RE: Sahara Reporters on “Culture of Waste and Insensitivity” and the 18th AU Summit
I observe that you have made no effort, following my earlier explanations, to amend your story titled “Culture of Waste And Insensitivity Continues As Mrs. Jonathan Arrives Addis Ababa With 32 Aides” (Sahara Reporters), and have allowed your readers to rely on deliberate misinformation. The story in question does not reflect the true state of affairs with regard to the President’s delegation to the 18th annual African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I therefore want to set the records straight by making the following observations:
1. There is only one Nigerian Delegation to this summit not two as your report suggests. Specifically, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has no delegation, official or unofficial, to this summit, and she did not arrive in Addis Ababa with “32 aides.”
2.You correctly reported that Mr. President travelled with a “25-person delegation to Addis Ababa for the 18th African Union Summit” but after salting your story with a dash of hype and peppering it with innuendo you have managed to cook up the impression that there are 57 Nigerian delegates in Addis Ababa. This is not fair.
3.The Nigerian Entourage list contains 35 names in total, however three of those whose names are listed did not join the delegation and the total number of delegates in Addis Ababa is not more than 32. This includes two Senators (the Chair of the Senate committee on NEPAD and another member), a member of the House of Representatives (NEPAD House of Reps), essential aides of the First couple, and Foreign Ministry Officials. Mr. President meant every word of it when he said that only persons who have work to do will be allowed to travel, officially.
4.As you well know, Nigeria is a free country; President Jonathan cannot prevent Nigerians from travelling to Ethiopia or anywhere else without good reason, legal sanction or authority. If there are other Nigerians in Addis Ababa, they are certainly not official delegates, and they have nothing to do with the First Lady.
5.It has become Sahara Reporters’ favourite sport to taint and bait President Jonathan with hooks and details that are inconvenient with the truth. You do your readers and Nigeria no favours by this shrill and deliberate misrepresentation of information.
6.President Jonathan remains committed to the Constitution he swore to protect and defend. You have a responsibility to report the truth.
The Supreme Court on 27th January, 2012 has struck out the appeal lodged by Lady Margery Okadigbo challenging the election and return of Prince John Emeka as the candidate of PDP and winner of the April Senate election in Anambra North Senatorial Zone. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court struck out the suit and awarded cost of N50, 000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) against Lady Okadigbo. The Court upheld the decision of both the Court of Appeal Enugu Division and the Tribunal affirming that Prince John Emeka indeed won the Senate seat of Anambra North Senatorial Zone on the platform of PDP.
Recall that there has been a long drawn battle on this seat which has made Anambra North to remain without representation since the inauguration of the 7thsession of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
By this pronouncement, Prince John Emeka who won the April Election but was prevented from collecting his Certificate of Return by the leave apply for Order of Mandamus sought by Ex Senator Igbeke which was interpreted to imply an order of Mandamus, can now collect his Certificate. The premise which Ex- Senator Igbeke relied on to apply for Leave was Hon. Justice Kafarati judgment which also has been set aside by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.
Information recently made available to 247ureports.com from source within the ranks of the terrorist Islamic group, the Boko Haram indicates not all is well with the federal governmentof Nigeria and it’s call to dialogue. The Islamic group has began preparations for another grand attack. Intelligence reports confirmed by Boko Haram source point the next attack at one of the northern states near the Bauchi tri state area.
Bauchi State was supposed to have been “destroyed” immediately following the black friday attack on Kano State. Personalities within the State government of Bauchi State calmed tensions. They approached the terrorist and suggested dialogue – of which – the source admitted that they stopped and dispatched their men to Kano to assist complete some “remaining assignment”. It is not certain the extent the Bauchi State government reached to have placated the Boko Haram. What is certain is the group’s determination to ‘destroy’ Bauchi State once the operation in Kano State has been completed.
Adding the international linkage to Somalia, [the second home of the Al Qaeda king pin, Osama Bin Laden] is the ungaurded threat that “we are 38 here, 109 more of us are coming from Somali ready for sucide missions. We want to destroy Nigeria, not separate Nigeria. Our men are already in Onitsha, in Lagos and Port Harcourt”. Adding also that “the River Niger Bridge can be ‘done with'”.
