Paul Okoye
Singer Paul Okoye and his wife Anita, dedicated their twin children, Nathan and Nadia in church Yesterday.
Juli’s Agwu’s wife, Ibiere posted photos from the event, congratulating the couple.
The post Paul Okoye and wife dedicate their twins appeared first on Within Nigeria.
The criticism followed a viral video which showed an angry mob chasing a black bus used by the operatives.
A Twitter user, Charley, had posted about the shooting on his handle @yabakid, but did not indicate the exact location in Yaba or the identity of the victim.
He wrote, “A SARS officer just shot a boy in the head right in front of me WTF! I’m so shocked!
“This happened in Yaba on Thursday right in my hood. They (SARS men) stole the phone of a ‘yahoo boy’ and shot another boy in the arm. The youth in the area mobilised and gave them a chase.”
Many Nigerians had taken to the Internet, expressing their experiences and those of their relations and friends in the hands of SARS across the country.
The protest was hinged on the #EndSARS campaign, an online petition to the National Assembly which had almost reached its 10,000 signatory targets as of 2pm on Sunday.
A poster, with the identification, Ayo FBI @PureMind, said a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, who was the only son of his parents, was killed by SARS men.
He wrote, “In 2009, my mom’s friend’s son, Biodun, who was a student of OAU was going to Ibadan (Oyo State) from Ile Ife on the June 23 and was killed by SARS because they wanted to take him away and he resisted because he didn’t do anything. He was his mother’s only child. #EndSARS.”
A Twitter user, identified as Negro boss,@pmjovie, lamented that he was unlawfully detained for six months.
READ: SARS policemen shoot at moving car, injure businessman and his female friend“Some years back, a popular artiste was killed by cultists in LASU and SARS packed all of us at a bar. We were released six months later. #EndSARS,” he said.
One Tessyama, @tescool, said he and his friends were robbed by SARS operatives about two years ago in a bar.
“Was it not SARS that robbed me and some friends in a bar two years ago? We thought they were robbers until the bar owner told us it’s SARS men and that’s how they frustrate them there (at the bar). #EndSARS,” he tweeted.
Another Nigerian, Moshood Alli, explained how he coughed up N40,000 for no offence.
He said, “SARS at Lagos VI intercepted my motorcycle, searched me, found nothing but school ID, claimed it was fake, accompanied me to my hotel room, found my phones and received N40,000 in payment via ATM. #EndSARS.”
Ali Haruna Babatunde wrote, “#EndSARS. They came to my neighbourhood, drank and didn’t pay, when the seller threatened to report them, they started shooting into the air.”
A user identified as Cross, @Elcrucifixio, said he was taken for a suspect because he looked good.
“Your civil rights disappear the moment SARS holds you. I am not even a yahoo boy, but I kept begging them when they held me at Ikeja. I was running late for a business pitch, and my offence was ‘dressing too fine, but not be into fraud’. Sigh,” he posted.
A woman, Pets for Sale, @owhreoluwa, also joined in the campaign, saying, “Even as a woman, you are not safe from SARS and their wahala (trouble). I’ve been manhandled by one on the road before because ‘Wetin small girl like you dey carry two phones do.’”
Somto Ronald explained that SARS operatives extorted N40,000 each from him and 23 others over a fight they were not involved in.
He wrote, “Early this year, SARS entered my lodge by 1am, a student lodge, and arrested all the boys (24 boys) just because one guy in my lodge allegedly fought with another guy. None of us was bailed with less than N40,000. #EndSARS.”
@UnitedAyodejiEmpire also posted about the alleged uncivil conduct of some SARS operatives in Abuja.
He wrote, “The SARS officers here in Abuja are actually criminals legally carrying guns. You see them at Area 1, Durumi, Garki Village, smoking weed, sniffing all sorts of dangerous drugs among criminals with guns in their hands. I see them and just shake my head. #EndSARS #EndSARSBrutality.”
Reacting to the shooting of a youth in the Yaba area, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, said the incident had not been reported to the police.
He stated that the authenticity of the video was in doubt.
