tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15460581379946497102024-03-14T00:58:56.349-07:00HEAL NIGERIAProbity, Accountability, Integrity and TransparencySeyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-85390651172637075752011-11-01T22:44:00.000-07:002011-11-01T22:44:34.698-07:00The Week President Goodluck Jonathan Came to TownOur trip to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth was a wonderful experience and an 'eye opener'. I was able to see 'first hand' the sheer incompetence and profligacy of the Nigerian govt. When stories of government profligacy are published on internet blogs, you sometimes think that the likes of SaharaReporters are just being mischievous. <br />
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I recall when SR reported during one of Pres. Jonathan’s visit to the US, that he travelled with 140-man delegation. On face value, one would ask, how can this be possible? If you are one of the 'doubting Thomases', then I have a bad news for you. I was reliably informed by a source in the foreign Affairs Ministry, who is also part of the delegation to Australia, that about 400 people were on the Nigerian delegation to Perth, Australia for the 2011 CHOGM. <br />
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The truth is, not every time does a citizen have the opportunity to meet and interact with the president, especially if you live in a place like Australia. In a place like Nigeria where meeting political leaders can be likened to a camel trying to pass through a needle, the opportunity to meet public servants during their overseas visit presents a more relaxed atmosphere. In most cases, one will find such atmosphere less intimidating, as it is usually devoid of over-zealous personal aides and security officials who swarm around public servants. It is for this reason that myself and a group of friends embarked on a 4,500km journey from our base in Brisbane, with the anticipation of meeting Mr President.<br />
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Prior to leaving Brisbane, we received a correspondence from the Nigerian High Commission that Pres. GEJ will be meeting with members of the Nigerian community on Saturday 29 October at 4pm in Perth. Having confirmed the date, we booked our flights and accommodation. Our plan was to arrive in Perth on Friday 28 and leave on Monday 31. We deliberately scheduled our departure from Perth for Monday 31, to allow us some flexibility just in case the proposed time of the meeting changes, because you can never trust Nigerian officials to keep to time.<br />
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And just when we thought all was 'hunky dory', we received another correspondence from the High Commission advising that the meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday 25 October. At this stage, we asked ourselves if we should change our travel plans. After considering the cost implication, we decided not to. My thoughts were, we should travel to Perth on Friday 28 October as planned, and just see how things pane out.<br />
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Come Tuesday 25 October, we contacted some friends in Perth to enquire if the meeting took place. Lo and behold, we were told that the meeting has been postponed once again(!). Meaning if we had changed our travel plans, it would have been a total waste of time. <br />
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At this time, we were still in Brisbane and no one could confirm the new date of the meeting. Our contacts in Perth could not provide any further updates. Getting information out of the High Commission also became impossible. The officers seem to have closed shop in Canberra and have all flown to Perth in order not to miss out on the presidential jamboree. President Jonathan had since arrived in Perth on Monday 24 October.<br />
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So we arrived in Perth at about 12 midnight on Friday 28 without any idea of the time and location of the proposed meeting. In search of information, we decided take a stroll to the venue of the CHOGM, the Perth Convention Centre. We were convinced that we would at least come in contact with a Nigerian delegate who might be able provide us with further information. As expected, we came across a few Nigerian delegates who advised us that the meeting will now be held on Sunday 30 October at 3pm at the Perth City Hall. <br />
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Apparently the Nigerian Community in Western Australia were the organisers of the event. The plan of the organisers was to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, by using their annual Nigeria Independence celebration as a reception for Mr President. I learnt that the celebration was postponed to coincide with the arrival of Pres. Jonathan in Australia. <br />
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It was while I was in the Perth City Centre on Saturday that I began to see the massive profligacy of the Nigerian government on display. You could smell naira notes everywhere you turn in the shopping mall. <br />
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Everyone and anyone you can think of, was in Perth for the CHOGM. From Ministers to businessmen, state governors, Special Advisers, Commissioners, Personal Assistants, Security Guards, houseboys, housegirls, girlfriends, shopping buddies, political jobbers you name it! <br />
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I even learnt that one of the state governors travelled with four of his commissioners! You can also be sure that each of these commissioners will travel with at least a personal assistant. To put this in perspective, there were five governors on the presidential delegation.<br />
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also wasn't left behind. In attendance was the Minister, Permanent-Secretary, Special Adviser to the Minister, a handful of Directors and other junior officers<br />
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Some of the Nigerian guys I came across on the streets of Perth were no different from urchins that you see regularly on the streets of Lagos. The only difference was that their pockets were fully loaded with stash of dollars. From my observation, 90% Nigerians who travelled to Perth for the CHOGM had no business been in Australia. For crying out loud, how can anyone justify a 400-man delegation to a Heads of Government meeting. Mind you, this is not a United Nations General Assembly or conference. This is a meeting of only 54 heads of state. <br />
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The shop owners in the city must have been praying that the CHOGM shouldn't come to an end. Everywhere you turned, there is a Nigerian either shopping and changing money at the bureau de change. You need not to be Professor of Human Geography to recognise the Nigerian delegates. Their trademark was the 'Louis Vuitton' carrier bag. Whilst Pres. Jonathan was busy in the CHOGM, his personal aides and public servants unleashed their arsenal of dollar notes on the Perth shopping mall.<br />
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By the evening of Saturday 29, news started to filter round that Pres. Jonathan wouldn’t be attending the much anticipated reception organised by the Nigerian Association. Different reasons were peddled around. We heard that he had to fly out of Australia by 1pm, because he needed to make a stop over in Mauritius. So the question was how come all of a sudden, the Mauritius trip became so important bearing in mind that it wasn’t on his planned schedule?<br />
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There were rumours that, following the grounding of Qantas Airline, Pres. Jonathan decided to offer the President of Mauritius a ‘lift’ back home in his presidential jet. Meaning that Mauritius President is more important that the average Nigerian who have taken their time and spent their money to travel to Perth in the hope of meeting the President. <br />
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Some also claimed that the presidential jet needed to arrive in Mauritius at a particular time so that it can be refuelled. You then begin wonder, is Mauritius the only country on the flight path where the presidential jet can be refuelled.<br />
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As expected, come Sunday 31 October, the long awaited august visitor did not show up at Perth City Hall. Instead, he was represented by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gbenga Ashiru. Also present at the event were bureaucrats from Foreign Affairs Ministry.<br />
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You could see the disgust on the faces of the guests. I heard a 7yr-old girl asking her Dad at the event, “Daddy, where is the Nigerian President?” Mr President disappointed hundreds of Nigerian men and women, who sacrificed their time and money to put together a fantastic reception. One couldn’t have asked for more. The venue was beautiful and the food was tasty. Even Oga Jonah and Madam Peshe would have been impressed. But anyway they decided to do a ‘no show’. I was reliably informed that the organisers spent over $8,000 in hosting the event. <br />
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With this sort of attitude, you can only wonder how much respect Nigerian leaders have for the masses. I still cannot comprehend the fact that Pres. Jonathan travelled over 50,000km across the world to Australia, for almost a week and he couldn’t spare 1 hour in his supposed tight schedule to meet with his fellow nationals. Even if he was that busy, what about the First Lady, Dame Patience? I am sure many wouldn’t have been so disappointed if Mrs Jonathan turned up at the event.<br />
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The body language of Foreign Affairs Minister was also not very helpful to say the least. It was like he was doing us a favour by been present at the event. He barely stayed for an hour before he left for the airport.<br />
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Anyway, in the absence of Mr President, yours truly and his friends decided to treat themselves to plate of pounded yam and ‘efo egusi’ and spent time interacting with the beautiful people of Perth.<br />
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On Monday, we took a drive to the harbour town of Freemantle before heading for the airport to board the flight back to Brisbane. We were fortunate that the grounding of Qantas airline fleet was resolved before our scheduled departure date. <br />
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Overall, we had a fantastic time in Perth, and I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who made our weekend in Perth memorable.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-48028306353485030332011-07-04T19:48:00.001-07:002011-07-04T19:48:28.804-07:00<div dir='ltr'> "......in the early 1990s two applications were received and processed for Islamic banking licence: Al Barka Bank and Al Qaeda Bank. However, those two banks could not meet the requirement for the grant of a final licence" - CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi </div>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-31246772482592088612010-10-28T01:56:00.000-07:002010-10-28T01:56:16.975-07:00Do You Support 'Zoning' or Not? Please Read!<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Friends! I bumped into this article, written by Dr Alex Ekwueme, on the internet. It provides an insight into the issue of “zoning”, and what could have been if the 1995 Constitution was passed. Having read this article, I can now understand the spirit behind the zoning clause in the PDP Constitution. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Please read and share your thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">What <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> Lost By Abacha's Untimely Death<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Well-thought Out Provisions Of The 1995 Constitution<br />
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">By </span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Alex Ekwueme</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">May 29, 2005<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">I was an elected member of the 1994-1995 National Constitutional Conference, which sat exactly for one year (June 26 1994 -June 26 1995) and had reasonable time to discuss and ponder over many thorny issues that concerned the Nigerian polity. We were anxious that the military should disengage as soon as possible and hand over to elected civilian governments at all levels. At one time we passed a resolution, later rescinded, setting January 1996 as the date for hand over. The work of the National Constitutional Conference culminated in a two-volume report, Volume 1 of which was report of the constitutional conference containing the draft constitution 1995. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">In December 1995 we held a very successful "All politicians summit" At Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lagos</st1:place></st1:city> which I had the privilege to chair. I describe the summit as "very successful" notwithstanding its disruption by agents of the government. It was obvious that General Abacha was in no hurry to disengage. We then formed the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Civil Society</st1:placename></st1:place>, which again I had the privilege to chair, one of whose objectives was to sensitize the Nigerian public on the need for an early return to democratic ethos as we considered military rule which is imposed on and not elected by the populace, a vicious form of colonialism. It eventually materialised that Abacha set October 1, 1998 as the date for the transition from military to civilian government. But it was soon clear, judging by the decisions of all the five registered political parties to nominate him as the sole presidential candidate that it was his wish to hand over from Abacha as a military head of state to Abacha as civilian president. Some of us did not think that this was the right thing for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place> and at a meeting of the "G34" in April 1998, we decided to advise Abacha by a well considered memorandum not to countenance the prompting by sycophants that he should succeed himself. Within two months of the G-34 memorandum, Abacha was dead and so the question of self-succession also died a natural death. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">There is no doubt that if it was necessary for anybody to flaunt anti-Abacha credentials, I was in a position so to do. Arguably, there was much that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> gained by Abacha's untimely death, including release of some detainees and prisoners, accelerated transition to elected civilian administration midwifed by his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, recovery of some looted funds etc. Although some of these so-called gains may have turned out in retrospect and with the benefit of hindsight to have been mixed blessings. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">However, it is with a consideration of what <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> lost by Abacha's untimely death that I am here concerned. Before Abacha's death, "The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1995 (with Amendments)" had been finalised and was to have been promulgated by decree to come into effect on October 1, 1998. This constitution introduced some fundamental changes to Nigeria's previous presidential constitutions (1979 and 1989) based on experience garnered over almost four decades of Nigeria's independence, all calculated to conduce to a stable Nigerian polity within which all Nigerians could truly feel a sense of belonging and which would elicit the collaborative efforts of Nigerians to make the country a great nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">With the death of Abacha, the 1995 Constitution was not promulgated. The reason for this is found in the report of the Justice Niki Tobi led Constitutional Debate Co-ordinating Committee set up by the General Abdulsalami government to propose a constitution for the incoming 1999 civilian administration. The 1995 Constitution was not adopted because it was suggested that "Nigerians raised compelling reservations" about it, holding forth that it was "a product of disputed legitimacy" and suffered from a "crisis of authenticity in the public consciousness." Significantly, the above-stated reservations emanated mostly from South-Western Nigeria, which had officially boycotted the 1994-1995 National Constitutional Conference and was therefore not prepared to accept that there was anything good that could come out of it. They, more or less, decided to throw away the baby with the bath water so to speak, and therefore preferred to settle with "the 1979 Constitution" (which), according to them, "had been tried and tested and, therefore, provides a better point of departure in the quest for constitutionalism in Nigeria." "Making only minor adjustments to the 1979 document, the Tobi committee recommended adopting the adjusted document as the new (1999) constitution." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Accordingly, Abacha's untimely death on June 1998 robbed <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> of the opportunity of having the 1995 Constitution promulgated on October 1, 1998. In order, therefore, to assess "What Nigeria lost by Abacha's untimely death" (the object of this piece) it would be in order to highlight a few of the salient and radical provisions of "the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1995 (with Amendments)," to wit: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">1. Recognition of six geopolitical zones <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S.229 (4): For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the six geopolitical zones of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> shall be as set out in part III of the First Schedule To this Constitution. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">1.zone | states <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">1. North-Central - Benue, Kogi, Kwara, <st1:city w:st="on">Nasarawa</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Niger</st1:country-region>, Plateau, and <st1:placename w:st="on">Federal</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Capital</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Territory</st1:placetype>, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Abuja</st1:place></st1:city>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">2. North-Eastern - Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">3. North-Western | Jigawa, <st1:city w:st="on">Kaduna</st1:city>, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kano</st1:place></st1:city>, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">4. South-Eastern | Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Enugu</st1:place></st1:city>, and Imo. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">5. South-South | Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, <st1:placename w:st="on">Cross</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype>, Delta, <st1:place w:st="on">Edo</st1:place> and Rivers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">6. South-Western | Ekiti, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lagos</st1:place></st1:city>, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">This is the first formal recognition of the six geo-political zones now in common usage politically in a legal or constitutional document. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">2. Diffusion of federal executive responsibility <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">In addition to the offices of President and Vice President and Ministers, the Constitution provides also for the offices of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 149(2): "Subject to such reservations or conditions as may be made by him, the President shall assign to the Prime Minister responsibility for the general administration of the Government of the Federation" <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S.149(4): "The President shall hold regular meetings with the Vice President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and all the Ministers of the Government of the Federation for the purposes of - <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">a) Determining the general direction of domestic and foreign policies of the Government of the Federation (b) Co-ordinating the activities of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministers of the Government of the federation in the discharge of their executive responsibilities..." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Single 5 - year term of office for governor coupled with rotation of office of governor etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 149(4): "Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section a Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of 5 years commencing from the date when (a) He took the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office..." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S.184(1): "A person shall not be qualified for election to the Office of Governor of... (b) He has been elected to such office at an immediately preceding election..." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S.229(2): "The Office of Governor, Deputy Governor and Speaker of the House of Assembly shall rotate among the three Senatorial districts in the state. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">If the above provisions had been incorporated into the 1999 Constitution, two of the three senatorial districts of each state would have already produced governors in every state leaving the third (remaining) senatorial district to produce the Governor at the next election. All the problems currently bedevilling most states in the matter of "power shift" would not have arisen and all parts of every state would have been given a sense of belonging. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Single 5-year term of office for president coupled with rotation of office of President etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 138(2): "Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the president shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of 5 years commencing from the date when (a) He took the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office..." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 140(1): A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if ... (b) He has been elected to such office at an immediately preceding election..." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 229(1): "The following six principal offices shall rotate among the six geo-political zones created under subsection (4) of this section, namely - <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div></td><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" valign="top" width="100%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The office of the President;</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The office of the Prime Minister</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The Office of the President of the Senate</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives</span></li>
