NIGERIA'S challenges as a nation are not beyond God, the Federal Government affirmed yesterday.
Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who expressed the government's optimism while speaking at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Central Parish, Abuja, remarked that "sometimes the challenges we may go through as children of God and as a nation signify that God is in charge of our lives."
But the Action Congress (AC) and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) have implored Nigerians and the Federal Government to work for constitutional reforms and pursue genuine developmental measures while eschewing actions that threaten stability.
Jonathan noted that when the nation was confronted with the challenge of the swearing-in of the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloysius Katsina-Alu, God averted the confusion in which the country might have found itself.
The Vice President said it was because Nigerians prayed that made God to turn the situation around. He disclosed that the provision of the Oath Act which empowers the sitting Chief Justice to swear-in his successor was evidence of God's intervention.
Jonathan thanked all Nigerians for their tremendous support and prayers for President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, and all leaders at different levels and the country in general.
In his sermon, Pastor Elijah Olukayode Daramola, whose message focused on grace identified seven key roles which it plays in the life of Christians.
He urged Christians to shun unrighteousness in order to enjoy the sufficient grace which God has provided in the year 2010.
Also among those at the church service were the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Babatunde Omotoba; former Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, and other government functionaries.
The AC challenged Nigerians to take their destiny in their own hands and push hard for electoral and constitutional reforms in 2010, if the country was to have a free and fair election in 2011 and "if, indeed, our democracy is to survive."
In a New Year message to Nigerians, contained in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party assured that on its part, it would continue with the struggle to ensure that Nigerians can freely elect those who will govern them, and also continue to put the government of the day on its toes through constructive criticism.
``We live in very dangerous times. Things have never been so bad for Nigerians and democracy has never been so threatened as it has been in recent times, when the country has become rudderless and the so-called ruling party has all but gone to bed," AC said.
``But we must remind Nigerians of the saying that heaven helps those who help themselves. It is up to our people, victims of the total collapse of governance by the PDP-led federal government, to shake off the yoke of bad governance.''
However, the party said Nigerians should not be under any illusion that the Federal Government would alleviate their sufferings or lift the country from the abyss to which it has fallen in the past 10 years plus of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule.
``Whether under Yar'Adua or Goodluck Jonathan, nothing will happen in the few months remaining for this administration that will turn around the fortunes of our country for the better. Therefore, Nigerians must set their eyes far beyond this administration, far beyond 2010," the AC said.
``But the foundation for better days must be laid today, and the first step is to fight for electoral reform, which will be key to the organisation of successful polls in 2011.''
The party also said the issues thrown up by the lingering ill-health of President Yar'Adua have underlined the urgency of the review of the 1999 Constitution.
The party went on: ``The imperfections and ambiguities in Sections 144 and 145 have proved to be a kind of straw - thin as it may be - on which those opposed to a legal transfer of power to the VP (Vice President) have been hanging their specious arguments, including that the President can even rule from Mars or Jupiter!
``And of course, there is the absurdity of saddling the federal cabinet with the task of kick-starting the process of determining whether or not the President is fit to continue in office. One does not need to look into a crystal ball to know that in these climes, where public office is seen as a platform for national cake sharing, ministers will never initiate the move to remove the man who appointed them.''
Looking back at 2009, the party said there was no doubt that it ranked as one of the worst for Nigeria.
It continued:``Let's start from the most recent of the events that made 2009 the year we will rather forget. The failed attack on a U.S. passenger jetliner by a Nigerian, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, has dragged our nation into the ranks of emerging terrorist hotbeds to be kept at an arms length by the international community.
``That incident couldn't have come at a worse time for a country that is still struggling to clean up its image, after the shame of the massively-rigged 2007 general elections; the confusion resulting from leadership vacuum after our President left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia without legally transferring power and the country's worsening position in the global corruption ratings. We only hope those who have been wasting our scarce resources on a spurious re-branding process will now know that the game is up. What image is there to re-brand now? We must re-build our image from the scratch. And good governance is the starting point, not meaningless clich�s.
``We must also not forget the worsening security situation in the country, from the antics of the rampaging religious extremists in the north - who have continued to kill, rape and maim because the government lacks the will to stop them - to the kidnappers for ransom in the south and the armed robbers all over the place!
