Don’t Conceal Truth About Aburi Accord, Civil War, Igbo Women Group Tells Gowon

BY STEVE OKO

UMUAHIA (VANGUARD NIGERIA) – Pan Igbo women group, Igbo Women Assembly, has urged former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon to open up on “Aburi Accord” which he signed with the late Biafran war lord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, before the Nigeria civil war broke out.

This is as the group argued that “there is actually nothing wrong with honouring victims of the Nigerian civil war”, contrary to misconceptions about Biafra day anniversary.

IWA also renewed its call for the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as part of the healing process to protracted injustice against Ndigbo.

The group which spoke on the heels of the recent sit-at-home declared by Biafra agitators on May 30, in honour of those who lost their lives while defending the defunct republic, said “remembering fallen heroes and heroines is a global practice that should not be criminalised.”

National President of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, said that “Biafra remembrance day has got to be part of our history that cannot be suppressed “.

She commended all those who despite all odds, observed the sit-at-home in honour of all those both soldiers and civilians who died in the cause of “the avoidable war.”

According to her, observing a day in honour of the war casualties particularly the gallant soldiers who died defending their beloved ones, does not in any way amount to rebellion against the Nigeria State.

“Igbo women want to put it on record that those who died while defending us during the civil war were not goats but our beloved husbands and youths. We don’t believe that setting aside a day to remember them is a crime.

” So, we want to thank all those in South East and elsewhere who joined in honouring those heroes and heroines. It will be a mirage for anybody to think that we can stop remembering them. Biafra day is not about IPOB; it’s rather about our history which even the unborn generation will be told of”.

The IWA President further advised the Nigeria Government to find a way to recognize the Biafra day as indelible part of Nigeria’s history instead of “futile attempts to suppress the day or clamp down on those observing it.”

She argued that the continued injustice against Ndigbo gave birth to the renewed agitation for Biafra restoration, advising the federal government to stop using brute force, and rather engage the agitators for a peaceful dialogue with a view to addressing their grievances.

Lolo Chimezie further argued that contrary to misconceptions and propaganda by the federal government, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, are not the architects of insecurity in the South East but criminal elements sponsored by enemies of Ndigbo.

” A militant leader who said he was asked to secure South East should be questioned about the insecurity in the zone. Today, the criminals have turned the once peaceful South East into a crime zone. This is part of their ploy to continue the civil war against us but we should be wiser”.

The IWA President queried why it was difficult for the Nigeria State to apologise to Ndigbo after the recent revelation by former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, that the 1966 coup tagged ‘Igbo coup’, was a false narration.

“We have done a lot of research and discovered that the civil war was avoidable. The false narration that the 1966 coup was Igbo coup as recently confirmed by Gen. Babangida, has not been addressed. Why can’t Nigeria apologize to Ndigbo for the false accusation which led to the avoidable civil war?”

Chimezie argued that “if federal government could recognize June 12 in honour of Moshood Abiola, the perceived winner of the 1990 presidential election who died in questionable circumstances, “why can’t it do same in honour of Biafrans who died during the war?”

The IWA President told the former Head of State, Gen. Gowon, who executed the civil war that “no amount of prayers can bring true healing and reconciliation without genuine apologies to pacify the spirits of the war casualties.”

” Since after the war, what has Nigerian Government done to pacify the victims of the war? Why is it that Nigeria doesn’t want to talk about the war? What was the offense of those Igbo wasted during the war?

“Why is it that 56 years after the civil war, the shadow of the war and the blood of innocent Igbo shed during the pogrom are still haunting Nigeria? Instead of learning their lessons and apologizing, Nigeria is still harassing those remembering their loved ones who died in the war. We cannot stop talking of the war. Even the unborn generation will hear of it.

” Gen. Gowon who supervised the war and genocide against the Igbo is busy going around the country and praying. But we want to remind him that no amount of prayer can wash away the stain of the blood of over 6 million innocent Igbo children, women and men wasted during the war.

” Gowon should tell the world the truth about Aburi accord in Ghana and the Biafra war. He should not go to grave without confessing the truth if there must be true healing for those hurt by the needless civil war.

” There was a lot of war crimes including the Asaba massacre, church and market bombings. How can we shy away from talking about the sad history of the war?

IWA urged President Ahmed Tinubu to consider freeing Kanu as a mark of respect for Ndigbo who have contributed so much for the advancement of Nigeria.

According to them, Kanu’s release will rather fast-track the return of peace to the South East and not escalate tension in the region.

IWA disagreed with the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, that IPOB is behind the insecurity in the South East, arguing that “criminal elements sponsored by Igbo enemies” are masterminds of the unrest in the zone.

IWA pledged continued solidarity with Kanu, declaring that the liberation cause he is championing is not selfish but a fight for justice and equity.

The Igbo women group also called for unity among Ndigbo while advising political leaders sacrificing the interest of the race on the altar of their personal gains to have a rethink.

NIGERIA: 14 Ex-Govs Fingered In N21 Trillion, $47.4 Billion Alleged Fraud In 15 years

VANGUARD

• 61 of 100 cases ongoing one and a half decades after

• Money almost equals FG’s 2023 budget of N21.83 trillion, Ways and Means debt of N22.7 trillion

•8 former Ministers/Special Advisers, 5 senators, others make list

•Money credited to women suspects: N8. 9 trillion, $20 billion; men: N7. 9 trillion, $17. 8 billion

• Trials of those charged should be pursued with vigor and efficiency – Goldstone, a former Justice of Constitutional Court of South Africa

By Kennedy Mbele

14 former governors, eight erstwhile Ministers and Special Advisers, and five senators are among 100 high-profile individuals fingered in alleged corruption cases involving N21. 63 trillion and $47.4 billion over the past 15 years.

73 other suspects were outside of the three categories.

N7. 9 trillion and $17. 8 billion of the alleged fraud involved men, N8.9 trillion and $20 billion involved women while N4.2 billion and $9. 6 billion involved corporate bodies, according to a report.

The alleged fraud (N21. 63 trillion) is almost equal to the 2023 budget of N21.83 trillion of the Federal Government and the Ways and Means debt of N22.7 trillion the Federal Government is owing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Reacting to the report, Justice Richard Goldstone (retd), a former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and a member of the Board of a non-governmental organization that pushes for the establishment of a permanent International Anti-Corruption Court, said it was important that the trials of those charged should be pursued with vigour and efficiency

The 77- page document released by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, otherwise known as HEDA Resource Centre, also shows that of the 100 cases considered, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, handled 79, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences, ICPC, 13, SPIPRPP and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, one each while CCT handled none.

The years of documentation are between 2007 and 2022.

The document is entitled ‘A Compendium of 100 High Profile Corruption Cases in Nigeria’ and is dated November 22, 2022.

It is supported by MacArthur Foundation and is in the 6th edition.

63% of the corruption cases representing 63 cases concern fraud, 20 (20%), money laundering, 6 (6%), corruption, 5 (5%), misappropriation of funds, 4 (4%), embezzlement while 1 (1%) is bribery and forgery, each.

On the status of the cases, the largest number, 61, are said to be ongoing as of the date of publication (November 22, 2022), 10 pending, two dismissed, 11 sentenced, and property of one seized while two cases are stalled.

There were also 12 convicted cases out of which some were later discharged by higher courts.

One case is still being investigated.

On the cases that are either ongoing or pending, the document notes that those involving all 14 former governors are ongoing while nine are pending.

Also, 16 other government officials have their cases ongoing while 10 are pending.

On the amounts involved, the report indicates that 88 of the cases are below N100 billion each while four are between N100 billion and N200 billion each.

The report also notes a significant difference in the distribution of charges.

Most of the former governors are facing charges of fraud, money laundering and misappropriation of funds.

There was also a significant difference in the amounts involved.

For instance, while the 14 former governors and 36 other defendants were involved in less than N100 billion each, two former Ministers/ Special Advisers were involved in over N700 billion in alleged corruption cases, an amount the report described as staggering.

Similarly, of the 100 corruption cases considered, the highest year of case inception was 2022 with 24 % whereas 2017 recorded the lowest (7%).

It was also observed that there was no major difference between the amount involved in the cases and the status of the cases.

For instance, of the 100 cases with amounts below N100 billion examined, 36 are ongoing, while 20 are pending.

Nine have been dismissed, while eight defendants got sentenced.

However, four who were initially convicted were later discharged by a higher court.

Three of the cases went through plea bargaining, while five are still under investigation.

Motivation

The document established the motivation for the work in the Preface written by Olanrewaju Suraju who is the Chairman of, HEDA Governing Board.

