Tuesday, January 31, 2017

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Statement from the ASA Board of Directors

The ASA position is highly commendable.
As a student of refugee issues, I #StandWithRefugees everywhere.

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Statement from the ASA Board of Directors

Bravo for the courageous stand of the ASA

It is always a courageous thing to stand against abusive authority

ken

 

Kenneth Harrow

Dept of English and Film Studies

Michigan State University

619 Red Cedar Rd

East Lansing, MI 48824

517-803-8839

harrow@msu.edu

http://www.english.msu.edu/people/faculty/kenneth-harrow/

 

From: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Date: Tuesday 31 January 2017 at 20:52
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Statement from the ASA Board of Directors

 



Sent from my iPhone


Begin forwarded message:

From: African Studies Association <secretariat@africanstudies.org>
Date: January 31, 2017 at 10:13:04 AM CST
To: <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Subject: Statement from the ASA Board of Directors
Reply-To: African Studies Association <secretariat@africanstudies.org>

Statement from the ASA Board of Directors

View this email in your browser

On behalf of its members, the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association demands immediate reversal of the recent Executive Order barring citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen entry for 90 days into the United States; prohibiting all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days; and banning Syrian refugees for an indefinite period of time. This order and its draconian enforcement are an affront to the ethical principles of our organization, to constitutionalism and the rule of law of the United States, and to basic tenets of international law.

For the past 60 years, the African Studies Association, the premier academic organization for scholars of Africa, has been committed to fostering greater knowledge and understanding of the African continent through encouraging the study of Africa, supporting research by Africans, and promoting collaboration among Africanists within the United States and abroad. Our ethical guidelines include a commitment to defending academic freedom and drawing attention to acts and events that violate the rights of people and their communities. As an association whose central mission is dedicated to understanding the complexity of the African continent and promoting academic exchange between scholars of the African continent and the United States, we deplore the arbitrary and unwarranted application of the executive order, which has a significant impact on the people of Africa and scholars who study the continent.

We are particularly concerned about the attack on academic freedom resulting from the travel limitations imposed on foreign nationals from the seven named countries. This ban directly impacts students and faculty at our universities, scholarly partners from these countries and ASA members who conduct research there. The fact that all seven are majority Muslim countries and that the rhetoric preceding the exclusion specifically talked about a ban of Muslims suggest that US policy is targeting Muslims. This creates an image of bias and hostility that undermines efforts to build understanding and cooperation. It also blatantly disregards constitutional protections of freedom of religion enshrined in the Bill of Rights, and makes those of us who work abroad less safe.

The four-month ban on all refugees is inexcusable. A large portion of the world’s 21.3 million refugees comes from Africa, and African countries themselves host over 26 percent of the world’s refugees. The decision of the US to reject all refugees adds to the already disproportionate burden on African countries struggling to support the millions of refugees in their territories. Particularly offensive has been the equation of refugees with terrorism in much of the rhetoric surrounding this executive order. Refugees are by definition individuals escaping war and persecution. Over half of refugees are under the age of 18, and many have themselves been the victims of terrorism.

The ASA includes many scholars who have worked in countries with autocratic governments, and who conduct research on authoritarianism, and we are particularly troubled by the signs of emerging authoritarian practices in the United States. We are alarmed by the administration’s attacks on the free press and the harassment of civil society. This executive order targets people based on race, religion, and national origin and is a form of scapegoating commonly associated with authoritarian regimes. The failure to adequately consult with Congress on this order and the disregard for court rulings limiting its impact represent an overreach of executive authority that undermines democracy.

We implore representatives of the US government to respect the diversity that is America’s strength and to protect the principles of democratic governance that are currently under attack. History shows that early opposition to scapegoating and exclusion are essential to preventing dangerous and violent violations of human rights.

For all of these reasons, we demand that this executive order be rescinded immediately.  


 

 

 

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You are receiving this email because you have been a member of the ASA in the past five years.

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NIGERIANS AND THE WORLD: THE ENEMY WITHIN

Thank you, Gloria.

On Tue, Jan 31, 2017 at 3:56 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@ccsu.edu> wrote:

Kennedy,

               I thank you so much for this illuminating piece.  Please publicize it widely.



Professor Gloria Emeagwali


From: 'Kennedy Emetulu' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2017 8:36 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NIGERIANS AND THE WORLD: THE ENEMY WITHIN
 

..







I am quite amused by a lot of Nigerians who see the world through the foggy prism of their national condition. Take the example of how they now view United States and its politics. They completely ignore the fact that the United States is a superpower with wide influence all over the world and that its policies, favourable or not to Nigeria (depending on whoever is interpreting them), should not be the basis or at least the only basis of judging her politics. 


