Muslims are war-mongers, Christians are not- Usama Dandare

   I myself have never been able to find out precisely what Atheism is: I only know that people call me an Atheist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.
    Islam is a religion that promotes peace and unity among all creatures, making it evil and a great sin for any believer to waste anyone's life on any stand. According to Islam it is a great sin to kill an innocent person, and anyone who does so will suffer great torment in the hereafter: "So We decreed for the tribe of Israel that if someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind. Our Messengers came to them with Clear Signs but even after that many of them committed outrages in the earth". (Qur'an 5: 32)

     As we can see from the above verse, killing one innocent person is regarded as equivalent to killing all of mankind. In another verse, the importance that the faithful attach to life is expressed in these terms: "Those who do not call on any other god together with Allah and do not kill anyone God has made inviolate, except with the right to do so, and do not fornicate; anyone who does that will receive an evil punishment" (Qur'an 25: 68). In yet another verse, God issues the following commandment: Say: "Come and I will recite to you what your Lord has made forbidden for you": that you do not associate anything with Him; that you are good to your parents; that you do not kill your children because of poverty - We will provide for you and them; that you do not approach indecency - outward or inward; that you do not kill any person God has made inviolate - except with the right to do so. That is what He instructs you to do so that hopefully you will use your intellect".(Qur'an 6: 151).

Any Muslim who believes in God with a sincere heart, who scrupulously abides by His words and fears suffering in the hereafter will avoid harming one other person. That is because he knows that God is the Lord of Infinite Justice, and will suitably reward him for all his deeds. In one of the prophetic traditions, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) listed the kinds of people who are not pleasing to God. "Those who act cruelly and unjustly in the sacred lands, those who yearn for the ways of the ignorant and those who wrongly shed human blood". (Reported in Bukhari).

   This write up is not meant to criticize anyone's faith or send insults and any form of abuses or hatred towards any group or religion, its also not intended to direct any provocative massage to any religion. Its just a reposition of some beliefs mainly addressed to wrong targets and draw the attention of those involved. In other way, if you find any of my words as abusive or untrue, simply call my attention or criticize this article with facts.
     What baffles me is how Nigerian Christians mainly southerners comments on social medias insulting Islam and Muslims even if the subject is entirely on a different topic not associated with religion. This indicates the level of hatred and dislike most of them reserved toward Islam. They are often fond of accusing Muslims of committing several honor killings in the name of Islam; they then use this line of argument as a reason to discredit Islam in their eyes. In this article i set to prove them wrong, as i will prove to them that many behind terrorism are Christians and turn the table on them showing that honor killings can be found in the Bible, and that the Bible is for honor killings! Hence by their own criteria, Christians will have to abandon their own book. All involved in the act lacks simple misinterpretations of there scriptures.

     For many years, series of crises in Nigeria led to killings and destruction of properties, including places of worship. These in turn created big demarcation between Christian and Muslim settlements. The experiences are bitter, and they have created deep mutual distrust amongst the people. In Nigeria, Christians mainly southerners have developed a common belief that Islam orders it followers to kill non-muslims as a way of Jihad which is totally not ij accordance with the teachings of Islam.

If you hate Islam because of Jihad. Why won't you hate Christianity because of Crusades? If you reject Islam because some minor groups are hiding under it shed to commits genocide. why will you accept Christianity that support same gender marriage? Gays and lesbians used Churches and Bible for their same sex weddings. Don't you know your own religion support honor killings too?
Majority of Christians in Nigeria doesn't have an insights on Christianity itself. Why will you blame them for not knowing little about Islam? Some mischievous elements mostly in the government has successfully accomplished their mission of installing hatred between the adherents of the two religions.

    When Nigerian people live peacefully among one another, they must certainly discover what is hidden from them in the government. For doing so, will make them seek for their right, regain their lost freedom and save their nation from evils leaders. But when there is little or no peaceful coexistence, the two religious groups with never unite and choose a good leader but rather go for a candidate on the same faith. Nigerian Christians now sees all Muslims or northerners as terrorist on a mission to destroy them as some restricted themselves from even associating with a Muslim.
I don't think any well educated human can jump into a river without knowing its depth. Before you criticize, make sure you are knowledgeable enough on the subject matter. Any religiously oriented elite will never cast any provocative words on any religion but that's a different case in Nigeria.

     Terrorism on the other hand, is the systematic use of terror, often violent, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no legally binding, criminal law definition. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror); are perpetrated for a religious, political or, ideological goal; and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).
   Some definitions now include acts of unlawful violence and war. The use of similar tactics by criminal organizations for protection rackets or to enforce a code of silence is usually not labeled terrorism, though these same actions may be labeled terrorism when done by a politically motivated group. A Terrorist group may therefore, include people from all ethnicity and religious beliefs.

     In the case of Nigeria, terrorism is fast becoming a daily headline claiming the lives of the Citizenry day by day and government, which is responsible for the protection of it's citizens and their properties is fast loosing concept and lacking the ideas on how to tackle the whole issue. I think terrorism in Nigeria can be wipe out if the government truly wants to by technically providing new strategies and approach it with sincerity. In Nigeria today, terrorism is politically motivated by our so called politicians and yet some sections of the populace are tagging it on certain region and people in it.

     The illiterate Nigerian Christian who knows nothing about his religion but makes noisy comments (crush them, northern fools, Hausa goat, stupid northerners, north is just a responsibility on us, Islam said you should kill and suck blood, you northerners are all Boko boys, continue sheltering BH and all you generations will be wipe out fools, good job JTF kill them all, and many more too rocky for my teeth to crack) on social sites, should sit back and listen to where his religion promote and honor the killing of innocent souls.

Let us now see the honor killings in the Bible:

Lev 21:9  And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
 So note, if the priests daughter commits a bad sexual act, she is to be burned because of her fathers reputation, because it is against his honor. What will Christian say now? This is one example of honor killing in the Bible, in fact the act is ordered by the Bible itself.

"And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 21:17)"
"For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. (Leviticus 20:9)"

So here the children are put to death for insulting their parents, this is another example of honor killings, the children are put to death for dis-honoring their very own parents and the punishment is death.

    So we have seen 3 examples of honor killings in the Bible, so since Christians always have a problem with honor killings and say Islam is wrong because of some Muslims who commit this act, then the Bible is also wrong for allowing honor killings which also makes their own God wrong, and if God is wrong then he can't be God because God is always correct. Either way the Christian is in a bad dilemma. So this terrorist are acting according to Christianity not Islam. I throw a challenge on all Christians to prove that terrorism is supported in Islam by providing facts from any Islamic book.

     Christians on the other hand has committed many atrocities and taken peoples lives. Christianity as a religion, has amounted to the deaths of innocent souls more than anything else. In history, Christians are responsible for a vast number of genocides and they appear top of the table as the highest killers of human souls in the world. Below is just a few statistics on some modern day genocides carried out by Christians;

•Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1992-1995 - 200,000 Deaths

•Rwanda: 1994 - 800,000 Deaths

•Pol Pot in Cambodia: 1975-1979 - 2,000,000 Deaths

•Nazi Holocaust: 1938-1945 - 6,000,000 Deaths

•Rape of Nanking: 1937-1938 - 300,000 Deaths

•Stalin's Forced Famine: 1932-1933 - 7,000,000 Deaths

•Armenians in Turkey: 1915-1918 - 1,500,000 Deaths

     Back to the enemies of Islam who tagged all Muslims as terrorist, I have many facts proving that terrorist in Nigeria are mainly Christians camouflages under the shed of Islam. It's on records, the number of many Christians whom were apprehended during the cause of their attacks with explosives and many weapons, some even arrested while trying to attack churches and yet only Muslims are called terrorist. I again call on boldly Christians to approached me and criticize this write up, by naming just three Muslims terrorist arrested during the curse of their operation in Nigeria since the start of Boko Haram brouhaha.  

Sit up and read how Christians unleashed terror in Nigeria but yet, nobody seems to remember them because they don't belong to the critical party of interest.

* On the 1st Oct. 2010, the independence day
  bombing was the first major bomb attack
  witnessed in Nigeria with MEND claiming
  responsibility. Are MEND fighters Muslims?

* A BBC documentary on the 29th Sept 2011,
  released videos of 28th of August 2011, as
  Birom (Berom) Christians in Plateu State were
  recorded eating human flesh of Muslims they
  had killed and roasted.

* Another on the 26th Feb. 2012, nine
  christians were apprehended when they
  attempted to bomb a COCIN church at Miya
  Barkate, 20 kilometres along Jos-Bauchi
  Highway in Bauchi State including a former
  secretary of PDP in the local government.    
  Are this nine terrorist Muslims?

* Again on the 23th June 2012, four Christians
  were arrested trying to plant a time bomb at
  Waje Friday mosque in Fagge Local Government
  Area of Kano.

* The suspects that sprayed bullets on the
  Gombe Deeper Life Church worshipers of which
  the suspects arrested were Igbos and
  Christian.

* There was also the Gombe township bombing
  which involving two men, named Hassan Ojudu
  and Samaila Yakubu, all of them Christians.

* Another woman Miss Lydia Joseph, a Christian
  prostitute also arrested while trying to
  attack St. John Catholic church in Bauchi.

* Also arrested was a Christian named Emmanuel
  King, who disguised as a Muslim wearing a
  turban and kaftan, attempting to bombed down
  the Redeemed Christian Church of God in
  Yenagoa the Bayelsa state capital.

* There was also the arrest of one Madam Ruth
  trying to bomb down the ECWA church in the
  Kalarin area of Kaltungo in Gombe State who
  is also a Christian.

* On January 11, 2012 two Nigerians named,
  Sunday Eze from Anambra State and Samuel
  Taiwo from Ogun State and some three
  Ghanaians were arrested in Ghana with some
  heavy weaponry carefully concealed in a
  truck, which was to be brought to Nigeria.

* On Tuesday, April 10, 2012 a 38 year old man
  named Monday Davou, a Christian was arrested
  while planting a timed Improvised Explosive
  Device (IED) or time bomb, at the Makera
  weekly market in Riyom Local Government Area,
  Plateau State.