Oti, however, in a statement on Sunday, said the command was investigating an assault perpetrated by some SARS men in a yet-to-be ascertained location.
He said, “It has come to the knowledge of the acting Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Ag.Cp Edgal Imohimi, that some policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, in a yet-to-be ascertained location, brutalised an innocent resident.
“In view of the above, the Acting Commissioner of Police wishes to encourage all residents of Lagos State who have complaints against police action or on any issue, to report to any of the police patrol vehicles which now serve as mini police stations and are parked conspicuously at vantage points across the state or call on the Citizen Complaint Centre established by the present Commissioner of Police through the following cellular phone numbers: 08067945296, 08063025274, 08113615350, 08113683077, 08096283148, 08096283183, 08089781657, 08126404930, 08081426895.”
Only Armed Robbers ‘ll kick against SARSThe Nigeria Police Force has refuted allegations that some officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS have become unprofessional in their conducts. Nigerians using the harshtag, #EndSARS, are calling for the disbandment of SARS after many accounts of torture and extortion of innocent citizens by many SARS officials.
Reacting to the call for the ban of SARS, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Jimoh Moshood, in an interview with The Cable said SARS has lived up to its function which is to fight robbery in states and that those that are complaining against the operations of the officers might just be armed robbers. According to him, the police treats every complaint leveled against police officers seriously.
‘We do not take any infraction or violation of human right of any Nigerian likely. You know that so many police officers have been dismissed and even charged to court. So, Nigerians should not give in to insinuations from people that just come to the social media and start spreading falsehood. Such people spreading such information may likely be armed robbers themselves. There is laid down rules for police procedures and any police officer that go beyond boundary to do something outrageous which is against the law is apprehended.” he said
Speaking further he said
“As we speak, SARS is doing fantastically well across the country in reducing incidents of robbery to the barest minimum… they are doing very, very well. There has not been any specific violation of human rights against any SARS personnel. So anybody that is spreading such a rumour is not doing the nation any good. SARS has no excesses and when there is any, we do investigate. The call for SARS to be scrapped should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians. Anybody calling for their proscription is not doing the nation any good and such people should be suspected as having something to hide.”
READ: Nigerian lady calls out SARS officers who sexually harassed her and labeled her a yahoo girlThe post #EndSARS: Only Armed Robbers ‘ll kick against SARS, says NPF as Mob chases SARS operatives for shooting Lagos youth appeared first on Within Nigeria.
In the Tweet below, Asiwaju Michael claimed the police extorted the said amount of money from him in July. He made the claim when he lent his voice to the ongoing campaign to end SARS.
In a swift reaction, Okasanmi released a statement denying the twitter user’s claim. According to the force spokesperson, his accuser is wanted by the state police command for inviting a UNILORIN female student, Cynthia he met online to Lagos, drugging her, having sex with her and taking her nude photos which he planned to send to the father of his victim. Read the statement below
‘It has been brought to my notice the falsehood trending on the social media about a tweet by one Asiwaju Michael to the effect that I extorted him of the sum of 2000 Us dollars, and another #115,000 through a protege for what offence, he didnt state, and no one cared to ask, because the allegation was against a police officer who can be dispensed with whether the allegation was true or not.
For the benefit of those who sincerely believe I could not descend so low to have done what was being circulated, owing to the fact that i have laboured hard to build an image for myself and my little effort to bolster the image of my organisation the Nigeria Police Force, Kwara Command.
One Asiwaju Michael who resides in Lagos, was reported by one Cynthia, (surname withheld) through her pastor to me stating that she had been turned to a sex slave by the suspect, due to his video recording of her nudity in one of their sexapades.
The said Asiwaju Michael was in the habit of demanding sex from her with menace failure which he would resort to threatening to post her nude pictures on the social media.
SEE: Policeman beat up soldier for refusing to follow the queue at the ATMHe has succeeded in doing that severally in Lagos, but when the lady resumed in school in Ilorin, Michael continued in his demand, hence the courage to bring her pastor into the picture and I was in formed and a trap was set for the suspect. He was however lured and arrested at Bovina Hotels Ilorin at about 0200hrs of the 7th of July 2017.