``Then of course the events that represent the clearest manifestation yet of the much trumpeted failure of governance at all levels: The banking crisis - though avoidable if the regulators have done their job - that has now washed away over 4,000 jobs; the capital market that has emerged as the world's worse performing index in 2009; fuel and energy crisis (Nigeria has been in a death grip of fuel scarcity for several weeks now, while the 6,000 megawatts of electricity promised by the government have metamorphosed into 6,000 megawatts of lies, to quote a newspaper); the educational crisis, highlighted by the closure of our public universities for several months; and of course the total collapse of our infrastructure.
``On the political scene, INEC Independent National Electoral Commission - PDP's Siamese Twin in election rigging and vote manipulation - showed in the Ekiti governorship re-run that it is almost irredeemable! The re-run was worse that the original election whose result was challenged by our party. It was a missed opportunity for Nigeria to show it is ready to depart from the part of failed elections!''
The party said the only success achieved by the Yar'Adua administration after much confusion - the amnesty programme which has succeeded in restoring some tenuous peace to the Niger Delta - was in the process of unravelling.
``If care is not taken, this government, through the sheer incompetence of those charged with furthering the peace process, may yet snatch failure from the jaws of victory in the Niger Delta,'' the party said.
Urging Nigerians to keep hope alive, AC added that such hope must be tempered with the reality that the government does not have what it takes to change things for the better, and thus must be "voted out of office!"
On its part, MEND called on the Federal Government to immediately release the white paper on the recommendations of the Technical Committee on Niger Delta.
It said the Federal Government's shelving of the recommendations of the Ledum Mitee-led committee which submitted its report to Yar'Adua on December 31, 2008, was one of the reasons that informed MEND's refusal to accept last year's amnesty offer.
The group's spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, told The Guardian in an interview that government raised a red flag when it ignored the key recommendations of the committee.
MEND which considers the amnesty a failure even though it led to the release of Henry Okah from teason trial, said its assessment was based on the fact that the programme has been tarnished with politics, deceit and greed. Besides, it stated that the post-amnesty phase is a disaster that has led the criminal elements to riot at Aluu, Rivers State and rape at will.
Gbomo said: "The most critical element to have been won was the hearts and mind more than the monthly stipend which will only make these grown men lazy. Amnesty was not the appropriate tool to use but in the circumstance where innocent persons like Henry Okah were being held on trumped-up charges, it was accepted to improvise with it. Because that tool was not appropriate, it has led us all back to the starting block."
MEND described as a blatant lie the government's claim that over 15,000 militants embraced the amnesty programme. According to Gbomo, at most the real militants that embraced the programme were not more than 500 while the rest of the other figure comprises of jobless youths and criminals.
"With the United Nations involvement, the exact number of combatants would have been made public and the same goes for the weapons returned.
The UN would have come out with a long-term-post amnesty plan instead of what we are seeing which is not realistic for the long term," said Gbomo.
When The Guardian contacted the spokesperson of the amnesty committee, Dr. Timiebi Karimopo-Agary, she explained that the official in charge of the collation was yet to give her an update on the exact number of militants that accepted the offer.
MEND has meanwhile hinted that the country would witness "intelligent and focused militancy that will be definite and ferocious in its attacks" in order to get the Niger Delta question resolved this year.
Gbomo said MEND would be ferocious under a formless but highly efficient structure. He further explained that the Niger Delta struggle would now be carried out by the genuine freedom fighters who are better focused to "deliver the lethal plague" in bringing the agitation to its logical conclusion.
Gbomo. said: "2010 will be an interesting year because we will see how the president's stay outside the country will play out with a sidelined Vice and now with the involvement of the north in international terrorism exposed, the sympathy of the world will shift to the Niger Delta region. The unrest in the region will escalate and we believe that the Niger Delta will be emancipated or very close to it."
MEND said the Niger Delta crisis has not been resolved because the "northern elite see the region as a mining field that should not be controlled by the land owners."
MEND, however, insisted that the country must act as a true federation and the resources of every region should be controlled by its people.
Gbomo added: "The day true federalism is practised will be the end of the crisis in the region. Amnesty on its own will not bring the desired peace. It is only with a cocktail of justice, true federalism and respect for the other tribes that make the entity called Nigeria that genuine peace can come to Nigeria."
Monday, January 4, 2010
Jonathan shuns Aso Rock food, drinks
We learnt authoritatively that the nation’s number two man has only been taking food prepared by his wife, Patience, in the last three weeks.
This development is coming on the heels of a warning from the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), as well as the Ijaw National Congress (INC), that any attempt to hurt Jonathan would spell doom for the country.