* The DAILY SUN newspaper of Monday, February
  20, 2012 on page 12 reported the arrest in
  Akure, Ondo State of a gang of five armed
  robbers led by one Evangelist Wale Adelu, an
  evangelist of one of the old generation
  churches, which has branches in the state
  capital and they were said to be meeting in
  his church before they proceeded on any
  robbery operation. Wouldn't this evangelist
  and his gang agree to bomb churches for a fee?        
* Similarly, the SATURDAY SUN newspaper of
  Saturday, March 10, 2012 on page 10 reported
  that 11 cartons of explosives imported from
  South Africa and carefully packaged to beat
  security checks were intercepted by the
  Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) at the Murtala
  Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The
  consignments were said to be for Miero Marble
  Granite and Stones Limited in Kaduna State,
  with one Mr. Michael Awara Ernest as the
  representative to collect the explosives at
  the cargo terminal.

* The THISDAY newspaper of Friday, January 13,
  2012 on page 6 culled a news report from the
  BBC in which a British-based arms dealer,
  Gary Hyde was being prosecuted in a London
  court for unlawfully arranging the shipment
  of about 80,000 guns and 32 million rounds
  of ammunition from China to Nigeria in 2007.
  But, the big question is, to whom did he make
  his shipment? To Muslim radicals or to some
  churches going criminals?

* On Sunday, February 19, 2012. Four Christians
  were arrested while trying to detonate
  explosives at the St. Theresa's Catholic
  Parish, High-level in Makurdi the Benue State
  capital.

* A Christian was also arrested while trying to
  drive past the gate of Thisday office with
  loaded explosives in his car at Kaduna.

* On the 29th May 2011, about four Christian
  women were arrested in connection with the
  Mami market bombing of Artillery brigade
  barracks in Bauchi state.

* On the 21st May 2012, a Christian called John
  Akpabu, a suicide bomber who targeted
  ministerial briefing, arrested with 37 rounds
  of live ammunition and 3 hand grenades and
  other explosives at the National Press
  Centre, Radio House in Abuja.

* I prayed for the departed souls of those
  suicide bombers who bombed other churches in
  Nigeria like Madallah, Wusasa, Jos e.t.c to
  rest in pieces as they denied me the
  opportunity of knowing their identity and the
  real picture they represented. May the
  Almighty reward them with his highest
  punishments and a high place in hell.
  
    Are all these people Muslims? Were they sponsored by Muslims to bomb their own churches? Are they not Christians worshiping the same Lord with you? Will it be just when I say all Christians are terrorist? Can this not be a reason to call Christians terrorist? All of this Christians terrorist got there inspirations from the bible.
These are few examples of possible involvements of Christians in betraying the churches, Christians, Christianity and the nation.

If Nigeria Was A Nation- Usama Dandare

   It is the most populous country in Africa, the seventh most populous country in the world and the most populous black country on earth.
The country which is one-third larger than Texas, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Neighboring Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The lower course of it River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Swamps and mangrove forests border the southern coast. There are over 250 ethnic groups and a coastline stretching over 800 miles. This country presents a mixture of traditions, a land of remarkable opportunities and warm, friendly people. A nation of about 160m people mostly Christians, Muslims and traditional animists and have co-existed for years, many times with adherents of these three religions being members of the same family. All groups of people have their languages, histories, and religions all rubbing shoulder to shoulder in this hectic, colourful and often volatile republic. The nation known for its abundant natural resources, a warm and healthy environment, its exotic cuisines, beautiful flowers and adventures. A remarkable nation with great history of men and women, known also for its wonderful beaches and wildlife. A country known for its food production with cash crops and many investment opportunities.
 WELCOME TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.

    Nigeria as a nation, came into existence on the 1st Oct. 1960 having gained independence from the British colonial rule. Since then, it gradually began moving as an independent country experiencing civil war and many crisis, but it identity as one entity continued to be maintained. Nigerians now began ruling their own nation by themselves under the British laws which has ensured Nigeria transformed into what stands today as the giant of Africa, thanks to the labour of our past heros. Nigeria under this period had experienced many forms of leadership transferring from military to Civilian rule and continued going vice visa, until when democracy was well established in 1999. Has Nigeria achieved the desired goals any living nation will wants to achieve? All is now gone.

     "We are no longer what we were, what is happening today is not in our character. The norms and values left by our founding fathers are no longer with us. Today, the institution of family has broken down. Respect for elders and constituted authority which used to be our cardinal principle is now at it lowest aim. Honesty while it does not pay has become meaningless. In short, there is meaningless in philosophy, insecurity in polity, chaos in politics, immorality in society, corruption in economy, frustration in art and lack of creativity in literature. This is not what Nigeria use to be as a whole, ours was a decent country whose leaders respect one another despite their political differences. Ours was a society that was morally sound, it was a society in which all of us were our brothers keepers. It is not the same as today". Yusuf Maitama Sule  

     From one of the richest and most promising 50 countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nigeria is today among the 20 countries in the world with the widest gap between the rich and the poor.
The nation has gradually declined in fortunes for its people to become among the poorest in the world.
As one of the world's top 10 crude oil producers, Nigeria currently fares very poorly in all development indices. Average annual percentage growth of GDP from 1990 -2000 was 2.4.
The Gross National Income, GNI, per capita is less than US $260; under-five mortality rate per 1,000 live births is 153; average maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births is 545; and life expectancy at birth is 48 years for males and 49 years for females.
Even as a signatory to the United Nations Millennium Declaration to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental stability, the Nigerian context and progress remains a real cause for concern. What a tragedy.

        Nigeria as a nation has failed in all aspect of human endeavors. Nigeria being among the top exporters of Crude has failed to give it citizens the services that can improve their lives. The nation's economy is moving without magnitude neither direction. An economy that has Crude but import fuel, an economy that has Gas but lacks power, an economy that has arable land but imports food, an economy that has talented youth but lacks innovations, an economy that has minerals but lacks industries, an economy that has missions but lacks visions, an economy that has aims but lacks objectives, an economy that has human capital but lacks manpower, an economy that has goals but lacks target, an economy that has everything but lacks everything. I weep for my dear Nigeria. Our leaders have successfully hijacked the nation's wealth and transformed it into their personal belongings. Our government investments have been turned into family businesses. The labour of our past heros had already be in vain. Our nation amputated, our hopes crippled and our dreams shattered. What a disaster.

     The amalgamated Nigeria had since been divided with every group trying to dominate and marginalise the other. The nation's dominant tribes have became enemies overnight, the two dominant religions are raging war against each other. Unity no longer exist unless within one ethnicity, ethnic violence had became daily training of killing people. The choices of the electorates has been revised by installing religion into national politics, Thanks to the hypocrisy of the fools of today. Nigeria only exist by name, but the people in it have long separated. The long nurtured brotherly hood by our founding fathers has now been submerged with Hausa being a brother to only Hausa, Igbo a brother to Igbo and Yoruba a brother to only Yoruba. The two regional parts of the country (north and South) exist as undeclared nations. What a barbarism.

     Government which is responsible for protection of the citizenry's life and property have became angel of death, ordering security forces to take away people's lives and destroy their properties all in the name of fighting terrorism. Wherever you are heading to in Nigeria, your loved once's hearts and yours will be on the beat until your arrival with fears of been attack by hoodlums looking for money or government forces. Many unaccountable lives are lost every hour in Nigeria but the poor man's voice has never been had. Nigeria, a nation that can't call the actual figures of it citizens has lost a worrisome number of people in the current security lapses in the country. From Boko Haram in the North to oil bunkering and sea piracy in the Niger Delta, from kidnapping in the East to robbery in the West. There's no safe place for a common Nigerian to feel protected than going back to his village and wait for his killers to call. Life is fast becoming like a waste bin in Nigeria with all angles becoming hot for any bottom to sit on. Our oga at the top is cruising in bullet proof four wheel drives not minding what his electorates are going through. What a calamity.

     Electricity is present in many parts of the country only in structures. Power which brings about development and services for the livelihood of any nation is becoming extinct. A nation blessed with abundant gas, sunlight and hydropower still clueless in providing power to it citizens, making them the highest user of electrical generating sets in the world. Our industries are endangered with less operation due to shortage of power outage and many have become warehouses for smugglers. Nigeria and it failed government officials are looting huge sum of money regularly all in the name of providing power. A nation whom it national power company rely on power generating sets as an alternative source of energy. What a failure.

     Education is giving less or no priority as schools are all left vacant for a poor man's child while those in government have their children schooling in the most expensive schools overseas with modern educational facilities. The talented Nigerian child have left wasting in the hands of the so-called leaders that knows nobody but there sons and daughters. The Nigerian teachers are always struggling up and down to get another job as commercial taxi driving pays more than being a Nigerian tutor. The poor Nigerian youths have turned to criminals at a blink just to raise a token for food and their social demands. Our girls turned prostitutes giving out sex for money just to cater for themselves and their well-being. The unlucky child to be born in Nigeria will surely loose hope for a prosperous future. The high rate of maternal and child mortality is becoming uncontrollable with government not really serious about saving the life of a child. What a pity.

      Our health care has since lost direction resulting into mass death of citizens with no medical care or facilities. Our hospitals will soon be commission as museums to preserve the ancients medical structures and equipments. The life of a common Nigerian who could not afford medical treatment abroad or in any private hospital will always be at risk. With an Infant Mortality Rate at 86/1000, Nigeria is ranked lower than war-ravaged countries like Iraq and Congo DR. Fifty two years after independence, exhibitions of poor development, consistent backdrops, especially at the Primary Healthcare level, with inadequate functional surveillance systems in tandem with the modern era are just a few of several flaws that punctuate fortunes of healthcare in the country today. Corruption has established itself and stand firm on the national health sector. Those at the top will travel to hospitals abroad just for a common headache or a single hit on the toe, all expenses will be covered up by government. What a waste.