This development, the State Security Service [SSS] in Awka confirms. They have received intelligence pointing to Boko Haram activity near the River Niger Bridge. The SSS deputy director said the agents are monitoring the situation.
Meanwhile, the escaped mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing at Madalla, Suleja, Niger State, according to the source, has moved to Niger Republic to a town near Diffa – where he is well protected. Presently engaged in the planing of more sucide attacks against the police, prominent politicians and religious clerics [both christians and moslems] of Nigeria.
On the police escape, he said “the Abuja Police” did not let Kabiru Umar Sokoto go. It was through the help of “our youths”. They overpowered the police and secured his freedom. “He” exited through the “kind assistance” of some officials in Gigawa and Katsina State.
In a related development, intermidiaries have begun attempts at possible dialogue. It is gathered both sides have made contact. But “we don’t trust them”, states the source. He claims the President of Nigeria does not respect them. And promises “he will soon see.”
SHAIBU Ibrahim Atadoga is a Lawyer called to Bar in 1986, he has been in private practice since he was called to Bar, even though his private practice cannot be described as flourishing; he hails from Omala L.G.A. of Kogi State, and possibly from the same place with Alhaji Ibrahim Idris,the former Governor of Kogi State.
Politics started working for the benefit of his career when the then Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris put strong pressure on Kogi State to recommend the appointment of Shaibu Ibrahim Atadoga unto the Bench. When all those attempts failed at the initial stage, the ex-Governor appointed Ibrahim Shaibu as a Director in the Kogi State Ministry of Justice without any foundation in the Civil Service, and thereafter promoted as a permanent Secretary and Solicitor General of Kogi State. This appointed runs contrary to all service rules, yet it was condoned because he was ex-Governor Idris’ boy.
Knowing full well that the position of Permanent Secretary is a terminal position in the Civil Service both Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga and Governor Idris both had their eyes on the Bench.
Worthy of commendation is that, Ibrahim Shaibu, a personal friend of the Attorney General of Kogi State along the ex-Governor were instrumental to the creation of the Customary Court of Appeal in Kogi State. When the Customary Court of Appeal was created, Hon. Justice Otta was made president but with less than two (2) years to retirement. Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga being the most senior Judge after Otta was stage managed to take over as President of Customary Court of Appeal upon Otta’s retirement with less than two (2) years experience as a Judicial Officer. He is a product of politics so there is no wonder why he is now playing politics with that position or has allowed himself to be used as a pawn in the political desperation of Idris.
Perhaps a brief narration of the story of the swearing in of Idris by Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga would explain the politics he played.
When the Chief judge under pressure from the former Governor to swear in Capt.,Wada, he diplomatically eased himself out of the place and refused to come back for the ceremony, the Attorney General quickly called on his willing ally, Ibrahim Shaibu to dress up for the ceremony. Ibrahim Shaibu who had already come there with his ceremonial dress to play out an already rehearsed drama quickly got dressed in the Judicial Red Rope to perform a function which he knew or ought to know was beyond his competence. As a matter of fact, the way the Attorney guarded him in to the hall simply demonstrated the desperation of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and his stooge, Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga.
For the first time in about many years, our people have successfully moved with extraordinary courage against the forces of political Darkness in Kogi State.Few months ago,when we turned on the Light of freedom to nominate a God fearing son of ours, as the candidate of PDP in Kogi state,we never knew the agents of darkness were perfecting fresh strategies to stop our divine mission. But today,we are humbled by this court judgement which derives from our collective faith in the Almighty God as succinctly expressed in His words in Revelations 19:1 “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”. This judgement is a victory of the tenacity of the human spirit against conscienceless power. The triumph of stuborn determination, the belief in the sacredness of the peoples rights and a determination not to abandon the rural voters in Kogi,Adamawa,Bayelsa,Sokoto and Cross River state. We wish to commend the Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria over the recent judgement delivered on the issue of tenure elongation on five State Governors. The decision of the Supreme Court to sack the five governors from office is significant victory for democracy and we welcome this decision because it clearly shows that the nation’s highest court of law continually recognizes the need to stand by true tenets of democracy.
