Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 5th April 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 05/04/22
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Anti-drugs Agency, NDLEA Shoots Two Guests At Lagos Event
At least two persons have been allegedly shot at a night party in Lagos State by the officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).It was learnt that no fewer than 30 officers led by one Chima were said to have stormed a birthday party venue around 10:30pm on Friday at Festac Link Bridge canal, where they fired sporadically.
According to Nation, sources revealed that residents initially thought they were armed robbers because of the mode of their arrival only to later discover that they were NDLEA officials.Those hit by the gunshots were identified as Ewejo and David, who, it was learnt, were rushed to the hospital after the operatives allegedly fled the scene to cover up their crime.Ewejo was said to have been hit on his right stomach and left unconscious, while David got hit on the leg.A witness, who gave his name as Kingsley, said they were surprised when they contacted the police and were told by the Divisional Police Officer that he was unaware of any security operation in the area.He urged the government to intervene and stop the NDLEA from indiscriminate raids, shooting of unarmed civilians, noting that there was no hesitation or struggle with the operatives.“They came in gun-blazing. At first, people took cover thinking armed robbers had come. But it was later we knew they were NDLEA officials. It was those sporadic gunshots they released that hit the victims.“I have been hearing complaints about how NDLEA just break into people’s homes late nights in the guise of stung operation but I never knew they could just open fire like that. Something needs to be done urgently,” he lamented.
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Imam Sacked For Criticising Buhari Over Rising Killings Resumes In New Mosque In Abuja
Former Chief Imam of the National Assembly Legislators’ Quarters Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid, says the termination of his appointment by the mosque’s management committee was a necessary price he had to pay for identifying with the sufferings masses and speaking truth to power.The mosque’s steering committee had earlier suspended Khalid for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari over the last Monday night’s attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train.
The Imam, in his Friday sermon, had criticised President Buhari for failure to visit Kaduna State over the terrorists’ attack, saying the mere condemnation wasn’t enough.He argued that the president was in Kaduna for campaigns but refused to visit the state after the bomb attack on the passenger train.“Everyone condemned the incident, except the bandits. So condemnation is not enough. The president should visit the state to sympathise with the victims.“The president has been to Kaduna for campaigns but couldn’t go to the state on a sympathy visit,” he had said.Reacting to the development, the Islamic cleric said he was undeterred by his sack.He added that he had been appointed by the management committee of a new Jum’mat Mosque behind the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) Quarters, Abuja, to lead the congregation with effect from Friday, April 8.He said, “My sack is a reflection of how Nigeria is today. Many people are hiding under the cover of religion to perpetrate all manner unwholesome acts.“Such people would stop at nothing to take away people like me, who are pro-masses and bold enough to speak the truth to power always on behalf of voiceless Nigerians.“This is the price we pay for aligning with the people and identifying with their sufferings. By the Grace of Almighty Allah, I will be leading my new congregation this Friday, because as cleric we need a platform to operate.“There’s a Jum’mat mosque we built behind the CBN Quarters in Abuja; I will now be leading the congregation there.”
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Anti-corruption Group, ENetSuD Asks Kwara Speaker To Reverse Unlawful Appointment Of Retiree As Clerk Of House
A civil society organisation, Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD) has asked the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly (KWHA), Yakubu Salihu-Danladi, to reverse the unlawful contract appointment of Hajia Jummai Kperogi as Clerk of the House and the continued extension of her tenure following her retirement from office.ENetSuD, in a letter written and signed by ENetSuD’s Director of Legal Services, Lukman Raji described the contract appointment of Hajia Kperogi as unlawful.
