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OWNERS OF NIGERIA: BEFORE PART VIII

was trying to respond to the Obasanjo's response to Professor Chinua Achebe over the award the latter turned down when the November 2 American Presidential election came up. I had to take time to study the electioneering process. My computer also got virus, but Mr. Akindana of Chatafrik came to my aid. He helped me out with the repairs for free. My computer is back faster and better.

Apart from the noise over the Achebe's reaction to the Obasanjo's award, there are other issues- the increase in fuel price that led to the kwashiorkor strike of the Oshiomole-led NLC, the handover of the Nigeria Airways to the British-owner of Virgin Atlantic Airline, the slapping at National Assembly, the missing ship and the trial of the Nigerian Navy Generals and many more.

There is something I found interesting, that is that Nigerians are very forgetful. Like the Israelites of the Old Testament, they are concerned about the present situation, after some time they forget and may never remember again. It is amazing. This is our greatest problem. We have been infected with this dangerous virus.

Let us flash back, may be because I consider them serious and important, that is why I still remember and others feel after writing about it, it is done and we don't have to do anything about it. Let me rewind and refreshen our memories:

Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

The senate committee on Public Accounts came up with some revelations on his activities at the BPE and the issue of alleged illegal payment of salaries to his allegedly privately employed private staff. He was to answer questions on this when he called the Senators "FOOLS" and that started the controversy. The Senators, according to Dr. Ruben Abati started behaving like 'trade unionists' threatening to go on strike if Rufai was not removed by Obasanjo.

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Many of Rufai's fans stood behind him against the senators, thereby mixing real issues with unnecessary sentiments. The issues were, Rufai goofed by employing personal assistants and paying them without following the proper procedure of employment and salary payment. If I am correct, Rufai was asked by the Senate to sign the audited report of the BPE and to refund the alleged illegal payments. What we heard at the heat of this issue was that Rufai left Nigeria and went on vacation after going to the Senate chamber to apologise for calling them "fools", though he had earlier denied calling them so.

The senate did not say anything over Rufai's vacation and the Rufai story ended there. Does that mean Rufai has been forgiven? Or that he did not do anything at all, but that the Senators were just trying to get even with him over the 54 Million naira bribery scandal? What happened?

It sounds so funny and ridiculous that the caliber of people at the senate will come out and call for the removal of a cabinet Minister just for fun? At the heat of a very serious allegation against the office and person of Minister El-Rufai, he went on vacation. A clean person, as his claim to be would have stayed around to clear his name, defend himself against the allegation.

With the above, it is clear that the senate allegation against Rufai was not an attempt to get even with him. At least Rufai has not come out to prove otherwise. He said he told President Obasanjo who advised him to employ those people and pay them. From whose account? Rufai or government. If it is from government, was it included in the budget of the Federal capital Territory? The senators have not done any further investigation on this. And the fact that he went to the Senate chamber to apologise showed that he is far from being a man of Honor as his fans has made him appear. I had expected disappointment from his fans.

If Rufai was clean, he need not go to apologise on the floor of the senate. What was the apology for? That he called them fools or to retain his position as Minister? If he apologised for both or either of them he has proved to be like his brothers of the same parent. The senators also pretended to take Nigerians for a ride, they kept mute.

After much noise over Rufai's removal and the meeting with grandpa Obasanjo, the head of the house of corruption, it was agreed upon that Rufai should be sent on vacation and by the time he is back, the noise of his removal would have died down and Nigerians being what they are, people disoriented and infected with virus of loss of memory won't remember the issue again. And it worked. They would have forgotten.

This senate is a stinking one. A compromised house of happy morons. Many of them saw their being in the senate as a poverty alleviation programme. They are there to poverty the spirit of poverty in their family and life. Their pastors and GOs have told them that the position was given by God to help alleviate their poverty.

Iyabo Anisulowo

A committee chairman "borrowed" the committee money to travel. This is no news. It only showed the kind of irresponsible people we voted for. Many of them are just there as seat warmers. They are there to shout "ayes" and "nay" during voting sessions. Many of them passed bills they don't know . Motions they don't understand. How responsible does it sound for Iyabo Anisulowo, former Commissioner in Ogun State to say she borrowed committee money. Is it stated in the rules that she can do that without the consent of other members of the committee? She is still there. SAD! This woman does not have any democratic values. She is a product of military misrule. She served a military government that does not believe in accountability, she carried same idea to the senate to "borrow" committee money. What does she know about parliamentary session that she traveled to attend? The same trip the Senate President make, often, to New York and hold at Baba Oodua Pepper soup joint. Senator Adolphus Wabara will leave Nigeria to come and enjoy pepper soup in New York. Is it true that the worst civilian government is better than any military government? I beg to disagree. The point is that we have not had any responsible government and the present government is not democratic in any form. It is the same government of bandits by bandits for bandits.