He was brought to the police headquarters where after interrogation he confessed to the crime, the interrogation ended in the morning, meanwhile his confessional statement and that of the complainant is still intact, I was told by the policeman I assigned to interrogate him when I came back later in the morning of same day that he escaped while on the way to search his hotel room, abandoning his phone, meanwhile his escape formed the reason for the transfer of the police officer assigned to interrogate him among other punishments.
Since that time until now we have been looking for him and in order to protect the identity of the complainant who is a student we decided to clandestinely look for him for re-arrest which until now is yet successful, never a time did he mention that money was collected from him.
Now that the matter is already in the public space, he is advised to come out of hiding and should not use the anonymity of social media to spew umbrage on the police, he should come out to defend and substantiate his allegations. The lady in question is alive, the pastor is alive and both are ready to give evidence, meanwhile the phone he used in taking the nude pictures which he has passworded and believe no one can bypass is still in our custody, all this will help in the investigation.
Finally, I am stating here and now that I didn’t collect any money from him, nether did I send anybody to do that on my behalf, concerning the bank transaction he also posted, investigation will reveal the owner and any other hidden facts. As much as people deride members of the police, I dare say there are very noble men and women of integrity who are ready to lay their lives for the safety of lives and property of the citizens in the force , yes some bad eggs abound, the authority is working very hard to show them the way out, I dare say, I am not one of them, as for people whose stock in trade is to bad mouth any thing police, and some social media tigers I pray God forgive your ignorance.
We are still waiting for Asiwaju Michael to come out of hiding to substantiate his claims, please.,
Dsp Ajayi Okasanmi
Police Public Relations Officer
Kwara State Command.
The post Accused drug dealer claims Kwara Police PRO extorted $2000 from him appeared first on Within Nigeria.
Buhari, Atiku
Personal Assistant to President Buhari on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, says former president Atiku Abubakar is living in an illusion to believe that he would defeat President Buhari in the 2019 election. Atiku who announced his return to PDP yesterday, told Dele Momodu in a recent interview that he would defeat Presieent Buhari in the 2019 election if he is given the PDP presidential ticket. According to Lauretta, Atiku has lost touch with reality.
However, Lauretta thinks he is hallucinating. In an interview with Channels TV, Lauretta said
‘Atiku may have had that weight some years ago but over the years he’s been losing that weight and at the moment, I can tell you the even in his local government area in his native Adamawa, he can’t win any election.
So where is the weight? I think Alhaji Abubakar Atiku has lost touch with reality; I think he needs to check again. President Buhari is not competing with him at the moment.
What he’s trying to do is to put President Buhari out of the good work he’s doing and to come to wallow in the mud with him. And President Buhari is very busy trying to repair the damage that PDP did for 16 years to this nation, he is busy with the job of governance and trying to ease the pains that Nigerians have been going through over the past 16 to 17 years.
The President also knows that the ban on politics has not been lifted; so, he is not going to come out to wallow in the mud of ‘he said, she said”, Onochie said.
On whether Atiku’s exit from the APC has any effect on Buhari, she said: “The president is not perturbed at all, he is not moved in any way. Alhaji Atiku is known to hobnob from one party to the other when he cannot have the control of the party. When he resigned from the PDP some years ago, he gave the same reasons he gave so many years ago and that’s what he has given again for leaving the APC.”
READ: Buhari promise South-East more Road and Coastal Rail ProjectsThe post 2019: Buhari will defeat Atiku in his local government — Lauretta Onochie appeared first on Within Nigeria.
The development, according to Vanguard source, will see the exit of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin and the Service Chiefs, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete-Ibas in that order.
Vanguard further gathered that the Chief of Army Staff, may be elevated to a four-star General with new mandate to take over the administration of the military as Chief of Defence Staff, thus succeeding General Gabriel Olonisakin.
While others’ tenure had since expired, Buratai, being a member of Course 29 in the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, and junior to the trio, will still be in service given that he has neither reached the retirement age of 56 and/or attained the maximum length of service.
