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Pendulum: Why It Is Good to Be Fair to All

Published

4 years ago

December 28, 2019

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, please, let me start with my favourite passage in the Holy Bible, and, believe me, this I hold very dear to my heart:

“Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my Brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'”

Nothing in this world is greater than loving your fellow humans and possessing the heart of forgiveness. I have not read the Holy Koran as much as I have read the Holy Bible, but I’m almost certain most religions preach and teach forgiveness. I don’t see how you can claim to love God if you hate, detest and despise your fellow being, HIS creation. You will soon understand and appreciate the reasons for my sermon on this page today.

Of all the Nobel Prizes, my favourite is the one devoted to, and awarded, for Peace. As simple as it sounds because peace is a concept that we all aspire to achieve, yet, it must be one of the most difficult to obtain or attain. To qualify, you must have performed some extraordinarily difficult feats or be imbued with an equanimity of mind, strength of character or nerves of steel. The feats performed by those who win this prize are not usually easy or comfortable. Most of the time they involve great personal sacrifice on the part of the recipients. Take Nelson Mandela as example. Most people would fail the acid test that recipients are subjected to when confronted with situations that demand and warrant the need to forgive an enemy who has potentially injured you mortally. It would take God’s personal intervention for anyone to just shrug his shoulders and move on carelessly in that condition. However, there are some who do. And that is why they receive this most sought after of recognitions for courage and boldness. Has any of you found yourselves in such tough situations? I certainly have. And if you are true to yourself, you will admit that you have too. What did you do? That is the million-dollar question.

During the June 12, 1993, brouhaha, I was picked up one early morning by some top and tough police officers, led by then Assistant Commissioner of Police Ganiyu Dawodu, now of blessed memory. I had spent the previous day virtually at Chief Moshood Abiola’s residence. He had asked me to see him about 2.00pm that July afternoon and when I got there the whole place was swarming with human traffic, as Abiola’s house usually was. I waited till about 4.00am before he had a chance to see me. Once we finished our discussions and he gave me my assignment, I left for home. To cut a long story short, unknown to me, I was being trailed by these security operatives who waited for me to arrive home before pouncing on me.

They took me to Force Headquarters at Moloney Street, Lagos, and later dumped me at Alagbon detention camp, where I was briefly interrogated by a senior female cop, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mrs Lawal. It was such a harrowing experience for me, and I would have thought I would carry the bile and bitterness endlessly and forever. For over two decades, I never saw Dawodu and Lawal. Though, at the time, they tried to be as nice and pleasant as much as the dictates of their jobs permitted, I still couldn’t get them off my mind.

I bumped into Dawodu at the Virgin Atlantic lounge one evening, shortly before he died. I didn’t recognise him, but he recognised me, and he reintroduced himself. The great gentleman who rose through the ranks to become Deputy Inspector General of Police soon died after that brief encounter. In the case of Mrs Lawal, a successful Police Officer, our meeting after over two decades was too surreal to be true. Her grandson and my youngest son were attending the same school at Somerfield, Oxford, and she and her daughter brought their son to spend time with us. If I took a million guesses, I would never have guessed right, that this disarming lady was the one who had almost permanently scarred me, although I was spared this blight because God gave me the grace not only to forgive, but also to forget.

My second example was with the Abachas. I was forced into exile for three agonising years during the terrorising and oppressive hard-nosed rule of the maximum dictator, General Sani Abacha. Yet, it was during this period that God gave us the African wonder, Ovation International magazine. It is doubtful that Ovation would have been birthed or nurtured had Abacha not become God’s instrument to send me on a long arduous journey into exile. Before we could say Jack Robinson, the three years sped by and Abacha passed on whilst we grew in leaps and bounds. By the time we returned from exile, Ovation was already a household name. The meat of this story was how we featured the weddings of two of Abacha’s daughters, Zainab and Gumsu, despite the travails that we suffered under the iron fist of their father. And all hell broke loose after those stories!

Why should Ovation cover the weddings of those who practically sentenced Abiola to perpetual detention and his eventual death? Dele has sold out. Ovation must die. A classic case of outsiders weeping louder than the bereaved. Unknown to my traducers, I was only acting and practicing my religion as much as possible. That Edition not only sold out completely, it established us as thoroughbred professionals and we were respected more for detaching ourselves from the pettiness of using our media influence against our enemies.