With such a misguided view, you see them transport their local partisanship into world affairs. It's not uncommon to see people who supposedly supported Goodluck Jonathan during the election rail against Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats while jubilating because Donald Trump and the Republicans won. Why, because to them, Obama, Clinton and the Republicans supported Muhammadu Buhari against Jonathan and it's God that has paid them back with a loss against Trump and the Republicans. The same mentality is exhibited by lot of those who supported Buhari and the APC. They think supporting Obama, Clinton and the Democrats is ideologically in line with their support for Buhari and the APC. So, you see them criticise the Republicans and Trump purely on that basis.


I have had to explain to people that they shouldn't be conflating issues. I have tried to explain the differences between national and international affairs and why it is imperative to intellectually step out there to take a full picture before expressing opinions about issues bordering on international affairs. But a lot of Nigerians are insularly ignorant and deliberately so - some because they are intellectually lazy and others because they simply cannot bring themselves to understand issues outside their self-created national circumscriptions because they erroneously think this is them being nationalistic or patriotic. They all seem unwilling to or incapable of leaving their comfort zone mentally. They jump on false news that supports their notions and try at every opportunity to shoehorn their prejudices into places where facts should be sacred with predictable consequences.


As we speak, we are seeing it all come to a head with this Donald Trump travel ban. People who believe that our government has been wickedly quiet over the Fulani herdsmen menace, including those who accuse the government of having a Muslim agenda, have suddenly found an ally in Trump. Apart from the spaced-out IPOB and Biafran activists who think Trump's rightwing, 'anti the other' politics will deliver for them a "Christian Biafra" away from 'Muslim Nigeria', there are those who now think Trump is the angel sent by God to save Christianity from the march of Islam. It's funny that Trump who has no idea of the Bible is the one they've cloaked with all these holy expectations. Of course, the man himself, playing to the gallery, has been talking in a pro-Christian way (while acting in very unchristian ways with his inhuman and inhumane policies), which though is dangerous to the world, serves his momentary political purpose with his base.


Now, having said all the above, I want to point out that my problem is not that people are mixed up with their views about American, Nigerian or world politics. I mean, people are entitled to their wilful ignorance, as far as it's at no cost to others or society. My problem is with the effect of all the misconceptions on our nation. Nigeria is in a very dangerous place at the moment, because of what we have been doing to ourselves over the years, things that have frayed our national fault-lines beyond our imagination. We have a very selfish political elite that's only thinking of draining the nation, an elite that has no compunction. They have driven the nation to the precipice of ethnic and religious tension that all it needs now for a mother of all conflagrations is a little ignition from somewhere, anywhere. In a world that is in chaos due to the great powers themselves going through political, social and economic turmoil in their polities and clearly with the instability in the international system, exacerbated now by the United States under Trump, what do we think will happen to Nigeria if we go the Rwanda route? Or is there anyone thinking we cannot go that route? Please, go read the history of the Rwandan genocide and you will know we are more than three-quarters of the way there already! We are close, very close and that is why I'm using this piece to call on people to simply step back, review their thinking and actions in public space and begin to work individually and collectively towards ensuring that the nation steps away from that precipice, no matter how hurt you feel and no matter how unjust you think you and your people have been treated.


I'm urging all young people to soberly begin to review the events of our world today and posit the country in its appropriate place. They should never allow themselves to become instruments in the hands of agenda-driven politicians and religious demagogues, local or foreign. They must understand that history is cyclical and that we have been here before leading to two World Wars at the end of which only countries and peoples who thought beyond themselves came out of it stronger and prosperous. Our nation depends on oil with massive environmental and ecological damage it's done to us so far in a world that climate change is no longer an esoteric concept. Desertification has stolen a march on development up North just as Boko Haram terrorism rules the roost. Despite the hoopla, globalisation is not going to go away, the world will keep on being smaller and Africa, the virgin continent, will become more open to international capital, no matter where it comes from. So, do you want to be slaves and strangers in your own land? Do you want to die fighting religious and ethnic wars when your mates elsewhere are looking to build on what Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Ma have built?


