By Oghenekaro Samuel Johnson

“I would rather a thousand times be a free soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets” -Eugene V. Debs

On Saturday the 5th of February, 2022, barring last minute changes, the drums will be rolled out amidst ostentatious political fanfare as Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, Catholic Knight of St. John, will be turbaned by the Emir of Daura as the “Dan Amanar Daura”, meaning the “trusted son of Daura”. While Daura will regale in the pomp and pageantry concomitant with an event of that magnitude, there will be eerie silence mixed with frustration from expectation that has been murdered in both Okerenkoko, Delta State and Ubima in Rivers State. Somehow, Amaechi has managed to demonstrate, with carefree gusto and queerness that what is good for Daura is not good for Okerenkoko and Ubima.

As the Daura event hits the national airwaves, not a few Nigerians will remember with heavy heart the altercation that erupted between Rt Hon Amaechi and then Minister of State Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, at a federal government townhall meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in 2016.

Amaechi, with magisterial swagger, had summarily overruled the continued federal government investment in the Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Delta State, with impervious insensitivity on the phantom ground of “misplacement of priority, insecurity” and what he termed “humongous amount of money” that was paid by the government to acquire the land for the university.

Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, completely miffed by such brazen brashness and callous insensitivity to the people of Niger Delta by Amaechi, courageously disagreed with the Minister of Transportation, arguing that whatever reservation he might have about the processes that had gone into the Maritime University, it was wrong to throw away the baby with the bathwater. “Any facility that is located at the South-South, we should work close to developing it”, Kachikwu had posited, drawing a thunderous applause from the audience much to the chagrin of the grimacing Minister of Transportation.

For his boldness and expression of support for the development of critical educational infrastructure in the south-south geopolitical as in any other part of the country, Ibe Kachikwu was bitterly persecuted and actively blackmailed by the powerful super-minister Amaechi until the hapless man was unceremoniously pushed out of the cabinet.

Sadly, today, whatever reservation Amaechi had about Okerenkoko is a child’s play compared to the massive investment in the University of Transportation Daura and the crippling insecurity raging in that part of the country, but never has it been said by the Minister that the infrastructure should be cancelled. What is good for Daura cannot be good for Okerenkoko.

If Amaechi’s shocking attitude to Okerenkoko was disconcerting, his inexplicable about-turn on the University of Transportation Ubima, which he himself had suo moto proposed will be a study in knavish sycophancy.

The Minister of Transportation, since 2017, had been singing it like a song at the slightest opportunity in every forum that the federal government had concluded plans to build a University of Transportation in Ubima, his home town in Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State, and that the project was to be funded as part of CCECC’s Corporate Social Responsibility by investing a component of their profit from construction of railway in Nigeria.

Back home in Rivers State, Amaechi’s publicist and propagandist, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, has been inundating news outlets in his ceaseless composition of monotonous panegyrics for Amaechi, listing the proposed University of Transportation Ubima as “Amaechi’s achievement for Rivers State” in his scarcely reasonable vituperation.

Not only that, in Amaechi’s community Ubima, countless thanksgiving services have held in churches, with local women wriggling their waist in choreographed dance patterns, carrying offerings of their agricultural produce on their heads in procession to the alter to thank God for this unseen University which their illustrious son said plans had been concluded to construct in their home town.

Even on the political scene, the unseen university had been deployed as instrument of bragging right in Rivers State against the ruling party.

You can now understand why everyone was jolted when, after raising hope to Mount Olympus about University of Transportation Ubima, on one hot afternoon in October 2018, Amaechi announced that the University was now going to be constructed, not in Ubima in Rivers, but in Daura in Katsina.

And before his vuvuzelas could come out to rationalize such disheartening about-turn, perhaps, thinking that the Minister might have been handed down a superior instruction about the location of the university, Amaechi himself came out to say that the decision was not influenced by anyone, that it was his own call, uninfluenced, to take the University to Daura.

As if that was not bad enough, on the day the groundbreaking for the University of Transportation Daura was done by President Buhari, Amaechi, on live television, stood before a stunned and bewildered Nigerian audience and declared himself a sycophant.

He stated, “I have no regrets, Mr. President, siting this university where I have sited, and I repeat quickly that I was influenced by nobody, so if I am being accused of sycophancy, let me admit in advance that I am sycophantic”.

The self-declared sycophant may actually have no regrets at all, but while Amaechi has scavenged personal honours by knowingly depriving his own people the benefit of the University of Transportation Ubima which he himself, on his own accord, had promised to site in his place in exchange for a title from the Daura Emirate, disappointment will envelope his land on Saturday. And so will gloom strangle the neck of Okerenkoko and the South-South for the frustration of the maritime university by the Minister of Transportation.

