June 12: How South East was denied opportunity to perform at Democracy
Day celebration
The South East
region was not given the opportunity to perform during the cultural display at
the National Democracy Day on Wednesday.
While the South
West, North and South-South regions all showcased their cultural values, the
South East was left.
The Yoruba of the South West were the first to
showcase their cultural display to the gathering while the Fulanis of the North
stepped in.
This was followed
by the South-South which displayed their fishermen traditional dance steps.
However, we
observed that as the South East prepared to take the stage with their
masquerades and dancers, the guest of honour, President Muhammadu Buhari was
ushered in for his inaugural speech.
One of the dancers,
who spoke to us but in condition of anonymity, expressed
disappointment, lamenting the time and resources she had invested into
practising and rehearsing for the event.
Asked on how she
felt about not coming out to perform, she said, “Well, at this point, there’s
nothing I can do about it.
“There were four
regions that prepared for the traditional dances in this event but I wonder why
the Southeast was subsumed into the South-South.
“Maybe they were
running out of time, I can’t tell.”
While the
South-South dancers were performing, the moderator had said, “People of the
South East and South South are mostly fishermen. Fishing is a tradition in the
regions.”
The event host
stated this when the Igbo dancers were still seen hanging around waiting to be
called on stage.
Former Abia State
Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, has insisted that he would run for the position of
Deputy Senate President even if the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposes his
ambition.
He said this when
he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
“Let me be honest
with you even if the party asks me not to run, I will run on the floor of the
House, this is one position I have to run for because you cannot leave the
Southeast alone, you can’t leave them behind,” Kalu said.
He further stressed
that giving the Southeast a worthy position is in line with ensuring that the
nation is ruled with equity.
“We are in the
process of doing the right thing and the East will be given a place in the
scheme of things. I am asking that the East should be given the Deputy Senate
President.
“There is a high
level of discussions about that and I’m sure that by partisan it would be a law
in the House,” he added.
2023: You can’t stop Tinubu from becoming president – Salvador warns Afenifere
A former chairman
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Moshood Salvador, has insisted
that pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, cannot stop the National
Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, from pursuing
his ambition to contest the 2023 presidential election.
Salvador, speaking
to journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, stated that those fighting Tinubu and any
other Yoruba leader from contesting were fighting a lost battle.
According to him,
if it is the wish of God for a Yoruba man to be the next president of Nigeria,
Afenifere leaders cannot stop him.
Salvador was
reacting to a statement reportedly made by a leader of the Afenifere, Chief Ayo
Adebanjo, that the 2023 presidency should be ceded to the South-East and that
Tinubu would be day-dreaming if he thought he would contest or be the president
in 2023.
He said the
argument of Adebanjo that the South-East has never produced a president was
false, as the first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was from the
region.
The former PDP
chairman described the posture of the Yoruba leaders as “rabble-rousing,
inciting, offensive, illogical and terrible”.
Salvador reiterated
that it is the people and not the Afenifere leaders, that would decide who
becomes the President.
“These leaders
forget that Nigeria is practicing party politics and in a party politics, any
candidate can emerge.
“It is left for the
party and the presidential candidate to reach out to other tribes for support. It
is the people who now decide who becomes the president not an individual or
group of people,” he added.
2023 Presidency: Afenifere leader, Adebanjo reveals what’ll happen to Nigeria if
Igbo don’t produce next president
Elder statesman and
leader of the Yoruba apex socio-political organization, Afenifere, Chief Ayo
Adebanjo, has declared that Nigeria risks disintegrating if the South-East is
not allowed to produce the next President in 2023.
Adebanjo noted that
it was dishonest and invidious for anybody to be talking of the presidency
coming to the Southwest, adding that those making such utterances are not
serious about keeping the country together.
We had
reported that the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, in a recent interview,
asked the Southeast to forget about the 2023 presidency.
The Afenifere
leader has now described the Minister’s statement as a propaganda and wondered
how the Southeast would be denied the presidency when all the units in the
federation are equal partners.
Asked by The Sun to
react to Amaechi’s statement, Adebanjo said, “This is just the propaganda we
are talking about. The Southwest has said it is for them, and we have been
hearing things like this long ago.
“First, the
constitution, before any other thing must be revisited, and if the president
doesn’t do that, this country will break up. Let us get constitution first, not
to continue with this injustice.
“Why is IPOB saying
they want to break away? Because they said they were not included.
“The West has been
president, the South-South has been president and the North has been president,
while the Southeast has not, but you want peace.
