We’ll provide security for Soyinka, Ojukwu, and others — Police

The Nigeria Police Force has promised to provide adequate security for Nigerians who will today protest the failure of President Umaru Yar’Adua to hand over power to his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Those lined up for the rally tagged, ‘Enough is enough’ include Prof. Wole Soyinka, former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Mr. Femi Falana.
Though the police said they were yet to be informed about the rally, they said that since their duty was to protect lives and property, they would not wait before doing their job.
The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Yemi Ajayi, who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone, said the Police would provide security at all the expected routes the protesters would to pass through.
He said the police would not stop the rally, adding that the police would reciprocate what they did during the last labour rally when they made sure that no one was molested.
Ajayi said, “You remember that during the last rally, police provided security at all the routes and vulnerable points to forestall hijacking by hoodlums.
“We will do that tomorrow. We will provide security at all the routes, corners and key locations so as to prevent the hoodlums from hijacking the rally.
“We will not stop the rally even though we are yet to be formally told about it. Our job is to provide security and protect lives and property. We do not need any invitation before doing that.”
Meanwhile, Soyinka on Monday said Nigerians should get prepared to embark on mass protest against how the leadership of the nation was being handled.
He also said that economic crime was currently being committed in the country due to the inability of Yar‘Adua to instruct his cabinet members on what to do.
He said this during his visit to Lagos State Agricultural Training Institute, Epe, stressing that most ministers in the cabinet now worked without taking instruction from anybody.
The playwright, who was in the institute to motivate the students who were undergoing training under the state Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme, called on Nigerians to protest the absence of the President now.
He said, ”Your President is away for more than 40 days and some of you are here planting cassava. The ministers are enjoying themselves with the absence of Mr. President.”
Soyinka, who is set to write a play on Agriculture, said that he had spent part of his life as a farmer.

