1995 - 1996 till date still fresh on my mind
Hmmmmmmm, i came across these two news stories below in my quest to feel the pulse of the Nigeria Nation at the border of July into August. And these two stories together stood out like a bad sore.
Accusing Fingers? At this stage in Nigeria polity? We must be truly insane and backward in our thinking of how we can resuscitate this great country from regurgitation.
The Nation is choking and near point of death, instead of solution, it is talk talk talk,( i don tire, i beg) I need constructive life saving medical attention to stem the ailments that are about to snuff out the existence of my NIGERIA.
I have witnessed Genocide before
I remembered what happened in a Village called Ebrohimi in the creeks off Benin River in the Oil rich Delta Region of Nigeria between 1995-1996.
I was on ground installing a world class Community Secondary School/Teachers Quarters in this riverine community of 150 heads (Old and Young) financed by Chevron valued at NGN25,000,000.00.
Hell Broke loose
We were closed to project completion when all hell broke loose, the Ijaw residents of this Village that has accommodated them for so many years, received a letter from their leaders that they should start migrating back to their various Ijaw populated locations away from the Itsekiri Villages as soon as possible.
I did not give a thought to the import of the letter immediately, until we visited the next village where the same project was on-going and got a confirmation that the Ijaw residents of the village received the same letter too, that was when i had a rethink of re-orientating my line of thought.
While i was at the point of shutting down the site to prevent any misfortune and mishap befalling the workers i brought from Warri, a goods boat berthed and the tales of woes of their experiences at the hands of the militants on their way numbed my imagination. In their kind words "Oga these guys were armed to the teeth with the latest Ammunitions and Telecommunication gadgets".
I escaped the massacre because of the arrival of my younger son that was a must see for me. I was lucky to leave the community on the last boat purposely to go and welcome the arrival of my son to mother earth in Lagos, and barely a week after i left, in the midst of contemplations, would they truly storm the village or not, behold they did, they killed my young and old friends of that village, they smoked people out of their homes in the dead of the night while waiting with Machete, and hacked them down.
The Village was burnt down, and this is a Village with a History behind it, Nana of Koko, remember? If you do not. Please GOOGLE It.
It was a nightmare. Such heartless treatment meted out to your fellow humans. For what! for Gods Sakes?
My accountant that shouted "i am a stranger O, I am a Yoruba Man, Na work i come work O" was tied like a Crocodile and dumped in their boat and away to their Base, he was kept there for 2 weeks until when they were sure by the publication in The Guardian by my Itsekiri friends in Warri that he is truly a Yoruba Man before he was dumped at the Ring Road in Benin Blindfolded.
The same genocide repeated itself in other villages in the creeks that same year and beyond.
Who masterminded these organized atrocities above?
So please let us take a closer look at ourselves before we cast the first STONE.
The write up above and below would show that there are some issues that should be carefully addressed before we accuse others the same thing that went on in our own backyards.
1995 - 1996 till date still fresh on my mind
Why this now?
South
Franco Byoma
Chief E K Clark - Nigeria Elder Statesman and Ijaw Leader
BUHARI/IBB SHOULD CONDEMN BOKO HARAM:
Elder statesman and prominent Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, yesterday, declared that some highly placed individuals from the Northern part of the country were behind the increasing spate of violence in Nigeria to actualize their vow of “making the nation ungovernable for President Jonathan.”
Speaking as a guest lecturer at the “2nd State of the Federation Lecture” organized by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, NIALS, Clark therefore challenged two former heads of state, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari, to establish their innocence by publicly condemning activities of the Boko Haram Islamic sect. The lecture was chaired by former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana. Former heads of state, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari His word: “Our type of terrorism is home grown, unlike in Israel and the US, where terrorism was imported from the Middle-East. Here our Nigerians are the Boko Harams. Boko Haram which was religious has now become a political tool.
