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'Is this the change we promised Nigerians? - Ben Murray-Bruce writes

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Sunday, February 19, 2017

Read his piece below...

Two weeks ago, the Chairman of the Senate Committee of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Dino Melaye, made a startling revelation that shook me and many right thinking Nigerians to our foundation. At a time Nigeria is going through a daunting economic recession, it was revealed that we plan on spending the sum of N250 million to build a gatehouse for the Vice President of Nigeria.

Whenever I think of the budgetary provision of N250 million to build a gatehouse for the vice president, I am moved by the inequities and inequalities of Nigeria.

There is no urgency or importance in building a new gatehouse for the vice president’s already over priced house, but if even we need to build such a house can we not build it with less than 10% of the cost?

At the black market rate (which is the most commonly used rate in Nigeria) N250 million is equivalent to $500,000. At the official rate, it is worth almost a million dollars. With that type of cash you can buy a mansion in Washington DC and a well developed property in London. Isn’t it a pity that all it can buy the Nigerian government is a gatehouse?

Now we want to borrow $30 billion from other nations and foreign financial institutions. But why should any other nations or foreign financial institutions lend us money when we have not shown prudence in managing the little that we have?
I can assure you that I did my research and not one of the ten richest nations in the world is spending the equivalent of 250 million for something as inconsequential to the well being of a nation as a vice president’s gatehouse.

Why should America, Britain or China lend Nigeria any money when the gate man of our Vice President is living in a house that only a millionaire in their own country can afford?

Should they lend us $30 billion so we can build more luxurious and befitting gatehouses for our other public officials?

Is this the change we promised Nigerians?

With a minimum wage of N18,000 the N250 million to be spent on the Vice President’s gatehouse can pay the salaries of 13,888 Nigerians!

How many staff are being owed salary by the federal government? How many staff are being owed salary by state governments? How many pensioners are dying while waiting to collect pension that never comes?

How many internally displaced persons are dying of hunger while we budget N250 million for a gatehouse? N250 million can feed one million people for a day and 200,000 people for a week.

Recently, I was driving on a federal road in the South-east and a portion of that road was so damaged that it was a death trap. I wonder how many people have been killed on that road. Certainly, from my estimation as an entrepreneur who has built several malls and other real estate projects across Nigeria, N250 million will be sufficient to repair that portion of the road, but no! We have to build a gatehouse for a VIP!

Nigeria has some of the worst maternal and infant maternity rates in the whole world. 10% of all the women who die in childbirth are Nigerian women according to the UN. Meanwhile Nigeria only has 2% of the world’s population.

The main challenge we have in reducing maternal mortality is funding and we are approaching international aid organisations to help us raise funds to help reduce death amongst our pregnant women. Can you imagine how unserious we look to them when they read that we are spending N250 million on a gatehouse while begging them for money?

We really must make better use of our scarce resources at this time. We cannot expect others to lend to us from their own hard earned resources when we have demonstrated a propensity to squander the little we have.

What we have demonstrated in Nigeria, especially within the last two years, is a strong propensity to major on the minor and minor on the major.

With the way we in government treat Nigerians, I sometimes suspect that our people will prefer to go to hell if our leaders are found in heaven!

And another thing, for a nation that wants to come out of recession, Nigeria is not spending enough on education.

The proposed allocation for education is N50 billion, which is only a third of the proposed allocation for defence.

There is a reason why LEARN and EARN rhyme. If a nation wants to earn more she must first learn more. This budget proposal does not take that into account.

We are still working with an obsolete Industrial Age thought process that operates under the wrong notion that nations become rich because of what they have under their soil.

I have got news for the executive: today’s nations can only grow rich by what is between the ears of its citizens! We are living in the knowledge worker era.

Apple, Google, facebook and yahoo are now more valuable than Exxon-Mobil, Shell BP, Chevron and AGIP. The world is changing and we must change with it.

I have been studying Anambra State for a while. This used to be one of the most educationally disadvantaged states in the South. But since the era of former Governor Peter Obi till today, the state made education its priority and allocated the bulk of its budget to education and the more Anambra budgeted for education the more their economy flourished.

They do not borrow. They did not participate in the federal government’s bailout to states. They have one of, if not the best subnational economies in Nigeria. Nigeria as a whole is importing food, Anambra as a whole is exporting food.
And their secret is education. They have consistently featured as number one in WAEC and NECO results.

If we want Nigeria to earn more money, that cannot be achieved by selling more oil. It can only be achieved by learning more to earn more.

As a nation, we are spending N49 billion maintaining about a 100 embassies and consulates. What do we get in return? That expense is a drain and not an investment.

We can spend only a fraction of that amount. Do we need a consular in every nation to issue visas? Several nations that are richer than Nigeria are doing away with consulars in preference for entry point visas.

Turkey has a policy where you pay $40 and you get your visa online. It is reducing their recurrent expenditure because now they maintain only a skeletal staff in their embassies and it is increasing their revenue because without the bottleneck and hassle of getting visas through the traditional means, people are flocking to countries like Turkey, like the UAE and other countries that have online visa policies.
Instead of N49 billion, we can spend only 10% of that and use the balance N45 billion to build infrastructure and educate our people. In fact, we can be like the UAE and Turkey that can afford to use the millions they get from online visas to run their embassies.

Two months ago, the presidency released a statement announcing that they have recently weeded out 50,000 ghost workers from the pay roll of the federal government.

If that is true, then why isn’t that being reflected in the budget for recurrent expenditure? If you have weeded 50,000 ghost workers from the system then there must be a massive drop in our recurrent expenditure. Something is not adding up.
Recurrent expenditure in the 2017 budget is N2.98 trillion. Let us just call it N3 trillion. Recurrent expenditure in the 2016 budget was N2.6 trillion.

Are we sure that the executive did not make a mistake and instead of weeding 50,000 ghost workers from the system it actually added 50,000 ghost workers because the recurrent expenditure has increased.
Has minimum wage increased? No? There are too many ambiguities that need to be cleared up.

And on housing, certainly we can do much more than what the 2017 budget proposes to do.

The American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, theorised that our most basic human need is for shelter. Let us relate this to Nigeria.

Nigeria has a 17 million housing deficit. If Abraham Maslow is correct, it stands to reason that lack of shelter, among others, is one of the single largest drivers of corruption in Nigeria today.

Civil servants and politicians steal largely because they have no hope of ever owning a home and they do not want to be destitute after their retirement. This is why the EFCC seizes a lot of houses from corrupt people.

If home ownership represents man’s basic need, then no government has succeeded in meeting this need. After all, what is the essence coming to power if the most basic need of the electorate cannot be addressed?

Nigeria needs to solve this challenge because if we do, we will go a long way to improving the human development index of Nigeria and reducing the misery level as well igniting the type of economic activity that will ease our current recession while also fighting corruption.

There is no way government can build 17 million houses. At best, the budget of the ministry of housing can build a couple hundred thousand houses annually. If we are to plug this deficit, we have to rely on the private sector just like developed nations.