      In today's Nigeria, one of the Major Problems of Food Production is Poverty. On the other hand, one of the Simplest and a Doubtless Truth that you can easily Know about Nigeria is the fact that over 75% of Her Rural Dwellers are Full-time Farmers.
A very Great Variety of Delicious Species of Organic Foods, Fruits, Vegetables and Cash-crops abound in the Country. In fact, the Nation is so Highly Blessed, and there are very large Acres of Fertile Agricultural Lands all around the Country. One of the Most Serious of all the Major Problems of Food and Agriculture in Nigeria is Lack of Leadership, Mismanagements, Corruption and Embezzlements of Public Funds which are very common within Nigeria's Government Officials. And as you know, Patriotism; Trust, Honesty; Organization and Careful Management has often Led the Success and Prosperity of Modern Man.
But here in Nigeria, all you can easily see or notice is the Plain Fact the Nation has “ No Leaders ". What a tragedy.

     Our braved men and women have became cowards overnight. Unemployment Rate in Nigeria increased to 23.90 percent in 2011 from 21.10 percent in 2010. Unemployment Rate in Nigeria is reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. Historically, from 2006 until 2011, Nigeria Unemployment Rate averaged 14.6 Percent reaching an all time high of 23.9 Percent in December of 2011 and a record low of 5.3 Percent in December of 2006. In Nigeria, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. There is some evidence to suggest that the lack of economic opportunities for young people has created enough discontent to start wars that tear nations apart. Sierra Leone provides a possible example. Nigerian youths in the diaspora excel in all aspect of life, demonstrating how gifted the poor nigerian youths are. What a loss.

      The all-embracing phenomenon called transportation is a measure of relationship between places. Transportation performs the role of linking supply and demand. As a means of conveying people, goods and information through places, the provision of transport facilities and services is very crucial to the economic, political, social and cultural life of any country or nation. Decaying infrastructure in transportation is one of the deficiencies that Nigeria’s National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) seeks to address. Score of lives are lost every day as a result of inadequacy of our nation's transport system. Nigeria is the only living nation operating without a transport policy or a master plan. What an embarrassment.

    If Nigeria was truly a democratic nation, it will have since revolt against it leadership.

The only credit to Nigerian government is on the wonderful development our Capital Territory Abuja has attained. Which is now among the fastest developing cities in the world. Kudos to the effort of the men of yesterday.

    Nigerian youths have made an alarming signal to the government to get on it toes or faces an uprising to regain their nation's lost values and history. One of the warning signal was the Occupy Nigeria protest, which is a socio-political protest movement that began in Nigeria on Monday, 2 January 2012 in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government of President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday, 1 January 2012. Protests have taken place across the country, including in the cities of Kano, Ojota, Abuja, and at the Nigerian Embassy in London. At least 16 people have been killed in Nigeria, all shot dead by the Nigeria Police Force during the protest. The protests have been characterised by civil disobedience, civil resistance, strike actions, demonstrations and online activism. The use of social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook has been a prominent feature.
As of today, Occupy Nigeria had continued to engage in organized meetings, events and actions. We are never relax to reclaimed our lost glories. What a remarkable experience.

      It still is a mystery how the cost of subsidy shot up to 1.3 trillion naira in just one year of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, especially since ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration spent 300 billion Naira per year. When the Obasanjo government left power in 2007, the country was no longer in debt and the 30 billion dollar foreign debt that Obasanjo met when he came to power in 1999 was fully paid off. Today, under the administration of Jonathan, the country owes debt to the tune of 30 billion dollars and is still borrowing. What baffles me is that in the midst of these, the leadership had mischievously gone ahead to share some huge funds in the name of Excess Crude revenue when it should have stored it up for the coming year Foreign reserves that have been depleted from 80 billion dollars during the Obasanjo administration to 33 billion dollars under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
It was reported that when the Obasanjo administration left power in 2007, 23 billion dollars was left in the Excess Crude Account after he built it up from nothing in 1999; by January 2012 the account was empty because the money has been squandered and the account scrapped. What a transformation.

     What we want is a leader, a true leader with all the qualities of leadership. A true leader who will lead by example, a leader whose leadership will transform the lives of all irrespective of tribes or religions. A leader who lead with philosophies of the herdsmen, the herdsmen who will sacrifice his life, his health and his comfort for his cattle. A political leader that will came into politics to serve but not to be served, to give but not to take. A leader whose philosophies could solve all the problems of Nigeria being political, economic and social. A leader whose leadership values will cut across tribal and religious boundaries. A leader who believed in the vision of responsibility. A leader who stated the problems of his own people and wants to solve those problems. A leader who will united all the tribes in Nigeria. A leadership where all Nigerians will not call their selves by their tribes but Nigerians.

FAREWELL THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

The Cost of Governance: Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency By Nasir El-rufai

   In December last year, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) asked the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to justify the N5.7bn budget for overheads and personnel for its staff of 249 for 2012. Out of the N5.7bn, a total of N4.95bn had been released. Analysis of the PPPRA budget further showed that N2.1bn was earmarked for regular allowances, and had been released and utilized even before the end of the fiscal year. What kind of work is the PPPRA doing to justify paying 249 people nearly N6bn in just one year? Why should government pay each staff an average of a lavish N23m annually?

While it is true that the political leadership makes policies, the bureaucracy and agencies of government are tasked with implementing those policies, and in certain instances, also initiate policies in public interest. Considering the poor level of implementation and recurrent reversals of public policies in the country, it is little surprise that Nigerians have been left with the short end of the stick. Yet while the quality of governance is abysmally low, the running cost of our MDAs remains one of the highest in the world.

Since the beginning of the examination of government by this column, we have focused on specific policy areas. The message, if anything is that save for a handful of exceptional CEO’s not of MDAs, this president, nor his coterie of advisers have done a decent job of formulating sound policies and focused implementation. Indeed, what seems to come across very clearly is that the Yar’Adua-Jonathan administrations have systematically destroyed organizations, systems and processes in order to expedite the unmatched plunder of resources that is going on with impunity. Whatever the truth may be, it would be worth our while to examine some government agencies to see what Nigerians pay for the personnel, policies and processes that have only led to growing poverty, ballooning unemployment, division, hatred and general decay. It is actually a fair question to ask if Nigeria still has a functional government.

Let’s consider the facts. It is a fact that unemployment in Nigeria is at an alarming 29.3%, a figure which has risen steadily since the Jonathan government started administering Nigeria some three years back. With government neglect and non-implementation of policies and budgets, Nigeria’s life expectancy of between 47 and 52 years, shows no signs of improving anytime soon. About 43% of our adult population is illiterate in all languages and do not have access to adult education. The country’s minimum wage is a paltry N18,000 and at nearly N7trn, Nigeria’s debt stock is going out of control. In an economy with all these ills, it is also a fact that a few public servants earn a monthly salary of N1.8m or an annual salary of about N23m that our legislature approved for PPPRA in 2012.

The PPPRA is an offshoot of the Petroleum Products Pricing Committee, which came into existence through the recommendations of the Special Committee on the Review of Petroleum Products Supply and Distribution in 2000. However, it was not until February 2003 that the Bill for its establishment was passed into law and assented to by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in May the same year.

Dr Oluwole Oluleye was the agency’s pioneer Executive Secretary and served for six years (June 2003 – July 2009), Mr Abiodun Ibikunle succeeded him and served from July 2009 to February 2011. Most recent are Engr. Goody Chike Egbuji (February – November), and Mr. Reginald Chika Stanley (November 2011 to date).

Among other functions, its prime responsibilities were to moderate volatility in petroleum products prices, while ensuring reasonable returns to operators; determine the pricing policy of petroleum products; regulate the supply and distribution of petroleum products; establish a data bank through liaison with all relevant agencies to facilitate their making of informed and realistic decisions on pricing policies and establish parameters and codes of conduct for all operators in the downstream petroleum sector.

Nearly a decade since its establishment, would we say long queues have disappeared from our fuel stations? With the very volatile fuel pricing situation, are things not even worse off now? How has the regulatory agency contributed to better pricing of petroleum products for Nigerians? Can it be sadly concluded that the PPPRA Act itself creates as many problems as it solves?

There is some serious limitation regarding the membership structure of the PPPRA. While the Act itself provides for membership of the top operational level of the agency amongst special interest groups like NACCIMA, MAN, NLC, PENGASSAN, Transport owners, Nigerian Media, NIM, NNPC etc. There does not appear to be a direct representation of the proverbial ‘common man’ whose good the regulatory agency should be serving.

Another lacuna is that the Act neither mentions nor addresses the existing powers of the Minister of Petroleum Resources and NNPC to regulate the downstream sector. This is in spite of the fact that the NNPC Act 1977 contains provisions empowering the minister, through the department of Petroleum resources to regulate the sector, including fixing petroleum product prices. Furthermore, the MPR/DPR has sole regulatory authority over technical standards, refining, and logistics in the sector under the NNPC Act. The conclusion therefore is that Nigeria currently has at least two regulatory authorities for petroleum products with responsibilities overlapping.

We may then ask what parameters or codes of conduct has the agency established for downstream operators? None. Except you choose to consider the stunning revelation before a Lagos High court in January last year by Mr Zamani, Assistant General Manager at the PPPRA Lagos zonal office, that the PPPRA only receives photocopies of documents required for processing subsidy claims and the fact that their relationship with marketers is based on ‘trust’. Is it not also under this regulatory body that worse cases of trillion Naira subsidy fraud in 2011 and 2012 have been found? Does this not all point to the ineffectiveness and lack of capacity of the PPPRA?

In 2012, the agency was allocated some N5.7bn which was 9.8% of the Petroleum Ministry’s total allocation of N59bn. Its entire allocation was for recurrent expenditure, with N76m for overheads and N5.7bn for personnel cost. One would notice the same trend in the 2013 budget; the Petroleum Ministry is allocated some N60.8bn and with a budget of N6.2bn, the PPPRA alone took about 10% of the entire sum.

In 2013, the cost of running this agency would increase by some 7% over 2012 figures. 98% of the Agency’s N6.2bn budget would cover personnel costs; plainly put, maintaining the staff of PPPRA in 2013 would cost a hefty N6.1bn representing an increase of 7% over the N5.7bn 2012 provision that the Legislature queried. Overhead expenditure is allocated some N69m and capital expenditure allocated a very pitiable N100m which would be used simply for the purchase of office furniture and fittings.

