How Yakubu Gowon Caused The Nigeria-Biafra War
How Yakubu Gowon Caused The Nigeria-Biafra War
*How Yakubu Gowon Caused The Nigeria-Biafra War
Introduction:
One of the greatest enduring myths in Nigeria is the lie that Yakubu
Gowon fought the Nigeria-Biafra war to keep Nigeria united, whereas
in reality not only did Yakubu Gowon whose Northern region had
originally intended to secede (Araba) after the July 1966
counter-coup cause the unnecessary war through his failure of
leadership, his aim for fighting the war was never in the least a
genuine desire to keep Nigeria united but purely because of Northern
economic interests. The economic interests of the hitherto
secessionist North became the principal reason for the volte face from
secession to “one Nigeria” after the British government advised the
Northern leadership of the economic disadvantages of secession. Thus
unlike most civil wars where there is a genuine desire to keep the
nation united for patriotic reasons, the Nigeria-Biafra war was an
opportunistic war instigated by Yakubu Gowon and the North; not out of a
genuine desire for a united Nigeria but for the selfish aims of British
imperialism and Northern economic interests which remains the reason
and reality of their presence in Nigeria to date.
Every conflict is dogged by lies and propaganda, but history always
waits out the intrigues of war in the knowledge, that the truth; no
matter how suppressed and how long it waits, will eventually prevail. In
the midst of the historical lies and propaganda that trailed the
conflict the long suppressed truth is beginning to find life. One
emerging fact is the true causes/ intentions of the conflict and the
fact that the conflict has by all accounts been considered a needless
war. It is already deemed by some to be the most avoidable war of the
20th century. Unlike many unavoidable conflicts, there were many
opportunities to avoid the Nigeria-Biafra war which needlessly consumed
the lives of some 3 million people, entrenched an un-healing
generational bitterness and caused severe social, political and economic
dislocation from which the nation is yet to recover. Wars carry with
them the worst of human tragedies and scars that endure for all time. It
is an evil that must be avoided except it is absolutely necessary.
( Continues below….. )
Photo Above: Nigeria Ex-Military Head of
State, Yakubu Gowon leaving after attending Late Nigerian President
Umaru Yar'Adua's funeral in Katsina, Katsina State May 6, 2010.
In the case of Nigeria-Biafra; there was nothing that made the war in
the least necessary. Nigeria as a nation never existed until the British
colonialists patched up the contraption of disparate ethnic and
religious groups into an unworkable nation to service her imperial
interests. From the onset it was obvious Nigeria would be inhibited by
her contradictions and consequently doomed to failure. Thus when the
pogrom/genocide of 1966-67 demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubts
the impossibility of Nigeria, the legal route under international law
as enshrined in the United Nations charter was to hold a plebiscite
or referendum to determine by democratic means the choice of the
majority as it concerns self determination for Biafra.
That route would have solved the problem in a legal and civilised
manner as “no war no matter how desirable for the purpose of keeping a
nation together is justifiable.” It defies all logic and natural
justice to kill people in other to keep them in a nation. It is like
killing a woman’s children in order to forcefully keep her in a marriage
from which she seeks to exit. Freedom and self determination are
inalienable God given rights and nations must be constructed and
preserved through democratic consent and not through the barrel of a
gun. Any act otherwise, to forcefully create or preserve a nation
without the democratic consent of the indigenous peoples is an act of
colonialism. Every ethnic group within the Nigerian geographical
expression ordinarily retains the same right for which we struggled for
independence from the British colonial government. It is thus a
usurpation of the right to self determination and independence for any
group or groups within Nigeria to wage war or forcefully coerce another
into the nation against their will. To that extent the war against
Biafra must be understood for what it really was; a war of aggression
and colonialism.
Thus for the purposes of history and for generations yet unborn, I
have decided to put on record for all time; the truth and injustice
of the needless war of colonialism Yakubu Gowon and his allies
instigated against Biafra on the lie of a war of unity.
Historical Antecedents:
Eastern Leadership And The Historical Championing of One Nigeria
One of the ironies of the Nigeria-Biafra war is how the East and her
leadership under Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe who relentlessly championed the
very idea of a united Nigeria as against the Northern leadership that
harboured deep anti-Nigeria sentiments were forced by circumstances
resulting from the pogrom/genocide to exercise the fundamental right
of self preservation and opt for secession.
When in 1957 the British colonial authorities offered independence
individually to the regions provided two out of the three regions
accepted the offer, the Northern region declared they were not ready for
that level of political and economic independence, the Western region
declared their readiness for independence, the East became the tie
to make or break Nigeria; Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe in a historic move,
rejected the offer by declaring that “although the Eastern region was
ready to assume the responsibilities of regional independence, its
attainment without the North would lead to the balkanization of the
Nigerian nation and conceivably a break-up of the country. The Eastern
region would rather suppress its appetite for independence and the
obvious gains it would entail until the Northern region was ready.” By
this momentous and in my own opinion mistaken decision, Dr Nnamidi
Azikiwe prevented the break-up of Nigeria as offered by the then
colonial authorities in 1957. He also stridently opposed the Northern
proposal for a right of self determination in the constitution in
subsequent constitutional conferences.
These feats alongside the emergence of a Northerner “Mallam Umaru
Altine” as the first mayor of Enugu in 1956, amongst so many other
sacrifices made by Dr Azikiwe and other Eastern leaders in the course of
the evolution of the nation to accommodate the historically
“secessionist” North underscores the role the East played in being the
biggest champions of a united Nigeria. Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe was not only
an advocate of Nigerian unity; he was also highly invested in
Pan-Africanism and the campaign for a United States of Africa. It is
also noteworthy that in spite of the fact that crude oil was discovered
in the then Eastern region in 1956 which gave overwhelming advantages to
the East, not a single Eastern leader ever mentioned crude oil in any
of their political narratives or sought to take undue advantage of it.
Indeed Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe and even the short-lived military
administration of General Aguiyi Ironsi demonstrated a diehard
commitment to a united Nigeria for which the later ironically paid
with his life; killed by the same Northern hypocrites who after
accusing him of introducing the unitary system (which he did in his
genuine desire to unify the country) ended up consolidating,
sustaining and defending to date, the same unitary system for which
they killed General Aguiyi Ironsi.
Historical Northern Rejection Of Nigeria
Historically, the North and her leadership were the greatest opponents
of the very idea of Nigeria and Nigerian unity. Northern leaders such
as Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa amongst others never hid
their disdain for Nigeria. The rejection of Nigerian unity at a point
became the political ideology of Northern leaders which they variously
expressed in public declarations and in the exclusionist policies
formulated in the Northern region. In 1948 while addressing the
legislative council, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa declared that “Since
1914 the British Government has been trying to make Nigeria into one
country, but the Nigerian people themselves are historically different
in their backgrounds, in their religious beliefs and customs and do
not show themselves any sign of willingness to unite. Nigerian unity is
only a British intention for the country.” Undisguised disdain and
rejection of the very idea of Nigerian unity is aptly demonstrated by
this speech as presented by Tafawa Balewa.
