Written by Mr Clement Udegbe, a legal practitioner, Lagos.
You are not so blind with patriotism, that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it-—- Malcom X
I AM one of those , who never wished that APC, with President Muhammadu Buhari, PMB, would lead this country. It was not because we supported the ways of the ruling PDP at that time, but because we had our fears, about that change slogan, some of which are now manifesting in PMB's government.
Our fears included first, that as Christians, the killings and burning of churches will continue under PMB, but will be seriously suppressed from the public. Today, we hear less of the wickedness against Christians in the north. We do not understand why this is so, while Boko Haram has continued to kill in the North East. Over three months of APC government, Chibok Girls are yet to be recovered, for example, confirming our fear that the whole noise about Chibok Girls was to push GEJ, out of power. Politics apart, we are all parents, and those parents, who chose to use the Chibok Girls as propaganda instruments should be hiding their heads in shame, because politics should be fair, and honest, with some integrity.
Our second fear was that PMB has been portrayed as a hater of the Igbos, and that he would not only push the South East to the back bench in his policies as President, but would also initiate actions to Islamise that zone that voted massively for the PDP. In Imo State, which is presently APC, their Governor was generally regarded as having betrayed the Igbo man. Today, that fear has proved genuine, as Governor Okorocha, is the one calling for calm among Ndigbo, in the wake of the appointment by PMB of his Kitchen Cabinet members, to the complete exclusion of the the South East. Governor Okorocha, and his colleagues in politics without identity, would have seen by now that they backed the wrong horse as Ndigbo.
If out of 42 appointments of persons who would have close contact with PMB almost on daily basis, not one Igbo man qualified, in terms of merit and confidence by PMB, what else do they want the man to say? Is the message not clear ?
The best known method for Nigerian Leaders to kill any project is to subject it to what they call 'a review'. The review of the second Niger bridge is to tell those who are honest to themselves that the project is dead under PMB, and no thanks to the Governor of Edo State, who may claim to be fighting corruption, but his attacks against that project has made him a manifest instrument in the hands of the enemies of Ndigbo. He may have his reasons for teaming up with Igbo haters, my only concern is for Ndigbo who have failed to read this hand writing on the wall.
Our third fear was that PMB would islamise the South East.The first shot from him was the transfer of Boko Haram suspects from Maiduguri to Ekwulobia in Anambra State.In spite of the furore that followed that decision, we are yet to confirm what government has done to relocate those men. The matter seems to have died down, with the usual ignominy with which they treat issues that concern Ndigbo generally. The recent alert issued by the DSS and the Army about presence of Boko Haram agents in Lagos and the South East, leaves it up to the people to decide what to do to keep terror out of their regions, no matter what politicians say.
Thirdly, we feared that PMB would kill the implementation of the Confab Report, simply because the South East among others has something to gain from it.
It ought to be obvious that the whole efforts to swing power back to the north were to prevent power from getting to Ndigbo, who rather than weep, should brace up boldly, work harder to put their houses in order, and ensure that come 2019, their earnest expectations shall not be cut off, not even by the common sense revolutionists in the South West.
Just like we say in Igbo land, the masquerade that blocks the road upon sighting me, will not shift grounds when he sees others too. Igbo haters will not change till their judgment by God comes upon them suddenly.
Today, all we get are denials of electoral promises, ranging from the election campaign promise that the Price of Petrol would be reduced to N40/Litre if elected, the second Niger bridge for the South East, the provision of thousands of jobs for our teeming un employed youth within the first 100 days, to the promise of being the President for all Nigerians if elected. We are faced with the grim reality of petroleum subsidy removal, Naira exchange rates slides to all time low, while we wait for our mechanic to assemble his tools and men from the north, to come and repair the sick vehicle we call Nigerian economy.
They will need 100 days to assemble tools, 100 days to remove the tyres, 200 days to remove and repair the engine, 200 days to sort out the gear box, 100 days for the electrical and fuel supply system, 100 days to panel beat the vehicle, 100 days to spray it with a new paint, then 100 days to find a suitable northerner to test drive the refurbished vehicle. Ndigbo, this brings us to a total of 1000 days, and that is two years and seven months, thus, the game will continue till 2019, with nothing in it for you, except noise, propaganda, fear, intimidation, denials and hardship.
