Politics
2015: Jonathan And The Dangling Carrot
It is a general knowledge
that the Boko Haram insurgency predates the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Many people believe that the terror group was a remnant (break-away) of the deadly Maitatsine group of the 1980s. The Maitatsine revolt resulted from various efforts by the Northern extremists to radicalise various segments of Northern Nigeria.
Originally, the group operated under the name Shabaab, the Muslim Youth Organisation in 1995 under the leadership of Lawan Abubakar, who reportedly left for the University of Medina, Saudi Arabia for further studies.
Mohammed Yusuf took over the leadership of the group at the exit of Lawan. Apart from opening the group to political influence and popularity, Yusuf also reportedly established many schools where many poor percentage across Nigeria and neighbouring countries of Chad and Niger had access to education.
The move provided the platform for the recruitment of unemployed youths to fight the state. The ulterior political motive of Yusuf took a centre stage when he embarked on intensive mobilization of followership. The almajiri system in the North allegedly made the mobilization easier. Before long, the activities of the group became violent and forcing the administration of Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to order the military to contain the group which his government descried as ‘dissidents.’ In the process, Yusuf and his alleged sponsor, Alhaji Buji Foi, who was the Commissioner for Religious Affairs during the first tenure of former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State were arrested by the military and handed over to the police. The two suspects died in controversial circumstances in 2009 while in the custody of the police.
Abubakar Shekau who assumed the leadership of Boko Haram after the death of Yusuf, reformed that sect with deadly motive and made it a political tool in the hands of viable politicians in the North. Shekau also strengthened the sect with its international connections with Al-Quaida.
Unfortunately, Boko Haram that started as a child’s play is today a harvest of death in Nigeria, unleashing mayhem through senseless killings, bomb blasts, rape and abductions, leaving hundreds dead and properties worth billions of naira destroyed.
Packaged under the guise of religion, Boko Haram has now assumed a political muscle which the government and the opposition freely use to edge each other out ahead the 2015 general eelctions. Recently, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) is now using the Boko Haram issue as a carrot on Jonathan as the race for 2015 elections begins. NEF, in a statement signed by Mr Solomon Dalung and Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, gave ultimatum to President Jonathan to bring back the abducted Chibok girls and stop Boko Haram insurgency by October unfailingly or forget about contesting in 2015.
In the words of Northern Elders Forum. “In the light of our conviction that the insurgency and related security challenges pose threat to the 2015 elections and the survival of our nation, we strongly advise President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October, 2014 … If President Jonathan fails to end the insurgency, Nigerians will be left with the only conclusion that he has forfeited his rights to ask for their mandate beyond 2015.”
It is also the thinking of the Northern elders that the military can defeat Boko Haram terrorists if the government wants to subdue the sect. Even more cardinal in their conviction is that most of these conflicts are being engineered to weaken the North politically and economically.
The Northern elders further accused the presidency of lacking the strong will to fight the insurgency especially in the face of what they called “deep-seated corruption and incompetence in government in the management of security challenges” resulting in the terrorists taking advantages to perpetrate evil in the land, while the citizens live in fear of being the next victim.
The Northern elders’ ultimatum to Jonathan came on the heels of the accusation by the National leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu that President Jonathan was behind the abduction of over 200 Chibok secondary school girls in Borno State on April 14, 2014.
At the final mega rally for Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State in Osogbo, Tinubu had told the crowd that since Jonathan had told the world that he knew where the girls were kept, the President should tell the world why his governmnent was yet to rescue the female students despite the huge support he had gotten from international communities.
Both Tinubu and the Northern elders shared the same opinion that “Jonathan was incompetent to rule Nigeria.” A step further, NEF is worried that “the state of security and economic challenges of the North are deteriorating, in spite of its wealth of leaders and elders who should use their God-given privileges, power and influence to effect a reversal of these dangerous trends.”
The postulations of the Northern elders, however, have since attracted wide-spread condemnation and reactions. The Presidency tongue-lashed the elders for asking Jonathan to forget about contesting in 2015 if by October, he fails to produce the Chibok students kidnapped by Boko Haram sect in April, this year. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe said, “we wish to state categorically that President Jonathan does not require any threat or ultimatum from the North or group of persons to be alive to his responsibilities to the Nigerian people”.