As we join the many good men and women of Nigeria in hailing the Supreme Court decision, again we commend the Justices of the Supreme Court for taking up the tasking duty to reach decisions that will not only make Nigeria’s democracy prosperous but our communities peaceful and free of politically induced violence.
Our people are assured that the decision of the Supreme Court is a good reason to be optimistic that the highest Court of law is truly independent and desirous to deepen democracy in Nigeria despite the many external influences of individuals and organizations to abort the hearing of the matter at the Apex Court. Indeed, this bold decision by the Apex Court has indisputably exposed and identified those who behave callously by engaging in practices of impunity and self aggrandizement to diminish the gains of democracy. We therefore strongly suppose that Nigeria’s democracy would no longer have been democracy if the decision of the Supreme Court had gone the other way.
Without a doubt, the public tempo and views of the majority in Kogi State has shown that the Supreme Court has risen to the occasion by taking meaningful decisions for Nigeria’s democratic interest. This Judgement is not only a huge victory for the electorate but a rebuke to persons who impose candidates with impunity and utmost disregard for democracy especially by denying people the freedom to make a choice.
Our joy on the Supreme Court Judgement certainly rests on our interest in upholding the rights of the Kogi people to select their choice without undue interference. From all logical and progressive perspective, the ruling of the Supreme Court has major positive political and practical consequences. Specifically, in Kogi state, the Supreme Court ruling has rescued democracy from the claws of unpatriotic persons and we consider it a new opportunity for the Kogi people to start enjoying true dividends of democracy through purposeful leadership based on the people’s choice. The mandate you gave to Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho remains fresh and valid. So, “tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah that I will shake the heavens and the earth… I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.”(Haggai 2:21-22)
Now that it is obvious that the judiciary has performed its duty honestly and diligently, we urge the authorities responsible for the implementation of such a landmark judgment to ensure that the orders of the Apex Court are put into action and obeyed by all. Therefore, we strongly support any legitimate move that will uphold the rule of law, sustenance of peace and fuller lives in our communities in Kogi State.
This judgement is a clear message to some persons or authorities that the time for playing games and god with the people’s mandate is over and we strongly believe that all actions relating to many manipulated and unjustifiable elections of the recent burdensome past will stand violated. As such, it is our firm hope that the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Atahiru Jega would be speedily guided to rectify some of the actions the INEC earlier took which this judgement has proved to be wrong on the law, misinformed and dangerous for our democracy.
Our political journey has been one of patience and perseverance, our movement has maintained its character of discipline and respect for the Rule of Law. Men with tyrannical beliefs saw us as weak and therefore used every wrong means to frustrate our well-deserved collective aspiration. But in all and despite our majority political strength, we rejected invitations to anarchy and remained focused, knowing that ours is an irreversible mission of hope to liberate our people from the claws of bad governance and evil. So, we advise the teeming supporters of Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho to remain law abiding, with the firm belief that the Supreme Court Judgement must be implemented to its logical conclusion, we also urge the Government and Party leadership to show sincerity and patriotism by taking actions relating to this judgement as we believe that if the right actions are taken in letter and spirit, it will not only be beneficial to the people of Kogi State but also to all men and women of goodwill in Nigeria We urge all our supporters continue to show love to all. No matter how they about how people have betrayed us, there is no room for revenge. So you must be guarded in your emotions, We must not let our hearts rule our heads, otherwise we may say or do things that would project us as being ungrateful to the Master Finisher,God! We ask you all to continue in prayer and fasting for Echocho, using Psalm 138:8 “The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever–do not abandon the works of your hands” as our guide daily because, we are certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.(Phillipians 1:6)
We ask the good people of Kogi State to please keep the Justices of the Supreme Court, all good men and women of Nigeria in your prayers daily.
May the will of the Almighty prevail!
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PHRANK ELEOJO SHAIBU Director,Public Communication & Strategy THE JIBRIN ISAH CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION
By Yemi Adebowale, with agency reports, and Ahamefula Ogbu
Attempts to redress historic grievances in Nigeria’s oil-rich south may inadvertently have helped create the conditions for the Islamic insurgency spreading from the impoverished north-east of the country, so says Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
A revenue sharing formula that gave 13 percent derivation to the oil-producing states was introduced after the military relinquished power in 1999 among a series of measures aimed at redressing historic grievances among those living closest to the oil and quelling a conflict that was jeopardising output.