Is it not evident from these figures that this agency is only concerned with paying and receiving extravagant salaries at the expense of over 112 million Nigerians who live on less than a dollar a day? One would even wonder what good comes of all these Senate committee hearings if they cannot bring about desperately needed change like cutting recurrent costs and raising capital expenditure in MDAs.

The PPPRA as regulator has failed the oil industry and Nigeria woefully. It has become a major participant in all corruption cases plaguing the industry from price fixing based on questionable templates to its involvement and indictment in the trillions of Naira lost to oil subsidy scams.

Incidentally, the Orosanye Committee which was instituted by the Federal Government in August 2011 to amongst other things review previous reports on the restructuring of parastatals and advice on their relevance since observed that the 26-member board of the PPPRA is very unwieldy and should be reduced to a more manageable size of 7. It also observed that with the ultimate enactment of the Petroleum Industry Bill, (presently in the National Assembly) and/or removal of the subsidy on petroleum products, the PPPRA would cease to exist. Considering this, the report recommended that the PPPRA and Petroleum Equalization Fund be merged into a single department in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources; and the bridging process of distribution of petroleum products be fully automated in order to eliminate abuses.

There is certainly a need for a regulator in the downstream sector, but this regulator must bring together the strands of regulatory authority that presently reside in the MPR, DPR, NNPC, PPPRA and create a single new regulatory authority that incorporates the institutional know-how of both the PPPRA and DPR within an empowered and more credible organizational and statutory framework. Can the Petroleum Industry Bill when passed provide that? Only time will tell.

Tributes To The Late defenseless town of Baga by Usama Dandare

  There was once a town in Kukawa Local Government Area in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, close to Lake Chad called Baga.

    Baga is a town in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno lying northeast of the town of Kukawa. The town which is approximately 196km from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. The people of Baga town used to be business people mostly farmers and fishermen. Until the town recent death, There was a market called "Doron Baga" fish market which was located about six kilometres from the town used to lie on the border of Lake Chad and was a fishing center itself in the 1960s and 1970s, but the diminishing size of the lake has caused fishermen to move, and others have turned to subsistence farmers. Baga town which sits on the shores of the Lake Chad and famous for its smoked fish market lay waste at the weekend, caught in the vortex of the latest fighting between the JTF and the Boko Haram sect.

     On a cool evening on Friday the 19th April 2013 in the desert town of Baga, a corpse of a military officer was found laying death whom was killed by unknown gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram Islamic sect. The corpse was later taken away by soldiers of the Nigerian Army. Few hours after the incidence, men of the Nigerian army stormed the whole Village shooting sporadically at every living thing they saw and setting fire on all structures they came across.
The Baga massacre claimed the lives of 185+ people as official figures shows and several others injured, and reportedly over 2,000 houses and business worth millions of Naira were destroyed. There were speculations that Joint Task Force were responsible for the attack while they claimed that the acted on self defence.

     The town came under siege on Friday evening which left in its wake deaths and destruction of a monumental scale. The town was sacked by angry soldiers in retaliation for the killing of just a single soldier, reportedly by suspected members of the sect. But JTF denied the allegation, saying instead that security forces came under attack when soldiers went into a section of the town to conduct an operation and they responded in self defence. The violence was virtually suppressed until Sunday when Governor Kashim Shettima visited the town.

    The world, human right groups, international communities and all agencies concern should note that: There is serious humanitarian crisis going on in Baga, dead bodies are still in the bush and there is apparent shortage of food for survivors. There is no medication for the injured and no effective plan to resettle the displaced. It was like the end of the world for the occupants of Baga town. It was fire everywhere as houses were set ablaze and survivors saw soldiers setting houses ablaze and shooting everyone they saw. Many escaped by the whiskers but many were not all that lucky, especially women and children who ran into the bush with gunshot injuries. Many died because of excessive bleeding. The elderly and little children who could not flee died in their thatched huts that were engulfed by ravaging flames.

     Baga which is also famous in food and vegetable production as over 90 percent of the people engaged in all year round farming and fishing, all is now gone. They have joined the comity of the disenfranchised. There wealth is gone, the people massacred and there merchandise burnt. In fact, they have little hope for a prosperous future again. And indeed, they have paid the price of what is unknown to them with there blood, wealth and personal effects, even animals were not spared by ravaging flames that burnt virtually everything in the town.
I really have a rethink over what the military said. Even if what the military said is true, is that enough reason for the soldiers to throw away the baby with the bath water? I mean, is that enough reason for the JTF to kill the villagers because they wanted to snip out the Boko assailants?

     Holocaust is taking place right here in Borno State and the Federal Government is not perturbed. If nothing urgent is done in the next couple of month, there would be nobody in Borno State except soldiers and Boko Haram fighters. Already, the northern part of the state have been completely subdued.
Unless something urgent is done in Baga, there is the likelihood of outbreak of diseases as a result of decomposing bodies of humans and animals in the bushes. There is also a haphazard nature of rescue initiative, absence of camps and sanitation facilities for the displaced.
Baga which had all along escaped violence in Borno State, have now become part of an inglorious history of the ongoing fight between security forces and the Boko Haram insurgents that have claimed the lives of thousands of people in the last four years.

     The United States's acting deputy State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell on Monday 22 April condemned the clash between members of the JTF and militants in Baga urging authorities to respect human rights. Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan also through his special adviser on media and publicity, Reuben Abati has ordered a full scale investigation into the civilian casualties in the war between Boko Haram and Nigeria’s soldiers at the weekend in Baga. Hundreds of Thousands of people have died in fighting in Nigeria since the beginning of Boko Haram that began in northern region in 2009 before the killing of their leader Muh'd Yusuf in Maiduguri of Borno State.

     Unless the Nigerian government tackles the rising issues of unemployment among its teeming youths, poverty among the populace and corruption within the government, then the country's security challenges can be brought back to normal. The Nigerian electorates are suffering in all aspect of life as a result of weak leadership and the high level of corruption in the government which is increasingly inflating at every move by the clock. Nigeria's leaders have failed in every sector of the economy, putting the lives of it's citizenry at risk. Nigeria as a nation, has demonstrated to the globe that it is a failed state.  

Pastor Oritsejafor Is President Jonathan's Undercover Spokesman By Usama Dandare

   Would it not have been much better if the Lord Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion and savior of humanity had been born a Nigerian rather than a Jew? ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”, Jesus admonished his followers, “and everything will be added unto you”. But if Jesus was a Nigerian, he would have the street wisdom to enable his adherents enjoy to the fullest both the kingdom of this world and the blessings of the world to come – a win –win situation for all. If Christ was a Nigerian, he would have said something like this: “Seek ye first the kingdom of private jets, palatial mansions, exotic four wheel drives, lucrative oil blocs, multi-billion private university enterprises, companionship of the high and mighty of this world and every other thing will be added unto you both in this world and that which is to come”. A Nigerian Christ would have found a workable compromise between the Kingdom of darkness and that of light. He would have urged us all to give unto Caesar what is God’s and give unto God what is Caesar’s and there would have been eternal peace between good and evil world without end, Amen. Can you imagine John the Baptist being foolish enough to have his head cut off for speaking truth to power if he was a Nigerian? No, he would have blessed the unholy matrimony between Herod and his brother’s wife, invoked divine blessings on them and gone on to spend the rest of his days in splendor and prosperity while fulfilling his God ordained mission on earth.

     What came double crossing my mind was the interest Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor and President Gudluck Jonathan shared in common and the common opinion they both are trying to protect. Mostly on all issues concerning this nation, what Mr Jonathan said will be that of Pastor Oritsejafor especially on the amnesty offer to Boko Haram insurgents, which will be totally incomparable with the words of Bishop Hassan Kukah who is truly a man of God. Are Pastor Oritsejafor and Bishop Kukah not protecting the kingdom of the same God? If they do, then Pastor Oritsejafor must be a politician not a true man of Christ. Pastor Oritsejafor simply does not know what he is talking about and doesn't care to know as long as it goes head to head with that of Mr Jonathan not with a fear of whoever might feel upset since his oga at the top is still in control.

      Prior to his election as the President of Nigerian Christian body in july 2010, Pastor Oritsejafor was truly a man of integrity and wisdom. He founded the word of life Bible church in Delta state, he used to be a courageous servant of Jesus Christ and a man of God. But unfortunately,he dived into national politics for some selfish desires deriving him a huge lost of respect and personality. Turning him more of a politician than a leader in God's ministry. Since his appointment as CAN president, Nigerian Christian association began facing backwardness and rising problematic issues as a result of weak leadership which lead to the Catholic Churches pulling out from CAN for lack of trust and justice under his leadership.

     On issues regarding this nation, with the JTF and Boko Haram insurgents at gun point across mostly all northern states in the federation, lives of the citizenry mostly in northern region are not guaranteed and the protection of their properties are at stake. With all this and more, the northern elders on their part searching for peace to reign in the north proposed an amnesty to be offered for Boko Haram fighters thinking it may end the bloodshed across the region, seeing as it was done to Niger Delta militants under Late president Umar Yer'adua amnesty program and the result it yielded. First, the Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III solicited the Federal Government's support toward achieving this desire. An hour after his request, Pastor Oritsejafor strongly aired his views opposing the amnesty program saying those asking for it are behind the masks of Boko Haram and all the atrocities they committed emphasizing the use of force in curtailing the situation. Pastor Oritsejafor further stressed that those seeking amnesty are those having hands in the insurgency saying that if amnesty is giving, they may go unpunished. That Boko Haram are ghosts with no definite identity, those asking for amnesty are airing the views of Boko Haram which shows they knew them and they live together sharing common ideas. What Pastor Oritsejafor failed to point out here was the solution in ending the insurgency taking the lives of both Muslims and Christians on daily basis but stand on the use of military forces which is been used for years without yielding any good results as of today. This shows how Pastor Oritsejafor lack any sense of conflict resolution but went on opposing those with atleast a little idea on how crisis can be resolved.