This is the crux of the matter. I have had cause to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his intervention in matters concerning two recent prominent detainees, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki and former Presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore. Many wondered why I should ever thank Buhari, a dictator, who had earlier detained many people without proper trial and had pointedly refused to obey a plethora of court orders. But that is who I am. Whosoever cannot forgive is not my kind of person. I hold strongly to the tenet and belief that forgiveness is not just the path to salvation, it is salvation itself.

Many had described and painted Buhari in lurid colours. And as a result of his taciturnity, it is easy for anyone to reach untoward and unfavourable conclusions about him. In one fell swoop, he changed some of the negative impressions of him when he did the unthinkable by freeing those two, albeit speculations continue to whirr on the social media circuit as to the reasons for this volte-face. I agree that it seems more than coincidental that the release of these two enfant terrible, as far as the present junta considers them, could happen on the same day, Christmas Eve, when the American Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard, presented her Letter of Credence to President Muhammadu Buhari. Others have suggested that it is in keeping with the spirit of Christmas, and to demonstrate that the President is not the religious bigot he is painted to be and does possess a Christmas spirit too. What seems remarkable, and lends credence to the American influence, is the fact that there is no nexus or similarities about their alleged roles, offences and length of confinement to warrant both being released at the same time. The only link appears to be that they were incarcerated without trial for lengthy periods notwithstanding strident calls for their release from the Bench which granted both of them bail on several diverse occasions. On my part however, I am simply elated by the gesture and what it symbolises or portends.

It is my hope that the release of the duo, detained under different economic and political circumstances, signals the beginning of greater adherence to the rule of law. This administration has made mountain top pronouncements about the fact that it considers the rule of law as a cornerstone of the government’s covenant to the people of Nigeria to bring good governance to them.

However, any discerning mind will be slow to give a pass mark to the Buhari administration on this score. Observance of the rule of law had become like anathema to the government until the release of Dasuki and Sowore. Both had faced the prospects of a lengthy period of detention for doing what they perceive to be nothing.

On Dasuki’s part, his defence to the numerous corruption and diversion charge he faces, is that his activities were all done, not just on the authority of the President, but on the basis of the security of the nation. His beef is that compelling him to say more about these matters will be to require him to breach the sacred oath he swore to defend the country. His claim is that a spook is no longer one if he must willy nilly divulge state secrets in order to save his own bacon. As a former soldier, he would be true to his principal and would not seek to undermine him in any way shape or form. I must confess that I am sympathetic to some of his defence. Rightly or wrongly, he believed that he was acting in the best interest of the administration for the good of the country. The problem in Nigeria, as is the case with most countries, is that officials pledge allegiance to the state but often owe allegiance to their principals, the individuals heading the state apparatus, who are responsible for their appointments. The truth is that for the most part, the interests, of the State and those of the individual head of a unitary government, are largely the same where those interests relate to the improvement of the state. Where those interests diverge is when the individual head and his cronies seek to perpetuate themselves in power, and for that reason begin to attack and decimate real and imagined enemies, like Dasuki.

I have written repeatedly and copiously that President Buhari needs to change his mien and do things in another way and await how God will transform Nigeria promptly and positively. No country can thrive in an atmosphere of chaos and confusion. This is why I hailed the President with the hope that we can encourage him to do much more.

Whilst Dasuki’s nightmare commenced from the standpoint of nationally injurious economic misdeeds, the same cannot be said about Sowore. He was ensnared because the government became suddenly jittery and nervous about his political utterances which were seen as being capable of bringing the government to its knees and forcing the government to capitulate. The mere use of the word ‘revolution’ by a social critic and activist without any form of military training or support base was as astonishing as it was tragic. The government and its handlers simply got its knickers in a twist because of this much dreaded word where despots are concerned. Notwithstanding what has gone before I will hesitate to label this Buhari government as such, but clearly there are those in the government that behave far worse than that.

The unlawful and unjust detention of these two gentlemen and many others, the gross disobedience of court orders, the crass impunity, the subjugation of the judiciary, the taming of the legislature, the muzzling of the press, the Gestapo tactics employed by certain government security agencies, all led us to conclude that this was an administration determined to turn democracy and all democratic norms on their heads. In one singular move and for any number of reasons, President Buhari turned the narrative around and behaved like the “Change” agent we all hoped he would be when he was first elected in 2015. We voted for fairness and justice back then in 2015.

