NO, WE ARE NOT EXACTLY ALL BIAFRANS

On October 21, 2016, in Dallas, Texas, USA writer Chido Onumah gave a keynote address at the 2016 Annual Convention of the Anambra State Association in the Americas, ASA-USA. It did not come as a surprise that the theme he chose was in complete alignment with his roaring success of a book tour following the publication of his WE ARE ALL BIAFRANS. He spoke at length on, "Ndi Igbo, the Nigerian Dilemma and Why We Are All Biafrans."

According to him, "Like other Nigerians, Ndi Igbo have sacrificed for, and put a lot into Nigeria to prove their stake in it. They ought not be running away from it."

I am compelled to tell Chido Onumah and his readers that at this point in time Ndigbo have nothing left to prove. They are also by no means running away from Nigeria. However they are STILL being chased away from it by a combination of old and new, subtle and not so subtle methods. The truth is that the grouse that Ndigbo have with the Nigerian Project is unlike that of any other ethnic group. Refering to the title of his latest book Onumah said, "There are others who have taken me to task, accusing me of trying to dilute the essence of the Biafran experience and struggle, etc." Truly, the Igbo experience is unique.

Onumah said as much in his narrative of the push and pull factors that led to the dispersal of Ndigbo in Nigeria once it became clear that the British had removed all stops in order to prevent the "Pakistanisation" of the nascent federation. Britain for its own interests was implementing a fiscal balancing act in addition to imposing a post colonial client state administered by feckless northern surrogates. Professor Ben Nwabueze's historical excursion along these lines understandably drew the ire of Arewa apologists like the late Ahmadu Abubakar and Paul Unongo among others. Events in the aftermath of Nigeria's paper independence are still a cause for worry even to this day.

Thanks to the internet, there is a video, one of many, showing the revered Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello unapologetically telling a British colonial officer about his plans and efforts to checkmate The Igbo, mark you not Southern Christians. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with Ahmadu Bello's belief system if only we had left him alone to implement what he thought right for and on his adoring people. Nkem Ossai, writing in The Guardian twenty years ago had demanded an apology from both Awo and Zik, for not taking Ahmadu Bello at his word that not only was the north not ready for independence but was actually not interested on it. But for Boko Haram, North Korean doctors would still be providing primary health care in parts of the North today. A few were murdered by Boko-Haram for daring to apply the skills of modern medicine.

The archives at Whitehall covering the colonial era are all now fully declassified. This development is now a source of serious concern to those hell bent on sustaining a bastardised version of Nigeria’s history. For specifics one of the colonial Harolds, Harold Smith, recently came weeping and confessing, just before his loomimg passing, to all the criminal enterprises in which he was, as a matter of duty, personally involved while serving in colonial Nigeria. Will any member of the northern elite boldly step up to try and convince (or at least con) Igbo youths, who normally don't get their information from the NTA that all this is in the past? These youths unfortunately remember only the Akaluka, Agbahime and similar incidents. Who can dare stake his political future in the north by stating that the Sardauna was wrong? Nobody! . Hence we are stuck in a rut.

Yes, the other ethnic groups have their own issues against Nigeria and their immediate neighbours in the present structure. The strangest thing is that most of them proffer a solution framework with Ndigbo entrenched (by force) in it, while at the same time fiercely holding onto the notion of The Igbo Problem. Try as I may, my open-mindedness has failed me in an effort to reconcile this strange ambivalence.

I have always wondered at which point Dr Chinua Achebe arrived at his much publicised conclusion that the one and only thing all other Nigerians agree on all the time is the Igbo. (The Trouble with Nigeria). The comments that came in response to the recent article by Ken Okomma, WHY ARE THE YORUBAS AFRAID OF BIAFRA?, and also to my rejoinder, ARE THE YORUBAS AFRAID OF BIAFRA? are fully indicative of this ambivalence. One of my collaborators wrote in privately to say the following:

"The truth which you (ie me) carefully avoided to tell is that the Yoruba are indeed the real opponents of the whole Biafran idea. They do not want to hear anything about it. Not because they believe in Nigerian unity. But because of their hatred for Ndigbo. To them, anything that holds the prospect of being beneficial to Ndigbo should not even be discussed. They recognise the utility of Ndigbo to the Nigeran project & want us to remain in Nigeria but as third class citizens." This is unedited. I however fail to accept this to represent the majority opinion of enlightened Yorubas. To do so would imply my doubting their much touted education, political sagacity and sophistication.

The above is just a single sample. There are many others. I burst out in laughter when I read an online news site referring to me as a political analyst. Is that all that it takes, I wondered. I have now been hemmed in between the two extremes. We must find common ground. Only the truth, openly declared, will set Nigerians free.

THE PLACE OF NDIGBO IN THE NEW, IMPROVED(?) NIGERIA
I often wonder what sort of arrangement my fellow countrymen will conjure up if Ndigbo were to stay away from any venue where the National Question is being discussed, especially since any contribution from them is vigourously opposed and resented. Imagine Ndigbo announcing as follows:

"Whereas it has been agreed by all that Ndigbo and their irrational demands have been highly disruptive of genuine efforts to chart a way forward, we hereby resolve in the National Interest to stay away. We will however accept whatever arrangement the rest of Nigeria will arrive at."

I guess that there would be consternation and confusion if not in Yorubaland, then in the Niger Delta and the Middle-Belt. Even Christian minorities in the North-East have been crying and pleading that Southerners, Southern Christians and especially Ndigbo should not abandon them. Despite our bloodied heads, this call constitutes a big tug on our collective conscience. What do we do? The answer should be part of what this restructuring talk is all about.

Down south, I cannot understand the crazy rumour currently circulating in the grapevines that the people of the oil producing Niger Delta have a default position. This is to the effect that they cannot remain in Nigeria in the unlikely event that a much reduced Biafra gains independence. What I had expected but did not get, from the Niger Deltans, was a reaction along the lines of "Good riddance to bad Rubbish." There should have been dancing in the streets at that prospect, even if it is a long shot. Is that then the reason for the strong-arm and scorched earth tactics applied by Buhari and his forces in dealing with non-violent IPOB/Biafra agitators? There is no justification for that. Like I said, it is a rumour, which I read on ONLY one online outlet, not exactly credible.

Does anyone know the current heartfelt sentiments of the Niger Deltans? Can we take Chief Horsefall's public statements at face value? Or does he and his fellow opinion moulders hobnob with pro-Biafra activists at night? That would be despicable, especially while abandoning Nnamdi Kanu & Co on jail to carry the can! Anyway nothing surprises me again in this country. I hope that the Buhari semi-military administration does not apply enough strain to the breaking point on the creaking national structure in a stupid effort to find out if actually the Niger Deltans support Baifra. That will be a most expensive mistake. Our people say that when a woman has married two husbands, she can now tell if actually the first one was so bad after all.

