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Tag: Power

  • 2023 and Jonathan’s hunger for return to power – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    2023 and Jonathan’s hunger for return to power – By Ehichioya Ezomon

    As Nigeria races towards the 2023 general election, so is the campaign to drag former President Goodluck Jonathan into the presidential contest that parades a deluge of aspirants.

    Dr Jonathan’s jostling would be another “first” in Nigeria. Being the first Vice President to be promoted President through the “Doctrine of Necessity,” no former president had vied for re-election after a period of interval from their first election into the exalted office.

    (Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, ceremonial President in the First Republic, had contested for a substantive chief executive post in the Second Republic, but fell short twice behind Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, respectively, in 1979 and 1983. Shagari won the presidency in 1979, and was re-elected in 1983)

    Jonathan was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Deputy Governor (later upgraded to Governor), Governor, Vice President (upgraded to President), and President.

    But in the campaign to return to power, he’s reportedly defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), whose candidate, retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, defeated him in the 2015 polls.

    So, if Jonathan secures the APC ticket, and wins the election in February 2023, he’d be hailed as the first “comeback kid” in the contest for the presidency in Nigeria’s convoluted electoral process.

    If he fails at the polls, the impact will be devastating. That’s why many Nigerians are worried that Jonathan is about rubbishing his reputation as a beacon of democracy in Nigeria since 2015.

    Concerned Nigerians don’t know the kind of “tea leaf” Jonathan is reading – and if reading correctly – regarding the 2023 elections, and his chances of returning to power, as trumpeted by his handlers.

    Tea leaf reading or Tasseology, according to simplelooseleaf.com, is the fortune-telling method that uses tea residue on the bottom of the cup to predict what the future will bring to the tea drinker.

    The website explains that: “After drinking the tea, the residue on the bottom of the cup forms different shapes or symbols, all with a different meaning and many ways to interpret it. That’s why tea leaf reading is not as easy as it sounds….”

    But the Jonathan vocal handlers make his return to The Villa in Abuja looks like a walk in the park if given the APC ticket to square up against the PDP pick as its flagbearer in the crucial contest.

    Jonathan’s handlers even predict that if he’s chosen as the “consensus candidate,” with the ticket in tow, most of PDP’s 17 aspirants will forgo their primaries, and defect to the APC.

    They refer to Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed’s avowal that Jonathan is the only “aspirant” he would shelve his ambition for, without being categorical about Jonathan’s platform for the poll.

    Four scenarios. If Jonathan clinches the APC ticket, will Governor Mohammed step down for him even when he has secured the PDP ticket or chosen as running mate to the PDP flagbearer?

    Will Mohammed decamp to the APC, or remain in the PDP and “sabotage” the PDP candidate’s poll prospects, such as PDP’s leaders did to Jonathan in 2015, throwing the poll to the APC?

    If Jonathan is such a formidable aspirant, why are his promoters angling for an “automatic ticket” for him rather than allow him to test his popularity at the APC primaries to choose its candidate?

    What did Jonathan forget at The Villa, or fail to implement in six years as president, from 2010 to 2015, that he desperately needs the APC ticket to retrieve or accomplish in four years?

    Recall that critics had labelled Jonathan “clueless” on account of the obvious failings of his administration, particularly in areas of insecurity and permissive and pervasive corruption in the system.

    Ironically, Jonathan’s loss at the 2015 elections gave him a soft landing of some sorts due to his novel conceding of defeat despite pressures on him to manipulate the polls, and remain in power.

    If Jonathan’s laughed out of government owing to alleged “incompetence,” what lessons, trainings and experiences has he garnered in seven years to bid for a comeback to administer a more complex, complicated and disunited Nigeria than he left it?

    Here lie the fears of Jonathan’s real supporters, different from the optimism of his handlers, associates and political jobbers intent on maximising influence and fortunes from his re-election in February.

    Two possible prognoses: The propagators of “Jonathan is the new ‘Messiah’ and the right man for the job” want to lead him to a further humiliating defeat at the polls, and destroy his hard-earned reputation and status since leaving office in 2015.

    Or they want to use him as a stopgap for a Northern presidency in 2027, by fielding him in 2023 to serve a single term of four years, and then hand over to a Northern president in 2027.

    Whether Jonathan wins or loses, the end result is that power would return to the North just four years after President Buhari rounded off an eight-year tenure of two terms of four years each.

