POWER IS TOO EPHEMERAL!

Who could have imagined in his wildest dream that the medicine man of Otta, Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo would one day be so sidelined from power that his daughter Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello will be hiding in a basement somewhere trying to evade arrest by EFCC for her role in a 300million Naira corruption scandal?

Now who could have imagined that an "ordinary" Abuja chief magistrate court would order the arrest of the national coordinator of Police Equipment Foundation (PEF) and a brother in-law of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Kenny Martins, over allegations against him bordering on fraud and misappropriation of N50 billion meant for the purchase of police equipment.

Who could also imagine that Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo's own title "UBANYAKIN ZURU" could be taken away from him and bestowed on his former jailed-enemy, Retired General Bamayi by the Gwandu Emirate of Zuru? Emir of Zuru, Alhaji Muhammadu Sani Sami Zuru disclosed that the emirate council has withdrawn the traditional title of Uban Yaki conferred on former President Olusegun Obasanjo and conferred same on the former jailed Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ishaya Bamayi.

Not this blogger in his farthest dream! That men could go to the extent they go in search of power even if it means dining with the proverbial devil just to get it is beyond every sensible imagination of this blogger. This is so because of the ephemeral nature of power and Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo is a living example of a man presently without power, who has fallen from grace to grass. Gradually but surely, the matching boots of the arresting enforcers of the state are closing their distance from his Otta farms to finally seal up his faith as a powerless ex-dictator. That Obasanjo will be arrested, is just a matter of time. And Arewa Consultative Forum has also decreed so!

Now the former chairman of PDP and one of the henchmen of Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Ahmadu Ali is also piling up on Obasanjo. This is very regrettable because this very Dr Ali been an Obasanjo man-friday since the seventies when he served Obasanjo's regime as Education Minister and earned the infamous "Ali must go" war cry of rioting NANS students. How is the mighty fallen and why is everybody deserting this Titanic? It is the foolery of men of power who think that they are beloved only to be left marooned when the power goes out!

If anyone has been wondering why the death grip on power which African leaders has been known for, they should look no further but at Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo. Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo is a case study that once you are out of power, you become a mere sitting quarry whom the new men of power can decide to "incinerate" at any time. In other words such an ex-leader is chased away into the jungle where he is left at the mercy of vapid vampires eager at the slightest sign of weakness or vulnerability to make a mince meat out of such a walking cadaver. Imagine Zuru Emirate Council stripping an Olusegun Obasanjo of a title which they had hitherto conferred on him; and just to spite him further, re-conferred that same title on an Obasanjo-jailed enemy General Bamayi. Bamayi it would be recalled has been a prison-guest of Olusegun Obasanjo, throughout his presidency, but was recently freed from detention after eight years of just awaiting trial. In essence Bamayi was in detention throughout Obasanjo’s eight years in office between 1999 and 2007, only to be finally set free because the grounds for his initial detention was frivolous.

And Icheoku would like to ask, how does one get compensated for a lost eight years of his life especially when there was no basis both in law and in fact for the initial detention and loss of liberty?

GANI FAWEHINMI IS SICK!

Please pray for him and remember him in your prayers! The Senior Advocate of the Masses(SAM), the social crusader/critic, the tormentor of all the oppressive governments of Nigeria, the only man in Nigeria whom the evil genius ex-Head of State of Nigeria, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida himself admitted has no price because he could not be compromised; a trailblazer and revolutionary of Nigeria law review publications, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, legal luminary and publisher, human rights advocate extra-ordinaire, humanitarian, philanthropist, educationist, benefactor, watchdog, the uncompromising truth seeker and detector - Chief Gani Fawehinmi is sick! He has cancer of the lungs which was recently diagnosed in London after all the "quack" medical facilities in Nigeria could not correctly diagnose what was ailing him over a period of time; but instead were all over the map with their inaccurate trial and error diagnosis including one of heart trouble/disease.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN, is a fighter and with our collective prayers he will surely overcome this illness which fortunately has not metastasized. We at "Icheoku" wish him a speedy recovery. Please pray for him as he battles this ravenous monster called cancer. Remember he is about the only remaining real-deal human rights activist whom all the monstrous authorities and henchmen in Nigeria still fear and revere. If he exits now, these urchins will have a field day and we pray it never happens. His other compatriots, Beko, Fela, Tai Solarin, Ken Saro-Wiwa etc are all gone without seeing any much positively change in Nigeria. Gani could be an exception with our concerted prayers for him, to support his fighting chance during this trying times, that God may forgive him and heal him, in Jesus name, AMEN!

WHO KILLED THIS MAN?

His name was Bolaji Ige. He was a lawyer who attained the preeminent legal pinnacle of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) which is equivalent to the Queens Counsel (QC) in Britain. He was also also a politician and was a governor of a state in Nigeria called Oyo State. The disgraced former despotic ruler by fiat of Nigeria, Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, invited him to serve in his "regime" as Energy Minister and later Justice Minister of Nigeria. It was while he was serving his fatherland in this later capacity that he was killed by invading "marauders" and in his country home while eating dinner with his wife and children.

It has been several years now since the sad incident but no one has been arrested, indicted and/or convicted for the gruesome homicide. This lackadaisical, wilful indifference and/or foot-dragging with which the investigation into his death is going by the government, feeds the school of thought theorists which posits that his death was sanctioned by the highest authority in the land. Thus our quest, as we pontificate "who killed this man"? As a serving Minister of Justice of Nigeria, he was the head of all the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria and by his accomplishments both in the legal field and politics, he was not a plebeian but a man of paramount stature whose murder could not be possible except it was sanctioned or otherwise approved at the highest authority then in Nigeria. The one and only then subsisting authority superior to this murdered man and who peradventure is the only person upon whose command and authorisation the murder of Bola Ige could have only been possible is no other person but the ex-president of Nigeria, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo. This man and and only him could have "authorised" or tacitly approved through wilful indifference the killing of his Justice Minister, Chief Bolaji Ige, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. If Aremu Obasanjo did not sign off on this cold murder, this blogger strongly believes that it would not have been possible or practicable considering the very high position, which the late Bola Ige occupied in the government. Also worrisome was the manner and circumstance of the killing which was so heinous and calculated for it to be just another accidental or chance killing in a crime prone country, Nigeria. This blogger takes this strong position because as a serving Justice Minister with his towering stature in the Nigerian society, and as a politician being a former governor of a state coupled with his accomplishments in law as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he had a security detail comparable to that of the President. It therefore does not make sense that the "beasts" that took Bola Ige's life could have easily penetrated his security condone and killed a sitting Justice Minister and to date no serious investigation has been carried out or anyone with probable cause to kill him yet arrested or charged or convicted. Only in Nigeria could this horrendous extermination of a sitting Justice Minister be possible.

