Rotimi Amaechi, Niger Delta, and the Enemies Within.

Rotimi Amaechi is a curse to the cause of the Niger Delta. He is merely a simpleton, an unrepentant saboteur at home and a sophisticated moron at the national stage. And his likes of southern extractions are legion.

Once upon a time, he was the Governor of Rivers State and the Chairman of the now defunct Nigerian Governors' Forum when Professor Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was the Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At the time, the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) as it was then called, was experiencing some ethnic-influenced-obstructions (popularly called tribalism in Nigeria) at the National Assembly at the instance of some very power Northern political leaders.

To address that show of shame and some other national issues, all the Governors met in one of the states in the South. At the end of the meeting, they resolved to put pressure on their respective NASS members to expedite the process of the passage of the PIB into law.

About a week after the meeting, and having undisputably met with powerful characters like Chief Anthony Sani, Professor Anglo Abdulahi, and Kwankwaso (significant antagonists of the Bill); Governor Banbagida Aliyu of Niger State who was then the Chairman of the Northern Chapter of the Governors' Forum, capitulated and made a summersault.

He told Nigerians that given their (Northern Governors) limited knowledge of the Bill and its contents, it is inadvisable that they should contact their Northern NASS members to take action on the Bill, without first consulting with experts in the Energy Industry. Simply put, he overruled the decisions of the entire Governors Forum, headed by Governor Amaechi of Rivers State - an Oil Producing State.

Also at the meeting were Governor Comrade Adam Oshiomhole of Edo State and Governor Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, the state with the highest numbers of oil wells. And the three of them are still very much relevant in the present administration.

Today, that Bill is yet to be passed into law because of one section that makes provision for oil-producing communities. For the purpose of records, the article provides that 10% of the net profit of the oil companies doing business in the Niger Delta should be set aside for the Host Communities. Those are villages or communities where explorations are ongoing.

What you must know though, is that the funding is not from the Federation Account or from the Federal Government. But from oil prospecting companies doing business in the Niger Delta. Yet, Chief Anthony Sani is not persuaded. So, as long as the Host Community section of the Bill benefits only the people of the Niger Delta communities, without benefiting the those within the Northern region, the Bill must die or the section expunged entirely from the Bill. And the Bill has been dying and resurrecting intermittently in the past fifteen years.

Senator Solomon Ita Enang, the only notable living Southern or Niger Delta politician to speak on the record is no longer talking. As a matter of fact, as a Senator, he wrote a thought-provoking essay that was laced with facts and figures on how our Northern Brothers have hijacked the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. What you must also know is that on coming into office, President Buhari made him his Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters. And the man subsequently dies; thus, creating a vacuum waiting to be filled.

However, saddened by the noticeable absence of reasonable arguments in support of the contentious section of the Bill, and given my reasonable understanding of the current trends in the industry, with specific reference to the concept of social license, I wrote a long essay, wherein I rebutted all the arguments put forward by Chief Anthony Sani and Mr. Kwankwaso against the PIB. The piece was published by the Nigeria Village Square in 2014 or thereabout.

This essay is not an opinion piece; it is merely a reinstatement of facts that took place - facts that concerned Niger Delta political leaders failed to address, and facts that the people of the Niger Delta did not adequately feel connected to because their representatives in NASS did not give the Bill and the arguments of its main antagonists commensurate premium in coverage due to ignorance, selfish interest, or carelessness. Our representatives are not at the same politically savvy level as their Northern colleagues on most legislative issues. Most often, our Reps play to the gallery, making or dishing unproductive highfalutin jargon, while their Northern colleagues are going for the kill, taking a brutal stand. 

The question that begs to ask is why Akpabio, Rotimi Amaechi, and Adam Oshiomhole couldn't leverage their closeness to the Northern political power brokers to compel action on the Bill, given the alarming scale of pollution ravaging the ecological needs of the host communities. That troubling question is the thesis of this essay. And the reason is not far-fetched.

They cherish the disconnect (disinterestedness) from the struggle (passing the PIB) because they wouldn't want to be seen or recorded as the Niger Delta political leaders who endorse, espouse, and champion a public policy framework that the Northern political elites or influential groups are not comfortable with. And that is one of the Nigerian questions - of fear of Southern political leaders rooted in greed. In other words, if it is not good for the North, it is not good for Nigeria. 

Please, make no mistake, the concept of "born to rule," secured its original impetus from the greed, timidity and slave mentality of most Southern political leaders at the national stage. It is their greed and legislative myopia on nation-wide wealth distribution or federal presence that culminates in the escalation of the born to rule culture.

We live in a country where someone could openly fight against free education at levels, because, according to him, it will NOT benefit his region due to their aversion to Western Educational system. Yet that same man became a Vice Counsellor of a Federal University, a Minister of Education, and a Minister of Petroleum Resources. He was never at any time considered a bigot or ethnic champion not suitable for the national political position.