The changes which Vanguard learnt may come in the week, would also have top officers among whom are over 150 officers in the rank of Major General in the Army retired.
Also, over 70 officers in the Nigerian Navy, particularly officers in the rank of Rear Admiral are equally penciled down for retirement just as 50 officers in the rank of Air Vice Marshal in the Nigerian Air Force face retirement.
Following the expected changes, officers recently elevated to the various ranks in the three arms of the military have not been given new postings even as their current status put them above the positions they are still being made to manned.
The recent mass promotion in the nation’s three arms of the military was at the instance of President Buhari, who Vanguard learnt, had given the directive during a meeting he held with the Service Chiefs on Tuesday, October 10, this year.
Sources said during the unexpected meeting, the president had pointedly informed the military chiefs of his action and directed them to dust up their files ahead of in preparation to handing over whenever he carried out the action.
READ: What Buhari asked us to do – Service ChiefsRecall that the Nigerian Army Council had a fortnight ago, promoted 45 Brigadier Generals to the rank of Major General while also elevating 92 from the rank of Colonel to Brigadier General.
In similar circumstance, the Navy Council promoted 78 senior officers among which were 18 commodores to the rank of Rear Admiral while 40 captains bagged flag rank of Commodore with 20 commanders elevated to the rank of Captain.
The Nigerian Air Force was not left aside in the mass promotion effected with 24 hours as it promoted 51 of its senior staff among which were 22 Air Commodores and 29 Group Captains to the next higher ranks.
Although the three arms explained that the promotion exercise was carried out to motivate personnel towards serving the nation diligently, it was reliably gathered that the development was at the instance of the president, who according to our source had in the October 10 meeting, directed that the exercise be effected before the end of November.
The Chief of Defence Staff and two of the Service Chiefs’ tenure had expired on July 13, 2017, but are still in office following a one-year extensions granted them last December by the president.
Buhari had extended the tenures of Vice Admiral Ite-Ibas and Air Vice Marshal Abubakar by one year at the same time, as both of them were due for retirement.
The president had on July 13, 2015, appointed General Gabriel Olonisakin as the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS.
General Olonisakin, by virtue of his age or length of service in the Nigerian Army was due for retirement last December, but had his tenure extended by Buhari.
Based on the Armed Forces Terms and Conditions of Service, appointments as service chiefs are tenured for two years.
However, at the pleasure of the president, the tenure could be extended if they have not reached the retirement age of 56 and/or attained the maximum length of service.
READ: How do you sleep fine when workers are unpaid — Buhari blasts governorsThe post Anxiety as Buhari set to name new CDS, Service Chiefs appeared first on Within Nigeria.
COAS, Buratai
Unarguably, every man does not only admire greatness, but wishes to be remembered by history from generation to generations as having impacted very uniquely in influencing and reshaping history in his clime.
Much as this desire burns unquenchably like the flames of fire in all men, the wisdom, strength and courage to navigate this path of glorious history has eluded most potentially great men and women of promise.
As much as success is envied, the journey is not easy for most men. That is why people, who conquer the odds to ingrain their gold-plated names and portraits in history’s hall of fame, ironically live even after death.
The narrative of Nigeria is one one tale with many sides. Our history is replete with gory and haunting memories of a blessed, richly endowed nation, potentially great, but blighted by its own leaders. As if dragging the nation into the abyss of “debasing rape” is not enough punishment; the powerful and the mighty lords have proceeded to service their egomaniac flairs by lighting conflagrations all over the country, most times, for the fun of it or to destabilize interests they consider hostile.
Those interested in Nigeria’s history, would know that in the last six or so years, very vitriolic terror sects, with alien origins have reduced this once proud and prosperous nation to its shadowy self. From 2010 when Boko Haram terrorism berthed in Northeastern Nigeria, the country ceased to know peace. The wailings, the pains, sorrows and tears of Nigerians, flooded and filled deep tunnels for years. Countless Nigerians in thousands became refugees in their own country.
The powerlessness of government delighted Boko Haram insurgents and the sadists, intensified heinous crimes and atrocities against Nigerians. It also, simultaneously expanded incredible and unimaginable tentacles.