      I remembered On the 8th of March 2013. President Jonathan visited the most affected states of Yobe and Borno for the first time under his rule since the beginning of Boko Haram crisis many years back. The two states where under an intense tied security condition with soldiers and military armored trucks in virtually all corners in the states. A security condition that is expected to be in any peace troubled environment but this time, is just for the purpose of Mr President's visit after which the whole states will be left unprotected by this armed personnels who were deployed just to safeguard the President. The two states were under a 24hours curfew starting before Mr President's arrival and end on his departure. I wonder is Mr Jonathan going to Borno and Yobe to see the people affected by this crisis or he is going to an empty state and ascertain the damages they suffered and the properties lost? Many criticized Mr president for lack of pity toward the people of Borno and Yobe states imprisoning them indoors denying them the opportunity to go about their normal activities since his visit is not gonna add any relief to their sufferings. President Jonathan holds a town hall meeting with elders in the states who pleaded his government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram fighters for peace to reign in the region. What came to my greatest surprise was how Mr President responded to their demand saying his government will not grant amnesty to ghosts, if they want amnesty they should fished out those behind collapse of peace and show their faces. Meaning they should expose the fighters since they knew them. Mr Jonathan perfectly repeated the words of Pastor Oritsejafor as if his speech was mistakenly replaced with Oritsejafor's own. I said is Mr Jonathan's speech written by Pastor Oritsejafor? Or they both shared common opinion?  
     As the pressure to grant amnesty to Boko Haram fighters mounted on Mr Jonathan's shoulder increases, with calls from all sections of peace loving Nigerians, many Nigerians Pastors and the international communities. Mr President purportedly agreed and call on the fighters to embrace the amnesty offer after setting up committee to mediate into the amnesty program. As mostly all Nigerians welcomed the progress with jubilation, Pastor Oritsejafor is still calling on the Federal Government to denounce it intention of granting amnesty to this fighters and saying it's evil to forgive them. What signals Mr Oritsejafor's victory on amnesty collapse, was the gun battle JTF are engaging Boko Haram fighters day and night without any restricting order from the government directing th JTF to stop fire even after the fighters has said they are ready to ceasefire and accept peace. A typical scenario was the atrocity committed by government forces in Baga (a bordering town in Borno State) two days ago, where JTF killed almost every living thing and burnt down all the standing structure in the town. Official figures shows more than 185 civilians are killed and properties worth millions are destroyed. Is this the type of dialogue Nigerians government are engaging the Boko Haram fighters in? Or is Pastor Oritsejafor's opposition to amnesty is President Jonathan's unexpressed desire?  
    
     Only recently, Pastor Oritsejafor justly celebrated his 40th year on the pulpit. President Goodluck Jonathan personally graced the occasion – an indication of Pastor Oritsejafor’s standing in the kingdom of this world. President Jonathan on that occasion considered it noteworthy that Oritsejafor was President both of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). I really do not think this is to Pastor Oritsejafor’s credit. Why should any individual want to cling to the two very influential positions? Does this not smack of some mini megalomania of sorts? But the highlight of Pastor Oritsejafor’s 40th anniversary as a preacher, was the gift presented to him by his congregation of Canadian-made Bombadier jet manufactured in 1994 and costing $3.5 million. When the announcement of the gift was made, the entire congregation reportedly erupted in joy, congratulating and backslapping each other on the good fortune of their pastor and, most assuredly, praying it would one day be their turn to be living testimonies to God’s miraculous blessings. I do not see anywhere in the world where any worshipping community can claim that they’ve been able to raise over 7 billion Naira to buy such a gift for their pastor.

     I am not surprised that it is another great Catholic priest and intellectual, Dr. Monsignor Mathew Hassan Kukah, who has had the courage and honesty to speak up against the very obscene, purported gift of a private jet to Pastor Oritsejafor by members of his congregation. According to Father Kukah, "But most importantly for me is that, amidst the squalor and poverty that we face in Nigeria, these are not the kind of model display that we should be to our people”. It is difficult to fault the cleric’s logic. And on the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Father Kukah is even more trenchant and biting. In his words “CAN has become more visible in relation to national prayer sessions, pilgrimages, alliances with state power and so on. Unless we distance ourselves, we cannot speak the truth to power. We cannot hear the wails of the poor and the weak. We should not be seen as playing the praying wing of the party in power”. Surely, I cannot put it better. But is Pastor Oritsejafor listening?

      This shows how great men of God should live their life, distance their selves from those in power unless if they are not ready to tell them the truth. Pastor Oritsejafor has successfully thrown out the jacket of respect the whole society presented to him when he was born into this world. And embraced the gift of a jet by greedy politicians only at his 40th anniversary as a preacher, when he quite knows that the money used for the purchase of that Jet are stolen wealth from his nation's national wealth. Pastor Oritsejafor should as a matter of urgency, reunite with his Christian fellows and show them the true way of salvation. Mr Oritsejafor have to decide which way to follow between the path of the everlasting God or that of jet donors who will never spend the 6 next years in power.

PASTOR ORITSEJAFOR'S OPPOSITION TO AMNESTY FOR BOKO HARAM IS JONATHAN'S "UNEXPRESSED DESIRE"-CPC

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has accused the Presidency of playing politics with national security and the Boko Haram sect with an eye on the 2015 general election.



The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, accused the Presidency of deliberately playing up security fears with a view “to using unconscionable schemes to delude, confuse and over-awe the citizenry ahead of the next general election in 2015.



“The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) is aware that the pre-eminent desire of Nigerians under this nation-space is security, which, under this PDP-led regime, has been an elusive phenomenon. This is sadly so because the Jonathan-led regime prefers political profiting from the menace of insecurity to obliterating the scourge from the nation’s landscape,” the statement said.







The CPC accused the Presidency of double-speaks on the amnesty for the Boko Haram, explaining that Pastor Oristejafor‘s opposition to dialogue with the sect might indicate the real position of the president.



“As the president’s confidant, was he projecting the president’s unexpressed desire? This double-faced posturing by the Federal Government is, undoubtedly, a show of its insincerity, which has quite rightly alienated some of the members of the proposed amnesty committee,” the party said.



The release further accused the present administration of patronising ex-militants at the expense of the police, adding that “this government’s action is being intensified in other regions of the country, ahead of the regime’s preparation for another election in 2015. The regime’s propagandist machine has caused the Boko Haram phenomenon to defy reasonable logic. In February 2013, a French family of seven persons was held hostage by terrorists in Cameroon. The Boko Haram sect was reported to be responsible.



They were allegedly brought to Nigeria by the Boko Haram sect. The hostages were freed last week in Cameroon and released to the French government. Was it the ‘ghostly’ Boko Haram that negotiated the hostages’ release with the French?”



“Was any insurgent (in captivity in Nigeria) released in exchange for the hostages? How did the Boko Haram sect cross (at will) Nigeria’s borders with all the hostages, without the knowledge of Nigerian security apparatus? Shall we assume that the Boko Haram sect has spread its operational base to Cameroon?” the party asked.



“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Nigerian people in ensuring the noble ideals of the rule of law reign in our land. We shall continue to campaign against the vestiges of impunity and all forms of corruption and corrupt tendencies that are prevalent in this PDP-led administration,” the statement said.

2015: Many rivers to cross (1)

“If you are the big tree, we are the small ants, ready to cut you down.” Bob Marley song.

The elections in 2015 promise to be different in many ways. If the current widespread state of insecurity extends into the preparations, campaigns and the conduct of the elections, they could very well be conducted under a substantially-militarized atmosphere in many parts of the nation. In parts of the country which the insurgency appears bent on “liberating”, they may not take place at all. In that context, they will go down in history as the only elections which have been conducted in a state of war. If circumstances make it impossible to conduct the elections in many parts of the country, the President may invoke constitutional powers he shares with the legislature, to postpone them. They may also be the only elections since 2003 in which a ruling party will face genuine threat of being defeated. It will resist this of course, and the opposition which has smelt the possibility of success will fight, literary, to the finish.

It is obvious that the PDP is taking the threat from the merger seriously. You will not know this from what its leaders say, but from what they do. The signs that it is re-strategizing for a bruising contest are all there to see. The high profile role of its BOT chairman, Chief Tony Anenih is evidence that it is rolling out its big guns. The party chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur appears to have lost out to the intrigues within the party, the awesome powers of its governors, and the widespread doubts that he and President Jonathan at the head of a campaign for 2015 can win anything.

The man who calls the shots, Chief Anenih, now appears to have re-designed strategies for re-engineering the party. His attempt to win back difficult and ambitious PDP governors to join the train appears to have sank Bamanga’s boat, and created the impression that the party has a role for them. How this plays out in the next few months is not clear, but the party will buy a little time with President Jonathan’s claim that he has not made up his mind to run in 2015.

Further forays are being made by Chief Anenih’s strategy to paper over massive cracks. His visit to President Obasanjo has been duly noted as a knees-on-the-ground appeal to him to sheath his sword against a Jonathan candidacy. Chief Anenih and president Obasanjo know each other very well. Between these two gladiators, there are very few tricks in the book they did not pull together, or separately in the past. If Obasanjo takes the bait and agrees that he is better off on board than rocking the PDP boat, he will still have to consider his value in a southwest PDP where the waters have receded too far from him, in a party which has respect for you only if you have a letter from home. His ace in influencing some northern governors to challenge a Jonathan presidency may have to be surrendered in exchange for an uncertain future, to a few people who are still wary of him.

There will be other moves the party will make in the next few months to attempt to control damage and head off the threat of a promising merger. It will try to contain the seeming belligerence of the River State governor, or scare him into silence or acquiescence. It will have to find a way around the ambitions of a number of northern governors as well as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who believe that the next PDP candidate must come from the North, or the party will commit suicide.