The foremost Northern leader, Sir Ahmadu Bello was even more resentful
of Nigeria. In his book and autobiography “My Life” published a year
after independence in 1961, he famously castigated the amalgamation of
Northern and Southern Nigeria as “the mistake of 1914.” Being the
premier of the Northern region Ahmadu Bello further demonstrated his
opposition to Nigeria by using his administrative powers to create an
“Apartheid Northernization policy” which decreed that all available
jobs in the North must go to a Northerner and in the event that there is
no qualified Northerner should go to Europeans/ Arabs rather than
Nigerians from the South. Nothing better demonstrates Ahmadu Bello’s
hatred and rejection of Nigeria than his Apartheid Northenization policy
that gave preference to Europeans, Arabs and other foreigners than to
fellow Nigerians from the South. Segregation of southerners into areas
known as “Sabon gari” was also a segregationist policy of Ahmadu Bello
designed to keep Northerners separate from Southerners that endures to
this day. The whole strata of the North and her leadership was thus
never historically interested or invested in the idea of a United
Nigeria from the dawn of colonial Nigeria.
The hostility and rejection of Nigeria by the North is also noted in the
first riots directed at southerners in Jos in 1945 and subsequently in
1953 in Kano when an anti-independence riot was sponsored by the
Northern leadership against Southerners living in Kano. Both of these
riots resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Southerners and set the
precedent for future riots that later became routine. Most importantly,
the riots underscore the historical context of the hostility of the
North to the very idea of Nigeria.
Post Independence Crisis:
Perhaps; because the duo of Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello harboured so
much disdain for Nigeria, they had no incentive to invest in nation
building or to make the necessary sacrifices to consolidate the
fledgling republic in her most critical foundational years. They
demonstrably advanced only narrow regional and sectional interests at
the expense of the rule of law and good governance, thus by 1962 there
was already a crisis of rigged census results and infighting in the
West that led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the Western
region. By 1963, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was arrested and convicted for
alleged coup plotting. By 1964, a coalition between Ladoke Akintola the
premier of the Western region and Tafawa Balewa resulted in massively
rigged elections in the Western region which sparked off violent riots
and disturbances (wetie).
In the Tiv Division riots had also been violently put down by Tafawa
Balewa’s government using the military, however in the Western region
the violence continued unabated until 1966 when the military reacting
to the corruption, election rigging, thuggery, tribalism and the
sustained violence in the Western region unfortunately struck at dawn
in January 1966.
The Pogroms/Genocide And Yakubu Gowon’s Inaction/ Complicity:
A leader must be judged and held accountable for what happens under his
watch. Following the injection of tribalism into the January 1966 coup,
the North staged a secessionist counter (revenge) coup in July 1966 in
which the then Head of state General Aguiyi Ironsi, Colonel Fajuyi the
military governor of the Western region and some three hundred Eastern
officers were assassinated. Yakubu Gowon who had been the chief of
army staff consequently emerged head of state. “The most important
constitutional duty of a head of state all over the world is the
protection of life and property of the citizenry under all
circumstances.” Yakubu Gowon abdicated his most fundamental
constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property when he
did absolutely nothing while officers and men of the Nigerian army and
police who were supposed to protect life and property crossed over
from their coup to attack and massacre thousands of Eastern civilians
including women and children in the premeditated genocide in the
North.
As the mass killings of innocent civilians went on by cowardly Soldiers
who crossed over from a political coup to target and kill defenceless
civilians, Yakubu Gowon did nothing. He didn’t send in troops or the
police to try to calm the situation, he neither imposed a state of
emergency nor a dusk to dawn curfew, he also never set-up any
investigative panel to probe the killings. To make matters worse, even
though the officers and men who were carrying out such heinous crimes
against humanity were well known, Yakubu Gowon never reprimanded,
arrested, court marshalled or punished any of them, rather the
officers were all promoted. It became obvious by his inaction and
promotion of the implicated officers that Yakubu Gowon was complicit in
both the coup and genocide.
There is no circumstance that can justify the mass murder of innocent
civilians while Yakubu Gowon who has a duty to protect life and
property under all circumstances refused to act. It is unthinkable to
imagine that at the height of the provocation of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks that killed more than 3000 Americans by Islamic terrorists;
President George Bush would allow the massacre of innocent Muslims in
the US. An estimated 50,000 innocent civilians were brutally murdered
while Yakubu Gowon as head of state did nothing and indeed tacitly
supported the mass killings. It is exactly for those types of crimes
that the international criminal court in the Hague and Geneva Convention
were established to bring to justice those who commit acts of genocide
and other human rights violations. The killings only stopped when there
was no one left to kill. Yakubu Gowon failed in his most fundamental
duty to protect life and property and this failing created the self
preservation scenario that necessitated self determination and
consequently Biafra by the East. Since Yakubu Gowon as head of state
could do nothing while thousands of innocent civilians were being hacked
to death by Soldiers and Police officers who were supposed to protect
life and property, the very idea of Nigeria died from that point and the
East like any group had no choice but to undertake the natural right of
self preservation and thus self determination.
(Araba): Intent Of Northern Secession And the British Government Advice That Changed the equation
The propaganda of Nigerian unity for which Yakubu Gowon and his goons
premised their war was patently false for the simple reason that the
Northern counter-coup christened “Araba” which means separation in
Hausa language was a secessionist coup originally intended to finally
break the North from Nigeria. Indeed the flag of the new republic had
already been hoisted preparatory to the announcement of secession by the
North. Yakubu Gowon informed the then British high commissioner Sir
Cumming Bruce of the intention of the North to secede and it was the
British in line with their imperialist interests that advised against
Northern secession and made strident efforts to dissuade the North from
seceding.
In his book “The Biafran War” Micheal Gould p.43 stated: “Cumming
–Bruce was able to persuade the Emirs that secession would be an
economic disaster”. As the British high commissioner Sir Cumming Bruce
himself testified p.43 “it wasn’t on the face of it easy to get them
(the North) to change, but I managed to do it overnight. I drafted
letters to the British Prime Minister, to send to Gowon as Nigerian Head
of State, and for my Secretary of State (Micheal Stewart) to send
letters to each of the Emirs. I wrote an accompanying letter to each of
them because I knew them personally. I drafted all these and they all
came back to me duly authorised to push at once. The whole thing was
done overnight and it did the trick of stopping them (the North)
dividing Nigeria up.” From the testimony of the then British high
commissioner Sir Cumming Bruce in regards to the effort he made to
persuade the North not to secede, the deceit, propaganda and
opportunism of Yakubu Gowon and his crowd as they lied through their
teeth in their false claim of fighting for Nigerian unity when in
reality they had originally intended to secede and only changed their
mind on the prompting of the British government becomes self evident.