Federal Govt denies Yar'Adua's death

• Govs hold fresh meeting on Yar'Adua
  

• Soyinka laments lies to Nigeria, Nigerians' docility
  

Northern legislators meet From Martins Oloja, Madu Onuorah, John Abba-Ogbodo, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (Abuja) Abiodun Fagbemi (Ilorin) Emmanuel Ande (Jos) and Saxone Akhaine, Kaduna, Chukwuma Muanya (Lagos)
AMIDST rumours yesterday of the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in Saudi Arabia, the Presidency has urged Nigerians to ignore the story, saying that it is "not only false, but also a figment of the writers' imagination."
Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Olusegun Adeniyi, said the public should discountenance the story, insisting that President Yar'Adua was not only alive, but very much conscious and getting better.
Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and some other prominent Nigerians and groups yesterday called for an urgent solution to the quagmire
According to Adeniyi, who sent his response from Angola where he said he was attending the opening ceremony of the African Cup of Nations as a member of the Presidential Task Force on Nigeria's participation in 2010 World Cup: "The speculations are false. The President is alive and actually getting better. He is very much conscious, can talk and has been talking , including making phone calls to some people back home."
The presidential spokesman added that he travelled to Angola with the permission of President Yar'Adua. "I am here officially. But I am coming back home, hopefully tomorrow, because he has so directed," Adeniyi said.
Indeed "last night, former governor of Abia State, Oji Uzor Kalu told The Guardian what he called "the most authentic proof that the rumour is worse than a lie."
"How could a man I spoke to on December 31, 2009 could have died on December 10?"
According to him, "Mutawallen Katsina spoke to me. I know his voice. Hamza, his Special Assistant who was his ADC when he was Katsina State governor, facilitated the call. " I was in Lebanon. I called Hamza to ask after the President's health and he told me he wouldn't see him until about four hours later."
After that, said Kalu, "he indeed called me back and handed the phone to President Yar'Adua. His voice was low but we exchanged banters the way he and I would normally do."
According to the former Abia governor, the President may have been moved to one of the residential houses of the Saudi King from hospital to stave off pressures.
"But to say keeping him in-communicado means he is dead is stretching the imagination too far."
Inside the Presidential Villa Abuja, the atmosphere was normal all through the day. There were no public engagements by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan who was still in his office at about 6pm.
But he received some visitors. The first was the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu and, later, chairman of the National Ports Authority (NPA) and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih. Also, the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), Mr Afakriya Gadzama, was with the Vice President. All officials were also on the ground in the Presidential Villa.
When The Guardian contacted the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, she said: "I am not aware. What I do know is that Mr. President is responding to treatment, and he recently spoke with the Vice President."
Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, also told The Guardian that he was not aware of anything on the President "Chukwuma! You should take it easy. I have not heard of any such thing," he said in response to the rumour of the President's death.
Adjunct Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, United States and Joint Pioneer of Test Tube baby technology in Nigeria, Prof. Oladapo A. Ashiru OFR, in his reaction remarked:
"Medically by the time any patient with Churg-Strauss Syndrome develops renal complications followed by ureamic pericarditis --- uniquely associated with kidney/renal failure --- the treatment becomes extremely challenging even to the best of medical teams. At this trying time when our international image is being dented, especially with the December 25 bomb attempt, the most important thing we must sell is credibility. It is very clear that if our leaders are found to be non-credible it will tell on us. This is why those in government must quickly do their best to be truthful to the nation."
There were also reports yesterday that governors of the 36 states of the federation may extend their emergency meeting which started late yesterday night in Abuja.
Expectedly the meeting, chaired by the Kwara state Governor Bukola Saraki may make the issue of the President's health the kernel of meeting.
The position of the governors on the issue may be made public at the end of the meeting "if the majority of them would favour it" said a source.
Sources told The Guardian that the meeting became imperative in order to prevent further speculations about the state of health of the President.
Soyinka also yesterday spoke on the prolonged absence of Yar'Adua, saying that the nation is at a standstill.
He called for mass action by the citizenry against what he described as a 'ridiculous regime' holding the country to ransom to avoid the elongation of the current emergency.
Soyinka explained that the rally holding today in Abuja , the Federal Capital Territory, was organized to protest the apparent violation of the constitution by the administration and its penchant for reeling out lies to the public.
He said similar protests would be held across the country to press for the application of the constitutional provisions as panacea to what he called "this national emergency."
The literary giant said those lying to the nation about the health of the president have committed treason, adding that they should not go unpunished.
Soyinka who was the' guest of the month' at the Agricultural Training School, Epe, Lagos State told the participants Nigerians must be mobilized to legitimately confront the government over its inaction.
Hailing the participants for choosing farming as an occupation, Soyinka who said he was nature friendly observed that the agricultural initiative trailed the farm settlements of the Obafemi Awolowo era in the old Western Region.
He recalled that his sad moment when he was a student at Government College, Ibadan, was when the colonial school authority slated farming as extra-curricular activity.
Soyinka also said one of the errors committed after independence was the neglect of agriculture in the school curricular.
' One of the saddest days was when the colonial school authorities cancelled agriculture. Football, athletics remained. It was one of the most disastrous experiences. If you cannot grow what you eat, you must encourage people who can do it... We have oil, but we cannot drink oil. Wrong sense of education made people to abandon agriculture due to oil', he said.
The eminent scholar said, although the call for violent revolution has filled the air, it is not the best option, warning that history has shown that it usually consumes its architects.
He feared that a violent revolution may herald the emergence of another Stalin, reminiscent of the brutality the Soviet revolution unleashed on the people of Russia and other nations.
But, the retired university don frowned at the docile attitude of people to burning national issues which, he said, contrasted with the perception of foreigners about an average Nigerian.
Soyinka said that complacency often made Nigerians to attribute the problems of the country which affect their daily wellbeing to an act of God.
' What I will like to change is what appears to be the national character of docility. People absorb so much. This is what Yoruba call Iwosi in this country. The contempt for the people is amazing.
' People endure two hours of electricity per day. I know how much I pay for diesel. It is enough to award scholarship to people for their entire career. Many people outside think Nigerians are aggressive, noisy and loud. They are taking out on other people the way they cannot express at home.
' The president is away for 40 days without handing over and all of you are here saying that you are planting cassava', he said.
Soyinka welcomed all legitimate solutions to the current impasse, except violence, adding that the call for an Interim National Government by his compatriot, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, was also in order.
He said the participants at today's rally in Abuja would make some resolutions that would aide the government to halt the tension and anxiety in the country.
' For me, the most important thing is to wake the nation up, to make people understand that they don't have to accept the act of contempt from their rulers and regard it as the norm. The nation must be made one way or the other to understand that the line has been crossed by leaving this nation without a head for so long, in not sticking to the provisions of the constitution.
He said the lying spirit that has seized those at the helm of affairs in the country to make them liable to treason.
'If the president of a nation is not in a situation where he can manage the affairs of the nation, and you keep lying and covering up to the nation, you are committing treason against the people', he stressed.
' The constitution we have is not the people's constitution. For me, that constitution must be completely overturned. We must have a genuine people's constitution. However, that is what we have at the moment and that is why we have operated it for so many years. People should not keep the constitution as something we should follow when it is convenient. That is not healthy. It is what holds the nation together. If you don't follow the constitution, you are laying the ground for dangerous friction in the country', he added.
Soyinka also berated the National Assembly for failing to rise to the occasion, lamenting that their reluctance has made the conspiracy of lies to triumph in the country.
He reiterated his call for a Sovereign National Conference to discuss the contentious national issues, recalling that he has discussed the option with President Yar'Adua when he met him.
He also said he had pointed out to the president the embarrassing activities of the electoral commission under Prof Maurice Iwu and the danger of delaying the proposed electoral reforms.
However, 58 senators from the Northern part of the country met in Abuja yesterday evening to review the implications of the prolonged ill health of the President.
The lawmakers met under the platform of the Northern Senators' Forum.
Although no official statement was issued at the end of the meeting, it was gathered that the lawmakers agreed to support a motion being put together by the entire Senate to debate the health condition of President Yarçdua.
According to sources, a key prayer of that motion is that a delegate of Senators be sent to Saudi Arabia to visit the President to acquire first-hand information on the true state of his health.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had said in Minna, Niger State at the weekend that the Senate would discuss the state of the nation, including the continued absence of the president when it resumes.
But the House of Representatives may shift debate on the president's health, earlier scheduled for today to tomorrow, Wednesday. The shift, according to sources, is to mourn the death of Hajia Aisha Nafada, the mother of the Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Usman Bayero Nafada.
Speaking with The Guardian on the telephone yesterday, the chairman of the House Committee on Finance, John Enoh, said the time had come for the House to take decisive action on the absence of the President from office for over one month.