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</div><ul><li><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 31.5pt;" valign="top" width="42"></td><td style="padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; width: 100.0%;" valign="top" width="100%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Had the above provisions been incorporated in the 1999 Constitution, two of the six geopolitical zones would already have produced a President of Nigeria and a third zone would have been looking forward to producing the President in the next dispensation. The present controversy or argument as to which geopolitical zone or group of geopolitical zones or region should present the President in the next dispensation would have been narrowed down to manageable proportions.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">30-year transition period for evolving a Nigerian nation as distinct from a country or "mere Geographical expression" <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 2290(1): "The principle of rotation enshrined in this section shall be strictly adhered to by the political parties during the transition period of 30 years commencing from the date this Constitution comes into force." <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">During this "transition" period of 30 years, at the state level each senatorial district would have filled the office of Governor two times, the office of Deputy Governor two times, and the office of the Speaker of the House of Assembly two times, each term of office being of 5 years duration. At the national level each of the six geopolitical zones would have filled the offices of President, Vice President, Prime Minister, deputy Prime Minister, President of the Senate and Speaker at the House of Representatives for a term of 5 years each. Thereafter, the cry of "marginalisation" would have been a thing of the past. The 30-year period would have been used to positively and constructively promote state level and national integration at all levels, following which all positions could then be filled on the basis of merit and competence in the true democratic spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Discharge of functions of President <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 147(1): "Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section, if any vacancy occurs by reason of the death or resignation or the removal of the President from office (impeachment) in accordance with section 144, 145 or 340 of this Constitution, the Vice President shall hold the office of President for the period of not more than 3 months during which there shall be an election of a new President from the same zone, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">On the few occasions when President Obasanjo has been threatened with impeachment by the National Assembly, a few members, instead of looking at the grounds canvassed for impeachment on their merits, preferred to consider what would be the necessary result of a successful impeachment process, namely: that the Vice President (currently from the North-Eastern geopolitical zone) would be the beneficiary of the exercise as he would step into the shoes of the impeached President. On one occasion, in the Senate, it was the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Alliance</st1:city></st1:place> for Democracy senators from the South-West, who did not in fact vote for the President in the first place who threatened hell and brimstone should the impeachment exercise proceed further. The 1995 Abacha Constitution anticipated this possibility and provided that the Vice President shall fill the vacancy for 3 months only as a maximum, while INEC would arrange to elect a President from the same zone (in this case, possibly Olu Falae?). With this provision, it would be possible to examine a President's breaches of the constitution and other misconduct objectively to see if they justify or warrant impeachment. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Farewell to "Winner takes all" <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 148(7) "The majority of the number of ministers appointed pursuant to subsection (3) of the section shall come from the political party or parties on whose platform the President is elected." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 148(8): "Any political party which wins not less than 10 per cent of the total number of seats in the National Assembly or of the total number of votes cast at the election, shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (7) of this section be entitled to representation in the Federal Executive Council in proportion to the number of seats won by the party in the National Assembly." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">This is a prescription for an all-party government with ministers drawn from all serious political parties (with 10 per cent of the votes cast at the National Assembly election). This is to promote consensus building rather than antagonism among the political parties; and holders of ministerial posts from parties other than the President's party will appreciate that they hold such positions as of right by virtue of the constitution and not as a gift by the President or his party. Certainly not an invitation to "come and chop." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Elimination of incumbency and its abuse to the electoral process <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">The December 1959 Federal Parliamentary Elections may have had its abuses some of which were highlighted by Harold Smith in his autobiography "Blue Collor Lawman" but the 1964 Federal Parliamentary Elections certainly had many more electoral abuses than the 1959 election. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Similarly, the 1979 Presidential, National Assembly and Gubernatorial elections may have had some abuses but they were, by comparison, much more free and fair than the 1983 elections. In the same way, in spite of any problems associated with the 1999 Presidential and other elections, they were certainly more free and fair than the 2003 edition. So, historically, it would be generally accepted that the incumbency factor does not promote free and fair electoral processes. Based on this historical experience, the Abacha 1995 Constitution provides as follows: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">S. 140(1): "A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">(b) He has been elected to such office at an immediately preceding election..." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">An incumbent President and incumbent Governors are therefore disqualified from standing election for the same office during their incumbency. This eliminates the incumbency factor and the abuses arising there from in connection with the electoral process. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">In summary, because of Abacha's untimely death in June 1998, "the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1995 (with amendments)" was never promulgated and Nigeria therefore lost the benefit of some of its well-thought out provisions which were intended to promote justice, equity, and national unity in the process of transforming Nigeria from a country of many ethnic nationalities into a modern nation state within a "transition period" of 30 years. This is what <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region> lost by Abacha's untimely death. <o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr>
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</div>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-86848627414166983812010-09-28T16:18:00.001-07:002010-09-29T04:05:21.157-07:00NiGERIA @50: Nigeria & Indonesia, spot the difference!<div style="background: white; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><b></b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><b><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">History<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Both <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>, are the giants of their region, home to tens of millions of people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Both were formed as one nation by Europeans around 1900.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Both were governed by the colonial system of "indirect rule".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Both once made money from palm oil, and later discovered oil and gas.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">At independence, the standards of living in the two countries were comparable on most measures.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">And since independence, both have suffered three decades of military misrule and corruption.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Their first coups were launched within months of each other - in September 1965 in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region> and in January 1966 in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Military rule came to an end within 12 months, in May 1998 (<st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region>) and 1999 (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">Achievements<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, the life expectancy of a child at birth had risen from 45 to 70 years since independence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>, life expectancy remains stuck just above 45; today it is around 47.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">When <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region>'s second president, Haji Muhammad Suharto, took power in 1967 the number of people living in poverty was the same as in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>; around six out of ten.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Three decades later, it had fallen from six to two. In <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place> it had risen from six to seven.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Currently, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region> lies almost 50 places above <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place> on the United Nation's Human Development Index.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Adult literacy in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region> stands at 92%, 20 points better than <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Per capita income in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region> is close to $4,000, is almost twice that of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Basic healthcare is strikingly better in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and the same is true for education.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Access to clean water and a good balanced diet are better too.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">GDP: <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region> $207.12bn, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region></st1:place> $510.73bn<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 17.85pt; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">Population below poverty line: <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nigeria</st1:country-region> 70%, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region></st1:place> 17.8%<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt;">Source, UN, World Bank, BBC, CIA World Fact Book<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 28px;">I think it is time we need to ask ourselves, where exactly did the wheels fall off?</span></b></div></b></span>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-56101173924163382312010-09-26T17:25:00.001-07:002010-09-26T17:25:34.269-07:00Election 2011 Campaign Finance: A Serious Challenge By Reuben AbatiTHERE are issues beyond the constraint of time that INEC has identified with regard to the 2011 general elections which also need to be addressed, considering the implications for electoral outcomes and the integrity of elections, with consequential effect on governance. The first of these is the cost of elections, from the collection of nomination forms all through the campaigns and eventual election into office. The country experience has been that the monetization of the electoral process has resulted in such a situation whereby every candidate sees election expenses as an investment, and should he or she get elected, the immediate objective in office is to re-coup the investments made, thus providing a curiously self-serving justification for corrupt conduct.<BR> <BR> <BR> One prominent Senator once publicly confessed, following allegations that he had collected a N50 million bribe to facilitate the passage of a Ministry's budget, that his mission as a lawmaker in Abuja was first and foremost to recover his election investments, and that no one should talk about service. Past testimonies have revealed that many political office aspirants took loans, or sold their property or relied on the sponsorship of Godfathers and corporations to be able to meet the required high financial outlay. In many instances this resulted in embarrassing outcomes with the most celebrated perhaps being the Chris Ngige-Chris Uba crisis in Anambra state, and the Rasheed Ladoja-Lamidi Adedibu face-off in Oyo state, with the Godfathers (Uba and Adedibu) insisting that their clients needed to pay back the investments made by giving them a share of the security vote in addition to other privileges. The refusal of both clients resulted in their summary removal from office. The root of that crisis is the monetization of election processes which makes poor but qualified aspirants utterly vulnerable. This is one problem that electoral reform, now a postponed aspirational objective, could have solved. But now, we are going into another round of general elections, with so much emphasis on money both officially and otherwise.<BR> <BR> <BR> The genesis is official. What the law stipulates is rather high given the level of poverty in the country. It amounts to saying that only the rich can aspire to political offices. Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2002, Section 93 of the Electoral Act 2006 both deal with election expenses; the same subject is addressed in Section 91 of the Electoral Act 2010. There is a quantum 100% increase in stipulated election expenses between 2006 and 2010 whereas the objective of the law should have been to make elections less expensive. For example, whereas Section 93(2) of the Electoral Act 2006 requires a Presidential candidate to spend no more than N500 million total, Section 91(2) of the 2010 Act stipulates N1 billion for Presidential candidates, and the same quantum percentage increase applies to other offices- Governor (N200 m, up from N100 million in 2006), Senatorial seat (N40m, formerly N20m); House of Representatives (N20m, formerly N10m), House of Assembly (N10m, formerly N5m), Local Council Chairman (N10 m, formerly N5m) and Councillorship (N1m, previously N500,000). Section 91 (9-12) of the 2010 Act which is in pari materia with Section 93 (9-12) of the 2006 Act, outlines penalties for the violation of these regulations.<BR> <BR> <BR> Both in the past and now, and in utter disregard of Section 95 0f the 2006 Act, and now Sections 92-93 of the 2010 Act, politicians and political parties have routinely abused the rules on campaign finance and deliberately raised the cost of participation. This speaks to the failure of regulation and the reluctance to ensure campaign finance reform. There is no record of anyone being punished for violating the rule on election expenses. The twin issue of donations to political parties and likely undue influence was addressed in Yusufu v. Obasanjo (2003) 16 NWLR pt.847 but generally there is neither a structure nor mechanism in place for tracking campaign finances and enforcing INEC's rules as spelled out in the Electoral Act. INEC officials at the end of their recent retreat in Calabar asked among other things, for an Electoral Offenders Commission, but until that emerges, there are already existing rules and penalties which only need to be enforced. The neglect of the rules on election expenses creates the room for the hijack of the process by moneybags; it results in the exclusion of otherwise capable and well-meaning but poor aspirants, and provides the basis for corruption.<BR> The political parties often do not shy away from demanding the equivalent of ransom from candidates, this forms part of the total expenditure stipulated by the Electoral Act, but almost always, so much money is spent beyond the legal limits. Out of all the 62 political parties vying for offices in the 2010 general elections, the ruling People's Democratic Party was the first to roll out its guidelines and an outline of required fees. What has been done in this regard so far before the suspension of other activities in the light of the imminent review of the election timetable, illustrates the continuing monetization of elections. The PDP National Headquarters in Abuja requires aspirants to pay the following to pick up nomination forms: Presidential (N10 m), Governors (N5m), Senate (N3 m); House of Representatives (N2.5 m); state Houses of Assembly (N1 m). But so much more is spent, that at the end of the day, every aspirant has to look for money by all means or borrow or steal, or pay through the nose.<BR> <BR> <BR> In the PDP example, the state branches collect the nationally stipulated fees from aspirants, but they also add their own charges. In Anambra state, the request for an additional two per cent nomination and expression of interest fee already caused a row within the party (The Guardian, September 21, at p.5). It is worse in other states. The standard fees, and initial expenses in the PDP say for the position of Senator and what is called "formalization of political intent" is as follows: N0.2m for the expression of interest form, N2m for the nomination to contest primary election form; state chapter administrative charges -N300, 000, another N150, 000 is paid to the state branch for "intent formalization form". Every candidate is also required to present tax certificates for three years: this is about N100, 000 per year (total N0.3m). For the nomination to contest primary election form to be accepted, the aspirant must be sponsored by 30 persons drawn from different wards in all the local councils in the senatorial zone – each of these persons must be a registered member of the party and they all expect to be paid for their services!<BR> <BR> <BR> The party also requires a lorry load of documents which have to be photocopied thus creating a boom for owners of the ubiquitous business centres in our towns. The sociology of this matter is that the moment an aspirant declares his interest in a particular office, he is immediately surrounded by a group of sycophants who immediately start addressing him or her as "your Excellency", "Distinguished Senator," "Honourable!", this of course includes the usual team of thugs or able-bodied men as they are more respectfully known: all of whom expect to be paid and fed, even if they have more than one client! The aspirant is also required by convention to visit and pay homage to traditional rulers within his constituency, the police chief, the SSS Director and so on, and everywhere he goes, he is required to pay some unstated charges. By the time the aspirant becomes a candidate, he spends even more. In the PDP, female aspirants are allowed to collect nomination forms free, but they also have to pick up all the other additional expenses. Technically, every candidate spends a lot more than the limit prescribed in the enabling law. Adopting a rule of thumb assessment, even a formal, public declaration of political interest could cost more than the total amount prescribed by law for that particular position. But who will enforce the law?