FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiMonday, June 6, 2016
[email protected]
Bonn, Germany

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ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF A GORMLESS GOVERNMENT (3)

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Continued from Parts 1 + 2

How you make others feel about themselves says a lot about you (Zig Ziglar)

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves (Abraham Lincoln)

I don't hate you, I'm just disappointed you turned into everything you said you'd never be (Ruby Cantu)

The murder in Kano is not acceptable in any human community. It is against the teachings of Islam and it is against Nigerian laws (Former VP, Abubakar Atiku)

igerians should hate when people try to hide things from them, but yet tell them to trust them; Nigerians should be angry, as they're not sure what hurts more, the fact that this government lies to them, or the fact that, in this government's eyes, they weren't even worth the truth. This government has no regard for Nigerians.

Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, tells us that President Buhari shall be travelling to London on Monday, June 6, 2016, for a 10-day medical trip to attend to his 'ear infection' and other matters. We were told that President Buhari shall meet E.N.T (Ear, Nose & Throat) specialists in London. They told us that previously, the President was examined by his Personal Physician and an E.N.T Specialist in Abuja and was treated, but that these Nigerian doctors recommended further evaluation purely as a precaution. We pray for his speedy recovery, as we would want him to stay alive to bring what he has just started, the break up or the re-structuring of Nigeria (which ever he chooses), to a conclusion. President Buhari said that the 2014 Constitutional Conference Report should be archived, but, I want to assure Nigerians that this president, who wants to do nothing with the report, will be the president who will implement the report at last. When Nigeria unravels in his watch, as it has started doing, he will beg Nigerians to be allowed to implement the 2014 constitutional conference report, which is the best we got so far. That report, just like the abandoned Aburi Accord, will be the only panacea for the unity, peace, progress and the continuous existence of the entity called Nigeria.

But, note how fantastically deceitful this government has been, and why it will not last: Femi Adesina said, on national television today, Monday, June 6, that nothing was wrong with the President. He assured that he's in perfect health. But, 90 minutes later, he recanted, and released a press statement that President Buhari is going on a 10 day vacation to attend to his ear problem abroad. How can we trust such a government?

This is a government that cries of having shortage of foreign exchange reserves, this is a government that laments the depletion of the foreign exchange reserves through medical trips abroad and importation of goods and services, this is a government that banned foreign medical trip for its officials, but, its head sees nothing wrong in engaging in it, himself, while denying such to others.

When I wrote in the preceding part of this article that one thing President Buhari has achieved within a year in office was the foisting of ethnic strife and religious animosity on Nigerians, little did I know that I will be vindicated, by an ugly or gory incident few days later. Although I had vague premonition of danger, but, I never knew that evil was lurking so soon for an Igbo woman in Kano.

Although the story from Kano is not quite explicit, but we learned that an Igbo woman, Bridget Agbahime, was beheaded, while another story, by her husband, says that she was not beheaded! No matter the true side of the story, this woman had to die because of blasphemy, but, the main cause of her death was that she was an Igbo woman and a Christian. I read, courtesy of Mr. Nwokedi, that that woman, Bridget Agbahime, an Igbo, who was from Imo State, disallowed some Muslims from performing ablution in front of her shop in Kofar Wambai area of Kano metropolis, following which she was accused of blasphemy, and the mob gathered and lynched her, shot her, dragged her on the floor, and later beheaded her in the presence of her husband, Pastor Mike Agbahime.

Then, another story came out that Pastor Mike Agbahime, the husband of the woman, said that his wife was killed in his presence and was not beheaded. No matter how she died, agreeing with Mr. Nwokedi, "there is no justification for taking a human's life. This horrific act meted out on an innocent woman in the name of "blasphemy" is totally unacceptable...something needs to be done urgently by the authorities to stop this shameless trend.