We have over N6 trillion of our pension funds sitting in financial institutions. Let us deploy these funds into productive sectors of our economy.

The naira gets devalued and the return from investing pension assets in government treasury bills and bank deposits is less than the rate of inflation. Real estate is one of the few investments that outstrips inflation. The safest investment anywhere in the world is real estate.

Why don’t we use these funds to fund our real estate development and end our housing deficit?

We can and we should use the pension funds to stimulate the housing market while the government subsidizes the mortgage rate for low income earners so that they can borrow at single digit interest rates.

Promoting home ownership will lower corruption and what else could be a safer investment for our pension funds? After all, no one can run away with a house. They can run away with a car or with cash, or with shares, but a house is immovable and best of all it largely continues to appreciate in value. It only makes Commonsense to use pension funds in this way.
And I do not even see why government has to sell land to property developers and private housing estate builders in the first place. In my opinion, if you want to build houses for the masses, government should give you land free of charge!

Of what use is the land when it has no property or farm on it? At least if you allow people build on it government can charge them property taxes.

Our president and governors live in houses paid for by tax payers. It is time we return the favour to the taxpayers and the masses. It is time we begin running Nigeria in a businesslike manner and provide our people the dividends of democracy. It is time we deliver on the promised change.

• Ben Murray-Bruce is the Founder of Silverbird Entertainment Group and the Senator representing Bayelsa East in the National Assembly

Article: The political struggle that music gave us

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Thursday, February 16, 2017

The voice of music should be the voice of God. The voice of the people should be the power of music. A combination of these two should be the nightmare of our incompetent, greedy and fumbling politicians.
So why is no politician shaking to the power of our music? Why is Aso Rock not in a panicked scramble to entertain the frustration of the people? The reason is that for a very long time our music fell off the map when it comes to political activism. For a very long time musicians engaged in the type of music Fela played before his political and creative maturity. For a very long time musicians lost both their poetic and political street credibility to the climatic ecstasy of naked girls and abundant cash (or lack of, thereof). For a very long time Nigerian music sold its soul to the pantheon of illuminati fuelled self-aggrandizement. For a very long time we pretended to party along with both musicians and politicians, not really minding that what is being produced is poison to our socio-economic welfare.
We, the masses, fed both musicians and politicians fat with our stupid and blinded loyalty – and silence. We listened to everything the politicians said and listened to everything the musicians sang about, without demanding they speak and sing for our benefit. Both politicians and musicians used the pedestal our loyalty gave them to enrich themselves while we remained flat on our butts and bank accounts.
Suddenly, the dollar is exchanging for five hundred naira. And music videos and celebrity social media accounts still show musicians throwing both naira and dollars around. But for who? For us, of course. For their fans and the masses who can no longer afford to pay their children’s school fees or afford three round meals a day. They are all better off than we are, of course. Yet no musician anywhere today will earn a dime without their fans following them, like mumu; or like Fela said, like zombie. So why is it that now when the economic situation is so messed up that people cannot get food to eat anymore we have not turned to these stupid musicians and said: ‘wetin dey happen?’

Nothing dey happen, says Nigerian musician and superstar 2Face all the time. It’s his signature statement. Well, it is good to know that even 2Face has now realized that ‘something dey happen’, which is why he probably called for that still born and ill-fated protest march a while ago. One of the good things the 2face intervention did was tear the wall of illusion holding us down to politically aimless entertainment. 2Face just showed us the tremendous and adamantine political power that lies behind music, waiting to be tapped. This power is not virgin around here. It was tapped three times a day then by Fela. That legacy remains with us today and will probably live forever. The power connects directly with the people.
People are openly calling for revolution on the streets in social media vox pop videos nowadays and saying they will slit the throats of ‘big men’ politicians if they caught them in the revolution. People are openly saying they will rise and bear arms if the economic situation in the country does not improve. The anger is beginning to throb to explosion levels, more even with the president missing in action. Like Charly Boy aka Area Father very correctly phrased it, people are beginning to realize that our mumu don do.
So what’s next?

We want to hear more from musicians in matters that affect our general welfare. We want to see our superstar musicians tweet about the suffering of the people, not just their affluence, hard earned or otherwise. We want to see them get more space in mass liberation conversations. We want them to send a clear message to those who gift them cars and cash from government houses: we will take the gifts (why refuse them) but you are not buying our souls. We stand with the people. We stand for social justice. We stand for economic fairness. We stand for values that your gifts cannot change.
But we the people have to do something for ourselves too. Music has given us itself as a weapon in this struggle. Let us use it wisely. And we can do this in two ways:
First, we can start using our loyalty as a weapon of struggle. Secondly, we need to get more vocal, especially on social media, about what everyday people are going through to survive in the mess that the politicians have created for us all.
The first one first. Using our loyalty to musicians as a weapon in the fight for social-economic fairness is simple. If you identify any asshole musician that has never said anything about the people’s suffering, that has never lent their voices to mass awareness movements stop listening to them. If they upload their stupid ‘love’ and silly cash songs on social media don’t hit the like button. Drop comments and tell them your mind. If you see them on YouTube hit the dislike button. If they call you to attend their concerts buy ‘pure water’ as you go in. Wait for them as they leave the venue. You know what to do. Enough is now enough. Our mumu don do. (Thanks for this phrase, Area Father. I love it!). We cannot come and go and be using our loyalty to support and aggrandize people that don’t give a rat’s ass about our suffering. Show them how you feel.
Image result for buhari meme

Secondly, what is the point of having the share button if it is just for pictures and personal notes? Use it to spread the message about what is going on. Share and share and share. If you see a meme about Buhari missing in action, share it! If you see one about money stolen by politicians, share it. If you see anything any sensible musician shares in solidarity with the suffering masses, share it. Spread it. It is subtle power, but it builds up. Most of us stupid masses want to see change, true positive change, but on social media we only share what Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé wore to the last Beverly Hills party. The thunder that will fire people like that is still begging God for the angel of death to follow.
Become aware of what is going on in national conversations that will benefit you. Listen to music that will actually help your situation. Just met a couple of teenagers that wanted to look for Mr Eazi’s songs online using my hard earned wifi. With all due respect, I asked them to look for Seun Kuti’s new songs too (and old ones for that matter). You see, all these kids do is help Mr Eazi. Mr Eazi helps himself and never does anything to help these kids, when he clearly can.

Music gave us a medium to face this struggle, 2Face just made this clear. We cannot sit back and expect the musicians to do it all for us. Let us go out and do something for ourselves, no matter how small.
Let’s make sure Lai Mohammed and co face the music of absolute frustration like we do everyday.
odega shawa
IG: @shawa_kalakutabooks
@shawa2008

A peep into Osinbajo’s presidency By Ochereome Nnanna

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Monday, February 13, 2017

WITHIN these twenty months of the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, we have been privileged to see two “faces” of his presidency. The first face is the General Muhammadu Buhari character of it, while the second is the Professor Yemi Osinbajo coloration. These two faces are dramatically different. Let us look at them briefly.
Muhammadu Buhari, being the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the man majority of the Nigerian electorate gave their votes to as the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Many Nigerians saw him as an experienced leader; a man of integrity who would fight corruption and secure the nation from Boko Haram and other security threats, thereby giving the sluggish economy the impetus to jumpstart itself back to buoyancy.

