Nigeria

Everybody is on Strike in Nigeria

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By Adeola Aderounmu

ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) is on strike
Doctors are on strike
Radio and Television (RATTAWU) workers are on strike
NEPA (National Electric Power Authority) staffs are on strike

What kind of country is Nigeria really?

It is in this same country that politicians cart away billions of naira annually by ensuring that their own exaggerated salaries, allowances, and bonuses are paid as promptly as possible. The politicians are sharing billions of naira daily through their takeaways while the rest of the population continue to struggle between thick and thin to get their own rewards for their different labours.

ASUU is fighting brain drain and the decay of infrastructure in the public Universities. ASUU has been doing that for ages and the agreement they had with the Nigerian government in 2001 is the crux of the matter in 2009. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand the real problems. For example, how can agreements made in 2001 remain unfulfilled in 2009? It’s sickening!

I am sure that the other strikes are also related to unfulfilled promises on the part of the Nigerian government. NEPA staffs are also threatening strike actions! Isn’t that funny? There is almost no electricity in Nigeria and the PHCN or NEPA staffs are planning a strike. It appears that they know something that the rest of us don’t know. We’ll see where this takes us next.

The bottom line is that I see a government or successive governments devoid of both mission and vision. A delusionary government that wants to be one of the top 20 nations in 2020….someone should tell the rulers to shut their mouths and stop deceiving themselves. In 2020 the government will be looking at 2050. This can only be prevented through drastic changes in government attitudes and drastic measures that will promote sincerity of purpose and visionary leadership.

As the country remains in paralysis mode, the current emphasis is now how to capture government houses in 2011. Two years to the next election, evil plans have already been laid to rig elections and once again ensure that the votes are not counted.

INEC has not been restructured and the important recommendations of the election committee have been set aside to continue to ensure that autocracy is the norm rather than democracy.

Nigeria is not yet a serious country. When she is ready, first she will fight corruption and get rid of it from her system. Second, she will arrest and jail corrupt men and women and thirdly, she will lay the foundations for strong democratic structures.

Starting from the top, Nigerians need to be re-orientated on how to build a strong and vibrant nation. Surely selfishness, corruption, election rigging and looting are not parts of the prerequisites that will determine the 20 biggest economies in 2020.

Certainly an inactive, illegitimate and non-vibrant leadership is a big minus for a sleeping giant of sub-Saharan Africa. Pity!

Between Obama, Ghana and Nigeria

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Between Obama, Ghana and Nigeria

By Adeola Aderounmu

I have no problems with Obama going to Ghana. My problem is the hypocritical stance of the US government. Democracy is on a strong footing in Ghana. Ghana is a model of good governance and Ghana might as well (to some extent) represent some of the hopes that we have for Africa. Therefore this visit to Ghana is in order.

However I will like to take Obama to task on some issues that affects Nigeria. There are serious allegations against Obama’s United States that the US is a major contributor to the corruption and bad leadership in Nigeria. Nigeria is a leading producer of crude oil and the United States has been implicated in the crises rocking the Nigerian corrupt government and the genocides that have been perpetrated in the Niger Delta.

I want Mr. Obama the president of the United States to take these allegations seriously because if he is not going to Nigeria, it might perhaps also be as a result of the shame resulting from the activities and the role of the United States in the government of Nigeria and the Niger Delta oil crises.

In 1993, Nigeria conducted the best election in her history. The winner of that election was denied of his mandate. As a matter of historical fact MKO Abiola, the winner of that election was killed in prison when he received visitors from Obama’s United States. It remains a mystery why such an act was committed in the presence of the representatives of Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was the president of the United States and our own president-in-waiting died when delegates from Bill were visiting.

I will like Mr. Obama to respond to the situation. Let him take a look at the history books and also a run through the list of the United States delegate. What is America’s story in the death of the hope of millions of Nigeria-MKO Abiola? Former Nigerian military gangster Abdusalami Abubakar was charged to court for this murder. Was he standing trial then on behalf of the US? President Obama should tell us what happened.

