THE SUICIDE ATTACK AT THE UN COMPLEX - ABUJA

About four or five years ago, the international media labeled us the happiest people on earth; not anymore. A few days ago, a pregnant woman was killed along with some members of her family allegedly by the Boko Haram sect. Last Christmas Eve, the serenity of the beautiful Jos Plateau was interrupted at a Christmas revival by deadly explosives. In the end,  the beautiful landscape of the city, once categorized as our Silicon Valley, because of its all-year-round cool breeze,  was littered with a burnt cadaver, too heart wrenching to watch on YouTube.  Boko Haram was blamed for the crime.

Today, the UN building at Abuja (the Federal Capital of Nigeria) is in the ruble, following a suicide bomb attack - many killed, and many injured. 

We must save our beloved country. And we must fight, if the need be, to save the soul and the dignity of our beloved country. Killing of innocent people and bombing an international organization complex, an organization that pride itself as the voice of the oppressed, is not the right way to send a message if at all there is any message worth sending.  The UN caters to the needs of the poor, without regards to race, religion, or geography. Any attack on the UN complex and its staffs is an attack against humanity.

Nigerians should not just stop at condemning this heinous crime. We must stand up as one indivisible entity, no matter our political affiliation, no matter our religious background, or our geographical location and send a clear message to suicide bombers and those behind it that Nigeria is not for sale. We will fight and we must fight by every means necessary to make our country a model and peaceful democracy.  We cannot and we must not negotiate that.

Yes, the President has every right to recognize the Interim Government in Libya. Benghazi is gone, Tripoli is in shamble. It is in a state of its former self. Muammar Gadhafi is nowhere to be found.  No doubt, there is a power vacuum. Therefore, President Jonathan did the right thing by recognizing the Interim Government in Libya. Tripoli needs to be saved from degenerating into a lawless capital. The earlier peace is restored in Tripoli by the eventual ascension and control of the machinery of statehood by the Interim Government, the better.

Adding to that, President Jonathan won an election; therefore, he has the mandate to govern this country and to make a decision for and on behalf of this great nation for the next four years. All of us must respect that. If any organization or individual has any problem with his mandate or his decision in recognizing the interim government in Libya, that organization or individual is having problem with the peace-loving people of Nigeria, both at home and abroad. We must stand with the President.

We must stand by the President and declare in no uncertain terms, that Nigerians stand for peace at home and anywhere in the World. Be that as it may, in the event the security and safety of any Nigerian or visitors in Nigeria are threatened, we will fight to defend our right, our security, and our safety.

Nigerians must rise up as one on this. This is not the time to find fault. We must not stand aside and watch our beloved country or any city in within to be turned into a terrorist haven. We are too sophisticated a people; our country shouldn’t be one where heartless political or religious extremists practice bomb making skill.  Life has no duplicate. We must fight and we shall to make the UN bombing the last of its kind in this part of the World

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THE PRESIDENCY AND OKONJO IWEALA – A REJOINDER

This is in reference to an article written by James Obande, title: “The Presidency And Okonjo Iweala” published by the Sahara Reporters on August 15, 2011.

Mr. Obande, I do not know you or your ethnic background; however, I am profoundly disappointed in your article for so many reasons. First, you tried to wear the gab of an intellectual, but your article lacked depth. Adding to that, you tried to mimic the lines of a concerned citizen, but your patriotic fervor appears bogus.  From all indications, you are a first-class ethnic chauvinist and a divisive character masquerading as a patriot or opinion leader. It is like Mr. Donald Trump crying that America is no longer respected around the World since the arrival of President Obama at the White House - a subliminal allusion to race.

This is not personal. I do not know if the name - James Obande - is a real name or it’s simply a pseudonym. Whatever it is, I honestly believe that you are trying to cloak your tribal bias with patriotic mumble jumble – acting as a social activist.  I am very familiar with Dr. Abati's writings and his unbiased take on national issues since his arrival at Rutam House many years ago. In all modesty, I do not think his philosophy on our social-political issues, is in any shape or form, close to your retrogressive baloney.

Your article is very irritating.  Over and over again, you referred to the President as inexperienced. Simply put, your problem is with the last name and the state of origin of the advisers. That is not what we expect of our opinion leaders.  You deliberately decided not to address their qualifications for the job as well as their records of performance elsewhere. You solely relied on Google to do your due diligence. Writers like you believe that Nigerians are so myopic that they would willingly jump on the bandwagon to take side with every ghostwriter who has something horrible to say about the President and his advisers. No, we are better than that.

In your own words: “According to popular opinion, appointments to these two positions were conceded to Minister Okonjo-Iweala as part of the terms of her joining your cabinet …” Yes, popular opinion. Not fact, but popular opinion. Mr. Obande, you do not even have the correct information, yet you are advising “the inexperienced President” on unsubstantiated “popular opinion.”  Nigerians can see why I am outraged.

Moreover, your reference to conflict of interest and check and balances is seemingly incongruous with the facts as presented by you in your article. Yes, your article. First, none of the advisers is holding multiple positions in the administration. Second, the President did appoint them and not the Minster. Your own theory is that because the Minister suggested their names to the President (never verified); their loyalty is to the Minister and not to the President. In other words, they will remain subservient to the Minister and won’t exercise independent judgment when dealing with the President. How myopic!  In sum, that is the thesis of your entire article. That is what you labeled conflict of interests and absence of check and balances. And that is what you want modern day Nigerians to buy into. You are wrong.