The vice-president has maintained a dignified silence amidst calls for his resignation four weeks ago by some northern politicians, even as he has refused to be dragged in as pressure heightens that President Yar’Adua should resign to pave the way for Jonathan to take over in acting capacity.
Only three days ago, Jonathan, who spoke at the New Year Service in Abuja, maintained that the ship of state was sailing with Yar’Adua still in charge.
But the Nigerian Tribune learnt that behind the public show of statesmanship by the vice-president are very serious issues bothering him to the extent that he has resolved “not to take anything for granted.”
According to a highly-placed source in the Presidency, the vice-president’s determination to avoid food and drinks prepared in the Villa became manifest at a state function which was held quietly in the Villa without the prying eye of the press.
The event was the visit of a VIP from a tiny African country sharing some common economic links with Nigeria. Jonathan was said to have quietly turned down the request that he should be served food and drink at the event.
That, according to the source, was about the fifth time the vice-president would turn down such a request. Also at a political rally in one of the South-East states, Jonathan refused to eat and drink throughout the programme.
“ The only thing sure about Oga (Jonathan) is that, he will remain loyal to the president no matter the temptation and pressures from so many quarters; he can never betray him by falling for the temptation of those making moves to spite him and his office.
“I can tell you that they know what they are up to and the VP knows this much too, because whatever thing he does in reaction to their actions are capable of so many meanings.
“But the man has really decided that nothing should be taken for granted at all; that is why he has refrained from taking anything prepared in the Villa, at least for now till the return of the president, insha Allah, because nothing is impossible in this country and politicians can go to any length to stop anybody from becoming something. It has happened in this country before.”
Asked if the action of the vice-president did not have serious implications for mutual distrust, the source said: “Whatever that amounts to I do not know. But I can tell you too that it was distrust and an attempt to ridicule the vice-president that some hawks had to tell to the nation that the president, who they had not seen for over 40 days, had signed the nation’s budget.
“It will be in the interest of the nation if the same persons can show us the specimen signature of the president and then present to him again, the National Merit and Honours List for signature too.
Meanwhle, the IMG, in a statement by its coordinator, Comrade Joseph Evah, expressed fears that the vice-president’s life could be in danger.
“We have said this before and we will continue to say it that the life of the vice-president is in danger, because of the way and manner some powerful politicians are bent on subverting the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“IMG is fervently praying for the president to return home in good health and continue his efforts to change the face of the Niger Delta; but events in the last three weeks show that Jonathan is not wanted by some very influential politicians, who try to do anything to twist the constitution against the collective wish of the people of the country.
“In fact, we cannot be oblivious of the fact that this people can go to any extent, including giving Jonathan the infamous (MKO) Abiola treatment, just to have their way. But we must warn that events that will follow such an action will not be in the interest of the nation,” the statement said in part.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Jonathan has expressed optimism that Nigeria’s challenges as a nation are not beyond God.
Speaking at the Sunday service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Central Parish, Abuja, on Sunday, Dr. Jonathan said the challenges “we may go through as children of God and as a nation signify that God is in charge of our lives.”
He clarified that when the nation was confronted with the challenge of the swearing-in of the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, God averted the confusion that the country might have found itself.
He also disclosed that the provision of the Oath Act, which empowers the sitting Chief Justice of Nigeria to swear in his successor, was evidence of God’s intervention.
Dr. Jonathan commended all Nigerians – both Christians and Muslims –– for their tremendous support and prayers for President Yar’Adua and all leaders at different levels and the country in general.
In his sermon, Pastor Elijah Daramola, whose message centred on grace, identified seven key roles which he said grace played in the life of Christians. He urged Christians to shun unrighteousness in order to enjoy the sufficient grace, which, according to him, God had provided in 2010.
Those with the Vice-President included the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Babatunde Omotoba; former deputy speaker House of Representatives, Chief Chibudom Nwuche, and some other government functionaries.
Yar’Adua can’t be away indefinitely insist NBA, SANs
It said that there was no basis for Yar’Adua to have failed to empower Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to act as President in line with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.
The section states: “Whenever the president transmits to the President of the senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the vice-president as Acting President.”
The NBA made the remark amid concerns by many Nigerians that today marks the 42nd days since the President travelled to Jeddah for treatment of acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the outer membrane of the heart at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital.
Some of the Nigerians had also pondered on the direction of the country without the President in the saddle especially as today marks the first working day of the year.