I have lost count of the number of landlocked nations that abound in Africa and Europe. Lesotho is completely encircled by the Republic of South Africa. On my part, any arrangement outside of slavery whereby I can live out the remainder of my days in peace with a reasonable assurance that my grandchildren will not be hunted as game is ok. It will be interesting to envisage allowing the Niger Delta states to either retain the bulk of their mineral wealth (pre-1965 Constitution), or share same with the north while Igboland is left alone to sink or swim as it pleases WITHOUT FURTHER INTERFERENCE. I am sure that Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambuwal will prefer the later scenario. I had earlier alluded to that in my answer to Buhari's query WHAT DO NDIGBO WANT? I still stand by my prescriptions, including war reparations, which has been essentially paid but not documented by 45years of exploitation and deprivation.

In my article mentioned above, I had written, "Then again, it is quite possible that the fear of a potential downturn in economic prospects in Yorubaland, especially Lagos, without the LEAVENING VIBRANCY of Igbo participation‎, is scaring the living daylights out of some segments of Yoruba society." This statement was deliberately crafted to elicit a proper response from my Yoruba professional compatriots who are day-to-day involved in keeping Lagos and indeed Ogun States humming. I am still waiting for somebody to dispute the claim, brash or not. Again I repeat, only the truth will set us free! It's also ok, if we deliberately turn our back to the truth, so long as we don't waste our time subsequently blaming somebody else, say the Americans.

If indeed the rest of Nigeria will fully confront and embrace it's demons and decide that the presence of Ndigbo in its midst is such a terrible thing, I can live with that. What is not acceptable is this nebulous no-man's-land that we have willy-nilly occupied for so long. I have grandchildren. I will be loath to bequeath this sorry mess to them. They should not have to live through the dysfunction that my children and I have been through.

FINAL WORD ON NDIGBO ELITE
Chido Onumah also said, "The attitude of our squirming ex-governor captures the essence of the Igbo elite and their response to the Nigerian conundrum. But what are they afraid of?" This is it. There is this notion that if one is "well-behaved", then in some nebulous future, there is a fair chance that from among the ranks of these anti-Igbo men of Igbo extraction will be "selected" a President. I may not be able to correctly paraphrase Agunze Azuka Onwuka, but I will try. "Please dont hold your breath. Statistical evidence shows that it does not work that way. Perhaps Ndigbo may want the Presidency to prove a point, but they do not NEED it to get ahead."

Most Igbo elite, and I again refer to the monied but not too well educated class, would not even dare articulate my kind of argument in civilized circles. They are afraid of appearing different, not correctly subservient, as they need be, to the standard orthodoxy of what a patriotic Igboman should think or say among his peers. I pity the fire-brand mouse of an ex-governor whom Chido Onumah refused to name in his address. How many Ndigbo can dare pick up from where I left off in my furious riposte to the late Ahmadu Abubakar or Gov Aminu Masari? These discussions need to proceed apace in the open not just in those rare and hurried environments as in a National Constitutional Conference. Right now, we have on our hands all the time in the world before any formal discussions commence. You do not want to attend a national conclave only to waste valuable time scratching your head. Everybody should take a stand like I have and allow superior argument to carry the day. I am not even a public figure. Those who are, completely discount their potential to influence the move in the right direction. They do not need to be offensive in order to do the right thing. For the frightened Igbo pseudo-intellectuals out there, I have some good or bad news, depending on how they view it. My no holds barred approach has garnered me some followership in the North-East of all places. Some of the people up there have concluded that they can do better. Exactly my argument.

These are my few contributions to the thesis by Chido Onumah. We are not exactly all Biafrans. When we work out the glaring differences, then and only then will we be ALL Biafrans. Most Nigerians do not know that the word Biafra which everybody including Gen Yakubu Gowon now uses lustily was "haram" 45 years ago. The late Agwu Okpanku had the scars to show for it. Biafra was even expunged "gazettically" from our maps and the body of water bearing the same name. We must truly be making progress then, albeit slowly, when a whole Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre and similar venues are expropriated for discussing anything Biafra.

WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE: PASTOR BAKARE DOES NOT REGRET PROTESTING REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY BY PRES JONATHAN.

I would have wanted subsidy on petroleum products removed more than ten years ago ie long before Yar'Adua and Jonathan came into office. The cumulative benefit would have been there for all to see. Even with corruption, those who steal our money would have had far less to steal from, as opposed to the Subsidy Open Bazaar.

To hinge one's support for the application of any measure that is in the overall interest of the economy on the personality in power is most silly to say the least. Reuben Abati recently gave the public a clue as to how the unprincipled opposition politicians agreed with Jonathan to do the right thing, only to turn around and abandonned him midstream. That was most despicable. Hence I would consign Pastor Bakare to the dungheap of history for that confession. Thank God that such an unprincipled individual is a little removed from power at Aso Rock.

The fight against corruption during the Babangida, Obasanjo, Yar'Adua, Jonathan or indeed Buhari administrations should never have been based on any preconditions. Bakare and his co-travellers simply missed the point. Now that their preferred ruler is in power, and they have acquiesced to the much much belated removal of fuel subsidy, I wonder how they view the ongoing battle against corruption. Are we making any progress on that front? As someone who voted for Buhari, (which I now regret like most others), I find it impossible to imagine that politically speaking I am in the same camp as Pastor Bakare. God forbid!

ARE YORUBAS AFRAID OF BIAFRA? ‎

Since Ken Okomma posed his question, WHY ARE YORUBAS AFRAID OF BIAFRA? a few weeks ago, I have been busy analyzing that issue from a number of perspectives. Most importantly I patiently awaited the response of my Yoruba friends to enable me compare and contrast with my own personal observations and my own reading of the conclusions drawn by Okomma himself.

The real question that should be on the minds of anyone keen on honestly building up our polity and/or resolving issues along the many gaping faultlines, is this. ARE YORUBAS REALLY AFRAID OF BIAFRA? I do not think so.
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Many of our Yoruba compatriots actually believed the much publicised assertion by Dr Femi Aribisala that NIGERIA CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT THE IGBO, long before he brought this opinion into the public domain. While he is obviously not alone, it is worthy of note that this opinion is neither necessarily true nor inevitable. Economically the South-West should be able to survive, and even thrive with or without Ndigbo. Most other observers are smart enough to come to their own independent conclusions.

The average Yoruba elite stands toe to toe with his Igbo colleague and is not exactly scared of competition. The true stories of Dr Eni Njoku, etc, when retold, only helps to muddy up the waters some more. We can however overcome all that baggage. Even with decades long institutionalized disadvantages in the aftermath of the Nigeria-Biafra War, Ndigbo trudged along, asking for no favours but demanding only a level playing field. We have the example of Dr Alex Ekwueme recently telling the story of his experiences in his own words.

For Ndigbo to advance or keep advancing, you do not need to take anything away from the Yoruba. Most enlightened Yoruba know this. ‎However the rabblerousers would want us to believe otherwise, that it must be a zero sum relationship. Aribisala's warning in this regard is quite clear. Writer Chuks Iloegbunam has equally addressed this fallacy.

