Straight Talk: Policies, Politics, and the Effective Leadership!

A Veritable Opinion Leader! We blaze the trail, and the World follows. It is Moving Forward. A pragmatic approach to Leadership and Public Service. Defined by Common Sense and Intuitive Instinct. Dedicated to the service of humanity. It's about Policy Statements and knowing what works. God's Goodness Lives in Me - Visionary, Creative, and Audacious. A Globalized Narrative for Progressive Idealism, Rule of Law, and the Pursuit of Happiness. You hear it here, first. It is Straight Talk!

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

The President Jonathan's Book and His Indictment of Citizen Obama

President Jonathan's Book.

"For some inexplicable reason, INEC had been able to achieve near 100% of the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards in the North, including the North East, which was under siege with the Boko Haram insurgency but failed to record a similar level of distribution in the South which was relatively more peaceful." President Jonathan.

I thought he won't be able to address the INEC Miracle in the North East in his book. He did. And it was a sad episode; granted, I didn't support his ticket. Anyway, his defeat was not entire Obama's handiwork or making. It was a combination of factors, concertedly executed. He was too appeasing and too conciliatory. His campaign was grossly austere, lacking substantially in substance.

We wanted a more aggressive and policy savvy President Jonathan the candidate, the Ph.D. holder. No message, no rhythm. But he went about cavorting with Traditional Rulers.

Besides, his fans (bloggers and social media commentators) went into hiding during the campaign and election, while the Progressive commentators dominated the scene with a barrage of discrediting commentaries.

President Jonathan and his campaign team couldn't make a case for his reelection - why do you want to be reelected? No slogans. No catchphrase. It came to a point that I wanted to cry for him over the appalling naivety of his campaign team.

I went to my Blog and post a message for him, even when I was against him and his party. I suggested that they should target President Obasanjo if they have nothing egregious about candidate Buhari to dwell on.

And two, I suggested that they should use the pictures and videos of the dilapidated campus of the Ikeja Police College that was recorded during President Jonathan's impromptu visit to the college as the face of his campaign. That he should tell Nigerians that the decaying structures they are seeing, represent the overall State of our governmental institutions that himself and Yar'Adua inherited from Obasanjo. They didn't use the free materials.

I did the same for President Obama in the 2012 🇺🇸 Presidential election in a landmark essay, titled "Obama: Citizens United, Invisible Resistance and the Hijacking of American Democracy." I didn't go about searching for the Obama campaign team to inform them of my essay or talking points. I just published it on my blog and on my Facebook Timeline.

In less than six hours, it was in use in the campaign. And it turned the campaign around drastically, catapulting it to a landslide victory.

Nigerians political leaders would rather travel overseas, searching for high priced consultants to tell them how to wear some ridiculous attire to appear nationalistic to non-natives. It's about the message. Not ill-fitting garments.

On the issue of weapons, I stated categorically on this my Facebook Wall that so long as the Nigerian Armed Forces remain incapable of protecting their own weapons from Boko Haram, American Government should not sell arms to Nigeria.

It was a day-long hostile debate between myself and a U.K. based lawyer/friend, Mr. Ben Duru. After the debate, two gentlemen made public statements on Boko Haram insurgency and arms shipments to Nigeria, and each of them borrowed lines from my arguments, without actually mentioning my name. And that was the end of the matter.

I am not President Jonathan's fan, because he failed to retire the unretiring retired Generals. He couldn't distinguish himself from the image and likeness of PDP. Cast a brand and pursue it. He didn't.

Nevertheless, when he prescribed the Boko Haram sect and declared the State of Emergency in Borno, Taraba, and Adamawa State, and was being subjected to ethnically influenced vilification, I interceded on his behalf in a landmark essay published by the Punch Newspaper, which garnered more than 100 thumbs up and more than 400 supporting comments.

That's how to stand for a President when push comes to shove. But his present-day admirers or supporters couldn't stand out to be counted when he was facing crucifixion. None of them could make a plausible case for his reelection. All of a sudden, they became vociferous Jonathan apologists, thanks to President Buhari's embrace of apostles of bloodshed and mindless wastage of a progressive mandate. Please, blame it not on Obama.

Monday, November 19, 2018

The Oshiomhole's $55M Extortion Allegations and the Questionable Conduct of the DSS!

By now you must have heard of the 55 Million U.S. Dollars allegations of pay-to-play swirling around Comrade Adam Oshiomhole - a development that is gaining currency unhinged in coverage and embellishment every second.