For all the false propaganda spewed to prosecute the needless war and
the consequent tragic bloodletting, the British high commissioner’s
testimony proves that Yakubu Gowon and the North were never genuine or
interested in Nigerian unity. They were only opportunists who turned
around to claim one Nigeria because of economic interests linked to
crude oil which remains the reality of their presence in Nigeria to
date. Had Yakubu Gowon and the North spared us the lie and kept their
original plan to secede, the nation would have been better for it as
more manageable homogenous units would have emerged and the nation
would have been spared the needless conflict that was fought on the
great lie of Nigerian unity.
Yakubu Gowon Reneges On Aburi Accord:
“My word is my bond” is a famous phrase that underlines the importance
of honesty. For a leader the most important test of character is
standing by his word. Yakubu Gowon failed this important test of
character when he reneged on an agreement he personally participated in
reaching in Aburi. On the 4th and 5th of January 1967 a genuine and
final opportunity presented itself to resolve the simmering crisis
through a conference in Aburi Ghana at the instance of General Ankrah.
Notably Aburi was chosen because following the events of 1966 and the
practical disintegration of the army, the security of Odimegwu Ojukwu
and other Eastern dignitaries could not be guaranteed anywhere in
Nigeria.
Yakubu Gowon, together with his advisers, secretaries and the military
governors of the North, Midwest and Western regions were in attendance
while Colonel Odimegwu Ojukwu being military governor of the East
together with his aides also attended. Given the dire situation at that
time, the meeting deliberated exhaustively on the structure of Nigeria.
The next day the meeting continued and affirmed a final agreement
known as the “Aburi Accord.” Thus for two days, Yakubu Gowon and his
aides together with all the regional governors constituted the
supreme military council which incidentally is the highest ruling body
and reached agreement on all the critical issues, but as soon as
Yakubu Gowon arrived in Nigeria he began the process of dilly dallying
and reneging on an agreement freely negotiated and entered into in
Aburi Ghana.
The question of building good faith and confidence was just as important
as the conference itself as a bridge building measure given recent
events. Unfortunately Yakubu Gowon almost immediately truncated the
opportunity of building good faith by not respecting one of the
agreements reached in Aburi concerning the temporary payment of
salaries and recovery of properties of Eastern civil servants who had
been forced to leave their jobs through no fault of theirs. Decree No.
8; later issued in May, a considerably long time for a conference held
on the 4th and 5th January, which to a large extent is evidence of
Yakubu Gowon’s dilly dallying and subterfuge, went further by
ignoring the security sensitivities of the times, particularly for the
Easterners by reneging on the most basic fundamental of Aburi accord
which requires concurrence of all 4 military governors in all matters
affecting the country when he sneaked in the powers to declare a state
of emergency in the country with concurrence from only 3 out of the 4
military governors. The implication of this breach means that Yakubu
Gowon and his cabinet could suddenly with concurrence from the other
3 military governors declare a state of emergency in the East and
subject the region to military invasion.
Given the context of the time with a mutinous and dysfunctional
Nigerian army whose officers and men instigated and actively
participated in the genocide that killed officers and civilians
including women and children of Eastern origin and while none of the
officers or men in the Nigerian army or Police who committed such
atrocities were either arrested, prosecuted or removed from the army or
Police, it was natural that the Governor of the East needed enough
safeguards and guarantees even if temporarily through collective
concurrence of all four military governors on issues of national
importance as agreed in Aburi to avoid suddenly becoming a victim of
a state of emergency and other such insidious plots by the mass
killers that still abounded in the Nigerian army/ Police until at least
such a time that security and confidence is adequately restored.
It is ironical that the powers to declare a state of emergency which
Yakubu Gowon never exercised when it was most necessary during the
genocide to stop the mass killings which would have prevented the crisis
in the first place was suddenly sneaked into Decree No. 8 with consent
of only 3 out of the 4 military governors required in breach of the
Aburi accord that recommended consent of all 4 military governors in
such matters. Except Yakubu Gowon and his advisers had some ulterior
motive as was suspected in the East, there is no reason why concurrence
of all 4 military governors as agreed in Aburi for the declaration of a
state of emergency in situations of riots or strife should be a problem
for a temporary period until trust, confidence and a measure of
reconciliation is achieved.
Indeed, reneging on the Aburi accord over the state of emergency
issue by Yakubu Gowon was unnecessary as being a military regime, he
still ultimately retained the powers under the “doctrine of necessity”
in exceptional circumstances to issue an emergency decree that
enables the declaration of a state of emergency in the extreme and very
unlikely situation where he is unable to get consent of all 4
military Governors for the declaration of a state of emergency. There
was thus no practical or logical reason for Yakubu Gowon to renege on
the most sensitive and fundamental aspect of Aburi accord that was
designed to be a temporary safeguard given the genocide, disintegration
of the army and lack of trust until security and confidence is restored.
By disregarding the morbid fear and trauma which the pogroms/genocide
had incited in the East thus reneging on the most fundamental aspect of
the Aburi accord which would have given the necessary safeguards and
created the environment for reconciliation and a permanent resolution
of the crisis Yakubu Gowon proved incapable or unwilling to make any
temporary sacrifices for peace. As a leader he failed to keep an
agreement which he himself had personally participated in negotiating in
Aburi Ghana. This failure of leadership and bad faith finally set the
nation on the part of an unnecessary war and bloodletting. As a further
demonstration of bad faith and insincerity, it is also important to
note Yakubu Gowon’s unusual delay from January to May before he issued
the diluted version of Aburi accord. This five month delay more than
anything else serves as an undeniable indication of Yakubu Gowon’s
insincerity in resolving the crisis and his preference for war.
Colonialism And The Right To Self Determination
Colonialism is generally regarded as the total or partial loss of
autonomy of indigenous peoples to the coercive or forceful
establishment of exploitative/oppressive governing authorities on
unequal terms by a people, group or colonial power not ordinarily or
historically linked culturally, geographically or linguistically to the
colonised. Any group that therefore forcefully subjects another to
their authority without democratic consent of the indigenous peoples
through a plebiscite or referendum is an act of colonialism. There was
nothing like Nigeria until the British in trying to consolidate the
commercial interests of Taubman Goldie a British trader whose forays
brought him to the region put together a people who mostly never had any
cultural, geographic, linguistic or ethnic links with each other. It
was from the onset an impossible nation created not for the harmonious
existence or interests of the unfortunate subjects who made up the
strange and unworkable contraption but for the servicing of British
trading interests.