For the reader of this blog to be able to make up his or her mind on the possible complicity or otherwise of the devil may care, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo in the killing of Bola Ige; he or she need to understand the circumstances surrounding this killing. Bola Ige as a serving Justice Minister was assigned about fourteen security details by the President himself in whom the prerogative lies to withdraw or pull them out as he may please. In other words the security details were answerable to the President and to him they owe utmost allegiance to. To date none of them has been arrested or charged concerning this death and no plausible explanation has been put forward to try to explain away their involvement or lack thereof. According to the narrative, Bola Ige was en route Abuja capital city, after an official engagement in Lagos, when he was persuaded to make a detour to his Ibadan country home that evening to call it a day. At his house, he was having dinner with his wife and children when some "hoodlums" came in through the door and pumped several bullets into his body with his wife and children watching their father and husband brutally murdered and before their own very eyes. As if this is not enough horror already, the "bandits" emptied several magazines inside his body and with the help of a stethoscope made sure he no longer breathed. Then here is the stunner, Bolaji Ige as a Justice Minister of no mean stature was assigned a fourteen man round the clock security detail - called MOPOL in Nigeria which to certain extent is comparable to America's SWAT team that sometimes doubles as a protection force for dignitaries. The government buffoonery of an explanation was that all these security men went out for their own dinner-break when these killers breached the compound perimeters and killed Bola Ige. But such story can only be told to the marines, period! It is no brainier. It does not make sense. It is so lame that you have to suspend disbelieve to believe it. It flies in the face of whatever is plausible and reasonably obtainable; that one is wont to ask, what was the use for a fourteen man security detail if not to provide a round the clock security condone around the subject to be protected? Why would all of the security detail then go to their dinner-break at the same time and the same very window the supposed "marauders" stormed into the residence and took his life. How did the "marauders" know the security details' minute operational details so much as to strike at the very time and window of opportunity in which they struck - when they all went to a "dinner break"? How far were their removal from the premises not to hear any altercation, the sound of the first gunfire, followed then by several other bullets being fired thereafter and then the final "Houdini escape" from the compound of the "bandits"; with none of them having been caught ever since. Did they disappear from the face of the earth since none was caught on the premises of Bola Ige's compound or in his city of Ibadan or his State of Oyo or his country of Nigeria or from any other place on planet earth, ever since.

Tell this blogger the government does not have any plausible explanation because they are looking at themselves while searching for the culprits. They are also looking in the mirror of their investigation and only seeing themselves because under the circumstances as narrated, there could not have possibly been any external intruder that night. It is is not right! It stinks! It cries to the high heavens! The most annoying aspect of the incident is that the always vociferous Yorubas whose son Bola Ige was, have been uncannily very taciturn regarding the pursuit of his killers or in demanding a thorough investigation thereto. This lack of desire to unmask the real killers of Bola Ige by the Yorubas is fuelling the school of thought theorists which posit that the then government headed by another of their kinsman, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo knew more than they are willing to admit of what happened to Bola Ige. The death of the Cisero of Oke-Ona, as he was fondly referred to, must be avenged. All those people or person who in anyway was an accomplice to his murder shall not know peace until they complete the process of absolution - they must confess, they must repent and they must face their penance if ever they want to find true peace in forgiveness. What was Bola Ige's offense that he must be killed and killed in front of his wife and children? What did Bola Ige do that he must be eliminated by fellow mortals? It is not like the approving authority for his killing will live forever and not someday die headed to the hottest place in Hades. A popular aphorism says that there are two types of evil people - those who do evil and those who condone evil. The Yorubas, for not forcefully agitating for the investigation and prosecution and possible conviction of the killers of Bola Ige are as such qualified. Something has to be done otherwise Bola Ige's death will go into the cold doldrums wherein Dele Giwa's death by parcel bomb has been since the eighties.

A president or head of state whose primary duty is to protect the citizens of the country, have turned into a blood-sucking vampire feeding on the crimson of her people and of their brightest minds. Dele Giwa was a seasoned investigative journalist and publisher; and Bola Ige was a well learned lawyer Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a successful politician. How could this happen and the silent majority are cowering in a fear-induced stupor simply because they do not want to also end up in the belly of the beast; but who lives forever, anyway? It is not right! Do not let the man in you die because of your silence! If everyone has been standing up to speak up against all the maladies prevalent in the Nigerian society, maybe some common sense would have been put into the heads of the so-called leaders and peradventure they would have stopped their evil deeds or at least try, in order for Nigeria to really move forward. It is a supreme duty call on all to speak up to empower the people to start looking for a way out of the woods wherein several years of maladministration has driven Nigeria into. My heart bleeds for Nigeria and the cowardly indifference of her populace leaves much to be desired; and this is the single most reason why their rulers ride them like donkeys or beast of burden who must perpetually obey without any complain. It is because of this disposition that an inept Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo could rule Nigeria twice and on both occasions failed Nigerians but has not been prosecuted for his atrocious misdeeds. It is about time, Nigerians take a stand against injustice, corruption, maladministration, state sanctioned murders and all the ills of society affecting her development and well being.

Whose turn next is it anyways? Nobody knows. If the sitting President, Police Chief and the Justice Minister cannot investigate what happened to Bola Ige, who is sure that the same cannibals will not strike again next time; which reminds me of the poem 'for whom the bell tolls'. The death of Bola Ige SHOULD be investigated and the culprit brought to justice and this position should be the chorus of every Nigeria particularly the Yorubas of Nigeria. Their continued silence regarding this does not portray Nigerians well especially the Yorubas who by their tacit silence are being perceived now as a people that eats one of their own. Can you imagine the hullabaloo and brouhaha they would have raised were Bola Ige to be serving under a Hausa or Igbo president when he was killed? Bola Ige was one of your own and belong to the Awoist school of politics and hence must not die unsung like a destitute. He deserves better than that. At least he earned the right for his death to be investigated and conclusively too. Bola Ige served Oyo State well as their governor in the second republic and he was also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Icheoku hereby states and for the records, that it is the right thing to do - to officially and formally invite Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo as well as then Inspector General of Police, Ehindero to tell Nigerians and the world all that they knew about the authorisation, plot and eventual murder of the former Justice Minister of Nigeria, Chief Bola Ige, SAN and the time is NOW!

CNN, NOT THIS TIME!

The Chinese won't take it! They are not Nigeria whose government lacked the necessary backbone to confront what the Chinese news agency referred to as a news terrorist organisation, CNN. The Cable News Network has on numerous occasions in the past maligned and disparaged Nigeria and Nigerians with their sometimes very biased "news" reportage or editorial or documentary of a jaundiced eye with which they see black men, Africa and Nigeria in particular. Look at the demeaning sneer of doll-baby Lou Dobbs and the vituperation he pours on every non white American both on his gig at CNN and his morning radio show on 9.10AM station; discussing his endless illegal immigration matter like his great forebears got visas from native Americans before breaching their shores into the new found land. It is also needless to mention that majority of the colored anchors on CNN have been sent "away" starting with the very award winning Bernard Shaw of the first Gulf war fame.

