Did Jonathan Just Nuked Nigeria's Federalism?

In a wildly circulated news report, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan appears to have "napalm-ed" whatever is left of the vestiges of federalism in Nigeria when he said Nigeria governors should never criticize him if they wanted him to help in the development of their states. Some would say, well he said governors should not abuse him. But the import of his message is clear: stifling dissent. We have seen it time and time again in the course of this administration that every attempt to offer constructive criticism is viewed as personal insult and usually met with derision.

Someone need to let Jonathan that our constitution did not create an imperial presidency and Patience Jonathan is not Imelda Marcos or Marie Antoinette!

Bad Leadership 101: To Compound Problems Just Install a Criminal Suspect as Minister of Police Affairs?

"On some positions a coward has asked the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right. "—Martin Luther King Jr., November 1967

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has a doctorate degree but obviously lacks any administrative acumen or leadership qualities. One could readily concede that Nigeria’s problem predates Jonathan and he should not be blamed for the myriads of problems assailing Nigeria. His many blames however lies in his lack of tact and seriousness. His approach to Nigeria’s hydra headed problem has not been sure footed and when he did took decisions he often complicates simple problems with politicking. 

The leadership Nigeria needs now is one that is willing to do what it takes to pull the country together in these trying times. We are fighting many wars, even though the presidency will want us to think Boko Haram is the only problem we faced. The Niger Delta militants despite billions spend placating them are still striking the poor people of Niger Delta with deadly force. Just last week another explosion went off. As usual, the presidency never uttered one word about that incident nor commiserates with the families of the victims. The war against corruption is also dead on arrival because our dear president as usual is often too busy laughing and “jollificating” over dinners with corrupt politicians while they milk the nation dry. A president that will give the nation’s centenary honors to the most corrupt and vile military head of state like Sanni Abacha is definitely not ready to fight corruption. What is more, for many months, the minister of aviation, caught with her hand in the “cookie jar of corruption”, was allowed to continue in office ostensibly so she can obliterate all evidence against her before she was rotated out of that office.

The pivotal test of leadership’s good managerial acumen lies in response to difficult circumstances. Our president’s response to every problem often complicates and compounds the problem. Take for instance the assignment of a murder suspect as the supervising minister for police affairs. Alhaji Abduljelili Adesiyan was not just fingered in the deadly assassination of a former federal minister, Chief Bola Ige, he was arrested for it. In strange circumstances, the evidence was allowed to gather dust in the police force headquarter and President Jonathan has now handed over the key to that evidence room to the same murder suspect; possibly so the latter could get rid of the evidence and potentially fired the officers or otherwise demotes those officers who investigated him. What in the world was the president thinking when he made this appointment?

Nigerian of all hue gave Jonathan every opportunity to prove his leadership mettle but time and time again he throws everything up in our face with his ineptness and perfidious mendacity. The fact that he is sitting in Aso rock is due largely to the sacrifice of many Nigerians who risked their lives to force Yaradua’s wife and her “chicken cabinet” to abdicate power to Jonathan. And now the beneficiary of that largesse rules with disdain over the very people that brought him to power. Someone said the coteries of the sycophants that surround the president often leads him to take bad decision, but how long should we continue to wait for him to get out of the bubble and see the anger on the street?

Nigeria is in dire straits and bad leadership is compounding our problems!

Nigeria on the praecipes: the never ending Implosion of PDP

Those familiar with the brigandage politics of Naija politicians will readily admits nothing stops them  for fomenting disaffection among ethnic groups in Nigeria to satisfy their selfish desire for power.
Recents events as it relates to the tussle for presidency among Nigerian power elites drives this pointedly home.
Nothing is too sacred for them to taint with the profane! Nothing is sacrosanct for them not to belittle. Virtually every tried and tested institutions in Nigeria have been reduced to rubles since the so called "militricians" came to power.
The entire nations plods along without any compass, rhyme or reason. A friend once intoned that the Nigerian penchant for religiosity is the only thing still keeping the country.

To be cont'd

APC Stupid Blunder

Let me start out by saying that I am no fan of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and based on current performance index, I do not believe he deserve to win a second term. My missive today however has more to do with the blunder of his political party opponents than anything GEJ has done or is doing.

What APC did recently beggars belief and may cost them the opportunity of becoming a viable opposition to People’s Democratic Party vice grip on Nigeria political terrain. Imagine your political opponents are locked in a deadly schism. The implosions are public and comedic. One of the leaders of your party opponent, an ex president wrote a scathing damning letter to his party’s current president and made the missive public. This was before your party opponent governors decamped to your political party and made it a condition that you have to meet with some of the scions of their erstwhile party. The list of the people you are asked to meet consist of the folks you have successfully ran against and won elections by labeling them as satanic politicians. You then sheepishly agreed to these conditions and then set out to meet with these characters at their respective abode.

Permit me to state that the essential gripe of the arrow head of this diatribe against the sitting president by the letter writer's own admission is that the sitting president allowed the oppositions to win a free and fair election in his enclave when the president should have rigged the election in favor of their party!

If this scenario appears to you like a bad Nollywood script and stranger than fiction, you are not alone. But sadly, it is very true. The fledgling opposition party in Nigeria made a serious blunder this month when it decided to meet with former president Olusegun Obasanjo. What they stand to gain from that meeting beats me and why they trudge to his enclave remains a mystery. It is not that the governors who championed the visit have anywhere to run to if the leadership of APC refuses to meet this ludicrous demand. What is more, at the end of the meeting they gained nothing!