There is an allegation that the US always support any presidential candidate in Nigeria who will oppress the people if necessary just to ensure that the oil quota that goes to the US from the Niger Delta remain constant or that such a candidate promises a prospect of increase. Nigeria’s former dictator wiped out en entire community for the sake of the black gold and the US or the UN does not see that as a crime against humanity. The US did not press for the trial of Gen Obasanjo. Instead Gen Obasanjo was rewarded with a UN job to Congo. What a world!

This year, Mr Yar’ Adua who was selected as Nigeria’s leader 2007 in the worst election ever in human history has also committed genocide in the same Niger Delta region. The British and the US have not condemned such act. In fact Britain through Gordon Brown is a major arms supplier to Yar’Adua. Yar Adua had committed genocide and he is killing civilians including women and children. Mr. Obama has never condemned the genocide and Gordon Brown will rather talk about Mugabe.

The US was very slow to codemn the elections that brought Yar’Adua to power because they know that he is there to protect their interest in the Niger Delta. George Bush wanted the US marine in the Delta, almost setting up an African center. American interest in Nigeria is primarily the oil and not the welfare of the people.

Really, I don’t blame the United States at all. In my native language, we say that if the wall if not open, the lizard will not find a space to hide. Nigeria is a corrupt country no doubt and the rulers are just there to line their stomach and pockets. These notorious acts serve any imperialist perfectly. They need block heads and looters to sustain their own interests.

Therefore Mr. Obama should go to Ghana in peace and stop telling us why he is going to Ghana. The US can siphon our oil and give aids to Ghana. Nigeria does not need aid!! Ten Nigerian politicians can give 20 billion US dollars to Africa. With people like Babangida, Yar Adua, Obasanjo, Odili, Ibori, Anenih, Tafa Balogun, Gbenga Daniels, Bukola Saraki, Dimeji Bankole and David Mark just to mention a few, 20 billion dollars is a piece of cake in Nigeria!

Obama should watch out for Nigeria politicians in Ghana, they may be approaching him with loads of Ghana-must-go bags! They will surely contain dollars enough to entice Obama to Nigeria as early as next week.
My pain is that with 140m people, only a few hundred gangsters have taken us into perpetual slavery. When illegitimate and corrupt governments in Nigeria are backed by the British and the United States, the Nigerian masses are invariably helpless.

The destiny of Nigeria lies in the hands of Nigerians.

Why the Price of Gas May Increase (Even More)

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By Adeola Aderounmu

The activities of the Nigerian Militants have ensured that crude oil has almost stopped flowing in Nigeria. This means that tough days are ahead of Nigerians and the rest of us elsewhere in the world.

The pump price of gas may just continue to rise over the whole summer.

But in Nigeria the economy will suffer more dwindling fate. The cost of doing business will rise and the masses will pay more for transportation. Depending on the amount of reserves and the eventual severity of the situation, Nigerian workers must brace up for the worst.

This is the result of 49 years of absolute madness.

The illegal regime in Nigeria is working out an amnesty for the militants. It should actually be the other way round. The Niger Deltans should be the ones working out amnesty for the Nigerian govt and all the oil companies that have devasted the oil rich region. The govt should perhaps take a cue from SHELL that recently paid a token for some of its atrocities in the region.

The Nigerian government is one of the most corrupt in the world. Yar Adua is feasting and merrying with the most corrupt people ever known in Nigeria and he is telling us bullshits about the economy and he is committing genocide in the Niger Delta.

Yar Adua is a very corrupt man and he does not have the interst of Nigerians at heart. That is why he has surrounded himself with the likes of Ibori who has stolen all the money from the Niger Deltan people when he was a governor. Yar Adua has received loads of this money as a presidential candidate and it seems he is ready to get more and more. This is absolute madness and insanity.

In the meantime, Nigeria needs to go back to the days of old when Agriculture was our major earner of foreign exchange. We must stop depending on crude oil and we must stop destroying the environment in the Niger Delta. Until we focus and develop our agricultural systems/products, and until such a time that we remove all these looters who have destroyed the country by stealing more money than even what some african countries do have, we are not ready to move ahead in Nigeria.