Following strident agitations and the increasing enforcement of the
right to self determination as enshrined in the United Nations charter,
Nigeria gained independence in 1960 but the subjects within the Nigerian
space who had no hitherto cultural, geographic or linguistic links
faced their own colonialism within the “geographical expression known as
Nigeria” for the many tribes and cultures within Nigeria where just as
alien to each other as the British were to them. The manifest injustice
of colonialism led to the adoption of the right to self determination in
the United Nations Atlantic Charter in 1941 and further consolidated in
1945. It established the right under international law for all
indigenous peoples to seek independence through democratic means.
The Nigerian crisis and pogrom/genocide of 1966/67 established beyond
all reasonable doubts the incompatibility of Nigeria and opened the
opportunity for the application of international law to peacefully
determine the status of Biafra through a plebiscite or referendum
administered by the United Nations. Nigeria being a nation of alien
tribes, Biafra reserved the same right of independence with which
Nigeria won independence from Britain on the basis of colonialism. But
Yakubu Gowon refused to allow a referendum in line with the dictates of
international law as established in the United Nations charter which
would have resolved the impasse through a legitimate democratic method
that respects the inalienable rights of indigenous peoples to self
determination and freedom from internal or external colonialism.
To the extent that the people of Biafra were never allowed to freely and
democratically express their choice and right to self determination
through a plebiscite, Yakubu Gowon’s war against Biafra and consequent
coercive subjugation of the people to the governing authorities of
Nigeria was and remains for all practical purposes an act of
colonialism.
The Conduct And Aftermath Of War Reveals The Lie Of War Of Unity
7th of July 1967, the Nigerian army attacked Biafra and began the
onslaught on an aggrieved and beleaguered people who had in
exercising their legitimate and natural right to self
defence/preservation opted for self determination in the aftermath of
the genocide against innocent Eastern civilians while the head of state
refused to act. In prosecuting the war Yakubu Gowon proved his
complicity in the genocide by fielding the likes of Murtala Muhammed,
Shehu Yar’Adua, Theophilus Danjuma, Mohammed Shuwa and others who
ironically are the same cowardly officers who perpetrated the genocide
against civilians that created the crisis in the first place. These
officers were not just mass murderers they were also rapists who
serially committed crimes against humanity in the course of the
conflict.
To decipher the true motive for the conflict, certain fundamental
questions must be asked; If Yakubu Gowon was genuine about Nigerian
unity as the true reason for his war why the North was originally intent
on secession until the British authorities advised them not to because
of economic interests / crude oil? Why did Gowon as head of state
abdicate his constitutional responsibility and stood by when thousands
of innocent Eastern civilians were being massacred? Why was Gowon so
unwilling to make any sacrifices for the interest of peace and why did
he renege on an accord he agreed in Aburi? Why did it take him so long
from January to May to issue a decree on the diluted version of Aburi
accord? Why was the Nigerian army so invested in massacres, rape and
arson as they did in Benin, Asaba, the apostolic church Onitsha and
practically all theatres of the war? Why were officers and men of the
Nigerian army like Benjamin Adekunle and others making inflammatory
statements of their intent on genocide in a supposed war of unity? Why
was the notorious radio Kaduna making atrocious statements that urged
rape and genocide in a supposed war of unity? Why did balkanisation of
Igboland, abandoned property, divide and rule and the seeds of division
instead of reconciliation become the policy of Yakubu Gowon’s government
before and after the war? Why did Apartheid policies of
marginalisation/exclusion become federal government policy after the war
if it was genuinely a war of unity as Yakubu Gowon repeatedly lied?
In nations that went through a civil war, driven by a genuine patriotic
desire for unity, the end of such conflicts is not followed by policies
of balkanisation, abandoned properties, exclusion and marginalisation as
has been the case in Nigeria but swift and total reconciliation,
reconstruction and re-integration. Vietnam, Angola and post-genocide
Rwanda are just some examples of nations that achieved total
reconciliation and re-integration in the aftermath of conflict because
of a genuine desire for unity.
Conclusions:
In the case of Nigeria, the events before, during and after the war in
itself provides sufficient evidence for the true intentions of the
conflict as a war not borne out of patriotism and a genuine desire for
Nigerian unity/ nation building but of economic interests, subjugation
and colonialism. On his own part, Yakubu Gowon by not following through
with the original intent of the North to secede, by his repeated bad
faith, by abdicating his most fundamental constitutional responsibility
to protect the lives and property of citizens thus allowing and even
enabling mass killings of genocidal proportions under his watch, by
reneging on an agreement he personally participated in negotiating in
Aburi and by usurping a people’s inalienable right to self
determination through democratic means (plebiscite or referendum) as
enshrined in the United Nations charter amongst other excesses
personally and deliberately caused the avoidable and unnecessary
Nigeria-Biafra war and the attendant tragedies associated with the
conflict just seven years after independence.
Not only did Nigeria by the events before and during the war pioneer
genocide in Africa, the first images of starving children which has now
become a permanent fixture of Africa also began from Nigeria. The pogrom
and the war more than anything else have come to define Nigeria as a
land of monumental injustice and impunity. The war itself was an
illegal war and a violation of international law which established since
1945 the right of self determination in Chapter 1, Article 1, part 2
which states that the purpose of the UN Charter is: "To develop friendly
relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal
rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate
measures to strengthen universal peace." As each successive generation
discovers the truth and injustice of that needless conflict, the
bitterness is sure to remain Nigeria’s deepest enduring divide.
Nigeria continues to suffer severe social, economic and psychological
dislocations as a result of the needless conflict. The nation has since
become a disharmonious, dysfunctional and strife torn chaotic failed
state Nigeria. Courtesy of Yakubu Gowon, crude oil that was hitherto
not an issue during the time of Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe is now an obsessive
object of national importance and the only mainstay of the economy.
Gowon took away all aspects of federalism and consolidated the
unproductive parasitic unitary system together with the creation of
unviable states/local governments (without plebiscites) that are
dependent only on crude oil allocations at the expense of
industrialisation and other productive initiatives, which has in turn
encouraged corruption and led to the collapse of the economy.
As the truth of the conflict continues to emerge and as the nationwide
campaign for a sovereign national conference gathers steam in a nation
that has been awakened to the lie of Nigerian unity, Emeka Ojukwu has
been vindicated by Nigeria’s increasing strife, failure and
impossibility as a nation. Yakubu Gowon was ultimately an unprincipled,
incompetent, bigoted and opportunistic leader whose failure of
leadership unleashed the pogroms and unnecessary war that spilled
enough blood to fill the bowels of the Niger River. He and his cabinet
members who so callously plunged the nation into an atrocious
bloodletting will have to live and die with their conscience haunted by
the millions of lives they took on the premise of a great lie. Their
successive generations will also not be spared.
by...Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu .
The
crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened
yesterday as a truce meeting summoned by former president Olusegun
Obasanjo ended in a deadlock. The promoters of the break-away faction of
the party known as “new PDP” insisted that the conduct of a fresh
national convention was the only “immediate path to peace” in the party.
The PDP elders’ parley was called by Obasanjo to resolve the latest
crisis which led to the formation of the new PDP by aggrieved members
led by former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and seven governors who
staged a walkout from last Saturday’s special convention of the party.
The governors, who alongside Atiku formed the new PDP are Sule Lamido
(Jigawa), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko Sokoto), Muazu
Babangida Aliyu(Niger), Abdufattah Ahmed(Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi
(Rivers).
They named former national secretary of the PDP Alhaji Kawu Baraje
and Olagunsoye Oyinlola as national chairman and national secretary
respectively.
Obasanjo’s intervention came after two failed attempts by the
leadership of the PDP to resolve the crisis, even as reports had it that
President Goodluck Jonathan had directed party elders, especially his
loyalists, to shun the parley with the former president on the grounds
that he (Obasanjo) was responsible for the festering row in the party.
A pro-Jonathan group, the Media Network for Transformation MNT), in a
statement signed by its coordinator, Ebelo Goodluck, said apart from
being their sponsor, the rebel governors draw their inspiration from
Obasanjo.
Obasanjo alongside former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chief Tony Anenih, erstwhile
national chairmen, senators Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali joined the
former president to meet with the two PDP factions at three separate
venues in Abuja.
The pioneer chairman of the party, Chief Solomon Lar, and Second
Republic vice-president Dr Alex Ekwueme did not attend the meeting as
they were said to be out of the country.
A leader of the new PDP confided in LEADERSHIP Weekend that the
crisis was not over yet. “As long as the demand for a fresh convention
does not get attention, the crisis still lingers and we are not going to
reduce any of our demands for peace, principal of which is the conduct
of a fresh convention with Tukur stepping aside; that is the irreducible
path to peace,” he said.
While the elders met with the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP in Niger Hall of
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, the parley with the Baraje group took place at
the Kaduna Hall, just as the joint parley took place at the Lagos Hall
of the hotel.
Tukur was accompanied by governors Henry Seriake-Dickson Bayelsa),
Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan Delta), Idris Wada
(Kogi), Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Katsina), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) and Liyel
Imoke (Cross River).
On the side of Baraje were governors Lamido, Wamakko and Amaechi.
Others included Sam Sam Jaja, Oyinlola, senators Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi
Adamu and Bukola Saraki.
The elders had to shuttle between the meetings throughout the duration of the five-hour meeting.
Briefing journalists after the meetings which ended at 2:55 pm,
Obasanjo said: “Gentlemen of the press, I thank you for exercising
patience. Let me point out, you have seen five of us as select elders of
the party. We have taken it upon ourselves to prevent the worst from
happening to our dear party.
“Two of our members are abroad and could not join us. They are
Solomon Lar, Alex Ekwueme; and we are carrying them along. Whatever the
reports we are making, suffice it to say that it is the family dispute
within the PDP which we want to stem the tide of going to the brink. And
I want to say that we have met with the two sides of the family; we
have listened to them, and of course, we are going to put our heads
together and go on from there.”
A pro-Jonathan governor also gave an indication that the crisis was
not resolved at the meetings. “We are still on it; it is gradual
process. God will help us to resolve it, at least in the interest of the
party. God will see us through,” he said.
But there was a mild drama amidst the series of meetings as both Lamido and Amaechi taunted Tukur with “former chairman”.
As Funke, Obasanjo’s daughter, was exchanging pleasantries with
Tukur, Lamido held her hand and dragged her away; but her insistence
that she wanted to greet the chairman elicited a joke from Lamido who
said: “Which chairman? You mean the former chairman?
Amaechi’s was even more dramatic as he accosted Tukur with a harder
joke. “Former chairman, thank God we now have a brand new chairman who
understands the constitution that if you suspend a party man and the NEC
does not ratify that suspension after 30 days, the action (suspension)
automatically lapses.”
The chairman of the new PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, accompanied
by Lamido, moved to inspect the secretariat of the new PDP located at
Plot 3206 A, No. 4 Oyi River Crescent, Maitama District. It was the
former office of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Construction was still going on in the building as labourers were
seen placing interlocking tiles on the road leading to it. The gate was
painted in the red, white and green colours of the PDP. A partially
covered signpost on the building revealed an insignia similar to that of
the PDP.
Court refuses application to stop Atiku’s faction
A federal high court in Abuja yesterday refused to grant an ex parte
application by the Tukur-led PDP to stop the activities of the Baraje’s
faction.
Chief Tochukwu Onwubufor (SAN), on behalf of Tukur, had asked the
court to restrain Baraje and other executive members of the faction from
parading themselves as the national executives of the party.
But Justice Elvis Chukwu in his ruling refused the application and
ordered that the respondents be put on notice and that the notice should
be served through substituted means.
The court also ordered that the parties should maintain status quo ante pending the determination of the suit.
Justice Chukwu fixed September 12 for the hearing of the motion on notice.
In a reaction to the ruling, Tukur charged members of the party to close ranks and remain committed to its cause.
In a statement he personally signed, Tukur reassured PDP members that
the recent developments within the party would neither distract nor
dilute the readiness and focus of his leadership to deliver on his
mandate.
PDM to accept aggrieved PDP govs, lawmakers
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has said it is open
to alliances and consultation with progressives to chart a new course
for Nigeria.
The party said those feigning ignorance of the registration of the
PDM as a political party and disparaging the action in the media are
detractors sponsored by external forces.
The PDM deputy national chairman, Hon Bode Ajewole, stated this
yesterday in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend. He said the party is
open to alliances from any political party and Nigerians who share in
its ideology of fairness in the polity
He said: “Our ideologies are miles apart from what the PDP is now
doing. We believe in human face in everything we do. How do you explain
as politicians that we have millions of unemployed graduates and we say
we are in politics or we are in government? We want to show Nigerians
that our policies are different in the sense that we believe that
Nigeria must be taken out of the woods. Government at all levels must
rise to the challenge of a new Nigeria. Nobody is doing enough.”
Speaking on the factionalisation of the PDP, he said: “What is
happening is their family business. But if any of the breakaway
governors or assembly men decides to team up with us, we will be very
willing to have them. We are open to all Nigerians. We are all about
fairness in the polity. If the people in PDP feel that there is
unfairness in the system, please come on board to PDM where we have
enough space for those who cherish fairness.”