Those who said they would make Nigeria ungovernable are those behind Boko Haram. It is our proverb that if in the night a mother sleeps with the child and owl cries, if in the morning that child dies, it is the owl that killed the baby. Federal Government should pick up courage and the political will to take up these people, if that is done I believe the problem of Boko Haram will be solved. “If the Federal Government should dialogue with them, the government of those states should be able to galvanize their people. What are their grievances? Like in the Niger Delta, our own agitation was for the implementation of the 50% derivation formula, today, what is their grievance? “They are killing everybody, security forces, burning churches, burning human beings. I appeal to governors, instead of devoting themselves to holding governorship meetings in Abuja every month; they should go home and work. They should be made to know that if they don’t perform, state of emergency will be declared in their states for six months. “Two former heads of state recently made this kind of appeal against the growing level of insecurity in the country, as if they were not part of the system when Boko Haram was formed.
“Boko Haram preceded Jonathan. It started in 2002 when Obasanjo was President. It was there when Yar’Adua was also ruling. It is not synonymous with Jonathan. I had expected that somebody like Babangida should have spoken since. I thought he would have spoken with his friend Buhari. Two of them have been meeting. So why is he now with Obasanjo? “At 72, Babangida said he will wear uniform and fight for the unity of Nigeria, he should therefore stand up now and condemn Boko Haram from the bottom of his heart, not with Obasanjo. “Obasanjo has gone to Maiduguri to meet the people, why has Babangida not gone?” he asked. Besides arguing that President Jonathan has the legal right to seek re-election in 2015.
Clark also condemned the height of corruption in the judiciary, calling for the immediate prosecution of past political office holders, some of whom he said were granted frivolous ex-parte injunctions.
Recalling that he earlier wrote a petition to the erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, on the role and failure of the Judiciary to eradicate corruption in Nigeria, Clark lamented that “some very high profile cases of corruption against some former governors and ministers have been lying fallow in various courts for five years and above.” Those that must be prosecuted Those he said should be prosecuted immediately were, Senator Saminu Turaki for allegedly embezzling over N36billion from the Jigawa State treasury, Ayo Fayose for alleged money laundering and misappropriation of about N1.2 billion, Senator Joshua Dariye, whose female associate he said was also arrested and sentenced in London for money laundering; Chimaroke Nnamani, for alleged N5.5billion theft, Dr Peter Odili, for money laundering and looting of about N100billion from Rivers State only to subsequently secure a perpetual injunction stopping his trial.
"Today Dr Peter Odili is one of the freest and recognized political leaders to the extent of his being honoured by the Nigerian Army to decorate their officers at a ceremony; what a shame! In other words, the former Governor has secured a permanent injunction against his arrest and prosecution.” Others he said should be expeditiously tried were former governor of Adamawa, Boni Haruna, ex-Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State, Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo State, Reverend Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, James Onanefe Ibori of Delta State, former Acting Governor of Plateau State, Michael Botmang, Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State, Adamu Abdullahi of Nasarawa State, former Ministers of Aviation, Prof. Babalola Borishade and Femi Fani-Kayode who he said “is parading himself today as a moral icon in the society.”
Regretting that President Jonathan “has been abused, called all sorts of names such as drunken fisherman and a weakling unfit to govern,” by those he said were bereft of good family upbringing, Clark said, “for instance, Pastor Tunde Bakare has turned his pulpit to a political theatre where he preaches against President Jonathan and his administration to the extent of saying that the President will not last up to 2015, adding that Nigerians should be ready for fresh elections any time before 2015. Chief Clark also implored President Goodluck Jonathan to promptly convoke a national conference with a view to creating a veritable platform for the discussion of contemporary issues threatening the continued existence of Nigeria as a federation.
The Minister of Information in the First Republic, who condemned the over centralization of the nation’s revenue in the hands of the Federal Government decried what he termed “unfair execution of the 1999 constitution,” saying the country was far from practising either true federalism or fiscal federation and emphasized the need for an urgent amendment of the 1999 constitution. Lamenting the near absence of transparency and equity in the way the nation’s resources were being managed, the Ijaw leader, urged Federal Government to start appointing two Accountants General, “one to take charge of the finances of the Federal Government, while the other will take charge of the finances of the federating units.”
He said: “The Federal Government does not own the resources. It belongs to the Nigerian Federation and the owner communities. The assignment of the responsibility to collect revenue should not be taken as making the collecting agent the exclusive owner of such resources. It is for this reason that I am recommending that the Federal Government should start appointing two Accountants General. “By collecting the revenue into the national coffers, the resource producing communities are denied the wherewithal to carry out the development of their communities which are devastated as a result of the exploration of these resources. The revenue allocation formula in the country shows a fiscal dominance of the Federal Government. This is not in line with best global practices in federalism.