What I find most appalling though, is the shady or legally infantile decision of the DSS to submit its findings to President Buhari and demanding of the President to do the following: One, that Adam Oshiomhole should be fired from his Chairmanship position. And two, that he should be prosecuted.

President Buhari does not have that prosecutorial power. What we have is a Presidential democracy where the three arms of government are separate but equal, equipped with constitutionally defined responsibilities.

Also, in the leaked story, we're told that the head of the DSS is a man of impeccable character and unblemished integrity. Big deal! That is a distraction. Where is the Legal Department in the picture?

From all indications, he is not living up to the billings. That he needs rudimentary education or tutorials on the legalese of his mandates is an understatement. I will explain.

The DSS, like the FBI, works hand in hand with the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General. Certainly NOT the Presidency. Otherwise, the fundamental principles of Separation of Powers cum Checks and Balances would be drastically eroded.

Besides, the DSS is a creation of Statute. It is not a time-specific investigatory panel or an administrative committee set up by the President to unravel some hanky-panky shady deals unfolding at the APC front office.

When the DSS decided to investigate allegations of bribery and extortion against Adam Oshiomhole, it acted pursuant to the spirit and letter of the law creating it. Not on account of any briefing from the Presidency.

Therefore, at the conclusion of its investigations, the next port of call is either the EFCC or the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice where it could appropriately submit its findings of culpability against the Comrade. Not to Aso Rock.

If on the strength of the allegations, the AG believes that there's probable cause to establish a prima facie case of unjust-enrichment, bribery, or extortion, he would then proceed to obtain an arrest warrant from a competent court and execute it upon Comrade Adam Oshiomhole.

And upon the execution of the warrant and arrest, he would institute a criminal proceeding against him within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

Adam Oshiomhole could either resign voluntarily, or the Chief of Staff to the President, acting on the prompting of the President and the stakeholders of the party, will telephone Adam Oshiomhole to tender his letter of resignation immediately.

President Buhari is not an Emperor or a Military dictator. We're giving him responsibilities he doesn't have the constitutional power to exercise.

The question remains: Did Comrade Adam Oshiomhole receive a bribe totally about $55M with a view to influencing and did influence gubernatorial primaries in Imo State, Osun State, and Zamfara State, and a Senatorial Primaries in Kaduna State as alleged by the DSS?

Comrade Adam Oshiomhole has not denied receiving the alleged bribe. For the few occasions that he talked to the Press, his position has been, one, it's an internal affair, two, the DSS has no constitutional power or legal rights to prosecute him, and three, as long as he enjoys the goodwill of President Buhari, he is not going anywhere.

And that's where we're today. An accused not denying the allegations but questioning the jurisdiction of his accusers and investigators.

What we are witnessing in the past few days are symptoms of institutional decay. A corollary of the procedural rigmarole that is most often costing us huge financial setbacks in the trial of high profile cases.

The DSS is misleading the general public. It's not the responsibility of President Buhari or the Presidency to prosecute Comrade Adam Oshiomhole. EFCC, AG, and ICPC are by statutes imminently positioned to do so.

If the DSS wants to be relevant and taken seriously in the cause of the execution of its mandate, it should have taken its findings to the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. It never did.

The fact that it is an internal party affair as the Comrade argues a few days ago is irrelevant. The conduct of the election is a national affair. Therefore, every financial dealing in the process is subject to judicial review.

Finally, the President, standing alone, has no absolute power to fire or retain Adam Oshiomhole as the Chairman of APC. The stakeholders as a group - President Buhari included - does. So, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole is over stressing his mandates by insisting that as long as he enjoys the goodwill of President Buhari, he is impregnable. Complete hogwash. This is a democracy. Not a Military Dictatorship. The Party is greater than the President as well as its Chairman.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

APC, DIRECT PRIMARIES, AND THE CRUCIFIXION OF ADAM OSHIOMHOLE

Of Direct Primary, APC Stakeholders, and the Crucifixion of Adam Oshiomhole: When the Wrong Guy is a Harbinger of the Right Message.

As you read, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole, the newly installed Chairman of APC is cascading precariously towards extinction for the wrong reasons. His impending doom, instigated by the APC Governors is least connected with accusations of anti-party activities within and outside of the party. His sin was for unilaterally incubating and championing a novel primary model (Direct Primary) that tends to take the shines away from the stakeholders, mostly serving and about to go Governors of APC.

Mr. Oshiomhole, for emphasis, wanted to create a level playing field for every potential aspirant, by eliminating the graft-prone delegates system (Indirect Primary) that glorifies nepotism, godfatherism, and abuse of powers and privileges. But the Governors are saying NO to the Direct Primaries.