I won’t leave PDP unless dismissed - Aliyu
Also yesterday, the governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu,
said that the PDP remains the most democratic party in the country.
At a business lecture organised by the Lagos Country Club with the
theme “Marriage of 1914 - Blessing or Curse?” Aliyu said he would not
leave PDP for any other party unless he was dismissed.
Nigeria, he said, must seek to deepen the cardinal focus of the 1914
amalgamation as well as her democratic institutions and principles.
He pointed out that Nigerians love to live together but only a few
people were fanning the embers of discord. “It is not enough to blame
amalgamation while losing the opportunity to correct observed lapses.
Our amalgamation was quite unique on account of bringing two desperate
and contending forces together to forge an excellent marriage among the
Mohammadan and pagan divides to live together as one single entity.”
The governor further said that Nigeria has consistently got it wrong
in the process of the emergence of leaders. “Those who take leadership
positions and are not willing to be criticised or listen to the people
must be prepared to leave their offices,” he said.
Lagos PDP passes confidence vote on Jonathan
The Lagos State chapter of the PDP has passed a vote of confidence on President Goodluck Jonathan.
At a stakeholders’ meeting of the state chapter, which took place at
the residence of a former national deputy chairman of the party, Chief
Olabode George, members also endorsed the last mini convention of the
party.
In his address, George admitted that though the “PDP is at a
crossroads”, members must sheathe their swords in the interest of peace.
The event attracted, among others, Ambassador Musiliu Obanikoro, Hon.
Femi Onimole, and Lagos State PDP chairman Mr Tunji Shelle.
In suing for peace, George said: “My passionate appeal to everyone
now is that we must not point fingers of wrongs or right. We must rise
above the narrow fixities of factions. We must look beyond personal
grievances and personal interests.”
While attributing the strength and successes of the PDP to the fact
that the party has the ability to manage its crisis, he said: “We never
push an iron-clad authoritarian position on our people. We respect what
other people have to say.”
On the crisis in the south-west PDP, George said there is no crisis
in the party in the zone. He said efforts are on to ensure that a
rancour-free congress is held in the zone soon.
“There is no crisis in south-west. We have to delay the congress for
sanity to prevail. It is reconciliation before congress,” he said.
- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/070913/obasanjo-ibb-fail-end-pdp-crisis#sthash.3ZKI6Sod.dpuf
The
crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened
yesterday as a truce meeting summoned by former president Olusegun
Obasanjo ended in a deadlock. The promoters of the break-away faction of
the party known as “new PDP” insisted that the conduct of a fresh
national convention was the only “immediate path to peace” in the party.
The PDP elders’ parley was called by Obasanjo to resolve the latest
crisis which led to the formation of the new PDP by aggrieved members
led by former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and seven governors who
staged a walkout from last Saturday’s special convention of the party.
The governors, who alongside Atiku formed the new PDP are Sule Lamido
(Jigawa), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko Sokoto), Muazu
Babangida Aliyu(Niger), Abdufattah Ahmed(Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi
(Rivers).
They named former national secretary of the PDP Alhaji Kawu Baraje
and Olagunsoye Oyinlola as national chairman and national secretary
respectively.
Obasanjo’s intervention came after two failed attempts by the
leadership of the PDP to resolve the crisis, even as reports had it that
President Goodluck Jonathan had directed party elders, especially his
loyalists, to shun the parley with the former president on the grounds
that he (Obasanjo) was responsible for the festering row in the party.
A pro-Jonathan group, the Media Network for Transformation MNT), in a
statement signed by its coordinator, Ebelo Goodluck, said apart from
being their sponsor, the rebel governors draw their inspiration from
Obasanjo.
Obasanjo alongside former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chief Tony Anenih, erstwhile
national chairmen, senators Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali joined the
former president to meet with the two PDP factions at three separate
venues in Abuja.
The pioneer chairman of the party, Chief Solomon Lar, and Second
Republic vice-president Dr Alex Ekwueme did not attend the meeting as
they were said to be out of the country.
A leader of the new PDP confided in LEADERSHIP Weekend that the
crisis was not over yet. “As long as the demand for a fresh convention
does not get attention, the crisis still lingers and we are not going to
reduce any of our demands for peace, principal of which is the conduct
of a fresh convention with Tukur stepping aside; that is the irreducible
path to peace,” he said.
While the elders met with the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP in Niger Hall of
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, the parley with the Baraje group took place at
the Kaduna Hall, just as the joint parley took place at the Lagos Hall
of the hotel.
Tukur was accompanied by governors Henry Seriake-Dickson Bayelsa),
Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan Delta), Idris Wada
(Kogi), Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Katsina), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) and Liyel
Imoke (Cross River).
On the side of Baraje were governors Lamido, Wamakko and Amaechi.
Others included Sam Sam Jaja, Oyinlola, senators Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi
Adamu and Bukola Saraki.
The elders had to shuttle between the meetings throughout the duration of the five-hour meeting.
Briefing journalists after the meetings which ended at 2:55 pm,
Obasanjo said: “Gentlemen of the press, I thank you for exercising
patience. Let me point out, you have seen five of us as select elders of
the party. We have taken it upon ourselves to prevent the worst from
happening to our dear party.
“Two of our members are abroad and could not join us. They are
Solomon Lar, Alex Ekwueme; and we are carrying them along. Whatever the
reports we are making, suffice it to say that it is the family dispute
within the PDP which we want to stem the tide of going to the brink. And
I want to say that we have met with the two sides of the family; we
have listened to them, and of course, we are going to put our heads
together and go on from there.”
A pro-Jonathan governor also gave an indication that the crisis was
not resolved at the meetings. “We are still on it; it is gradual
process. God will help us to resolve it, at least in the interest of the
party. God will see us through,” he said.
But there was a mild drama amidst the series of meetings as both Lamido and Amaechi taunted Tukur with “former chairman”.
As Funke, Obasanjo’s daughter, was exchanging pleasantries with
Tukur, Lamido held her hand and dragged her away; but her insistence
that she wanted to greet the chairman elicited a joke from Lamido who
said: “Which chairman? You mean the former chairman?
Amaechi’s was even more dramatic as he accosted Tukur with a harder
joke. “Former chairman, thank God we now have a brand new chairman who
understands the constitution that if you suspend a party man and the NEC
does not ratify that suspension after 30 days, the action (suspension)
automatically lapses.”
The chairman of the new PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, accompanied
by Lamido, moved to inspect the secretariat of the new PDP located at
Plot 3206 A, No. 4 Oyi River Crescent, Maitama District. It was the
former office of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Construction was still going on in the building as labourers were
seen placing interlocking tiles on the road leading to it. The gate was
painted in the red, white and green colours of the PDP. A partially
covered signpost on the building revealed an insignia similar to that of
the PDP.