The National President of the NBA, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone, said the association had filed an action in court over Yar’Adua’s failure to transmit to the National Assembly that Jonathan would be the acting President.
Akeredolu said, “We in the NBA are of the firm view that the provision of the constitution must be complied with. The President cannot stay away on health grounds indefinitely.
“The moment the President is on admission in a hospital, he is incapacitated. And whether it is for recuperation or treatment of an ailment, he is not in control. This development cannot be wished away. That is enough for section 145 of the constitution to be invoked.
“It is unfortunate that some people cannot appreciate the word ‘incapacite.’ According to the Oxford Advanced Dictionary incapacitate means “to make somebody unable to live or work normally.” Let the National Assembly members check the dictionary meaning of the word. The dictionary gives an example: “He was incapacited by old age and sickness.” When you are admitted into a hospital, you cannot perform your duties or functions; you are not in control of your affairs muchless of the affairs of a nation.
“And that explains why the NBA has gone to court to say that there is an omission on the part of the President to refuse to transmit to the National Assembly that Jonathan should act as President in his absence.”
Just as the NBA president spoke, two Senior Advocates of Nigeria—Prof. Itse Sagay and Dr. Konyinsola Ajayi — said the President could not continue to rule the country from a foreign land.
But three other SANs —Mallam Yusuf Ali, Chief Tony Idigbe and Mr. Tayo Oyetibo — disagreed with them, saying there was no time limit for the President to be out of the country.
Sagay, who was the first to comment, said, “As in the spirit of the 1999 Constitution, the President is expected to rule from his country and not from the Diaspora. What is happening is against the constitution. It is anarchy and the development may lead to many lapses in governance.
“But there is a limit to whether his absence can continue indefinitely. It will get to a situation where the present arrangement will boomerang. It will soon get to a situation where if this scenario continues, there will be a serious constitutional and national crisis.
For Ajayi, “It is not possible for the President to stay abroad for a long time. I wish him well to come back to resume. The constitutional way out is for the Vice-President to be in charge of governance, otherwise, the development will lead to anarchy.
“The constitution recognises an acting President if the President is away. I do not foresee any constitutional crisis if the vice- president takes over except he does certain things which he is not supposed to do.”
The President of the West African Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana, also said that it was patently wrong for the President to govern the country from a foreign land.
Similarly, Oyetibo said, “The constitution does not expressly stipulate the number of days for which the President can remain outside the country. But if the President remains outside the country beyond a reasonable time and during that period, he does not perform the functions of his office nor address a communication to the National Assembly to the effect that he is on vacation or otherwise unable to perform the functions of his office as required by section 145 of the constitution, he would be deemed to guilty of gross misconduct within the meaning of section 143 (11) of constitution.
“What is a reasonable time is a question of fact which would be determined on the facts of each case. In my view, it is most unreasonable and politically immoral for the President to remain outside the country for more than 40 days and refuse to address a communication to the National Assembly to that effect.
“It is time for the National Assembly to invoke the provisions of section 142 of the constitution against the President.”
But Ali, who admitted that Yar’Adua’s absence was affecting governance in the country, wondered why there should be so much furore over his stay abroad on medical grounds.
He said, “The constitution does not make provisions for the number of months and days the President can stay abroad. It cannot be doubted that his absence is affecting the engine of governance.
“It is the issue at stake which is the ill-health that is provoking all those concerns. If, for instance, he goes on an extended tour of nations, nobody will tell him to hand over power. It is because of his ill-health. What is going on now is an admixture of politics and other issues.
Idigbe said, “The issue is not the number of days he (Yar’Adua) has stayed abroad; the issue is and should be whether he still has the capacity to govern.
“From my understanding of the constitution, the Federal Executive Council has a role to play in this matter by virtue of section 145 of the 1999 Constitutution. There is no limit to the number of days the President could stay away from the country.
“It is the duty of FEC to make a public statement on this matter using a medical report to ascertain the President’s state of health. Has FEC done this? The President could stay as long as two years under the protection of the country, assuming that the country is at war.”
God is in control, says VP Jonathan
He told the congregation at the Redeemed Christian Church, Central Parish, Abuja ’s thanksgiving service that the current situation in the country occasioned by the absence in the country of President Umaru Yar’Adua on health ground had thrown up worrisome dimension to governance which God had responded to.
He said the reactions to some of the issues raised had been such that anyone would think that the ship of state would sink any moment, pointing out that God, however, in His infinite mercy had continued to deliver the country and the people from chaos and anarchy.