The world is facing a huge challenge with regional and international geopolitics at the moment, but nature has proved that challenges provide opportunities too. We must be looking at the opportunities. Becoming evangelists of alternative facts will not help us. We need to look behind the 'news', fish out the real facts, look at the real trends and begin to prepare ourselves for the future we see shaping up. In 2019, we will have another opportunity to redirect the course of our national history. I was reading a friend's page on Facebook and he said this:



"Come 2019, the 25-45 year old demographic will have the organisational tools, the numerical strength and access to funds to determine leadership in Nigeria!! As TD Jakes would say... Something's About to Happen!! #Organise" - Meekam Mgbenwelu


Maybe he's being overly optimistic, but the truth there should not be lost. You are the shapers of your own destiny. Your individual choice can direct your life amongst the many, but your collective choice is what will really take the nation to the next level. The question now is what are you going to do about it? You, young Nigerian, here is my advice: In a world where alternative facts are fast becoming the orthodoxy, strive with all your intellectual might to BE INFORMED, truly informed. This is important for your sake and the sake of your children, even if they are yet unborn.




….


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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Statement from the ASA Board of Directors



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: African Studies Association <secretariat@africanstudies.org>
Date: January 31, 2017 at 10:13:04 AM CST
To: <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Subject: Statement from the ASA Board of Directors
Reply-To: African Studies Association <secretariat@africanstudies.org>

Statement from the ASA Board of Directors
Statement from the ASA Board of Directors
View this email in your browser
On behalf of its members, the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association demands immediate reversal of the recent Executive Order barring citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen entry for 90 days into the United States; prohibiting all refugees from entering the United States for 120 days; and banning Syrian refugees for an indefinite period of time. This order and its draconian enforcement are an affront to the ethical principles of our organization, to constitutionalism and the rule of law of the United States, and to basic tenets of international law.

For the past 60 years, the African Studies Association, the premier academic organization for scholars of Africa, has been committed to fostering greater knowledge and understanding of the African continent through encouraging the study of Africa, supporting research by Africans, and promoting collaboration among Africanists within the United States and abroad. Our ethical guidelines include a commitment to defending academic freedom and drawing attention to acts and events that violate the rights of people and their communities. As an association whose central mission is dedicated to understanding the complexity of the African continent and promoting academic exchange between scholars of the African continent and the United States, we deplore the arbitrary and unwarranted application of the executive order, which has a significant impact on the people of Africa and scholars who study the continent.

We are particularly concerned about the attack on academic freedom resulting from the travel limitations imposed on foreign nationals from the seven named countries. This ban directly impacts students and faculty at our universities, scholarly partners from these countries and ASA members who conduct research there. The fact that all seven are majority Muslim countries and that the rhetoric preceding the exclusion specifically talked about a ban of Muslims suggest that US policy is targeting Muslims. This creates an image of bias and hostility that undermines efforts to build understanding and cooperation. It also blatantly disregards constitutional protections of freedom of religion enshrined in the Bill of Rights, and makes those of us who work abroad less safe.

The four-month ban on all refugees is inexcusable. A large portion of the world's 21.3 million refugees comes from Africa, and African countries themselves host over 26 percent of the world's refugees. The decision of the US to reject all refugees adds to the already disproportionate burden on African countries struggling to support the millions of refugees in their territories. Particularly offensive has been the equation of refugees with terrorism in much of the rhetoric surrounding this executive order. Refugees are by definition individuals escaping war and persecution. Over half of refugees are under the age of 18, and many have themselves been the victims of terrorism.

The ASA includes many scholars who have worked in countries with autocratic governments, and who conduct research on authoritarianism, and we are particularly troubled by the signs of emerging authoritarian practices in the United States. We are alarmed by the administration's attacks on the free press and the harassment of civil society. This executive order targets people based on race, religion, and national origin and is a form of scapegoating commonly associated with authoritarian regimes. The failure to adequately consult with Congress on this order and the disregard for court rulings limiting its impact represent an overreach of executive authority that undermines democracy.

We implore representatives of the US government to respect the diversity that is America's strength and to protect the principles of democratic governance that are currently under attack. History shows that early opposition to scapegoating and exclusion are essential to preventing dangerous and violent violations of human rights.

For all of these reasons, we demand that this executive order be rescinded immediately.  


 
Copyright © 2017 African Studies Association, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you have been a member of the ASA in the past five years.

Our mailing address is:
African Studies Association
54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway Township, NJ, United States
Piscataway Township, NJ 08854

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Buhari not competent to govern any country – Kperogi


Salimonu:

I share your concern about this interview.  Instead of the interviewer asking what the interviewee thinks of Goodluck Jonathan he should have asked why Buhari has never asked for Atiku Abubaker to be arrested and made to answer for his role in the Jefferson affair on which I have made several postings on this forum.

Curiously after my last posting I read in one of the online papers from an obvious defender of Atiku that the reason OBJ was villifying Atiku was because Atiku was a stumbling block to his third term agenda. Therefore OBJ should be tried for corruption ( what syllogism!). 