Court refuses application to stop Atiku’s faction
A federal high court in Abuja yesterday refused to grant an ex parte
application by the Tukur-led PDP to stop the activities of the Baraje’s
faction.
Chief Tochukwu Onwubufor (SAN), on behalf of Tukur, had asked the
court to restrain Baraje and other executive members of the faction from
parading themselves as the national executives of the party.
But Justice Elvis Chukwu in his ruling refused the application and
ordered that the respondents be put on notice and that the notice should
be served through substituted means.
The court also ordered that the parties should maintain status quo ante pending the determination of the suit.
Justice Chukwu fixed September 12 for the hearing of the motion on notice.
In a reaction to the ruling, Tukur charged members of the party to close ranks and remain committed to its cause.
In a statement he personally signed, Tukur reassured PDP members that
the recent developments within the party would neither distract nor
dilute the readiness and focus of his leadership to deliver on his
mandate.
PDM to accept aggrieved PDP govs, lawmakers
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has said it is open
to alliances and consultation with progressives to chart a new course
for Nigeria.
The party said those feigning ignorance of the registration of the
PDM as a political party and disparaging the action in the media are
detractors sponsored by external forces.
The PDM deputy national chairman, Hon Bode Ajewole, stated this
yesterday in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend. He said the party is
open to alliances from any political party and Nigerians who share in
its ideology of fairness in the polity
He said: “Our ideologies are miles apart from what the PDP is now
doing. We believe in human face in everything we do. How do you explain
as politicians that we have millions of unemployed graduates and we say
we are in politics or we are in government? We want to show Nigerians
that our policies are different in the sense that we believe that
Nigeria must be taken out of the woods. Government at all levels must
rise to the challenge of a new Nigeria. Nobody is doing enough.”
Speaking on the factionalisation of the PDP, he said: “What is
happening is their family business. But if any of the breakaway
governors or assembly men decides to team up with us, we will be very
willing to have them. We are open to all Nigerians. We are all about
fairness in the polity. If the people in PDP feel that there is
unfairness in the system, please come on board to PDM where we have
enough space for those who cherish fairness.”
I won’t leave PDP unless dismissed - Aliyu
Also yesterday, the governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu,
said that the PDP remains the most democratic party in the country.
At a business lecture organised by the Lagos Country Club with the
theme “Marriage of 1914 - Blessing or Curse?” Aliyu said he would not
leave PDP for any other party unless he was dismissed.
Nigeria, he said, must seek to deepen the cardinal focus of the 1914
amalgamation as well as her democratic institutions and principles.
He pointed out that Nigerians love to live together but only a few
people were fanning the embers of discord. “It is not enough to blame
amalgamation while losing the opportunity to correct observed lapses.
Our amalgamation was quite unique on account of bringing two desperate
and contending forces together to forge an excellent marriage among the
Mohammadan and pagan divides to live together as one single entity.”
The governor further said that Nigeria has consistently got it wrong
in the process of the emergence of leaders. “Those who take leadership
positions and are not willing to be criticised or listen to the people
must be prepared to leave their offices,” he said.
Lagos PDP passes confidence vote on Jonathan
The Lagos State chapter of the PDP has passed a vote of confidence on President Goodluck Jonathan.
At a stakeholders’ meeting of the state chapter, which took place at
the residence of a former national deputy chairman of the party, Chief
Olabode George, members also endorsed the last mini convention of the
party.
In his address, George admitted that though the “PDP is at a
crossroads”, members must sheathe their swords in the interest of peace.
The event attracted, among others, Ambassador Musiliu Obanikoro, Hon.
Femi Onimole, and Lagos State PDP chairman Mr Tunji Shelle.
In suing for peace, George said: “My passionate appeal to everyone
now is that we must not point fingers of wrongs or right. We must rise
above the narrow fixities of factions. We must look beyond personal
grievances and personal interests.”
While attributing the strength and successes of the PDP to the fact
that the party has the ability to manage its crisis, he said: “We never
push an iron-clad authoritarian position on our people. We respect what
other people have to say.”
On the crisis in the south-west PDP, George said there is no crisis
in the party in the zone. He said efforts are on to ensure that a
rancour-free congress is held in the zone soon.
“There is no crisis in south-west. We have to delay the congress for
sanity to prevail. It is reconciliation before congress,” he said
- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/070913/obasanjo-ibb-fail-end-pdp-crisis#sthash.3ZKI6Sod.dpuf
The
crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened
yesterday as a truce meeting summoned by former president Olusegun
Obasanjo ended in a deadlock. The promoters of the break-away faction of
the party known as “new PDP” insisted that the conduct of a fresh
national convention was the only “immediate path to peace” in the party.
The PDP elders’ parley was called by Obasanjo to resolve the latest
crisis which led to the formation of the new PDP by aggrieved members
led by former vice-president Atiku Abubakar and seven governors who
staged a walkout from last Saturday’s special convention of the party.
The governors, who alongside Atiku formed the new PDP are Sule Lamido
(Jigawa), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko Sokoto), Muazu
Babangida Aliyu(Niger), Abdufattah Ahmed(Kwara) and Rotimi Amaechi
(Rivers).
They named former national secretary of the PDP Alhaji Kawu Baraje
and Olagunsoye Oyinlola as national chairman and national secretary
respectively.
Obasanjo’s intervention came after two failed attempts by the
leadership of the PDP to resolve the crisis, even as reports had it that
President Goodluck Jonathan had directed party elders, especially his
loyalists, to shun the parley with the former president on the grounds
that he (Obasanjo) was responsible for the festering row in the party.
A pro-Jonathan group, the Media Network for Transformation MNT), in a
statement signed by its coordinator, Ebelo Goodluck, said apart from
being their sponsor, the rebel governors draw their inspiration from
Obasanjo.
Obasanjo alongside former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chief Tony Anenih, erstwhile
national chairmen, senators Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali joined the
former president to meet with the two PDP factions at three separate
venues in Abuja.
The pioneer chairman of the party, Chief Solomon Lar, and Second
Republic vice-president Dr Alex Ekwueme did not attend the meeting as
they were said to be out of the country.
A leader of the new PDP confided in LEADERSHIP Weekend that the
crisis was not over yet. “As long as the demand for a fresh convention
does not get attention, the crisis still lingers and we are not going to
reduce any of our demands for peace, principal of which is the conduct
of a fresh convention with Tukur stepping aside; that is the irreducible
path to peace,” he said.
While the elders met with the Bamanga Tukur-led PDP in Niger Hall of
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, the parley with the Baraje group took place at
the Kaduna Hall, just as the joint parley took place at the Lagos Hall
of the hotel.