It therefore poses a major challenge in our political evolution,” he added. Need for National confab Highlighting need for the national conference, Clark, warned members of the National Assembly to stop arrogating to themselves the powers to speak for Nigerians on every occasion, saying, “the National Assembly itself is also an aspect to be discussed at the conference. “Some of them are facing investigation and trial in court. Most of them emerged through corruption, name any panel of inquiry that they successfully concluded, especially the House of Representatives, without element of corruption, is there any? My answer is no. Why then should they arrogate the powers of amending the constitution to themselves alone,” he queried.
Concluding his lecture, Chief Clark appealed to the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives to take it easy on their impeachment threats on the President, if he fails to implement the budget 100%. According to him, “I do not think it is really possible anywhere in the world to implement a nation’s budget fully and completely between July and September, except there are other motives or reasons which have not been made known to the public. I agree with them that they have every right to impeach the President if he violates any section of the Nigerian Constitution.
This of course is not the first time such attempts are being made to impeach the President. The threat by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives and other members of the House in which the scandal of “Ghana must go” bags were found on the floor of the House has not been forgotten."
North
In their various reactions to Clark's claim of northern conspiracy against the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the northern groups and elders said the depiction of the President as a victim was a wrong assessment of what they separately described as the inability of the regime to address a problem that has spread through ethnic and religious divisions in the north.
The northern leaders' reaction came in the face of the assertion by Clark at a public lecture in Abuja on Wednesday that powerful northern leaders are orchestrating the Boko Haram insurgency to destabilise the Goodluck Jonathan administration.i.
Among those who reacted yesterday were the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF; the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF; prominent northern leader, Alhaji Lawal Kaita; fiery northern political commentator Dr. Junaid Mohammed; prominent lawyer, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and Rep. Zakari Mohammed, the spokesman of the House of Representatives.
Clark is wrong - ACF
Reacting to the assertion, the ACF speaking though its spokesman, Anthony A. Z. Sanni said:
"If Chief Edwin Clark believes Northern Leaders brought about Boko Haram in order to make the country ungovernable for President Jonathan; you in the media should remind him that President Umar Yar'Adua used force and killed 700 members of the sect and their leader in 2009 when there was no politics of zoning.
"What is more, President Jonathan's ruling party controls about 14 northern states. The numbers 2,3,4 and 5 in the government are from the North. How would the North make the country ungovernable under such situation?
"I have made this point clear that it is unhelpful to associate Boko Haram with a region, with religion or with ethnicity. Were it strategic to think so, America would have associated al-Qaeda with Saudi Arabia or with Islam, since Osama Bin Laden and most of the 19 pilots who brought the New York twin towers down on 9/11 were of Saudi extraction.
"Nigerians passed their judgment and rejected politics of zoning when they voted President Jonathan in 2011. As democrats, northern leaders under ACF congratulated President Jonathan and all those who won their elections. ACF also paid courtesy call on Mr President and urged Nigerians to support the government and that politicians should go to the trenches for 2015 only when the whistle is blown by the authority.
"What else should northern leaders do in order to assure Chief Clark that the security challenges and the national malaise have not been brought about by northern leaders? The media should also help dispel such misconceptions for national interest," Sani said.
It's pure blackmail -- Arewa youths
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, in its own reaction described the assertion as pure blackmail that would inevitably compound the problems of the president.
"That is a blackmail and one is not surprised because the elder statesman, though I have respect for him, but sometimes, his utterances seem to compound more trouble for the Niger Delta people and even the president," Alhaji Yerima Shetimma, the national president of the AYCF told Vanguard yesterday.
"One of the issues they have raised is that often time, when they talk, they say 'our president, our son', 'our oil and our money', that does not protect the unity of this country; in fact, it is a threat to national unity.
"When there was crisis in the Niger Delta, some of us did not see it as a Niger Delta crisis but as a Nigerian problem. Of what importance will it be to a northerner to sponsor Boko Haram and at the same time, the direct victim is the northerner because, over 99 per cent of victims of Boko Haram are northerners.