Missing  Ship and the Nigerian Navy

I am glad that the issue of the missing ship has generated controversy in the last days and still doing so. The point is that Nigerians are beginning to see the cause of fuel crisis and why it will continue for a long time to come. What is happening now is not new; it has been on for a while. And some elements in the Nigerian Navy have been working against the interest of the country for long. The Navy, that should have been an economic asset to Nigeria, has turned itself to a liability. It has been used as a conduit pipe to siphon the nation's resources out by unpatriotic elements both in the Navy and the civil cell. Sadly enough most of these elements are in high authority and the ones recognized by government. They get the highest honours, got promoted while they kill their country behind and the ones serving their father land are made to suffer in neglect. What an irony.

In my article "mafia behind oil bunkering in Nigeria: The Military connection, published on August 23, 2003, I mentioned the master minds of the illegal oil business and their activities. Nobody knew what caused the kerosene explosion of 1996. It was investigated and nothing came out of the investigation. Most of the Open-hearings organized by the "Si(e)nator and their siblings at the House are money raising ventures. Most of the motives behind these hearings are to harass to make money. None has yielded result.

Between June and December 1996, Nigerians experienced serious fuel scarcity. Vessels were loaded from Port Harcourt and Warri, but did not get to their destinations. They disappeared on the high sea between Port Harcourt and Lagos. Under the watchful eyes of Flag officers commanding the Western and Eastern Naval Commands. These two positions were held by Vice Admiral Victor Ombu-Eastern Naval (retired Chief of Naval Staff) and Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi- Western (retired Chief of Defence Staff). Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe (rtd) was the Chief of Naval Staff then.

The Nigerian Navy has a dynasty created by Mike Akhigbe and you have to belong to that caucus to get to the top. Ombu got there because he is a member of the Akhigbe dynasty, not because he was the best, then but compensation for being e member of the family. Rear Admiral C.C. Onah who was the Chief of Accounts and Budget for many years is a strong member of the family, Rear Admiral Peter Ebaleme (rtd). Mike Akhigbe covered up between June and December 1996 on the bunkering deals with Ombu and Ogohi. These are free guys walking on the street, spending their blood money. Many of those who stood in Akhigbe's way then were thrown out of the Navy on the spurious allegation of being NADECO officers. These people are like cankerworms in the Navy, they are like tapeworms sucking the nation.

They are so perfect that their activities are often fool-proof. They enter the loaded vessels in the manifest of the NNPC but it was never recorded officially. They use the Navy ratings on the sea to escort the vessels to the high sea and turn back. They lie that they have fuel to deliver at escavros whereas it was meant for smuggling to neighboring West Africa countries. They were making their Dollars in Millions and their fellow citizens are dying of explosion from adulterated kerosene imported by their fellow robbers. Many families lost their loved ones, many lost their homes. They became homeless and out of business. Why the arrest and trial now? It is a charade. A game plan to prevent a non-member of the family to ascend the throne. The document of the 1996 bunkering, with the names of vessels used and contents in tones are still alive. The document also contains information on oil companies used.

Ombu and Ebhaleme got rid of Rear Admiral Amosu, because he recommended them for retirement. Amosu was asked by Ombu to submit names of officers due for retirement. As the Navy Chief of Personnel he submitted the names with Ombu, Ebhaleme, C.C.Onah and himself for retirement. They removed their names and retired Amosu, Ogundele, Shittu and others compulsorily in January 2001. Amosu as the Chief of Personnel brought smile to naval ratings faces. He ensured that only those who wrote exams and interviewed were recruited. Before him Ebhaleme had been in that position and those who get into the navy are usually people with connection, they strike out names of helpless candidates and replace it with their own. Before Amosu, once you have a god-father, you do not need to go through drilling to get recruited, Amosu stopped it. Ratings don't have uniforms and accouterments, but Amosu made them available. He was more of a naval ratings man than officer's man. I will rest on the Navy stuff for now.

Professor Chinua Achebe

What caught my attention in the whole scene of Professor Achebe saga was the government angle. I have discovered one common trait in all the President's Advisers. I mean the ones that have made public statements on behalf of the Balogun of Owu. They seem to have problem of coherence. It is either they are speaking on behalf of themselves or their boss is just messing them up. Before I come to Deacon Femi Fani-Kayode, I will address the Special assistant on Media-Mrs. Remi Oyo.