Make Jonathan acting president, ACF insists

SECRETARY-GENERAL, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Col. Musa Shehu (rtd), yesterday said that there was nothing wrong for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to adhere to the 1999 Constitution in resolving the vacuum created by the absence of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who is currently attending to his health abroad.

Shehu, who commented on the controversy generated by the development, said: "The ACF had earlier called on the Federal Government to adhere to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in addressing the issues relating to the condition of health of the President.

He added that the controversy broke out because "officials of government are not coming out with the true position on the President's health."

The ACF scribe argued that the Forum demanded that the constitution be followed to ensure continuity in governance so that "the situation does not turn unpleasant."

Shehu added: "We believe that if the constitution is adhered to and the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, is allowed to act as President until Yar'Adua becomes well and comes back to the country, automatically he (Jonathan) will hand over the office of the President back to Yar'Adua.

"But if it is proved that he (President Yar'Adua) cannot continue on grounds of ill health, the constitution has to be followed and he will resign the position; after all 2011 is around the corner and the North can still maintain its rotational presidency in the Peoples Democratic Party."

Shehu expressed the fear that graft among public office holders might escalate if the current state of uncertainty in governance continued without the President being in charge of the nation's affairs.

Meanwhile, a member of the House of Representatives, Eperikpe Ekpo, has expressed worry over the call to the National Assembly to make Jonathan acting President, saying that the President would soon be back in the country.

Ekpo, who represents Abak, Ika and Etim Ekpo Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, argued that since the President's absence from the country was on health grounds, Nigerians should pray for his quick recovery.

The lawmaker who spoke at the weekend, submitted: "Nobody can say whether it is not the pressure mounted on him by Nigerians that caused the President to be sick. Let us forget about the issue of sentiment; let us pray for the recovery of Mr. President because we elected him into that office.

"It is not giving the Vice President the authority to act that matter. Let us ensure all those giving responsibility execute same. If the budget as passed by the National Assembly is executed to bring dividend of democracy to Nigerians, then what are we looking for again?"