But Sanusi who spoke in an interview with the Financial Times Friday said: “There is clearly a direct link between the very uneven nature of distribution of resources and the rising level of violence.”
He said that it was now necessary to focus funds on regenerating other regions if Nigeria wants to secure long-term stability.
“When you look at the figures and look at the size of the population in the north, you can see that there is a structural imbalance of enormous proportions. Those states simply do not have enough money to meet basic needs while some states have too much money.
“The imbalance is so stark because the state still depends on oil for more than 80 per cent of its revenues,” said Sanusi.
The FT, in a further analysis of the issue yesterday, wrote: “Nigeria has made little headway raising taxes for example from agriculture, which accounts for 42 per cent of GDP. Northern Nigeria’s economy has traditionally depended on the government more than the south. Many of the industries set up as part of earlier efforts to promote national balance have gone bust or been sold off during a decade of liberal market reforms, power shortages and infrastructure collapse.
“According to official figures, the leading oil producing state, Rivers, received N1,053 billion between 1999 and 2008 in federal allocations. By contrast the North-eastern states of Yobe and Borno, where the Boko Haram sect was created, received N175bn and N213bn respectively. Broken down on a per capita basis, the contrast is even starker. In 2008 the 18.97m people who lived in the six states in the north-east received on average N1,156 per person.
“By contrast Rivers state was allocated N3,965 per capita, and on average the oil producing South- South region received on average N3,332 per capita. This imbalance is compounded when the cost of an amnesty programme for militants in the delta is included together with an additional 1 per cent for a special development body for the Niger Delta. To boot, the theft of oil by profiteers in the region diverts tens of millions more weekly from federal coffers.”
In the past year, the extremist Boko Haram sect has been responsible for proliferating attacks on churches, police stations and other state targets. Just last week, it claimed responsibility for multiple bomb blasts that claimed nearly 200 lives in Kano. The size and sophistication of the attacks underlined fears that the conflict is spiralling out of control.
Meanwhile, Vice President, Namadi Sambo has rallied the 19 Northern state governors together in a bid to check the spate of bombings in the North by the violent Islamic sect Boko Haram and arrive at a collective action against the menace.
Sambo told State House Correspondents that there was no religious problem in the country but terrorist attacks for which all Nigerians must cooperate with security agencies to see to the end of Boko Haram. The vice-president said he has secured the pledge of the governors to cooperate with the federal government to weed out the group.
Sambo’s meeting with the governors held at his Akinola Aguda House residence began around 8.30pm on Thursday and lasted till 2.10 am Friday.
The vice-president confirmed to journalists that he met with the governors on how combat the Boko Haram menace.
He said: “It is a meeting with the 19 governors of the Northern states of the federation and the ministers of Police and Defence and the representative of the National Security Adviser. We have discussed the need for cooperation in the security of this country and particularly, the Northern states. And in this meeting, it is very clear that there is no religious problem, religious fighting in northern Nigeria.
“There is a threat of terrorists and the need to address this terrorism act. Nigeria is one country and we will do everything to ensure that we have peace in the North and in the country in general. All the state governments as usual will further cooperate with the federal government in ensuring that the safety of lives and properties is maintained in all parts of the country.”
A 28 year old woman (name withheld) has been arrested by a special police detective team in Eket for attempting to sell a seven year old boy. A police source said in Eket.
The youngster who is said to be her step-son was, however, living with his biological mother until the father requested to take full responsibility of him. Apparently angered by the child’s arrival, the step-mother contracted a pastor to screen the little boy to ascertain if he was possessed with witchcraft spell or not. On confirmation that the boy was possessed, he was reportedly disappeared from the house.
A dependable source said lady who operates a local Hotel called Prince Udoette Hotel in Ikot Idung Offiong community had arranged with a Port-Harcourt based child trafficking syndicate to pick the boy in a location along Uqua Road, in heart of Eket, but the late arrival of the spoiled the show, as the detectives swooped the scene and arrested the lady on a tip-off.