Nigeria must also work hard to utilise the vast mineral deposits and resources in the country.

Nigeria’s Government WAR ON BLOGGERS and ACTIVISTS

Yar Adua’s government continues to arrest bloggers and activists. What kind of rubbish is that? Are we not free to express our opinions any longer?

I don’t understand why a civilian regime can undertake such a mission of arresting bloggers and activists. Are we under a military rule? Are we in the Stone Age when people are not free to express their opinions?

Yar Adua and his boys must be called to order. They must stop this mess. They should know that no one has the possibility to stop the flow of information and ideas. They must know that in this age of internet and advanced communication, there will be absolutely nothing they or anyone can do to stop BLOGGERS whether they like or hate the opinions expressed.

And if arresting, torturing, molesting or killing bloggers is what Yar Adua is telling the State Security Service to perpetrate, he is making one of the BIGGEST mistakes of his life. I have written before that this is one BATTLE he will NEVER win. NEVER!

My advice: Yar Adua should do his work and if he has no idea what he is doing, he should just get lost. We are tired of the molestation and harrassment. Leave Bloggers and Internet commentators alone.

Nonsense!

A case for the French Embassy in Nigeria

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Written by David Udo Anwana

My name is David Udo Anwana, I am writing to request for a legal assistance for a case between me and the French Embassy that has been lingering in the karu magistrate court in Nasarawa state Nigeria, since 22nd of October 2007 till date.

I am a former staff of the French Embassy; I worked with them from 3rd of November 1997 till the date of my resignation on 30th of March 2007. (From Lagos and Later transferred to Abuja in November 2000).

I decided to resign from my appointment with the French Embassy due to the ill treatment I received for being a Nigerian and a black; on many occasions I was insulted and even called a black slave and was once called a kidnapper by the former 1st Counselor of the French Embassy, Mr. Dominique Raoux-Cassin, Time won’t permit me to relate all the ordeal I went through while working with the French Embassy.

I even wrote the syndicate CFDT-MAE in France explaining my ordeal, before I decided to resign, and nothing was ever done, a copy of translated version of that letter dated 15th February 2009. When I got the job with the French embassy in Nov. 2007,this was after I was asked to submit my resignation letter to Cameroon airlines in Lagos where I worked for four years , I was given a contract when to sign I read through the contract and was never for once told that if I serve the French Embassy in Nigeria and decided to resign from my job voluntarily I won’t be paid my entitlement for the period I served.

It was a surprised to me, when I was told the French government don’t pay gratuities to its staff, it was a surprise not only to me, to the entire members of locally employed staff.

After my resignation, I wrote to the French Ambassador requesting for my entitlement and my pension which was not remitted to the P.F.A. of my choice from 2004 – 2007 and kept at the custody of the French embassy till june 2008 , when it was finally remitted ,with a miscalculation.

I needed my money in order to look after my family of 4 kids and my wife, who was pregnant as at the moment I left the French Embassy, and to also settle my rent in Abuja and also start a small business to be able to sustain my family.

Some few months later, I got a response from the French Ambassador telling me that the French Embassy don’t pay gratuities to its staff, this was rather strange to me, since it has always been paid to former staff who also resigned voluntarily or for any other reason from the French Embassy.

Sir, the hardship and difficulty this situation put me and my family specially my wife who was expecting a baby, and my landlord also served me a quit notice at that moment, since my house rent was overdue and all my children were driven away from school, I could really not bear the whole situation any longer.

I then requested for the service of a lawyer, he wrote the French Embassy and they never responded and he personally went to the French Embassy to deliver a letter to the French Ambassador, he was rejected at the gate, when this news got to me I was really disturbed and frustrated and could not control the situation any longer, I was forced out of frustration to take the law into my hands by going to the French Embassy and cause some damages on two of their vehicles and was taken to Asokoro Police Station, this incident occurred on the 16th of October, 2007, while my wife was at the Asokoro General Hospital in the labour room and she put to birth on that same day being assisted by some friends and neighbors. I was koboless, frustrated, pushed to the extreme and acted out of frustration, I spent 7 days in the cell bitten mercilessly by the cell mates and was taken to the Magistrate Court on the 22nd of October 2007 and was bail out by two of my friends.

