Essays

My dear wife,

I am writing these words to you, not knowing whether they will ever reach you, or whether I shall be alive when you read them.

Throughout my struggle for the independence of our country I have never doubted the victory of our sacred cause, to which I and my comrades have dedicated all our lives.

But the only thing which we wanted for our country is the right to a worthy life, to dignity without pretence, to independence without restrictions.

This was never the desire of the Belgian colonialists and their Western allies, who received, direct or indirect, open or concealed, support from some highly placed officials of the United Nations, the body upon which we placed all our hope when we appealed to it for help.

They seduced some of our compatriots, bought others and did everything to distort the truth and smear our independence.

What I can say is this—alive or dead, free or in jail—it is not a question of me personally.

The main thing is the Congo, our unhappy people, whose independence is being trampled upon.

That is why they have shut us away in prison and why they keep us far away from the people. But my faith remains indestructible.

I know and feel deep in my heart that sooner or later my people will rid themselves of their internal and external enemies, that they will rise up as one in order to say 'No' to colonialism, to brazen, dying colonialism, in order to win their dignity in a clean land.

We are not alone. Africa, Asia, the free peoples and the peoples fighting for their freedom in all corners of the world will always be side by side with the millions of Congolese who will not give up the struggle while there is even one colonialist or colonialist mercenary in our country.

To my sons, whom I am leaving and whom, perhaps, I shall not see again, I want to say that the future of the Congo is splendid and that I expect from them, as from every Congolese, the fulfilment of the sacred task of restoring our independence and our sovereignty.

Without dignity there is no freedom, without justice there is no dignity and without independence there are no free men.

Cruelty, insults and torture can never force me to ask for mercy, because I prefer to die with head high, with indestructible faith and profound belief in the destiny of our country than to live in humility and renounce the principles which are sacred to me.

The day will come when history will speak. But it will not be the history which will be taught in Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations.

It will be the history which will be taught in the countries which have won freedom from colonialism and its puppets.

Africa will write its own history and in both north and south it will be a history of glory and dignity.

Do not weep for me. I know that my tormented country will be able to defend its freedom and its independence.

Long live the Congo!

Long live Africa!

Thysville prison.

________________ PL, 1961

The Lord has done it again. When I was Minister of Culture and Tourism in 2006 I appointed two gentlemen that are amongst the finest, the most capable, the most disciplined and the most honest in this country as Director-General and Executive Director respectively of one of the most important parastatals under that Ministry called the National Arts Gallery. After we left office in 2007, as part of President Yar'adua's undeclared policy of discrediting, villifying, humiliating and destroying President Obasanjo and all of his loyalists and members of his inner circle, both myself and ALL those that I appointed into key positions as director-generals, chief executives and directors whilst I was Minister of Aviation and Minister of Culture and Tourism were relieved of their appointments, harrassed, investigated, persecuted and humiliated in the most shameful manner and for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Many of us were charged to court by Yar'adua's EFCC headed by Farida Waziri and we were accused of doing things that we simply never did and for which there was absolutely no evidence. We were villified and crucified on the pages of newspapers and by a skeptical public who chose to believe that everyone that ever served in any government must have been a thief. And of course Farida Waziri's EFCC fed this dirty lie to the Nigerian public every day for the last 4 years.

Mr. Joe Musa and Mr. Kweku Tandoh were arrested and prosecuted in a haze of baseless, disgraceful and spurious allegations of theft and misappropiation by the EFCC. This happened in July 2009 and for the last two years their lives have been hell, their families have suffered trauma and humiliation and their careers have been put on hold. Thankfully today it is all over. Today the Federal High Court in Abuja not only acquited and discharged them of all the charges but they also lambasted the EFCC for filing criminal charges against them that were based on nothing but ''pepper soup and beer parlour gossip'' and for wasting their time and the courts time for two and a half years. The judge said that based on the evidence that was adduced the EFCC should NEVER have filed charges against these two innocent men in the first place and that they should not have sought to torture them in this way and destroy their lives. He even went as far as to say that he would have wanted to compel the EFCC to pay heavy damages to these two men for the injustice that they have done against them by opyting to charge them to court almost three years ago. I urge you all to get a copy of the judgement and to read it. What the judge said the EFCC did in this case will shock you. Today both Kweku (who has been my brother for the last 35 years) and Joe (who I had never met before appointing him but who had an outstanding cv and impeccable record of public service in the arts world) are both free men who can now get back to moving on with their lives. I am so happy for them and their families and I heartily congratulate them (together with the other two people that were charged alongside them) both. God is truly faithful to His own and truth cannot be supressed and submerged under the rivers of darkness forever. It is only a matter of time before it surfaces to the top and the lies of the devil and his agents are exposed for what they are.

This is yet another testimony to the fact that the EFCC under Farida Waziri was simply a tool of oppression and intimidation against all those that were perceived as being enemies of the late Umaru Yar'adua. But in all their wickedness they forgot the God factor. They forgot that He alone rules in the affairs of men and that He alone forges the destiny of nations. Every single one of those that formulated that evil policy of persecution is either dead, languishing in a foreign jail, no longer in government and power or is facing some very hard questions about their role in the affairs of this country for the last 4 years. They all forgot that power is transitory, transient and ephemeral-it never lasts forever. Vindication has finally come for Joe and Kweku and in the same way it shall surely come for every single one of us that were unjustly and unfairly accused and targetted in a most vicious and malicious way by the powers that once were. Tonight my Abuja home has been full of friends and well wishers and we are still popping the Don Perignon and celebrating this great victory. Tonight we rejoice with the Musa's and the Tandoh's and we join them in praising God and in giving Him thanks. To Him alone be the glory. Congrats to two of my most decent, hardworking, honest, faithful and brilliant loyalists and brothers. You were both loyal to me even at the most difficult times and God has been loyal to you. You have both been through the fire simply for being close to me and you have come out of it like purified gold. What our enemies meant for evil, God meant for good. Praise be to the Holy One of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, the I Am That I Am and the Ancient of Days.

Blessed be His Holy name forever.

________________ FFK, 2011

Death is a leveller. I have come to the conclusion that life is far too short for us to waste our time on distractions and on inconsequential issues and people that add no value to our existence. We must drop such people and such distractions like hot potatoes and we must dump them as quickly as possible. We must cast out every rotten apple that was ever in our lives and we must live for our loved ones and for our God alone. We must let go of the venal and the accursed things that offend God and that attract His wrath. We must let everyone know their place in the scheme of things and we must let water find it's level. We must always remember that betrayal, gossip, slander, backbiting, murmuring, ingratitude and deceit are the language of slaves. The wicked shall no longer eat our bread and we must stop the slaves from eating at our table. We must not allow the terrible mistakes of yesterday and the unfortunate choices of yesteryear to affect our today and to blight our tomorrow. And finally we must always remember that treachery always kills those who initiate it.

This is wisdom.

________________ FFK, 2011

‎''Lightening and thunder have been silenced. The rope used for dragging the lion has snapped. The Odenigbo of Ngwo has retired to bed. The hero loved by all is ill at ease, the overall King of the Igbo, ewooo. If you retire to bed what shall we do? Who will roar like the lion when we are oppressed? Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, ewooo‎'' - Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State.

May the soul of the great warrior Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu rest in peace and may the Lord be with his dear wife, my old and very dear friend Bianca, their children, the entire Ojukwu family and indeed the igbo race at this difficult time. Here lies a Roman who stood for his people when it mattered the most. Here lies a Spartan in the true sense of the word. Of all the great warriors that ever mounted the Nigerian stage, none comes close to Ojukwu. He was the epitomy of courage. He feared nothing and no-one. He was the warrior of warriors. He was the liberator of his people. He is immortal. Godspeed Ikemba as you go the way of all flesh, as you enter into eternity and as you enter the stars and the great halls of Valhalla where the brave shall live forever.

________________ FFK, 2011

For those who have been following the case between Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since year 2008, they would technically appreciate the level of impunity, judicial somersault and highhandedness, down-play of the rule of law and gross injustice which was freely displayed by the anti-graft agent, EFCC and its counsel Mr Festus Keyamo. This case and several other high profile cases in Nigeria have posed lots of worries on concerned Nigerians forcing some of us to lose confidence in the judicial system, because of the ways and manner Fani-Kayode’s alleged money laundering case was handled, a scenario that is purely contrary to the principles of fairness and justice.

Now we have to say a big ‘thank you’ once again to the human rights watch report on EFCC in August this year (2011). It was stated in the report that the biggest problem facing the fight against corruption in Nigeria is its political system, which inherently rewards corruption. “Too often, corruption is a prerequisite for success in Nigeria’s warped political process,” says the report titled, ‘Corruption on Trial? The Record of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.’ In writing the report, HRW analysed EFCC’s records since inception, examined court record in major corruption cases, interviewed EFCC’s current and former leaders, other anticorruption agency officials, members of the National Assembly and judiciary, Central Bank officials, prosecutors and defense lawyers, foreign diplomats and donor agency officials, and civil society leaders.

The report was simply objective, very fair and firm and I hope those at the helm of affairs will take the report as a challenge to do much more. The report actually indicted the EFCC chairman Mrs Farida Waziri and also the presidency (for interference) and judiciary was equally not left out. The truth is that corruption is so entrenched in this country, from top to bottom, and it will take a patriotic ‘dictator’ to cleanse the country. Considering the magnitude of the problem, some pessimists have posited that only a patriotic military dictator could have given us quick results. Unfortunately for Nigeria, the country has been so unlucky in terms military dictators. The military dictators that came with glimpse of hope to clean up the system (Gen. Tunde Idiagbon and Mohammadu Buhari) did not last. However, since military rule is presently not an option, judging from our past, we have to continue to push the civilian government to do more against corruption. Recently a human rights activist in India went on hunger strike pushing the government over there to pass more stringent laws against corruption. We need more genuine agitations, more advocacies, more of this reports and tougher laws against corruption. But this must be done within the confines of the rule of law and convincing evidence which are only tenable in the court of competent jurisdiction; these are simply the legitimate tools that can help to pursue fight against corruption not by engaging in miscarriage of justice.

Those who alleged that the current leadership of EFCC is defective in its statutory roles and performance may not be far from the truth in view of the mess we consistently experience in the country. That being said, the bulk stops on Mr President’s table; the President appointed her, he supervises her, I understand he must also approve some high-profile arrest/prosecution as the report indicated, and so what effect has been his promise of fighting corruption, which convinced me to vote for him during the last election? I found it so disheartening that Lamido Sanusi would be toying with the banking sector, throwing hundreds of Nigerians into labour market where one can only buy unemployment; denying private investors their investment in “his rescued banks” (in broad day light) by insisting that only his favoured/preferred core investors buy these banks even after being run down by his-appointed management, instead of these local investors/Nigerian shareholders who have toiled all these years in building these banks to be allowed to recapitalize their banks in line with their Memorandum and Article of Association. I agree the shareholders were there when some of the erstwhile board members were abusing processes, but even at that the shareholders are risk takers and have repeatedly requested to be allowed to recapitalize their banks since they are willing and capable to do that as required by law, but Sanusi has adamantly refused to do this, this should be a matter for another day.

Meanwhile, on Chief Fani-Kayode’s prolonged legal tussle, it is no longer news that EFCC and its counsel would just want to keep him (Fani-Kayode) busy with this case even as they lack supporting evidence or concrete proves to prosecute him, yet, they still engage in doing hatchet job in the media with the simple reason of ridiculing this innocent man. It is most ridiculous and unfortunate that even in this modern age EFCC and its lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, would be distorting facts in respect of the alleged money laundering case preferred against Chief Femi Fani-Kayode at the Federal High Court in Lagos. Keyamo, in a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, erroneously claimed that Fani-Kayode and his lawyers attempted to choose a judge to hear the case, he did not only write but also extended that to the pages of newspapers and online magazines about a matter that is still in court. I thought as a lawyer his profession could have thought him what subjudice is, in the practice of law over cases that are pending in the court of law and awaiting judicial determination. We all know Justice Mohammed had presided over the matter until he was transferred to the Enugu division of the FHC. The development prompted the CJ to assign the case file to Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako. Shortly after the matter was assigned to Justice Murtala-Nyako, Fani-Kayode wrote a letter through his lawyer, Chief Ladi Williams to the CJ asking that the court should take cognisance of the ruling of the Appeal court which was delivered on May 27, 2010. He added that the matter is a criminal matter and should be heard quickly. (For details about this over-publicized case please read the story in the link: http://www.pointblanknews.com/Articles/artopn2799.html)

However, in reaction to this unfortunate act, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s legal counsel Barrister Dele Martins professionally and in a most balanced and reasonable order reacted to Festus Keyamo’s childish, unprofessional and misleading report over this ‘subjudcial’ matters, so that records are appropriately set straight. Barrister Dele Martins said:

‘‘A report in some newspapers suggesting that our client Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has sought to “appoint his own judge” in his case with the EFCC has just been brought to our attention. This report is malicious, false and misleading. The position is simply that our client has asked the Federal High Court to take notice of the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which was delivered on 27 May 2010, in which the that court ruled that the matter should go back to the original trial judge for a continuation of the case and not for the matter to start de novo with a new judge.

‘‘It is the Court of Appeal that gave this ruling and made this decision and not our client. We have absolutely no interest in choosing the trial judge and neither do we have the power to do so. Our position as canvassed before the Federal High Court is simply that the former trial judge should continue with the case as opposed to the whole matter starting de novo because the Court of Appeal has ruled that this should be the case. We also believe that criminal matters should be dispensed with as quickly as possible as the maxim is that justice delayed is justice denied.

‘‘It would be most unfair to our client for a matter which is part heard, in which witnesses have been called and which has been going on for three years to start all over again with a new judge when the original judge is still in service and when the Court of Appeal has said this should not be so. We urge the press to please seek clarification before publishing stories that paint our client in a bad light. We have tremendous confidence in the judicial system, in the Federal High Court and in all our judges and the assertion that Chief Fani-Kayode has in any way sought to “appoint his own judge” in this matter is not only untrue but it is also childish and ridiculous.’’

In a definite term, this is a matter which in the end will settle itself in favour of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode; moreover those who cherish the primary and dispassionate ideals of legal system where justice and fairness are practiced need not be dismayed over this matter. The blackmailing nature or the slanderous methods of EFCC over this issue is really unthinkable and vicious, but they have obviously met their waterloo. Proverbs 26:23-28 speaks well of those in this category and I hope EFCC and its paid agents would learn to retrace their steps and make amends: ‘‘Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling’’. God is on the side of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and his exoneration on this case is firmly assured.

________________ PI, 2011

''I am not David....I am not a general.....I am not a lion......I will defeat the Goliaths in our land''

- President Goodluck Jonathan.

These are deep and instructive words yet I do wonder whether Mr. President understands the spiritual and practical implications of what he is saying. If he says that he ''is not a David'' how can he then possibly slay the ''Goliaths in the land?'' If he says that he ''is not a general'' how can he be an effective Commander-in-Chief who commands the respect and confidence of his army and his officers?

If he says that he ''is not a lion'' how can he overwhelm the animals in our jungle that seek to destroy and ravage our land? The lion is a noble and courageous animal that defends it's pride and family and protects it's own. That is why it is known as the ''king of the jungle'' and that is why our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself is known as the ''Lion of the Tribe of Judah''. Every king worth his salt must have the spirit of the lion and the warrior in him to a certain extent. It is a fundamental pre-qualification for good quality and inspirational leadership and that is what distinguishes the pretender and the usurper from a real king. May the spirit and weakness of Ahab not be our President's portion even though his words seem to have ensnared him.

History proves that weak kings and weak leaders always pull down and destroy great empires and strong kingdoms. If you have any doubt about that consider what happened to the Roman Empire under Nero, Claudius or Caligula. If you still have any doubts after that then read up on Russian history or watch an excellent old film called ''Nicholas and Alexander'' about Tsar Nicholas the 1st, the last Tsar of Russia and how his strong-willed wife and his consistent display of weakness shamed and brought down imperial Russia, destroyed the 300 year old royal dynasty of the Romanovs, led directly to the First World War (which in turn led to the Second World War and then later the Cold War), caused the communist revolution, led to the Russian civil war, resulted in the murder of his whole family and ended in the establishment and creation of the most evil and godless empire that has ever ruled half of the world- the cold and all-powerful Soviet empire.

That is what weakness, prevarication, inconsistency, cowardice, emotional slavery, inexplicable fear and the celebration of indecision can do. Worst still you don't boast about such qualities because there is nothing to be proud of in them. Always remember, whether you are a king or a subject, that courage is the greatest of all the virtues. This is wisdom. Would someone please tell our President.

________________ FFK, 2011

Femi Fani Kayode is a renowned public speaker, former Special Assistant on Public Affairs and Minister of Culture, Tourism and later Aviation in the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. Though he was before his appointment an avid critic of the former president, his brilliance endeared him to the Ota chicken farmer who carved roles for him in the vortex of power! One of sad stories of Fani- Kayode’s foray into politics was that he was arrested in July 2008 in connection with alleged misappropriation of a N19.5 billion Aviation Intervention Fund after giving his testimony before the Senate Aviation Committee. His father, Adetokunbo Fani Kayode moved the motion that led to Nigeria’s political independence in 1960. Though the senior Fani Kayode is dead, the younger Fani-kayode has kept the fire-burning. When LEADERSHIP approached him for interview, the vintage Femi who was tagged Obasanjo’s attack boy was on hand to fire from all sides of the cylinder. Bayo oladeji presents its excepts.

As Nigeria clocks 51 years on Saturday, what is on your mind?

I am worried for Nigeria but I am hopeful that God will see us through. I weep for all the terrible things happening in this country but I am an optimist. Nigeria shall be great again.

What could you identify as our milestone?

The fact that we have remained one nation for the last 51 years despite our monumental challenges is in itself an achievement. That I believe is the greatest milestone.

Your father played prominent roles in the drama that led to the independence, could you please recall some of those roles?

My father, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode Q.C, S.A.N, C.O.N was not only Minister for Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs in the Western Regional Government of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966 but he was also the Deputy Premier of the Western Region at that same time. Most people know that and they also know that he was the number two to Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the NNDP Western Regional government at the time.

What they don’t know however is that from 1959 to 1963 he was the Leader of the NCNC Opposition in the Western House of Assembly and that from 1953 till 1958 he represented the ancient city of Ile-Ife in the Federal House of Representatives on the platform of the Action Group.

He was also the founder and leader of the Action Group Youth Wing throughout the late ‘40’s and early ‘50’s.

Again most people don’t know that in August 1958 it was my father that successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence in the Federal House of Assembly.
Two motions had been moved before then by two other leading members of the Action Group and Members of the Parliament but sadly they both failed.

Let me share the facts and the sequence of events with you.

Unlike the two previous motions that I just mentioned that had been moved by Chief Anthony Enahoro (in 1953) and Chief S.L. Akintola (in 1957) the motion that my father moved was not only adopted by Parliament but it was also acquiesced to by the British.

That was the difference between his motion for independence and the other two.

Enahoro’s was not accepted by Parliament and it failed and Akintola’s, though accepted and passed by Parliament, was not acquiesced to by the British authorities.

Consequently they both failed. Enahoro’s 1953 motion had asked for ‘’self-government’’ for Nigeria by1956 and Akintola’s 1957 motion had asked for ‘’independence’’ for Nigeria by 1959.

However we did not get our independence on either of these two dates and the two motions were unsuccessful for the reasons that I just mentioned.

My father’s 1958 motion asked for independence for Nigeria by April 2, 1960 and it was accepted by Parliament and the motion was passed, the British acquiesced to it and the matter was settled. April 2, 1960 was to be the date of our independence.

However one year after my father’s motion was passed and specifically in 1959, Sir Tafawa Balewa (who was the Prime Minister and in the NPC) moved yet another motion in Parliament asking for a slight amendment to the original ‘’Remi Fani-Kayode independence motion’’ which had already been accepted by the British and passed by the House.

Balewa’s ‘’motion for amendment’’ was seconded by Chief Raymond Njoku (who was Minister of Transport and in the NCNC) and it asked that the month that we were to have our independence was to be shifted from April 2, 1960 to October 1, 1960 instead.

Parliament accepted this ‘’motion to amend’’ and that is how we arrived at having our date of independence on October 1, 1960. Many are not aware of this sequence of events and these facts but I agree that it is really a very complex plot.

It also says a lot about the inability of most Nigerians to properly and adequately research their own history and this is most unfortunate.

For the majority of the last 30 years, the erroneous assumption has been made and broadcast to our students and masses that the man that successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence was Chief Anthony Enahoro.

This was not so. And Enahoro himself, before he died, set the record straight in an interview that he gave to the Punch Newspaper two years ago in which he said that he never told anyone that he successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence.

In that interview the elder-statesman and great nationalist acknowledged the fact that his 1953 motioned actually failed and was not passed by Parliament.

In fact it actually led to a protest and walk out of Parliament by the northern MP’s and it eventually led to the notorious Kano Riots of 1953.

Even though the credit must go to Chief Enahoro for being the first to attempt to move the motion for our independence, he cannot take the credit for being the first to successfully move it as well because he never did so.

Others may have wrongly attributed that great honour to him but he never attributed it to himself.

Yet despite this if you ask the majority of Nigerians today who successfully moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence they will tell you that it was Chief Anthony Enahoro.

This is false and it is very sad. It also says a lot about us as a people. A nation that does not know how it won it’s own independence and who did what at the time in order to win it.

This is very strange to me. Worse still lies the disinformation fabricated and spread and passed off as truth.

This is a classic example of Goebbel’s theory that an uncontested lie repeated enough time becomes a historical ‘’truth’’.

That is what has happened in this matter. I personally do not see any confusion or controversy in it at all though.

As long as people are prepared to do their research properly, detach their emotions from the quest for historical facts and appreciate the importance of getting those facts right for the sake of our nation, our children and posterity they will eventually find the truth and the truth will set them free.

That is what I am trying to help to achieve here by setting the record straight, nothing more and nothing less.

What are the sources of this revelation?
In terms of the facts and sequence of events that I have enunciated here, if anyone doubts anything that I have said I challenge them to go and read Hansard (which were the formal record of proceedings of the Parliament of that day and which have been kept intact and well preserved by our former British Colonial masters).

They can also go and read what is, in my view, by far the most detailed, authoritative, objective and historically accurate book that has ever been written by anyone about the politics of Nigeria in the 1940’s and 1950’s titled ‘’Nigerian Political Parties-Power In An Emergent African Nation’’ (publishers-Princeton, U.S.A1963).

It was written by an American by the name of Professor Richard Sklar. Sklar actually lived in Nigeria throughout that period and he personally witnessed most of these events in the 40’s and 50’s and anyone that has not read his book cannot possibly claim to know too much about Nigeria’s pre-independence history.

It is a must read.

Professor Sanya Onabamiro, who was a major player in the politics of the 1950’s and early 1960’s as well, who was also a member of Parliament and who was Minister of Education also wrote a book titled ‘’Glimpses In Nigeria’s History’’ that confirmed these events.

I urge anyone that is interested to read that one too. They say knowledge is power.

Some people are calling for the Sovereign National Conference. Is there any justification for the agitation?
I believe that the call for a Sovereign National Conference remains the only thing that can really enable us to resolve our issues and challenges in this country once and for all and in a civilised and peaceful manner.

The same call has been made in varying degrees by many eminent and responsible Nigerians for the last 70 years and indeed ever since the amalgamation of the North and the South by Lord Lugard and the British in 1914.

Yet each time we ignore it and dismiss it with contempt. We even fought a civil war and after that we almost fought another over June 12 presidential election and yet we still ignore it.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo told us that ‘’Nigeria is not a nation but a geographical expression’’ in 1948 and that ‘’there is as much difference between the Fulani and the Igbo as there is between the German and the Turk’’ and we still ignore it.

Political Sharia was introduced in the North 10 years ago yet we still ignore it.

Violent, well-armed, deadly and extremist ethnic militias who claim to be fighting for the legitimate rights and protection of their various nationalities have emerged before our very eyes in the last 20 years in the South yet we still ignore sovereign national conference.

Boko Haram has now come to the North in full force and it is waging open war against the Nigerian state and yet we are still ignoring it. What type of country is this?

Thousands have been killed over the years and hundreds are being killed monthly over these same issues yet we don’t seem to care. We just smile and say that ‘’it is well’’.

The question is for how much longer can this go on and for how much longer can the centre hold?

Yet until the nationality question is answered, until we sit down and renegotiate the terms and nature of our union, until we allow the many ethnic nationalities that make up this great country to affirm their interest in wanting to remain in a united Nigeria, until we devolve power from the centre and restructure the country, until we affirm the secularity of the Nigerian state and guarantee the fundamental rights of both Christians and Muslims to practice their religion in peace, until we are prepared to allow even the smallest tribes and nationalities the right of self-determination and to tell us how they feel we will just continue to wobble on and go from one challenge to another.

The noble vision of a united Nigeria where all are treated fairly and squarely has remained a mirage.

What happens is that people are dying slowly but surely yet no-one seems to care. All we are interested in as Nigerians is ‘’turn by turn Nigeria’’.

If the Hausa-Fulani had power yesterday, then the Yorubas and now the Ijaws, it must be the Igbos or someone else tomorrow.

That is where the Nigerian political debate begins and ends.

It is just about which tribe or nationality has the right to control the state for a fixed period of time and to use the resources and power of that state for the benefit of their people.

We pretend and say otherwise but this is the bitter truth. Outside of that nobody really cares anymore and those that do are very few and far between.

What type of people are we?

And of course we hate those that tell us the truth about our own sorry situation and plight and we vilify them.

We even try to destroy them.

Has it occurred to you that this country has never drawn up a constitution that came about purely as a consequence of the will of the people?

Every single constitution that we have had in the last 98 years, including the one that we have today, was handed over to us and imposed on us by the military or by our former British colonial masters.

Go and do the research and you will find that I am right. At various points in our history, thet elected representatives of our people met in various constitutional conferences and decided on what to put in our constitution yet after the conferences finished their work and the representatives went home, the military authorities took out what they wanted and they put in what they wanted and told us that was ‘’our’’ constitution.

And we, in an amazing display of utter subservience and helplessness, accepted it like children.

We never insisted on having our way or on fighting back. We just smiled, accepted it and said ‘’thank you very much sir’’.

When you hear all this tell me what makes you think we will not have major long-term and fundamental problems?

Worse still the Nigerian people have never been asked in a referendum whether they want to remain together as one and even if they do under what terms.

We were forced into a ‘’marriage’’ between the North and the South by Lord Lugard in 1914 and he described the north as the ‘’poor husband’’ at that time and the South as the ‘’rich wife’’.

Sadly the two young spouses were never even asked if they wanted to be together in the first place let alone remain together forever.

Given that why wouldn’t we have had serious problems for the next 98 years?

The fact that we are still together as one nation is in itself a miracle.

Do you know that of the three major ‘’forced’’ amalgamations that the British colonial powers established and created only Nigeria still remains as one nation today?

The other two were India (which broke into three separate countries immediately after independence) and the Sudan (which broke into two separate countries earlier this year).

I do not want Nigeria to break up in a similar manner but we must stop burying our heads in the sand and we must try to sit down, do something about the direction in which our ship of state is drifting and settle our differences before it is too late.

We have just taken everything for granted and meanwhile people are being killed every day either for religious or ethnic reasons.

The National Assembly cannot do what a Sovereign National Conference would do because it is not representative of every single ethnic nationality and neither does it have the courage or the will.

And neither can any weak government-sponsored, tele-guided National Conference (of which we have had many) whose resolutions are not honoured by or binding on the government of the day.

I am not talking about the convocation of yet another ‘’national conference’’ but rather I am talking about the real thing- the convocation of a SOVEREIGN National Conference whose findings and resolutions will not only bind the government of the day, whose resolutions cannot be amended or tampered with in any way, whose voice must be honoured by all, who must have a representative from every single tribe and nationality, who will not allow or accommodate any government sponsored or appointed delegates or members and whose findings and resolutions must be subjected to a confirmatory national referendum by the people.

