March 22, 2010
Last week Acting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did two things that must have resonated positively with millions of us. The first was the long-anticipated dissolution of the Cabinet; the second was his decision, quickly, to recall Nigeria’s ambassador to Libya, Alhaji M. K. Ibrahim. In a way the decisiveness with which Jonathan acted over Libya was more stimulating than dissolving a cabinet that has been comatose anyway.
Last week Acting President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did two things that must have resonated positively with millions of us. The first was the long-anticipated dissolution of the Cabinet; the second was his decision, quickly, to recall Nigeria’s ambassador to Libya, Alhaji M. K. Ibrahim. In a way the decisiveness with which Jonathan acted over Libya was more stimulating than dissolving a cabinet that has been comatose anyway.
Jonathan recalled our Libyan envoy over the statement credited to the Libyan dictator for more than four decades, Muammar Gaddafi, where he said Nigeria should be divided into two; along the line of the Muslim-majority North and the Christian-majority South. Even if you would ignore the blatant display of ignorance by Gaddafi; even if you would ignore the cheekiness of it; even if you would discount Gaddafi’s history of mental illness, you cannot ignore the fact that Gaddafi is the most ill-qualified person to say which part of Nigeria is Muslim and which part is Christian. To start with, no one can say with certainty what brand of Islam Gaddafi practices; his green book, which outlines his ideology is a confusing amalgam of Islamic doctrine spiced with Marxist ideology—two of the most mutually antagonistic ideologies in the world. This is why although he calls Libya an Islamic Republic, it does not operate the Shariah legal system.
Secondly, whereas all Nigerian and other moderate Muslim scholars around the world condemn terrorism as un-Islamic, Gaddafi had until recently not only approved terrorism but in fact supported it; he only recanted recently not because of terrorism’s conflict with Islam but as a result of 30 years of unrelenting pressure from the West. Another reason why he renounced terrorism was also because he wants the West to support his plans to impose his son as his successor. Nope, in addition to being mad, as the Nigerian Senate President David Mark aptly described him, Gaddafi is also an ignorant ideologue and a confused dictator that is not a credit to Islam. In any case it is not really Gaddafi that is the issue, but the swift diplomatic response of the Presidency that is refreshing.
One thing though the presidency must bear in mind is that it is not only Libya that has challenged Nigeria’s sovereignty in recent times. The United States of America has been near-insolent in the way its officials have come into the country, make audacious, often condescending remarks over our internal affairs and get away with them. Among the culprits have been no less a personality than the US secretary of state, Mrs. Hillary Clinton ( who only last week embarrassingly but vainly tried to retract a gaff over the Jos crisis), and Mr. Johnnie Carson, an assistant secretary of state for Africa who flew into Nigeria and warned us not to do anything stupid over the return of President Yar’adua. These are all diplomatic aberrations that the presidency should have equally responded to in kind. So while they did well to show Libya that there is a government in Abuja, they would do better to point that out to America, which is a much deadlier intruder.
than a confused, semi-deranged dictator like Gaddafi can ever be.
As for the dissolution of the cabinet, what can one say apart from good riddance? Some called it a divided cabinet, but many would rather see it as the most lackluster cabinet of all time. Whatever we choose to call it, it was a cabinet full of people with very annoying habits. There was this guy called Kazaure somebody who once said that under the Yar’adua regime even the amount of rainfall the country used to have had increased; a minister of power whose residence was powered by a generator; a minister of state for communication who cannot communicate etc, etc. Oh yes, we sure are happy to see them go.
The only snag is that according several sources, at least half of them may be reappointed. In which case all we can do is to appeal to the acting president to take cognizance of the value of his middle name—Ebele—which means Mercy in Igbo, and spare us another FCT minister who would build more speed bumps that will ruin our tokumbo cars and keep us at home every last Saturday of the month against our will; in the primitive belief that that would make us clean our houses, like inmates. Let him also appoint a minister of information and communication that can communicate, rather than those who would rebrand us with iron rods; or those who would make us throw up every time they open their mouth. I mean, the acting president has every reason to want to reward Dora Akunyili, but pleeeease let it not be at our expense; honest to God, millions of us have had enough of that woe-man. I for one won’t mind if Mr. Jonathan gives her an oil bloc and ask her to drink it quietly. Or make her ambassador to Libya, or North Korea. And for Patient’s sake Ebele, if you are thinking of appointing any rats, kindly appoint honest once (if you can find them); rather than clever once, which are all over the place I know some of the blokes mentioned here may want to feel bad; but that would be unfair, usually it is the guys we reject that the government embraces, in which case they should accept this as free PR. No kidding.