“I don’t believe
any region or any section is to be given the presidency on sufferance; you are
not doing anybody any favour, the constitution we are asking for is for anybody
to become president constitutionally as applied, not out of sufferance or
favour that you vote for me. Is that why and how we were amalgamated, is that
the condition for our unity? Absolute nonsense and deceit!
“Those of them they
are deceiving are deceiving themselves. The North doesn’t want to leave power.
There are sensible people in the North, even among the Fulani.
“We are talking
about unity, peace in the country, and you are talking of people wanting to
disturb you, is that the immediate thing, while the economy is going down?
“There is no
progress until the constitution is rectified. Senator Sola Adeyeye came down
with the problem of this constitution and told them that until we change it,
there can be no peace and there can be no progress.
“What is the
problem? If there is any change this country needs now it is the change of this
nebulous constitution that is imposed on us by the military.
“I don’t buy into
this propaganda. It is dishonest and invidious for anybody to be talking of the
presidency coming to the Southwest, then you are not serious about keeping the
country together.
“For unity, for
peace and equity how would you exclude, Southeast, a part of the country from
the highest position of the country, as if it is not a part of the country?
“Are we dominating
or overruling them? We have to be together in peace and in unity. All those who
are gathering because they want to be president in 2023 are cheats and
dishonest people, and they are deceiving themselves by trying to keep us to be
disunited, so that they come to rule again, and say because we don’t agree. I
don’t beg anybody to give me presidency, but give me the right constitution.
“It will be stupid
of any Easterner to be thinking of joining Buhari or APC so that they can be
president, or any Westerner for that matter to be stupid and foolish enough to
be welcoming the idea he can be president in 2023.
“Arrant nonsense.
That won’t be fair. How can you deny the presidency to a unit of the federation
when we are equal partners? Is there sense in that? That is the question we
should ask ourselves if we are honest in this country.
“That is why I say,
let us have a constitution, which will guide us. We don’t want to be ruled by
the favour of a section of the country, that is, you are my friend, and I give
you your right. It will not happen, but if it comes to that, everybody will go
to his father’s land. There is no doubt about that.
“We can’t be forced
together and be ruling the units of the horse as the rider; they are the rider
and we are the horse. No unit will accept it.”
Reps Speakership: Southeast Leaders, PSC insist on Nwajiuba
Ahead of the
inauguration of the 9th National Assembly, groups under the aegis of
Presidential Support Committee (PSC) and South East Equity Alliance, made up of
leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Southeast zone have urged the
leadership of the party to cede the position of the Speaker to the zone.
Fielding questions
from newsmen in Owerri on Thursday, Engr. Prince Chamberlain Adiaso, the
Southeast Zonal Coordinator of Presidential Support Committee (PSC) expressed
the groups’ unalloyed support for Hon Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the House of
Representatives member-elect, representing Okigwe South to clinch the office of
the Speaker, Federal House of Representative in the 9th Assembly.
Adiaso, argued
that, “it is an injustice for the South West to produce Vice President of the
country and still wants to lay claim to the speakership position”.
The Coordinator
further said, “Barr. Emeka Nwajiuba being a detribalized Nigerian, should be
considered for the position so that he can become a rallying point for the
whole APC in the South East geopolitical region.”
He pointed out that
the people of Southeast assisted President Muhammad Buhari to get 25% votes,
noting that zoning the speakership to the southeast was in line with President
Muhammadu Buhari’s promise of inclusive government.
He said “Nwajiuba
is best qualified and most suited for the position because of his legislative
experience,” and emphasized that “such zoning has become necessary, considering
the fact, that APC has made progress in 2019 elections.”
“Nwajiuba as
Speaker would ensure the independence of the legislature and harmonious
relation with the executive and judicial arms of government.
“We are calling on
all well meaning Nigerian to allow the people of South east produce the next
Speaker of the 9th assembly,” he said.
While speaking over
the speakership race, Chief Nwoha Amaechi, Spokesperson to South East Equity
Alliance and former Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, said Emeka Nwajiuba’s
cognate experience in legislation makes him credible to be the speaker of the
House of Representatives.
Nwoha seized the
platform to call on the APC and Nigerians to support the clamour for a
progressive and fair national leadership equation.
The former lawmaker
said that a Speaker of Igbo extraction was necessary for not only political
fairness but natural justice considering the 25 per cent votes given to Buhari
in the last election.
Also speaking,
Barr. Kingsley Onunuju said the only way to put an end to issues of IPOB and
MASOB agitation was to ensure that position like Speakership was zoned to the
Southeast.
He said Nwajiuba’s
Speakership would increase the popularity of APC in the South-East.
He restated the
imperatives of supporting Nwajiuba, noting that it would increase the
popularity of APC in the zone.