The Nigerian military were left on the tenterhooks battling insurgents or other armed local conflicts and for five years, insurgency rather gained more grounds by capturing 14 LGAs in the Northeast and gaining significant control on several others. Major cities in Nigeria, including the capital city, Abuja were at the mercy of terrorists, who struck recklessly and unimpeded.
Our troops drafted to fight the tormenting terrorists in the country rather bowed to the superiority of insurgents’ weaponry and sheer fire force. The most pungent and disturbing statement of protest from the Nigerian military was the attempted mutiny of soldiers against their commander in Maiduguri, a history quite strange to armies of the world or nations in recent times. But it happened in Nigeria.
Nigerians were under this spell until President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of leadership in May 2015. Insecurity across the country was an issue that consistently invaded his mind and thoughts. Buhari searched inwards and gunned for the best of brains among his Generals in the military to head the different arms of the armed forces.
Thus, a rugged, determined, courageous, disciplined and patriotic soldier, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai emerged as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). The President also added another yoke to his duties as the leader of the counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria.
From the outset, Gen. Buratai demonstrated in words and actions that he is a soldier with dignity. He knew that he inherited an army which was deficient in several ways. After touring various military formations across the country and listened to the lamentations of his personnel, he came to the inevitable conclusion that a general overhaul of the Nigerian Army was urgent. Indeed, very urgent, if the war on terrorism must be won. He swung into action, launching far-reaching reforms in the Nigerian Army.
His reforms centered on professionalism, discipline, transparency, loyalty and patriotism in service of the nation. Properly inculcated and indoctrinated in soldiers, it paid off handsomely, who reciprocated in gallantry, as reflected in the decimation and eventual defeat of Boko Haram terrorism.
While General Buratai expected much from his troops, he also knew deep down his heart that there were sacred and inviolable obligations he also owed troops and, prominently, welfare.
A world-class military philosopher, strategist and tactician, knowledge he imbibed from years of silent historical tutelage of great war veterans like German Adolf Hitler and his ardent acolyte, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel of World War II fame. Both reputed for uncanny penetration of enemy camps with troops, Gen. Buratai personally and victoriously danced on the stage of war.
Confidently, Buratai know, quite like Adolf Hitler that “The art of leadership… consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary and taking care that nothing will split up that attention.”
Therefore, the hesitance of troops, the attempted mutiny on the warfront against terrorists, and the plots to continue and other allied acts of disobedience to military orders ceased. Instead, the spirit of loyalty and patriotism the Army Chief injected in troops through the vital ingredient of welfare dissolved everything and ensured a victorious war.
He applied the Field Marshal, Erwin Rommel’s principle. Rommel was successful in battles by applying the conviction that “Winning the men’s confidence requires much of a commander. He must exercise care and caution, look after his men, live under the same hardships, and-above all, apply self- discipline. But once he has their confidence, his men will follow him through hell and high waters.”
And in retrospect, the Army boss speedily resolved issues of pending and accumulated months of unpaid salaries and allowances of soldiers, especially, troops on the battlefield. He ensured these obligations were met promptly and timely. Food and other supplies which hitherto before his ascension of leadership, were treated like reserved privileges to troops, morphed overnight into the inalienable and respected rights of troops on the warfront.
Back home, the veteran enlisted every family of a soldier on his list of preferential treatment and assumed the status of “father figure” to all. He paid personal attention to all problems affecting families of soldiers and expeditiously resolved them.
Gen. Buratai adopted Rommel’s formula that “War makes extremely heavy demands on the soldier’s strength and nerves. For this reason, make heavy demands on your men in peacetime exercises.” It sounds paradoxical, but in Lieutenant General Buratai’s calculations, this principle worked in catering for families of soldiers and it worked for him.
He became the informal “father figure,” to families of soldiers all over Nigeria, expeditiously treating issues affecting them with disarming dispatch. It endeared and glued him to soldiers in immeasurable ways. So, they retained patriotism, loyalty, commitment and dedication to duty, roaring against Boko Haram terrorists with a supersonic and relentless rage.