    Thus, the ultimate aim of Jonathan’s choristers is to prevent the presidency from rotating to Southern Nigeria in full cycle of eight years, as the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria guarantees.

    The question is: Will Jonathan see the “pleas” for him to return to power for what they really are: A ploy to use him to shortchange Southern Nigeria of the presidency in the 2023 election cycle?

    While the jury is still out, the pleas for Jonathan to join the race has received a spiritual backing, with the prediction that, “God has decreed that Jonathan will be President again,” as relayed via Senior Pastor Felix Aluko of the Resurrected Assembly (GROM).

    Pastor Aluko’s emphatic that Jonathan will win the 2023 presidency, but only if he runs on the platform of the APC, which’s exactly what Jonathan’s handlers have been trumpeting.

    “The Lord has said that his (Jonathan’s) chapter in the PDP has been closed and a new chapter of his political journey has been opened, not in the PDP, but in APC,” Pastor Aluko claims.

    “God said that Jonathan should not listen to detractors but should move out from their crowd and follow His counsel. The finger of God is pointing at him to become the Nigerian president come 2023.

    “And that can only be fulfilled if he decides to follow the will of God and leave the political party where he is now, and move to the APC… That this is the set time for his return to Aso Rock and he should not let the opportunity slip away from his own hands.

    “Jonathan should not dilly-dally for too long on the issue but to take the bull by the horn (sic) by immediately moving into the APC where the key to the fulfilment of his presidential ambition lies.

    “That he is the only qualified presidential candidate among other aspirants. He is the person who will unite a country, which has been seriously polarised along religious and ethnic lines… He will be like a compromise candidate who will be accepted generally.”

    Will Jonathan fall for the bait? Yes, says Dr Reuben Ababi, former spokesman for Jonathan’s presidency, who posted on his Facebook page that, “Ex President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted to join the APC to pursue his presidential ambition.”

    But in a riposte, Pastor Reno Omokri, another former aide to Jonathan, countered Abati’s statement, saying, “At best it is a figment of the imagination of the famous journalist.”

    Coming amid these counter-claims is Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), stating that section 137(3) of the amended 1999 Constitution has barred Jonathan from seeking re-election.

    The section provides: “A person who was sworn in to complete the term for which another person was elected as President shall not be elected to such office for more than a single term.”

    Jonathan, as vice president, was sworn-in in 2010 to complete the first-term tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and thereafter, stood for and was elected president in 2011.

    Jonathan’s handlers have labelled Falana’s timely reminder as a misinterpretation of the Constitution, and insisted Jonathan would run. So, it’s Jonathan’s choice between inordinate hunger for power and retaining his sanity, credibility, reputation and global stature.

     

    Mr Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • FEC approves N1.4bn to boost electricity supply

    FEC approves N1.4bn to boost electricity supply

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N1.4 billion for the supply of more equipment for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to boost electricity supply across the country.

    The Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, made this known when he briefed State House Correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the council, presided by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja.

    He said: “I presented two memos from the ministry of power for the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

    “The first one was a variation of the sum of a contract for 132/33 KV substation at Kafanchan, Kaduna State, with a KV line base extension at Jos substation, in Plateau State. This is in the sum of N132, 705, 861.42.”

    The minister said the second approval he got was for the supply of handling equipment and operational vehicles also for the Transmission Company of Nigeria at the cost of N1.3 billion.

    “The second memo was for the supply of handling equipment, haulage and operational vehicles for the TCN at N1,338,159,080.88.

    “They are heavy lifting equipment that the TCN requires for doing its work in the store and on the field, while changing equipment and moving transformers.

    “The council graciously approved,” he said.

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, announced that the council approved some fees for seeds production in the country.

    According to him, the council approved N400,000 per variety for private seed company and N100,000 per variety for research institutions.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also disclosed that the council approved an augmentation of N317.7 million for Pategi Water Supply project phase 11 in Kwara.

    He said the project was initially awarded in 2018 by the Buhari administration at the cost of N3.2 billion with a completion period of 74 months.

  • Pandemic Putin’ power play [3] – By Biola Sobowale

    Pandemic Putin’ power play [3] – By Biola Sobowale

    By Biola Sobowale

    “History does not repeat itself; man does” – Barbara Tuchmann, Harvard University History Professor.