The letter was copied to the Attorney-General of Kwara State and the Chairman of the House of Assembly Service Commission.The group noted, “Our attention has been drawn to the recent resolution of the House in its sitting of Wednesday March 30, wherein they approved the unlawful contract appointment of Hajia Kperogi as the Clerk to the Kwara State House of Assembly for another period of one (1) year under your leadership.”This is after your initial approval of her contract appointment and tenure extension as a Clerk to the House for an initial period of six (6) months that ended on March 29, making your unlawful approval for her continued stay in office to be for a period of one and half years.“We wish to state categorically that the contract appointment of HAJIA HALIMAT JUMMAI KPEROGI or any other person as the Clerk to the House is ultra vires of the House and as such, tantamount to committing illegality ab initio.”By Section 9 of the Kwara State House of Assembly Service Commission Law 2018 (as amended), only a Director who is on Grade Level 17 and above can be appointed as Clerk to the House, not a Retiree or Contract Staff.”According to the group, the House has the power to make resolution, not to ratify contract appointments, adding that the House ought to seek secondment or transfer of a suitably qualified person from Kwara Civil Service if there was no qualified person within the KWHA.It noted, “It is also very clear from section 9(2) of the law that the House of Assembly is empowered to appoint Clerk to the House by resolution, not ratifying contract appointment of somebody as Clerk against the unambiguous provision of section 9(1) of the Law.”We wish to also state that assuming without conceding that there is no Director or any other person that can be appointed as substantive Clerk to the House at the retirement of the former substantive Clerk to the House in compliance with section 9 (1) of the Law, sections 11 and 13 of the same Law allows the commission to deploy qualified person from other part of civil service within the state either on secondment or transfer of service to the commission.”The anti-corruption body further said Hajia Jumai Kperogi was not entitled to be appointed as contract staff having retired from the service.“According to the rules for contract appointments as contained in paragraphs 02401 to 02411 of the Kwara State Government Public Service Rules, HAJIA HALIMAT JUMMAI KPEROGI did not fall into the category of somebody who can benefit from such.”This is because the position of the Clerk to the House is not a special post where any other qualified hand cannot be seen in the Kwara State House of Assembly Service Commission or the Kwara State Civil Service.”ENetSuD told the House that it should not violate the laws it is making. “Section 9 (1) of the Kwara State House of Assembly Service Commission Law 2018 (as amended) is clear on who can be appointed as Clerk to the House by the use of mandatory word “SHALL”.”We urge you to put the round peg in the round hole by complying with the clear provisions of your law.” the letter said.The group however informed the Speaker that the organisation would not hesitate to take other necessary actions and steps allowed by the law if the House failed to correct the error within 14 days from the service of the letter on the House.
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IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu Calls For Prayers Ahead Of April 8 Court Ruling
Nnamdi Kanu
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has urged his supporters to remain strong in prayers ahead of the April 8 court sitting.During the last sitting in February 2021, Kanu appeared before Justice Binta Nyako over the 15-count charge levelled against him by the Nigerian government.
Nnamdi Kanu
SaharaReporters earlier reported that Kanu pleaded not guilty to the 15-count amended charge bordering on treasonable felony and terrorism, brought against him by the Nigerian government.Kanu, who was docked before trial Justice Nyako, said he was innocent of all the allegations the government levelled against him after the charge was read to him in the open court.The case comes up for hearing again this Friday.Meanwhile, Kanu’s lawyer and human rights activist, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said the agitator was firm in his disposition and strong in his conviction that he would get justice that day.Ejiofor noted these in a statement issued on Monday night after their meeting in the custody of the Department of State Services.He said, “Our court-ordered routine visit to our indefatigable client, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was undertaken today (Monday).“The cardinal subject forming the fulcrum of our discussion centred on our final strategy towards handling the outcome of the anticipated ruling, come Friday, on our application challenging the competence of the charge.“Our expectations within the precincts of enabling laws were noted and taken cognizance of. Onyendu is eminently ready for Friday’s ruling. He is firm in his disposition and strong in his conviction.“Chukwuokike Abiama will take absolute control come April 8, 2022, and we expect justice to be manifestly seen to have been done at the end of the proceedings.“Be assured that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Onyendu’s freedom will happen soon. It is forward ever and backward never. Onyendu requested millions of his followers, supporters and Ezigbo Umuchineke to remain strong in prayers, particularly as this special day approaches. You all should remain resolute in the belief that Onyendu will emerge victorious in no distant time.“Onyendu is enthused over the conduct of Ezigbo Umuchineke, and urges you all to keep up the good work. Thank you all and remain hugely blessed, Ezigbo Umuchineke.”
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E2%80%99t-deserve-be-nigerian-president-says-sultan-led-jama%E2%80%99atu-nasril Insecurity: Buhari Doesn’t Deserve To Be Nigerian President, Says Sultan-led Jama’atu Nasril Islam Council
Sultan of Sokoto
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) has said any government incapable of protecting its citizens has lost the moral justification for being in power.