As Professor Wole Soyinka rightly stated “the opposition party's approach as [is]lacking in moral focus and tantamount to political prostitution” . It was also downright stupid and I am sure they will rue the day they made that journey to Ota. 

Nigerian Civil Right Activist Wins Human Right Award

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HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS HONOR THREE

Student, individual and organization receive City’s first award

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A North Central High School student, member of the City Public Defenders Office and the NAACP were honored Thursday morning as the inaugural winners of the Spokane Human Rights Award during a ceremony in City Hall.

Winners were announced in three categories: individuals, youth (under 21) and organizations, for their commitment to promoting human rights.  The winner for the youth award is Purnima Karki, a North Central High School student.  The individual winner is Francis Adewale with the City of Spokane’s Public Defender’s Office and the organizational winner is the Spokane NAACP.  All of these awardees have worked diligently in 2013 to promote human rights in Spokane. 

“It has long been our goal to honor the individuals and organizations who make a difference every day in our community,” Lisa Rosier, chair of the Spokane Human Rights Commission said. “Now we are able to say thank you with the City’s first award recognizing the citizen’s commitment to human rights in Spokane.”

The Human Rights Commission strives to promote and secure a mutual understanding and respect among all people.  The Human Rights Awards were created to recognize the outstanding commitment of those who support human rights and make a difference in Spokane.

Karki, a refuge from Nepal, has dedicated her time to acting as an interpreter for the Nepali community and helping this community understand American culture and what they need to do to become a citizen. She also volunteers her time weekly to read to students at Holmes Elementary. She was nominated by Paula Korus.

Adewale, an assistant public defender, helped people from different nations integrate into our community and connected refuges to resources and information.  He was instrumental in hosting an annual training symposium at Spokane Falls Community College to help refugees and immigrants with the basics of state law, and participated in a street law program on the weekends to help low-income people with a variety of legal issues.  He was nominated by Kathy Knox.

The NAACP has been instrumental in promoting diversity in the community, sponsoring and producing the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march in Spokane. Members of the NAACP participate in a variety of social events every year to promote human rights and social justice. 

Presenters at the ceremony included Mayor David Condon, City Council President Ben Stuckart, Tony Stewart from the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and Lisa Rosier from the Human Rights Commission.  Transitions New Leaf Bakery provided breakfast.

The State of the Nigerian nation

"We have reached a moment in time when the national condition seems neither
lifeless nor deathless. It’s like the barren but sensuous serenity of the
natural world in late autumn, before Thanksgiving, containing the promise of
rebirth and the potential for resurrection."-anon

I am so saddened by the current state of affairs in Nigeria that I feel like drowning my lap top in my bathtub. Not only has the leadership failed the people but the people of Nigeria themselves leave a lot to be desire. No one is speaking against evil. Crime after crime, daily kidnappings, armed and pen robberies, the society just moved on. We are now so impervious to things that we do not care anymore. It is sad and saddening indeed.

When you need a panel to fire a corrupt Minister you have failed as anti-corruption crusader

"Nations have been known to survive in a state of advanced decay or through merely living on the brink. Some are dubbed banana republics, others client nations to more forceful and productive ones. They carry out orders which may or may not coincide with the interests of the people who constitute the nation. “ – Wole Soyinka (2011)


The problem with Oduahgate is not just the level of impunity exhibited by the leadership of Nigeria in every strata but the brazen stupidity of the bureaucrat we employed to man the gate. The defense of indefensible is laughable. The denial of the obvious is ludicrous. The cover up is criminal. We are at a point in our democracy where corrupt politicians need to know that the people of Nigeria may not have power to remove them through the ballot box due to the corruption of the electoral process but we do have power to embarrass and shame them.

The fact that the mainstream press initially shy away from the story is in itself telling on the complicity of the press in Nigeria. Without the ever present vigilance of the burgeoning blogosphere in Nigeria, we may as well give up on our democracy. The valiant work of the likes of Saharareporters and others should be commended. Sometimes they get it wrong and we rightly excoriated them, but in the long run the internet self publishing journalism has saved us more than our mainstream press have done. Their fearless work in mobilizing the citizenry against corruption in the governance of Nigeria should be commended. This is not however to say that we do not need the mainstream press. Their reach cannot be understated. It is heartwarming that they immediately jumped on board as soon as it was apparent that the scandal of overpriced bullet proof car for an aviation minister who celebrate deaths on our airways is for real.

The question is what is next. Many have asked that the president should suspend the minister. I concurred. This will follow the precedent set with former minister, Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku. This is the standard worldwide. You don’t allow a suspect to guard the crime scene. There is prima facie case that a crime was committed, the president appears to have agreed, what should follow is suspension. Nothing more and nothing less, every day the minister spend in that position give her opportunity to tamper with evidence, intimidate witnesses and interfere with investigation. The panel set up by the president is at best a ruse and a cover up. Members of the panel are neither prosecutors, lawyers of law enforcement. The NSA chief is incapable of identifying a crime if it smacks him in the face. The other panel member is a military officer and former head of service. To quote one recent writer “What's needed is expertise, patience, and methodical reasoning.” These have long since banned from Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Nevertheless, this scandal is a big test on President Goodluck Jonathan readiness to defend the integrity of our democracy and fidelity to our constitution, if he failed to dispense justice in a bid to protect his hirelings we should be ready to expose his regime for what it is: corruption ridden malfeasances!

We need to continue to put pressure on the president and the national assembly to expose every facet of corruption in Nigeria. Our future and the future of democracy depend on it.