THE SENATE GOT IT RIGHT THIS TIME
I’ve followed the argument over the decision of the Senate to deny former military heads of state the same pension and other allowances it has approved for former civilian presidents. The arguments in favour of the former military leaders have merit, especially the powerful one advanced by the LEADERSHIP newspaper publisher and columnist Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah. Unfortunately a spade may have several other names but rake is not one of them. Rewarding people who overthrow an elected government using guns and tanks and ruling people by force is simply indefensible; the best reward is to allow them have their military pension and let those of them who allocated choice pieces of land and lucrative oil blocs to themselves keep them—pending their impending encounter with the real owner: GOD Himself. It is very tempting to want to reward honest, modest, clean and well-intentioned military adventurers like General Murtala Mohammed or his off-shoot Muhammadu Buhari; but truth be told, a coup is either a coup or it is not and trying to justify it by anyone that believes in democracy would be like trying to go west by travelling east. The closest we can come to accommodating it is to see it the way one of them described it; that is an honest mistake; as in Buhari’s case, who made the honest admission in the first place. Besides let’s face it, apart from Buhari, how many of them that are still alive really need it?
AND GOV. NYAKO TOO
My condolences to the people of Adamawa and to the northern traditional establishment over the passing away of the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji (Dr.) Aliyu Musdhafa last week. He was by all accounts a first among equals. After more than five decades of royal privileges, it was a miracle that both the high and the low, from far and near, described the late Lamido as the epitome of the finest character, courage and humility. May God have mercy on his soul.
For similar but happier reasons I would like to congratulate the Governor of the state, Admiral (Rtd) Murtala Nyako, or Baba mai mangwaro as he is fondly referred to in the state for refusing to play politics with the opportunity by swiftly approving the choice of the Adamawa kingmakers to replace the late Lamido. The new Lamido, the eldest son of the former one, is said to have been unanimously selected by the kingmakers and enjoys massive support of the people. According to some sources, there were people that swore to oppose any imposition in who replaces their beloved monarch. Fortunately the state governor respected their wishes and according to an eye witness, gave his approval hours after the choice was presented to him. And what happens? There is joy and celebrations all around; a classical case of ‘The king is dead. Long live the king’. See how easy it is to please us, the masses? Maybe Baba mai mangwaro should consider a temporary appointment as INEC consultant, because all we are asking for the last fifty years is that we should be given the chance to decide who should rule over us. It is a legitimate demand which may be delayed but must eventually be met. Only we mustn’t give up.
So all in all it’s been quite a week, no? And one in which for a change we had a few things to cheer at.
Jonathan recalled our Libyan envoy over the statement credited to the Libyan dictator for more than four decades, Muammar Gaddafi, where he said Nigeria should be divided into two; along the line of the Muslim-majority North and the Christian-majority South. Even if you would ignore the blatant display of ignorance by Gaddafi; even if you would ignore the cheekiness of it; even if you would discount Gaddafi’s history of mental illness, you cannot ignore the fact that Gaddafi is the most ill-qualified person to say which part of Nigeria is Muslim and which part is Christian. To start with, no one can say with certainty what brand of Islam Gaddafi practices; his green book, which outlines his ideology is a confusing amalgam of Islamic doctrine spiced with Marxist ideology—two of the most mutually antagonistic ideologies in the world. This is why although he calls Libya an Islamic Republic, it does not operate the Shariah legal system.
Secondly, whereas all Nigerian and other moderate Muslim scholars around the world condemn terrorism as un-Islamic, Gaddafi had until recently not only approved terrorism but in fact supported it; he only recanted recently not because of terrorism’s conflict with Islam but as a result of 30 years of unrelenting pressure from the West. Another reason why he renounced terrorism was also because he wants the West to support his plans to impose his son as his successor. Nope, in addition to being mad, as the Nigerian Senate President David Mark aptly described him, Gaddafi is also an ignorant ideologue and a confused dictator that is not a credit to Islam. In any case it is not really Gaddafi that is the issue, but the swift diplomatic response of the Presidency that is refreshing.
One thing though the presidency must bear in mind is that it is not only Libya that has challenged Nigeria’s sovereignty in recent times. The United States of America has been near-insolent in the way its officials have come into the country, make audacious, often condescending remarks over our internal affairs and get away with them. Among the culprits have been no less a personality than the US secretary of state, Mrs. Hillary Clinton ( who only last week embarrassingly but vainly tried to retract a gaff over the Jos crisis), and Mr. Johnnie Carson, an assistant secretary of state for Africa who flew into Nigeria and warned us not to do anything stupid over the return of President Yar’adua. These are all diplomatic aberrations that the presidency should have equally responded to in kind. So while they did well to show Libya that there is a government in Abuja, they would do better to point that out to America, which is a much deadlier intruder.
than a confused, semi-deranged dictator like Gaddafi can ever be.
