Sack me if I fail- Dora Akunyili

In her bid to represent the voice of her people from Anambra state, former information and communications minister have told the people of her constituency never to recall her back from the senate but to agitate for her resignation if she fails to deliver the peoples mandate when she get to the hallow chamber. And for those who think former NAFDAC gaffer only joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to achieve her senatorial ambition, and would return to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) afterwards are wrong, Mrs Akunyili said yesterday in Awka.

After a meeting with traditional rulers to mark the end of her tour of her constituency, the former minister described APGA as a party of the future and one through which her people will realise their potentials.

Because of this, she said, there was no need for her to think of dumping the party especially when one of her purposes of joining it and running for senate was to help the state governor, Peter Obi in the good work he is doing.

“I came into APGA to help the governor. I’ve not discussed with any PDP member about switching over to the party after I’m elected as a senator,” Akunyili said.

She however said that since politics was dynamic, no one could foretell the future. “If anyone had told members of the defunct NRC and SDP then that the parties would not be in existence today, they would not have believed him, but today where are the parties?” she said.

She said what was paramount is for leaders to serve the people and that any action she would take in her political journey must be in consultation with the governor, the traditional rulers and her constituents.

Answering a traditional ruler who asked why she was contesting for the Senate when she is from the same town as the incumbent governor, the aspirant expressed her disappointment with such sentiments.

Why is mine different?

She said that when Chris Ngige was governor, Mike Ajaegbo (a senator) also came from the same zone as Ngige and nobody talked. After him she said the incumbent senator, Annie Okonkwo also emerged from the same zone as the governor.

“Why then should my own be different?” she said. “I cannot be influenced by such sentiments but will concentrate on delivering service to my people. That is what matters,” she said.

Mrs Akunyili expressed satisfaction with the response she got from her constituents during her maiden tour, which she described as unprecedented. “All the local government people are endorsing me. It’s very encouraging. They showered me with a lot of love and support. It’s actually unprecedented in this part of Nigeria,” she said.

During the two-day tour of her constituency, crowds of enthusiastic party supporters had cheered her at every turn, with the various local government executives pledging their support for her.

Support from chairmen

Indeed, any doubts as to where the loyalty of the party executives lay were set aside when she visited Njikoka local government chapter of the party. There the chairman, Paul Anaekwe, told her plainly that the party was committed to no other candidate but her.

“We in Njikoka believe in the best and you are the best and we shall support you. We are not committed to any other candidate but you.

We are making it categorically clear that it is you we support,” Mr Anaekwe said.

Similar assurances were given in Dunukofia, Anaocha, and Awka North and South, and Idemili North and South local government chapters of the party where she visited.

But Mrs Akunyili told party supporters that her ambition to represent them at the Senate was not a do or die affair. “I’m not aiming to win at all costs. This is why I have come to you to ask your support for me to represent you in the senate,” she said.

“As soon as I get into the Senate I will hit the ground running. I’m touched by the poor quality of life in the villages where I have also lived,” she said.

She said she had always been given appointments, but now wanted her people to send her to serve them.

“I will not go to the Senate unless you agree. I’m not going there for myself. I will make sure you get the type of representation you have never had before and at every turn I will tell the world that you sent me.” She also promised to hold regular town hall meetings to acquaint the people with developments in the Senate.

She said the people can ask for her resignation if within one year in the Senate she fails to bring clear changes. “Don’t recall me because that is a long process; just ask me to resign,” Akunyili told her constituents.

Hon. Dino Melaye fulfils threats

Following this morning threats from the leader of the embattled members of the House of Representatives, Hon.Dino Melaye, that he and the other suspended members of the Assembly will force their way into the hallow chamber or turn the gate of the National assembly complex into their bedroom by bringing their mattresses to pass each night that goes by till the Speaker and his cohorts obey the Abuja high court ruling of reinstating them, today made a dramatic appearance at the House of Representatives beating security operatives at the gates of the National Assembly. The reinstated lawmaker entered the complex of National Assembly amidst drama and confusion.

The security operatives who were caught unawares remained dumbfounded, they later raised an alert to other security personnel at the main entrance of the chamber but Dino had already found his way to the chambers exchanging pleasantries.