Suraju said: “The motivation for this compendium in 2017 was derived from the major concern for the cascading morality in the society with assorted nauseating manifestations.

“It became a regular practice celebrating those notorious for corruption and financial crime offences in the country such that those accused are not only revered and celebrated and elevated by social and religious institutions, but societies also elect them into otherwise respectable offices”.

The HEDA Chair noted that the 2019 elections still saw the election of suspects in corruption and financial crimes as governors in some states, saying, “Obviously, the proceed of crime is used by suspected politically exposed persons to purchase immunity from prosecution and delay the trial to escape public attention and possible justice”.

Threats/harassment

He spoke of threats/harassment as well as accolades and intimidation in the course of compiling the cases.

His words: “For us at HEDA Resource Centre, researching, documenting and publishing this compendium has remained a remarkable achievement in the face of threats and harassment.

“We have received impressive and remarkable accolades for the unprecedented and bold move inherent in the publication and so are criticisms and threats from those affected by the audacity of this action.

“Our underlining objective, as stated from inception, was not to pass any verdict on any of the accused. Rather, this is to document and assist the public, the media, especially those with a knack for insightful backgrounding as well as researchers with information handy enough for easy reference purposes.

“Remarkable achievement of the compendium as we progress was the use by international law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States as background for investigation into some corruption and illicit assets recovery cases for Nigeria”.

On why it should be 100 cases, Suraju said: “We are conscious of cases under the definition of corruption and financial crimes, but focuses on only 100 for the publication as promised since inception with substitution of some previously reported and decided cases with some latest cases”.

In the Forward to the compendium, Justice Richard Goldstone (retd), a member of the Board of a recently established no-governmental organization that pushes for the establishment of a permanent International Anti-Corruption Court, wrote: “One of the most important advantages of an International Anti-Corruption Court would be the pressure it would place on domestic authorities to investigate and prosecute grand corruption at home within a reasonable time”.

In that way, he further wrote, and that way only, would they be able to avoid the international court assuming jurisdiction.

On the 100 cases the compendium highlights, Goldstone, also a former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, added: “The 100 prosecutions that are summarized in this useful report establish the intent of prosecution authorities in Nigeria to investigate and indict those against whom evidence of corruption has been amassed.

“It is equally important that the trials of those charged should be pursued with vigour and efficiency. This Report is likely to encourage that result. It is much to the credit of those who have collected and recorded this information”.

Buhari Leaving Nigerians More Vulnerable Than When He Came 2015 – Kukah

Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah

Bishop Matthew Hassan-Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, said President Muhammadu Buhari will be leaving Nigerians ‘far more vulnerable’ than when he assumed office on May 29, 2015, despite his many promises.

The cleric stated this in his 2022 Christmas Message titled, “Nigeria: Let Us Turn A New Page,” and made available to newsmen by the Director, Social Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Fr Christopher Omotosho.

Kukah also said he has no doubt that the health of the President had improved in the last seven-and-a-half years but wished millions of Nigerians enjoy a fraction of Buhari’s enhanced health through access to better healthcare services in the country.

He said, “Mr. President Sir, a merry Christmas to you and your entire family. I speak for myself and Nigerians when I say, we thank God that He mercifully restored you to good health. We know that you are healthier now than you were before. We can see it in the spring in your steps, the thousands of miles you have continued to cover as you travel abroad. May God give you more years of good health.

“However, I also wish that millions of our citizens had a chance to enjoy just a fraction of your own health by a measurable improvement in the quality of health care in our country.

“It is sad that despite your lofty promises, you are leaving us far more vulnerable than when you came, that the corruption we thought would be fought has become a leviathan and sadly, a consequence of a government marked by nepotism.

“In my Christmas Message last year, I pointed out the fact that you had breached the Constitution by your failure to honour and adhere to the federal character provisions of our Constitution. The evidence is all before us all,” Kukah said.

The Bishop, however, commended the President for the efforts made in the area of infrastructure and in seeking to end malfeasance in the electoral processes.

He said, “Am I to believe that you knew and could do nothing about the Muslim-Muslim ticket within your Party?” Kukah quickly interjected. “Still, we pray for a free, fair and credible election.”

Kukah lamented abducted “children still in the forests, in the hands of evil men” and urged Nigerians to be “vigilant” and called for a change of strategy on the part of the masses to dethrone arrogant men and women in power who are determined to make Nigeria a jungle.

“This is the last Christmas for this present government’s administration. Let us all do our duty as we have a chance to choose new leaders. Do not be cynical. God is not done with us. Choose leaders who, in your view will love us, will care for us, will cry with us, will laugh with us. Look ahead and do not look back,” he said.

“Although the responses to my messages suggest that, generally, Nigerians listen to our voices in the wilderness. However, the deliberate culture of pauperization and destitution of our people continues. So, we need a change of strategy so that we can turn a new page. We need a new strategy to confront those who sit on the throne of power in arrogance and are determined to reduce our country to a jungle.

“We need a new strategy that separates men and women of honour from those who have chosen dishonour. We need a new strategy that provides a clearer moral guide for ordinary citizens who, based on the moral strength of culture and religion, are seeking to build a good society, even if with straws. We need to stand up and stand firm. We need new mechanisms for saying no to the violence of governance,” he said.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

INTERVIEW: ‘My Father Almost Shot For Hiding 17 Igbo During Civil War’

Yemi Ogunbiyi. Image via Vanguard

A former Managing Director of Daily Times of Nigeria, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, who would be 75 next Wednesday, in this interview, narrates the story of his life, providing insights into what it was heading the most influential paper in Nigeria at the time.

In his story, which also captures his upbringing in Kano, you are confronted with Ogunbiyi’s burden of managing his relationship with his employers and holding the same people to account for the public good.

The significance of being a product of inter-ethnic marriage in a multicultural nation is prominent in his reflections. The phases of Ogunbiyi’s sojourn so far, highlighted in this conversation, are extensively presented in his autobiography, The Road Never Forgets, which will be launched next Thursday in Lagos.

By any inch, you don’t look 75. What does attaining the age mean to you?

I will be 75 on Wednesday. It means a lot, which is why we are trying to mark this event. And I decided to launch my book which tells the story of my life. There are so many reasons.

Being 75 means a lot to me because as you rightly said, this is a country where life is short. But life is also short anywhere. If you are 75 anywhere in the world, you have to give thanks to God. It is his grace that enables one to attain 75. It really means a lot to me.

Having a wife and an amazing family makes it an interesting journey so far. And I felt it would be interesting to mark the day simply to thank God.

You were born in Kano and had your formative years there. What was it like growing up in northern Nigeria at the time?

Growing up in Kano was an amazing experience. I grew up in a hybrid community. It was a community where we had people from diverse ethnic groups. My childhood friends and I didn’t think Kano wasn’t our home.

That explains why I didn’t see beyond the North when it was time for me to proceed to high school. I wanted to go to Saint Paul’s Wusasa, Zaria, and Saint John’s, Kaduna. I didn’t think of going to school in the West where my father came from or somewhere in the South where my mother came from.

The North was my worldview and that tells you where we came from. There was that kind of feeling that North was our home. Suddenly, we realised it wasn’t home. But that came much later. My mother, may God rest her soul, said to me that I was born there but do not belong there. She said that to me when I was about to get into high school. She said I must find a way to attend school in the South.

This was my mother in the late 50s, who perhaps saw where Nigeria was headed. She said I must find a way to go to school in the South. I didn’t think it was a smart thing to do at the time. I thought mama was doing it for something else.

Looking back now I could see it was a smart thing to do. When I arrived in Ibadan where I lived with my relative, the arrangement was that by living there, I would go to the high school in the West. I had finished school in the North and spent one year because I didn’t want to go to Ibadan. When I arrived in Ibadan, I couldn’t speak Yoruba.

My Yoruba was bad. And I had a funny accent. People were surprised because my name is Yemi Ogunbiyi and I couldn’t speak Yoruba. I had removed Ifeanyi because I was known as Ifeanyi Ogunbiyi in the North.

I spoke only Hausa and Igbo. People laughed at me. I had to learn how to speak Yoruba from scratch. I learned the alphabets too. I enrolled in high school in Ibadan. I was a slow starter. It was a public school. It was not the best in the country but it offered quality education.

By the time I was 15 years old, I was considered a very bright student. I ended up becoming the head boy. In my third year, Gen Alabi Isama, retd, who was a colonel at the time, sponsored me to Man’O War drills at Gurara Waterfalls.

The aim was to prepare me for a leadership position. I didn’t know who sponsored me then, but I later knew he was the one. I ended up becoming the head boy of the institution. I was interested in going to Kings College.