Before Obasanjo's meeting with the Osama Bin Laden of Nigeria's Niger-Delta, Oyo made a public statement that the Presidency had no plan to meet with the rascal, but her boss, President Obasanjo met with the rascal and had a deal. That was too embarrassing for the president's media person. She lied and lying is a serious offence in journalism. But the former President of Nigeria Guild of Editors breached this trust. She lied to the Nigerian public. I remember an incident in New York on September 23 2004. President Obasanjo was slated to use one of the conference rooms at the United Nations secretariat for press conference. It was to be from 3pm to 3:45pm. Journalists from different countries were there as early as 2:30pm waiting for the Chairman of African Union and the president of the most populous black nation in the world. We did not see our dear Matthew Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo until 3:30pm. Before this time, his Special Adviser on Media, Mrs. Oyo was also waiting like us for the President. She could not even sum up the courage to tell the international journalists waiting. Many did not even know her as the Special Adviser to the President on Media, she was busy exchanging pleasantries with Nigerian journalists living in the US and talking about her Thuraya telephone when hungry journalists were waiting to devour her boss.

The president had 15 minutes left for world press conference and he spent about 5 minutes on preamble. We had less than 10minutes to ask question and for him to answer. He came up to apologise that he was carried away in a conversation with the Pakistani president that he forgot he was standing journalists up. That is African. Very arrogant. No leader ever messes with the press, but in Africa, press means nothing. So Obasanjo came thinking he was coming to meet the usual State House press boys who are only confined to writing press releases. He was not prepared at all. None of the question was answered well. At least he was quick to say no to a question on Charles Taylor and he shut my good friend Laolu Akande up on the Bakassi question. What a President. I had already told Laolu that Obasanjo would do that, but he doubted me and I was vindicated. No American newspaper reported the world press conference; because of the manner President Obasanjo answered Laolu Akande. They were bitter and they expressed their disappointments. To worsen the case, Mrs. Oyo, after the press conference followed Mr. Alex Kabba out to defend the attack on Insider Magazine. Rather than addressing one of the issues she once fought and stood for as the President of Nigeria Guild of Editors- press freedom, she was asking for the financier of Insider Weekly. The following dialogue ensued between her and Alex kabba:

Oyo: Do you know the publisher of Insider Magazine?

Kabba: was that why the magazine was shut down?

Oyo: No, I think before you defend them you need to know who is funding them��

I looked at her and from behind I answered and said yes Fred Ajudua. She looked at me and kept quiet, obviously she doesn't know me. And that was good. But was Insider Weekly raided because it is being funded by Fred Ajudua? Why would she bring such issue up there? People in her type of position try to help polish the image of their President but this cannot happen, because the President is already a bad product thereby unsellable and the marketer lack all senses of market strategies to sell this bad product.

The President, the way it is, needs no adviser. Many of them are there representing their geo-political zones and helping to drain the nation's treasury. They get paid for jobs they didn't do.

Yes, if there is anyone who has been more vocal amongst the President's advisers, he is no other person than Deacon Femi Fani-Kayode. He has demonstrated why he joined the Obasanjo's government. Talking for the President even more than Remi Oyo. At times one could be tempted to mistake him for the President's Chief Press Secretary. He has been using all fora to sell the contraband called President Obasanjo to unwilling buyers. What is amusing to me in the Deacon's case is that he was part of those who made Obasanjo a bad product to sell. Nigerians forget so quickly. This is an amazing part of Nigerian characteristics.

Femi Fani-Kayode took on Colonel Abubakar Umar when the latter wrote a letter to President Obasanjo. His response to Umar was a celebrated one. It lasted for weeks and he showed that he knows how to write. At least to work for the money he earns. He has been employed to do a dirty job and he has to do it very well. He did not stop there; he took on Professor Chinua Achebe when the professor turned down the award.

In age,Achebe is older than Obasanjo and he is old enough to be Femi's father. Apart from making a fool of himself and the corrupt government he is working for, Fani-Kayode exposed his lack of morality in spite of his acclaimed Deacon title. He said that the Anambra issue was under control, now we have mayhem in Anambra. Not quite one month Anambra, one of the issues raised by elder Achebe is on fire. Fani-Kayode should bury his head in shame. These people are shameless liars. They can do anything for money. Are they that hungry? What is the matter with these people? I will not be surprised if he comes out tomorrow to want to go to the Senate from Ile Ife. What is there, if a murder suspect can contest election from prison and win what cannot happen?