As a Vice Counsellor, he told the world that Southern Lecturers or Professors are not welcomed in his University.  If at all, they will only be considered after Northerners, Whites, and Indians. Neither his divisive opinion on free education nor his blacklisting of Southern academia could stop him from becoming a Federal Minister of Education or a Minister of the Petroleum found in the South or Niger Delta. Logically put, the more disdainful a view of the Southern interests they propagate or agitate, the higher a position of influence they attain within the Federal power structure. And that is what is humbling all the Rotimi Amaechis of the South. 

Just consider these for a moment: (1), You are the one sitting upon the crude oil - the gold mine of the nation is in your tribal region. (2), Your land and water are experiencing ceaseless devastation by oil pollution and gas flaring resulting in permanent destruction of your means of livelihoods. (3), Yet, you are the one pleading to be accepted into the fraudulent leadership for the sharing of the so-called national cake. And (4), you are the one strategizing to be a formidable stooge; killing your own people and the destroying the budding economic structure to impress your masters and convince them that you are indeed a credible ally and a dependable saboteur of your tribal interests. Shame on you.

From time immemorial, the Northern political elites, who you crudely and enthusiastically appeased with the blood of your brothers have nothing of value to bequeath this great country or to enhance our worth as a nation-state. They perpetuate war and take profligacy and wastage of our human and natural resources to an obscene scale. Boko Haram, Fulani Herdsmen, innumerable bandits, the killing of our finest via coup d'etat, and the unceasing futile search for crude oil where were their inventions.

The truth is, the reverse ought to be the case. Unfortunately, that isn't, because the appetite for greed for all Southern political leaders is legendary. Today, Asiwaju Tinubu is willing to bargain away the cradle of the Yoruba independence, to secure and consolidate his 2023 Presidential ambition. It is irrelevant if Mile 2/Orile/Apapa Highway is a nightmare. He clandestinely emasculated Chief Tom Ikimin to secure his dominance of the Southern power game with the APC.

To the Akpabios, Amaechi, and Oshiomholes of the Niger Delta, it makes a sound economic judgment to be a zombie and wait for your turn to get a bite at the crumbs falling down from the Master's table, than turning an apostle of integrity and of equal rights and justice, and be dispossessed of power. Better yet, you are LESS likely to be a guest of the EFCC and ICPC, if you are pro-power at the center. In the words of Lord Acton, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely." It is sad to conclude that none of these gentlemen is safer today in his community and state capital than he was a few years ago. What I do know is that, if all is well in the political system, no one would be agitating for True Federalism or Restructuring. We are either one nation, same people holding on to the same creed and imbued with the equal rights and entitlements to all that good about the Nigerian nation-state, or we are not.

https://www.facebook.com/NkiruHomann/videos/328322224534901/?t=41

INEC: RIGGING WITHOUT CONSCIENCE

Ombuds-Man

March 20 at 11:02 PM · 

Rigging without Conscience.

Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of INEC, is an intellectual error and a colossal waste to the academia. When this episode finally comes to an end, history will record him as the dubious Professor who wrote the final chapter of the Nigerian descent to the abyss as a nation-state. Here is a guy with a First-Class Bachelor Degree in History from the University of Sokoto, a Graduate-level Degree from Cambridge and a Ph.D. from Oxford - a superlative CV that could land him any teaching or consulting job anywhere in the whole world.

Yet, when the whole wide world was watching, expecting him to live up to the standard expected of a learned Professor of his caliber or reputation, and restore dignity into the Nigerian electoral process, he emerges as a willing enabler of the worst in us as a cursed society. He was expected to act above board and dare the fraudulent money bags to a fight. He floundered woefully. He is indeed, a Compromiser-In-Chief.

But for his tacit endorsement of the manufactured crisis; the SARS, the Armed Military Personnel and members of the Nigerian Police Force would not have been so egregious and daring in their well-choreographed crusade to rig President Buhari back into power.

That he was not even aware of the fact that the figures he broadcast to the whole world didn't add up, shows the scale of his disguised incompetence and disconnect. This is more than greed. He is a disgrace, an intellectual fraud, and a coward. He was more of a player than an umpire. What took place in Lagos, Kano, Katsina, Enugu, Borno, Gombe, and Rivers States is a mockery of the electoral process.

Truth is, Mahmood Yakubu didn't know that Nigerians can read the fine print. Even if he does, he didn't expect us to dissect the fine print and make a credible deduction or meaning out of the farce he fed the whole world as an election result. And that is the ridiculousness of Chairman Yakubu and his INEC Rigging Team.

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Reality Check: Military Strength in the Wrong Places.

When this election is over, Buratai and his Military Empire will no longer have any excuse to give for not surmounting the scourge of insurgency in the North East and Zamfara State.