At the time, nobody had gone to Kings College from Boys High School, Ibadan. It was done on a regional basis. Only four of us were taken from Western Region to Kings College. Before then, I had an experience in primary school when I was in Kano.

My primary school was called Igbo Union Primary School. 10 years ago, I asked one of my classmates, Ifeanyi, who just passed away how they got into Kings College when we were in school.

He said the teachers had a few forms and gave them to those who were Igbo. The forms were available but were given to my classmates who were Igbo. This was despite the fact that my name at the time was Ifeanyi Ogunbiyi.

We laughed over it and moved on. When I got to Kings College from Boys High School, I met them but they were one year ahead of me.

My childhood friends

My father was not the Sarkin Yorubawa , king of Yoruba, of Kano but his house was a beehive of activities. It was a melting pot for everybody.

The late Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, who at the time, was the Wakilin Doka, head of local police, was a regular face there. My father was not a rich man. He was just a known tailor. Growing up in Kano was fun. All my childhood friends like Victor Ombu, Tony Ikhazobor and others saw Kano as home. V

ictor and my younger brother were classmates. His elder brother and I were classmates. During Christmas the Muslims among us visited our parents and they will give them money. During Sallah we visited their homes. We didn’t know any difference then. Our places of origin didn’t matter. That was the kind of life of innocence Kano provided.

There was something you once said that even though your father wasn’t rich, he taught you to treat everybody with dignity regardless of where the person comes from. What did you find valuable in that?

My father loved people. He was a friendly human being. My son works with Amaechi now and everybody tells me he is a lovely boy. That was the result of the values I learned from my father which I inculcated in my children. My son, Anu is also like that.

All my children are like that. They had seen that in me because I relate easily with people. My security man is from Taraba State. He said he wants to study Biochemistry in Ife. I am sponsoring him in school.

I didn’t know him from anywhere. But that is me and what I learned from my father, an easy-going fellow who related with people effectively. There is a story I told in my book.

When the civil war broke out, my father hid 17 Igbo on the rooftop of our house because they were being chased around to be killed. Information got to the army men that my father was hiding Igbo and they came to shoot my father.

One of them who was holding a gun was drunk and someone asked him why he wanted to shoot my father. He said my father was hiding Igbo people. My father said it wasn’t true. He asked them to check the house if they would see any Igbo. They checked and didn’t see anybody after which they left.

That was the kind of person my father was. When it was safe for them to leave, they left my father’s house. Some of them were people he knew. Others were persons he didn’t know. Most of us who grew up at the time didn’t know ourselves based on our ethnicity.

I didn’t know Tony Ikhazobor was from Edo until he died. It was when he died I knew he came from a place called Agenegbode.

If Tony and I were that close and I didn’t know where he came from until he died, it tells the way it was for us in the North. It is a pity the country that I knew no longer exists. It is finished.

Values

Mama was very hard on us. We had to learn how to do all house chores including cooking. My younger brother is a better cook.

He learned a lot more than I did. Mama raised us to be very disciplined. When we were growing up, there was a day we saw somebody wearing a certain shoe and said we liked it.

My mother beat us so much that we never tried it again. When I became Head Boy at Boys High School, we used to wear Khaki trousers. Some guys would wear nice materials other than khaki. One of them once approached me to ask why I could not wear that kind of material.

I said to him that Khaki was what I could afford. Mama taught us never to look at whatever anyone has. She taught us to stick to whatever we had. It has helped me in my business. As the Managing Director of Daily Times, I was very strict with my friends who are suppliers.

There was one that supplied newsprint and brought money back to me. I asked him to keep the money.

I said when I leave the job, I would need assistance from friends like him. There was a time Abiola’s company supplied us with newsprint and one of his children brought a huge amount.

I was furious and asked him what his father would think if he discovered I collected money from him. He said the money had been taken out of their office. I took the money from him and took it to the person in charge of housing and application for funds.

I asked him to share the money among those who had applied for funds to buy cars and build houses. And as it turned out, MKO Abiola and I became very close. This house I am living in, MKO Abiola gave me the first set of money I needed to start constructing it. And I mentioned it in my book.

All that came from a strict Igbo woman who said the only kids she had must be properly brought up. It is something I look back to. My mum was the enforcer of rules in our house. My father was just a socialite.

You had an Igbo mother and a Yoruba father. What was it like coming from such a background and to what extent did it contribute in preparing you for today?

I think it did a lot. It did so much in terms of who I am. Anywhere I am, whether with Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo, I am at home. That can only come from the kind of background I had as a child. We took trains from schools in those days.

We would pick up kids from Lagos, Ibadan and Ilorin. We mixed easily. In my days at the Daily Times, IBB and I were very close friends. We would be seated discussing, when IBB switched over to Hausa I still flowed with conversation. It makes it easier.

Sometimes it could become an issue. Recently, I was at the Villa and some guys came in to see the Chief of Staff to the President and I spoke to them in Hausa. Some other guys came and we spoke in Igbo. So, that is nice.

I also found out that language is the grammar of communication. If you could speak any language it removes suspicion, which is natural. It has made my life a lot easier. I told a story of Abacha in my book. Abacha’s father and my father were friends in Kano.

Abacha and I also spoke Hausa. He used to call me Yomi. Abacha and I knew each other in Kano. I knew his father, who had a provision store called Kantin Abacha while the mother sold plates at Fegge Market. As Managing Director of Daily Times, there was a day he called me in the morning to complain about a picture of him frowning we had used.

He spoke in Hausa. At the time, there was a rumour that he was quarrelling with IBB. He said the picture we used portrayed him as if he had a problem with someone. In the next story about the army we did, we used a picture of him smiling.

The next morning, he called, saying Yomi you are doing a good job. When I was sacked from Daily Times, I was taken to him. It was during Ramadan, he was breaking his fast. We sat down, and the person who took me to him said Gen I brought Yemi. Abacha said what are you bringing him here for, his friend sacked him.

Abacha said he had known me longer than I knew my friend, but I never came to see him. He said I only visited my friend.

He said, now your friend has sacked you, what are you doing here? That day, Gen Abdulkarim Adisa, who was then a Brigadier, was there. Gen Onoja was there. He was angry with me and it was just because I was very close to IBB.

We were very close because we all grew up in Kano. So, that background created access for me. Sometimes it could create suspicion about you too. The late Papa Awolowo, quite friendly, but didn’t like the fact that Bola Ige spoke Hausa. Having access created a problem on its own but it was good. I felt at home anywhere.

In your book, did you explain the circumstances that led to you being relieved of your duty at Daily Times by Gen Babangida, who is your friend?

The issue of why I was sacked at Daily Times, I don’t think I was told what happened. But I only assumed. It was not something I dealt with extensively in the book. I would be speculative by doing so.

But I suspect I was removed because there were people around IBB who didn’t want him to hand over in 1991. And the fear is that my views about handover would be in conflict with theirs. I explained in my book that the President and I sat down and talked after I was removed. He said I exceeded his expectations on the job.

He said I did well. We are still very good friends. I visit Minna. I would take a copy of the book to him in Minna. There are some things I said in the book he might not like. But I had to say them.

The President always respected my views. When Obasanjo was leaving, I told him not to vie for the position. I asked him why he wanted to go back there. He looked at me and said Yemi you have not changed, you always told me the way you felt at Daily Times and that is what I am seeing here. I said thank you.

He said I was the first person to tell him not to do it. And he reminded me of things I had told him in the past about certain policies. I told him has done his best and should not waste his money on vying for the presidency. And he was so grateful.

For instance, the SAP riot was the most difficult part of my career in the industry because IBB is my personal friend. But as Managing Director of Daily Times, my professional calling required me to hold government to account.

Holding government to account and maintaining my relationship with President Babangida were the toughest aspects of my career in the media. I needed to balance it. It wasn’t peculiar to me. Mohammed Heikal was the editor of the biggest paper in Egypt, Alharam.

He and then Prime Minister of Egypt, Abdel Nasser, were best of friends. He wrote a book called The Road to Ramadan. He was asked how he managed his relationship with Nasser and still functioned as an effective editor of Alharam.

And he explained that he managed it. Military guys wanted total loyalty. That was what I learned quickly on the job. Politicians understand that you need to hold government to account, but the military guys want total loyalty.

That was something I had to contend with throughout my career in the media, especially as the Managing Director of Daily Times. It was tough. Babatunde Jose called it walking a tight rope. I called it walking on eggshell. It was a tough job, but people didn’t see that.

They only saw the glamour of the office. The tough job was how to hold the government to account and maintain a rapport with that same government that put you in office. At the Guardian where I was for a longer period, it was a piece of cake. But at Daily Times, the buck stopped at my table.