JNI, which is the umbrella body of northern Muslims, is headed by Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto.
Sultan of Sokoto
According to the group, the essence of government and governance is solely to protect the five principal cardinal rights of the human race, the most important of which is life.
The religious body was reacting to the killings and terrorist attacks under the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, particularly the recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train.
SaharaReporters had reported how terrorists bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train en route Rigasa destination with hundreds of passengers on-board.
During the attack, many passengers were kidnapped, others shot dead and unascertained number of the passengers also sustained various degrees of injury.
JNI in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Aliyu said terrorists in the country were becoming bolder and more belligerent by the day, adding that they now operated as they wished.
The statement read, “The well-orchestrated incident remains highly condemnable, reprehensible and upsetting to every rational mind. Any government that is incapable of protecting the lives of its citizens has lost the moral justification of being there in the first place; this is enunciated in section 33(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It appears that the continuous callous acts of mayhem, killings and arson happening almost on daily or weekly bases around us; either within communities and/or on the roads we ply, has automatically reset our human psyche that we now have accepted such dastardly acts as part of our lives, to the extent that we no longer feel it.
“The humanity in us is slowly being eroded thereby making us adapt to the new normal within which we unfortunately found ourselves. In Islam and by all global standards, the essence of government and governance is solely to protect the five principal cardinal rights of the human race, the most important of which is life.
“Terrorists are now becoming bolder and more belligerent by the day. They operate in any area of their choice(s) at any time they so wish. They even operate for up to 8 hours non-stop (as it was reported to have happened in Niger state last Monday), without any fear of being confronted or apprehended.
“Most communities are now under the bandits’ absolute control with taxes being paid to bandits–some parts of Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto states and some others yet to be disclosed to the public.
“In fact, terrorists do what they wish knowing that there is no gun power or authority that will defy them. With all the reported resources allocated to relevant security agencies; intelligent gathering mechanism, military arsenal and tact, can’t the government provide any convincing justification on why the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate?
“Why are attacks experienced all over the place and continuing unabated without any deterrence?”
The group added that as part of efforts to tackle insecurity in Nigeria, the war on illicit drugs should be placed on the front burner “as it is the elixir that spurs criminals to action.”
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E2%80%93-national-assembly-mosque-committee Here Are The Reasons We Sacked Abuja Imam, Sheikh Khalid – National Assembly Mosque Committee Says In Letter
The National Assembly Mosque Zone E, Apo Legislators’ Quarters, Gudu District Abuja, has sacked Sheikh Nuru Khalid as the Chief Imam of the mosque.The Islamic cleric was initially suspended for his anti-government sermon during the Jummat service on Friday.
He criticised the government for its inadequacy in dealing with rising insecurity in the country.Saidu Muhammed Dansadau, chairman of the mosque committee, said the cleric’s teachings of political apathy are un-Islamic.Consequently, he was suspended from his position.Reacting to his suspension, Khalid said only God could give or take power from anyone.In a letter addressed to the Imam on Monday, the mosque committee told the Imam that he had been relieved of his duties at the mosque.The committee said he had shown no “remorse” despite his suspension.It said his reaction did not show any form of regret following his sermon.“We regret to inform you that from today the 4th day of April 2023 you have been disengaged from the services of the above-mentioned mosque.“This action is occasioned by the non-remorseful attitude you exhibited following your suspension on 2nd April this year.“Akamakallah, you know better than me by the teaching of Islam, the essence of administering punishment is to correct behaviour. Unfortunately, your media reaction to the suspension creates the impression that you are not remorseful, NOT to talk of humbly reflecting on the consequences of your utterances.“Leadership demands a great sense of responsibility. If our words do more harm than good to larger interest of the country or the public. We have a responsibility to maximum restraint for the good of public. It is obvious however, that you don’t seem keen to modify your Friday sermon to be reflective of the volatility of security situation in the country.“You are an influencer; your words carry a lot of weights, you words can make or mar our situation. Your words can be taken advantage of by mischief makers, those responsible for these security challenges or enemies of the country for their devilish agendas.“As leaders of the mosque we have a sacred responsibility to avoid utterances that are capable of making a bad situation worse. This is our fear and concern.”
