Obi Nwakanma
"What explanation do you offer for this?
Yes, I will do. Let me tell you the truth. You journalists must always do your research properly to educate the public. You should also look into the choice of words. You see, I repeat it again: Biafra was not defeated. It was not the Biafran Army that was responsible for the war efforts during the conflict. The efforts were handled by civilian populace. The soldiers were recruited to defend the civilians. The arms were provided by the civilians. In the executive council of Biafra, there were only two military personnel: Odumegwu-Ojukwu as the Head of State and Effiong as the Officer-in-Charge of Defence. The rest were all civilians. Those civilians were the ones who, when Odumegwu-Ojukwu left to attend the crucial meeting in Liberia, came to me and requested that I should stop the war. Today, there are living witnesses to what I am telling you. These include former Enugu State Chief Judge, Justice P.K. Nwokedi. He was one of those who came with Sir Louis Mbanefo and others to request that I take steps to stop the fighting. Initially, I was against it. But then I was reminded and made to understand that it is not my personal war. So, as a soldier, I have to obey the orders and demands of the Biafran Executive Council to stop the war. Another living witness is Obasanjo.
He is still alive. When I sent for him from Owerri, it was to my house he arrived. General Alani Akinrinade was the one I signalled to tell Obasanjo to come to Uga in Orlu Division. He and then Lt. Col. Sam Tumoye were at our headquarters when we discussed how to bring the war to an end. It was from my house that I took Obasanjo to meet Effiong at Igboukwu, which used to be the headquarters of the Biafran Directorate of Military intelligence. General Akinrinade is still alive and can testify to what I am saying. Nobody defeated Biafra. Commonsense will have tell you the truth. If they defeated Biafra, the federal side would have demanded our weapons. In my own case, I asked all my soldiers to go home with their weapons. Those that don’t want it should dump them by the roadside. Some handed them over to us. The truth is this. For a long time because of the laws in the archives of the military, what I am telling you today was kept under cover and secret. The essence is to give Nigeria a chance to formulate a new society where all can live in peace. But unfortunately, what I see now is that the issues that led to that armed struggle is yet to be addressed. And instead of addressing this issue so that Nigeria can have a good future, our leaders are still pursuing selfish interest. It is such that even in their presence, the Niger Delta struggle is rising every day."
-General 'Hannibal' Achuzia
Achuzia's statement is a witness of truth. My uncle, today a university Professor of Hydrology Geophysics, was platoon commander of the Strike Force, or the "Suicide platoon" under Tim Onwuatuegwu' s S Brigade. From June 1969, they began to organize for the second phase of the war - the guerrilla phase - and most Biafran combatants went home with theor weapons; many of which they hid or buried. The tricky negotiations of 1970, and the language of "no victor, no vanquished" and the murder by Obasanjo of Tim Onwuatuegwu, whose S Brigade was the nucleus of the guerilla, and the incorporation of people like Professor Ukwu I. Ukwu of BOFF into Asika's administration ket the trigger at bay. From 1970-1983/85, the Federal government was still very wary of the Biafrans, not sure, what minefield they may step. Achuzia's words must be carefully weighed. One point that is clear, and I hope Achuzia and otherte will someday tell this story, of how the Biafran fronts were suddenly and carefully collapsed, in spite of Ojukwu's orders, and the tricks used by both international and domestic means to get Ojukwu out of the way, on a fruitless mission in Ivory Coast. That was a bloodless coup. That is also at the core of Ojukwu's personal anger with some of gthe key officers and civilians in Biafra to date, whom he felt betrayed the Biafran resistance in his absence. Biafran frontline commanders were paid 10,000 pounds sterling, in the same numbered checks to be collected at Barclays Bank, Lagos to collapse the fronts. Of course, they never collected, but were rounded up and blackmailed into silence. There are many ex-Biafran commanders and combatants, many of them in their late fifties and early sixties, in sleeper cells around Nigeria and abroad, who are currently angry with what became of the treaty of 1970. Many of them have never taken Nigeria seriously since the war ended, and have prefered to stay in the background rather than come out and assume public leadership. Most are still very angry and bitter- with their commanders and with Nigeria. They who have ears, let them listen.
DANJUMA INSTIGATED THE KILLING OF IRONSI, FAJUYI
"JOE ACHUZIA
Beyond being one of the major actors in the Nigerian Civil War, Colonel Joe Achuzia (rtd.) is a very popular figure. In this revealing interview with EMMANUEL AGOZINO, Achuzia, popularly known as the Biafran Hannibal, talks about some
of the other actors in the Civil War, including Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu; former President Nnamdi Azikiwe; former military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi; and former Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma. Excerpts:
You were said to be a man that fought the civil war without rules. While some see that as barbaric others take to you be a hero. Who is Colonel Joe Achuzia?
Well, I don’t know about being great. All I know is that in history, every society passes through one phase or the other. It is only those phases that leave indelible marks on society that make for remembrance. And within the issues of remembrance, people now realise the activities that led to it. As part of these activities, certain persons are usually identified with that cause. It is in the process of this identification that certain names takes prominence, not because they are the best, but because within their activities, they left mark as a signpost for the remembrance of the activities that took place at that time. Fortunately, I seem to be identified in one of these activities. Anybody familiar with Nigeria’s history from independence will easily identify the landmarks, the memorable incidents that stand out in the history of this country. One of those is the three and half years civil war out of which at the end of it, names were bandied about and mine is one of those names. But luckily, I am still alive not only to help correct all the misinterpretation that some people assigned to me, but also let today’s generation know the roles that I played and also refute any false information. For me, these were the things that singled me out. But otherwise, there is nothing that I did. Regarding the allegations that I fought the civil war without rules, others have done even worse.
What will you say about the recent statement credited to General T.Y. Danjuma that late General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was killed as a military Head of State, was a useless man. What is your reaction?
You see, when I read Danjuma’s statement, I felt very sad about it. First, go and do your research and you will realise that what I am going to tell you is the truth. In the 2 Division, it was this Danjuma, then a Captain in the then Nigeria Army, who was responsible for organising the security of General Ironsi. It was his job. So, if Danjuma turns today and tells the world that he did not know about how Ironsi and Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi were killed in Ibadan, it will be a very big lie. If you want me to put it straight, it was because of the opposition of the unitary system declared by Ironsi that Danjuma organised his elimination along with Colonel Fajuyi in Ibadan. So, Danjuma cannot in all honesty deny that he was not the chief instigator of the killing. We were all living witness. I was in Lagos when the incident happened. So, I am not telling you a myth or what I did not know. It is this same group who killed Ironsi and Fajuyi in Ibadan that up till today are benefiting from the unitary system that Ironsi set up. Can you imagine. It is out of this same cabal too that the so-called Kaduna Mafia sprang up. I am not saying that it is all Northerners that wanted the total elimination of the Igbo during civil war period. But when we talk in terms of what Danjuma did, I know what I am saying. That is his character. It was just the way he killed Ironsi and Fajuyi that he betrayed the late General I.D. Bisala. He denied Bisala when Bisala needed him the most during the coup that killed Genral Murtala Mohammed. If he is a soldier, he should have stood his ground as the GOC of the 3 Division. But instead, he did not. Let me say that when we talk in terms of military courage and bravery, rank does not bestow courage on people. I like Danjuma. But he cannot deny the fact that he was the chief instigator of the murder of Ironsi and Fajuyi. History will continue to hold him responsible for that. When the war ended, he was the go between me and Bisala, especially in Enugu, when I was handing over Biafra to the federal side.
Are you saying you were the one that handed over Biafra to the federal side?
Yes.
But many believe that General Philip Effiong handed over Biafra to General Olusegun Obasanjo. Is that not correct?