What is not known for sure is whethet OBJ embarked on the third term ploy to frustrate him (Atiku). But suffice it to say that Nnamani's ruling soon put a stop to all of that.

Also curiously about the time of my last posting Atiku was busy associating himself with ths Sultan of Sokoto and other notables portray a notion of an untouchable.

If putting OBJ in the dock is what it is going to take to demand accountability from Atiku then so be it. Let the judges decide.  

The same is true of Saraki. Immediately we discussed on the forum how true power resides in the legislature and the president be made to realise he is true servant of the state and not its master we had the narrative from Saraki of how he yielded his position to Buhari and installed himself in the Senate as president


Do we have governmental eavesdropping on our forum discussions?


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com>
Date: 31/01/2017 20:32 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Buhari not competent to govern any country – Kperogi

Instead of congratulating the interviewee, I would like to know how much the interviewer paid him for the venomous interview against Buhari to be granted. The interviewee sounds like what the pidgin English speakers in Nigeria say about whores : Money for hand, back na ground!!


When Nigerian intellectuals want to be mischievous, they pretend to possess not only one eye but that the one eye is placed at the back of their head. Constitutionally, the three arms of the Federal Government are, the Executive (the Presidency), the Legislature (the National Assembly comprising of House Of Reps and the Senate) and the Judiciary. Nigerian intellectuals know that there is separation of powers between the three arms of the government. Buhari cannot make his own laws, he can only propose laws to the lawmakers in the National Assembly which can either approve or disapprove any proposed law by the President. Although the Federal elections of March 28, 2015, voted PDP out of the Presidency and reduced it into a  minority in the National Assembly, the democratic will of Nigerians has since been subverted in the National Assembly through which the APC majority was turned into minority by the amalgamation of 'new PDP' in APC garment and old PDP. Thus, Bukola Saraki, a former PDP member but outwardly an APC became Senate President and his Deputy who is a member of PDP that held the same position in the PDP controlled 7th Assembly when David Mark was the PDP President of the Senate. That this parliamentary coup has never attracted the awe and protests of Nigerian intellectuals remains a mystery. Similarly the Speaker and his Deputy in the House of Reps emerged against the wish of the APC leadership. APC as a party has been in disarray after the election even though Buhari claims to be leading an APC federal government. When Buhari proposed a law to set up a special tribunal for speedy adjudication over corruption cases, the National Assembly was mute on it. Globally, Nigeria is the only country in the world where the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, is undergoing trial for false declaration of assets, without resigning or stepping aside. How I wish the well paid Daily Trust columnist had reacted to Saraki's saga, most especially, when it was revealed that he participated in the  Panama off-shore scandal. 


The well-paid interviewee is saying that Buhari's fight against corruption is only directed against his (political) opponents. If Buhari's opponents ruled Nigeria from May 29, 1999, to 29 May 2015, and Nigerians, including the interviewee, had clamoured over treasury looting with impunity during that period, why should it be difficult for anyone to understand that the rulers of those 16 years should be held accountable to the Nigerian people for their time in office? Why is the well-paid Daily Trust columnist not enraged by the action of Nigerian Judges for delaying justice in corruption cases before them since 2007 and hitherto? It is the duty of all Nigerians, including the columnists, to take up the fight against corruption and impunity in Nigeria and own it, otherwise Buhari alone cannot do it as the corrupt Judges and national assembly members will always connive frustrate his efforts.

S.Kadiri
 




Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 30 januari 2017 10:14
Till: usaafricadialogue
Ämne: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Buhari not competent to govern any country – Kperogi
 
congrats to Farooq for his courage here, but, I wonder why anything nothing Buhari has done is unanticipated to those who have followed his history and the ideological context in which he operates.

What would have been shocking would be if he were to have transformed into a true national leader.

That would have been a polity restructuring  earthquake of historic proportions.

toyin




On 30 January 2017 at 10:09, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

Interview

Buhari not competent to govern any country – Kperogi

January 29, 2017

A former ardent supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari and Associate Professor at the Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States, Farooq Kperogi, tells BAYO AKINLOYE that Buhari has failed many who had high hopes of him

With your criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration, it appears you're against him. Is it that you hate the President?

I am neither against him nor do I hate him. On the contrary, my criticism of the (President Muhammadu) Buhari administration's tragic missteps and rank incompetence is animated by love – tough love.  If you were familiar with my work, especially my 'Notes from Atlanta' weekly column in the Daily Trust, you wouldn't ask this. I was one of Buhari's advocates in the run-up to the 2015 (presidential) election – and even before then. You can check the records. For instance, in 2012, when pundits – and (ex-President Goodluck) Jonathan's media team – tore him to shreds for saying kare jini, biri jini (Hausa for 'the dog and the baboon will be soaked in blood'), I vigorously defended him.

