowledge.  My mind immediately goes to – among others – fellow authors like Tahar Djaout to whose posthumously published work, The Last  Summer of Unreason,  I had the honour of contributing a preface. The kind of monument I speak of is one that should occupy the centre of every state capital of the African continent and of the African Diaspora. For those who still believe in, or simply dream a resurrection of the pan-African idyll, such a project offers us a purpose, a propelling motivation towards a holistic self-recovery. It will serve to remind us that we are a people to whom tolerance is a norm, knowledge an eternal pursuit, and pluralism the foundation of our communal ethos. Such monuments will represent milestones of the human journey towards enlightenment, a shrine to the real martyrs of human civilization. They will restore meaning and dignity to that word  “martyrdom” that has become hideously corrupted, degraded and blasphemed against by those who wage war against infants, yet wallow in their own perverse conception of bravery and valour. Nor must we neglect those who survived their mindless onslaught, damaged yet intact, and undaunted – the Malalas of our world.

The wages of morbid narcissism in the extreme – or should I say ‘supreme’? - exercise of power remain the coveted prize for the self-appointed warriors of a new blood-thirsting godhead that has been extracted and distorted from the religion of islam. If this speaker had put Abubakar Shekau – or any of his multiple incarnations – on stage, you would only have granted him the grudging concession of a satirist, yet  Shekau remains real, deadly and ludicrous, a clown, yet a human obscenity. Those of you who watched him taunting Nigerian humanity and the world after the abduction of the Chibok girls will understand my evocation of the banality that is power. Not indifferent to, but clearly relishing the anguish of parents, family, and the trauma of victims, cavorting, rather like one of those advertising balloon marionettes you may have encountered in front of American gas stations, he gloated: We have your girls. We are going to sell them off as slaves, and there is nothing you can do about it”. Shekau felt that he had the entirety of the world in his palms to squeeze as the mood directed him. Shekau indeed, in those moments represented the solipsistic totality of power at its most banal. So did the solemn assemblage of the holy warriors in Northern Nigeria around a pit clotted with blood, as they interrogated a captured Nigerian soldier before slitting his throat, turning the chorus Allah Akbar into a parody of piety.

It is the same savoring of the trickle-down potion of power that sustains the hooded figure, allegedly straight from a humdrum life in faraway, sedate England, standing over a kneeling health volunteer or journalist before beginning his gory task. It is what nerved the commander of the killer squad in Peshawar to slaughter a hundred and thirty school children and gloat: I want you to feel the pain. It is not piety, but the seepage from the obscene communion of power that induced the massacre of twelve French protagonists of the freedom of expression and leveling of divine afflatus in the affairs of mankind - the Charlie Hebdo martyrs.  The narcissists of morbidity – these are the elite beneficiaries of the toxin of power and its pursuit. 

Let us learn to repudiate the language of  “Political Correctness” that attempts to dim the incandescent rage that is justly felt in us as response to assaults on our humanity, to pretend that history, or societal or state corruption justifies the invasion of a community of children, blowing them to bits, then hunting the rest down one by one as they cower under their desks. We are being programmed to understand and accept their fate, and the fate of their peers in Nigeria who are called out by name from their dormitories one by one in a sanctuary of learning to meet their end. Often, the analytical language of media pundits merely panders to, indeed encourages criminality, especially through misplaced emphasis.  Without actually intending to, it enfeebles moral outrage, nudges readers into accepting that the abduction of over two hundred school pupils in Nigeria, whose fate is to be turned into sex slaves, into suicide bomb conscripts, is a logical response to all kinds of governance criminalities and infelicities, or indeed the brutality of a military. We are being inducted into the credo that the serial slaughter of school children and their teachers across a widening swathe of Northern Nigeria is an understandable response to the decadence of western society across the globe, that the amputation of hands which clasped each other across the gender barrier in Somalia under al-Shabbab, the live burial of women to be stoned to death in Northern Mali under affiliates of al Queda, or the open decapitation of aid volunteers in overrun parts of Syria and Iraq, the execution of anti-polio workers, be it in Northern Nigeria or the Middle East are all “traceable” to association with the devilish west and its ways, and usury on the world markets. This is the language of appeasement, an indulgence that urges Africa to accept a renewed condition of enslavement – this time by religious overlords.