    Tuchmann is the world leading historian on 13th and 14th century Europe. I read one of her books years ago; packed full with the bloodshed brought about by ambitious men (and some women) over 200 hundred years. It is difficult to fault her conclusion that human beings down the ages continue to repeat the same mistakes; commit the same blunders and water the soil with the blood of fellow humans – for vainglory.

    This third part in the series PANDEMIC PUTIN’S POWER PLAY represents an interlude for three reasons. First, as a guest on the SATURDAY VANGUARD, I don’t want to wear out my welcome. Better to leave with some applause. Second, the Russia-Ukraine War is entering a phase which is familiar to those of us who have read a lot of history of wars from times before Christ. I will describe the new phase and what we should reasonably expect from now on. Third, I want to use the break to go to the library and my books in order to improve on what went before – when I resume.

    A GLANCE AT THE PAST TWO WEEKS

    “Liars ought to have good memories” – Algernon Sydney, 1622-1683.

    Algernon lived long before Putin’s war started. So, he never knew the current Russian Foreign Minister. In part 1, readers were reminded about what I wrote about Ambassadors (including ours). “An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for his country.” (Henry Wolton). The point was made that the Russian Foreign Minister was probably never honest because dictators don’t like honest people around them.

    Turkey decided to mediate the dispute. On the eighth day of the war, the two ambassadors met in Istanbul. Most of the whole world was astonished when the Russian ambassador, with a straight face announced that “Russia has not invaded Ukraine”. I was not surprised. The man was not addressing the whole world; he was talking to Putin. His survival does not depend on what the rest of us think. It is what Putin thinks that matters to him. And, if Putin wants him to disgrace himself publicly, so be it. He will gladly do it. At any rate, in war, truth is frequently the first casualty.

    SETBACKS FOR PUTIN AND MORE BLOODSHED TO FOLLOW

    “Anybody can start a war; but, nobody can predict how and when it will end” – American Army General, 1970.

    Putin should have read WAR AND PEACE written by his late fellow countrymen, Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910. it was about Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821, and his invasion of Russia. Napoleon already had most of Europe under his boots; he wanted more. Specifically, he wanted Russia added to his empire; and to make it more attractive as a prize, it was very big and very weak. It would require no more than a few weeks to subdue it. So, he marched into Russia. Two years after, as the few surviving French soldiers were heading back to France, Napoleon uttered the famous words. “From the sublime to the ridiculous is but one step.” The Russians won the war almost without firing a shot. They just made Napoleon and his mighty forces to wear themselves out.

    Putin could also have learnt from Russia’s and America’s misadventure in Afghanistan – when Russia invaded the country and was chased out by a rag-tag army of the Taliban. On that occasion, victory was also regarded as easy to procure and assured. History did not repeat itself; men did.

    Obviously, in each instance mentioned (and there are dozens in history) the invader was defeated by hubris, by complacence and the feeling that the weaker side had no alternative than to surrender. We have observed this sort of thing in Boxing tournaments. A Foreman or Mike Tyson, who had knocked out his previous opponents within five rounds, finds himself in the ring with an opponent in the seventh round. Panic sets in; fatigue also. Russia is now experiencing the consequences of over-confidence.

    UKRAINE ADOPTS GUERILLA TACTICS TO PROLONG THE WAR

    “The enemy advances; we retreat; the enemy camps; we harass; the enemy tires; we attack; the enemy retreats; we pursue“ – Late Chinese Chairman Mao Tse-tung, 1893-1976.

    Mao, the supreme revolutionary, wrote the book on guerrilla warfare and how to conduct it if one’s side cannot engage in frontal attack. Central to the strategy is patience; which means the weaker wears out the stronger by letting the conflict drag on for as long as possible. The adventure becomes more expensive than envisaged and the invader’s people suffer more than expected. This is the stage of the war in Ukraine now. It has become a waiting game.

    I am writing this interlude on Day 20 of Putin’s war. That is approximately ten days longer than Purin expected this war to last. By surrounding Ukraine with overwhelming force for weeks, before invasion, he had expected capitulation without a shot being fired. He was shocked by the defiance. Yet, all Mr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President and his military advisers did was to do to Russia in 2022, what Russia did to France over 200 years ago. They planned a methodical evacuation of the women and children to other countries; and left ghost towns and cities for the Russians.