In 2015, when he was ridiculed for saying 'President Michelle of West Germany', I also defended him with all the resources of logic and erudition I had. I explained to Nigerians that Buhari wasn't 'clueless' but was suffering from age-induced memory lapses colloquially called 'senior moments' in (United States of) America. Even when he visited the US in July 2015 and made his infamously unwise comment that he didn't give a hang about people from the deep south who didn't vote for him, I defended him because I thought he realised his error and retracted what he said in the same speech. As recently as November 19, 2016, I defended him against false charges that he contributed millions of dollars to Hillary Clinton's campaign. I can go on, but that's irrelevant now.

But even in my support for him, I've also been critical and cautious. I called him out when he refused to declare his assets. I criticised what I called the embarrassing 'Arewacentricity' of his appointments, and so on. Now, it is obvious to me that Buhari doesn't have the preparation, the competence, and the moral strength to govern any country. It's a sobering epiphany.

Are you former President Goodluck Jonathan's apologist then?

Me, a Goodluck Jonathan apologist? That has to be the funniest thing I've heard all my life! In case you didn't know, I am the first person to call Jonathan 'unfathomably clueless' in my April 16, 2010 article titled, 'Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, that was embarrassing'. It was my recapitulation of his visit to the US when he was acting president. 'Clueless' became his middle name (thereafter). I am also the first person to call for an 'Occupy Nigeria' protest with my October 22, 2011 article titled, 'Fuel Subsidy Removal: Time to Occupy Nigeria!' which went viral in Nigerian cyberspace. Everyone knows that the 'Occupy Nigeria' protests were a major, decisive turning point in Jonathan's administration. And, as records of my columns show, I never relented in my criticisms of Jonathan until he was voted out of power – and even after. I am doing to Buhari now what I did to Jonathan then.

What do you think about Buhari's anti-corruption crusade?

Is there any anti-corruption crusade? As I said many times, Buhari's so-called anti-corruption fight is the most invidiously selective, the least transparent, the most brazenly unjust, and the silliest joke in Nigeria's entire history. Here is a man who doesn't give his corrupt political opponents the benefit of the doubt. He orders their arrest, jails them, and uses the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to smear them in the media on the basis of allegations, but tells astonishingly bald-faced and easily falsifiable lies to defend, deflect, minimise, and excuse the corruption of his close aides and political associates. You call that anti-corruption crusade? Please!

What do you make of Senator Shehu Sani's 'insecticide and deodorant' statement to describe Buhari's fight against corruption?

It's a perfect, poignant metaphor to encapsulate the scorn-worthy lies, deceit, double standard, and crying unjustness of the Buhari administration's so-called anti-corruption fight. In Buhari's Nigeria, there are two judicial standards for fighting corruption. The first standard is that the president's opponents are always guilty until proven innocent – and they can never be proven innocent. They are always already condemned by the mere fact of being the president's opponents. The second standard is that the president's corrupt aides and associates are always innocent –until they are 'cleared' by the president who has now reduced himself to the pathetic position of the 'Clearer-in-Chief of Executhief Corruption.'

Isn't that a serious indictment against a man considered as 'Mr. Integrity'? Has Buhari lost his integrity?

Perhaps Buhari never had any integrity to start with. It was our desperation for a hero that caused us to dress him in borrowed robes. What man of integrity would lie that he took a bank loan to buy his presidential nomination form while two of his children were enrolled in a United Kingdom university? What man of integrity would have a multimillion-naira house in Abuja but lied that he had modest houses only in Daura, Kaduna, and Kano? What man of integrity would be afraid to publicly and transparently declare his assets after promising to do so? What man of integrity chooses to be the sole signatory to his presidential campaign's bank account to which millions of poor, struggling Nigerians donated tens of millions of naira and not give an account of how he spent the money? What man of integrity perpetually surrounds himself with corrupt people and, worse still, defends their corruption?

People who are intimate with President Buhari told me several months ago in the heat of my unrestrained enthusiasm over his emergence as president that he was morally and temperamentally unsuited to fight corruption. They said the undue premium the president places on 'personal loyalty' causes him to ignore, excuse, and even defend the corruption of his close associates. I was regaled with troubling tales of the mind-boggling corruption against close, loyal aides that he swept under the carpet at the PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund), The Buhari Organisation, and at the defunct CPC (Congress for Progressive Change). They say likes attract. You can't be a man of integrity and continually surround yourself with corrupt people. I can go on; but it is obvious that Buhari isn't the man of integrity he has been alleged to be.