This type of change cannot favour Ndigbo, who must ignore it, no matter what is done or said, to provoke them. Let the changers face the terrorists, and don't give them the pleasure to spill Igbo blood in the name of Biafra again.
Even when their hirelings try to create social tension in your zone, just read between the lines and ignore them, because in this Nigeria, this phase shall pass away also, and Ndigbo shall prevail.
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~ TheGuardian, Nigeria.
• It's Wrong Signal, Say Ajulo, Malaolu
• Positions Will Go Round - FG Assures
Buhari |
ALTHOUGH the Presidency has stated that further political appointments would balance what critics describe as lopsidedness, perceived exclusion of the Igbo has received commendation in some quarters.
Some members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), at the weekend, applauded the non-inclusion of Igbo in key appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement signed by Uchenna Madu, National Director of Information of the MASSOB faction, in Owerri, the group declared support for what it called "Buhari's anti-Igbo policy", adding that it would teach Igbo leaders and elite a lesson.
It will be recalled that during the last presidential election, people in the South East and South South geo-political zones voted en masse for former President Goodluck Jonathan who lost to Buhari.
Some prominent Igbo had expressed disgust over the appointments, which appeared to favour the North, describing it as anti-Igbo. There had been expectations that Igbo personalities in the All Progressives Congress (APC), such as Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu or former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, would clinch slots.
But in a statement Thursday, the Presidency noted that appointment which would favour other geo-political zones were on the way, urging Nigerians to be patient.
Also, speaking to The Guardian, yesterday, Special Adviser to the President, Mr. Shehu Garba, said: "There will come ministers, heads of government departments, federal boards and ambassadors. At the end of the exercise, no part of the country will be left feeling left out. "Our brothers and sisters and fellow countrymen should bear with the new administration, as it takes measured steps towards an effective takeoff.
These appointments are just beginning." Meanwhile, National Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Kayode Ajulo, and Secretary General, Yoruba Ronu, Akin Malaolu, have accused Buhari of treating the nation like a conquered territory.
While Ajulo described the appointments as scary and ominous, Malaolu said the situation is a threat to the corporate existence of the country, and capable of fanning ethnic mistrust and crisis.
Ajulo said: "I have been stricken speechless by this development. It is unfortunate that at a time like this, the President appears to be reneging on his promise to forge a united Nigeria, and has resorted to acting like a vindictive conqueror. "It is particularly mind-numbing when one considers the manner in which the appointments, so far, have sidelined a major region of the country, the South East, completely."
Ajulo lamented the plight of people of the South East, whom he described as "stranded or marooned at sea in the Buhari administration." He wondered why Buhari appears to be fulfilling the prophecies of those who, prior to the March elections, described him as champion of a Northern agenda.
Malaolu, on his part, urged the President to, as a matter of necessity, reconsider the issue before it degenerates beyond mere outcry to hatred and mistrust among the geopolitical zones. "Even the South West that supported his ambition and voted massively for him is being sidelined.
While it is true Buhari may have good intention and is looking for credible people, he shouldn't create an impression that his people are the only set of credible Nigerians.
This will end up fanning the embers of hatred and disunity which consequences may be more devastating than the corruption he is fighting," he said.
Malaolu, however, blamed the situation on the leadership of Yoruba representatives in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), whom he accused of placing selfish interest above the zoning arrangement in the party in the first instance.
He specifically flayed former governors of Lagos and Osun States, Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, for playing into the hands of Northerners.
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Yoruba'll regret voting Buhari - Okunrounmu
Written by Eniola Akinkuotu - Punch, Nigeria.
Aleader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, says the Yoruba will regret voting President Muhammadu Buhari.
Okunrounmu, who was the Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, had supported former President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term and asked the Yoruba to vote for him so that he would be able to implement the report of the conference.
However, Buhari received over two million votes from the South-West in the last election, defeating Jonathan in the process.
Speaking with our correspondent during a telephone interview on Saturday, Okunrounmu said his predictions about the Buhari administration were already coming true.
He said Buhari's recent appointments showed that the North would dominate Nigeria in all spheres.
He said, "As a Yoruba man, I am very uncomfortable with this (appointments). Buhari had a reputation for ethnic bias and when we said it during the election, they said we were lying.