In their infamous documentary "How to rob a bank" CNN portrayed Nigerians in the United States of America as "criminals" who are engaging in all sorts of criminal behaviour especially fraudulent credit and bank activities. Majority of Nigerians in the United States are decent men and women whose home government has failed them and who are trying to eke a living; and while some of them have succeeded they are numerous others who are still to realise their fabled American dream. Then in between these two groups may be a handful of "deviants" whose infractions CNN has ballooned into a "criminality of a people". CNN ignored these honorable men and women but instead spent over ninety minutes of valuable airtime portraying a people as criminals. It was only at the tail end of the said documentary that CNN tangentially mentioned a few Nigerians who were showcasing their rich cultural heritage at an Independence party. It is also pointless to say that the so called ephemeral "positive" coverage was for less than five minutes of the entire documentary. It is always about sensationalism and their coverage of the Niger Delta of Nigeria freedom fighters caused a serious stir in the world of Nigerians in Diaspora. The relevant Nigeria Embassy officials were contacted to protest such an asinine coverage of a people and to demand an apology and a retraction from CNN but to no avail. CNN treated it as a news item and that they saw no need to apologise; Nigerians as well as their supposed officials cowered down. But the damage to reputation is already done and the stain will not easily wash away, if ever. The need or usefulness of a Nigeria Ambassador in the United States and/or diplomatic officials who could not forcefully protect her peoples' interest or her country's image leaves much to be desired.

Now, a beast of burden, the Chinese has been stirred and they are not taking it. They have demanded an apology and surely they will get it from CNN. This is a country whose diplomatic officials are worth every dime being spent on their missions. CNN's offence to the Chinese pales in comparison to the vicious, offensive and "criminal" documentary here above referenced. Jack Cafferty of Cafferty Files of CNN referred to Chinese leaders as a bunch of goons and thugs and to Chinese made products as junks. Quoting the said statement, he said "we continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export, you know, jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff we're buying from Walmart. So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed. I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last fifty years". China through her Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu protested to CNN saying "we are shocked by and strongly condemn the malicious attacks on the Chinese people by CNN's Cafferty. We demand CNN and Cafferty himself take back the malicious vile remarks and apologise to the Chinese people". So far CNN had tried to explain away the remark as not disparaging to the Chinese people but was merely referencing their leaders; but the Chinese authorities will not take any of that but insisted that CNN do more as well as Cafferty himself with a threat to close down CNN's Bureau in China.

The rat race is on and hopefully the Chinese will extract a tooth from CNN's mouth this time. It is called international pressure-cooker diplomacy and it is earned over a period of time. But when a country such as Nigeria is being ruled then by a despotic person in the person of Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo whose very corruption the entire world knows about and whom the world knows, strictly speaking does not have the real mandate of the people of Nigeria to rule them, then they see him and the country that tolerated his rule as a bunch of spineless people who could not muster enough vigour to mount any major offensive against CNN or mobilize the advertising corporation to boycott CNN. There is need for the goonbahs who have held Nigeria in a throttle-choke hold all these years to yield power and vacate the scene so that Nigerians can start having a real say in who governs them. This way, whenever there is an infra-dignity treatment meted to Nigeria or Nigerians, at least the government will know that her people will support every counter offensive measure it may deem fit and proper in response to such unwarranted rabidity against her people. It is called a government with real mandate. Is there any person the world over who is not proud of the drama playing itself out with the American Presidential primaries? It symbolises the beauty of a working democracy. Only in America! God Bless America! At the end of the day, whoever emerges will assert himself/herself as American President with authority to do everything necessary in the interest of the American people with conviction that his actions are sanctioned and will be supported by the populace, necessary implication being that where a sanction is called for it will be forcefully met. This somewhat collective responsibility, which the people feel by having freely elected their president and by extension their government, provides the government the much needed muscle to affect matters, including effective diplomacy.

Commentator's Note: we later realised that the Chinese have abstracted their pound of flesh from the ever bullish CNN; CNN have apologised to the Chinese as was demanded. According to sources, CNN issued an apology late on Friday April 18th 2007 stating that " it was not Mr. Cafferty's nor CNN's intent to cause offense to the Chinese people, and we would apologise to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way" - BUT THIS "ANYONE" DOES NOT INCLUDE NIGERIANS FOR THE DISPARAGING "HOW TO ROB A BANK" DOCUMENTARY!

BE AFRAID! BE REALLY AFRAID!

.....of these men! If you are a Nigerian and you have been wondering why things are the way they are, have been the same, with little likelihood they are going to improve, then take a serious look at these men - they are the reason why. If you are a Nigerian and your life is unfulfilled and you seem not to have any opportunity to make a headway in life, these men caused it. If you are a Nigerian and you feel so shortchanged in life, look at the faces behind your woes. These are the men who have brought about your condition because of their hapless leadership which led Nigeria to no where. These men are the reason Nigeria has stunted. They all at one time or another, ruled Nigeria and Nigeria has nothing to show for their inept leadership. They also have one thing in common - they have no real love for their country otherwise they would have made some very serious effort at bettering the lot of most Nigerians. They will jet out to European cities at the slightest headache or dislocation of joint or heart murmur to consult with specialists over there and tell the millions of ordinary Nigerians without such capacity "you are on your own". They could care less if any medical facility exists to take care of the millions of malaria victims therein and where sometimes some sort of a structure exists, there would be no medicals available. During their rule, Nigeria realized over $1000Billion dollars USD and where is the tangible evidence of this mind boggling revenue at work for Nigerians? Really there is nothing, nothing seriously speaking, to show for this humongous revenue. Their failure to provide a responsible leadership caused all the decadence, decay, lack of infrastructure, joblessness and very low ebb of morality pervading the country of which corruption is the mother of them all. It is very shameful indeed!

Whereas Nigerians may cut Umaru Yaradua some slack for being a new kid on the block with the jury still out on him; and Abdulsalam Abubakar for his less than one year transitional rule; Ernest Shonekan for the shortness of his rule which was just for about four months; Muritala Ramat Mohammed for his tenuous six months rule; Aguiyi Ironsi for his eight months rule and finally Nnamdi Azikiwe for being merely a ceremonial president, all the others are guilty as charged and liable to Nigerians for their lacklustre leadership. They did not inspire anyone; they lacked vision; they had no template or blueprint for where they would like Nigeria to go; they did not provide a road-map for navigating the nation into anywhere spectacular; they did not properly account for their stewardship and each of them had gazillion amount of money wasted or misappropriated or proliferated. In other words, they all failed the country intoto!