<BR> <BR> <BR> Election finance is an important issue for reform. We cannot afford to run elections on a profit-motive basis: profit for the business centres, thugs, political Godfathers, the party, traditional rulers, market women and others who are given free clothes, the media, rented crowds, printers, sycophants, cash-collecting voters, and the banks; the general assumption that election time is harvest time and boom time turns the whole event into a commercial undertaking rather than an opportunity for nation-building. ThisDay newspaper has reported that within ten days of selling nomination and expression of interest forms, the PDP raked in N3.5 billion (ThisDay, September 25, p.1). It stands to make more. In 2006, the party made N4 billion from the sale of forms alone. The excuse is that the party needed funds for the elections, but in 2007, the party soon announced that it was broke (didn't it?) and yet there was no clear indication that the party complied with the section of the law requiring each political party to submit its audited accounts for vetting by INEC, and of course in the Nigerian context, it is not the parties that fund individual campaigns, the candidate is required to do so. The PDP has also talked about preventing a bandwagon effect whereby every Peter and Janet would express interest in political office because it is easy to obtain a form. This kind of snobbery translates into deplorable politics of exclusion, one that is driven by financial muscle and sheer illiberality. It should be possible for anyone that is interested in political office to gain access to express that interest. The ultimate choice must be made by the people and this must not be a function of cash.<BR> <BR> <BR> The 1999 Constitution spells out the grounds for qualification for particular offices at Sections 65,66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 177, 182: the key highlights of which include the fact that the person must have attained a particular age, and a particular level of educational qualification, must be of sound mind, must be a citizen of Nigeria, must not be bankrupt and must not have been indicted for corruption by an administrative panel of inquiry, must not have been convicted for an offence, and must not be a member of a secret society. When political parties erect additional barriers, they invariably make the process of leadership recruitment rather exclusive; when their emphasis is on financial muscle, they prepare the grounds for future compromises; they reduce politics to the level of big money fit only for the highest bidder.<BR> <BR> <BR> The monetization of the nomination process in the PDP is perhaps "good" for the polity, if it would encourage the other political parties to be more liberal and less business-minded, and if that would encourage aspirants who for financial reasons cannot access the PDP to go to the opposition parties and strengthen them. Unfortunately in Nigeria, party politics has not worked that way before now and may not even now. The political aspirant is not driven by ideology or public-spirited beliefs; he is interested in winning by all means and if the PDP is the party that he or she believes can bring him closer to his or her dream, he or she would be prepared to make the investment, knowing that after winning, the treasury is available for looting. This corruption-driven political culture is what must change for Nigeria to raise the integrity of the election campaign process. It is one challenge that INEC should begin to consider even as it struggles to gain the breathing space it so desperately seeks<BR> Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-69604345543695222802010-09-23T21:09:00.001-07:002010-09-23T21:09:27.444-07:002011 election timetable: Matters arising By Reuben Abati <BR> THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has requested for an extension of the timetable for the 2011 general elections till April 2011, to enable it prepare better for the elections, its initial advertised timelines having already gone awry leaving no leg-room for adjustments. This proposal which would require consequential legislative action has already been endorsed by the political parties virtually with no exception and even many of the aspirants are so far enthusiastic that more time will be advisable. There can be no doubt that the extension is in the interest of both INEC and the professional politicians, but there are underlying consequences and possibilities which must be examined to ensure that in the long run, it is the people's interest that prevails. The INEC Chairman had consistently drawn attention to the limitation of time, although he kept promising at the same time that he and his team will do their best under the circumstances. A strategic meeting held in Calabar by INEC officials however came up with the resolution that the timing of the election is practically impossible. The schedule is "too tight", they said.<BR> <BR> INEC deserves praise for its new-found honesty, for its earlier resort to ambivalence and double-speak seemed like an exercise in grand deception. Jega, the INEC Chairman must have seen that his so-called perfect alibi would not work after all. The political parties which have quickly endorsed Jega's proposal (they probably pushed him into it, anyway) have also done so for self-serving reasons. The Electoral Act 2010 leaves the political parties very little room for manoeuvre with its very strict deadlines. The parties for example were required to give INEC a 21-day notice of their primaries and conventions, without fail, by September 18, no political party had met that deadline, and there was no clear indication that the various political parties had actually decided on whether to have direct or indirect primaries, or taken a decision on the content of their constitutions, because all of this was still an issue among the various stakeholders.<BR> Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 on the mode of conducting primaries had also changed the nature of power relations within the political parties with regard to the selection of delegates. In the Peoples Democratic Party, this was meant to free the sitting President from the stranglehold of the Governors who in previous primaries held sway with their army of assistants and political appointees and all-powerful Godfathers, but in reality, the new structure requiring primaries at ward levels in all the 36 states still made the Presidential aspirants utterly vulnerable, and the process more expensive than hitherto.<BR> <BR> Some of the parties, notably the PDP and the Presidency, were desperately looking for a way round this. Even the PDP time-table, which places the Gubernatorial primaries before the presidential, made an interested sitting PDP President vulnerable. <STRONG>It is therefore not surprising that although President Jonathan had signed the Electoral Act 2010, he and his aides had at the same time been asking for an amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 before it takes effect. The President's refusal to append his signature to the amended 1999 Constitution now appears deliberate and strategic. If this hypothesis is true, then our earlier argument that there may be a hidden agenda with regard to the 2011 elections may be provable after all.</STRONG><BR> <BR> <STRONG>So, what is likely to follow and what should be our concerns as citizens? If the emerging consensus that the elections be shifted to April holds sway, then there will be need for a review of the enabling legal framework, particularly the Electoral Act with regard to the timing of elections and the amended 1999 Constitution, on which the INEC September-January timetable is based, as well. Contrived as the controversy over the President's signature with regard to the amended 1999 Constitution may be, it is now an issue that also has to be resolved for Nigeria to move forward on the question of elections. Will the Electoral Act 2010 be amended to fit the 1999 Constitution or the amended version? And should the Supreme Court rule one way or the other when it suits it on the matter of the President's signature, what would be the implications? Is there enough time to embark on another round of constitution amendment? Will it not be safer to repeal the 2010 Electoral Act and use the 2006 Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution? If the professional political class manages to resolve this conundrum, the public must be watchful to ensure that the amendments do not end up as an attempt to re-jig the existing framework to favour particular aspirants following a posteriori realizations; for that would amount to a manipulation of the system to deliver pre-determined outcomes.</STRONG><BR> <BR> But in simpler terms, what all this tells us is that Nigeria is not really prepared for the 2011 elections. When John Campbell, a former US Ambassador wrote on September 12 about the possibility of the failure of the 2011 elections in Nigeria, the current Nigerian ambassador to the US, Professor Adebowale Adefuye wrote a rejoinder telling Campbell he is a prophet of doom writing "an offensive… and jaundiced" article (The Guardian, September 13). Campbell and other commentators along the same lines would now appear to know what they were writing about and Ambassador Adefuye, merely pleasing the Nigerian authorities, fails the diplomacy test particularly with his second rejoinder available online in which he says "may the likes of John Campbell never come our way again." No other general election in Nigeria since 1999 has been prefaced with as much confusion, anxiety and uncertainty as the proposed 2011 general elections. In retrospect, the preparations for the 2007 elections considered one of the worst polls in Nigerian history appear comparable, if not better in terms of certainty. Professor Attahiru Jega is certainly setting the stage for the loss of his own credibility, beginning with the current jagajaga (confusing, mixed up, incoherent) arrangements for the 2011 elections.<BR> <BR> <STRONG>This is the situation, not because Jega does not mean well, but because in Nigeria there is very little institutional memory and our various institutions are driven not by traditions but circumstances and individual whims. Jega inherited from Maurice Iwu, an existing institution, but he met so much misalignment between mandate, objective and operational capability, he is having to reconfigure the institution afresh; this is something the Ghanaians next door have not had to do from one election to the other in the last decade. And as Jega and his team encounter new demons in the process of that reconstruction, they are compelled to come up with excuses. In a statement justifying the request for a change in timetable, the INEC Chairman has already offered an explanation in that regard, but there are additional questions that remain unanswered.</STRONG><BR> <BR> If what he is asking for is a leg room, more like elbow room, then why April? Why not February since the main challenge is that of the voter's register? Why not March? A two-month window before the inauguration of new government on May 29, 2011, may give the tribunals and courts a little room to treat election petitions expeditiously. But with the elections in April, Nigeria is more or less back to the situation in 2007. It means that practically nothing has changed. The various promises about electoral reform have come to naught. One major element of the electoral reform proposal was to ensure that election-related litigations are disposed of before swearing in to prevent a situation whereby persons enjoy stolen mandates for up to two or three years before they are found out and dismissed by the courts.<BR> With the elections now likely to be held in April 2011, we are back to that old order, and meeting the challenge of ensuring credible elections has been postponed. The INEC budget was based on the plan to prepare the voters' register within two weeks and to run the election process between now and January 2011. If the target is now April 2011, what happens to the INEC budget for the elections? Is it going to prepare a supplementary budget? Or is additional cost already anticipated in the earlier budget? If new costs will be involved, INEC must take the pains to explain that to the public and state exactly how much is required or may be saved from the existing budget.<BR> <BR> Professor Jega has affirmed that whatever happens the hand over date of May 29, 2011 will remain sacrosanct. That is important, lest further credence is given to the suspicion that some politicians are bent on extending their tenure in office for selfish reasons. As it were, so much is being said about the importance of time. But this is not even, now in retrospect, the more pressing issue at stake. It is the quality of the Nigerian process and its leadership. The various political parties that are now jumping on the time-extension bandwagon, were they proper political parties would have been ready for the next elections long ago and would not need to behave as if they too are starting afresh. But this is the Nigerian malady. Fifty years after independence, we are again talking about how to begin to plan for the future.<BR> When the various issues are resolved however, Jega must be reminded that he no longer has any reason to offer additional excuses and he must begin to resist the temptation to sound like another prominent public official who comments on everything from the acting styles of Aki and Paw Paw to the eating habits of bank CEOs and much less on his core mandate. For now, our hopes about the 2011 elections are mixed. If the elections are free and fair, fine, but if not, we already know why<BR> Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-2552555173941479412010-08-03T21:31:00.001-07:002010-08-04T01:27:08.366-07:00Pres. Goodluck Jonathan: After 2011, what next?<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">I came across a story in yesterday's edition of Thisday newspaper. It was titled "<em><strong>2015 complicates zoning and PDP plans mini convention</strong></em>".</span></div><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">As we know, the issue of whether to zone or not zone the 2011 presidential ticket seems to have taken over the PDP. And according to the newspaper report, some northern elites in the PDP are now looking beyond 2011. It's been reported that the "north" could concede the 2011 presidential to Pres. Goodluck Jonathan if it can be guaranteed that he wouldn't be seeking a "second term" after 2011. </span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">There is a concern within the party that the region that produces the next president will rule for eight years. A "senior northerner" was quoted in the newspaper as saying "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If (President Goodluck) Jonathan can openly declare today that he would do only one term and leave in 2015, the North will support him..….we cannot contemplate power being in the South till 2019, which is what will happen if Jonathan does two terms</i>" </span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">If the above statements are true, then it highlights the level of disregard the political elites have for the average voter. It's only in a country like ours, where the votes of long suffering masses don't count, will a political party assume that it will be in power until 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, that's an issue for another day.</span></div><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">What I find puzzling in the newspaper story however, is the issue of whether Pres. Goodluck Jonathan can actually run for presidency in 2015. I have often asked myself the question if the federal constitution allows him to do so.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">Whilst I agree that the focus of our attention should be on the forthcoming 2011 elections, I've just always been curious about possible political permutation post-2011. So newspaper story succeeded in setting my mind thinking on this matter. To inform the discussion I have included the relevant section of the Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution deals with the issue of election into the office of the president. It states,</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">137. (1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">President if - </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>country;</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(b) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections</b>; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(c) under the law in any part of <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Nigeria</place></country-region>, he is adjudged to be a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(d) he is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for any other offence, imposed on him by any court or tribunal or <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">him by such a court or tribunal; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(e) within a period of less than ten years before the date of the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>election to the office of President he has been convicted and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>guilty of the contravention of the Code of Conduct; or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(f) he is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>declared bankrupt under any law in force in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Nigeria</place></country-region> or any other <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>country; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(g) being a person employed in the civil or public service of the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Federation or of any State, he has not resigned, withdrawn or retired <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from the employment at least thirty days before the date of the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>election; or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(h) he is a member of any secret society; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;"></span></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; page-break-before: always;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(i) he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal or State Government which <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government, </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">respectively; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(j) he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electoral Commission. </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(2) Where in respect of any person who has been - </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(a) adjudged to be a lunatic; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(b) declared to be of unsound mind; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(c) sentenced to death or imprisonment; </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">or </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(d) adjudged or declared bankrupt </span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">(e) any appeal against the decision is pending in any court of law in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>accordance with any law in force in Nigeria, subsection (1) of this<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>section shall not apply during a period beginning from the date when<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>such appeal is lodged and ending on the date when the appeal is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>finally determined or, as the case may be, the appeal lapses or is abandoned, whichever is earlier.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">As we can see Section 137(1)(b) does state explicitly that a person cannot be elected as president, if he has been elected into such office at any two previous elections. The operative word here is "<strong>elected</strong>". </span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">The constitution is however silent on what happens in the sudden demise of the elected president and the V-P is sworn in as president. GEJ was not elected as president, as he only became a president by default. So strictly speaking, is first election into the office of the president will be in 2011. </span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">I have heard people say that GEJ cannot seek re-election in 2015 because the president cannot take the oath of office more than twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my viewpoint, there's nothing in the constitution to support such argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">Though I'm not a legal expert, my interpretation is that there's nothing in the Constitution that stops GJ from seeking a second term after 2011. Having said that, I may be wrong.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">So what are your thoughts? Do you think GEJ can legally seek a "second term" after 2011?</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt;">PS- <em>The above post is based on the assumption that GEJ will be contesting the 2011 presidential elections</em>.</span></div>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-10919366411866784642010-07-26T02:19:00.000-07:002010-07-26T02:19:16.401-07:00Will You Join PDP, If..........?Let me start by sharing a recent experience. Few months ago, I received an email from a ‘facebook’ friend, who asked if I was interested in becoming a member of his political group. According to him, the group intends to mobilise interested Nigerians to become members of the PDP, with the aim of hijacking the party machinery. After reading the email, I quickly declined his offer. I declined the offer for three reasons. Firstly, because I’m based overseas and I couldn’t see how I can add value to their cause. Secondly, I have never hidden how much I detest PDP as a political party. Mind you, not that I believe any of the other political parties are better. I’ve just never believed anything good can come out of the party, except by “accident” (as a friend will say). And thirdly, I didn’t know the guy personally, so I wasn’t sure if they were been sponsored by another ‘cabal’.<br />