Appeasement is the diet of impunity. For those who seek explanations for the intolerable in the role of memory, in historical precedents, in distant causes and effects even from remote times – these are all legitimate zones of enquiry, and corrective action in the present becomes a social and political duty.  So does the whittling away of contradictions within society, thus cauterizing the breeding grounds for future recruits to the ranks of homicidal maniacs. Surely, by this present, we should have learnt to stop parroting the time-worn clichés of social disaffections as acceptable causative factors for the dehumanizing of our kind. It is time to confront the long persistent question of what truly fits, unsentimentally, into our definition of humanity. Definition by race, colour, gender or faith have ever been derogatory and untenable, contributing to the world’s current dilemma in furtherance of the agenda of power.  Our parameters must now transfer to social conduct, to the manifestation of blind attachment to creeds that contradict and dismiss our very aspirations as thinking, reflecting and expressing beings. If the world shies away from that task, we on the African continent, should take on that duty, and annunciate what, for us, constitutes basic humanity. From those whose acts place them outside of such a definition, we must withdraw recognition, protect ourselves and take the battle to all such outcasts.

Let me underline the foregoing in the specific language of a political precedent. Once, under a president who was considered somewhat intelligence challenged, the public in the United States evolved a short-cut mantra for bringing the reality of a national recession to his notice. That mantra was “It’s the economy, stupid”. The world is not stupid, but I have come to suspect that it often falls asleep, even falls comatose, and thus requires some kind of wake-up call, a bluntly heretical viewpoint to check the assigned primacy of economics as the material base of all social upheavals. What is required today is a balancing of the economic catechism through a saturation of vulnerable environments with variations of the complementary mantra that becomes a mental ticker-tape:  It’s the power drive, sucker”!

    After Baga, surely no one can be left in any doubt: the world is confronted with the narcissists of death.  Study the killers as they strike poses for the iconic photos before setting forth to earn their so-called martyrdom in a terminal, dastardly act. Watch Shekau of Boko Haram prancing about in his propaganda video as he taunts the world  – We have your girls. We are going to sell them into slavery. Share the testimonies of survivors as they grope for language to convey the cultivated swagger of these killers as they go from hut to hut on invading a  hapless village, where they massacre the men and herd the women before them for enslavement,  their studied posturing and comportment of self-adoration. The exploits of this breed bring to my mind the apocalyptic acronym of the policies of power blocs during the Cold War - M.A.D. – Mutual Assured Destruction, the doctrine of the balance of nuclear terror. At least that madness was mutual - our ongoing orgy of destruction is anything but mutual. It is arbitrary, dictated, one-sided, yet equally Doomsday determined. The narcissists of morbidity contemplate their images in troughs of blood as they slit throat after throat of their captives ululating with snatches of praise songs to their Almighty.

    The challenge is out, and it is couched in anything but the language of spirituality. It is humiliating, I know, but let us be sufficiently humble as to admit the truth: this is one scourge that laughs in our faces, mocks the comfort zone of the rational, the schematic, the contextual, even comparative habit of mind, defies probability theories and historical precedents. And what choice of responses do we imagine has been forced on us, the rest of humanity? The expression, I believe, is – damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.  This phenomenon understands only one language:

    Mobilize, or perish!

Wole SOYINKA

Excerpted  from recent Overseas Lectures on our common concern, for the BRING BACK OUR GIRLS Visitation, Jan 13, 2015

Jonathan in Maiduguri

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has paid a surprise visit to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, where Boko Haram has its origin.