Mr. Melaye and his colleagues who were earlier "suspended" by the Dimeji Bankole led leadership were reinstated last week by a federal high court court judge in Abuja. But a lawless and reckless Speaker Bankole refused to accept the ruling of the court, instead resorting to string -arm tactics with the full support of the Nigerian police. The media learnt that Mr. Bankole's lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN) promised him they'd win the case on appeal. Reason: They were offered additional N500 million in legal fees.

The National Assembly have become an embarrassing drainpipe in the national economy, the "National Assembly of Robbers" are paid 25 percent of annual budgets in Nigeria for making laws that they routinely break!

NIGERIA: A MISTAKE ON THE WORLD MAP?

“This country is doomed” Said Mr A, “Ah! Ah!! Stop saying that now you don't know when angels are passing by” Mr C replied. Angels? Riposted Mr A, did I hear u say angels? Angels are from God and God has already forsaken Nigerians by banning His sinless angels from entering this country to avoid sins. I mean how can someone rule millions of people for almost 4 years illegally and still go about unchecked despite his atrocities and financial misappropriation? How can a vagabond who ruled us for almost a decade in a military jersey and recently rubbish the potentials of the promising youths of this country still have the effrontery of coming out to govern us for another............. God knows how many years. How can the said anointed President whose wife's impatience led to the unconstitutional imprisonment of an innocent woman who was rushing her dying child to the hospital in her car on the accusation of trying to overtake her convoy keep quiet on all the allegations of financial misappropriation on majority of his political party's Top gun? Where on earth can these happen if not a God-forsaken state like Nigeria.......quizzed Mr A.
Well I share part of your grievances but not all. As much as this country's situation is, we must still give thanks to God almighty. Some countries situation is worse than ours you know Mr B said. God!!! Mr A exclaimed that's one of the pills being used as the masses opium to kill their agitations, look my friend it will get to a stage where the youths will take laws into their hands and the whole country will be in the shackles of evil, a good example is what is going on in Niger/Delta region of the country, and...... “Well guys (interrupted by Mr C who has been quiet for a while) like I’ve always said its true that the whole system of this country is in a messy disorder but despite all this we still need to call on God for resolution, he conclude. I strongly beg to disagree, what we need is revolution not resolution and a bloody one if possible. Well everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion, YES they said in harmony to end their conversation.
The above discussion took place not at a newspaper stand or a football viewing center but in my sitting room among three of my friends on the Eid-ul-Adah/Kabirs’ day. I decided not to involve myself in the conversation because I wanted to know where they will end it.
But the big question is, Is Nigeria a doom country really? Has God totally forsaken us or what? Or is it that we are the architect of our own misfortune? Because how can one explain the situation where a banana tree on an Island cannot feed its roots with water except to travel miles away to get it? What has Nigerians done to deserve the kind of leaders that we have. On that same Eid-ul-Kabirs’ day the Chief Missioner of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria Igbogbo, Ikorodu division who led the Eid prayer that morning task and challenge the politicians that were present at the prayer to positively justify the Nigeria electorate mandate given to them. He appealed to the Lagos State government of resolving the crises rocking the health sector and the medical guild.
Personally, the situation of this country is getting out of hand, to corroborate my friend above how on earth can a “Rogue” who was disgrace out of power penultimate Friday still has the got to celebrate his ouster from the stolen mandate in spite of his austere on the masses? The situation of the world at large has gone so bad that countries no longer take arms against each other only but government of each nations now take up arms against the citizenry or how again can we explain the Metaphorical attitude of the Nigerian political class in their voracious consumption of the country's wealth and by implication, the health of the Nigeria masses. A case of one Mr. Folorunsho Adewale who is a pensioner of the federal ministry of information will touch you. The 70 year old former protocol officer served the ministry for 35 years before he was retired in 2001. He has since gone to rack and ruin, mainly because getting his entitlements from the ministry has been quite an assignment. He was heavily in debt before the ministry paid him his initial gratuities four years after he left service. He ran up most of the debt in trips to Abuja with his colleagues in the battle to ensure the gratuities were paid. Besides transport fares that he had to foot, the pensioner was regularly contributing to a pool of bribes used to assuage officials in Abuja to ensure the gratuities were paid. After that, he has been receiving N17, 000 per month as his pension. But the pains continue: It's either his name is not on payroll for the month and consequently, his money has not been forwarded to the bank he uses in Lagos, or he is short-paid, or for up to three months, his name will just disappear altogether.
Pathetic you want to say? Well this is just one out of about hundreds of thousands of aged Nigerians whose sweat our so call politicians are ‘sweeting' on yet the laborers are sweating to get their sweet.
Well, my personal take and opinion on this whole issue is that we need to go back to the grassroots, our immediate environment, and our individual family. Our so call ‘Baba in politics' need to retire and give the promising and energetic youth the opportunity of putting our Nation on the right political track. Imagine a 73 year old Obasanjo skirmishing with his old Ekiti ward at the Osun impostor's thanksgiving. While Obasanjo is 73(Western Nigeria), Ciroma 76 (Northern Nigeria), Olusola Saraki 77 and Babangida 69 (Central Nigeria), Edwin Clark 78 (Niger-Delta) and Odumegwu Ojukwu 78 (Eastern Nigeria), the average age of leaders of most of the world leading countries lies in their active workforce; American Obama is 49, Russian Medvedev is 45, British Cameron is 44, France Sarkozy is 55, Iranian Ahmadinajad is 54 and so on like that. Why is our own case not the same? There need to be a change in our attitude, if we don't change this then there can't be a holistic change or are these “corrupticians” as I love to call them not from our individual families? What we teach our children go a long way to affect their potentials (As it is in the case of every Nigerian northerner, the general teaching; “Born to Rule”). If we make effort to teach our children the right thing to do and they fail to do it then we are not worthy to be called parents and for those parents who do not even care about the attitude of their ward they should stop complaining on the hostilities of the government on the masses because when their offsprings grow older it will be more horrid than this.
Finally, as if I'm a prophet, God has proffered a solution to our (Nigeria) problems in His holy book which reads: “Allah will not change the condition of a society until the society is determined for a change itself”. We must therefore bear it in mind that a bad leadership of any organization or society is the reflection of the follower-ship. Change your attitude and try to change that of your immediate environment and watch as we all transform the state of our country for better. CHANGE WE NEED!!! Else Nigeria will remain a mistake on the global village.