According to the aggrieved Governors, they know their candidates, but Abuja doesn't. Therefore, Oshiomhole can't lecture them regarding credibility questions or electability credentials of their chosen candidates.

Oshiomhole, on his part, remains adamant, insisting that the electorate on the street knows the candidates better than the stakeholders. Therefore, regular guys should participate directly in the Primary process. And that's the Oshiomhole's sin before a select council of elders populated by adversarial forces, ready and poised to pass a guilty judgment on him by any means necessary.

Now the unanswered question: must they succeed? They shouldn't. I will explain. But first ...

Like every Oshiomhole's antagonist, I have reasonable grounds to call for his ouster and crucifixion, if necessary. But I won't.

I am an Esan man by ethnic identity and Comrade Adam Oshiomhole doesn't like us one bit. Besides, he has what belongs to the Idegbe clan.

With disdain and vengeful take, uncharacteristic of one holding himself out as a comrade, he orchestrated the marginalization of the Edo State Central Senatorial District (the Esan tribal region) in the Edo State politics. And didn't look back.

Before we proceed, just take a look at the Edo State current power structure: Governor, Deputy Governor, SSG, Speaker of the State Assembly, Chief of Staff to the Governor, and Press Secretary to the Governor, Edo North, and Edo South Senatorial Districts cornered all of them, leaving Edo Central (the Esan region) at the mercy of God.

Whereas it was the turn of Edo Central to produce the next Governor after his eight years in office, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole uses his incumbency power to thwart the evolution of that historic natural political equation. A dastardly legacy, which Governor Obaseki inherited and has taken to the unprecedented level unknown in the history of the creation of Mid-Western Region since 1963.

Worst of all his sins: the abandonment of Great PBGS - Pilgrim Baptist Grammar School Ewohimi, my alma mater. He awarded the contract for the resuscitation of the Grammar School. Mobilization fee was paid, and the contractor proceeded to the cite and demolished the old structures and disappeared. And that was the end of the story.

Governor Oshiomhole simply looked the other way until he left the office. He went to all the major and not so major towns in Esan region during the last gubernatorial election to the campaign. He didn't step his foot on Ewohimi, the third-largest town in Esan land.

This man, Comrade Adam Oshiomhole, knowingly hijacked and appropriated the remains of my late cousin, Mrs. Clara Oshiomhole, the former First Lady of Edo State, contrary to Esan culture and tradition. He flagrantly refused to return her remains to her ancestral family home at Ukpughe-Idegbe, Idumhankhilemhen Quarter, Idumhango Okaigben Ewohimi for a befitting burial. And so the spirit mourns.

Yes, I have reasonable excuses to applaud his crucifixion, but I won't.

That the spirit of PBGS will continue to harass him and all the contractors and political leaders who collaborated with him in the truncation of the renaissance of the famed PBGS is a foregone conclusion. It shall remain so with them in all their engagements (public and private) until the day of their atonement and resuscitation of PBGS.

And that's by the way.

Indeed, I have credible excuses to join hands with his accusers, but I won't for the following reasons.

Adam Oshiomhole is an ex-Governor, and he knows the dictatorial role he played in the imposition of candidates on the electorates through fraudulent primaries for the eight years he was the Governor of Edo State.

He is not alone and he wasn't alone. It is a nationwide tradition. Imagine how a masquerade like Amaechi became a Governor if not for the intrigues of Odili. These are candidates, with no electoral values or a modicum of credibility.

They are highly deficient in leadership attributes, exhibiting no quantum of honor. Yet, they are clothed in an oversized and ill-fitted garment of honorable.

About 99% of these candidates, on their own, cannot win a primary election even in their own Ward, if the process is opened to the general public.

Historically, the candidates Nigerian Governors and stakeholders imposed on their political parties and the Nigerian electorates, in general, are not the kind of leaders the people really desired to have. That is the major anomaly that the Direct Model is set out to eliminate.

In other words, it is the culture of unpopular choices vintage the delegates system (indirect primary) that Comrade Adam Oshiomhole wanted to eradicate by the new formula via open participation.

Because once installed or elected, the now Honorable Okoro Fabiyi Adamu's goal is how to meet the interests of his godfather. The expectations of the electorates are in the periphery in the ladder of priorities. The mechanism underlying his success at the poll is obvious and the custodian of his allegiance is certain. And certainly, not the people - the electorates.