It will have to address widespread worries over the poor record of President Jonathan in office, and convince many genuine members that he can be trusted with another mandate in 2015. But its biggest challenge will be convincing President Jonathan not to run again in 2015, if he wants to. It will take superhuman courage, which is not particularly evident in the PDP at this stage, to tell President Jonathan that he will tear the party apart if he choses to run in 2015. The leaders may be able to alert him to the possibility that he will be fiercely challenged in the build up to the primaries, and how it is safer not to assume that he will be unchallenged. Some may find a way to tell him that his candidature will substantially play into the hands of the opposition which is, right now, praying fervently that the PDP does field him. A few ambitious and wealthy members may avoid the arrows fired at their ambitions to cripple his candidacy and his campaign, and may trigger massive defections and elaborate “anti-party” to get him defeated. Those close to him who will worry over the outcome of the elections may hint that it will quite possibly be the most divisive elections organized, and the nation may be pushed nearer the abyss if a bitterly-contested election compounds its existing insecurity.

If, for the sake of argument, President Jonathan says he will not run in 2015, a whole new set of scenarios will unfold. Would the south-south PDP insist on another term under another candidate? If its militants and other fire-spitting beneficiaries of the administration of President Jonathan think he did not jump, but was pushed, will they resume large scale, armed hostility against the Nigerian State, with the nation’s assets in oil and gas as hostages? If the party fields a northerner as its candidate, who is it likely to be? Atiku is stupendously wealthy and has an unyielding ambition. But he has many enemies who would rather live under any other President than him. There are also many ambitious governors who will give him a run for his money. They will get a hefty push from people like Obasanjo and quite possibly Anenih, but they will run a campaign against opposition candidates who will enjoy popularity that will, in part, be the product of the failures of the PDP.

All in all, the PDP has some major challenges ahead of it. The confidence of the emerging opposition is partly derived from the current weakness and limitations of the PDP, and in part from its assessment of its own strength. It will be foolhardy for the opposition to think replacing the PDP as ruling party will be easy, however. This is a party that has all the cards stacked in its favour, in spite of its current limitations. It has resources and control over vital institutions of the state which are part of the electoral process. Life without power will expose too many people to threats and dangers of losing privileges, and huge sources of wealth and influence. A different leadership may ask too many awkward questions; reopen or open new investigations into the management of the nation’s economy; or assume tougher stands against criminality and routine subversion of the judiciary and law and order institutions.

The possibility that it could lose power in 2015 may likely be the strongest motivation for the PDP to put its house in order, and prepare to defeat a potentially-damaging opposition. Many people think the PDP has already lost the 2015 elections. Their optimism may not be without foundations, but it will be wrong to assume that the PDP will surrender its entire fortunes and future to an electoral process to decide. The period between now and 2015 will test the resilience of the PDP, the strength of the opposition, the integrity of the electoral process, and the nation's capacity to survive more challenging crises.

2015: Presidency, PDP may move against ‘marked’governors Posted by NigeriaIntel.com on April 20, 2013.

As the battle for 2015 Presidency becomes more intriguing within the forces in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Presidency and the national leadership of the party, which include the leadership of the Board of Trustees (BoT), have concluded plans to deal with the party governors opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term.

A source in the party who was privy to a meeting held in Abuja early last week, told The Guardian yesterday that it was agreed at the meeting that the best bet for the President Goodluck Jonathan to secure his second term ticket and subsequently win the 2015 presidential election is to start in time to move against such governors.

According to the source, it was agreed at the meeting that no stone should be left unturned in the plot which would involve anti-graft agencies and the judiciary.

It was disclosed that despite what looked like fence-mending in the party in the last few weeks, the security report and findings from the recent peace tours by (BoT) leadership showed that the opposing governors, mostly from the North, are already hobnobbing with the merging opposition party All Progressives Congress (APC) by proxy.

“What happened in Rivers State with the recent court’s sack of the state executive of the party loyal to Governor Chibuike Amaechi and their replacement with a group loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, was hatched by the Presidency and the national leadership of party.

“It might soon be extended to other “marked” governors such as the Niger State Governor, Muazu Babangida Aliyu; his Sokoto counterpart, Aliyu Wamakko; Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Saidu Dakingari; Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwakwanso.

“Those still on the watch list of the Presidency and the party leadership to ascertain where their loyalty lies include Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Sulivan Chime of Enugu State, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe State.

“Those whose loyalty appeared to have been confirmed at least for now in the North are Gabriel Suswan of Benue State, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State and his Bauchi State counterpart Isah Yuguda, both of whom are already jostling for the vice president slot in 2015. Others in the South are Theodore Orji of Abia State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson.

“ As a sign of what lies ahead for opposing governors, the man who was instrumental in the originating summon which the court relied upon to sack the party executive in Rivers state loyal to Ameachi is the Edo State chairman of the party, Mr. Dan Orbi, who is also Chief Tony Anenih’s points man. It was Orbih, who, in his affidavit, said that the results paraded by the sacked state exco chairman, Godspower Akeh, did not emanate from the congress that he had conducted in the state more than a year ago.”

The source further disclosed that the dilly-dallying of the Presidency on the crisis rocking the party in Adamawa State between groups loyal to the party national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and Governor Murtala Nyako with Tukur gaining the upper is a clear sign that Nyako may have lost out.

On the fate of Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido and his alleged presidential ambition, the source said the Presidency is still watching him although his son has a pending case of money-laundering with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Speaking on the development, a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party told The Guardian yesterday that it appeared Tukur has gained upper hand against the governors in the fight with the backing of the Presidency.

On the plans to deal with the opposing governors, the NWC member said it was never discussed in their meetings, but expressed surprise with the sack of the Rivers State exco of the party loyal to Amaechi and the subsequent swearing-in of the faction loyal to Wike.

“We never envisaged it, but there is nothing we can do about it because we are ordinary members. Certain decisions on the party are taken at the Presidency and might not be communicated. It appeared the development was a warning to other opposing governors ahead of the party NEC meeting to be cautious of their opposition to the Presidency and national leadership of the party ahead 2015,” the member stressed.

A member of the BoT who was on the entourage that visited Amaechi before the sack of the state exco of the party expressed worry that the development might mar the effort already made in resolving the crisis rocking the party.

An aide to one of the “marked” governors in the North told The Guardian that they are aware of the plot to use some people from the state, including senators to level false allegations of corruption against his boss and subsequently unleash anti-graft agencies on some state government officials to distract the governor.

“We are not surprised but they will definitely fail in the plot because my boss has nothing to hide and has always been on the part of the truth and good governance,” the aide said.

Meanwhile, the party has yesterday in Abuja announced that it had concluded arrangements to ratify the amendments it effected on its constitution last year.

To this effect, the party said the National Executive Committee (NEC) would soon meet to carry out the ratification of the amended constitution.

In a statement issued by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, after a meeting of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), it was also disclosed that “one of the items to be presented at the impending NEC meeting would be the issue of setting up standing and ad-hoc committees in the party.”

According to Metuh’s statement, the approval of NEC would “assist in widening the scope of

participation by party stakeholders in the mobilization and sensitization efforts and help the national leadership in driving the vision and manifesto of the party to ensure the success of the Transformation Agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP

administration.”

“A major issue in the amendments to the party constitution as carried out during its March, 2012 national convention is the additional power given to President Goodluck Jonathan to nominate members of the enlarged national caucus of the party.

“The revised constitution of the party empowered Jonathan to singularly nominate six governors one from every geo-political zone as members of the party’s national caucus.

The amendment has also included all members of the party’s NWC in the national caucus.

The amendment also took care of the issue of waiver for returning or new members of the party.

“ Section 8(8) spelt out the procedure to be adopted for applying for a waiver while a new Section 50(10) provides the level of authority for decision making on the applications for waivers. Section 50(11) provides appellate procedures for aggrieved parties at the various levels.

According to the report, “The office of the PDP deputy national chairman, whose functions have not been properly spelt out, has now been given a clear-cut role as Section 35(2) and (4) provide that “there shall be a deputy national chairman who shall come either from the northern or the southern part of the country, depending on the part of the country the national chairman hails from.

The Guardian
http://www.nigeriaintel.com/2013/04/20/2015-presidency-pdp-may-move-against-markedgovernors/

The Life, Legacy Of A Great Hero and a legend, Muhammadu Moyijo(1st Sarkin Kabin Yabo) By Usama Dandare

   Once there lived a braved man, a hero and a great legend in a hilly town of Yabo on Latitude: 12° 46' 13" N. Longitude: 5° 06' 00" E in the North Western part of Nigeria. His name is Muhammadu Moyijo, the founder of Yabo kingdom.  

   The first to received a flag from Shehu Usman Danfodiyo symbolizing his permission and blessing to commence Jihad activities in their localities was Muhammadu Moyijo, a Fulani scholar from the Wolarbe clan.
Muhammadu Moyijo was born in Shema where he grew up and received his early education from his father so also his brothers that actively participated with him in the Jihad. Muhammadu Moyijo was one of the chieftains of Kabi kingdom with the title of Magajin Sangaldi based at Gotomo. Before the commencement of the Jihad, Moyijo was an ardent admirer and supporter of Shehu Usman Danfodiyo having met the letter during his sojourn in Kabi on his itinerant teaching and preaching tours in the 1780's. From then on, Moyijo developed a bond of friendship with the Shehu Danfodiyo.

     While under the suzerainty of Kabi, Moyijo was responsible for the Fulani residing in the kingdom, but soon a strained relationship was developed with the authorities in Birnin Kabi, the capital of Kabi kingdom. This relationship was said to have been occasioned by some constitutional issues, which saw to the emergence of Muhammadu Hodi as the new Sarkin Kabi. The strained relationship forced Muhammadu Moyijo to abandoned his base at Gotomo to a mere secured area. The choice was undoubtedly Yabo, a town established by the Wolarbe but which was later abandoned due to incessant skirmishes with their Sensible cousins.

     While the relationship between Moyijo and the Kabi authorities was going from bad to worst, in the neighboring Gobir the relationship between the Gobir authorities and Shehu Danfodiyo was heading to a crisis. The Gobir authorities under Sarkin Gobir Yunfa had unleashed a reign terror against Shehu Danfodiyo and his sopporters; attacking shehu's supporters at Gimbana killing and enslaving some of them. Shehu Danfodiyo had to effect a Hijra(migration) to Gudu town in 1804. With the Shehu's Hijra, the Gobir authorities stepped up military expeditions against him. The Shehu was appointed Amir Al-Muminin by his supporters and Jihad was declared.