No, it is a mistake that many people are not aware of up till today. I was the one who handed over Biafra to Obasanjo and Bisala. Effiong’s role was going to Lagos to meet General Yakubu Gowon with some of our Biafran officers. And also reading the script which I prepared. I planned it that they should start from 9a.m. announcing that we had sent emissaries to the war fronts to meet Nigerian commanders so that everybody should lay down their weapons. That speech that we prepared was given to Effiong to read because if I should do that, the Nigerian side will misinterpret it that possibly there was a coup in Biafra. So, to avoid that misinterpretation, we had to ask Effiong to read it. Because when Odumegwu-Ojukwu was leaving, he specifically told Effiong to represent him, while my job was to take care of the Army. I was the person in charge of the Biafran Armed Forces. So, I was the one that actually handed over Biafra and not Effiong. Again, when the war ended, I was very visible. For instance, all the documents that Danjuma said that Gowon requested that I should sign, I signed them all. These included when Danjuma said that Gown asked that I should prepare a document of what I would like to do. I did all that and part of that document was what later led to the establishment of PRODA in Enugu. I also reported at the Board of Inquiry headed by the then General Adeyinka Adebayo. There I was told that one of the reasons why I was being detained was for the protection of my life. But I asked them, ‘Protection against who?’ Well, they said that so many people were against me, especially the way I ended the war. So, for tempers to cool, according to them, I was kept in detention for seven years. But for me, I have always said that I don’t have any regrets over the war. Beside, I owe it as a moral duty to those whom I led through the war, especially with their situation today. They have not been compensated.
That is why we have today the Civil War Veteran, East West Command Association. The purpose is to look after the welfare of those comrades who survived the civil war. But as I am talking to you, up till today, none of them is less than 56 years and nothing has been done to help them. We are taking steps to bring their problem to the attention of the present government. I have written to President Umaru Yar’Adua. I have also written to the Ministry of Defence and to the President of the Senate, David Mark, that on the basis of “no winner no vanquished,” Nigeria owes it a duty to rehabilitate those veterans across the country as done in other parts of the world. The situation can be dangerous in the future if the government continues to exhibit lack of concern. Many people today may not know that those militants in the Niger Delta are all children of the war veterans. The members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are children of the veterans. We don’t want a divided Nigeria again. We as veterans of the war gave a lot for the Nigeria we have today. All we are asking is that the government should look into the welfare of these veterans. If you look at the present military command in the country, none of them saw the civil war. War is not good. And that is why we have been calling on the government to also take a census of the war veterans on both sides of the war and create a programme in the interest of reconciliation as the Army that fought the war is the Nigerian Army divided against itself based on the side one was standing at the time of the political logjam.
Now, 43 years after, do you think that the issues that caused that war have been resolved?
You see, it sounds naive when one talks about solving the issues that led to that war. There were multitudes of problems and issues that led to the civil war. While some are of the view that the January 1966 coup, led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and the others, were the issues that led to the war. others tell you that the way Ironsi handled the issue of the coup by declaring a unitary system as opposed to the federating system in existence then led to the war. There are others who hold that it is the unbridled and the so-called ambition of appointing military administrators to take the place of political leaders. Also, there are those who say that the mismanagement by Gowon after the second coup, which brought Gowon into power and led to the balkanization of Nigeria from the regional arrangement into states, caused the war. But whatever the cause, the war has been fought. To me, the greatest problem was the balkanization of Nigeria by Gowon without thinking of the future consequences. He did that to weaken the Igbo. But it turned out to be the root of whatever crisis that Nigeria is facing till today. By trying to take the so-called minorities away from the Igbo, when they claimed that the Igbo were dominating, he eventually opened their eyes like Oliver Twist. Whoever gave Gowon that advice gave him a wrong one because from then on the spiral effect brought Nigeria to the 36 states which we now have. The cumulation of all these, I will say, are parts and parcel of what in retrospect led to the civil war. If Gowon did not create the 12 states, I do not think that the Eastern Region would have declared secession because there is nothing like dialogue. And that was exactly what happened. Gowon should have continuously kept seeking for dailogue.
But instead, he was advised to settle the situation the way he did by balkanizing the country. And once you do that, the people’s temper will rise. So, today, Nigeria cannot be at peace because the issues that led to the civil war have not been addressed. What do we have? We say we are practicing democracy, but here in Nigeria today what we have is a democracy of the cabals. It is these few cabals that are ruling the country. They have been doing so since the end of the war. And until the country wakes up to say enough is enough, the situation will continue. Hence, corruption will abound. It is only under the system of cabal leadership that certain people are favoured. And these few who are favoured will continue supporting the existence of the cabal government at the expense of the majority. If you look very well, you will see that many people do not understand what Wole Soyinka is trying to do. Knowing the deception that we call Nigerian democracy today, Soyinka has been doing his best trying to tell Nigerians that they should not allow themselves to be cowed into slavery. Because he is not a back seat General. That is why he comes to the front to tell Nigerians to say no to bad leadership that is going on in this country since after independence. For about two months now, all of us are seeing that what is happening with the leadership of this country.
There has been this controversy over the role Nzeogwu played during the first coup. While Odumegwu-Ojukwu keeps saying that it was Ifeajuna that was the leader of the coup, others say it was Nzeogwu. As one who saw it all, who actually was the leader of that coup?
You see, Nigerians have a way of mismanaging information. One person alone does not carry out a coup in the Army. A coup is a concerted arrangement by a few persons of like minds and ready to participate in overthrowing a system. So, the coup of January 1966 was carried out by a group of Army Majors. You cannot put it on one person. Otherwise, you are simply giving a dog a bad name to hang it. To say Nzeogwu, it means Nzeogwu and his group. Ifeajuna and his group. To be honest to your question, Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu were actually together in the plan and execution of the coup. Consequently, if the coup had succeeded, Nzeogwu or Ifeajuna could not have led the country or even Victor Banjo who was a part of that group. So, all that is important is that the coup took place and that these names were the leaders of the coup. Any other person from the side that didn’t participate at that crucial time is not a part of the coup. Any other information is an after thought. Unfortunately, those that led the 1966 coup and participated, you only have the junior ones left. They were not the primary leaders. As a result, I would advice that the January event should be consigned to its proper place and perspective, that this an aberration that took place at a point in time in Nigerian history. It is not a situation to continue apportioning blames or encomium.
What do you mean by consigning it to its proper place?
I say this because as long as we continue to apportion blame or look at it as an Igbo coup, we will not come out of the morass of the problem posed by the coup. You know that after the coup, it had a wide ripple effect. Because the North felt that it was an Igbo affair and consequently in their usual characteristics way, they descended on the Igbo without first trying to find out exactly what happened. They reacted as a mob without thinking. That mob action has since then placed Nigeria in jeopardy. The result was finally a coup in which Danjuma and Gowon emerged. Gowon then became the Head of State. But the funny thing about it was that they did not carry out the coup for enhancing the interest of Nigeria. They did it on the basis that they wanted to secede from Nigeria. Hence the word Araba (Let’s divide). It was very clear that even Gowon in his first speech he delivered made it clear that there was no basis for unity. But unfortunately, he took the advice of the civil service dominated then by the Southerners to advice him that it is not in the interest of the North to pull out of the federation. It was this same people that advised Gowon that the best way to bring the Eastern Region to its knee was to balkanise it. But before he did that, information was also leaking to the Eastern Region Government. And the reaction of the East was no, we are one. If you say you do not want us, we will go on our own by any name. If you look at the situation critically, you will see that the Eastern Region was pushed out. They were being pushed out for purposes of total elimination. That was the beginning of the genocide. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been the need to cut them off from the sea, air and land or get them landlocked. It was for this purpose that Bakasi was given out to Cameroun so that they will not give space for Biafra to retreat into Cameroun.
You mentioned Banjo. Where do you stand on the trial and execution of Banjo and his group during the war?
Banjo and his group were tried under military procedure in line with the Biafran laws. I don’t think that it should be a thing for apportioning blames to anybody. They violated the war rules and laws at that time. And they were tried accordingly. Anybody could have fallen into that line. So, it was the laws at that time. And it was approved based on the orders of a military tribunal. So it is not a thing to blame anybody.
Many people have blamed Odumegwu-Ojukwu for the way Biafra was defeated. Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ralph Uweche, recently said that Odumegwu-Ojukwu’ s way of leadership was responsible for the collapse of Biafra. Do you agree with this?
Biafra was never defeated nor collapsed. It is not true that Biafra was defeated. That is what many do not know.