    Furthermore, they ensured that their armed forces are scattered in small, mobile fighting units – each supplied with sophisticated weapons, missiles and deadly drones. They retreat when the Russian forces advance ( the USA and NATO keep them informed of all Russian movements); then launch an attack at the back of the Russians or ambush them; harass them when they rest and escape as fast as they could.

    This has produced two results. One, as the casualty figures reveal, the Russians have killed more civilians than Ukrainian military men. So, Ukraine has so far kept most of its fighters alive. Two, out of frustration, Putin is forced to attack more civilian structures – hospitals, residential buildings and schools. The attacks on those targets induce more global financial and military support for Ukraine and more hatred for Russians. These are two of the many unexpected consequences of the situation in which Russia finds itself now. But, there is a third one which raises long term concerns; as well as the possibility that, contrary to what most people thought after World War II, World War III might occur in this century sooner than we think.

    GERMANY RE-ARMAMENT, NEW ARMS RACE BEGINS

    “A week is a long time in politics” – British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

    If a week was a long time in the 1970s, when Wilson was the Prime Minoster of Great Britain, then it is like eternity now. As the war entered its 20th day, one of the most dreaded consequences occurred. Germany, which hitherto, had been trying to develop a closer relationship with Russia, had reversed itself. Remembering the old maxim, “if you want peace prepare for war”, the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, this week announced that his government will increase military spending by $100bn as a prelude to making greater efforts to re-arm Germany. Scholz has not said it categorically, but Germany can see very clearly that nobody will come to its defence if Russia decides to attack. Better to take the fate of the nation in their own hands and not depend on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO or the USA.

    That shift in policy by Germany must send shock waves throughout the world – not just Europe. The world’s fourth largest economy and the biggest in Europe, has a long history which creates fear in the minds of other nations once it embarks on re-armament. In the 19th century, in the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-1871, in which Germany was led by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898, was the bloodiest war ever in Europe – up to that time. Bismarck, known to history as “Iron and blood”, did not earn the nick name for nothing. He left the world with a statement carved on stone. “Not by speech-making and the decisions of majorities, will the great questions of the day be settled – that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood.” The world saw more razor sharp blades of bayonets spilling more blood in that war than any time in history.

    As it turned out, that was only a rehearsal. Germany was again at war during the first World War, WWI, 1914-1918. Far more blood was shed than during the previous century. When it ended a horrified world declared it “a war to end all wars”. They forgot to ask Germany.

    Adolf Hitler, German Chancellor, as we have noted in the first two parts of this series, had other ideas. World War II started in 1936 and ended in 1945 – started by Germany. Again, another world record was created in terms of “iron (read weapons) and blood (read millions of people slaughtered). If we are to rely on historical precedents, then we must conclude that every German arms build up is only waiting for a Bismarck or Hitler to start a war.

    Germany has been quiet since 1945 while other nations – US, Britain, Israel, Iran, Iraq etc — have had their turns spilling blood. And, for a while, it appeared as if, like a dormant volcano, it might never erupt again. Now comes Putin’s war; and the “giant” has woken up once again. Putin and I will probably not be around when a newly-armed Germany engages Russia for a rematch of the WWII conflict. It has the means to prepare for one.

    “Endless money forms the sinews of war” – Cicero, 106-43 BC.

    Putin now reminds me of the big bully who once picked a fight with a smaller fellow years ago. In the process of fighting, they woke up the strongest man in the neighbourhood. The first person he dealt a dirty slap was the bully. German re-armament is not aimed at Ukraine, Belgium, Finland etc. Russia will receive the first slap when it is ready.

    Because endless money usually can procure a lot of arms Russia is at a distinct disadvantage. Germany is richer. Its Gross Domestic Product is $3.693 trillion compared with Russia’s $1.578 trillion. Germany has decided to use its enormous economic advantage to pursue balance of power in Europe in order to secure peace for itself. Unfortunately, the verdict of history does not support Russia or Germany. Here is the reason.

    “If the phrase of the ‘balance of power’ is to be always an argument for war, the pretence for war will never be wanting, and peace can never be secure.”

    John Bright, 1811-1889. Speech in the House of Commons, March 31, 1854.

    Putin might have inadvertently started a German against Russian war in the future by invading Ukraine now.

    WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PUTIN’S WAR

    “It is possible to forecast anything except the future.” Neils Bohr, 1885-1962.

    I agree with Bohr, a Danish physicist, up to a point. Nobody can accurately forecast everything in the future. But, human beings, in times of great uncertainties and danger, still want to have some idea about what to expect tomorrow or next month or next year etc in order to make decisions today. That is why we have history and experience to guide us – however imperfectly. So, below briefly are some of the things we should expect.

    1. Unless Russia can secure victory within a few weeks, Putin will become more desperate than he is right now; and a wider war might follow. Already, Russian forces, finding the Ukranians tougher to subdue than expected are attacking civilians – women and children. That is a demonstration of cowardice (Tyson biting his opponents ear); not courage. They are also committing war crimes. That means they are demoralised.

    2. In today’s world of instant reporting of battles, billions of people worldwide are witnessing Russian atrocities – LIVE. The country is rapidly becoming a pariah nation. Others will want to dissociate themselves from it.

    3. Putin had better win this war. Otherwise, he will soon discover that nobody can play god at will. His place in history is already mostly decided. The Russian economy has been clobbered. It is ranked number eleven today; it will certainly slide after this and remain lower in rank for years. Some of the multi-nationals which left will not return soon.

    More importantly, in less than twenty years, Germany might become, once again, the strongest military power in Europe. Prepare for World War III.

    4. A global economic recession will follow the disruption of commercial activities all over the world. No country ever enjoys the cooperation of the world for getting everybody in trouble.

    5. Nigeria, already facing enormous challenges, before Putin’s war will move closer to the brink of disaster – unless drastic steps are taken to stimulate the economy. As has been said in the past, every crisis contains a mixture of problems and opportunities. We still have opportunities waiting to be exploited. For instance, we don’t have as much housing shortage as we think. We can crash rents and put more money in peoples’ pockets to stimulate aggregate demand and consumption. The Federal Government can increase revenue generated considerably and reduce imports.

    6. This war will not solve any problem; most likely, it will create new ones. It is the wrong war, in the wrong place and wrong time; as well as wrong reason. Mankind’s search for perpetual peace will not come to an end as a result of this war. Certainly not.

    LAST LINE: I take a break, unless there is a significant development.

  • [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: The power of intentionality

    [Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: The power of intentionality

    By Oke Chinye

    Read: Ephesians 5:15-21

    Meditation verse:

    “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15).

    ‘Intentionality’ is the fact of being deliberate or purposive. Synonyms include considered, planned, prearranged, predetermined, and thought out in advance.

    Being intentional is a philosophy and can be a way of life. When a person is intentional, he or she makes decisions and take actions based on what is important to them. The quality of their mental state (thoughts, beliefs, desires and will) is directed towards some object or state- this becomes their default position. Being intentional does not occur by happenstance. It is a choice you must make. And you can be intentional about any and everything. You can be intentional about being happy in which case your thoughts, beliefs and actions align with what makes you happy. You can be intentional about being on time. You can be intentional about achieving excellence in all your affairs.

    The apostle Paul lived life based on this philosophy. One time he said “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I should become disqualified. Another time, he said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you” (Philippians 3:13-15).

    Being intentional is a primary ingredient for success in life. It entails being clear upfront about what you want to achieve and being willing to pay whatever price is needed to achieve it. Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying “People do not wander around and then find themselves at the top of Mount Everest.”. Intentionality is a mindset which you must adopt if you want to accomplish your goals this year.

     

    IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

    For Prayers and Counseling email rockteachingministry@gmail.com

    or call +2348155525555

    For more enquiries, visit: www.rockteachingministry.org.

  • Nigeria bids for nuclear power to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity

    Nigeria bids for nuclear power to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity

    Nigerian government hinted that it had opened bids to get approval for the construction of Nuclear power plants that can generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity to the length and breadth of the country.

    Dr Yau Idris, Director General, Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), made the disclosure while speaking at the ongoing Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja.

    Idris said: “It is wrong to think that Nigeria can’t manage a nuclear power plant.

    “There are mechanisms put in place that ensure any country can build a nuclear power plant.

    “Nigeria is trying to deliver 4,000MW of electricity through nuclear power. We are trying to construct four units and we are at the bidding stage.”

    He said Nigeria had been trying to diversify its energy sources since 1977, stressing that the additional 4,000MW would increase the country’s generation capacity to about 13,000MW.]