     With this development, Muhammadu Moyijo who had already renounced his allegiance to the authorities of Birnin Kabi visited Gudu together with his brothers Ajiwa, Yamusa, Abubakar Ruwa and Dudu and paid his allegiance to Shehu Usman Danfodiyo and pledged hus support for the Jihad cause.

    The strength and mobilization of Moyijo to the call by Shehu for Jihad was very elaborated. He went to pay homage and declared his loyalty to Shehu with more than one hundred horses and hundred of cavalry. This raised fear among some members of the Shehu's clan after Moyijo left, they went and expressed their reservation to the Shehu on whether the loyalty of Moyijo could be trusted in view of his strength and resources. Shehu decided to test the loyalty of Moyijo in order to ally their fear. He sent a messenger to call Moyijo back, but the message should be delivered to him after he reached the fringes of Yabo town.

     The message was delivered when Moyijo was about to enter Yabo town. They immediately directed that they should go home and rest for some days considering the journey from Gudu to Yabo, but Moyijo said no. Moyijo with three of his brothers namely Abubakar Ruwa, Yamusa and Dudu returned to answer the call of Shehu. On reaching Gudu, Shehu praised them, thank them, prayed for them and issued the first flag of the Jihad to Muhammadu Moyijo and confer on him the title of Sarkin Kabi. Moyijo was the first recipient of the flag to carry on with Jihad. All other flags bearers were given after Moyijo of Yabo kingdom. Moyijo was blessed with a flag permitted to start Jihad activities against Kabi. When Moyijo returned to Yabo, he secured his new base at Yabo by conquering surrounding towns and villages before launching a major military campaign against the eastern part of Kabi kingdom. During this campaign, Moyijo conquered the following towns and their satellite villages; Fakka, Birnin Asuma, Shimfri, Muza, Gudale, Dankal, Bayawa, Yakurutu and Dafashi. With this conquest, Moyijo established a strong base for the Jihad movement in the Yabo area.

    After the battle of Tabkin Kwatto and with the food situation in Gudu so precariuos, it was to Muhammadu Moyijo that Shehu Danfodiyo sent for assistance. The whole community left for Magabci in the leeway of Yabo where they were hosted by Moyijo for about two months. It was in Magabci that Shehu Danfodiyo wrote to all the kings in Hausa land (sarakunan Hausa) urging them to support the Jihad. All but Sarkin Zazzau Isiyaku Jatau (Amir of Zaria) received the appeal. The whole of Hausa land was thereafter enveloped in the Jihad with flag bearers championing the Jihad in their areas.

      Muhammadu Moyijo area of activities was in the Kabi kingdom. Having established his position in the Yabo area, He personally led several campaigns against the Kabi forces until finally a capital was established for Shehu Danfodiyo at Gwandu and Birnin Kabi, the capital of Kabi overruned in 1805. Muhammadu Bello recorded in his book Imfagal Maysur some of the major military campaigns commanded by Muhammadu Moyijo. These include the battle of Augi, the conquest of Yawuri, Bussa and Jantullu. He was also responsible for subduing Bena. This was in addition to his participation in other major military campaigns like the battle of Alwasa, the conquest of Alkalawa and much later after the death of Shehu Danfodiyo especially the battle of Kalambaina. Muhammadu Moyijo was listed among the flag bearers as well as military commanders of the Chaliphate under Shehu Usman Danfodiyo by Waziri Gidado in his book title Raud Jinan.

      With the triumph of the Jihad forces. Muhammadu Moyijo was confirmed in his position in Yabo with the title of Sarkin Kabi similar to title bore by kings in Kabi kingdom (now kebbi state). He died in 1818 and was succeeded by his son Muhammadu Yalli. He and later his descendants have remain active in running the affairs of the caliphate by constituting the outer council of the Caliphal authority called upon during period of crisis or on the occasion of appointing a new caliph(new Sultan). Among the descendants of this great hero Muhammadu Mayijo, is the author of this article Usama Adamu Dandare.

MEND threatens anti- Islam attack.

MEND threatens anti-
Islam attack.


MEND, operating from
Nigeria’s south, says it
will attack Muslims to
protect Christians in
Nigeria.


Starting May 31, Nigeria’s
oil militant group,
Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it will target mosques and Islamic institutions, in a new terror campaign, “in
defence of Christianity.”
Operating from oil rich
Niger Delta creeks, MEND is
Nigeria’s foremost
collection of terror gangs
united by a struggle to
control the region’s oil
wealth, and criminality.
The group issued its
newest threat just a week
after it claimed
responsibility for the
killing of 12 police officers
in the southern Bayelsa
state.
“The bombings of
mosques, haj camps,
Islamic institutions, large
congregations in Islamic
events and assassinations
of clerics that propagate
doctrines of hate will form
the core mission of this
crusade,” MEND
spokesman Jomo Gbomo
said in an e-mailed
statement on Sunday.
The campaign is
codenamed “Operation
Barbarossa,” Mr Gbomo,
thought to be pseudonym,
said.
MEND says Barbarossa will
not in any way interfere
with the ongoing
“Hurricane Exodus” –
which killed the police
officers and “on Saturday,
April 13, 2013, at about
01:00 Hrs, swept through
the Ewellesuo community,
Nembe, Bayelsa State,
leaving the destruction of
Well 62, belonging to Shell
Petroleum in its wake.”
Precious Okolobo, a Lagos-
based spokesman for
Shell’s Nigerian unit, told
Bloomberg he couldn’t
confirm the Saturday
attack Well 62.
MEND announced early
this month it resumed
attacks in Nigeria after
Henry Okah, its leader, was
sentenced last month to
24 years in prison in South
Africa. Mr. Okar was found
guilty of 13 counts of
terrorism, including a
bombing claimed by MEND
in which 12 people died in
Abuja on Oct. 1, 2010.
Ceasefire
MEND agrees with Boko
Haram’s attacks targeted
at Nigerian security agents
– “including the prisons,
for their role in
extrajudicial killings,
torture, deceit and
corruption” – but said
Boko Haram’s attacks on
Christians are not
acceptable.
MEND says it will consider
abandoning the operation
if the Christian Association
of Nigeria (CAN), the
Catholic Church and Henry
Okah, “one of the few
leaders in the Niger Delta
region we respect for his
integrity”, intervenes.
“Also the assurance for a
cessation of hostilities
targeted at Christians in
their places of worship,
made privately or publicly
by the real Boko Haram
leadership will make us
call off this crusade,” Mr.
Gbomo added.
While MEND operates as
the major terror gang in
Nigeria’s south – especially
oil rich Niger Delta areas,
including Lagos – Boko
Haram operates largely in
NIgeria’s north, targeting
security agencies,
Christians, opposition
Islamic clerics, foreigners
and other perceived
enemies.
Both groups are Nigeria’s
largest terror gangs. While
MEND – triggered by fight
for economic justice –
partially accepted amnesty
in 2009, the government
is currently persuading
Boko Haram – a terror
gang whose self-professed
motive is the islamization
of northern Nigeria, to do
same. -CULLED FROM PREMIUM TIMES

Buhari Is Boko Haram’s Major Sponsor – Presidency

E*X*P*O*S*E*D!
Buhari Is Boko Haram’s Major Sponsor – Presidency.

**Buhari earlier said that he would make the country ungovernable if the 2011 presidential election did not favour him.
**during the campaign, he said that if he lost, people should go for blood.
**if there were those to be blamed for the insecurity in the country, the name of Buhari should top the list.
**He doesn’t have any other interest in Nigeria but his ambition to rule.

The Presidency has described former Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), as the major sponsor of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram and a leading protagonist of violence.
It said that apart from his ambition to rule the country again, Buhari had refused to contribute meaningfully to actions capable of ending insecurity in the country. Buhari, a National Leader of the CPC, had, on the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday, said that the Federal Government should be blamed for the lingering security challenges in the country. According to Punch Newspaper, Buhari also flayed the Goodluck Jonathan administration for what he called “poor handling of insurgency” that had led to the death of many Nigerians and destruction of properties. While reacting to this, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said it was unfortunate that such a statement could emanate from Buhari. Describing Buhari as a man he respects so much, Okupe added that he had no option but to reply to his accusations against the Federal Government and the President.

He reminded Nigerians that Buhari had previously been credited with a statement that he would make the country ungovernable if the last presidential election did not favour him. Okupe said, “Everybody in this country knows that it was Buhari who vowed that if he did not win the election, he would make the country ungovernable for this President Goodluck Jonathan. It was this same Buhari who said during the electioneering period that if the votes were counted and he lost, people should go for blood. He is not in any position to apportion blame on the issue of violence in the North or in Nigeria in general. He is a protagonist of violence. The only solution he sees to his not being President is to call for violence. This government has tried to contain some of the repercussions of the unguarded statements made by Buhari and I don’t think anybody in Nigeria will take him seriously on this allegation.”
The presidential aide added that if there were those to be blamed for the insecurity in the country, the name of Buhari should top the list. Okupe wondered why the Katsina State-born general had refused to visit states like Borno and Yobe despite the fact that he hails from the northern part of the country.

He said, “As a former Head of State, have you ever seen him (Buhari) visiting Borno or Yobe States? Have you ever seen him show sympathy to people, either Christians or Muslims that have been killed during these attacks by Boko Haram? Have you see him as a leader, a man who traversed the entire length and breadth of the North especially to canvass for votes seeking an end to the violence? Why is it that he cannot use that same clout that he has to get leaders together and say we must put an end to this carnage?
He finds it comfortable to shift the blame to other people. What has he done as a leader, who is from that region to help Nigeria and the North out of this unfortunate development? Nigerians should ask him, as a former Head of State and stakeholder in the Nigeria project and a man who wants to be President again, if he would want Nigeria to be destroyed up to a point before he can try to wade in? It does not work that way.” Okupe said that as a leader, Buhari should stop apportioning blame, but should do something crucial to bring the carnage in the country under control.