Tukur was accompanied by governors Henry Seriake-Dickson Bayelsa),
Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan Delta), Idris Wada
(Kogi), Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Katsina), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi) and Liyel
Imoke (Cross River).
On the side of Baraje were governors Lamido, Wamakko and Amaechi.
Others included Sam Sam Jaja, Oyinlola, senators Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi
Adamu and Bukola Saraki.
The elders had to shuttle between the meetings throughout the duration of the five-hour meeting.
Briefing journalists after the meetings which ended at 2:55 pm,
Obasanjo said: “Gentlemen of the press, I thank you for exercising
patience. Let me point out, you have seen five of us as select elders of
the party. We have taken it upon ourselves to prevent the worst from
happening to our dear party.
“Two of our members are abroad and could not join us. They are
Solomon Lar, Alex Ekwueme; and we are carrying them along. Whatever the
reports we are making, suffice it to say that it is the family dispute
within the PDP which we want to stem the tide of going to the brink. And
I want to say that we have met with the two sides of the family; we
have listened to them, and of course, we are going to put our heads
together and go on from there.”
A pro-Jonathan governor also gave an indication that the crisis was
not resolved at the meetings. “We are still on it; it is gradual
process. God will help us to resolve it, at least in the interest of the
party. God will see us through,” he said.
But there was a mild drama amidst the series of meetings as both Lamido and Amaechi taunted Tukur with “former chairman”.
As Funke, Obasanjo’s daughter, was exchanging pleasantries with
Tukur, Lamido held her hand and dragged her away; but her insistence
that she wanted to greet the chairman elicited a joke from Lamido who
said: “Which chairman? You mean the former chairman?
Amaechi’s was even more dramatic as he accosted Tukur with a harder
joke. “Former chairman, thank God we now have a brand new chairman who
understands the constitution that if you suspend a party man and the NEC
does not ratify that suspension after 30 days, the action (suspension)
automatically lapses.”
The chairman of the new PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, accompanied
by Lamido, moved to inspect the secretariat of the new PDP located at
Plot 3206 A, No. 4 Oyi River Crescent, Maitama District. It was the
former office of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Construction was still going on in the building as labourers were
seen placing interlocking tiles on the road leading to it. The gate was
painted in the red, white and green colours of the PDP. A partially
covered signpost on the building revealed an insignia similar to that of
the PDP.
Court refuses application to stop Atiku’s faction
A federal high court in Abuja yesterday refused to grant an ex parte
application by the Tukur-led PDP to stop the activities of the Baraje’s
faction.
Chief Tochukwu Onwubufor (SAN), on behalf of Tukur, had asked the
court to restrain Baraje and other executive members of the faction from
parading themselves as the national executives of the party.
But Justice Elvis Chukwu in his ruling refused the application and
ordered that the respondents be put on notice and that the notice should
be served through substituted means.
The court also ordered that the parties should maintain status quo ante pending the determination of the suit.
Justice Chukwu fixed September 12 for the hearing of the motion on notice.
In a reaction to the ruling, Tukur charged members of the party to close ranks and remain committed to its cause.
In a statement he personally signed, Tukur reassured PDP members that
the recent developments within the party would neither distract nor
dilute the readiness and focus of his leadership to deliver on his
mandate.
PDM to accept aggrieved PDP govs, lawmakers
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has said it is open
to alliances and consultation with progressives to chart a new course
for Nigeria.
The party said those feigning ignorance of the registration of the
PDM as a political party and disparaging the action in the media are
detractors sponsored by external forces.
The PDM deputy national chairman, Hon Bode Ajewole, stated this
yesterday in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend. He said the party is
open to alliances from any political party and Nigerians who share in
its ideology of fairness in the polity
He said: “Our ideologies are miles apart from what the PDP is now
doing. We believe in human face in everything we do. How do you explain
as politicians that we have millions of unemployed graduates and we say
we are in politics or we are in government? We want to show Nigerians
that our policies are different in the sense that we believe that
Nigeria must be taken out of the woods. Government at all levels must
rise to the challenge of a new Nigeria. Nobody is doing enough.”
Speaking on the factionalisation of the PDP, he said: “What is
happening is their family business. But if any of the breakaway
governors or assembly men decides to team up with us, we will be very
willing to have them. We are open to all Nigerians. We are all about
fairness in the polity. If the people in PDP feel that there is
unfairness in the system, please come on board to PDM where we have
enough space for those who cherish fairness.”
I won’t leave PDP unless dismissed - Aliyu
Also yesterday, the governor of Niger State, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu,
said that the PDP remains the most democratic party in the country.
At a business lecture organised by the Lagos Country Club with the
theme “Marriage of 1914 - Blessing or Curse?” Aliyu said he would not
leave PDP for any other party unless he was dismissed.
Nigeria, he said, must seek to deepen the cardinal focus of the 1914
amalgamation as well as her democratic institutions and principles.
He pointed out that Nigerians love to live together but only a few
people were fanning the embers of discord. “It is not enough to blame
amalgamation while losing the opportunity to correct observed lapses.
Our amalgamation was quite unique on account of bringing two desperate
and contending forces together to forge an excellent marriage among the
Mohammadan and pagan divides to live together as one single entity.”
The governor further said that Nigeria has consistently got it wrong
in the process of the emergence of leaders. “Those who take leadership
positions and are not willing to be criticised or listen to the people
must be prepared to leave their offices,” he said.
Lagos PDP passes confidence vote on Jonathan
The Lagos State chapter of the PDP has passed a vote of confidence on President Goodluck Jonathan.
At a stakeholders’ meeting of the state chapter, which took place at
the residence of a former national deputy chairman of the party, Chief
Olabode George, members also endorsed the last mini convention of the
party.
In his address, George admitted that though the “PDP is at a
crossroads”, members must sheathe their swords in the interest of peace.
The event attracted, among others, Ambassador Musiliu Obanikoro, Hon.
Femi Onimole, and Lagos State PDP chairman Mr Tunji Shelle.
In suing for peace, George said: “My passionate appeal to everyone
now is that we must not point fingers of wrongs or right. We must rise
above the narrow fixities of factions. We must look beyond personal
grievances and personal interests.”
While attributing the strength and successes of the PDP to the fact
that the party has the ability to manage its crisis, he said: “We never
push an iron-clad authoritarian position on our people. We respect what
other people have to say.”
On the crisis in the south-west PDP, George said there is no crisis
in the party in the zone. He said efforts are on to ensure that a
rancour-free congress is held in the zone soon.
“There is no crisis in south-west. We have to delay the congress for
sanity to prevail. It is reconciliation before congress,” he said
- See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/070913/obasanjo-ibb-fail-end-pdp-crisis#sthash.3ZKI6Sod.dpuf