The convocation of such a sovereign national conference is the only way forward and eventually it will come either by good reasoning and the prevailing of good sense or it will be forced on us by a series of very unpleasant events and circumstances in this country.

As a matter of fact I would go as far as to say that the longer we resist this idea of having this parley and sitting down to settle these issues once and for all the more likely we are to eventually break up as a country in a very violent and bloody manner.

One day things will just explode.

Some have said that by 2015 we will break up. I hope that they are wrong but when you see what is happening today, the level of regional divisions between the core North, the middle belt and the South, the level of mistrust between Christians and Muslims, the level of divisions between the ethnic nationalities, the meteoric rise of powerful and deadly ethnic and religious militias like Boko Haram, the level of Islamic fundamentalism and sectarian violence in the North, the class revolution that is silently taking place in the core North and so on and so forth you will know that trouble is coming in Nigeria.

We like to pretend and say that ‘’all is well’’ as a people but the truth is that all is not well.

Nigerians are now suicide bombers and there are parts of Nigeria where Ql Qaeda and Al Shabaz have taken hold.

Their intention is to establish an Islamic fundamentalist state in the whole of the core North and they are prepared to kill, maim and bomb their way to doing so if anyone challenges them. We see all this happening and yet we smile at ourselves and say that ‘’all is well’’. Look at what is happening in Jos and think hard.

It has become a theatre of war between Christians and Muslims and between the Hausa-Fulani settlers and the local Beroms that have always been there. Worst still, most Christians in the country support the Christians of Jos and most Muslims in the country support the Muslims of that same place. That support is covert but it is very real and yet we will all pretend to one another that we are one. We are playing with fire in Nigeria.

Let me tell you this today- if we are not careful one day the Jos nightmare will translate and superimpose itself on the whole of Nigeria and then all hell will break loose. We need to sit down and talk before this happens and before it is too late and we need to resolve these issues once and for all.

If we ever have a major conflagration in this country or another civil war we will be fighting ourselves in this space called Nigeria for the next 50 years and we will set the whole of the West African sub-region on fire. We will turn West Africa into a massive refugee camp.

That is what we are toying with.

No-one in his right mind or proper senses could possibly want that and neither could any group come out on top in such a nightmarish scenario.

No-one would win and we would all lose. In order to avoid this we must do the right thing as soon as possible and we must do it at all costs.

In this respect there needs to be far more urgency on the part of the people and the government.

What would you say is the way out of this mess?

Leadership, if we have strong leadership and take the right bold steps our problems can be solved and our differences resolved.

If you were to be the president of this country today, what would be your cardinal programmes?

Unity, stability, getting the economy right and making Nigeria a strong and respected voice that she once was in the international community.

What has been your experience in politics so far?

I went into full time politics 21 years ago when I was still a young man of 31 years old and at that time, my father warned me that it is not the sort of place or thing that I would enjoy. He was proved right.

I prefer writing and reading poetry or studying and discussing history than playing politics.

Unfortunately however I found myself in it in the last 21 years and it is something of a calling and passion for me. I always knew from the age of 10 that I would end up a politician.

How I knew I don’t know, but I just knew. Maybe this is because I have always loved Nigeria so much and I sincerely want the best for her.
My experiences in the political scene have been both good and bad, both bitter and sweet.

I have enjoyed politics and having the rare privilege and opportunity to serve and make a contribution to the development of my nation and at the same time, I have suffered the worst and most barbaric form of misrepresentation, wickedness and persecution from those that hate me for no just cause.

Yet I still love this country and I am not deterred.

I will never give up on Nigeria till the day I die. One day, Nigeria will be great again. That is my prayer, passion and dream.
Yet I look back and when I see that we are still struggling with the same problems in this country that we had 10, 20 or 30 years ago it makes me very sad.

Worse still the young people of Nigeria today have absolutely no idea about what a wonderful, prosperous and safe place our country used to be.

One sometimes wonders whether it was worth getting involved in politics at all.

The truth is that on the whole it has probably brought me more sorrow and pain than joy and fulfillment.

I wish that I had dedicated more of my time and life to my wife, family, loved ones and children but that was just not the case because I had this terrible passion for politics and for my country.

Thankfully most of us are now leaving it for those of you in the younger generation and I wish you all well. Most importantly I will continue to pray for my beloved country Nigeria.

Readers may like to know about you, your family background?

My great grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adedapo Kayode, was one of the earliest Nigerians to be educated having obtained an MA from the University of Durham, after which he became an Anglican priest. My grandfather, Victor Adedapo Kayode, studied law at Cambridge University and later became a lawyer and a judge.

My own father Victor Babaremilekun Adetokunboh Fani-Kayode, who was also at Cambridge was a prominent lawyer and political figure in Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s: he was Deputy Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria from 1963 until 1966.

I was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006.

I was appointed the Minister of Culture and Tourism from 22 June to 7 November 2006 and as the Minister of Aviation from 7 November 2006 to 29 May 2007.

I started my primary school education at the age of 8 at Brighton College, Brighton in the U. K. after which I went to Holmewood House School in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, South-East England.

After prep school I gained entry into Harrow School in Harrow on the Hill, United Kingdom and later on into Kelly College in Tavistock, U. K, where I completed the rest of my public school education.

In 1980, I proceeded to the School of Oriental and African Studies, where I graduated with an LL.B law degree in 1983.

I gained entry into Cambridge University (Pembroke College) where my grandfather, his father and his older brother, Akinola (Downing College) had all previously read law.

After finishing from Cambridge I went to the Nigerian Law School and in 1985 was called to the Nigerian Bar. In 1993, after a brief illness and under the tutelage of Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Ghana, I became a Pentecostal/Evangelical Christian.

I decided to go back to school to study theology at the Christian Action Faith Bible Seminary in Accra, Ghana, gaining a diploma in theology in 1995.

After leaving Nigerian Law School in 1985, I worked in the law firm of Chief Frederick Rotimi Williams in Lagos after which I moved to my father’s Law Firm “Fani- Kayode and Sowemimo”. After working there for three years, I was promoted to the position of a senior partner in 1989.

I was a member of the Nigerian National Congress (N. N. C) in 1989. I was elected the National Youth Leader of N. N. C that same year. In 1990, I was appointed as Chief Press Secretary to Chief Tom Ikimi, the first National Chairman of the National Republican Convention (N. R. C) and in 1991 as Special Assistant to Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, former head of the Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO).

Disturbed by the actions of Gen. Sani Abacha’s military junta in 1996, I left Nigeria and joined the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) abroad where, together with the likes of the Oxford University-trained lawyer Chief Tunde Edu and others, played a very active role in the fight against Abacha. I came back to Nigeria in 2001 and through my friend, Bashorun Akin Oshuntokun I met President Olusegun Obasanjo.

At the beginning of 2003, I was appointed by Obasanjo as a member of his presidential campaign team for the 2003 presidential election. After Obasanjo won the election I was appointed as the first ever Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In 2006 I was appointed as the Honourable Minister of Culture and Tourism.

I was re-deployed to the Aviation Ministry where I made some significant impact such as recapitalization and other reforms that put an end to the air disasters.

I returned to legal practice at the end of the tenure of Obasanjo’s administration on 29 May 2007.

________________ FFK, 2011

For those that may not know Daniel Wilson, is a fading musician who used to sing love songs back in the early '90's. Sadly today his sweet voice has gone, he is completely jobless and he is desperately trying to get the attention of the government. He is in every respect what is known in political circles as an ''eager prostitute''. He is a tragic figure, a parody of his old self and a fading star who is simply looking for public relevance and who is trying to curry favour with the authorities and the powers that be.


In order to achieve this end and, in my view, in a thoroughly shameless and outrageous manner he recently wrote an article titled ''Femi Fani-Kayode's Zombies'' in which he openly insulted Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the former Minister of Aviation of Nigeria and his 26,000 facebook friends (5000 of whom are on his ''friends page'' and 21,000 of whom are on his ''fan page''). In that article Wilson threw all caution and decency to the wind and expressed his displeasure in a what can only be described as a hysterical, bitter and venomous manner to Chief Fani-Kayode's article (which was posted on his facebook page) and in which the former Aviation Minister had argued that President Goodluck Jonathan had made a ''spiritual and practical error'' when he told the world that he was not ''a David, a lion or a general''. Chief Fani-Kayode had made this assertion in an article titled ''Goodluck Jonathan, David and Goliath'' which was widely published on the internet. In his write-up Fani-Kayode had argued that this was not the best approach to take for a President who was already perceived by the majority of his people as being ''weak'' and for a President who, in the very same speech, said that he would destroy the ''Goliath's in the land''. Fani-Kayode concluded his write-up by asking Mr. President, in a very logical and succinct manner, the following questions.


He asked, ''if you are not a David how can you kill Goliath, if you are not a general how can you be a Commander-in Chief and if you are not a lion how can you defeat and destroy the savage animals that have taken over the land?'' This was a profound and insightful observation and it certainly reflected the thinking of most right-thinking Nigerians who are not satisfied with the way in which the Boko Haram scourge has been handled by this government and who feel that President Jonathan's comments on that occasion were inappropriate, uninspiring and disappointing. Judging from the comments on the various threads many of Fani-Kayode's teeming admirers and friends on facebook also agreed with him and this seems to have upset Daniel Wilson to no end. Such was the level of his angst that he lost control of himself and went into what can only be described as a rabid, irrational, illogical, hate-filled frenzy and on a spree of vitriol. He accused Fani-Kayode's supporters and facebook friends of being ''zombies'' and he accused Fani-Kayode himself of committing ''treason'' and ''insulting the President'' simply because the former Minister had expressed his opinion on Mr. President's speech. One wonders if it was the same article that everyone else read that Wilson read too. It is quite possible that it may be another one entirely that only Wilson himself saw because the article that Fani-Kayode wrote on this issue is on the internet for all to see and there was not one insult, let alone treasonable assertion, that he made there. As a matter of fact by Fani-Kayode's customary no nonsense and hard-hitting standards and style this essay was very restrained, polite and mild and was more like an admonition than a criticism. He seemed more concerned for the President than angry with him. Yet the Daniel Wilson's of this world accused him of ''treason'', which is a crime punishable by death, simply for expressing his opinion.


He also alleged that Fani-Kayode had been ''sacked from his job as a Minister'' during the Obasanjo administration which of course is simply not true. I happen to be one of those that has been called a ''zombie'' by Daniel Wilson and that has had all manner of invectives poured on my head because I am one of ''those friends'' of Fani-Kayode on facebook and I am also one of those that has tremendous respect and admiration for him. I make no apology for that and I think that it is utterly shameful that this down and out crooner called Wilson has the sheer effontry and nerve to insult and pour scorn on one of the most brilliant, dynamic and educated minds that we have in this country. Chief Fani-Kayode is a first class public servant who has been in politics for 21 years and simply because Wilson disagrees with him on this matter and because he is looking for a few crumbs from President Jonathan's table he has insulted, misrepresented and sought to malign this great man. I think that this is reprehensible behaviour and that is why I have decided to respond to him by writing this rejoinder.


The truth is that Daniel Wilson is nothing but a malicious, pernicious and self-seeking liar. He is what the bible describes as an ''accuser of the brethren'' and he is a cold-blooded murderer. He ''murders'' by attempting to ''kill'' the reputation of others and worst still he does it for a fee. He is a man who indulges in character assassination and the peddling of falsehood and disinformation of the worse kind. He is also a dangerous man that does not serve the interest of President Goodluck Jonathan very well because he is making more enemies for him than he already has. Permit me to respond to the key points that he made one after the other and to at least attempt to set the record straight.

1. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode did not insult President Goodluck Jonathan in that write-up. I read it over and over again and there was not one insult there.

2. Even if he had insulted or been hard on the President he has every right so to do because we are not in a military era anymore and every Nigerian has the right to freely exercise his or her constitutional and inalienable right of freedom of expression at any time or place that he or she chooses to do so.

3. Chief Fani-Kayode, in my opinion, was right in his assessment and criticism of President Jonathan's unnecessary and unbelievable display of weakness when he made that controversial speech.

4. Chief Fani-Kayode most certainly did not commit ''treason'' by criticising the President and if Wilson thinks that he did so he clearly needs to go back to school and learn the meaning and gravity that is attached to the word ''treason'' or ''treasonable felony''.

5. Chief Fani-Kayode was not ''sacked'' from the Obasanjo government. He was appointed as Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the President in 2003 and he remained in that position until 2006 when he was appointed as Minister of Culture and Tourism. A few months later he was redeployed to the aviation sector and was appointed as Minister of Aviation. He served his country meritoriously and with distinction when he was in government and he saved many lives when he was Minister of Aviation by putting a stop to the numerous plane crashes that kept taking place before he got there. If you remember there had been no less than five fatal plane crashes in the period of one year and over 400 people had been killed. Curiously every single one of those crashes took place on a weekend which led to all manner of conspiracy theories but when Fani-Kayode got there he put a stop to the whole thing. He also introduced some very effective and far-reaching reforms at the Ministry of Aviation and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism which improved both sectors enormously and which have stood the test of time. The records show that he left government as Minister of Aviation on May 29th 2007 when President Olusegun Obasanjo's mandate came to an end, when the cabinet was dissolved and when President Umaru Yar'adua was sworn in as President. Where Wilson got the idea that Chief Fani-Kayode was ''sacked'' from office I really don't know.

6. Wilson had the guts to insult those of us that are Fani-Kayode's facebook friends and supporters and he did so out of nothing but jealousy, ignorance, frustration and bitterness. Most people that comment on Fani-Kayode's facebook pages are far better informed, better educated, more exposed, more enlightened and far more advanced than Wilson could ever be. His insults and denigration of these decent and distinguished people is only a reflection of the fact that he comes from the gutter and that he knows no better.

7. If Wilson wants favour with President Jonathan this is surely not the best way to do it. And he should stop making even more powerful enemies for the President than the man already has. Chief Fani-Kayode not only campaigned for Mr. President during the elections and openly opposed General Buhari's candidacy but he is also a leading member of the ruling PDP which is more than I can say for Wilson. He is also one of the famous ''OBJ boys'' and one of the favoured sons of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the man that put President Jonathan in power, even though he is one of those that is courageous enough to openly disagree with Obasanjo from time to time. His criticisms of President Jonathan have been very mild and muted when compared to the attacks that he made against the late President Umaru Yar'adua when he was still alive and General Muhammadu Buhari during the Presidential campaign. As a matter of fact when the fight over who would succeed Yar'adua started and the northern cabal and former Governor James Ibori wanted to stop Jonathan from taking over power after the former President died it was people like Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Mallam Uba Sani and many of Obasanjo's other footsoldiers that jumped into the boxing ring in the political arena, in the public space and even on the internet and on facebook and swung their strong support behind Goodluck Jonathan at the time. They took on Yar'adua's boys and the Turai cabal head-on and it really was a sight to behold. Yet now empty-headed attention-seekers like Daniel Wilson who know nothing about politics and who are new to the fray of public discourse and commentary are abusing some of them. One really does wonder whether he is drunk or on drugs.


Finally let me end by assuring Wilson that the only people that are still impressed with President Jonathan today are mostly those from his own Ijaw ethnic group. Virtually every other Nigerian from every other geo-political zone in both the north and the south simply despise his weakness and incompetence. He has squandered virtually all the goodwill that he had in the last one year and he is generally regarded by most people as being ''clueless''. If he goes on this way, assuming he even lasts in office till 2015, he will end up being the most despised and hated President that Nigeria has ever had because as a country we are now so badly divided. And when that happens I will not blame Jonathan and his team of advisors alone but I will also blame hungry and down and out praise-singers and cheerleaders like Daniel Wilson who won even more enemies for him than he already had..

________________ OOF, 2011

I would like to respond to the recent inaccurate and irresponsible article, filled with disgust and mental deficiency, published on saharareporters, nigeriavillagesquare and other online magazines by one Pius Adesanmi with the title ‘‘Getting Their Beering Wrong’’. I am particularly disturbed that Saharareporters and others, will post such an article devoid of intellectual objectivity nor intellectual analysis, I doubt if the editor of Saharareporters had the patience to read the whole long piece of “copy and paste” ‘opinion’ before posting it on the webpage for the sane minded readers.

If Adesanmi was fair to himself and his father’s name he should have exercised restraints over issues like this which purely lack substance, facts and accuracy. A Yoruba adage says ‘‘omo osan loun ko poun-po loba iya re nile’’ (It is only a prodigal son that brings dishonour & shame to his mother), this proverb can best describe who Pius Adesanmi is. I am sure if he had asked his counsel he could have been better informed about the damage he is doing to himself and career.  Although I truly agree with him that he has right not to believe Nigerian officials or politicians, his fundamental rights also allow him to believe wikileaks or anything else, or to possibly embrace all the uncensored cable appreciating them more than his Holy Bible or Quran. However it would be wrong for him in his infertile and vicious mind to take on Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and others, over some classified information that were released by wikileaks some of which are completely incorrect and fallacious.

Every right thinking individuals knew the damage this cable has done to all career diplomats (serving or retired) in the global community and some observers have even concluded that revolutions and reforms are in danger of being lost as the cables spread to intelligence contractors and governments before the public. For a hallucinating Adesanmi who is ostensibly uniformed about the realities attached to this cable, he should be guided that the United States, a country where he purportedly lives, denied ever cooperating with the anti-secrecy group, and blasted Wikileaks for threatening national security and the safety of confidential informants. Wikileaks equally blamed Britain’s ‘‘The Guardian newspaper’’ for the breach. They also emphasized that bulk of the information released are from their confidential informants at their various embassies and that all the information and conversation can’t  just be true, affirming that there must be some sort of distortion of facts and in some instances such conversation never took place coupled with the fact that some of the materials provided are not even verifiable. One wonders why Adesanmi has decided to seek pleasure in making this scandalous and derogatory opinion about these distinguished and well accomplished Nigerians including Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, el-Rufai Nasir, Okonjo Iweala and even President Goodluck Jonathan among others.

I have pleasure in tutoring Mr Adesanmi like a primary school pupil, by informing him that in the internet community there is what we call ‘’hacking’’ which can inadvertently  hit anyone on their social network or email accounts especially when the firewall on their computer systems are not strong enough to combat intruding virus, which was what Chief Femi Fani-Kayode experienced some months ago when his facebook account was compromised by some hackers who literarily hacked into his facebook page causing him inconceivable and regrettable damage in the public. This callous propagandist has also lied and misinformed the public by saying Chief Fani-Kayode posted suggestive pictures of his biologically children on his facebook photo gallery, this is also incorrect because there was no time such pictures were posted on his facebook photo gallery. You can check out the links below they would surely dissolve your sense of ignorance and indecent journalism, moreso this information can also make the public to be well informed about the facts of the matter erroneously raised by this confused and demented columnist. [Links: Sahara Reporters | Vanguard | Punch]

However, it should be on record that Chief Femi Fani-Kayode meritoriously served under the administration Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Minister of Culture and Tourism and later in the Aviation ministry. On the merit of this available fact, all right thinking person would surely expect him to stand in defence of his principal in those days and I don’t think he has done anything wrong in that regard. Therefore Adesanmi should not engage himself on any blue murder excursion, it is needless and I would advise him to utilise his writing skills on something reasonable that can add value to his professional career not by brandishing himself as a jester at the public gallery. A responsible journalist is expected to focus more on investigative work and backing it with irrefutable evidences. Meanwhile I have not seen anywhere in the world when writing rejoinders in the press has become crime, particularly when accurate facts are put in the right perspective to guide the public accordingly, so he should tell us how and where Fani-Kayode has wronged him.

Furthermore, Pius will do Nigerians (including me) great service by exposing the antics of corrupt and inconsistent Nigerian politicians who speak from both sides of their mouth, but for him to have chosen Chief Femi Fani-Kayode in such order he has gone for a wrong ‘bull’. I believe it would be fair enough if Nigerians can only commend and appreciate Chief Femi Fani-Kayode for his quick intervention in solving many delicate issues particularly when the nation was faced with incessant air crashes which bedevilled the aviation sector between 2005 and 2006. In fairness to President Olusegun Obasanjo he made a good choice in his minor cabinet reshuffle back then, when he redeployed Fani Kayode from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the Ministry of Aviation. The redeployment took place in November 2006. Before the redeployment, the country had experienced no less than five plane crashes in Nigeria with the attendant loss of approximately 400 lives within a period of one year. This was not only unprecedented in peace time but was also a national tragedy and disgrace and was widely acknowledged as being so. The plane crashes were, in no particular order, the Bellview crash, the Sosoliso crash, the military plane crash (in which some of our brightest and most distinguished generals were killed), the ADC crash and the crash of a small plane that took place in Kaduna . As if to add a rather sinister twist to the whole saga, virtually all these crashes took place on a weekend. This was a perplexing coincidence and was indeed by a curious and cruel twist of fate. It was clear and obvious to the discerning and spiritually sensitive that the demons of hell had been invoked and loosed into the Nigerian airspace in that one year. Fani Kayode took on these dark forces and their agents and restored discipline, accountability, sensitivity, responsibility and a full compliance and ‘no-nonsense’ approach to safety and security issues within the sector. For him, the protection of the lives and welfare of the Nigerian flying public was more important than anything else. To him it was his duty to protect these lives for the seven (7) months that he was at the Aviation Ministry. We thank God that in that primary assignment, by God’s grace, he was successful and the cycle of plane crashes stopped throughout the period that he was Minister of Aviation. Still the hatchet men wont stop their propaganda and media onslaught by way of misinforming the public about the aviation intervention fund and the roles played by the EFCC and judiciary among others things. The fact is that Fani-Kayode never stole any money and the fine gentle has clean bill of records contrary to the lies that have been served to the public by the inefficient and incompetent Farida Waziri and his boy Femi Babafemi. Here is also a rejoinder which put things in their correct proper perspective [Link: PointBlank]

I believe Mr Pius Adesanmi is a core Yoruba man, and for that I expect him to openly apologize to those he had sensationally disparaged simply because he feels he has good command of English or he could abuse or play with semantics. He should learn to be decorous with his choice of words while writing his opinions, nothing can be more retrogressive and disdainful than this and unfortunately for him this is not excellent journalism. He has not only done great harm to himself but to his entire generation by fielding falsehoods to the unsuspecting members of the public who are only nosing for news. He should know that he is not the only one who knows how to handle the pen in a manner capable of undermining the ethics of his profession. I will leave Pius to his conscience, but it is pertinent to emphasise on some specific lapses that are evident in his biased opinion. The potential consequences of being wrong in an article are far more extensive because of the impact upon the public discourse when it comes to deciding how issues are judged. Here, facts are used to persuade but what if those facts are wrong? The rule always has been that an editor publicly admits the error and prints (or broadcasts) the correction to it. Regrettably, that will not be the case here. Sure, letters may be written to the editor that may be printed long after the urgent momentum to reconcile the error has lapsed. Also, editors will leave it to essentially uninformed readers to decide on their own that is more credible. And, for those leveraging the PR efforts to sway public opinion and buzz for their politically and selfishly motivated efforts that will do nothing whatsoever to rectify falsehoods, they will be happy to know that editors will not bother to admit their errors or correct them in a prominent manner. This is not good journalism. And, it misleads deeply. Readers beware and thank you for dispelling this costly hoax and rumour.

________________ PBB, 2011

The fever that is raging in Nigeria today is "wikileaks". Yet as entertaining as these secret communications are the truth is that if you believe everything that you read in Julian Assange's "leaks" then you will believe anything. I say this based on my own personal experiences. So far I have been fingered twice by them and in both cases I can assure you that the stories were fabrications. They simply never happened. The first story (which was published in an internet magazine called "Nigerians Abroad" with wikileaks as it's source) claimed that I had lunch with my father and traditional ruler his Royal Majesty the Ooni of Ife, his son Prince Tokunboh Sijuwade and the then American Ambassador to Nigeria Mr. John Campbell in the Ooni's home in Lagos and that at that lunch we collectively "begged" the Americans to support President Olusegun Obasanjo's bid for a third term in office. Yet the truth is that this NEVER happened. The four of us NEVER had lunch together in Lagos or anywhere else at any point in time and we never had any other sort of meeting throughout the four years that I was in government, let alone discuss "third term".

If there was ever any meeting between the Ooni of Ife, Tokunboh Sijuwade and John Campbell I was certainly not there but I assure you that even if such a meeting between the three of them ever took place the Ooni of Ife, being one of the most reverred and respected traditional rulers in Nigeria,would never "beg" anyone for anything, least of all the Ambassador of a foreign nation. If anyone doubts my assertion that the four of us never met I challenge them to ask the Ooni himself or Tokunbo Sijuwade. The second story was that I had a Virgin Nigeria airport manager beaten up by 6 state security officers when I was Minister of Aviation because he would not delay a flight for a Presidential aide. They also said that I had the Virgin Airlines V1P lounge at Murtala Mohammed International Airport ransacked by "basebat wielding" security men because I wanted the lounge closed down. Again these events NEVER happened. As a matter of fact I was the one that approved the VIP lounge for Virgin at the international wing of the airport when I was Minister of Aviation and they continued to function there smoothly for over a year after I left office. Yet even though this was all bunkum this ridiculous story was recently published in a hitherto respected medium like Rupert Murdoch's Times of London which quoted wikileaks as their source of information.

I have of course briefed my UK lawyers and I intend to sue the Times who did not deem it fit to ask for my side of the story before going to press and publishing this falsehood. They will now be compelled by a British court of law to prove that these events actually took place. Again if anyone doubts my assertion that neither of these two incidents with Virgin EVER took place when I was Minister of Aviation they should reach Sir Richard Branson, the Chairman of Virgin or John Adebanjo, his representative in Nigeria, and ask them. They should also get the name of the Virgin Airline manager that was allegedly "beaten up" and tortured by state security operatives on my orders, get the names and description of the officers that did the beating, tell us exactly what location, what time, what day, what month and what year this event took place and finally get the assaulted and tortured manager himself and the former Managing Director of Virgin Nigeria to give a press conference and tell us exactly what happened. The problem is that Nigerians always like to assume the worst about their leaders but when it comes to allegations that appear in wikileaks we have to be very careful and far more circumspect. This is because simply because an event was reported to have happened by a low ranking American embassy official, the Consul-General or the Ambassador himself does not always mean that it is true. They are human beings as well and not angels and sometimes they embellish stories, fabricate lies, exagerrate events, sensationalise discussions or just base their reports on fake stories and idle gossip that they have been fed by their desperate, ever-ready and ever-eager to please local informants. We should stop being so gullible when we are fed these sensational reports and we should learn to be far more discerning than we are. Not everything that American diplomats and spies file and write in their secret reports to Washington is true. I know this from my own personal experience and the libellous falsehood that they wrote about me.

________________ FFK, 2011

It is very clear that some landmines were placed in our country by our former colonial masters that were designed to ensure that we fail as a united and prosperous nation after they left our shores and granted us independence. This is not only true but it is not even peculiar to Nigeria. As a matter of fact of the three major artificial amalglamations that the British colonialists established and forged into one nation only Nigeria still remains together as one country and from all indications it may not remain that way into the distant future. The other two were the Sudan (which has now broken into the two countries of Southern and Northern Sudan) and India (which broke into the three countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh not too long after independence). Both of them experienced brutal and prolonged civil wars and periods of ethnic and religious tensions and strife before they finally agreed to split up, dissolve the forced marriage and go their separate ways. There were many other former colonies and nation-states (some British and others not) that also broke up after their colonial masters left because they were also incompatible artificial creations and entities that were bound to fail right from the start. They were also ''forced marriages'' which eventually ended up in a divorce. I am talking about Malaysia (which immediately after independence broke into the two separate countries of Singapore and Malaysia), Indonesia (which later broke up into the two countries of Indonesia and East Timor), Czeckoslovakia (which later broke up into the two countries of the Czeck and Slovak republics), Yugoslavia (which later broke up into the five countries of Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, Monte Negro and Bosnia- Herzogovina), The Soviet Union (which later broke up into dozens of separate countries) and so on and so forth. Nations that were forced together by insincere and devious colonial masters and empires and that were forged by the whims and caprices of the imperialists do not often do very well or remain together for very long. And when they do it is a constant struggle. It is like being stuck in a bad and abusive marriage.