SAP riots

For instance, when the SAP riot broke out and Benin was on fire, Ogbeha was the governor. It was terrible. On that day, I had left the office when the Editor, Onyema Ugochukwu, called to know where I was. He said there was a story they had that needed my attention.

He said they were using the story the next day and wanted me to see it before it goes. When I got there, we sat down in the production room and looked at the story. The story was about the destruction in Benin. The prison was destroyed, the palace was affected, and the market was burnt too.

I said the story should lead the paper but the photographs should be taken inside. When I got to the office in the morning, the Vice President, the late Admiral Augustus Aikhomu called me.

He was very harmless but could scream. He screamed, asking why Daily Times would publish such a story. His point was that it was a government paper and shouldn’t have published the story.

I explained to him that we took the story in the interest of government. I said we took it so that at the cabinet, the proponents of SAP would see the need to rejig the policy. I said we did it to help the government know the level of public anger around the policy.

He said in that case, I should be careful. He understood the idea. It was just constant. It was such that Akilu of the Directorate of Military Intelligence, DMI, would call me to say that something had happened. There was a day I was called to sack someone they accused of working for the enemies of the regime.

The late Alex Akinyele was the Minister of Information. There was a time he wrote a letter, saying I should be fired that I was weak and incompetent. We set up a committee to look at the allegation but found nothing against the person they wanted me to sack. Akinyele didn’t like the idea that I didn’t sack the man. I had to fight on. Akinyele came from a Public Relations,PR, background and didn’t understand the workings of the newspaper.

When I was sacked I knew not sacking the man might be one of the reasons. It was just that I didn’t see it coming. They didn’t also like the fact that I had free access to the President. I didn’t need a pass to see the President at the time at Dodan Barracks.

It was a tough three years of my life but I survived it. IBB just couldn’t hold on anymore. He was under pressure to sack me.

You started in academia and ended up in the media as Managing Director of Guardian and Daily Times. You stayed longer at Guardian than Daily Times. You were also relieved of the appointment. Your exit from Daily Times came as a surprise …

I was in Pakistan where I had gone to interview Benazir Bhutto when I was sacked as the Managing Director of Daily Times. At the time I arrived on a Friday morning, I didn’t have a job. When I arrived, I was asked if I was interested in going to Daily Times, and I said no.

Ibrahim Alfa, who was very nice to me, snapped at me and said shut up, do you have a job? I said no. He said they were trying to give me a soft landing. I got my letter of sack on a Friday morning. Ibrahim told me about the Daily Times job in the evening.

Ibrahim was sent on a reconnaissance job. IBB said I should not be given the job without being asked if I would accept it. He didn’t want a situation whereby I would reject the job after they had announced it.

The appointment had also been given to Alfred Okubor, who had accepted it. He was given the job through Aikhomu. The letter was already with Okubor and they wanted to withdraw it. But they wanted to clear it with me so that I don’t end up rejecting it.

IBB had told Ibrahim and Kosheoni, who was Chief of Naval Staff, what to do on Monday at the cabinet meeting. So, at the meeting on Monday, they threw up my name and IBB said I was good for the job.

At that point, IBB said to Aikhomu your man has lost out. Aikhomou said sir but we have given Okubor the letter. IBB said it should be withdrawn. He called Tony Momoh and told him the decision but Tony said he didn’t think I would be a good Managing Director.

Babangida overruled Tony and asked him to announce my name. On Monday morning, I received a call, informing me that I had been appointed as Managing Director of Daily Times. When I was going to pick up my appointment letter, we bought Evening Times at Mobil filling station in Ikeja and saw the story of my appointment in the paper.

When I got to Tony Momoh’s office, he told me he was opposed to my appointment. When I got back to my house, many cars were parked because my sack in Guardian generated so many feelings. There was jubilation in my house when I arrived because Daily Times was big. I was earning the same amount as Ernest Shonekan earned as the Managing Director of UAC.

At the time you left Daily Times, you were in your early 40s. You went ahead to achieve success with Tanus Communications. That is quite amazing, especially when people with such experiences either go into obscurity or retire into penury. How were you able to achieve that?

It was tough. Our turnover when I started printing books for state governments was massive. I do a lot of printing jobs for state governments and agencies. We are still in business. I told myself I was going to start a company and nobody was going to fire me again. The Tanus story is in my book.

I had people who turned their back on me. I had people like John Edozien, who I told I wanted to print his company’s calendars. He said he would give me the job and at the same time, I should become his media consultant. He said that was what I should be doing with my media background.

At that point, I said I would explore the world of media consultancy. From there, I became a consultant for Union Bank, AfriBank, and others. It goes back to what I had said about being nice to people. As Managing Director of Daily Times, I used my position to help people. Some of these people were victims of injustice.

And helping them turned out to be helpful to me when I left the Daily Times. I started printing calendars and diaries for companies, which was a big business at the time. The story here is that you must be nice to people.

It doesn’t cost anything to be nice because life is too short. I could have used the position to destroy lives. My business picked up quickly through the help I got from being nice to people. I also owe it to discipline. I don’t live above my means.

Vanguard News Nigeria

Igbo Leaders ‘ve Abandoned Okpara’s Philosophy — Ofoegb

Raymond Ofoegbu

BY STEVE OKO

UMUAHIA (VANGUARD) -- A frontline Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, House of Assembly aspirant in Abia State, Mr Raymond Ofoegbu, has accused the present crop of Igbo leaders of abandoning the leadership philosophies and economic blueprint of the late Premier of the defunct Eastern region, Dr Michael Okpara.

Ofoegbu who made the allegation in an interview with Vanguard in Umuahia, said that if given the opportunity to serve, he would quickly sponsor bills that would revive the economic blueprint and people-oriented policies of the late Premier.

He regretted that instead of towing the footsteps of the late Okpara who served selflessly and equitably distributed amenities across the states under the former Eastern region, the present political leaders mainly seek their personal interest.

” Michael Okpara had the opportunity to develop Ohuhu land but he did not. Instead, he scattered development across the entire Old Eastern region and neglected his own Community.”

Ofoegbu who is aspiring for Umuahia North State constituency seat currently occupied by the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Kelechi Onuzurike, said one of his first achievements in his first 100 days in office if elected, would be ” Ohuhu ring road”.

” I will revive Ulonna Farm settlement and Ohuhu Water scheme,” he added.

The philanthropist who said so many lives had been positively affected through his Onyinyechi Ohuhu Foundation, also promised to create 40 millionaires in his first year in office.

The American-based security expert said he would also leverage his international connection to attract more developments to the people.

” Passion for the speedy development of my land is driving me into politics. Civil Service will only give me food for me but politics will give me a platform to develop my land”, he declared.

Former Umuahia North Council boss, Sir Chidiebere Nwachukwu, said he was drumming support for Ofoegbu because he had used his foundation to affect many lives.

He said if he could accomplish so much outside power, he would do more when given the right platform.

How They Destroyed Nigeria – Mbazulike Amaechi

Mbazulike Amaechi. Image via Vanguard

BY CHIMAOBI NWAIWU

Only surviving Igbo zikist opens up on: 

•Ojukwu’s blunders that caused the civil war

 •What he did to Zik, M. I. Okpra, K. O. Mbadiwe, Akanu Ibiam, other Igbo leaders

 •How Eastern Govt helped Awolowo while in Calabar prison 

•Speaks on Nigeria’s constitution, Gowon, Buhari and why Britain dislikes Igbos

 Asks ‘how can Nigeria develop when state lawmakers are puppets of governors, national legislators do the bidding of the President and many public treasury looters find their ways into govt?

First Republic Minister of Aviation Chief Mbazulike Amechi, the only surviving member of the Zikist movement spoke with Chimaobi Nwaiwu, in his Ukpor, Nnewi South Council of Anambra State home, on the events of July 29, 1966, issues that led to it and events after. How he narrowly escaped death in Lagos.

 What actually was the event of July 29, 1966 and what led to those events in Nigeria? 

The event of July 29, 1966 was the issue of the counter coup where Northern military officers staged a counter coup and in the process killed Aguiyi Ironsi who was then the Military Head of State and they proceeded to kill Igbo soldiers in the North and in the West, mainly Abeokuta and Ibadan. They also killed some civilians. Personally, I narrowly escaped the killing because the thing caught me up in Lagos.

 Let me talk about myself first. I went to Lagos, because after the military coup in January, I came back home to do my business here. But I later went back to Lagos in the course of my personal business and stayed at the Federal Palace Hotel. One morning, Mr. Albert Osakwe who was then the Nigeria Ambassador to the Congo now the Democratic Republic of Congo, rushed back to the hotel and said that he was nearly killed on the road; that soldiers blocked everywhere and that they were killing anybody who was identified to be an Igbo; that the whole Ikorodu road was full of cars they were stopping and searching, and any car bearing Eastern Region number and the owners or the drivers and people inside were identified as Igbos were killed.