Amaechi could have sited the University of Transportation in Daura, but he did not have to oppose the Maritime University in Okerenkoko. He could have moved the university to Daura even after the promise to Ubima, after all, he is only a Minister and people will understand if the President’s home town takes precedence over that of the Minister, but he did not have to brag that he was a sycophant who was influenced by no one. Therein lies the tragedy of Amaechi and his place in the history of the Niger Delta.

By Emma Agu

It is only a thin line between heroism and martyrdom. Time and again, social entities look for leaders with sufficient gumption to bite the bullet on their behalf. When such leaders lose, in the process, they could become martyrs. When they succeed, they are crowned as heroes or heroines.

But between martyrdom and heroism, there is only a thin line. What perhaps distinguishes the two is that, in most cases, martyrs do not live to tell the story. But some heroes do.

The world is replete with people who suffered martyrdom in pursuit of the freedom of their people. Latin American freedom fighter Che Guevara, and the United States Human Rights activist, Rev. Martin Luther King Junior and many more, paid the supreme price in the quest for freedom. Nearer home, Nelson Mandela’s place in history was assured when he chose life in prison for the liberty of his people.

Nigeria is not devoid of great men and women who, at grave personal risk, stood up to be counted against colonialism, official highhandedness and fascism. The late Gani Fawehinmi and Bala Usman, both of blessed memory, are emblematic of a genre of patriotic Nigerians who, through relentless advocacy and public demonstrations, stood on the way of Nigeria descending into fascism as brutal military regimes foisted a reign of terror, on the people. What stands them out from the pack is the boundless altruism that underscored their actions. They were patriots who came at the nick of time.

Today, Nigeria is caught in a new crisis of confidence that calls for patriots to rise to be counted. The country sits atop a time bomb. Forces of disintegration prowl the landscape, ignoring invidious premonitions of danger, even catastrophic implosions. Atop the murky waters of pride, self-delusion and brinksmanship, the ship of state sails perilously towards the precipice. Between 1981 and 1983, as he screamed himself hoarse, a blind elite arrogantly ignored the relentless entreaties of the late Obafemi Awolowo, until the Shehu Shagari Administration was stopped in its tracks by the ‘Men on Horse Back’.

Nigeria was on the same path again in 2010 when the country sailed precariously on murky waters due to the ill-health of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Ardua. The country stood on edge, almost rudderless because a section of the political class, against reason, stood on the path of constitutionalism by blocking the incumbent Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, from taking over from an ailing President Yar’Ardua. The complex logjam had all the trappings of a religious cum ethnic and regional crisis.

Yar’Ardua, a Moslem and Fulani from the North had barely been in power for two years after succeeding President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian and Yoruba by tribe from the South (who was in power for eight years) when ill-heath effectively ended his Presidency.

As Yar’Ardua was moved from one hospital to the other, some powerbrokers, predominantly from the North, spewed various theories to stop Jonathan, a Christian from the South, from succeeding the ailing president. Thus, the stage was set for high stake political drama, one which outcome was clearly unpredictable. What was clear was the unwillingness of most Northerners to stake their heads against opposition to Jonathan.

Surprisingly, as hope receded, from unusual quarters rose a patriot, a man of straw, a constitutionalist and statesman who, defying every odd, led a group of compatriots in defence of the Constitution. Contextually, this harbinger of piece, stood out from others, for four significant reasons:

First, he was a Moslem. Second, he was of the Hausa-Fulani political stock. Third, he was from the North. Fourth, he was of the minority All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) that was led at the time by Muhammadu Buhari, who maintained a principled distance from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that controlled a majority in both chambers of the National Assembly.

To those who want to know the implication of the above four considerations, here is a simple response. The promoter of that bulwark of defence of the Constitution, the patriot who led his compatriots to roll back the Armada of conceit against the Constitution, had simply offered his head at the guillotine of Nigeria’s chequered politics. He was on his way to political martyrdom. His head could have been chopped off from Nigeria’s body politics forever. Luckily, he survived and for a country that does not have a great reputation for recognising heroes, his celebration may yet be deferred. Just for a short period.

That man, the mover of the Doctrine of Necessity Motion, that paved the way for Goodluck Jonathan, the unassuming scholar from the Niger Delta, to break the glass ceiling of Nigeria’s tripodal political monopoly, was Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, who is today the Executive Governor of Bauchi State where, the mantra of his Administration is inclusive Government. Through astute diversity management, Bala Mohammed, a doyen of the civil service, a seasoned technocrat, an unrepentant constitutionalist, a compassionate manager of men and an astute politician, has welded disparate emotional strata of Bauchi State into a united front that is preoccupied with the breath-taking infrastructural projects that have received the commendation of eminent Nigerians such as former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President of the Senate David Mark, APC Leader Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a host of others too numerous to mention.

The fact that there is a groundswell of support for Bala Mohammed’s second term among both Muslim and Christian religious groups in Bauchi State, all in a bid to thwart speculations that he is nursing a presidential ambition, is ample evidence of his diversity management credentials, in a state that was previously characterised by inter-group suspicion, fuelled by elite insensitivity.

