OBASANJO: A Presidential Memoir and the Ceding of Bakassi Peninsula!

A Presidential Memoir, without a reasonable and convincing expose on the ceding of States’ Rights and Territorial Integrity to another country or countries at the instance of the President, is totally and unequivocally incomplete. Such a memoir is un-presidential, half-baked, and in every respect, inconsistent with the style and manner of works of Great Presidents. 

What I do know is that if the ceding of our own Bakassi Peninsular, a community, and its people, rich in the cultural and unquantifiable magnitude of natural mineral resources, were to happen under a government or administration headed by President Jonathan, Obasanjo would have by now, conspired and driven the “infidel Jonathan” out of Aso Rock. Hate him or love him, President Jonathan did not bargain away our rights, our people, our mineral resources, and our entitlements in a territory that was and has been a part of that geographical landmass that later evolved into the Nigerian Republic in 1914. President Obasanjo did this when he was the President of Nigeria.

The uncoordinated forced evacuation of native Nigerians from their native towns and villages, collectively known as Bakassi Peninsular under President Obasanjo, was a crime against humanity. They gave them two options: If they elect not to pay allegiance to the Cameroonian flag and retain their Nigerian citizenship, they must evacuate themselves and their belongings to a new settlement. In that case, your culture, your herds, your business, your farm, your animals, your neighbours and your neighbourhood that date back decades must be let go. And some of them did so. 

The second option was: If you choose to remain in Bakassi Peninsular and do not desire to let go of your business and cultural heritage, you automatically renounce your Nigerian citizenship and, therefore, become Cameroonians. 

Today, those who succumbed to the promptings of President Obasanjo and accompanied him to the unknown cannot tell their stories of woes, deprivations, defeat and abandonment by a government and leadership that lied to them.  

A Nigerian who is now a Cameroonian later told newsmen that from time immemorial, they have been Nigerians. The lands are theirs. In other words, there was never a time when their identity as a people or as a race was in doubt. There was never any known migration from another land to the present Bakassi Peninsular. They have been part of the land, and the land has been part of them as Nigerians. According to the news report, the gentleman said he decided to stay and become Cameroonian because of his business and family to fend for. Basically, it was the fear of the unknown.

Today, Cross River State, though still an Oil Producing State, thanks to President Obasanjo, no longer enjoy the presence of oil wells like the neighbouring states as it was before - a development that cuts drastically into the financial wherewithal and stability of the once robust model state. That part of the State, that part of Nigeria, known to be very rich in oil wells, was ceded to Cameroon. No present political leader is talking or concerned about the massive economic and social deprivations that accompanied the willful surrender and the peril of Nigeria as a nation-state.

As President Obasanjo’s Memoir makes the rounds in bookshops and talk shops, one thing is certain; he and his generations and political friends will not know poverty again. They have succeeded in enriching themselves with lucrative oil blocs and other wealth-building apparatus. And they have nonchalantly acquiesced on our collective rights as a nation-state in the face of modern-day robbery and false partitioning of a sovereign territory at the behind-the-scenes prompting by France and by an ICJ whose convoluted finding lacks precedent as to statutes or facts.

That Obasanjo, a rambunctious retired military officer, should capitulate so easily and without protest should not come anyone by surprise. He was then scheming to subvert our constitutional framework as it relates to the succession process to undermine the term limits. Going by his calculation, anything worth doing to be the good boy of influential Western powers and in the good book of international institutions is worth doing well, even if it means sacrificing a viable and age-old component of the Nigerian state.

Here is a poser for Mr. Obasanjo: Where is Hawaii? Where is Guam? Where is Alaska? How far are they from the nearest State or States within the US mainland? The same question also goes to Falkland Territory. How far is it from the mainland of the United Kingdom? In this modern era, great Presidents strive to retain or annex any land or waterway that poses any form of strategic, economic, or security risk or harm. Most often, they do so without regard to the legal or arbitration process. 

Given the fact that President Obasanjo does not belong to the class of the great men and women who thought it fit and of overriding national interest to acquire or retain the territories mentioned above, I would humbly suggest to the former President to take a course from his good friend, President George Walker Bush, on how to be Presidential on retirement. He should, with all due respect, leave President Jonathan alone. Let Nigerians decide whether to retain him at Aso Rock or vote him out at the next Presidential election. In four years, President Jonathan, who does not know how to govern, fixed the roads that you, Mr. Perfect President, couldn’t fix in eight years. That is a fact. Thank you. 