"Jonathan did not become President because of the support he had only from the South-south. In fact, some of us did the work for him to be there. Some of us pushed for the Doctrine of Necessity and I was one of the vocal voices that stood and insisted that the right thing must be done. If they continue doing that, they are treading on the wrong path and they might end up ruining. This must stop, this madness must stop. So, nobody should accuse the north, this is blackmail and we will resist it".
Kaita, Mohammed, others react
Prominent Northern leader, Kaita on his part described the claim by Clark as a lie, saying that most northern leaders no longer take Clark serious.
"That was a dishonest lie by E.K Clark. Northern elders have never been against Jonathan's administration. And northern elders are not Boko Haram. We all want peace for this nation. Unfortunately, the government has allowed Boko Haram to be in charge. They are not doing enough in that respect. For anybody to say that we are using Boko Haram to destablise Jonathan's administration means that the person is telling a blatant lie. Even the casualties resulting from Boko Haram attacks are mainly northerners, how can someone now say that the elders are using it to destabilise Jonathan's administration? We northern elders no longer take E.K Clark serious. As far as we are concerned, he is not serious on his positions on the state of the nation, although he used to be a very good friend of the north before now.
"Jonathan's administration will collapse by its non performance, especially non implementation of the budget," Kaita said.
Dr. Junaid Mohammed in his own reaction said: "I wouldn't want to go mad with a reckless statement credited to Chief Edwin Clark. I can confirm to you that the event was conceived and financed to do exactly what Chief Edwin Clark did and those who are behind the event have been handsomely paid in addition to promises made to them.
"Secondly, he is a man of age but no wisdom", he said.
Expressing his disappointment that Clark who is a lawyer could express such comments, Dr. Mohammed said: "Where is the proof from Barrister or Lawyer Edwin Clark? Where is the proof from those who are peddling this irresponsible talk? The statement he has made is very baseless and irresponsible.
"They should have enough evidence and proof before making this kind of inflammatory statement and if they cannot prove, they should be prosecuted."
In his own assertion yesterday, Rep. Zakari Mohammed the spokesman of the House of Representatives described the depiction of northern leaders by Clark as grossly sensational.
Responding to Clark's charge to Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to condemn the activities of the Boko Haram group, Mohammed said:
"These two leaders have demonstrated their commitment to the united existence of this country. They don't need to openly say what they have been doing about the prevailing situation in the country.
"It is unfair for him to cast aspersions on these past leaders. There should be mutual respect in this country; that is what makes a nation. The problem of terrorism in this country is not a sectional one. Both Muslims and Christians are being killed. During the general elections, both Christians and Muslims voted for President Goodluck Jonathan."
Prominent northern lawyer, Abubakar Malami, SAN, also absolved northern leaders of complicity in the charges against them by Clark in the raging Boko Haram violence that has wreaked havoc in many parts of the north.
Malami said the ongoing security challenge in the land was borne out of government inability to deal with the monster, and not instigated by northern leaders.
He stated that it was the government's total incompetence that had given rise to the state of insecurity in the country.
The lawyer said that it was wrong for Clark to accuse northern leaders of taking side with Boko Haram when they neither control security votes nor the apparatus of fighting crime.
"The man should not look for scapegoats for what the government has clearly failed to address. If the administration is incompetent to tackle insecurity, nobody should blame it on innocent citizens who have not been given any money or tools to fight crime," Malami said.
"What we are witnessing in the country today is purely a case of incompetence on the part of the government. It is appalling that after budgeting about N1 trillion for security and doing nothing about it even with the huge sum, someone is turning round to blame other persons," he added.
Malami, however agreed with Clark that the country did not need a Sovereign National Conference but the devolution of powers to enable other tiers of government to tackle their developmental challenges more effectively.
According to him, SNC is alien to the Nigerian Constitution and should therefore be discouraged while Nigerians who have genuine issues can initiate private bills to address them.
Copyright © 2012 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material
We need words that would solve our problems and not aggravate it further.
WE ARE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE, WE SHOULD START THINKING LIKE ONE AND ESCHEW RIVALRY OR ETHNIC ATTACHMENTS.
THIS COUNTRY IS OURS AND TOGETHER BY HOOK OR CROOK WE MUST SOLVE HER PROBLEMS FOR THE SAKES OF OUR UNBORN GENERATIONS.
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