“Of course you know our president has been out of the country for about 39 days today (yesterday) on health ground and those of you who bother to read the papers, sometimes you feel as if the whole country is sinking. People call me and wonder if I even sleep after reading the stories in the papers,” he further pointed out.
Urging continued prayers for the country, Vice President Jonathan assured that God was able to see the country through as He had done in the past, no matter the challenges, while thanking the people for their continued faith in the country and their prayers for the president’s recovery and for the government.
He recalled a similar situation in the past when God, following the people’s intercessory prayers, had had to intervene to save the country from turbulence, adding “because the Christians pray, no matter the turbulence, no matter the challenges we have, God will see us through.”
“No matter the challenges we have, with your prayers surely this country will stabilize. When the dawn is coming the night gets darker,” he stated, pointing out that God had a reason for allowing the country to go through the current experience which was “to tell us that he is in charge and that nobody, no human being is in charge.”
On the controversy trailing the legal powers of who swears in a new Chief Justice of Nigeria, the vice president hinted that the situation before the swearing in of Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu as the new chief justice really unsettled him as he was not sure of what would happen in the event of leaving one arm of government without a leader.
According to him, he was worried that allowing a vacuum in the leadership of the judicial arm of government was an open invitation to chaos in the country and so he tried the only option he thought could avert the looming crisis by considering the extension of the tenure of the retiring chief justice before the matter was resolved.
“We have lot of challenges. Look at what happened during the swearing in of the Chief Justice of the Federation. Before then when we were confronted with that situation, few days to December 31st, the Thursday the Chief Justice of Nigeria was supposed to retire, we were worried.
“As a vice president, based on our laws, I do not have any powers to swear in the Chief Justice of Nigeria. It is a ceremonial responsibility and ceremonial functions are sometimes more serious than the real work we do. I do not have the powers to swear in the Chief Justice of the Federation.
“I was worried that if we get to that Thursday and the Chief Justice of Nigeria is not sworn in, that means one arm of government has no leader and that would have been an invitation to chaos. As at that time even the lawyers around because the tradition has been there for 51 years where Mr. President swears in the Chief Justice, no Nigerian or even senior lawyers cared to look at the other aspects of the law.
“In fact, I even had to approach the former Chief Justice, that look I have the powers to extend your period of stay in the office. Since I cannot swear in a new Chief Justice, can’t I extend your stay in office so that there will be no vacuum, but he said it was not possible because the Constitution says at the age of 70 he must go.
“But he promised he was going to re-examine the laws. I got back to my office I was terribly worried within that period. Few days to the time (expiration of the tenure of the former CJN), the Attorney General came and showed me the Act that says either the President or the Chief Justice of the federation can swear in the new Chief Justice of the federation.
That law was there but nobody saw it.
“So what I am saying is that as a nation, as individuals we might have challenges. Sometimes when we have major challenges, it helps us to look more into our lives, look more into whatever there is. Even as Christians, there are times we think when things are going well, we think it’s because of your ability, your intelligence, your background, because of whatever.
“You don’t know it’s the grace of God that those things are happening to you. Sometimes it is good to have challenges even as individuals. Even in sickness, I believe God wants to tell us that He is the only person who is keeping us alive, that whatever we are, it is by His grace”, Vice President Jonathan added.
In his sermon entitled, “2010: Multiple Grace of God”, Pastor Elijah Olukayode Daramola whose message centred on grace identified seven key roles which grace plays in the life of Christians and urged Christians to shun unrighteousness soas to enjoy the sufficient grace which God has provided in the year 2010.
The vice president was accompanied to the service by his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, his mother, the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Babatunde Omotoba and his wife, former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche and a host of top government functionaries and aides.
Money launderers have taken over fuel business - NDLEA
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disclosed that many petrol dealers are into money laundering.
The director-general of the agency, Mr. Lanre Ipinmisho, said that the agency would start going after such persons, especially those with non-functional petrol stations, who were still declaring profits.
He said, in Abuja that that the agency had discovered that there were some owners of fuel petrol stations involved in money laundering but hiding under the business.
He noted the worrisome development of the lingering fuel crisis when the products were available for the dealers but prefered to hoard the products and maximise gains instead of making them available to motorists.
According to him, “The agency, in its activities, discovered that there are some individuals claiming to be fuel dealers but for more than two three months, they would not have stock yet they are remitting huge amount of money into their accounts”.
Ipinmisho explained that the agency had started investigating those involved and that they would soon be made to face the law.