The community source did not confirm whether the hotel was used as a conduit for the sales of other children; but stressed that she’s been notorious for dealing with suspicious elements coming to the community.
She confessed to the police that she was scared based on the prophet’s instruction that the boy will infect her children with his magical power. When the man of God told me that he will transfer the spell to my children, or kill them, I was really afraid…” she said.
The a police inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who did not want his name mentioned said that sales of children of Akwa Ibom origin to syndicates coming from Aba and Port-Harcourt was a common phenomenon. “They have a robust network, which keeps buying more and more children here in the State. It depends on the sex, the age of the child and the negotiation. A male child is said to be sold between N150, 000 to N170, 000 a female is between N130, 000 to N50, 000. But it varies on age.” The officer said. “Our team is monitoring them… We will get them all,” he added.
But the coordinator of a human right group, Freedom Impact International (FII), Mr Jackson Bas, though commended the police for rescuing the child; he expressed scepticism over the willingness of the police to prosecute the culprit.
“This is not the first time they have arrested child traffickers. They have been doing so before; we know about this. How many of them have been taken to court. Police will keep them in the cell till their men will come and bail them out with money they called bond…” Bas noted.
He appealed to the government not to turn a blind eye to the torture and killing of children and elderly people who are accused of practicing witchcraft or sorcery.
While the body of the late Biafran leader, Dim Emeka Odimegwu- Ojukwu, waits to be buried in the first week of February, the same kind of incidents that led to his being forced to secede over 40 years ago is beginning to rear its ugly head again. Day in day out, scores of Southerners living in Northern Nigeria are being killed by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, and forced to return to their homes. Majority of these are Igbos, the ethnic group of the late Biafran leader. Unfortunately, many Igbo leaders have refused to make meaningful comments of concern about this. However in this exclusive interview, Debe Odumegwu-Ojukwu, first son of the late general speaks extensively about the injustice that led to Biafra in the first place, and how it may ultimately force the nation back to strife, this time, permanently. He spoke to Correspondent Onukwube Ofoelue also concerning the preparations for the burial of Ikemba Nnewi: ‘With Boko Haram killings, obviously Igbos are no longer welcome’
How will you describe your father, the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu?
He was a loving father, a consummate administrator, and a very compassionate leader.
While some have described him as a selfless fighter, others chose to see him as an opportunist who took advantage of the situation on ground to seek power for himself. What do you say about his?
What is opportunistic about a young man who had been at the pinnacle of the local authority administration- he was an ADO, when most of his mates were still leaving secondary school? Then he joined the army- he was the best in the military, among the first graduates to join the Nigeria Army. I don’t see anything opportunistic about it. He was groomed for the position, and he was there at the right time. What is then opportunistic in a man who had gone to England, gone to US an academia, but chose to remain with his people? He could have died during the war. He could have been wounded, but then he decided to brave the odds and vote for this people. I don’t think that is opportunism- rather I will see that as being very chivalrous. It’s the hallmark of the essential leader
. There are those who see him as one who did not exhaust every means for dialogue before calling for secession of Igbo? Being very objective, would you agree?
Those who say that he didn’t explore pacifism to its stretch are those who are somewhat ignorant of the history of what happened during the war. It is on record and undeniable, that at a point, the pogrom came in waves. The pogrom, the systematic decimation of Igbos in the North came in waves. Here was the one that came in May, then the one that came in July, immediately after the assassination of Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, and then, the bigger one in September- here were three waves.
If I were to have a recourse to history, it is well written and it is accepted, and it was witnessed, that after the second wave, he did appealed to the Igbos to go back to the North. In Enugu for instance, Alhaji Altine, who was the Sarkin Hausawa in Enugu, was escorted to the boundaries of the East and North for him to go home peacefully. Having asked our people, even after the killing of Ironsi to go back, and then that third and most decisive wave of September 1966 now happened, he felt tacitly responsible for the death of those ones.
He felt as a benign human being, as a compassionate leader, but for his insistence that they go back, we would have had those best brains being part of the Igbo nation today. He regretted it and that was it. That was the deciding factor. It was what in war they call ‘Crossing the Rubicon’.
