General Muhammadu Buhari's Speech at Chatham House

Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House for the invitation to talk about this important topic at this crucial time. When speaking about Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my country’s public relations and marketing officer, extolling her virtues and hoping to attract investments and tourists. But as we all know, Nigeria is now battling with many challenges, and if I refer to them, I do so only to impress on our friends in the United Kingdom that we are quite aware of our shortcomings and are doing our best to address them. The 2015 general election in Nigeria is generating a lot of interests within and outside the country. This is understandable. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, is at a defining moment, a moment that has great implications beyond the democratic project and beyond the borders of my dear country. So let me say upfront that the global interest in Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at all and indeed should be commended; for this is an election that has serious import for the world. I urge the international community to continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in our collective interests that the postponed elections should hold on the rescheduled dates; that they should be free and fair; that their outcomes should be respected by all parties; and that any form of extension, under whichever guise, is unconstitutional and will not be tolerated. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War, democracy became the dominant and most preferred system of government across the globe. That global transition has been aptly captured as the triumph of democracy and the ‘most pre-eminent political idea of our time.’ On a personal note, the phased end of the USSR was a turning point for me. It convinced me that change can be brought about without firing a single shot. As you all know, I had been a military head of state in Nigeria for twenty months. We intervened because we were unhappy with the state of affairs in our country. We wanted to arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we fought our way to power. But the global triumph of democracy has shown that another and a preferable path to change is possible. It is an important lesson I have carried with me since, and a lesson that is not lost on the African continent. In the last two decades, democracy has grown strong roots in Africa. Elections, once so rare, are now so commonplace. As at the time I was a military head of state between 1983 and 1985, only four African countries held regular multi-party elections. But the number of electoral democracies in Africa, according to Freedom House, jumped to 10 in 1992/1993 then to 18 in 1994/1995 and to 24 in 2005/2006. According to the New York Times, 42 of the 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa conducted multi-party elections between 1990 and 2002. The newspaper also reported that between 2000 and 2002, ruling parties in four African countries (Senegal, Mauritius, Ghana and Mali) peacefully handed over power to victorious opposition parties. In addition, the proportion of African countries categorized as not free by Freedom House declined from 59% in 1983 to 35% in 2003. Without doubt, Africa has been part of the current global wave of democratisation. But the growth of democracy on the continent has been uneven. According to Freedom House, the number of electoral democracies in Africa slipped from 24 in 2007/2008 to 19 in 2011/2012; while the percentage of countries categorised as ‘not free’ assuming for the sake of argument that we accept their definition of “free” increased from 35% in 2003 to 41% in 2013. Also, there have been some reversals at different times in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania and Togo. We can choose to look at the glass of democracy in Africa as either half full or half empty. While you can’t have representative democracy without elections, it is equally important to look at the quality of the elections and to remember that mere elections do not democracy make. It is globally agreed that democracy is not an event, but a journey. And that the destination of that journey is democratic consolidation – that state where democracy has become so rooted and so routine and widely accepted by all actors. With this important destination in mind, it is clear that though many African countries now hold regular elections, very few of them have consolidated the practice of democracy. It is important to also state at this point that just as with elections, a consolidated democracy cannot be an end by itself. I will argue that it is not enough to hold a series of elections or even to peacefully alternate power among parties. It is much more important that the promise of democracy goes beyond just allowing people to freely choose their leaders. It is much more important that democracy should deliver on the promise of choice, of freedoms, of security of lives and property, of transparency and accountability, of rule of law, of good governance and of shared prosperity. It is very important that the promise embedded in the concept of democracy, the promise of a better life for the generality of the people, is not delivered in the breach. Now, let me quickly turn to Nigeria. As you all know, Nigeria’s fourth republic is in its 16thyear and this general election will be the fifth in a row. This is a major sign of progress for us, given that our first republic lasted five years and three months, the second republic ended after four years and two months and the third republic was a still-birth. However, longevity is not the only reason why everyone is so interested in this election. The major difference this time around is that for the very first time since transition to civil rule in 1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing its stiffest opposition so far from our party the All Progressives Congress (APC). We once had about 50 political parties, but with no real competition. Now Nigeria is transitioning from a dominant party system to a competitive electoral polity, which is a major marker on the road to democratic consolidation. As you know, peaceful alternation of power through competitive elections have happened in Ghana, Senegal, Malawi and Mauritius in recent times. The prospects of democratic consolidation in Africa will be further brightened when that eventually happens in Nigeria. But there are other reasons why Nigerians and the whole world are intensely focussed on this year’s elections, chief of which is that the elections are holding in the shadow of huge security, economic and social uncertainties in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy. On insecurity, there is a genuine cause for worry, both within and outside Nigeria. Apart from the civil war era, at no other time in our history has Nigeria been this insecure. Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our nationals, displacing millions internally and externally, and at a time holding on to portions of our territory the size of Belgium. What has been consistently lacking is the required leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as a retired general and a former head of state, have always known about our soldiers: they are capable, well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty in the service of our country. You all can bear witness to the gallant role of our military in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur and in many other peacekeeping operations in several parts of the world. But in the matter of this insurgency, our soldiers have neither received the necessary support nor the required incentives to tackle this problem. The government has also failed in any effort towards a multi-dimensional response to this problem leading to a situation in which we have now become dependent on our neighbours to come to our rescue. Let me assure you that if I am elected president, the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay special attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service, we will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we will improve intelligence gathering and border controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and equipment channels, we will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development plan promoting infrastructural development, job creation, agriculture and industry in the affected areas. We will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front and return Nigeria to its leadership role in regional and international efforts to combat terrorism. On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright side, inflation has been kept at single digit for a while and our economy has grown at an average of 7% for about a decade. But it is more of paper growth, a growth that, on account of mismanagement, profligacy and corruption, has not translated to human development or shared prosperity. A development economist once said three questions should be asked about a country’s development: one, what is happening to poverty? Two, what is happening to unemployment? And three, what is happening to inequality? The answers to these questions in Nigeria show that the current administration has created two economies in one country, a sorry tale of two nations: one economy for a few who have so much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the other economy for the many who have so little in their vast ocean of misery. Even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million, almost the population of the United Kingdom. There is also the unemployment crisis simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of our adult population and almost 60% of our youth unemployed. We also have one of the highest rates of inequalities in the world. With all these, it is not surprising that our performance on most governance and development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on African Governance and UNDP’s Human Development Index.) are unflattering. With fall in the prices of oil, which accounts for more than 70% of government revenues, and lack of savings from more than a decade of oil boom, the poor will be disproportionately impacted. In the face of dwindling revenues, a good place to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned under the present administration: waste and corruption. And in doing this, I will, if elected, lead the way, with the force of personal example. On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference. But I must emphasise that any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity. In reforming the economy, we will use savings that arise from blocking these leakages and the proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our party’s social investments programmes in education, health, and safety nets such as free school meals for children, emergency public works for unemployed youth and pensions for the elderly. As a progressive party, we must reform our political economy to unleash the pent-up ingenuity and productivity of the Nigerian people thus freeing them from the curse of poverty. We will run a private sector-led economy but maintain an active role for government through strong regulatory oversight and deliberate interventions and incentives to diversify the base of our economy, strengthen productive sectors, improve the productive capacities of our people and create jobs for our teeming youths. In short, we will run a functional economy driven by a worldview that sees growth not as an end by itself, but as a tool to create a society that works for all, rich and poor alike. On March 28, Nigeria has a decision to make. To vote for the continuity of failure or to elect progressive change. I believe the people will choose wisely. In sum, I think that given its strategic importance, Nigeria can trigger a wave of democratic consolidation in Africa. But as a starting point we need to get this critical election right by ensuring that they go ahead, and depriving those who want to scuttle it the benefit of derailing our fledgling democracy. That way, we will all see democracy and democratic consolidation as tools for solving pressing problems in a sustainable way, not as ends in themselves. Permit me to close this discussion on a personal note. I have heard and read references to me as a former dictator in many respected British newspapers including the well regarded Economist. Let me say without sounding defensive that dictatorship goes with military rule, though some might be less dictatorial than others. I take responsibility for whatever happened under my watch. I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future. So before you is a former military ruler and a converted democrat who is ready to operate under democratic norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of democratic elections for the fourth time. You may ask: why is he doing this? This is a question I ask myself all the time too. And here is my humble answer: because the work of making Nigeria great is not yet done, because I still believe that change is possible, this time through the ballot, and most importantly, because I still have the capacity and the passion to dream and work for a Nigeria that will be respected again in the comity of nations and that all Nigerians will be proud of.