Since then I have been going to the Magistrate Court till date as regard the same case. I was given the chance to speak only twice, the police prosecutor handling the case kept on adjourning the case, for reason best known to him till date, I couldn’t appear once because my daughter was very sick I had to take her for treatment and the date escaped my memory, few days after I receive a call from one Mr. Danladi the prosecutor aid, to meet him at Kerra hotel in Mararaba, that he has a message for me, I had to go with some friends of mine getting at the spot, some 20 minutes later, i saw the police prosecutor coming in and we greeted each other and he asked me why I failed to appear in Court, I explain to him what happened, this was around 10pm in the night, and he then brought out a warrant of arrest, and said he is here to arrest me, I should follow him to Asokoro station or else he will deal with me, I gave him the full respect due to him, and pleaded with him to kindly follow me to my house, since I didn’t tell any of my family members where I was going, so when they are informed then I will go with him, he insisted that we should go from there, I then told him, it won’t be possible for me to follow him if my family is not informed, I asked him when is the case adjourned to, he said the following day, I told him, ok, tomorrow I will appear in Court.

His aid Mr. Danladi then approached me and said, I should discuss with his boss and settled him or else he will not allow me to go home, that the matter is very serious ,that they were sent by the DPO Asokoro police station to come and arrest me. I told him I can’t do give money to his boss as far as this matter is concerned, and moreover I don’t have the money, I have been without a job from March 2007, where does he expect me to take money from.

I pleaded with him to allow me go home, this pleading took us to about 11pm in the night, which I stood on my decision to first go home and inform my family, we dragged on that until my friends later told me that we should give them transport money for the fuel they burn in coming to Mararaba, since they came with bike. A sum of N2000 was given to Mr. Danladi and they finally left and I left with my friends to my house.

The next day I appeared in court, just for this same prosecutor who came to arrest me the previous day told the magistrate that he is on special duty and that the matter should be adjourned to another time and told the magistrate that I ran away, they have been looking for me severally and they arrested me yesterday and took me to their station and that they brought me straight from the cell on that day, I was shocked to hear such statement, but was not given a single minute to say a word, and suddenly I was asked to provide two guarantors since I jumped bail which I did, since then, the prosecutor aid have been calling me and asking me to meet him at odd hours of the night and at a specific location, I have never accepted to do so, and he has been telling me to cooperate with his boss or else I will regret. I don’t understand what he meant by that.

I had to write the French Embassy, explaining all my ordeal with the police and I have also written them series of letter of apology as regard that incident, in response to one of those letter, I receive this reply from the new Ambassador, a copy of the reply is attached to this letter, the French version and the translated version in english.

Currently I am without a job and my family is undergoing serious hardship and my kids are all at home, I can’t afford to pay their school fees, and my rent is due. I can’t settle it. I can’t afford to pay the service of a lawyer for my defense as regard this case, that is why I write to you sir/madam to request for a legal service and help, to enable me get my freedom and face my small business of teaching French Language and computer to people at home, which has been the only source of income for me and my family, but the incessant adjournment of this case has not allowed me to concentrate on my life, I need your help and I need the help of all good Nigerian and the international community to help resolve this matter.

I will be ready to accept your invitation for further explanation as regard this matter, the case was adjourned till 16th of June 2009 – The French Embassy has sent Mr. Dennis Emmanuel, the MOPOL who was on duty on the 16th Oct. 2007 to come and testify on this matter at the magistrate court, this is well after they might have sent me a letter telling me the French embassy neither any of their agent have ever taken me to any court of law.

I will be most grateful if my request is approved. I need your assistance and the assistance of everybody.