This show of force in Rivers State has been missing in Sambisa Forest, yet this administration was reported parting with Millions of Dollars via intermediaries to BUY ceasefire from the Boko Haram sect. Nigerians are now aware that our Armed Forces is not in short supply of personnel and weapons as the excuse was.

The Buhari Administration abandoned the much televised UN-Sponsored Ogoni Cleanup Program, while at the same time, wasting the crude oil money from the same Ogoni Land in perpetuating a manufactured crisis called Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

What you're seeing are pictures of Nigerian Military in a show of force in Port Harcourt, River State. Now, ask your self, if we have this, how come we've not been able to invade the Sambisa Forest and put an end to Boko Haram? Because the War is a Big Business, a Massive Fraud, and a FARCE. It is another way of sharing the Crude oil money. The Ajaokuta Steel Mill was one. And the search for Crude oil around Borno, Bauchi, and the Sokoto Basin is a continuation of the sharing of the black gold.

PDP, Rivers State

March 7 at 12:57 PM · 

We are not in any WAR!
Rivers State have been militarised as if we are fighting with Boko Haram.

One man wants to kill everybody just to remain relevant in the state

Sacrificing Crude Oil for a Confederal Option.

Introduction

If a Presidential candidate who espouses True Federalism or Decentralization of Powers (Restructuring), and at the same time, ran with an Igbo man or woman as his Vice Presidential pick, cannot rule Nigeria, in a similar vein, a candidate whose mandate came into being on the strength of apparent illegalities such as underage voting and other proven violations of the applicable laws, cannot rule Nigeria either. We are either one union, adhering to the same regulations and similar standards in their applications, or we are not. This essay is my suggestions for the way forward.

In light of the revelations so far made and seen, chronicling the gross abuse of the electoral process and the enormity of the innocent blood that All The President Men ( Comrade Adam Oshiomhole, Rotimi Amaechi, Asiwaju Tinubu, El'Rufai, Buratai, and the Four Cabal) are willing to shed to perpetuate their hold on power at the center, I have no doubt in my mind that a Confederal system of government is a better alternative for Nigeria. In that case, the respective component units will be positioned to make their own laws and develop at their own pace; thus, de-emphasizing the "bloody" interest in the control of the central government and the oil wealth.

Theoretically, a federal system of government is midway between a unitary system (where the central governments delegate powers to the states and local governments) and a confederal system (where the federating states are more powerful than the central government). Let's break it down.

The Unitary Model

Constitutionally, Nigeria is operating a federal system of government, where each state is supposedly the master of a substantial part of its affairs as an equal partner with Abuja (the Federal Government). However, in reality, we are operating a Unitary System of Government, where the Central Government is supreme; thus, making all the laws, and in total controls of everything. In the process, it gives handouts to the component states as it deems fit. Today, Nigerian States are like local government councils, because they exist at the mercy of the Central Government, with the only exception of Lagos State. The United Kingdom is a Unitary State.

The Federal Model

A federal system of governments involves the delegation of power between the national government, the federating states, and local government councils. Their respective powers and responsibilities are embedded in the Legislative Lists, made up of the Concurrent Legislative List and the Exclusive Legislative List. It consists of three arms of governments - the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. The ability of the component states to manage their own resources, raise revenues, participate in the ratification of the national constitution, make laws, provide for security, and regulate for the general well-being of its citizens within its geographical and political boundaries are some of the fundamental elements of a federal system of governments. The United States of America is a good example.

The Confederal Model

In a confederal arrangement or confederacy, the central government only exercises power and authority reserved for it or delegated to it by the component states. In other words, the component states dominate the central governments and operate as a semi-independent (loose) nation-state. Canada and Switzerland are some of the few countries where Confederacy is presently in operation.  As a matter of fact, that was the model that gentlemen like the late Chief Olu Aboderin of the Punch Newspaper, and late Chief Bisi Onabanjo, former Governor of Ogun State, stridently advocated before they died. 

These gentlemen knew what the occupation of the Central Government means to some folks and the do or die approach, most often, deployed to securing its occupation. In the process, many exceptional Nigerians paid for it with their own lives or were killed, mostly by Northern Military and Political Leaders, fighting to maintain control of the humongous power and the petrodollars that Aso Rock bequeaths.

It is trite to say that the Treasonable Felony Trial and the imprisonment of Papa Awo were the offshoots of distorted federalism. It culminated in the bloody civil war, after the assassination of Balewa, the Sadauna of Sokoto, Okotiebor, Akintola, just to name a few. Papa Awo and his economic team in the Western Region were too hot to handle or rivaled by the other regions. This began the conspiracy to derail the Awo momentum by any means necessary. They were arrested, tried, and the rest is not just history but remains irredeemable miscalculation on the use and exercise of state power by the Balewa Federal Government. The recent Presidential election is a reminder. We are too ethnically polarized to be a Federation, talkless of a Unitary model.