BUHARI: The Need to Restructure the Front Office and Why I am Leaning Towards Atiku for APC Ticket!

ON GENERAL BUHARI: There must be a total, vehement, and unequivocal detachment from what's been. I do believe in my heart that General Buhari has the tenacity and toughness to deal with those stealing our wealth, but whether he has the intellectual wherewithal to carry Nigeria as a country - its people and resources - to a new and enviable level in this modern time, is my doubt. ALEX AIDAGHESE - "In Search of a Real Political Party" September 8, 2013.

ON VICE PRESIDENT ATIKU: Since the exit of President Obasanjo, Atiku is the only political leader on the scene who is able to articulate what he really wants to do as 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 is irrelevant. Irrelevant because his opponents cannot boast of similar materials or consider it prudent to put together similar materials. How can you be an effective performer, if you cannot conceive or develop a coherent narrative for leadership? I have no doubt in my mind that Atiku is much better than his peers in that aspect - why I want to be President. ALEX AIDAGHESE - "In Search of a Real Political Party" September 8, 2013.

Presidential Candidate Buhari’s performance the other day at a televised interaction with the press was, to say the least, un-presidential and hardly expected. Ours is a monocultural economy. In other words, crude oil, as the main stay of the Nigerian economy, must be, not just a major topic, but understandable to the level of expertise and at the command of any Presidential candidate. That General Buhari fumbles so badly in handling questions relating to the stability of crude oil prices in the international market place is an indictment and a slap on the wrist of his media handlers and economic advisers. Something is fundamentally wrong with his campaign if, at this point in the Presidential Primaries and few months to the main contest, Gen Buhari does not have an Economic Advisers on his team. Given the enormity of the show of shame, I suggest that all his advisers and anyone directly or remotely connected with his campaign prior to that interview should be fired. Above all, if at this point in the general election, it does not occur to General Buhari that he is not one knowledgeable in the act of number-crunching and in the vocabulary of global market, and who would, therefore, desire and appreciate the presence of an economist and campaign strategist on his team, then, with all due respect, he is not ready to be President of Nigerian at this point in time.

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Once bitten twice shy. When APC was registered by INEC as a political party, there was an overwhelming excitement and a feeling of relief within the class of progressive commentators in the social media. They, and like most disinterested Nigerian intellectual class, saw the development as a bold and one of a kind occurrence in the struggle to decimate the PDP as a political party. Indeed, it was a national moment that we all saw and celebrated as the beginning of a process to end the dominance of our political system by the same political careerists who have been on the scene for decades.

Most of the progressive commentators came up with strategies that would facilitate recruitment drive and grass-root support system. In other words, there was a consensus within the group of the need to develop a progressive narrative and take it down to the people at rallies, at conferences and seminars. It didn't happen. The demands fell on deft ears and were rejected by the top characters within the APC establishment. The most vocal antagonists of progressive voices happened to be Buhari handlers and supporters.

That Gen Buhari was a military dictator was never in doubt. That he imprisoned political leaders of the second republic indiscriminately was never in doubt. Personally, wanted an explanation or a show of contrite from General Buhari for the ill-treatment of Professor Ambrose Ali who was the Governor of the old Bendel State for four years. It is profoundly disheartening that Professor Ambrose, a man who paid for thousands of WAEC candidates to take their exams; a fatherly fellow who built and funded for us a new brand University; who paid bursary to the entire Bendel State students, that he has to rot in jail and died in abject poverty, because he built three bedrooms bungalow for his Father was and still very difficult to digest or process. It was the same story all over Nigeria. That would have made the need for familiarization tour a major task by Buhari. It did not happen.

Where is common sense? I am not here to reenact or rejuvenate the discriminatory prosecutions and imprisonments of political leaders Nigerians witnessed under Buhari leadership. All I wanted was the presence of Buhari at Town Halls, at University Campuses, at Market or Village Squares telling his stories, that indeed, he is different from the Buhari in Military uniform, that he cherishes democratic principles, freedom of the press and the sanctity of the universally acclaimed rights – the fundamental human rights. Inherent rights, which he blatantly abused. Buhari and his handlers never did.

They ran after rebel governors and all the FFK they could find running from PDP. One guy even wrote a piece, lecturing progressive commentators about the correct approach to capacity building, arguing that it is better to align with rebel governors because they have larger follower-ship for the APC to tap into. Another blogger considered it degrading for Buhari to go about the countryside searching for new members.