Are you saying that Biafra was not defeated by Nigeria?
Yes.
What explanation do you offer for this?
Yes, I will do. Let me tell you the truth. You journalists must always do your research properly to educate the public. You should also look into the choice of words. You see, I repeat it again: Biafra was not defeated. It was not the Biafran Army that was responsible for the war efforts during the conflict. The efforts were handled by civilian populace. The soldiers were recruited to defend the civilians. The arms were provided by the civilians. In the executive council of Biafra, there were only two military personnel: Odumegwu-Ojukwu as the Head of State and Effiong as the Officer-in-Charge of Defence. The rest were all civilians. Those civilians were the ones who, when Odumegwu-Ojukwu left to attend the crucial meeting in Liberia, came to me and requested that I should stop the war. Today, there are living witnesses to what I am telling you. These include former Enugu State Chief Judge, Justice P.K. Nwokedi. He was one of those who came with Sir Louis Mbanefo and others to request that I take steps to stop the fighting. Initially, I was against it. But then I was reminded and made to understand that it is not my personal war. So, as a soldier, I have to obey the orders and demands of the Biafran Executive Council to stop the war. Another living witness is Obasanjo.
He is still alive. When I sent for him from Owerri, it was to my house he arrived. General Alani Akinrinade was the one I signalled to tell Obasanjo to come to Uga in Orlu Division. He and then Lt. Col. Sam Tumoye were at our headquarters when we discussed how to bring the war to an end. It was from my house that I took Obasanjo to meet Effiong at Igboukwu, which used to be the headquarters of the Biafran Directorate of Military intelligence. General Akinrinade is still alive and can testify to what I am saying. Nobody defeated Biafra. Commonsense will have tell you the truth. If they defeated Biafra, the federal side would have demanded our weapons. In my own case, I asked all my soldiers to go home with their weapons. Those that don’t want it should dump them by the roadside. Some handed them over to us. The truth is this. For a long time because of the laws in the archives of the military, what I am telling you today was kept under cover and secret. The essence is to give Nigeria a chance to formulate a new society where all can live in peace. But unfortunately, what I see now is that the issues that led to that armed struggle is yet to be addressed. And instead of addressing this issue so that Nigeria can have a good future, our leaders are still pursuing selfish interest. It is such that even in their presence, the Niger Delta struggle is rising every day.
How true is it that when people say that former President Nnamdi Azikiwe was against Biafra?
Going down memory lane, Zik was never a tribal person. He is not an Igbo leader. He only looked at the country from a global point of view. That was why he stepped aside for Dr. Michael Okpara. His presence in Biafra was more accidental than of necessity. We knew what we did and to what length we bent backward for him to stay in Biafra. The only opportunity we allowed him to step out of Biafra merely brought Biafra into a civil war within itself. This, we had to quickly, on Odumegwu-Ojukwu’ s advice, militarily run around with the various administrators of the various local governments to avoid a war between the Zikist and the non-Zikist.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Memoriam to General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi.
General Johnson Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, born on March 3, 1920 would have been 90 years old this year. As the first military head of State of Nigeria his vision was of a truly united Nigeria where freedom, liberty, honest and selfless leadership, respect of individual rights and liberties, and social and economic justice would reign. For daring to enunciate and pursue these noble ideals, reactionary elements from Northern and Western Nigeria murdered him. General Ironsi’s gruesome murder and the massacre of 50,000 of his fellow Igbo people and other Eastern Nigerians by primarily Northern Nigerians were major factors that lead to the Nigeria – Biafra war. That Northern army officers, including officers promoted to sensitive positions by General Ironsi himself, and Northern feudal aristocrats conspired and executed a most horrible genocide against the Igbo and other people of Eastern Region are undeniable facts of Nigeria’s bloody history.
We note that several Nigerian Igbophobes and ethnic jingoists have engaged in the most shameless revision of this chapter of Nigeria’s sordid history. For example, Alhaji Liman Chiroma while delivering a paper at the Nigerian War College in 2002 accused the murdered General Ironsi of “causing the Nigerian civil war.” The world has nothing but scorn for scoundrels who engage in such absurd and ludicrous revisionism. On August 2, 1986, twenty years after General Ironsi’s murder, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, first Head of State of Biafra, delivered a most worthy tribute to the fallen general. General Ojukwu stated that: “General Ironsi had a military career that was studded with firsts – first Captain, first Major in the Nigerian army, first ADC to the Governor General of Nigeria, first Nigerian equerry to the Queen of England, first Lt. Colonel, first Battalion Commander, first Brigadier in the Nigerian army, first psc, first Military Attaché to a Nigerian Diplomatic Mission, first Nigerian Commander of a UN battalion, first Major General, commanded the United Nations Force in the Congo, appointed the first Nigerian General Officer commanding the Nigerian Army in 1965..” General Ironsi was a member of the Order of the British Empire, and a member of the Victorian Order, an honor bestowed on him by the government of Austria for his valor in rescuing Austrian nationals during the Congo crisis. General J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi’s name has been written in the book of gold. May his soul rest in peace!
For the benefit of any Igbo or other Easterner professing love for One Nigeria we warn that the road to loving and serving Nigeria is paved with the skull and bones of eminent Igbo sons and daughters, unappreciated, unsung and un-mourned by decrepit Nigeria. Man, know thyself.
We note that several Nigerian Igbophobes and ethnic jingoists have engaged in the most shameless revision of this chapter of Nigeria’s sordid history. For example, Alhaji Liman Chiroma while delivering a paper at the Nigerian War College in 2002 accused the murdered General Ironsi of “causing the Nigerian civil war.” The world has nothing but scorn for scoundrels who engage in such absurd and ludicrous revisionism. On August 2, 1986, twenty years after General Ironsi’s murder, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, first Head of State of Biafra, delivered a most worthy tribute to the fallen general. General Ojukwu stated that: “General Ironsi had a military career that was studded with firsts – first Captain, first Major in the Nigerian army, first ADC to the Governor General of Nigeria, first Nigerian equerry to the Queen of England, first Lt. Colonel, first Battalion Commander, first Brigadier in the Nigerian army, first psc, first Military Attaché to a Nigerian Diplomatic Mission, first Nigerian Commander of a UN battalion, first Major General, commanded the United Nations Force in the Congo, appointed the first Nigerian General Officer commanding the Nigerian Army in 1965..” General Ironsi was a member of the Order of the British Empire, and a member of the Victorian Order, an honor bestowed on him by the government of Austria for his valor in rescuing Austrian nationals during the Congo crisis. General J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi’s name has been written in the book of gold. May his soul rest in peace!
For the benefit of any Igbo or other Easterner professing love for One Nigeria we warn that the road to loving and serving Nigeria is paved with the skull and bones of eminent Igbo sons and daughters, unappreciated, unsung and un-mourned by decrepit Nigeria. Man, know thyself.
Subject: RE: IGBO MUST RUN FOR 2011
Obi Nwakanma
An Igbo president of the federation of Nigeria should not, and will not be the basis of social justice for the Igbo. Indeed, the Igbo as the president of Nigeria in the current era is not likely to solve the problems of Nigeria. The problem of Nigeria is not just because the Igbo have been prevented from being president in Nigeria since 1970, it is because the basis for citizenship; for social justice; for equity; for the fundamental human rights of the Igbo, as well indeed as other Nigerians have been terribly abridged by the ruling mafia that took over the affairs of the nation.
Social justice for the Igbo, without social justice for the Hausa, the Ijaw, the Yoruba, the Ejegham, the Tiv, the Fulani, the Berom, the Jarawa, etc, will not create social or national security or prosperity. In sum, I think that the Igbo will be satisfied, not merely with a figurehead president, whose only likely benefit will be to construct a few macadamized road, chiefly the one with which to drive into his village with long security convoys who would drive his kinsmen off the streets; make a few more, handful Igbo billionanires who woluld send a few more of their children to schools in Switzerland and America, and cut personal deals that will serve little purpose for the collective or wider economic and political fortune of the Igbo. Besides, the cabal may give you Orji Uzo Kalu - he is afterall, Igbo - whose heart beats in the north; his body in Lagos, while his legs, like "Esu-elegba" are at the crossroads, and the shorter in Igbo land.