Who will stop Ayo Fayose and Femi Fani-Kayode on their journey into ignominy?

I don't know whether General Buhari met with Tony Blair or not? I don't know whether he travelled to the United Kingdom last week or not. But it is almost certain that he will be at Chatham House in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 26th February, 2015. And I also sincerely don't know who will outdo each other between the duo of Ayo Fayose and Femi Fani-Kayode in their support of President Jonathan and their opposition to General Buhari. (I decided not to bring Dr. Doyin Okupe into this because it seems there is an unspoken consensus among Nigerians not to take him seriously again and I bet that Fayose and Fani-Kayode are going down that path too. In fact the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is trying very hard to distance itself from Fayose's ill-advised moves.) This is not the first time I will be talking about both Fayose and Fani-Kayode. You can read my previous write-up on them in this post

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has been vociferous in his attacks against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. He has said so many things, some of them outrightly laughable but what he has forgotten is the fact that in the past he had praised to the highest heavens these people he now counts as enemies because of reasons we can imagine ( I don't know if his court case is among them because if it it, he is already reaping the dividend of support the incumbent president. A high court trying him has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release his international passport to the court). Watch this video put together by the APC and see if Chief Femi Fani-Kayode's views should still be taken seriously in our "polticosphere". Please discountenance the news flash on the video frame.