We in Nigeria have actually done very well when compared with the others and this says a lot for us as a people and tells a story about our ability to endure and our natural resilience. We certainly have strong shock absorbers. Despite a brutal civil war and despite our many regional, ethnic and religious differences and bouts of violence we have still managed to hold things together and not been forced go our separate ways. We have managed and tolerated each other with a smile despite our very real tensions, challenges and differences. However when there are very real and tangible tensions between the north and the south, when there is an unprecedented level of resentment between christians and muslims, when there is open disdain and contempt for what is (rightly or wrongly) perceived as the weakness and incompetence of a southern christian President by the majority of those in the core muslim north, when a full scale religious war is being waged in Jos between christians and muslims and when bombs are being dropped all over the place by islamist terrorists who wish to establish an islamic fundamentalist state in the north then all bets are off and the centre cannot possibly hold for much longer. That is my fear. It is either that this matter is contained quickly and these islamist terrorists and their backers and allies are exposed and completely crushed by the Federal Government or eventually Nigeria will break up.

The choice is ours. I love Nigeria as she is and I do not pray for a break-up but this is the bitter truth. Finally as regards the term ''Poor Husband'' and ''Rich Wife'' which some have complained about and that I used in my last essay on Nigeria titled ''The Poor Husband, The Rich Wife and Boko Haram'', I can understand the irritation of those that did not like those labels given the fact that most of those that complained were from the north. Nobody likes to be referred to as a ''poor husband'' (or indeed a ''rich wife'') and I meant no disrespect to anyone by using such terms. Unfortunately I did not coin these descriptive terms and so I cannot be held responsible for them and neither can I alter them. These were the words and terms which Lord Frederick Lugard himself used to describe the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria respectively. He labelled the north the ''poor husband'' and he labelled the south the ''rich wife''. Please blame him and his fiancee Flora Shaw (who actually gave Nigeria her name) and not me for these labels, these terms and these choice of words. Permit me to end this contribution by pointing out that at the time that Lugard created these two ugly terms and labels oil had not been discovered in the south (this was in 1914). His generous description of the south as being the ''rich wife'' was borne out of his acknowledgement of the fact that the southerners were hard-working, well educated, industrious and therefore relatively wealthy when compared to their northern counterparts. They also had far many more human, natural and mineral resources than the northerners of that day. Yet despite all this they were still only to be the ''wife'' and political power was to be preserved for the ''poor husband'' of the north who, though poor, was regarded as being far more pliant and easy to deal with by the British colonial masters.

________________ FFK, 2011

''Do people shape society or does society shape people?''

This is the question of the century and my answer is as follows. The sheer power of vision, creativity and strength that the human mind harbours and is capable of harnessing is truly remarkable. If properly channeled and developed it does not only have the potential of shaping sociey but it can also change it and alter destinies. This ethos and philosophy is well enunciated in William Ernest Henley's 19th century poem (which happens to be one of my favourites) titled ''Invictus''. It's most famous line where he confidently asserts that ''I am the captain of my ship, I am the master of my soul'' resonates deeply with me. These words are not only profound but they are also inspiring and beautiful. In his poem Henley is eulogising a beleagured soul who refuses to be intimidated, limited, bound or overwhelmed by the circumstances he has found himself in or by the cruel fate and ill-fortune that life has thrown his way. He depicts a gallant soul that has resolved to rise above it all, chart it's own course and forge it's own destiny. He is alluding to the philosophy of the ''triumph of the will'' and the concept of ''mind over matter'' and in so doing he affirms the Elizabethan worldview of life as enunciated by William Shakespear's character Iago (from the play ''Othello'') when he said '''tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus''. I share this worldview and what it affirms is the belief that real men ought to help shape the societies that they live in and invariably great men, who have the courage of their convictions, often do. I totally reject the opposite and paradoxical philosophy that was so well enunciated by Othello himself when he rhetorically asked ''who can control his fate?'' He obviously, and in my view erroneously, believes that fate and destiny lies in the hands of a ''higher power'' alone.

I also believe in the supremacy of God and in His ability to ''rule in the affairs of men'' but I am also of the view that to a great extent we mortals can also control our fate and that our future is determined by the choices that we make. Shakespear's character Cassius in the play ''Julius Caesar'' reiterates my point when he asserted that ''the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings''. Charles Kay Anyabuike, a young and obviously insightful Nigerian, put it even more succinctly when he said ''weak minds are shaped by society whilst powerful minds shape society''. Both Cassius and Anyabuike hit the nail on the head because throughout world history it has always been the powerful and assertive soul and the strong-willed that have made the difference and that have determined the course of events and the fortunes of their people. A few examples will suffice.

Without Genghis Khan and the power of his will the Mongols would have never amounted to anything. Without Atilla and the power of his will the Huns would have been nothing. Without George Washington and the power of his will America would never have been independent and free. Without Napolean Bonaparte and the power of his will France would never have ruled Europe and almost the entire civilised world. Without Vladimir Lenin and the power of his will the Soviet Union would never have been established and without Mikhail Gorbachev and the power of his will it would never have been dismantled and destroyed. Without Adolf Hitler and the power of his will Germany would never have ruled Europe and aspired to rule the world. Without Winston Churchill and the power of his will the Allies would have lost the Second World War. Without Margeret Thatcher and the power of her will Great Britain would never have got back on her feet. Without Maria Callas, Pavarotti and Placido Domingo and the power of their will opera would never have been loved and heard in the four corners of the earth. Without Voltaire, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Machiavelli, Michaelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Constable and Picasso and the power of their will we would never have enjoyed the pleasures and delights of literature and the arts. Without Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner and Handel and the power of their will we would never have enjoyed the most refined, the most beautiful and the most pure form of music ever created by mortals. Without Wordsworth, Ehrmann, Henley and Coleridge and the power of their will we would not have tasted the sweet nectar of poetry. Without Martin Luther King jnr. and the power of his will the United States of America would not have had a civil rights movement. Without William Wilberforce and the power of his will the slave trade would never have been abolished and British naval vessels would never have blown slave ships out of the sea.

Without Robspiere and Marat and the power of their will the French Revolution would never have been successful. Without Abraham Lincoln and the power of his will the United States of America would never have remained as one united nation and slavery would have continued to flourish in the south. Without Martin Luther and the power of his will the Protestant Church would never have been established. Without Queen Elizabeth the First and the power of her will England would have remained a tiny island-state and she would have been overwhelmed by the Spanish Armada. Without Queen Victoria and the power of her will Great Britain would never have been the greatest and most powerful empire in the history of the world and Brittania would never have ''ruled the waves''. Without Oliver Cromwell and the power of his will England would never have had a Parliament and power would never have gone to the people. Without Ayatollah Khomeini and the power of his will the Iranian revolution would never have succeeded. Without Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan and Menachim Begin and the power of their will there would never have been a state of Israel and she would never have survived. Without John Jerry Rawlings and the power of his will the Ghanaian revolution would have crumbled and would have been killed at birth. Without Kwame Nkrumah and the power of his will there would never have been any concept of ''Pan-Africanism''. Without Thomas Sankara and Patrice Lumumba and the power of their will, Burkina Faso and the Congo would never have been free. Without Jomo Kenyatta and the power of his will Kenya would never have been rid of the British. Without Nelson Mandela and the power of his will apartheid would not have been crushed in South Africa. Without Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo and the power of their will Rhodesia would never have become Zimbabwe. Without Pundit Nehru and the power of his will India would never have won her independence and without Mahatma Ghandi she would not have retrieved her soul. Without Mr.Jinah and the power of his will Pakistan would never have been carved out of India. Without Lee Kwan Yew and Dr. Mahatir and the power of their will, Singapore and Malaysia would never have been transformed into the great nations that they are today. Without Mao Tze Tung and the power of his will China would never have been the great giant that she is today. Without Count Von Bismark and the power of his will there would never have been a united German state. Without Charles De Gaulle and the power of his will there would never have been a French Resistance. Without Kamal Attaturk and the power of his will there would never have been a modern, powerful, secular and united Turkish state today. Without Alexander the Great and the power of his will there would never have been a united Greece. Without Augustus Caesar and the power of his will the Roman empire would never have flourished and gone from strength to strength. Without Bell and the power of his will there would have been no phones. 

Without Mark Zuckerburg and the power of his will there would have been no Facebook. Without Bill Gates and the power of his will there would have been no Microsoft. Without Steve Jobs and the power of his will there would have been no Apple. Without Fleming and the power of his will there would have been no penicillin and no antibiotics. Without Eddison and the power of his will there would have been no light bulbs. Without Albert Einstein and the power of his will there would have been no theory of relativity. Without Charles Darwin and the power of his will there would have been no theory of evolution. Without Buddha and the power of his will there would have been no buddhism. Without Mohammed and the power of his will there would have been no islam. Without our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the power of His will there would have been no christianity. Without Abraham and the powrer of his will there would have been no judaism. I could go on and on. The list is endless. These men and women, and many others like them through the ages, had courage, drive, purpose and vision and they helped to shape the fortunes of humanity and the destiny of nations. Society did not shape them but rather they shaped society by the very force of their will and by the courage of their convictions. This is what is known as the ''triumph of the will''.

Some have argued that had they not existed others could have successfully played their role. I beg to differ. Every single one of these men and women were unique and irreplaceable. Each one of them was carefully and specifically crafted, created, configured and contrived by the Living God to play their role on the world stage and to achieve their life's purpose. And even if there were others that could have achieved what they did or that assisted them from the behind the scenes, they alone had the drive, the commitment, the strength of character, the courage and the sheer force of will to bite the bullet, to take the risks that needed to be taken, to take the bull by the horns and to take a leap of faith. Not many can do that even where the seed of greatnesss has been planted in them. And that is precisely why there are so many dead heroes in the grave that never fulfilled their life's calling or had the chance to answer the call of greatness. Sadly such people have been long forgotten and tossed into the dustbin of history. These are men and women who were gifted with briliant ideas and great talents but who could not muster the fortitude and resolve to do whatever it took to bring out those potentials. This is tragic and sad and it results in nothing but unfulfilled dreams and shattered souls. What cripples most people is a lack of confidence, conviction, fortitude and faith and worse of all the fear of failure. This is what separates potentially great men and women who end up just being losers and dreamers and those that are the real heroes who end up being covered in the irresistable robes of eternal glory and greatness. The character traits that makes the real hero stand out is the ability to persevere against all odds, to endure difficult circumstances, to reject the fear of failure (which is the biggest dream and destiny killer of all), to cultivate the ability to take a gamble and to cultivate an unshakeable beleif in himself and in his cause. That is what makes such people unique. They were destined by God and providence to make a difference in their generation and in their various fields of endeavour, they worked extreemly hard, they burnt the night candle and perservered against all odds and they were gifted with extraordinary qualities to do all these things. This should be the quest and objective of every great man and woman- to live forever in glory in the hearts and minds of their people. This is what is known as ''the triumph of the will''. God bless you.

________________ FFK, 2011

The Lord Himself said ''I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail''. Nothing gives the believer greater strength and comfort than these beautiful and prophetic words. It speaks of our ultimate victory over satan and the inevitable triumph of light over darkness. Whatever may be happening in our lives or in our nation the Church is constant and true and she is always there for us. And what a joy it is to know this and to appreciate the fact that in the Lord and in His bride, we have a blessed assurance of salvation, deliverance, peace, joy and fullness of life. I love the Church. Yet the truth must be told. And that truth is unpleasant and bitter and it is as follows. The Church in Nigeria today is like the Laodicean Church as described by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Himself in the Book of Revelations, ''they are rich, they are wealthy but they have nothing'' and ''they blow neither hot nor cold''. They are weak and they are afflicted with a love for money and material things. The bible tells us that when God's judgement falls upon a nation it falls on the church leadership of that country before anyone else. The leadership of the Church in Nigeria is in danger of facing God's judgement and wrath because they have failed the followership and membership woefully.

There are a few noble and identifiable exceptions but most of these leaders are self-seeking, self-serving, judgemental and timid. They remind me of the Pharisees and Sadducees of the old testament- always judging others and never resisting evil but rather espousing and encouraging it. They are also mainly worshippers of mammon and not of God. If we had a truly strong, bold, disciplined and dedicated church leadership in our country today we would not be in the mess that we are in and the horrendous demons that hold sway in our land would have been prayed out long ago. The leadership of the Church did that successfully in Ghana many years ago and consequently God cleansed the land but it has never happened here. Where are our own Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams'? Where and when did the Nigerian Church go so badly wrong? It has not always been like this but sadly today most of our ''men and women of God'' are more interestred in the size of the church offering than they are in the number of souls that they are bringing into God's Kingdom. Their ambition is to own a private jet or to have the largest and most luxurious church-building in the land and not the propagation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it is not for us to reprimand or scrutinise them. God alone can judge them and He surely will. It is just a matter of time. 

Many church leaders have committed all manner of atrocities and abuse as a consequence of the deep reverence that we give to them but God is not mocked. He sees their hearts and knows their deeds. Remember what happened to the sons of Eli? Whatever they reap, they shall surely sow. I wager that if our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were to secretly appear in Nigeria today as an ordinary man and if he went to one of our numerous churches on a sunday morning he may not even be allowed to sit anywhere near the front row simply because he would have arrived on foot, without a long convoy of flashy cars and without an escort of black-suited armed bodyguards. The ushers would have regarded Him as being ''nothing'' because He would not have worn fine clothes, the most expensive shoes and the most extravagant watch. That is how misguided and degenerate the leadership of the Nigerian church has now become. Let me make this clear- if necessary I would lay my very life down for the propagation of the gospel of Jesus, for the Church of God and for the Bride Christ. I am a christian fundamentalist and for the last two decades of my life I have lived for Christ and by His grace and power alone. I love God deeply and I owe Him everything that I am today.

Without Him and the Church I would have been dead long ago. But within the leadership of the Nigerian Church today great and courageuos men like the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Dr. Olukoya, Rev. Adegboye, Bishop Okonkwo and a handful of others are few and far between. Truly annointed, disciplined, committed and respected ''end-time'' generals of that sort are not many in our clime. I have nothing but contempt for those that call themselves Church leaders but who use the gospel to line their own pockets and who manipulate the elect by indulging in charissmatic witchcraft, deceit, hypocrisy and profiteering. The truth is that God is love and His grace abounds and extends to all. No man or woman is free of sin and the sooner we appreciate the fact that we christians are no better than anyone else when it comes to misbehaving, the better. I have been a Pentecostal christian for 20 years and I know the Church inside out. As individuals the most important thing that we can do is to maintain a personal relationship with God Himself through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Chist and the Holy Spirit and to read the scriptures morning, day and night ourselves. We must not rely on the pastor for absolutely everything because, like us, he is human and the bible says ''cursed is he who relies on the arm of flesh''. As things stand today, the Nigerian Church needs plenty of prayers and we as a people need a few more of those that I would describe as God's ''end-time'' generals to lead it. And when we find those ''generals'' we must encourage, bless and support them in their work and ministry. Let those that have ears hear what the Spirit of God is saying. Shalom.

________________ ALO, 2011

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode in this interview speaks to BAYO OLADEJI over the feud between General Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida. Excerpts.

Sir, you issued a statement last Sunday taking a position on IBB/OBJ feud. But you later made a u-turn on OBJ. What went wrong?

Point of correction. I made a clarification and not a u-turn and there is a big difference between the two. As I said in the follow up statement that I issued after the first one, it became clear to me that many people had misconstrued my original comments and they perceived and interpreted them to be an attack on President Olusegun Obasanjo and an attempt to in some way demean, diminish and discredit him.

This was never my intention and neither did I ever use any of the words that were ascribed to me in any of the headlines that were used by the newspapers after that initial statement was released. I never said that Obasanjo was ‘’an ingrate’’ and neither did I say that he was ‘’ungrateful to people’’ --as was widely reported. I would never say such a thing about a man that I have come to see as a father to me and a man that gave me the opportunity to serve my country.

One thing about me is that I am a loyalist and I do not betray my leaders, friends, supporters or followers and neither do I play games. If I am with you, then it is unto death and if I am against you, it is unto death. That is me. And if for some reason I decide to part ways with someone, I will state my reasons for choosing to do so, put them on notice and move on. I don’t do doublespeak, I do not fear any human being and I am not a coward. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I was brought up to believe that you should always speak your mind and that courage is the greatest of all the virtues and as a matter of fact, the latter is my family motto.

If I tell you that I love Obasanjo, that means that I do. If I then suddenly decide that I now despise and hate him, I would tell you this in very clear terms and I would give you my reasons for doing so. But thankfully, that is not the case and neither could it ever be. He is like a father to me and I rather say that I have very strong feelings for him and I really mean it. In that same initial statement, I said that Obasanjo’s government, which I proudly served, was second to none and that his performance was first class. I also said that I disagreed with those that said his government was a failure and that I have a deep and abiding respect and affection for both him and General Ibrahim Babangida who I am also very close to. The fact that the two of them are going through a difficult time right now in terms of their relationship is a source of tremendous pain for me and I called for that rift to be settled in that press release and I am making that call again now.

Many of my family members, friends, associates, former cabinet colleagues and three of our traditional rulers in the South West expressed deep concern to me about the perception that I was being rude to President Obasanjo and of course, given that, I had to set the record straight. I may have gone on a historical excursion and I may not have been as sensitive as I could have been in my submissions and choice of words, but the idea that I wanted to be rude to or about former President Obasanjo just does not arise. I would never mean to do such a thing and if that is the perception that people have about that press release, then it is regrettable. I take full responsibility for it and I am now, once again, setting the record straight-no insult or disrespect to former President Obasanjo was intended.

What is the relationship between you and former President Olusegun Obasanjo?

The relationship between former President Obasanjo and I is one of deep affection, understanding and mutual respect. I have been closely associated with him for ten years now and I have come to love him as I loved my own father. But whether close or far, I love him all the same. He is a very complex man but at the same time deeply compassionate. And he was an excellent President and a first class leader. Like everyone else, he may have his shortcomings. He is not infallible. But as far as I am concerned, nothing has changed in our relationship. The man that I have spent the better part of the last ten years of my life defending and supporting and the man who I have risked all for and because of whom I and many others have suffered all manner of injustice, misrepresentation and persecution since 2007, is still my father and is still someone that I have tremendous respect for.

What is the implication of the OBJ / IBB feud?

The implication of that feud is simple and clear and it is as follows. The two most powerful and influential men in Nigeria today and the two most consistently relevant powerbrokers, kingmakers and leaders in our country since 1966 are now at loggerheads. They both have supporters and powerful friends in not just the ruling party but also in the wider political class, within the international community and within all the major institutions in our country whether it be the private sector, the civil service, the security agencies or the military. They are both also immensely wealthy and have used their power, wealth, connections and influence over the last 44 years to achieve some level of stability and direction for our country. Love them or hate them, no one can dispute the fact that God has used them both at critical times to bring progress and predictability to our affairs and they have done this by consistently remaining united, working closely together and understanding one another. There are a lot of things that both men have done together behind the scenes that have pulled Nigeria back from the brink and helped her enormously over the years and decades, but most Nigerians are not privy to those things because they are not in the public domain.

Only those in the circles of power and God that has used them both to do them know about those things. I would say that General TY Danjuma is the only other person that may fit into that category of consistently relevant powerbrokers that cannot be toyed with or ignored lightly in our affairs from 1966 till date. Now, a situation in which two of those powerbrokers are publically at each others throats cannot possibly augur well for the polity. This is especially so when one of them is a northern Muslim and the other is a southern Christian and when they both have substantial support in their constituencies. This feud is not good for the stability of our country, for the stability of our government, for the sustainance and consolidation of democracy, for the welfare of our people or for the cohesion, understanding and camaradie that is so badly needed amongst the major powerbrokers in the ruling class to keep Nigeria together as one nation into the distant future.

Let us make no mistake and let us take nothing for granted. The ethnic and religious tensions that exist in the land today are very pronounced and very real and we need people like Obasanjo and Babangida to help to douse those tensions and help to keep Nigeria together. They have spent most of their adult lives doing precisely that and they have been able to succeed only because they were united in their approach and their resolve. Simply put the implications of this feud not being resolved amicably and speedily are frightful, unpredictable, unpleasant and very dangerous indeed for the welfare, stability and cohesion of our country. That is why I am amongst those that believe that it must be resolved as quickly as possible.

You disagree with General Ibrahim Babangida that Obasanjo’s government was a failure, could you justify your position on that?

respect, admiration and affection for General Ibrahim Babangida both due to his record in public office, his monuemental achievements for Nigeria over the years and also due to his qualities as a person and as a leader. I have also had the privilage of becoming close to him of late and this is something that I deeply cherish. The truth is that, he is a wonderful man and a man of immense compassion, yet like so many of other men of power, including Obasanjo, he is badly misunderstood and badly misrepresented by those who do not know him well. Yet, regardless of my admiration and affection for General Babangdia, I did say right from the start that I do not subscribe to the view that the Obasanjo government, which I proudly served, was a failure.

I say this because virtually every sector of our polity and especially the economy during the Obasanjo years between 1999 and 2007 flourished and they were periods of immense growth and progress. We have not seen such growth and progress before or since that time and whilst I respect the efforts of all the other governments and administrations that have come and gone since then, including the present one, I believe that in terms of concrete record achievements, none come close to Obasanjo’s. President Babangida’s administration also did very well in many respects and he certainly liberalised and opened up the economy between 1985 and 1993, but after he left power things went very awry indeed for the next five years. President Obasanjo’s government came in in 1999 and continued where General Babangida’s stopped, built on his efforts and eventually restored our lost glory by 2007.

Let me give you just a few examples of his achievements. When he left government in 2007, Obasanjo left close to a 100 billion dollars in our foreign reserves, he left 20 billion in the Excess Crude Account, he wiped out our massive foreign debt, he ensured that economic growth was at a minimum of at least six per cent annually, he boosted the generation of electricity in the power sector and ensured that we were generating 4000 megawatts per day even though we were only generating 1000 megawatts per day.

When he first came to power in 1999, he reformed the aviation sector and stopped the cycle of plane crashes, he turned Nigeria from being labelled as a pariah state into the darling of the international community and the most powerful and influential voice on the African continent, he diversified the economy, boosted agricultural and industrial production, increased our agricultural exports and GDP to unprecedented levels, reformed the telecommunications sector and introduced GSM, established functional, disciplined, impartial and professional anti-corruption agencies such as the EFCC and ICPC that were properly led by responsible and thorough professionals and which were not used as political tools or weapons of political persecution, he brought sanity to and cleaned up our capital city Abuja and the FCT, he consolidated the banks, made them functional and professional and ensured that interest rates came down, he established the environment for a flourishing Stock Exchange where those that invested were making money, he attracted more foreign and domestic investment into the country than any other administration before or since his time, he opened up the gas sector and ensured that we were not solely and wholly dependant on oil.

He ensured that no-one was locked up, detained or charged to court simply for speaking or writing against his government, he set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commitee to heal the wounds of the past, he was decisive in fighting terrorism, regional militancy, ethnic militias, islamic fundamentalism and establishing law and order, he brought the brightest and keenest young minds from all over the world into his government and cabinet, he brought hope, self-respect and a greater sense of dignity to Nigeria and Nigerians all over the world, he stood up to the western powers and world powers where necessary and he won us a place in the G20 meetings, he played a leading role in the affairs of the west African sub-region by bringing peace, stopping coups and settling bitter and acrimonious disputes and divisions in many countries in our sphere of influence and within our sub-region, he helped to establish the African Union and he gave it teeth and credibilty and so on and so forth.

I could go on and on. Yet sadly, since the time he left office in 2007, virtually everything has either gone down in all these areas or completely collapsed. Just check the facts and figures. Just look at our role in the world and our domestic performance and record today. We are now back firmly back in debt, the Excess Crude Account has been emptied, depleted, scrapped and declared illegal, our foreign reserves have mostly been spent and are therefore far lower than they should be, power generation is down, the economy is no longer booming and neither is it growing at the rate that it should, the Nigerian Stock Exchange is no longer booming and has virtually collapsed, foreign and domestic investment in the country is no longer as high as it was, Boko Haram is ravaging the land, bombs are going off in Abuja, militants are being paid and settled, regional, religious and ethnic tensions pervade the land and generally speaking most people are not too happy.

Now when I look at all these things that are happening today and that have been happening in our country for the last four years, and I compare it to what happened when we were in power, I simply cannot subscribe to the view that the Obasanjo administration did not succeed or that it was a failure. We may have made a few mistakes here and there and I have alluded to those mistakes elsewhere in the past, but by and large, the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar was a great successs and I am very proud of the fact that I was part of that team. General Ibrahim Babangida’s government had its own strengths, achievements and glorious moments too just as I am sure that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan will also have theirs once they have properly settled down and got down to some work.

The challenge of the day is for all of us to appreciate our past experiences, achievements and strengths, pool together our resources and tap all we can from one another, both young and old, in order to move Nigeria forward. Both President Obasanjo and General Babangida together with all the other past key leaders in our country have a role to play in this respect and in assisting our country to flourish and achieve her full potentials. My prayer is that they stand together in unity and that they do so.

________________ BAO, 2011

It is with the utmost urgency and sadness that I have to point out the fact that the press statement that I issued on the 22nd August 2011 concerning the face off between President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida has been completely misconstrued and misunderstood by virtually all and sundry. I do not blame anyone for this but my own goodself given that my choice of words were clearly ambivalent. For the purposes of clarification permit me to point out the following. At no point in time did I say that President Obasanjo was "ungrateful" or that he was "an ingrate" and neither did I ever "slam" or "attack" or seek to "insult" or "demean" him in any way. This was never my intention and given the strong relationship that I have with him I would be the last person on earth to do such a thing. In the press release I pointed out the fact that I proudly served in his administration and that his government and record of performance between 1999 and 2007 was not only "first class" but also "second to none". I also said that I remain eternally grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to serve my country and that I had deep affection and tremendous respect for him just as I do for General Babangida. At the end of the release I concluded by expressing the hope that they settle the said rift as quickly as possible.

I did not in any way mean to inflame or widen the conflict by my comments because both men are very precious to me. That would be the last thing that I would wish to do. I simply went on a historical excursion which unfortunately appears to have upset and unsettled a number of people that I respect and that are very close to me, including a number of our traditional rulers in the south-west and some members of my family. This is unintended and most unfortunate because President Obasanjo is not just my President, my leader and my mentor but he is also like a father to me. I never intended to cause him any discomfort, any embarassment or to humiliate, disparage or undermine him in any way or on any issue. And if this is perceived to have been the case in this matter it is most regrettable and I hereby tender my unreserved apology to him. I have risked my life, limb, liberty and reputation for this great elderstatesman who I regard as the father of our nation for the last ten years and I would willingly do so all over again. Though he is not infallible and he has his weaknesses and shortcomings like everyone else that does not mean that the numerous virtues that I have consistently preached to the world that he possesses over the last ten years have suddenly vanished. President Obasanjo is by any standard one of the greatest Presidents that the world has ever seen, he is a worthy and loyal son of Africa and he certainly remains my leader. I sincerely hope that this clarification can help put my views about this matter and this great man into their proper perspective. Let me conclude by repeating the fact that my utmost desire is for these two great Nigerians to end this unfortunate rift amicably and as quickly as possible.

Thank you.