Okupe, in a statement, said the argument of the Northern elders that the “government is carrying out any scheme to annihilate any section of the country for political gains is preposterous, contrary to common sense, divisive and essentially a deliberate attempt to disseminate hate mentality and cause mischief.
According to Okupe, “the issue of insurgency, especially those ideologically-based on Islamic extremism, is a global phenomenon and requires tact, military capability, serious de-radicalisation, techniques and community-based counter-insurgency programmes to ensure success,” adding that in these areas, the federal government is making progress and improving on her operational capabilities and efficiencies by acquiring more advanced weapons and technologies for military and security agencies.
Beyond drafting more military personnel to the region to strengthen the fighting power of the armed forces, Okupe said government was working with neighbouring countries to secure the borders and limit the movement of Boko Haram, sect, as well as deploying more resources to maximize operational efficiency and target the domestic and international funding with a view to stopping the money flows into the coffers of the terrorists.
Despite the misgivings of what government was doing in the fight against terrorism, Okupe said, the President would remain focused and alive to his responsibilities to the people of Nigeria, adding that with the total co-operation of the citizens and stakeholders with the government, the “steps will help fight the threat of Boko Haram and move us closer to bringing the girls back safely.”
The former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, in his reaction, did not spare the statement credited to the Northern elders, saying their move will not stand the test of time.
“They are just hallucinating and as Nigerians, we need to understand that the abduction of these girls should not be politicised … Mr President is not a magician to know where the girls are but I believe he is working assiduously to get those girls. But for some Northern leaders to start giving conditions, such will not stand the test of time,” he said.
A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Aniete Okon, in his submission, said the statement credited to the Northern leaders has further confirmed their complicity in the Boko Haram insurgency.
He described the NEF’s ultimatum as unreasonable, unpatriotic, divisive and unfortunate, and called on genuine leaders, traditional rulers, political and business leaders as well as patriotic Nigerians to rise up in condemnation of those he called desperate, parasitic politicians who do not mean well for either the North or Nigeria as a whole.
A group, the Northern Alternative Forum (NAF) said the Northern elders got it wrong because Jonathan enjoys about 75% support in the region. The NAF chairman, Alhaji Gidado Ibrahim said contrary to the claim of the elders, Northerners would not vote in 2015 based on sentiments or ethnic considerations, but on the performance of the present administration.
“We are solidly behind the president and our forum has since endorsed him for a second term,” Gidado said.
Even though that the North is crying about marginalisation and poverty in the area, a stalwart of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who would not want his name mentioned for fear of anti-party, said underneath the agitation is the fact that political power now resides in the South and not the North as the Northerners would wish.
While accusing the North of being insincere in the political equation of the country since independence, the unnamed APC stalwart said the North has presided over the affairs of Nigeria more than three quarters in the life of the nation while the South waited patiently to take its turn at the helm of the country’s affairs.
Whether or not the North dangles the carrot before Jonathan for the 2015 elections, the claim that the President is responsible for the woes of the North, the APC chief said, “is an indictment of the gross performance of past leaders form the North to transform the fortunes of the area towards improving the lots of the people.”
He believed that the North is calling the shots in several other sectors while Jonathan holds only the political baton at Aso Rock.
“When the North is in charge of power at the centre, it suits them and the world ‘marginalisation’ is not in their lexicon, but when power shifts from the North they cry to the high heaven about marginalization. Who is fooling who?” he querried.
Samuel Eleonu
Politics
Senegal: Faye Set To Become Youngest Elected African President As Rival Concedes Defeat
Senegalese politician, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, (44), is set to become the youngest elected leader on the African continent.
While Faye’s main rival, Amadou Ba, from the ruling coalition had said a run-off might happen to determine the winner, at least five of the 19 candidates in the race had issued statements to congratulate Faye as of early Monday.
“For our part, and considering the feedback of the results from our team of experts, we are certain that, in the worst case scenario, we will go to a run-off,” Ba, a former Senegalese Prime Minister, had said.
But as Faye’s lead got wider, Ba called to concede victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, BBC quoted a government official to have said.
Faye’s lead had spurred his followers to troop out in celebration on the streets of the capital, Dakar, on Sunday.