The Igbo need jobs for their people; good education and healthcare facilities; places of leisure and entretainment; well-built cities and adequate housing, including equal public housing; access to clean water and a clean environment; cheap credits to create new enterprises; access to contracts, and a lifting of the glass ceiling that makes it impossible for them to aspire to the height of their professional capabilities. The Igbo want the end of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion. The Igbo, above all, want to free their energy towards creating a great national economic and technological mirracle, that will utilize the skilled, strategic human resources of the nation towards building its national defence capability; its national reserach capability; its national food and health security; its national infrastructural capability etc. It does not have to take an Igbo as president of Nigeria to achieve this, but the Igbo will work with any president that accords them their rights and their due regard within the federation of Nigeria.
The Igbo of course do not mind being president on the basis of talent, skill, excellence, and integrity. They will not fare very well under any quota presidency. An Igbo produced as president under this circumstance will be as poor as the structures that produced him/her. So, for the presidency of Nigeria, thanks but no thanks. The alternative of course is the re-ordering of Nigeria under the six confederal structures to be governed under a charter of confederation in which we "pull apart a little" tgo reduce the pressure of contact. Although this might be the second best option, it might prove to be Nigeria's saving grace. Perhaps after operating for fifty years, it might yield to a greater federal union under a new charter by a new generation. We must all consider this.
The Ex-Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, has identified the relegation of visionary and strategic thinking to the background as one of the factors that have weakened the Igbo nation.
Dim Ojukwu made this assertion yesterday while presenting a key note address at the conference of South East elders and leaders, held at the Concorde Hotel, Owerri, Imo State capital.
According to him, in the past, the best political leaders had always been men of vision, who were straight thinkers.
He stressed that these leaders were often not rich, but were courageous and the very best thinkers with robust political strategy coupled with sagacity.
"Cowardice, which was never a quality of our ancestors, is now celebrated in Igbo land".
He said lack of personal and group courage among the Igbo to assert themselves did not augur well, charging the people to develop the courage to defend their rights anywhere in the country and respect the rights of other citizens.
The ex-warlord stated that politics is not and should not be about self-neglect, such that the Igbo have become unwilling investors in Igbo land.
He said perhaps, the Igbo’s massive investments outside their states have emasculated them from asserting their citizenship rights as Nigerians.
He reasoned that they probably seek to preserve their investments through their meekness.
He advised the Igbo to nurture and strengthen internal unity, coupled with cohesion, so as to remain relevant in the emerging national political structure.
Dim Ojukwu expressed sadness that despite their gift and population spread, the Igbo seem to have become the weakest link in the national political chain.
What grieved him further, he explained, is the fact that Igbo are assigned minor responsibilities in the Nigerian enterprise.
Dim Ojukwu charged Igbo to march forward without fear, but with a commitment to assert ourselves fully in the building of a nation that works for all and not for some of its citizens.
An Igbo president of the federation of Nigeria should not, and will not be the basis of social justice for the Igbo. Indeed, the Igbo as the president of Nigeria in the current era is not likely to solve the problems of Nigeria. The problem of Nigeria is not just because the Igbo have been prevented from being president in Nigeria since 1970, it is because the basis for citizenship; for social justice; for equity; for the fundamental human rights of the Igbo, as well indeed as other Nigerians have been terribly abridged by the ruling mafia that took over the affairs of the nation.
Social justice for the Igbo, without social justice for the Hausa, the Ijaw, the Yoruba, the Ejegham, the Tiv, the Fulani, the Berom, the Jarawa, etc, will not create social or national security or prosperity. In sum, I think that the Igbo will be satisfied, not merely with a figurehead president, whose only likely benefit will be to construct a few macadamized road, chiefly the one with which to drive into his village with long security convoys who would drive his kinsmen off the streets; make a few more, handful Igbo billionanires who woluld send a few more of their children to schools in Switzerland and America, and cut personal deals that will serve little purpose for the collective or wider economic and political fortune of the Igbo. Besides, the cabal may give you Orji Uzo Kalu - he is afterall, Igbo - whose heart beats in the north; his body in Lagos, while his legs, like "Esu-elegba" are at the crossroads, and the shorter in Igbo land.
The Igbo need jobs for their people; good education and healthcare facilities; places of leisure and entretainment; well-built cities and adequate housing, including equal public housing; access to clean water and a clean environment; cheap credits to create new enterprises; access to contracts, and a lifting of the glass ceiling that makes it impossible for them to aspire to the height of their professional capabilities. The Igbo want the end of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion. The Igbo, above all, want to free their energy towards creating a great national economic and technological mirracle, that will utilize the skilled, strategic human resources of the nation towards building its national defence capability; its national reserach capability; its national food and health security; its national infrastructural capability etc. It does not have to take an Igbo as president of Nigeria to achieve this, but the Igbo will work with any president that accords them their rights and their due regard within the federation of Nigeria.
The Igbo of course do not mind being president on the basis of talent, skill, excellence, and integrity. They will not fare very well under any quota presidency. An Igbo produced as president under this circumstance will be as poor as the structures that produced him/her. So, for the presidency of Nigeria, thanks but no thanks. The alternative of course is the re-ordering of Nigeria under the six confederal structures to be governed under a charter of confederation in which we "pull apart a little" tgo reduce the pressure of contact. Although this might be the second best option, it might prove to be Nigeria's saving grace. Perhaps after operating for fifty years, it might yield to a greater federal union under a new charter by a new generation. We must all consider this.
The Ex-Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, has identified the relegation of visionary and strategic thinking to the background as one of the factors that have weakened the Igbo nation.
Dim Ojukwu made this assertion yesterday while presenting a key note address at the conference of South East elders and leaders, held at the Concorde Hotel, Owerri, Imo State capital.
According to him, in the past, the best political leaders had always been men of vision, who were straight thinkers.
He stressed that these leaders were often not rich, but were courageous and the very best thinkers with robust political strategy coupled with sagacity.
"Cowardice, which was never a quality of our ancestors, is now celebrated in Igbo land".
He said lack of personal and group courage among the Igbo to assert themselves did not augur well, charging the people to develop the courage to defend their rights anywhere in the country and respect the rights of other citizens.
The ex-warlord stated that politics is not and should not be about self-neglect, such that the Igbo have become unwilling investors in Igbo land.
He said perhaps, the Igbo’s massive investments outside their states have emasculated them from asserting their citizenship rights as Nigerians.
He reasoned that they probably seek to preserve their investments through their meekness.
He advised the Igbo to nurture and strengthen internal unity, coupled with cohesion, so as to remain relevant in the emerging national political structure.
Dim Ojukwu expressed sadness that despite their gift and population spread, the Igbo seem to have become the weakest link in the national political chain.
What grieved him further, he explained, is the fact that Igbo are assigned minor responsibilities in the Nigerian enterprise.
Dim Ojukwu charged Igbo to march forward without fear, but with a commitment to assert ourselves fully in the building of a nation that works for all and not for some of its citizens.
Jonathan Fights Back, As PDP Denies Him 2011 Ticket, May Bring Marwa, Ribadu, Azazi on Board
by Nuruddeen M. Abdallah & Sule Lazarus
May Bring Marwa, Ribadu, Azazi on Board -
This is Northâ's Golden Chance, Warns M. D. Yusuf
No Need to Invoke Section 144 to Oust Yarâ adua - J. T. Useni
> Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is poised to engage in a calculated attempt to activate his dream of taking over President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s job and, possibly, contest the 2011 presidential election, though his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that the position will be retained by the North.
>
> Sunday Trust gathered that, riding on the crest of an unalloyed support by civil society organizations, under the aegis of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), the Acting President is going ahead with the implementation populist measures, to gain the sympathy and support of the Nigerian public for his ambition.
>
> Some of the measures include a resolve to probe Yar’adua’s 30-month administration, the setting up of an Electoral Reform Implementation Committee to execute elements in Justice Muhammadu Uwais’ committee report, and bringing on board his administration people like Malam Nuhu Ribadu, General Muhammad Buba Marwa, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai, General Owoye Andrew Azazi, to take charge of strategic positions.