He wondered why people would establish a business to serve the interest of the masses but would not bother whether the consumers got the product or not yet they would be smiling to their banks.
“Apart from prosecuting those involved, the agency is seeking for the cooperation of the National Assembly so that any filling station in this category would be sealed”.
The director-general of the agency, Mr. Lanre Ipinmisho, said that the agency would start going after such persons, especially those with non-functional petrol stations, who were still declaring profits.
He said, in Abuja that that the agency had discovered that there were some owners of fuel petrol stations involved in money laundering but hiding under the business.
He noted the worrisome development of the lingering fuel crisis when the products were available for the dealers but prefered to hoard the products and maximise gains instead of making them available to motorists.
According to him, “The agency, in its activities, discovered that there are some individuals claiming to be fuel dealers but for more than two three months, they would not have stock yet they are remitting huge amount of money into their accounts”.
Ipinmisho explained that the agency had started investigating those involved and that they would soon be made to face the law.
He wondered why people would establish a business to serve the interest of the masses but would not bother whether the consumers got the product or not yet they would be smiling to their banks.
“Apart from prosecuting those involved, the agency is seeking for the cooperation of the National Assembly so that any filling station in this category would be sealed”.
PDP lacks vision to solve Nigeria’s problems - AC
THE Action Congress (AC) has asserted that Nigerians should show the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government the way out, saying that it lacked the vision to take Nigeria out of the woods.
The party said the administrations of the PDP were only out to impoverish the people and cause further damage to the battered image of the nation.
In a New Year message signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, the party asked the people to take their destiny in their hands and push hard for electoral and constitutional reforms in the New Year to guarantee a free and fair election in 2011.
The party promised to continue with the struggle to ensure that Nigerians could freely elect those who would govern them, as well as put the government on its toes through constructive criticism.
It urged Nigerians not to delude themselves that the Federal Government would alleviate their sufferings or lift the country from the abyss to which it had fallen in the past 10 years of its rule.
It added that “we live in very dangerous times. Things have never been so bad for Nigerians and democracy has never been so threatened as it has been in recent times, when the country has become rudderless and the so-called ruling party has all but gone to bed.
“But we must remind Nigerians of the saying that heaven helps those who help themselves. It is up to our people, victims of the total collapse of governance by the PDP-led Federal Government, to shake off the yoke of bad governance.”
It observed that the issues thrown up by the lingering sickness of President Yar’Adua underscored the urgency of the review of the 1999 Constitution.
Taking a retrospective view of 2009, the party stated that there was no doubt that it ranked as one of the worst for Nigeria, adding that certain events in the year further justified public negative perception of the rebranding campaign.
“Let’s start from the most recent of the events that made 2009 the year we will rather forget. The failed attack on a US passenger jetliner by a Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has dragged our nation into the ranks of emerging terrorist hotbeds to be kept at an arms length by the international community.
The AC also commented on political events in the outgone year, saying that “on the political scene, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)/PDP’s siamese twin in election rigging and vote manipulation showed in the Ekiti governorship rerun that it is almost irredeemable.
“The rerun was worse than the original election whose result was challenged by our party. It was a missed opportunity for Nigeria to show it is ready to depart from the part of failed elections!’’ AC said
The party said the only success achieved by the Yar’Adua-led administration after much confusion, the amnesty programme which has succeeded in restoring peace to the Niger Delta, was in the process of unravelling.
The party said the administrations of the PDP were only out to impoverish the people and cause further damage to the battered image of the nation.
In a New Year message signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, the party asked the people to take their destiny in their hands and push hard for electoral and constitutional reforms in the New Year to guarantee a free and fair election in 2011.
The party promised to continue with the struggle to ensure that Nigerians could freely elect those who would govern them, as well as put the government on its toes through constructive criticism.
It urged Nigerians not to delude themselves that the Federal Government would alleviate their sufferings or lift the country from the abyss to which it had fallen in the past 10 years of its rule.
It added that “we live in very dangerous times. Things have never been so bad for Nigerians and democracy has never been so threatened as it has been in recent times, when the country has become rudderless and the so-called ruling party has all but gone to bed.
“But we must remind Nigerians of the saying that heaven helps those who help themselves. It is up to our people, victims of the total collapse of governance by the PDP-led Federal Government, to shake off the yoke of bad governance.”
It observed that the issues thrown up by the lingering sickness of President Yar’Adua underscored the urgency of the review of the 1999 Constitution.