Reports revealed that millions took part in a peaceful day of voting to elect Senegal’s fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turbulence that triggered violent anti-government protests and bolstered support for the opposition.
Faye is a Senegalese politician and a former tax inspector, who also served as the General Secretary of dissolved PASTEF.
He contested the highest political position in the West African country in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko.
Senegalese voters had a choice among 19 contenders to replace Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Sonko.
The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition picked Ba, 62, as its candidate.
In a country of over 18 million people, 7.3 million people were registered to vote, and about 71 percent voter turnout was recorded, Senegal’s State TV reported.
Politics
Writing Judgment For Presidential Election Tribunal Allegation, FG Arraigns One
The Federal Government has arraigned one Chike Ibezim for allegedly defaming Babatunde Fashola, former Minister of Works and Housing.
Ibezim is one of three individuals who alleged that Fashola had written the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitions by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ibezim was arraigned on Monday before a federal high court in Abuja on a six-count charge.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023, borders on criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
The matter is before Bolaji Olajuwon and has been adjourned till April 15 for continuation of trial.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you Ibezim Chike Victor, male with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng (body corporate) now at large on or about 05/08/2023 at Abuja, did commit an illegal Act to wit: criminal conspiracy; when you jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in your online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification, you thereby commit offence punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cyber-crime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.”
However, Fashola said the allegation was “baseless and defamatory”.
The former minister described those behind the allegations as “agents of destabilisation”.
Politics
Soludo’s Performance Assessment, APGA Tackles LP Chieftain
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has faulted a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Valentine Ozigbo, over his comments that the performance of Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, after two years in office, was “not impressive.”
Mr Ozigbo, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2021 Anambra State governorship election, now a chieftain of the LP, stated during an interactive session with journalists last weekend that he was not impressed about Governor Soludo’s performance and has therefore decided to contest the 2025 governorship election in the state.
He said, “We have seen the leadership of Soludo in two years, and some of you may be impressed, but I am not. After the last election in 2021, I called and wished him well and moved on, and we have never spoken again. My decision was to assess him after two years, and having seen it, I am not impressed, and I want to start holding him accountable.
“I am here to share my thoughts with you, what I think, and no matter how you see what he (Soludo) is doing, you will be more proud when I mount the saddle.
“We need to change the narrative and look for a way to survive. We must fight to rescue Anambra. I am a non-transactional politician. I have several things I can do, but my worry is how we can recover the state and put her on the path of development.
“Zoning is a good thing. But it must be combined with competence to make sense. Don’t pick a renegade just because he is from a certain zone, and don’t pick the best, when you know you can pick one that is better.”
Mr Ozigbo said further, “I respect zoning, and I will be making a case for a single term of four years. Anyone who sees what Alex Otti is doing in Abia State will know that four years is enough time to do a lot of work.
“I will honour that principle of zoning, and I will not need anyone’s push or prompting to do otherwise. I will be ready to do an agreement and do an undertaking that I will do just one term. I also wish to tell you that Peter Obi has been consistent that a southerner who emerges will only do one term.
“It is a settled matter that I intend to run for just one term. I intend to keep faith with the agreement.”
But reacting to the development in a telephone interview with The Tide’s source on Monday, APGA spokesman, Tony Olisa-Mbeki, dismissed Mr Ozigbo’s utterances, insisting he has nothing to offer the people of the state.
Mr Olisa-Mbeki said, “He is a political stooge. What could he possibly bring in? Last I checked, he only managed Transcorp Hotel. Is that a qualification to be a governor in Anambra State? Soludo runs an inclusive government in Anambra; that is why he holds town hall meetings with different sectors. What other approach to governance is Ozigbo talking about?
“Anambra State governance is not for learners like Ozigbo. Ozigbo can’t even give a good lecture; he would be better suited working as a PA to any governor. Ozigbo’s aspirations in the previous gubernatorial contest in Anambra found him trailing in third place under the banner of the PDP, despite the staunch endorsement from former APGA governor, Peter Obi.
“That alone should tell him that APGA is like an apostle’s creed to Ndi Anambra. However, what reforms could Ozigbo propose? Anambra State, under Governor Soludo’s leadership, is a testament to political and socio-economic ingenuity.”
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