________________ FFK, 2011

I have the honour and privilage of knowing both of these elder statesmen and I have tremendous affection for them both . I served in President Obasanjo's government and I gave him my all. He in turn gave me the opportunity to serve my country and for that I am eternally grateful to him. However we must put sentiment aside when looking at this issue. Whilst I do not subscribe to the view or accept the notion that the Obasanjo administration was a failure and that it did not achieve anything, I do believe that Obasanjo made a grave mistake and indeed inflicted a deep spiritual wound on himself by insulting General Ibrahim Babangida in the way that he did. Calling Babangida a fool at seventy does not help matters and frankly it befuddles and beclouds the issues. Obasanjo should have responded to the issues raised by Babangida with far more restraint and he should not have insulted him. I am not in the least bit surprised that Babangida responded to those insults in the way that he did. You do not call me a fool at 70 the day after my birthday and expect me to keep quiet and smile, no matter what or who you think you are and no matter what may have provoked you.

Those that are around Baba today should have told him that. He left himself wide open for a solid counterpunch and a devastating right hook there. I have said it before and I will say it again, you cannot repay good with evil and get away with it for long. The bible says "He who repays good with evil, evil will never leave his household". Let me give you two reasons why I am referring to this scripture in this context. The first reason is because President Obasanjo would never have become military Head of State in 1976 had it not been for the fact that Col. Babangida (as he then was) courageously and single-handedly disarmed Lt. Col. Dimka and foiled his coup attempt after the latter and his group had successfully assasinated the then Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed. Had that coup been successful Obasanjo would have been shot by Dimka as well and he would never have gone on to succeed Murtala Mohammed. Had it not been for Babangida's unflinching loyalty to the government of the day and his decision to follow General T.Y. Danjuma's orders to the letter and courageously confront Dimka at the radio station, disarm him and crush the coup, Obasanjo would not have been in a position to do all those wonderful things that he mentioned that he did when he was military Head of State between 1976 and 1979 because he would have been shot. That is the first reason that he should be grateful to Babangida. For the second reason let us fast forward by 20 years from 1979 to 1999.

Again President Obasanjo has to be eternally grateful to General Babangida because had it not been for the latter he would not have been released from jail, pardoned, rehabilitated, funded and installed as President in 1999. This is an incontrivertible fact. Obasanjo went on from there to become one of the greatest Presidents in our history and his record of performance between 1999 and 2007, in my view, is first class and second to none. The records are there for all to see and the facts speak for themselves. Yet the truth is that Babangida must take some credit for that too because he was instrumental in making him President in 1999. When I was in government we had our differences with Babangida from time to time but he always responded to us with restraint, dignity, calm and self-respect regardless of our provocations and and our moves against him and his boys. Most important of all he stood solidly by those boys. The man is a strategist and he appreciated the fact that patience is a powerful weapon. For that he won my respect. For me this whole matter goes to the very character and leadership abilities of these two men. The truth is that the loyalty and support that an individual gives to any leader must be reciprocated and any leader worth his salt knows this. A leader that takes his followers for granted and takes pleasure in the destruction, humiliation, travails, shame and political persecution of his own loyalists is not a real leader but something else. On the other hand the leader that stands by his loyalists through thick and thin and that reciprocates the commitment, love, support, compassion and loyalty that he receives from them is a true leader. As far as I am concerned that is the difference between OBJ and IBB. Babangida recognises these things and is loyal to his own whilst Obasanjo does not. My prayer is that the rift is settled quickly.

________________ FFK, 2011

The Lord Himself said ''I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail''. Nothing gives the believer greater strength and comfort than these beautiful and prophetic words. It speaks of our ultimate victory over satan and the inevitable triumph of light over darkness. Whatever may be happening in our lives or in our nation the Church is constant and true and she is always there for us. And what a joy it is to know this and to appreciate the fact that in the Lord and in His bride, we have a blessed assurance of salvation, deliverance, peace, joy and fullness of life. I love the Church. Yet the truth must be told. And that truth is unpleasant and bitter and it is as follows. The Church in Nigeria today is like the Laodicean Church as described by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Himself in the Book of Revelations, ''they are rich, they are wealthy but they have nothing'' and ''they blow neither hot nor cold''. They are weak and they are afflicted with a love for money and material things. The bible tells us that when God's judgement falls upon a nation it falls on the church leadership of that country before anyone else. The leadership of the Church in Nigeria is in danger of facing God's judgement and wrath because they have failed the followership and membership woefully.

There are a few noble and identifiable exceptions but most of these leaders are self-seeking, self-serving, judgemental and timid. They remind me of the Pharisees and Sadducees of the old testament- always judging others and never resisting evil but rather espousing and encouraging it. They are also mainly worshippers of mammon and not of God. If we had a truly strong, bold, disciplined and dedicated church leadership in our country today we would not be in the mess that we are in and the horrendous demons that hold sway in our land would have been prayed out long ago. The leadership of the Church did that successfully in Ghana many years ago and consequently God cleansed the land but it has never happened here. Where are our own Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams'? Where and when did the Nigerian Church go so badly wrong? It has not always been like this but sadly today most of our ''men and women of God'' are more interestred in the size of the church offering than they are in the number of souls that they are bringing into God's Kingdom. Their ambition is to own a private jet or to have the largest and most luxurious church-building in the land and not the propagation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet it is not for us to reprimand or scrutinise them. God alone can judge them and He surely will. It is just a matter of time. 

Many church leaders have committed all manner of atrocities and abuse as a consequence of the deep reverence that we give to them but God is not mocked. He sees their hearts and knows their deeds. Remember what happened to the sons of Eli? Whatever they reap, they shall surely sow. I wager that if our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were to secretly appear in Nigeria today as an ordinary man and if he went to one of our numerous churches on a sunday morning he may not even be allowed to sit anywhere near the front row simply because he would have arrived on foot, without a long convoy of flashy cars and without an escort of black-suited armed bodyguards. The ushers would have regarded Him as being ''nothing'' because He would not have worn fine clothes, the most expensive shoes and the most extravagant watch. That is how misguided and degenerate the leadership of the Nigerian church has now become. Let me make this clear- if necessary I would lay my very life down for the propagation of the gospel of Jesus, for the Church of God and for the Bride Christ. I am a christian fundamentalist and for the last two decades of my life I have lived for Christ and by His grace and power alone. I love God deeply and I owe Him everything that I am today.

Without Him and the Church I would have been dead long ago. But within the leadership of the Nigerian Church today great and courageuos men like the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Dr. Olukoya, Rev. Adegboye, Bishop Okonkwo and a handful of others are few and far between. Truly annointed, disciplined, committed and respected ''end-time'' generals of that sort are not many in our clime. I have nothing but contempt for those that call themselves Church leaders but who use the gospel to line their own pockets and who manipulate the elect by indulging in charissmatic witchcraft, deceit, hypocrisy and profiteering. The truth is that God is love and His grace abounds and extends to all. No man or woman is free of sin and the sooner we appreciate the fact that we christians are no better than anyone else when it comes to misbehaving, the better. I have been a Pentecostal christian for 20 years and I know the Church inside out. As individuals the most important thing that we can do is to maintain a personal relationship with God Himself through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Chist and the Holy Spirit and to read the scriptures morning, day and night ourselves. We must not rely on the pastor for absolutely everything because, like us, he is human and the bible says ''cursed is he who relies on the arm of flesh''. As things stand today, the Nigerian Church needs plenty of prayers and we as a people need a few more of those that I would describe as God's ''end-time'' generals to lead it. And when we find those ''generals'' we must encourage, bless and support them in their work and ministry. Let those that have ears hear what the Spirit of God is saying. Shalom.

________________ FFK, 2011

Yesterday's killings in Norway are just unbelievable and horrific. 84 members of the Labour Youth Movement were shot to death in cold blood by a lone gunman on an island retreat and 7 people were killed by a bomb in Oslo. The perpetrator of both attacks is a right-wing 32 year-old christian fundamentalist conservative by the name of Anders Behring Breivek who has been described as being ''islamaphobic'' and who, in my view, is clearly insane. This tragedy has been rightly described by the BBC as the ''worst massacar in Europe in recent years''. Worse still it has been suggested that the perpertrator was driven to do what he did by his extreeme religious fanaticism. This is pure evil. It is madness. It is a monuemental tragedy. It is sheer wickedness and it must be condemned by all in the strongest terms. My heart goes out to the families of all those that have been killed. I am a christian and today I am ashamed of what this so-called ''christian brother'' and ''believer'' has done. May God deliver us from mad men who commit all manner of atrocities in His name. Whether it be muslim terror, christian terror or any other form of terror, terror is terror and it must be condemned.

The perpertrator is apparantly active on fb and he had just opened a twitter account a few days ago. The first and only posting that he ever made on that twitter account was the following quote by George Stewart Mills- ''A man driven by his belief is more dangerous and powerful than a hundred thousand that are motivated by their interests''. This speaks volumes. And I really do wonder what those beliefs are? He was dressed as a policeman, he was very well-armed (in a country that it is next to impossible to get weapons), the police took over one hour to get to the island to put a stop to his killing spree and the bomb that he planted in Oslo was highly sophisticated, well-primed, extreemly powerful and utterly deadly. In view of all these facts the question has to be asked-was this young man acting alone or were there some ultra-conservative, ultra-nationalist, right-wing groups from within the Norwegian establishment that hate the idea of a multi-cultural, multi-religious Norway and Europe secretly backing him? Who equipped and trained him? Who motivated him and who are his mentors? Hopefully the next few weeks will reveal a lot more about who he is, what goes on in his dark and twisted mind and who he represents. Meanwhile may the souls of those that were so brutally and so cruelly cut short rest in perfect peace.

________________ FFK, 2011

According to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr. David Cameron, Nigeria is ''a dream waiting to happen''. How very gracious and kind of him it is to remind us of this but I cannot help believing that it was said tongue in cheek. It is rather like a wicked parent telling an abused child whose legs that same parent had broken and crippled one hundred years earlier that ''don't worry, one day your dream of walking will become a reality''. Worse still whilst mouthing such patronising platitudes to the poor child the trucluent parent still holds it down, still smashes it's legs with a cruel iron rod and continues to forcefully confine it to that 100 year old wheelchair. History proves that this is what the British, the great race of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic warriors that David Cameron so proudly leads today, have effectively done to us as a nation and as a people. Nigeria was a hobbled giant right from the start. We were an artificial entity created in 1914 for one purpose alone - to serve the economic and strategic interests of our former colonial masters and to provide a source of cheap raw materials for Her Majesty's imperialist and all-conquering Great Britain. And that remains true till today. As a nation our only passport to international prominence and respectability is the ''black gold'' that glues us together that is better known as ''crude oil''. And given all the challenges and crises that we have faced in the last 50 years the debate still rages as to whether that ''black gold'' is actually a blessing or a curse. Yet David Cameron comes to our sad, beleagured, underdeveloped, divided and undernourished country and mocks us. He tells us to simply ''dream of tomorrow''. How cruel can people be, even in jest? This is especially so when they pretend to be friends. 

Fifty years after our independence this noble young ''Englander'' is telling us that we should still ''wait for our dream''. Well that is a veiled insult if I ever saw one. Sadly most Nigerians do not even get the depth or import of what he is really trying to say and they are clapping heartily for him. They do not appreciate and cannot grasp the subtelty of the British. Such people need to stop and think. What he is actually saying, and he is absolutely right, is that as a nation we are a complete disaster and failure and that if we are lucky our shocking fifty-year nightmare of questionable nationhood may one day transform itself into a pleasant dream. This is deeply insulting. Yet the truth is that if anyone scuttled our ''dream'' right from the beginning and right from the time that it was first conceived, that person was, more than anyone else, was the British, with their condescending, mercantile, imperialist, colonialist and neo-colonialist policies and attitude. The truth is that Nigerians have been waiting in vain for Cameron's Nigerian ''dream'' to manifest and become a reality since 1914 when his forefather, kinsman and compatriot Lord Frederick Lugard in what can only be described as a lucifrean ritual with his pretty little consort Miss Flora Shaw merged and married us as one nation and named us ''the area of darkness'' (''Niger''...''area''). We have waited in vain for the manifestation of that elusive, fickle, ephemeral, mirage-like, non-existent and impossible ''dream'' since that time. We have been waiting for it since they scuttled us and crippled us by fixing the census figures and handing over power to their ''friends'' when they gave us independence in 1960. Such wickedness and deceit, borne out of nothing but greed, avarice and the desire to dominate and control indefinately and into perpetuity has rarely been seen in the history of the world.

All I can say is that may God deliver us from these deceitful and condescending devils. They castrated us from the start with their policy of slavery, pillaging, economic exploitation, indirect rule, fiscal bondage and their shameless support and encouragement of successive military governments and coups and now they have the effontry to mock us with childish, patronising and uncharitable words as a consequence of the nightmare that we have become. They glibly tell us to ''dream on'' with a friendly smile and a pat on our back? And 50 years later we are still ''dreaming'' and refusing to acknowledge the fact that our problem is both fundamental and structural. How very sad. Are there no men and women of vision, courage and character left in our nation or have we killed them all with our lamentable and abysmal culture of destruction of all that is good, our slavery and bondage to complacency and our wholesale and inexplicable espousal of all that is mediocre? Oh God of Heaven, if thou be as real, as merciful, as compassionate and as all-powerful as we believe you to be, deliver our country Nigeria and make her great in the comity of nations. Deliver her from the spirit of the inept and bungling dwarf that has seized her and transform her into the giant that she can potentially be. Let it be so that these mocking devils may know that you alone rule in the affairs of men and determine the destiny of nations. Let our English ''friends'' that glibly and sarcastically tell us to ''dream on'' eat their own words and show them that we are not the hopeless basket case that they secretly believe us to be. By the power of the Living God, one day our collective nightmare of national existence will be over and OUR very own dream, and not the one that was crafted for us by Brittania, will become a reality. God bless Nigeria.

________________ FFK, 2011

Permit me to share a few words that my young fb friend (whom I have never met before or even spoken to), Mohammed Mustapha Idris, sent to me earlier on today. He is of course a devout, practising muslim and a young man that many of us hold in high esteem for his consistency, courage and extraordinary writing skills. We may not always agree on issues but he is certainly one ofthose young leaders from the north that needs to be encouraged, nurtured and closely watched. He is on of those that I would describe as the proverbial ''rising star''. He wrote the following....

''Good day sir. I just finished reading your article titled '' The Poor Husband, The Rich Wife & Boko Haram'' in pointblanknews.com and it was exactly what I've come to associate with your person and your write-ups: articulate, well-researched, well-thought out, educative, coherent and point blank.

I'm sorry, but I do not know when Asari Dokubo found faith, discovered himself and became a person of such importance as to advise the President on isssues of such national importance as the threat to our shaky, forceful, unfortunate and improbable oneness as a nation state. Well, I supppose that's what happens when law-breakers are pampered; they naturally would call the shots. I suppose Asari deludes himself that the name or title 'mujahid' changes him from what he truly is! Only in Nigeria!

Question is, what cause is the Boko Haram fundamentalists fighting? Like I always say, when a man is headed to 'no where in particular' how does he know when he's gotten there? The sect memebers are just destroying everything and killing and maiming evryone in sight, so what exactly are we supposed to offer them in exchange for peace? Islamisation of 12 Northern States? Abolition of television, phones, education, cars, roads, planes, and modern buildings? Sentencing to death of those who have dared stand up to them? Come on, this has got to be a joke! Not even the Taliban was so backward bound, and yet see what happened to them. Let's find out from Adviser Asari what we should offer them on the negotiating table, amnesty? Someone has got to be kidding me.

I'm from the North-eastern State of Bauchi, but I never had the 'honor' of meeting a Boko Haram member or sympathiser in the flesh until, while having breakfast at an Amala joint this morning (thurs. 14/07/11) I heard the discussions on the telly on the inappropriateness or otherwise of ex-governors Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno and Danjuma Goje of Gombe and Governor Issa Yuguda of Bauchi apologisng to the Boko Haram members for theirs roles, the governors, in trying to quell the threat that the sect posed to our nation, lives and property, and I guess I completely lost control of my temper.

Turning to my friends, I angrily pointed out to them that the weakness in the very fabric of our national life stems from weaklings ruling us. Rhetorically, I inquired who it was that was going to compensate and apologize to the families of very innocent Nigerians, in their thousands, who have been maimed, injured, traumatised and killed in this baseless, aimless and pointless war being waged by those criminals that claim that 'western education is sacrilege' yet they use phones, computers, cars, television, radio and numerous other things that western education alone has brought about.

The word 'criminal' obviously hit the wrong cord with one of the fellow diners, who got so upset by that word he was ready to throw punches until the realization hit him that I was read to get dirty and beat him to pulp.

The shame of it all, was that others diners, people whose lives and livestyles have in one way or another, been affected by this attrocious and sacrilegious war of unjustifiable cause, started trickling out, some even leaving their meals half-eaten, because of the fear of the repercussion of that heated argument. Only in Nigeria.

My point, Sir, is this, President Goodluck Jonathan should cease counting on luck and good fortune to win this battle for him or make this nightmare all go away. He must, as a matter of necessity, stand up for once and justify the trust Nigerians bestowed on him on the 27th of April, when we entrusted him with defending the Constitution, guarateeing us the security of our lives and property and ensuring that we are not oppressed either by internal or external forces. So far, he has failed, and woefully, too. So Asari might be justified for giving the only counsel he knows; negotiate with all robbers, rapists, arsonists, child molesters, kidnappers, car-snatchers, murderers, set some up in mansions with sizable pensions to go with it, take others for training in exotic lands and places, and Nigeria shall be better for it, all they need do is conceal their true intenions under the garb of 'islam' and they become untouchable! Only in Nigeria.

There should be no negotiating with, or 'carrot and stick' approach for those agents of backwardness, darkness, death and destruction, for if we negotiate with wanton killers, what precedent would we be setting? That Al-Qaeda can come headquarter in our country? Are we truly this weak or is it a ploy, some tactic, may be, aimed at tackling this problem? I sure do hope so.

In no country of the world do government negotiate with terrorists, not even in Iraq or Afghanistan. America is the most democratic country in the world, its human rights records surpasses that of any other, yet they planned, plotted, strategised until they removed from the scene the number enemy of humanity, Osama bin Laden. How come we never copy America and others like it, when it matters?

Like you pointed out, Sir, the only solution to this menace is throwing in the gauntlet, engaging the sect in a fierce no-holds-barred battle and taking down all those behind this severe breach of the Constitution. But that requires will-power, and presently, Mr. President does not appear to posses nor be willing to exercise such will. And this is to our collective detriment.

Sir, you've been there, you have clout, you have a voice, could you, and those like you, whisper some words into Jonathan's ears and point him in the right direction?

This is not the intractible power problem, nor the dearth of education and our eduucational institutions, nor the fact that our highways are deathtraps, nor that our health institutions are in shambles, nor that we have no representative government to speak of, nor that gas is still being flared, nor that we still have no refineries, this is far worse. This is a matter of life and death, and should be handled and treated as such.

And Sir, while you are at it, could you ask Dr. Jonathan what he's waiting for before he gets Mal. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to explain to him and Nigerians why he considers now the most opportune and appropriate time to introduce Islamic Banking in the country and further heat up the polity. Or do we have to wait until it comes to bite us in the collective ass as Yerima's political sharia has given birth to Boko Haram? We're perpetual reactionaries. God help Nigeria!'' -MOHAMMED MUSTAPHA IDRIS, FB, JULY 15th 2011.

________________ MMI, 2011

The statements below are credited to Lord Frederick Lugard (1858-1945), who presided over the Northern Nigeria protectorate and the became the first Governor General of a merged Nigeria from 1912-1918.

He made these statements about the African in general, but about the Nigerian in particular almost a hundred years ago. Please read.

''In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. (1) Lacking in self- control, (2) discipline, and (3) foresight.

Full of (4) personal vanity, with (5) little sense of veracity, fond of music.

His (6) thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he (7) suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past.

He (8) lacks the power of organization, and is conspicuously (9) deficient in the management and control alike of men or business.

He loves the (10) display of power, but fails to realize its responsibility…

Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his lack of ability to visualize the future.''

Your initial reaction may, like mine, have been to write this off as a disparaging piece of balderdash coming form a racist colonialist, however on further examination some may come to the conclusion that his words have a true ring to them even a hundred years after they were spoken. What do you think?.

________________ FFK, 2011

This morning another creature from the sea has crawled out of the marine kingdom in a desperate attempt to humiliate, stop and destroy Dominique Strauss Khan. This time it is a French woman called Tristane Banon who claims that Dominique Strauss Kahn tried to rape her in a Paris apartment in 2002. She has said that she will file charges against him in France. This was said at a time when speculation was rife that Strauss Khan may be rejoining the French Presidential race. The relevant question, once again, is the timing. Why did she wait for 9 years before deciding to file charges and why did she wait until it was clear that the rape case that was filed against him in New York in relation to the African chambermaid had fallen apart? I find this latest twist to the saga very suspicious and I think that the whole thing is utterly shameless. Why can't these ''strange women'' just leave this man alone. Did he break their hearts or hurt them in any way? Is that the motive? Or is it political, as I have always suspected?

I don't believe for one minute that DSK is a rapist. Tristane Banon is just another Daughter of Jezebel and Dalilah who is on a mission to destroy a man of destiny. Sorry ladies but that is my view. The fact that pretty, young Tristan also happens to be a writer and regular contributor to a pro-Sarkozy website magazine also tells a story. The million dollar question that everyone is asking today is ''who is after Strauss-Khan?'' Is he a demon or a saint. Is he a predator or a victim. Is he a hunter or is he being hunted? We may all have our various opinions and theories but at the end of the day only time can tell us what the truth really is. I close by repeating my favourite prayer, ''may the Lord deliver us from the Daughters of Jezebel and Dalilah and from the Children of the Sea''..

________________ FFK, 2011

If I am one of those that has contributed to the challenges of this nation then may God cause me to be amongst the first that are killed whenever the revolution comes. If I am not one of those that has contributed to the problems of this country then may God cause me to be amongst those that eventually provides a solution to them. Again if I am not one of those that has contributed to the problems of this country may God have mercy on you for judging me wrongly and assuming that I am. What I do know is that at some point in time that revolution will come and I say any price is worth paying, including the supreme one, to make Nigeria a better place.

________________ FFK, 2011

All those exciteable, naive and impressionable people that came on my wall crucifying Dominique Strauss-Khan a few weeks ago should bury their heads in shame. The young west African chambermaid that alleged that he raped, sodomised and forced her to perform fellatio (oral sex) on him, according to the New York Times, apparantly has links with drug dealers and money-launderers and there is little or no evidence to sustain the charge and the allegations that were made against him. He has been freed from house arrest and it appears that all those that dismissed my assertion 6 weeks ago in my note which I posted on this wall titled ''Dominique Strauss Khan, Sexual Assault and the Exciteable Chambermaid'' were completely wrong to do so. In that note I had voiced my suspicions that this woman's story was questionable, that in my view she was actually a fraud and that she probably working for the French (and possibly the American) security and intelligence agencies in a grand conspiracy to bring Strauss Khan down and prevent him from running for the French Presidency next year. But many, particularly amongst the females in our midst, disgreed with me vehemently and dismissed this postulation as being ''far-fetched'' and ''ridiculous'' and some even said that it was ''deeply insulting''. I guess that those that felt that way at that time may feel rather silly now. Such people owe both myself and Mr. Akin Ajose Adeogun, my friend and brother who suggested that this is the sort of thing that some working class African girls end up doing in America and Eurpope when they get there and was villified for it, an apology.

Yet despite the fact that things are looking a lot better for Strauss Khan and he is unlikely to end up in prison, his reputation still remains in shreds and his career has been ruined. The objective of those that were behind the whole set up has been achieved, he has been shamed out of the IMF, he has been utterly humiliated before the world and, since the case is still going on, he will not run in next years Presidential election in France where he had been tipped as the front runner in the race against sitting French President Nicholas Sarkozy. This is such a tragedy given the fact that this man is most likely innocent of any wrongdoing. His only crime was that he had a strong and virile libido, a vivid imagination, a penchant for romantic adventures and that he enjoyed the company of women. This is precisely why the presumption of the innocence of an accused person until he is proved guilty is so vital. It is an absolutely fundamental legal principle which a lot of non-lawyers and lay men do not appreciate unless and until they are accused of doing something that they never actually did. I know the feeling because it has happened to me too. To be falsely accused and charged in a court of law for something that you never did by the state is a living hell and it is made all the worse when it is politically-motivated. The world had condemned and convicted Dominique Strauss Khan in the court of public opinion and in their hearts. It was only in his native France where the polls showed that the majority of people believed that he had done nothing wrong and that this was a classic James Bond-type set-up that he received any support. Sadly virtually every single African woman that I know condemned this poor man and assumed the worst about him. I was even chastised and insulted by many in my inbox for daring to suggest thgat Straus Khan was innocent and for consistently asserting that the whole thing smells of a government-sponsored set up on my fb wall. Even my simple prayer after the news of this event broke that God should deliver us men from ''the Daughters of Jezebel and Dalilah'' and ''the Daughters of the Sea'' (like this west African Francophone chambermaid that in my view had been sent to mess up Strauss Khan by the devil and the powers that be) was met with tremendous hostility, opprobium, resistance and contempt in a numberof places and on a number of fb walls where this matter was discussed. I asked how it was possible for a woman to be forced to give a man a blow job without biting off his penis and yet I was met with skepticism and insults on my inbox. Naturally I took it all in my stride but things are now looking a lot clearer and we are now beginning to see the truth.

This is very good news indeed for Dominique Strauss Khan and I am very happy for him and for his wife and children. The matter is not over yet but let me tell you how it will end. Srauss Khan will be aquited. The pretty and exciteable chambermaid will be sued for every penny that she has in a civil court. Worse still she will be deported back to the deep waters of west Africa ''from whence she came'' and before being sent back there she may even end up being investigated, implicated, charged, prosecuted and imprisoned for a number of years for her links to the criminal underworld in America. Whatever money she was given to set up this man will soon be finished and those that used her, when the storm finally hits her, will act as if they never knew her in the first place. That, and even worse, is always the end of low level pawns and those that bear false witness, that gladly implicate innocent men and women and that are given to betraying others. They never end well and they always die a slow and terrible death. And so it shall be for this wicked chambermaid who has disgraced African womanhood by her lies, her deceit, her evil soul and her disgaceful actions. What a lot of people do not know about the scriptures and the story of Samson and Dalilah is that when Samson died, Dalilah died with him. The morale of the tale is this....those women (whether they be ex-girlfriends, ex-wives, ex-lovers, ex-flings or even disgruntled and bitter siblings) that dedicate their lives to destroying a man with lies, misrepresentation, fabrication, extortion and falsehood will end up falling into destruction with that man when and if his time ever comes. And after that fall such women will burn in the hottest part of hell for their wickedness. Shame on all those that had crucified this innocent man called Dominique Strauss-Khan even though he had not (and neither will he ever be) been convicted by a court of law.

________________ FFK, 2011

Poor Dominique Strauss-Khan, the erstwhile Managing Director of the IMF and the former French Minister of Finance. I bet that he wishes that he had quietly stayed at the IMF and that he had never expressed his intention to venture into the murky waters of French Presidential politics. He was the hope and pride of the French socialists, he was due to formally announce his Presidential ambition in a few days time and, according to the opinion polls, in a straight fight he would most likely have defeated President Nicholas Sarkozy in the Presidential elections which are due to be held next year. He was warned by many and told that Sarkozy is not a clean fighter and that he is a very desperate man who would do literally anything to remain in power. He was told to back off and to stay out of politics but he wouldn't listen. Now they have made their move and they have got him. And all it took was the services of a pliable and exciteable Manhatten hotel chambermaid who needed some money and who has a big mouth and a vivid imagination.