AN EXTREMIST VIEW @ UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the universe. May His peace and blessings be upon the noble Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), his faithful companions and dutiful followers till the end of time, Amin.

The Muslim Congress (TMC) condemns in very strong words the disruption of a Jumat service at University of Ibadan by a sponsored Christian extremist in the person of Ms Seun Bunmi Adegunsoye, a 400-level law student of University of Ibadan. On the first Friday in the Blessed month of Ramadan (corresponding to 13th August,2010), she mustered the gut and arrogantly went into the University of Ibadan Muslim community mosque, while Muslim worshipers were engrossed in prayers screaming irresponsibly in the precincts of the mosque, "Jesus is the way, accept him. Jesus will soon come; Allah is not the way! Except you accept Jesus Christ into your life, you are not safe. All of you here, no matter the number of the congregation, accept Jesus Christ. Allah is not God; Jesus is Lord".

The above act of aggressive trespass and monumental intolerance in an enlightened community could have degenerated into deadly beaten and assault on her person, had the angry Muslim congregation been allowed to handle the matter on their own. The commendable and fatherly intervention of the Chief Imam, Professor Abdurrahman Oloyede, as expected of a Muslim leader, saved the day. Worse still, the community could have been engulfed in Christian-Muslim crisis!

We wish to state clearly that the action of Ms Seun Bunmi Adegunsoye is a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the mosque and an orchestrated insult on the collective intelligence of Muslims and Islam, not only in University of Ibadan but in Nigeria at large. Muslims by our glittering antecedents are peace-loving, but our gentility, simplicity and civility should not be taken for stupidity and timidity by peddlers of bigotry, intolerance, hate and Islamaphobia. There is no instance in any campus throughout the federation, where Muslim students or staff violated the sanctity of church by forcing their way into places of worship reserved for Christians, because our religion preaches peace, tolerance, mutual love and respect for the views of other religions. Universally, mosque is a respected place of worship and the young over-zealous Christian lady violated its sanctity, by coming in to win souls for Jesus Christ, yet few newspapers mildly reported this incident and even those that carried it failed to comment on the danger it portends for peaceful coexistence in the campuses and the country.