As for the dissolution of the cabinet, what can one say apart from good riddance? Some called it a divided cabinet, but many would rather see it as the most lackluster cabinet of all time. Whatever we choose to call it, it was a cabinet full of people with very annoying habits. There was this guy called Kazaure somebody who once said that under the Yar’adua regime even the amount of rainfall the country used to have had increased; a minister of power whose residence was powered by a generator; a minister of state for communication who cannot communicate etc, etc. Oh yes, we sure are happy to see them go.
The only snag is that according several sources, at least half of them may be reappointed. In which case all we can do is to appeal to the acting president to take cognizance of the value of his middle name—Ebele—which means Mercy in Igbo, and spare us another FCT minister who would build more speed bumps that will ruin our tokumbo cars and keep us at home every last Saturday of the month against our will; in the primitive belief that that would make us clean our houses, like inmates. Let him also appoint a minister of information and communication that can communicate, rather than those who would rebrand us with iron rods; or those who would make us throw up every time they open their mouth. I mean, the acting president has every reason to want to reward Dora Akunyili, but pleeeease let it not be at our expense; honest to God, millions of us have had enough of that woe-man. I for one won’t mind if Mr. Jonathan gives her an oil bloc and ask her to drink it quietly. Or make her ambassador to Libya, or North Korea. And for Patient’s sake Ebele, if you are thinking of appointing any rats, kindly appoint honest once (if you can find them); rather than clever once, which are all over the place I know some of the blokes mentioned here may want to feel bad; but that would be unfair, usually it is the guys we reject that the government embraces, in which case they should accept this as free PR. No kidding.
THE SENATE GOT IT RIGHT THIS TIME
I’ve followed the argument over the decision of the Senate to deny former military heads of state the same pension and other allowances it has approved for former civilian presidents. The arguments in favour of the former military leaders have merit, especially the powerful one advanced by the LEADERSHIP newspaper publisher and columnist Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah. Unfortunately a spade may have several other names but rake is not one of them. Rewarding people who overthrow an elected government using guns and tanks and ruling people by force is simply indefensible; the best reward is to allow them have their military pension and let those of them who allocated choice pieces of land and lucrative oil blocs to themselves keep them—pending their impending encounter with the real owner: GOD Himself. It is very tempting to want to reward honest, modest, clean and well-intentioned military adventurers like General Murtala Mohammed or his off-shoot Muhammadu Buhari; but truth be told, a coup is either a coup or it is not and trying to justify it by anyone that believes in democracy would be like trying to go west by travelling east. The closest we can come to accommodating it is to see it the way one of them described it; that is an honest mistake; as in Buhari’s case, who made the honest admission in the first place. Besides let’s face it, apart from Buhari, how many of them that are still alive really need it?
AND GOV. NYAKO TOO
My condolences to the people of Adamawa and to the northern traditional establishment over the passing away of the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji (Dr.) Aliyu Musdhafa last week. He was by all accounts a first among equals. After more than five decades of royal privileges, it was a miracle that both the high and the low, from far and near, described the late Lamido as the epitome of the finest character, courage and humility. May God have mercy on his soul.
For similar but happier reasons I would like to congratulate the Governor of the state, Admiral (Rtd) Murtala Nyako, or Baba mai mangwaro as he is fondly referred to in the state for refusing to play politics with the opportunity by swiftly approving the choice of the Adamawa kingmakers to replace the late Lamido. The new Lamido, the eldest son of the former one, is said to have been unanimously selected by the kingmakers and enjoys massive support of the people. According to some sources, there were people that swore to oppose any imposition in who replaces their beloved monarch. Fortunately the state governor respected their wishes and according to an eye witness, gave his approval hours after the choice was presented to him. And what happens? There is joy and celebrations all around; a classical case of ‘The king is dead. Long live the king’. See how easy it is to please us, the masses? Maybe Baba mai mangwaro should consider a temporary appointment as INEC consultant, because all we are asking for the last fifty years is that we should be given the chance to decide who should rule over us. It is a legitimate demand which may be delayed but must eventually be met. Only we mustn’t give up.
So all in all it’s been quite a week, no? And one in which for a change we had a few things to cheer at.
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