Today, the much-celebrated converts have indeed, reconverted to where they belong - PDP. And one of the major recruits, though gone, is not going without a fight. He has succeeded in an unimaginable proportion in branding APC as an Islamic Party made up of Islamic Fundamentalists, with a goal to convert Nigeria into an Islamic state. Myopic as you would want to brand the author and his conspiracy theory, one thing is not in doubt though; his message has gotten some rhythms in most places. And Buhari and his handlers are now in a state of quagmire, completely clueless on what to do to extricate Presidential Candidate Buhari from that pigeonholed characterization.

Worse still, progressive commentators who were in a celebratory mood when APC was formed and registered, and who would as naturally expected, be at the fore front for repackaging and redefining the redemption songs of citizen Buhari, have all gone for good. They were selfishly pushed away from having a say in what becomes of APC, and specifically, on managing Gen Buhari. 

Buhari is not yet the President, to the extent that his inner followers do not even want to welcome newcomers to his fold, leave much to be desired. They built a war around a man who under normal circumstances would have been all over the place meeting and strategizing with real progressives – visionary, modern, and creative progressives. They never did.

I resent cultist approach to governance in any shape or form. Gen Buhari main weakness, from my own common sense reading of his past, present, and the attitude of his handlers is that he is susceptible to manipulation by few elements. If they couldn't prepare him for a media chat, they must not spend a day longer at his side. 

If Buhari has adult children, I suggest they step into the scene right now and initiate a drastic remake or repackaging of their beloved dad for the uphill battle that is yet to come, if he wins the primaries. It is a modern world. Buhari is not part of it. 

Finally, if Vice President is relevant today, it is more about his grasp of the issues and the simplicity and ease that he articulates his motivations in power. The same is true of his website – free flow, clear and easy to read and digest. And that is the main reason I am leaning towards him as APC candidate. Truth is, if you cannot articulate why you want to be President; if you do not have the foresight to assemble credible followers who believe in you and your dream and how to help you refine your craft; if you do not have the common sense to initiate and conduct self-assessment as well as the assessment of your media handlers and advisers and to know that something is fundamentally wrong in the management of your campaign and message delivery format, then, with all due respect, you may likely not have my support and those of nonpartisan, reasonable, and discerning minds. You just cannot dwell on solutions, without being abreast of the underlying problems or its existence. You cannot fathom solutions or seek one, without a thorough understanding of what the issues are or what ails you. Awareness comes first, followed by identification of the problems, and finally, identifying and recruiting the rights men to address the problems to a satisfactory end. Vice President Atiku is reputed of being an expert in identifying and recruiting visionaries and creative minds for appointment into strategic positions in public and private places. Besides, that he is more modern than his peers in terms of management and governance is not in doubt.

Lawan: I Collected $500,000 Bribe Offer, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

Revisited: Petroleum Subsidy Scam, EFCC and Presidential Denial!

As at the time of writing, Mr. Farouk Lawan, the debonair, diminutive and dapper Boyish-looking member of the Nigerian House of Assembly, reputed to be highly savvy and conversant in rules and procedural trajectories of the House business, is still holding on tight to his chair in the Lower House, years after confessing to have received more than half a million dollar from the Nigerian SSS in a sting operation that went awry. It was a high stake maneuvering, designed and executed, though with doubtful intent, by the SSS and Chief Otedola, with a goal to inducing Mr. Farouk Lawan and his deputy, Mr. Emanalo Boniface, to alter the report of their investigations into the fraudulent dealings of some bogus petroleum marketers in favor of Chief Otedola. 

As the talk of the removal of petroleum subsidy resonates, and about two years after the report of the Lawan Committee, the SSS, whose funds were recklessly dissipated in the botched job, has yet to recover a dime from the two congressmen. In a similar vein, EFCC is yet to secure a conviction of any of the major players in the scandal.

The question that Nigerians have not asked or yet to ask is: what informed the SSS's involvement in the report, given the fact that the Committee was doing a legitimate investigation? Besides, we have it on record on this Blog that the Senate, in a previous year, did publish the names of Petroleum Marketers who benefited from the Petroleum Subsidy Funds, without actually stating whether or not the beneficiaries supplied or imported Petroleum Products by the terms of the contract.

What the House of Representative or the Lawan Committee did or intended to do was more extensive and damning in every respect. And the Report later indicated so. In spite of everything, someone or some powerful Nigerians wanted a preemption of the report by any means necessary. SSS' involvement was not to protect our national interest or the integrity of the House of Representatives, but to punch holes in the report of the Committee, to discredit and render it useless. It didn't happen. 

Today, crude oil is back in the news, and the talk of the removal of the petroleum subsidy is ripe.