You should be afraid of these men because some of them are still very much around like the ghost of Mississippi and have transformed themselves into puppet masters pulling all the strings in Nigeria. We need God's intervention over them and NOW that Nigeria may seriously commence her recovery project in all honesty. This is so because as long as these men still manipulate the Nigeria nation state, Nigeria will never take flight but will only continue to revolve on a rotary axis - it will remain all motion and no movement. Each of these men have an unfinished agenda. Each of these men is entrenched in his failed position and will not tolerate any seismic shift in the way of doing things lest his vast vested interest be infringed upon. Until their ignominious exit from the Nigeria political landscape, Nigeria will never move forward. Gerry Rawlings of Ghana foresaw a likewise spindle and hence the cleaning of house which he carried out in Ghana; which enormously helped in accelerating the Ghanaian nationhood as well as her economy. By his action, Gerry Rawlings put Ghana on the right trajectory and today, Ghana has become the destination for African-visiting tourists and investors from all over the world. That something like power/light does not go off any longer in Ghana is a testimony of what is possible where the ground is cleared of all these stumbling blocks. How can a government spend over $16Billion dollars USD on power and yet blackouts still pervades the entire country? The other day, it was reported in the newspapers that power went off while the President, Umaru Yaradua was giving a keynote address somewhere? This defies all logic and Nigerians should start asking the tough questions and NOW! Would it take a Gerry Rawlings-like intervention to save Nigeria from itself? Sometimes it appears that the situation is becoming hopeless and pandemic that it is no longer coupists that are corrupt but even academia as typified by the disgraced former Minister of Health, Professor of Pediatric, Mrs Grange and the 300million Naira embezzlement scandal. If only Nigeria will be fortunate enough to witness the Ghana-type epiphany! Where is Nigeria's Gerry Rawlings, one may ask? General Babatunde Idiagbon under Buhari regime proved that it is possible to sanitize Nigeria; that decency is achievable in the Nigerian society once a leadership is able to motivate the populace and shows them a positive direction in that regard.

However, the two horned Lucifer among them is the medicine man of Otta, Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo - twice was he entrusted with piloting the ship state of Nigeria and twice did he run it aground. First was during his first missionary journey between 13th February 1976 and October 1st 1979 misadventure when he allegedly made away with then $2.8Billion dollars USD missing oil money; with which as suspected, he established Obasanjo Farms in Otta; and most recently from May 30th 1999 to May 7th 2007 during which period a yet to be determined amount, however in excess of $16Billion dollars USD as has so far been revealed by the probe of the power sector, has not been accounted for. He also established Bells University during this period, and built himself a "presidential library" which contains nothing of significant note and also a 250 room mansion and this is a man who was worth less than $200dollars USD at the time he took office in May 30th 199. For all his foibles, reckless abuse of trust, flagrant abuse of human rights of Nigerians as well as economic pillage of the country, Nigeria, the medicine man of Otta, Babalawo Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo is hereby declared by Icheoku as an enemy combatant of Nigerians! Shame on you OBASANJO! OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, ICHEOKU SAYS, SHAME ON YOU!

OBASANJO DESERVES SADAM HUSSEIN'S FATE?

If anyone was in doubt why the struggle for a third term by Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo was a do or die situation for him, this will clear it up! If anyone was still questioning why the erstwhile chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu deserved to go or the wisdom behind his reassignment to a policy school, this will also explain it; as the hitherto clean bill of health he gave to his mentor, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, clearing him of all corruption was ill conceived and not based on reasonable grounds whatsoever. The mask is now off and the face of corruption personified has been revealed in the person of Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo.

The news commentary titled " Probe noose tightens on Obasanjo" written by one Ikenna Emewu of Sun Newspapers, Nigeria is very insightful of the abyss wherein the medicine man of Otta, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo drove Nigeria into. Should Olusegun Obasanjo be held accountable for his atrocious regime? You bet! Should Olusegun Obasanjo be made to pay restitution for all the Nigeria State's misappropriated resources under his regime, speedily! Should Olusegun Obasanjo be sent back to prison wherein he came from to Aso Rock in June 1999, there is nothing wrong with this line of action; considering the flagrant abuse of human rights and economic pillage witnessed under his regime. As you have noticed, his government is herein referred to as a regime - this is because he ran a one man show, he operated as the king of the manor, the alpha and the omega whose wish must be carried out without any question. In other words, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo was imperial! He ruled Nigeria by fiat and terror was his beloved weapon of choice. Where is Attorney General Bola Ige, Funso Williams, and a retinue of other deads who mysteriously were killed under his regime? This army mechanic from Otta, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo deserves all that is being thrown at him, and this is simply the beginning of dirts yet to come his way. Let no eyelid bat should he end up back in prison where he came from or better still in the gallows for his crimes of extermination against the Odi community of Bayelsa State and genocide against the Zaki Ibiam people of Benue State. In the Philippines, the conviction of their erstwhile 73years old President Estrada for crimes while in office, shows that economic crimes is a serious crime against a people and Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo is as such, vulnerable. Please enjoy the chronicle of Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo's lack of love for country, Nigeria! Happy trails! What is your verdict? What do you think will be the most appropriate punishment for this megalomaniac despotic sadist? Please share your thoughts with Icheoku and together we shall fight the good cause - the ills of Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo's regime from June 1999 to May 2007! Always remember that silence is a tacit acquiescence so don't be a corroborator, take a stand and speak up! Here now following is the referenced news commentary:-

"Take an analysis of the contents of newspapers in the country in the past four months. By the time you have a closer observation of the news content, you would find out that matters relating to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president constitute the bulk of the news. But funny enough, most of those news items don’t say well of the man. Most times, with the exception of a social/moral scandal that was in a family nature, others have been on corruption, sleaze, truncating of due process and unhealthy details involving conducts in office. These allegations portray the man who crowned himself the guardian angel of anti-corruption in a pitiable light.

While Nigerians expected to see garlands for him when he leaves office as a reason of his loud mouthing of the war against corruption, it has been an antithesis.With these bad developments all around Mr. Ex-President, it is possible the future of his freedom from stains of confirmed corruption would soon get foggy and at last shattered. Obasanjo has been on the firing line for too long over the role of his government in condoning corruption and the disregard for order in official transactions when he was in Aso Rock. Although it had been very bad before now, but the probe of the power sector scandal under him actually ripped open the underbelly of eight years of institutionalized corruption. It has been the tenure of dirges at the House of Representatives as everyday of the panel’s sitting brings fresh news of how one man stole and the other caught him in the act. When we are not told of how contracts running into hundreds of millions of dollars were awarded and approval given on phone under a mango tree, we will go home with tales of how certain ‘sacrifices’ were offered in Aso Rock to appease some gods of that area who needed raw money in billions of naira to stay out of the way.