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Ex-APC Chairman, Oshiomhole Declares Interest To Contest Edo Senatorial Seat
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has declared his intention to run for the Edo North Senatorial seat in Edo State under the platform of his party.He disclosed this during his 70th birthday party at Iyamoh in Edo State on Monday, Punch reports.
Some weeks ago, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ward 10 of Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, Vitalis Eshokene, had asked Oshiomhole to vie for the Edo North senatorial seat in 2023.He had said, “Edo State and the Senatorial district need a strong representation more than what we are getting now. Edo State has not got the right kind of representation and Edo North has been the worst hit in this.“Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has demonstrated what he can do as a labour leader, as governor of the state and as national chairman of the party. Our people in Edo north need adequate representation more than we are getting and Comrade Oshiomhole fits the kind of person Edo North needs in the Senate.”
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E2%80%99s-daughter-tundun-lambasts-sister-hafsat-using-dad%E2%80%99s-name-campaign-yahaya 2023: MKO Abiola’s Daughter, Tundun Lambasts Sister, Hafsat For Using Dad’s Name To Campaign For Yahaya Bello
Tundun
Tundun, daughter of the late MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the 1993 general election, has criticised her sister, Hafsat Abiola-Costello for using their father’s name to promote the presidential bid of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi State.
Abiola-Costello, director-general of the Yahaya Bello presidential campaign organisation had on Sunday appeared on Arise TV where she disclosed that the similarities between her father and Bello encouraged her to take the job.
Tundun
But reacting to the development on Monday while co-anchoring Morning Show, a programme on ARISE TV, Tundun said her sister did not have the right to “exploit” their father’s name for Bello’s benefit.
She said it was even more “unfortunate” that the late Abiola’s child would be involved in such political gimmicks.
WATCH: MKO Abiolaâ??s Daughter, Tundun Lambasts Sister, Hafsat For Using Dadâ??s Name To Campaign For Yahaya Bello @OfficialGYBKogi ð??¥: Arise TV pic.twitter.com/O554EBXEdD— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) April 4, 2022
A visibly angry Tundun added that her half-sister should have focused on elaborating her principal’s plans for Nigeria instead of dragging their father’s name through the mud.
“I have come to expect certain things even from that individual. Just because it is not surprising doesn’t mean that it is not staggeringly inappropriate,” she said.
“I’m referring to my half-sister, Hafsat, who is the DG of the Yahaya Bello campaign and her making comparisons to my dad. There are a lot of political players in his team; not one of them feels the need to throw their fathers under the bus for the sake of their principal.
“Come out and talk about your principal, his antecedents, his plans for the future of Nigeria and leave daddy out of it.
“It is not her right because it is not her name. It is our name and it is also a name of future generations of Abiola yet unborn who should be proud of a legacy.
“My father was tortured because UN does consider solitary confinement as torture. He was tortured; then murdered and has left his legacy — only for it to be abused in this fashion.
“Everybody should just leave his name out of it, especially dishonesty, false equivalence, and cynical exploitation of a genuine struggle. It is nauseating.”
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E2%80%99s-2023-elections-ballot-or-bullet-raphael-adebayo Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: The Ballot or The Bullet? By Raphael Adebayo
Raphael Adebayo
The assumption that what Nigeria needs in 2023 is another round of general elections, in keeping with the spirit of democratic practice, is both a quietist misguidedness on the part of the millions, and an absolutist disdain on the part of the political class. The one, staggering about in mass confusion, is by virtue of this assumption, planning to remain a victim of organized deception; the other, by virtue of its historical constitution, perpetuates this assumption as a critical fundament of its own survival and fulfilment. It is at once an unabashed attempt to slake the ‘internal stability’ thirst of the political class and the ‘regional stability’ thirst of the West. By skipping the reality for the illusive, the tangible for the intangible, which is what general elections in 2023 posits, these social forces are once again burrowing the deep of irreversible tailspin.