The French Embassy expatriate have on many occasion told us the local staff, specially the Nigerians, that there is no law in our country Nigeria, that we can’t do them anything and that we don’t have the money to get a lawyer, I am not the only one who must have experienced such, so many others were just sack for no just reason they are ready to be invited to talk about their own experience. Once you spend 10 years and above, they will look for a way to send you packing, you will be frustrated, insulted, mistreated until you resign, they don’t care because they know you can’t do anything.

They even told us that, are we treated better by your country why do we expect good treatment from them, after all your salary at the French Embassy is better than what your ministers and governors earn. So we should not even complain and that there are many out there waiting for our job, that has resulted to so many staff resigning without being paid, and others have been sack after 28, 15, 10 years of service without any compensation paid to them, putting head of families on untold hardship, it is really sad that such thing are happening in our country and nobody is aware of it.

It is really disheartening and painful and frustrating, I shed tears whenever I remembered all I went through at the Embassy in my own country and nothing is being done in this regard. I think this is this time for the world to know what we went through and what we experienced in the hands of the French expatriate in our own country Nigeria, It is really bad , I also plead to our government to look into this matter, we are really suffering in silence in the hands of the French people at the Embassy here in Nigeria even up till this moment.

They really hate us; they are here only for their own interest not ours.

Sir, I wouldn’t want to be push to the extreme any longer, if in the course of there hardship the police prosecutor who is cooperating with the French Embassy to put me to jail, succeed in doing so, since the prosecutor and his witness , the police inspector who handled the case openly told me they will do , because he even instructed the magistrate handling the case to jail me as this will serve as a deterrent to others, he has an many occasion ask for my financial assistance, personally and via Mr. Danladi, telling me that he is traveling for either marriage, or burial that I should find him some money, I told him I don’t have, this has angered him so much so that he told me I will see.

If he succeed in doing his will and I am put to jail and my children and my wife suffer for no just reason, I don’t believe this will be just, I and my family are suffering unjustly, after I must have spent 10 years of my youthful years only to be told bye bye by the French embassy, no compensation, it is rather very sad, they openly told us that even if you spend 35 years of service or have reached the retirement age, the French government won’t pay you, all you have is your pension , we have asked them to provide document in the Nigerian labor law to back their claim , they have never done so, from 2004 – 2007 my pension contribution was never remitted to any pension fund administrator.

After I wrote them severally asking for my money, my pension money, it was in June 2008 that my IBTC Pension Account was credited with a sum of N112,000 and I wrote the French Ambassador to request for a break down of this money, nobody every care to answer me, my last salary with the French Embassy between 2004, and 2007 was between 400 euro and 430 euro , how did they calculate 7.5% contribution by the employer & 7.5 % contribution by the employee calculated from this amounts to 112,000N only, they even cheated on me on their calculation, we are really helpless in our country, one of those who were sacked unjustly by the French embassy reported his case to the foreign affairs, nothing has ever been done, he spent over 15 years of service and was sacked unjustly without any compensation paid to him.

My question is what do we do, I was frustrated and took the laws into my hands and today the police prosecutor is using this as a mean of getting money from me, he told the magistrate on one of the hearings regarding this case, that he went to the French embassy with a copy of the letter that was sent to me by the French Ambassador to confirm if it was written by the French Ambassador and that he met with the French Ambassador who told him it was fake, I was so shocked and surprise, and wrote the French Ambassador about it, and he never responded. This is a clear evidence of his co-operation with the police prosecutor to cause an untold hardship to me and my family, we are asked to respect the rule of law, does obeying the rule of law give the French Embassy the right to mistreat Nigerians in their own country. I once asked the French Ambassador in one of my letters, if that is the way the Nigerian Embassy in Paris treats the French citizens.

Please you should all help me out this , I need my gratuities be paid to me and the police to allow me have my peace, I will be most grateful to you all.