Given the current crises of Boko Haram and insecurity in Nigeria today, especially in the North, would you say Ojukwu’s move would have been the best for this country?
Undeniably so. In Mathematics, the most malignant aspect of mathematics is what we call recurring decimal. The issue has kept on recurring. Why not we try that panacea which we rejected? There was an alternative, to become a confederation, if not separation, the main thrust of the Aburi Accord. And it was rejected over the years, running to 40 years. Why has it been difficult for us to try the alternative panacea?
There is the Boko Haram problem in the North today, and it is becoming obvious that the target of the sect is the Igbos, just like in the 60s. What is your take on the loud silence of current crop of Igbo leaders?
It is not always good for us to talk about killings in the North. When there is intense heat, the wise thing to do is to go away from the heat, and realign, and reconsider your position. The ideal thing would have been for the Igbos to come home. Come home and let us renegotiate Nigeria. A visit entails a certain element of risk. When you visit somebody, you could meet with accident, or reception, or acceptance. You could equally meet with ejection. But then, when you are rejected, the wise thing to do is to go home. So my belief is that the correct thing could have been for the Igbos to come back home, and renegotiate Nigeria.
That contradicts what Senator Uche Chukwumerije recently said; that Igbo leaders are not in a hurry to conclude on whatto do about the killing of Igbos in the North by Boko Haram, and that Igbos should stay back in the North. What do you make of this?
He is entitled to his opinion, but as far as I am concerned, the first law of defence is self-defence. You defend yourself first. You run for safety before you realign yourself, reposition yourself before attack. They are the owners of the place, they are northerners, and that is the bottom-line. Obviously, we are not welcome in their homeland. The best thing we should do is to come back home and manage with what we have at home, while we renegotiate.
Igbos in the North are saying that if we insist that they return to the East, what are they expected to do about the heavy investments they have done in the North?
That is the problem. I have my own view about life itself. You don’t gain in life, you don’t lose in life. It is a continuum. You come with nothing and you go with nothing. The most dangerous thing to the existence of our nation is the inordinate attachment to material wealth. The northerner comes to your house with a mat. He is always ready to go, and that is why in most cases, he is like thin air. You go to England; a lot of people are getting detached from property. The whites enter into a house furnished and he comes with his brief case only, and after a year or two, leaves with his brief case for another furnished apartment. But we like to own everything. Most of the things they are investing in the North, they could have invested in the East. Two major things rivet a human being- marriages and material things.
If an Igbo goes to the North and gets married to a Hausa woman, there is nothing that will make him go home, even if they are cutting off his head. It’s the same thing, if you go there and you build the biggest skyscraper, you will not go. Of course when they attack you, the thrust is with a view to acquire what you have laboured for. So the wisdom in acquisition is location of your assets in safe areas.
Since the passing on of Ojukwu, a lot ofcalls have been made for a new leader for the Igbo. Commentators, however, think that there is no one qualified today to step into his shoes, which many believe are too large. What is your take on this?
My father’s shoes are obviously very big. But as I have always told people, the shoes were tempered by the extant situation. You cannot produce an Ojukwu during a peaceful time. You cannot produce an Ojukwu at a wedding reception. You cannot produce an Ojukwu during a gala nite. You need a very strong, debilitating, extinguishing crisis, and then an Ojukwu will emerge.
While sitting very comfortably in my house- the Ojukwu in me will not come out becaue I am enjoying air condition, I am watching Sky News. But when people around me are being exterminated, that devil will come up; that warrior will come out. That unique individual will come up. He was the most popular officer in the Nigerian Army. He taught his mates many things. He taught them etiquettes by virtue of being groomed in England. He was the one that told them where to have the best parties in town, and they always looked up to him.
Then suddenly, something else cropped up. You could imagine the shock, when the man they thought they could always buy stood firmly. Is it Emeka they are talking about, no, he is our friend. But now, it became a question of ‘my people’ and your people. The real him came out, and he maintained that till the end. So it will be out of place for anybody then to say he can fit in his shoes. Anybody that tells you he can fill his shoes is a joker. Look at Boko Haram. Who has tried to get into it and wear half of the shoes?