We were on the brink, on the precipice of an abyss and we must not kid ourselves that releasing Dasuki and Sowore has suddenly changed our democratic fortunes, but it is a good start. It is not too late to return from the road leading to perdition and take our country back to the path of honour and glory by being fair and just to all.

This witting or unwitting act of President Buhari is ample reason and basis we must say no to all forms of division, oppression and intimidation. It is not too much to ask for…

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Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Prioritize Existing Unfinished Projects, Peter Obi Tells FG

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Eric

Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has advised the federal government to prioritize existing unfinished projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

Obi, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country.

The former governor of Anambra State mentioned that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, much less their completion.

Obi therefore, advised that the government prioritize the existing infrastructural projects in the country before embarking on any new and colossal projects like the Lagos-Calabar super highway project.

“The Federal Ministry of Works 2024 capital budget of N892,461,262,656.00, additional funding from multilateral loan projects of N94,828,535,243.00, alongside other expected contributions from sources like the China-Exim Bank and the World Bank, will not be enough for serious work on all the critical roads, some of which I enumerated above, let alone their completion.

So, why embark on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years?

“To do so will only exacerbate the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.

“Therefore, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, I urge prioritization of our existing uncompleted projects. We must allocate resources towards repairing and completing existing infrastructure.

“In any development formula, the primary focus should be on completing and rehabilitating existing infrastructure rather than embarking on colossal new projects that may never reach completion within the next 30 years,” Obi said.

Back in March, the Federal Government began constructing the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, designed to extend through 9 states with two spurs leading to the Northern States.

Recall that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had earlier described the project as a fraud.

“Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit,” Atiku said.

Headline

2027 Presidential Race: Opposition Parties Under Attack

Published

4 days ago

April 21, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

While it is still a whole three years before the next general election in 2027, The Boss has learnt that opposition parties in the countries are being muffled to pave the way for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to, and retain power.

From the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the Labour Party (LP), and down to the New Nigerian Peoples Paty (NNPP), crises have engulfed the rank and files, in what a source told this paper was the attempt and making of the ruling party, APC, to decimate, destabilize and make redundant the machineries of the opposition parties.

It is believed that by 2027, the apparatuses holding together the various opposition parties would have weakened irredeemably to the extent the country would seemingly nosedive into the inglorious one party state that every civil right advocate and democrats abhor.

It is alleged that all the crises in all the opposition parties are being engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led ruling APC, with the hope of getting the fibres of their system weakened, thereby luring the members of the crisis-ridden parties into the APC.

Slightly one year after the last presidential election, the two major opposition platforms, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, have separately been embroiled in a crisis of confidence which has diminished their capacity to provide viable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The crises in both opposition parties got to a head. The Labour Party led by its national chairman Julius Abure held its much-opposed national convention which was boycotted by its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi; its only governor, Alex Otti of Abia State; federal and state lawmakers elected on its platform, and the organised Labour.

In the Labour Labour, members have been embroiled in endless battle of supremacy with a faction led by Mr. Apapa steadily contesting the leadership of Julius Abure.

Consequently, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, reverence as a leader in the fold, noting that whatever the party faces presently, that Nigeria’s problems are far bigger than the crises in his party.

The LP has been embroiled in crises — ranging from allegations of misappropriation of funds, and leadership tussle, to calls for the resignation of the party’s national chairman.

TheCable reported that “On March 27, the LP conducted a national convention in Anambra state where Julius Abure was re-elected as its national chairman.

Obi did not attend the convention, fuelling speculations that he may be mulling over ditching the LP for another platform.

Speaking during an appearance on HaveYourSay247, an interactive online session hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo over the weekend, Obi said he is confident that the crises rocking the LP will soon be resolved amicably.

“Whatever is happening in the Labour Party is so minute compared to what is happening in the country,” Obi said.

“So, for me, it is something we will resolve amicably, and it is not anything to worry about. Let us worry about the country.

“Let us worry about how the average Nigerian would be able to have a means of livelihood to be able to eat, that should be our worry.”

Obi said he has no interest in being the party’s leader but only to make sure things are done properly.

“I don’t see what I do in politics as being the leader of any place or not. My position is that just like I always say, I am not desperate to be president of Nigeria, I am desperate to see Nigeria work because I know it can work,” he added.

“We have a more desperate situation. Parties are just a means to be able to contest elections. What is important is that being a leader of a party does not reduce the price of food.