Ag Pres Osinbajo

At least, that was the logic his promoters from the Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu presented before Nigerians. He looked very tailor-made to deliver the “change” the party promised Nigerians. Some of us had our reservations because we had seen the other side of him which did not recommend him as the person to lead the country at this juncture of her march to nationhood.
But when he assumed the mantle of power, Buhari started confirming our fears about him, rather than justifying the confidence of his supporters and other unbiased onlookers. He was slow and sloppy in putting his government together, very much unlike the experienced leader whom we all expected to swing into action immediately after being sworn-in. It took him six months to put together his Federal Executive Council, unlike the new American President, Donald J. Trump, whose cabinet was already in place as he started work. Up till today, Buhari has not fully constituted his government.
One of the most perplexing of Buhari’s failings when it comes to the appointment of people to crucial positions is the Chief Justice of Nigeria,(CJN, saga. When the former CJN, Mahmud Mohammed retired in November last year, the National Judicial Council, NJC, recommended Hon. Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen to Buhari for onward transmission to the Senate for confirmation. Rather than doing so, Buhari swore Onnoghen in as Acting CJN. It was a queer move which the President, up till today when he is away on medical tourism abroad, has refused to explain his motive for it. He left us all guessing.
Some of us guessed, against the background of his ethnic and section predilections in loading up the commanding points of the Federal Government with Northern Muslims, that Buhari did not want a Southerner as CJN. Perhaps, he was waiting for three months to elapse, hoping that Onnoghen would retire and the NJC would cave in and nominate the next in line, Justice Tanko Mohammed from Bauchi.
That would effectively put the leadership of the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary back in Northern Muslim hands in line with Buhari’s preferred, nepotism-fed governing template which is against the demands of the constitution that top positions in government must be shared to reflect the Federal Character and give all sections a sense of belonging.
Another school of thought guessed that since Buhari believes the Judiciary is rotten right through, he wanted to go outside the existing convention and succession queue in the Judiciary and bring in someone to complement his fight against corruption. But those who have observed his tendency to fill important positions with his kinsmen and personal cronies also felt this was an opportunity for Buhari to appoint a loyalist as CJN, so that between head of the Judiciary and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, he would have a complete grip of the Judiciary to fortify his political power and position.
Some even guessed that, perhaps, there were some lingering and undeclared baggage hanging around the person of Onnoghen which the President needed to clear before deciding what to do with him. This sounded more like the alibi that was adduced for his delayed appointment of ministers. It is improbable that a person whom the NJC nominated for that coveted position would not have been checked and cross-checked beforehand by the security agencies.
With the President away on medical vacation and Osinbajo acting for him, we saw a different approach. Onnoghen’s name was submitted to the Senate for confirmation a few days before the February 10th 2017 deadline, thus putting Onnoghen’s fate beyond the manipulative grip of our ailing President. Even if he comes back to work, Buhari can no longer stop Onnoghen. Only the Senate can, if there are convincing reasons to do so.
We are still left guessing as to what really happened. Most of us did not think Osinbajo, as Acting President, had the guts to submit Onnoghen’s name against the wishes of his boss, under the watchful eyes of Buhari’s cabal. If Buhari gave his consent for Onnoghen’s name to be forwarded to the Senate from his sick bed in the UK, couldn’t he have handled it better if he had done so himself? As it is, Osinbajo will walk away as the person who, as Acting President, did the right thing (at the right time) which his principal failed to do. He demonstrated better leadership than Buhari. He showed the better side of the Buhari Presidency.
Another area where the two faces of the Buhari Presidency showed was in the manner the recent anti-government protests were handled by Osinbajo compared to what we have seen right under Buhari’s personal watch. Buhari adopted what I call the “kill-and-bury” approach to protests by unarmed, aggrieved Nigerians. We saw this in the put-downs of the Shiite and pro-Biafra protests where international humanitarian groups such as Amnesty International confirmed the killing and burial of hundreds of people on each occasion.
When the recent anti-government protests were building up, the Police and security agencies threatened fire and brimstone and some activists, seeing what happened to protesters in the past, chickened out. However, these protests took place under Osinbajo’s watch, and no one was harassed or arrested. I doubt if this would have been the case had Buhari been on seat. It was an opportunity for the Tinubu camp of the Buhari regime to show its own idea of handling politics and governance, and Osinbajo delivered.
Tinubu addressed the protesters in Lagos like a true party leader. Acting President Osinbajo not only received a delegation of Organised Labour in audience but also assured the protesters that the Federal Government would respond positively to their sentiments. A committee was even set up to “bring down the prices” of food items, though I am not sure how that will work out. There was no sabre-rattling, or the usual hoity-toity-aren’t-we-grand airs of people in high political offices.
Buhari represents the discredited, reactionary and oppressive Northern hegemony face of Nigerian politics which we thought we had outgrown since the General Abacha regime ended on 8th June 1998. This style of leadership is very divisive, and it breeds dissent. This was what we saw in a future Buhari presidency during the campaigns and we warned against it.
Osinbajo has shown a more civilised and acceptable hue of the APC Federal Government which would come into full bloom if he were to complete the rest of the tenure that Nigerians voted for. For me, the difference is clear.
If Buhari continues with his aggressive ethnic imperialist mode of the past twenty months, he will likely lose grip of the ship of state. He needs to allow more of the refined methods that Osinbajo and Tinubu can bring to bear on his leadership. After all, Tinubu is the father of this regime.
Our peep into Osinbajo’s brief Presidency reveals something far more positive and reassuring in terms of democratic leadership and inclusive governance.

I Stand with Nigeria Protest. #OurMumuDonDo...by Charly Boy

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Thursday, February 09, 2017

Read his piece below...

OurMumuDonDo: in the Face of Hopelessness I saw Hope with the #IstandWithNigeria Project; in the Midst of Excruciating Hunger I saw Defiance in the faces of our youths; In a Nation of Virtual Social Media Mouthing Youths I saw Foot Soldiers who are capable of Moving this Nation forward if the dream of nationalism is nurtured in the minds of all. Bad Governance is a failure of the governed just as much as it is a failure of Political Leadership.

I am a realist and I understand the challenges this country is facing from decades of wasteful wickedness; indifferent Leadership; Mindless Looting and Audacious Criminality. And so, I understand the Challenges of the current President Muhammadu Buhari Administration; I know there are no Short term Solutions; I am aware that no Matter how smooth the processes of realigning Nigeria will be, we all will have to bite the Bullet as our wounds are being treated.

Change we know is hard in the Beginning; Messy in the Middle and Glorious in the end if there is a sincerity of purpose by the Leaders and the Led. The People; My Constituency; My fellow frustrated nigerians are the only people making sacrifices while the Political Leadership is still in the habit of Wastefulness, Looting, Stealing, Embezzlement and Ravaging of our Commonwealth.