What I want Nigeria to remember is that, one, the more than half a million dollars furnished to Mr. Farouk Lawan and his deputy by the SSS has not been recovered.

Secondly, Mr. Lawan and his collaborators are still in the House. These gentlemen do not enjoy any immunity in the instant case. That they are still standing is an indictment on the part of the Executive, on whose branch is the SSS, as well as the Attorney General, who, from all indications, didn't consider the bribery scandal egregious enough to warrant the attention of his office.

And three, that the most influential names among the bogus petroleum marketers are not in jail, and have not refunded the money they stole. Truth is, in more decent climes, there would not have been any need for a trial, but an outright recovery or forfeiture proceeding. Because their culpability and guilt have been established beyond every known standard of reasonable doubt.

On the other hand, in the United States of America, where the Almighty Dollar is the means of exchange, their FBI could only expend about $90,000 to execute a similar operation that their counterpart in Nigeria wasted about half a million dollars to execute, without success. 

In addition, the FBI, working with the US Justice Department, tried and convicted Congressman William Jefferson, who accepted a bribe to induce a Nigerian businessman to secure favourable terms in a telecom deal. Before the trial and conviction, the FBI recovered $80,000 out of the money they gave to Mr. Jefferson for the sting operation.

At this juncture, it is trite to conclude that the deficiency inherent in the prosecution and conviction of influential white collar criminals in our public sector is made worse by a President who is seemingly oblivious to the egregious state of the situation. 

Once at a public event, the President commended the EFCC for the trial of about 200 white collar criminals. He did not make any mention of the notorious petroleum marketers. He also, in a praising mood, took umbrage at EFCC for not publishing or celebrating their accomplishments. The success stories, the President and whoever it was that briefed him before the public praise are a trial and conviction of Yahoo-Yahoo operatives and other petty thieves.

What the President may not have known at the time of that media briefing is that the children of the last two big guys of his own political party who, no doubt, are the kingpin of the one of a kind petroleum subsidy scam in the history of Nigerian oil subsidy, have not been tried or convicted. That is in spite of the overwhelming evidence of culpability established by Lawan's Committee as well as the proof beyond a reasonable doubt findings of Aigbojie's investigatory panel instituted by the President. 

Also, to say EFCC on its part is in denial is an understatement. A few months ago, while in audience with some delegates from the Netherlands Embassy at Abuja, the Chairman of EFCC, told his visitors that there is no body or institution out there exerting pressure on the agency on who to prosecute or let alone. He concluded by citing the trial of the children of the last two chairmen of the PDP. What the EFCC boss failed to tell his guests is the percentage of the scammed funds he has recovered from the two scammers. He specifically stated: Trial, and not conviction or forfeiture or recovery.

I would like to conclude by saying that trial is not synonymous with conviction or forfeiture. And from all indications, the Presidency is in denial with respect to the trial and conviction of fraudulent Nigerians by the law enforcement agencies. 

Therefore, any attempt to tamper with the petroleum subsidy or hike the price of petroleum products, without a show of concrete proof of recovery of the previously squandered funds by NNPC and its affiliates, must be resisted and rejected by every Nigerian.  

I supported the removal of the subsidy during the "Occupy Nigeria" protest about two years ago, not necessarily because the subsidy is economically stupid, but on the ground that, as applied or implemented in Nigeria, it does not reflect in lower prices at the gas pump. And Nigerians know the cause of that disconnect: those paid to supply never did supply. And that has been the culture. 

Before the involvement of the House Committee, and before the inauguration of the "Occupy Nigeria" protest, the President told Nigerians that there is a fraud in the subsidy regime, and that powerful forces are frustrating the happening of the intended benefits - lower prices of petroleum products. One would have thought that on the publication of the Lawan Committee and the indictment of the bogus petroleum marketers by the Aigbojie's panel, the President would have taken the initiative to direct the recovery or forfeiture process straight from his office. This is a unique case, and there is nothing abhorrent in the President being a judge in his own case on behalf of Nigerians. Oil is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, and petroleum subsidy is a crucial component of that equation. Today, we know better. 

Also, the former Governor of Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, supported the removal on the ground that the subsidy only benefits wealthy and highly placed Nigerians. Though the Emir's position and a few others correspond with mine, I did in fact argue that the Government should, in the meantime, step into the importation of the essential petroleum products, and reinvest the accruing profits into expansion and capacity building of domestic refineries. That is a bold step, if we must succeed in overcoming all the ills associated with our petroleum subsidy.