>
> It is speculated that while General Marwa, at present Nigeria’s High Commission to South Africa or General Azazi may be given the National Security Adviser (NSA) portfolio, Ribadu may be asked to return to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to continue the war against corruption from where he stopped before his removal in 2009.
>
> There are, however, knotty issues about these plans because General Azazi comes from the acting president’s geopolitical zone and is a Christian. Giving him such a high profile position will raise a lot of questions bordering on power sharing formula in the polity.
>
> Also, Malam Ribadu, if he accepts the job, may have to live with the moral question of working for a principal whose wife, Patience, he had investigated over an allegation of money laundering and corruption in 2007.
>
> This strategy is coming at a time when former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Muhammadu Dikko Yusuf, is calling on the North to ensure it produced a credible and acceptable replacement for ailing President Yar’adua in the 2011 presidential election.
>
> Alhaji Yusuf gave the charge to an elitist northern group, Unity Forum, when the group Chairman, Alhaji Musa Maigida Abdu led other members on a courtesy visit to him at the weekend.
>
> The retired police chief insisted that the North must not allow the golden opportunity of producing a credible and acceptable candidate in the 2011 presidency, adding that the time to begin the search is now, and that Unity Forum had an enormous task of making the message spread fast.
>
> His word: "I hope your activities (Unity Forum) would make us think and realize where we are and how we should try to put ourselves together. We are talking of the need that president should stay in the North. Okay, the PDP has zoned it to the North. If it is so, what preparations have we made to achieve that?"
>
> Yusuf declared that it rested squarely on the shoulders of the forum and like to begin the political evangelism that would foster greater unity among the northerners, saying it was only then that the region can speak with one voice and take common step.
>
> "Have we got candidates? Have the candidates stop fighting each other? We shall be better off choosing a candidate who would be useful to the North. We need to step up efforts as this cannot be got over night, you have to be working the way you are working, talking to each other so that if such things happen, you can come up with a list of names and we can choose from it," he said.
>
> Meanwhile, a source told Sunday Trust at the weekend that though Acting President Jonathan has some big names from the North in his Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), he has not given up in his bid to become president. Some of the measures he is likely to embark upon is to make changes in the PDP, forge a new political alignment to weaken a section of the North, take control of security agencies and the army, use the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to some political end.
>
> Already, the acting president has set up a probe panel to look into the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources, and Petroleum, and the activities of interventionist agencies like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poverty alleviation outfit, which are headed by officials believed to be associated with President Yar’adua.
May Bring Marwa, Ribadu, Azazi on Board -
This is Northâ's Golden Chance, Warns M. D. Yusuf
No Need to Invoke Section 144 to Oust Yarâ adua - J. T. Useni
> Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is poised to engage in a calculated attempt to activate his dream of taking over President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s job and, possibly, contest the 2011 presidential election, though his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that the position will be retained by the North.
>
> Sunday Trust gathered that, riding on the crest of an unalloyed support by civil society organizations, under the aegis of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), the Acting President is going ahead with the implementation populist measures, to gain the sympathy and support of the Nigerian public for his ambition.
>
> Some of the measures include a resolve to probe Yar’adua’s 30-month administration, the setting up of an Electoral Reform Implementation Committee to execute elements in Justice Muhammadu Uwais’ committee report, and bringing on board his administration people like Malam Nuhu Ribadu, General Muhammad Buba Marwa, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai, General Owoye Andrew Azazi, to take charge of strategic positions.
>
> It is speculated that while General Marwa, at present Nigeria’s High Commission to South Africa or General Azazi may be given the National Security Adviser (NSA) portfolio, Ribadu may be asked to return to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to continue the war against corruption from where he stopped before his removal in 2009.
>
> There are, however, knotty issues about these plans because General Azazi comes from the acting president’s geopolitical zone and is a Christian. Giving him such a high profile position will raise a lot of questions bordering on power sharing formula in the polity.
>
> Also, Malam Ribadu, if he accepts the job, may have to live with the moral question of working for a principal whose wife, Patience, he had investigated over an allegation of money laundering and corruption in 2007.
>
> This strategy is coming at a time when former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Muhammadu Dikko Yusuf, is calling on the North to ensure it produced a credible and acceptable replacement for ailing President Yar’adua in the 2011 presidential election.
>
> Alhaji Yusuf gave the charge to an elitist northern group, Unity Forum, when the group Chairman, Alhaji Musa Maigida Abdu led other members on a courtesy visit to him at the weekend.
>
> The retired police chief insisted that the North must not allow the golden opportunity of producing a credible and acceptable candidate in the 2011 presidency, adding that the time to begin the search is now, and that Unity Forum had an enormous task of making the message spread fast.
>
> His word: "I hope your activities (Unity Forum) would make us think and realize where we are and how we should try to put ourselves together. We are talking of the need that president should stay in the North. Okay, the PDP has zoned it to the North. If it is so, what preparations have we made to achieve that?"
>
> Yusuf declared that it rested squarely on the shoulders of the forum and like to begin the political evangelism that would foster greater unity among the northerners, saying it was only then that the region can speak with one voice and take common step.
>
> "Have we got candidates? Have the candidates stop fighting each other? We shall be better off choosing a candidate who would be useful to the North. We need to step up efforts as this cannot be got over night, you have to be working the way you are working, talking to each other so that if such things happen, you can come up with a list of names and we can choose from it," he said.
>
> Meanwhile, a source told Sunday Trust at the weekend that though Acting President Jonathan has some big names from the North in his Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), he has not given up in his bid to become president. Some of the measures he is likely to embark upon is to make changes in the PDP, forge a new political alignment to weaken a section of the North, take control of security agencies and the army, use the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to some political end.
>
> Already, the acting president has set up a probe panel to look into the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources, and Petroleum, and the activities of interventionist agencies like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poverty alleviation outfit, which are headed by officials believed to be associated with President Yar’adua.
GLOWING VISTA VI.. THE IMPERATIVES FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING – EMPHASIZING THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN
A LECTURE DELIVERED BY DR. CHRIS MUSTAPHA NWAOKOBIA JNR. AT THE ROTARY CLUB OF GBAGADA, MARCH, 3RD 2010 PROGRAM TO MARK THE WORLD PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING MONTH HELD AT THE LTV COMPOUND, AGIDINGBI, IKEJA, LAGOS.
TOPIC
THE IMPERATIVES FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING – EMPHASIZING THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.
Friends, Comrades and Compatriots, every so often the quest of our universe are for peace and global understanding. The responsibility entrusted on me to do justice to this broad universal demand brings me untold joy.
I am humbled and honoured to be your Guest Speaker today knowing the great credentials that the ROTARY movement worldwide possesses. The depth of my effort at the subject THE IMPERATIVES FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING – EMPHASIZING THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, draws life from the very UNIQUE CORD that holds our universe together. I have chosen from a massive parameter a slant that is most often avoided, we have heard a plethora of discusses where the imperatives of world peace and understanding is the subject, but today we shall attempt this very important discourse from a new paradigm.
I shall predicate this on the premise that humanity well understands that GLOBAL PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING is not negotiable. I shall also thrive upon the praxis that our world appreciates the present global demands for love, oneness and togetherness, therefore it is no longer time to debate the imperatives of world peace and understanding but now is the time to seek, to search, to find and to excavate all that must berth a new world of peace, love, oneness and global understanding.
Friends, to create and to embolden the vistas of peace and understanding in our universe we must first appreciate the imperative call for ‘Patriotism’ to the HUMAN RACE, we must locate this at the unalterable doorsteps of HUMANITY, Providence and Love. To appreciate that humankind possesses a common ancestry and shares a common ultimate patrimony is the way to deepen the call for Human Development, Peace, Conflict Resolution, Anti-Terrorism, and a flourish of the Human Comity thus strengthening the existing fabrics of global understanding.