Me and my pikins and good revolutionist in this country no go again gree lie lie and so we are ready to defile the odds and challenge all constituted authorities in Nigeria beginning now. The battle line have been drawn; The war is here and we are ready to ensure that all Nigerians enjoy governance. We are willing to give up our Lives for the Good of our Country and Peace in the heart of the Poor Nigerian, at least I know am ready. If you no talk, you go die, if you still talk like Fela you go die. So I go talk talk before I die.

The Federal Government under the Leadership of President Mohammadu Buhari must not be the only Arm or Level of Government that is interested in Fighting Corruption; Infrastructural Development; Fighting Insurgency and the Fulani Herdsmen Menace; Developing an Economic Nationalism Model and seeking options to improve Power. If PMB and the Vice President are the only guys interested in Change, then Change will not come at all. We demand and will fight. If we can't fight for ourselves and our future, we do die for nothing.

#OurMumuDonDo. demands are as follows.

1. The Executive Arm of the Federal Government to become More Aggressive in Seeking alternative Masses Driven Economic and Development Policies for the people; Harmonization of all Salary Scale in Nigeria and the Introduction of a Transparency Library where all Expenditure of Government can be access online and offline.

2. The National Assembly to #OpenNass urgently or they will have to Kill us the People this Time; The Running Cost must be made open to the Public soon and cut drastically or they will see the Demons in the Nigerian Angry Populace.

3. The Judiciary must as a Matter of Urgency vacate all Corruption based Perpetual Injunctions in Nigerian Courts; Speedily Prosecute Corruption cases and Must Strictly follow the dictates of the Criminal Administrative Justice Act of 2015.

4. The Agricultural Policies of the Federal , State and Local Governments must become Expansive; The Accountability Process of the government must become visibly available to all Nigerians and Infrastructural and Contractual Obligations of the Nigerian Government must be given topmost priority.

5. The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) must as a Matter of urgency begin the process of gutting all Allowances as they Relate to the Political office Holders in Nigeria.

6. A People, Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organisation’s driven body that will provide Oversight on all Constituency Projects across Nigeria must be Constitituted and Funded by the Federal Government for Monitoring; Evaluation and Follow up of all funds allocated and spent by Government on all Constituencies across Nigeria.

7. All State Governments; State Assembly and Local Governments must become answerable to the desires of the governed; The Proletariat and the Suffering Masses who are Voice but when engaged can be dangerous. We hope Politicians will not drive our people outside the zone of reasons. When you see jungle Justice for the commoner you get the Message.

An Injury to one is an Injury to all; we are ready for the worse and prepared to sacrifice our all for the good of this country. We will Never allow politicians to lie to us and get away with it ever again. This is the beginning of the reign of peaceful Revolution whose premise is centred on the Doctrine of The Eternal Reverend Martin King Jnr; The Legendary Mahatma Ghandi and the The Africa Legend Nelson Mandela. We Will Fight with the Tenacity of the vibrant Malcom X; The Defiant Spirit of Patrice Lumumba; The Africa Che; Thomas Sankara and the Heart of the Man who Emboldens the best of Revolutionary Struggles Worldwide; Ernesto Che Guevara. The Revolutionary Words of Fela Anikulapo Kuti Will Drive our resistance; The Selfless Services of the People’s SAN Gani Fawehinmi will ensure that we fight for Nigerians First and the Historical importance of the The Legend; My Father Justice Oputa will guide our process always.

The Justice Oputa Foundation is the Platform; Nigerians from all works of Life are invited to join us as we begin the process for Political, Social and Economic Rebirth for the good of all Nigerians. All Civil Society Organisations and all Non Governmental Organisations must become the voices of the people against the political Insanity at all Levels of government in Nigeria. The People must become the dictators in any Democracy where the interest of the people is relegated. If President Buhari cannot Fight Corruption alone and he can’t; we must support the fight and make it more wholesome for all Nigerians to engage. We owe it to our people to fight for Justice, Fairness and Equality for all Nigerians and that Fight is just beginning.

This is a Call to Action; a Call to Reason; A Call to Nigerianization; A Call to Nationalism and a Call to defiantly Confront the common Enemy of the people…The Mindlessly Corrupt Politician with the Capacity for Audacious impunity and Selfishly Insatiable Desire to Loot our Commonwealth. We will Engage, Protest and Occupy until we are heard and until we see result and action on the part of Government.

#OurMumuDonDo and our time don come to Initiate #CitizensFightback and #FloodTheSystem to #OccupyUnlimited until we can Change our Country for the good of all.

#ALUTAETERNAL is The our cry.

AREAFADA

President

Frustrated Nigerians.

Article:- The Rise And Fall Of The 2face Idibia Protest March

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Monday, February 06, 2017

At the beginning of the year I begged Nigerian musicians to help us – the masses – in the struggle against the reality of Buhari’s elusive economic boom. (Read
here) I asked them to lend their powerful voices and their platforms to the struggle for the end of suffering and poverty under this government. I even yabbed them, to get them to do something, anything.
And 2Face Idibia responded. He called for a nationwide protest march.
I laughed out loud when I read reports of the announcement. I was as happy as a weak fool who heard the worst class bully was being transferred to another school, to repeat a class. I wasn’t alone. A jolt went through the entire nation at the grassroots, a positive jolt. This is what, it seemed, everybody has been waiting for: a spark to ignite the inferno. Yes! At last!