He reminded the former military ruler that during the crisis in Niger Delta, leaders from the region went into the creeks and discussed with the militants to lay down their arms. “Has Buhari done that? When Christians were killed, he kept quiet, when mosques were bombed, he did not say anything. He doesn’t have any other interest in Nigeria but his inordinate ambition to rule,” he added. In his reaction, Buhari said there was no way he could be involved in the discussion on how to end the carnage since he was not part of the problem. Buhari, who spoke through the National Publicity Secretary of the CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, also said it was apparent that those responsible for the crisis in the Niger Delta were the ones that volunteered to end it.

He said, “When the Niger Delta militancy reached a crescendo, some notable people from that region went into the creeks as he (Okupe) alleged. The question is: ‘Who were the people who started the Niger Delta imbroglio ab initio?’ If the people that initiated and executed a problem decided to resolve it, what can anyone do about it? This is totally different from the Boko Haram palaver.”

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PDP; The Most Successful Political Party By Usama Dandare

Take your bath in the night for you shall wake the next morning with beauty. A Hausa proverb

   People Democratic Party (PDP) as the name implies, is claimed to be the biggest and the strongest Political Platform in Africa having ruled the most popular black nation on the universe called Nigeria for about 14 years. Since the return of Democracy in 1999 to date, PDP has produced three presidents in fourteen years and winning the most political seats than any political platform in any nation's history. In the February 1999 general election, PDP won the presidential seat, 59 senators out of 109, 206 reps out of 360 and 21 state governors out of 36. In April 2003 general election, PDP won the presidential seat again, 76 Senators out of 109, 223 reps out of 360 and 28 state governors out 36. In April 2007 general election, PDP still retained their inherited presidential seat, 87 Senators, 263 reps and 28 state governors out of 36. In 2011 election, PDP managed to win their promised presidential seat, 45 senators, 123 rep members and 23 state governors out of 36, totaling a round figures of 4 presidents, 267 Senators, 815 house of reps members and 100 governors all in 14 years, a giant indeed. But have the masses governed by this giant enjoyed the dividends of democracy? What services do these politicians rendered to their localities? Have the PDP delivered good governance to it people? Are Nigerians satisfied with the style of leadership the PDP showcased?

   If asked to define PDP? I will unthinkably called it People Deceiving Party. Since the beginning of democratic rule in 1999 to date, PDP leaders have failed to deliver quality leadership to a common Nigerian, the burden of failed promises have rendered the party inconsistent producing unqualified politicians and corrupt leaders that lacks both magnitude and directions without focus and any knowledge of how to move forward, robbing Nigeria dry upon all its mineral resources. PDP over all the years in power, have failed to achieve a single credit for good leadership inducing artificial poverty and suffering to the electorate. People are fed up with the failure PDP has shown in tackling many problems affecting Nigeria but instead, the problems always accelerate high with maximum speed with our country soon becoming unfavorable for life to exist.

     Since the inception of civilian rule in 1999, democracy under PDP hasn't achieve any meaningful record in anybody's book, security of life and properties has become endangered, our mineral and natural resources has been enveloped in some hoodlums pockets, the low paid state and federal workers has successfully been transformed into beggars with induced poverty, electricity has become extinct, the nation electricity distribution company is present in some parts of the country only in fossils of poles and transformers. Yearning and aspirations of the electorates are continuously been ignored. Inflation has risen to an undesirable worst level, corruption has lay and hatched eggs in all angles across the nation. Prices of goods and commodities is speeding up day by day like a bush fire.

      Our judicial system is unfavorable to an ordinary Nigerian, those so-called big men in the PDP do no longer obey the rule of law, they stole our Billions but ended up receiving a light sentence or a fine of some thousands. Our security personnel are standing day and night on our nation's highways holding wooden riffles similar to those used by Nazi soldiers forcefully demanding bribe from the masses of a shameful amount not exceeding N20 exposing the common man to all sort of threat and leaving them vulnerable to attacks, from Boko Haram in the north to Militancy and sea piracy in the Niger Delta, OPC in the west and kidnappers in the east. Nigerians have since lost hope on the PDP government for the security of their lives and properties, paving ways for unarmed contracted private security guards that most Nigerians rely on for securing their homes and offices. Bombing has become our nation's daily headlines since the start of PDP regime mostly under this current government which is tagged as the worst government in any nation's history. Our national treasury is been looted day and night with our so-called leaders extravagantly wasting our national treasury as if they inherited it from their late fathers, our economy has dropped to it lowest level in history.

   Youths are jobless and continue to be ignored by the government subjecting them to all sort of criminal act. Nigeria is the worst place for any child to be born in, Our Hospital are soon becoming museums of ancient medical equipments. The whole educational system yield nothing but failure, our schools can't be compared to any school outside the country while the big men sponsored their children and love ones to study abroad with our own nation wealth called national cake. Female students are subjected to prostitution and molestation just for them to raise up their school fees while male student joined cultism, robbery gang and all criminal settings just for them to afford tuition fees. Nigeria is the only nation on earth which operates without a transport policy and a transport master plan with no knowledge of what and where the transport sector is heading to with no definite plan or target on how to move forward in transportation industry. Nigerian owned airline has become history, our rail system is compared to that of United State dated back to the early 19th century, our ports are now dumping sites for wrecks and faulty vessels, piracy on our territorial waters has proven to be a successful business for our teaming jobless youths, our roads are in a state of mystery amounting to the death of individuals than any known disease to man through accidents and some victims of arm robbery.

     Agriculture is a topic of interest to the government through which huge sum of money are been pumped and carted away not accomplishing the mission the money is been released for, farmers are forced to use the old farming techniques inherited from their ancestors. Technology is stagnated under PDP regime turning Nigeria among one of the worst technological atmosphere. To an ordinary citizen, clean and healthy drinking water is a prestigious element in one of the world richest country in terms of resources called Nigeria while those in government drinks distilled and purified waters. Our legislators consumed about 25% of our annual budget and still they are receiving bribe of millions of dollars from our oil transporters filling all their pockets and caps with dollars. when caught, they will spend just a week in prison receiving VIP treatment and later the court will adjourned the case till further notice. Children are no more a prestigious gift from God as they are exposed to all kinds of slavery and hard labour either by their parent or guardians in other to bring home a token for the family to survive. Smuggling has become our national symbol. Election rigging is a pride in PDP while our image to international observers is been tarnished.

     The state of the nation could well be described as near comatose. The human rights record of the PDP administration is appalling. The nation’s economy is on a steady slide to a disastrous perdition. There is near hopelessness and uncertainty. In the political terrain, the nation is served with strange concoctions that is ultimately leading to national suicide.

In the international arena, Nigeria which once stood tall as the giant of Africa is reduced to an inconsequential midget with the suffocating tag of a pariah nation tightening round her neck.
Hitherto brave men and women became cowards overnight, groveling at the throne of the one who had wished to become the absolute emperor of Nigeria. For each passing day, the light of hope dimmed in Nigeria. The height of despair was never achieved. What a calamity?

    With all this and more, PDP has tremendously achieved nothing for the past 14 years in power but a total failure and a disgrace to Dr. Alex Ekwueme who among others founded the most failed and corrupt political party(PDP) in the history of democracy.

    With the current crises rocking the People Democratic Party and it leadership ahead of the 2015 general election, committees are been sets to reconcile members of the party for their individual grudges across the nation. The genesis of all the problems affecting PDP today was as a result of disrespecting the zoning agreement which state how to routinely transfer power from one region to the other insuring justice is done to all parties involved. The resignation of former PDP BOT chairman Chief Olushegun Obasanjo signals a fresh dispute between the party members and their leaders. The subsequent relieving off their duties of all members loyal to Mr. Obasanjo in the PDP executives is an alarming sign saying PDP is heading for destruction, thinking they can be use as elements to defeat the party by Obasanjo and his allies who fall apart with the current government.

     Another issue is the looming crisis between the President with most of the state governors and PDP leaders has failed to rectify this issue and set aside their common differences which leads to the lack of funding the party by the governors subjecting the entire PDP into a state of poverty due to inadequate funds. About 12 PDP governors has already concluded plans and agreement to decamp and join the opposition party for lack of justice and fair play in the administration of the party. Is this not the end of PDP mischief in Nigeria? Another mistake the ruling party could make that will crack down the pillars of the biggest party in Africa is the constitutional amendment to suite the desire of a single person and the idea of sole candidate proposed by party leaders which denied the citizenry right of voting and contesting an election, this may results to high numbers of party faithful to decamp into opposition platform for basically denying them the grace to exercise their fundamental civil rights. I think this idea of sole candidate was brought by members loyal to the serving President, knowing the President can't win a primary election within the PDP for lack of support from the party members and the nation as a whole. Is foolish for a person who can't stand election within his party to think he can win a country's election. How can a party that can't practice free and fair democracy in it corridor will think of winning the support of the electorate who where been ignored and rejected for several years under the same umbrella? Is this the beginning or the end of PDP?

    PDP should for the sake of their own desire, learn from their past and present mistakes and prepare well enough for another challenge. They should identify and rectify their individual difference, identify and flush out the bad eggs within them, apologize to Nigerians for all the atrocities committed against them and return the huge amount of embezzled public fund, they should forfeit all properties in their possession acquired unlawfully to the government before they will be force to do so against their wish. PDP should forget and zero out their minds for any political victory in the up coming 2015 general election, they should come up with suggestions and plans on how to contest in the 2019 general election because the electorates are fed up and tired with the false promises made by the PDP from 1999 to date with quarter of them not fulfilled in 14 years, the suffering masses has wise up and has wise up and ready to confront who ever try to hijack what they voted. On this grounds, the electorates have vowed not to entrust PDP again in the near future and are desperately looking for an alternative and change in the leadership of Nigeria. The Nigerian masses are searching and seeking for a messiah who will wipe away their tears and free them from the burden of danger PDP has enthroned them into. They are praying for someone that will listen to their yearning and aspirations, someone that will fulfill his promises, someone that can protect them, someone that is honest enough who will not loot their nation's wealth and someone that will not embezzle their fund. PDP should as a matter of fact, forget any intention of rigging in the coming election ahead of 2015 or they will face the masses anger and cancel their minds in winning the 2015 general election. A word is enough, we are tired with PDP dictatorship.