Nobody is talking, that is the issue. Everybody is corseted by contracts, by political attachments. That is why they are not talking. You can only talk when you are free. You cannot talk when you borrowed money from the banks, and the government is aware that you took the money without collateral. You cannot talk.
What kind of man did you perceive him to be during those troubled times?
I did not see much of him during the war. He was always a marshal man, always strategizing. There is no way you could see a general all the time. He was very busy with strategies, conferring with his war commanders, and you know how tasking that could be. Because of the war, the easiest way to kill a general is to bring his family close to him. He would lose focus, and would not go far. That was why it was a public policy that his family should not be close to him during the war. He fought the war alone, on his own.
What do you think about the controversies on whether he should be given a state burial or not?
I think there shouldn’t have been any controversy. He was mini-fes, and that in itself entitles him to that. Mini-fes means he was among the first graduates of the Nigerian army. He was in the public service; he was a military governor, in control of what today could have been about nine states. Then, he led a country- he led Biafra. Whatever pretensions we make about Biafra could not obliterate the fact that the same Biafra was recognized by four independent states that are still existing.
Those independent states dealt with a country. There were exchange of letters of credence between those states and Biafra. So coextensively, he was a head of state, even though some may deny it, who should be entitled to a state funeral. Ivory Coast is there, there is Gabon, Haiti, and France. Are we saying that these people are no longer countries? Are we saying that they are no longer territories within the ambit of the place that was called Biafra? If they recognized Biafra, then Biafra was a country. It was a state, and he died a head of state. He is entitled, and should have been given a state burial. If for anything, at least to douse the tension between the North and the South. The problem we have in the country is the problem of acceptance. Once we entrench truth and justice, most of these problems we are encountering today will be a thing of the past.
There are those who still strongly believe in Biafra. In fact, there are pointers that 80to 90 per cent Igbo still strongly believe that Biafra will still become a nation, given the state of the nation today. What is your opinion given the fact that your father was the champion of this cause?
I believe in Biafra. I wake up every day a Biafran. But my concept of Biafra today is different from what I had many years ago. My Biafra of today encapsulates injustice. So if you are unjust to me, the Biafran in me rises. If you are just to me, the Biafran in me is doused. The clamour for Biafra today as I extensively discussed with my father is a cry against injustice. If truth it’s fully entrenched in Nigeria, there will be no clamour for Biafra. But it’s the flagrant and perverse injustice in the nation that engenders these pockets of cries for Biafra.
What do you think about the role of MASSOB and other such groups in the South East and South South?
MASSOB is playing a very good role. In French, there is what we call ávante provacateur’, agent of provocation. I see MASSOB as a catalyst. They are there to make sure that the Igbos are not ignorant of who they are. Without that central body, there will be no voice today for the Igbos. MASSOB is there to remind them; even though some might say that some of their methods are crude. But in the absence of every other thing, MASSOB is a welcome development. MASSOB does not act in isolation- that is still that thing am telling you about truth and justice.
When you talk about truth and justice, MASSOB is a bad organisation. Why is Odua People’s Congress not a bad organisation? Why is Arewa Consultative Forum not a bad organisation? It is always easy to write off MASSOB, to give names to MASSOB. If OPC could exist in Yoruba land and play a very good role for them, there is nothing wrong with MASSOB. It is only when it degenerates into a violent organ that it should attract condemnation. But if all they do is peaceful, I endorse them 100 per cent.
Ojukwu is perhaps the greatest Igbo in modern history. How does it feel like to be son to the greatest Igbo man in our times?
It’s out of this world. I sit in my privacy and wonder why I became so lucky. I don’t have any other extra qualities to be that. Ordinary me, his son? Check it from all ramifications, not only am I his son, but I am his clone. He gave me all he had- I have never seen that kind of love before. The approximation could be what you see in the Bible- ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son’. You could also say, ‘For this man so loved his son that he gave him all he had. He gave me his intellect, he gave me his physique- he gave me everything about him. The only question I have never asked him is why I deserve all these. I am the only one he worried about in the whole world, the only person who made him cry when I went wrong. At times, I try to take the liberty of a child playing pranks. He did not allow me. I would do certain things and you would see his eyes redhot, as if he was saying, you did this to me? He took it very personal. That always kept me on my toes, because I never wanted to offend him
The federal government has been advised to review down the current regime of stringent near-impossible conditions set for the establishment of new refineries in the country, to trigger off a massive instant revolution in the sector.