Biafra: IPOB reveals why
Nigerian Government shutdown Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri seaports
The Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB, Monday, said that the Federal Government’s closure of
the seaports in the South-South was to strangulate the economy of South-East.
This was part of a
statement signed by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful on
Monday.
In the statement,
Powerful quoted IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as demanding the reopening of
Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt seaports.
The IPOB described
their continued closure as one of the injustices it had been fighting.
The statement
added, “IPOB is about the liberation of all Biafra territories. Only mischief
makers will imply otherwise.
“Yet, some people
from the coastal part of Biafraland will beat their chest to admit to working
towards one Nigeria and foolishly channel their grievances against the same
IPOB that is trying to save all of us.
“These traitors
hiding under the name of one pro-Biafra group or another cleverly forgot that
their masters in the Federal Government have reached an agreement to build a
dry port worth $250 million in Ibadan, while Igweocha a city the British
colonial masters renamed Port Harcourt in Rivers State has no functional port.
“It is on record
that I have consistently asked for the reopening of Warri, Calabar and Igweocha
seaports.
“For those accusing
us of making IPOB an Igbo affair, Warri is not in Igboland, neither is Calabar,
but as anyone in the know will testify, I have always insisted these demands of
reopening South-South seaports, be met before any formal dialogue can take
place.
“It was not a
Biafran or Igboman that killed Ken Saro Wiwa, neither was it an Igbo man that
killed Adaka Boro. Why it is that Yoruba that support northern hegemony gets
everything whereas the governing elite of the coastal region loyal to the North
cannot attract the same level of interest?
“A new mega-seaport
is being built in Badagry to add to Tin Can and Apapa Wharfs but South-South
seaports were closed down to strangulate the economy of Biafra.
“They have railway
lines crisscrossing the entire West, but there is nothing in our land (South
South and South East).
“Where are the
Fulani approved elites in the South-South or the Arewa Consultative Forum
anointed leaders of South-East? Don’t we have resources for a Seaport site?,
yet $250m will be spent to build an artificial one.
“These traitors
will not fight their oppressor, but are comfortably happy to accept crumbs
falling off the master’s table to fight IPOB, that is fighting to liberate
them.
“I have never and
will never collect money from anyone to sell or compromise our puritanical
stance because unlike these stomach infrastructure agitators, I will sacrifice
anything sacrificeable to get Biafra.
“I rejected every
financial inducement when I was incarcerated and detained in Kuje, I would not
insult myself by accepting anything from anybody now. I want to tell Ohaneze
Ndigbo leaders, Igbo governors, PANDEF leaders and every other meaningless
‘settle me and my boys groups’ out there that our problem is their lack of
patriotic discipline and weak mindedness. IPOB has gone way too far in this
effort to restore Biafra.
“The jihadist Arewa
core north have given N100 billion to Fulani Herdsmen killers, but how to stop
30th May Biafra Heroes Remembrance Day, is of paramount issue to Igbo
politicians. Is this not the height of misplaced priorities?
“It’s a shame to
the Old Eastern region, how the North keeps on messing with our brain because
some people cannot afford to resist financial inducement. They keep on fooling
our so called leaders and disgracing them out of power in the end.
“The level of humiliation
and marginalization is now a shame to our region. What a shame…look at how
Okoroawusa is being disgraced from pillar to post after serving his Fulani
kinsmen. His only mistake is that he has an Igbo name. They have even forgotten
that he is one of them. That is the extent of their hatred for anything
Biafra.”
9th National Assembly:
Group insists South East should produce DSP,
Speaker
Ahead of the inauguration of the ninth
National Assembly, a group, Justice for Peace Advocacy of Nigeria, (JUPAN), has
reiterated its support for South East geopolitical zone to occupy positions of
the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and Deputy Senate
President.
The National President of JUPAN, Hon. Austin
Okezie, flanked by members of the National Executive Committee(NEC) of the
body, spoke with newsmen in a press conference on Thursday, in Owerri, the Imo
state capital, opined that the South East remained the best bet when
considering the two political offices.
The group stressed the need for the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and the newly elected members of the National
Assembly to consider the South East while electing its leadership.
It said, “It is the right thing to do by
making sure that South East is considered for both the speakership and the
deputy senate presidency” This becomes pertinent, because of the need to ensure
equity, fairness and justice which of course, our organisation seeks to
promote. As it is now, APC has a challenge in its hands to prove to Nigerians
that it is a party that is not afraid to do the right thing. We know that PDP
has often in the past recognised the South East handsomely when it comes to
principal positions of the National Assembly. APC as a Progressives Party, the
onus is now on APC not to derail and exclude the region from the principal
positions of the 9th Assembly”.