The barrage on the former president comes in all directions and there seem to be no hiding place for him. A little before President Umar Yar’Adua came to power, a prominent politician from Ogun State told a pressman in confidence that he is praying that Obasanjo hands over power to Yar’Adua. The reason for his prayer being that the pressure Nigeria will bring on the new president would be too much to bear and there will be no alternative to probing his days in office. While it looked like there would be a hiding place for Obasanjo from public fire, the probe of the power sector came like a bang, and the rump of the fowl looked bare and scorched. The tip on the power sector decay has triggered off a typhoon of other odds in almost all facets of that regime that bedeviled Nigeria for eight years. There seem to be one thing or another to probe in all major sectors of the former regime of Obasanjo.

NNPC: In about 2003, after the elections, Nigerians were confronted with a strong rumour that the Obasanjo’s government laundered money through the NNPC when Jackson Gaius-Obaseki was the head of that milking cow. The gist was that N320 billion missed their way from the coffers of NNPC, and many insisted that was the money funneled into Obasanjo’s presidential campaign in 2003.We heard then that the House of Representatives was set to probe Gaius-Obaseki’s tenure and what happened to the money. At last nothing came out of it, and the matter was buried as usual. In Obasanjo’s days, there were some contracts for turn-around maintenance for the refurbishing of the refineries in Kaduna and Port Harcourt. But at last, none of the contracts was done. Funny enough, at the eve of Obasanjo’s exit in 2007, he approved the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery to people believed to be his cronies at a sum far less than what he paid a contractor to refurbish it.Just last week, Engr. Lawal Yar’Adua, the GMD of NNPC lamented at the Kaduna Refinery at the commissioning of the rehabilitated facility that Obasanjo messed up the NNPC. He was specific to say that the former helmsman made sure good people were shut out in the management of the oil upstream sector, while he had preferences for acolytes who managed the place for personal interests.All the cries of Nigerians to relax the policy of import of refined petroleum products never touched the anti-corruption agent as those that got the license to import fuel were men of his kitchen cabinet.

PTDF: The worst public scam Nigeria ever witnessed was in the PTDF probe by the Senate. That probe was a mega waste where the Senate at last just patted Obasanjo on the back and lightly cautioned him to be more careful next time. Truly, they admitted he was wrong in his approach to approve monies for every kind of frivolous projects including a 607 car bought for her girlfriend according to Atiku Abubakar’s revelations. The same man was indicted for paying certain lawyer a staggering N250m as professional fee for the registration of a company, Galaxy Backbone that no Nigerian knows its destination till date. If this sector is to be probed now, there will be enough skeletons to fill a bottomless pit.

Ajaokuta Steel Company: That project which started in the 1970s remains the highest loss the state of Nigeria ever incurred. From inception till now, it has been from one tale of woes of how a Russian firm refused to build the plant according to agreement or how debts got so huge like a mountain and someone had to buy it back or front. It became a sinkhole that never got filled. First of all, Obasanjo approved the debt buy-back for the Ajaokuta steel mill in 2000 from evil foreigners who had taken possession. The real irony is that late Gen. Abacha who was reputed for evil and corruption had refused to touch the debt buy-back fraud with the longest pole imaginable. But that which Abacha loathed because it was dirty, Obasanjo embraced. Likewise, while no TAM contract for the refineries was executed in Obasanjo’s days, but the nation still believes that the TAM contract awarded certain Chrome Oil by Abacha for the PH refinery remains the best work done there.After the debt buy-back, another deal was struck in Aso Rock where people believed to have been Obasanjo’s aides brought in other Indians. One of such aides was a very powerful one who operated for Baba at home and later wanted to be an oga in a political field. At a point, the speculation was that the Obasanjo Empire bought the Steel mill through one of the sons. But later, the son who was always pointed at as the agent denied, saying that his name was wrongly used as a front in what he was never part of.A little before the final pronouncement that died the Ajaokuta sale, there was a spree of looting of even railway line iron bars by those who bought it over. They had been anticipating that the deal would go awry, as a result, there was a free for all stealing and recovery of anything retrievable. It is believed that the despoliation of Ajaokuta Company, which is close to, Ogaminana in Kogi State led to a clash between youths of the town and the police during which about 50 of the villagers were felled by police bullets sometime in early March. The people of the town wanted to protect the facilities and the looters had to bring in marksmen to shoot them down.

Railways: One of the major privatisation hypes the Obasanjo regime stouted was the letting out of the railways to Chinese firms. The value of the privatisation was in billions of dollars. At last nothing, not even a bar of iron was brought into Nigeria by any Chinese firm. The project died a natural death after the Aso Rock agent who was in charge died in a plane crash in Lisa. The money realized from the sale supposedly and the shady transactions would shock anybody when exposed.

Airways: Between 1999 and year 2000, the Obasanjo’s regime set up the Justice Obiora Nwazota Panel to look into fraud in Aviation, with special focus on the Nigeria Airways. This reporter covered the sittings of the panel at the premises of the Ikeja High Court annex. The panel took its time to review the issues and at last made recommendations. But unfortunately for Justice Nwazota and his colleagues, one of the persons their findings indicted was named as a major financier of the Obasanjo campaign in 1999. The panel had recommended that the man refund money he stole and should be prosecuted. But nothing beyond that report happened as some of the indicted persons were already sitting pretty as members of the Obasanjo’s regime.Instead of the report implementation, Obasanjo’s regime later brought up the sale of the Nigerian Airways. We were later told that two bodies became beneficiaries of the left over of the properties of the rested airways. There were also reports that the man formerly in Aso Rock was a major backer. After some more hoodwinking, one of the arrowheads of the new beneficiary firms had to find his way into import and installation of turbines to power the IPP project that is now a major source of bad blood. It has not been clear the relationship IPP turbines hawking has with metal kites, which the man also has interest in other than the avarice to dominate all sectors of the economy by one man.

Transcorp and NITEL: Transcorp was like the icing on the cake of the looting goons to make sure every juicy sector was cornered. There was hyper hype when Transcorp came on board. The picture created before Nigerians was that it would do wonders and make jobs available to every Nigerian. But no matter the names that were touted as directors and the brains behind it, it did not take long for Nigerians to see through the façade and decode the owners. Transcorp later had a major shareholding from the Obasanjo Farms in Ota and handled the procurement of its machinery.Today, we hear some interested persons who are now out of power later admitted to having hands in Transcorp and have been arm twisted to forfeit their bulk shares in the company.As the fire of the angst raged over how Transcorp bought over NITEL without paying a dime, as against other buyers who had money to pay, workers in NITEL, Transcorp and Mtel still scream in empty stomach in protests everyday.