"The change the APC was talking about meant two different things. The APC in the North saw change as an opportunity to return power to the region while those in the South-West were looking for genuine social change. At the end, the North just used the South-West to get into Aso Rock and now we are regretting it."
The President's spokesperson, Mr. Femi Adesina, had said Buhari would balance the lopsided appointments very soon.
However, Okunrounmu said all the important appointments had already been made.
He noted that no other appointment could be more powerful than the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He said, "Look at the power configuration in Nigeria today; there are three arms of government: The executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The executive is headed by Buhari who is a northerner; the two arms of the legislature which are the Senate and the House of Representatives, are headed by northerners: Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, respectively.
"The Chief Justice, Mahmoud Mohammed, who heads the judiciary, is also a northerner. So, the entire government is completely in the hands of northerners."
The Afenifere chieftain said the fact that a Yoruba man is the vice-president meant nothing as there was no constitutional role for the vice-president.
He said the vice-president slot was a ploy which the All Progressives Congress leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, used in deceiving the people of the South-West.
He added, "I have never hesitated in telling people that Tinubu is not the right leader for the Yoruba race. He is not truthful and that was why Gani Fawehinmi took him to court."
Okunrounmu, who was a member of the 4th Assembly, urged Buhari to prove his critics right by implementing the report of the conference.
He said, "Clearly, his body language and the body language of all his lieutenants show that they are not keen on implementing the resolutions of the conference. However, in spite of that, those of us who believe it is the panacea to the problems of this nation shall not stop putting pressure on the President and all other organs of government to let them see that this is the way forward."
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Buhari tricked Tinubu to get power - Okunrounmu
In this interview with ENIOLA AKINKUOTU, Afenifere chieftain and Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, speaks about President Muhammadu Buhari's recent appointments and the National Conference report
You, along with other leaders in the South, under the aegis of Southern Nigerian Peoples Assembly condemned President Muhammadu Buhari's refusal to implement the National Conference report. Do you think he won't implement the report?
The President is doing just what we had predicted that he would do. Those of us who believed that only former President Goodluck Jonathan was committed to implementing the resolutions of the conference made it clear before the elections that if Buhari wins, that would be the end of the recommendations of the conference. We predicted this and shouted from the rooftop but the people knew better and they have chosen him. So, I am not surprised that he is not keen on implementing the resolutions. We support all the measures taken by Buhari so far, like the war on corruption but we believe that if we implement the report of the National Conference, the tendency towards corruption will reduce permanently.
You just commended Buhari's anti-corruption war which has revealed some corrupt practices under Jonathan and yet you supported Jonathan's re-election. Why did Afenifere support a corrupt government?
The truth is that corruption was a way of life to all previous administrations. However, it became pronounced and institutionalised under Ibrahim Babangida. He made it a national culture and then his successor, Sani Abacha, took it to a higher level and then Abdulsalami Abubakar. It kept on getting worse, including the Olusegun Obasanjo regime. So, we are not saying that Jonathan's regime is not corrupt but we are saying corruption is not the only problem. If we are going to tackle corruption, let us do it holistically and really begin from Babangida's regime because all the characters of that regime are still alive.
The evidence of their corrupt acts is still available like the Haliburton scandal, the report of the investigation that was conducted is still on the President's table. All those involved were mentioned and the bribes they took. The report has been available long before Jonathan became President but nothing was done. So, what we are saying is that corruption has always been entrenched in our government and to blame Jonathan for it is unfair. If you remember how Umaru Yar'Adua and Jonathan got into power, in fact, they were funded by the most corrupt governors in the PDP at the time. Most of the governors that sponsored Yar'Adua were the most corrupt and had even been indicted by the Nuhu Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the commission had given the report to Obasanjo.
Obasanjo then blackmailed those governors to shelve their presidential ambitions because he wanted to impose Yar'Adua and he made them to fund Yar'Adua's campaign. And you know when a person is funded by corrupt people, how can the person turn around and fight those same people? When Yar'Adua got to power, the closest people to him were those corrupt people who funded him like James Ibori. They were always dining together at Aso Rock. No court in Nigeria could jail Ibori for corruption. It took an English court to find him guilty. So, when you owe your electoral victory to those corrupt people that funded your campaign, it would be too much for you to fight them. So, that hampered Yar'Adua and Jonathan because their administrations were products of corruption.
There has been much talk about the President's appointments in favour of the North.