 So they wanted to kill him but when they asked him who he was and he told them that he was Albert Osakwe, and one soldier said I do not like that name, it is an Igbo name kill him. So he shouted to them I am Nigerian Ambassador to Congo. So the Captain there said, Ambassador you must go back from where you are coming from; but where are you even going to in the first place, and he responded that he was going to the airport to take a flight to his base in Congo. The Captain said no, go back there is no road, the airport is closed no plane is flying. So he came back and narrated the incident. 

That was how we knew that there was a counter coup, and I tried to get away from Lagos to go home. I sent somebody to survey the situation and he came back to tell me that Ikorodu road was blocked against the Igbos. I tried to go by sea but there was no way, so that night I decided not to sleep in Federal Palace Hotel. I told the receptionist in the hotel that if anybody came to look for me that he should tell them that I had checked out, so I went out and found a place to sleep outside the hotel, but my box was in the hotel. 

When I came back the following morning in the hotel, the boys at the reception told me Oga they came for you last night by 2am; I said I suspected that they would come for me. I asked them what happen and they said we told them that you had checked out but they insisted on checking your room, so we took them to your room and they opened it and searched and confirmed that there was nobody in the room so they left, they were about six soldiers. I decided that I should leave that hotel, that I must leave Lagos that day. I went to take a cover the second night at Surelere, then the third day I decided that I must go home. 

I got one of my drivers who was a Yoruba man, he was driving my company car in Lagos; the company was Niger Pop Products Company Limited, we were processing meat, it was a meat industry. So in our branch in Lagos, we had an Israeli woman as our Manager in Lagos because we were contractors to so many airlines and other companies, supplying them processed meat, sausages and drinks. I got the boy and he got some of our boys, I told them to drive ahead of me, ten miles you come back and tell me the position and situation on the road. We were doing that and one Douglas Ngwube, a journalist and Francis Ngwube took me in his car, it was an open roof sports car so we came to Ikorodu road, at a check point and they stopped us, one of the soldiers there pointed a gun at him and asked him who are you. He told them I am Dele Martins, I work in the Federal Ministry of Information, but his name was really Francis Ngwube, but he really worked in the Ministry of Information. Then they pointed a gun at me and said, and you, who are you, and I said am the New Editor of Accra Evening News; I now started asking them why are you people pointing a gun at me, is that the way you people behave in this country, this is madness, I am going to report you to my High Commissioner, how can you point a gun at me, and a Captain nearby heard when I raised my voice and came to ask me what is it sir. I told him that your boy pointed gun at me, he asked me who I am and I told him. He asked me again who are you and I said I told you that I am the News Editor of Accra Evening News and I am going to report you to my High Commissioner, he started apologizing, saying am very sorry sir, you can go ahead, that was how I passed that place.

 So my people would drive ten miles ahead and ensure the road was clear, they came back to report. We left Lagos at 10am and got to Benin at 10pm; we went to a relation of mine, Agbasi who was a Chief Superintendent of Police at Benin. I asked him to find a way to get my car which is at Lagos Airport. So I phoned Ibekwe, a Commissioner of Police at Benin, and he sent some policemen who came and collected the car key and went to the Lagos airport and brought my car that night and we continued our journey to Onitsha and eventually got Onitsha at 2.am and the boys from Lagos said they were going back to Lagos. I refused, I felt it was late but they insisted on going back and they did and I drove home and that was how I escaped being killed in Lagos. 

But then they killed Aguiyi Ironsi at Ibadan, and many Igbo soldiers all over Nigeria. A particular friend of mine from my town, Captain Maduabum, a military friend of his in the Officers Mess where they drank, told him, Maduabum I have instruction to kill you this night as a matter fact at mid night, and he told him if they had given you instruction to kill me is right and they continued drinking in the officer Mess, so at 12 midnight a pick up drove in and they came, picked him and went and shot him truly; that was how they killed him and so many soldiers of Igbo extraction. 

At Abeokuta, one Igbo officer from Imo State said I am a soldier only one bullet, I will go; and they said okay we are not going to give you one bullet, they directed people to dig a grave and they dug a grave and buried him alive; you said it is one bullet and we are not going to give you one bullet, we are going to bury you alive and they did. These were some of the things that happened to our people. 

In Kano, in Kaduna, they brought all the Igbos in the army and killed them and they moved over to the civilians and started killing them, they went to an Igbo Union Collage at Kano and brought all the girls and marshalled the girls to the leprosy camp, forced the girls to sleep with the men there and any girl that resisted was killed. Some girls said they would rather die than be touched by the lepers and they shot them and killed them. 

So it was so brutal, it was so devilish, it was so inhuman but that was what happened. Thereafter, the Igbos, those that were able to escape started coming back home and at Benue, Makurdi, soldiers stopped the train carrying them and brought them out and threw them into the Benue River. They brought them out one after the other, shot them and threw them into River Benue, young children were thrown a live into the river; all these happened, these were the things that partly precipitated the war. 

Then Ojukwu was the Governor of East Central States, but I say it and believe it to be truth, Ojukwu made a political mistake. It was actually a correct military affair but he made a political mistake.

 “In the West, the political leaders were under consultation, in the North, the political leaders were involved in the government of Kastina, the then military governor of the Northern region, he involved the Northern politicians including Ali Mungono and Ibrahim Kassim; he involved the political leaders of the North, they were meeting, but in the East here, the political leaders like Dr. K.O. Mbadiwe, Ambassador Mbanugo who was Chairman of the Eastern Working Committee; Ojukwu put him in detention at Uyo; Dr Michael Okpara who was the Premier of the Eastern Region Ojukwu kept him in detention at Warri, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the leader of NCNC and President of Nigeria, Ojukwu restricted his movement by serving him a restriction notice within seven miles radius of his house at Nsukka; myself, Mbazulike Amaechi, Ojukwu served me a restriction notice, restricting me within ten miles radius of my house in Ukpor; Dr Akanu Ibiam, he restricted him within seven to ten miles of his house at Afikpo, and he was ruling alone with Mojekwu. Mojekwu was always beside him and the only politician in his government.

Mojekwu is from where?

 “Mojekwu is from Umudim in Nnewi, and that was because they were relations. That was the political mistake Ojukwu made; side-lining us and threatening us with restriction notices was the greatest political mistake he made with Mojekwu by his side. 

Why did he do that? Was he trying to obey the military authorities above him or he just did not want you people around his government? 

“He did that before they started their quarrels, after killing Aguiyi Ironsi. Immediately after the coup he was appointed the military governor. He did this but in the other parts of the country, their military governors were consulting their politicians and so forth, so if we had not been restricted or imprisoned as politicians , we could have gotten in touch with our counterparts in the North. It wouldn’t have mattered how bitter the position or quarrel was, the civil war could have been avoided. “But he told the people that he had the weapons to reduce Lagos to sea level. That was his exact word; we thought he had what he claimed not knowing there were no weapons. It was ordinary boast, it was diplomacy he used, some propaganda, but the politicking did not work and the war broke out. 

“It was when the war broke out that he released all of us and by then, Gowon had released Obafemi Awolowo from Calabar prison and posted him to Lagos and made him the Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and the Commissioner for Finance and Economic Matters but our politicians here were rubbished by Ojukwu’s action. Awolowo’s appointment was to get the support of the Yorubas. Although it was okay for him and his Yoruba people, the action of Awolowo did not help Ndigbo and could read as ingratitude although he had no option because it was a military government. 

“During his imprisonment at Uyo, the Eastern Region hired a house and urged the Igbo owner of a House near the prison to vacate from the house for Awolowo to live in that house. The man vacated and Awolowo lived in that house. So, every night he would sleep in that house but at day break he would go to the prison and stay and all the cooks and stewards he had were paid from Enugu by the Eastern Government. His wife was placed on a ministerial salary from Enugu and all allowances that accrued to ministers in those days were paid to her. 

“Probably he had no choice, because it was Gowon that released him from prison; it was Gowon that sent an aircraft to pick him from the airport to Lagos. So to me he had no choice than to go along with them, but if our man, Ojukwu had played his part well there would have been a way M.I Okpara would have gotten in touch with Awolowo, there would have been a way a person like me would have gotten in touch with Aminu Kano and others to soften things, because there was a link of that ideological and fraternal meet among all of us that went all round. So the war could have been avoided. 