This was the classic set-up. When ''they'' told Strauss-Khan to back down he really should have listened because ''they'' were the ones that put him in the IMF in the first place. So did he try to rape, sexually assault and imprison the pretty little Guinean chambermaid as is being claimed? Did he force her to give him oral sex in the 3000 USD dollar per night Manhatten hotel penthouse suite as the prosecution have alleged? I doubt it very much and as far as I am concerned they can tell that neat, tidy and convenient little story to the marines. And can someone please tell me how on earth a man can force a woman to give him a ''BJ'' without running a serious risk of having his private part bitten off? It is either that she tempted him, led him on and then suddenly started screaming, claiming that he was trying to rape her, or it never happened at all. Whichever way it was a set-up and it was a pretty good one too. The bottom line is that he should never have been alone in the room with that chambermaid in the first place. The stakes were just too high for him to be alone in a room with a young lady like that and to take that kind of risk. Poor, poor Dominique.

________________ FFK, 2011

I have nothing against Muslims or against the Islamic faith. As a matter of fact some of my closest, most honest, most God-fearing and most loyal friends are practising and devout Muslims. I do however have to say that I completely disagree with my respected younger brother, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, when he recently suggested (in what was  in every respect, other than in it's conclusions and recommendations, a well-written, well-researched and well-thought out article titled ''How To Address The Boko Haram Problem In Nigeria'', 25th June, 2011, FB) that President Goodluck Jonathan should seek dialogue and enter into negotiations with Boko Haram, the ruthless Muslim fundamentalist sect and anarchist terrorist group that has killed thousands of innocent and defenceless Nigerian men, women and children in the last two years.

 In my view Boko Haram must be utterly crushed by the government and not ''entered into negotiations'' or any other form of dialogue with. This is because in my view there can never be dialogue with those that seek to establish a 17th century Islamic fundamentalist caliphate all over the civilised world and those that seek to impose their strange values on the rest of humanity. There is no doubt in my mind that Boko Haram is part of the world-wide Al Qaeda-sponsored ''global jihad'' and if we give them one inch they will definitely take a mile. We cannot afford to have ''peace'' with them on their terms alone or ''peace'' peace with them at the cost of our hard-earned civil liberties, cherished values and modern way of life. There must come a time when we can boldly say ''enough is enough'' and when we draw the line in the sand. And if Boko Haram cross that line they must be cut to pieces by the Nigerian Armed Forces and the security agencies. That is what a strong, focused, resolute and purposeful government is meant to do. Mujahid Asari Dokubo has also said that Islam is playing a ''second fiddle'' role in Nigeria and that Judaeo-Christian beliefs ''dominate the country''. This is not true. It is a fallacy and it is intellectually dishonest. Nigeria is a secular state and, if anything, since independence it is the Muslims more than anyone else that have dominated the Nigerian state and it's institutions. The records are clear and are there for all to see. 

We must understand that Boko Haram, what they stand for and what they seek to establish is patently evil and that what they are doing represents the greatest threat to Nigerian unity since our civil war. They are not just a danger to Christians and other non-Muslims alike but they also present a very real threat to the lives, security and property of moderate, non-''islamist'' and non-jihadist Muslims as well. Moderate Muslims like Mujahid Asari Dokubo would do better by trying to educate and enlighten his more extremist Boko Haram islamist brothers to behave themselves, to stop killing innocent people, to stop slaughtering Christians and moderate Muslims, to stop destabilising the Nigerian state, to stop trying to Islamise northern Nigeria and return her to the dark ages of the 16th century and to stop trying to wage a global war of terror against the rest of humanity rather than encourage them. We as a people must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by their evil agenda and we must wipe them out, no matter what or how long it takes. No responsible and strong government in it's right mind would compromise or enter into negotiations and dialogue with such godless, barbarous and evil men and with such violent and bloodthirsty anarchists. Their agenda is not only absolutely evil but it is also anti-Christ.

To throw down the gauntlet and vigorously confront such evil is one of the major challenges of our time and it is a challenge that our government must not fail to rise up to in a fearless, vigorous and responsible manner. Sadly in his response to me my younger brother Asari Dokubo appeared a little offended at what he described as my ''derogatory language'' towards Muslims and reminded me that he himself was a practising and devout Muslim and he advised me to ''desist''. My response to him was that my so-called ''derogatory language'' was not directed against the ''Muslims’' but rather against the ''islamists'' and I was sure that he must know the difference between the two. I went further by advising him to please understand that just as he said that he is ''a Muslim'', I am also ''a Christian''. And just as he takes exception to what I have said here about the islamists that seek to spread global jihad, I also take equally strong exception to the fact that literally hundreds of thousands of my fellow southern, middle-belt and northern Christian brothers and sisters have been killed by Muslim fundamentalists and islamists in northern Nigeria over the last 50 years for no just cause. The innocent blood of those people cries to God in heaven for vengeance up until today and it gets louder and louder by the day. I am the last person that anyone should attempt to play this ''Muslim versus Christian'' card with because I have been there many times before. Boko Haram have said publically that they want sharia criminal law and an Islamic fundamentalist state, where no western education is to be permitted, to be established in all the northern states of Nigeria before they stop killing and bombing innocent people and spreading terror. Well I have got news for them- that will never happen as long as Nigeria is a secular state. And if Nigeria ever stops being a secular state then we will simply break it up and go our separate ways. It is as simple as that.

The die is cast and no one, least of all me, is scared of fighting for (or in defence of) their faith. As a matter of fact it would be an honour to do so. Those that know me well will tell you that on such matters I do not joke, I do not cringe, I do not budge and I cannot be intimidated or threatened by anyone or any group of persons. I really don't care what the politics and history of core northern Nigeria is but what I do know is that these evil and ungodly killings and bombings of innocent men, women and children by the Boko Haram islamists have to stop. I also know that they have killed as many Muslims as they have Christians and that no sensible or strong government EVER negotiates with terrorists. Rather than negotiate with them they crush them, wipe them out and send them to their maker. That is what Kamal Attaturk did in Turkey and that is what Bouteflika did in Algeria. And that is precisely what I expect President Goodluck Jonathan to do here. The truth is that if there were to be a free and fair referendum today amongst the core northerners on whether or not there should be ''boko'' (western education) in northern Nigeria, those that believe in it and that want it would win hands down. This unrest and mindless sectarian bloodletting is being fuelled by poverty, unemployment, ignorance, frustration, the brutality and incompetence of the Nigerian state and security agencies and NOT any nostalgia or yearning for a return to the pre-colonial empires that existed in core northern Nigeria before the advent of British colonial rule or the desire to establish a 17th century Islamic fundamentalist state. 

However I do wholeheartedly agree with Asari Dokubo that ultimately a Sovereign National Conference is the only answer and is the only vessel that can provide a lasting solution to these monumental challenges that we are facing in our country. I say this because whether we like to admit it or not, Nigeria is more divided today on ethnic, regional and religious lines than it has ever been since our independence in 1960. We should iron out all those issues at such a conference once and for all and if we cannot do so we should quietly and peacefully all go our separate ways. These religious clashes and killings feature in the northern part of Nigeria alone and hardly in the south. In the south-west where I come from the Christians, the Muslims and the traditional worshippers are one and we treat each other with love, respect, understanding and sensitivity. We do not kill ourselves on account of our religious differences and we will not allow anyone to separate us or come between us. That is simply our way and clearly many from other parts of Nigeria and indeed the rest of the world have a lot to learn from us. I have been actively involved in the struggle against internal colonialism since 1989. My position then is as it is today and it is as follows- if Nigeria cannot be built on a foundation of equality and fairness for ALL it's people, whether they be christian, Muslim, northern or southern, then we should reject the concept of a united Nigeria and we should just break her up. And we can do this either peacefully or by the force of arms.

There is absolutely nothing that is sacrosanct about the unity of the Nigerian state. As a matter of fact there has been an intellectual and respectable school of thought since 1914 when Nigeria was created that it is an ''unworkable union'' and a ''cruel joke''. Lord Frederick Lugard’s vision and indeed his intention when he recommended the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 was ably described and enunciated by his own very words when he said ''the northern protectorate of Nigeria can be described as the poor husband whilst the southern protectorate of Nigeria can be described as the rich wife. Today we marry the two and our prayer is that this union lasts forever''. That is how the north and the south got ''married'' and that is how the famous amalgamation of 1914 came about. This this was a monuemental event that the Saurdana of Sokoto, the Late Sir Ahmadu Bello, was to describe as ''a great mistake'' 40 years later and it was a catalysmic event that caused the Leader of the Yoruba, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to say in 1948 that ''Nigeria is not a nation but a mere geographical expression''.  The problem was that the two young spouses were never asked by their British parents whether they actually wanted to stay together let alone get married and the ''poor husband'' never courted or proposed to the ''rich wife''. Worse still the two of them came from different worlds, had different backgrounds, had a different religion, had a different history and had a different world-view . Today the ''rich wife'' together with the christian and ethnic minority groups of the middle belt and core north have been robbed, raped, battered, massacred, bruised, cheated, treated with contempt, taken for a fool, taken for granted, insulted, subjugated, broken and severely abused. Since 1960 the story has been more or less the same and the tales of tragedy and woe just continue.

Since 1960, if it is not genocide in the north-west, or mass killings in the Middle Belt and the Plateau, or sectarian butchery by groups like Boko Haram in the north-east then it is always something else. The question is how much longer can the ''rich wife'' and the ''northern minorities'' take this sort of thing from a ''poor husband'' who, in the main, has a different world view? I believe passionately in a united Nigeria but the bitter truth is that, with the way in which things are now unfolding, we will have to work very hard to preserve such ''unity'' and we must stop taking it for granted. Many have argued that if General Muhammadu Buhari and not Jonathan had been elected as President just a few weeks back he would have known what to do to save the situation. His courage, they say, is second to none. This may well be true. But whether it is true or not there is one thing that I do know- If President Goodluck Jonathan does not find or cultivate the guts and the political will to utterly crush Boko Haram he may well end up being the last President of a united Nigeria. May God deliver us all.

_______________ FFK, 2011

The great, great, great grandson of a working class Irish shoemaker who emigrated to the New World of the Americas many years ago to flee famine, poverty, hardship and English persecution and the grandson of a working class Kenyan man who worked as a cook in the British Army just delivered one of the most brilliant, compelling and historically factual speeches that I have ever heard in my life to a joint sitting of the British Parliament at Westminster Hall. The only speech that I have heard that ever came close to it was the one that that same man delivered to the Irish people in front of a tumultuos, proud and cheering Dublin crowd just two days ago. The man's name is Barrack Hussein Obama and he is the President of the United States of America. I have no doubt that this man is a great phenomenon and he is truly a gift from God to the world. His story, his background, his history, his struggles, his testimony, his undoubted brilliance and his extraordinary success against all odds never ceases to amaze me. Could the African cook and the Irish cobbler have ever imagined that their joint lineage and the union of their seed would one day produce the leader of the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world and human history? If anyone had whispered it into their ears they would have laughed that person to scorn.

Yet, even then, the Lord God of Hosts Himself, the 24 Elders that sit before His throne night and day and the angelic Hosts of Heaven knew that it would happen. This great and powerful story is not just immensly inspirational and encouraging but it is also a wonderful and heart-warming testimony about the hidden blessings that walk with courage, fortitude, faith and vision and it provides irrefutable evidence of the power of the Living God and His total control over the affairs of men. It brings hope to many and proves to us that regardless of our circumstances in life and despite the bitter struggles of today, yesterday and yesteryear, with God, perseverance, vision and hard work all things are possible. May God bless President Barrack Hussein Obama for proving to the world that the scion of a humble and meek son of Africa has so much to offer humanity and may God bless and defend America for the wonderful country that she undoubtedly is.

________________ FFK, 2011

Let me make it abundantly clear right from the outset that I am not a supporter of Osama Bin Laden and I  believe that he was a well-qualified candidate for the hottest part of hell. I despised the man and all that he stood for and I am one of those that are firmly of the view that the world is a far better place without him. This is because firstly he was directly responsible for the untimely and violent deaths of literally hundreds of thousands of innocent souls from all over the world over the last 20 years and secondly because he struck terror and brought tears and sorrow to the hearts, souls and minds of millions of people from every corner of the globe over that same period of time with his chilling and reprehensible activities and evil agenda.

On a more personal note he was also responsible for the gruesome murder of my brilliant and promising young nephew , Anthony Fatayi-Williams, who was on the threshold of what would have been a fulfilled and prosperous life and career but who was sadly and brutally killed in the Al Qaeda London bombings of July 2005. There is no question in my mind that Osama Bin Laden needed to be caught and brought to justice for his heinous crimes.  However I also believe that in order to avoid  being found guilty of falling to his bestial standards, bringing such a man to justice, as evil and reprehensible as he undoubtedly was, must surely be done within the confines and ambit of the law.

Furthermore the enforcers of that law , which in this case were the Americans, must be as transparant and honest about their administration of it as possible, the sequence of events that took place and precisely how they actually carried out the whole operation so that we can properly determine whether, firstly, their story is true and, secondly, whether they were operating firmly within the boundries of international law and indeed  American law itself. To that extent I believe that it is regrettable and indeed a grave error of judgement on their part that the Obama administration has finally announced that it would not release the pictures of the dead Osama Bin Laden. I say this because such a refusal  will only help to fuel the various conspiracy theories that are presently making the rounds all over the world. I believe that the dangers that this decision may pose to the American government in terms of of it's credibility before the international community far outweigh the dangers that they may face if the world were to have been allowed to see the bullet ridden body of Osama Bin Laden in the form of a simple picture. The display of such a picture would have brought the matter to complete closure for many in the international community who are still a little skeptical about the veracity and legitimacy of the claims and indeed the whole exercise. Yet we have now been told in clear terms by the White House and President Barrack Obama himself that ''the man is dead'', ''he will never walk the earth again'' and that we ''should just take their word for it''.  

We are told that we ''should'' take the American government's word for it even though we are not all Americans? We ''should'' all take their word for it even though no-one, outside of those that actually took part in the operation, those that were in the house that was attacked, those that watched the action live from the security room of the White House and those that buried Bin Laden's body at sea actually witnessed the events or have seen any footage, hard evidence or pictures of it? And we are expected to just accept it all like that because they said that we ''should'' and because they said it with a nice smile? Is that not how they said we ''should just take their word for it'' when they sought to convince the world that there were weapons of mass destruction hidden away in Saddam Hussein's Iraq in order to justify the invasion of a sovereign state and the prosecution of an illegal war. This was a war in which no less than 150,000 innocent Iraqi women, children and unarmed civilians were ruthlessly murdered and blown to pieces in the name of ''collateral damage'' by the airforce of the ''coalition of the willing'' led by Tony Blair and George W. Bush during the infamous carpet bombing of Baghdad and before the ground troops were sent in. Those claims about ''weapons of mass destruction'' were late proved to be false just as the war in Iraq itself was later declared to have been illegal yet now the same people are telling us that we ''should just take their word for it again''?  Is it just me or is the world literally under some kind of deep luciferean spell? Who on earth has bewitched us and for how long willl we continue to swallow this type of childish codswallop? This matter raises questions on so many fronts and on so many levels.

Questions that are important and that should not be shrugged off or wished away simply as a consequence of the euphoria and immense joy of the moment. Whether we like it or not a disturbing precedent has now been set and we must be prepared to live with it's consequences and expect it to be repeated over and over again if not by the Americans alone but certainly by others. If history teaches us nothing else it certainly teaches us that. The only question is ''who is next'' and on whose supposedly ''sovereign'' soil will it be done. Yes we are all happy and relieved that the beast called Osama Bin Laden is dead. But do we not all, as world citizens, have a right to know precisely how it actually happened and whether it was done within the narrow yet clearly defined limits of international law?

Unless the Americans have something to hide what is wrong with the idea of coming up with better and convincing evidence of his execution and under what circumstances it was done and showing it to the world. As a great admirer and supporter of President Barrack Obama I certainly expected at least that much from him. This is not an American affair alone but it is rather an international one. 

Anyone that has watched the Oscar-winning blockbuster film that stars Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke titled ''Training Day'' and that remembers the scene in which a notorious, evil, low-life and psychotic criminal and professional drug dealer was illegally executed and despatched to eternity and then robbed by a small unit of of merciless, ruthless, efficient and exceptionally cold-blooded law-enforcement officers led by Washington's character would understand my concerns. After they ''killed the beast'' and stole his money they covered up the evidence in a very efficient manner and they calmly reserached and agreed on what each and everyone of them would say when the main body of the police arrived in order to cover up their tracks. This was their modus operandi and they had, of course, done it many times before. I assure you that that sort of thing is not limited to films but it happens regularly with the law enforcement agencies in America and in virtually every other country in the world. There are  of course many good police officers doing their work proudly and efficiently throughout the world but there are also some very bad ones who are utterly ruthless, corrupt and completely indisciplined..

For example does anyone remember the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles a number of years ago in which a black man was mercilessly tortured and beaten to a pulp and to his death by a bunch of power-crazed police officers who did not kinow that the whole thing was being filmed and which immediately sparked off riots amongst the black American community in that city that resulted in many deaths and in the damage of millions of dollars of property? What about the 2005 case of a young Brazilian man that was trailed on the tube in London by the British M15 and the Metropolitan police and who was then ''taken out'' in a classic ''James Bond-style'' extra-judicial execution when he was shot to death whilst on the tube for no other reason than the fact that he looked like an Arab terrorist and that he was behaving a little  ''suspiciouslly''. Needless to say the poor man was not an Arab, he was not a terrorist, he was not carrying any weapons, he was not a muslim but he was  just an innocent young tourist who had the dark features and black hair of a typical Brazilian male that, to some, made him look like an Arab terrorist. That was his crime and he was immediately stalked and marked for death by the security agencies. Yet again in this case private citizens that witnessed the whole proceedings on the tube secretly filmed the whole episode and made the footage public so there was no way that the security agencies could cover it up or allege that they had been attacked by the Brazilian tourist. Finally we can also consider the more recent  case of the Englishman that was ruthlessly pushed to the ground for doing absolutely nothing by a Metropolitan police officer in London during the Piccadily riots in central London just a few weeks ago and who then, sadly, just dropped dead. In each of these 3 cases that I have briefly touched on here if a camera that was secretly being operated by an innocent bye-stander and a patriotic and honest member of the public had not been there to film the whole proceedings we would have been told a completely different story by the authorities and the law enforcement agencies as regards the series of events that transpired. And I am told that when it comes to the military it is even worse. If anyone has any doubts about that let them just consider the sort of things that were going on at the notorious American military-run Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad until those infamous and sickening pictures were released to the world and the whole thing blew open. Would anyone have believed up until then that  American soldiers would turn a dog on a prisoners face to tear it out whilst they watched and laughed or that they themselves would happlily defecate or urinate in the faces of their Arab prisoners?  

The bottom line is this- when armed men and women in uniform are given absolute power over their victims or targets and when there is no-one to watch or monitor their activities to ensure that things are done according to the rules, the regulations and the law men and women tend to behave in an utterly bestial and unecessarily cruel manner and if they feel that they can get away with it they will break the law, take life when it is not absolutely necessary and humiliate and torture their victims and targets before doing so. And in most cases they will enjoy it. That, sadly, is human nature and this is especially so when the target or the victim is as hated and as despised by virtually every civilised and right-thinking person in the world as Osama Bin Laden cetrainly was. I have tremendous respect for the discipline and professionalism of the American military and especially for their Delta Force and their Navy Seals (who I believe are second only to the British Specail Air Service or SAS when it comes to their ability to perform ''special ops'', ''wet work'' and getting the job done in a clinical and professional manner) but the fact that the whole operation was not on camera (as we are now being told) worries me.

TheQuestions™

What happened to the camcorders on the helmets of the Navy Seals? Did they suddenly stop working? If this is not the case then why were they removed? 

We are now being told that it was only the helicopters that were outside the building that actually filmed the proceedings and all the action from where it was hovering outside the building and in the compound which means that there is absolutely no record or footage of what transpired when the soldiers entered the house itself and confronted, killed and apprehended the occupants none of whom, by their own admission, were armed. Rather conveniently we are told that the helicopter that would have been used to bring the other occupants of the house out of Pakistan with the Seals suddenly crashed which meant that they would not be debriefed in a country with rules and regulations but they would be left in the hands of Pakistan's ruthless and notorious ISI intelligence agency who certainly have ways of compelling them to tell the ''right'' story and not to rock the boat. 

Could the ''Training Day'' experience be the sort of thing that happened at Osama Bin Laden's home when the Navy Seals arrived there and stormed the building?

Perhaps so and perhaps not so and the truth is that most people really don't care? The popular refrain all over the world today, except perhaps amongst the more conservative muslim populations,  is that even if they had raped Bin Laden's wife and children before his very eyes and then slowly skinned him alive in their presence whilst making him eat his own guts before finally putting a bullet in his head and between his legs it really doesn't matter. They feel that regardless of what actually ''went down'' and how it was done justice has been served, that Bin Laden deserved no better and that ultimately the fact that he has been killed is all that matters. I understand and appreciate this position but I have to say that I respectfully disagree with it.

This is because I believe that our humanity can only be truly measured by our ability to operate with decency, discipline, compassion and restraint when dealing with even the most monstrous of characters and we must always resist the strong temptation of operating outside the confines and limits of the law. That is, after all, the only thing that makes us better than the Osama Bin Laden's of this world and his ilk and once we throw that away we can no longer lay claim to being on the morale high ground. The fact that Saddam Hussein was tried in an open court by and  before his own people is what demystified him and denied him the status of martydom. The fact that the leaders of Nazi Germany who between them caused the death of no less than 50 million people during the Second World War (bar Adolph Hitler who died in Osama like circumstances also on may 1st and whose body was also never found) were openly and publicly tried according to the law and were each convicted and hanged like the common criminals and murderers that they were reduced their stature and denied them the cult-figure and hero status that they so desperately craved for themselves even after death.

They were hopelessly and shamelessly demystified and that is the beauty and power of doing things openly and properly and according to the law when dealing with mass murderers who have a massive following in the world like Osama Bin Laden. In the light of all this kindly  permit me to share just a few interesting posers about the Osama case with you and allow me to put them directly to the American government and to those that believe everything that they have been told by them concerning this matter hook , line and sinker and  lock, stock and barrel.  

Firstly, if Osama Bin Laden was not armed why did you blow his brains out?

Secondly, if he did not resist arrest why did you murder him?

Thirdly, if you could have taken him alive and brought him home for trial and to face justice why didn't you do so?

Fourthly, if you really had his body why did you bury it at sea? 

Fifthly, if you have his picture why not show it to the world?

Sixthly, if his wife was not a human shield why break her leg?

Seventhly, if he did not resist arrest why execute him in front of his twelve year old daughter?

Eighthly, if she did not resist arrest or carry a weapon why was the other woman in the building shot dead?

Ninethly, if the Pakistani's were not in any way involved how did you manage to enter their airspace without detection, violate their sovereignty, commit an act of murder and war on their soil, launch a full scale military assault in the middle of a secure and well guarded military community which was just ten minutes away from their military officers training college, remain there with guns blazing and rockets booming for 45 minutes and get in and out without being challenged by them with the firing of even one bullet?

Tenthly and most important of all, why does your story about the sequence of events and what actually transpired during the assault keep changing?

Someone, somewhere is not giving us the true picture and is not telling us the complete truth about the series and sequence of events.

Of that I am sure. The only question that is left for us to answer is just how far the deception and the cover up goes. Is it fundamental or is it peripheral? Was there an Osama Bin Laden there at all or did he actually die many years ago?

Was it really him that was attacked or was it a body double?

Was the whole thing real or was it all stage-managed? 

Was he killed at the premises, assuming that he was killed at all, or was he flown off in the American chopper and killed elsewhere after a period of brutal interrogation, questioning and torture?

Why were the two couriers killed even though they did not resist arrest? Why was Bin Laden's young son killed? 

Why were there no armed men guarding the premises if the leader of the world's most notorious and dangerous terrorist was really living there?

How come not even one American commando or Navy Seal was shot or even wounded during the operation? Remember that we are talking about the leader of the dreaded Al Qaeda here. I mean the whole thing is beginning to sound so unlikely and implausible. It sounds more like a script of a second-rate Hollywood movie than reality. There are so many scenarios and conclusions that one can draw up and arrive in all this but ultimately  it is only God (and possibly Obama) that really knows the truth and that has the answers to these questions. 

Whichever way one looks at it and whatever one chooses to believe, I can smell a very big dead rat here and the smell is getting stronger by the day. Quite apart from anything else the fact that the American Presidential elections are just around the corner present a veritable motive for all this subtefuge and deception, if indeed that it was it really is. How I wish that I could have ruled that out in my mind but without the evidence I simply cannot do so. I for one am very skeptical about governments and what they tell us. The line between truth and fantasy are very often blurred when it comes to any gospel according to any government. Things are very rarely as they appear and things are hardly ever as the public is told. And the more advanced the country or government that is involved the better they are at it.

Remember the death of John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Princess Diana, Moshood Abiola, Sani Abacha, Adolf Hitler (also on May 1st), Josef Stalin, Anwar Sadat, Zia Ul Haq, Benazzir Bhutto, Indira Ghandi, Rajiv Ghandi, Marilyn Monroe, Kwame Nkrumah, Sylvanio Olympio, Murtala Mohammed, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Juvenal Habyamira, Cyprien Ntaryamira, Pope John Paul 1, Abraham Lincoln and so many others?

We may have identified who pulled the triggers or administered the poisons in some of these examples but does it really stop there? Who was behind them? Who funded them? Who gave them the orders to do it? Which intelligence agencies were really behind it? Who covered up the real reasons and motivations for these killings and why? Who benefitted the most from these deaths and these distortions of fact and official cover-ups? Who stood to lose the most if the truth came out? All these cases are unresolved and all have been furnished with questionable conclusions as to who it was that actually gave the orders for the assasinations to take place and who was ultimately responsible. Food for thought? Yes indeed. Just remember one thing....in the covert world of special operations, espinage and the intelligence services anything is possible and very rarely do they ever tell the truth about anything, even to their own Presidents. That is why they are called ''spooks''. They live in a grey world filled with it's own very real fantasies and ghosts.

Secrecy and loyalty is their armour and disinformation and a licence to take human life when it is in the national interest are their most potent weapons. Armed with those four things they can do anything, to anyone, at anytime and get away with it. 

Permit me to end this contribution by sharing the following observation, which was made by the god-daughter and niece of my dear friend and sister Donna Wayas, with you here. Her name is Antonia Ally and she recently posted the following contribution as her fb status. "How can we just believe these lies? 21st century man is so dumb. Ok so they threw Osama's body into the river, how convenient? We have always suspected that he died of cancer years ago and now u throw the body away. American troops can take pictures of them abusing innocent Iraqi prisoners and they can make the hanging of Saddam Hussein so public but they quietly throw the head of Al Qaeda away after 10years of searching. Please".  A simple yet poignant contribution from an insightful young lady wouldn't you say? The only thing left to explore is motive.

Why would the American government be indulging in all these games now assuming that is what they are doing. The answer is not too difficult. There is an election next year in America and with this great achievement and ''smooth operation'' by the Obama administration can anyone stop him from winning again? He has given the American people what they have craved for the most over the last 10 years and he has done so without suffering one American casualty. His approval ratings have soared and trust me when I tell you that he will win the elections next year with a landslide victory unless something dramatic and terrible happens before then to expose the whole thing for what it may very well be to the American people. Yet as each day passes the plot thickens more and more and as each morning dawns the smell of the dead rat gets stronger and stronger. God bless America..

________________ FFK, 2011

As regards the unfortunate and sad events that took place in the core north immediately after the just concluded presidential elections, during the course of my research and consultations with various groups and stakeholders in the last few days, I have established the following facts which I would humbly like to share with you.