The deceased was a 74-year-old woman, Mrs. Bridget Patience Agbahime, from Orodo town, Mbaitoli LGA in Imo State, and married to Mr. Mike Agbahime, a senior pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church, Brigade Quarters in Kano State. And for the records, according to her husband, she was beaten and stabbed to death with dangerous weapons. In his words (through his associate, Pastor Kem): "Mrs. Bridget who sold plastic materials at the popular Kofar Wambai market had wanted to close her shop on Thursday June 2, 2016, by 4.30pm to go for a church programme. Her neighbor, simply identified as Dauda who is a Muslim came in front of her shop to wash his hands and feet in preparation for his own prayers.

"Mummy", as fondly called by her church members, told him to leave the front of her

shop, that she wants to lock the door. The man refused and told her to wait till he finishes with what he's doing. (N.B; Mrs. Bridget had been having serious problems with Dauda to the extent that their matter has been reported to the market's association numerously). So she persisted that he should leave her shop. Instead of complying, the man started raining abuses on her, saying that he would deal with her in the market. After people started gathering around due to the insults and abuses, the man calmed down and left...

The woman thinking all had ended, went to meet her husband, who also has a shop in the same market but in a different location, to report as usual. Both her and her husband went to meet the landlord of her shop, one Alhaji Mustapha, a prominent trader in the market, who has been their advocate, to table the latest issue at hand.

While they were reporting the case to Mustapha in his shop, Dauda and his reinforced gang gathered and started chanting that the woman must die for blaspheming against Prophet Mohammed. The Alhaji pleaded with them to come back in a few days time promising to settle the matter, but they vehemently refused and started stoning him. The Alhaji ran for his life leaving the Mr. Mike and his wife in his shop...

The woman knowing that her end had come, knelt down and started praying before she was beaten and clubbed to death by the mob right in front of her husband. She was not beheaded.

Meanwhile, Dauda and his cohorts have been arrested and are currently in Kano State police station. While Mr. Mike has left his base located at Warri road, and is currently at an undisclosed hotel in the metropolis over fear of his life.

The main question now is: how is that a 74 year-old woman, who had lived in Kano for over 40 years, and wife to a senior pastor in Deeper Life, blaspheme against Prophet Mohammed, when she knows better.....?"

What a country? There's allegation that the woman was killed in the presence of our security forces, and nobody stopped the murder, and no one was arrested immediately. But, when people would engage in peaceful protest in the south, without molesting anybody, the police or the military will shoot them. The killing of this woman is just the tip of the iceberg, and it clearly shows what the Fulani killers have been doing in the south; and now, they have brought their heinous act to their own territory, and still, someone from the south, an Igbo woman, was the victim.

How can those killers justify their act? Why are they killing in the name of religion? Jesus Christ, or Mohammed or Allah or God didn't ask anybody to kill in His Name, and anybody perpetrating such atrocity in their Name is on his or her own. Nobody can justify violence and killing in the name of Islam, as that religion is peaceful and does not support violence of any kind. Deranged people should not hide under the cloak of religion to commit atrocities.

Since Buhari became the President of Nigeria, the Fulani and the Moslems have increased their violence against the people of other tribes and religions, because, they know they have a defender in Buhari, and that there will be no price for them to pay for their crime. While well meaning Nigerians are condemning the killing of the Igbo woman in Kano, the president of Nigeria, Buhari, just issued a curt statement, just as he has been encouraging the Fulani killers, and what he can only say, instead of ordering the arrest of the culprits, is "Let us learn to respect each other's faith, so that we can know each other and live together in peace". Imagine that! This and other incidents finally brought home to us the terrible realities of having a bigot as our leader.

President Buhari, who was supposed to kick off the implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report for the clean-up of Ogoni land on Thursday, June 2, artfully dodged the event by cancelling the trip over "Assassination Threats" from the Niger Delta militants. The militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, had threatened to kill the President should he step foot in the Niger Delta region. And because of that, President Buhari chickened out, and had to send the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to represent him. This shows how lily-livered President Buhari is. A man who calls himself the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces was cowed by "ragtag" militants. How can a man, who claims to be a civil war hero; the man who claimed that he led Nigerian military that drove Chadian Forces out of the Nigerian territory they annexed in the 1980s, be stopped from the much publicized trip due to a threat? Some might justify this blunder by saying that Goodluck Jonathan, as the president, didn't visit all the hotbeds of insurrection, but, he, Jonathan, is not a retired General, has no military background, never claimed to be a war hero, and he was sabotaged, all round, by those who surrounded him.