The momentum picked up so fast and was so total that when Blackface, 2Face’s estranged band mate, re-shared, on social media, some foolish article saying in part that 2face was an illiterate that should not be trusted with a nationwide protest, the Nigerian social media sphere swept up and chewed Blackface a brand new and second asshole. Nobody could say anything, no matter how rational, against the protest march. In the article and various others dissenters pointed out that 2face ate and dallied with politicians and bear no moral right to protest against them. Nobody cared. The consolidation and escalation of the 2face brand as it connected with the planned protest was just too strong for any negative effect. If you did not like the protest keep it to your sorry self was the opinion of the masses. Other artistes, like Burna Boy, that declared for the protest, instantly gained new fans.
People started making plans for the march, organising their movements and picking what they would wear. There was a sigh of relief when blog reports came out that TUC, NLC and others have declared for the protest. The sense of magnitude of the march soared, with expectations. Nobody knew if the news was fact or fiction, but who cared. It was good news. Nothing was more important than good news if you were going to be part of a protest march and protest songs.
Then things started happening.
And they were happening fast, by Nigerian standards. First we heard opposition PDP’s fireball Governor Fayose of Ekiti State has declared to join the protest. This was a politicizing of a popular apolitical movement. Both the poor that supported APC and the poor that supported PDP were buying a
jerica of garri for N750 and N800 that neither of them could well afford. This protest is beyond APC or PDP. It is thieving and clueless politicians against the rest of us. Thank you Governor Fayose, but you are simply not among the rest of us.
Then Femi Kuti came out to say that nobody informed him before rushing to town that the protest was going to start at his New Africa Shrine. He was sounding an alarm and for good cause. We all know the history between both old and New Africa Shrine and law enforcement. Some crazy olopa, following orders from ‘ oga at the top’, could burn down the place again.
There seemed to be some kind of subtle miscommunication and confusion online about venues and time table of the march. There appeared to be multiple sources of conflicting information.
People tribalized the protest, like Governor Fayose and co politicized it, saying inflammatory and really stupid stuff about tribal connections of the organisers of the protest, including 2Face himself. One facebook friend was so disgusted with me. According to him, instead of joining the real struggle, the struggle for Biafra, here am I online, prancing about like an idiot, shouting for a failed zoo country called Nigeria. But before Biafra we have to live somewhere first, abi ?
Then we heard rumours that 2Face himself has chickened out of the protest, after having his balls squeezed overnight inside a detention cell of the new ‘terror’ machine named DSS. And ‘true true’, as they say here, (as a matter of fact) a video surfaced barely two days before the match of 2Baba, tearful and sorrowful, saying he had to cancel the protest, to save the lives of innocent citizens whom the police had refused to protect during the protest – and expressing fear that the protest has been hijacked, probably by folks like Gov Fayose who just would not see the distinction between where he stands and where we, the masses, stand.
Nobody I know knows what really happened but it was a different 2Face we saw in the cancellation video from the one that announced the protest march. The contrast was so bizarre and so dramatic that I became seriously worried about 2face’s welfare and wellbeing. The guy looked as if someone was pointing a gun at him from behind the camera – and they were ready to shoot.
And that was it, the mother of all protests in our country’s history washed down the drain with a whimper.
There could be so much reasons 2Face changed his mind so dramatically. For me it is simple. Either he was threatened or he couldn’t face the final realization that someone could actually DIE because of his protest. The 2Face we know is no bloodhound, all he wanted was a peaceful protest march. He is one of the most sincere and natural human beings I ever met, in the short period of time I encountered him during his OJB Jezreel days. He is kind and gentle, accepts responsibility for his faults and shortcomings and takes care of them. He is not a deceiver and certainly is no coward. He makes no excuses. Like Chinua Achebe once recorded of the Ibo proverb, something bigger than nte the insect has entered nte’s hole. 2face reacted more according to his kindly nature. Or he quarrelled with his co-organisers, Enough is Enough, on process and protocol because those ones went ahead with the protest anyway. But without 2Face it wasn’t what it was expected to be.
I understand his position even if I am still disappointed.
For those who have harsh words about 2Face’s about face over the protest, remember. He did not have to do anything and he did. Most importantly, he is a self-made multimillionaire. He did not have to call for any protest. Even if Buhari and his forty thieves national assembly exchanged the dollar for N1000 2face will be ok. Even I did not hope for a national protest march against the government from the musicians. I just wanted them to do more protest songs, like Fela did, so we can sing on the streets and flip the useless gobmint off with. You know, point it in Aso Rock’s direction. Take that, you Dino and Fashola both.
The bitter disappointment of the protest’s fall will linger for a long time to come. Again, those who curse and deride 2face I beg you to stop. He did what he could. Let us kindly repay him by remembering him in our prayers, that whatever threatened him (or not) should permanently stay away from he and his family. He wasn’t going to run for political office or displace anybody in Abuja. He just lent his voice to the masses. Let whoever it is, or whoever they are, realize they cannot kill us all so they have to live with our frustration, till they make things better for everybody not just themselves.
Thank you, 2Face, at least for changing the tone of the rather comatose communication between government and people. We are bitter but we appreciate. God bless you, may yours increase.
Some people said they must march, 2Face or no 2Face. They did in Lagos and Abuja. My friend Nadine has vowed to protest in Enugu. She had plans already too sensitive to cancel. If none of her friends comes out, she will take a selfie of her self’s march and go home. That is the spirit we need now everywhere.
There are, of course, people that can pick it up where 2face dropped it. People like Charly Boy, Area Father. We wait for them to call us. We wait for them because we cannot do it on our own. That is why we are called followers, to start with. We need a leader.
We cannot abandon our hope – the only thing we have left – because 2Face dropped one protest. So we wait. Call us today or tomorrow. Just call us – before we die.
odega shawa
IG: @shawa_kalakutabooks
twitter: @shawa2008

Charity Begins At Home ; Your Wedding Was Held In Dubai & You Claim To Be A Nigerian – Open Letter To 2 face Idibia