In the current situation of things, some people have said there is no difference between Jonathan, alleged to have allowed corruption to fester under his watch, and Buhari – accused of glossing over corruption allegations against his close aides. Do you see any difference between the two?

The only difference between Jonathan and Buhari is that Jonathan made no pretences to being anything other than an everyday Nigerian politician dedicated to mindless hedonism. Everyone knew Jonathan was corrupt and that he found comfort in corruption. He even said stealing was not corruption, and that corruption was inevitable. But Buhari grandstanded about being the scourge of corrupt people. He erected a false moral pedestal and stood on it. But his government is shaping up to be one of the most audaciously corrupt governments in Nigeria's history. In light of the unravelling of the corruption that pervades the Buhari government, the government now deploys unintelligent lies, annoyingly sterile propaganda, and unimaginative chicanery to deflect people's attention from the irredeemable disaster that it is.

Does it bother you that Buhari seems bent on having the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, confirmed as the commission's substantive chair, despite the Department of State Services' report on him and the Senate's refusal to confirm him?

It doesn't matter who the chairman of the EFCC is, so long as Buhari himself isn't serious about fighting corruption. The EFCC is nothing more than the poodle of the president. He instructs it to go after his opponents but to spare his associates. Even if you bring an angel to head the EFCC, the angel can only be as effective as Buhari wants the angel to be. So it's actually pointless who the chairman of the EFCC is. Buhari's war on corruption is already lost before it has even started. If I were him, I would just call off the charade and apologise to Nigerians for taking them for a ride.

It appears that Nigeria's intelligence outfit, the Nigeria Police and the EFCC, are tied to the government's apron strings. What do you think can be done to make these security agencies more independent of political control?

I had hoped that Buhari would use his second coming to build enduring institutions that are independent of and unencumbered by loyalty to personalities in power. Because of the extreme personalisation of power in our politics, there is frankly nothing that can be done other than to have a president who really and truly allows the agencies to operate unfettered. People have suggested that the heads of the security agencies should be appointed by independent, professional bodies. While I see the merit in the suggestion, the fact still remains that the president can manipulate the independent, professional bodies to do his or her bidding.

Former US President Barack Obama is famous for saying 'Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions'. But strong institutions don't come out of thin air; they are built by strong men through the strength of their personal example. I had hoped that Buhari would be the strong man who would build strong and enduring institutions that are fiercely independent. I was naïve.

Some are expressing fears that what happened to former President Umaru Yar'Adua during his ill health and eventual death may befall Buhari. Do you think those fears are misplaced?

I see eerily uncanny similarities between the public management of Buhari's health and that of the late Yar'Adua's. I once wrote an article in June 2016 titled, 'The Yar'Aduaisation of Buhari's Health by His Media Adviser', where I called attention to the unhealthy and unhelpful secrecy around the president's health. The issues I raised in that article are still relevant today, although I must give the president credit for always handing over to the vice president (Prof. Yemi Osinbajo), as the (Nigerian) Constitution demands, each time he travels abroad for an extended period. Yar'Adua never did that; nor did Obasanjo. I hope the president survives his current indisposition. In spite of my strong disagreements with his policies, I wish him well.

What do you think is the way forward in all this just as some are calling for the resignation of the President?

If Buhari resigns, that would be wonderful. It is obvious by now that he is superintending the most unprepared government in Nigeria's history. He has absolutely no business being president. The presidency is above his pay grade. Every day in Nigeria is worse than the previous day, and there is no hope in sight. But should Buhari decide to stay on in power in spite of his proven incompetence and cluelessness, we have no option but to wait until his tenure expires. All we can do is put his feet to the fire and hope that he would get a clue and do – or get the right people to help him do – the right thing.

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      And that was the reason igbos didn't vote for him because we knew he has nothing positive to offer Nigeria and Nigerians. He will only make things worse for the poor. Apart from that, his is a wicked man.

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    Buhari has acheived more in less than two years than what goodluck acheived in more than 5 years. Thats why we voted the moron out. You ibos voted goodluck out of tribalism not based on performance, and you have refused to commend buhari because things didn't go your own way in the last election, forgetting that was what hausas endured while goodluck was on, they never said they were going, they didn't become traitors and secessionists, they never were disrespectful to Goodluck, the way you people insult Buhari on social media and his facebook page. but few of you have realized hate doesn't give any result and are now embracing apc n buhari. My advice is that if you can't beat them you join them.

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    Dimwit! Eternal parasitic slaves and Empty boast.

    You have just exhibited your hallmark - lies, propaganda and no substance.