The almost hackneyed but irreducible outburst of Chief Obafemi Awolowo that Nigeria is ‘a mere geographical expression’ remains potent and instructive today. As a geographical expression, Nigeria wants the qualities of a homogenous collection of humanity. ‘Nations are not merely multicoloured patches in the atlas,’ asserts the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, ‘they answer to some internal logic and historic coherence, and an evolved tradition of managing incompatibilities.’ To the wheeler-dealers of Nigeria PLC, however, this axiom offends their cognitive dissonance sensibilities: it is both a settled reality and a bitter pill to swallow. As a result, the Northern feudal C-suite and its allied peers in the South continually dredge up ways to sustain the corporation, of which ‘democratic’ elections remain an injunctive ritual of self-perpetuation.
Raphael Adebayo
The Character and Goal of Elections in Nigeria
There has been no radical departure from the character and the goal of elections in Nigeria at independence and the character and the goal of elections in Nigeria now; if anything, the struggle is between the depth of decadence in the past and the depth of decadence now. The character of elections in Nigeria embodies the very pit of ‘absoluteness and arbitrariness’, by which Claude Ake described the colonial project in Africa; and which is the adopted mode of electioneering and politicking, and the precursor to misgovernment in present-day Nigeria. In its absolute form election is a political warfare for and within the political class—the incumbent power, the ruling party and the farcical opposition, political careerists and political patrons—wherein democratic will is malignantly manipulated or truncated if deemed unfavourable, and advanced if deemed favourable. Hence, what should be a peaceful expression of social forces becomes a scene of gory hostilities, leaving in its wake cadavers of old and young—like Acheju Abuh, the woman who was burnt to death or Daniel Usman, the teenager who was gunned down in Kogi State, or the dozens who were similarly killed during the general elections in 2019—and countless disenfranchised voters. Political violence (whether before, during or after elections) is the instrument of entrenching absoluteness, and the mode of achieving and legitimating political power in Nigeria.
In 2019, the outgoing Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, after eight years of decadent rule and unlimited human rights violations, held the INEC’s Returning Officer for Imo West Senatorial District, at gunpoint to declare the result of the election in his favour; he would later assume the Senatorial office after he was declared to have duly won the election by Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission. Rather than being an exception, however, this is the rule by which the political class emphasizes the gameness of democratic elections in Nigeria. Historically, there are many such parallels: for example, the several instances during Shehu Shagari’s regime when unbridled Mobile Police thugs of the Nigerian Police, also known as the Kill and Go squad, disrupted court proceedings to compel judges to adjudicate in favour of candidates sanctioned by Shagari’s National Party of Nigeria. Those ones, unlike the proceedings that followed the 2019 presidential election, did not bother with the farce of presenting a police officer to act as the sole witness for electoral validation—they simply coerced judges to declare results in their candidates’ favour. If we again look farther back in history, we would recall the electoral violence that engulfed the Western Region in 1964 during the Akintola days. But, let’s return to the current Fourth Republic in which, according to available statistics, no fewer than 2000 election-related deaths were recorded between 1999 and 2019—though a trend that is by no means exclusive to Nigeria on the continent. To Nigeria’s political class, political power is won and maintained through violence, and the people are mere fleas to be sacrificed for its sake at any moment.
To Nigeria’s political class, violence is the inevitable character of elections. It is the means of emphasizing domination and the vehicle for appropriating ‘legitimate’ democratic processes. To entrench absoluteness, any and all acts of violent arbitrariness cease to be scarce, leading to a palpably hostile and highly repressed society—which is what Nigeria is, in theory and in practice. The millions, therefore, are subjected to a grip of ruthless and absolute power under which the cost of democratic resistance is perceived to be too steep to suffer, especially since the brutality of the political class knows no bound: for instance, the militarization of the 2019 general elections and the ruthless reaction of government to the peaceful End SARS protests. In such a society where arbitrariness and absoluteness are the norm, the millions begin to suspect that neither negative peace—which is the absence of direct violence, nor positive peace—which is the absence of structural violence (according to Galtung), is probable. The goal of elections, therefore, becomes the perpetuation of the status quo, wittingly and unwittingly.