I cannot locate a shortcut to global peace and understanding without stating first that our RACIAL DIFFERENCES, that our ETHNIC COLOURATION & RELIGIOUS PREACHMENTS are God made forms that beautifies the rainbow which our UNIVERSE is. We are all CHILDREN of the Most High, The Buddhist, The Christian, The Muslim, The Animist, The Humanist et al, and even the Atheist; because Atheism is God to the Atheist as that which you profusely profess is your GOD. In emphasizing our common ancestry, we make weak that which implodes and explodes the rudiments of our fraternity as Homo sapiens concomitantly the cords of oneness, of peace and of global understanding is toughened.
To the racist who preaches racial supremacy and to those who predicate their racial hate on Slavery and Slave Trade, I must inform that we must collectively seek to remove humankind from the biases of creed and clan knowing that Slave Trade was a transaction between two invidious parties, the rapacious Blackman and the ravenous Whiteman, the Guilt is theirs to share and the credit for the collapse of Slave Trade as well as Apartheid is for the Proactive Black and the Receptive White to appropriate. WE ARE ONE. We all make the colours of our UNIVERSE glow. Friends, a conscious realization of this inimitable imperative will definitely foster global peace and understanding and mortify the vestiges of racial hate that traumatises our universe.
On global TERROR and the pervading threat of same, we must realize that the Terrorist is a brother whose flame of love and oneness has gone dim, the challenge before humankind is therefore neither TERROR nor the WAR on TERROR but the call for global understanding predicated on the inimitable TRUTH that all men hail from GOD. That TERROR and TERRORISM is disservice to GOD and that when we refuse this TRUISM and seek to defeat terror through terror, we postpone human redemption and deepen the bile of hate that hangs over POSTERITY.
Friends, Brothers and Sisters, to achieve global peace and understanding, our universe needs a new paradigm, we must covet a new universal understanding rooted in this ageless and flawless command, LOVE YOUR NEIGBHOUR (YOUR FELLOW MAN) as YOU LOVE YOURSELF, & THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND ALL YOUR MIGHT. This truism is the fulcrum of all HUMAN FAITHS (Religions) and we deceive ourselves when we claim to love God and wish our fellow humans death either in terror, in racial violence, in Political violence, in religious violence, in cult conflict and the likes; thus it is imperative for world peace and understanding that humankind seeks the deepening of LOVE-BASED FAITH.
There is an interesting angle to this that is absolutely imperative, and this is predicated on a TRIPOD ditto a three dimensional service to HUMANKIND, for the benefit of The BODY, The Soul and The SPIRIT of man. Here we must admonish Rotarians worldwide, True FAITH PREACHERS, THEOLOGIANS and indeed all well meaning humans to preach the true message of FAITH and of LOVE as commanded in our religious books. Governments and political operators must provide food as nourishment for the BODY and quality Education as nourishment for the SOUL, as such is sine qua non for civilised conduct. We must at all times seek to make GOVERNANCE RESPONSIBLE & RESPONSIVE thus etiolating the leverage for anger, pang, angst and violence.
Friends, I challenged the innermost recesses of my mind to do this brief expose’ on the brotherhood of all men with the confidence that humankind will do well to deepen the waters of oneness and understanding, whilst also praying that that STILL VOICE that orders all things illuminate the carapace of your minds such that the barriers that separates us as humankind will become history, antiquated and Shibboleth.
As I move to my conclusion, I must inform that I learnt in my early years that BLOOD can be transfused from a WHITE to a BLACK and vice versa. I learnt that same can be done from a MUSLIM or one of another religion to a CHRISTIAN and vice versa (save for the extreme biases of the JEHOVAH WITNESSES whose dogma repudiates blood transfusion in its entirety). I also learnt that one Roof (Cloud / Sky) and one HOME (Earth) holds together the HUMAN PILGRIMAGE under the Superintendence of ONE ALMIGHTY FATHER. I am passionately convinced that the differences in the BEDROOMS (CONTINENTS) that we live in are not sufficient to change our parentage.
We cannot forget so soon how the greater number of mankind rose against the 9/11 TERROR STRIKE in the U.S, or the 7/7 TERROR ATTEMPT in the UK. We cannot overlook how also the greater number of HOMO SAPIENS including Americans rose against George Bush’s WAR on Terror and voted out The Republicans partly because of the WRONG WAR in IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN and the likes.
The global attention that Haiti receives and the outpouring of love and concern for nations who presently are confronted with the threat of Earthquakes and Tsunami are mementoes of the fact that a single umbilical cord holds all men together WHITEMEN, BLACKMEN and COLOUREDS alike.
To foster global peace and understanding we cannot overlook this curiosity of mine which is encapsulated in the poser, COULD GOD BE ALLOWING THE TRAGEDIES THAT BEFALL US BECAUSE HE WANTS TO COMPEL HUMANKIND TO WALK THE PATH OF LOVE? WILL THESE TRAGEDIES ABATE IF AND WHEN HUMANKIND CHOOSES THE PATH OF LOVE AND ONENESS OVER HATE AND DIVISION? My thought and curiosities are perhaps too eclectic but believe me, I am somewhat persuaded that like one great Father, GOD desires that we all live in love and oneness, and HE allows all that must engender that comity no matter how painful and or expensive they appear.
The choice therefore is ours to make, we must engender the cord of love and tear down the tragedies that trouble our universe. We must effectively fan the embers of universal love, of LOVE-BASED FAITH, of oneness and of togetherness and make Shibboleth and history the nebulous cord of FALSE FAITH, of RACISM, of RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM, of TERROR, of ETHNICITY and of the GREED and AVARICE that corrupts Public Trust.
Finally, I bring you my kindest wishes for the blessed month of my BIRTH – March. May we in this month of March a month reputable for the call for GLOBAL PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING, march from PAIN to PROMISE, from POVERTY to PROGRESS, from BONDAGE to FREEDOM, from WANT to PLENTY, from CONFLICT to PEACE, from HATE to LOVE and from POLITICAL UNCERTAINTIES to the PROMISED CERTAINTY. May our hopes not be truncated and may GRACE line our paths.
THANK YOU.
TOPIC
THE IMPERATIVES FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING – EMPHASIZING THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.
Friends, Comrades and Compatriots, every so often the quest of our universe are for peace and global understanding. The responsibility entrusted on me to do justice to this broad universal demand brings me untold joy.
I am humbled and honoured to be your Guest Speaker today knowing the great credentials that the ROTARY movement worldwide possesses. The depth of my effort at the subject THE IMPERATIVES FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING – EMPHASIZING THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN, draws life from the very UNIQUE CORD that holds our universe together. I have chosen from a massive parameter a slant that is most often avoided, we have heard a plethora of discusses where the imperatives of world peace and understanding is the subject, but today we shall attempt this very important discourse from a new paradigm.
I shall predicate this on the premise that humanity well understands that GLOBAL PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING is not negotiable. I shall also thrive upon the praxis that our world appreciates the present global demands for love, oneness and togetherness, therefore it is no longer time to debate the imperatives of world peace and understanding but now is the time to seek, to search, to find and to excavate all that must berth a new world of peace, love, oneness and global understanding.
Friends, to create and to embolden the vistas of peace and understanding in our universe we must first appreciate the imperative call for ‘Patriotism’ to the HUMAN RACE, we must locate this at the unalterable doorsteps of HUMANITY, Providence and Love. To appreciate that humankind possesses a common ancestry and shares a common ultimate patrimony is the way to deepen the call for Human Development, Peace, Conflict Resolution, Anti-Terrorism, and a flourish of the Human Comity thus strengthening the existing fabrics of global understanding.
I cannot locate a shortcut to global peace and understanding without stating first that our RACIAL DIFFERENCES, that our ETHNIC COLOURATION & RELIGIOUS PREACHMENTS are God made forms that beautifies the rainbow which our UNIVERSE is. We are all CHILDREN of the Most High, The Buddhist, The Christian, The Muslim, The Animist, The Humanist et al, and even the Atheist; because Atheism is God to the Atheist as that which you profusely profess is your GOD. In emphasizing our common ancestry, we make weak that which implodes and explodes the rudiments of our fraternity as Homo sapiens concomitantly the cords of oneness, of peace and of global understanding is toughened.
To the racist who preaches racial supremacy and to those who predicate their racial hate on Slavery and Slave Trade, I must inform that we must collectively seek to remove humankind from the biases of creed and clan knowing that Slave Trade was a transaction between two invidious parties, the rapacious Blackman and the ravenous Whiteman, the Guilt is theirs to share and the credit for the collapse of Slave Trade as well as Apartheid is for the Proactive Black and the Receptive White to appropriate. WE ARE ONE. We all make the colours of our UNIVERSE glow. Friends, a conscious realization of this inimitable imperative will definitely foster global peace and understanding and mortify the vestiges of racial hate that traumatises our universe.
On global TERROR and the pervading threat of same, we must realize that the Terrorist is a brother whose flame of love and oneness has gone dim, the challenge before humankind is therefore neither TERROR nor the WAR on TERROR but the call for global understanding predicated on the inimitable TRUTH that all men hail from GOD. That TERROR and TERRORISM is disservice to GOD and that when we refuse this TRUISM and seek to defeat terror through terror, we postpone human redemption and deepen the bile of hate that hangs over POSTERITY.
Friends, Brothers and Sisters, to achieve global peace and understanding, our universe needs a new paradigm, we must covet a new universal understanding rooted in this ageless and flawless command, LOVE YOUR NEIGBHOUR (YOUR FELLOW MAN) as YOU LOVE YOURSELF, & THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND ALL YOUR MIGHT. This truism is the fulcrum of all HUMAN FAITHS (Religions) and we deceive ourselves when we claim to love God and wish our fellow humans death either in terror, in racial violence, in Political violence, in religious violence, in cult conflict and the likes; thus it is imperative for world peace and understanding that humankind seeks the deepening of LOVE-BASED FAITH.
There is an interesting angle to this that is absolutely imperative, and this is predicated on a TRIPOD ditto a three dimensional service to HUMANKIND, for the benefit of The BODY, The Soul and The SPIRIT of man. Here we must admonish Rotarians worldwide, True FAITH PREACHERS, THEOLOGIANS and indeed all well meaning humans to preach the true message of FAITH and of LOVE as commanded in our religious books. Governments and political operators must provide food as nourishment for the BODY and quality Education as nourishment for the SOUL, as such is sine qua non for civilised conduct. We must at all times seek to make GOVERNANCE RESPONSIBLE & RESPONSIVE thus etiolating the leverage for anger, pang, angst and violence.
Friends, I challenged the innermost recesses of my mind to do this brief expose’ on the brotherhood of all men with the confidence that humankind will do well to deepen the waters of oneness and understanding, whilst also praying that that STILL VOICE that orders all things illuminate the carapace of your minds such that the barriers that separates us as humankind will become history, antiquated and Shibboleth.
As I move to my conclusion, I must inform that I learnt in my early years that BLOOD can be transfused from a WHITE to a BLACK and vice versa. I learnt that same can be done from a MUSLIM or one of another religion to a CHRISTIAN and vice versa (save for the extreme biases of the JEHOVAH WITNESSES whose dogma repudiates blood transfusion in its entirety). I also learnt that one Roof (Cloud / Sky) and one HOME (Earth) holds together the HUMAN PILGRIMAGE under the Superintendence of ONE ALMIGHTY FATHER. I am passionately convinced that the differences in the BEDROOMS (CONTINENTS) that we live in are not sufficient to change our parentage.
We cannot forget so soon how the greater number of mankind rose against the 9/11 TERROR STRIKE in the U.S, or the 7/7 TERROR ATTEMPT in the UK. We cannot overlook how also the greater number of HOMO SAPIENS including Americans rose against George Bush’s WAR on Terror and voted out The Republicans partly because of the WRONG WAR in IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN and the likes.
The global attention that Haiti receives and the outpouring of love and concern for nations who presently are confronted with the threat of Earthquakes and Tsunami are mementoes of the fact that a single umbilical cord holds all men together WHITEMEN, BLACKMEN and COLOUREDS alike.
To foster global peace and understanding we cannot overlook this curiosity of mine which is encapsulated in the poser, COULD GOD BE ALLOWING THE TRAGEDIES THAT BEFALL US BECAUSE HE WANTS TO COMPEL HUMANKIND TO WALK THE PATH OF LOVE? WILL THESE TRAGEDIES ABATE IF AND WHEN HUMANKIND CHOOSES THE PATH OF LOVE AND ONENESS OVER HATE AND DIVISION? My thought and curiosities are perhaps too eclectic but believe me, I am somewhat persuaded that like one great Father, GOD desires that we all live in love and oneness, and HE allows all that must engender that comity no matter how painful and or expensive they appear.
The choice therefore is ours to make, we must engender the cord of love and tear down the tragedies that trouble our universe. We must effectively fan the embers of universal love, of LOVE-BASED FAITH, of oneness and of togetherness and make Shibboleth and history the nebulous cord of FALSE FAITH, of RACISM, of RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM, of TERROR, of ETHNICITY and of the GREED and AVARICE that corrupts Public Trust.
Finally, I bring you my kindest wishes for the blessed month of my BIRTH – March. May we in this month of March a month reputable for the call for GLOBAL PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING, march from PAIN to PROMISE, from POVERTY to PROGRESS, from BONDAGE to FREEDOM, from WANT to PLENTY, from CONFLICT to PEACE, from HATE to LOVE and from POLITICAL UNCERTAINTIES to the PROMISED CERTAINTY. May our hopes not be truncated and may GRACE line our paths.
THANK YOU.
2011:BABANGIDA IBORI FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
Oladeji Ikuesan
My beloved brothers and sisters, it is high time we start inviting every Nigerian to join SAVE NIGERIA GROUP in order to increase our campaign against all these recycled old cargoes.
Kindly invite everyone/Nigerian on your friends list and encourage them to do same too.
With the pace in which development is taking place in many developing countries; Nigeria might be nothing to write home about in the next few years if we don't sincerely fight for ELECTORAL REFORM, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, PUBLIC PROCUREMENT POLICY, SOCIAL SECURITY IDENTIFICATION FOR EVERY NIGERIA CITIZEN/RESIDENTS ETC.... All our speeches for drastic/positive change without concrete actions will only end up being an exercise of endless search.
Let say Babangida repented after leaving the presidency, what has he contributed to job creation with all the wealth he embezzled? Nigerians are starving and undereducated daily while IBB's first son keeps spending close to 100 million Naira monthly to take care of his horses!!!
In 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is world class education but, the old cargoes are comfortable in recruiting our youths right from high seconds into secret cults/catels for speedy execution of their intended crime/s, while their children attend private schools owned by their parents ( OBJ, Babangida, Atiku etc..), as for Nigeria public schools, to cut the long story short; they are nothing to write home about.
50% of IBB and Ibori's wealth's can revolutionized the country's Education and Agricultural sectors if well implemented.... Image Ibori's 30% stake in OandO!!! Lord have mercy!!!!
Please let us all encourage people to start campaigning against these self-centered decision makers because they are never leaders in the first place...
After reading this article below and seeing moves made by some of our journalists for the past two weeks praising these men, sincerely, we can't deny the fact anymore that the progress of Nigeria suferreth violence and the violent will only take it by force.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/mar/06/national-06-03-2010-006.htm
Please invite every Nigerian on your friends list to join the group and encourage them to do the same after joining..... Our voice most be heard! mouth-2-mouth campaign will go a long way too.
Wishing you all a fulfilled weekend. God bless Nigeria!
My beloved brothers and sisters, it is high time we start inviting every Nigerian to join SAVE NIGERIA GROUP in order to increase our campaign against all these recycled old cargoes.
Kindly invite everyone/Nigerian on your friends list and encourage them to do same too.
With the pace in which development is taking place in many developing countries; Nigeria might be nothing to write home about in the next few years if we don't sincerely fight for ELECTORAL REFORM, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, PUBLIC PROCUREMENT POLICY, SOCIAL SECURITY IDENTIFICATION FOR EVERY NIGERIA CITIZEN/RESIDENTS ETC.... All our speeches for drastic/positive change without concrete actions will only end up being an exercise of endless search.