As a Yoruba man I am very uncomfortable with this. Buhari had a reputation for ethnic bias and when we said it during the election, they said we were lying. The change the APC was talking about meant two different things. The APC in the North saw change as an opportunity to return power to the region while those in the South-West were looking for genuine social change. At the end, the North just used the South-West to climb back into Aso Rock
But with Tinubu as the National Leader of the APC, he should be able to protect the interest of the Yoruba people.
Tinubu's story is like Afonja in Ilorin in 1817. Ilorin used to be under the Oyo Empire and was the headquarters of an Oyo General, Afonja. But Afonja rebelled against the empire and helped bring about its collapse with the assistance of the Fulani. Afonja was assisted by Shehu Alimi, who was a Fulani leader. In 1824 Afonja was assassinated and Alimi's son became Emir and Ilorin became an emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate
It was naive of Tinubu to think that Buhari would just get power and he (Tinubu) would become the kingmaker of Nigeria. That is what Tinubu expected and that was why we kept reminding him of the Ilorin episode. We told him that once Buhari got power, he would turn around and just forget about him and implement a northern hegemonic agenda which Buhari is doing now.
In 1960, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, made a statement publicly that the northerners should regard Nigeria as their conquered territory and that they own Nigeria. He said the entire South-West and South-East should be regarded as conquered territory and that the North should never allow the South to govern. This statement was widely reported in the media. It was in the West African Pilot of October 12, 1960. The quote was boldly published. So, the keys to the chains of slavery we thought we could use to break free were just given back to the North by the APC. The APC became an agent of oppression and enslavement. We can all see that Buhari only tricked Tinubu to get power back to the North.
But under the APC, the South-West produced the vice-president and some could argue that under Jonathan, the South-West was not even in the corridors of power.
First of all, a vice-president has no power. A vice-president can just be sitting at his table and be reading newspapers for four years. A vice-president in a presidential system anywhere in the world does not have any powers. Even in the American system which we copied, most people do not even remember who the vice-president is. Even when Jonathan was the President, what powers did his deputy have? Nothing much. So, stop saying we have the vice-president.
We Yoruba are very educated and we shouldn't be fooled so easily. Even look at the 36 state governors and their deputies. How many deputy governors have power? The relationship is the same between the President and his deputy. The vice-president is as powerful as the President wants him to be. If the President doesn't want him to see anything happening, he cannot see anything and he has no choice. So, being a vice-president is not anything to be proud of.
Look at the power configuration in Nigeria today; there are three arms of government: The executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The executive is headed by Buhari who is a northerner; the two arms of the legislature which are the Senate and the House of Representatives, are headed by northerners: Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara respectively. The Chief Justice, Mahmoud Mohammed, who heads the judiciary, is also a northerner. So, the entire government is completely in the hands of the northerners.
To compound it all, look at all the appointments that Buhari has been making. About 90 per cent of his appointees are northerners. In the first appointment he made, eight were from the North while only one was from the South. Subsequently, he made about 30 appointments and only six are from the South and the rest from the North. And if you look at all the important offices today, they are all in control of the North including security agencies like the Comptrollers General of immigration and customs. Even those surrounding the President personally are all northerners except the Senior Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina, who is in charge of polishing Buhari's public image.
So, is this the change we were asked to vote for? I am sure this is not what Tinubu had in mind and this is what we are getting. Southerners have never had it so bad in Nigeria. We have a President whose plan is to extend the Fulani empire to the South and to the Atlantic which has always been their goal.
What is the next line of action for the Yoruba race?
What we must do is to put on our thinking caps. We have been led astray by Tinubu. Tinubu did all this for his own selfish agenda. We all know what he did in Lagos but because he has so much money, whatever he says is believed hook, line and sinker. We must educate ourselves and use our brains. I have never hesitated in telling people that Tinubu is not the right leader for the Yoruba race. He is not truthful and that was why Gani Fawehinmi took him to court.
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Yoruba'll regret voting Buhari - Okunrounmu
Written by Eniola Akinkuotu - Punch, Nigeria.
Senator Femi Okunrounmu |
Okunrounmu, who was the Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, had supported former President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term and asked the Yoruba to vote for him so that he would be able to implement the report of the conference.
However, Buhari received over two million votes from the South-West in the last election, defeating Jonathan in the process.