According to information available to ThisDay, his plane touched down at the Maiduguri Airport about an hour ago.

All efforts to get him to visit the state, especially in the aftermath of the kidnap of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko Haram, had been abortive.

The presidency had cited security reasons.

Details later

ThisDay

Identity Thieves And The 2015 Election Peace Accord - Wole Soyinka

It was with high expectations that I went gone through details of the Abuja peace accord recently agreed by the political party leaders, mandating decent and civilized campaign conduct among the contestants, their agents and supporters.

I was not disappointed. It is a positive step in the direction of democracy, for which I must commend the efforts of those seasoned interventionists, Emeka Anyaoku and Kofi Annan. Adhered to with good will and sincerity, it should  ensure a wholesome space for future elections, and pre-empt further  violence. It might even come close to what the democratic ideal should be, as canvassed by others, including Governor Fashola a few years ago – a people’s fiests!

From personal interest however, I was disappointed that the communiqué makes no reference to the violence done to members of the electorate whose identities are stolen, abused and debased during this exercise. It is rapidly  becoming commonplace to encounter totally fictitious statements, even entire interviews published and attributed to unsuspecting authorship. This criminal proceeding has even involved the cloning of media mastheads to which non-existent interviews are then attached. To render it in local parlance, this is political 419, and of the most despicable brand.

While it would be unjust to place direct responsibility on the contestants, one must stress that they also have a moral responsibility to denounce these dirty tricksters in the strongest terms, even in their own interest.  The resentment inspired in victims of such cowardly conduct cannot but impact on their own political image. The media must also protect itself by taking necessary measures against such unprincipled confusionists. It is the democratic right of every citizen to know exactly who is saying what on issues that affect their political choices.

Let me thus seize the occasion of the Abuja accord to state categorically that I have never made a statement endorsing any presidential or governorship contestant.  All such attributions are fabrications by faceless, often self-appointed agents of deception, and should be publicly pilloried.  Whenever I choose to declare support for a candidate - as is my electoral right - I shall ensure that I deploy a medium that places my authorship beyond dispute. Internet habituees, Social Network etc  are urged to be less gullible, and avoid becoming cheap conduits for the deception industry!

I take a less serious – indeed, near carnivalesque - view of the opportunistic, and sometimes de-contextualized use of genuine quotes from statements I have made in the past – that is a different matter entirely. As a non-pensioned writer however, and thus dependent on the proceeds of intellectual property, such users should expect to hear from my Literary Agents.

I join General Abdulsalami and others in hoping that 2015 prove a live-and-learn election year, not a do-or-die!

Wole SOYINKA

Attend Jonathan’s Rally Or Forfeit Your Salaries” – Governor Fayose Tells Ekiti Workers

IThis is not the best of times for Ekiti workers as they face the test of choice over a presidential election marching order to attend President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign rally tomorrow in Ado-Ekiti, failure of which they should be prepared to forfeit their January salary.
And so as Nigerians grapple with the tragedy of leadership over the years and the opportunity presented by the February 14 election to support the leader who they believe is best suited to lead them out of the woods, Ekiti workers may not have the luxury of that constitutional liberty to support a leader well placed to lead them to the Promised Land.
The Monitors gathered that the maximum ruler in Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has sent out a circular ordering all state public school teachers, civil servants and their local government counterparts to attend the presidential campaign of PDP’s candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, tomorrow. Attendance is compulsory and those who absent themselves do so at their own risk. A register is being opened at the entrance of the venue for workers to record their presence. Those who fail to turn up should be prepared to
forfeit their January salary. It is now so bad that civil servants are compelled to attend political rallies such as the Jonathan Presidential campaign rally!

Omojuwa.com

Attend Jonathan's rally or forfeit your Salaries!

http://omojuwa.com/2015/01/attend-jonathans-rally-or-forfeit-your-salaries-governor-fayose-tells-ekiti-workers/