And to Alagba Peteru Fayose whose antics in the very recent past have made him to look like a clown and court jester, I am wondering what is going through his mind. Has he convinced himself to that point that he thinks he is truly being driven by altruistic motives or does he just possess a rabid hatred for General Buhari? But whatever may be the case, he is already sounding to Nigerians like a broken record, The most recent is his assertion that the claim that Buhari met with former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is false. He took the drama further by taking newsmen to a hotel room in Abuja claiming that the general took pictures in the room, which were photoshopped to look like he met with Tony Blair.  I was sincerely disturbed that serious newsmen could go around with him instead of looking for newsworthy events. I was even more disturbed that the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) could devote its prime time news - the 9pm Network News - to Fayose's drama. This is probably one of the reasons most Nigerians don't watch it again. What one would have expected the newsmen to do was to put a call through to Tony Blair's office to confirm whether General Buhari met with Tony Blair or not.

I sincerely don't understand Fayose's contention. Is he saying that going to a hospital for medical checkup means you are ill? Does medical checkup translate to being sick? Is that the meaning, executive governor Oshokomole? Even babies are taken for regular medical examination, which is what checkup means. So is Governor Fayose saying that everyone who goes to a hospital in Ekiti State is terminally ill or battling a debilitating ailment? Does he himself not go for checkups? Is he saying that President Jonathan has never gone for medical checkup since he became president? I really do not understand the big deal about a hospital visit, even if General Buhari visited a hospital in the United Kingdom. Where was Governor Fayose when a sick Umar Yaradua was contesting for president? Some PDP governors were away from their states for months due to illness, did Governor Fayose ever come out to ask that they be replaced?

What is even wrong with a septuagenarian going for constant medical checkup? My advice to the governor is this: when you get to your seventies, please don't go for checkups. Does Governor Fayose know that Nelson Mandela became president at 75? And that he had spent over two decades in prison? I think staying in prison that long, especially in an insalubrious setting can make one susceptible to some ailments. Yet South Africans went ahead to elect Nelson Mandela President. Someone should please tell Mr. Fayose that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of the United States was diagnosed of polio even before he was elected president of the United States. And he was elected four times as president. He might have been economical with the truth at times (which I don't approve of) but despite his deteriorating health, he is still regarded as one of the most successful American presidents. And he was a true commander-in-chief during World War II, despite his ailment.

So what's all the fuss about General Buhar's state of health? How many Nigerians of Governor Fayose's age including himself can come out boldly to say they are free of any ailment not to talk of those in General Buhari's age bracket? How many? Please don't get me wrong. I am not canvassing that Nigerians elect an invalid as president, but as much as we can see, General Buhari carries himself well. And what Fayose should be doing is to tell Nigerians why they should vote for President Jonathan instead of expending efforts on why they should not vote for Buhari.

BLESS NIGERIA! - Dr Jesutola Adewumi

I don’t know about you, but for most folks, it seems to be “hard work” blessing Nigeria, probably because we’ve had a culture of cursing her over the years, saying things like “this Nigeria is terrible/finished/done for/going nowhere” or other adaptations of such “statements of fact”.

Or maybe folks just find it difficult to bless because our culture is more prone to cursing than blessing, so much that even the blessings are just curses adapted by the use of negatives e.g. “you will NOT die young, your enemies will NOT prevail against you, NO harm will befall you” etc etc.

If we’re going to make a shift in our attitudes & words, we’ll need to learn to bless as God blesses. We’ll need to submit our hearts, minds & mouths to the Word of God like never before. We’ll also need to PRACTISE blessing consciously. Below is my personal confession over Nigeria. Please join me in declaring today:

Nigeria, I declare the shalom of God upon you.
I call you blessed with your children.
I declare that you are arising from the doldrums to take your place among the nations.
You fulfill your prophetic destiny in this season like never before in the name of Jesus.
See, this is a field that the Lord has blessed.
I sustain you with the dew of heaven above and the fatness of the earth beneath and plenty of corn and wine and oil.
No longer shall you be desolate, ravaged and destroyed, but by my blessing, you are uplifted.
I declare that the peace of God reigns supreme in and beyond these elections, the will of the Lord is done.
Lord, let Your kingdom come today, and Your will be done in Nigeria, even as it is in heaven.
Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, and establish the just.
Let grace speak loud and clear for Nigeria.
Let the holy blood of the Lamb be her stay.
Let the sound of wailing & weeping be replaced with shouts of gladness.
Turn again Nigeria’s captivity oh God, RESTORE!!!
May God’s grace rest on you in ever-increasing measure as you bless Nigeria with your words & actions. May you prosper because you love her (Psalm 122:6).