    WHY DONT YOU MENTION 5 THINGS BUHARI ACHIEVED? NEPOTISM,TANKED ECONOMY, N510/$, N145 FUEL & N200/LTR KEROSENE. NO ROAD, DARKNESS, KILLINGS, BUDGET PADDING, CORRUPTION, WITCH HUNTING OPPOSITION, POLICE STATE, RENEWED ELECTION FRAUD, ETHNIC DIVISIONS AND MORE

    RETROGRESSIVE IDIOTS!

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    Was that truly the reason?

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    Not because you knew, no one could know that.

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    My brother,igbos

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    Even yemen? Or somalia or sudan? Nawa oh is he that bad?

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    Thank you Farooq. This is one of the biggest scandal and misadventure (yet again!) to hit this nation. Buhari's incompetence and and cluelessness!
    Is this nation really cursed? A lot of people had high hopes for this man and he has turned to be another turd. When will this nation get it right with right leadership? This is so sad!!!!

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    You obviously do not know what you are talking about. Buhari the president we need to slow things down? Your lack of knowledge about the man and what governance entails is the exact reason why this clueless man who is promoting command economy in the 21st century got into power in the first place. Plus, the FX corruption happening now makes the one under Jonathan a child's play, And you completely glossed over what farouk said about his being corrupt and shielding his corrupt staffers. All you can do is jump to the comparison of Buhari and Jonathan, that typify's how shallow your thoughts are. Isn't it a disaster that a man we hoped could rescue us is now becoming a worse monumental disaster? That we had a big problem with Jonathan now meant we should die with bigger problems under Buhari? Broaden your thoughts and horizon please.

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    Let him be firm and EQUITABLE in tackling corruption!

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    Buhari mis-stepped immediately he deviated from his initial promise that he would draw the line & ensure no new corruption & will not dwell on the past. The fight against corruption was partly responsible for the devaluation of Naira that we are facing today as lots of people try to take away stolen money quickly by changing them to Dollars.

    Unearthing past corrupt activities also created diversion as the country could not articulate its strategy to address the fallen price of crude & even the agitation of NDA.

    One lesson here is that any President who brought hardship irrespective of his good intention will be shown the way out.

    I support the call that Buhari should resign but have we evaluate Osibanjo to know if he is up to the task? We cannot be doing trial & error with leadership.

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    I wish you well in your quest for the quick fix leader you seek.

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    Unquestionable my foot. How long did it take LKY to fix Singapore? Can you compare the moral decadence in Singapore then to the current state of things in Nigeria? Buhari is not just the right man for the moment, accept that.

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    I said equitable! Whoever said that he should fight corruption alone!

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    Nobody forced him to contest though.

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    And this man claims to be a professor? Some professor indeed. Every dummy in Nigeria who saw Buhari mess Nigeria up in 1984 can testify of his cluelessness, incompetence, lack of integrity, corruption, ineptitude, nepotism, ethnic bigotry, and Islamic agenda. Buhari has been and is an unrepentant dictator and hypocrite. Our so called professor who was one of his rabid supporters needs an education! You should publicly apologize to Nigerians for manipulating them with their lies of "dressing Buhari in borrowed robes " in your search for a hero. Look at your hero! You and your likes have helped destroy a nation, and you should stop pretending to be a public analyst. You lack the credentials.

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    Buhari is competent enough to rule northern and western Nigerian!

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    Guy it's too late now. You all voted for him. Deal with it. Unless God decides to take him out. He's ur president now.

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    "President Michelle of Germany" and "Hillary campaign donations" are just too dumb for excuses. Ask Chancellor Angela Mikel to pronounce Buhari, Kperogi or Keita and be ready to laugh your head off. Must we always adapted to the Europeans way of life? Daga ina kake (where are you from)? Berlin or London? Inan gidan mahaifinki a Ingila (where is your father's house in England)? The last I checked, you are from a remote hamlet in Niger state just like humble self. Have you ever met a European trying to speak your dialect? Stop trying to Europeanize all of us.
    The manufacturers of the Hillary campaign donations knew very well that folks you will dwell on it. 10-year olds in the US know that no foreign donation is allowed to their election campaign funds. You drew unnecessary attention to the hoopla with your vacuous articles. Hey Kperogi, verbosity will never solve any problem. If PMB is not qualified, run for the presidency in 2019. Just by having some college degrees, you think you know it all and have what it takes? Many of you Nigerian PhD holders are big time shame to the country. You all talk, talk and talk. And when given the opportunity to serve, you all always messed up. Former President Goodluck Jonathan, his minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and his press secretary, Ruben Abati each hold a PhD. In the end, they led Nigeria into depression. Using the word recession is sugar-coating the horrible economic problem they deliberately put Nigeria into. That's very sad!
    Donald Trump did not resort article writing and loud noises and Adama Barrow did not resort to chauvinistic bravado to be presidents in the US and The Gambia now. Obviously, you and other so called educated Nigerians lack the backbone the type Trump and Barrow have. Mr. Kperogi, Trump is half educated as you but you are half smart as he. Getting things done is not by yapping but by action. Action speaks louder than word.