1. That General Muhammadu Buhari, the CPC flagbearer was deeply pained and actually wept as the massacres were going on and he tried his best to stop them.
2. That even a convoy of his own vehicles was attacked during the riots.
3. That even though the rioters, murderers and arsonists were championing his cause, carrying his posters and calling his name, once the barbarism and pogroms actually started he had absolutely no control over it or any way of stopping it.
4. That by the time the spirit of genocide and mass murder had been invoked and the genie was let out of the bottle, it could not be appeased or put back in by anyone until much blood had been shed and many lives had been lost.
5. That the end result was that, according to the BBC (and we all know that the actual figure was far higher than this) well over 500 people were hacked to pieces and slaughtered within 24 hours after the pogroms started.
6. That this level and speed of carnage and barbarity is unprecedented in our history and that every right-thinking person, whether northerner or southerner or whether christian or muslim, should wholeheartedly condemn it.
7. That President Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice-President Abubakar Atiku, General Aliyu Gusau and Alhaji Adamu Ciroma had absolutely nothing to do with the killings and neither did they at any time call for it or encourage it.
8. That as a matter of fact they did everything in their power to stop the carnage once it started and that this was particularly so in the case of Babangida who worked extreemly hard behind the scenes to establish the peace, to calm frayed nerves and to call people to order.
9. That these killings were spontaneous and uncoordinated and the primary target of the perpertrators were the core northen elites and traditional rulers who the masses and almajaris (rightly or wrongly) honestly believed had rigged the election and had ''sold out'' to the PDP.
10. That the perception amongst most southerners (and I was as guilty of this as anyone else) that only christians, middle-belters and southerners were targetted for death during those riots is completely wrong.
11. That many northern muslims who were accused of being collaborators, traitors and blacklegs for supporting President Goodluck Jonathan were also targetted by the mob, were also killed and also had their homes and palaces burnt. l) That many hausa-fulani muslims were also slaughtered in southern Zaria, Kafanchan, Kagoro and other parts of southern Kaduna by members of the northern christian minority groups that reside there who are mainly PDP supporters and that that same group of northern christians even targetted and killed many igbo traders and burnt down the market in Kafanchan simply because they believed that such traders were CPC sympathisers.
12. That what is happening in the core muslim north is essentially a class war and most of those that support Buhari are working class muslim northerners who have lost faith in their own local northern leaders and elites.
13. That sadly the southerners and northern christians that were killed, including the heroic youth corpers, were innocent victims of a rabid mob who had lost all sense of reason and who were prepared to inflict collateral damage against anything and anyone that appeared to be different to them or that did not share their faith, their ethnicity or their political views . Consequently every non-muslim and every southerner became a supposedly ''legitimate'' target for these deranged and satanised individuals.
14. That no-one was in a position to halt the rioting and killing once it started because there was no co-ordinated chain of command. It was essentially mob action and the beginning and first pangs of a northern revolution.
15. That there are forces and armed militia groups in the Niger-Delta area who are preparing to eliminate and destroy the leaders of any ethnic group that they perceive as being hostile or opposed to the Jonathan government and who have a deep-seated hatred for northern muslms.
16. That the ethnic militias in the south-west are now more active and restive than ever, have cultivated an alliance of sorts with the Niger-Delta militias and are being stirred up and prepared for a possible war with the north.
17. That the Nigerian people are more polarised along ethnic, regional and religious lines than ever before. s) That the core muslim north, for the first time in our history, is feeling isolated, alienated, cornered and absolutely terrified about it's future and role in the newly emerging Nigeria and that they are falling back on their islamic religion and faith as a rallying point for their own quest for self-preservation, national identity and self-defence.
18. That any conflict that may emerge in this scenario will be seen by the working class core northern muslims as a war against islam and they will fight it to the end.
19. That more and more working class core northern muslims are openly speaking of a break-up of Nigeria and that they cannot be expected to continue to stay in a country in which they appear to be hated by everyone else.
20. That the wisest, best and smartest thing to do in this ugly and unfolding scenario is to pray very hard and to ensure that we reach out to one another and build bridges across religious lines and the ethnic divide.
21. That we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder and the onus lies on the President to hold this country together, to be magnamonious in victory and to stamp out and crush those that openly advocate ethnic or religious cleansing on both sides of the divide.
22. That it would be a great danger to our national cohesion if the people of the core north perceive and honestly believe that the Niger-Delta militants are being tolerated, encouraged or even sponsored by the Federal Government.
23. That once that happens they will have no choice but to begin to organise to protect themselves and their own people and that will be the beginning of an ugly descent on a slippery slope to all out war and ethnic, religious and fratricidal butchery.
24. That perhaps the greatest danger of all to our continued unity as a nation is if the ugly events that occured in the core north after the Presidential elections should, for any reason whatsover, ever happen again in this country.
25. That if such a thing were to ever happen again that the likelihood is that there would be terrible consequences because some parts of the south would unleash a terrible wave of reprisal mass killings on innocent northerners that reside there. This must be avoided at all costs.
26. That in the interest of justice and lasting peace there must be a formal and thorough investigation into the terrible events that took place in the north after the Presidential elections and that all those that are found culpable of having had a hand in the killings should be brought to justice. These are my findings. May God bless and protect Nigeria.

________________ FFK, 2011

Four political leaders of the PDP, all from the south-west, sat down and conspired against me four years ago. They swore that they would destroy my future, my family and my political career. And for the last four years they have used their immense power and influence to effect this satanic agenda. The first said I would not be made a Federal Minister again and in 2007 she got her father to insist that my name be removed from President Yar'adua's Ministerial list even though my state had forwarded my name as their first choice and even though I had served her father diligently and faithfully, at the risk of my life and reputation, for four solid years. The second said he would ensure that the EFCC would be used to stop me from becoming governor of my state simply because he had an interest in the same position and even though he knew that I had done nothing wrong. The third said that that he would ensure that my traditional ruler would opt for my rival to win the nomination for the governorship ticket of the PDP in my state even though when he was governor I gave him tremendous support. And the fourth said that he would make sure that I go to jail simply because when I was a Minister I refused to do something that was not proper for his relative. All four of them did all manner of unspeakable things to me in the last four years but through it all the Lord told me to keep quiet, to hold my peace, to show them kindness, to continue to pray for them, not to leave the party and to watch their end. He said that if I could just do these six things that he would humiliate them before the world and that He would avenge me as long as I did not attempt to avenge myself. This was very difficult for me to do but I did it all the same and I trusted God and left it all to Him.

Today, just four years later, every single one of the three amongst them that ran for public office in the last three weeks lost woefully (even though two of them were serving senators and one of them had been a governor for the last 8 years) . The fourth, who was the most powerful of the lot, was utterly shocked by the outcome of yesterday's elections because things did not go the way that he thought that they would in his state. Every single one of the four that sat down and conspired against me for no just cause is now in the political wilderness. Their heads have been cut off and they have become a pariah. Everyone is laughing at them today. I am not one that takes pleasure in the misfortune of others but I am compelled to acknowledge the fact that God has honoured His word and that He has shamed those individuals before the world just as He said that He would. Interestingly when I prayed last night He said that this was just the beginning of their woes. I did not rejoice in that but instead I felt very sad about it. If only men would stop trying to play God. If only they understood the power and nature of God they would not take pleasure in attempting to undermine the career of others. The morale of the tale is as follows. Do not use your temporal power to try to destroy others or to attempt to thwart their destiny because if that person is a praying person, if he or she is annointed by God for some purpose or the other or if He or she has favour before God you are literally playing with fire. The bible says ''be still and know that I am God'' and that ''I shall contend against those that contend against you''. It says ''the battle belongs to the Lord'' and that we should sit and watch whilst ''he makes our enemies our footstool''. Saul tried his best to destroy David yet he ended up being destroyed by God himself. Meanwhile David went on to fulfillful his destiny despite the evil that was visited on him by Saul and his many enemies. This is my testimony. It is the doing of the Lord and it is marvellous in our sight.

________________ FFK, 2011

A  former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has accused ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of committing four grave blunders while in office between 1999 and 2007.

He singled out the choice of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, in spite of protests, as the biggest mistake Obasanjo made.

Fani-Kayode gave a rare insight into the last days of Obasanjo’s presidency in an interview in the maiden edition of a new magazine,

African Statesman.

The ex-minister also said in the magazine that President Goodluck Jonathan would have to do "a much better job if he comes back as the President."

He said: "Ex-President Obasanjo probably made three mistakes while he was in office, possibly four. The

first one was the issue of ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, which could have been managed better. And I think people on both sides of the divide were fuelling it for their own purposes. Atiku made a lot of mistakes, certain things that were not acceptable.

"Where you have a situation you have terrible crisis within a government itself; between the President and the Vice-President and everybody took sides. That could not have been good for the government, and it wasn’t good for the government.

"I played quite a few roles initially and I found that regrettable, but it had to come to that. And since then, I had met with Atiku long ago, and we had put all that behind us. That was regrettable.

"The second one was the challenge we had with former President Ibrahim Babangida from time to time. Gen. Babangida has always been a stabilising factor for Obasanjo’s government from day one. He brought Obasanjo into power in 1999 and, for me, I am a deep believer in spiritual principles.

"Someone that brought you into power, brought you out of jail and for you to allow Babangida’s son to be arrested and detained for doing nothing wrong, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), was something I think was a grave error.

"I think that, together with other squabbles we had with Gen. Babangida, was one of the mistakes.

"Babangida was a positive force and he could have been treated with far more respect, and he will stabilise the government of the day and the country at large.

"The number three mistake, which I think was the second greatest mistake, was the attempt to have a third term in office. That is all people remember today. They don’t remember the positive things. There were many positive things but they don’t. I could list them, but people just remember third term.

"And third term is something that is perfectly within his right to attempt to change the constitution. But it was rejected by the people and it failed. I think it was a mistake to have even tried to do so.

"The biggest mistake was the choice of his successor. Late President Umaru Yar’Adua was a disaster from the beginning and was a disaster right up to the end. He was somebody that was not accepted and not the right person to run the country. He was a bad choice.

"And we warned him. The same caucus that I mentioned to you, including Batagarawa (I forgot to mention his name earlier, the former Minister of Defence), we sat down and we warned Obasanjo about it, but he wouldn’t listen and he still brought Yar’Adua on board.

"Yar’Adua was literally imposed on the party. Yar’Adua was imposed on the country, and the rest is history.

"But I think these were four major errors that ex-President Obasanjo made.

"Having said that, I can list the achievements of Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, which will take one a whole day. They were monumental and so many of them. And he did a great job as the President.

"So, we must be mindful of the fact that history demands that we are objective in analysis and to point out the pros and cons."

Asked if these four mistakes were raised with Obasanjo, the ex-Minister added: "Absolutely. On a number of occasions, we had discussions, both as a group and individually.

"I remember very clearly particularly on the issue of Yar’Adua. That was a critical issue. We told him pointedly that this was a mistake and we gave our reasons. Many felt that Yar’Adua’s wife would control him and run the country, not Yar’Adua himself.

"Many felt that Yar’Adua was physically and mentally unfit, and he said so. Some said that they had known him for 25 years. I think it was Batagarawa that said that. And that the man would end up attempting to jail every person for no reason. Others said that he was tyrannical. All kinds of things.

"I didn’t really know him very well but I felt that clearly, this is not the kind of man to run Nigeria. And we told him, but he (Obasanjo) refused to listen."

Pressed to clarify why Obasanjo settled for Yar’Adua, Fani-Kayode, said: "He did not give us any reason. It is inexplicable up till today. There was no reason apart from that; one, he is from the North and two, he felt that he was an honest man; that he wasn’t corrupt. For me, I felt that being from the North was not enough.

"There are so many people he could have selected. Why Umaru Yar’Adua? That is the question I think you really need to put to him."

Asked if Obasanjo complained to his loyalists when Yar’Adua was derailing, Fani-Kayode said: "On a number of occasions, Obasanjo expressed concern that Yar’Adua was like a hunting dog, who was no longer listening to the whistle.

"The young man lost it. The minute he got to power, he changed. He became something else. And our group was very vocal and strong, and he feared immensely. I heard his Mallam told him that those are hotheads you have to watch out for and as far as we were concerned, we were ready for them. However the same Obasanjo told us to keep quiet.

‘The first thing he (Yar’Adua) did was to implicate us in a coup attempt. In January 2008, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, forwarded a report to the Presidency, saying our group was planning a coup and we have met in London .

"And, of course, it was a lie. The State Security Service (SSS) investigated and discovered it was a lie. Then they said they would do Judicial Commission of Enquiry in all our ministries."

Fani-Kayode explained that Obasanjo initially denied the Third Term agenda until it was clear that he wanted it.

He added: "I want to look back to the record. I, together with Nasir el-Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu, Akin Osuntokun, Frank Nweke Jr. and a few others like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili, were in a group within the government of the day. That was our caucus.

"Not one of us spoke in favour of the Third Term Agenda. Check the records. What a lot of people don’t know is that within the government, there was serious division over the issue.

"We felt that we had done our best for the government. Obasanjo had two terms; he should go and appoint a successor. A good person to continue with his policies. That was our view. Obasanjo was not happy with that. He was not happy with us for taking that position.

"It was hidden from us until the last minute when it was obvious that something was going on. At that point, we didn’t even want to be part of it.

"People that were involved with Third Term are people like late Mohammed Waziri, Andy Uba, Ex-Governor Saminu Turaki; the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, ex-Governor James Ibori and characters like that. Our group was known as the intellectual group within that government. We were not part of it.

"Certainly on the issue of Third Term, we were very silent about that and he noted that. Clearly, he (Obasanjo) wasn’t happy about that. Of course, we raised issue with him personally. On a number of occasions, he denied it for quite some time, saying it was Dr. Andy Uba, ex-Deputy President of the Senate, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu and others, ‘go and talk to them,’ until it was manifest and clear.

"There were characters that were pushing these things and those of us that are intellectual, smart and educated enough could see that history would not allow this to happen; that it was bound to fail.

"And we saw it was bad, having achieved so much; he would allow himself to be pushed into such a thing by people that barely understood the implications of what they were trying to do.

"So, when people attack people like me…if only they knew the truth."

The ex-Minister also said that there is no sign that the administration of President

Goodluck Jonathan is working.

He said: "What is your definition of working? I think if you go and talk to an objective person and analyse the situation, you will find out that you have a lot of work to do.

"The facts and figures are there. One thing we did when we were in power, at least one, I would argue with facts and figures, I wouldn’t come and tell you lies. If you can prove to me that my facts and figures are not correct, fine. I would bow to superior argument. But don’t tell me lies.

"The fact of the matter is, since 2007, we are now in debt again as a nation. That is not good. The fact of the matter is that Excess Crude Account is next to nothing today. In 2001, we had $20 billion, which is the fact. The fact of the matter is that our foreign reserve has depleted. I could go on and on.

"The fact of the matter is that Stock Exchange has crashed; banks are not as strong as they were when Obasanjo was in power and they are not lending as much as they were. Nigerian Middle Class is beginning to shrink again, and, in fact, it has been decimated in the last three to four years. Those are the facts.

"These things, nobody can run away from and I urge the President to do a much better job if he comes back as the President. I pray he does. I am a PDP man. Regardless of all this, I have refused to leave the PDP and we are supporting the PDP."

________________ FFK, 2011

I do not mean any offence to Nigerian women by asking the question that I am about to ask or by making the assertions that I am about to make in this note. However this is an important question that I have not been able to answer myself for a number of years even though I have tried my best to do so. And the question is as follows. What precisely is it about igbo women that has made them excel in public office, business, politics, the arts, the sciences, religion, leadership and social activism in just the last 12 years when compared to their counterparts from other parts of our country? There are, of course, some equally notable and brilliant non-igbo women in our country as well who are doing, and have done, a great job in both our private and public sectors and who have also done great things in their local communities and in our nation. However when I ponder on this issue and I consider the names that are on my list of distinguished Nigerian women that have been outstanding in their various fields of endeavour over the last few years, the overwhelming majority of them are igbos. A few names will serve as an illustration of what I am trying to say and let me assure you that I have had the distinct honour and privilage of either knowing most of them quite well or working closely with at least a few, so I am speaking from an informed position.

They are all well-educated, forceful, strong-willed, focused, creative, disciplined, passionate and decisive characters who are almost ''German-like'' in their work ethic and in their pursuit of excellence and perfection. They really don't take any prisoners when it comes to their work or calling and they all do their jobs, or whatever it is that they are doing, with an almost ''messianic'' zeal. I am talking about people like Ngozie Okonjo-Iweala (the former Minister of Finance and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria who is now the Managing Director of the World Bank), Obi Ezekwezile (the former Minister of Solid Minerals and former Minister of Education of Nigeria who is now the National Vice Charman of the World Bank), Dora Akinluyi (the former Director- General of NAFDAC and the former Minister of Information for Nigeria), Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke (the former Director- General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the person that was credited with buliding it up literally from scratch), Roz Ben-Okagbue (a leading pro-democracy activist in Nigeria and one of the conveners and leaders of the Save Nigeria Group), Violet Yough (a successful, wealthy and well-respected industrialist and business woman of many years standing), Stella Chinyelu Okoli (the Chief Executive and founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical, the most successful and largest indigenous pharmaceutical company in Nigeria), Irene Iroche (the Chief Executive of Finbank), the late Genevieve Onyuike (one of the most versatile and brilliant lawyers in Nigeria and the former President of the Oxford and Cambridge Club of Nigeria), Joy Ogwu (the former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nigeria and presently the Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations), Evelyn Oputu (the Chief Executive Officer of the Industrial Bank), Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie (a well respected and notable writer of international standing and repute and the author of the international best-seller titled ''Half A Yellow Sun''), the late Flora Nwapa (the poet, writer and essayist who was the author of the Nigerian bestseller titled ''Efuru''), Akachi Ezeigbo (a highly respected Professor of African Literature of international standing and repute) , Stella Oduah Ogiemwonyi (the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sea Petroleum and Gas Group of Companies and who is one of the biggest players in the Nigerian oil and gas industry), Genevieve Nnaji (a leading Nigerian actress), Amaka Igwe (the respected film producer and director and a key figure in the Nigerian movie industry which is known as ''Nollywood'), Bishop Peace Okonkwo (the wife of Bishop Mike Okonkwo and the co-founder of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission TREM, one of the largest and most respected Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria) and so many others.

If you care to do the necessary research and see what they have achieved in their various fields you will be very impressed with each and every one of them. Of course we yorubas of the west have our very own female legends, bright shining stars and great innovators too (as does every other part of Nigeria) and we have had them for the last eighty years when none in Africa could come anywhere near yoruba women in terms of leadership, class, style and innovation. A few names that come to mind are Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (who was the most formidable female leader and the greatest activist that we have ever had in Nigerian modern history), Kudirat Abiola (the second wife of Chief MKO Abiola, a formidable and utterly fearless pro-democracy fighter and the first woman to be martyred in the fight for democracy in Nigeria), Funmi Goka (who is both the first female and the first Nigerian Deputy Managing Director of Agip Petroleum), Folake Solanke (who is the first woman to ever be appointed as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria), Lola Shoneyin (who is one of the most forceful and insightful writers of her generation), Bola Kuforiji-Olubi (the first female Chairman and chief executive of a Nigerian bank), Eniola Fadayomi (a leading and notable banker in the early '90's), Aurora Kayode(the matriach and doyen of Lagos high society in the '30's and '40's), Bolanle Awe (a reverred and highly respected professor of philosophy and the leader in her field), Ebun Oyagbola (the first woman to ever be appointed as a Federal Minister in the history of Nigeria), Nike Akande (the first woman to ever be appointed as a Federal Minister for Industries in Nigeria), Joke Silva (probably the greatest and certainly one of the most versatile and respected actresses in the Nigerian film industry), Biola Alabi (the executive director of MNET Africa), Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade (who has contributed enormously to breast cancer research globally and especially amongst African and African-American women) and so many others. However in the last 12 years the igbos seem to have taken over in this respect and are now well-ahead of the rest of Nigeria. Just a few years and look at what they have achieved. It really is quite remarkable. Can anyone tell me their secret or why this is so? What could be responsible for their doggedness, their natural drive, their tremendous energy and their great strength of character? What is it about these strong-willed eastern women of bantu and igbo extraction that now and all of a sudden sets them so far apart?

________________ FFK, 2011

________________ SA, 2011

There has been so much speculation, misinformation and disinformation peddled around about President Olusegun Obasanjo's handling of the power sector between 1999 and 2007. This contribution is an attempt to set the record straight and to clear the air. The truth is that the numerous problems of the power sector could not be completely solved by President Obasanjo simply due to the sabotage that his government was facing in that sector on a daily basis. And I am glad that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who served the Obasanjo administration but who is now the Presidential candidate for the opposition ACN, alluded to that in the most recent Presidential debate. Yet in spite of this the truth is that the record of the Obasanjo government in the power sector was not nearly as bad as many Nigerians have been led to believe. Let us take the bitterness, the emotions and the sentiments out of it and instead let us look at the facts. And here they are. In 1999 when Obasanjo was elected into office Nigeria was only generating 1200 megawatts per day. By 2007 this figure had increased to just over 4000 megawatts per day despite all the daily sabotage that was going on throughout those years.

All the vast, complex, additional and extreemly expensive turbines and equipment that we needed to import in order to lift our power generation to the next level of over 10,000 megawatts per day arrived at our ports shortly after President Obasanjo left office and not too long after President Umaru Yar'adua was sworn in. Now let me share with you exactly what Yar'adua did with that equipment when he came in. Instead of clearing them at the ports, sending them to the to the relevant sites all over the country and installing them he simply refused to let them into the country, he refused to pay the custom duties on them or waive those duties and he left them to rot at the ports. He did this for one reason and for one reason alone,  so that he could lie to the whole world that Obasanjo had done virtually nothing for the power sector between 1999 and 2007. Yet he did not stop there but he also went on to tell an even more pernicious lie and dirty lie to the whole world that a whooping 16 billion U.S. dollars was spent on the power sector by the Obasanjo administration and yet, he claimed, that ''there was nothing to show for it''. When his own advisor on the power sector, the highly respected Engineer Oluseke Shomolu,  wrote him an internal memo with proofs saying that this was not true and that Obasanjo had spent only 6 billion U.S. dollars on the sector and that there was indeed plenty to show for it the man was told to keep quiet and a few months later he was fired. I would agree with anyone that says that even 4000 megawatts is not that good but it was certainly a lot better than the 1000 megawatts that Obasanjo met when he first came in in 1999. When Yar'adua took over in 2007 if he had carried on with the efforts that Obasano had made for that sector, if he had continued to implement the reforms and policies that were being implemented there, if he had made Mallam Nasir El-Rufai Minister of Power as he had promised to do before being sworn in and if he had quickly cleared and allowed in and installed all the expensive and massive turbines and equipment that were just sitting at the ports we would have hit over 10,000 megawatts per day in terms of power generation long ago. Instead Yar'adua did none of those things and, worse of all, he let all the equipment rot at the ports over the next three years just so that he could use that to discredit Obasanjo and claim that he did nothing for the power sector. As a consequence of this power generation under the Yar'adua administration dropped from 4000 megawatts, when we left office in 2007 and handed over to him, to a steady 2000 megawatts per day throughout the time that he was in power and until the day that he died. It never went over 2500 megawatts per day througout the three years that President Umaru Yar'adua was in power. Yet even today, which is four years since Obasanjo has left office and almost one since President Goodluck Jonathan has been our President, power generation is still hovering around 3500 megawatts per day. Is this not a case of five steps forward and ten steps backwards? Isn't this pitiful? And yet people still blame Obasanjo for this? If he had been allowed to continue in office and if he had maintained the same rate of growth and power generation that he had started since 1999 we would have hit over 10000 megawatts at the very least by today. Again the infamous ''House of Reps Power Probe'' that President Yar'adua set up simply to discredit and eventually prosecute President Obasanjo fell apart after the truth came out and after it was proved that all the allegations against him were not only false and utterly malicious but that they were also fabricated by Yar'adua himself. In addition to that the young member of the House of Reps who had been commissioned to do this hatchet job against Obasanjo by Yar'adua and Governor James Ibori and who actually chaired the House of Representatives Commitee on Power, one Ndudi Elumelu, has since been thoroughly discredited and his commitee disbanded. It is about time that the Nigerian people knew the truth about this power generation matter and that they allow ''the truth to set them free''.

During the last Presidential debate I heard General Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential candidate for the opposition CPC, alleging that 16 billion U.S. dollars had been spent on power by the PDP in the last 11 years and I just chuckled to myself. I cannot blame him for saying that because he was simply repeating President Umaru Yar'adua's  ''disinformation'' that had been successfully used against Obasanjo in 2008 and he now took those same fabicated figures and used them against the PDP in 2011. I guess that I cannot blame Buhari for that but rather it is the late Yar'adua that I will blame. In that same debate Buhari also said that power generation was at 4000 megawatts in 1999 when General Abdulsalami Abubakar was in power and just before Obasanjo was sworn in and that after Obasanjo came in it dropped from there and continued to drop thereafter for the next eight years right up until the time that he left office in 2007 and it hit a rock bottom of 1000 megawatts. This is not true. It is yet another pernicious lie. And I believe that it was fuelled more by malice than ignorance. What Buhari said was most unfair. He got his figures mixed up and he got them the wrong way round which, I guess, says a whole lot about his knowledge base and his so-called ''Presidential credentials''. The truth is that when General Abdulsalami Abubakar was office in from 1998 to 1999 (and throughout the time that his predecessor in office General Sani Abacha was Head of State from 1994 to 1998) power generation in Nigeria was just over 1000 megawatts per day and things were very bad as far as the power sector was concerned. At that time and throughout that period we were amongst the three lowest  power-generating countries on the African continent and yet we had such a massive population of people when compared with everyone else. Things were really bad. However it improved considerably when Obasanjo came in in 1999 and it continued to do so at a steady and consistent pace until he left office in 2007. President Obasanjo is not infallible, he is certainly no angel and, as I have alluded to elsewhere, he made his own fair share of mistakes in the past but as far as the power sector is concerned these are the facts. Generally speaking his achievements were absolutely outstanding  and even in the power sector he did not do nearly as badly as many people think..

________________ FFK, 2011

In his book titled ''Ile-Ife-The Source of Yoruba Civilisation'', Prince Adelegan Adegbola said that ''the yoruba are the progeny of great kingship, efficient kingdom-builders and astute rulers. They have been enjoyong for centuries a well-organized pattern of society, a pattern which persists basically in spite of all the changes resulting from modern contacts with the western world. Their kings have, from a very long past, worn costly beaded crowns and wielded royal scepters. No one remembers the time when the yoruba people have not worn clothes. Their character of dignity and integrity is an ancient one. In reality, the yoruba claim to be descendants of a great ancestor. There is no doubt at all that they have been a great race. They are, and they appear in some ways to be detrimentally over-concious of their great ancestry and long, noble traditions.....the yoruba are one of the most researched races in the world.

According to Professor S.O. Arifalo, by 1976 the available ''literature on the yoruba'' despite many omissions numbered 3,488 items. These vast amount of works are quite substantial and unrivalled in sub-saharan Africa. Also the artefacts showed that the yoruba were intelligent, complex and wealthy people whose art and technological skills were unsurpassed in pre-historic Africa. Almost everything we know about the yoruba people comes from Ile-Ife.'' Adegbola is absolutely right and his research into the history of the yoruba and the various yoruba kingdoms is simply outstanding. His findings certainly puts a lie to the controversial assertion made by Sir Hugh Trevor-Roper, one of the best-known and most respected  historians that ever lived, who once said that ''the history of Africa is darkness, nothing but darkness''. Nothing could be further from the truth and it is clear to me that this Englishman, despite his outstanding credentials, knew next to nothing about our rich and long history, heritage and culture which, in my view, was far more advanced and goes back for thousands of years more than even his. In this essay I will make my own contributions to the debate and I will concentrate primarily on the pre-historic era of the yoruba (before the coming of Oduduwa to Ile-Ife and before the establishment of the great kingdoms and princely states), their origins as a people and their migratorary patterns.  