Source: http://tolaadewumi.com/blog/2015/02/02/bless-nigeria/

"AYANFE" A Love Poem by Dr Jesutola Adewumi

Ayanfe: beloved
Better still, chosen to be loved
The Yoruba’s seem to get it
They seem to understand Him
Chosen to be loved
Chosen for love
When I was still a sinner
Love chose me
Love came for me
Love died for me
Love rose for me
When I was still in sin
Still doing my thing
Love chose me
Love marked me
Love chased me
What love is this?
Love so so sweet!
To be called a son of His
My brother, no be beans
Ayanfe, a ti yan mi fe
Chosen by my Lover
Marked for Love forever
Now I call Him Father
His love my endless wonder
Ayanfe, a ti yan mi fe
What more can I want
Where else can I run
What more can I do
Than to share this love with you?
I’ve been loved, now I love
For I am love as He is Love
In Love I live, in Love I’m home
In Love I’m me, in Love I’m whole
In Love I’m loved, in Love I love

Source: http://tolaadewumi.com/blog/2015/02/16/ayanfe-2/

A ROAD LITTERED WITH THORNS by Dele Momodu

“Have you heard how they catch monkeys in Brazil, Julie?
Let me tell you. They put a nut in a bottle, and tie the bottle to a tree.
The monkey grasps the nut, but the neck of the bottle is too narrow for the monkey
to withdraw its paw and the nut.
You would think the monkey would let go of the nut and escape, wouldn’t you?
But it never does. It is so greedy it never releases the nut and is always captured.
Remember that story, Julie. Greed is a dangerous thing. If you give way to it, sooner or later you will be caught.”

Fellow Nigerians, the above is one of my favourite quotes and I even know it fully by hand. It is taken straight from the early pages of a James Hadley Chase novel titled THE PAW IN THE BOTTLE. I’ve quoted it in countless conversations and political discourses in particular. The reason should be obvious. It sums up the intractable problem of greed that has virtually ruined our nation. The power-grabbers of Nigeria all have one thing in common, pure and unadulterated greed.

I’m under no illusion that any nation is governed by saints. But the greatest countries in the world are usually led by aspiring Angels, those who wish to be close to God even if they let him down occasionally like we all do. The avariciousness of our leaders is uncommon as it is unsurpassed. I wish to link this to the crisis of confidence bedevilling our electoral process and democratic progression today. The linkage is simply to establish that unbridled greed is largely responsible for the way simple elections have been turned into total warfare in Nigeria. We have become one of the worst examples of Barbarians who just find it impossible to choose candidates and elect leaders in an atmosphere devoid of bitter and bitchy acrimony.

This greed didn’t start today. It has been with us since we gained independence and we started putting our own people in positions of authority. Ordinarily, leadership positions should have been an opportunity to serve and do so meritoriously. But this madness called greed must have crept in us discreetly like a thief in the night. It is very difficult to remember exactly when and how it did. All I know is that we were caught unawares until it penetrated us mercilessly. I was old enough in 1979 (19 to be precise) to vote and to understand the rudiments of politics in a country that managed to end a civil war within that decade. The period leading to that election had been preceded by military intervention that terminated the brilliant career of Head of State General Yakubu Gowon as well as a bloody coup that killed General Murtala Ramat Muhammed and his promising regime. This catapulted Olusegun Obasanjo to power.

The election of 1979 was midwifed by Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and his second in command, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. It was a straight fight between Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s NPN, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s  UPN And Owelle Nnamdi Azikiwe’s NPP. The controversy surrounding the manner General Obasanjo hurriedly handed power to Shagari after the hullaballoo that followed that election was nothing compared to the profligacy that NPN later perpetrated. If the 1979 election was bad that of 1983 was abysmal. The greed of the NPN apparatchik went overboard. They simply went berserk and grabbed not just money but votes from every direction.

Those critics like Wole Soyinka who challenged the on-going nonsense were easily dismissed as alarmists and prophets of doom. It was obvious even to the blind that NPN was headed in the wrong direction leading only to perdition, but the arrogant politicians of the day said nothing would happen. They were firmly in control of heaven and earth. They declared very erratic results in staccato fashion. What they did was tantamount to stealing the wind and trying to hold the atmosphere in the palm. I was 23 then and was in the middle of the conflagration that consumed the Old Ondo State. My boss then, Chief Akin Omoboriowo, had been declared winner in a contest against the iconic Pa Adekunle Ajasin. My boss was one of Chief Awolowo’s fanatical supporters. But everything scattered after the riotous UPN primaries. I witnessed as ambitious politicians gathered day and night in our Ijapo estate situation office to plot all manner of moves. My boss was a man of frugal existence but the politicians were able to persuade him to move 360 degrees from UPN to NPN.

I felt the sharp pain that went through Chief Omoboriowo’s heart and realised how easy it was to capitulate to the whims and caprices of politicians who assured us everything was under control. For example, we knew the police would readily connive with the ruling party to do whatever was needed. The NPN had invested heavily in military hardware and over-militarised the police. They rolled out ferocious armoured tanks capable of stultifying the dreams of would-be troublemakers. A most powerful Inspector General of Police, Mr Sunday Adewusi, was in charge. I doubt if any other IG would ever be that influential. The fear of Sunday Adewusi was the beginning of wisdom.