The Knackered Electorate
Since the character of elections is underscored by brutality and fatality, political power—assumes the millions—is the preserve of the political class, and any act of democratic resistance or subversion of such decadence should be minimal, if at all; but entirely not radical. Hence, whilst the political class on the one hand sees hordes of fleas to be cajoled through vote-buying and manipulated by fielding kleptomaniacs and gerontocrats as authentic candidates, or wasted through brutal violence in its ‘democratic game’ during elections; the millions on the other hand either see a bazaar, where the ballot is sold to the highest bidder (though this is also a type of violence), or a predicament wherein one must decide between the devil and the deep blue sea. But of course, the latter analyses the political situation only tangentially, that is, at the befogged level which the political class has conditioned the millions to analyse the political situation: that any decisive political action must be between the political class and the political class. Hence, when in 1993 the millions veered off its quietist track, the political class (in its military fatigue) was swift to invalidate the election, in keeping with its fashion. And so was the popular will subverted in 1999, 2007, and 2019 by the political class. In the same way, the ongoing political conversation about 2023 among the millions on the one hand, and starry-eyed analysts on the other, is fast becoming misted with prospects from the political class.
At the moment, the popular opinion on Nigeria among starry-eyed analysts is that, there has been a rude awakening of the millions from quietism since the End SARS protests in 2020, and that voter registration, more voter participation, fielding of youth candidates, and so on, should constitute the nucleus of political action towards a paradigm shift in 2023. In reality, however, the problem is not so much about voter registration—84 million voters were already registered before the elections in 2019 (although 13% or 11 million did not claim their Permanent Voter’s Card)—as it is about voter participation, voter confidence, a robust electoral process, and such. But again, far from being an exception, low voter turnout—in fact, an ever-dwindling voter turnout, particularly in relation to total registered voters—is the norm in Nigeria. Nonetheless, the folly in this thinking is easily exposed when these analysts are confronted with: one, the financial costs of elections in Nigeria, both for the candidature and the country; two, the rigid monopoly of the political class on private and public institutions that are used to underwrite these costs; three, the political economy of the country, particularly in relation to private and public lending institutions, which disfavours political neophytes who are not sprigs of the political class. Effectively, the necrotic socio-political system in Nigeria precludes any random neophyte from political power and renders his or her toil a Sisyphean task, regardless of paternalistic concessions by the political class—such as the Not Too Young to Run Act or the Electoral Reform Bill, which has finally become law after being a chess-game between the Ninth National Assembly and the Presidency for so long.
But one need not the noetic prowess of Einstein, nor the wisdom of Athena, to understand that the problem is not so much about voter registration and voter turnout, as it is about the knackered electorate and the decadent electoral process, which altogether are symptomatic of a spurious democracy—a democracy that does not work—and a chronically diseased country.
The Unremarked Dimension
In clear view of these starry-eyed political analyses, however, is the unremarked dimension of Nigeria’s true existential condition, which threatens anything but another round of undemocratic elections to legitimate the status quo. And this is where we are compelled, alas, to apprise Nigeria’s starry-eyed analysts of the words of John Stuart Mill, that ‘the future of mankind will be gravely imperilled, if great questions are left to be fought over between ignorant change and ignorant opposition to change.’ For, our starry-eyed analysts, surely, would know that the most critical question in Nigeria today, is the very question of statehood. They would know, to be sure, that Nigeria has yet to resolve that riddle which Soyinka posed years ago, which is again gaining palpable traction among the millions—that is, ‘When is a nation?’ Surely, the mouldy view of our analysts cannot be so grim that they are oblivious of the reality that, even by the standards set by the 1933 Montevideo Convention, the very idea of Nigerian statehood is, like never before, currently flimsy and hotly contested.
The temporal pact of oneness, by which the arbitrary boundaries of Nigeria were tenuously carried forward by ethnic nationalities following independence from Britain, has now splintered into potentially explosive fragments of disillusioned entities. These fragments, however, are consequences of the horribly managed strains that have from inception been latent in Nigeria. Thus, that barometer of statehood which was so elegantly assembled in 1933, has judged Nigeria very harshly. For instance, the Fulani Islamist insurgencies in Northern Nigeria, which have become a real threat as they spread to Southern Nigeria, claiming thousands of lives and displacing even more in their wake, have thrown up pockets of resistance by ethnic nationalities in Southern Nigeria and other parts of the country, effectively creating cells of nationalist resistances and disarticulating the sophistic postulate that Nigeria enjoys a sacrosanct ‘territorial integrity,’ or even absolute sovereignty, which are fundamental to statehood. But the political class, particularly the feudal C-suite of Nigeria PLC, in response to these growing resistances, are convinced that self-perpetuation—under what Soyinka calls the ‘principle of inviolability’, which is the absolutist philosophy undergirding the Nigerian contraption—through ‘democratic elections’, is the only national priority. And worse, our starry-eyed analysts, in their palpable state of confusion, are ostensibly convinced that increased voter participation will keep Nigeria in its divine shell of inviolability. But, again Soyinka cautions: ‘only a community of fools will entrust its most sacred possession—nationhood—yet again to a class that has proven so fickle, so treacherous and dishonorable.’