But however, so many people were killed in the pogrom. But the question was that the leaders who would have changed things like Saduana of Sokoto was killed; Abubakar Tafawa Belewa was killed, Mai Malari, the highest Northern Military man was killed, so if you were the Northerners, won’t you react? 

We could have stopped the war through diplomacy and politics, but we were not involved. Was Gowon seeing himself as a core Northerner who must protect their interest or was he just acting as the Head of State who must first ensure the unity of the country? “At that time Gowon was a Lieutenant Colonel and he was the highest ranking officer in the army from the North. So when they called him to come and be the Head of State he could not say no, so he had no choice and nobody should blame him for any action he took because at that time he had no choice; it was the British Intelligence Service and the British Government who wanted to destroy and solve the Igbo question because they never liked Igbos. Until today Britain hates Igbos; British Government is always anti Igbo in Nigeria.

Why do you say that sir, do you have some reasons to back up that claim?

 “Yes, this is because the Igbos played great roles in nationalism that led to the agitations and politics that drove them away from Nigeria. It was Igbos that led the political agitations that saw them out of Nigeria, drove away British government from Nigeria. 

How did the events of July 29 1966 change Nigeria? 

“Yes, it changed Nigeria because since after the civil war, the military continued to rule Nigeria and they continued for 38 years and 38 years of military rule, apart from the two years of Obasanjo, was 36 years of Military rule by Northern Nigeria military men. So for them they now think that it is their perpetual right to continue to rule Nigeria, and they are ready to resist anybody who wants to take it away from them. So they disorganized the country in such a way the constitution of the country is no longer the people’s constitution. 

“I have always said it, but the bad people do not want to listen to me, that Nigeria is being run as an illegality; it is being run without a people’s constitution. The 1979 constitution was not a people’s constitution. Rotomi Williams Committee or Constituent Assembly wrote a draft constitution and forwarded it to the military, the military edited it, removed the things they wanted removed and inserted what they wanted. So it was not a constitution of the people of Nigeria. In 1999, Constituent Panel or Committee was held again and the military sat over it and edited, removed what they did not like and put what they wanted and continued to rule for a period of 38 years, they were in government and they were not doing what they were trained to do; they were doing what the military knows best, which is to fight, to destroy, to loot, to steal, to damage, to conquer, and to overrun, that is what the military particularly in Nigeria was trained to do and that is what they did in Nigeria. 

“They introduced corruption, and what took 38 years to implant in a people cannot be removed in a twinkle of an eye. They introduced corruption and corruption is getting deeper in Nigeria now. “The constitution gave governors absolute power to run the state like a sole administrator; they steal the people’s money and after stealing the money they find their way into the senate, very soon the senate will be made up of former Governors alone because all the corrupt former governors find their ways into the senate and once they are in the senate everybody keeps quiet. Even those EFCC had already started probing and in the process of prosecution, once they declare for APC and win election to the senate, they are protected; those that failed are appointed ministers and are protected, they are saints now, so the military had introduced that level of corruption that is so deep and so entrenched that it can hardly be corrected; it will be very difficult to be corrected. It is so deep in us now. “It has continued to be entrenched and now in Nigeria only the rich and super wealthy can win elections now in Nigeria, and when they win elections, they remain in power. Legislators in the state have no powers because they are puppets of the Governor. 

So how can you ever stop corruption in Nigeria? 

“At the Senate they start doing the biddings of the President because the President can also treat the Senators like the way Governors treat the state legislators; So all they care about is their pocket, the money that comes to them and not the people they claim to have gone to represent. So how can you ever stop corruption and stealing in Nigeria; it is impossible, is not easy, it is getting stronger and deeper every day, into the system.

Does the violence we face in many areas today in Nigeria have anything to do with the long military stay in power? 

“Of course, wait a minute, who is ruling Nigeria now; an elected civilian president; good who is he, is he not a soldier, is he not the man who overthrew the democratically elected government of Shehu Shagari in 1983. So the difference is only that in 1983, he wore khaki uniform, in 2019 he is wearing agbada but it is the same person in the true sense of it. 

So what changes are you expecting? 

“So, can’t you see what is happening, the herdsmen killings? Did Nigeria start today? These herdsmen killing people, mounting vigilante services in the states of the federation, did it ever happen in Nigeria before especially in this magnitude? Or were Nigerians not eating cow meat before now? The agenda is clear but some people who should talk and condemn what is happening now are busy making money from the government and telling you that this is the best government in Nigeria, and I pause to ask:

 how many deaths have been recorded under this regime because of the activities of the herdsmen? “Has it ever happened before in this country; did it happen under Obasanjo, did it happen under Yar’Adua or Jonathan the way it is happening now? Why is it happening now? 

Some people will go to a community, kill them and take responsibility and yet none, not even single one would be arrested and prosecuted and they are progressing to installing vigilantes in the states that are thousands of miles away from their ethnic group; to do what and yet people appointed and elected in the same government are proud to say they are representing their people in the same government that pretends nothing is happening, that communities are not sacked; that they are not seeing herdsmen that openly carry AK47 to rear cows. It is a pity for this country and some people should bury their faces in shame. This is not the country we fought for and defended against the colonial masters.

“It is just like Boko Haram, how do you think Boko Haram will be stopped; who will stop that, who are behind Boko Haram? However subjecting this country to this kind of system now will not work. Nigeria today is not Nigeria of yesterday. 

“So, the civil war could have been avoided.

 What were then the effects of the pogrom and the civil war that followed? 

Division, hatred, suspicion and corruption, and these are what are holding Nigeria backward today. How can evil be helpful in a country, more so when such evils are being perpetrated everywhere, in North west, north east, the west , middle belt, the east etc? “Look at Yoruba land now, it is being overrun by herdsmen, they kill women and men as they like, they kidnap as they like. Banditry in some places, kidnapping in some places. Insurgency in some places etc. We need peace and government should ensure we have peace. How do you react to Ohaneze, Afanifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF and the Middle Belt groups boycotting the meeting called by former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar because the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, was also invited? “Of course that was a proper thing to do. Boycotting that meeting was one of the best things they have recently done for their people. Why should they hold meeting with a terrorist organization ?

On Igbo Presidency in 2023, what do you think? 

“Before Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe breathed his last, he spoke to me, and handed to me a six inch long golden key, and told me something. That is why I say I have a key to Igbo presidency in 2023. Igbo presidency of either APC or PDP, if they will humble themselves enough, they should come to me and believe that I have the solution to that problem, nothing is impossible before God and with proper organization and strategy, it is possible.

 “Nobody will leave presidency for you, you must win it, nobody will give it to you, nobody will dash it to you; so if the Igbos are waiting for it to be given to them, it is not possible. I have heard about all the people said to be angling for the seat of the president of Nigeria, including Tinubu and others. Tinubu may have all the money, his money will have effect within a certain circle but with proper organization and strategy, somebody else can take it. The people of this country have suffered and they want a change. Igbo Presidency is possible in PDP and APC, not in a small organization like one man organization you have in Awka.

You have always said that you support one indivisible Nigeria although you do not like how Igbos are being treated in the country. But IPOB are agitating for sovereign state of Biafra, what is your position on this? 

“ I have always said it that IPOB is a nationalist radical organization that is fighting against the injustices that have been meted on Ndigbo over so many decades and still going on; they have a right to say what they are saying, and the government of Nigeria has a duty and obligation to listen to them. When a people say they want independent state of their own, the only alternative the government has is to give them a plebiscite, let the people vote and if the people want to stay aside, they stay aside. 

“In Britain, Scotland demanded independence from Great Britain, the British government ordered a plebiscite in Scotland about three or four years ago and the majority of the people said no, the matter was closed. “My sincere advice to Ndigbo is that God has kept me for a purpose and the political actors in Igbo land can hear. God has kept me for a purpose; at 90 years I am fairly physically alright; I am still fairly mentally balanced, my sight is good, my hearing is good my mental balance is good, my memory is good, I have all it takes. God has a purpose for keeping me, and if they will care let them come to me, APC or PDP, let them come to me; the Igbo people in those parties let them come to me I will tell them what to do and how we can get Igbo presidency.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

Women Haters, Mediocre Men Dominate Nigeria’s Political Space — Chimamanda

VANGUARD INTERVIEW

BY EMMANUEL OKOGBA

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Image via Vanguard

World-renowned writer, Chimamanda Adichie, in this exclusive conversation with Sunday Vanguard, discusses politics, belief system, identity and, of course, her obsession with feminism. This chat, which also covers other subjects, is an informative exploration through the mind of one of Africa’s greatest writers.