By the guiding principle of Rommel, Gen. Buratai also stepped into the trenches with his foot soldiers and also, spared time to personally tutor the Special Strike Force Teams organized for the terrorism onslaught.
And at all instances, Gen. Buratai never distinguished himself as the haughty and class-conscious leader, known to Nigerian vocabulary. He humbled himself, ate the same food and drank the same water supplied to troops in the battlefield.
“Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself, and let the troops see that you do endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide,” Rummel’s principle kept guiding his route to success.
Refreshingly, Gen. Buratai has demonstrated his prowess and dexterity in warfare, by justifying that in war situations, every component is vital. So, much as he wields enormous powers, the witty leadership qualities in him gives the same power back to his troops, who dictate the pace and he abides. It is responsible for the boosted morale of soldiers to skyline, ennobling immense appreciation through sustained battle against terrorists. It is his conviction that “the power of a commander’s appreciation of troops welfare, energizes morale, and troops reciprocate in appreciation, compelling the warrior to fights on in exhaustively, ” and like Rommel, echoed, right into the deepest of waters with the Commander. It’s being his coat of success.
Ajogwu is a public affairs commentator based in Abuja.The post Another Look At Buratai’s Victorious Coat appeared first on Within Nigeria.
Kanu had filed the suit on March 3, 2016 demanding $800m as compensation from the Federal Government for his alleged unlawful arrest in 2015 and detention.
But the Federal Government, through its lawyer, Mrs. Maimuna Shiru, filed its motion on November 13, stating that Kanu having been granted bail by the Federal High Court in Abuja on April 25, 2017, and allegedly jumped bail, the judgment of the ECOWAS Court on the suit would serve no purpose.
But Kanu, through his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, objected to the Federal Government’s motion contending that granting bail to the IPOB leader was just a partial satisfaction of prayers sought in the suit.
He maintained that the ECOWAS Court had the power to grant his client the $800m compensation sought since the IPOB leader’s rights had been violated.
Ejiofor stated in his written address, “We submit therefore that the court has powers to order for payment of compensatory damages when found that the plaintiff’s right has been violated.”
READ: Biafra: Nnamdi Kanu Sureties to face jail term if they fail to produce him — CourtThe post I’m still entitled to $800m compensation — Nnamdi Kanu appeared first on Within Nigeria.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar
Atiku in a live declaration on facebook, particularly chided the APC for failing in its campaign promise to create three million jobs annually, saying the ruling APC has rather supervised the loss of three million jobs under three years.
Meanwhile, rumours suggesting that former President Goodluck Jonathan was himself set to compete with Atiku for the 2019 presidential ticket were yesterday, dismissed by his spokesman, who affirmed that Jonathan was a principal figure in the permutations that led to the zoning of the Presidency to the North and national chairman to the South.
Atiku’s return to the PDP was immediately welcomed by the deputy president of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Chief Bode George, the party’s erstwhile deputy national chairman and national chairmanship aspirant.
In the speech, Atiku harped on the problem of unemployment, noting how he had through his personal businesses and during his stewardship as vice-president, promoted the creation of jobs.
In the address, Atiku said his businesses would not in any way interfere with his determination to serve the nation.
Following the facebook presentation, the former vice-president drew questions from his facebook audience.
He said: “I have found in my travels across the country that whenever I get into conversations with young people, their number one concern is whether they will be able to get a job, for without a job they have no means of sustaining themselves or begin a family.
“Without the security of a job, we cannot have security in our country. So, without jobs, there is no future for you or for Nigeria. I also know as a parent that the older generation is also concerned about jobs for their children and, too often today, for themselves as well.
“Creating jobs is something I know about as I have created over 50,000 direct jobs and 250,000 indirect jobs in my own state of Adamawa. And I also know how the government can help create the right environment for businesses to create jobs.
SEE: 2019 Presidency: Atiku show off campaign vehicles 2 days after resigning from APC“When I was Vice President in 1999, I was responsible for liberalising the telecomms sector which enabled us to increase the number of people who could access a phone from less than 1 million then to over 100 million today.