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Thursday, February 02, 2017

I write this letter out of the goodness of heart and out of the urge to educate the Nigerian populace about a serious issue that is fast arising, thus using this medium to convey my conviction and exercise my civic duty.
Being the convener of arguably Nigeria’s most prominent intellectual youth gathering ‘ THE NATIONAL CAREER FAIR’ , I have, firsthand, been involved in the development of the Nigerian youth; a faction that constitutes over 50% of the entire country’s population.
A few days ago, I stumbled on some information on the internet, precisely, ‘ A call to march, by Innocent ‘2Face’ Idibia a.k.a 2Baba to publicly rebuke the inactions of our government towards our plights and sufferings. Oh! At last! Some action, was my first thought.
Personally, I have always been bewildered at the level as to which the Nigerian government has belittled us to. No water, no electricity, bad roads, poverty, inflation, lack of security and other vices, however, the most ridiculous parts are, on one hand, the unaccountability- the fact that they (government officials can do anything without accounting for their actions to the public), and on the other hand is the fact that they make it seem like they are doing us (the masses) a favor.
We in turn, ‘deitize ‘them when they eventually do as low as 5% of their constitutional obligation to us. Anyone can understand Mr. Idibia’s conviction when he says ‘Say no to the executive, no to legislatures, no to judiciary…you have all failed us… We the people are tired, we can no longer continue with all of you…’
In 2012, a march was led by top celebrities to stop the then president, Goodluck Jonathan from removing the subsidy, thus averting a fuel price hike. It worked like magic and the fuel price was reduced to a favorable rate for most people. While most people (including myself) do think the march will be a great idea and will affect change (a word I’m most skeptical to use at the moment), I have other concerns as to the time which the call has been made, the caller of the march, and most importantly the true motif behind this march.
Like is mentioned earlier, I am writing this piece out of good will, and I honestly do not have the intention of smearing or chastising anyone’s image, however the truth must be told. Barely a month old after the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode led Lagos State Government successfully executed its ONE LAGOS FIESTA with numerous artistes, entertainers and celebrities in attendance.
Afterwards an artiste has risen up to say he wants to be given answers as to why we are suffering and he demands to know what the recovered money has been used for. I find this funny, not only because these artistes were paid millions of naira to perform at the
ONE LAGOS FIESTA with tax payers’ money or looted funds, but also because this sudden call for ‘the march in LAGOS’ was not echoed long before now or more specifically before the ONE LAGOS FIESTA little wonder most entertainers are claiming unavailability or outright refusal to attend this march. . It is therefore a complete aberration for any artist to stage a protest in the same environment that has contributed immensely to growth of the entertainment industry (you cannot bit the hand that fed you).
Something that caught my attention was the fact that during Jonathan’s tenure, people were ready to march without reason and during the subsidy removal; the whole nation was down the previous president’s throat. On the other hand, when the subsidy was removed during this tenure, no one was willing to march. While we castigated the
NLC for being unreasonable to the plight of the people when president Buhari assumed power and removed the subsidy from the fuel price. Why then has the need to arise and march come at a time when elections are fast approaching and the presidency seems weak become a top priority? Could it be ‘an eye for an eye?’
Another issue to analyze is Mr. Idibia’s contribution to the society. It is true that he initiated the VOTE NOT FIGHT campaign which was a great innovation, but its authenticity can also be questioned. Judging by Mr. Idibia’s precedent and his failure to contribute to youth development and job creation in Nigeria, we might be forced to say this ‘CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME ’.
Taking a sneak peek into what has been trending in the news recently, one would wonder how 2Baba has been quiet about the gory situation in his own state of origin – Benue state. Every day, a fisher man or farmer is reportedly killed by Fulani herds men and yet this was worth just a post from social media only by 2baba about. You might want to argue that this march is a national one so it covers it all, but don’t be quick to forget that one doesn’t wear P.O.P all over his or her body when only the arm is fractured.
Benue state recently agreed a peace treaty with the neighboring state where allegedly the murderous Fulani herdsmen were coming from: yet not a single word was uttered about this by our ‘peace maker’ 2Baba. Let me take you back to the years when the Senate President was David Mark, both hail from the same state but the former was unpopular even in his own constituency. The then Senate President went on to open his own private university at a period of time when the federal institution BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY was shut down for months thus growing his unpopularity rapidly. At this time, we heard nothing from the African Queen Crooner who is most loved by the Benue people as this is portrayed by the massive turnouts of the Benue people for his Star Trek Concerts whenever he is headlined in Makurdi.
Taking a look at his catalogue, you will be convinced that he has always been an activist. This time, the main question is- is he doing this for people because he feels their pains or just to score cheap publicity points in a process that sees him dropping a new record or body of work?
IMPORTANT POINT HERE => How many artistes/talents within his FESTAC or Benue
home has he signed to a record label or mentored to become a successful artiste? (Olamide, Wizkid, DonJazzy, Davido are worthy examples).
Just two years ago, he staged a well attended wedding ceremony in Dubai, contributing to the GDP of another country, ignoring our own local event planners, vendors and caterers. Unlike some other young successful entrepreneurs like Akin Alabi (CEO, Nairabet), Sijibomi Ogundele ,
Ifeanyi Uba, Toyin Lawani (CEO, Tiannah Empire) who are job creators and also inspires other youths towards positive inclinations, one can ask how much support
Mr. Idibia has given to youth empowerment initiatives in our Nation.
In March 2009, a march against power failure was organized, however it made no headway, as up till today we bask in darkness. My point here is based on the fact that the opposition party always uses this march as a tool to make the ruling government look weak (for example, it’s no news that the APC was behind the march against subsidy removal by President Jonathan in 2012. It is true that the ploy won’t be fruitful if the ruling government has performed at or above par; however, the motive behind these marches is always the main drive. Are we certain about our security during the march? Certainly, I might appear to you as a chicken right now, which is not willing to journey that walk of freedom. However, has the thought of being set up crossed anyone’s mind?
What if the opposition wants a march to provoke the armed forces of the ruling government, thus causing casualties? Or worse still, the opposition plan with the armed forces to injure or kill innocent protesters and blame it on the presidency. Either ways, we (the masses) suffer.
I am not at liberty to use direct words here, but I came across some comments online which has cemented my belief that while the cause might be innocent, the actions might be blemished. Coincidentally, a certain brotherhood movement aligns with the keyword of the march, which can be tagged ‘freedom’ . Although, this brotherhood preaches freedom and emancipation, it is a hard task to vouch for any member or even the organization, thus many of its members, including top celebrities have expressed their availability for the march in lingua that is attributed exclusively to this ‘group’. On the day of the said protest, Lagosians and other Tax Payers will experience serious hardship in carrying out their day-to- day business activities. This is in addition to the risk of crime amidst the usual breakdown of law and order that characterizes such unorganized mammoth gatherings. The cons far outweigh the pros and the endeavor itself is an ill wind that will no doubt wreak havoc on a number of levels. Therefore, the guarantee of a peaceful and safe march is not 100% assertive.
I use this medium to encourage true Nigerians to be wise in their dwellings, it is safe to say that the march is a gesture of true patriotism; however, one must be really careful as motive supersedes all. I encourage Nigerians to call for justice and accountability in all ways they deem fit, march, protest or empowerment. The most important thing is to be true in whichever way we wish to call for accountability.
I seize this opportunity to employ our youths to refocus their energies and time towards self discovery, skills & talent acquisition, and entrepreneurship development activities. I also implore youths and fellow Nigerians to emulate several career role models who have created their success stories amidst difficulties.
In recession, new millionaires are made. This is the time for everyone to obey Nigeria’s call of conscience and hope in order to help rebuild our nation. We need more successful entrepreneurs, professionals and organization who will invest their money in other startups, volunteer to provide internship, work study and training opportunities to develop a skillful workforce.
Feel free to share your Thoughts.
GOD BLESS NIGERIA!!!
Shogbamu Oluwaseun
CONVENER, NATIONAL CAREER FAIR.

Musicians should do this one thing for us this year – or go and die!

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Friday, January 06, 2017

Twenty years ago I would not have to
beg musicians to do what I am about to
beg them to do for us this year. It was
what they did by default. But times have
changed.
American rapper Lil Wayne marched out
the goof troop in a recent interview
where he disconnected completely from
the Black Lives Matter movement
currently sweeping black consciousness
in the US. The BLM movement started as
a socio-political pressure group protesting
the callous and incessant shooting of
unarmed black folks mostly by white
policemen. ‘What is it?’ asked Lil Wayne,
before adding : ‘I don’t feel connected to
a damn thing that ain’t got nothing to do
with me.’

Which makes sense, since the artiste can
be empowered by society through the
adoption of his music and society, or
segments of it, cannot dare to ask the
artiste to be responsible for a social
movement. As far as Lil Wayne and
peanut brain artistes like him are
concerned the only thing that matter is
what they are taking from the platform,
nothing else.
We copy Americans in everything we do
– good, bad or ugly – so it is not
surprising that most of our indigenous
artistes are of the same opinion as Lil
Wayne. All they care about is the money,
the one they make that is. It is the same
mentality of pentecostal pastors: the
only sheep that matter is the one that
pays that 10% tithe.
But music is not just a money making
machine for participants. Music is the
soul without which any community turns
to a heartless monster. Music is the tree
of life, artistes the tree with the fruit of
good and evil.
There was a Nigerian musician named
Fela. Before he died and even long after
his death he used his music – and his
music was used – as a platform for
socio-political welfare activism. Nobody
cared about Fela’s politics. But his music
was storm, a strong blizzard that only
screamed the good that should be
happening and the bad that is happening.
His music was political, which was what
made his art a political force. Without
the music Fela’s politics was a dead
duck and he knew it. This is why Fela is
today a legend.