COJA: Nigeria hosted the All African Games when Obasanjo was in power and it was another great opportunity to siphon the nation’s economy. Every conceivable member of the Obasanjo immediate and extended family, including the dead and the living got contracts to either furnish apartments or supply toilet tissues. The contract sums came in billions and hundreds of millions.There was a joke then of how one of the masterminds of COJA from the sports ministry complained to another Aso Rock or near Aso Rock henchman that Baba was no longer picking his calls. The near Aso Rock man chided him for not living up to his bidding in rendering proper account to Baba. Just a day after, the same man whose calls had not been picked called Baba from Bauchi during a facility inspection only to be shocked by the alacrity with which his call was picked. Not just that, he got kind words from Baba who asked how he fared in the preparations. That was actually after something had been remitted by this servant who valued good advises.
Import waiversThe Nigeria Customs was in the thick of the gang-up with the presidency to make sure import waivers introduced in the Obasanjo days was used as settlement package. Many who got such waivers used it to import all manner of things including plastic chairs and canopies. The ploy was to get a waiver to import raw material that has little or no duty while the material actually brought in will be different. Revenue loss from this deal to the nation ran into hundreds of billions of naira, a fact the Customs has been very busy burying. Saturday Sun sometime in the past exposed part of the deal.

EFCC’s "questionable" clean bill of health: In the face of all these open and patent crimes and absurdities, the EFCC, the agency Obasanjo set up to fight corruption sometime last year, in the days of Nuhu Ribadu as leader gave the former president a clean bill. EFCC insisted that there was nothing wrong with Obasanjo’s record, he was far from corruption, and indeed, nothing bad happened to Nigeria during his days.Surprisingly, EFCC recently said again that it is investigating Obasanjo again. We are all waiting and watching for the day the next clean bill will come his way. But it is possible the noose tightens everyday around Obasanjo’s neck and some day we will see the ‘clean’ man in dock facing trial for corruption and abuse of office."

EFCC MOST WANTED - 300Million Naira Scam

The dread Nigeria EFCC has arraigned Ex-Minister of Health and others including the daughter of the disgraced former President Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo on a 56-Count Criminal Charge of Fraud and Embezzlement of public funds. However Obasanjo's daughter Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, pictured here left is on the run from justice; the whole wide world is by this notice implored by "Icheoku" to be on a red alert for her. Please report any sighting of her to the nearest law enforcement agency available and/or EFCC-Nigeria accordingly.

We at "Icheoku" approve this message as our contribution to the war on corruption in Nigeria; Viva EFCC!

For four and a half hours, two former Ministers of Health, Prof. Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku who recently resigned from the cabinet on allegation of fraud stood in the dock at the Federal Capital Territory High Court along nine other co-accused as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) reeled out 56-count charge against them.Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello who is one of the accused persons in the case of corrupt practices levelled against the ex-ministers was not in court yesterday. The prosecution said she was "at large" but count 56 on the charge sheet were specifically listed against her.The only count against Obasanjo-Bello reads as follows:“That you, Iyabo Bello (now at large) sometimes between December 2007 and March 2008 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of the high court of the Federal Capital Territory while serving as the chairperson, Senate Committee on Health in the National Assembly, dishonestly retained the sum of N10, 000,000 belonging to Federal Government of Nigeria, having reason to believe same to be stolen property thereby committed an offence punishable under section 317 of the Penal Code cap 352, Law of Federation of Nigeria (Abuja)1990.” The prosecutor, James Binang said as far as the anti-graft agency was concerned, Iyabo was on the run and all legal machinery would be used to bring her to justice. Others charged with the ex-ministers were; Prof. Samuel Ogandi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Oyedepo H.B, Hanafi Moham-med, Donald Ekanem, Donatus Inyang, Olomo J.A, Obanla Emmanuel Olatunbosun, Henry Onyeagwalam and Edem Augustine Bassey.The accused were brought to court around 12pm and they all pleaded not guilty to the 56-count charge preferred against them by the Federal Government.The charge reads thus: That you (1) Professor Adenike Grange, (2) Gabriel Aduku, (3) Professor Samuel Ogandi, (4) Oyedepo H.B, and (5) Hanafi Mohammed, sometimes in December 2007 in Abuja, within the Abuja division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, while being public servants in the Federal Ministry of Health, with intent to defraud, conspired among yourselves to do an illegal act to wit: criminalbreach of trust by public servant; thereby committed an offence punishable under section 97 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990.Various sums of money were said to have been paid into Professor Grange’s Oceanic Account NO 1301005284.Looking depressed in the dock, the former Minister shook her head intermittently as the charge was read out to her while others bowed their heads continually.While Grange had her name mentioned in 13 counts on the charge sheet, Aduku was fingered in about 13 counts, while Obasanjo-Bello had two counts hanging on her.Immediately after the charge was read to the accused persons, they all pleaded not guilty and their lawyers individually moved application for bail.Counsel to Grange, Alex Izinyon (SAN), argued that his client should be granted bail on self-recognitionwhile Aduku said as an internationalfigure having made his mark in architecture, he was ready to stand trial and would not jump bail.The trial Judge, Justice Salisu Garba, fixed Friday for ruling in the bail application.The two ex-ministers and other accused persons were said to have shared a balance of N300 million remaining from last year's budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Health. President Umaru Yar'Adua had directed ministers and head of parastatals to return all unspent funds from last year's budget to the federal purse.The ex-ministers had been forced to resign from the cabinet following the allegations against them.However, the senate has asked Senator Obasanjo-Bello to explain the circumstances surrounding the involvement of the committee on heath which she headed in the sharing of the N300 million unspent vote of the ministry of Health in the 2007 budget.The Senate Committee had admitted receiving N10 million-support from the Ministry of Health to fund a retreat in Ghana on the National Health Bill. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Information, Senator Ayogu Eze confirmed yesterday that the Senate had demanded explanation from Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello and other members of the Committee that attended the Ghana retreat.He said further, “When the Senate gets the explanation, I shall come back to brief you. We will also take the necessary steps. But I can assure you that from what we have so far when it is has not been unusual for Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) to facilitate the work of committees that oversee them.”Eze said that “when they sent that money, they never told them that it was from an illegal source, that it was the money that the Presidency told them to return but they did not return.“The information we have so far (from the Committee is) that the source of that money was not disclosed to them at the time it was remitted to them and we are trying to take care of that by making sure we provide adequately for all the committees in the 2008 budget.“When they tell you that the budget of the National assembly is up a bit beyond what it was last year, there is an explanation for that; we want to make sure that every committee that has an assignment to do will have no reason to say we could not do the work because we were waiting for facilitation because we would have provided enough resources”, he said.

This news report is courtesy of Thisday newspapers.