Ekpo argued that the President's absence from the country would not affect the implementation of the budget as the ministers who constituted the FEC were charged with budget implementation.

Questions over source of rumour about President Yar Adua's death

NEWS report, which made the round yesterday on the Internet about the purported death of Nigeria's President in Saudi Arabia on December 10 last year raised global speculations on the state of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's health.
However, observers believed this would force the Federal Government to be more forthcoming with candid information about the health situation of the President and contemplations on the constitutional steps needed to fill the vacuum created by his absence.
Efforts by The Guardian yesterday in the United States (U.S.) to confirm the Online report met with several institutional stonewalls put in place by the publishers of American Chronicle whose website published the story.
However, American Chronicle is not considered a mainstream American news medium. The Online publication has no listed business name from which its phone numbers could be seen. It has no street address or direct email information listed on its website, except a Post Office Box information to the Managing Editor, who was not named, in Beverly Hills, California.
Besides, based on the brief information placed on the website, www.americanchronicle.com, it is a collection of Online magazines with no direct and fast contact information.
Below is what the web site says about itself: "The American Chronicle, California Chronicle, Los Angeles Chronicle, World Sentinel, and affiliates are Online magazines for national, international, state, and local news. We also provide opinion and feature articles. We have over 5,000 contributors, over 100,000 articles, and over 11 million visitors annually."
It was discovered that the website is a free-for-all platform where contributors can easily get their article posted, which explains why the site has over 5,000 contributors.
U.S. Telephone Directories and phone record agencies, called 411 here in New York, yesterday morning tried hard to assist The Guardian track down the address and contact information of the website in California, without any headway. The U.S. phone record agents searched towns in the state of California to track down any of the given names of the publication, but none was listed in the telephone directories.
But the writer of the piece, Hodderway Books, has a series of article in his name, including a book titled Crazy Billionaires Speak, which is featured on Amazon.com. While he is suspected to be based in Kenya, his nationality remains unknown.
In apparent disclaimer notice on its website, The American Chronicle's website stated: "This website and its affiliates have no responsibility for the views, opinions and information communicated here."
Media observers are generally tolerant of disclaimers of views and opinions but not "information" deemed as news.
The website added that "the contributor(s) and news providers are fully responsible for their content" but yet goes ahead to claim copyright.
Commenting, an American observer of Nigerian politics and former adviser to the late Chief MKO Abiola, Mr. Randy Echols said: "I have seen the report, but I will not take it too seriously. If the Nigerian President is dead, U.S. mainstream media will report it."
Also, U.S.-based Nigerian journalist and publisher of Saharareporters, Omoyele Sowore, observed that there were contradictions in the story, "which renders it outrightly unbelievable."
But Sowore added that the publication would force the Nigerian government to defend its claim that President Yar'Adua is still alive.
Internet message board and Nigerian email groups have also been very active since the publication hit the worldwide web early yesterday morning New York time.
On one of such boards, a Nigerian simply wrote: "Forget all this nonsense written by this obscure American newspaper. Yar'Adua is (was?) a Moslem so he could not have died in Saudi Arabia, a Moslem country since December 10 and they keep his body there. As a Moslem country, would there be mortuaries there?"