The Ballot or The Bullet?
Democratic elections ought to emphasize a people’s will for constant stock-taking, and their desire for positive transformation. The want of this quality in the electoral process of any society is sufficient to inspire a people to initiate a different kind of stock-taking; one that, in the sense which has become critical in Nigeria, must shatter the untruths which such society symbolizes. As a failed state, the purposelessness of another round of ‘democratic elections’ in Nigeria is obvious: it will only provide another ‘democratic’ opportunity for the political class to indulge in sabre-rattling, vote-rigging, and ruthless violence that will lead to more heaps of cadavers, and endless bleats of a deprived electorate. History has shown that with or without the ballot, the bullet is constant in Nigeria. And as far as the Nigerian contraption which is the real problem is concerned, one thing has proven itself to be true: you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
As recent developments reliably suggest, Nigeria’s awkward run towards another round of elections is a kind of palliative gamble by the political class, to defuse the nationalist volcanoes threatening to explode the contraption. Those who have dared to beat the gong of this looming explosion—including those who had begun to mount the bastion of defence against Shagari’s infamous feudalist allegorization that a part of Nigeria is divinely destined to ‘hold the cow by the horns’ whilst another is divinely destined to milk it—have either been jailed, like the leaders of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Yoruba Nation in Southern Nigeria or forced into exile by General Buhari’s Gestapo. Hence, the goal of the ballot for the millions in Nigeria, this time, must be different. This time, the choice for the millions is neither between the APC, All Progressives Congress and the PDP, People’s Democratic Party, or any other political party. Nor is it between the old guardsmen and youthful political prospects: A decision to employ the ballot, not as a habitual democratic act in a necrotic system, but as a radical act of historic stock-taking and reconditioning, is the only categorical imperative for Southern Nigeria and the Middle-belt. ‘Sometimes,’ declared Nelson Mandela, ‘there is nothing one can do to save something that must die.’
Postscript
Raphael Adebayo is a Writer, a Scholar and a Human Rights Activist from Nigeria. The idea of ‘historic stock-taking and reconditioning’ in this article is expounded on in his new book, De-Nigerianization, which is now available on Amazon and in the United Kingdom.
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Raphael Adebayo
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E2%80%99ve-forgiven-all-those-who-offended-sani-abacha%E2%80%99s-family-%E2%80%93-wife-late-dictator-maryam I’ve Forgiven All Those Who Offended Sani Abacha’s Family – Wife Of Late Dictator, Maryam
Maryam Sani Abacha, wife of former Head of State and dictator, late General Sani Abacha, says that she has forgiven all those who offended the family in one way or another.The late dictator died in 1998 at the age of 54.Speaking during the celebration of her 75th birthday in Abuja on Thursday, the former first lady urged people to embrace the spirit of forgiveness and ensure that they inculcate sportsmanship for unity and development.“One of the good things in life is for people to embrace the spirit of forgiveness among themselves. People should learn how to forgive each other. Forgiveness is very important as it has been emphasised in various languages and religions. Forgiveness promotes peaceful coexistence among other benefits.“I want to use this opportunity to inform all those who are here and those who are not that we remain grateful to Almighty Allah for whatever happened to us whether good or bad. I also want everyone to know that I have forgiven those who offended us and at the same time I want those we offended to forgive us because God has purified my heart and I am still alive and grateful to Almighty Allah for that. I can die now or tomorrow, I am thankful to Allah for all my life.“To all those who offended us, I am using this opportunity to say that I have forgiven them all. I hope we shall forgive each other and God will forgive us all,” she said.
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SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
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