The ''yoruba'' are the ancestors of the black Cushite  migrants and settlers that did not go to Africa with the other descendants of Cush but that rather chose to settle in the areas and environs that were to later become the ancient cities of Mecca and Medina in what is presently known as Saudi Arabia. They were not Arabs but they were there as settlers for thousands of years and they constituted an industrious, prosperous, powerful, large and respected minority within the larger Middle Eastern, Jewish and Arab community. However they were eventually driven out of those Arab towns and communities and forced to leave them for refusing to give up their religious faith, their deep mysticism and paganism and their idol worship after islam was introduced to those places by the Prophet Mohammed in 600 AD. They then migrated to the banks of the great River Nile in Egypt where they intermingled with the Egyptian Arabs, the black Nubians and the Sudanese of the Nile (''Yorubas- The Egyptian Connection'' by Olomu and Eyibira). Many remained there but the bulk of them eventually migrated to what is now known as the north-eastern zone of Nigeria and once again mingled and bred with the Shuwa Arabs and the Kanuris of the Borno people. From there they eventually migrated down south to the forests and farm lands of what is now known as south-western Nigeria making their primary place and location of settlement and pagan worship Ile-Ife. Ile-Ife is to the yoruba gods what Mecca is to the muslims and what Jerusalem is to the jews and the christians. And the establishment of Ile-Ife as the centre and source of all that is Yoruba was confirmed by Oduduwa himself when he sent his sons out from Ile-Ife to other parts of yorubaland to establish their own independent kingdoms. It was after that that we broke up into various kingdoms and communities within what is now known as south-western Nigeria. Some of those kingdoms and empires were sophisticated, powerful, large and great (like the Oyo Empire which was one of the greatest empires that ever existed on the African continent and indeed the world and which was responsible for halting the ''jihad'' of Usman Dan Fodio from coming any further south by defeating the Fulanis and their allies in battle and confining them to Ilorin) and some were not so great and large. These yoruba kingdoms spent hundreds of years fighting one another in totally unecessary wars but it is a historical fact that they were never defeated in any war or conquered by any foreign army. Yet the only thing that they had in common amongst themselves was their language (which broke into different dialects depending on where you were), their historical stock, their affinity and respect for Ile-Ife and their acknowledgement of it as being their spiritual home and their anthropological source and finally their acceptance of the Oonirissa of Ife as ''the living manifestaton of Oduduwa, the quintessential icon of royalty and splendour of the yoruba and edo people and not just God's chief representative on earth but also the earthly head of his people'' (''Ile-Ife-The Source Of Yoruba Civilisation'' by Adelegan Adegbola pg. 8 ). This group of different kingdom states with a common ancient root were collectively known as the ''yoruba'' and the fact of the matter is that the word ''yoruba'' has NO meaning in our language or any other language that is known to man. No-one has been able to tell us with certainty the meaning of the word ''yoruba'' or indeed where it really came from.

There are many different theories about it's  history and meaning but no definative and conclusive consensus has ever been established about the source of this strange word. This really is very a deep and unsettling mystery. For all we know it could even be an ancient insult. That is why I have always preferred to be referred to as an ''ife'' rather than a ''yoruba''. Another question that is often asked is why did our forefathers indulge in all the mass migrations from first Mecca and Medina, then to Egypt, then to Borno and then finally to the plains and forests of what was to become, thousands of years later, the western region of modern-day Nigeria in sub-saharan west Africa west? Well my own personal theory is that the reason that our forefathers kept having to emigrate until we found somewhere of our own was because we refused to give up our pagan beliefs and practices and when islam was eventually introduced or took full root in all the areas that we once settled our forefathers were no longer comfortable there and they must have suffered all manner of persecution for their tenacity to their ancient pagan and ''ifa'' faith and practices.

Whatever the reasons for the the mass migrations may have been it is clear that the influences of paganism, their traditional faith of ''ifa'' worship, the Egyptians, the Nubians, the Sudanese, the Middle Easterners and the Kanuris is very strong amongst the yoruba, their music, their language and their culture till today. The religious faiths of islam and christianity both came much later and were both established primarily through the strong trade links that existed between the yoruba and the north-western hausa/fulani caliphate from the north, the Turkish traders of the Ottoman empire of the southern Atlantic  coast from the south, the primarily Portugese and European sailors and traders who plied that same southern Atlantic coast from the south and finally with the strong efforts of the christian missionaries of both the Anglican and Catholic churches respectively. Both of these two great monotheic faiths of christianity and islam eventually took full root in the land and in the hearts and minds of the yoruba people whilst paganism, the worship of ''ifa'' and the practice of our original and more traditional faith was eventually pushed to the back seat even though initially, and for hundreds of years, they were both fiercely resisted. That is why, till today, it is very rare to find a yoruba family that does not have christians, muslims and adherents of the more traditional and ancient tribal faiths in their ranks. The slow and massive migration of our forefathers from the Middle East, north Africa and north-eastern Nigeria to our own homelands in the south-west are why the yoruba, together with the various tribes and people in what is presently known as ''mid-western'' and ''northern Nigeria'' are generally speaking known as the ''Sudanese Nigerians'' whilst the various tribes and people from the rest of southern Nigeria, which comprises of the igbo race and the people of the Niger-Delta area are generally known as the ''Bantu Nigerians''. The history of the Sudanese Nigerians is far more entrenched and better aquainted with the running and administration of extreemly large and powerful, culturally diverse, cosmopolitan and sophisticated empires that stretched across thousands of miles of different territories and civilisations and that have conquered many lesser peoples in the past than that of the Bantus whose only experience and knowledge of ancient empire is limited to a few relatively small yet notable kingdoms and coastal settlements in what is presently known as Nigeria's Niger-Delta area. As for the Bantus of the igbo eastern region, who are originally of jewish stock, they have absolutely no history of kingship, organised hierachial structures or empire at all but they were essentially republican in nature and they were a collection of village and forest communities that were bound together only by their common language, their ancient heritage and their noble traditions. Outside of the royal kings of Onitsha and Asaba to have kings and chiefs amongst the igbo is a relatively new phenomenon which certainly does not pre-date the last 150 years. It was when the British colonialists arrived in the east that they appointed ''warrant chiefs'' amongst and for them.

________________ FFK, 2011

I have just been informed about the passing on of my dear friend Genevieve Onyiuke. This really is so sad and I am utterly devastated. Genevieve hailed from a highly distinguished legal and political family. Her father, the late Chief G.C.M Onyiuke SAN was a leading member of the Nigerian Bar, a Minister of the Eastern Region in the First Republic, an Attorney-General and Miniser of Justice of the Federation and a Judge of the Tanzanian Judiciary . Genevieve herself was a lover of classical music and a member of the Music Society of Nigeria, a former member of the National Executive of the Nigerian Bar Association, the President of the Oxford and Cambridge Club of Nigeria (2006-2010) and a first class lawyer in her own right. She did her first law degree at Sussex University and after that she went up to Cambridge University where she did her second. She was my senior colleague at Cambridge and I assure you that she was one of the brightest and the best of her generation. She had had a running battle with cancer for the last few years and yet despite that she always exhibited a remarkable degree of strength, courage, self-respect and dignity. And most importantly she was always full of joy. She never allowed her illness to weigh her down.

The last time we were in touch, which was in June 2009, she sent me two excellent books all the way from America that had both been written by a famous and respected inspirational writer by the name Paul Coelho. The first was titled "Warriors of the Light" and the second "The Alchemist". Both of them were excellent. She sent these books to me after she had read my poem titled "A Tribute to the Warrior" which she read on my website and which she apparently enjoyed very much. I cherish those two books till today and each time I see them on the bookshelf of my library I remember Genevieve. She was brilliant, ebullient, generous, kind, witty and full of joy till the very end. She was a real blessing to our generation. May her great and gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Adieu Genevieve.

I salute you great Daughter of Zion.Until we meet again in eternity. Shalom.

________________ FFK, 2011

The wind of change and the demand for freedom and democracy is blowing strongly throughout the Arab world today. This is a positive and truly inspiring development and it brings us all hope for the rest of the developing world and particularly Africa where real change is still badly needed and expected. However what is truly amazing about what is happening in the Arab world today is that it all started when a selfless and exceptionally brave young Tunisian man, just three weeks ago, had the courage to stand up to the brutality and injustice that was meted out to him by the Tunisian police and rather than just accept it quietly he protested openly and loudly and he publically sacrificed his life by pouring petrol all over his body and burning himself to death. That single act of self-sacrifice was the catalyst to all these protests. That is where it all started. After that all hell broke loose. Decades of repressed anger literally erupted and exploded amongst the people and this sparked off a wave of violent protests in Tunisia which led to the complete ouster and fleeing into exile of their President Ben Alli who had been in power for many decades. But it did not stop there.

The matter went well beyond Tunisia and for the last one week similar violent protests have spread to neighbouing Egypt where their President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for the last 30 years, is also on his way out. Similar agitations and protests against other sit tight rulers, life long Presidents, tin pot dictators and self-styled and power-obsessed demagouges are also taking place and have been planned for Yemen, the Sudan, Jordan and Syria, The wind of change is truly blowing because this sort of thing is simply unprecedented and has NEVER happened in the Arab world before. And please mark my words; if the situation is not arrested soon (and I pray that it is not), at the end of it all, the oldest and most repressive, totalitarian, autocratic, ruthless, archaic, corrupt, repugnant and brutal Arab regime of them all, that of the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia, will also be faced with monuemental challenges from it's own people and they will also eventually be brought down to their knees and kicked out. What is happening in the Arab world today is truly beautiful. We are witnessing the triumph of good over evil. And to think that all of it was sparked off by the courage, determination and self-sacrifice of just one young man in Tunisia who had the strength of character to say "enough is enough" makes it all the more remarkable. Who said that one person cannot make a difference? Because of that young man the Arab world will never be the same again. I salute his courage and I honour his sacrifice. He is a true martyr for democracy and for human rights.

________________ FFK, 2011

________________ HS, 2011

________________ BS, 2011

________________ AA, 2010

The intensity of the struggle and agitation to secure power by the North in 2011, clearly confirms that Nigeria as a political entity is still very far from the inter-ethnic unity, the so called "Unity in diversity" we all dreamed of at Independence in 1960. Fifty years of socio-political intercourse and cross breeding amongst component parts have failed to dissolve the strong tribal/ethnic barriers that separated us ab initio.

Since independence, the North has been a political constant in the emergence of National leadership, be it Military or Civilian. Over the years, the Northern ruling class and its elites membership have mastered the act of being dominant and yet benevolent in disposition towards the rest of the country. Because this ruling class is focused unobtrusive and generally not outlandish, it was able to hold on to power and yet hold the country together by being meticulously calculating and highly resourceful in the handling of the various power games and options that have been thrown up over the years.

The unity of the country and its indivisibility have never been negotiable or indeed truly negotiated. But this remained the most powerful coercive instrument of state, both to silence undue opposition and deal with political extremism. It was the basis for the civil war in 1966.

In all of this, the North has maintained an enviable masterly control and has held sway in providing political leadership until very recently. From Tafawa Balewa in 1960, through Yakubu Gowon and Babangida and up till Obasanjo in 1998, the North has maintained effective control of the essential of power apparatus of the Nation - State. The crowning glory and unarguably, the most potent proof of the adeptness of the Northern ruling elite was its well thought out resolve to conceed power to the Southwest specifically, as compensation or "wages" for the "sins" of one or two of their own.

Once again, the North as the custodian of political authority, rose to the occasion and prevented a major catastrophe in our polity, applying concession as a constructive instrument of engagement with the aggrieved opposition - the Yorubas of the south-west. This was not the first time this instrument has been used. It was first placed on the table at Aburi by General Yakubu Gowon before a policy reversal led to the application of force which culminated into the civil war in 1966. The end results were the same. The country came back from the precipice of disintegration to it's "united and indivisible" format.

In 1998, the choice of candidate was decisively deliberate; Olusegun Obasanjo, a general of the Nigerian army, war veteran, both of which implied that he is an apostle of one Nigeria; obviously he can be trusted with ability to hold the country together and also loyalty to the "omniscience" Northern power bloc. In 8yrs of his rule, Obasanjo held Nigeria together and by the time he left in 2007, demonstrated loyalty and commitment by installing President Umar Yaradua by all means and at all costs, no matter whose "ox was gored"

The unanticipated problem was that Obasanjo was his own man with an enigmatic personality, the period of the two terms he served as President, gave him an overwhelming presence and a looming image that will not go away even after he had left power. Nigeria has never had a democratically elected government handling over to another. This was the special political icing on Obasanjo's cake. Neither Nigeria nor the Northern ruling elite was prepared for this!

By the time Obasanjo handed over to Yaradua, the 8yrs of Obasanjo's rule, have thrown the entire political machinery of the Northern Ruling Class into a long limbo, and by the time he single-handedly installed his successors, that machinery had been rendered ineffective and irrelevant, or so it would appear.

The untimely and unexpected death of President Yaradua appears to be the final, if divine, blow which threw the Northern custodians of power into flutter, confusion and total disarray; and before any chance at recovery was possible, a "constitutional coup de Grace" has taken place, installing a total stranger, from a strange ill understood, and the least expected zone on the throne. All we witnessed subsequently, including the diatribes, the threats and brickbats are the flourish signs of the old and aging Northern political Horse trying to regain its erstwhile robust and mighty stature. If God, knowing how powerful the incumbency position is, allows a political tenderling, from one of the smallest ethnic groups in Nigeria to be advantageously placed over and above the Northern interest, then should we not in fear and trepidation submit to God's will?

Is it not in all religions that we learn that power belongs to the Almighty God" and He takes it from whom He wishes and gives to whom He wills? In fact do not our religions teach Total submission to the will of God? Allah?

In our 50yrs of existence, this is the third time that we are once again on deliberate march to the precipice. On the two previous occasions, 1966 and 1998, the Northern ruling class rose to the occasion and pulled the country back. In the last circumstance, the group subsumed its own quest for power and freely conceded to a section that was gravely aggrieved; and Nigeria became better for it. For a long time, the previously constant cry of exclusion from Federal power will not be heard from the south-west zone again.

Unfortunately, many of the Northern elites believe that the North needs to be in power after President Yaradua's demise, if only for the next four years; and I believe this is only natural. If I were a Northerner, and given the political structure of the country today, I will feel the same way.

The truth of the matter however is that I believe personally that God was telling Nigeria something by taking away President Umar Musa Yaradua when he did. If indeed, President Yaradua had lived for another 6months, the PDP would have elected a new Northern Presidential Candidate, even while President Yaradua would have been on his sick bed and we would all have been spared all this trouble. In nearly 40yrs that the North acted as custodians of the power locus in Nigeria, it has shown tremendous and unrivalled capability and expertise in keeping the country together even sometimes to its own detriment. The situation on hand cannot be resolved by zoning or confrontation. A massive preparation for an electoral showdown is not in the character of the North and will only lead to a political fiasco, hither to unprecedented in our political history, the full ramification and consequence of which is better imagined.

One good thing that has come out of this seemingly "bad" situation for the North is that the Giant and ever resilent Northern political machinery has been re-awakened. General Babangida, Atiku Abubakar and perhaps more importantly Mallam Adamu Ciroma with the latter being the Operational Field Marshall have all re-established the potential MIGHT of the Northern political bloc.

However, "if the Biblical Goliath, on sighting David, had declined to engage a rustic defenceless child, the Philistines would have still won the war against Israel and Goliath would have remained Goliath -"the Invincible Giant". One of the most alluring thing about power is having it but not using it. That is why Collin Power, former US Joint Chief of Staff said "of all the manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most"

If the current struggle is selfless and truly in the interest of the North, and not meant to prosper personal ambitions of individuals, then another wait of 4yrs that guarantees the peaceful co-existence of the country, and a golden opportunity to satisfy the yearning of the Niger Delta, once and for all, will definitely not decimate the North either politically or financially. It is by far more rewarding if Mallam Adamu Ciroma, in the company of Obasanjo, Alex Ekweme, Alabo Graham Douglas, Edwin Clark, Bamanga Tukur, and other National leaders will traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria and mould a political consensus around President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2011 polls. The military class ably represented by Gen. Babangida, Gen, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Gen Aliyu Gusau amongst others, in the interest of National Stability and Unity were able to build this consensus around Obasanjo in 1998. Why can't the leaders of the political class sensing danger now, do the same to the nation that has done so much for them? And if they fail, will the next generation of leaders take the gauntlet and save the Nation?

- Okupe is a former presidential spokesman"

________________ DO, 2010

Culled from City People, Pages 15-16.  November 3, 2010

During the 8 years that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was President, he was very vocal in defense of Obasanjo’s policies at that time. Femi Fani-Kayode was always in the news defending OBJ’s moves. From being one of Obasanjo’s aides, he rose to become a Federal cabinet Minister. A few weeks back, FFK as he’s fondly called, celebrated his 50th birthday in Lagos. Days after, he spoke to City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINIDE, about his life, his years in government and his travails during the late President Musa Yar’Adua years.  He also spoke about his plans and ambition to contest for Osun State Governorship come 2011, and why someone from lle Ife should be allowed to emerge as the PDP candidate for the number one seat it, in the State.  In this explosive interview, he took on ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe and others who sought to persecute those he described as the “Obasanjo Boys”.  Excerpts

What has changed about Femi Fani-Kayode at 50?

(Smiles) ...Not much has changed. Possibly, I am a little bit older and wiser.

How did the reality of turning 50 hit you?

It has a way of creeping in on you. It crept in on me. But the truth is that it is only when you get to that age that you realise the monumental implication of getting to that age. You begin to look back on your life and you begin to appreciate the fact that you are even alive, in good health, and that you are at peace with yourself and your God is a real blessing. For me, I need to thank God because I have been through so many challenges in my life. Ever since the age of 6, I have been faced with challenges. Ever since soldiers came to take my father away from our house before my very eyes, during the January 15, 1966 military coup, I have seen challenges and throughout my life in school, I have had challenges. All my life, I have had challenges. And in 1993, I had a major challenge in my life which God saw me through. As I passed that bridge, other ones came before going into government, living in exile, going to Bible Seminary, challenges with my 2 previous marriages, going into politics, going into government, challenges with life after public office. But the good thing about it is that for each challenge, God sees me through and I take something from it, I learn something from it. I have just learnt to take life in its stride.  It has been a wonderful life and God has been good to me. 

Were those challenges divine or man-made? What’s your reading of it?

For me, the greater the future or the greater the role God has planned for anybody, the greater the challenges in that life will be. That’s the lesson I have learnt. It is not how many times you fall that matters, it is how many times you can rise up that counts. If you need to go through challenges in order to come out better and stronger, God will put you through those things. For me, life is a journey of discovery. I don’t focus on the challenges too much. I focus more on the fact that despite all that, God has been so good to me.

How do you mean? Share it with us.

At a relatively young age, I seem to have gone so far in terms of the opportunities I seem to have had. I cannot but thank God. My father was a Minister, I was also a Minister in this country. I have ambition, my political career is very much on. I still believe that I have such a great future for me and many in my generation. I do not feel 50 years old, I feel 40 and that can only come from God. I have learnt from the challenges but I am not fixated on it.   In life you meet challenges and obstacles, but you move on, you soldier on.

You seem to have had a privileged growing up years…

I prefer to call it wonderful years, yes wonderful.  Really, I don’t think there is anything wrong calling it privileged.  It is only in Nigeria that to be privileged is a dirty word.  Listen, I won’t lie to you, I had wonderful years. It wasn’t as if all I did was have all I wanted. No, it comes with a lot of responsibility.   You have to do well in school.  My parents were very generous and good to me only because I had a deal with my father that if I do well in school, anything you want, you will have. I worked hard, did extremely well.

Could you run through your growing up years?

Sure. I was born in Lagos. I went to school in Lagos for my nursery school, then we moved to Ibadan, then we moved to England where my father had been born. We have a strong connection with England because my grandfather had schooled at Cambridge University. My father was born there and grandfather met  my grandmother there too. They lived there for many years. The whole family went back there in 1967 and we lived in exile for many years. I went to school there. I went to a private school there called Brighton College, from there, I went to another top private school called Harrow, which is one of their best schools, and it was a privilege to have gone there. After that I went to Kelly College, another private school. From there I went to London University to do my first degree. After that I went to Cambridge to do my second degree in law, following in my grandfather and father’s footsteps. After that I came back to Nigeria to attend the Nigerian Law School and consequently was called to the Bar in 1985. After that I worked at Chief Rotimi Williams' Chambers for one year and then I joined my  father’s Law Chambers, "Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo", and worked there as an ordinary lawyer without any privileges.  After 2 or 3 years I was promoted to become a full partner. Once I became a partner in that firm I decided to now focus on politics. I went into politics as far back as 1989 when we formed The September Club. I later became the National Youth Leader of the old NNC.  After President Babangida formed and established his two government sponsored political parties (NRC AND SDP) I  joined the NRC. I was appointed the spokesperson to Chief Tom Ikimi, the National Chairman of the NRC in 1990 and from there I was appointed Special Assistant to Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi,the leading presidential of the party in his "Choice 92 Presidential Campaign Organisation" and I played a leading role there.

After that all the leading presidential candidate or aspirants  of that day, including Shinkafi, General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua and AlhaJI Adamu Ciroma were all banned from running for the presidency by General Babangida's government.

It was after that in 1993 that I had a major health challenge and difficulties came along. I was ill, very unwell so I went off the scene for some time. I went to a very good bible seminary in Accra, Ghana called Action Faith Bible College for 2 years where I not only received my healing but also acquired a very good and thorough christian education and reorientation. At the end of the course I proudly left the seminary with a degree in theology and a completely different outlook to life and the things of God. I also finally realised that up until the time that I had been to the bible seminary I had not in fact been properly educated despite all the good secular schools and universities that I had been to. This is because I believe that if you do not have a thorough knowledge and understanding of God, His ways and His word then you know nothing and that you are in fact nothing but an intellectual barbarian. My time and experience at the bible college was a blessing and a joy. It was probably the happiest and most fulfilling period in my life and it was a truly great and wonderful experience.

How was it for you?

It was a wonderful experience for me and that was the real education in my life because everything that happened to me after that and up until today was predicted and prophesied whilst I was at the Bible Seminary. Is that not miraculous and powerful? It is a great testimony.  I was taken to Ghana in December 15, 1997, I was presented before Action Church as somebody from Nigeria who was attending the Bible Seminary and who needed as much support, love, prayer and help as he could possibly get. They stood by me, prayed for me, educated me and I made it through the course. 10 years later to the day, Dec. 15, 2003, I was back on that same pulpit where I was originally presented to them only this time I was representing no less a person than President Olusegun Obasanjo as a member of the Presidency from Nigeria. That in itself was a remarkable testimony. Everything that has ever happened to me in life, has been spoken and has been prophesied, everything. When I went to Bible School, I was told I will go back to Nigeria, be in government and will rise up to the top. And what will happen after that I was told. All challenges I faced I was foretold. That is the way God works. 

You were close to your father before he died.  What sort of a man was he?

He is a wonderful man, somebody I was very close to. I learnt a lot from him. He was very tough, very hard, a real disciplinarian but at the same time, more of a friend than a father to me. He was good to me simply because I knew what he wanted. That was to ensure that I did well at school. He also granted me the opportunity to differ with him on so many things. He also encouraged us to argue, we speak out our minds and to tell him precisely what we felt.  He taught me the virtues of being courageous and being strong especially through difficult times. He taught me the value of cherishing your wife regardless of whatever you may be doing. He taught me how to fight in terms of resilience and how not to be overwhelmed by the challenges you face. Most importantly, he taught me the power of love. He was a loving and kind man. A lot of people did not know that about him. He had old fashioned victorian values because he came from a victorian background: very stiff upper-lipped one and he never showed emotions publically. Yet underneath all that was a man of tremendous charm, warmth and love. Everyday I think about him and I miss both him and my late mother, Chief Mrs.Adia Fani-Kayode, a lady of impecabble breeding, tremendous beauty and great strength and courage. I loved them both deeply.

What do you make of all the’ travails that were thrown in your way after you left office?

I look at it and I say well, this is another challenge. This is another test. From day one, we knew the challenges were coming. We, meaning, the OBJ boys. We knew because Nasir El Rufai told me in December 2007 that this is wast is going to happen, not that we have done anything wrong, because we have not. I am talking about myself, Nasir El Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu and a view others. We were told we were going to be persecuted; as a matter of fact it would have been worse. One person that went after us with tremendous zeal was Baba Gana Kingibe. He was the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) at that time. Kingibe and his group initial plan was to implicate us all in a coup attempt. They filed a report to the late President Umaru Yar ‘Adua at that time, that Obasanjo’s people were planning a coup and that they should lock us all up and that they should try us for treason. Of course, it was a false report. They had their own agenda. All these things were planned from the beginning. El Rufai and Ribadu left the country, knowing that their lives were very much in danger. I felt that they could not kill me but that they would attempt to humiliate and mess me up. I was ready for that.

Why the need for that?

Because we were close to Obasanjo. So when you say challenges I say it was a preparation for a great future. I have learnt in life that if you are going to have a great future you have to be ready for such challenges, persecution, misrepresentation, misunderstanding, humiliation and shame from those that are nowhere near you in terms of class or anything. You have to be able to take it, and go through it. As for me, I have absolutely no fears about what is going on now. Or what will happen. In fact, it is a summer season now. The one that tormented and sought to destroy, the one that dug that pit, for all of us, for no reason other than the fact that we decided to put him in power which we did, is no more. I don’t wish death for anybody because it is a terrible thing to die.  But God is awesome and Almighty and the minute you begin to persecute men and women who are innocent and you abuse your power and seek to destroy those who have done nothing wrong, their innocence will speak for them and all sorts of things will begin to happen. Where is Baba Gana Kingibe today? Where is Tanimu Yakubu today? Where is Abba Ruma today? Where is Michael anadoakka today? Where are they? In 2007 when we left office we had $20 billion in the Excess Crude Account and we had no debt. We were the only country in the history of Africa that had paid off it's debt. Three years later before Umaru Yar’Adua died, we had only $450 million left in the Excess Crude Account. They spent $19.5 billion. What did they spend it on? The foreign debt, when we left we were not owing anybody anything anymore yet 3 years later  we are now $9 billion back in debt and this was the case when Yar ‘Adua passed on and we are still borrowing today.  Clearly, something went wrong at that period. Let me tell you something that will shock you. Late President Yar ‘Adua had no idea of what to do with Nigeria. He had a 7 Point Agenda. There was also a secret eighth point on the agenda which was the discrediting, humiliation, shaming, disgracing, jailing and destruction of Obasanjo and and his legacy and all of his boys.

Who was behind all these?