YARADUA'S REVERSAL OF OBASANJO'S POLICIES:- THE DOWNSIDE!

Admitted that Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo deserves the hottest place in hell for all the atrocities his regime visited on Nigeria and Nigerians, which he dutifully masterminded and supervised; but a blanket reversal of his policies does not augur well for the body polity and image of Nigeria. This is especially so amongst the investing world, where some of these policies have significant contractual obligations implicit in them thus causing such acts to be viewed as very antagonistic and anti-capitalism. Contracts ought to be respected and should be so respected, period! Implicit in such impetuous and random highly selective revocations is a government that does not care a hue about the letters of contracts or laws governing them. It does not bode well for a government desirous of attracting job creating ventures in Nigeria and should therefore cease save where a blatant abuse is implicated.

First it was African Petroleum, next was the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries, followed by Nicon Hotels, and now Ajaokuta Steel just to mention a few. This blogger is of the view that where irregularities are discovered, that they need to be addressed as per each occurrence but not a blanket reversal or cancellation of an existing contract or policy with a clearly defined objective. The total cancellation of a past government’s acts is very antagonistic, highly suggestive and tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bath water and should be stopped. Or is the present Yaradua government telling the world that nothing could be saved from the cancelled contract or term thereto? Before cancelling a contract, the government of Yaradua should take into cognizance the ramifications of its actions in order not to alienate the investing communities and financial institutions of the world who will view Nigeria as a fluidly, highly unstable market to guarantee their investments. They will flee and this does not augur well for a thirsty investment environment such as Nigeria whose potentials is yet to be harnessed, strictly speaking? The worst thing that can happen to an economy is for that economy to be perceived as not stable enough by the investing world who then will treat same as a pariah wherein contracts are not worth the parchment they are signed. Yaradua must avoid this connotation at all cost and by whatever means possible. It smacks of instability in an economy and investors frown at such. It also portends lack of respect for existing contractual obligations; leading to the question, which other investor will be willing to sign a contract which tomorrow will be discarded by a new government? If a country’s government cannot respect contract or rule of law, who in their right mind will be willing to deal with such a country since a Yaradua’s obligation today might as well be annulled by the next government whenever that comes into being. This epileptic investment climate showed up sometime ago in Uganda when the terror of Uganda, Baba Idi Amin Dada seized all foreign investment in Uganda and chased away all the investors mostly of Indian extraction out of Uganda. Where is Uganda’s hitherto thriving economy today but in the doldrums of economic malaise? Who wants this situation for Nigeria? Which investor will deal in that situation? Who is the gambler that will play such a high stakes game of Russian roulette with his/her hard earned capital?

The difference between a government and a military interregnum is that in the former there is rule of law and continuity, both in policies and existing contracts whereas in the latter it is simply an aberration – anything goes! This is the real reason why most investors do not like to deal with military regimes because they are wary that their investments will not be safe or guaranteed but will be subject to the whims and caprices of the military junta who also can be overthrown at anytime and there continues the topsy-turvy in such economy. A working government will in most instances adopt existing undertakings of a preceding government and where some discrepancies are observed, the contract could be reformed with a view to fixing the observed shortcomings before it is finally ratified. But the way Yaradua is carrying his blanket annulments or revocations of former obligations of the past government of the medicine man of Otta, Aremu Obasanjo shows that Yaradua is merely pandering to the Arewa Forum; who in their last convention made several demands on Yaradua’s government one of which was the revocation of Ajaokuta Steel contract. In the said convention, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma berated Obasanjo for standing up against the North and for daring to challenge their authority by reapportioning things and putting them in Yoruba hands instead of them - the traditional “custodians” of such plum positions. Yakubu Danjuma also lamented the North’s backwardness in Nigeria and threw other tantrums against any other geographical entity that is seemingly doing well within the Nigeria polity. Danjuma’s rants and angst was rabid to say the least and smacks of a vampire ready to draw blood.

To this devil’s may-care, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, this blogger will like to posit certain questions – first, who was responsible for the abject backwardness of the North as you pointed out? Secondly, who has been in charge in Nigeria for the past 38years plus of the 48 years of Nigerian’s independence, including the self rule of between 1957 and 1960? They are all Northerners including your shameless self. You eminently benefited from the North’s stranglehold on Nigeria or what do you owe your stupendous wealth to? You were not a trust fund child or a renowned academia or an inventor or a “Warren Buffet” prior; but a daring northern army man who used his uniform to great advantage. You, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma amassed enormous wealth of no mean proportion including ownership of Guaranty Trust Bank, Several Oil Blocks valued at over $3Billion dollars USD as well as other onshore and offshore business interests just because you can. How much taxes you paid to the government to date is yet to be determined and all the recent mea culpa will not exculpate you from the anger of Nigerians particularly the Igbos for your heinous treachery on General Thomas Aguiyi Ironsi. His ghost and the ghost of the several million other Easterners who perished in the ensued civil war will forever hunt you until your demise and will be waiting to chaperon you to the gates of hell on your final breath.

The chronology of northern vice-like hold on power in Nigeria dates back to Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who ruled Nigeria between August 30th 1957 to January 15th 1966; to General Yakubu Gowon who ruled Nigeria from August 1st 1966 to July 29th 1975; to General Murtala Ramat Mohammed who ruled Nigeria between July 29th 1975 to February 13th 1976; to Alhaji Shehu Shagari who ruled Nigeria from October 1st 1979 to December 31st 1983; to General Muhammadu Buhari who ruled Nigeria from December 31st 1983 to August 1985; to General Ibrahim Babangida who ruled Nigeria from August 27th 1985 to August 26th 1993; to General Sani Abacha who ruled from November 17th 1993 to June 8th 1998; to General Abdulsalam Abubakar who ruled from June 9th 1998 to May 29th 1999 and to the present Umaru Yaradua whose governance commenced on May 2007 to God knows when. All these marauders are Northerners and yet this vampire, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma had the temerity to question Obasanjo’s government and the backwardness of the North? If this bunch of Mallams could not fix their north, who was the fanatic Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma expecting to so do for his north? Not me! Not Any Mgbatiman! Nor any Okoloman! And not anyone I know of!