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Ok! That was then, but, what about now? <br />
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The PDP Chairman, Dr Nwodo recently noted that, the party will begin registration of its members this week. Prospective members of the party will be expected to pay a mandatory registration fee which will be registered online. According to media reports, the party believes it could raise N10bn annually by levying its members N1,500 each. <br />
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The PDP Chairman was also quoted as saying “gone are the days, where a ward chairman will not register a member because he/she doesn’t like the face of the prospective member”. But given the opportunity, how many people are interested in being members of the PDP?<br />
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So should the call for membership by PDP be seen by progressives, as an opportunity to get involve? What would it take to mobilise 500,000 “progressives” to register as members of the PDP, with the sole aim of reforming the party?. Why can’t all the political groups on facebook and other online social network work collaboratively, and join the PDP en mass? With 500,000 members (all on the same page), how difficult can it be to take over the party machinery, and force a change? <br />
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You may ask, why PDP and not ACN or ANPP? The answer to that is simple. Like it or loathe it, PDP remains the only party in the country with the geographical spread and structure to win an election. If one can mobilise enough numbers, why waste your time joining a party that only appeals to certain ethnic groups. <br />
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So I put the question to you, will you join the PDP, if there exist an opportunity to force a change within the party?Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-27356749030169835772010-07-20T03:22:00.000-07:002010-07-20T03:22:26.881-07:00Youths Earnestly Ask for Jonathan - By Simon KolawoleNothing ever changes in Nigeria, isn’t it? The more things seem to change, the more they remain the same. The country is currently littered with mushrooms of associations asking President Goodluck Jonathan to run in the 2011 presidential race; all sorts of groups with names so similar you would be forced to suspect that they are being created and co-ordinated from the same source. They are singing the same tune – PDP must dump “zoning” (that is, power rotation) and let Jonathan run. Northern youths. Southern youths. Movement for this. Movement for that. Alliance for this. <br />
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Alliance for that. They all claim to be doing us some good and fighting for justice and equity and fairness. The impression being created is that the president does not know anything about it. It is Nigerians who are trying to exercise their freedom of speech. But haven’t we been here before?<br />
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Yeah, it looks too familiar. Youths Earnest Ask for Abacha (YEAA). That was in 1998 when the epidemic swept through the country. Gen. Sani Abacha, one of the finest dictators the world has ever produced, had held Nigeria by the throat for nearly five years, killing as many people as he could, looting as much as he could and doing all he could to push Nigeria into the abyss.<br />
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Mortuaries and prisons were filled with his victims. He embarked on a transition programme designed to ultimately produce him as the president. The five political parties he created all adopted him as their presidential candidate, even though he was never a member, never picked their nomination forms and never fulfilled any of the requirements for aspirants as prescribed by the law. We were told that Abacha was the best thing. At the million-man march organised by YEAA for him in Abuja, many prominent Nigerians – some of whom you would ordinarily expect to be sane – endorsed the project. Abacha died suddenly, effectively killing YEAA.<br />
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We had a similar project in 2002 when over 20 PDP governors stormed Ota, Ogun State, to “beg” President Olusegun Obasanjo to run for second term. Obasanjo, they said, was the only man for Nigeria. A bigger version of the project was launched a few years later. You guessed right: third term. Obasanjo organised a political conference, ostensibly to work for a new constitution, but surreptitiously to extend his second term in office. When it didn’t work, a full-blown third term project was launched. We were told Obasanjo was the only one that could solve all our problems. Indeed, everything seemed set for Obasanjo to get his third term as the constitution was about to be amended to accommodate his ambition. In a flash, the third term project collapsed. Obasanjo would later tell us that he was not interested in third term. As if we were born yesterday.<br />
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An amazing fact is that there are characters that have always been on the “tazarce” (“carry on”) scene. I will mention just two names here. Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu was heavily involved in the Abacha project as the publicity secretary of the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) – the party of choice then. Mantu, representing the North-central, moved the motion that Abacha should be the presidential candidate of UNCP at its Kaduna convention on April 16, 1998. Others who moved the joint motion were: Ebenezer Babatope, Josiah Odunna, Saminu Turaki (who later became governor of Jigawa State), Sergeant Awuse and Ali Modu Sherif (current governor of Borno State). In 2005-6, Mantu, as Deputy Senate President, organised a similar project for Obasanjo, co-ordinating the failed attempt to amend the constitution to accommodate third term. Dear readers, Mantu is now one of the co-ordinators of the Jonathan 2011 project. “Tazarce” runs in his blood.<br />
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There is also this character called Greg Mbadiwe who, unfortunately, hails from an illustrious family. He was neck-deep in the Abacha project. He wrote an interesting article to justify the ill-conceived “tazarce” project. In the article, which was published just around the time Abacha died, he declared: “The UNCP must not renege on the decision to present General Abacha as its flag bearer. For, contrary to the utterances by a few people who have access to the press, the masses of the people are in support of continuity and General Abacha. They are in alignment with his regime’s efforts and are eagerly waiting to give him a stronger mandate come August 1, 1998.” Mbadiwe, it must be recalled, was also the one who moved for the extension of Obasanjo’s second term tenure to six years at the political conference in 2004. He was also well involved in the failed third term project. That’s his stock-in-trade.<br />
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I don’t know much about Mbadiwe’s involvement in the Jonathan project, but I recently stumbled on an article he wrote to campaign for the president. He first condemned zoning and power rotation and then began to talk about how God had ordained Jonathan and how the man is the best person for the job. Read him: “Jonathan appears to be the bridge of unity and national integration which has eluded Nigerians for a long time.<br />
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We were closer to the attainment of that goal in 1993 when Nigerians overwhelmingly voted a Muslim-Muslim ticket, only for the military through an ill-advised action, to annul that election. The opportunity has presented itself again and history beckons on us to, in the spirit of Nigerian unity to formally elect a man from the minority tribe as our president in 2011. That would not only confirm that we have come of age, we would be giving a practical expression to the letters of the constitution which guarantees us the right to aspire to any position in the country.”<br />
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Let me be clear about something: I am not comparing Jonathan’s obvious ambition to the self-perpetuation plans of Abacha and Obasanjo. The two were clearly involved in something illegitimate which could only be achieved by subverting and manipulating the laws of the land. Jonathan, on the other hand, has every right to run for office next year as enshrined in the constitution. The power rotation argument is not about law or constitution – it is about a “gentleman’s agreement” as they call it. It is a PDP problem. ANPP does not have power rotation. AC does not have power rotation. So when I talk about the roles of Mantu, Mbadiwe and their ilk in the Jonathan project and similar projects in the past, I am talking basically about this malignant tumour called AGIP – Any Government in Power. I am also talking about the unseen hands behind the scene, patting the boot-lickers on the back while pretending not to be involved in any way. You know what I mean.<br />
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In a way, I do not blame Mantu and co. In Nigeria, real economic productivity yields little gain, so it is political sycophancy that rewards bountifully. Hard work hardly pays. How much would you make working your head off 24/7 in your office compared to what you would make practising AGIP? A fresh university graduate with a decent job would need to work for at least five years before he can afford a new car. If he chooses sycophancy, he can buy a 4WD after just one “contract”. The budget for sycophancy is normally in billions of naira. Furthermore, those who get the biggest appointments in government are not necessarily those who want to contribute to the progress of Nigeria. They are mostly those who play the right politics – those who carry the bags of the right people; those who wash the feet of the right people; those who utter the biggest flattery. You don’t need to do too much research to discover why Nigeria is so backward. Those who have been holding us hostage for decades are the same people holding us hostage today. It’s a brood of vipers. They reproduce themselves. They are from every part of Nigeria. They are ever present in our national life in one form or the other. I am therefore not surprised, at all, that the Jonathan government is turning out to be like the previous ones. This government is proving not to be different from the others. The signs are there for everyone to see. In Nigeria, the more things seem to change, the more they remain the same.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-15523796757187784652010-07-05T16:47:00.000-07:002010-07-05T16:47:41.342-07:00Dreams Can be Crazy!Dreams can be crazy, especially when malaria has a hand and a foot in it. Fancy the dream I had last night. It was so scary it made a horror film look like a routine Lagos traffic jam. I woke up sweating and decided it was time to see the doctor.<br />
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I dreamt that Senator Ahmed Yerima was elected the President of Nigeria. He settled into Aso Rock and ... See moreintroduced a thirteen year old, Fatima, as his wife and First Lady of Nigeria. That instantly posed a problem for the media which did not know whether Nigeria had a First Child or First Lady. Opinion was divided, but Ray Ekpu of Newswatch stepped in and decided that the media should hold a national conference and take a common position on how to address the President’s teen wife so as not to embarrass the President. The Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka maintained that to be grammatically correct, we should not address a child as a lady and asserted with authority that a “lady” is a term used to address “mature women” not “children.” He argued that she should remain a “First Child until further notice.”<br />
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But the People’s Democratic Party maintained that the problem was not grammatical but political. To which famous lawyer, Chief Femi Falana pointed out that the “child” in question was not of voting age and as such should not impose a political burden on the country. He maintained that the nation should assume that the President had no legal wife or in the alternative ask him to produce another wife worthy of being addressed as a First Lady and who was of voting age.<br />
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We were still trying to solve the matter when we heard that some civil right groups had taken the matter to the court to annul the marriage and let the child go back to school. We told them to hold on that the child was still in school and will actually be a part time First Child or First Lady and part time student. The case was dropped. We would have rested the matter there but guess what? Along came Prof. Dora Akunyili (I mean Prof Dora Akunyili again!) and said she had it on good authority that Her Excellency was still bed-wetting. She said it would do great damage to her rebranding exercise and wondered “how you could rebrand a country when the First Lady was busy wetting beds abroad.”<br />
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The Federal Ministry of Health responded promptly that it had developed drugs which could take care of bed-wetting, but if the drugs were not okay, then the First Lady could use catheter in the night and not wet beds in presidential guest houses abroad. Everyone was relieved but guess what? The Central Bank came charging that such money would not be charged to any budgetary item and would amount to an extra-budgetary expenditure and fraud. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission agreed and said the National Assembly should approve a “Bed-wetting allowance” for the president, before any fund was drawn. They noted that if the man were to travel as much as President Olusegun Obasanjo did, then it would add to the national inflation and would be difficult to justify based on existing financial regulations.<br />
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Well the debate was still raging when we heard that President Barrack Obama was coming to Nigeria on a state visit and would be accompanied by his wife, Michele. Civil liberties organizations swung into action and tried to persuade the American Embassy to postpone the trip until the “First Lady” issue was resolved. But the Embassy said the visit was part of a tour of strategic African states and Nigeria was amongst the most important in Africa.<br />
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Obama actually came and was met on the tarmac by President Yerima with his wife, Fatima, in tow. Obama thought Her Execllency, Mrs Fatima Yeriama, was the garland girl and bent down to have her hang a garland on his neck. Her Excellency on the other hand thought differently in the innocence of her childlike heart, and thought he was bending down to admire her dress. She giggled and said, “Isn’t this a very wonderful dress? It is the same color with my undies.”<br />
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Michele laughed heartily and picked up Her Excellency in her hands, stroking her head. I nearly fainted! She turned to President Yerima and said, “This should be your beautiful daughter, where is her mother -your wife?” To which President Yerima looked at her stunned, not knowing what to say. The American ambassador to Nigeria stepped in and saved the situation, “Mrs. Obama, that is the President’s wife that you are carrying in your hands. You may wish to put her down beside her husband so that the reception will continue.”<br />
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The Nigerian First Lady who had been struggling to get out of Michele’s hands, looked up indignantly at the American First Lady, said, “I will not be your friend again. Only my husband carries me up and you dared to carry me up.”<br />
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President Obama stroked his tie thoughtfully and said, “Let us not have a diplomatic row over this, I forgot to tell Michele that in Africa you catch them young. It is entirely my fault. My apologies to the First Couple. And now Mr President can we proceed to other reception formalities?”<br />
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Soon the airport reception was over and the two First Ladies had to while away time while the Presidents discussed matters of state. Mrs Yerima insisted on showing Mrs Obama her toys and her grades in school. The other women stood idly by as one baby doll after the other was shown to Mrs Obama. “My husband bought this toy for me from China, she can even sing, let me play it for you.” Mrs Obama nodded.<br />
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Her Excellency Fatima hit the button and the doll began to sing, “God damn America the great Satan, down with the infidels and down with the west…” Mrs. Obama cringed but the child paid her no heed.<br />
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She bounded over to the television and turned it on. Then she moved the dial to Cartoon Network and turned to Mrs Obama, “Do you watch Tom and Jerry?” But by this time Mrs Obama had had enough, she fainted and had to be flown back to America.<br />
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I was filing the report to my editor when my wife woke me up and said it was time to take my anti-malaria drug. [Ha HA Ha Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa] <br />
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<strong>Hat Tip Tobi Sowole</strong>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-6883831850505252772010-06-28T23:05:00.000-07:002010-06-28T23:05:56.788-07:00NIGERIA @ 50: JOIN TO SAY NO TO JAMBOREE AND WASTEGreat /Nigerians and friends of Nigeria<br />
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The Federal Government of Nigeria has earmarked N10 billion for the 50th Independence day celebrations. As part of this profligate waste of funds there is currently a 2 day jamboree at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, in Park Lane, London, W1K 7TN. There has been no press release on the purpose of this conference, or why it is being held in one of the most expensive hotels in one of the most expensive cities, 6000km from our nation’s capital<br />
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We have already called and confirmed that this conference is taking place but they refuse to divulge further details<br />
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To the best of my knowledge there is no reason for 18 state governors, almost 12 ministers, dozens of ‘Special Assistants’ and officials to confer about 50 years of independence in London, whilst Nigerians suffer back home<br />
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Great Nigerians and friends of Nigeria please let us scupper this corrupt waste of Nigeria’s funds. Call Grosvenor House Hotel on <strong>0207 499 6363</strong>, query whether the conference is ongoing and request the number of their manager/ complaints department. State that you intend to register your protest in writing, try and get as many details as they will give out.<br />
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The objective is to overwhelm the hotel’s switch board with calls, although the hotel is a business obviously following the money we need to make the cost of doing business with corrupt, useless officials higher than any benefits. With the resultant loss of business and adverse publicity, hotels will think twice before accepting such conferences<br />
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People, this is an easy one to achieve, lets get out and make this happenSeyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-53895620849547406212010-06-24T18:08:00.000-07:002010-06-24T18:08:50.901-07:00An Urgent Need for Police Reform - By Dapo Kolawole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/N_igeria_Police_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/N_igeria_Police_logo.jpg" /></a></div><br />
ATTENTION:<br />
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THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE,<br />
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THE HONOURABLE MINISTER FOR POLICE AFFAIRS.<br />
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Dear Sirs,<br />
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As a concerned and tax paying citizen of Nigeria, I am constrained and compelled at this time to offer my opinion on how an efficient ,dynamic and 21st Century Police force should be structured and administered.<br />
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This would be itemized under the following points:<br />
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1. REMUNERATION AND REWARD SYSTEM FOR OFFICERS AND MEN OF POLICE FORCE<br />
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There is no doubt about this that a highly motivated force based on an enhanced remuneration and reward system would carry out their tasks of protecting the lives and properties the citizens of a country without compromising their conscience and values. The police officers salary should be commensurate with their counterparts in the private sector. This would go a long way to prevent corruption, enhance the psyche of the officers, and increase their morale by making sure they are economically empowered to compete in the same market where their fellow well paid citizens also access.<br />
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Also the reward system in terms of promotions and preferential postings should be overhauled and strictly based on performance. There must be a set of key performance indexes which may be measured on a quarterly or half year basis.<br />