An elder statesman and the immediate-past chairman of Police Service Commission(PSC), Chief Simon Okeke dropped the wise counsel in an interview with the Guardian in his Amichi country home, Anambra state, yesterday.
Reacting to the recent mass protest that greeted the new Year eve subsidy removal, Chief Okeke said, “as an ordinary citizen there is so much hardship in the country today that everyone has legitimate right to question or disagree with any other move to increase the existing burden. So why Mr President and his men did chose to do so? They said it was for the eventual good of all. I believed them. But we have seen what happened.
“The subsidy withdrawal has increased the burden of the masses because the marketers have gone far beyond the price set. More so, I expected the government to remove the subsidy and ask marketers to sell at the market price or the price that suits them instead of pegging it at a point as if we were still under the subsidy control. Something appears unclear really”, the ex-PSC chief noted.
He wondered why all the existing refineries were near comatose, while the inability of the 25 newly licensed ones according to the records of the FG did not agitate the minds of the operators.
He therefore urged President Goodluck Jonathan to liberalize conditions of setting up a refinery (or distillery, as he called it) just like what happened in the Biafra enclave during the civil war era; and to stop the military task forces in the niger Delta to stop destroying and chasing the current operators of such refineries around. He disclosed that Biafra authorities mobilized engineers of the era and they turned every kitchen and oil mills within the zone into a mini-refinery for petroleum products. That it was why there was enough for the vehicles and even for the aircrafts then. That what needed to be done now would be to set up criteria, standard and supervise. That it was the same in the United States of America (USA) and Canada today.
It was his belief that if the small time refineries were encouraged to coexist side by side the mega ones, it would flood the nation with products and crash the current soaring prices of products instantly as low as N30 per litre.
Okeke also canvassed the supply of crude to all the mini-refiners at the same market rate with ease
The House of Representatives Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption on Friday, January 27th, 2012 called for enhanced funding of the activities and operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Jagaba Adams Jagaba made this call at a meeting where the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde presented the Commission’s budget proposal to it. A proposal of N10.9billion as allocated by the Budget Office of the Federation was presented. He specifically called for the intervention of the Committee to correct the zero allocation in respect of Legal services, Forensic Laboratory, Information and Communication Technology and Life Insurance for the staff of the Commission. Lamorde said that: “The attention of the whole nation is on the EFCC to rise to the challenge of curbing corrupt practices in our midst. But we need to be funded adequately to do this. Zero budgeting in the critical areas of the Commission’s work requires your intervention” .He also called for better allocation of funds for the construction of the permanent office complex of the EFCC. Jagaba expressed support for the work of the EFCC and assured the Commission of the cooperation of his Committee to address the shortfall in the allocation made for the EFCC by the budget office. “We know your needs. I want to assure you that we will address the problem. Government wants the EFCC to succeed; this is why it gave it a tasking assignment to handle recently. It is dangerous not to fund the EFCC adequately. To do so is to throw it up to the highest bidders and the corrupt and the end will not be good for all of us”, he said. Other Committee members who were present at the sitting also corroborated Jagaba’s position. Honourable Emmanuel Menga Udende, Vice- Chairman of the Committee stressed the need to equip the EFCC in all areas, in order to empower it for optimum performance. Honourable Sheik Umar Abubakar said that the zero budgeting in the areas highlighted by Lamorde could be an error of omission. “It couldn’t have been deliberate”, he said. He however called for an improved relationship between the EFCC and the Budget Office. Other Committee members at the meeting are Honourable Nasiru Sule Garo and Honourable John Dyegh. Lamorde was accompanied on the budget defense meeting to the House of Representatives by the Secretary to the Commission, Mr Emmanuel Akomaye, Director of Organizational Support, Mr. Bolaji Salami, Director of Finance, Mr. Femi Jegede and other top officials of the Commission.