Aside racism, if it counts in this case, what has been your greatest challenge as an internationally recognised, award-winning African creative writer based in the US?

When my first novel was published, American readers often said they were surprised by how relatable the Nigerian characters were. An early challenge for me was getting readers to see that African stories are valid as literature as any other stories. Not that Africa is the same as anywhere else, because obviously, every place is unique, but that African stories are human stories in the way that literature is about human stories. I grew up reading books from all over the world and I was able to identify with characters from Russia to India.

Globalisation fosters cultural imperialism such that Nigerian youths do not wish to be identified with their origins but would rather be associated with the trends of the Western nations. Your books portray strong ties to African culture especially Igbo, even, in Americanah where the protagonist grew up in the West. How do you think the love for African roots can be re-established or sustained among the youths? 

My protagonist in Americanah did not grow up in the West. I think parents and guardians have a major role to play. You can’t speak only English to your children, act as if everything traditional is evil, not teach them to be proud of their history, and then turn around and complain that they are now ‘globalized.’ By the way, there is no such thing as a globalised identity; even the most cosmopolitan people have a core sense of identity. I consider myself a person who is very comfortable in the world and I love many diverse places in the world but it is because of my sense of self. It is my comfort in my skin as an Igbo woman, a Nigerian, an African, that makes this possible. My daughter speaks Igbo and I find it curious how many fellow Igbo and fellow Nigerians are shocked by this. I want to raise her bilingual as I was also raised bilingual. To give a child the language of her people is a gift that will serve her for the rest of her life. It gives her a sense of who she is. And it’s doable because we all did it. Most Nigerians of my generation are bilingual, so why can’t our children be?

Females all over the world are beginning to speak, recognise and take a stance on their places in the society yet this is being abused by some. What are the core differences between feminism and misandry? 

 Every movement has its extremist side. Look at history, the fight for independence in different countries always had a militant side but we don’t usually say that the militant side represents the movement. I often feel that this question of feminism being misandry is a question of bad faith. It is also used as a way of closing down important conversations. Feminism is about justice. Any thinking person who observes the world and is honest knows that women have historically been excluded, reduced, oppressed in different ways. Feminism is about trying to right that wrong. If a person is pointing out ways in which men have benefited socially or politically in ways that women have not, it does not mean that person hates men. If a person talks about the alarming rate of male violence against women, it is not hating men; it is simply stating facts, facts that we should all want to change. Women may be speaking up more but that doesn’t mean that the cultural, systemic, religious and traditional norms that reduce women have changed. I believe men are part of the solution. Men have to be feminists as well. Men have to speak up about this injustice.

This is a follow-up. Can you also point out the differences between feminism and chivalry?

Chivalry is really a form of noblesse oblige. It is the idea that men treat women well, help them, etc, because men are more powerful. But the problem is that if you think of a group of people as people you help it means you will never think of them as your equals or even as people who can be in a position higher than you. Most men who think of themselves as chivalrous are the same who cannot imagine a female president or who don’t want a female boss or who believe that women become powerful only be sleeping with men. Of course, being protective of the women in your private life is perfectly fine and very different from viewing women in general as people you have to protect. We should protect people who need protection. Some women need protection. Some men also need protection. 

You are being featured in the National Geographic Magazine Landmark: Portraits of Power alongside other great women like Oprah Winfrey, and Melinda Gates among others. Is your being a symbol of power a result of the impact of your writing or feminism stance? 

It is everything I represent. My fiction writing gave me a platform that I chose to use to speak about what I care about. One of the things I care about is feminism. But it is not the only thing I care about. In my experience, my greatest fans are those who have read all my books and I deeply appreciate them. 

Buchi Emecheta, the most successful female black writer in the UK refused to be tagged a feminist even though the bulk of her works has the theme of woman, gender role-play and inequality. Being a feminist icon and an internationally recognised African female writer, what is your take on this? 

Ms. Emecheta was an icon and a great inspiration for me. The Joys of Motherhood is a novel everyone should read. She rejected the word feminist because at the time it was a politically loaded word that often referred to the concerns of middle-class white women and excluded many black women. I have chosen to use the word feminist based on the dictionary definition, because we need to reclaim that word and because we need a word to rally around in order to address sexism. By those standards, Ms. Emecheta was definitely a feminist. She stood for equality for women. 

What is your view on the portrayal of women in Nigerian politics and what are your suggestions as regards this?

 It is important for women to be seen as equally capable and as equal actors in the political space. Nigerian politics is about access, patronage and money. Unfortunately, because women have traditionally not been allowed into these spaces, it is hard for women to compete, hard for them to get ‘godfathers’ and hard for them to be taken seriously. Which is why the few women who actually run for powerful offices have to be exceptional, have to work much harder, and have to deal with a lot more backlash, while mediocre men can sail through on the wings of a godfather and on the assumption that being male means you should be a leader. I do not support the idea of a ‘women’s wing’ of political parties because it suggests that women are slightly lower on the totem pole of ability, and it casts women as people who occupy supportive roles rather than those who should compete for real power. Political parties have to support women more in real positions of power, not token positions. But the fundamental problem is how we think of women in this culture. There are still too many men and women who do not believe that women are capable of being good political leaders. So women are not groomed or encouraged to become politicians. A relative once told me that a woman cannot be governor in Nigeria. I asked why and he simply said, ‘because she’s a woman.’ But we should be asking: who is qualified? Who will not steal state money? Who will use security vote wisely? Who will care about education and healthcare? Whose policies will focus on human beings rather than the personal egos of the politician? We need to be more open-minded in our conception of political leadership. 

Women who seek power

 Studies have shown that people, both men and women, do not like women who seek power. If you observe carefully, women who seek power are scrutinized more, criticized more and their ability is doubted more. They are also often assumed not to be competent. Somebody told me some time ago that Bianca Ojukwu was not ‘qualified’ to run for Senate because she was merely the wife of a leader. Mrs. Ojukwu is an intelligent lawyer. I asked this person what qualification the men he supported had. Many of those men were barely literate. The point is that we as citizens have to constantly question our assumptions and identify our blind spots and the places where we do not think critically. 

You are an avid supporter of LGBTQ which is a practice that is being frowned upon in Africa. How do you still maintain your African/homophobic audience? 

I believe in ‘live and let live.’ I also know that not all Africans are homophobic. African societies have had gay people for centuries. If we look back at our childhoods, there was always the girl or boy who we knew was ‘different’ but we took it in stride. The problem now is that it has become politicised. We have decided to fight political battles invented by western evangelicals. Ask yourself when exactly homophobia became such a big issue in Africa. Gay people cause no harm and Nigerians say they should be killed. But we have leaders who steal and lie, who do not pay elderly pensioners, and we don’t say they should be killed, even though these leaders are responsible for the deaths of fellow citizens. To be clear I don’t support violence and don’t think anybody should be killed but I am making a point about our prejudice and misplaced priorities. How exactly does our society benefit from harassing and attacking gay people? How can we say that a fellow citizen should be killed when that citizen has equal rights as we do and has done nothing to harm anyone? If your religion says you should avoid something then please avoid it for yourself, and do not force others to live by your faith. I am sure Christians don’t want to be made to abide by Sharia and Muslims don’t want to say the Lord’s Prayer. Ancient African societies were accepting of diversity. Let’s live and let live. 

Are you considering depicting LGBTQ in any of your upcoming books? 

People are people. Gay people are people. Please read my short story ‘Apollo’ in the New Yorker. Also, read ‘The Shivering’ in my collection The Thing Around Your Neck. 

With your busy schedule, how do you balance living in two countries? 

I feel very grateful that I can live in both Nigeria and the US and so I don’t mind the challenges involved in achieving a balance. I don’t think I would be fully happy if I had to live exclusively in either place. I am private about my private life, especially because my work as a writer requires being so public. At home, I love to spend time with family and friends. I love quality time with loved ones. I love laughter, conversation and healthy food. I am not very keen on going out. My life in the US and Nigeria is focused on that.

Nigeria Is Heading Towards Almajiri Society

Image via Almajiri Project

BY DELE SOBOWALE

VANGUARD, APRIL 21, 2019

It is not just a man who cannot suddenly alter his mind-set as the need arises. Thousands of old men, especially, Nigerian politicians, irrespective of political affiliation, cannot expand minds that have atrophied as a result of decades of not using them to promote the collective interests of their fellow citizens. That is why today, virtually every part of Nigeria is heading rapidly towards the almajiri society. That is, a society consisting mostly of beggars and violent ones at that. Every economic and social index reaching us these days points to a nation that is rushing head-long into total chaos. We should not forget that Albert Camus, 1903-1960, told us, that “Chaos is a form of servitude.” We are already experiencing some of that social slavery now in many parts of Nigeria. The reasons we are now subjugated by forces beyond our own and governments’ control will be explained with facts beyond reasonable doubt.