It is important to note that the vile and uncouth elements, who spew venom whenever Biafra and/or restructuring is mentioned, constitute but a very tiny minority of the important voices in Yorubaland. The tragedy however is that these few individuals reside full time on the social media platforms, fully occupy them, and create the impression that the Igbo and Yoruba, contrary to all visible indicators, are engaged in an all out war and are at each other's throats. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is exactly because of such characters, and the similarly worded response from the justifiably angry Igbo youth of identical pedigree, that Dr Femi Aribisala wrote again a few months ago calling for a truce.‎ He didn't need to appeal to the majority of the elite. They know better. What is lacking is their readiness to get into the fray and routinely and frequently come public with their convictions.
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Some anti-Biafra commentators often couch their opposition by advising Igbo youth and agitators to follow socalled official procedures. ‎Which procedures, I ask? In a country(?) that has no constitution that we can call our own? President Buhari has gone out of his way to announce in far away New York that he would never allow a referendum on the Biafra demand. The man is so limited that he does not realise that the matter is not exactly up to him. The country is going over a cliff and he is busy clutching at non-issues such as his personal likes and dislikes. That's part of the problem. How I wish our president has both the intellect and temperament to follow the latest contribution to the Biafran debate by world renowned constitutional lawyer Prof Ben Nwabueze.

The persistent systemic dysfunction and distrust makes even talking to ourselves extremely difficult. That is why people offer opinions on the social media, under the cloak of anonymity. Many like me will never give an opinion that we will not be ready to defend, modify or clarify in public among peers, over beer or whatever. That is why my name is signed on every opinion that I express. Operating in that mode, I can hardly be expected to offer gratuitous insult to anyone, no matter how much I disagree with them.

Perception is part of reality. Most of those who have weighed in on Ben Okomma's article have mostly avoided dealing with his main question. If Biafra is such a bad and unviable proposition, and one is not gaining an unfair advantage from the current arrangement, why does a Yoruba person, (Note that I didn't say most or typical-o!), find it irresistible to play the devil's advocate on that issue. One writer confessed that the furthest east he has ever been in present day Nigeria, is Warri. That still did not prevent him from propounding a solid understanding of the geopolitics and economics of Eastern Nigeria. For him Biafra just cannot work. It is this very overt passion on display that is bothering Okomma. He just can't get it. Neither can I.

Then again, it is quite possible that the fear of a potential downturn in economic prospects in Yorubaland, especially Lagos, without the leavening vibrancy of Igbo participation‎, is scaring the living daylights out of some segments of Yoruba society. The leading lights of Yorubaland cannot claim to be unaware of this potential, and the current faulty sentiments at the lower rungs of Yoruba society. They fully understand the available tools and methodologies for stopping the rush to the brink, even if a peaceful split turns out to be inevitable.
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It is now a cliche that Ndigbo are being blackmailed, by those who should know better, into dropping their demand for equity and fairness in the affairs of the Nigeria. Whereas equity is not another name for Biafra, sworn enemies of Ndigbo are giving the impression that they are inextricably bound like two sides of a coin. They are making Nnamdi Kanu's case for him by insisting on making no accommodation whatsoever for Ndigbo demands. Truly, nobody knows how this whole matter is going to pan out. However, we should all commit to peaceful outcomes, no matter what that outcome is. It does Nigeria no good to spend our time and intellect building case files for the International Criminal Court at The Hague.‎‎ Buhari had better watch out.

Among other things, Ayodele Adeyemi‎ wrote, ‎“A citizen of Biafra will be an illegal alien in Lagos that may not be allowed to own property or do business until his papers are perfected; all previous property and businesses may be reviewed and/or revoked.” Excuse me! On which planet does this youngman live?
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Ayodele Adeyemi easily gives himself away as an arch opponent of the Biafran dream while valiantly striving to dismiss that notion in subsequent rejoinders. It is doubtful if he succeeded in his effort to feign indifference. It is even surprising that he would endeavour to alter the public perception of his position and motives. Why bother? As I will soon elaborate, such a venture as the agitation for Biafra, or Kurdistan for that matter, can never get the support of everybody. Serious minded analysts have fulsomely berated the US and it's allies for stubbornly hanging onto the concept of a united Iraq at a time the Kurds are exercising all the recognized powers and duties of a sovereign nation. So it is with Biafra.

Ayodele got it wrong when he wrote that to mention Biafra to an Igbo man was equivalent to mentioning the Holocaust, a kind of raw nerve I presume. I believe that that was not his intention. Semantic error and all that. The truth is that Biafra, to all Ndigbo, is like the biblical promised land. Not yet realised.

If Moses had waited for all children of Israel to agree intoto with his leadership, they would still be wandering in the Sinai Desert to this very day. It is on record(?) that a good many of his contemporaries actively undermined him. Comparing that with the experience of Uwazurike or Kanu, one can easily observe once again that nothing is new under the sun. So much for opponents of the Biafran project insisting that ONLY when every Igboman or woman is on board, will they take the agitation serious. Or perhaps when Gov Aminu Masari of Katsina state says that it is ok. Did the Pharaoh ever concede until his hands were forced?

One other point is that most of those who set out from Egypt never made it alive to The Promised Land. Not even Moses himself. Their children did. I point this out to show how unimportant it is if Nnamdi Kanu gets to raise the Biafran flag or gets sworn in as its head of state.

Again when the people of Israel were later taken into captivity to Babylon, their children born in captivity kept hope alive. They found their way back home when the time was ripe. That their parents died and were buried in foreign land did not deter them.

I am not a biblical scholar, but the parallels were too good for me to ignore.

In conclusion, each and every Yoruba elite will have to decide for himself/herself if indeed the independence of Biafra portends a disaster worth averting.The irrational fear expressed by the likes of Ayodele would imply that Biafrans would be trooping home also with our many daughters who are currently happily esconsced in their husbands' homes in Yorubaland. Our very smart, popular and delectable Chimamanda readily comes to mind. We are not that mean. It will never come to that. Trust me.

Hon Chudi Offodile's Book: THE POLITICS OF BIAFRA

I have followed on Facebook the Frances Ashley Media video recording of the review of the new book authored by Hon Chudi Offodile titled, THE POLITICS OF BIAFRA. I believe that Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo did an excellent job of it. Anyone who left the venue still unenlightened and without a burning desire, nay hunger, to lay hands on the book, must gave slept through the entire event.
I was stung by Soludo's accusation that the Igbo intelligentsia, especially the monied elite, have resolutely stayed away from committing to the struggle one way or the other. Most have shied away even from the very necessary intellectual dicussions that should attend such a major potential shift in the way "Nigerians" will relate to one another going forward into the next half century.

Based on where I am coming from personally, I felt quite sad. I have been in this fray long enough. My younger colleagues at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, 50year-olds and younger have routinely asked me, "Are you not worried or afraid?" I have always wondered why I should. Somalia's Nurudden Farrah has remained my model.