Speaking with our correspondent during a telephone interview on Saturday, Okunrounmu said his predictions about the Buhari administration were already coming true.
He said Buhari's recent appointments showed that the North would dominate Nigeria in all spheres.
He said, "As a Yoruba man, I am very uncomfortable with this (appointments). Buhari had a reputation for ethnic bias and when we said it during the election, they said we were lying.
"The change the APC was talking about meant two different things. The APC in the North saw change as an opportunity to return power to the region while those in the South-West were looking for genuine social change. At the end, the North just used the South-West to get into Aso Rock and now we are regretting it."
The President's spokesperson, Mr. Femi Adesina, had said Buhari would balance the lopsided appointments very soon.
However, Okunrounmu said all the important appointments had already been made.
He noted that no other appointment could be more powerful than the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He said, "Look at the power configuration in Nigeria today; there are three arms of government: The executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The executive is headed by Buhari who is a northerner; the two arms of the legislature which are the Senate and the House of Representatives, are headed by northerners: Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, respectively.
"The Chief Justice, Mahmoud Mohammed, who heads the judiciary, is also a northerner. So, the entire government is completely in the hands of northerners."
The Afenifere chieftain said the fact that a Yoruba man is the vice-president meant nothing as there was no constitutional role for the vice-president.
He said the vice-president slot was a ploy which the All Progressives Congress leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, used in deceiving the people of the South-West.
He added, "I have never hesitated in telling people that Tinubu is not the right leader for the Yoruba race. He is not truthful and that was why Gani Fawehinmi took him to court."
Okunrounmu, who was a member of the 4th Assembly, urged Buhari to prove his critics right by implementing the report of the conference.
He said, "Clearly, his body language and the body language of all his lieutenants show that they are not keen on implementing the resolutions of the conference. However, in spite of that, those of us who believe it is the panacea to the problems of this nation shall not stop putting pressure on the President and all other organs of government to let them see that this is the way forward."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Buhari tricked Tinubu to get power - Okunrounmu
Senator Femi Okunrounmu |
You, along with other leaders in the South, under the aegis of Southern Nigerian Peoples Assembly condemned President Muhammadu Buhari's refusal to implement the National Conference report. Do you think he won't implement the report?
The President is doing just what we had predicted that he would do. Those of us who believed that only former President Goodluck Jonathan was committed to implementing the resolutions of the conference made it clear before the elections that if Buhari wins, that would be the end of the recommendations of the conference. We predicted this and shouted from the rooftop but the people knew better and they have chosen him. So, I am not surprised that he is not keen on implementing the resolutions. We support all the measures taken by Buhari so far, like the war on corruption but we believe that if we implement the report of the National Conference, the tendency towards corruption will reduce permanently.
You just commended Buhari's anti-corruption war which has revealed some corrupt practices under Jonathan and yet you supported Jonathan's re-election. Why did Afenifere support a corrupt government?
The truth is that corruption was a way of life to all previous administrations. However, it became pronounced and institutionalised under Ibrahim Babangida. He made it a national culture and then his successor, Sani Abacha, took it to a higher level and then Abdulsalami Abubakar. It kept on getting worse, including the Olusegun Obasanjo regime. So, we are not saying that Jonathan's regime is not corrupt but we are saying corruption is not the only problem. If we are going to tackle corruption, let us do it holistically and really begin from Babangida's regime because all the characters of that regime are still alive.
The evidence of their corrupt acts is still available like the Haliburton scandal, the report of the investigation that was conducted is still on the President's table. All those involved were mentioned and the bribes they took. The report has been available long before Jonathan became President but nothing was done. So, what we are saying is that corruption has always been entrenched in our government and to blame Jonathan for it is unfair. If you remember how Umaru Yar'Adua and Jonathan got into power, in fact, they were funded by the most corrupt governors in the PDP at the time. Most of the governors that sponsored Yar'Adua were the most corrupt and had even been indicted by the Nuhu Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the commission had given the report to Obasanjo.