This is what happens when a people are a product of a culture which encourages almajiris or believes that people are born with their destinies yoked on them and that they should not aspire to change it because to do so will be to challenge the gods. This is a culture which protested Miss World contest slated for Abuja Nigeria as unislamic? This is a culture that is perpetually at war with itself and the many other population residing within its’ territorial geography? This is a culture that pretends that they abhor alcohol yet partakes in the sharing of VAT (value added tax) realized from alcoholic beverages sales? How much effort does the north really make to gentrify their region or contribute to the polity called Nigeria in terms of GDP? If not for their dependence on government largesse who is sure the north stands a chance at survival within the Nigerian geography? There is always this much the government can do for an individual? This blogger has traveled extensively and hardly ever met a northerner in the Diaspora who is seriously struggling to over write or change his/her destiny as other tribes or regions except a very few. Most of the ones seldom ran into are either on a three or sometimes four tier government scholarships – ranging from their emirate/kingdom, local government area, state and federal government; hence their ability to live like prince or princess while abroad. Immediately soon after their graduation, they scurry back to Nigeria where plum position awaits their heralded return home. But the question remains, how many of them are really benefiting or excelling in this type of pampered programs? Further, one would ask, what is the manpower output of the north viz a viz the rest of the country including the ever restive Niger Delta. It pales in comparism. This blogger remembers very vividly, in 1983 at Birnin Kebbi Polytechnic when a Youth Corper teacher was instructed by a Dean of Faculty to simply grade to pass the students as opposed to real evaluation of their proficiency; and the same goes with other numerous institutions of higher learning in Northern Nigeria. The north cannot compete effectively with any other tribe or race in Nigeria and hence must always be treated like a spoilt child which their longevity in government has falsely bequeathed on them. Imagine Nigeria Law School being forcibly balkanized just because the North could not effectively compete therein and necessary accommodation must be made for them by granting them their own “Northern-Standard” Law School? Theophilus Danjuma possibly asked a rhetoric question indeed! Why is the north backward? It is self inflicted!

Who would invest in a culture where such investment is likely to go up in flames one Friday after mosque prayers because one newspaper printed a cartoon in far away Denmark? Before, this blogger used to think it that the North’s backwardness has something to do with their religion but a trip to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwaiti City, Riyadh, Jakarta, Teheran, Amman, Damascus and Istanbul shows that Islam is not counter development. These are all beautiful Islamic cities that are thriving both commercially and socially. Imagine as recent as the early eighties, the entire Sokoto State has fewer than fifteen indigenous medical doctors and based on such lopsidedness in manpower, it is possible that a town like Nnewi in Anambra State has more medical doctors than all Northern Nigeria put together. Any nation or people that live on handouts can only achieve very little and this is the answer to General Theophlious Yakubu Danjuma’s ten million dollar question. This adds impetus to the age long trite axiom, please teach me how to fish and stop giving me fish. It is about time the North stops stretching their hands for fish from Nigeria but instead ask to be taught how to catch fish just like the rest of the country All the agencies of state that produce jobs and money including Customs have been in perpetual and direct control of northerners and yet they are complaining; simply because the person they foist on Nigeria despite an outright Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme’s expectant victory at Jos PDP Convention in 1999, proved treacherous and reneged on agreements hitherto reached between them. Who is crying foul but the same group of northern pooh-bahs who have held Nigeria hostage through series of military interventions virtually since her independence from Britain in 1960?

That Yaradua is cancelling all that Obasanjo did while in office is not a mere coincidence as this blogger remembers very vividly the response Islamist Buhari gave to a reporters’ question about continuity of Obasanjo’s policies after the end of his government; to which he retorted that nothing precludes their being overruled and true to type, these mallams are carrying out their treat. It is about time enough really becomes enough as all this one step forward two steps backwards be stopped if Nigeria is to make any meaningful progress. Otherwise what stops the next government from revoking all contracts being entered into by the present Yaradua’s government? What also will discourage an investor or prospector from demanding payments ahead of performance if he cannot guarantee that the incoming government will honor a preexisting periodic performance contract/obligation? Yaradua should review some of these contracts with a view to renegotiating them where unreasonable terms were incorporated therein otherwise should respect them as the current blanket revocation is not healthy especially for an economy eager to attract and retain some serious investors worldwide. These contracts should be reviewed seriatim and where excessive, re-negotiated downwards with first option to exercise given to the primary contracting party who would then elect to proceed with the contract based on the new terms or opt out if impracticable or unprofitable for him/her.

The regrettable thing is that this “Saint Yaradua” seems to be selective with his nullifications which appear to be in accordance to the template handed over to him by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). Otherwise, what about the N16Billion naira contract allegedly awarded to the former Head of State Abdulsalam Abubakar? Why is nobody mentioning it; more so since Abubakar had collected mobilization fees of over 75% thereto without even breaking grounds for the contract! This makes one school of thought to posit that, possibly the money was a payment/earning for his yielding power to Obasanjo in 1999? Hopefully some day, a king who does not know Joseph will rise in that country to call for rendering of accounts otherwise nothing else will explain satisfactorily, the reckless indiscretion of the supposed leaders who had held that country hostage since independence. When one factors in that over $500Billion USD has been realized as revenue in that country since 1970 and juxtaposing it with the level of infrastructural development therein, then the obvious fat-cats stands out, glaring back at one. Look at these past usurpers of power and the amount of money they stashed away and the drunken-sailor reveler like manner in which they flaunt it sometimes with sheikh-like mansions, the likes of which the Bill Gates of this world could only dream of? Their qualifications – they were brazen enough to seize power and therefore eminently entitled to all the loots they can grab from a country where majority of the inhabitants rely on less than $120 per month income for sustenance and are sometimes too timid and too malnourished to really call and demand for honest stewardship; yet people wonder why all the war that elections in Nigeria has come to represent, when the answer is very obvious. Elected office in Nigeria means a License to Loot! Looting Unlimited! It is tantamount to a pack of hyena descending on a carcass of wildebeest somewhere in Serengeti National Park! It compares to a flock of vultures spotting some putrid offal somewhere in the plains of Africa! It makes Jackals feasting on a road-kill less covetous! It is a milk her dead syndrome! Who is going to out-loot the other is their mantra! It is so pathetic it cries to high heavens. It shall never be well with them that had caused Nigeria so much pain and suffering over the years since her independence in 1960; and like the man of God Pat Robertson once prayed concerning United States Supreme Court Justices, may God’s intervention be quick and swift! Until then, cry thy beloved country, so goes Alan Quarterman!

In conclusion therefore, Umaru Yaradua must be wary of these regional champions who use the cloak of Arewa Unlimited to line their purses otherwise the bloodhound Theophlius Yakubu Danjuma will not be questioning North’s backwardness after their 38 years stranglehold on power and counting; with near absolute control of the behemoth resources therein situated in Nigeria. Yaradua must exercise responsible leadership and must not allow himself to be goaded into discriminatory actions that will surely tarnish his legacy should he decide to hike on this regional path to nowhere. Each case must be weighed individually based on what makes sense in a business setting, understanding the nitty-gritty of contracts and the built in expected profit returns on invested capital and fluctuations of the market place. These Arewa Group must also understand that Yaradua is not only their president but the president of Nigeria and therefore they should allow him to do his work governing Nigeria and not just the Northern Nigeria.

So speaketh MENIRU@www.meniru.blogspot.com