I am shocked that it needed a Soludo to remind otherwise educated folks about the ECOWAS protocols. Some people just don't read or listen to the news. In one of my writings I had to remind anyone who would listen that many Ndigbo who relocated to Benin Republic, Gabon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire etc in 1967 have to date yet to make any moves whatsoever to run back to Igboland. How and why would anyone expect an Exodus of Ndigbo from whatever is left of Nigeria if indeed a decision is made that a partition is the best way to engender progress? Unless a new pogrom is in the works. Is there?

Most Nigerians agree without equivocation that we are not making any headway in the present structure. The category of our people, whom Soludo described with dismay, do not understand that the IPOB movement, valid/viable or not, has nothing to do with property. The general thinking has remained essentially pedestrian.

Why would anyone, because of these not so recent developments, worry about his properties in Abuja or Lagos, when the same individuals had six months earlier perfected their titles to properties in Dubai, Adelaide and Cape Town? If there are some things wrong with the extant laws governing property rights, then we should get them fixed. It should have nothing to do with Biafra. We have Ghanaians, Togolese and Liberian living among us for goodness sake.

Between 1957 and 1977 in Ogui section of Enugu, the Coal City, we had as neighbour one Alhaji Hassan, a Senegalese. He resided on his own property on Carter Street with his large family. But for the 1967/67 political crisis we never would have known that he wasn't Nigerian! One other thing was that the animus extended at that time to the generality of Ndi-Awusa was not extended to Alhaji Hassan. He was simply one of us, albeit understandably worried. That's the way it was. I understand that such pockets of amity, accommodation and assimilation are not exactly strange in Southern Nigeria. Umuahia in Abia State probably stands out. There are others. However in the north, Ndigbo, who constitute the lightening rod for everything south, (apologies to Dr Ike Okonta), have been living on tenterhooks for as long as I can remember. I am 68 years of age and therefore should know. I have done a followup to the brilliant article on this topic by budding writer Ms Jennifer Chinenye Emelife. She wrote on HOW TO SURVIVE THE NORTH.

I can forgive the typical Igbo money-miss-road for his narrow world view. However what do you say about those that I regard as my colleagues? They've been to the best schools in the world, worked in high positions in top-notch companies across the entire globe including The World Bank, have an elevated understanding of The Law, but simply because of a property in Lekki they lose it. They cannot stick their necks out to address national drift. Excuse me! Readers may racall my three year old brief article on Nigeria's Elite and Revolution. The conclusions can be strictly applied here to Ndigbo elite. What more can I add?

Finally, what kind of response has this book review by Soludo elicited so far from Ndigbo? I recall the aphorism, "He who pays the piper, etc . ." Hence I would want to ignore the way The Authority, headlined it's report with "Ifeanyi Ubah said, bla, bla. . " I found that to be an unnecessary distraction when serious matters are on the table. It is not everyday that you get a Prof Soludo to talk to us earthlings. What does Ifeanyi Ubah know? We might as well invite Chris. . Lol.

I will conclude (for now) by drawing attention to one of my earlier contributions.

Is Nnamdi Kanu a Hypocrite? – Writers War Roomhttp://writerswarroom.com/2016/08/27/is-nnamdi-kanu-a-hypocrite/

For some people it may throw more light on the real issues at stake. Definitely not landed property.‎

LAGOS DEMANDS SPECIAL FUNDS BECAUSE OF ITS PREEMINENT STATUS

I wonder if Jide Oluwajuyitan and like minds support Fiscal Federalism like I do? Any effort to improve the fortunes of Lagos that involves begging a dysfunctional National Assembly is the wrong way to go.

Lagos should push for total and unfettered fiscal federalism. All other things will be added onto it. Lagos DOES NOT NEED funds from oil revenues. Just imagine what will happen if all the relevant VAT, Petroleum and Alcohol consumption taxes and corporate taxes associated with Lagos are fully domesticated. If Lagos does not lead the push for restructuring with fiscal federalism, it would have fully abdicated it's manifest destiny to lead. All efforts in this regard by the Niger Deltans and the South-East will be misunderstood and resisted with dire consequences. Any suggestions from there is invariably spelt BIAFRA.

Allocation of "Special Funds" to Lagos will turn out to be "cikini moni." It will not do.‎

Re: HOW THE NORTH TAMED YORUBA AMBITION – Tanko Yakassai

When the Vanguard went to interview Tanko Yakassai, what did it's reporters expect? Any new facts or revelations pertaining to the issue at hand? I doubt it. Most of what he told them are available from other sources. Yakassai has been an avowed champion of northern interests, which in itself is not a bad thing.

The story of Northern Nigeria starting from the 1959 event in Borno land, as narrated by Yakassai, when the socalled Yoruba lawyers were harassed and illegally detained for trying to aid the non-Fulani people who indicated ambivalence about joining the NPC political machine up to this present day is one long nightmare. Yakassai's personal take of those events merely strengthen what is already known about him and his ilk. He is resolutely opposed to restructuring the polity and in the same breath stresses that things are so bad that they just can't remain the same. Those two positions are clearly incompatible. To make omelets, you must break some eggs!

A full-blooded Fulani is again president, after a virulent agitation akin to that of The Niger Delta Avengers. What have we now got? Stagnation, inflation, naira devaluation, disinvestment, unemployment, ignorance and disease. Another issue that few of us have been bold enough to broach is this. Must it be Buhari? I can count at least twenty politicians from the north who can make us a better president than the incumbent. I do not have to like them. Their most important qualification includes that they are better than the stiffnecked and clueless Buhari. Strange that the word "clueless" has again taken centrestage in our political discourse so soon after we saw off Goodluck Jonathan. Meanwhile some citizens are prayerfully reading Psalm 109 v8 with reference to President Buhari. Very sad.

On his part writer Simon Kolawole has used medical/pharmaceutical terminology to suggest that if we have used a drug for 16months without relief, then it is time to jettison the therapy and try another drug. These comments are not funny. Why on earth are we so blest?

I cannot understand how in the midst of this morass, people like Tanko Yakassai would posture to appropriate pariotism to themselves, while still working assiduously against whatever could rationally be called national interest. Yakassai, and people who think like him constitute the very personification of Nigeria's problems. General Gowon should target his unceasing prayers towards dislodging them from all positions of influence.

Contrary to what Yakassai may want us to believe, what he presented is sadly NOT a Yoruba problem. We are all carrying that cross, including the hapless northern masses.

RESTRUCTURING? - THE DISINFORMATION ‎CONTINUES.

Ahmed Musa Husaini‎ wrote among other things:

‎"Unfortunately, the federalism of the first republic did not only fail, but ended in disaster, marred by regional political crises and a bloody military coup that culminated into a bloody civil war whose scars are still visible on our body politic."

This conclusion is patently false. Neither the first military coup, the follow up revenge coup, the unrelenting pogrom on Ndigbo and anyone who unfortunately looked like them (see Abraham Ogbodoh), nor the invasion of the East was caused by a constitutional deficiency.