Late President Umaru Yar’Adua himself. It may be an unpopular thing to say now, but I will say it. Nobody misled him. Listen, responsibility stopped with the man himself. That was the agenda. Only he knew why he was doing it. That was his plan from day one. Let me also tell you another thing that will shock you.  The day we were told by President Obasanjo that he wanted to put  Yar’Adua in power, we opposed it. We had a big meeting with him.  El Rufai was there, Ribadu, Akin Oshuntokun, Remi Oyo, Frank Nweke Jnr., Ojo Madueke, Uba Sanni.  There were about 20 of us. Their were others there like Lawal Batagarawa. President Olusegun Obasanjo told us this is the person he believes in and we should work for him. Everybody in that room objected. The first person got up and said if you make Yar’Adua President, it is his wife, Turai, that would rule Nigeria and nobody will be able to control him, nobody will be able to consult with him and at the end of the day, he would attempt to jail everybody in this room including you, President Obasanjo. Someone told him I that and think it was the former Minister of Defence, Lawal  Batagarawa, who said so. And El Rufai said that he had known him for over 30 years, that they were in school together, and that he did not think he was the appropriate choice. It was one after the other and everyone spoke his or her mind. But President Obasanjo still felt it had to be Yar’Adua. I cannot fault him on this. It was his choice. But having spoken our minds, we supported him. The fight was between Nasir El Rufai and him. OBJ said that he was supporting Yar’Adua and that we must all go into the field to support him as well. We all eventually accepted to do this except for Batagarawa. We didn’t look back. We defended him. We defended the indefensible. We defended the way he emerged as Presidential candidate for the PDP when others wanted it and they were not allowed to get it.  Some were even intimidated and humiliated. Some of them and their families members were even harassed and arrested to ensure they didn’t go for the nomination. That’s the truth. After that we now went to the election and we all know what happened. Umaru would have won anyway, believe me, but the margin with which he won was something that was probably the greatest miracle since sliced bread. It was astounding and completely unnecessary. Not only that, look at what happened in Edo State, Ondo State, Ekiti State and a few other states where there was clearly massive rigging. And some of us said so at the time. If you contact Oshiomole, Mimiko, a few of us told them. El Rufai, Ribadu,Osuntokun, Uba Sani, myself and a few others complained that we didn’t think that this was right. Ask the two of them what hat we told them (Oshimole and Mimiko) and thankfully they are both governors today. Can you believe that the late President got to hear everything that we said about  him at that meeting with OBJ before he to power and that some of us didn't want him. So some of us were marked. And he listed us and said to himself  "these Obasanjo Boys that everybody thinks they are such good boys, we will deal with them". And of course he had loyalists like Kingibe who were willing to deal with us for him. I await Kingibe to crawl out of wherever he is today and begin to talk. I am waiting, even in these challenging times. We would talk. They day I see Kingibe I will tell him how I feel about him, about what he did to his own boss late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, to General Sani Abacha,  to late Chief MKO Abiola, to  late President Umaru Yar‘Adua and to the man that gave him the single greatest break in life President Obasanjo. He will answer, he will anwser to God. All these things can never hold down God’s plan for anybody. You learn from it. I learnt, just as the Bible saiys, " to despise the shame" a long time ago. There is nothing I haven’t seen. You can push me down into the ground, I will rise up if God is with me. And if God is not with me and I do not rise up again I will not complain because I have a good life. I give thanks to God for everything. I should not have lived this long. I should have died in 1993. I am living on borrowed time.  I have a wonderful and beautiful wife and I have wonderful children. My first child has just finished her second degree.  She is now doing Law Society exams in England. My second child has just finished her first degree. The others are all in school. I have a wonderful life so what more do I want in life that at 50 I will not be able to speak my mind and speak the truth.

How true is it that your travails after leaving office was also meant to truncate your political career?

Yes, there is also that aspect. There is no doubt about that. The very fact that I wanted to be the Governor of my state didn’t go down well with some people. It was a factor. I still want to be Governor. The idea was stop him and keep him busy, and people were given orders to execute that plan. Every aspect of my life was investigated. Although I will not want to comment specifically on the issues of the case which is still in court but does it not shock you that the charges levelled against me have absolutely nothing to do with the N19.5 billion Aviation Intervention Fund. The charges against me on the N19.5 billion Intevention Fund issue were quietly withdrawn by the EFCC a month after we were charged in Abuja in July 2008. Go and check. I was initially charged for that. They charged the man who exposed the crime. Can you believe that? And they now went quietly to withdraw the charges against me. What I am being charged with now is money in my private account. I mean turn over, over a period of time. That is what we are dealing with now. Nobody has alleged that I stole money anywhere. There was no money missing under my watch and I am completely innocent of any  wrong doing. All the charges that have been proffered against me are malicious and politically-motivated and any challenge that comes my way I will face it and I will fight it in court. I am a politician by calling and I have given my life to politics in the last 20 years and I wouldn’t let anybody destroy my career. I will focus on politics, my party and the electorate. Nobody can stop me, unless my party does not want me.

What’s your next move? Are you still running for governorship in Osun?

Yes I am. My plans are simple. I want to be Governor of Osun State. That’s all. I believe I am qualified to be, I believe that I have the ability to help the people of Osun State, I believe that the PDP needs more progressive candidates like me who are more appealing to the masses. What is happening in the South West is interesting with the ACN controlling 3 in the old West and Labour Party in Ondo State: making 4. The PDP has to understand the importance of fielding candidates that can make a difference and go to the field and offer something to the people. Lack of internal democracy should stop. We should stop imposing people on the party. The PDP should get its act together and ensure that we have internal democracy, capable candidates should be fielded or else we will lose woefully. I am running for office.

 

Culled from City People, Pages 15-16.  November 3, 2010

...to be cont'd...

________________ SK, 2010

Last week, Saharareporters published on its website an article titled Secret Army Report Implicates NSA Azazi, Ibori, Alamieyeseigha, Henry and Sunny Okah In Sale Of Military Weapons To Niger Delta Militants.

The NAIC report contains details of how close to 7000 assorted weapons were stolen between 2000 and 2007 from the ordinance depots in Kaduna and Jaji. The theft was masterminded by one Maj SA Akubo, who sold them to Niger Delta militants through Sunday Okar, the junior brother of Henry Okar, the MEND leader. The Kaduna theft was investigated and suppressed by SSS when Lt. LKK Are was its DG in collaboration with Azazi and one Maj Gen Adekhegba, then Director of Military Intelligence (DMI). Azazi continued to cover up the case, first in his capacity as GOC 1DIV, then later as COAS. It took the discovery of the Jaji theft in 2007 and the tenure of another DG of SSS to mount a conclusive investigation. None of the recommendations of the NAIC report were taken seriously except the court-martialling and jailing of Maj Akubo and the soldiers involved. Sunday Okar was freed and presently aiding Jonathan in the case of the October 1 Abuja Bombings against his brother Henry.

Two former governors, James Ibori of Delta State and Dipriye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa, purchased the weapons for the militants when they were serving governors. They were never questioned or sanctioned and no further investigation into the culpability of other politicians was conducted as recommended by the NAIC report in order to nib in the bud the possibility of someone among such politicians becoming a President of Nigeria one day. NAIC also recommended, among other things, that investigations be carried out to ascertain the conspiracy theory that the thefts were part of the Niger Delta plan to secede from Nigeria.

The most relevant part of the NAIC report to this discussion is this: “One wonders what would happen if Nigeria ends up with a president who does not believe in the entity of the Nigerian nation, and has a record of involvement in cases like this.” More importantly, however, is the association of Jonathan with the people implicated in the report after he became President. Jonathan cannot claim ignorance of the report. Yet, as Saharareporters noted, “Alamieyeseigha…is championing the President Goodluck Janathan’s presidential election bid… Sunny Okah has since been recruited by the Jonathan administration and is being used to press the case against his brothers.”

The most revealing, however, is the appointment of General Azazi (rtd) by Jonathan as the new NSA despite his multiple roles in the case that are explicitly mentioned in the report.The appointment justifiably raises doubts regarding the latter's commitment to the security of this country. Naturally, the appointment could only be possible if Jonathan was impressed with his record. And to be so impressed with what we have listed above requires a mind that shares the same cause with Azazi, not only in the past but also in the future. Here lies our concern as a nation. How could a President, who is promising Nigerians a new future if elected in 2011 appoint as head of the entire national security apparatus a person who was an accomplice in serious security breaches when he was a GOC, COAS and CDF?

How can he return a person fired as CDF and forcefully retired from the army for reasons well known to the President?

The NAIC report suggest a “conspiracy theory” which it recommended to be investigated. The report believes that "there is a link between the 1989 aborted Orkar coup; the 2001 Ikeja Cantonment arms depot explosions; the arms theft at 1BODK and the militancy in the Niger Delta.

It is believed that there is an orchestrated plan by the Niger Deltans to secede from Nigeria which is being played out over the years with every opportunity they have. It is also believed that they took maximum advantage of the unique opportunity they had with successive appointments of Gens Ogomudia, Asemota and Azazi as GOCs I DIV.”

This secession theory is not the speculation of a columnist or Saharareporters. It is a theory coming from Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps and it must be given due recognition. If indeed they intend to secede as entailed by their threats, militancy and weapons accumulation, then they can do so easily in the near future, for their plan is rolling so nicely without any obstacle. They now have the Federal Government headed by a President of their own. He is doing everything to cover them up and strengthen them. He has also appointed another Niger Deltan, Ita Ekpeyong, as DG of SSS. And Nigerians are simply watching!

Jonathan has not convinced us on any manifesto. He has not achieved anything so far to impress us. His only argument is he is anti-zoning. To achieve his ambition, he has resorted to using primordial sentiments of religion, regionalism and whatever the PDP crooking machine has perfected. And the nation is buying it, hook, line and sinker. It is really a pity.

I am not keen about the origins of a good President whom all of us can trust. But I am baffled at how the entire southern part of the country has shied away from fielding other aspirants in addition of Jonathan or in his stead. The South is undoubtedly blessed with hundreds of such competent people. Everything is left on the shoulders of the traditionally maligned North, a situation which Jonathan, his co-militants and their sponsors are cashing on to orchestrate a victory in 2011. That is how calamity creeps into a nation, as it did in Germany. It is aided most by the conspiratorial silence of the majority who sees it as a distant speculation.

We once had that fateful experience too. The Nigerian civil war: A million killed; three million deliberately starved; millions others injured; many more rendered homeless; and an entire region had to start life again from the scratch. The nation was watching sheepishly as the events were unfolding, starting with the belief in the propaganda that led to the January 1965 coup and subsequent events.

However, my call goes to the intellectuals and elders of Niger Delta. Politicians on many occasions are no better than thugs in their thought and could be more brutal in their conscience. For some time now politicians in the region have been under the mercy of its thugs. The nation has toed their line too by adopting appeasement as a solution to their criminal actions. But there does not seem to be an end to their demand until they engulf us in another tragedy. We need to hear voices of reason from that region while we do the little we can which is often received with hesitation. There could be consequences for going against the tide but their sour taste would pale before the avoidable sufferings of a nation.

Finally, as I depart for Hajj, I am closing this article with the now familiar warning in the NAIC report: “One wonders what would happen if Nigeria ends up with a president who does not believe in the entity of the Nigerian nation, and has a record of involvement in cases like this."

________________ AT, 2010

It is exceedingly pertinent to clearly recognize the fact that the roles played by the anti-graft bodies in Nigeria over the years have significantly helped to sanitize our polity and ultimately to rid-off corrupt practices and financial crimes both in the public and  private sectors, this new phase of paradigm shift Nigeria has extensively attracted international commendations, especially in the days of the pioneer Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.  

However, we cannot as a civilised democratic entity downplay the embarrassment the recent utterances and publications credited to the head of the anti graft agency of Nigeria, Hajia Farida Waziri over the purported list of over 50 top politicians and notable businessmen who have been considered unfit to participate in the 2011 polls in the country, which the commission had published on its website and sent to virtually all the dallies and online magazines in and outside Nigeria. Mrs Waziri is insisting that EFCC will spare no efforts to ensure that no political party in Nigeria fields any of the affected persons as a candidate. Although the Federal Government in its swift reaction to EFCC’s power-drunk activities and constitutional breach had already warned that the anti-graft’s supposed advisory list which includes some former state Governors, legislators (upper & lower houses), businessmen, bankers as well as company chief executives, will grossly undermine the country’s judicial and democratic process. It further urged Mrs Farida and the Commission to act within the confines of due process and to also desist from political statements capable of embarrassing it and unduly heating up the polity. This is the best thing any responsible and responsive government will do avoid anarchy and chaos in the interest of Nigerians.

Emerging facts ostensibly showed Farida Waziri over stepped the mark when she decided to take on the role of the Prosecution, Judge, jury and executioner, particularly in this situation where she has decided to disenfranchise political office seekers whether culpable of corrupt practices or not. May be she needs to be told that she has absolutely no legal right to dictate and or decide who is barred from contesting for public office. That is most certainly over and beyond her job description. It is only a fool that would trust the judgement and 'impartiality' of someone sitting at the head of the EFCC given the deplorable track record of the present incumbent occupier of that office. It is expected that some level of maturity and intellectual virtues should be displayed by Mrs Waziri and not what she presently reduce her office to. I definitely agree with the Attorney General on this issue.

If democracy must grow then we should have separation of powers (in principle and in fact) and all parties should be aware of the limits of their powers. Yes, the intentions of the EFCC could be seen to be great but we must remember people are innocent until proven guilty again we are no longer in military era where justice and rule of law are never considered or respected. No matter the power vested in the instrument that created e anti-graft body is not a court of law and it should not see itself as one. It should allow the judiciary to perform its constitutional responsibility. That is the only path of honour, Period. More importantly the onus should rely on the political parties who should ensure they only let people with integrity and only those who share the same principles with the party, are allowed to contest. Unfortunately our democracy both internally within the parties and externally in society still has quite a long way to go before maturity.  

This brand new blunder committed by EFCC is seemingly embarrassing, treacherous, preposterous, and callous of any right thinking person under the guise of anti-graft to include the name of a distinguish and affable Nigerian (former Aviation Minister), Chief Femi Fani-Kayode in the EFCC’s advisory list, a list barring corrupt politicians from contesting for any elective position in Nigeria. It is equally appalling to see the name of former FCT Minister Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, despite the fact that a competent court of jurisdiction in Abuja had absolved him of all the charges levelled against him by EFCC. The name of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, which also featured in the list, is also a shock to every right thinking Nigerians. (daughter of President Olusegun Obasanjo). The Courts should be allowed to dispense it statutory duties without any influence from the anti-graft operatives. 

To those who are not privy to the issues which brought Chief Fani-Kayode to this lingering legal tussle with EFCC, here is the summary: After thorough investigation by EFCC over all the trumped up charges against Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, they later realized they are embarking on an effort in futility even as it was clear that all the charges impressed against him lack merits/substance and are all politically motivated, they shamefully made a U-turn by withdrawing all the charges, consequent to the abundant proves that there was no evidence that he had anything to do with the misappropriation of the aviation intervention fund.

As a matter of fact it was established clearly that he was the one that actually exposed the scam in the ministry. At the Senate Committee Public Hearing it was however discovered that 3 billion Naira meant for the payment of workers that were laid off in the Aviation ministry was not spent on the intended purpose but that had happened before Chief Femi Fani-Kayode became the Aviation Minister. Whilst Chief Femi Fani -Kayode was the Aviation Minister, 11 billion Naira was in the Ministry’s coffers being aviation intervention fund, and the money was judiciously spent by the Ministry under his esteem leadership. There was another N2 billion which was not part of the intervention fund but a soft loan from the Rivers State Government given directly to FAAN and specifically for the rehabilitation of the Runway of Port Harcourt airport. Out of this N2 billion, about N350million had been spent before Fani-Kayode came to the aviation ministry. The records show that out of the 11billion Naira, Fani-Kayode only released approximately 3.8billion Naira and left a balance of 7.2billion Naira in the Aviation Intervention Fund account. And out of the balance of the Rivers State Government loan, he only released N1.5billion. 

Despite all that, these vicious and unrelenting breakers of law after 6 months went to Chief Femi Fani Kayode’s personal bank account and added up all the money that had been turned over in that account for a number of years, including his salary as a government minister. The total amount was approximately 250 million Naira and they then claimed that this was the money that he was "laundering" and they consequently charged him with "money laundering" in Dec. 2008. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was Minister of Aviation for only 11 months and yet the money that they claimed he was "laundering" came in and out of his account over a period of years previous to the time that he even joined government.

Again EFCC never told us where this supposedly ‘dirty money’ which was allegedly being laundered came from and exactly what it was that made it ‘dirty’. They also claimed that they found 250 million in his account when they arrested him, which was just not true. This was an EFCC lie. What they found in his account at the time of his illegal arrest was actually 120,000 naira. The 250 million naira was an aggregate figure of total deposits of his personal finances into his account over a period of years which they then added up to reach 250 million. This was certainly not government money or stolen money and neither have the EFCC even alleged that this is so. In Fani-Kayode's case this is made all the more ridiculous by the fact that every single deposit that made up the aggregate figure and turnover of cash over those years that added up to the 250 million Naira came from legitimate sources, consultancy agreements and various businesses that Fani-Kayode had established over the years. He gave proof and evidence of all that during the course of the investigations to the EFCC but of course they were not interested in establishing the truth. 

However, Justice Ramat Mohammed of a Federal High Court in Lagos, has last year (2009) ruled and rejected the inadmissibility of the computer printout of a statement of account, which the EFCC had tendered before his Court as evidence in the alleged money laundering case against the former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. This is not the first time a Court of law will reject the admissibility of computer printout of statement of account as evidence. A similar thing happened as far back in 1976 in the case of Yesufu vs. ACB Ltd (1976) 1 All NLR (Part 1) 264 @ 273 wherein the Supreme Court per Fatai-Williams, CJN (of blessed memory) upheld the submission of Chief F.R.A. Williams, CFR, SAN (of blessed memory).

Records have it that EFCC appealed this judgment and out of judicial miscarriage, it subsequently won the appeal in May 2010. Although this case is presently left to the hands of the Supreme Court to be the final arbiter. Meanwhile for clarity legal authorities all the way to the Supreme Court are very clear on this matter and have constantly reiterated the inadmissibility of computer generated bank statements and good reasons too. The Nigerian Evidence Act is very clear on this too, so I cannot understand how or why the Court of Appeal would or could have come to it's ridiculous conclusion that suddenly such unreliable evidence which can be subject to all sorts of mistakes, distortions and manipulations is now admissible in law. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was never a fugitive, he was never convicted, and has never been indicted or found culpable of any corrupt or financial crimes by any Court of competent jurisdiction, whether in Nigeria or anywhere else. The above explanations abundantly prove that EFCC is only out for mischief aimed at misleading the public and distorting facts which is evidently against the tenets of rule of law.  

In a bid to further put Mrs Farida and her Commission to caution and to remind her of her excesses, highhandedness, unguided statements/publication over her self-generated advisory list as the boss of the famous and esteemed organisation like EFCC which over the years had attracted local and international recognition; several members of the fourth estate of the realm have been recording their displeasure over this bizarre and barbaric incidence. One of them is Vanguard newspaper which published in its Thursday editorial, (28th day of Oct. 2010) titled ‘No, EFCC, No’ (http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/10/no-efcc-no/). The organisation professionally set the record straight by advising the anti-graft body to act within the ambit of rule of law and the constitution of the land.

It is noteworthy to make it public and also for record that, despite the attempted disaffection, misconceptions, lies, rumours, and misleading information peddled around by EFCC and other political detractors, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has not and will never step down for anyone, or back out of the Osun State 2011 gubernatorial race.  His exclusive interview with the award winning Nigerian newspaper (Thisday newspaper) effectively cleared all the grey linings orchestrated by the political quislings. (http://www.poten.com/NewsDetails.aspx?id=10734004, http://www.thisdayonline.info/nview.php?id=186087).  

All doubting Thomas should know that Fani Kayode is waxing stronger in the race, very focused, visionary, determined and ultimately gaining support not just from the royal fathers, elites, artisans, students, youths and even the senior citizens of Osun State, but amazingly he has been gaining the support and loyalty of members of other opposition parties in the State with many of them who are massively decamping to PDP just for the fact that Fani Kayode is in the race. Moreover, his 50th birthday (October 16) which was celebrated some couple of weeks back speaks volume about these empirical facts. The good people of Osun State can no longer be hoodwinked or bamboozled by any sponsored publications with the vicious attempts to mudsling, disparage or to malign Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s image. It would be recalled that in the recent past Fani-Kayode had meritoriously served Nigeria as a Special Adviser to the President and also as federal Minster in different portfolios, therefore his present aspiration to the number one seat of his home state is a good step in the right direction and there is no doubt absolutely that he is the choice of the people and the best man for the job, ordained by Almighty God to take Osun State to its promise land.    

Alaba Oyakeye is the convener of ‘Vote No to Corrupt Nigerians’ an indigene of Atakunmosa West LG (Osu), in Osun State, Nigeria.    http://bit.ly/cIJoIq

________________ AO, 2010

________________ TS, 2010

In the Nigerian Army's official history of the Civil War, Major General IBM Haruna (rtd), said:  "The dominance of the NPC and the perceived dominance of the North in the centre were like a threat to the presumed more enlightened and better educated Southerners who believed they were the backbone of the movement for Nigerian independence but did not succeed the colonial power to run the affairs of the state.  So with that background one can now lay the foundation of the perception of the military struggle in Nigerian politics."

Reflective, therefore, of certain repeatedly articulated viewpoints in sections of the Press, the opinion matured among a small budding caucus of already politically inclined officers after independence, that every military deployment for internal security in aid of the civil authority whose political orientation they did not share, even if constitutional, was just another provocation.

These include:

1. 'Operation Banker', a joint Army-Police operation in the Western region, led by then CO, 4th battalion, Lt. Col. Maimalari, allegedly at the behest of the pro-NPC regional Premier (Akintola) culminating in the declaration of a state of emergency in May 1962 after a fracas in the House of Assembly and the appointment of an administrator. Interestingly, the General Staff Officer

(2) at the Army HQ in charge of Intelligence was none other than Captain Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu who, as a Major, was later to play a key role in the coup of January 1966 in which Maimalari lost his life.2. The arrest on September 22, 1962 and subsequent imprisonment of the opposition leader, Chief Awolowo, on suspicion of planning a civilian overthrow of the government.  It was alleged that 300 volunteers were sent to Ghana for 3 weeks militia training.  Certain accounts hypothesize two separate plots, one by Dr. Maja and the other by Awo himself.

But there is a body of evidence that indicates that Dr. Maja was actually collaborating with the government.  The real plotters planned to exploit the absence from the country of three out of the five Army battalions to seize key points in Lagos and arrest leading figures of the government. The absent battalions were in or on their way to and from the Congo.  One available military detachment at Abeokuta was out on military training exercises, while the newly formed federal guard in Lagos was essentially ceremonial.

Thus, there was an internal security vacuum which the plotters intended to exploit. Court records also indicate that an attempt was made to recruit Brigadier Adesoji Ademulegun for the scheme but he refused to cooperate with the plotters, choosing instead to remain loyal to the traditional military hierarchy and government, which had just promoted him from Lt. Col. to Brigadier. Whether this later played a role in his subsequent assassination in January 1966 is unknown.

3. Army Stand-by during the acrimonious reactions to the National Census of 1962/63 aand 1963/64.

4. Army Stand-by during the Midwest referendum of 1963.

5. Mobilization of the Army to provide essential services during the General Strike of 1964.  Even this apparently innocuous deployment in support of the civil authority attracted criticism from some of the would-be plotters of the January 1966 coup.

Captain Nwobosi (rtd), for example, has said that as a young officer deployed to the railways as an escort, he was troubled by the fact that the Prime Minister left Lagos for his home town in Bauchi during the strike, leaving crucial matters of state to assistants in Lagos as well as the Army which was fully mobilized.  I have not been able to independently verify the validity of this accusation against Balewa, but it does provide insights into the expectations of soldiers of their civilian masters when they are drafted by civil authorities to stabilize the polity.

A perception of lack of a "hands on" approach, even if false, can undermine authority and the culture of respect.

6. Tiv Crises:  As far back as April 1960 and July 1961 the Army had been placed on standby in Tiv land.  This became necessary again in February 1964.  However, on November 18, 1964 the 3rd battalion under Lt. Col James Pam which was just returning from Tanzania was deployed in full for internal security operations there.  The choice of Pam's unit was a deft move because he was of middle belt origin and the battalion had been out of the country training another Army, and thus insulated from acrimony.  The Nigerian Army actually emerged from this operation with high mmarks because the local people saw Pam's unit as more neutral than the Mobile Police. Interestingly, Major Anuforo of the Recce unit at Kaduna was deployed in support of Pam for this operation.  This is the officer who later shot him during the January 1966 coup.   Other would-be plotters who served in Tiv land were Ademoyega and Onwatuegwu.

7. Constitutional crisis of January 1965: Following the controversial Federal Election of December 1964, ceremonial President Azikiwe of the NCNC, urged by radical intelligentsia, refused to invite Prime Minister Balewa of the NPC to form a government and issued orders mobilizing the Army to enforce his authority to suspend the government, annul the elections and appoint a temporary interim administrator to conduct elections.  However, the oath of allegiance of the officer corps was not only to the Commander in Chief but also to the government of Nigeria.

The Army Act (#26 of 1960) and the Navy Act (#9 of 1960) were also clear on lines of authority and control. While the Army and Navy were "under the general authority" of the Defence Minister in matters of "command, discipline and administration", the authority for operational use and control was vested in the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister.  President Azikiwe and the service chiefs were so advised by the Chief Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.

Thus the Navy Commander, Commodore Who politely told the President that the Navy (under him), the Army (under Major General Welby-Everard) and the Police (under Louis Edet) had decided to refuse his orders.   After a week of cliff hanging tension, in which the military stood aside, a political compromise was eventually reached and a government of "national unity" formed under Prime Minister Balewa.

In the US Diplomatic Archives: Nigeria 1964-1968, the situation was characterized in this manner:  "Very complicated African politics, in which tribes, religions and economics all play a part, are involved in the situation. The Northern Premier is at odds with the Eastern Premier in whose region large oil deposits have been discovered. In the heat of the election campaign, there have been threats of secession by the east; threats of violence "that would make Congo look like child's play" from the north.."  At the same time, strong rumors of an impending Army coup purportedly planned for the annual Army Shooting competition were also heard in political circles.  But the status quo held, albeit temporarily.

8. Army Stand by during the ethnic leadership crisis between Yorubas and Igbos at the University of Lagos in March 1965.

9. Army Stand-by during the Western regional Election of October 1965 which led to a break down of law and order.  Political pressures and recrimination resulting from this exposure finally cracked the façade of political neutrality among some officers exposing deep personal, ethnic, regional and political schisms in the process.  To quote Captain Nwobosi again, "When I was in Abeokuta, my soldiers were being detailed to go somewhere towards Lagos from Abeokuta to guard ballot boxes that were not opened.  They were not opened but somebody had already been declared the winner.  Everyday, they would go and come back and in the process, I lost one of my corporals. You know soldiers are soldiers and sometimes like children, you have your favourite ones and this was personal."

10. A subsequent alleged plan to bring the situation in the West under control by the NPC controlled federal government in support of its regional ally, using the Army as had been done in 1962, allegedly brought forward the date of the January 15 coup.  The coup was organized by predominantly Eastern officers sympathetic to the UPGA alliance of political parties that had lost the 1964 federal elections and the October 1965 regional elections in the West.  The majority of casualties were Northern politicians and senior military officers from the same alma mater all of whom were deemed to represent the NPC or its interests. Others were politicians and officers from the western region viewed as being in alliance with the NPC leadership.

The coup failed to bring the "young turks" who led it to power but it did result, through a complex and controversial series of events, in the emergence of a military regime led by General Ironsi. There is a tragic post-script to the widely held (but false) presumption that the January 15 coup pre-empted an inevitable military operation to crack down in the West.   This presumption is based on a reported meeting between key NPC and NNDP political leaders as well as certain senior military officers said to have occurred in Kaduna on January 14.

However, the last interview granted to the magazine 'West Africa', by the late Prime Minister Balewa on January 14, a few hours to his death, went like this:

Question:  Do you see the solution as taking the form of a coalition government in the West? Balewa:  Yes, it would have to be that ...The Action group has accepted my mediation, but the NNDP has asked for more time. If I use real force in the West - and make no mistake about it, I haven't yet - then I could bring the people to their knees.  But I don't want to use force like that.  Force can' t bring peace to people's hearts. Question:  Would you consider the release of Chief Awolowo as part of a political solution of the West's troubles? 

Balewa:  I think that might be part of it; yes, obviously we would have to see."

This interview was not published until January 29, 1966.

CIVIL-MILITARY INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS BEFORE 1966 Until the coup of 1966, civil-military relations after independence basically followed the classic model.  Soldiers were rarely s