On Wednesday, June 1, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), threatened to kill President Buhari if he shows up in Ogoniland. The group asked Buhari to sign his death warrant before coming to Port Harcourt or any state of the Niger Delta community, threatening that the president will not go back alive, if he dares them. That threat worked and Buhari stayed away. This was a damnation of the Nigerian security forces, if despite their training, number and the weapons at their disposal, they couldn't protect their Commander-in-Chief against the militants. The Nigerian security forces are only good in killing innocent and unarmed Nigerians, but, are cowed and overawed when facing even unorganized thugs.

The DGW tells us that the military and the DSS are at each other's throats for the blunder of preventing the president from travelling to Ogoniland, and are trading blames. The website wrote that a source from the presidency told it that they lied about the president's aborted visit, which they attributed to ill-health. The president, he said, was not sick. The last-minute cancellation became necessary because of fear of the unknown which the Military High Command had dismissed with a trivial hand. The DSS insisted that the President would not be safe in the troubled region and said they should not be blamed if anything untoward happens to him, knowing full well the Military High Command lacked the ability to handle any situation that may arise. The website quotes the source as having said: "There was no reason for the DSS not to have allowed President Buhari to undertake the trip. It is most unfortunate that a well planned trip that would have endeared the president to the South-South people was aborted at the last moment. This historic trip would have remained indelible in the minds of the people. The People of Ogoniland as well as the entire Niger Delta people were waiting anxiously to receive the president, only to be told that he would be represented by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo. The security operatives that advised him against coming to the Niger Delta just destroyed the goodwill Mr. President would have enjoyed among the people. It is most unfortunate".

The question is why did the man, who claims that he will defend the unity of Nigeria, as he did during the civil war, even if it means paying a price for it with his own life, refuse to go to Ogoniland? For acquiescing to the threat from the Avengers, President Buhari has played himself into the hands of the group, and has emboldened them. It will be hard for him to deal with the group, even in negotiations, as the group will up the ante over their demands.

It's unfortunate that President Buhari has boxed himself into a corner, and looks now like the president of the Northern Nigeria only, as he runs a government of the north, by the north, for the north. The week before last, Buhari cancelled a much-hyped visit to Lagos State, the South-West; one week later, the President equally cancelled a trip to Cross River State, where he was meant to commission Monorail and Garment factory projects in the state. And now, he abandoned the Ogoniland, in South-South, when the place wanted to see his face. The president will definitely make no trip to the South-East, if he's invited, because of security concerns also. If the President of Nigeria and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not safe in other parts of his country, except in his northern region, then he has lost control of the nation, and can be regarded as the President of the Northern Nigeria.

Whenever Buhari cancels any trip within Nigeria, he will send the VP, Osibanjo, to represent him. He should then divide the country into two and give the southern part to Osibanjo to rule, as he has lost that part. Also, Buhari sends Osibanjo to represent him in any part of Nigeria he feels not safe to visit, but, when it comes to foreign trips, Buhari undertakes them without cancelling any or asking Osibanjo to represent him over there. Buhari knows what he's doing, he thinks he's clever, but, he can't deceive us anymore. As he cancels home trips and sends the VP to represent him, Buhari should also be cancelling foreign trips, for whatever reasons, and should be sending the VP to represent him in those foreign countries. He can't be well when it comes to traveling abroad and sick when it comes to visiting the southern part of Nigeria.

