Election

A Niger Deltan President?

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

By stroke of fate Mr. Goodluck Jonathan became the (ruler) of Nigeria.

We must not forget that this man was handpicked by Obasanjo to become the Vice President in 2007. Obasanjo it was who also handpicked the late Umaru Yar Adua.

History has recorded the observations that some of us made on the useless election of 2007. We say Never Again to such shame and stupidity of the highest order.

We now look forward to the future. We are keen to see if we have learnt our lessons and if we can actually sit down, think, plan and conduct credible elections. The 2011 elections are just around the corner. It won’t be long.

If Mr. Jonathan succeeds he will become the first president of Nigeria from a minority group. History will be made. It’s not a pain to wait for 2011.

Before then however history is already recording the deeds of Mr. Jonathan. In fact history has his records already since he became a prominent Bayelsa State politician. Unfortunately the stories are bad especially regarding his wife. The EFCC under Ribadu probably has an unfinished task.

There are many tasks that Mr. RIBADU left undone. The Andy Uba dollars-in-presidential-jet saga will be a life time stigma. It is indelible. Conscience-the open wound that truth only can heal-is my best word on such matters. The rest is common sense.

But one manipulative advantage you get when you are protected by impunity and reach a position of authority is to destroy files or influence cases to your benefits. Mr. Jonathan has done well so far. Kudos!

The more pressing issue however is that for over 50 years the people of the Niger Delta have suffered. Nigeria’s oil is from the Niger Delta. 150m people depend on this oil since 85% of our national income is derived from the sale of crude oil. Who knows where the other 15% comes from?

Some of the poorest people in the world live in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria. They have no access to basic infrastructure. Their environment has been destroyed and polluted by international oil companies. In the Niger Delta foreign nationals live like kings and queens while the indigenes are suffering.

Indeed there have been a lot of politics destroying the development agenda. State governors from the Niger Delta area must also be held accountable for many of the vices in the Niger Delta. They played politics while the ordinary people suffer.

Without delving into the history of the violence and the poverty, we must now focus our minds on Mr. Jonathan. He is from the Niger Delta. As the ruler of Nigeria, what will he do to bring social justice and freedom to his people?

When the northerners were in charge we blame them for negligence and tribalism. We accuse them of stealing and looting. How will Mr. Jonathan correct some of the anomalies of the previous governments?

How will he ensure that oil spillage ceases and that the oil cabal is checked so that progress and development can take place in his home region? What measures will Mr. Jonathan take to ensure that the Niger Delta becomes more beautiful that the administrative Abuja?

Abuja was built with oil money. How does Mr. Jonathan want to ensure that oil money is used to build the villages, cities and towns where the oil is extracted?

He might say he want to win in 2011 first before he starts to act. It might be too late. You can never be sure of tomorrow. You must seize the day-today. You must start that process of amendment now, not tomorrow, not 2011.

This opportunity to build the Niger Delta and the rest of Nigeria of course is a rare one considering the history of Nigeria dominated by hegemony.

If Jonathan fails to deliver to his people now, the chance may slip by. Nothing is guaranteed in Nigeria. Nothing is sure in this life, only death.

He might say we didn’t elect him. That is right. I have no real or legitimate president all my life and I’m almost 40.

Shagari was rigged in 79 and 83. Obasanjo was rigged in 99 and 03. Umaru was packaged in 2007 and Jonathan inherited Umaru’s burden. At other times I was ruled by maniacs, dictators and tyrants. I have endured!

This is why so much is at stake now and in 2011. I’m longing for a leader that I can call a president. Someone I can be proud of.

There is so much expectation, not the first time though, and the anticipations are huge as well.

People are longing for a change. A change they can believe in.

Unless a purposeful leader emerges the change will not come.

A purposeful leader and his household will, show good examples, be prudent, be selfless, corrupt-free and above all lead with a sense of purpose and vision.

Wasting billions of naira on a useless celebration or party while we wallow in permanent darkness due to lack of electricity is not a good sign.

My Random Reflections @ 38

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Adeola Aderounmu

Time waits for no man. This is the third in the series of my random reflections about Nigeria written on my birthday.

I must confess it was really hard to find things to discuss about.

Exactly 3 years ago I argued that there is almost nothing new to write about in Nigeria.

Many of the things we complained about 30 years ago are still unresolved. Nigeria’s problems must be one of mankind’s greatest puzzles.

I refuse to overflog the issues.

However it is just necessary that we continue to remind ourselves of our potentials and our collective failures.

Nigeria remains a potentially great nation with very bad rulers. We are missing true leaders.

This country has been captured and recaptured by people who imposed themselves on us by force. Truth does not expire and time does not transform illegality into legality. The misapplication of the law can conveniently do the latter.

Evidently the rulers of Nigeria never learn from history and in the arrogance of their minds and their avoidable misconceptions about power they continue to repeat the same old and silly mistakes. Together we remain in doldrums.

The one who rules Nigeria today by inheriting the remnants of the 2007 charade will now spend billions of naira celebrating failures. Meanwhile pensioners are dying on the verification exercise queues. Some schools remain closed while our children roam the streets missing lessons and examinations.

I promised not to overflog the issues.

But one should never look beyond Nigeria’s political arena for the definition of insanity.

Nigeria is taking a turn for the worse with each passing year because as a nation of over 140m people, we lack a good leader. We are missing true leaders. Blood suckers-those who attempt and succeed in taking as much from us as possible-continue to reign in Nigeria.

We need a change that can work for Nigeria.

Maybe in 2011, 51 years after independence we will finally be able to count our votes. We’ll see where the electoral reforms take us and if we can finally have genuine democracy and legitimate government in Nigeria.
With the different views we have on election and election matters in Nigeria and considering our volatile tribal inclinations it will take a great deal of education and public enlightenment to have a successful election in 2011.

To be honest 2011 is not the magic year. A lot of water has passed under River Niger since June 12 ‘93. I don’t know the probability of getting to that threshold level.

But our best shots, we must give!

I’m still working hard on the goals and plans that I made @ 37

I’m afraid of time. I may never be able to do all I wanted to do, for myself, for humanity. I may never be able to write all the books that I had in mind.

I have plans but the family remain a fundamental time-taker. Daily work is essential too.

I must continue to look for the right people and the right moments. A number of thing will surely fall in their rightful places in due times. I’ve got to keep on moving, keep all dreams alive.

Well it’s my birthday and as a tradition I have never failed to celebrate for the past 15 years. I’ve learnt to count my days and apply my heart to wisdom.

The celebration this year has been two-folds. The first was with my family on Saturday at the countryside and the second with my friends on Sunday at our home. But my birthday is July 12th so the celebration can continue because I’m usually on hols this time of the year since 2002.

I have challenges but there are reasons for me to celebrate and share with others. Not least was an additional professional academic degree last spring.

Greater challenges lie ahead. Not least the task of building Nigeria. Nigeria is sinking because of Nigerian-made factors that suit a few and enslave the rest.

I still believe in Nigeria as a workable project if we can break that cult-like rulership and enthrone the true pillars of democracy.

2011 will provide a testing ground for our institutions. We’ll see if we manage to build them on principles or if we still left them aimlessly on selfish people.

The modes and outcomes of the 2011 elections will provide a quick insight into what lies ahead in the new jubilee.

The outgoing one (1960-2010) is a complete disaster and any form of extraordinary celebration (or looting mechanism) attached should be considered as a crime against ordinary Nigerians.

History will not be kind to the protagonists of such wastage in the land of the resilient.

aderounmu@gmail.com

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Mad Politics and The Nigerian House of Thieves

/ Adeola / 8 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

There was a serious fight in the Nigerian House of Representatives yesterday. The fight was about some 9 billion naira which some members like Bankole may have misappropriated. Bankole is the speaker of the house.

I am not going to discuss about the money per se since I don’t know if the allegations are true or false. I will discuss what I know.

I don’t know how easy it will be to find a Nigerian politician who is not a thief. What has actually separated Nigerian politicians ideologically is “how much they are able to steal”.

Nigerian Politicians as exemplified by this useless people in the house of representatives / assembly are mostly interested in the amount of money that they take home everyday.

These useless people fighting over money are the most paid politicians in the history of man. They sit down every other day talking rubbish and doing nothing, yet they go home with unbelievable sums of money at the end of their seat-warming sessions.

Since 1999 when Obasanjo was president, in how many ways have the actions and activities of the members of the house of assembly improved the lots of Nigerians? How have these spoilt and famous thieves contributed to the education, health and social well being of Nigerians?

Yet they still have the guts to openly display their madness and ineptitudes. They did that right in the presence of young school children who are visiting to observe proceedings in the house. Just imagine the legacy they are trying to pass on to the next generation!

I am so ashamed of these sets of Nigerians who exchange blows in the house of assembly simply because some members have stolen more money than them. Is this a case of bad riddance to good rubbish?

How are we going to solve our national problems when the people who are supposed to be lawmakers are fighting over the amount of money that they have been able or not able to steal?

Dimeji Bankole became the speaker when Bunmi Etteh was accused of stealing. But Dimeji is alleged to have stolen more money that Bunmi. Infact there are insinuations that Dimeji is likely the biggest thief in Nigerian politics today! If there is any iota of truth in these allegations, Dimeji then has turned out to be a disgrace to my generation.

The issues are not so simple. Nigerian politics is a disaster. In my book, the entrapment of a nation, I stated that Nigerian politics is a tragedy of modern era. It is so bad and so sad that it has now become a serious embarrassment to the black race. The conclusion is that Africans cannot successfully rule themselves or that the attempts by Africans to rule themselves have resulted to extreme failures-poverty, diseases, environmental disasters among many other man-made disasters.

Nigeria as represented by our politicians is a disgrace to all of us. We have failed to have decent elections and we have continued to breed thugs and nonentities as politicians. It is an hallmark of national failure. We don’t agree that Nigeria is a failed country but it is as a matter of fact.

And just wait. Mr. Jonathan is planning to spend 10 billion naira on October 1st 2010 to celebrate 50th anniversary of Nigeria. Again, wait. What is Nigeria celebrating? 50 years of failure? 50 years of internal slavery? Are we celebrating our short life expectancy, closed schools, bad roads, complete lack of electricity?

Nigerian politicians are fools! Big fools!

10 billion naira???

9 billion tore the house of thieves apart and 10 billion naira on celebration of failures!

I don’t know how the rest of you are thinking but from my point of view, that suggestion of 10 billion is insane and only an insane person can plan to celebrate his or her failures.

What about using half of that money to fix LUTH? What about using the other half to acquire cancer testing machine instead of these thoughtless politicians going abroad to do a test?

Our politicians are like aliens. They are probably not living among us.

The problems in Nigeria are going to increase if we don’t start telling these irresponsible politicians where our shoes are pinching.

Stop that celebration now!

Plan for the election next year, make it free and fair

Give us electricity; we are tired of living in the Stone Age

Give us water, we are tired of water borne diseases and lead poisoning

Give us good schools, we can’t send our children abroad (to Ghana, UK or US)

Bring cocoa and oil palm back to the West and the Groundnut pyramids to the North

Do something about the coal in the east and the steel wasting in Ajaokuta

Stop using international collaboration to destroy the Niger Delta

Give us good roads, we are tired of loosing loved ones on the road daily

Plan our environment, we are sick of wastes and pollution

Give us good health facilities, we want to live long

Stop stealing our monies, it is our commonwealth

Count our votes, we want to be part of the change to come

Do these things and much more!

If these things are in place or in progress by the time we are 51 years as a nation, I don’t think we will worry if you decide to spend 20billion on the anniversary. For now there is nothing to celebrate.

Tears and sorrows fill the land, stop wasting our money!

Stop fighting over our money.

Shame on Nigerian politicians!

To the rest of us, we must fight for our freedom. Freedom, social justice and all the good things that come with them will not be given to us on a platter of gold.

2011 Elections in Nigeria, Jonathan Should Contest

/ Adeola / 10 Comments

Adeola A.

Goodluck Jonathan is a citizen of Nigeria and by providence the current “president” of Nigeria. The current debate about whether or not he should contest in the 2011 Presidential election is a very-very stupid debate.

Goodluck Jonathan belongs to PDP which is obviously a very strong party but also a very deceitful one. This party has been in power since 1999 and under these past years Nigeria has become more corrupt and the percentage of people that have slipped under the poverty level has escalated. Under the PDP Nigerians have continued to suffer due to the lack of the basic things of life like water and electricity.

PDP to many of us remained the nest of killers as confirmed by Wole Soyinka. That party boasts of looters and evil rulers like Babangida and Obasanjo. Co-looters like Atiku have found their way back to the fold. Ogbulafor the chairman of the party is currently standing trials for the monies he stole under Obasanjo and Bode Geroge is cooling off in kirikiri maximum prison. Ibori is on the run. In so small measures, the PDP continues to destroy Nigeria because they have no masterplan to get us out of the doldrums. The primary interest of Nigerian politicians remains to make money, get rich and care about self.

Anyway the current in-house trouble within the PDP is how to prevent or stop Jonathan from contesting in 2011. The Northerners in that party in their characteristic manner since 1959 do not want power shift to the South, let alone Mr. Jonathan from the Niger Delta region. What a useless mentality?

This is my take. Mr Goodluck Jonathan is a Nigerian and by provisions of the federal constitution of Nigeria is free to contest for electable offices including the position of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria. Unless he is sentenced to prison term for stealing, armed robbery or other crimes that can prevent him for pursuing his dreams, I see no reason (until then) why he cannot be allowed to contest for the office in question.

Indeed Goodluck belongs to PDP and he knows the evil nature of his political party. He knew how he was handpicked for the office of the VP by Obasanjo. This PDP party for Mr. Jonathan is a necessary evil. How he will overcome remains his personal dilemma and invariably a national problem. National, because if the status quo is maintained in the PDP, the unity of Nigeria will suffer a severe blow on the head. The system may collapse and the fears of critics may be fulfilled. The people in the leadership of the PDP have always put themselves before the nation. Isn’t that tantamount to treason?

From another perspective the outcome of the in-house fight in the PDP is one issue. The other issue is that irrespective of the candidate that would emerge from the PDP, that should be one part of the story. Who says that Mr. Jonathan would be the president if he becomes a candidate? Who says that the northern candidate in the minds of the northerners will win come 2011?

There are other political parties in Nigeria. They must present their own candidates too. It shouldn’t matter where the candidates are coming from. It is more important that we have candidates who are not corrupt. We want candidates who have not participated in the looting and destruction of Nigeria. There should be possibilities to present formidable candidates that will challenge the evils that have been perpetrated by Mr. Jonathan’s party since 1999.

2011 is a new golden chance. Bring in the electoral reforms. Give us a level playing field. Bring the PDP candidates be it Jonathan or Danjuma or Mustafa or Galadima or Shagari. Let us put them against one or two lovable, sincere and trustworthy Nigerians and above all let us count the votes.

We must not bring or accept the likes of Babangida or Atiku. In fact we should continue to mount pressure for the prosecution of Babangida, Obasanjo, Atiku and Ibori. These men and their accomplices stole Nigeria to dryness. Babangida alone stole more than 20 billion dollars. This money is enough to build a new country and bring some European countries OUT of economic recession. Where is our money Babangida?

No one can boast that Jonathan is not corrupt. The money stolen by his wife has not helped matters at all. Who, in Nigeria is not corrupt?

Let Jonathan contest but let him or the PDP do that in a normal democracy. In 2011 let MY VOTE COUNTs.

The worst democracies in the world

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Some of the worst examples of democratic government are found in Africa. It is remarkable to note that even the country regarded as the cradle of humanity-Kenya that is, is among the most useless places on earth where crude democracy is established. If Africans cannot practice true democracy, they should denounce it and look for something that will work for the populace especially the poor people who are worst hit by the crimes of the gangster leaders. It is an anomaly to say for example that Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe have democratic governments. In reality, what you see in these 3 countries are autocratic government imposed on the people in a “whether you like it or not manner”.

Kenya Example
Kenya’s Kibaki and Odinga are two selfish leaders who threw the country into turmoil. Together they are responsible for the death of more than 1 000 people and the displacement of nearly half a million others. Today they are both president and prime minister respectively in a power sharing deal that completely negate the significance of the votes casted in Kenya in 2007. Power sharing by these demonic leaders is not democracy. Power sharing is not a reflection of the votes that were discarded and disregarded.

Odinga is now trying to export Kenya’s democracy to Nigeria. Someone should tell him to shut up! Nigeria already has a disastrous form of “home-grown” democracy and the last thing we need in Nigeria is a further dilution of that calamity. So Odinga, Shut up! The only reason you accepted the Prime Minister’s position was for your own selfish reason and that is not related to anything “peace” or “prosperity”.

Zimbabwe’s Example
After Kenya came power sharing also in Zimbabwe. Mugabe is 84 and he is still the autocratic leader in Zimbabwe. He refused to vacate the office of the president even when it was clear that he lost the elections. He said he doesn’t want the opposition in power because the opposition received the backing of the West. But the issue is: who voted for the opposition? Is it the West or the people of Zimbabwe who voted in March 2008?

Anyway, the opposition leader just like in the case of Kenya also accepted to be prime minister. They call it “in the interest of peace”. Good point! But who created the absence of peace in the first place? Of course it is the murderous leaders. It is the likes of Mugabe and Tsvangirai (aided by the West?) who instigated chaos and turmoil and the end result is that the votes became useless!

Truth is no decent man should accept to share power with people like Mugabe and Kibaki who have lost both the plan and ideas regarding modern world. It would have been better to let them persist as sole leaders rather than serve with them. To serve along with them is not the solution especially as the principles of democratic governance are compromised. Why should the people come back another day to vote if the outcomes of the previous voting resulted to power sharing? What then is the meaning of democracy? Nonsense!

Complicated? Yea! When you don’t have a sound principle, you’ll always accept to serve with wicked leaders like Mugabe and Kibaki and you’ll pretend it is for the people. It also shows that the likes of Odinga and Tsvangirai are selfish and very desperate. They are sharing power with friends and co-looters. The people are suffering!

Nigeria
My last example of some of the worst democracies in the world comes from Nigeria. Does anyone know that 20% of black people worldwide are Nigerians? If you break this down it means that for every 5 blackman /woman that you see, 1 is Nigerian!

Yet in this great country, the sleeping giant of AFRICA, democracy remains elusive! Nigeria is not yet a democratic country because since 1959 when the first elections were held, votes have never been counted. It is a tradition that Obaanjo passed on to his puppet called Yar Adua. Nigeria has also suffered tremendously as a result of the incursion of the military into partisan politics. People like Babangida and the Abacha family stole billions of naira and destroyed all the institutions of governance to ground zero.

Nigeria is very corrupt and the corrupt leaders and politicians continue to use stolen wealth to oppress the other people who are more than 90m and living on less than 2 dollars a day. In a country of 140m it is very shameful that those who could save the country are voiceless and powerless.

I am still amazed why Nigerians troop out on every Election Day to cast votes that will never be counted. That phenomenon should be listed as the eighth wonder of the world. In Nigeria, the situation is worse than in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Why? Because the results of elections are already determined before the Election Day. The godfathers who are mostly illiterates and idiots have their ways of sharing and dividing the political office in caucus meetings. It is a shame and today (october 13 2008) as I write there are violent incidents going on in Lagos Nigeria because of some silly re-election. There is no election in Nigeria without violence, arson, murder, molestation and assassination.

The political situation in Nigeria defiles all logic and human reasoning. This is a country that continues to produce some of the most intelligent people in the world. Nigerians are probably the most intelligent people in Africa, US and UK (and Europe generally) and even in the Middle East and Australia. It is therefore amazing how the idiots in politics have destroyed the institutions of governance and made it a cabal affair. It is amazing how Nigerians continue to develop other countries of the world while their homeland is almost uninhabitable.

Conclusively, there are some democracies in the world marred by stupidity, selfishness, looting, corruption and massive maladministration but the examples of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria readily comes to mind because of the attendant effects of these anomalous democracies on the lives of the people. For example, there is no reason why every individual in Nigeria should not be a millionaire theoretically. That the monies for 140m continue to end up in private accounts and private pockets remain one of the unsolved mysteries of the 21st century, the 9th wonder maybe!