Aguiyi Ironsi, Centralization (Unitary Model), and the Second Coup

It was the centralized administration introduced by Col Aguiyi Ironsi after the First Coup that compelled the "Young Northern Military Officers" to wage the Second Coup which saw the assassination of Col Aguiyi Ironsi and the eventual civil war. All the Young Officers, led by Yakubu Gowon, Danjuma, and Murtala Mohammed wanted, was a continuation of regionalism, which was more like a Confederal arrangement. And that arrangement was consistent with the regional government espoused by the late Sadauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello. 

However, with the emergence of crude oil as the black gold, and its revenues skyrocketing, centralization of power became the acceptable standard of government. 

The same Young Northern Military Officers who were bloodily opposed to Centralization of Powers, turned modern-day champions of a dominant center, when they emerged as Military Head of States and Presidents respectively. Regionalism, which they hitherto collectively promoted, became an aberration.

They went about consolidating power at the center and promoting a Unitary System of Government stealthily, while at the same time, dismantling the hitherto untouchable Northern region into as many states and local government councils as possible. And it wasn't by accident.

Implications and the Intended Goals

In essence, the more states and the more local government councils you have, the more revenues coming to your region from the crude oil via the Federation Account. Also, the higher the numbers of states and local government councils your region commands, the larger the names of Senators and House of Rep members you are entitled to send to the National Assembly. And by implications, the more votes you have under your control to dominate and influence the affairs of the nation and to frustrate southern interests if you want to. For example, the Petroleum Industry Bill.

If you read the arguments in the NASS concerning the interpretation of "Host Community" clause in the old PIB, you should be able to discern how unified and parochial most Northern lawmakers are on every national policy where they are seemingly not directly benefiting.

Today, the PIB as it then was, is not a law because of Section 10 of the old Bill, which makes provision for 10% of the net profit of oil companies doing business in the Niger Delta for the host communities. The host communities are the communities where oil companies are directly engaged in oil and gas exploratory activities. And the primary objective is to compensate for the recurrent pollution, ecologically related ills, and unforeseen catastrophic occurrences. Mind you, not a dime of that funds is from the Federal Government or the Federation Account.

Making a Sacrifice

There is no doubt, it is crude oil and NNPC that are holding us together as one nation. And I am prepared to make a deal. Let's create a joint enterprise between the Federal Government and each state in the oil-producing areas concerning the numbers of oil wells in the particular state. The percentage share should be mutually negotiated between the Federal Government and each state. The same formula should be applied in the management and exploitation of the natural resources deposit in every state in the union.

In that case, the Federal Government can continue to dispense handouts as it wishes to the nonviable states from it shares in the joint enterprise. So, there won't be any need to retain the NNDC and the Ministry of Niger Delta. And the demand that a particular region or state should wait for another state or region to catch up in terms of economic and social development as suggested by certain influential leaders should be a thing of the past. I write this paragraph in light of the arguments given a few years ago by Chief Anthony Sani and Professor Anglo Abdulahi to frustrate the passage of the PIB because of the provisions of Section 10 (the Host Community).

Conclusion

If we decentralize powers at Abuja and devolve them to the states and local councils, and at the same time, cede certain percentage of the oil wealth and proceeds from other mineral resources deposit to the Federal Government for defense and support to the indolent states, I do not think we will have another Adam Ishiomhole, Rotimi Amaechi, Asiwaju Tinubu, Buratai, the Four Cabal, and El'Rufai pushing an infirm character down our throat again. After all, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sadauna of Sokoto, was not too keen about leaving Kaduna to Lagos to form a Government at the center in 1960 following our independence. Instead, he sent his second in command, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to Lagos to form the new government. And he stayed behind in Kaduna as the head of the NPC (Northern People Congress), managing the affairs of the Northern region.  

The Face of Buratai Legacy

When a Picture Speaks Volumes!

Buratai is the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff. In the picture are armed Nigerian Military Personnel and Mopol, are seen here facilitating the snatching of Ballot Boxes in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It is the same story in all the communities where the opposing candidate is more popular than the incumbent.

Uyi Precious A

21 hrs

Wow !!! Soldiers shooting APC ballot snatchers on sight. Buhari and his useless integrity. Idiots

Ignoble Legacy

Defining Buhari Democracy. 

Ben ChiedoFollow

9 hrs

#Nigeriadecides2019
Here is Massive 'over age' voting in
State: #Bauchi
LGA: Zaki
Ward: Katagum...

See More

Underage Voting in Northern Nigeria

Ombuds-Man shared a post.

56 mins · 

The Buhari Democracy. Same laws, but different standards.

The child in the picture was duly registered in Northern Nigeria to vote at any given election. He is seen here undergoing the accreditation process prior to casting his vote.