In the PDP, the shenanigans of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has practically kept the party in constant crisis with many observers concluding that the now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is working for the APC, and is just a mole in the PDP. Wike has denied the allegation, however,

But news filtered in last week as that the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NEC meeting on Thursday was not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

While political stakeholders concluded that the outcome of the Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan; every page of what finally transpired at the meeting pointed to the fact.

The much touted removal of the party chairman, who is believed to be a crony of the Abuja minister, Damagum, retained his seat, with his executives.

“It is very clear to everyone that a lot of money politics is being played to cajole many loyal members of the party, forcing them into frustration, and eventually it of the party. The option afterwards, will be the APC. This, will for all intent and purpose actualize the intended one party state as an APC agenda.

The Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso-led NNPP is not faring better either. The only governor under their ticket, Abba Kabir Yusuf, just had the confidence of their party on him withdrawn. He was fighting for his political life until suddenly it was announced the the APC in Kano has collapsed its structure into the NNPP.

“This is just another APC strategy to actualize their hidden intentions. Time will reveal the very sinister agenda they harboring,” an analyst said.

Much as 2027 is still three years away, but intrigues are in play to render Nigeria a one party state, and perpetuate the APC in power. The three other opposition parties are basically under attack to bring to pass this unpopular agenda.

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Akwa Ibom Government, Governor Umo Eno Receive Top Honors at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos

Published

4 days ago

April 21, 2024

Admin

The Akwa Ibom State Government and Governor Pastor Umo Eno were recognized with Travellers Awards at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos for their sustained enhancement of infrastructure, support for local talent, and dedication to investment in the tourism sector. The ceremony took place at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos.

While Akwa Ibom won the Most Active Tourism State of the Year, Governor Eno was adjudged the most Tourism-Friendly Governor of the Year at the event that had Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade John in attendance.

According to Amb. Ikechi Uko, Founder/Publisher of ATQ Magazine, the organizers of the event which is in its tenth edition, Akwa Ibom State won the top prize “in recognition of its valiant and resourceful efforts to drive and sustain domestic tourism by promoting the industry.

‘In 2023, Akwa Ibom was one of the states that hosted World Tourism Day (WTD ) events. The state also organized the famous Christmas Unplugged, which featured music, food, and cultures from all 31 LGAs as well as ensured friendly policies.”

While hoping that the Travellers Awards would spur Akwa Ibom to do more to dominate the domestic tourism industry, the organizers hoped that the state would gradually evolve into one of Nigeria’s top international tourism destinations.

That was not all, the state Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Sir Charles Udoh was also recognized as one of the Top 100 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria for demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation in the travel and tourism industry, while other Akwa Ibom indigenes and entity were also celebrated: Mrs. Ime Udo, Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor( Tourism) won Tourism Promoter of the Year, Favour Udo won Tourism Photographer of the Year, Loretta Effiong and Prince Uduak Sunday (Qua Tours) were listed among the Tourism Personalities of the Year and Ibom Air won Airline of the Year International.

In his remarks, Sir Charles Udoh, who represented the Governor at the event, thanked the organizers for the awards and noted that Akwa Ibom is certainly enjoying the golden era when it comes to tourism development. He stated that Governor Umo Eno is very keen on making Akwa Ibom a leading tourism destination with his programmes and policies.

He revealed that with the new Victor Attah International Airport nearing completion, the purchase of a ferry for the Oron-Calabar route, new developments along its coastline and the restoration work that will be done at all its major tourism sites, Akwa Ibom is well on the way to becoming the number one destination for all domestic and foreign tourists.

In her speech, Tourism Minister, Mrs. Ade John hailed the organizers for hosting the Expo, where practitioners were lectured by top experts while also rewarding those who have excelled in the past year.

She affirmed that her ministry is open to partnership with public and private sector operators, adding that tourism development can only be successful through collaborative efforts.

The event, which attracted leading and budding tourism professionals, also featured interactive and entertainment sessions.

Apart from Sir Charles Udoh and Mrs. Ime Udo, the Akwa Ibom State delegation, also included: Mr. Michael Effiong James, Senior Special Assistant (Lagos Liaison) to Governor, Mrs. Eme Bassey, Special Assistant to Governor (Lagos Liaison) and Akparawa John Offiong, Deputy Director ( Culture) Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

More photos below: