Nigeria

R.I.P Yar’ Adua: Another Chapter Closes

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

Officially Mr. Umaru Yar’Adua died on 5th of May 2010, exactly 3 years after being declared as the winner of the worst presidential (s)election ever in Nigeria.

Mr. Yar’ Adua has a history of ailment ranging from severe kidney disorders to lung malfunctioning and pericardis. May his soul rest in peace. His death will be an issue for discussions months and even years from now. This is because of the roles played by his wife and fair weather political associates. These people toyed with Umaru’s life and history will not be kind to them.

“Do not speak evil or bad of the dead”. Says who? Whatever! The truth must be told. Death is a debt owned by all living things and nobody will leave this planet alive. The things that will benefit posterity must be mentioned even if we decide to continue in our known deception and foolery.

Mr. Yar Adua shot himself in the foot the moment he accepted to mount the number one position on such a huge controversial ground. His health problems were well concealed when he was a governor in Katsina State from 1999-2006. They came to the front during the campaigns in 2006/7 when he fainted while on the trails. At that point some of us were convinced that the last thing a sick country needed is a sick leader.

At that time when reasoning should have prevailed, Mr. Yar Adua lost control of his reasoning. He never regained it. From the moment he was sworn in, his battles multiplied and magnified. He didn’t find peace until he died. He left Nigeria in November 2009 and was never seen or heard again in public.

My take is that if he didn’t become a controversial ruler (as tempting as that was), he would be alive today in Katsina, managing his fragile health and running his family’s dynasty. My take could be erroneous or seriously faulted. I accept that. Still, power, absolute power corrupts. Even the brightest and keenest of mind are not spared!

Mr Yar Adua’s health was enough reason for concern. To add the worries of 150m Nigerians on that was a suicide mission from day one. Mr Obasanjo and Mrs Turai Yar’ Adua pushed Umaru to his grave, too early. Mr. Yar Adua’s death was highly preventable. He was used by Mr. Obasanjo and by his own wife Turai. Obasanjo dumped him while his wife used him as a national bait in the last days. His political partners aggravated the scenario and he refused to see beyond his nose, blinded by faith or foolishness or a combination of both.

The truth must be told. This Obituary is the least of shocks. Mr. Yar Adua had been declared dead before now on not less than 3 occasions. The secrecy of his last days made this final announcement very trivial. Turai Yar Adua ripped Nigerians of this shock since November 2009. Those who benefited from Yar Adua’s occupancy of Aso Rock took away the sympathy of millions of Nigerians long before the 5th of May 2010. I have a friend who was too convinced that Yar Adua died last year in Saudi Arabia. No amount of evidence pointing otherwise can convince him to change his mind.

Early this year an acquaintance of mine who lives in Dubai and Nigeria told me that he knew something I didn’t know. Then my friend mentioned above told me that: Ade, just wait and see, one day they will just announced that Yar Adua is ________. Then you will say that I told you that this man died since_________.

Right now I don’t know what to believe. I am not a journalist. I do limited investigation that time and space permits me. I react and reflect to news and information. I write what I think. I don’t know when Yar Adua died but I doubt that he died on May 5th 2010. What does that matter now? May His soul rest in peace.

Concerning the presidency of Mr. Yar Adua, it is the worst regime by any president or head of state. It was the dullest and the most inactive in the history of Nigeria. No matter what-truth must always be told. The election that brought him to the number one in Nigeria was the worst in the history of man. It was masterminded by Mr. Obasanjo, perfected by Mr. Maurice Iwu and protected like the Holy Grail by the PDP fraternity. The PDD is the most evil party in Nigeria.

With Monies stolen by the likes of Mr. Ibori and other corrupt politicians in Nigeria, the PDP perpetrated the worst disenfranchisement process ever seen in Africa. Apartheid and colonial eras became child’s play. Nigeria never saw anything that cruel since (in)dependence in 1960.

The story of the Obasanjo-Yar Adua era will be insatiable to students of history and political science. They will never be able to get out all they want and the more they get the more they will find intriguing. The emergence of Yar Adua was plainly orchestrated not by the evil machinery of the PDP but with the sound cooperation of the EFCC headed by Nuhu Ribadu.

Ribadu cooked the lies and fabrications that shut Nigerians in the dark while Yar Adua was being smuggled in. The details are too extensive for the scope of this essay. There are no saints and heroes in Nigeria. Our politics encourages a certain form of compromise that will blow away any sane mind in the twinkle of an eye.

Ibori’s role in the emergence and perpetration of Yar Adua are well documented. The roles of Aondoanka and Farida Waziri under the regime are well documented. In short, evil reign supreme in Nigeria. But even with death and sound knowledge that life has an end, looters and thieves in Nigerian political and public life don’t think twice before doing their thing.

Some Nigerians are mourning but take it or leave it the death of Yar Adua is good news to those whose turn it is to loot and steal. Some associates are already smiling to secret banks at home and abroad because we will never find out all the deals made by Yar Adua and these associates get to keep the money designated for some projects or some unknown transactions. Welcome to Nigeria..!

In all, you can ask: what would it take to learn some lessons in Nigeria? What would it take to have people in public service who will really serve? These are some of my worries and concerns over the decades.

My concerns are about the quality of life that we live. My concerns are about good governance and the spread of prosperity instead of poverty and war. How are we going to move this country forward? How can we as 150m Nigerians enjoy our lives with the short stay we have on this planet?

Yar Adua professed to help Nigeria but some of us knew that with his precedents, there was almost nothing he could do to impact our lives positively. Just like Babangida whose wife died in a US hospital recently, Yar Adua himself did not also see the need to build reputable hospital in Nigeria that could cater for his health problems.

Babangida was a dictator for 8 years during which he stole more than 12 billion dollars and he didn’t have any idea that a good hospital could save his wife’s life in the years ahead. He preferred to go abroad. Death has no address. We will all leave this planet, it doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor.

Yar Adua made the same mistake. He was governor for 8 years and ruler of Nigeria for 2½ years. He preferred to fly abroad for treatment. If he didn’t fly abroad so often, who knows what could have happened? No one knows!

Life remains a passage. Nothing last forever. Why loot? Why steal? Why acquire ill wealth? Why possess a mandate that is acquired by violence, evil and blood? The best way to pass through life is to live and let’s live.

In 2011, we’ll see if our votes count and if someone in Nigeria has learned any lesson that it is appointed unto man to die once. That vote-that we die, no man can change or alter.

May the soul of Umaru Yar Adua find peace, at last..!

The Campaign Against Maurice Iwu: it took so long.

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

The campaign against Mr. Iwu the fraudulent and corrupt chairman of the Nigerian Electoral Commission (INEC) must be sustained. To be sure, Mr. Iwu is not the problem with Nigeria. The problems are huge, numerous and enormous. However Iwu symbolizes evil and wickedness. He has been used as a tool to totally destroy the meaning of election in Nigeria. Mr. Iwu has taken rigging, corruption and recklessness of the electoral system to an irredeemable stratum.

Corrupt and Inefficient Iwu Maurice

Image from Nigerian Guardian Newspaper

I’m wondering why it took so long for this campaign to take form and shape. What is important now is that this campaign must be sustained and the eventual removal of Iwu must be achieved. If not, his activities will destroy more lives and souls.

In December 2007 I published the article below in the Nigerianmuse and on the Nigeria Village Square. I also published here on my blog and I’m just going to re-post it again exactly the way it was.
My views about Iwu are the same and I think the man should be facing the court of law by now. His former boss Mr Obasanjo should join him in trial. The crimes they both committed/perpetrated should not go unpunished. Removing Iwu is one thing, making him and his masters pay for their crimes is a bigger issue that should not be swept under the carpet-which is usual for the lazy and inherently corrupt successive governments in Nigeria.

A Persistent Resident Evil in the Aisle

Adeola Aderounmu
Written on Dec 11 2007

If we don’t do away with Iwu in our public arena and let him be HEARD NO MORE, someone will wake up tomorrow to tell us that Iwu is a hero. At that time, the likes of Babangida, Obasanjo and Atiku would have become saints and ordinary Nigerians would have been totally converted to their footstools. Iwu must go now!

Nigerians should not get tired of reading about one man or one incident day in day out. It is imperative that all of us who feel genuinely concerned should continue to echo our thoughts and actions where necessary until we rid our society of evil and atrocities. Mr. More-rice Iwu is one man we must continue to elaborate on until he is gone. He MUST go! He was quoted immensely by a recent report (10th Dec 2007) in This Day Newspaper

He stated that the conduct of the elections was far better than the June 12, 1993 election which is generally regarded as the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria. Apart from confirmed madness, I tried in vain to find any other rational reason why any entity would make this kind of reckless and thoughtless statement. Would any sane person compare the worst election in human history with the best election ever held in Nigerian since 1959?

Iwu went further: Nigeria was able to transit from one civilian regime to another for the first time in the history of the country. This is a very, very useless line of argument. What is the value of a history that promotes shame, ridicule, lawlessness and executive madness? The significance of any election is not in the transfer of power; it is in the meaning that it adds to life. The significance also lies in the realization of the wish of the people, the need for a proper and appropriate change where necessary and the hope for a greater tomorrow. I will repeat that the 2007 selections in Nigeria were nothing short of a farce. It is a slap on the face of the intelligent minds that abound in Nigeria and those abroad.

Nigeria is fond of setting bad examples to other African countries and it is a big shame. It appears to me that Nigeria has not made any progress democratically despite the mistakes and shortcomings of the past. We repeat history and never learn from them. It was very stupid of us all as Nigerians to accept the outcome of the useless 2007 selections in the name of civilian to civilian transition.

After the 29th of May 2007, we still couldn’t bundle into jails all those who squandered our future. I am really disappointed that people like Obasanjo and Iwu and the others who have contributed to the demeaning of Nigeria are not investigated or placed on trial. We need to take control of our lives, our destinies and our future. It must start from someone, from somewhere. Yet it seems that we are wasting this opportunity which is still very fresh.

The INEC chief said in spite of the odds against the smooth conduct of the 2007 general elections, INEC was able to organize free and fair elections that produced winners from state assemblies to the office of the president. This is a classical example of what Fela termed “Animal talk don start again, hear o another animal talk”. I feel so enraged each time I read comments from Iwu. Who do I blame? I blame a system where people worship idiots like him. This is a man that should by now be facing the full wrath of the law. Where is due process and where is the so called ruse of law? Where are our investigative police and judiciary in all of these messes? AG nko?

The jargons that keep coming from Iwu went on: “It was a sad moment to say that 2007 elections was the worst elections when we knew what was happening in other parts of the world.” What does this mean? Which other parts of the world? Is it Sierra Leone that just emerged from a civil war and yet managed to conduct more credible elections? Is it France that conducted their elections a few weeks after the scandal in Nigeria? Is it South Africa from where he imported electoral materials days after the pre-prepared results have emerged?

Is it Ghana that had been reaping the dividends of democracy such that Nigerians are now relocating to Ghana? Which other parts of the world was Iwu talking about? Why do we even have to look at any other part of the world? We are talking about madness and lawlessness in Nigeria and he wants us to look for greater madness to see how blessed we are.

At a public forum last week, Iwu mentioned that politicians wanted coup in April 2007. What a cheap blackmail? Which coup in the history of man will ever surpass the one masterminded by Obasanjo and executed by Iwu himself? Why have we done this to ourselves in Nigeria or why are we permitting this kind of persistent shame?

Are we normal in Nigeria? Is this what it means that Africans are less intelligent? I don’t know what more to ask. Really it is very annoying and frustrating. I mean we went to school in Nigeria and we knew how intelligent our teachers and lecturers are. So, why do we get all these nonsense from those parading our public life? It is hard to understand but if this is what the outside world will hear in order to judge us, then where is the intelligence? Where is the non-fraudulent mind if one of it exists in Nigeria public arena? Help me!
Just when I thought I have read all the nonsense that Iwu had to say, he dropped another line of lunaticism.

He said:
“The 2007 elections we agreed were not perfect, it was a human undertaking. It won’t have been perfect. But I still maintain to the annoyance of some people that the 2007 elections were free and fair.” Yes Mr. More-rice Iwu, I am seriously annoyed and if I was a lawyer, I would dedicate the rest of my life to your prosecution until it shall comes to pass. Free and fair? Is this man normal? Iwu said that he is resolute in actualizing his missions of reforming the country’s electoral reforms, in line with what was obtainable in other developed countries. This is ridiculous.

That takes me to Yar Adua who has been talking about electoral reform. Is it the same reform that Iwu is referring to? Is the anticipated electoral reform Yar Adua’s project or Iwu’s mission? Iwu’s mission remains evil in nature and will never achieve any good or positive results. He will only end up setting more tasks for the judiciary who will continue to annul and rule in favour of re-election or resuscitation of proper candidates.

That will also plunge Nigeria into deeper crises. Similarly, if the power to appoint the chairman of INEC still resides with the presidency, then it looks like Umaru is going to leave Iwu to continue with the imaginary reforms he has been talking about. It would be a nice way to pay back Iwu who presented the certificate of office to Umaru when everyone was still shouting foul play. Anyhow, Umaru Yar Adua lacks the foundation to orchestrate an electoral reform as the battle for the soul of the presidency remains undecided. So, Iwu’s reform or Yar Adua’s reform, Nigerians loose either way. What a tragedy!

When Iwu mentioned that … when we knew what was happening in other parts of the world and then…… in line with what was obtainable in other developed countries. I knew for sure that he was absent minded. This is a man who said that we should be happy with our election by comparing it to other parts of the world and at the same forum saying that he wants to make electoral reforms that would compared to what is obtainable in other developed countries. So, the developed countries are in another planet or what? Truth is constant, it is not malleable. Inconsistency and heresy are clear symptoms of a die-hard liar. Iwu is a hardcore liar!

What are the terms governing the operations of INEC? Can the National Assembly do something about it? Apart from an unwillingly and a slow presidency, who else can we turn to for the removal of this cankerworm called Iwu? What about the Integrity Group? This man MUST go! The removal of Iwu is one of the steps we must take to move Nigeria forward. Let us rise up against all the evils in our society and their platforms.

If we don’t probe and try the previous and serving administrations and their key players, we will be taking steps that will only reveal that we are not destined for greatness. We need to stop thieves and deceivers like Iwu in high and low places and put everybody on alert for national revamping. Making Nigeria great is not going to be a day’s job. It will be a collective duty on virtually on frontiers of our lives. But Nigeria will never be great if we don’t resolve to take the first step. Many more generations will be wasted and people will continue to wallow in poverty despite the wealth of the nation. My heart has been bleeding for Nigeria, a rich country where values are not placed on human existence but which instead has become a place for the glorification of sycophants.

Let us not coat evil with honey. Nigeria must do away with Iwu, he is the resident evil, the remnant of the 2 dream killers who disenfranchised 140m people in a world record scandal and farce called election in April 2007. Let us continue to make all the sincere and necessary inputs that are needed to salvage Nigeria even if we have to do that a million times on the same issue.

We are living with many evils in Nigeria, from Babangida to Obasanjo, and the rest of them. One of these evils is very much at large and for as long as he remains relevant and influential in the order of things in Nigeria, this country will know no peace and the disappearance of the entity called Nigeria can be catalytically enhanced by such a fellow. If Iwu remains in charge of elections or electoral reforms, Nigeria’s doom day is surely at hand.

Nigeria, the issues at stake

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu

The news that Mr. Jonathan has dissolved the cabinet today is not to be received with any form of jubilation. If anything it is a new cause for worries.

Mr. Jonathan unfortunately does not have the choice of handpicking the executive members. For several years the system of governance in Nigeria is not based on merits or knowledge of the individuals in their chosen fields.

Right now what is going on is lobbying (which is normal and fair enough) at the different states of the federation where the new cabinet members will come from. At the end of the (new) long wait-which is a serious deficiency of the system-names will be drawn up from the different geographical areas of Nigeria.

The people who will get nominated will be happy for the invitation or re-invitation to loot and steal from the masses. This is the process since 1960-bring in people and let them lie and steal!

The Nigerian National Assembly will also be bubbling by now. We have seen these shameless people in the past soliciting for bribes from nominated candidates so that they can be confirmed by the senate.

For me, history is just going to repeat itself. The senate members will collect bribes, the new executive members will be square pegs in round holes or the other way around. The cycle of idiocy will continue.

There is nothing wrong in dissolving or re-shuffling the cabinets. I’m just afraid that I have seen thousands of that before in my life time. Things only get worse.

We run a system where everything we do is too cosmetic and irrational.

Rather than cabinet reshuffling I would have called these ministers to give an account of their stewardship and achievements. I would have recommended them for prosecution for all the monies that they have stolen. I would have used them as examples of how “not to steal and loot”. I would, as a leader, try to give good examples of what it means to lead.

These men and women will walk away from governance with all the monies that they have stolen and looted. They will be replaced with new categories of thieves. The whole nonsense will continue.

Mr. Jonathan is trying to ascertain his command, but in the end, he will get new people around him that he barely knew.

There are more pressing issues to face in Nigeria.

There is war in Jos. Niger Delta is waging war against Nigeria. There is poverty, millions of Nigerians-more than 70% of the population are extremely poor and living on less than 2 dollars per day. We are talking about approximately 90m people or more. It is one of the biggest human tragedies of modern times. Highly overlooked, but the consequences will make Biafra and Somalia to be children’s plays if Jos and Niger Delta escalate into full blown wars. The rest of the world will not be spared, and this is not going to be the price of gas only.

These grave problems dwarf the significance of the cabinet change in Nigeria, no matter how relevant it seems to the present occupiers of the seat of power.

Nigeria is on a brink, the gun-powders are leaking. Add the wars to the unemployment, insecurity of lives and properties and the uncertainties of everyday life, we are starring at a human disaster on the rise.

Something must give way, otherwise Nigeria will give way and hundreds of nations may arise. No one knows what the consequences and repercussions will be. It’s time for those in the rock to wake up. Even the rock is not immune from weathering. It can happen..!

The Horrors from Jos

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

I have seen images of the recent mayhem in Jos. Children were slaughtered like goats. Women were pierced and chopped into pieces. Men and their families were massacred without mercy. I don’t know the animals that carried out the massacres but those slaughtered were Christians. It’s easy to infer that they were killed by irate Muslim mobs.

Shame of a failed nation

Nigerians and the world at large are now used to these scenarios of religious riots and counter-riots especially in Northern Nigeria. Jos is the capital of Plateau State in the middle belt region of Nigeria. But it is a little bit tilted to the north.

The riots that took place over the weekend of 6-7th march is definitely not going to be the last of it. There are reports of tension and likely retaliation from the affected group. Let us not forget that the Christians defended themselves the last time they were attacked early this year. As a matter of fact their assailants were shocked by the defense mechanisms that the Christians put up, even in holy places of worship.

This would explain the nature of the recent attack which came as a surprise and the Christians were defenseless. But how long will this mice and cats games continue? How long? What is the origin of these crises? What has the governor of Plateau state done to end the crises? What is he doing on short and long term bases?

The Map of Nigeria

Some of us have argued that Nigeria is a failed country. We have been labeled as unpatriotic. But how does one reconcile the killing of innocent children and women in Jos with the pretension that Nigeria is not a failed country? It’s hard, isn’t it?

Nigeria is a complex country. The recent madness in Jos has heightened the call for the segregation of the country. But we must not forget that our country is not only complex but interwoven. There will not be any easy way out of the dilemma that was imposed on us by the British amalgamation of 1914 when Northern Nigeria was merged with Southern Nigeria. There will not be any easy way out of the message brought by the missionaries from the south and the jihadist from the north. Nigeria is a melting point for political, cultural, religious, and social disorientation and disasters. How we manage to survive together for so long is an additional mystery.

Nigeria may never know peace as a united country. It will be difficult to find political solutions to the country falsely called Nigeria. Nevertheless these aberrations do by any means not justify the stupidity and madness that has been displayed in Nigerian political and public spaces.

Nigerian politicians ranked among the worst in the world. They are corrupt, wicked and clothed in absurdities. They almost have no sense and no direction in their thinking. The significant thing with being a Nigerian politician is to be cunning and crafty with looting of public funds, and to be a genius with falsification of contract sums and other things they allow them to rip the national treasury one way or the other. This has been going on for 50 years, unabated!

Hence the country went on a free fall. Nigerian went from being the best place to live in Africa to one of the worst places in the world. In Nigeria today electricity generation is nearly 0%. Is there a worse place on earth? I am still trying to figure out if there is any where on earth where electricity generation is nearly 0%. If there is none, then Nigeria is probably the worst place to live in, Somalia apart. I mean what is life without the uninterrupted supply of electricity?

If I was the president or acting president of Nigeria, I will move my office to Jos for at least one week. I will take over the position of the governor, literarily. I will make consultations with the people and be among them. I will try to find out the root cause of the Jos riots. I will never set up any useless committee or delegation or fact finding committees. I will be on the field and find out the nature of the problems. In fact I will ask the people, how can we help you, how can we solve these problems? I believe that anything short of this approach will not solve the problem. Many more lives will be lost and the country will sink deeper into man-made depressions.

But in Nigeria the acting or whatever president will be busy with contracts, oil rigs, future election manipulations and self preservation. Nigerian politicians acts in senseless manners and they have no idea what public service entails. Sometimes I wonder if their brains sublimed the moment they get into office by their violent and dubious acts.

I’m trying to love Nigeria but I’m perplexed and honestly speaking I’m also confused. We give an impression to the world that we are uncivilized whereas we are not. In Nigeria and abroad we have millions of Nigerians who are brainers, geniuses and trailblazers in different fields and endeavors of life. Across the world we continue to mentor people, children and even in some cases there are Nigerians mentoring a whole community of people.

But the question is, where is this pool of intelligence where and when it is most needed? Why is the quality of our lives in Nigeria below acceptable international standards? From Nigeria, why is our image that of corruption, massacres, barbaric acts, poverty, no electricity, no economic prowess, no employment and all types of vices you can think of including armed robbery and kidnapping? I am a frustrated Nigerian. I don’t like how the events in Nigeria are affecting the way people are looking at me and my compatriots on foreign lands. Sometimes you can see in their looks-why don’t these “fools” go home and fix their country?

The point is there are millions of Nigerians living in Nigeria who know what to do about the problems in Nigeria. But like the rest of us, they have allowed the violent and ruthless people to take over governance. Sometimes several people with good intentions get into government and they soon join the bandwagon of looters. They suddenly forget the sons and daughters of whom they are and they begin to acquire wealth illegally! They forget their roots and add to the loads of problems. It is called the Nigerian mentality.

So where and what is our hope. Will there come a time when good people will show good traits in public service? Will this country by salvaged? By who? A messiah? Will Nigeria ever know peace, progress and true development? Will there come a time when rulers will be replaced by leaders with visions? What is the way out of the Nigerian dilemma?

Jos-Nigeria, a lawless state

/ Adeola / 5 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

Jos has now become the death valley. Jos the capital of Plateau State in mid-Nigeria is now notorious for religious attacks, counter attacks and revenge.

What a sad situation!

Jos is supposed to be one of the most attractive tourist attraction centres in Nigeria, but see what religion has done to Jos. What a shame!

Jos has a climate that is superb and it’s one of the places I would have loved to visit but I dare not. I am disappointed, not in Jos really, but in Nigeria. The country is a completely failed state. Lacking in democracy and genuine leadership, the problems of the states is actually a reflection of the stupidity of the rulers. Not to fail to mention the absurd resiliency of the masses. These two abnormalities have now melted Nigeria into a jungle country.

The other day we read about, and saw horrible pictures of innocent people murdered and dissected by armed robbers. No greater insanity. Time after time, Jos and other places continue to erupt into violence and “small” wars.

There are problems upon problems in Nigeria but the politicians and conquerors of Nigeria are busy stealing, looting, talking nonsense in the house of assembly, sharing money and allowances across the various arms of government-monies that end up in private account and overseas. This country is a failed country! I’m so convinced.

No credible elections, no electoral reforms, no legal president, useless anticorruption war and all sorts of stupid things going on daily.

The one who is the acting president is still romancing the same people who stole, looted and destroy the country. He is one of them.

The Jos issue is not a local issue. It is a reflection of the lack of democracy and failure of the system. We have no defined system and the country is built on very useless people instead of strong institutions and good principles of governance.

I am not just crying for Jos, I am also crying for Nigeria.