Nigeria is a nation of false messiahs, false prophets, false statesmen, false anti-corruption crusaders, and false industrialists nurtured by intellectuals with the traits of bats - they are neither birds nor mice. After, April 19, 2011, Presidential election, Nigerian intellectuals knew that another Presidential election must take place latest April 2015. But the Nigerian intellectuals have not exerted any pressure on Jonathan to bring about the restructuring of Nigeria, based on the much touted national conference he set up and have received its report. Now that the election is about two months away, Nigerian intellectuals have turned themselves into peripatetic gypsies or stargazers to foretell that the coming election will not be good for Nigeria irrespective of who wins between the PDP and APC. From their narrow and myopic prism those Nigerian intellectuals are telling Nigerians that there is no difference between the PDP that has ruled Nigeria for the past fifteen years and APC that has never ruled the country, not even for a second. We should reject their twisted reasoning for being incongruous with common sense. Now is the time to differentiate unpatriotic elements, sycophants/crawlers and intellectual hypocrites from genuine patriots and principled men and women of our dear country, Nigeria. On November 11, 2014, President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan declared his intention to contest for another four years term as President of Nigeria on the platform of his Party, PDP. He narrated his achievements in the past four years to support his demand that Nigeria should vote for him in year 2015. Some Nigerian intellectuals are not willing to debate the performance of Jonathan since being in office instead, they want him to continue in office because of ethno/religious consideration which they mask as PDP is equal to APC and are thereby claiming that there is no need for a change of government.
When some cabals in February 2010 wanted to subvert the Constitution of Nigeria in order to prevent Jonathan from acting as the President in place of Umaru Yar'Adua who was in coma, Nigerians of all religions and ethnic groups rose up to protest against the cabals and Jonathan did not only become the Acting President but later as the substantive President when Yar'Adua was officially pronounced dead. In 2011, Jonathan contested on the platform of PDP for the President and he was declared the winner. As president, Jonathan has divided Nigeria into ethno/religious interest groups. Section 15(4) of the 1999 constitution states: The State shall foster a feeling of belonging and of involvement among the various people of the federation, to the end that loyalty to the nation shall override sectional loyalties. Jonathan, in words and actions has been very sectional and tribally inclined. On May 19, 2013, President Ebele Azikiwe was in Enugu to commission the repainted Enugu Airport building. Present at the occasion were the Governors of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. Referring to President Ebele Azikiwe in a welcome address, the then Chairman of South-East Governors' Forum, Peter Obi said, "You have carried us all along and shown abiding interest in, and support for, our zone. For that, Mr President, we will continue to be immensely grateful.
We have previously expressed our appreciation for the eminently qualified sons and daughters of this zone who you have honoured with various national appointments. Please, be rest assured that we will always avail you of our very best and qualitative candidates, who are not only proud and honoured to serve, but are also committed to bringing added value to every task you may assign to them." Ebele Azikiwe responded, "I thank you for the kind of support you have given to me since I indicated interest in national politics. Till today, I have the strongest support from the South-East; I want to thank you for that. I am very grateful. I AM PART OF THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY AND I WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN SO EVEN AFTER NATIONAL SERVICE." (www.punchng.com/news/my-strongest-support-from-seast-jonathan/ The following day May 20, 2013, the former Presidential Adviser to Obasanjo, Chukwuemeka Ezeife was interviewed in the Nigerian Vanguard on line by Levinus Nwabughiogu. To the question, where does Igbo nation stand in 2015?; Ezeife replied, "I see Jonathan as an Eastern person holding the office of the President and put there by principally the South-East." Later in on-line vanguard of 5th June 2013, it was reported that the Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji had said that the Igbo would never waiver in their support for President Goodluck Jonathan, noting that they were poised to deliver the South-East to Peoples' Democractic Party, PDP. According to Orji, supporting President Jonathan remains the only way the bread of the Igbos will be buttered. The government of President Jonathan is not only favourable to the Igbos but also very generous in funding projects... As late as 4th of September 2014 Jonathan roared that the Igbos have it better in his government (www.punchng.com/news/igbos-are-better-off-in-my-govt-jonathan/). With all these statements let us take a look at some key positions in Ebele Azikiwe's government. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Miniter of Petroleum, D. Maduike; Minister of Health, Professor Chukwu Onyebuchi; Minister of power, Professor Chinedu Nebo; Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu; Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka; Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr Nwanze Okeidegbe; Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele; Chief Executive Officer of The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Uche Orji; Head of Security and Exchange Commission Mrs Arunma Oteh; Chairman National Population Commission, Eze Duru-Iheoma; Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Sam Amadi; etc. Normally, it would not have mattered much if all the officials in Ebebe Azikiwe's government are from the same village in Nigeria, provided that their productions are made available to the entire population in the country. Unfortunately, the officials who are politically marketed as representing their tribes in office, neither produce goods and services for their tribes nor the entire country even though they receive personal emoluments and benefits in office. The two types of intellectuals who want Jonathan to continue as President beyond 2015 are partly those who see him as a minority tribe President and partly those who like Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State see him as the only means of buttering the Bread of the IGBOS. The other time, Igbos bestowed the traditional title of OGUGUA NDIGBO - THE CONSOLER OF IGBOS - on Babangida for buttering their bread and we wait anxiously to know what title will be bestowed on EBELE AZIKIWE.