The Muslim Congress (TMC) wishes to state that the above incident is reminiscent of what is happening in the Northern part of the country, where those who call themselves Evangelists and hate theologians aggressively attempt to force hybrid Christianity on the Muslims and their children in a manner that is far from, and inimical to the provision of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and conscience to all Nigerians. Attempts by Muslims to rebuff these aggressive methods of evangelisation often lead to crisis, and the reactions of helpless Muslims quickly attract the attention of some mischievous and biased media organisations, that are on the payroll of the missionaries or that have soft spot for their cause and agenda.
We therefore humbly call upon the Minister for Education, Professor Rukayyat Rufai, University's Governing Council Chairman, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Vice Chancellor, Professor Olufemi Bamiro, Inspector-General of Police, Ogobonnaya Onovo and Sultan of Sokoto/President National Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Muhammad Saád Abubakar III to beam their search-lights on the various campuses to avert a recurrence of this type of nauseating incident of extremism. Indeed, it is an agenda, which would soon be repeated and replicated in other campuses in Nigeria, if this one is allowed to go without appropriate reprimand and sanction from the University authorities. Planners of this drama are bent on wining souls for Christ by crook and intimidation of students under the aegis of Muslim Student's Society (MSSN). Whereas, the quality of a soup is better experienced in the taste and aroma, not in useless advertisement and dead propaganda by the cook. Islam thrives on truth, goodwill, respect and morals. We do not force our religion down people's throats, nor insult other people's gods and desecrate the sanctity of their temples. The Ivory Towers should not be used as safe havens by fanatical lecturers, bigots and faith supremacists to groom soldiers ready to unleash havoc on the Muslim Communities and MSSN in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

In conclusion, we humbly counsel the Nigeria media outfits to be responsive, objective, unbiased, balanced and patriotic in their reporting of events as it affects Muslims and Islam in Nigeria. After all what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. We advocate a crisis-free society and passionately demand justice!

Long live Nigeria Media and Federal Republic of Nigeria.

SIGNED
Luqman AbdurRaheem, AMNIM, AMIMC, AMIOE
Amir, The Muslim Congress

AFRICAN LEADERS AND ABSOLUTE POWER

There is no gainsaying that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupt absolutely”. Despite the reign of democratic governance in African, some African leaders still clutch to political power for over two decades using state instruments to prolong their regimes against constitutional provisions.
The aim of this write up is to check, why many African leaders love to stay in power and yet refuse to use the state resources to develop the state of their country.
Though we all proclaim Africa (the continent) as our father land and Nigeria (depending on each individual) as our country, but let us all ask ourselves, do we all treat and take this sayings to our heart? As in do we all treat these two components (continent and country) like our father’s properties or like the way we would love our children to treat our properties? Of course not!
African leaders are too passionate about power, influence, affluence, dominance, hegemony and all sort of selfish authority. African leaders hardly quit public office honorably. It is either their effort to prolong their term in office failed or they die in office. E.g. Omar Bongo of Gabon, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, Gen. Sanni Abacha of Nigeria (All Late) all died in power while the likes of Idi Amin of Uganda, Mamadou Tandja of Niger and our own Ibrahim Babangida refused to relinquish power until they were deposed (Olusegun Obasanjo’s effort to extend his administration not excluded).
Now let us ask ourselves, what exactly are our leader’s problems or what is the reason behind the do or die attitude of African leaders with power. Why are our leaders so crazy and power mad?
I keep on asking, If African leaders have passion for absolute power, why not for absolute rule of law?
All these are questions that need to be answered or how can one explain the overstaying in office of the likes of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia who have stayed in power for more than 20yrs? Burkinafaso’s Blaise Campaore is in his 21st year while our neighbouring Paul Biya of Cameroun, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who has spent 26yrs and 29yrs respectively still wish to surpass the record of Muammar Gaddafi who is the current longest serving leader in Africa and among the top 5 in the world. African situation is pathetic and needs international intervention. This is where the international organizations like U.N., commonwealth and A.U. come to question.