As young as I was, I knew there was going to be repercussions to this atrocious madness but I didn’t envisage the magnitude. NPN won landslide almost everywhere and at the height of its giddiness described their victory as moon-slide. It was the first time I heard that term and added it to my modest vocabulary. Barely three months after that abracadabra, the military struck and hit the reckless politicians like thunderbolt. That coup gave birth to the draconian and much-dreaded regime of Muhammadu Buhari after an announcement by a young officer who introduced himself as Sani Abacha.

It was such a miserable New Year gift on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1983. Politicians were promptly picked up and hauled like sacks of potatoes into different cells or house arrests across the nation. They all went in without as much as a whimper. The most rambunctious amongst them, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, bolted into rarefied air and landed in the United Kingdom. One would have expected him to put up a kamikaze stunt at home by fighting Buhari and Babatunde Idiagbon like the quintessential King Kong that he was. That was when I first learnt the truism that bullies are often cowardly.

There was no doubt that the Buhari regime was tough but what they won’t tell the young generation of today is why Buhari and company struck. The NPN had practically mortgaged the future of Nigeria and Nigerians. Had Buhari not come at that time I wonder what could have happened to our country eventually. May be we would have become a country of scavengers in the hands of scoundrels. NPN was a democratically elected government without any semblance of democracy. Everything was helter-skelter.

My boss was one of the multitude arrested and he was kept in Owo prison and I laboured hard as his private secretary to visit him every other day from his house in Ijero-Ekiti which was my base. I gained so much insight into how politicians behaved and misbehaved. There was ample evidence that innocent people were punished alongside the patently guilty. But as I would learn many years later from Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings such was the nature of most revolutions. Buhari did not execute past leaders like Rawlings did in Ghana. In a marathon interview Rawlings granted Ovation International in 2004, he revealed how revolutions work. He said it was not a tea party and while the leader takes the credit for whatever success was achieved he must also take the flak for the excesses and abuse of power and privilege. He alone could not have compiled the names of those who were jailed or killed. There were instances when many officers smuggled in names of their supposed enemies.

Asked why there was so much bloodshed in Ghana, Rawlings thundered “It was an abnormal situation… “ We probed him rigorously by asking “what was the criteria used to select those you killed? Was it that people were just bringing accusations and you were acting on them?” His answer was shocking and direct: “Subsequently that was what happened. We only tried to contain and prevent any further executions, so the option was jail. As for the executions, it was easier to pick from the top… It was not that I wanted to kill but that was what the nation needed at the time… I was trying to calm things down but the situation as I said was such that there was no command structure. Everything had broken down… We were governing human rage, justifiable rage… “

According to Jerry Rawlings, the government of the day had perfected the art of divide and rule: “I didn’t know that some people were experts in divide and rule tactics. I saw it work and it was brilliant during Liman’s regime… They had poisoned the atmosphere. In those days, it was believed that the government could not lie, so they were telling all kinds of lies against me… And the troops were like, ha, this is our great hero who is being so demonised…”

Just like the case of Buhari, Jerry Rawlings remains the most feared and the most popular Ghanaian leader alive today. He’s treated like a rock star everywhere he goes. While the elites may harbour ill feelings towards him, the poor see him as their saviour, the reason they called him Junior Jesus while the elites called him Junior Judas. There is a big lesson for Nigeria in all of this. We have suffered for too long as a people and this is attributable to our politicians’ greed and inability to learn from past mistakes. The next time we conducted an election after 1983 was ten years after in 1993. As good as that election was, politicians made sure it was truncated again.

No military would have been able to annul that election if the politicians had bonded together to defend the mandate which was freely given by Nigerians to Chief Moshood Abiola. The main weapon used on this occasion was not an automatic rifle but ethnicity. Politicians deliberately reduced the June 12 victory to a South West affair and therefore not worthy of being defended by non-Yoruba. They selfishly and studiously forgot all the amazing contributions of Chief Abiola in every part and cranny of Nigeria. The ubiquitous supporters of any government in Nigeria were not bothered that killing June 12 would send Nigeria backwards by several decades. The compulsive gamblers that they were, the nation can afford to move on, without Abiola anyway. And so we did.

I won’t waste too much time on the Interim government which was awkwardly packaged as alternative to June 12 but examine the last Abacha coup which finally buried June 12. From 1993-98, Abacha’s government concocted its own endless experiments as our biggest politicians fell over themselves to secure some space and place in that fiasco of a government. Abacha soon became the new idol and Nigerians marched on the streets of Abuja begging him to transform from military dictator to civilian President. It was such an interesting spectacle to behold.  The man eventually died in power on June 8, 1998 while Abiola died elsewhere in detention on July 7, 1998.

General Abdulsalami Abubakar immediately assumed power. Of course, the omnipresent friends of men of power would not hear the heresy being preached by General Abubakar who pledged to stay only one year in power. Sometimes I wonder if General Abubakar is from another planet, he actually handed over power to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, dead on time, on May 29, 1999, as promised.  Obasanjo was in power for the next eight years but not before some smart dudes came up with the idea of an unprecedented third term for him. When that failed, Chief Obasanjo handed power to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and his Vice President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan who would later complete his boss’ term after the President took ill and died.