The pre-1966 federal arrangement a.k.a. Constitution, was the only one ever negotiated and agreed upon by the people of Nigeria and their elected political representatives.

It is amazing that anyone including Ahmed Musa Husaini‎ would disparage that constitution, whatever it's flaws, on the premise that a bunch of ill-educated military officers, more in the mould of Idi‎ Amin, somehow knew better. Obviously they are being very economical with the truth.‎ Which ones are the shining stars? Is it Gowon, Muritala Mohammed, Buhari in his first incarnation or Abacha? Excuse me! Ironsi never counted in this reckoning. Babangida on his part showed some flashes of brilliance but then soon showed his hand for a personal agenda and derailed. In short we have never had it so bad as far as lacking in a uniting and guiding philosophy is concerned. Hussain has said as much. Where then resides his argument against restructuring. He has lost me.
‎
On INSTITUTIONS AND INTERNALIZED FOUNDING PHILOSOPHIES, Husaini‎ wrote, "Sadly, that is not easily achievable in a country where there is no nationally agreed version of our history, of our past; no nationally agreed consensus on where we are, who we are and where we want to be. On the contrary, each distinct ethnic or regional group has its own philosophy, perceived or declared, has its own aspirations, and these aspirations are for the most part mutually exclusive, mutually-rejecting and irreconcilable."‎

‎This writer has clearly illustrated the institutionalized‎ disdain for our "correct" history by his statement quoted earlier where he discredited the pre-1966 Nigerian Constitution meticulously hammered out by Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe‎ and Obafemi Awolowo. It is amazing how, with self-imposed amnesia, revisionists refuse to give them any credit for their political sagacity in working out compromises that ACTUALLY kept Nigeria one. How could the latter day apostles of this suffocating national "unity" of Jonah and the whale not have learnt that without their compromise, Eastern and Western Nigeria were poised to secure independence from Britain ahead of Ghana in 1957? There would have been no Nigeria ‎over which to subsequently disagree.

I am of the opinion that Northern Nigeria would have been far better off as an independent nation, ahead of Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso. It is a great pity that most of our northern brethren have been deliberately dumbed down to believe that they owe them survival to someone else.

Hussaini also undermined his very own argument that things are just fine as they are and that we should simply soldier on.

The plain truth is that this arrangement which we allowed to be imposed on us over the past 50years has not worked and will not work. The very group, the northerners, who claim to like things the way they are, would unfortunately not know what to do in the unlikely event that all oil revenues are appropriated for the north. It is as bad as that. We have addressed the Resource Curse enough that it does not need repeating. The north can only settle down to plan it's own development, and actually grow if the region is thrown into the deep end of the economic pool and left to its own devices. Entrepreneurs will sprout out of all the cracks and the woodworks. The people are neither stupid nor lazy. The parasitic elite are giving the hardworking northerner a bad name. Let me see who will call the much villified but hardworking Fulani herdsmen lazy!‎
‎

BUHARI SINGLES OUT AND INTIMIDATES IGBO YOUTH CORPERS WHO VISITED HIM IN DAURA.

Nigerians are stuck with a most taciturn elected president who says very little on just about anything. That is when he is not in his most comfortable zone talking to the BBC Hausa Service or Financial Times of London among other foreign news outlets.

If and when our president condescends to speak to us directly, there are so many issues on which Nigerians find common ground, jobs, hunger in the land, electrical power, water, roads and other infrastructure. But no, our president does not address these issues. He chooses to pick out clearly unidentified Igbo youths who had blended unobtrusively among fellow Nigerians on a national assignment. I don't know what other Nigerians will call this action. To me that was crass intimidation. There is no information that these Igbo Youth did anything to invite the president's ire. That was most irresponsible. If the president thought that it was a good idea, I recommend a standard state visit to Enugu. He would then deliver his message to an adoring crowd massed in the Enugu Sports Stadium. .
In anticipation of such a visit, I say in advance, "Nnoo! . Welcome Mr President."

PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF! GEN ABDULSALAM ABUBAKAR ROOTS FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTH-EAST

Really? I cannot imagine a situation where a northerner, no matter how well intentioned and well educated, will shine the light so that Ndigbo will see the way. Ndigbo lead (not rule), others follow. That's the way it is.

It has been over seventeen years since General Abdulsalam Abubakar, representing the rump of a long line of northern dominated military regimes, finally threw in the towel by allowing a close ally and former colleague, Olusegun Obasanjo, to take over the mantle of office as an elected civilian President. Forget Anambra State and the South-East. Since then for every complaint about the deprivation and neglect of Igboland, my response has been to point out that whatever the South or Igboland lost, has strangely not benefitted the north. Herein lies the true tragedy of our underdevelopment.

An underdeveloped north has presented a myriad of problems to Ndigbo. ‎If only half of the northern kids currently out of school are captured into the school system, perhaps 500,000 new teachers will be required from the South. In short, jobs for southerners. A vast majority will have to come from Igboland since as at now the South-East is involved in filling the gap in Lagos and environs.

Igbo entrepreneurs, traders, craftsmen, professionals, etc, would prefer a much larger middle class in the north, which will result from increased access to education, income equality and the investment by northerners themselves in economic activities across the entire spectrum. Currently the northern elite are happy sitting on the fence. This is unacceptable.

The above scenario represents but a part of the Eldorado that Northern Nigeria can become. It goes without saying that the Almajiri and its other offshoots like Boko-Haram can then be a thing of the past. Ndigbo have for decades looked outside their homestead for investment opportunities. For this they have been praised and also derided especially by other Nigerians who do not possess the temperanent to risk anything outside their immediate hamlets. I know a few Igbo entrepreneurs, (they are few indeed, but the number is growing), who have sworn never again to invest outside Igboland. Can anyone blame them?

I have written elsewhere, quoting Shakespeare, "Sweet are the use of adversity, . . " Is it not strange that it has taken this long for former Military Head of State, Gen Abdulsa‎lam Abubakar, to make such a high profile visit to Anambra State, specifically to Nnewi? There is confusion in the north and in Abuja. Hunger and starvation in the North-East. The wolf is among the chicken! Nobody seems to know what to do.

Ndigbo will develop Nigeria without any preconditions, but first Nigeria has to let it. I wish that the general will honestly confess about "the road not taken," and with his kinsmen, vow to make amends. Otherwise they will still live in their gilded hill-top mansions, with executive jets at their beck and call, but sadly with poverty, ignorance and disease as their neighbours and constant companions. That was exactly what I tried to put across when I responded to President Buhari's query, WHAT DO NDIGBO WANT?. Stop clipping our wings. Allow us to fly. Nigeria will be better for it. This is NOT a call for Biafra. The validity or otherwise of that agitation has nothing to do with the above analysis. It should stand on its own merit.