    According to him, the plant would be the largest power plant in Nigeria if the bids are successful and construction is completed.

    Idris said the regulatory agency has signed agreements with Russia, Pakistan, France and South Korea to build the capacity of its staff in manning the nuclear plants.

  • Gov. Ayade supports power shift to Cross River South

    Gov. Ayade supports power shift to Cross River South

    Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River has reiterated his desire to support Cross River South Central Senatorial District to produce the next governor of the state in 2023.

    Ayade stated this on Wednesday while interacting with journalists in Calabar.

    He said that for fairness and equity, it was natural and just to support the South to produce the next governor of the state in 2023.

    According to him, ‘politics with ethics’ implies natural justice and fairness with a view of giving all the zones in the state a sense of belonging to feel the taste of political power.

    “In 2015, I went round to campaign and in the process, I told the people to vote for me that in 2023 power will return to the South.

    “The governorship slot started from the South, it moved to Central and then to the North; it’s fair that power returns to the South again for equity and fairness,” said.

    On his industrialisation agenda, Ayade said that the state chicken processing factory “Chalachika” was now producing chickens at optimal capacity and at an affordable price.

    “As Cross River indigenes, our future lies in the ongoing Bakassi deep seaport project, the exploitation of our carbon resources and many others.

    “As the governor, I am happy that I have industrialised the state with various industries that are adding value to the growth of the state.

    “Today, we have the garment factory, the poultry factory, the noodles factory, the rice seedlings factory, the cotton factory, among others,” he added.

    He urged residents of the state to support his administration by contributing their quota to the growth of the state.

  • Direct primaries will end short cut to power – Abe

    Direct primaries will end short cut to power – Abe

    Former representative of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has advocated the need for Nigerians to support the passage of the Electoral Act by members of the National Assembly.

    Abe made the call during a courtesy visit on the Natural and Paramount Ruler of Barako Ancient Community, His Royal Highness (Mene), Comrade, Kadilo Kabari (Gbere Doo-mee VII & Menebon Barako) over the weekend at Barako in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

    The Senator insisted that the anticipated signing of the Electoral Act by President Muhammadu Buhari will end all shortcuts to power and indeed return power to the people.

    He went further to say that ultimately the process of INEC supervised direct primaries will reduce cost of organizing elections in Nigeria.

    Abe said: “Elections are not expensive; it is the behaviour of people that destroyed the electoral process in our country that has made elections become expensive.

    “This electoral Act, if signed by Mr. President will give Nigeria a new beginning and new opportunities for Nigerians to actually reap the dividends of democracy because there would be no shortcut to power anymore.”

    He decried a situation where principal stakeholders who ought to be architects of sustainable democracy are those responsible for its chaotic and expensive practice.

    Abe said: “The elections are expensive in our country today because all those who should take part in the process, all those who are expected to support the process are the ones working against it.

    “Ordinarily, election is a clerical job. All you need is a Polling Clerk, Presiding Officer and Party Agents and they will conduct an election that will produce the kind of result that will be difficult to contest in Court if we allow them to work.

    “But, when those who should take part in the process are the ones hiring buses, planning thuggery, bringing Police and Army, all these contribute to make the election process to be expensive, cumbersome and disputed.

    The Senator who was also a member of the 7th and 8th Senate insisted that a credible electoral process in Nigeria will change the attitude of politicians.

    He said: “When politicians know that their fate in an election will be dependent on the people’s vote, they will behave differently. INEC supervised direct primaries is the way to go.”

    Earlier, the Barako Monarch thanked the Senator for the visit as well as his tremendous impact via many developmental projects in Barako Community with the most recent being the FERMA road entering the community and the NDDC casted road leading to the Community Secondary School and Health Centre.

    Mene Kadilo Kabari congratulated Senator Abe on his conferment as MENE SUANU 1 OF OGONI by the Chairman of the Supreme council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, King Godwin Gininwa.

  • African General overthrows himself and retains power, By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa

    AFRICAN coup generals were at work this week. It must really require geniuses to dictate to a people; so they need a lot of rest. But they sprouted from their epileptic life on Monday, October 25, 2021.

    The day began with Sudanese dictator, General Abdel al-Fattah al-Burhan organising a coup to overthrow a regime he has dictated to since 2019, and, retained his powers as the Sudanese defacto leader.