The group also harped on the need to maintain
a balance in the sharing of the nation’s resources and political offices.
“You can see that the President of the
country is from the North West. The Vice President from the South West, and
now, the ruling party has zoned the Senate Presidency to the North East, which
of course, is not in contention. Our agitation is that both the posts of the
Deputy Senate President and Speaker should go to the South East zone for
obvious reasons, while the North Central should produce the deputy speaker.
“Then, the President can graciously appoint
somebody from the South-South, as the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation (SGF). And when you consider that the National Chairman of the
ruling party (APC) is also from the South-South, you will understand that it
won’t be a bad idea at all. This arrangement will provide the much-needed
balance, such that no region of the country will feel excluded or marginalised
in any way. For those clamouring for the speakership to go to the South West,
it is a totally unacceptable idea. Because, doing so will mean, ceding undue
advantage to the South West to the detriment of others. The South West cannot
have the Vice President and the Speaker at the same time, while the South East
will have nothing.”
It added, “We align ourselves with the
opinion that the majority party being APC, should provide the leadership of the
National Assembly. That of course, is in consonance with the dictates of
democracy. And looking at the configuration, you will notice that within the
South East, it is only Abia State that has both ranking Senator-elect and House
Member-elect from APC, in the persons of HE. Chief Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and Hon.
Nkeiruka Onyejiocha respectively. And when you consider the pedigrees of these
two people, you will understand that it is actually divine.
“Of course, Chief Dr. Uzor Kalu, was an elected
member in the National Assembly, specifically, the House of Representatives in
1992/93. He made a name for himself as the
brain behind the famous Dual Citizenship Bill. So, he is a ranking member.
Kalu, having been the executive governor of Abia State for eight (8) years, his
leadership capability cannot be in doubt. You can see for yourself that the
Senate will be in good hands if Orji Uzor Kalu is elected the Deputy Senate
President”.
JUPAN continued, ” Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejiocha
does not need an introduction in the National Assembly. She has been a strong
voice in the Federal House for so many years, with so many bills to her credit,
which have added meaningfully to the progress of the country. Presently, the
Chairman House Committee on Aviation, Hon Onyejiocha will be a fourth term
lawmaker in the 9th Assembly, a no small fit by every standard. Historically,
she has been an LGA Chairman and a Commissioner in Abia state, with sound
leadership attributes. With her as Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives,
the nation is sure to reap bountifully from a robust legislature that can take
the country to greater heights”.
Leadership Of Youth Wing Of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Dismisses The Comments Credited To OYC About Nwodo
The leadership of Ohanaeze Youth Wing in South South on Tuesday dismissed
comments credited to Ohanaeze Youth Congress about President General of
Ohanaeze, Chief Nnia Nwodo.
OYC, had in a statement issued on Monday accused
him of mortgaging the interest of Ndigbo.
The OYC’s statement followed its meeting held in Enugu, where it passed a
vote of no confidence on Nwodo, who they accused of sidelining other members of
the Ohanaeze National Executive Council.
Reacting, Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, Coordinator of Ohanaeze in
South-South, described the claim as baseless and false.
He claimed that those parading themselves as national leaders of the
youth wing of Ohanaeze were misleading the public.
Arthur-Ugwa said: “We were surprised that some defunct members of
Ohanaeze Youth Wing issued a statement accusing the President General of
meddling into 2019 presidential elections.
“To state the facts, the allegations are fabricated by expelled members
of the youth group at the national level to attract public sympathy; there is
no truth in the allegation.
“The President-General has been working at uniting Igbos all over the
world and recently was in Bayelsa as part of his efforts in restructuring and
repositioning Ndigbo in a restructured federation.
“Nwodo also waded into leadership crisis in Ohaneze Ndigbo Bayelsa chapter,
is this what they call politics?
“The President-General categorically said that he was not interested in
personal gains from the struggle for restructuring, so the allegation is a mere
ploy by disgruntled persons parading themselves as Ohanaeze youth leaders.
“The National Executives of Ohanaeze Youth Wing was dissolved by Ime-Obi
and National Executive Council of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in 2017 and we are getting
set for elections later this month, so they are misleading the people.
“The leadership at the state levels in the South East and South South
condemn and dissociate ourselves from the statement and frown at the disrespect
to our revered elders and leaders in Ohanaeze Ndigbo, our parent body.
“We urge the errant youths to refrain from using the media to discredit
the organisation and show commitment towards building of a united front for
Ndigbo.”
The leadership of Ohanaeze Youth Wing in South South on Tuesday dismissed
comments credited to Ohanaeze Youth Congress about President General of
Ohanaeze, Chief Nnia Nwodo.