To conclude, I will say this to the old general, "Physicia heal thyself!" Your nice sentiments are most welcome, but it will profit this polity the more if you spend more time challenging your free loading and indolent brethren. Of course we have their equivalents down south, but thankfully, they do not predominate. I may sound harsh but I have no apologies. That is what Nigeria needs at this time. It is indeed a major achievement that everybody now recognises that Nigeria is broke. May the price of oil remains low for another ten years. Yes, quote me. That is my prayer.

http://www.channelstv.com/2016/08/22/abdulsalami-abubakar-rallies-support-anambra-industrialists/

FG CHASES PROCEEDS OF STOLEN CRUDE IN FAR AWAY UNITED STATES

The tools of forensic audit, currently applied to track various shiploads of stolen crude spanning perhaps the last ten years, have always been available. It is not as if someone suddenly discovered Pythagoras Theorem and we are shouting "Eureka!"

The only way Nigerians like me would take this current exercise with any seriousness is if and only if the government produces a comprehensive list of our big men and women who headed the NNPC, DPR, Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Organisation, the Nigerian Police especially the Marine Commands etc. A no-holds-barred forensic audit must then be extended to these individuals whose networth in billions of US Dollars kept rising from no visible economic activities, while the theft was taking place. It is not exactly rocket science determining the nature of laundromat services rendered to them by our banks. When it suits it, the Buhari administration has shown that this can be done. Anyone in doubt should go talk to the immediate past CEO of Fidelity Bank. Other examples abound.

There is enough in Nigerian law books to slap racketeering charges on these individuals, and of course the seizures. Corruption must not be construed to mean just stealing from the federation account.

I would not be surprised if the crooks, (if indeed they are indicted), would have among themselves some 100 lofty Nigerian National Honours to boot. . What a depressing thought.

FEDERAL GOV DUMPS PROPOSAL TO SELL SHARES IN NIGERIA LNG LTD.

t is a free world. Nothing stops Alhaji Aliko Dangote from making the proposal that the Federal should raise money to bridge the budget gap by selling its stakes in the Nigeria LNG Limited, Eleme-Indorama Petrochemicals among other investments. It is not by force. Dangote and the few who support his proposal should not be demonized for smelling an investment opportunity in Nigeria’s current economic predicament.

The thing that really gets me is the slant in the current news reports, "Federal Government yesterday dumped Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s proposal to sell Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and other crown jewels to augment shortfall in revenue, . etc" Are we to understand that in a few short days, while the National Assembly was away on its weekly recess, an idea that has barely made it into the people's consciousness HAS BEEN TABLED, ANALYZED AND THROWN OUT? Behind their back? What were they thinking? Could the government actually have set that landmark disinvestment activity in motion within that short time frame? Even if it was a good idea? Only in Nigeria!

Some commentators have pointed accusing fingers directly at operatives in the current APC run government, instead of Dangote, for arranging to float this kite with the aim of cornering once again some crown jewels of the Nigerian economy, just like those before them. Our poiticians will never change. I wonder if indeed they were in anyway surprised by the shrill opposition from the enlightened public

I am of the opinion that until the Russians start giving away their gas for free as a strategy for remaining in contention, it is only a person or group with barely concealed criminal intent that will want to sell the most profitable of the few viable investments that the Nigerian government has ever gotten involved in. If those floating this silly kite didn't read any literature in high school, at least they had the equivalent of nursery tales and rhymes. Who among us has never heard of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs? That tale also has equivalents in most Nigerian folklore.

Haba Nigeria!

DID GOVERNORS ENDORSE SALE OF NATIONAL ASSETS, . . OUR CROWN JEWELS?

This report is a continuation of the kite flown earlier and credited to Dangote who incidentally does not owe us any duty of care.

I wish that someone would sum up the net present value of ALL Federal Government assets being considered for liquidation. 2) Revalue them again for the scenario of distress sale. 2) Divide it up equally or unequally (I don't care) and 3) Apply the sums to the cash flow analysis of the various states going forward the next five years.

I predict that only Lagos, Anambra and maybe three other states will survive the stress test.

Hence I insist on the governors and the various state legislators should quit beating about the bush, go back to the drawing board (I hope that have one) and design their way to development, viability and liquidity. That is the only logical thing that they should bring to the table. Otherwise, they stand disqualified to even contribute to the discussion. Can these governors kindly publish the development road map that they produced with Buhari after their original summit at time the word recession was still politically incorrect. The chicken have finally come home to roost.

After sharing the measly federal patrimony, then what? What kind of jokers are these?

THE ENUGU - ONITSHA EXPRESSWAY: IS NIGERIA COMMITTED TO THE TRANS WEST AFRICA HIGHWAY?‎

A couple of hours ago I read again the usual lament about the deplorable state‎ of the Enugu - Onitsha federal expressway. This one by my friend Ikem Okuhu was on Facebook. As expected, the reaction was fast and furious with accusing fingers pointed (correctly) at the Federal Government, a major South-East representative in the Federal Executive Council in the person of Dr Chris Ngige and of course the various Senators, Reps and others sleeping on duty at Abuja. I do not intend to toe that line today .

When Ikem stated "the only road linking Enugu and Anambra States," he completely missed the point. The tragedy is not local. The Onitsha - Enugu - Abakaliki - Ogoja - Mamfe highway, just like the Shagamu - Ofusu/Ohosu highway, are part of the Trans West Africa Highway to which our government committed over 30years ago. The agreements have been observed more in the breach. This is the only sensible way of looking at the omissions and commissions of those who pretend to govern Nigeria over the years.

That Ndigbo occupy a paricular stretch of this long road that starts at Dakar, in Senegal, is neither here nor there. I recently followed a report on Aljazeera concerning the upgrade of the Mamfe - Douala segment of this very highway, on the Cameroonan side of the border. The main thrust of the report was the fantastic economic impact on the lives of the people.

Stupidity will not allow our rulers to realise that if all the major roads in the South-East are properly built and maintained AND TOLLED, we may be able to collect enough revenue to build roads in other parts of Nigeria where the road projects are not exactly bankable. After all why on earth is it that it is only at the 2ND NIGER BRIDGE that state government participation and eventual toll collection is being envisaged. Mind you, I do not intend to address the issue of equity in this particular commentary. I have dealt with that in previous outings. The truth is that whichever way you look at it, the South-East rocks! . An editor in one of the national dailies writing on a different matter made reference to the Wise Men of the East. We are not exactly all wise, but our people cannot deliberately sit on the floor when they can afford chairs, or something to that effect. The same applies to roads.

In the final analysis, the Federal Government should, in the spirit of fiscal federalism, get out of the business of road construction, toll collection and maintenance. I do not derive any pleasure blaming an "outsider" over a matter that my brothers and I can take care of ourselves, if only we can get rid of this stupid and rigid structure.

RE: GUN-WIELDING HERDSMEN NOT NIGERIANS SAYS SULTAN OF SOKOTO

We have long reconciled ourselves with the rare public comments from the only official spokesperson of the Miyetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association that we know of. I am referring to our President, Muhammadu Buhari, who, in the high profile position as a Patron, has so far successfully shielded the Association and its vast army of employees, the herdsmen, from the public outcry and strong arm response expected from our no-nonsense security agencies.