Unfortunately, the stakeholders, majority of them being serving Governors as I said earlier, want a perpetuation of the old - the illegality, and the abuse of power and the celebration of nepotism inherent in the indirect primary.

Now the surprise. Here is the major reason I am writing this essay or sharing this opinion, referred to as the thesis.

Given the enormity of the influence of money and godfatherism in Naija politics, and the strident condemnations and rejections of them by most Nigerian political and public affairs commentators, aspiring political leaders, and the youths, one would have thought that these groups of people would enthusiastically rally to the support of the Chairman of a political party who called for the elimination of the culture of imposition of candidates through the process of selling and buying of delegates. It didn't happen.

Disturbingly, no solidarity songs heralding the potential exit of a Comrade, whose sin was fighting to create a level playing field for every potential aspirant to elective office in Nigeria. And that is an indictment of the Nigerian academic community and the generality of the public affairs commentators professing to hold the conscience of the nation.

Indicted, because it is your responsibility to agitate and market real change in our electoral system to the electorates. Especially an emerging pragmatic change parked with the potentials to eliminate the power of money and undue influence in our leadership selection process. Sad too, you guys failed Nigerian voters.

Rather, your pleasure is in populating the social media with Chief John Oyegun's alleged warning of Oshiomhole's apocalypse. Give me a break! What sin did he commit? Why not address the sin instead of dwelling on his arrogance and Chief Oyegun's alleged warning.

If the message is good, why not separate it from the bearer of the message, no matter the scale of the repugnancy his antagonist attaches to his looks and antecedents. Yes, there is a sense in the separation. Therefore, I respectfully call on all APC members to stand with Adam Oshiomhole on Direct Primaries. It's good for the party and it is good for our democracy. On Direct Primary, I Stand.

I take this position and share this essay, believing that Adam Oshiomhole's performance in the just-concluded Primaries and those coming up in the future are conducted consistent with the textbook meaning of Direct Primary, with a view to overcoming the ills associated with the Indirect Primaries, and meeting the expectations of every aspiring candidate for elective office in Nigeria. I beg to conclude.

Alex Aidaghese.

The Futility of the Buhari's Qualification Debate

The Futility of the Buhari's Qualifications Debate: I Stand By My Opinion on the Subject, Published on my Blog and on my Facebook Timeline on January 25, 2015.

Yes, he is eminently qualified to run. But is he fit to govern? On that, I raised some doubts. About four years later, President Buhari did not prove me wrong regarding my doubts. Today, blood is eating away our luscious landscape, and our fertile vegetation has become the exclusive use of unknown herdsmen, armed by unknown Cattle Merchants, and aided by unknown soldiers. The Middle-Belt region is uninhabited and Kaduna, the home of the great ABU and the capital of the Arewa Fraternity is steaming in a bloodbath. And we're feeling disinterested. It is not our Backyard. It's very apparent that his detractors in the social media are so infatuated with stories of the jejune and the ridiculous to concoct a coherent narrative for his disqualification at the poll? What, for God's Sake, is the heck about the possession or the lack of a basic school certificate by a candidate who rose to the position of a General in the Armed Forces of his country?

Please, read the next essay. Thanks.

BUHARI IS IMMINENTLY QUALIFIED TO RUN - A Commonsense Analysis.

The West Africa School Certificate (WASC) is the basic (minimum) requirement or qualification that a prospective presidential hopeful must possess to be eligible to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In other words, any qualification post-WASC is equally acceptable in meeting the constitutional benchmark. In addition, if a candidate possesses other valid qualifications post-WASC, then the question of the validity or otherwise of the basic qualification (WASC) is moot. And with regards to the eligibility of the affected candidate to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, no third party can question the validity or authenticity of the basic qualification (WASC) any longer, because it is now supplanted by more advanced credentials.

The only institutions that can question the validity or authenticity of the basic qualification are those institutions that awarded all the post WASC qualifications, in that case, on the ground of forgery. And in the absence of any form of forgery of the basic qualification on the part of the affected candidate during the admission process, then, once again, the question of his qualification or eligibility to run for the post of the President is moot. Because all the other credentials post WASC are on solid ground.

In addition, even if the affected candidate did not possess the basic/minimum qualification (WASC); nevertheless, was able to secure admission into those institutions post WASC through “other means,” and those “other means” were credible, legitimate and acceptable to those institutions when made, there is nothing anyone can do about that. As long as the adopted process of admission is an acceptable standard to those institutions, no third party can question the validity or otherwise of the advanced qualifications awarded post-WASC by those institutions.