Taking a retrospective view of 2009, the party stated that there was no doubt that it ranked as one of the worst for Nigeria, adding that certain events in the year further justified public negative perception of the rebranding campaign.
“Let’s start from the most recent of the events that made 2009 the year we will rather forget. The failed attack on a US passenger jetliner by a Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has dragged our nation into the ranks of emerging terrorist hotbeds to be kept at an arms length by the international community.
The AC also commented on political events in the outgone year, saying that “on the political scene, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)/PDP’s siamese twin in election rigging and vote manipulation showed in the Ekiti governorship rerun that it is almost irredeemable.
“The rerun was worse than the original election whose result was challenged by our party. It was a missed opportunity for Nigeria to show it is ready to depart from the part of failed elections!’’ AC said
The party said the only success achieved by the Yar’Adua-led administration after much confusion, the amnesty programme which has succeeded in restoring peace to the Niger Delta, was in the process of unravelling.
Terrorism: Lawyer explains why US spared Mutallab
Multi-Billionaire businessman and father of Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian arrested for a failed attempt to bomb a US passenger jet, Alhaji Umaru Abdulmutallab, would have got all his assets and wealth seized but for his effort in alerting the authorities of his son’s radicalism, renowned Kaduna based lawyer,Yahaya Mahmood, has said.
Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna, at the weekend, Mahmood also condemned terrorist act anywhere in the world but faulted the way and manner the US was fighting terrorism.
“You see, the terrorist Act existing in the United States, which we have also passed in Nigeria and other countries of the world, stipulates heavy penalty for terrorism. It includes forfeiting all your assets. I think his father was very lucky that he informed the security agents and that was accepted. Otherwise, he also risks forfeiting his assets, especially if there is evidence that he collaborated or assisted the son,”he said.
He explained further that, “but I look at the whole thing from two different angles. The way we send our children abroad without proper guidance is one problem. You send your son to London or to the United States, you don’t check him or monitor the kind of friends he keeps there. At a tender age of 18 to 20, anything can happen. For some of these children, the enjoyment is so much that they start thinking what next to do.
“This is somebody who has not known any poverty or suffering, staying in a N4 million house in London and then he started saying that he likes his religion very well; he started writing on his Facebook that he is so lonely and has no Muslim friends to discuss Muslim affairs with. These are the kind of people that Al-Qaeda will easily convince.”
Speaking to newsmen in Kaduna, at the weekend, Mahmood also condemned terrorist act anywhere in the world but faulted the way and manner the US was fighting terrorism.
“You see, the terrorist Act existing in the United States, which we have also passed in Nigeria and other countries of the world, stipulates heavy penalty for terrorism. It includes forfeiting all your assets. I think his father was very lucky that he informed the security agents and that was accepted. Otherwise, he also risks forfeiting his assets, especially if there is evidence that he collaborated or assisted the son,”he said.
He explained further that, “but I look at the whole thing from two different angles. The way we send our children abroad without proper guidance is one problem. You send your son to London or to the United States, you don’t check him or monitor the kind of friends he keeps there. At a tender age of 18 to 20, anything can happen. For some of these children, the enjoyment is so much that they start thinking what next to do.
“This is somebody who has not known any poverty or suffering, staying in a N4 million house in London and then he started saying that he likes his religion very well; he started writing on his Facebook that he is so lonely and has no Muslim friends to discuss Muslim affairs with. These are the kind of people that Al-Qaeda will easily convince.”
Terrorism: US declare Nigerians security risk
Air travellers from Nigeria, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and nine other countries will face full-body search before boarding airliners under new security screening procedures, targeting foreign passengers announced by the United States on Sunday.
The procedures, which go into effect on Monday, follow the botched Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound US airliner attributed to
a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who US officials believe was trained by al Qaeda in Yemen.
“Passengers travelling from or through nations listed as ”state sponsors of terrorism” –Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria -- as well as
Nigeria Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen will face heightened screening, an Obama administration
official told Reuters.
“Such passengers will be patted down, have their carry-on luggage searched and could undergo advanced explosive detection or imaging scans,” the
official, who spoke on condition on anonymity added.
The Transportation Security Administration, the US agency responsible for air security measures, announced the ”enhanced screening”
procedures, adding that any passengers on US.-bound flights could be subjected to random security searches.
The procedures, which go into effect on Monday, follow the botched Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound US airliner attributed to
a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who US officials believe was trained by al Qaeda in Yemen.