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    Where are the people saying PUNCH is only interested in attacking GEJ?

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    ''Now, it is obvious to me that Buhari doesn't have the preparation, the competence, and the moral strength to govern any country. '' This is a very cruel and arrogant lie! Being a professor does not mean you know everything. In the long run, it is God who enthrones leaders. Do you know more than God?

    Thank God He does not think the way we humans do. All God requires of a person He will use are simple things like - that he be willing to serve, that he lives a spartan life, that he will not multiply wives and wealth to himself, that he be sober, not given to alcohol - in short that he must have self-control. All these are in Deuteronomy chapter 17 and dotted all over the Bible. If PMB does not meet these criteria, i don't know which of our leaders meet them except Pa Awolowo.

    And God prepares His leaders by taking them through a school of humility and that was why He allowed PMB to lose elections 3 times before allowing him the 4th time. He became the 4th president of the 4th republic on the 4th try and the election results were announced on the 1st day of the 4th month. I am just a grandma with a whole lot of faith but i know i can see the hand of God in PMB's election at this time. We need to let him work and stop the hate and arrogant speeches - for the sake of Nigeria!

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    Who knows this foolish non entity, you support someone and take away support in less than 2 years. Does this fool know the population of Nigeria?..... Or he thinks we are talking about iceland with only a population less than 400000 persons.

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    We all have IBB to thank that he saved us from Buhari's first coming, imagine Buhari with all these powers in an era of no internet, mobile phones and the communication technologies we enjoy today? Surely Nigeria today would have been a picture better imagined. Farooq is on point and may God say us from our new oppressors.

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    The presidency is above his pay grade. I just love this expression. Highly above his pay and education grade.

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    You and tinubu decive our people to buy empty can.......you should be ashamed

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    The truth is that the president should do Nigerians a favour and just resign. Forget those grandstanding and supporting him, they are simply afraid to admitt the shame. This president does not have what it takes to govern a country like Nigeria. He is not even prepared at all. He has contested for this many times and one must be forgiven to think he was prepared to do something. Maybe his only agenda for all those many years of efforts was just arewacentrist agenda. Thats the only achievement i have seen from him.
    He has failed. His anti corruption is a charade and should be stopped. It is just a deciet to decimate his opposition. He shamelessly clear his allies and those loyal to him of any corruption. The looting of the treasury has continued unabetted.
    Every day in Nigeria is worst than the previous day. There is no hope at all that tomorrow will be better. Many people wish him dead but i dont. It is wrong to wish a fellow humans dead. Some blame igbos for hating him so much. But these people has continued to think backward and african, just like their president. That a people hated you that much for a long time, you blatantly refused to address their concerns as a politician, instead resolved on vendetta shows you are not a good leader. Those that hate him or wish him dead are not even asking to be be given the presidency, but that he should just go, anyone else but him is acceptable to them. The leader should go back and ask himself some questions. The truth is that the whole country is grumblling. Forget those clapping and praising, it is normal, it is politics.

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    I think the southwaste myopic thinkers who voted the incompetent president are regretting this now. am happy they are beginning to wake from their slumber. cowards

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    You are an incestuous products from yorobaland. Cowards!

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    Buhari has failed the Nation except a cohort of his close beneficiaries. At the present momentum of things especially with his highly biased support of mass killings, his lack of firm response to it, his dysfunctional curtailment of corruption and obtuse management of economy, I do not know how he will keep his integrity intact by 2019!

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    Kperogi should be apologising profusely to Nigerians for helping to promote Buhari's presidential bid rather than this sanctimonious piece.
    If he had only given a little thought and common sense to Buhari's actions during his first coming ought to have realised long before now the man's glaring incompetence and unsuitability.

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    You deserve no answer when you said that PMB spent 6 months to form an "arewacentric cabinet". If I ignore you, many will think
    you are factual but you are very wrong. Do you know that there are 5 Igbo officials in the "arewacentric cabinet. So Ngige, Onu, Emefiele are from Katsina state? You folks must stop raying for nothing.

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    To think that this man is a professor baffles me most when I cried to the high heavens that Nigeria has no business going back to the twentieth century to look for solutions in a twenty first century world many people thought I was mad today how market?

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    Point of correction prof, Buhari is not competent to govern any local government.

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