All entreaties that Buhari should distance himself from that association had fallen on deaf ears. However, it seems as if Buhari now has some competition. The revered Sultan of Sokoto has robustly stepped into the fray, claiming centre stage. This is not his first outing.

We finally have it on good authority that the gun-wielding cattle herdsmen, the serial perpetrators of so much mayhem in our polity, have after all been SHOWN to be foreigners. That implies that a good many have been apprehended, making it possible to identify them and hence come to the above inescapable conclusion. The problem remains that the concerned public do not have any record about such arrests.

It is really tragic to recall that a lily-livered minister, Audu Ogbeh, had glibly announced to the nation that “Fulani” herdsmen (armed or not), from all over the Sahel north and west of Nigeria, have an inalienable right to roam anywhere in Nigeria with their foreign herds. He reminded us that the ECOWAS protocol on freedom of movement of goods and persons mandated that freedom.

This is really funny coming from a minister of a country (Nigeria) where the freedom of movement of its own citizens as well as freedom of residence and ownership of property is yet to be guaranteed.

It is strange that “herdsmen from Chad, Niger Republic or Burkina Faso” should have more rights than I do in my own country and lawfully possess AK-47 assault rifles with which to enforce such rights.

Re: Much Ado about Restructuring – Writers War Room

RESTRUCTURING? - THE DISINFORMATION ‎CONTINUES.

Ahmed Musa Husaini‎ wrote among other things:

"Unfortunately, the federalism of the first republic did not only fail, but ended in disaster, marred by regional political crises and a bloody military coup that culminated into a bloody civil war whose scars are still visible on our body politic."

This conclusion is patently false. Neither the first military coup, the follow up revenge coup, the unrelenting pogrom on Ndigbo and anyone who unfortunately looked like them (see Abraham Ogbodoh), nor the invasion of the East was caused by a constitutional deficiency.

The pre-1966 federal arrangement a.k.a. Constitution, was the only one ever negotiated and agreed upon by the people of Nigeria and their elected political representatives. 

It is amazing that anyone including Ahmed Musa Husaini would disparage that constitution, whatever its flaws, on the premise that a bunch of ill-educated military officers, more in the mold of Idi‎ Amin, somehow knew better. Obviously they are being very economical with the truth. ‎ Which ones are the shining stars? Is it Gowon, Muritala Mohammed, Buhari in his first incarnation or Abacha? Excuse me! Ironsi never counted in this reckoning. Babangida on his part showed some flashes of brilliance but then soon showed his hand for a personal agenda and derailed. In short we have never had it so bad as far as lacking in a uniting and guiding philosophy is concerned. Hussain has said as much. Where then resides his argument against restructuring. He has lost me.

On INSTITUTIONS AND INTERNALIZED FOUNDING PHILOSOPHIES, Husaini‎ wrote, "Sadly, that is not easily achievable in a country where there is no nationally agreed version of our history, of our past; no nationally agreed consensus on where we are, who we are and where we want to be. On the contrary, each distinct ethnic or regional group has its own philosophy, perceived or declared, has its own aspirations, and these aspirations are for the most part mutually exclusive, mutually-rejecting and irreconcilable."

‎This writer has clearly illustrated the institutionalized‎ disdain for our "correct" history by his statement quoted earlier where he discredited the pre-1966 Nigerian Constitution meticulously hammered out by Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo. It is amazing how, with self-imposed amnesia, revisionists refuse to give them any credit for their political sagacity in working out compromises that ACTUALLY kept Nigeria one. How could the latter day apostles of this suffocating national "unity" of Jonah and the whale not have learnt that without their compromise, Eastern and Western Nigeria were poised to secure independence from Britain ahead of Ghana in 1957? There would have been no Nigeria ‎over which to subsequently disagree. 

I am of the opinion that Northern Nigeria would have been far better off as an independent nation, ahead of Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso. It is a great pity that most of our northern brethren have been deliberately dumbed down to believe that they owe their survival to someone else.

Hussaini also undermined his very own argument that things are just fine as they are and that we should simply soldier on. 

The plain truth is that this arrangement which we allowed to be imposed on us over the past 50years has not worked and will not work. The very group, the northerners, who claim to like things the way they are, would unfortunately not know what to do in the unlikely event that all oil revenues are appropriated for the north. It is as bad as that. We have addressed the Resource Curse enough that it does not need repeating. The north can only settle down to plan it's own development, and actually grow if the region is thrown into the deep end of the economic pool and left to its own devices. Entrepreneurs will sprout out of all the cracks and the woodworks. The people are neither stupid nor lazy. The parasitic elite are giving the hardworking northerner a bad name. Let me see who will call the much vilified but hardworking Fulani herdsmen lazy!

IS NIGERIA COMMITTED TO THE TRANS WEST AFRICAN HIGHWAY

A couple of hours ago I read again the usual lament about the deplorable state‎ of the Enugu - Onitsha federal expressway. This one by my friend Ikem Okuhu was on Facebook. As expected, the reaction was fast and furious with accusing fingers pointed (correctly) at the Federal Government, a major South-East representative in the Federal Executive Council in the person of Dr Chris Ngige and of course the various Senators, Reps and others sleeping on duty at Abuja. I do not intend to toe that line.

When Ikem stated "the only road linking Enugu and Anambra States," he completely missed the point. The tragedy is not local. The Onitsha - Enugu - Abakaliki - Okoja - Mamfe highway, just like the Shagamu - Ofusu/Ohosu highway, are part of the Trans West Africa Highway to which our government committed over 30years ago. The agreements have been observed more in the breach. This is the only sensible way of looking at the omissions and commissions of those who pretend to govern Nigeria over the years. 

That Ndigbo occupy a paricular stretch of this long road that starts at Dakar, in Senegal, is neither here nor there. I recently followed a report on Aljazeera concerning the upgrade of the Mamfe - Douala segment of this very highway, on the Cameroonan side of the border. The main thrust of the report was the fantastic economic impact on the lives of the people.

Stupidity will not allow our rulers to realise that if all the major roads in the South-East are properly built and maintained AND TOLLED, we may be able to collect enough revenue to build roads in other parts of Nigeria where the road projects are not exactly bankable. After all why on earth is it that it is only at the 2ND NIGER BRIDGE that state government participation and eventual toll collection is being envisaged. Mind you, I do not intend to address the issue of equity in this particular commentary. I have dealt with that in previous outings.  The truth is that whichever way you look at it, the South-East rocks! . An editor in one of the national dailies writing on a different matter made reference to the Wise Men of the East. We are not exactly all wise, but our people cannot deliberately sit on the floor when they can afford chairs, or something to that effect. The same applies to roads. 

In the final analysis, the Federal Government should, in the spirit of fiscal federalism, get out of the business of road construction, toll collection and maintenance. I do not derive any pleasure blaming an "outsider" over a matter that my brothers and I can take care of ourselves, if only we can get rid of this stupid and rigid structure.