Let say Babangida repented after leaving the presidency, what has he contributed to job creation with all the wealth he embezzled? Nigerians are starving and undereducated daily while IBB's first son keeps spending close to 100 million Naira monthly to take care of his horses!!!
In 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is world class education but, the old cargoes are comfortable in recruiting our youths right from high seconds into secret cults/catels for speedy execution of their intended crime/s, while their children attend private schools owned by their parents ( OBJ, Babangida, Atiku etc..), as for Nigeria public schools, to cut the long story short; they are nothing to write home about.
50% of IBB and Ibori's wealth's can revolutionized the country's Education and Agricultural sectors if well implemented.... Image Ibori's 30% stake in OandO!!! Lord have mercy!!!!
Please let us all encourage people to start campaigning against these self-centered decision makers because they are never leaders in the first place...
After reading this article below and seeing moves made by some of our journalists for the past two weeks praising these men, sincerely, we can't deny the fact anymore that the progress of Nigeria suferreth violence and the violent will only take it by force.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/mar/06/national-06-03-2010-006.htm
Please invite every Nigerian on your friends list to join the group and encourage them to do the same after joining..... Our voice most be heard! mouth-2-mouth campaign will go a long way too.
Wishing you all a fulfilled weekend. God bless Nigeria!
Save Nigeria Group meets with Jonathan, presents demands
A delegation of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) met with Acting President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja. The delegation was led by fiery Lagos cleric and convener of the SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare. He was accompanied by human rights attorney, Femi Falana, Salisu Lukman, AIT TV owner, Raymond Dokpesi, Buba Galadima, Hajia Jinatu Mohammed, former University of Benin SUG president, Mike Igini, Lawyer to Henry Okah, Wilson Ajunwa, CNPP spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu and DPA Lagos guber candidate Jimi Agabje. The details of the meeting remains sketchy but Saharareporters learned that the delegation, which had planned a major showdown for Abuja next week Wednesday, presented conditions to Jonathan that had been included in the text of a press conference in Abuja held earlier in the day.
Jonathan reportedly received the demands and promised to get back to the group. The **Acting President has been under pressure from Nigerians to seize the moment and take serious national initiatives without delay.
The same concerns were communicated to him by the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee he set up, and inaugurated in Abuja today. The chairman, Theophilus Danjuma, in his acceptance speech, stunned Jonathan when he admonished him to seize the moment, warning that if he fails to do so, he will lose public goodwill.
Jonathan reportedly received the demands and promised to get back to the group. The **Acting President has been under pressure from Nigerians to seize the moment and take serious national initiatives without delay.
The same concerns were communicated to him by the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee he set up, and inaugurated in Abuja today. The chairman, Theophilus Danjuma, in his acceptance speech, stunned Jonathan when he admonished him to seize the moment, warning that if he fails to do so, he will lose public goodwill.
Big Tobacco" still on the march, WHO warns
Governments must do more to protect workers in bars, restaurants and the entertainment sector from harmful smoke, and curb tobacco advertising and sponsorship, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Developing countries are the new frontier for tobacco companies, which often target women and girls, and smoking rates remain high among poor people in affluent countries, it said.
Tobacco kills more than 5 million people a year from cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, including about 600,000 from second-hand smoke, according to the United Nations agency.
"Most alarming of all, tobacco use is actually increasing in many developing countries. If Big Tobacco is in retreat in some parts of the world, it is on the march in others," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, told a meeting to review implementation of a landmark tobacco treaty five years after it came into force.
"As we all know, the tobacco industry is ruthless, devious, rich and powerful," she said.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, under review at the WHO, is the world's first and only public health treaty and has been ratified by 168 countries including China.
It obliges governments to protect their populations from exposure to tobacco smoke and reduce demand through price and tax measures, regulating packaging and labeling of tobacco products and curbing tobacco advertising and sponsorship.
But WHO monitoring has revealed huge gaps in implementing the treaty.
"For example, just slightly more than 5 percent of the world's population is protected by national smoke-free laws," Chan said.
Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous nation, the United States, and tobacco-producing Zimbabwe are among those that have stayed outside the pact.
Many countries have implemented smoking bans in government buildings and health-care facilities, but have much lower rates in the entertainment and hospitality sectors, a WHO report said.
Tobacco taxes are the most effective way to reduce tobacco use, but only 21 countries have tobacco tax rates greater than 75 percent of the retail price, Chan said.
Fewer than one third of treaty members restrict advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, the WHO says.
Tobacco companies had argued that the treaty threatened the livelihoods of tobacco farmers, advertising revenues, and the survival of restaurants, bars and sporting events, Chan said.
The main threat to fully implementing the treaty remains interference by the tobacco industry, activist groups including Corporate Accountability International said in a statement.
"Big Tobacco promotes its addictive and deadly product to kids with images like Philip Morris's Marlboro Man, by sponsoring rock concerts and sporting events, and by putting tobacco brand names and logos on everything from T-shirts to patio umbrellas," they said.
Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro cigarettes and is the world's largest non-state-owned tobacco firm, declined to comment on Chan's comments, but said it supported regulation and many of the treaty provisions.
"We really hope the process focuses on implementing effective regulations that work, such as measures to reduce youth smoking and illicit trade in tobacco products, to reduce harm caused by smoking," spokesman Ben Russell told Reuters.
A British American Tobacco spokesman voiced dismay at the WHO's unwillingness to talk to the industry.
"The WHO thinks its aims such as encouraging retail display bans and plain packaging will make a difference. There is no evidence to show this - it just drives illicit trade," he said.
Developing countries are the new frontier for tobacco companies, which often target women and girls, and smoking rates remain high among poor people in affluent countries, it said.
Tobacco kills more than 5 million people a year from cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, including about 600,000 from second-hand smoke, according to the United Nations agency.
"Most alarming of all, tobacco use is actually increasing in many developing countries. If Big Tobacco is in retreat in some parts of the world, it is on the march in others," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, told a meeting to review implementation of a landmark tobacco treaty five years after it came into force.
"As we all know, the tobacco industry is ruthless, devious, rich and powerful," she said.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, under review at the WHO, is the world's first and only public health treaty and has been ratified by 168 countries including China.
It obliges governments to protect their populations from exposure to tobacco smoke and reduce demand through price and tax measures, regulating packaging and labeling of tobacco products and curbing tobacco advertising and sponsorship.
But WHO monitoring has revealed huge gaps in implementing the treaty.
"For example, just slightly more than 5 percent of the world's population is protected by national smoke-free laws," Chan said.
Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous nation, the United States, and tobacco-producing Zimbabwe are among those that have stayed outside the pact.
Many countries have implemented smoking bans in government buildings and health-care facilities, but have much lower rates in the entertainment and hospitality sectors, a WHO report said.
Tobacco taxes are the most effective way to reduce tobacco use, but only 21 countries have tobacco tax rates greater than 75 percent of the retail price, Chan said.
Fewer than one third of treaty members restrict advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, the WHO says.
Tobacco companies had argued that the treaty threatened the livelihoods of tobacco farmers, advertising revenues, and the survival of restaurants, bars and sporting events, Chan said.
The main threat to fully implementing the treaty remains interference by the tobacco industry, activist groups including Corporate Accountability International said in a statement.
"Big Tobacco promotes its addictive and deadly product to kids with images like Philip Morris's Marlboro Man, by sponsoring rock concerts and sporting events, and by putting tobacco brand names and logos on everything from T-shirts to patio umbrellas," they said.
Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro cigarettes and is the world's largest non-state-owned tobacco firm, declined to comment on Chan's comments, but said it supported regulation and many of the treaty provisions.
"We really hope the process focuses on implementing effective regulations that work, such as measures to reduce youth smoking and illicit trade in tobacco products, to reduce harm caused by smoking," spokesman Ben Russell told Reuters.
A British American Tobacco spokesman voiced dismay at the WHO's unwillingness to talk to the industry.
"The WHO thinks its aims such as encouraging retail display bans and plain packaging will make a difference. There is no evidence to show this - it just drives illicit trade," he said.
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