And then there are artistes today like
Terry G, Don Jazzy and P Square. And
2Baba. And M.I. And Flavor. There is as
a matter of fact an entire industry of
musicians who have abandoned the
masses to the wickedness of politicians.
Every election period most of the
industry line up on political divides to
collect money for prancing around on
political stages like clowns.
By a stretch of the imagination there is
an extent to which one may argue that
an artiste who collected money to sing
for a political campaign, or to praise
politicians, is a clown. Music should do
more. At every point music should be on
the side of the masses, not on the side
of the very same people that ravage the
masses.

It is time something really changed in
this gaddem country, for good.
Musicians should let music do something
for us this year. Enough is enough.
Every Nigerian musician should do a
reality song. We are tired of the naked –
or half naked – girls in music videos and
the throwing cash around on social
media. We know you are the richest of
the rich already. Yes we know God has
blessed you. You can sleep with five girls
at the same time if you want. We know
you have a house where we can only
dream of. We know the money you used
to buy your chain and your wrist watch
can build all the houses in one of our
miserable villages. Osinachi. Thank you.
Just give us one bloody reality song this
year we beg you.
Let the song be about our stupid
vagabonds in power. Let it be about how
the government always f…ks the people
over. Let it be about the suffering of the
masses, the rot killing the conscience of
our communities. Let the song be about
how our schools churn out hundreds of
thousands of youth corpers every year
and not a couple of them could find life
sustaining jobs. Let the video be about
how local women sweat blood to feed
their hungry children these days. Let the
song be about how government officials
steal money allocated to people
displaced by war and fanatic madness.
Let it be anything but your normal stupid
‘love’ and cash songs.

Are we, the masses, really asking you for
too much? It’s just one freaking song and
one freaking video from each of you,
gaddemit.
We do not have the voice that you people
have. You are celebrities, super stars,
artistes. Speak for us, we beg you once
again, before we die in our misery and
hopelessness, before we quench, as Fela
put it. You have the voice. You have the
platform. You have the power. Speak for
us this year, like Fela did. We will make
you a legend in return. Imagine that.
Don’t be like the fool Lil Wayne, foolish in
the way he disconnected himself
conveniently from society’s problems,
just because he has now made himself a
millionnaire through music and no longer,
in his confused mind, faces any problems
because of his money. Be rather like
Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne’s co rapper.
Step out into the harsh light for
something the people believe in. Let the
depth of your art reflect the rot that
politicians have turned our lives to.
There is a reason I believe that
something will change if Nigerian
musicians do this this year. Politicians
fear the masses. They only love us in
our deaf and dumb form, in our zombie
phase. A lot. The idea that the masses
are uniting with the most powerful voices
in the struggle would get them on their
feet. How else do we tell this
government clearly that we cannot afford
the burden of their CHANGE if we cannot
get our own musicians to lend their
voices to our cry?

We are on our knees, begging our
musicians to look and help us. It will not
kill any musician to be part of this
movement. Do it already. Or go and die.
Waka. Take five. And another five, from
the left, lol. Yes, you!
odega shawa
IG: @shawa_kalakutabooks
twitter: @shawa2008

Nasir El Rufai and the bloodfest in Southern Kaduna (Part 2) by Femi Fani Kayode

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Monday, December 12, 2016

Read his piece below...

Senator Danjuma La’ah, the Senator representing the good people of Southern Kaduna continued. He said that according to the Leadership Newspaper of 4th December, 2016 under the headline: “Foreigners Behind Southern Kaduna Massacre", Governor Nasir El-Rufai stated that some of them (Killer Fulani) were from Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal, adding

"Many of these people were killed, cattle lost and they organised themselves and came back to revenge.

“We got a group of people that were going round, trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger Republic and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging you to stop the killing.

“In most of the communities, once that appeal was made to them, they said they have forgiven. There are one or two that asked for monetary compensation. They said they have forgiven the death of human beings, but want compensation for cattle. We said no problem, some we paid.”

Senator La’ah maintained that there was never in a time in 2011 that Fulani from Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Senegal were killed in Southern Kaduna with their cattle.

He added, “This is a silly and an absurd lie. Southern Kaduna is not a junction of these countries. So how could they have all converged on Southern Kaduna on their usual migration back home?

“The Governor just invented this lie to make excuse for his imported murderous Fulani kindred to continue their extermination of our people and the occupation of our lands.

“As the main political leader and representative of Southern Kaduna at the Federal level, despite many overtures of trying to meet with the Governor over the insecurity in my zone with no success, he has never deem it fit to inform me of these actions so as to seek my views and that of my constituency over the matter.

“This is a very curious development, especially as I was able to make the Senate to pass a resolution asking the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency on Security in Southern Kaduna last month.

“I expected him to cash on that, using his connection with the President and Commander-in-Chief. But, he was obviously not concerned.

“In the light of the above, the Federal Government, especially the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, the Directorate of State Services, SSS, the Directorate of Military Intelligence, DMI and sundry agencies should look no further for the solution to the unrelenting killings in Southern Kaduna.

“Governor Nasir el-Rufai should also state how much of Kaduna State scarce resources have been moved to these killers and whether he has the authority of the law to so spend the money on enemies of Southern Kaduna and Nigeria.

“El-Rufai should also be investigated to find out if these moneys were not further put into the buying of more arms and the recruitments of more killers, who we strongly believe, are also jihadists.

“Though he has ferried much undisclosed amounts of money to murderers, I am pleading with Kaduna State indigenes and residents to ask why he has stubbornly refused to render basic assistance of rebuilding of even a home, or any form of monetary assistance to the surviving victims in Southern Kaduna. Most are still left without food and shelter despite the modest assistance that some of us, churches, NGOs etc have continued to render from time to time.

“I am constrained to add that Nasir el-Rufai with his lack of will to show commitment to the insecurity in Southern Kaduna, and his resolve to carry on with over six Cattle Grazing Reserves in Southern Kaduna, he is actually creating new, permanent “conquered” settlements for his Fulani kinsmen.

“I said this because his Fulani brothers have killed people and chased them out from their communities and are now fully settled with their families and cattle in several villages in Kaura, Sanga and Jema’a Local Government Areas, while the governor turns his eyes the other way round.”

The statement therefore called on the people of Southern Kaduna to use every available legitimate means to defend their lives, properties and communities.

It reads, “History will not forgive our generation if we succumb to threats and blackmail and fail to defend ourselves and get wiped out. As Senator of the beleaguered area, l cannot support that we become sitting ducks each time they come killing. Again, if El-Rufai will not defend us, let us defend ourselves.”

I can feel the deep hurt and pain behind the words of Senator La'ah and I wholehearedly concur with his submissions. The people of Southern Kaduna are going through hell and they certainly deserve better.

The sheer disdain and utter contempt that Governor El Rufai has for them can also be reflected in a television interview that he gave a while back in which he described the massive Christian population of Kaduna state of being only 30 per cent whilst he claimed that the Muslims were 70 per cent. This is false.