David UDO A.
08036124282
Udo.david@gmail.com

Why June 12 Is Our ONLY Hope

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by Adeola Aderounmu

June 12 1993 is a day that has refused to depart from our memories and to millions of witnesses it appears like it was just yesterday. Making it right once and for all is an enormous task and the fact that the successive undesirable governments in Nigeria continue to ignore this date is a very sad omen that will hunt this generation and the next. I do not see any ray of hope for Nigeria until the actualization of what June 12 represents. Call it superstition but Nigeria is worse now than it was in 1993. With the continuous denial of what June 12 represents and the non-actualization of the dream/ ideals, it can only get worse in Nigeria!
Though it’s been 16 years we must continue to tell and repeat the story so that the truth is not distorted and for those who didn’t know what happened then to know what transpired because until we learn from our common history and make amends for our avoidable mistakes we will most likely continue to rotate at the same point. We cannot move forward until we start doing the right thing.

June 12 was not about the contest between MKO Abiola and Bashir Tofa. June 12 is not about the junta and it is not about the military tropical gangster called Babangida. June 12 is not about these people. It was about democratic principles and the simple rule of law. On June 12 1993, millions of Nigerians voted in the best election ever conducted in the history of Nigeria. It was possible for the people to vote correctly because the elections were actually properly planned and well conducted.

As a result of the precedents to June 12-long years of wasteful and corrupt military rule, vain promises, crushed dreams, battered economy and complete hopelessness in the order of things-, the hope that came with June 12 elections was greater than that which Obama brought with his campaign and victory in the US. There were pre-election debates and it was easy to discern that one of the two candidates had a plan and promises of hope for a brighter future.

The people voted and the results were rolling in to the favour of MKO Abiola. When it became evident that Abiola would win, Bashir Tofa (the opponent) was said to have sent him congratulatory messages. I was humbled by that simple gesture of sportsmanship. It was supposed to usher in an era of politics without bitterness. Records have it that as the results were been announced, the prices of goods and services were dropping. There was a tailor who refused to be paid for the services he had rendered. He was so overjoyed that “at last” hope has come to the people. Even the cost of transportation went down drastically in those few hours of glory. There were numerous fine moments that accompanied the announcement of the results. Hope and a sense of belonging were in the air.

That was the spirit and mood until Nigerians received a rude shock from the nonentity called Babangida. This useless man cancelled or annulled the best election in our history. There were many hypotheses to this annulment including that Abiola was a creditor to the government, or that a few ignoble persons would not like to see him become the president of Nigeria. Some people said it was because of what he did when he was in NPN that he betrayed Awolowo. In democracy, these or any other fabrications are useless and thoughtless arguments.

The fundamental thing about June 12 was that a presidential election took place in Nigeria and Abiola won. The crime about it was that some cabal secretly plotted against Abiola and eternally denied him of the mandate that the Nigerian people gave to him. He was asked by the people to give them hope, but a few arrogant and selfish persons, a few of whom are unfortunately still around the corridors of power decided otherwise.

The annulment was resisted by many true democrats, some were killed and many went into exile. Prominent Nigerians chickened out and were back in subsequent illegal governments because they were simply opportunists originally. Kingibe who should have been the vice-president in a rare muslim-muslim ticket (which Nigerians were satisfied with) even had the guts to serve in the present lame government. Many Nigerian politicians are shameless. As looters, they never get enough, do they? They always stage a return to our lives and the implication is that since 1960, we have had a system of recycling sycophants in our government. Those that cannot be recycled stay out as godfathers-destroying the system to meet their own needs and selfish ends.

Many people died in vain in the struggle to actualize that mandate popularly called JUNE 12. May their souls find peace. They are more honourable than Babangida and the thoughtless cabal put together. Have we heard all concerning the brutal murder of MKO? He died under questionable circumstances while a delegate from the United States was visiting him. How did a cup of tea become a poison? We knew that a delegate from the US visited him in prison but is the story of the poisonous tea cup actually valid? Was he beaten to death? Is Mr. Abubakar Abdulsalam paying yet for the crime committed under his watch?