Dr Jonathan contested in 2011 for what was expected to be for one term but he later changed his mind and is set to contest again on February 14, 2015, if the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, can withstand the blistering heat from those desperately seeking a postponement for reasons we all know. On the surface, there would have been nothing wrong with it but the main opposition is suspicious of the move like many of us. Once again, we’ve boxed ourselves into another tight corner.
My honest advice is always to Mr President. Please, don’t listen to those saying you must win this election by force. If you’re so destined, it will surely happen. If you fail in the end kindly thank God, knowing that you have done your best. I admonish the candidates to whittle down the war of advertorials going on in order to make reconciliation much easier whenever the winner is announced. Nigerians are looking for that candidate among you who can proudly speak like Rawlings:
“You know I was an embodiment of the people’s quest for freedom and justice, so people did not toy with me. By protecting me, they were protecting their own freedom and justice. They couldn’t afford to abandon me, and I cannot afford to abandon my own principle…”

Gone Viral: A purported recording of how the Ekiti gubernatorialnelection was rigged!

Can this be true? This was my reaction when I heard this recording. Sincerely, I dont know what to think. But because there is nothing impossible in Nigeria, I am waiting for those fingered in the plot to come and refute the allegations that have been made against them. While this recording is only 5 minutes, 44 seconds, there is another longer recording at https://soundcloud.com/saharareporters/secret-meeting-that-led-to-the-rigging-of-ekiti-gubernatorial-for-fa





Reactions are already trailing the release of this recording. Read some of them below:

The Ekiti election clips being circulated is for me not even about politics. My issue is the GROSS ABUSE of the Military-- KEY INSTITUTION.
— oby ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 6, 2015

I am aghast at the possibility that the Ekiti election clip is remotely real.. God forbids that it is. GOD FORBIDS.
— oby ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 6, 2015

Brethren. I'm officially entering my journalist mode. Got confirmation of that audio tape. I hear there are worse ones... #Ekitigate
— Temisan Okomi (@temiokomi) February 6, 2015

Right. I'm REALLY, REALLY scared now. I've confirmed that the voice is really Brig.Gen. Momoh. #Ekitigate
— Temisan Okomi (@temiokomi) February 6, 2015

Nigerians thought it is @PoliceNG that is corrupt not knowing Nigerian Army is a GENERAL in corruption #EkitiGate
— SANNI BABATUNDE (@babatundeajani) February 6, 2015

This #EkitiGate is a reflection of our nation's thirst for political power at all costs.
— Amenze Iyamu (@amenzeiyamu) February 6, 2015

You mean some elections in #Nigeria are rigged?! *pulls fake surprised face* #Ekitigate
— Imad Mesdoua (@ImadMesdoua) February 6, 2015

@muchman16 @OWOYEMIBSILAS #Ekitigate lolz
— i09 (@ibmuyi13) February 6, 2015

Having listened to that #EkitiGate audio, now tell me why #Fayose won't buy all the newspaper pages to campaign for #GEJ . @omojuwa
— Wale Tejumade (@waletejumade) February 6, 2015

So what next with the audio, because my guess is #EkitiGate would die faster than Abba Moro's #immigrationsaga @eggheader @GbengaGOLD
— Uncle Samuel Asimi (@samDoptimist) February 6, 2015

"@afekhumedaniel: #EkitiGate d captain who made dat recording shud b given a national award. des are d heroes we long asked 4 "I disagree"
— Abba Iliyasu (@lethal_Iliyas) February 6, 2015

"@DOlusegun: This one is 37 mins and more revealing. #EkitiGate http://t.co/TBxSCOXfDK"
— Kãmiçãze Köntiki (@DECLEX) February 6, 2015

If the recording is real, what do you think should be done to those involved u to the topmost echelon of the PDP?

THE REAL GOVERNMENT by Dr. Jesutola Adewumi

Right now in Nigeria, it seems to be all about APC and PDP (seems nobody’s talking about my candidate from KOWA party)! Anyways, that’s not what this is about. This is about the real government, not the one that we’re planning to vote in or out on February 14 (happy Val’s day in advance, by the way). This is not about a government of the people, by the people, for the people (which is a great thing), but this is about a government of God, through the people (the body of Christ), for the kingdom. Hear what God said through Isaiah, prophesying about Jesus: “the GOVERNMENT will be upon His shoulder….Prince of peace….of the increase of His GOVERNMENT and peace there will be no end….” (Isaiah 9:6&7). One day, Jesus will come back physically and rule the earth from Jerusalem, that day is not yet here. Right now, however, Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 5:19). Yet, even NOW, the rulership, dominion and kingdom of the Prince of peace on earth is effected through His body, His Church, human beings who have become one with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17, Matthew 28:18).