We have previously expressed our appreciation for the eminently qualified sons and daughters of this zone who you have honoured with various national appointments. Please, be rest assured that we will always avail you of our very best and qualitative candidates, who are not only proud and honoured to serve, but are also committed to bringing added value to every task you may assign to them." Ebele Azikiwe responded, "I thank you for the kind of support you have given to me since I indicated interest in national politics. Till today, I have the strongest support from the South-East; I want to thank you for that. I am very grateful. I AM PART OF THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY AND I WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN SO EVEN AFTER NATIONAL SERVICE." (www.punchng.com/news/my-strongest-support-from-seast-jonathan/ The following day May 20, 2013, the former Presidential Adviser to Obasanjo, Chukwuemeka Ezeife was interviewed in the Nigerian Vanguard on line by Levinus Nwabughiogu. To the question, where does Igbo nation stand in 2015?; Ezeife replied, "I see Jonathan as an Eastern person holding the office of the President and put there by principally the South-East." Later in on-line vanguard of 5th June 2013, it was reported that the Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji had said that the Igbo would never waiver in their support for President Goodluck Jonathan, noting that they were poised to deliver the South-East to Peoples' Democractic Party, PDP. According to Orji, supporting President Jonathan remains the only way the bread of the Igbos will be buttered. The government of President Jonathan is not only favourable to the Igbos but also very generous in funding projects... As late as 4th of September 2014 Jonathan roared that the Igbos have it better in his government (www.punchng.com/news/igbos-are-better-off-in-my-govt-jonathan/). With all these statements let us take a look at some key positions in Ebele Azikiwe's government. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Miniter of Petroleum, D. Maduike; Minister of Health, Professor Chukwu Onyebuchi; Minister of power, Professor Chinedu Nebo; Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu; Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka; Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr Nwanze Okeidegbe; Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele; Chief Executive Officer of The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Uche Orji; Head of Security and Exchange Commission Mrs Arunma Oteh; Chairman National Population Commission, Eze Duru-Iheoma; Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, Sam Amadi; etc. Normally, it would not have mattered much if all the officials in Ebebe Azikiwe's government are from the same village in Nigeria, provided that their productions are made available to the entire population in the country. Unfortunately, the officials who are politically marketed as representing their tribes in office, neither produce goods and services for their tribes nor the entire country even though they receive personal emoluments and benefits in office. The two types of intellectuals who want Jonathan to continue as President beyond 2015 are partly those who see him as a minority tribe President and partly those who like Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State see him as the only means of buttering the Bread of the IGBOS. The other time, Igbos bestowed the traditional title of OGUGUA NDIGBO - THE CONSOLER OF IGBOS - on Babangida for buttering their bread and we wait anxiously to know what title will be bestowed on EBELE AZIKIWE.
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 17:24:18 -0600,
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Neither PDP Nor APC By Okey Ndibe
From: meochonu@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Ikhide excerpted just one part of Okey's piece. The totality of Okey's op-ed, if I read it correctly, makes a more expansive argument. He is not simply arguing for a third force beyond the PDP-APC binary. He is saying that there are more fundamental questions confronting Nigeria than the question of the forthcoming elections and of choosing between the two main political parties. I wholeheartedly agree with his analysis. Okey is decrying the myopia of fixating on elections which, whatever the outcome and no matter which party wins, will not magically heal the fissures and existential malaise plaguing the country. As an example, he posed the question that I have posed in several interventions, that of whether we Nigerians actually desire to continue as one country and if we do under what terms. His argument, which I have made several times, is that obsessing over elections and the party paradigms that will be on the ballot misses the point of how the status quo will be reaffirmed no matter who wins because the current system (fiscal, structural, and constitutional) is designed to produce failure and to reproduce the familiar problems no matter who or which party is at the helm. I believe Okey's piece should be read in whole and not reduced to his advocacy for a political third force. He wants us to prioritize first questions in the order of things, to get the structures right before getting to the question of who will occupy the political kingdom.