MKO Abiola was killed on July 7 1998 when many thought he would be released to claim his mandate after the death of one of the notorious generals called Abacha. The implication is that he was up against an evil cabal who will not mind travelling to hell just to deny him the honourable mandate. Indeed the cabal succeeded in their plots and 16 years after, Nigerians are paying dearly the price for the evil of a few men.

Why is June 12 our only hope? It is because unless we conduct a normal election where our votes are counted like that fateful day in 1993; there will be no democratic government in Nigeria. I do not believe that Nigeria is yet a democratic nation. What we still have are hand-picked sycophants and looters who are not answerable to anyone and who are above the laws of the land.

June 12 election was peaceful, free, fair and devoid of violence. If the election was not stupidly annulled it would have been the benchmark for electoral processes in Nigeria and indeed Africa. We lost that chance and we have not been able to regain it since 1993. Lowly countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia that are recuperating from recent wars did better in electing their leaders and making them accountable while the sleeping giant of Africa has failed to produce a credible election since 1959. What a real shame?

June 12 is not only a symbol of democratic struggles but also a symbol of the dignity of man. The dignity of the Nigerian masses has been perpetually rubbed in the mud. Today the masses still have no rights, no dignity and are not respected by the wicked leadership. The typical Nigerian man or woman knows very well that his/ her vote is not worthy. These people suffer from extreme low esteem and self-pity. It is pathetic and sorrowful.

The only way forward for this country is to set the records straight. The corruption, injustices and social inequality being perpetrated by the leaders and looters in Nigeria are the reasons for the poverty that prevails in Nigeria. It is the reason that 3 square meals is a privilege. It is the reason why the nation is making giant strides back to the Stone Age as the rest of the world continues to enjoy the fruits of the 18th century industrialisation and 21st century globalisation.

Those who disengaged us from the dreams of June 12 are among us and the time is now to bring them and their stooge to Justice. Anything short of justice means that peace, progress and prosperity will be an everlasting mirage for the common man in Nigeria. Justice must be done. Babangida must account for his deeds as a chief truncator of the hope of June 12. All the participants in that treasonable act in June 1993 should be brought to book.

It is not right that a country so blessed can also accommodate more than 90m people living desperately on less than 2 dollars a day and having no access to clean water, no proper housing and lacking a befitting standard of life. If the estimated 90m people living on less than 2 dollars a day in Nigeria stand up to be counted in a mass action, they will salvage the remaining days of their lives and secure the future for their children. There are more than 140m Nigerians and a solid resistant is needed to pull down the cabal and their antidemocratic bidding once and for all.

One thing is sure, in as much as we have refused to take the right steps and as long as we have not resisted those who are manipulating our country to a selfish end, millions of people will continue to live in poverty. This is not a curse; it is just what I call the unarguable reality of our lives. When is the truth going to set us free in Nigeria? When?

It is one thing for us to know the truth, acknowledge it, make amends and set Nigeria on the path of glory and it is definitely another thing to continue to deny ourselves the knowledge of the truth thereby allowing a few people to continue to enjoy the fruits of the land while leaving the helpless and resilient majority wallowing in abject poverty.

The way to GLORY will be a struggle on all aspects of our lives, social, economic…and so on. The way to prosperity and the good of all will be to seek the men and women who will be ready to serve selflessly and dedicatedly. In Nigeria, we need the rule of law above the rule of men. The present incapable government in Nigeria is the biggest joke of all epoch.

Each June 12 continues to unsettle the mind of the wicked. It will eventually bring judgment who those who spilled the blood of the innocents. The goodness of June 12 will bring milk and honey back to the Nigerians who are weak and poor, living on less than 2 dollars a day.

I will like to repeat and emphasize that June 12 is not about Abiola or Tofa. It is not about the cabal or a tropical gangster called Babangida. It is not about the unsolved conspiracy that killed MKO. June 12 is about the destruction of the everlasting foundation upon which the glory of Nigeria would have been built. It is about the confinement of Nigerians to a state of extremely low esteem and self-pity. Until the actualization of the ideals of June 12 this country will neither know peace nor make progress.

This is my personal opinion and that is the way that I see it.