I was in a meeting on Friday night and the preacher said “if you are still thinking it’s all about APC & PDP, you haven’t gotten it”. That got me thinking! Make no mistakes, we DO need to go out there on February 14 and vote, we need to do all we can to see that the right leaders are sworn in on May 29, but that is not where the real government is! The bible says in Daniel 4:32 that the Most High rules in the affairs of men, now what God has done in Christ Jesus is to seat you and I with Him and give us the authority to legislate/preside in matters that relate to the earth, therefore He says in Psalm 82:6 that we are gods (the original Hebrew language says “magistrates”), we are sons of the Most High (actually, seated with the Most High in His authority). If you did not know this before, know it now! If you had forgotten, be reminded now…..

We are IN CHARGE of this nation because God put US in charge!

We are responsible for where this nation is right now and where it will be in 2019, regardless of who wins the election (Christian or Muslim, male or female, Northerner or Southerner)! We are responsible for the way things “work out” because things don’t just “work out”, PEOPLE make them “work out” through their words and actions (or inactions).

God is not going to wave His hand and fix the problems of Nigeria, it’s THE GOVERNMENT OF FAITH that will do it. This faith is first a SPEAKING faith, then a DOING faith. By the BLESSING of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown or destroyed by the MOUTH of the wicked (Proverbs 11:11). Continue at http://tolaadewumi.com/blog/2015/02/02/the-real-government/

Jesutola Adewumi is a son of God called to teach and to preach God's Word clearly and accurately, with strong emphasis on the oneness and purpose of the body of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is a medical doctor committed to excellence in ministry and career. 

Letter to President Jonathan by Professor Niyi Osundare

Dear President Jonathan, let me begin this letter by telling you what you already know; by reminding you of what you are not expected to have forgotten: the year 2015 has been predicted to be, and is being widely seen as, the year of Nigeria’s unravelling. The year that Leviathan contraption knocked together by Frederick Lugard for the glory of the British Empire, will totter back to its separate aboriginal parts and drown an already overwhelmed Africa with another swarm of hapless refugees in an unspeakable maelstrom of the typical African misery. 

This dreadful prediction is generally believed to have originated from the star-gazing wizardry of American soothsayers, reinforced by the frighteningly frank morbidity of studies such as Karl Maier’s This House Has Fallen. Some Nigerians as well as non-Nigerians interested in Nigeria’s affairs shudder at the threatening inevitability of this prediction. Others dismiss it as another tale from the seamless yarn of Nostradamus, the religious among them claiming that the God that brought us together this far is not about to abandon us and let us fall apart. 

The rich and fat kleptocrats who hold their knives to the carcass of the Nigerian elephant are too avaricious, too satiated, too visionless to notice the dangers in the Nigerian forest, forever festering, as they do, in the illusion that the booty is far too big, too sumptuous to vanish under their gaze. Worthy descendants of ancient Nero, they feast while the country burns. The politically clever among this group try to paper over the cracks and fissures in the Nigeria house with dubious “advertorials” and syrupy sloganeering as if a loud noise of can smother the stench of a rotting corpse. 

Mr. President, between the morbid prognostication of the first group and the heady optimism of the second lies the real truth of the Nigerian condition as well as the sane, intelligent appreciation and analysis which the situation requires. The contraption over which you preside is not a country yet: it is still very much a work-in-progress with its frustratingly rough edges and unpolished aspects. I am tempted to conclude that you yourself know this. Which was why you convoked that huge National Conference last year, an act many Nigerians saw as so suspiciously close to the end of your first term as President as to constitute a major plank in the campaign for a second. But, at least, yours was an attempt at a task many of your predecessors in office had routinely shied away from, though we are all wondering what benefits are likely to emerge from that very expensive national constitutional jamboree. Oh, please forgive my patriotic digression. 

The burden of this open letter is the impending national election, the run-off to it, its actual execution, and its possible aftermath. Mr. President, you will agree with me that this election is so crucial, so fateful that its outcome will decide the coming to pass or otherwise of the doom so loudly and so frightfully foretold for Nigeria. The troubling signs are all over the place, as visible, even conspicuous as Aso Rock which overlooks your presidential abode. Right now, the whole northeastern flank of our country is literally out of and beyond your control. The kidnappings, blood-letting, and other gruesome barbarities in these parts make the Dark Ages look like a humane era. The Chibok Girls have been gone for almost nine months, with no possible solution from your government, and the whole wide world is defining Nigeria’s international standing by the utter helplessness and apparent apathy of its government. Like those of other people in the world, my heart bleeds each time I remember these girls (and I do so many, many times a day), the manner of their abduction, and worse still, what fate must have befallen them in the hands of their violent captors. We have seen you traversing the country, making speeches, and waxing bold on the hustings, but we have not heard any credible anti-insurgency plan that would make Nigeria safer in your second term 

Another alarming phenomenon is the treasonous threat from some ‘militants’ from your region of origin who claim to be speaking and acting in your defence and on your behalf. One of them actually declared for the whole world to hear that ‘Nigeria will be history’ if you are not ‘given’ a second term. The closer we get to the election, the louder has become the thunder of this piece of ethnic blackmail. For the avoidance of doubt, I am one of those who fervently believe that the Niger Delta has been done a terribly raw deal by previous Nigerian governments, and that a combination of reparation and reconstruction has become a compulsory political and economic (and environmental!) necessity. But, Mr. President, have you been hearing what these ‘militants’ have been saying? Have you been listening to them? Are they really speaking on your behalf? What do you see and sense in their threats: a bond of ethnic solidarity, or a threat to Nigeria, the country over which you preside? Are you a president of the whole of Nigeria or a tribal champion for an ethnic enclave? Have you done a study of the sociology and statistical diversity of the votes that brought you to the presidential throne – or that Nigerian conundrum called ‘doctrine of necessity’ which eased your way to full presidential power a few years ago? 