“Today, the raw material of [Nigerian] experience is provided by men and women who no one [should respect.]” (Camus again – slightly modified). We are racing to become the first country since national economic reports were first rendered globally to be classified as an almajiri economy meaning an economy in which the percentage of the population which is unemployed and has no visible means of livelihood exceeds those of workers and income earners. Nigeria has always been a country with high dependence rate – every worker traditionally supported three or four non-workers. But, in the past, the dependents were children and old parents. Right now, we are approaching the point where every employed adult will also have another able-bodied adult as a ward in addition to more kids and old men and women. Nigeria’s ranking as the poverty capital of the world will then become unassailable for decades to come – if not up to the end of this century. If that prediction appears apocalyptic, then consider the overwhelming evidence and cry for our beloved nation.

Every report published by global institutions – World Bank, IMF, World Poverty Clock, World Health Organisation, the United Nations Organisation and Bloomberg, among others – have ranked Nigeria among the worst three to ten countries in the world on every aspect of the Human Misery Index. Space will not permit us to present a comprehensive summary of all the reports released since 2018 alone. But, the few selected should alert us to the dangers we face in the near future as our country lurches out of control of the Federal Government and the security forces. We will also take a look at reports rendered by domestic sources which indicate that large areas of Nigeria which until 2016 were regarded as peaceful have now become mini combat zones. Whole communities are now under attack by bandits and kidnappers and survivors are on the move with nothing but the rags on their backs – to become beggars in urban areas.

“[IMF] ranks Nigeria among bottom 3 in real GDP growth projection…Ghana, Ethiopia, Cote d’ Ivoire lead” VANGUARD, April 12, 2019.

Compared with growth projections of 8.8 for Ghana, 7.7 for Ethiopia and 7.4 for Cote d’ Ivoire, Nigeria is expected to grow by only 2.1 per cent. If that happens, Nigeria will add about 5 million more to those now living in extreme poverty. The predictions for 2020 are just a shade better. They will still be well below population growth estimates and increase the number of destitute people by another 5 million. That is 10 million, mostly beggars, added to the existing mob.

Meanwhile, the World Bank delivered its own verdict on the fate of Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria by saying that “the number of people living in extreme poverty is on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Nobody needs to be told which country is adding the largest number of poor people.

“13 million school age children out of school in Nigeria” has almost become accepted as a fact we now live with. Last week, the Federal Ministry of Education published a report claiming only 10.12 million kids are out of school. That claim remains to be verified. But, what most Nigerians don’t consider is what those 10 million-plus kids are doing with their idle time and hands. I made it mandatory to occasionally stop and observe what those idle kids on the loose do. Almost without exception, they engage in begging from as early an age as they can on their own carry a bowl. So, at least, we have ten million under-age pan-handlers. But, begging does not stop at fifteen. Once taken up as way of life, it continues for a long time. And, if they cannot solicit for alms on their own they grab a blind or disabled person and feed off the proceeds. Add 5m to the tally.

“The devil finds work for idle hands”, as we all know. Unknown to most of us, in addition to out of school kids, millions actually get turned out by Nigeria’s primary schools with no place to go – no secondary school; no apprenticeship; no skill training and no farm to work. No national study had been undertaken to estimate the number of young people who fall into that category. And while we are at it, we might as well add those who proceed to secondary school and leave at various stages without any further prospects in life. In the 1940s and 1950s, primary school leavers got jobs as cleaners and messengers in the public and private sectors. Today, none of them has a chance to get employed. Yet, ninety per cent of secondary school leavers would not go further – not to tertiary institutions or jobs. That class of idle hands is increasingly getting employed by cultists and robbery king pins. Otherwise, they beg their parents or others for money virtually all the time. There is no future however. Those in rural areas drift to cities to join the jobless horde already resident there. That leaves the graduates of tertiary institutions. Surely, they must be getting jobs.

“Only one out of every 100 graduates get jobs in Nigeria – SMEDAN DG.”—The NATION, Saturday April 6, 2019.

Think again. In fact, what exists here is a situation where the beggars are housed, fed, clothed and otherwise fully supported by parents and relatives – out of shame. The more courageous or helpless females move into prostitution. The rest wait for hand-outs from parents, guardians and others. By contrast, I was born on May 8, 1944, nearly 75 years ago. Everybody born before or ten years after 1944 who graduated from a university had a job waiting with car and driver attached – especially if he was in the Sales Department. My Area Sales Managers, at BOOTS COMPANY NIGERIA LIMITED in 1977, all School Certificate holders were provided with cars and drivers. One of my classmates at Igbobi College, Yaba, 1958-1962 set, changed jobs three times in one year.

“Nigerians Must Go”

Again by contrast, today, a typical graduate would be desperate to be invited for the first interview in three years. And, there will be no car and no driver. The Nigerian born in 1944 was regarded as more fortunate than the Malaysian born the same year. Today, our Malaysians counterparts are well-regarded globally and welcome everywhere. We are ending our lives in a country regarded as the largest almajiri society in the world and globally scorned. Even South Africans and Ghanaians don’t want us around. 

Those old enough to recollect what happened in 1983/4 would bear witness to the fact that Nigeria under General Buhari sent Ghanaians packing out of our country in an episode which gave birth to the Ghana Must Go epithet. Buhari is back in office now. Ghana is now throwing out Nigerians. We have become international nuisances in all countries of the world. Ask the Saudis, the Italians, Americans, Canadians or Liberians; ask Qatar what they think about us.

“Nigeria, Seven Others Face Acute Hunger – UN.” DAILY INDEPENDENT.

On April 4, 2019, DAILY INDEPENDENT published a report which pronounced as follows.

“No fewer than 113 million people experienced high levels of food insecurity in the world’s most severe food crisis in 2018, the Global Report on Food Crisis 2019 has found….These countries were Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.” Nigeria naturally contributed the largest number among the 113 million. “2,300 children die daily in Nigeria – FG” national newspaper, April 10, 2019.

Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (created by the Babangida administration) declared that “One out of 10 children under five years old that dies in the world is a Nigerian and one out of every eight Nigerian children dies before his or her fifth birthday.” But Dr Shuaib is not finished with the trope of bad news yet. He also told the world, not just Nigerians, that “145 women die daily from preventable diseases related pregnancy and child birth in the country. He likened the number of deaths to having 16 plane crashes daily in Nigeria with no survivors.”

“Residents lament as water scarcity persists in Lokoja” – DAILY TRUST. April.

The same story could have been written about any state capital in Nigeria. Residents must dig boreholes if they want assured water supply. No government, Federal or State, guarantees water anymore – even in state capitals. How can agro-allied industries develop in a country where water supply is not readily provided by government?

“US asks citizens to reconsider travelling to Nigeria”.

First, America is not alone in asking its citizens to stay away from here. Most countries have quietly passed the same message to their people. You might think that we lose only the revenue derived from tourism. That will be wrong. A prospective investor who cannot visit cannot invest. So, we lose out on Foreign Direct Investment badly needed to create jobs. Armed robbery, random violence and kidnapping now make vast sections of Nigeria virtually ungovernable. But kidnapping now tops them all. What then is the situation with kidnapping? Read and despair even more.

“Outrage over rising spate of kidnappings” – DAILY TRUST

The paper in its front page provided graphic illustration of the “Reported Cases of kidnapping from January 1 – April 1, 2019. Out of the 74 cases reported, the South had 27 cases (39 per cent) and the North 37 cases (61 per cent). Katsina, President Buhari’s own state, accounted for 16 (22.8 per cent) of all reported cases of kidnapping nationwide. More than one out of five incidents occurs in the President’s backyard. How can the rest of us in Nigeria believe that Buhari can protect us when he cannot guarantee safety in Daura? Who is the lunatic investor who will now head for Katsina? That is not all. Katsina, Zamfara, Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State were responsible for almost half (47.1 per cent) of all the crimes reported. Under President Buhari and Governor El-Rufai, Kaduna is rapidly becoming a place to avoid at all costs by everyone. Kaduna, once the heart of the North, is now the theatre for prolonged ethnic/religious war which will deliver no good dividends. More refugees will result and some are already arriving in Lagos; mostly to join the beggars here.

Obviously, Nigeria leads the world in misery. We are so far in front there is no chance in fifty years that any other nation will overtake us. Everything points to loss of jobs and the means of generating them. We are becoming the world’s first almajiri society. The question is: Does Buhari really care? Do the political leaders, APC and PDP, give a damn?

I doubt it very much.