The Costs of vacant presidential seat, by industry chiefs

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's long absence from his seat is also adversely affecting the industrial sector of the economy.
The President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Bashir Borodo, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian, stressed that the development had created political uncertainty in the country.
Consequently, he said, investors are worried and are watching to see how Nigeria would handle the situation.
Today, President Yar'Adua has been away on medical treatment in Saudi Arabia for 50 days.
Prominent banker, Atedo Peterside and KOWA Party have also lent their voices to the calls for an official update on the state of health of the President
Borodo noted that the development has given foreigners, especially investors and local operators, the impression that Nigeria has little regard for the constitution. He, therefore, urged that necessary steps be taken to ensure that the constitution is applied to take care of the prevailing disrespect for the rule of law.
He said: "Many investors are wary and are wondering whether we can handle the situation. There is a lot of uncertainty. Yet, the constitution is clear on what to do in the circumstance. Investors are wary because we have refused to comply with the constitution. We have to prove them wrong by ensuring that government continues. The constitution can take care of any eventuality. The situation at hand is compounded by the fact that we don't have a culture of peaceful transition. In this case, however, since the constitution is very clear, we simply need to comply with it."
Borodo, however, expressed the wish that President Yar'Adua would recover soon and resume duty without further delay.
On a similar note, the President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Otunba Femi Deru, said that Yar'Adua's absence is eroding investors' confidence in the economy because many issues surround his absence.
"For example, the budget and other economic activities revolve around the President," Deru said.
He added: "The constitution is very clear on the issue of the President's absence as we have it presently. If we don't comply, the situation could be likened to a company which failed to adhere to its Memorandum of Association or a refusal to swear in elected people at the right time."
He added: "The fact is, international observers and investors are beginning to ask if we believe in Corporate Governance, which is really the essence of business activities in any country. And we as business people, we believe in due process, in following the rules."
He stated further: "Indeed, the issue is so important in several ways that may not really be quantifiable. Look at the latest action against Nigeria by the United States (U.S.) for instance. Would the U.S. have taken the action if their President weren't around like ours? So, let's follow the right procedure in dealing with our president's temporary absence. It should not be politicised, but treated as a constitutional issue."
Like Borodo, Deru also wished the president quick recovery. "We pray he gets well soon to resume at his post," he said.
To the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA). Mr. Jayeola Olanrewaju, the federal lawmakers' decision to discuss the issue is in order.
According to him, the overall negative implications of Yar'Adua's vacant seat to Nigeria and Nigerians cannot be overemphasised.
Olanrewaju stated: "You see, looking at it superficially, one may think it has little effect. But, if you look deeply into the whole gamut of its implications, you will realise that it doesn't portray the country well and it has serious negative implications.
"The fact is, some decisions cannot be taken once the President is not around. And if there is anything that needs his signature, it is either you take it to wherever he is or you delay such till he comes back.
"The truth is, there is no reason to create such a vacuum in governance, because it has so many disadvantages. My prayer had been that he (Yar'Adua) should come back on time. If not, then the necessary steps should be taken to fill the vacuum."
Also in an open letter to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the highest decision-making body in the absence of the president, chairman Stanbic IBTC Mr. Atedo Peterside called on the Vice President Jonathan, to begin the weekly FEC meetings with a factual update on the president's health, which should be followed by a Confidence Vote, allowing ministers to vote whether or not the President is incapacitated to continue in office.
According to him, using a secret ballot, each minister would be required to indicate 'yes' or 'no' to the question whether he believes that the process of evoking Section 144 of the Constitution should begin. Once the votes are cast and counted, the result would be announced, while the used ballot papers would be burnt or destroyed immediately in the full view of the ministers.
In a statement signed by Dr. Salihu Abubakar, Fola Adeola and Prof. Bene Madunagwu, KOWA also urged the Vice President and members of FEC to immediately trigger the process that will determine the president's fitness in office.
The statement reads: "In view of the President's prolonged absence and inability to personally dispel rumours that persist that he is incapable of discharging the functions of his office, you owe it as a duty to the nation therefore, to immediately trigger the process that will determine his fitness for office and allow the transfer of the leadership of the Federal Republic to the Vice President in accordance with the constitution.
"To extend this situation any longer would be to invite anarchy, perpetuate a dangerous vacuum that could be an invitation to extra-constitutional adventurers and prolong the agony of the country," the statement said.
Peterside argued that the nation will only know the overall result of the weekly confidence vote. Burning or destroying the used ballot papers is to avoid 'dirty tricks' and to ensure that nobody can go back to attempt to decipher through finger printing or other technology which minister voted for or against the proposition to evoke Section 144 of the Constitution.
Also, he said, the weekly Confidence Vote will save the ministers from the 'ordeal' of having to decide when next to call for a new vote if the house is divided and the votes fall short of a decisive majority after the initial vote.
"The realisation that there will be another Confidence vote next week will spur the president's family and close aides to be more open and share more information with the ministers on the true state of the President's health and also spur the President to contact more ministers, if he is in a position to do so or to himself evoke Section 145 of the Constitution.
"In effect, we would have initiated a seamless 'trial and error' process by ministers who have the constitutional responsibility to step into this matter, while affording them the protection that is accorded to corporate whistle blowers," he wrote.