REASONS WHY AFRICAN LEADERS DON’T GIVE-UP POWER
The following are reasons why African leaders don’t give up power.
- Complex reason
- Historical
- Religious/cultural
- National
- Global factors

1. Complex Reason: Africans naturally have exaggerated feelings about things. The superiority complex of our leaders makes them feel that if they leave power to a predecessor then what become of their own influence.

2. Historical: The colonial masters of Africa did not release power voluntarily; countries like Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique wagged brutal wars to unseat colonial government refusing to give up power through democratic means thereby laying the precedent in Africa that absolute power corrupt absolutely.


3. Religious/Cultural: Africa’s first generation leaders grew up under colonialism which is majorly from Roman Catholic Church, they learnt that the pope is infallible and dies in office while the British monarchy is hereditary. This concentration of power and privilege did not exist in most pre-colonial Africa, it is from them African leaders learnt to cling to power.

4. Nationals: The hand-over of power in Africa between successive African governments has in many situations been through blood shed or brutal guerilla campaigns. Countries where citizens are not politically inclined and well informed will not have the effrontery to challenge its leaders hegemony.


5. Global Factors: Many a time’s dominant African leaders selfishly get the support of Europe and American country due to one selfish reason or the other. United State of America’s support for IBB was as a result of access to Nigeria crude oil, the support being rendered to Lesotho in recent years is for U.S to have direct control over their raw materials which will be eventually sold to them at high rate when turned to finished goods.


SOLUTIONS TO DICTATORSHIP

Africans should move ahead from wherever we are as there are no more bases to go back to (i.e. no more drawing board). The world is now a global village and the development of information technology wait for no one. What we should do is get ourselves informed about happening in our immediate environment. It is so unfortunate that an average African doesn’t know his/her fundamental human rights. If the zeal in every African is high in terms of seeking for knowledge and getting aware of the political activities then this so called leaders can be check appropriately.
African journalists have a lot of role to play in this aspect too. As the fourth estate of the realm it is their duty to adequately inform the society of the happenings. Africa media personnel should be able to form a formidable force and have one umbrella body (One voice) to constructively criticize any Leader who intends to stay in power for more than his/her country’s constitutional provision.
African elites like Mohammed El Baradei of Egypt, Wangari Maathai of Kenya, Kofi Annan of Ghana, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and our own Professor Wole Soyinka should all rise up to also condemn, discouraged and intellectually attack such attitude.
Finally organizations like African Union, European Union, United Nations, ECOWAS, Commonwealth, even the likes of FIFA should all disassociate countries whose leader is found wanting in terms of political hegemony and power dynasty.



References:
Kasumu, I. 2009, African leaders and Political Authority, (Unpublished)
Farai, M. 2010, Why African leaders don’t give up power, Wikimedia Commons.

VAGABONDS IN POWER

On Tuesday June 16, 2009, in the 17944 issue of the Daily Graphic, a list of Africa's top 10 'old men' was published. This followed the demise of the longest serving African president, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who had, until his (un)fortunate demise, been in power for 42 years. Already, I have contributed on the issue of 'Dynasty-sation of Africa's Autocracies and Democracies' on a friends' blog before. So whilst waiting for another book review (the book I am currently reading is so surreal that I just don't know how to review it), I decided to reproduce this list whilst adding few details to them.

Nigeria: What a Country!!!

The Federal Government announced yesterday that it will add 225 MW of electricity to the national grid in March 2011. “We are rehabilitating our existing plants due to their age, we have to change most of them, this is because the level of the dams are very low now, we are expecting high level of dams towards September, that is why we are not having maximum power supply now. We are as well strengthening our transmission network, by replacing the transformers from old to new,” the Minister of State for Power, Engr NUHU WYA disclosed.

Fifa World Cup

Julio Suarez of Uruguay A hero or a Villian?