    That same evening, his mentor in Egypt, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after killing over 1,000 protesters, abandoning President Mohammed Morsi to die in prison by denying him required medical care, holding thousands in detention and sentencing some to death, decided to be magnanimous.

    He lifted a four-year state of emergency he had imposed in 2017 under which Egyptians were taken off the list of people who are entitled to fundamental human rights! His excuse for formalising his emergency rule were two attacks on churches. He had made no sacrifices in the Egyptian peoples protests that unseated the dictator, Hosni Mubarak, during which 846 people lost their lives.

    He made no contributions in the struggle for full democracy under the Morsi administration. But opportunistically positioned himself to seize power and now thinks he can talk down on the people about patriotism and moving the country forward.

    This same Monday, Colonel Assimi Goita who has two stars for each coup he has successfully executed in Mali, expelled the Special Representative of the regional Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Hamidou Boly giving him 72 hours to leave the country. The regime stated: “The government of the Republic of Mali has decided to declare the ECOWAS special representative in Mali persona non grata, in view of his actions that are incompatible with his status.”

    All three trending coup plotters led neo-colonial armies that like parasites, opportunistically fed on the mass disenchantment and protests of their people. In Sudan, the people had gotten fed up with the regime of Omar al-Bashir and in 2019, held a peaceful sit-in opposite the military headquarters. The angry regime sent troops to end the protests by force, killing 127 protesters. But the Bashir government claimed it did not kill more than 87 of them.

    What was important was not the number murdered but that the regime could carry out a massacre of the Sudanese people. More protests followed leading to the murder of a total 240 Sudanese.

    This led to a balance of forces in the streets with the regime unable to govern any longer and the people having not taken over the reins of state power. It was at this point opportunistic elements in the military on April 11, 2019 claiming to be on the side of the people, pushed Bashir aside.

    Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, led a military council which claimed the military was not interested in being in power and that the people who had staked their lives, would determine the new civilian leadership. After a day, Auf announced he was resigning and named General Abdel al-Fattah al-Burhan as his replacement. But the people were not impressed, they demanded a transfer of power to a transitional civilian government and an end to military rule.

    The military seemed to have had the impression that the people were just tired of seeing Bashir’s face, not that they are opposed to dictatorship or wanted to take their destiny in their hands. General al-Burhan dug in as Chairman of the Transitional Military Council promising to hand-over power to elected civilians within two years.

    Burhan ‘s first trip as Head of State in May 2019 was to his mentor, el-Sisi, the Egyptian Pinochet. The next was to the UAE monarchy while his deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, visited the Saudi monarchy. None of these threesome are lovers of democracy or peoples’ power.

    It is uncertain what the new Sudanese dictators learnt or were taught on these trips, but they came back determined to crush the peoples’ power in the streets. The generals from June 3, 2019, ordered the armed forces, special forces and the vicious militias including the infamous Janjanweed to take out the protesters. On that day, scores of protesters were murdered in Khartoum; about forty corpses dumped in the Nile River, ladies were raped in the streets and hundreds tortured.

    Despite this extreme brutalisation and mass murders, the people held the streets, forcing General Burhan and his fellow-travellers to accept a transition power sharing arrangement with the civil populace. Mr. Abdalla Hamdok became Prime Minister. It was agreed that a Sovereignty Council under which al-Burhan would continue to lead for another 20 months, rather than step down as planned in February 2021, was established.

    But like General Ibrahim Babangida in Nigeria who after seizing power, promised a return to civil rule in 1990, but failed, then fixed new dates of 1992, January 1993 and August 1993 until forced out of power, al-Burhan and his fellow generals have not kept to the transition date.

    Finally, on Monday, General al-Burhan staged a coup against himself and retained power while detaining the civilian component of the government including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdock.

    There has been worldwide condemnation of the newest coup in Africa with the United Nations Security Council wrangling for some time to reach a compromise on the ‘unacceptable’ situation in Sudan.

    But coups in Africa are becoming like designer wears; African and world leaders condemn a coup if it is not from their fashion houses, or accept them if it is. For instance, the African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki has been quick to condemn the Sudanese coup, which is highly commendable, but has been silent on the coup in his native Chad which occurred six months earlier.