Every institution all over the world has its own policy with respect to eligibility or admissibility of potential candidates. In Nigeria, it is the Federal Character or Quota System. In the US, it is Affirmative Action.

I think we should be asking ourselves the following questions: Does General Buhari accept the fact that Nigeria is a secular state? To what extent is he at accord with the basic manifestos of his own political party? Is free education acceptable to him in line with APC's new thinking?

The issue really is not and shouldn't be his eligibility, but his electability in light of his very extreme public pronouncements on religious issues and the troubling north-south divide that he doesn't know how to overcome.

And the most troubling question is whether General Buhari is running to restore power to the grieving Arewas, who felt marginalized by the sudden death of President Yar'Adua? Or is he championing a true revolution to rescue Nigeria from his fellow ruling class and to save the country from imminent collapse?

How authentic is a revolution or change when Obasanjo and IBB are now some of his new followers? Hopefully, these questions will find credible answers during the Presidential debates.

At the moment, the irrepressible Mr. Femi Fani Kayode is on a frolic, busy depleting his campaign funds and precious time, waging a futile battle, with a view to disqualifying General Buhari on a bogus premise. It won't happen.

If you think a man who rose to the position of a General in the Nigerian Armed Forces is not qualified to run for the office of the President of Nigeria, you are delusional. He was a General, and he served the nation gallantly. How he got it is immaterial.

Without mincing words, General Buhari is eminently qualified to run for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the apex court will not HEAR any case instituted to contest his qualification or eligibility. The earlier PDP and Femi Fani Kayode concentrate on issues (what they have done and what they intend to do if elected) the better for the party.

In sum, did General Buhari attend other Schools or Military Institutions after his WASC? Yes. Did he forge his WASC to secure admission to those other institutions? There is no proof of that. Was he admitted to those institutions on the strength of his prior academic background, recommendations, and other factors acceptable to those institutions? Yes. Did he successfully complete those post-WASC studies? There is no proof he did not. Case closed.

The issue right now is not whether General Buhari meets the educational benchmark, but whether he is conversant with the latest developments in our educational sector – managing students’ unrest, domesticating almajiris population, booking the abokis, and keeping ASUU on campus. Nigerians deserve better; it is high time we elevate the scope of our presidential campaign – making it substantially issue-oriented.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

DEBATING ATIKU'S STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES

INTRODUCTION

First Published on this Blog on September 8, 2013, and on my FaceBook on September 8, 2017. Following the victory of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the recent PDP Presidential Primaries, an elderly friend on FaceBook who participated in the debate during its initial publication in 2017, revisited the essay again. \That prompted another round of debates as you can see below. After reading this short essay and the accompanying debates or discussions, you will no longer search for the origin of ATIKULATE. It all began on my Facebook Timeline by Yours Truly. Happy reading.

Atiku's Strenght and Weakness is an excerpt from a 2013 essay on The Progressive Option.

"Since the exit of President Obasanjo, Atiku is the only political leader on the scene who is able to articulate his motivations in power - what his goals are as a President."

"His clarity of thoughts on public affairs is outstanding. I want to be very frank and honest here; the fact that the materials on his campaign website or his published interviews were put together by advisers or consultants is irrelevant. Irrelevant because his opponents cannot boast of similar contents or thought it prudent to put together similar materials."

"How can you be an effective performer, if you cannot conceive or develop a coherent narrative for the office that you seek to occupy? I have no doubt in my mind that Atiku is much better than his peers in that aspect - that is, on "why I want to be President."

"His major weakness; allegations of corrupt practices aside, is his unwillingness to ruffle heads or be seen to be overtly antagonistic.

He should have taken a lesson from South Africa main man - Jacob Zuma on how to game the process legitimately. When Zuma time came, he stood firm - no scandal manufactured by man or self-inflicted can take my title away from me. He was battle-ready, emerged onto the scene gallantly like a true warrior and got his Presidential title."

"For instance, when Obasanjo was using EFCC and INEC to disqualify and un-disqualify Atiku years ago from running for the Presidential ticket under PDP, he should have taken his fight to the street - the people. He did not do that, and he paid for it badly."

"Atiku is a management and administrative strategist. No question about that. But politically speaking, he is no Mr. "If You Tarka Me, I Will Daboh You." That is the number one problem he must first overcome.

September 8, 2013 by Alex Aidaghese

50 Comments

4 Shares

Dan Akharoh, Ehiabhi Felix Ozabor and 5 others

Comment

Comments

Benjamin Omole Propaganda! Just forget it. Jesus Is Lord! Amen!