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A good pay and reward system would attract good brains that have character. If am well paid on my job, I will not be looking for bribes or ways of circumventing the law.<br />
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2. COMMUNICATION & MOBILITY<br />
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For any Police force to be highly effective, they must be equipped with fast moving vehicles that are installed with a nationwide VHF (Very High Frequency) radio system for communication with colleagues and other security agencies, plus a constantly updated database of all registered License plates, and drivers’ license showing history of vehicle ownership. A highly visible police presence on its own can act as deterrence to criminals and all criminal tendencies.<br />
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We must ensure fast moving, efficient, durable and highly equipped vehicles must be acquired for the police in order to guarantee their performance. Also unmarked police vehicles should be used to patrol black spots like train and bus terminals, highways, dark areas, expressways prone robberies e.g.Lagos-Ibadan, Lagos-Benin-Ore, the Northern and eastern highways. As a matter of expediency, all police officers on duty should be equipped with walkie talkies (hand held radios).Provision of APCs’ (Armored Personnel carrier) and modern weapons to combat high scale crime is also needed.<br />
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For ease of maintenance of the vehicles purchased, arrangement should be made with the suppliers and manufactures of the vehicles to establish maintenance workshops in the different zones of the police commands. This would reduce cost of maintenance, eradicate corruption and prolong the life span of the vehicles. Drivers and users of the vehicles should be lectured on the proper usage of the vehicle.<br />
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3. INFRASTRUCTURE: HOUSING, UNIFORM&KITS, STATIONERY, FURNITURE<br />
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The police barracks and stations are no go areas in terms of hygiene, portable water supply and electricity supply. A concerted effort should be made to build house for officers in active service. Houses should also be allocated based on ranks and family size to avoid over population.<br />
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In the case of urgent need for deployment of officers to troubled spots, a centrally pooled workforce would be easier to deploy.<br />
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Adequate supply of uniforms and kits to all personnel in the force should be made on a regular basis. It’s disheartening to see your men in tattered and dirty uniforms. The current uniform been worn by some senior officers would not be ideal for your lower ranks who cannot maintain the black colored uniform. A set of 5 pairs of uniform, plus at least two pairs of boots, belts and berets would not be a bad idea.<br />
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Mr IG sir, it is disheartening to get to a police station in order to make a statement and the first thing you are told to do is to buy or pay for an exercise book or plain sheets in other to make a statement. There should be official police stationery printed with police emblem to make statements in order to enhance the ease of documentation and sanctity of police reports and statements. Also, it is an eyesore to see newly relocated officers hanging their clothes and sleeping in their offices.<br />
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4. DISCIPLINE AND TRAINING<br />
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A highly disciplined and well trained force is essential to delivering set targets and goals of providing security for lives and properties. Discipline must be instilled at all levels of the workforce.<br />
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Training and retraining of officers must be carried out on a regular basis with special focus on human rights, weapon handling, communication skills, new interrogation techniques (torture is outdated), exposure to new equipment and technology. Training in information technology should be made compulsory and the entry requirement should be raised in order to attract the best in the country.<br />
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Respect for human lives and for colleagues should be entrenched. The MOPOL officers are highly undisciplined even to their superior officers and they harass civilians at the slightest provocation.<br />
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Physical training should not end at the Police College, constant physical training should be included the weekly training and reorientation program for all personnel across board.<br />
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A complete overhaul of the SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad) unit especially in the South East should be done immediately as they have become so notorious, complacent and wicked in the handling of suspects. This method has not reduced the rate of crimes of all forms in the south east. Collusion and compromise with criminals is highly suspected. All officers who have overstayed their respective postings should be redeployed as they would have been over familiar with the indigenes and their environment which is not good for efficient service delivery.<br />
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You also need to embark on massive recruitment of police officers as the present ratio of police to civil population is grossly inadequate. Resuscitation of your dead finger print units is also essential.<br />
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Lastly, do not ask me where you will get the money to implement this reform as you can easily start with 10 billion naira budgeted for the proposed 50 years celebration of baby Nigeria in October 2010.Otherwise please liaise with Senator David Mark and Honorable Dimeji Bankole to amend the constitution so that the Nigeria Police should be placed on a first line charge like the National Assembly, Judiciary e.t.c. or a cut in the excesses available at all levels of governance will suffice. A public and private sector partnership as seen in the Lagos State model of provision of adequate security will help you too.<br />
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I'm available for further clarification and free consultation via email on: <a href="mailto:kogdapus@yahoo.com">kogdapus@yahoo.com</a><br />
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Oladapo Kolawole a Public Opinion analyst wrote from Lagos Nigeria.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-57362630274151327382010-06-07T02:37:00.000-07:002010-06-07T02:38:56.964-07:00..........Still On Power Rotation and PDPThe leaders of the People’s Democratic Party seems to have reached a consensus that the zoning/power rotation agreement should be dumped. As expected, political jingoists have all jumped on the bandwagon. Anti-power rotation now seems to be flavour of the month in the PDP. Those who told us seven months ago that there’s no vacancy in Aso Rock, have suddenly become the arrowheads of the anti-rotation campaign. <br />
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Even members of the cabal who held sway during Yar’Adua’s administration, engaging in all manners of public deception and manipulation in order to hold on to power have also now become Apostles of anti-zoning. <br />
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It’s common knowledge that Nigerian masses have been so impoverished to the point that they now care less about the ethnic origin of their leaders. The underdevelopment has reached a point that, if the Constitution permits a foreigner to be President, and the masses can be guaranteed good quality of life, they will be more than happy to have him/her as President. The man on the street just wants to see food on the table. All he wants is decent healthcare, employment, good quality education and infrastructure.<br />
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And it’s for these obvious reasons that anti-zoning has become a ‘populist’ idea. Unlike in the past, the political elites have realised that ethnic sentiments seems not to wash with the citizenry. The benefactors of the so-called power rotation even find it difficult to convince that man on the street, because it has offered him no value whatsoever. So the only option available is for them to join the bandwagon and spread the anti-rotation propaganda. They know fully well that , it’s what the public wants to hear. <br />
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But in all of this, we need to ask ourselves if all these Apostles and Evangelist of anti-rotation are really acting in the public interest. They may be telling us what we want to hear, but does that mean they have our interest at heart? <br />
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Supporters of anti-rotation in the PDP fall broadly into two categories. There are those who want to use Goodluck Jonathan to rule the nation by proxy. They failed with Umaru Yar’Adua, because he wasn’t a stooge they expected him to be. A Goodluck Jonathan presidency therefore presents another opportunity for them to form their own ‘cabal’. These are ‘politically expired’ individuals who see Goodluck Jonathan presidency as the only way to become politically relevant once again. For them, it’s a ‘third term’ by proxy, as they can continue to rule the nation from Otta farm.<br />
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The second group are those who have been subconsciously coerced into anti-rotation bandwagon. Left to them alone, they would rather keep rotating power. Members of this group have had their hands soiled in all manners of corrupt activities. They know their case files are still within reach of anti-corruption agencies. And with the return of the likes of Nuhu Ribadu, it’s in their own interest that they ‘fall in line’. Any show of dissent means their files will be dusted up very quickly. A case in point is the ongoing prosecution of the former PDP Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor. <br />
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And it’s only for this reason that the likes of Senator Jubril Aminu, who is currently facing investigation on his alleged role in the Siemens bribery scandal, can support anti-rotation. It is also the reason why ‘criminals’ like, former Attorney-General of the Federation, can say ‘zoning’ is unconstitutional.<br />
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Some may argue that power rotation is a PDP policy, so why waste precious time discussing an issue that has no place in our constitution. The truth is, we cannot afford to be oblivious to the fact that PDP remains the only dominant party in Nigeria’s polity. Like it or loathe it, it remains the only political party with a structure to win a presidential election. And whilst we may not all be card carrying members of PDP, any decision made by the party will inevitably have a huge impact on the nation’s political landscape.<br />
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It’s now very obvious that Apostles of anti-rotation in the PDP are not doing the masses any favour. They are doing do so only to pave way for a Goodluck Jonathan presidency. They see a Goodluck Jonathan presidency as an opportunity to perpetuate themselves in power and exert their political influence. <br />
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I have no issues with PDP’s plan to dump its rotation policy. However, any attempt to jettison the rotation policy must be done properly. As I noted in my last post, the rotation policy is more than a gentleman’s agreement as it is enshrined in the PDP constitution. It’s only when the PDP expunge Section 7(2)C from the party constitution that we will know that it is really serious about dumping power rotation. Until then, any attempt to disregard the policy in order to pave way for a supposed ‘anointed’ candidate come 2011, will only sweep the issue under the carpet. <br />
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And unless the nation graduates from its current one-party political system to a level where we have formidable opposition parties, the issue of power rotation will remain with us for a long time. The attempt to sweep the matter under the carpet will only complicate things further in the future.<br />
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If the status quo remains, Goodluck Jonathan will more than likely succeed in remaining in power beyond 2011. And unless the opposition gets its acts together, there’s the high likelihood he will rule for two terms until 2019 (except he does a Yar’Adua). But with Section 7(2)C still enshrined in the party constitution, the question is, what will happen after 2019?Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-59976098530669853392010-05-28T02:09:00.000-07:002010-05-28T07:16:51.525-07:00On PDP, Power Rotation and Federal CharacterPower rotation or call it ‘zoning’ has become a very topical issue in Nigeria’s polity. The view held by some political elites is it that, ‘rotation’ is the only way to maintain political balance in a nation like Nigeria that is divided along religious and ethnic lines. <br />
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This same view was shared by the US Under-secretary of State, Johnnie Carson, when he said recently that “<em>the United States supported the rotation principle as a guarantor of stability in Nigeria, a country of 140 million split between the Muslim north and predominantly Christian south</em>”. <br />
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains the only party in Nigeria whose party constitution supports power rotation/zoning. Section 7(2)C of the PDP constitution states: <br />
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<blockquote>“In pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels”. </blockquote><br />
This confirms that the PDP power rotation policy is more than just a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ as we’ve been made to believe by “AGIP” (Any Government In Power) political sycophants.<br />
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But in spite of the PDP constitutional provisions, many within the party believe that the power rotation policy has outlived its usefulness, and that it should be jettisoned altogether. Considering that these calls are coming at a time when a non-Northerner is occupying the seat of power sounds quite suspicious. In the current prevailing circumstances, the sincerity of the anti-rotation supporters within PDP will always remain questionable. I will say that the jury is still out on whether such calls are been made in the public interest or just serve the personal benefit of President Goodluck Jonathan, to remain in power beyond 2011. <br />
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It beggars belief that same political jobbers and sycophants calling for the abolition of rotation policy, after they themselves have been a major beneficiary, are same people scouting for the next Party Chairman from a particular region of the country. So why haven’t they declared that anyone can run for the post of PDP Chairmanship instead of ‘zoning’ it to the Southeast. If zoning is bad for the presidency, then why is it good for political party offices? <br />
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The hypocrisy in the PDP was further exposed by the recent announcement that Ogun state 2011 Governorship slot has been zoned to Yewa/Awori. This decision according to the party officials is in the spirit of “equity, justice and fairness”. So on one hand, we have some National Party leaders saying the power rotation should be dumped to pave way for Goodluck Jonathan, but on the other hand, we have a state chapter of the party announcing that it has zoned its Governorship slot to a particular ethnic tribe. Again, this begs the question, if zoning is not good enough for the Presidential slot, why must it be forced down the throat of state party supporters? <br />
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For how long will these Papas Deceiving Pickin continue? A Yoruba proverb says “<em>eniyan meji ko ni padanu iro</em>”. Which literally means, “<em>two people cannot fall victims of lie or deceit</em>”. Whilst the ‘deceived’ could be genuinely’ ignorant, the ‘deceiver’ definitely knows what he/she is doing.<br />
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Social and political commentators argue daily that power rotation is unconstitutional, and should not be taken seriously as it only binds members of the PDP. But that statement is not entirely true. Whilst the constitution may not be explicit on power rotation, it clearly supports the principle of federal character. Section 14(3) of 1999 constitution states <br />
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<blockquote>“The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies”. </blockquote><br />
For me, there’s no fundamental difference between Section 7(2)C of the PDP Constitution and Section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution. Whether you call it power rotation, zoning, federal character principle, are all aimed at the same purpose. The single purpose, as we are made to believe, is to prevent the predominance of a particular ethnic group or tribe in political office. <br />
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Whether such a provision/clause is good or bad is a different argument altogether. In my opinion, Section 14(3) is one of the fundamental errors of 1999 constitution. Any legislation or policy that aims to restrict political office to a tribe, religion or sex only breeds mediocrity. There’s enough evidence to show that rotation, zoning, federal character principle or whatever name you call it, has contributed immensely to the paucity of development in the country. No region in Nigeria has benefitted from zoning or federal character principle. For example, Ex-Pres. Obasanjo ruled the nation for almost 10 years both as civilian and military Head of State. But I don’t think Abeokuta is any better developed than Benin. <br />
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Yes we hue and cry about how bad power rotation is. We say it’s PDP policy and no one else. We say people should be free to seek elective office irrespective of tribe or religion. But the reality is, the political landscape and machineries of government are guided by medieval and retrogressive constitutional provisions, which in fact transcends individual party policies. <br />
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It is such medieval constitutional provision that has given political parties like the PDP, the audacity to adopt a rotational policy. And until we expunge such provisions from our constitution, changes in presidential power base would only mean very little in reality.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-7693455786023972902010-05-28T02:03:00.000-07:002010-05-28T02:03:18.071-07:00PRESS RELEASEPRESS RELEASE: Nigerians at home and Diaspora set to Transform Nigeria<br />
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Nigerians at home and abroad have come together to create an organisation that is aimed at creating awareness and motivating the people to participate in promoting and ensuring good governance in our country, Nigeria.<br />
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They have formed an organisation called the Transform Nigeria Movement<br />
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In order to achieve this noble objective, Transform Nigeria will set out to enlighten Nigerians with the sole aim to empower the people to think positively about developing a new type of leadership and followership for Nigeria, thereby creating the leaders of tomorrow and introducing new ways of thinking for Nigerians.<br />
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Already the group has more than 2,500 members on facebook, a core leadership of 100 men and women based all over the world including the United States of America, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Italy, Ecuador, and Italy among other countries with a further network of about 12,000 Nigerians connected online around the globe.<br />
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STATEMENT: <br />
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"Starting now, let's take up in our own lives the work of perfecting our union, let's build a government that is responsible to the people and accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable" --- Barack Obama<br />
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Transform Nigeria envisions a Nigerian society where there is a positive change in the consciousness, orientation, and world view of all Nigerians. <br />
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We believe that a well informed populace will be motivated to positive action. Nigerians have been dormant for a long time; it is our responsibility to awaken them from slumber by informing, educating and enlightening the youths on what truly goes on in Nigeria.<br />
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Our goal is to entrench good governance, hold our leaders accountable and rid Nigeria of corruption by getting Nigerians to engage in governance, expose and/or report corrupt practices wherever noticed.<br />
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Our Objectives<br />
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The drive to transform Nigeria will start in the grassroots across all states of the country and in all Nigerian Diaspora communities abroad. The model of operation of Transform Nigeria Movement will be a combination of a village style town square meeting and a modern day "Tea Party" meeting to;<br />