    The Nigerian government that condemned the coups in Mali and Guinea is the same government that rolled out the red carpet for General Mahamat Deby that carried out the Chadian coup in which he sacked the executive and made that country’s legislature, history.

    It is the same United States that has threatened sanctions against the coup plotters in Khartoum, that welcomed the bloody el-Sisi coup in Egypt, warmly welcomed the dictator to the White House with then President Donald Trump hailing the Butcher of Cairo as “my favourite dictator.”

    It is the same African leaders who were deadly silent when democratically elected President Robert Mugabe was overthrown in Zimbabwe, that can be seen weeping that the military has toppled governments in Mali, Guinea, and now Sudan.

    So long as the legendary international community engages itself in selective amnesia on coups in Africa, or in deed in any part of the world, so would the Sisi, Burhan and Assimi Goita boys club of professional coup plotters continue to expand.

     

  • Independence: #ThePlatform convener, Poju Oyemade blasts Nigerian politicians, says only thing they understand is how to get and hold power

    Independence: #ThePlatform convener, Poju Oyemade blasts Nigerian politicians, says only thing they understand is how to get and hold power

    The Senior Pastor of The Covenant Nation, Lagos, Pastor Poju Oyemade, has asked the Federal Government to invest in the nation’s education sector and the vocational training of Nigerians.

    He made the call on Friday in Abuja during The Platform’s Independence Anniversary event, an annual programme that features professionals from different fields.

    According to him, wealthy nations only focus on developing the skills of their citizens and those who are capable of doing things that only a few people on the earth can do.

    Nations that have developed their citizens’ skills, he said, attract material capital with a special focus on the unseen while other countries focus on the seen.

    “If we really know what the wealth is, then the first thing we will look at for in this country is our educational system,” he said.

    “The second thing we will look out for is how much specialised vocational training is going to produce highly skilled people.”

    Oyemade, citing a recent report, said some countries (including Nigeria) have governing policies that give a negative intangible capital.

    He faulted Nigerian politicians who only understand the language of power and how to sustain it, decrying the level of corruption level in the country.

    “The only two things politicians – who are the decision makers – understand is how do we get to power and the second language they understand is, ‘if we are in power, how do we hold unto it?’” Oyemade said.

    “This is the language and voices that politicians who can change things understand. Once they understand that these are the ideas that will make them gain power, they will implement them. It has very little to do with compassion but with power.”

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that Pastor Oyemade, who is the convener of the Platform, was the keynote speaker at the event.

    Others speakers included the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Jumoke Oduwole; Lagos State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Samuel Egube; and a former Chairperson of the Democratic Party (US), Donna Brazile,

    Chief Economist with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Professor Fred Oyewale; the Co-founder/CEO of Indicina – a FinTech infrastructure start-up focused on Africa, Yvonne Johnson; a writer and accountant, Feyi Fawehinmi, were also part of the programme.

  • Our aspiration is for APC to be in power for the next 50 years – Ex-governor

    Our aspiration is for APC to be in power for the next 50 years – Ex-governor

    Former governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has said leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) must work together for the party to remain in power for 50 years.

    Sheriff, who stated this while addressing newsmen on Sunday, September 26, in Abuja said critical stakeholders of the ruling party must unite to sustain the party at the expiration of President Buhari’s tenure in 2023.

    The three-time Senator, who is also a contender for the APC national chairmanship declared that APC needs a rugged captain for the party to retain power at the centre for the next 50 years.

    “Today, as a party we are only six years in government, our aspiration is for the APC to be in government in the next 30 to 40, 50 years. Doing that doesn’t come on a platter of gold, we need to put in hard work. Therefore, I believe it is important for me to reach out to all leaders of our party; the youths, the women, different organizations to tell them that we must come together to get our party to run for the next 30, 40, 50 years by the grace of God

    “And doing that you need a rugged captain, you don’t need a captain that will capsize. A ship has to be navigated by a knowledgeable person who knows the waters and I believe I can do that for our party if given the opportunity by party men and women who are the decision-makers. There are so many people in the field but you can look at everybody and see where you can put your deposit. We don’t want a bank that will collapse after a short period. So, I have been going around the country

    “I have been away, traveling from one state to the other and I will continue doing that until everybody in our party is consulted. I meet them in their homes to say that, yes I want to run for the National Chairmanship of this party and I believe I can lead us well because party politics is different”, he stated.