For you to apply conflict of interests and check and balances to push an obscure agenda when you know very well that the pictures you are painting lack traces of conflict or overlap, amounts to intellectual fraud. Yes, Nigerians like verbosity and high sounding words and you want to take advantage of their vulnerability to propagate falsehood based on bogus theories.

President Bill Clinton is originally from the state of Arkansas, while his Vice President, Al Gore is from Tennessee; together, they ruled for eight years and transformed America. For the benefit of our Nigerian readers at home, both states are in the south. Can that happen in Nigeria? While can't we have a Muslim President and a Muslim Vice President? Or a Southern Christian President and a Southern Christian Vice President? After all, Niger State produced two Presidents a short while ago, yet it is still one of the least developed states in the Union. In a nutshell, it doesn't matter where the President, or Minster, or Adviser came from; what matters, is his or her performance while in office.

Personally, I won't have any problem voting for a Dr. Ibrahim Ayagi as President and an El Rufai as Vice President. In the same vein, it won't bruise my philosophical or political conscience to vote for a Babatunde Foshala, or Adam Oshiomhole, or Okonjo-Iweala for President and a Southern Vice President.  

Finally, the President should have unfettered discretion in assembling his team and advisers on records of performance and on the merit; without regards to race, geography, state of origin, or religion considerations. If I am traveling by road from Lagos to my village, I do not care if the Minister for Works or Transportation is a Mamman Kontagora or Nnzombia, as long as I get there within 5 hours. I have no doubt in my mind that most Nigerians share that view.  It is high time we jettison deference to ethnic considerations and the state of original concepts in federal appointments. And to you faceless commentators, be courageous enough to stand by your real name when you write. It is an act of cowardice to assume names from other tribes to conceal your true intention. 

 May God Bless the good people of Nigeria.

The Suspension of Justice Salami

It’s Deja vu, all over again: The end of the Road for Justice Ayo Salami.

 “I believe the Judiciary has an important role to play in this country as it is the last hope of the common man. The Judiciary has to be firm, fair and courageous and must not employ any form of double standards. It is not right in my view to regard or treat the courts of Justice as an extension of the Federal Ministry of Justice. I cannot condone any attempt to destroy the judicial system in this country using me as a scapegoat.”

That was Justice Yahaya Jinadu before he voluntarily resigned from the Bench following his refusal to apologize to Mr. John Oyegun, then Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the Military regime.  Yes, our own indefatigable Mr. Oyegun, before he became a Governor.

The case involved one Garba v. Federal Civil Commission, while the case was pending in Justice Jinadu’s court, Garba was fired.  Justice Jinadu summoned Chief Oyegun to his court; not Chief Oyegun. He refused to show up in court. That led to contempt proceeding against chief Oyegun by Justice Jinadu.  As it turned out - trust the Nigerian system – it was Justice Jinadu who was instructed to apologize for harassing the influential super-perm-sec.  Justice Jinadu bluntly refused to apologize and resigned from the Bench.  See Salute to Courage: The Story of Justice Yahaya Jinadu by Richard Akinnola.

Today, Justice Ayo Salami is no longer the President of the Court of Appeal. The president approved of his removal from the Bench sequel to the recommendations of the National Judicial Council.  The Salami’s saga is more complicated than that of Justice Jinadu. He impaneled an Election Tribunal to look into the Sokoto State’s Governorship election petition. While that process was evolving, the Chief Justice of the Federation allegedly told him to discontinue the tribunal’s mandate because the outcome would undermine the Sultan’s legitimacy and may lead to a breach of the peace. He declined his master’s command. The saga became a spectacle, followed by a plethora of unsubstantiated allegations leveled against the CJN by Justice Salami.

 The Chief Justice allegedly took over the case, contrary to known precedent and dismissed the petition. Later, Justice Salami went to the National Judicial Council (NJC) and filed a petition against the CJN for unduly interfering in the course of justice in the Sokoto State Gubernatorial election petition.  After many shenanigans at the NJC hearing, they came to a verdict – Justice Salami should, among other things, apologize to the CJN. Once again, Justice Salami said no.   The story later took a dramatic turn.  Justice Salami subsequently took the same National Judicial Council that heard his petition against the Chief Justice to Lagos State High Court for alleged abuse of process.

Right now, that proceeding is preempted. Therefore, moot. And the rest is, once again, history. The President approved of Justice Salami’s removal from the Bench yesterday, August 21, 2011. Now that he is gone, I am not so sure he has the standing to continue the case at the Lagos State High Court because of mootness factor.

Where we go from here is unpredictable.  It is my humble opinion that there is a prima facie case of judicial misconduct against the CJN, because his alleged intervention in the Sokoto State Gubernatorial Election Tribunal has no support in law or in our traditional customs.

According to Justice Salami, the CJN or the Supreme Court allegedly hijacked a pending Election Petition before the Court of Appeal sitting in Skoto and rendered judgment on it, even though there was no petition before it requiring a hearing. Again, what was the nature of the exigent circumstance or security threat that prompts CJN to intervene in the Tribunal’s proceeding? Adding to that, there seems to be evidence of procedural lapses during the hearing at the National Judicial Council that culminates in the removal or recommendation for removal of Justice Salami.

We should take politics out of the matter right away for the sake of our judicial system. What we are witnessing is analogous to an impeachment proceeding. Therefore, it is important to know whether or not Justice Salami’s alleged judicial misconduct is an impeachable crime or misconduct. If it is an impeachable judicial misconduct or crime, did he receive a fair hearing?

These are legitimate questions that need to be answered by the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.