--
On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 7:25 PM, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:
My People:Let us forget about Ikhide Ikheloa for the moment, who has told us too many times already that he won't talk about Nigeria any more, only to come back writing the day after someone who voices his own arid opinion about Nigeria steps forward.So I wish to engage Okey Ndibe: he should form the "Third Force", and I am sure that many people will join him. But until then, since two comes before three in Arabic arithmetic, we are stuck with the two major tendencies in Nigeria: APC and PDP.Coming to think of it: what am I "saying" sef? There are twenty four other political parties in Nigeria than APC and the PDP. They all can JOINTLY form Okey Ndibe's "Third Force", abi?And there you have itBolaji AlukoShaking his head
S/N
Political Party [with Party Acronym]
1
Accord [A]
2
Action Alliance [AA]
3
Advanced Congress Of Democrats [ACD]
4
Allied Congress Party of Nigeria [ACPN]
5
Alliance For Democracy [AD]
6
African Democratic Congress [ADC]
7
African Peoples Alliance [APA]
8
All Progressives Congress [APC]
9
All Progressives Grand Alliance [APGA]
0
Citizens Popular Party [CPP]
11
Democratic Peoples Party [DPP]
12
Independent Democrats [ID]
13
Kowa Party [KP]
14
Labour Party [LP]
15
Mega Progressive Peoples Party [MPPP]
16
National Conscience Party [NCP]
17
New Nigeria Peoples Party [NNPP]
18
People For Democratic Change [PDC]
19
Peoples Democratic Movement [PDM]
20
Peoples Democratic Party [PDP]
21
Progressive Peoples Alliance [PPA]
22
Peoples Party of Nigeria [PPN]
23
Social Democratic Party [SDP]
24
United Democratic Party [UDP]
25
Unity Party of Nigeria [UPN]
26
United Progressive Party [UPP]
On Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 12:28 AM, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:Between 1960 and 1999, that is to say 39 years, the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA EARNED N4.8 trillion (NAIRA). FROM 1999 TO 2013, WHICH IS 14 YEARS, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA EARNED 50 TRILLION NAIRA. From 1999 and hitherto, the PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP) has been in control of the Federal Government and money accrued from crude oil export. We Nigerians should feel concerned over how the PDP has managed over 50 trillion Naira revenue received by the Federal government for the past fifteen years instead of engaging in mental masturbation about if APC that has never been in power at the centre is the same as PDP. With the election coming less than four months, it is too late to organise a new party to confront PDP and APC. As things are, Nigerians have tasted the government of PDP for fifteen years now and it will only be fair to test another party for the next four years, most especially when our experience of the PDP government is negative in all aspects of life.
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 03:30:13 +0000
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Neither PDP Nor APC By Okey Ndibe"Given the deep current of political disaffection I detected in Nigeria, I had expected to see new, outside-the-box thinking about the way forward. Instead, I was confronted with a paralyzing sense of helplessness. I found that Nigerians, including those one expected to know better, were trapped in a conceptual political mindset in which only two parties—and, by extension, two paths to the future—exist in the Nigerian universe. Those two parties—and paths—are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).In conversation after frustrating conversation, one had a hard time nudging Nigerians to release themselves from their binary entrapment in order to see a third way. And yet, to hear them speak was to realize that there was no doubt in their minds that the two parties whose fortunes and prospects alone excite them represent dead-ends. As I argued last week, the PDP and APC are kindred spirits, two parties beset by ideological aridity, and most of their most prominent figures fueled by the same contemptible idea that politics is, above all, a means for accumulating riches. Why else do they hire thugs, kill or maim their opponents, betray all lofty principles, submit themselves to the most diabolical rites? It is certainly not to serve Nigerians.If the two parties jostling to define Nigeria's future are essentially ideologically similar and deeply pathological—and I insist they are—then why don't we unshackle ourselves from their stultifying reins? That was the question and challenge I put to many a friend or fan I met last week in Nigeria."Brilliant analysis, lame option. *shrugs* We are stuck. Democracy is not an option but I don't really know what to do or say about the Nigerian situation anymore. As folks keep reminding me, I no longer live there. I leave the ilo for those who own the problem, those "on the ground." I hereby still my voice box. No more talk about Nigeria, biko. Abeg I will have nothing to do with Nigerian politics any more. I am done with all that, such a time waster.- IkhideStalk my blog at www.xokigbo.comFollow me on Twitter: @ikhideJoin me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
--
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---Mohandas Gandhi
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Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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