To further buttress the point that the northernization of the Nigerian government has been one of the things Buhari has achieved as a president in one year, a tabloid wrote that the "Federal Character and Principles of Fairness have been totally jettisoned under Buhari...all of a sudden the most competent people are from the North-West...including retirees". Remember that the Director-General of the DSS was recalled from retirement, and he's from Daura and a relation of Buhari (from the same village). So far, President Buhari has made about 53 appointments within a year in office:

North-West 28

North-East 8

North-Central 5

South-West 5

South-South 6

South-East 1

Some of the appointments are:

1. DG DPR, Mordecai Ladan, North-West

2. Accountant-General of Nigeria, Ahmed Idris, Kano State, North-West

3. Chief of Protocol, Lawal Kazaure, Kano State, North-West

4. Chairman of INEC, Mahmoud Yakubu, North-East

5. Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, Borno State, North-East

6. DG NIMASA, Buba Haruna Jauro, Yobe State, North-East

7. Head of Service, Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, South-South

8. SSA Media, Shehu Garba, Kano State, North-West

9. SA Media, Femi Adeshina, Osun State, South-West

10. CG NSCDC Abdulahi Mohammed North-Central

11. DG SSS, Lawal Daura, Katsina State, North-West

12. NSA, Babagana Monguno, Borno State, North-East

13. Chief of Defense Staff, Abayomi Gabriel, Ekiti State, South-West

14 Chief of Army Staff, TY Buratai, Borno State, North-East

15' Chief of Air Staff, Marshal Sadique, Bauchi State, North-East

16 Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ekwe, Cross River State, South-South

17' DG Amnesty, P T Boroh, South-South

18. ADC, Mohammed Lawal, Kano State, North-West

19. Chief Security Officer, Abdulrahman Mani, North-West.

20. EVC NCC, Umaru Danbatta, Kano State, North-West

21. Chairman Transition Committee, Ahmed Joda, North-East

22. MD AMCON, Ahmed Lawan Kuru, North-West

23. CG Customs, Col Hameed Ali, North-West

24. DG Budget, Aliyu Yahaya Gusau, North-West

25. EC FIRS, Dr Williams Babatunde Fowler, Lagos State, South-West

26. SGF, Babachir David Lawal, North-East

27. CG Immigration, Mr. Mohammed Babandede, Comptroller-General of the Nigeria

Immigration Service (NIS), North-Central

28. SSA NASS, Suleiman A. Kawu, North-Central

29. Mr. Uka Tor Uja, executive secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC)

30. SSA NASS, Ita S.J. Enang, Akwa Ibom State, South-South

31. MD NPA, Habibu Abdulahi, Kano State, North-West

32. DG Budget, Aliyu Gusau, Zamfara State, North-West

33. EFCC Chairman, Manu Ibrahim, North-West

34. DG NOTAP, Dan Azumi Mohammed, North-West

35. NIMC, Engr. Aliyu M Aziz, North-Central

36. NDIC, Umaru Ibrahim, Kano State, North-West

37. Federal Character Commission, Shettima Booker Abba, Borno State, North-East

38. SA, Social Protection, Maryam Uwais, Kaduna State, North-West

39. Chairman NDLEA, Muhammad Abdullah, Adamawa State, North-East

40. MD NDDC, Ibim Seminitari, Rivers State, South-South

41. PA New Media, Bashir Ahmed, Kano State, North-West

42. NEITI, Waziri Adio, Osun State, South-West

42. DG SMEDAN, Dr Dikko Umaru Raqqa, Katsina State, North-West

43. DG NIMAS; Dakuku Peterside, Rivers State, South-South

44. OPEC Sec Gen, Mohammed Barkindo, North-West

45. DG NYSC, Kazaure, North-West

46. Okoi Obono-obla, SA Prosecution, Cross River, South-South

47. CG Prisons, Ahmed Jafaru, Jigawa State, North-West

The list is not exhaustive!

To be concluded!

TIT BITS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrTuV4Szxzo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RhOTFjWcy4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzlVDlE72w&list=RDIYzlVDlE72w

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!

Continued from Parts 1 + 2

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