Obasanjo then blackmailed those governors to shelve their presidential ambitions because he wanted to impose Yar'Adua and he made them to fund Yar'Adua's campaign. And you know when a person is funded by corrupt people, how can the person turn around and fight those same people? When Yar'Adua got to power, the closest people to him were those corrupt people who funded him like James Ibori. They were always dining together at Aso Rock. No court in Nigeria could jail Ibori for corruption. It took an English court to find him guilty. So, when you owe your electoral victory to those corrupt people that funded your campaign, it would be too much for you to fight them. So, that hampered Yar'Adua and Jonathan because their administrations were products of corruption.
There has been much talk about the President's appointments in favour of the North.
As a Yoruba man I am very uncomfortable with this. Buhari had a reputation for ethnic bias and when we said it during the election, they said we were lying. The change the APC was talking about meant two different things. The APC in the North saw change as an opportunity to return power to the region while those in the South-West were looking for genuine social change. At the end, the North just used the South-West to climb back into Aso Rock
But with Tinubu as the National Leader of the APC, he should be able to protect the interest of the Yoruba people.
Tinubu's story is like Afonja in Ilorin in 1817. Ilorin used to be under the Oyo Empire and was the headquarters of an Oyo General, Afonja. But Afonja rebelled against the empire and helped bring about its collapse with the assistance of the Fulani. Afonja was assisted by Shehu Alimi, who was a Fulani leader. In 1824 Afonja was assassinated and Alimi's son became Emir and Ilorin became an emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate
It was naive of Tinubu to think that Buhari would just get power and he (Tinubu) would become the kingmaker of Nigeria. That is what Tinubu expected and that was why we kept reminding him of the Ilorin episode. We told him that once Buhari got power, he would turn around and just forget about him and implement a northern hegemonic agenda which Buhari is doing now.
In 1960, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello, made a statement publicly that the northerners should regard Nigeria as their conquered territory and that they own Nigeria. He said the entire South-West and South-East should be regarded as conquered territory and that the North should never allow the South to govern. This statement was widely reported in the media. It was in the West African Pilot of October 12, 1960. The quote was boldly published. So, the keys to the chains of slavery we thought we could use to break free were just given back to the North by the APC. The APC became an agent of oppression and enslavement. We can all see that Buhari only tricked Tinubu to get power back to the North.
But under the APC, the South-West produced the vice-president and some could argue that under Jonathan, the South-West was not even in the corridors of power.
First of all, a vice-president has no power. A vice-president can just be sitting at his table and be reading newspapers for four years. A vice-president in a presidential system anywhere in the world does not have any powers. Even in the American system which we copied, most people do not even remember who the vice-president is. Even when Jonathan was the President, what powers did his deputy have? Nothing much. So, stop saying we have the vice-president.
We Yoruba are very educated and we shouldn't be fooled so easily. Even look at the 36 state governors and their deputies. How many deputy governors have power? The relationship is the same between the President and his deputy. The vice-president is as powerful as the President wants him to be. If the President doesn't want him to see anything happening, he cannot see anything and he has no choice. So, being a vice-president is not anything to be proud of.
Look at the power configuration in Nigeria today; there are three arms of government: The executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The executive is headed by Buhari who is a northerner; the two arms of the legislature which are the Senate and the House of Representatives, are headed by northerners: Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara respectively. The Chief Justice, Mahmoud Mohammed, who heads the judiciary, is also a northerner. So, the entire government is completely in the hands of the northerners.
To compound it all, look at all the appointments that Buhari has been making. About 90 per cent of his appointees are northerners. In the first appointment he made, eight were from the North while only one was from the South. Subsequently, he made about 30 appointments and only six are from the South and the rest from the North. And if you look at all the important offices today, they are all in control of the North including security agencies like the Comptrollers General of immigration and customs. Even those surrounding the President personally are all northerners except the Senior Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina, who is in charge of polishing Buhari's public image.
So, is this the change we were asked to vote for? I am sure this is not what Tinubu had in mind and this is what we are getting. Southerners have never had it so bad in Nigeria. We have a President whose plan is to extend the Fulani empire to the South and to the Atlantic which has always been their goal.
What is the next line of action for the Yoruba race?
What we must do is to put on our thinking caps. We have been led astray by Tinubu. Tinubu did all this for his own selfish agenda. We all know what he did in Lagos but because he has so much money, whatever he says is believed hook, line and sinker. We must educate ourselves and use our brains. I have never hesitated in telling people that Tinubu is not the right leader for the Yoruba race. He is not truthful and that was why Gani Fawehinmi took him to court.
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