“Passengers travelling from or through nations listed as ”state sponsors of terrorism” –Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria -- as well as
Nigeria Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen will face heightened screening, an Obama administration
official told Reuters.
“Such passengers will be patted down, have their carry-on luggage searched and could undergo advanced explosive detection or imaging scans,” the
official, who spoke on condition on anonymity added.
The Transportation Security Administration, the US agency responsible for air security measures, announced the ”enhanced screening”
procedures, adding that any passengers on US.-bound flights could be subjected to random security searches.
AbdulMutallab: Nigerians are not criminals says former President Obasanjo
Obasanjo, while fielding questions from journalists after a thanksgiving service to mark the New Year at the Chapel of Christ the Glorious King in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said the action of the young lad should not be a yardstick to justify all Nigerians, adding that Nigerians were law-abiding people and not terrorists.
“The young man’s case should not be used as a standard to judge Nigerians or, in fact, to criminalise all Nigerians. Nigerians are not criminals. The fact that the boy committed a grave offence as a Nigerian does not say that all Nigerians are terrorists or criminals,” Obasanjo said.The former president contended that the father of the suspect was well known to him as a peace-loving Nigerian and a specimen of a good man.
“I sympathise with his father, particularly, and his family, because I know the father very well. His father is what I will call specimen of a good man; he’s a gentleman who want the best for his children. And this one should be an aberration,” Obasanjo added.
Obasanjo said he pitied the Mutallabs for the embarrassment caused them by the action of Farouk, saying the young lad was just a defiant who failed to obey his parents.He also said defiant children were expected to be seen in any large family charged young ones to be obedient and be good children to their parents.
“In any large family, you have defiant children. He (Farouk) just turned out to be that. With that, it’s a pity and also it’s a good lesson for all parents and children. If, as a child, you do not listen to your parents, anything can happen,” the former president said.Obasanjo predicted that 2010 would be a glorious year for all Nigerians and also prayed that the country would become great and a good example for other African countries.
Presidency probes Abdulmutallab’s father’s claims
The suspect’s father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, reportedly informed unnamed figures in the Nigerian and the United States intelligence services some months ago that his son was leaning towards extremist tendencies. While the American government had confirmed that an intelligence officer in the US Embassy in Nigeria received the suspect’s father’s report, no Nigerian security agency had confirmed receiving such information.
A presidency source, who declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said the investigation would examine counter-claims that the retired banker did not make a formal report to the State Security Service, Nigeria Police or Nigeria Intelligence Agency.The development was intended to stop the brewing storm in the Nigerian intelligence community over the issue.He said that fresh indications had emerged that the suspect’s father merely had “an informal chat” with a former National Security Adviser.”The source said there were indications that Mutallab merely told the former NSA that his son had cut links with him and would appreciate if efforts could be made to locate him.
According to the official, “Alhaji Mutallab’s claim of formally reporting to relevant security agencies is being investigated because of emanating facts that he did not approach the SSS, NIA or even the police to divulge his terrorist tendencies of any sort about his son. If Mutallab formally reported to any of the security agencies, which was it? Is there any evidence of a report from anywhere?
“The only known evidence is that Mutallab approached the US embassy as stated and acknowledged by the Americans, with details indicating his son was missing, without clear cut information about his affiliations or religious extremism.Questions are now being asked: why did they (US Embassy) not act promptly, i.e. to cancel his visa? Was it just information of a missing son? The Presidency is worried that security agencies locally are trading blame when the US Embassy (if it actually had cogent information) failed to act on such.”
The source said the presidency found it strange that Nigeria’s security agencies were trading blame on the matter when the US Embassy did not find the information on Abdulmutallab cogent enough to warrant the cancellation of his visa.He also said the presidency’s investigation would seek to unravel the reason why the US government failed to place the suspect on the red list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a potential terrorist.He added, “Further questions to be asked are why did Mutallab approach a former NSA instead of the serving officer (was he inaccessible)? Why are issues within security agencies (such as queries) being leaked to the media and who has leaked them?“Again is it ethical for security agencies to be trading blame in the media? The two major security agencies in the country, the SSS and NIA, which report directly to the President, have distinct roles.The SSS manages internal intelligence and security, while the NIA is saddled with external intelligence gathering.”“The Presidency is worried that major security agencies are bringing issues of national importance to the public glare and stirring tension in the polity, at a time agencies of government need to be closely knitted to stir the course of smooth governance.”
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