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create a quiet and peaceful but effective revolution that will involve all Nigerians of goodwill - to create the biggest online Movement in Nigeria where Nigerians, especially the youths will come together in one forum to chart the way forward for our country;<br />
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create a dynamic Movement using 21st century Solution "the internet, emails, text messaging and hand bills - to tackle our age-long problems;<br />
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create software to automatically send news to the emails and phone numbers of registered members;<br />
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create Transform Nigeria Groups in the 36 states of the Federation including the FCT, Local Government Areas, Wards and Villages and in all the Universities, Schools and Colleges;<br />
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generate publicity in Radio, TV, Newspapers and hand bills to be distributed regularly in Schools and Universities, L.G.A, wards and villages;<br />
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Plan activities that will allow all members from all regions and groups around the country to get to know one another and with time travel around the world to observe and learn from other democracies.<br />
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Conclusion<br />
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Our Manifesto and constitution will be available to every member and prospective members to enlighten them on the aims and objectives of the organization. Every member will be expected to live up to the high standards expected of the future leaders of the country.<br />
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This is socio-political, non-partisan, unbiased, neutral organisation. It is not a political party, neither are we affiliated to any political party. Every Nigerian is welcome. <br />
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We are calling on every Nigerian; teachers, youths, students, workers, traders and artisans. Indeed every Nigeria with an email address – let us mobilise for the betterment of our country and to reshape our country's polity. Together we will create the Nigeria of our dreams.<br />
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This is a very long journey, but today we take the step towards changing the course of the ship of the Nigerian State.<br />
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Three places where you can join the Transform Nigeria Movement<br />
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1. www.yourgovt.com <br />
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2. Facebook<br />
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3. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Transform-Nigeria/<br />
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Signed:<br />
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br />
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1.Nicholas Agbo - Oakland California; 2. Dr. Anthony Afolo - New Jersey;<br />
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3.Ezinne Anyanwu - Texas , United States; 4.Emmanuel Ohai - Atlanta <br />
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5.Modupe Odunsanya - Illinois , United States; 6.Paul Adujie – New York<br />
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7.Noyo Edem– New Jersey; 8.chijioke akunyili - Los Angeles<br />
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8. Acho Orabuchi - Texas<br />
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UNITED KINGDOM<br />
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1.Ikhide Odion - Aberdeen; 2.Adeniyi Adeleke – London<br />
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3.Ifeoluwa Adebayo – Reading; 4.Gbenga Shadare – Nottingham; <br />
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5. Chinedu V. Akuta – Leicester; 6.Tochi Godwin Ekwuogo - Swansea<br />
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7.Chukwunonso Ngwu – Coventry; 8. Jasper Ojiakor - London<br />
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NIGERIA<br />
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1.Nnenna Iwuanyanwu – Lagos; 2.Acho Orabuchi; <br />
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3.Nathan Jonah- Kaduna; 4. Akin Lawanson - Ile Ife<br />
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5. Emeka Nwachukwu - Lagos; 6.Oluwatobi D. Adelaja - Lagos<br />
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7.Favour Afolabi – Lagos; 8.Abba Anthony - Kaduna<br />
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9.Phillip Nwaochei - Asaba; 10.Akeju A. Aike – Warri<br />
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11.Akeju Akintomiwa Aike – Warri; 12. Kalu Awa – Port Harcourt<br />
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13.Akeju Akintomiwa Aike – Warri; 14.Peter C. Njoku – Enugu<br />
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15.Okwenna I. Hons - Kano; 16. Sandra Yakusak – ABU, Zaria<br />
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17.John Luka – Kaduna; 18. Julius Dariya – Kafanchan<br />
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19.Stephen H. Hassan; 20. Ayuba U. Kalba - Abuja<br />
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21.Ronke Doherty - Abuja; 22. Kayode Ajulo - Abuja<br />
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23.Lawal Ishaq; 24.Stephen Hassan<br />
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24. Kingsley Oye<br />
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EUROPE<br />
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1.Afolabi Shola – Helsinki, Finland; 2.Isaac S. Oyebola - Treviglio, Italy<br />
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3.Ambrose Obimma - Frederiksberg, Denmark; 4.Demilo Grant - Halmstad , Sweden; <br />
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5.Rufus Oteniya – Milan , Italy; 6.Cyril Oriafoh<br />
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OTHERS<br />
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1.Akinyemi Adeseye - Cuenca, Ecuador<br />
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2.Razi anka – China; <br />
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4.Adigun Mathew - Empangeni, South Africa<br />
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5.Nnamdi Ousamane– Burkina Faso<br />
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<a href="http://www.yourgovt.com/">Your Government</a>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-41403602078817319352010-05-26T02:33:00.000-07:002010-05-26T02:35:19.347-07:00Central Bank of Nigeria Bribery Scandal - DocumentaryClick on the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20100524/money/">link</a> to watch the new documentary titled 'Dirty Money'. The documentary is on allegations of corruption against the Central Bank of Nigeria, under the former leadership of Prof. Charles Soludo, and Australian company Securency International Pty Ltd. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.africansuccess.org/docs/image/Soludo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="320" src="http://www.africansuccess.org/docs/image/Soludo.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br />
It is alleged that the Australian-owned company, Securency, paid CBN officials millions of dollars in bribe for the Polymer naira note contract. The allegations of bribery is currently under investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP).<br />
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The documentary also includes interview with current CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi and former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu. The case bears the hallmark of the Halliburton and Siemens bribery scandal.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-52854811878352011582010-05-18T02:03:00.000-07:002010-05-18T02:03:34.480-07:00Hajia Turai Yar'Adua, Where Is Our N10bn?It was in July 2009 that the former First Lady used her position to coerce prominent personalities to raise fund for the implementation of her proposed Cancer Centre in Abuja. As expected, the event recorded high turn out of private businessmen and public officers. According to media reports, a total of N10bn was realised at the event. The money raised include donations from state governors private businessmen. I recall that Gov. Babangida Aliyu made a staggering donation of N720million on behalf of the Governors forum. Messrs Aliko Dangote and Aminu Dantata also donated N1bn and N1.2bn respectively.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://africansuntimes.com/UserFiles/pix2008021111452765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://africansuntimes.com/UserFiles/pix2008021111452765.jpg" width="170" wt="true" /></a>Fast forward to 2010. Umaru Yar’Adua is dead. Turai is back in her village in Katsina. Also, all seem to have gone quiet on the N10bn donation and proposed Cancer Centre. Up until now, there’s no single evidence to show the project has either commenced or was abandoned. No single block has been laid for the commencement of the project. </div><br />
There’s also no evidence to suggest that the donors are yet to redeem their pledges. Even if some of the monies are yet to be received, I don’t think it’s too much to ask how much is in the coffers of the proposed Cancer Centre. The last time I checked, the only visible impact of the N10bn was the development of a project website (<a href="http://iccanigeria.org/index.htm">http://iccanigeria.org/index.htm</a>). In fact the website has not been updated since June 2009. <br />
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The need for investment in the Nigerian health sector cannot be over emphasised. Without exaggeration, N10bn is a drop in the ocean, in terms of how much investment is required to turn the ailing health sector around. Millions of Nigerians die daily due to common illnesses. With specific regards to Cancer treatment, it is public knowledge that there are only four active radiotherapy centres in Nigeria, giving a ratio of one machine to about 30 million people, as against the recommended one per quarter million by the World Health Organisation. <br />
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The available spectrum of anti-cancer drugs is also very limited and such drugs are not readily available. Imaging facilities for staging patients with cancer, such as computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are difficult to come by, and when available the cost of such studies puts them out of reach of the average citizen.<br />
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It is therefore imperative that any proposal to improve and modernise the health sector are made through proper channels. For any public officer or their associates to seek donations (in form of charity) for a project that is bereft of any governance structure, smacks of criminality and it is tantamount to blatant abuse of office. <br />
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The proposal to build a Cancer centre in Abuja raises serious questions that are begging for answers. For instance, under whose ownership will the Cancer Centre be? Is it the Yar’Adua household or the Health Ministry? Who will manage the operation of the hospital? As a charity organisation, where is the ‘Board of Trustee’? And who are the members, if there’s one? <br />
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Having looked through the website of this sham Cancer Project, all I can see is a list of members of the Planning Committee, which is made up of former Federal Ministers. But now that these Ministers have been sacked, who is now responsible for planning the cancer centre? Has a new planning committee been constituted? Who are the members and how often do they meet?<br />
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Truth be told, N10bn is a lot of money in any currency. The coercion of public officers and private individuals by the first Lady for donations towards a supposed charity project itself is the height of corruption. And for her to have collected such monies without any commensurate development to show for it after almost 18 months beggars belief!<br />
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Unfortunately, ‘corruption’ has a different meaning in Nigerian context. When you talk of corruption, some folks believe it’s only when you blatantly deep your hands into the public treasury.. But I’m still searching for a jurisdiction outside Nigeria, where a first lady will collect money from donors, under the guise of charity, but refuse to undertake such a project. The question of whether it’s government money or not, is totally irrelevant. It’s any different from the Red Cross asking for donations on behalf of Haiti earthquake victims but siphoning such funds into private pockets.<br />
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If Hajia Turai was really serious about improving the health sector, why didn’t she raise funds to develop and improve the cancer units in existing government hospitals? It is my understanding that almost all government hospitals in Nigeria have a cancer unit. So what’s the point of starting afresh in Abuja. And if she wants to be tribalistic, why not develop the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital and make it ‘world-class’?<br />
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But of course she wouldn’t do that. These thieving first ladies, who usurp powers not granted to them by the constitution are just rogues. They use their position to enrich their pockets, under the guise of sham charity projects. Rather than build institutions, they take advantage of their position, as wife of head of state to build up their ‘pension’<br />
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We are now used to Nbillions donated to various pet projects at federal and state level without any commensurate result. The lifespan of such projects are only as long as the tenure of their promoters. Before, it was Maryam Babangida’s Better Life for Rural Dwellers, then came Mariam Abacha Family Support Programme, and Stella Obasanjo’s Child Care Trust. Despite the amount of donations showered on all these projects, I’m yet to see any infrastructure that has survived beyond the tenure of these women. But this trend must stop!<br />
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As for Hajia Turai, I implore her to either refund the donations she has collected or commence the Cancer Centre project without delay. And if not, I make bold to say, the blood of millions of Nigerians who have died as a result of cancer-related illness will FOREVER be on her head.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-87420581524288073412010-05-14T02:54:00.000-07:002010-05-14T02:54:14.668-07:00Serious thoughts on the Nigerian Union – By Jesse Adeniji.IBB, recently taunted the much maligned Nigerian youth about his/her inability to grasp the complexities and intricacies of governance. I do believe in order to prove the gap-tooth, self confessed wrong, we, as the youth of Nigeria, need to demonstrate intelligence and keenness of mind in dissecting, analysing and presenting workable options our dear country can explore in the journey to true independence and respect in the comity of nations. <br />
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I have two major overarching drives in sitting down to put this little thought of mine together: <br />
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(a) To prove to IBB that contrary to his warped sense of judgement, the Nigerian youth is one heck of a miracle. Denied opportunities in his/her own home turf, by unauthorised, dubious and autocratic rulers like IBB, we have found ways to thrive in the nooks and crannies of the world including Nigeria. <br />
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(b) To kick-start a revolution in the intellectual sphere of the Nigerian youth. We are actively involved in activism. That’s not enough, we need to propose alternative viewpoints to the existing lies being used to put our nation in bondage by those forces of neo-colonialism, among which IBB is king. <br />
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I reckon if we all bring our grey matters to bear on postulating real, credible solutions to the Nigerian debacle, we could somehow come to a convergence from our different perch-points and rise up to make Nigeria better. It is my belief that the revolution that will work will start first as an intellectual revolution. When it grows and prospers on the streets, no form of corruption or bribery would stop its all conquering impact. <br />
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Background. <br />
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Many scholars and critics have eloquently written about the Why’s of the debacle we face as a nation. Few have ever dug really deep to open our eyes to how things could be. <br />
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As a nation, we have practised 2 distinct forms of government. We started with the Parliamentary system. Some school of thought maybe we weren’t getting the right deal from that and nudged us in favour of the American presidential system. <br />
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After over 48 years of experiment, it’s mighty clear to us that the problem isn’t with the systems – there have been proven continuous success stories of both systems of government by Britain and America and a few other countries – it’s with us as a people. <br />
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It’s obvious to us then that something is either wrong with us as a people, or the basis for our union is mighty faulty. It’s my belief that we’re no less endowed as humans from others and that the problem lies in the union – both the form and the structure. <br />
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Excuses & Lies <br />
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We have advanced a lot of silly excuses as to why where still languishing in the comity of backward nations of the earth. <br />
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The foremost lie we hear is : ‘ Rome wasn’t built in a day’. I quite agree that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Fact. What is also more factual is, Dubai took a fraction of the time it took Rome to be built! And with better infrastructure and precision engineering. <br />
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In today’s world, once you develop a blueprint, anyone can copy it and therefore, you do not need to spend as much time as it took for the prototype to be developed. The atomic particle was first identified by Athenian scientists in the ancient world. It took several scientists and an awful lot of resources and 2nd World War urgency to develop the H-bomb after Einstein split the atom. <br />
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Nowadays, it takes a couple of months for a nation that has the know-how {blueprint} and materials necessary. No right thinking nation asks her scientists to take as much time as it took the pioneers to develop one for them. <br />
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The second excuse is: ‘Oh, Nigeria is much too diverse to have one voice!’. True. We’re diverse just as other nations! America was wrested from the Red Indians by a combination of disillusioned and disenfranchised Europeans of diverse background – Germans, English, Irish, Scots, Netherlanders, Belgians e.t.c <br />
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Indonesia has almost the same number of ethnic group as Nigeria, with deep religious fault lines running through, yet, they are a thriving nation. <br />
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China is the same. It’s got all sorts of tribes and races and yet has become the manufacturing capital of the world with a strong voice in International politics. There are many other countries to mention if not all the countries of the world! Our situation is not unique and therefore isn’t an excuse for flunking our nation building classes. <br />
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The third most prevalent lie is: ‘The British are responsible for our debacle! They joined us together by force.’ Hahahahaha Nigerians! Tell me of a country that hasn’t been nipped and tucked and shifted around like chess pieces by ruling powers from time immemorial? <br />
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The Romans have been known to relocate entire tribes and nations to preserve their power. The Mongols did same. The Babylonians, The Ottomans, Napoleonic France, The British, USSR and other European powers. Belgium was under slavery for so many years and has so many tribes smashed together – French, Germans, Flemish + other tribes – yet they have thrived and found a way to be relevant. <br />
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A nation that blames her failure on the past isn’t fit for the future. <br />
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Structure of Nigeria. <br />
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The founding fathers, in retrospect, understood Nigeria better than the likes of IBB and his ilks. In attaining independence from the British, they recognized that we aren’t ‘one’ people. They knew we are aeons away from the ‘one Nigeria’ mantra that has brought us the civil war and become a rallying cry for dictators like IBB and Obasanjo. <br />
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As such, they opted for a system that allowed each region to develop at its own pace. At least the Northern region was formed by some political consensus even if later, the Middle Belt felt it needed her own identity. <br />