It is also to Bala Mohammed’s credit that, before Bauchi, he had set a record in diversity management, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2010 and 2015. Groups fell over each other with awards for him, all in recognition of the inclusive nature of his administration. He was able to achieve unprecedented stakeholder buy-in because he ensured that the FCT represented Nigeria in word and in deed. Uppermost in his management credo, at the time, was an unwavering commitment to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

By his antecedents, so far, Bala Mohammed has demonstrated that he is, at, once a true Moslem, a proud Northerner a patriotic Nigerian, a humanist, a bridge builder and an avowed Constitutionalist. He has also maintained the position that a conference of Nigeria’s constituent nationalities had become imperative to resolve the sore points that threaten the country’s fragile unity and stability. It is this pragmatism that throws Bala Mohammed up as, perhaps, the prospective elixir to the deep-seated political and socio-economic malaise presently ravaging Nigeria.

He possesses the genuine disposition, sacrificial spirit and political will, to repress the DNA of parochialism that is the root cause of Nigeria’s political woes.

More than ever before, if anybody is in a position to damn sectional Czars and re-enact the 2010 constitutional feat, that saved Nigeria from self-destructing, Bala Mohammed can be trusted to provide that leadership.

Will he get the chance? That is the Zillion Naira question which answer depends on many factors. From what I know about him, Bala Mohmmed’s eventual response to the several endorsements he has received will depend on the way, the raging debate over what part of should produce the President is resolved. Besides, his party parades a crowd of highly qualified candidates such as former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, renowned pharmacist and quintessential industrialist Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa and Governor Aminu Tambuwal, not to mention Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a statesman for whom Bala Mohammed has the highest respect. It is a mark of that respect that informed Bala Mohammed’s decision to invite the former Vice President to commission a major road project in Bauchi State, to mark his (Atiku’s) 73rd birthday, a day that was almost treated as a public holiday in Bauchi State.

It is within the above context that Bala Mohammed’s much touted call on the former vice president to step than for younger elements should be seen and understood. What needs to be added is that Bala Mohammed, by birth and training, revers age, tradition and achievement. He is passionate about seniors, particularly ex-servicemen and women whose patriotic services form the anvil on which the unity and progress of the country revolve. If, in the end Bala Mohammed runs for President, it will be because of his belief that the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain and that, just as our forefathers preserved this great nation for us, his (Bala) generation has a moral duty to prioritize the legitimate demand of the millennials, for a just, fair, inclusive and prosperous society.

By Kenny Oduwale

Despite his relative rich legacy in Anambra state, Peter Obi they could have considered in using from South-east for perfect rotation amongst the 3 major ethnic groups of Nigeria has one of the WORST histories of FULANOPHOBIA, NORTHERNOPHOBIA, ISLAMOPHOBIA & YORUBAPHOBIA (remembering that his campaign of ethno-religous bigotry against Ngige of APC when the latter had in his campaign tour El-Rufai and Fashola during 2013 Anambra guber poll eventually won by Willie Obiano of APGA).

Any attempt to alternatively zone that Presidency to Southwest would be a big slap on the Igbos who have invested so much electorally in PDP for 23 years now.

Hence, to address this dilemma and to win power at all costs, PDP MUST zone the presidency to the north.

As for the APC, given the OWN GOAL scored by Oshinbajo by insulting the “religious/cultural sensitivity and sensibility” of the core northern folk recently, they should not even bother allowing him to contest for primary talkless of presenting him as flagbearer.

OSHINBAJO can NEVER win given the current political mood against him in core northern grassroots. This might sound painful to his supporters. But it is the pure truth. They all know this. But they are pretending not to know.

The only two candidates sellable by the APC from southern Nigeria now to appeal to and appease the INSULTED religious sensibility of the northern folk (who constitute %65 of the voting demography) now is TINUBU or FASHOLA. Anybody other than these two for now from the south will be a big loss to the APC.

As for me I don’t like FASHOLA. He looks more like an ELITIST to me given the way he was always defending the “profiteering & fraudulent DISCOS” against Nigeria electricity consumers when he was performing dual responsibility as Minister of Power and Work from 2015 to 2019.

However, I developed slight soft spot for TINUBU recently when I enjoyed one of his free health legacies via my wife who was catered for FREE OF CHARGE at Accident & Mergency section of General hospital Igando Lagos (not even minding she is Igbo) last year when she suddenly lost consciousness on her way to work. Since that day, despite his MACCAVELLIAN political style, JAGABAN comes as my first choice amongst the money-bag aspirants. I will aggressively campaign for him if he can choose Professor Engr. Babagana Umara Zulum, FNSE, Mni as his running mate as we count down to 2023 Presidential election.

Jumat Mubarak fellow Nigerians!!!