I am still amazed at people's chameleonic styles. I was going through my file when I stumbled on an edition of Tempo Magazine of April 12, 2001. on page 19 of the magazine was an article written by Femi Fani-Kayode titled: The President, The Hunchback and the Conference; I am taking this quote out of the article and I have attached a copy of the article for readers: "We cannot whip the children of others when do wrong and at the same time spare our own child the rod when he has failed. And failed Obasanjo has�" the anti-Obasanjo writer of 2001 is now the praise singer of Obasanjo in 2004. the Deacon lawyer need to tell Nigerians what changes Obasanjo has brought to the Nigerian polity to make him join the government and turned him to Apostle Paul formerly Saul the persecutor of Christ. Fani-Kayode and others formed a jeun-jeun forum during that time and they were using the media to project their political agenda of lobbying for position and disguising as professionals with genuine interest in the Nigerian polity. Many of them are holding positions in government at various levels, those who are not holding positions are contractors. One of them got the contract as refuse collector of Ikoyi/Victoria Island Lagos is addition to his media executive job. They also used the forum then to attack some of the state governors. I will talk about this when I get to the role of Media.

Did he remember he wrote something like that on Obasanjo? He needs to show the proof of Obasanjo's achievement within two years to make him join the same government he judged as a failure. He and his other colleagues seem worst than the current spent leaders. Their own level of corruption will be too high-tech. can we say the country is doomed with the caliber of people? No.

After reading Mr. Offoaro's piece I sent an email to him and he sent a line back that "democratically Nigeria has no hope." My response was that NO, Nigeria has hope and we are the hope. We should not allow these rogues, bandits, vagabonds to survive. We have to use all our resources whatever, I repeat, whatever means to send them packing.

Virgin Atlantic and Nigeria Airways

Not too long ago, the Obasanjo government handed over Nigeria back to our former colonial masters. He sold the Nigeria Airways to Virgin Atlantic Airline owned by a Briton. Why? What else is left for Nigeria? Soon they will NTA, FRCN, National Assembly complex, Aso Rock and begin to send us back to slavery. It was Obasanjo in 1978 that changed BP to AP, I mean British Petroleum to African Petroleum. Ghana, Ethiopia, and South Africa have their national airlines.

I have traveled on the Nigeria Airways before and the service was satisfactory. Let us face it Vice President Atiku, the man who wants to own Nigeria was nursing the ambition of buying the Nigeria Airways, the airline was under priced to the na�ve president Obasanjo. Then Obasanjo believed in Atiku, but Kema Chikwe, though had her own agenda refused to allow Atiku. Obasanjo then warned that any of his Ministers who refused to cooperate with his Vice President should be prepared to leave, but on seeing the facts on the Nigeria Airways, Obasanjo retracted his statement.

Saint Rufai fought Chikwe, insulted her, tongue-lashed the House of Representative members over the Nigeria Airways. But the President had his own game plan with his friend Andrew Young to bring in World Airways. It came and died like harmatan fire. Before I traveled on Nigeria Airways in 2002 June, I was advised not to because they said it is a molue plane, that passengers struggle for seats because they sell tickets more than seats available. They also said that the safety of luggage would not be guaranteed. I took the risk and traveled to the US on Nigeria Airways. There were many empty seats. No one rushed. We did not fight for seats. The flight was very smooth and landing perfect. I enjoyed my 10 uninterrupted hours from Lagos to JFK. On my way back it was same. I did not bother to buy locks for my luggage. Contrary to the stories, nobody reported loss of luggage and I got my luggage, four in all, intact.

Nigeria is said to have the second largest economy after South Africa in Africa, yet it cannot manage its resources. The Owner of Virgin Atlantic is a citizen of another country; he will now manage our Airline. There is more to it than meets the eye. Definitely the arrangement is shoddy and unclean. These people in power are nothing but A KO TI LE TA, Prodigal children.

I have always been wondering why our leaders progress in their private businesses and fail in managing the resources of this country. Obasanjo farms is growing, his private secondary school keep getting more students and few miles away from Bells we see students of public schools loitering around, because there no enough facilities to teach. Their laboratories are empty, no chairs in the class. Most pupils take seats to school from home and they said they have Education Trust Fund, UBE. These are conduit pipes created for friends and family members to milk the Nigerian cow dry. Atiku just opened a university in his village where they are dying of river blindness. What relevance is the university to that community? What does he know about education? Where did he get the money to do that? How much does it cost? No media in Nigeria will dare investigate that, most of their employers are friends of the government or on Pay rolls or contractors.

NLC and The Strike

There is need for a change in the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress. The present leadership has eaten with the devil and it has been contaminated. Obasanjo attended NLC election last year and campaigned for Adams Oshiomole. Oshiomole was here last year to attend Atiku wife's NGO launching. Who paid for that trip? What relevance was that to the Labour matters in Nigeria? He also attended the wedding of Babangida's son. These are enemy combatants of the poor masses he said he is representing. I don't understand the die and wake strike. Oshiomole is too rich to fight. He is now a big man. Let us face it. For a vibrant NLC Oshiomole must go.