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When we opted for the American Presidential style, the spirit was to maintain some form of autonomy for the constituent units. <br />
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It was that spirit of healthy competition, engendered by the pre-independence political arrangement that helped us develop ahead of the likes of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and a few other now very prosperous nations of the world. <br />
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The North set its priority as trade. The West was education and commerce. The East was into trade, education and manufacturing. The Northern government paid wages commensurate to the standard of living in the North at £2 a month to the civil servants. The East paid £3 and the West paid £4. It’s the same kind of reward structure obtainable in America. Earning $200,000 in New York might not be as profitable as $140,000 in Wyoming. In UK, it’s called London Weighting. <br />
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The West started the University College Ibadan and later OAU, the East had UNN and the North ABU. There was healthy competition. <br />
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Even politically, the Mid-West saw themselves as neither West nor East and were able to negotiate their existence. <br />
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Enter the Military goons! <br />
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The military opportunists made a mess of a minor situation where the North was dangerously meddling in the affairs of the West, something not unexpected in a nascent union. <br />
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From that time, they became infested with the power syndrome. The detail is well documented, so i move to the consequences. <br />
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Apart from stymieing the political learning process, they imported a deadly poison into the system that has dogged our existence as a country today. <br />
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THEY BROUGHT THE IDEA AND PRACTICE OF A FEDERAL STATE DEVOID OF IT’S PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES. <br />
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Because they didn’t have the brain and wherewithal to manage the Nigerian national economy, and the emergence of the oil commodity, they centralized the purse and linked all states to the apron strings of the government at the centre – whatever shape or size in which it came or appeared. <br />
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Federalism is not one unless it’s FISCAL in nature! The success of the regions at independence was absolutely founded on the ability of those regions to retain 60% of their own income and use it to pursue developmental needs relevant to their region. <br />
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It’s the access to income that makes a man! Not the clothes he puts on. Everyone knows that romance without finance is a nuisance. So they killed off the regional economies and made them dependent on handouts from the ‘goon’ in Ribadu Road and later Aso Rock! <br />
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As such, it’s the same power monger, or more succinctly, power Mongrel that determines what is spent in 31 states of the Federation and in about 770 local councils spread across the length and breadth of our dear nation. <br />
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My friends, that is, in effect is a UNITARY government! At least politically the ruling party is always a winner takes it all and all the national resources is therefore concentrated in their hands. <br />
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We’ve been living a lie. And we’ve ended with these fallouts; <br />
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(a) Too much power and resources was concentrated at the centre. Therefore, as a natural consequence, ‘capturing’ power at the centre is a DO or DIE affair. <br />
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(b) The power of the constituent units to compete healthily through innovation and invention was crippled. It’s far more expedient to sit on your arse as a governor and collect the handout called oil revenue sharing and loot than actively looking for ways to promote the economic empowerment of the people. <br />
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(c) Since they also took away the rights of the States to make the local councils under them accountable, and aligned it to the federal government, we’ve made accountability to the Nigerian voter doubly impossible. And yet about a quarter of Nigeria’s income is frittered away through that route. And the local councils have become a crucial ground not only for looting the country blind, but also for gaining power into Aso rock for any political party. Since the whole structure of government in Nigeria is one huge looting machine, people have surrendered their will to siding with a party that has ‘ captured’ the councils and that pattern is replicated on the other levels. {Reason why PDP is boasting of spending then next 50 years. They know whoever has enough loot in hand to bribe at that level will take hold of power}. <br />
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(d) Our skills at governing has been reduced to that of passing handout down the line, so we give little thought to research and development and pay more attention to politicking right across all fields of endeavour. Positions therefore exist merely as a ladder from which your knife might get a cut from the national cake. <br />
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(e) It ensures that the minority tribes in Nigeria remain that way. Neatly tucked away from the centre of things, unless you get feisty and acquire some Al-Qaida training and begin some Mujahedeen war against the government like the Niger Deltans are doing. And God save you if you’re not protected by a mix of heavy war equipment, African voodoo and labyrinth creeks to find refuge in. Ask those guys from Benue and Borno. <br />
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(f) Let’s face it, when there’s too much money at the disposal of the man at the centre, it’d take a miracle to keep his hand from it. Even if all we give the man at the centre to run Naija is just 40% of derivation from each constituent unit, it’s still a lot of money! Too much. <br />
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So what do i think we need to do? <br />
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My belief. <br />
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I do believe that Nigeria can work. I also believe that our togetherness has already made us the biggest market in Africa; we have more potential for growth and prosperity. <br />
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But that unity HAS to be negotiated. It must come from the heart based on a set of agreements and rules enforceable by any party in a fair and honest way. <br />
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It’s a shame that adults have refused to talk to themselves 50 years after their oppressor left. Yet they want to drag each other along. <br />
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That’s exactly what our refusal to come to a conference table means. It means our friendship is based on coercion and deceit. If i have issues with my wife, we both sit down as adults and listen to one another, then we iron out our differences and agree some basic ground rules to help us navigate the future. It doesn’t mean we won’t have issues in the future, but if we refuse to hold a ‘ clear the air’ meeting and follow it up with ‘heartfelt tête-à-tête’, how on earth can we hope that there would be peace in the home? <br />
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I do believe that a National Conference or whatever name you want to call it, when held, will actually bring us together rather than alienate us. We will be stronger because we will have ironed out differences and given each other assurances and know where to proceed from and where we’re headed. <br />
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Case for Fiscal Federalism. <br />
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To my mind, a true fiscal federalism is still the best way to go. One, each region will have the chance to determine its own fate within a strong structure. <br />
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Two, each region will truly complement each other in the true sense of it as we’d be forced to engaged in an economic give and take. Imagine if Bayelsa keeps 60% of it’s resources, she will need to hire the best doctors from all over Nigeria, it will need the best teachers who might not be Bayelsans and also might have the best maritime industry that would employ professionals and artisans from all over Nigeria. In reverse, the less endowed states can start to look at people as its natural resources and establish the best training institutes to provide the best people to the super-endowed states. <br />
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How to start. <br />
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Based on my preference for a fiscal federalism, we do not necessarily have to start the derivation at 60%. We will of course need to be strategically progressive in achieving that aim. If we set a 10 year moratorium for all the 31 constituent units to revert to keeping 60% of all income generated, we’d give each state the opportunity to prepare for a different life. <br />
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In these 10 years each state will have to find where it can apply the law of comparative advantage. I refuse to accept that there are states not endowed in Nigeria! I refused it vehemently. One, if you have humans, you have wealth! Geological wealth {wealth from minerals hidden in the ground} have performed well below the potential of Anthropoid wealth { wealth from inventions and services}. The combined returns Google, Apple, Microsoft and Logitech is far more abundant than what oil has given Nigeria in all of it’s national life. <br />
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Two, the mineral mapping done by America through the satellite technology, places Nigeria as the second most wealthy after Democratic Republic of Congo {former Zaire} in Africa. I completed my NYSC program in Gombe State in 1998-1999. I was astonished to find out that the state has Uranium in commercial quantities! Nothing has been done about it because they’re content getting easy money from the centre! <br />
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Also, Gombe state happens to have the highest number of cattle per head in the whole of Nigeria. I didn’t see any corned beef manufacturing company there! In Biu, you have a plateau that produces the best tomatoes in the world the Italians would be proud of. There’s no tin-tomato making concern there. <br />
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You could replicate that in every state of the nation. Palm Oil has been called the new crude. It’s about the healthiest emulsifier allowed in European food manufacturing. It goes into everything from your soap to your wafers, chocolates, e.t.c What stops a state like Borno from acquiring land in Cross River in conjunction with a company with technical expertise from anywhere to develop such products using local labour while the profits go to the people of their own state? <br />
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In negotiating our unity, experts could be brought in to analyse of ascertain the amount of natural resources, human resources, climatic resources and the potential of each state. Any state found to be intrinsically weak will be supported by special funds from the money that goes to the centre by enforceable agreement for up to a period of time necessary for such state to stand on its own feet. <br />
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Benefits of freeing up the country by agreement <br />
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• The first benefit is an intrinsically humanistic one. We will be recognizing the ability of each constituent unit to devise a survival mechanism that leads to prosperity. After all, before Lugard showed up all the Nigerian regions have produced enduring dynasties and systems of survival! <br />
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• We will be encouraging recognition for the right to triumph through the dint of hard work and enterprise. The best will be able to prop up the weak just like the Bill Gates of this world founded companies that made other Americans and nationals millionaires! We are covering up the destinies of so many talented Nigerians up with the current pursuit of ‘chop-i-chop’ ideals. <br />
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• We will free Nigeria from the shackles of decadent and despotic leadership. If you realize that the centre involves too much work required of true patriots, and less opportunity for self aggrandizement, less charlatans will sign up for Nigeria2011 or whatever year. Only people with will and vision will put themselves forward. <br />
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• We will be able to conquer our fear to do the right thing! Those who’ve hidden behind religious and ethnic banners to loot us blind will be exposed. How? Because each component unit will now be the focus of real political attention, it’d be easy for those component units to enforce their own laws as there will be openness as we know ourselves very well and there’s no covering from the Abuja godfather as we’ve witnessed in Anambra and Oyo. For instance in Ogun state, I’d be able to challenge a sitting governor better because he knows that when runs foul of the law, we know where to get him! You cannot use assassins freely because the monopoly of the law will not be absolute. <br />
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• The stranglehold of the neo-colonial forces in Nigeria would be broken. As the constituent units assert their powers and wield it, corruption will be reduced and prosperity freed up. As of now, a sitting governor cannot initiate a rail development scheme without first getting permission from the president through moribund and useless National Railway Commission. A situation that arrogates extensive power to a mere civil servant to rubbish the dreams of the people of a particular state and gives controlling powers to the president in undermining a governor. <br />
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• Same thing as above is obtainable with the security apparatus. The constitution gives the power to protect lives and property, and promise of prosperity to the governor of a state. Yet that governor has to rely on the assurance of the Inspector General of Police who’s politically appointed by the President to fulfil a constitutional demand. How does that work? The result is what transpired in Jos when the governor could only run to the military authorities who did nothing. Thousands of people were murdered and it’s not swept under the carpet. Business has continued as usual. We need to follow the spirit of the letter that we agree to! We need to have state police! America has it and the heavens haven’t fallen. The British have it. How can we refuse to do the needful on the basis of our fears? <br />
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• We’d be able to make it impossible for business oligarchs to buy Nigeria off. Glo is the second national carrier. It controls the call data and infrastructure plus internet access for about 50% of the whole populace. That is a big security risk. In case we do get into war and it’s infiltrated, we’re doomed. It’s one of the reasons we’ve not exposed the killers in our midst. They give orders over the phone, they access the internet.........the vital monitoring tool isn’t in the hands of govt. Ever wondered why the BT line runs through every home and is linked to the national security centre in Britain? <br />
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• We’d be ale to free up civil servants who are concerned with making their councils economically viable. So they’d offer business friendly services, encourage businesses to set up with them and not turn to touts running after Okadas and street traders for registration! They even employ Area Boys nowadays to collect revenue! <br />
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What Next? <br />
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I have started this debate so that all the more brainy, qualified and brilliant minds than i am, some of whom i have met on Facebook – Kayode Ogundamisi {whom i have discussed the need for the solution focussed activism}, Babatunde Rosanwo, Feyi Fawehinmi, Seyi Osiyemi, Cee Won, Seun Kolade, Phil Smart, Ken Davidson, DJ Abass, Ayo Sonaiya, Wale Adedayo, Franco Francis, Gbola Bowale X, and all others i can’t remember now, who constitute the vital link between the Nigerian teenagers and all less than 45, the true future of Nigeria. <br />
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I expect rejoinders and new line of thoughts. We need to start providing our solutions no matter how crude. Once we get talking to each other, we’d add more wisdom. We can also put pressure on the elderly democrats and thinkers like Prof. Sola Adeyeye and the likes to write and support us with experience. <br />
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I am offering as many as are interested in this project to let us like AWOLOWO provide some intellectual context that’s so much lacking in our dear country and make it available via a website we’d co-build. I am sure we will come to a convergence and spread the news as much as possible for others to imbibe so we can flag off the true revolution – the one that comes from understanding imbibed in the heart and displayed on the streets if necessary to get Nigeria out of the woods. <br />
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It’d be a shame for all these despots to challenge us and not give them good answers. <br />
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The race for Aso Rock and the future of Nigerians have begun. None of the candidates yet have any thematic thrust or real manifesto, written that specifies how we can reach the promise land. Most will sell the usual crap – road, water, light, hospital. At 50 years? <br />
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We’ve got to wake up! <br />
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Jesse Adeniji is a marketing communications specialist. He runs Jessemay Consulting, London. <br />
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<a href="mailto:Jesse.adeniji@jessemayconsulting.com">Jesse.adeniji@jessemayconsulting.com</a>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-52976942146286066502010-05-10T05:38:00.000-07:002010-05-10T05:56:42.770-07:00Adios Umaru Yar’Adua…..Bienvenido “Saint” Goodluck JonathanThe shenanigans that engulfed the nation’s political landscape was brought to an abrupt end last week. The death of President Umaru Yar’Adua drew to a close, the political uncertainty that eclipsed the nation for almost six months. Whatever anyone says, one thing is certain, President Umaru Yar’Adua is gone. The questions about him turning up at next Friday’s Jumat service or jogging up and down the stairs are now history. A new chapter has now been opened in the nation’s history book from the 5 May 2010.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/africa/02/24/nigeria.president/t1larg.nigeria.pres.vp.afp.gi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/africa/02/24/nigeria.president/t1larg.nigeria.pres.vp.afp.gi.jpg" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div>Whether Umaru Yar’Adua is a good or bad leader is now totally irrelevant. Engaging in endless discussions dissecting the Yar’Adua administration or personality will not put food on the table of 150 million Nigerians. Writing hypocritical and sycophantic eulogies about Umaru Yar’Adua or portraying him as “least corrupt” Nigerian President will not provide jobs for the 21 million unemployed youths roaming the streets of Lagos, Port Harcourt or Zaria. To describe Umaru Yar’Adua as an “epitome of humility” or Apostle of “Rule of Law” is now redundant statement. It’s not our tradition to speak ill of the dead, however, heaping unnecessary and hypocritical praises on the dead also makes no sense!<br />
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Our attention should therefore now be focused on the “new chapter” that is currently being written. We cannot change what is gone. However we do have an opportunity to shape the future. <br />
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We need not remind ourselves that the system that produced Umaru Yar’Adua as President is still very much alive and kicking. It’s Umaru that is dead not the “system”. And while the masses hue and cry over Yar’Adua’s death, the system is busy oiling its machinery and gearing up for the next election. <br />
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So what has changed? If Nigeria can be described as a car travelling on the highway, one can say that only thing that has changed in the last six months is the car driver. The car is still very much the same. We have a “new” reluctant driver, who seems to have no sense of direction. This new driver is been guided by the same old GPS system. The same system that has been in operation for the past 11 years, without taking us anywhere. <br />