“This transformation resulted in the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs from the top-up card vendors you see on every street corner to the many new businesses that feed off the mobile phone revolution.
Why I left PDP — Atiku
“Some of you may know that I was elected Vice President under the banner of the PDP, which is the political party I had helped to found some 10 years before.
“Some of you may also know that I left the PDP four years ago when I believed it was no longer aligned to the principles of equity, democracy and social justice upon which we had founded it.
“I joined the APC as I had hoped it would be the new force that would help improve life for our people and I was excited about the party’s manifesto to create 3 million new jobs a year.
“The result has not been the change people had been promised or voted for, as in the last two years, almost 3 million Nigerians have lost their jobs. And today, with a record 25% of people aged 18-25 unemployed, I can see how difficult it is for our youths to find a job.
The key to creating jobs is a strong economy and that is what we are currently lacking.
“So, today, I want to let you know that I am returning home to the PDP as the issues that led me to leave it have now been resolved and it is clear that the APC has let the Nigerian people, and especially our young people, down.”
What the youths want
Asked how he could identify with the thoughts of the youth when he was not a youth, he said: “I meet young people every day. I have children and grandchildren and most of my employees are youths.
“The key to knowing what young people want is to listen to them. I’m good at that. Sometimes when I am on the phone with my kids they ask me are you still there, because I just listen to them without interrupting.
“Young people are on social media and so I go there. They tell me that their number one challenge is job. Terrorism, militancy, kidnapping, and other forms of exuberance that may lead to criminality are symptoms of the disease of joblessness.
“Once you can get Nigeria working again and get Nigerians working again, youth restiveness will ease and gradually disappear.”
Politics and business
Asked how he would manage political leadership with the management of his businesses, he said: “I lead my businesses. I do not manage them. I have qualified managers managing them including some in their early 20s.
“As a leader, you provide direction and then you bring in skilled people and inspire them to implement your roadmap to getting to the destination of your direction.
“So, in answer to your question, I am more into leadership and this gives me the clarity I need to take in the larger picture.”
On assertions that the PDP can never return to power, he said: “Nobody knows the future other than God and to dictate what the future will be is not within man’s purview.
“But it is about Nigeria not about power. Power for power’s sake breeds arrogance and arrogance makes men say things like that.
“All I am saying is that we need a party that speaks to national sentiments not regional ones. We need a party that can make all Nigerians one till we can boldly say that we are all brothers and sisters with only one mother, Nigeria.”
Commenting on the social media campaign to stop alleged atrocities by the police, Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, he said: “We cannot be outraged that Nigerians and other African migrants are being mistreated in Libya and then we go ahead and mistreat our people back home.
“I am very abreast with the #EndSARS issue because my young followers on Social Media keep me very much in the loop.
“Whether it is how SARS treats Nigerians or how we treat each other, we are sending a message to the outside world. We can’t expect foreigners to treat our people better than we treat them.
“We must set the minimum standard required for the treatment of Nigerians worldwide by the way we treat our people domestically. Our charity must begin at home.
“On this issue, I call on the Inspector General of Police as a concerned Nigerian to intervene, and I know that the Nigerian Police as a disciplined and well organized force will take action to address this issue.
“It will go a long way to improve Nigeria’s rating in the global ranking of Police Forces next year because this year, they were wrongfully ranked as the worst.”
Ekweremadu Bode George welcome Atiku
Welcoming Atiku back to the PDP, Ekweremadu said: “The dumping of the APC by Alhaji Atiku is a welcome development for the PDP, but more importantly, Nigeria’s democracy.
“Nigeria is in dire need of a rescue mission to rekindle hope in our democracy, restore her on the path of prosperity, and halt the worsening divisiveness that threatens our corporate existence.
“I, therefore, enjoin all former PDP faithful who left for various reasons as well as other progressive-minded Nigerians to emulate Alhaji Atiku, to reunite under the umbrella to salvage the nation because I see a new and better Nigeria coming in 2019.