Mr. President, while the country cannot hold you responsible for the opinions and utterances of other people no matter how close they appear to be to you, it is your bounden duty to disclaim incendiary utterances capable of setting the Nigeria house ablaze. Put succinctly, it is your inescapable duty to respond PERSONALLY and unequivocally to all such utterances with an emphatic: NOT IN MY NAME! I have not heard you say that, Mr. President. The whole country is waiting for you to say so. We have not seen your Inspector General of Police rein in the flame-throwers; nor have we seen your Attorney-General read them the portions of the Nigerian constitution forbidding their inflammatory incitements. There surely must be a wide discernible difference between a national leader and a tribal jingoist. Say something, Mr. President. Say something. Your silence in this instance is anything but golden. Your ostrich cannot hide for long, for the Nigerian sand has become so transparent, thanks to many years of painful wisdom and enlightened skepticism of the people. 

Now, the impending election. As I once said in an open letter of this nature to one of your predecessors in the presidential office, in my reading of Nigeria’s history, no event has so constantly, so serially threatened the peace and very existence of Nigeria as the conduct of general elections: the botched federal elections of 1964, the Western regional elections of 1965 whose blatant rigging led to the ‘weti e’ insurrection, then the January 1966 military coup, then the pogrom on the Igbo people, then the secession of Biafra, then the (un)civil war; the ‘landslide fraud’ by the NPN in 1983, then another ‘weti e’ episode, then the military coup of January 1984; the June 12 1993 election widely considered as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history, annulled all the same (or for that reason) by General Babangida and his cohorts, then the long period of civil strife and the eventuation of General Abacha’s murderous despotism. The election of 2003 and 2007 did not go without the usual rigging, while the one of 2011 that brought you to a full presidency ended up with violent protests in certain parts of the country. 

And 2015, here we come. The year of Nostradamus. The year of the make-or-break election. Mr. President, from its every indication, from its verbal language and body gesture the world has been telling you how crucial the coming election is and why every step must be taken to make sure it ends up as fair and free and credible. Kofi Anan and Emeka Anyaokwu, two international potentates, have come to Abuja to supervise a peace accord between you and your opponent, General Buhari. John Kerry, the American Secretary of State, has also called, telling you and your fellow political warriors that his country will offer no safe haven to Nigeria’s election riggers. I deeply appreciate the counsel of these honourable men even as I add my own humble entreaty: Mr. President, make sure the coming election does not land Nigeria in the usual post-election crises. Do not handle it with the impunity that has characterized many of your actions and those of your party’s functionaries. You are the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Chief Security Officer of the Nation: use these powers justly and fairly by allowing the security agents to supervise the elections in a non-partial manner. I say this because experience has shown that election rigging in Nigeria is invariably carried out with the full and blatant ‘cooperation’ of security agents. Many of them do not even pretend about it as they often ask ‘who you think I go side? No be de person who pay my salary, the person who give me kola chop?’. Our police and other security operatives have always looked the other way when illegal ballot thumb-printing is going on, when ballot-box stuffing is in progress, and when ballot snatchers are at work. They have perfected the act of kidnapping and ‘disappearing’ leaders of the opposing party and holding them down till the elections are over. This is why the ruling party has always ‘won’ elections in Nigeria. 

This is why every major election in Nigeria is trailed by all manner of rancor and mayhem. Mr. President, your party, the PDP, has ruled Nigeria for over 15 years now; it has established an unconscionable control over all the levers of power. You will scatter this country if you allow them to use that power to disadvantage the other parties. The major cause of Nigeria’s electoral fiasco is the refusal of the ruling party (at national and state levels) to allow a peaceful change of power. That kind of civilized democratic transition is often seen as a sign of weakness. And when the ruling party makes peaceful change impossible that way, it invariably makes violent change inevitable. Please don’t make a mockery of the ‘I’ (standing for ‘Independent’) in INEC. Let victory go to whichever party the Nigerian people choose to embrace. Again, as I told one of your predecessors at this kind of electoral juncture a couple of years ago, please remember there is life after power. Let us do everything to circumvent the 2015 apocalypse. Make sure History does not write you down as the last President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Your compatriot, 

Niyi Osundare, 

New Orleans, 

Jan. 30, 2015

The Buhari I Know by Pastor Tunde Bakare

Listen to Pastor Tunde Bakare's opinion about General Muhammadu Buhari.