Re: Abdulsalami Abubakar Rallies Support For Anambra Industrialists • Channels Television

I cannot imagine a situation where a northerner, no matter how well intentioned and well educated, will shine the light so that Ndigbo will see the way.  Ndigbo lead (not rule), others follow. That's the way it is.

It has been over seventeen years since General Abdulsalam Abubakar, representing the rump of a long line of northern dominated military regimes, finally threw in the towel by allowing a close ally and former colleague, Olusegun Obasanjo, to take over the mantle of office as an elected civilian President. Forget Anambra State and the South-East. Since then for every complaint about the deprivation and neglect of Igboland, my response has been to point out that whatever the South or Igboland lost, has strangely not benefitted the north. Herein lies the true tragedy of our underdevelopment. 

An underdeveloped north has presented a myriad of problems to Ndigbo. ‎If only half of the northern kids currently out of school are captured into the school system, perhaps 500,000 new teachers will be required from the South. In short, jobs for southerners. A vast majority will have to come from Igboland since as at now the South-East is involved in filling the gap in Lagos and environs.

Igbo entrepreneurs, traders, craftsmen, professionals, etc, would prefer a much larger middle class in the north, which will result from increased access to education, income equality and the investment by northerners themselves in economic activities across the entire spectrum. Currently the northern elite are happy sitting on the fence. This is unacceptable. 

The above scenario represents but a part of the Eldorado that Northern Nigeria can become. It goes without saying that the Almajiri and its other offshoots like Boko-Haram can then be a thing of the past. Ndigbo have for decades looked outside their homestead for investment opportunities. For this they have been praised and also derided especially by other Nigerians who do not possess the temperanent to risk anything outside their immediate hamlets. I know a few Igbo entrepreneurs, (they are few indeed, but the number is growing), who have sworn never again to invest outside Igboland. Can anyone blame them?

I have written elsewhere, quoting Shakespeare, "Sweet are the use of adversity, . . " Is it not strange that it has taken this long for former Military Head of State, Gen Abdulsa‎lam Abubakar, to make such a high profile visit to Anambra State, specifically to Nnewi? There is confusion in the north and  in Abuja. Hunger and starvation in the North-East.  The wolf is among the chicken! Nobody seems to know what to do. 

Ndigbo will develop Nigeria without any preconditions, but first Nigeria has to let it. I wish that the general will honestly confess about "the road not taken," and with his kinsmen, vow to make amends. Otherwise they will still live in their gilded hill-top mansions, with executive jets at their beck and call, but sadly with poverty, ignorance and disease as their neighbours and constant companions. That was exactly what I tried to put across when I responded to President Buhari's query,  WHAT DO NDIGBO WANT?. Stop clipping our wings. Allow us to fly. Nigeria will be better for it. This is NOT a call for Biafra. The validity or otherwise of that agitation has nothing to do with the above analysis. It should stand on its own merit.

To conclude, I will say this  to the old general, "Physician heal thyself!" Your nice sentiments are most welcome, but it will profit this polity the more if you spend more time challenging your free loading and indolent brethren. Of course we have their equivalents down south, but thankfully, they do not predominate. I may sound harsh but I have no apologies. That is what Nigeria needs at this time. It is indeed a major achievement that everybody now  recognises that Nigeria is broke. May the price of oil remains low for another ten years. Yes, quote me. That is my prayer.

http://www.channelstv.com/2016/08/22/abdulsalami-abubakar-rallies-support-anambra-industrialists/

Cattle freight from Gusau

The Managing Director, Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending,ý Abdulhameed Aliyu, described the arrival of cattle by train to Lagos from Gusau as a feat and a pleasant surprise as well as (a) good omen for the innovative project of moving cattle from the north to the south by rail.

According to Aliyu, “We are indeed happy to hear that the wagons have arrived ahead of schedule. We are very delighted that the historic train has arrived earlier than projected.”

It is indeed sad if not depressing posturing to be smart in an environment like Nigeria, where anything goes. You end up doubting the humanity of otherwise enlightened individuals who handle the reins of office. In my days at the University of Lagos, the typical question was, “Ibu du ewu?” Meaning, “Are you a goat?”

We are so used to mediocrity that any activity or service delivery that approaches the norm is hailed as phenomenal. How on earth can the MD of NISRAL describe the mere arrival of a cattle train in Lagos after a two and half day journey as historic? When was this young man born?

In several writings proposing solutions to the unabating problem of the wandering Fulani herdsmen, I had recommended that cattle for slaughter must henceforth no longer arrive at the destination on the hoof. Cattle can cross state boundaries ONLY in a truck, trailer or train. It could not have been an original idea of mine when I recall those modes of cattle transfer in my youthful days at Enugu from 1957 to 1967 before the shooting war started. I lived barely 300m from the Railway Station and the locomotive running sheds.

The bar for performance has been set so low that it may not surprise me if Aliyu gets awarded an MON for “inventing” the cattle train. The question should have been why it took so long. Is this train ride a stunt, or a sample of things to come? Only time will tell.

Re: Use oil wealth to better lot of Nigerians - US tells FG in Yenagoa

CONSUL-GENERAL LEADS US DELEGATION TO BAYELSA STATE

It is difficult to discern the exact nature of US interests in Nigeria at all times. Those interests may have some fixed and variable components such that, to copy the Iranian example pre-1979, the US administration, in pursuit of a strategic objective, may overtly support an incompetent and repressive Nigerian administration. The recent visit to Northern Nigeria by US Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, has drawn a lot of flak from incensed Southerners and Christians alike. The question often asked has been, "Why exactly did Kerry come to Nigeria?" Nigerians have been at a loss over this matter. Kerry landed in Abuja and held consultations with a highly unpopular former military dictator who recently wormed his way into an elected presidency. As if to confirm the rabidly Islamic slant of the Buhari administration, Kerry proceeded to hold further consultations with Islamic religious leaders from only the north, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto.

Understandably the southern press and online social media have taken up this matter. And we are still not getting any answers, convincing or not. It is under this cloud of suspicion and distrust that a large retinue of US  consular officials, probably from the Lagos outpost, was dispatched to Bayelsa State to advise the governor and perhaps the natives to ensure that oil wealth is applied judiciously for the benefit of the people! To undertake such a perilous journey, in the midst of the ongoing Niger Delta insurgency, is supposed to be read as a show of true commitment to the affairs of Southern Nigeria, after the recent inexplicable slight by Kerry.

It is instructive to note that the US never took the trouble to advice our various profligate southern and Niger Delta state governments about the benefit of accountability and good governance when they were awash with oil funds that could be applied to such ends. Why now? Which oil wealth was the delegation referring to? Everybody knows that the Federal Government and the vassal states have long run out of money. If, as I suspect, the trip of the Americans is one in a series of fence mending operations, I doubt that many Nigerians in the south can be taken in by it.Then again, it is an established fact that