“I see a country where corruption will be eradicated, a nation that will be a pride to Africa and admiration of the international community, and a nation where no man will be oppressed, intimidated, persecuted or sidelined on account of ethnicity, religion or political persuasion.
“No amount of desperation will stop the will of God for Nigeria in 2019.”
Atiku’s declaration for the PDP was also immediately welcomed by Bode George who said: He said: “The beauty of it is that when you are a landlord in a house, you now say because of the cockroaches and rats in the house, you want to go and become a tenant. The house Atiku built is PDP, this is his home, and he was part and parcel of those who built the PDP.
“Some people annoyed him and he left, he went to be a tenant and he was treated like every tenant would be treated. This is his home. He is not the only one. They were angry because of the impunity perpetuated in the party by the managers. So, Atiku coming back is like him returning to his home. The APC is a contraption, a congregation of very strange bed fellows. I welcome him back home and there are still so many we are in contact with. He is most welcome, I have no qualms about it, I have nothing objectionable about his return to the PDP because this is his home.”
Atiku takes over PDP
Atiku it was gathered started plotting his return to the PDP as far back as 2016 when Prince Secondus was acting national chairman of the opposition party.
The imminent dominance of the Secondus campaign and perceptions that it would also be a boost for Atiku’s presidential aspirations has left some PDP veterans in bad taste while others have resigned to fate.
“His people are everywhere promoting Secondus and also laying down structures for Atiku,” a Wadata Plaza source said.
“Atiku is a pragmatic politician who likes to sow anywhere he can reap. Yes it is true that he is supportive of Adeniran, but his people are everywhere in support of Secondus and using him to get a grip on the party leaving people like Makarfi helpless,” a source said.
It was further gathered that with many of the governors struggling with finances to run their states that the emergence of someone like Atiku with money to run the party came like a lifesaver.
A source familiar with the development disclosed that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who has carried a significant proportion of the party’s obligations, was one of the first people Atiku was able to win over into the project. Governor Wike is also known to be a primary promoter of the Secondus project through whom many of the governors bought into the project.
Atiku, it was learned, has also successfully penetrated the National Assembly caucus of the party through the facilitation of his former aide and former deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha. The former vice-president met with the National Assembly members about two weeks ago during which he reportedly told them of his plan to return to the party.
A move by the old hands in the party to resist Atiku and the Secondus project was on Friday manifested when party grandees from the North led by a presidential aspirant, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau addressed a press conference where they called for the micro-zoning of the office of national chairman to the South- West.
Meanwhile insinuations that former President Jonathan was plotting to make a bid for the 2019 presidential contest were, yesterday, dismissed by his spokesman, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze.
“The party has taken a decision that the president would come from the North and the national chairman from the South. Dr Jonathan as the father of the party was privy to the decisions and there is no way that he can compromise the interests of the party,” Eze said, yesterday.
Atiku’s coming to PDP does not exclude me from running – Makarfi
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said he could still contest the party’s presidential ticket, in spite of the defection of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to the party.
In an interview in the current edition of The Interview magazine, Makarfi said: “Atiku left before, he’s on his way back before the (party’s) Convention.
“I have heard the rumour, it has been there since 2007…I have thought of it. By the time I leave as caretaker committee chairman on 9th or 10th, there’ll still be 10 months to the party primaries. By any law or the party’s guidelines, I’m not excluded.”
Makarfi also said that Fayose’s declaration of interest in the party’s presidential ticket, was uncalled for and unhealthy, since the party already zoned the Presidency to the North.
He said the PDP was expecting a harvest of defections, after Atiku’s move from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
“For some strategic reasons, don’t expect a lot of people to move to the PDP now. People are in APC for different reasons. Wait for the time when people will be on their own, you will see the influx of people into the PDP,’’ he said.
Makarfi, who came close to being the PDP’s presidential nominee in 2006, revealed that for the first time, how former President Olusegun Obasanjo schemed him out, even though an internal party assessment had returned him as the most favourable candidate.
READ: 2019 Presidency: Ignore Obasanjo and fail — Jonathan to AtikuThe post How Atiku took over PDP appeared first on Within Nigeria.