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Since Goodluck Jonathan assumed office, praise-singers and adulators have been busy heaping praises on him. The calls for him to contest the 2011 election have been coming from left, right and centre. But, why all these unnecessary praise singing? What has Jonathan done in the last three months that makes him more worthy of the exalted office of the President than Dele Momodu or Omosule? What policy has he implemented that makes him the “messiah” we have been waiting for? Yes he reconstituted the Cabinet and “sacked” the INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu. And so! The decision to sack the Cabinet and Iwu were only coincidental with public agitations. There were not really taken in the public interest. Let’s not be deceived, Jonathan needed to break the backbone of the cabal that held sway during the Yar’Adua administration and consolidate his hold on power. Also, while he thinks about his next move, he needed to make sure that he’s in absolute control of whoever is in charge of INEC.<br />
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As I write, any criticisms of Goodluck Jonathan are now perceived by the Pro-Jonathan loyalists as symptoms of “Pull Him Down” syndrome.. When the issue of allegations of corruption against his wife, Patience, are brought to the public forum, the Jonathan apologists are always quick to remind us that “no Nigerian politician is clean”. When we ask that allegations of corruption against Patience be fully investigated, we get told that “he who is without sin should cast the first stone”(!). When we say, Goodluck Jonathan has no moral right to fight corruption, they reply, “nobody is a saint”.<br />
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I have no issues with GJ apologists, as everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. However, I find it quite nauseating that those who are not interested in the allegations of corruption against Patience Jonathan are the same people asking that James Ibori should be sentenced to death by firing squad. Those who say “he without sin….”, are the same calling for the probe of Yar’Adua cabal. These are the same people calling for the investigation of allegations of corruption against Gov. Fashola. We cannot say we want leaders with integrity, but turn around to say “no Nigerian politician is clean”. The minimum that can be demanded from any leader is “integrity”.<br />
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I heard someone say recently that “Nigerians should now be satisfied because Jonathan is now the President”. Let me say this. The clamour for transfer of power to Goodluck Jonathan was a matter of principle and not personality.. It was not about Goodluck Jonathan becoming President. Just as the June 12 pro-democracy activists will tell you that the June 12 struggle was not just about MKO Abiola. It was about support for rule of law and democratic sustainability. At that time, it was imperative that we adhere strictly to provision of the Constitution. So for anyone to make such a statement is not only patronising but insulting. <br />
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Let Goodluck Jonathan run for the office of the President if he chooses to. After all it’s his prerogative. And thank God we are in a democracy. However, one thing is clear, we are watching. Let him not use the power of incumbency as a rigging tool. Any attempt by his administration to fight corruption must be transparent and genuine. The EFCC should not once again be turned into a tool for fighting perceived political enemies. His appointment of the next INEC Chairman should not be for the sole purpose of perpetuating himself in power.<br />
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There’s no doubt, one thing Pres. Goodluck Jonathan has in his favour right now is public goodwill. It’s therefore important that it takes advantage of this, positively. There’s enough time between now and next general elections for him to lay good solid foundation for credible elections and infrastructure development. If he provides decent power supply and appoints credible people at INEC, Nigerians – irrespective of tribe and religion – will line up behind him come 2011. <br />
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The question on everyone’s lips now is, will this new driver dump the GPS system and take us to a new destination? You will have to agree with me that the new driver himself was a passenger cum co-driver. He had no plan to be in the car in the first place, hence his reluctance to take over when the car was about to crash. So taking an independent decision devoid of interference from the GPS system will be a tall order.Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-74218226302427896512010-05-06T03:41:00.000-07:002010-05-06T03:41:36.447-07:00Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Sworn In As 14th President of NigeriaWatch Video<br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QQoLBoBHro&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-QQoLBoBHro&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-72150367457334797952010-05-05T19:13:00.001-07:002010-05-05T19:13:51.550-07:00President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is Dead!<P class=first><B>Fifty-eight-year-old Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua died at his presidential villa on Wednesday, state TV has said.</B> <P class=first> A presidential aide and the information minister confirmed his death. Mr Yar'Adua, who became president in 2007, had been ill for some time. <BR> <BR> The government announced seven days of national mourning and said the president would be buried on Thursday. <BR> <BR> Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan - who became acting president in February - will be sworn in later, reports say. <BR> <BR><!-- E SF --> The Nigerian Television Authority interrupted its normal programming to announce the news, in a brief statement early on Thursday.<BR> <BR> The announcer said: "The president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, died a few hours ago at the presidential villa. <BR> <BR> Mr Yar'Adua, a Muslim, will be laid to rest later on Thursday in his home state of Katsina, in the north of the country. <BR> <BR> Reports from Nigeria said Mr Yar'Adua died between 2100 (2000 GMT) and 2200 (2100 GMT) on Wednesday in the capital, Abuja.<BR> <BR> May his soul rest in peace. Amen!<BR> <br /><hr />Meet local singles online. <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/150855801/direct/01/' target='_new'>Browse profiles for FREE!</a>Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-72207063263125369772010-05-03T18:30:00.000-07:002010-05-03T18:31:34.733-07:00Little Practical Steps While We WaitIt seems highly unlikely that an epidemic of selflessness and patriotism will suddenly break out in the ranks of our political and social elite class. This is partly because we have a culture of passive indifference on the part of the citizenry and a rapacious appetite for filthy lucre on the part of our politicians. The primary purpose of government in Nigeria would appear to be the personal enrichment of politician-contractors and the personal aggrandizement of our infantile political class. And I am not convinced that either prayers or curses alone can provide the magic formula for solving our problems. Prayers obviously didn’t work in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, North Korea and their utility, as a sole or prominent weapon in the Nigerian context, is highly dubious to put it rather mildly.<br />
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Given the foregoing doom-laden scenario and abject prognosis, it is unsurprising that true patriots and even ordinary compatriots have become resigned to their fate, accepted our unattractive ‘destiny’, retreated into mental and physical inertia and adopted a ‘to your tents o Israel’ mentality. If this situation is not reversed, we risk giving up the struggle for our nation’s betterment, emancipation of ourselves and our very survival becomes a chance occurrence subject to the capricious whims of our bandit politicians and crooked rulers. <br />
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Methinks we are not totally helpless and I direct my appeal to those Nigerians who have had the good fortune to have an education, are able to earn a living and have the luxury of not worrying about getting the next meal. There are simple things we can do while we wait for good governance in our motherland. Here are some of those things, and this list is by no means exhaustive.<br />
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<strong>Health education</strong>: Inadequate knowledge of health issues is a major factor in generating our dismal health statistics like infant mortality and life expectancy rates. The lack of awareness of elementary health facts and misconceptions even among highly educated Nigerians is truly alarming. For example very few people outside medicine realise that ‘heart failure’ is not a synonym for ‘cardiac arrest’ and ‘food poisoning’ does not mean deliberate contamination of food by chemical poisons or juju powder. Those who know can painlessly share knowledge and can repeatedly ram these nuggets of knowledge down the throats of our family and friends. It is literally a matter of life and death. <br />
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<strong>Health promotion</strong>: Those of us who are healthcare professionals can adopt a more proactive attitude to the health of our families and friends. We can, for example ask hard questions about health and wellbeing and not simply wait until things become desperate. Practically speaking, why not offer a free health check (physical examination, blood pressure, blood sugar, haematological and biochemical profiles etc) annually to most or all members of your extended family. It surely must be cheaper than burying them prematurely later. <br />
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We can encourage our people to ask more questions from healthcare professionals when they go to hospital. For example, if your doctor says you suffer from typhoid, ask questions about his diagnosis methods and treatment suggestions. The doctor ought not to mind and I can attest to this longing for even mild curiosity from personal experience as a practising physician in Lagos. We must take control of our health and robustly discourage sloppiness and quackery in medicare. <br />
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<strong>Education</strong>: It is possible to inexpensively augment the efforts of our educational system at all levels and help improve the overall literacy level of our citizenry. One example is to have small mentoring groups consisting of perhaps 3 to 5 individuals each. They can they undertake to ‘adopt’ a few pupils each and closely promote their education by measures such as helping them with sc materials, liaising with their teachers and generally taking an active interest in their academic development. This need not be a high cost option and a few phone calls here and a few purchases here would rapidly amount to a lot of effective attention. This is especially pertinent to those of us who live abroad as, by my reckoning, a paltry monthly outlay of 20 pounds can be put to very effective use. If your ward is able to access the Internet (and there are many cyber cafés around in Nigeria now) you might even be able to keep in touch more frequently and less expensively by email. Just think of how inspiring a pep talk from ‘Uncle Joe’ from Lagos or ‘Aunty Joyce’ from London can be to a young child in the village. We can disseminate information about scholarship schemes, support our alma mata, supply writing and reading materials to schools in our neighbourhoods and set up school competitions (spelling contests, essay competitions, endow end-of-term prizes etc). <br />
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<strong>Career promotion</strong>: We can all actively seek to promote the careers of our younger compatriots and offer useful help based on our life experiences. If you come across one studying Accountancy for example, help them to consider taking ICAN exams or if you meet a youngster studying medicine, try to help consider options for postgraduate training and career development should that be their ambition. <br />
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<strong>Reduce waste</strong>: It is very common for us to fritter our cash on frivolities like big parties and flashy clothes. Some might argue that these parties are deeply entrenched in our culture and arguably play a role in maintaining some social cohesion in a fractious society but this is a largely specious argument. We can have smaller parties less frequently (and have just as much fun), decline to celebrate 80th year remembrance of our late great-grandmother with anything more than token drinks and prayers and ‘spray’ just a little less money (or none at all) at the next Owambe party. Whatever we save this way can be deployed to making the lives of others just that little bit more bearable. It really is that simple.<br />
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<strong>Little acts of protest</strong>: When our absentee governors, legislators and senior special advisers and their retinue of lackeys and political jobbers arrive on their next trip to Europe and USA, those of us who live here can take advantage of the culture of democratic protest in these societies to make their stay most uncomfortable. We can pester them with hostile posters, flood their residences with protest mail, harass them with hostile phone calls on TV phone-ins and generally make their lives miserable. It is a fate richly deserved by our traducers and we are morally justified in doing this. I am open to suggestions in this regard.<br />
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It is regrettable that we are unable to mobilise our abundant resources to promote the wellbeing of our people and lift Nigeria into the ranks of advanced societies but that is our lot at present. We can either wring our hands in frustration or do something, no matter how little. The time for action is NOW. Please do something. TORI OLORUN. I BEG UNA.<br />
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Femi Adebajo<br />
United KingdomSeyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-21423321948384964562010-05-01T00:57:00.000-07:002010-05-01T00:57:04.409-07:00BBC Welcome to Lagos Video - Part 3<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B_HGHj5kTM4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B_HGHj5kTM4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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Click <a href="http://healnigeria.blogspot.com/2010/04/welcome-to-lagos-video.html">here</a> for Part 1<br />
Click <a href="http://healnigeria.blogspot.com/2010/04/bbc-welcome-to-lagos-part-2.html">here</a> for Part 2Seyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-43634031374689387362010-04-29T02:32:00.000-07:002010-04-29T03:00:31.247-07:00On State Creation and Constitution ReviewThe strongest hint that new states will created before 2011 elections were today dropped by the Deputy Senate President, Usman Nafada. <br />
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According to the Deputy Senate President, the National Assembly intends to create 10 additional states as part of the ongoing constitution review. In his words, <em>“The creation of new states is not as rigorous as the amendment of the constitution. The Governors Forum and many powerful interest groups have been inundating us with this demand”</em>. Whilst he refused to confirm the actual proposed number of states, Mr Nafada confirmed that <em>“there is no running from the fact that new states would be created next year”.</em><br />
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The debate on whether new states should be created has been ongoing for quite a while. Many interest groups have made representation to the National Assembly on the need for state creation. However, the civil society is yet to see a “business case” on the economic viability of these proposed states. The process of state creation might not be rigorous, just as the Deputy Senate President pointed out, however, common sense dictates that the rationale for state creation should transcend any procedural rigour. It’s the height of irresponsibility to create a state just because it’s easy to do so, without due consideration of its economic and social implications. I find it quite ridiculous that the National Assembly will just support state creation just because some kleptomaniacs called state governors sees it fit? <br />
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The need for additional states should be guided by key fundamental principles. The business case needs to compelling both economically and socially. Are the proposed states economically viable? Also, what has been the economic performance of existing states in terms of internal generated revenue? <br />
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To date , there’s no evidence in Nigeria to suggest any correlation between state creation and economic/infrastructure/human capital development. The only evidence available is that of increased looting of the nation’s treasury. With additional states, that means more Governors, Commissioners, Special Advisers, Permanent Secretaries, all feeding fat on the government. <br />
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Already, the nation is struggling with an over-bloated democratic structure and bureaucracy. The last time I checked, it was costing the nation N1.1trillion in salaries and allowances to maintain public office holders at all three tiers of government. <br />
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According to a 2008 report by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the state with the highest internal generated revenue is Lagos with N139.2 billion, followed in distant second by Sokoto with N34.8billion . In terms of revenue, the IGR by 36 states and FCTA was N441.1 billion representing 1.8 per cent of national gross domestic product (GDP) or total output of goods and services amounting N24 trillion at current basic prices. Fast forward to 2010, it’s unlikely that there would have been much difference.<br />
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Minority ethnic groups see state creation as a way of addressing the inequality and injustice in the system. To date I can’t see any evidence to back such claim. For example, will creation of additional states prevent the last ethnic/religious crisis in Jos? Or will it have prevented the Ijaws/Itsekiris from hacking themselves to the death in the 90’s? What about the tribal clashes between the communities of Ife and Modakeke? It really begs the question of how many states we can practically create to appease everyone in a multi-ethnic society as ours. I will assume, we may need to create at least 14o states!<br />
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We also have political opportunists who see state creation as an opportunity for easy and quick access to the national cake. Since allocation of political appointment is bereft of any merit-selection process, but instead based on the nonsensical federal character principle, it means the political elites are a step closer to the dining table of the national treasury.<br />
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I anxiously look forward to the day when our (s)elected leaders will begin to get their priorities right. The Deputy Senate President from his comments has further confirmed the widely held belief that our political elites are VERY detached from the modern day realities of the average Nigerian. If I may ask, how will creation of new states alleviate the growing unemployment, which at the last count was grossly underestimated as 40%? How will state creation put food on the table of 70% of Nigerians who barely survive on $1 per day? How will creation of additional states ensure probity and accountability? How will it discourage state governments continuous dependency on monthly revenue allocation from the federal government? <br />
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For me, the most important amendment that can be made to the Nigerian Constitution is the correction of our pseudo-federalism cum unitary system of government. I even consider this to be more important than any electoral reform. Even if we succeed in having an electoral reform that guarantees free and fair election, that wouldn’t take away anything from the fact that our governance system has failed. Can anything good come out of a failed system? <br />
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Honourable members of the national assembly should focus on issues that will help build democratic institutions that will outlast political generations. We run a system of government that grants absolute power to the Executive. We say we are a federation but all powers of the federating units have been usurped by the Federal Government. We claim to be a democracy, yet some states are governed by ‘theocracy’.<br />
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What we need is a constitution that will entrench ‘true federalism’ and not creation of “mickey mouse” states or glorified local government.We need legislation that will promote accountability and transparency at all levels of government and not just provide unfettered access to the national treasurySeyihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02705874076716088357noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546058137994649710.post-44250949189671200792010-04-23T19:05:00.000-07:002010-04-23T19:12:04.370-07:00BBC Welcome To Lagos Video - Part 2<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HQZFy0K5v0I&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HQZFy0K5v0I&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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