The fact of the matter is that at least 50 per cent, if not more, of the people of Kaduna state are Christian but it does not serve the Governor's purpose to acknowledge or publicly admit that.

What a tragedy this is for both him and the good people of Kaduna. His continuos resort to the use of religion in order to divide and rule the people of his state and to supress and subvert the religious faith and legitimate aspirations of the Christian community and the minority Shiite Muslims will lead to nothing but even more division and chaos.

Let us hope that my friend and brother Governor Nasir El Rufai listens and that he retraces his steps rather than issue threats and go on the offensive against those that have found the courage to tell him the bitter truth.

Let us hope that he remembers that real friends always speak truth, no matter how unpalatable that truth may be, to those that they care about and love and they do not tolerate or condone their vainglorious excesses or treat them like infallible demi-gods.

Permit me to conclude this contribution by qouting a large portion of my dear friend and brother Chief Yinka Odumakin's latest column titled 'El Rufai: An Accesory After The Fact To Murder' (Vanguard Newspaper, 6th December 2016).

As brilliant, courageous and forthright as ever, after qouting El Rufai's exact words and his entire interview verbatim Odumakin wrote inter alia:

"You would have thought this was Mallam Ibrahim Shekau (the leader of Boko Haram) talking and not a governor who swore to protect the lives of the citizens of his state .

The statements credited to the governor can only be fully appreciated when situated within the complaints of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, SOKAPU, about the palpable indifference of the Federal and Kaduna State governments to their plight in the hands of Fulani killers.

The Leadership Newspaper of of 17th October 2016 quoted the group as saying through its President , Barr. Solomon Musa that the killings in Godo Godo, Jama’a and Sanga local government areas were successfully carried out by terrorist herdsmen because the government has abandoned the entire people of Southern Kaduna to be “maimed, raped, brutalised, killed, slaughtered and destroyed.”

“Godo Godo communities once again came under very fierce, terrifying, brutal, savage and barbarous attack by Fulani herdsmen without provocation of any nature from Saturday 15th October, 2016 to Sunday afternoon. This is despite the frantic calls for help from the beleaguered villagers to those constitutionally saddled with the task of safeguarding their citizens.”

According to SOKAPU, the barbarians wreaked maximum havoc and destruction by killing uncountable number of lives of our people is unacceptable.

“So far, the locals have been able to identify not less than 40 corpses aside from the several other corpses burnt beyond recognition. Virtually all houses have been burnt in Godo Godo.

Property worth hundreds of millions destroyed while crops have been grazed by cattle and the rest destroyed by the invaders. The savagery and barbarity of the attack is beyond belief. Yet, governments at the Federal and State levels appear quiet and noncommittal. We have been abandoned, deserted and neglected,” he said.

The SOKAPU President who likened the killings in southen Kaduna to that of the Rwandan genocide, said “the Tutsis were abandoned, deserted and neglected during the Rwandan genocide in 1994 until over 800,000 Tutsis were brutally massacred by the Hutus. This is the scenario that is taking place in Southern Kaduna. We are being killed, slaughtered and decimated by Fulani Herdsmen, yet it will appear to our people that the government has failed, refused or neglected to intervene decisively to end the carriage.

As a peaceful people we have spoken, we have carried out peaceful protests, we have appealed and pleaded for intervention by the authorities, yet our appeal and plea have appeared to have fallen on deaf ears. It will appear to our people that government is not concerned, moved or bothered by the carnage and pogrom in Southern Kaduna,” he said.

SOKAPU further regard it a national shame and an indictment of the state government’s commitment to security issues in Southern Kaduna that about seven villages in Godo Godo chiefdom are now completely deserted after being ransacked, burnt and the people killed.

“More nauseating is the added fact that in villages like Ninte, Akwa, Ungwan Anjo, and Antang – where the people had been sacked from their villages, the armed herdsmen have permanently taken over the villages and boldly grazing their herds on the farms of the villagers. With thousands of people who have been displaced, the current attacks can only add to that number if the State Government does not muster up the will to urgently address the ongoing genocide in our zone.

“It will appear that Southern Kaduna does not deserve the attention, sympathy or intervention of government. It will appear that we have been abandoned, deserted and neglected. We do not deserve the intervention or sympathy of the Federal or State Governments.

“Security personnel are posted to the main highways only; from April to date, there does not appear to be any form of intelligence gathering, any form of surveillance, any form of proactive measures to forestall future occurrences; any form of intervention by government.

“From April to date, neither NEMA nor SEMA has not seen it fit to rehabilitate, resettle or to bring any kind of relief materials to the victims of the attacks in the area. No relief materials, no IDP camps; no protection for our villages. What have we done to deserve this? Is it because of who we are? Why have we been abandoned, deserted and neglected? Will this have happened if it is elsewhere? Are we part of Kaduna State? Are we part of Nigeria? If we are not, we then deserve our state and our nation. We can stand on our own,” they asked.

“In view of the fact that Boko Haram has been degraded; cattle rustling was brought to an end in Kamuku forest and Zamfara State by the joint action of several states and the Federal Government, we call on both the State Government and Federal Government to place greater premium on human lives by carrying out decisive and combined operation to halt the genocide immediately in order to assure the people that we are indeed part of Kaduna State and Nigeria,” they said.

Can anyone fault SOKAPU with the insensitive, bigoted and reckless comments of the state governor?

Some critical issues came out of El-Rufai's incendiary remarks. The first is that the official lie that the Fulani herdsmen who have been terrorising Middle Belt and Southern communities are from without Nigeria has been repeated.

This is to give the nauseating impression that government is helpless as if Nigerians who commit crimes in other lands are not punished outside Nigeria.

The second issue is that of the clash of civilisations which makes the Nigerian crisis unresolvable unless we embrace cultural democracy. El-Rufai says because he is Fulani like the herdsmen, he had no difficulty in cutting deals with them by paying bribes to people he should be dragging before the law.

It was from that mindset he also revealed he had compensated them for their cattle killed five years ago while he cannot even clean the fresh wounds of Southern Kaduna who are not his ethnic stock.

Perhaps, the greatest revelation from this leakage is a subtle reminder of the warning El-Rufai gave on his Twitter account four years ago on the killing of any Fulani “We will write this for all to read.Anyone,soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan repayable one day no matter how long it takes”( 11:51 am,15 July,2012).

He must have been grinning from ear to ear as he signed the cheque to the herdsmen when he was satisfied they have taken enough “revenge”.

Will the people of Southern Kaduna not proceed to the International Criminal Court now that there is an Accessory who has confessed to knowing the murderers and exchanging money with them? Victims of these Fulani herdsmen in the Middle Belt and Southern Kaduna should follow suit!".

Chief Odumakin and SOKAPU have said it all. I need say no more.

May the souls of all those that were cut short in the bloodfest that took place in the killing fields of southern Kaduna and indeed throughout our nation by these rampaging foreign monsters and alien beasts rest in peace.

May the Lord of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, the God of the Armies of israel and He that answereth by fire avenge them speedily and comfort their families and loved ones. (CONCLUDED).

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